THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1872.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 156, 1 March 1872, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1872.

It is human to delight in having one's op nion upon any point, however trivial, eu-lo sed by that of other personsmore especially when those , personshold m re exalted:,positions, and by such means exercise a wider influence upon,a community or a country than one's self. We allude, in this instance, to views expressed- by ourselves in several issues, -having, reference to-, the .fallacy. or otherwise of the Public Works and,lmmigration Scheme of t'*e present 'Government, a scheme which unfortunately received the sanction of the too obedient Parliament during the last session. Our remarks had more special allusion to the Water Supply on Groldfields Act, 6>, more properly, sub-Act, for, as matter of fact, that Act was only a small and a very small portion of the Grand Scheme, by which our already: overtaxed nation was to be relieved of its burd ns by being additionally taxed. With respect, then, to the opinions which we formerly expressed as to the Water Supply Scheme being a. mere delusion and a sham, we are glad to observe that the ' 1/aily Times' has taken the same view as ourselves, and with further and better soarces of information at command) has so thoroughly exposed the utter shallowness—the utter absurdity—the utter rottenness of the Scheme, that we feel that we cannot do. better than quote the words of our able contemporary.

In order to connect the remarks of the 'Daily Times ' withthe subjectj.we must the quotation which led. to those ; remarks. ; The .'• Daily saysV—" The Auckland correspondent 44 ". of the ;. Lyttelton Times * states that "Mr. Ormond , has-been visiting tlie "Thames/ he has inspected " the country proposed to be irrigated " The scheme which finds most: fayOr is 44 stated to be the-high levels which is Estimated to cost£ls(),o6o. ' The low ''level would cost £30,000, but, we-Will " use the words of the ' Lytteiton 44 ' Time*;' correspondent—' The alfer- ■":'■ native plan is called the low level ■ 44 'scheme : To effect its purpose would '• 4 cost at least £30,000, and afteraU " ' jt could only furnish water to very " 4 few claims. It is not likely to re--44 ' ceive prefer:nee, and need not be 44 ' discussed in this letter.' "'As .'the-' " high level is the one which is seleo- " ted, we need scarcely point out 44 that this will absorb the half of the 44 and when the 400 applica- *' tions from .Nelson are dealt with, the " Government possibly may turn their 44 attention to . Otago. We are of «' opinion, however, that unless pressure 'Via soon brought to bear upon the

" Government by the mining commu- " nitj of this Province, it will be found "before that the £300,000 has " been spent elsewhere." 1 In all our connection with life, extending over half a century, we fail to remember anything in the political history of a country savoring so much of jobbery and quackery as does this muchvaunted and much-boasted Scheme, for scheme it undoubtedly is and will, in the result, prove itself to be. When we asserted in our late issues previously to the publication of any rules and regulations under which money advances would be made out of the ijreat Water Supply Loan of £300,000, £50,000 had been, upon the ipse dixit "of our great Dictator, allocated to the district which he represents without any stipuation whatever, we, in our ignorance, thought that we had made a case suiiiciently strong as to the utter valuelessness of the S-heme'. When, however, we find from the above extract that we only in a feeble measure stated the case, and that the allocated sum is £150,000, instead of £50,000 as we supposed, we lose our breath, and feel fairly puzzled to imagine how such audacity, presumpti n, and recklessness can be dlowed by a free constituency and in a free country. To appeal to the Government for advances to this district under the present regulations . is, as we already said, and as we still hold, a mere'; waste and loss of time and ' useless expenditure of labor, mechanical and otherwise—our members being in these matters, and in all matters aftewing the interests of the district : (from ignorance, or more mildly stated, from want of practical and local knowledge) were-cyphers or round O's, as his Honor the Superintendent was informer days in the habit of characterise mg incapables.. Seeing, however, the . grand sell lo which the pubiic have been made the victims, we confess that we fail to perceive an immediate re- . medy. It must be borne in mind that, though by the clever maneeiivring of Mr. Julius Vogel for the expenditure"" of lialf the £3oo,oooin his own district, and the 400 applications from- Nelson, the same enormous and expensive staff of officers will have to be maintained,, leaving,, in Effect, the balance of the amount to be expended upon other portions of the country nil, or next to nil. With regard to some other portions of the greater excellence YogeX-cum-Von Scheme, or vice versa, we-have not space on this occasion to enter, but in the meantime we call upon all thinking men to ponder over what we have Written, and then say whether we are, as expounders of pubiic opinion, right or wrong; ? V; 1;

