THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1871.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 106, 10 March 1871, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1871.

AYic welcome as a si-11 of the healthy state of political feeling in this Province, that all the seats for th'e Provincial Council are to be contested, and in many cases by a numerous band of aspirants after senatorial honors. In our own district it was or some time the impression that the seat for the iJoiieral Assembly, as also those for the Provincial Council, would go begging. On the nomination day for the Ueneral Assembly, however, six caudidates were duly proposed and seconded, and the last in the field won the day—Mr. I). H. Mervyn having the honor .uf being the first member elected t> represent the raewly established district of Mount Ida. At the forthcoming election of members fo.r the, Provincial Council there will, i«f we judge from present appearances, be'a positive plethora of •candidates. .So far as report. goes, there are already some nine gentlemen dn the field, and there is yet abundance of time for more to anno mire themselves. Among the aspirants are no less than four docal men, in addition to Mr. Mervyn, so that there exists no occasion to fear that the electors will

be ill any way restricted or circumscribed in their choice of a member. ,It is true that out of the whole number of the present candidates not one has hitherto sat in the Provincial Council, and one only of that number (Mr. Mervyn) in the General Assembly. Though there may be some inconvenience to members themselves in being unacquainted with the rules and customs of the House, the Province will, in biir opinion, as a whole benefit, and benefit greatly, by the large amounit J of new blood which will in all probability be infused into the Council from all. parts of the Province. What we desire to see in the. new Council is a strong and well organised phalanx of G-oldfields members, whose motto shall be " u#ion," and who will make common eause to see, justice done t© all the Goldfields Districts of the Province alike -separately as colileetiy.ely. We have long, held the opinion that, the miner of New Zealand is taxed, a nd unnecessarily > taxed far in excess of other members «of the community—that is to saj, that while the miner is equally subjected with other colonists, to the general taxation for the ordinary necessaries and luxuries of life. He is also subjected to a further aind special taxation of. a, ( most severe character. First, the miner is compelled to pay a tax of £1 for his >mii\>er's right. This right confers upon the miner exceptional and valuable privileges. jSo much so, indeed, that vr,e cannot look

upon the fee charged for such right (£1) as anything but fair and just. At the same time, wo should like to see the privileges conferred by such right made available not only within the limits of the I'rovinee in which it may have been granted, hut also throughout the length and breadth of the entire Colony of New Zealand. The gold duty . (2s. Gd. per ounce) fa aj.se> another special tax, and one which presses heavily upon the mining industry, and has been and continues to he a source of dissatisfaction and discontent to the miners. On several occasions efforts have been made ; to get this tax reduced or abolished, but hitherto without success. If the (xoldfields members in tho various Provincial Councils of New Zealand will take the matter in hand and introduce resolutions to the effect that the time has arrived when such reduction has become absolutely necessary in consequence of the comparatively impoverished state of the ground which the miner has to work, we have no doubt that such resolutions would be accepted by the General Assembly as a .'good and suilicient reason to introduce a Bill to get this tax reduced or abolished. There are many other matters to which the attention of tho G-oldfields members should be specially directed, and wo trust that this session may be more fruitful in producing jus-, tice to the mining interest than any which have preceded it. ISo person who has had the misfortune to be compelled to remain the winter in the upcountry districts can have failed to have perceived the diihculties ami vexations under which the residents and miners labor from the uncertainty and irregularity of communication, aswell as from the enhanced price of carriageof all the necessaries of life, consequent upon the impassible state of the roads. This matter should be looked into at once upon the assembling of the Council, and the best possible provision made to improve the road to the interior before the winter as fairly upon uh. We cannot do better than conclude by quoting the following remarks from a leader in the ' Dunstan Times ' of last week —remarks in which we fully and heartily concur:—

The question .of roads promises to be a (Safiie.ulty again this winter. For months past scarcely a shovelful of earth lias been removed to keep them hi repair on the Goldh'elds, mid they are now in such a dreadful condition that, even were the necessary repairs commenced to-morrow, they could not be madj good before the winter. Out of nil the immense revenue the Provincial Government has received from the Northern G-oldfields the most insignificant sums have been expended upon road«. We ought to have had a perfect highway loiag since between Paluierston and .the Dunstau, and thence to Queenstown ; but, in fact, tliw main line of road is becoming worse every year, until it will become so bad that, travelling will be next to impossible in inclement seasons. This is a matter deuwundiug the earnest < tut/bemtion of Gtoldfields constituencies, especially in this portion of the Province, and whoever may be elected to represent us in the Council, the subject of roads must be of the first consideration.

In consequence of the Into hour at which our Hamilton correspondent's letter reached us List evening, %vc are unable to give it insertion in this week's issue. Other matters of importance we «ro reluctantly compelled to hold over, in consequence of unusual pressure upon our space.

