TOPICS OF TALK.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 204, 24 January 1873, Page 3

TOPICS OF TALK.

" Is it not a rascally shame that some plodding millowner, shall have the power to stop the progress of an inexhaustible G-oldfie'd like the MaerewK'eaua " says one party ; wholly ignoring the fact, that millowners will bleed if you prick them with a pin, and have wives and children, and some say, a large, stake qt' capital iuvested. Others again say " These mills have rights rooted deep in English law, be careful what you are about, it is no use to kick against the pricks, &c." The truth seems to be, that no cause can be won permanently by clamorous depreciation of those whose interests ard divergent from ours. Nor does it do to give way at the first onset, even I though the battle-cry be English law.! We should have liked to have seen, the applications lately made for water from the Kakanui river granted, because by their refusal, the "Warden almost takes upon himself the onus of jildging what quantity of water any given river has available for use. Interpreting the law, as existing on the Go.idfields, simply in a common sense light (and all. law should bear such interpretation), we should say, that a Warden has simply to grant applications, however numerous for races, "provided that he supports the grants according to strict priority of right. Supposing the Kakanui river to be incapable of supplying all the rights required, the responsibility of judging should fall on the parties applying, who have the means of knowing what rights are already granted, and it is to be presumed, would have obtained a competent opinion a3 to the water the feeder of their proposed race would supply throughout the year. An appi cant might in some cases judge that a supply during floods aloue would pay him by wieans ofnaturaldams, &c. If this decision as to the Kakanui applications is to be a precedent, such a system will be found very inconvenient, If the application had simply been granted, and the applicants warned that; the mills might possibly, according to common law, have a certaia priority of right undefinable by Goldfields law, and the Government at the same time were notified of the importance of the proposed diversion, we think a base on which compromisial action might be taken, would probably have been established, and parties already holding right s out of this river, would have been placed on a certain footing; whereas, no v, by the rejection of similar applications to what were granted to them, they are in doubt as to position. It will be very mush to be regretted, if action with regard to the bringing in of the head branches of the Kakanui river to the Maerewhenua terraces, stagnates under these preliminary troubles. The Government, if the matter were represented in its full importance, would, no doubt, send a qualified officer to ascertain whether the water proposed to be lifted, ever really percolates to the lower reaches of the river, so as to become a. surface supply. If not, it is a sheer waste' not to protect the mining companies in their plucky endeavor to divert water to where it would be in a position to keep a large population, return a large revenue, and develop a most important Goldfield.

A stone at Mayo, says the Earl of Eoden, was carefully wrapped up in flannel, periodically worshipped, and supplicated to ssnd wrecks on the coast. Only that we do not do this sort of thing quite so openly nowadays as the Irish wreckers, we really do not seem to have changed much, Let any one thin-*, person, or interest, get in our road, down with it ; if we can draw it at our chariot-wheels, and suck what little virtue it has, all the better, but at any rate—down with it. It is a favorite idea with some people, that no one ever does a criminal or shabby action, without in the initiatory stages, at any rate, excusing himself to himself. The excuse then, for this unprincipled putting into prominence at whatever cost, of our own individual interest, seems to be, that where all do alike, truth must be the mean result Otherwise, a custom so prevalent among individuals and committees could hardly exist.

Wiia.t is to become of the Mjis P Are tbe United States to take posses--1 sion ? Is the English flag to be raised ? Are these islands to be the foundation of a German power in the Pacific? or is anarchy to be the precursor to the fashionable use, once again, of Kuraduadua's large iron pot, used alternately : for curing biohe-de-mer, and boiling human flesh? ('Royal Geo-' graphical Society 's Journal.') In 1859, Mr. Pritchard, late consul, sent a dispatch Home, in which he observed, that Thakambau and his people, are willing to cede the sovereignty and domain in and over Fiji, to the British Empire, provided that a debt to the United States, of 43,000 dols , be paid by the British Government; who, in lieu thereof, were to receive 200,000 acrev ot land, and confer the Grown on ■ Thakambau, together with a pension for life. Mr. Pritchard also sent a farther document, purporting to be a ratification by a council of chiefs of his prelim inary dispatch. Colonel Smy the and Mr. P. Seeman were sent out by the English Grovernment to ascertain whether it was desirable to annex these islands. They arrived in 1860 at Levuka. In an early dispatch, Colonel Smy the states that " Thakambau, the Chief of Bau, although probably the most influential chief in the group, has no claim to the title of King of Fiji, nor would the other chiefs submit to his authority except through foreign compulsion." He further says—" He is of an ambitious disposition, and his object seems to be, through the assistance of England, to become the ruler of Fiji,- and to be protected at the same time from Prance and the United States of America—of both which powers he has great apprehensions. He is. most anxious to get quit of the claims of the United States, for which their officers, for their own convenience,, have made him liable, although the amount of the claims has been proportioned by them among several tribes. He could not convey 200,000 acres of land as consideration for the settlement of these claims, as he does not possess them ; nor does he acknowledge to have offered more than his consent that land to that amount might be aeuired hy Tier Majesty's Grovernment for "public 'purposes in Fiji." Colonel Smy the further, reported that " cannibalism, strangulation of widows, infauticide, and other enormities prevail in Fiji to a frightful extent;" and to suppress these practices, which would be necessary under Imperial rule, would " necessitate a force of not less than a wing of a regiment, in addition to a ship of war with a tender of light draught, both steamers"—a civil establishment that would cost, says the ' Edinburgh Review,' £7,000 a-year. The result of the report of this expedition was that in July, 1882, the Miranda, Captain Jenkins, was despatched to communicate to Thakambau and the other chiefs, the present declination of the offer,, accompanied by expressions of a friendly feeling. In 1869, seventy settlers petitioned the American Government to assume control over this group, but appear to have received no encouragement, and, in 1870, attempts were made to draw British attention once more to the subject, and failing that, to set up for themselves. In -1871 the movement was initiated which resulted in the form of government at present existing. The news we are receiving every month shows how very insecure and unsatisfactory is a form of government carried on by a self-elected Ministry—the component parts of which are men of no means or character, if not actually lawless adventurers. Cakobau (as he now' spells his name) is an available tool in the hands of men who flatter his ambition, -and he possesses a certain amount of strength sufficient to uphold his creatures for the time being. Public opinion at Home is coming round very fast in the direction of annexation.- Mr. Gladstone, being pressed in the House of Commons, said, at the close of last session, that, " as far as it was possible to lay down an abstract rule upon this question, he would lay down this rule, that Her Majesty's Government would annex no territory, great or small, except in conformity with the well understood and sufficiently ascertained

