THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1874.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 272, 22 May 1874, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1874.

The little fight in the Provincial Council is over, witb, apparently, no'great harm, for ' it would almost seem there was nothing else to-'do, the Government having, to the end of last week, brought down no business except a few formal Bills, and the resolutions with regard to the removal of the Asylum, which passed as a matter of course. The debate, upon these, if there is to be any, will, we suspect, come on when the Council sees what money is placed on the Estimates for the purposes recommended. On the contrary, we consider that a great definite good will result, for it is certain that, after the strong expression of opinio.n from ; nearly all parts of the House, Mr Reid will, act dare to bring down any proposals direclly asking- the Council to agree to give them the power to repeat the sales at Moa Flat and Teviot. But for the debate after Mr. Eeid's strong a nouncement in his de-' liberate policy stated a fortnight ?-ro, that no Government would be worthy of confidence that did not point to such sales as the only alternative failing loans, we may be very sure he would have brought down such a proposal, and, it is to be feared—with a majority of perhaps one —would have carried it. Anyone will see that, the Provincial Executive with an almost unlimited power to sell, it would be a certainty that the Houses at Wellington would refuse to sanction a loan. Another good resultiug is the formation of a strong Opposition. "We quite believe with Councillor Barnes and the 'Otago ' Daily Times ' that such Opposition is a benefit if it is not carried so far as to become obstructive. Cr. Barnes, it will be remembered, as we quoted before, slated his opinion that when, in a representative chamber, things were going too easy, depend upon it there was nothing being done. The ' Daily 'Times' stated, some little time ago, referring to a speech made by the present Provincial Secretary at the Taieri i —"Two matters to which Mr/'Eeid " referred in the remarkably good | " speech he made the other evening, i " are very suitable illustrations of the ' " value of an influential Opposition in " Parliament. One-of them shows " how useful is the curb which an Op- " position,capableof making itself res- " pected, can put upon even the most " arrogant and successful of Ministries; " the other, how vain it is to rely upon " the professions and promises of men " who have once made themselves cer- " tain of their position—have got the " bit between their teeth—and can ".snap their fingers at all Opposition. " Each is a warning in its way, and " shows how foolish it is for a commu- " nity to follow blindly any set of men, | " whatever may be their reputation for j " cleverness, and however much their ; " measures may have the appearance ' " of being moulded according to the ■ " current mood of the popular side." ■ It is not often we can raise ourselves to such a high level as to be able to endorse the editorial expressions of the ' Daily Times.' One other great good has been effected,, although notwithout pain. We allude to the exposure which lias taken place as to the disagreements. in the Executive itself —not that anything will justify such a disclosure of what should be' sealed matters to every individual of a Ministry, but that of all persons Mr. Turnbull deserved so telling and complete a discovery ; so much so, as almost to conduce an unpardonable offence against decency in the public place self-chosen for such disclosure. The action and conduct of Mr. Turnbull in making the statement, without offering proof or having proof to offer—as reported, in the first instance, in the 'Dunedin Evening Star his late colleague, must have robbed him, as a politician, of the respect of those who supported him. That, to save an adverse vote of the House, he should to secure two or three doubtful voters by throwing a suspicion of foul play about Mr. Bastings' actions, in a heated debate where contrary proof could not be'made—we accuse Mr. Turnbull of no direct falsehood, for he retracted, explained, and apologised for everything after he bad created the irapres-. sion, and given his followers the excuse they needed for their votes—we sav Buch unscrupulous conduct is, and will generally be held to be, quite sufficient cause why he should no longer selfsacrifice himself on the Executive benches. These statements were made in the same breath in which he announced that he had such confidence and respect for Mr. Bastings that be had asked Mr. Eeid to take him into the coalition Government—in a subordinate position. > The Upposition made a great mistake : they gave Mr. Reid tho power whjch he and his colleagues grasped at —to say their cause was only a quarrel between. Mr. 'Jurnbull and Mr. Bastings—a trial' of these two members, for wrongs connected with the public money by tho Executive, of which the aubnrdmate is to take the blame and the chief, who could have put a stop to any wrong in a moment —who was, above all, responsible—whose duty it was to be aware of what was going on in every department—is not only to escape, blame (if any is. at-