We desire to call attention to ttie sale by auction, by Messrs. Inder and George, of the Bimi Lmiond Raee-and rights, : Maerewhenua> t»-niorro%,-at the Victoria Hall. We have a.\ i ready expressed our opinion as to the eligibility of this valuable property as an investment, and we trust to find that the opportunity ottered, will not only bring together a large number of bidders, but also that the sum realised :may be a fair one, and one which the property should,undoubtedly command. /Messrs. I>deb and jGhsoßx*E sold by public auction, at Hill's' Creek; oh Wednesday last; the property of the'late flenry-Willerton, who recently died intestate. The farm produce and stock realised, we are informed, fair prices. The land, however, inconsequence of the title being an did rot fetch the price it wpuldt otherwise have coramaridtd. The coal-pifc lease was disposed of for. £lO. Whbn last we spoke of the weather it was during rain, and in the full hope and expectation: that the rain would be continuous. A few hours, however, of a steady fall was all that we experienced, succeeded by a reversion to the, " same old " drought. To say that no gopd has been effected by the rain would be to tell an untruth"; ; the advantage, however, has been small and transient, the ground being at the time of the fall extremely dry and thirsty In addition to the drought it needs not much to | erceive the fast approach of winter, for though, the days be bright and hot, the mornings and evenings are already cold—cold, even at times to intensity. Nor can the shortenine of the days be failed to be observed—a little after seven p.m. and daylight, as a rule, leaves us. :■■■".

■: A.bmjkt visitor to the Serpentine informs us that there still continues a great bcarcity of water, and that the Chinee, who muster sonm sixty m number, are making fair wages in md docking ground from which Europeans would" turn in disgust. The. mail sore still continues and appears likely to continue, unless the mem ' bers for the district take the matter in hand as they should do and as they promised ther would do, and force the Government to a 7 tion.

We have, for the last two years, had occ* sion to refer to and comment upon the •porti

which have taken place on the 17th Mareln St. Patrick's Day, and we hare felt sincere pleasure in characteiising those sports, as they undoubtedly have been on each occasion, a great success. We wonder, however, what the-.Emerald Islanders of iNastby are about this year. The St. liathanites and the Arrowians are already in the field, prepared to do honor to their tutelary saint, and programmes of great doings and great events are already in the hands of the public. Will the Hiberniiin portion of the Naseby population allow themselves to be outdone and put in the* shade by oiher and smaller places ? We trow not. L»t them then be up and doing. Mb. Thomas George of Clyde, and well known throughout the Province- as a lithographer, engraver, and printer, has forwarded to us a very nicely and neatly executed map of the'"Province of Otago and Southland. In addition to its merits for clearness, perspicacity, and, we doubt not, accuracy, the price (2s. 6d.l places it within the reach of those of ordinary means, and no Otago pettier, miner, or other should be without a copy. With regard to Hospital matters, we may mention that the Hyde portion of the district per Mr. Grumitt have forwarded the sum of £20 10s. in aid of the funds of the institution, out. of Mr. I.averty's list, amounting- to £3 10s., all of which will no doubt in due course be forthcoming. We may mention further that his Honor Judge Chapman has forwarded to the Secretary a cheque for £2 2s, and that M.. B. Luks has also added to the funds of the institution by a donation of £1 1s. The School Committee met on the evening of Fridiy last. The business was simply of a routine character, the report of which would contain no matter of public interest. An adjourned meeting of the Committee will be held this evening at eight o'clock, for the purpose of conferring with the schoolmaster. The first monthly meeting of the Mount Ida Hospital Committee was held in the Naseby Water Works Company's Office, on Friday evening last. The President, H. W. Robinson, Esq , in the chair.—The minutes of last nmeeting were read and confirmed.—After the transaction of some unimportant business, Mr. E. T. George accepted the office of Secretary to the institution.—After the appointment of a Finance Committee, consisting of Messrs. H. B. M'lntcsh, E. C. Smith, and M. Brookes, the Treasurer was authorised to forward vouchers to the Government for amount ot bulding vote (£250), and also for subsidy on £342 13s. 3d, at the rate of £l per £L, and to impress upon the Government the necessity of forwarding the amounts without delay.—lt was resolved that a surgeon be advertised for at the rate of £150 per annum without board and. residence, or £100 with board and residence (outside practice allowed).; also that a wardsman and matron be advertised for, at a salary of £70 per annum and found (see advert tise.hients).—-A Furnishing Committee consisting of .Messrs. Chapman,, Ross .and E. T. George, was appointed, to report on 8th March.—Other business of a routine character concluded the meeting.