desire of the inhabitants of the countryproposed to be annexed." He concluded his. speech by saying: "If Honorable Members wished to take steps with regard to this question, let it be done by means of a motion calling upon Her Majesty's G-overnment to ascertain the wishes of the Fiji Islands in the course thty wished to see taken. This was the only form in which he accept any responsibility on the! question." This, no doubt, will be done, and, if pressure is brought to bear upon the British Government by j the Australian Colonies, no doubt a valuable group of islands' will be speedily dev'elo'pedunder Imperial rule, instead of becoming a resort for the lawless rind disaffected. An article in the ' Edinburgh Review ' (to which we are indebted for some of our statements) says, in reference to the new Government:—"At any moment we may hear that collisions have become more serious, and King Cakobau may eveii find it at last expedient to return to his Void customs,' and advise his native chiefs to solve the difficulty in the good old-fashioned way of killing and eating the recalcitrant foreigners." One thing is certain, England, thoroughly roused to put down the illicit traffic in flesh and blood (the Polynesian slave trade), wi.l not be thwarted in her efforts by an obstructive form of government in Fiji.

A Northern contemporary says the matrimonial market at Wanganui is very brisk at present, and that, in consequence considerable excitement exists at Taranaki, where there are over 300 young ladies all highly eligible, and anxious to change their state.

Accident.—A woman named. Ann Smith had the misfortune to break her leg on Sunday last, about 2 a.m., in jumping off a waggon loaded with wool, which was camped for the night at Mr. H. M'Dermott's, Shag Valley, in which she was travelling and had slept. The broken limb was bandaged up by Mr. Grilligan, and the sufferer was forwarded to the Dunedin Hospital by Sergeant Finnigan on Sunday morning. Smith has been in the service of Mr. Morgan, Kyeburn, an'd was making her way to Dunedin.

Our ; young men are undeveloped; or' what is worse, they are monstrously developed in an improper direction. Passalong our highways when our youths are passing to and from places of business or resorts of pleasure, " falsely so called." What do you meet ? Walking Havan- : illustrations of Euclid's definition. of a line " length without breadth or thickness," redolent of tobacco, and having no heads worth mentioning ! " Corn stalks," or stunted sickly-dwarfed mannikins, whose growth has been checked bv indulgence in the vicious habits of smoking and drinking which are the foes of youthful development and destroyers of youthful blood and brain. You look in vain for specimens of well formed well developed humanity. j Db. Mtjrbay again.—" iEgles," writ- : ing in the ' Austx'alasian ' says:—" When | a man reaches so bad an eminence as that achieved by Dr. P. J. (Judas Pecksniff?) Murray, little incidents illustrative of his character and disposition crop up abundantly. I am told that when the doctor was on the resident staff of the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum, he desired leave of absence for two or three days. The day after his temporary departure the Asylum authorities were startled at the somnolent j condition of the inmates. The poor old folks were all asleep and snoring heavily j the whole day long. Upon inquiry, it transpired that Dr. Murray had devised a novel way of keeping his elderly charges quiet and comfortable during his absence. ! He had administered to ea3h of them a j couple of grains of morphia- -a dose which I understand to be so powerful that it is only administered in extreme cases.