fcachable at all, which wo. very much doubt) but to sit again in the same office, the duties' of which, .it is at all events abundantly plain, he made a point of neglecting. .Such a revelation, we hope, will be long before it is repeated again. It was very nearly burked. Mr. Bastings himself never alluded to it in public or private, and it must have been the desire I o retain ■ power alone which tempted Mr.'Turnbull, in order to Iqatch a few votes, to pretend to be lashed info a state, in which he liad no alternative but to repeat the full story from his point of view, because Mr. 'Fish and others, all of whom he professed to despise, made a few unwise remarks in defence of the late Secretary for Public Works, who is old enough to answer for himself. But for this we should now be ignorant of the action the present Treasurer could be guilty.of in his public capa city as a public man. Nothing could be more culpable than his statement —whether true or not, without being at once prepared to show proof—as to the acceptance of certain railway contracts. He has since endeavored to explain this away," but very lamely. He stated that these contracts were' analysed by the Secretary for Works and.tbe Provincial Engineer previous to being seen by the Executive in Council; that Mr. Bastings insisted upon the exact conditions being carried out; that this involved the rejection of the lowest tender, because the deposit cheque was< not marked, the banks being closed on the day that a wise Government had- fixed upon as the last day for receipt of tenders (Good Friday) ; that therefore the second tender was accepted ; and then, Mr. Turnbull, we are informed, after reflection you recollected that this second contractor, who was successful, was a—Mr. Morrison, of Blue Spur. In other words, intending the Council to believe that Mr. Bastings had analysed the tenderp, seen the lowest tender was inadmissable if the conditions were strictly abided by, and then urged his dummy colleague's to agree to that, so that his friend,_Mc. Morrison, might be successful. 1 Then "it comes out that Mr. Bastings had urged that all the tenders should be refused, as being too high ; and straightforward Mr. Turnbull admits this might have been so. What, pan we'say after this ? Nothing, we think, but to quote again .the ' Daily Times '■ of Saturday last. Our contemporary says :'~" However, Mr. " TurnbulFs straightforward and lucid " explanation" had the effect of decid- " ing, in favor of the Government, the " votes of certain members who, almost " up tothe last moment, were regarded " as waverers ; and seeing that such " was the case, some good, at all events, " was done through Mr. Eish's unad- " vised condu'et. It is said that it is " by no means improbable that had " Mr. Turnbull not been compelled by " Mr. Fish to make'his explanation,- " the Government would .'have been ".defeated." _ If this be-.so,..and we hear that it is, we ,do not envy Mr. Tieid his majority. One thing we are. glad of—that' one, and one only, re-~ presenting a' Goldfields constituency voted for the Government. A full inquiry is to be made into the charges made by Mr. Turnbull. '■" '

The successful numbers in the St. Batha'ns Art Union -will be found in our fourfch page.

The Government have asked the Council to consent to the construction of- the branch railway up the Valley of the Waihemo.

We understand that -Mr. Warden "Robinson,- having recovered his health, will shortly return to Naseby, to resume his duties. The post office here will be closed on Monday, 25th instant (Queen's Birthday), on which day the Dunedin mails will be made up and despatched at ten a.m. Messrs. Indeb. and George will submit to public competition, in their'sale rooms, on Friday, 22nd instant, valuable mining and other property at the Maerewhenua. -

Subscriptions are being raised throughout the country af Home in 'aid of the sufferers from the Indian famine. : The total amount subscribed up to March 9th was £40,700. The ' Wellington Independent' says the sudden stoppage of nineteen publicans licenses by the Hokitika -Licensing Commissioners naturally took a great many by surprise.

, Four one-sixteenth shares in the Mount Pisgah Water Race Company, Maerewhenua," are advertised for sale' by public auction, at Shrimski's rooms, Oamaru, on Saturday, 23i'd instant. ' ■ [- ....

