THE Mount Ida Chronicle Saturday, MARCH 25, 1876.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 368, 25 March 1876, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle Saturday, MARCH 25, 1876.

It is time the public taking stock of-what. 1 lip landed estate ofihe Province really consists. Unless the value of the lands is known it is not eisy to be able to say whether we should gain or lose by nnv proposition having for its end a Colonial fusion of land revenue. It, is not difficult to arrive at a minimum value. Jt would bp more difficult to estimate what portion of the leased lands will turn out to he of special value for agricultural purposes. The land held under pastoral, leases in < itago proper is 0.464,2-18 acres; and in Southland. 750.915 the total acreage being 7.'_'15.133 acres The income derived at present fmrn these leased lands cah-ulated at 2d. per acre, in « !ta<ro is £03:681. 19 s . 8d • in Southland, £GS34 17s. 3d. ; the total inoome being £70.516 16s. lid. < >f this immense leased estate, neulectingland« about to be occupied, released and sold, 454 226 acres "will be open in 1878" 394,900 ~ „ „ 1879 289.000 „ „ „ „ 18S0 379,000 „ „ „ „ „ 1881 2,926,000 . „ „ „ „ ISS2 621,000 „ ~ „ „ 1883 1.840,000 „ „ ~ „ „ 1884 40,000 „ „ „ „ 1846 This acreage, relet in small runs at one and sixpence per acre, which is a fair average we arrive at hv what has been doiio at Tuape'kaand Q.urpnstnvh, would bring in a revenue of £502.959 9s. One other fact is worth record in connection with rhe subject. There are at present 198 runs. 'The size of the present, holdings is therefore shewn to average about 35 081 acres. The deductions from these f cts can be readily drawn by those interested in the subject.

Theue Tire manifest signs that the Alluvial Goldfields are now fairly round 1 lie bill of diffiou'ty. It is to be regretted that GoldfieVls posperitv is not to be obtained by wise restraint from interference on the part of the Legislator. Two years ago we had hoped that the removal of oppressive taxation, and of special department.®, would furnish the spring of self-de-pendence alone needed to afford prosperity. That hope has played itself out. The prosperity we now look forward to is built upon the check to progress in the Coast districts. High \va«fs dretf our overtaxed population away ; low wages will send, not them, hut a depreciated counterpart out of the same mint, back again into the arms of taxation. The experience of 'the class of miner who opened our Goldfields cannot be handed down as an In-red itary possession. Although early in the autumn, it is very difficult for men to find employment, v here before it has been plentiful. We may instance Oamaru. The field for floating labor there will now' he confined to the extension of the branch line up the Waiareka. The Harbor Works find employment to a f< j w men, but the Italians, at 7s. per diem have driven away the Britishers. The borrowed money for Municipal works, which perhaps it had been wi«er to have postponed the expenditure of t ill the mil way works were finished, is nearly exhausted. .No doubt, a town rising in prosperity, as Oamaru cannot fail to do, must always absorb a great amount of labor, but that is a differentthing from the special requirements when three lines of rail way are in course of construction to join in the heart of the town itself. Even in so highly .favored a district as Varnam the labor at present available cannot be employed profitably during the winter and spring. The same story repeats itself when we look South. It is certain that wages will fall; not be- i

cause the Government chose to lower the rate, and foolishly take upon itself the reputation of forcing what it could not really effect, but-because the publie \vnivljß .are-rtfast being completed,Hn^^e- contractors for what portions ,irr.e da rQ^-cf|)'e<.'tulat ing - upon the speed? cheapening of the 'labor market, which has lons been foreseen: The Goldfields may then expect an influx of population. Men who went to Oamaru and the Taieri because 83. a day where provisions were cheap was better than 10s. a day on the Goldfield townships will come back or send those they displace, to what they left when ss. or 65.. can only be got e ] se . where. If wages fall as I>w as ss. and 65., which seems more than likely, the rate on the Goldfields will also fail. At present the price of provisions is very high, and yet the tradesmen cannot be said to be too numerous, or to be making fortunes very rapidly. With bread at Is. the 4lb. loaf, and the poorest joints of meat at ruinous prices, sin-V gle miners cannot live and protejff) themsdves against the winter weather at Bs. wet and dry, which means really about 6s. (id. The trades men then will have to face the position of re I ucine the prices to the lowest oitch possible, making up for their diminished profits by extending their bu •dness's, or they must force the bulk of the population to be dishonest, or to combine to protect themselves. Legitimate trade is far preferable to either the runaway system which we have experienced, or 1o combination against the trade, which we have fortunately as yet to experience, and the first tradesman who grapples with the difficulty will be rewarded. 7d. should be enough for the 4lb. loaf, with flour and potatoes grown locally. Meat., with management might be sold much lower than it is at present. If the cost of'liviugcaanot be brought to equal the waye that can be earned, the surplus labor will merely drift through our midst—locust-like—-leav-ing the half of what they consu e unpaid for, and perhaps the additional consolation behind them that the field "'til be left to a Chinese popu ! ation, supplied- by Chinese tradesmen, who will take care of themselves and their constituents,. The transposition has already come about at lvyeburn Dig-g-ngs, and the story will be repeated elsewhere. ''he tradesmen may be sure of one thing -It is not the same to them whether they supply what is nominally £IOO worth ot goods, aiid get paid £SO for it, or whether tbev charge only £SO at the outset, and get it all j for.there is this d ft'erence: the goods supplied at the cheaper rate are realised upon sooner than those supplied at the dearer, and for one parcel sent out at the dearer rate six would go out at the cheaper.