The ' Melbourne Age' of the 14th ultimo is responsible for the following : Some time ago Mr. Walker, in the Assembly gave severalinstances ofilliteracy on the part of men who were acting as committee men oi common schools. The 'S. A. Advertiser' however, relates an incident that puts the 'South Australian'on a lower level than the Victorian. The journal alluded to writes as follows " One of the reports of a public school examination submitted to the Board of Education on Monday, contained, besides other signatures, that of a worthy examiner "who signed "with ax ; testified to by another examiner as his mark. The Board requested that the reporters should not. include _ the report in their notice of proceedings, andwe accede to their rer quest; we are under no obligation, however, to withhold the fact that such an occurrence actually took place.

Bread is selling at Is the quartern loaf in Edinburgh. .There are in Prance 42 individuals out of 100 who are completely illiterate ; there are VOjii Italy,: 85 in Spain. A hotelkeeper at. &.karoa has" (under a Provincial Ordinance) been fined £5 for keep- ***§ licensed house open, and allowing billiard playing therein, on Christmas Day. The 1 oilowing letter from B. Eeid, Esq.,. 51. P. C., late Provincial Secretary, to the hon~ Secretary of the Csoniiwell Commonage Committee, we clip from tlie- * Cromwell Argus' r Salisbury, North Taieri, Decembei* 26, 1872., bir. [ have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed favour of tlie 6th instant., in whicli.you request my co-openition and assistance in securing a commonage for Crpmwell. In reply, allow me to assure you that any assistance which I am able to give will be mo_-fc willingly accorded. Indeed your town ought to have had a commonage before this ; but the difficulty of making reasonable terms with the pastoral tenants in that locality, the depressed state of the Provincial finances during the past three years, and'the doubt as power of the Government tocancel under the 16th Section of tlie Goldfields Act, all tended to retard the opening of commonage in your district. The decision; given. 1 by the Court of Appeal in the case,. IVI Lean v. the Superintendent, regarding the block on Bellamy station, has removed doubtas to the power of the Government in the matter j and the extended powers granted under the new 4 Waste Lands Act' will enable the Government to make terms with the runholder lor a block of commonage,—failing which it can be proclaimed under the new Act, and compensation determined by arbi"trsition. Trusting your district may sooa beplaced on as good a footing as others in regard to commonage,—l remain, yours trulv. I>. Reib."

Tiie ''-Echo ' in a leading article comment"* ing on (government action ■with regard to land saleiin SZodfs says " The sale which they have openly sanctioned of ten thousand acres ip the Maerewhenua district will, if comjolet&d, be one of the worst. This is a new - district. Mining, is to it a new enterprise, and has had great and serious obstacles to contend with. Water is scarce and at & great distance. Relying, however, on the excellent prospects obtained, about seventy miles of races have been projected, and" about forty miles of these completed. No Goldfield can show such a quick development. It is but of yesterday the finding of gold in the Maerewhenua district at all. And this proposed sale co_i.es at the very time when theminers seem- destined to reap some reward for their patient toil aad enterprising labors. The run-holder has, bit by bit, been purchasing the land between the Maerewhenua and Otekaike Creeks and the Waitaki Hiver. -The mining begins, it is said, to interfere witlt wool.washing,;and, as happily follows in. thetrain of digging, the miners are becoming ; small graziers. With the growth of the Goldfield the squatter's mouopoly ceases. Tho only chance the rmaholder has left is- to get possession of the freehold Hence his-appli-cation for leave to> purchase. It has been, proved that five thousand three hundred ac2cs of this land are iiuriferous, and in coosequence this part of the block is not to bfe soid. Kut, instead of this auriferous portion, * the runholder is to be allowed to purchase five thousand acres of land that are fit for Even if the laud was fit for nothI ing but sheep, still most strenuously would we i oppose the disposing of it. The G-oldfield will grow, but if the land, all around it is sold, iit will'be crushed out. What the Executive--and Waste Land Board have therefore to con - i sider is really this: Is the Maerewhenua G-oldfield to be crushed out or not? It isf i i'mere question of money. Is tlie Goldfield worth ten thousand pounds or not? It iaf,-. strange that whilst the other- Provinces almost anxious to| discover' within their limit# ' a payable Goldfield, we.in Olago should look; upon mining with such small concern. Indeed;the As.-embly at its last, sitting voted some thousands for the-inciting the discovery of a Goldfield in She North Island. And yet we in Otago seem to be taking such steps which, will, however, retard the development off our | Goldfields. There is not the veriest atom- of an excuse for. this sale of an acre of lahcL at Maerewhenua. The finances of the Province demand no sacrifice. The credit of the Pro- : vince has not been pledged to the disposal of big blocks. Why then does the Executive sanction this sale ? One would have thought that Mr. Bastings would not have been found in an Executive that sanctioned the sale of big blocks.

Caution.— I Two large'parcels of lint in the shop of Mr. liiggin, chemist and druggist, Hokitika, were set on fire one day last week by a glass vessel in the window concentrating the rays-of the. sua upon its inflammable contents. ;