The banquet in celebration of the sixth anniversary of the Loyal Naseby Lodge of Oddfellows, will take place in the Lodge room, Empire Hotel, on Monday next, at 6.30 p.m., instead of at five, as advertised. It is proposed to put a bridge over the Waitaki at what is called the Gorge above Hill's, at the .joint expense of the Otago and Canterbury Governments. The Engineers are -to meet, or have met, this week to take preliminary observations.

A petition has beev. numerously signed a' Maerewhenua, praying for the immediate erection of the bridge across the Maerewhenua river in connection with the Awamoko line o railway ; and also that < the' memorial laid before the Government, last session be given i effect to. - • -

The ernment, we believe, are favorable to the construction of a bridge over the Taieri, near Hamilton, but not to the one at Hyde. A gentleman from Hyde is making strenuous efforts in town to obtain the bridge at the latter place. We hope he will be successful.

The ' Lyttelton Times' learns that Mr. Watt, the owner of Lurline, intends to send his famous mare fo Melbourne, to strive -with worthy competitors jn the next Melbourne Cup to be rnn for in November.. It -will be interesting to note how ''■ the New Zealand crack fares in Australian company. There Bave been eighteen petitions presented to the Provincial Council praying the Council to recommend the regulation, and in some cases the total suppression, of the Sunday railway traffic on. the Port Chalmers railway. These petitions are signed by 3,231 residents.- The Government can hardly help paying atttention to so strong an expression of opinion.

A correspondent, v/riting to a Northern paper from Foxton, asks:—"Why cannot I get a child vaccinated in this model township ? I have applied to two medical gentle-, men on the subject, but have not yet succeeded. Some time ago the authorities j had

small-pox and vaccination on the brain, but the malady seems to have died out—so far as this district is concerned at least. -'

It will be seen that, by the programme as laid before the Council for the disposal of the 30,000 acres on deferred payments, not one single acre has been granted to the Northern Interior District: .This treatment no doubt Mr. Reid thinks politic and right, but we hardly think it- will be very satisfactory to .the Mount Ida .district. It appears likely that-some blocks may be opened on the agricultural lease system. ;

Mr. G-!LLiE\has forwarded, to the Central Mining Association, £IS lis. 6d., collected by Mr. Geo. Coombes, of Tokomairiro," towards the Maerewhenua Eiver defence fund. It is not known yet whether Messrs. Borton and' M 'Master will' agree to the proposition of ■the Government to have the case argued before the Court of Appeal. Even so, some heavy expenses have already been incurred which will need to be paid. Local collectors to the fund are requested to keep their lists, because it will be for them to say what shall be done with the money if not needed for the purpose collected. In the debate on the want of confidence motion Mr. Mackenzie, the member for Waihemo, made a happy hit by naming the Executive the round-robin Government, because they had all head except one tail—Mr. Lumsden, the member for Invercargill, being the tail. Mr. Reid was the head, Mr. Turnbull was co-head, Mr. Stout was always ahead wherever he was, Dr. "Webster last week aspired to be head, which left the nonofficial member for Southland as the solitary tail. A similar hit was also made by the same member, who stated that the.Highstreet ratcatcher had caught Mr. Reid, who in turn had dragged in the member for Caversham, Mr. Stout.

Mr. Turxbull made an explanation in the Council anent his. statement, as reported, "that the Secretary for Works aud the Provincial Engineer analysed the tenders for the railways prior to their being seen in the full Executive." • We hear that the report was quite correct as to Avhat was said. Now Mr. Tiirnbull tells us what he meant to say, and this was that tl e analysis was made subsequently to the opening up the tenders as usual. Mr. Turnball requires to be taught a lesson, that to make, charges against public officers who cannot defend themselves, even althwugh it is followed by the inevitable apology, cannot be tolerated. For one that sees the apology ten see the original charge. The Council should insist on a full inquiry into these statements of Mr. TurnbuH's.'