• We have been requested to notify that Mr. J. R. Bremner, of Hamilton, has no intention of offering himself as a candidate to represent this district in the Provincial Council. . Wb understand that the Rev. J. Wood will preach in the Masonic Hall on Sunday evening, at half-post eix o'clock, on the following subject, .viz.: "The foolishness of preaching - not' foolish pmcushing —God's plan cf saving men."

Wb are glad to notice that the telegraph posts are now erected from Palmerston to within a few miles of Malloch'a Kyeburn Hotel, while the wire Imb been stretched to a point about' midway between Coal Creek and JPigroot. Surely, with the line advancing thus , rapidly towards this place, it is time that eomo steps were being token to push forwnrd the telegraph ofiice, for the erection of which tenders were long since advertised. We fear that the portion of the main road t recently constructed and opened for traffic between Hunter's Shag Valley Hotel and the ,\V(whemo Station will, unless speedily metalled, bo but of little service during the winter months. As this road has been newly formed, and, the ground nveuely turned over and left in a very soft state, it da not difficult to lbrceeo what itß condition will eventually 'be when tho rainy season has set in. As Duncdin is approached a decided and unmistakable improvement in road affairs is plainly visible, and in « those places where' t/ho road is both metalled and in good order -surface men in any numbqr may be seen.actively engaged in doing nothing. The inattention of the G-oveinmcnt | to all [matters, connected with road making is pin inly perceptible as the rood lpnvcs the settled or agricultural districts' for t'he G-oldfields. We do not ask.for railways pensive metalled' roaus—what"we require in, that the best line of road to tho inland Goldfields should be adopted, formed, and fcept in' a state of at leant passable repair. This we

Tiave a.right to. expect, and' we ,trust tliat as the Council opensthe ; entirW phalanx / lot Greldfields members will make its voice 'heard upon the subject. Imt^ inf, ° rmed tnafc & has been intimated to Mr. Warden Robinson that the Government have consented to subsidise, at the rate of £1 J°'j ' aii y BUm colleoted for the repair .of the bridge over Roach's G-ully, to the extent of £lO.

[ An official communication has been received F om *ke Government, intimating to Mr. J. Lory that, m consequence, of a petition from the miners no more land will be sold in the neighborhood of Naseby until fuill engi&ry shall have been, made as to its being auriferous. ' ■<nf ■:. o.

A was held:m: the: Oddfellows' Hall, Hunter's Empire Hotel, on the evening of the 6th instant, for the purpose of electing a Committee to mate arrangements for the -carrying out of the sports on St Patrick's Day. Mr. John O'Loughlen in the chair. After the nature of the meeting having been briefly explained,' it was resolved that the iCommittee should consist of twelve member , Land the following gentlemen were duly elecle^: —Costello, Hunter, O'Loughlen, Dasey, fjenuan, Bleach, Simpson, M'Kenha, Downey, p)m:in, Richards, and Hodges. Mr. Hunter was appointed secretary, and Mr. Bleach treasurer. From the liberal manner in which the application for subscriptions has been responded to, we have no hesitation in saying that rchere is every reason to believe that there will pe ample funds to. provide a programme good,, if not better, than that of last year. We sincerely congratulate onr Hibernian fellow colonists upon the success which has so far attended their efforts to do honor to bhe anniversary of their patron Saint, and we feel sure that when the day's sports shall have Lerminated we shall be able to congratulate them also, ae we did last year, u,pontbe concord, union, and harmony which characterised their gathering. •■•■:.;.,,. . No entertainment which has hitherto been npducedaaa Naseby has ! , tio/'our mind, struck _P foi'cibly that sympathetic chord which exists, to a greater or lesser "decree", "iir every human breast as has Dickens' Panorama, exhibited for the second time last night in the Masonic Hall- The scenes; which have been

Belecfced for illustration must be to most, if not tlie whole of us, "as familiar as .household, words," and must have recalled to the minds; of many present the pleasure with which they! read the Piiekwick Papers some thirty years back, and the delight with which each of the great author's works were received by the public as they followed each other in rapid succession from the press. The various paintings possess high merit as works of art, and the ability <&£ Mr. Bent as lecturer or delineator was fully appreciated. There also to us to be a solumnity in the whole performaiaee, and in tbe conduct of the audience, which showed how deep were their feelings of respect and admiration for the works and character ©f the late Mr. Oharles Dickens. There will be another exhibition of the panorama tonight at the usual hour, and to-morrow after-

£ioon at 3 p.m. ; at St. Bathtms on Monday and Tuesday; at Brybread on Wednesday ; and at Blacks on Thursday next.