If the Inspector of Nuisances getß us to do his work for him we shall go in for half the salary. Although we, aha]] have some littledifiicultv in per suading Inspector Murdoch to see it quiie in the same light, and may ex perience a difficulty in settling up, we prefer to deal as if we trusted him, and take a share of the work in anticipation of pay-day. The street at the hack of the town, bordering the Main Gully, is unpleasant! unhealthy, and sadly demoralising. Our ally the Inspector has had a sW at it.' At least we remember • something about beans of old glass and boots being spoken of in Court. ! he shot miscarried, and the evil is luxuriouslv '■ evergreen at present. The worst mess is at the back of the Town Hall, u.-der the civic nose itself. Of course it is an inviduou* task for Councillors to bring up even, in a Sanitary Committee the nuisanciß csu.sed by their neighbors that unfortunately happen to be known to them. Ihe Inspector is paid to relieve them of such a task, and his duty is clearly to report such abominable gutters of filth as lay open day and night at the back of the town. If he does the correct thing by us we will, map in hand, indicate each section, the owner thereof, and the state of filth existing. As it is, -we help him generally in the meantime. The Council have had the matter of ni»etyes under consideration, and liave refused to indiscriminately license ariv mare in the town. They might safely no further, and refuse to allow any pigstye whatever to be kept within the boundaries, not excepting certain human habitations, that are worse than many pigsty ps. There are such unpleasant things as typhoid fever, scarlet fever, and even typhus, ir < )tago. One or other, or all, will' soon be in IS'aseby. ] f any ratepayer considers our editorial nose io be too sensitive, let him gb and smell. Take the cross road by Steadman's smithy, turn round the back of the Town Hall, taking care not to fall ii»to the sewer near the turn, and follow the road by our office to E.irn Street. It he is not then converted to our views we wili resign him our chaiMoWhalf anihouiv •with a fresh breeze'blowing down the Gully. ] f he-stiji is unbelieving, we shall at the consolation 0/ knowing .will be easily satisfi£d(sor the!rest.tffrthevfay. The state of this street is rfeally dangerous to hurniiri life."

• Yesterday, being the Anniversary of the province, was generally ebserved as a public holiday. P, ogle's coftcb via Hyde aiid Macrae will only run mid-weekly after Sunday the 2nd of April; Thb land set apart in Block 111 of the Kyeburn Hundred, as of special value will be offered by public auction at oS-aseby, at the June sale ox town allotments. Thb winner of the handsome painting presented to the Hospital by Air. E. A. Chapman, haa placed the prize at the disposal of the Committee, 49 waa the winning ticket. The re-presentee gives no name but signs himself "Luck." The date of Sub-Inspector Sf'Cluskey's removal to Oamaru, ia not yet determined. There has been we believe some little hitch in filling Sergeant M'Nally's place at Clyde. ajl those who remember the unsightly state of the Camp buildings, when the then Sergeant M/Cluskey took charge of the station, will have noticed a very creditable improvement ; neat hedges, fences and trees, have added much to that part 01 the town, and also to the value of the property. It is true these almost indefinable improvements have been effected by prison labor, but they need not have been done. / The Gaol at Naseby is fast being completed. We hope its use will be confined to the 1 strictly ornamental. It is hardly fair to expect us to congratulate the district on the near completion of a substantial gaoL Perhaps our readers will take the amount of self-congratulation each for himself or herself likes Certainly it will not be so bad to be locked up in the new building as in the old. The contractors are doing their work well, and the Inspeotion_appears to leave nothing to be desired. The * Palmerston'Times' reports that an accident occurred to (Jobb's down coach on Saturday morning when a short distance from Pigroot; the rein of the near leader broke. At the driver (M r. Devine's) request, a gentleman sitting on the box seat jumped down to secure the broken rein. He madeseveral attempts to - recover it, but was unable to do so. Mr 1 *evinp also was not able to keep the coach straight on the road, as the leading horses were proceed.ng in one direction acros3 the road and the wheelers in another The coach though no fault of the driver s got into one of the deep ruts in which that portion of the road abounds, and toppled over. Fortunately, beyond a few slight bruises and a severe shaking, no person was hurt seriously. The coach was much damaged about the upper portion. We regret to learn that the Rev. H. Flamank, of Hyde, has had nis newly-saved, crop entirely destroyed by lire. Mr. Flainanks loss was uniortunately not confined, to the stacks, but also extended to his chaffcutting machine and a valuable threshingmachine, which had never even been fitted up The loss, we fear, will excted £suo while the means to meet it are necessarily - limited by the hard work needed the first year to fence in the land, build a house, and put on a few stock. Mr. Klamank- we have reason to know, was fairly round the early difficulties he had counted upon bavin** to face. He will now ba throwii hack in°his woik fully three years. All his friends are anxious to help him in his trouble. There is a feeling of co-operation among fellow workers which induce all to help one another, and lifts that help far above the region of charity. Lists are open at this office and elsewhere throughout the district of those willing to assist a worthy man in a good cause. The fire arose from that unfortunate attraction between matches and children which cannot be obviated by the greatest care.

The following paragraph appears in Wed lies lay's ' Times —"An article appc-ared in the ' Chronicle' last week, in which Bright is charged with being guilty of literary piracy in his series of lectures. Bright states that the charge was utterly groundless, and, in order to make goo 1 his prsi ion, has placed in our hands the manuscript of the lectures, to he perused l>y anyone deputed by the " Chronicle" to inspect them. This done, if the " Chronicle" fail to prove the soundness of its assertions, Bright, through his solicitor. intimates he will require the proprietors of the journal to apologi.-e for the charge, or compel them to defend an action for libel."