Lite Upper Taieri correspondent of the | Waikouaili Herald' writes :—" It is refreshing in these dull times of mining enterprise to ba able to report that a splendid nugget of gold was unearthed in a small gully" in the neighborhood of the Sutton a short time ago. The lucky finder was an old digger, resident in that lecalily for a number of years. He at once proceeded to Dunedin aud sold it to the Bank of New South Wales, who paid the highest price per ounce at present ruling for it. The nugget weighed llozs. 2dwts.,° and the price paid was £3 15s. 6d. per oz. It is not often now-adays that we hear-of nuccets of that description being found in Ota»o: Great excitement was caused in this neighborhood on the' receipt of the news. I had a conversafion with the owner, and he told me that previous to finding the nugget he dropped upon a patch of ground that yielded £7 worth of gold. ■-.■:• The Grand Hunt National Steeplechase,' worth six.hundred guineas, brought out only twelve horses, and these are reported, with one or two exceptions, to have been an inferior lot.. Lucellum, who won easily, was a foreign'bred animal. The subscriptions to the race were numerous, but the. jockeys thought the course too stiff for their animals. An English correspondent states-'-that the fact is that generally the horses running in these cross-country races are thoroughbreds who have had a little up-country schooling, and been hunted with some pack, so as to, obtain the necessary certificates from Master of the Hounds, and then brought'out as steeplechasers. To meet the capabilities of these animals the fences have become small by degrees and beautifully less, until they have been little more than obstacles easily kicked over. Besides frustrating the best objects of steeplechasing—the encouragement of- hunters—small trappy i fences are much more dangerous than fair upstanding ones. Our hurdle races at Naseby could affirm that last statement.''

On Monday last the debate "upon the harbor question came on, the Provincial Solicitor moving the motions as printed in the Order Paper, and suggesting that the Trust -should be allowed to borrow £250,000. ' In moving it Mr: Stout said, it .would no doubt be desirable that a special Act should be:obtained to give power to the Trust to borrow, to issue debentures, and other process necessary. This being so, why not go to the higher legislature first, and then, when we know what powers are given them, it will be ! time enough for the Council to appoint the Trust. Some people imagine that a Trust is a constituted body independent of the Province, but that is a fallacy, because iny such Trust has the colateral guarantee of the Pro- ■ vincial revenue.-yJVIr. Oliver spoke strongly against the Council being asked to give such powers to an irresponsible body. He gave it .as a more probable estimate that £500,000 ' would be needed. There was an entire absence of information—none at all, indeed, except the wise report of ,the Provincial "Engineer. Dr. Menzies, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. de 1 Lautour took up the same line of argument. Mr. Turnbull said no further information was 1 needed. Mr. Reynolds, too, supported the .motion. The adjournment of the debate was 1 carried till Wednesday, to enable the Port j. Chalmers Railway Committee to report. It ,is likely that the motion, in some form or 'another, will be carried. Qx Friday last we observed that-the Council Order Paper was cleared in a little over ,an hour, and the members had no alternative .but to adjourn till two p.m. on Monday. It does seem inconsistent for the Governmentto accuse the country members of factious Opposition, because a vote of want of confidence was tabled one day and settled the next, when the Council has now been sitting nearly three weeks, and no Government business has been laid before the members all that time. Neither has the yearly balancesheet even been laid before the House—a most serious neglect on behalf of the Treasury department, and a direct evasion of the Audit Act, which makes it imperative to lay such a sheet before the House within eight days of the Council meeting. The truth seems to be that the meeting was summoned some fortnight before the departments were ready, owing to the mismanagement, or, rather, inattention, on the part of the late ■.Treasurer and Provincial Secretary, who now has again exalted himself to the Treasurership which he has proved so singularly incapable of conducting. In the absence of I such balance-sheet and the estimates —echo, indeed, asks when they will appear —no real ; business is possible, for the functions of the Council arc to administer the expenditure of ■ the revenue and the sale of land to bona fide settlers.