THE Mount Ida Chronicle SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1876.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 396, 14 October 1876, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1876.

The.arrangements under which the Provincial Appropriations are extended until the 31st December cannot be found fault with. On the assumption that .Abolition is to be actual the dayafter the close of the session it was absolutely necessary that a plank' of some sort should be contrived to bridge 'oyer the interval of time between the 30th September and the birth of Local : .Government. The Bill which affords this plank gives the Ministry power to appoint agents to take over the Provincial offices, and generally to fulfil the functions of the Provincial Executives until the 31st December. But is the assumption that Abolition is actual a' sound one ? If it is not, obviously our plank will tip up, and our agents, duly appointed by written instrument, ♦will,find themselves plunged into a sea of troubles beyond their powers to al- ;; Otago has gone too far now to recede from her, .demand, that she herself should'bei a' consenting party to the new era of Local Government. Ear deeper than public meetings lays the strong determination of our people not to be forced with their eyes blinded into a state of things founded upon Communism, and .ending in nothing short of the energetic South having to find ways and'means for the more supine North. If we start equal to-mor-row'the South would at once have to spin not only for her inhabitants but for the North, whose people would be consent to exist on her pittance—her common share seized at the present—and let Otago and Canterbury pay the debts of the Colony. Tet it is not. so much'overburdened struggling Auckland we have to dread, but the combined Provinces of smaller extent that for years have been playing a quiet,, stealthy game of beggar-.iny-neighbor. Otargo can very well see to> and look after, ijierown people., Her expressed deter- > I ruination in this matter will bring Canterbury to her senses, and there are not wanting signs that such time of repentance is near,,. With. Otago practically independent,. Canterbury's position would not be an- enviable one. Auckland would not help her, while Napier, Taranaki, Marlborough, and siNelson would bleed their wealthy ally .'in-annual rotation fortheir own pur- ■■•-■'• '■■'■••" - ' Our Provincial Executive ;are in a ' difficult position. It is not now that they should be urged with rash counsel. Eecognising this fully we yet are but expressing the opinion of ninetenths of the people of Otago, when we say that if Otago gives way now heir prosperity is from henceforth, undermined,' while the energies of her people will be continually weakened by the evergrowing knowledge that they -are sowing and laboring while others are eating of the fruits of their labor. ' It may be hard to give up dreams of a united New Zealand, but all recognise that a union founded upon disunion would be a perilous realisation of a dream. Bitter as it will be to cut ourselves off for a time from the Colony, there'will be this element of consolation—that such severance, before we Lave actually been injured by our neighbours and feelings of recrimina- . tion have not arisen, will be the truest assurance of a future union upon a federal, base, —a union of all parts of , the Colony as States in friendly rivalry not interfering with one another, yet arranging in common Council questions of Colonial importance and of mutual security. The absurdity of Taranaki and Hawke's Bay Baying whether Tapanui shall have a railway or Kakanui a harbor, to be paid for by the people of those localities, has reached a point beyond which absurdity can go no farther. An opportunity now occurs, not of our seeking. Let us take it at the tide, trusting our own people; and re-

sisting nothing but what jfc lawless, and, therefore, certainly disastrous. —* The "Waste Lands Bill has been considerably altered by the Waste Landa Committee. Its most important proposals, so far as Otago is concerned, are embodied in clauses introduced by Mr. D. Eeid. They provide that pastoral country above 1500 feet shall be ,cut up into blocks not exceeding 5000 acres, and offered to the public on deferred payments. . There is, of course, no reason why the deferred payment system should be confined to so-called country. It is not supposed that the Bill will be passed through the Assembly this year. If it is necessary to provide for Tfaste Lands administration to complete the Government scheme, all debateable provisions will be struck out, and the skeleton for administration merely retained. Mr. Eeid's suggestion is, however, a valuable one, and it is one that will deserve careful attention, and from the people enthusiastic support. ! %?? 01P05!AI ' t as >learn, been subi mitted to the Government to mitigate the evils .arising-at Maerewhenua. For | a long time a race to take water down ! the right bank of the river to supply the sheep station with clean water has been talked of as a verv easy possibility. ■ The Government have been asked if they will agree to subsidise such a race by giving £1 for £1 for its. construction. If this could be 1 agreed to during the ensuing summer, when the dry weather sets in the race could be cut, and a few years' peace be insured to the miners. It is not known yet whether anything can be done in this matter. The Goldfields Committee have most strongly urged upon the Government the necessity ot setting the question at rest by legislation founded upon the most careful inquiry. This, however, means very very little. The real difficulty appears to be the apathy of the' Government and their notion that all these difficulties are got rid of—shelved : upon, the Counties.

The mp.il s via San Francisco will close onMonday IGtli inst.-,' at the usual Lour. The simple inauguration. of the County system, it is estimated, will cost £50,000. The lie v. Mr. Penny, of St. Mathew's Church, Dunedin, has accepted a curacy in Christchurch. Shearing is announced to begin at Lander Station, Manuherikia, on the 27th November prox. Tp Upper House has rejected the Gold Duties Bill, providing for the reduction of the dnty to Is. 6d. On "Wednesday last week 210 personsieffc for the Kumara rush in the steamers Wakatipu and Albion from Port Chilmers. Afpeals against Municipal assessments will be heard before the B.M. at the Court House on Thursday next. The change of hour of meeting of the Ark of Safety Lodge, 1.0.G-.T;, during the summer months is announced in our advertising columns. The Ocean Beach railway is now finished and when the sanction of the General Government is obtained—will be opened immediately. The Home mails via San Francisco, arrived in Auckland on Sunday last, and may be looked for at the district post offices on Saturday. We understand that Messrs. Currie and Sons, are the successful tenderers for construction of poition of flushing race. The figure has not transpired. Henry Wirgman Robinson, Esq., "R.M., and Louis William Busch, Esq., J.P., have been appointed by his Excellency the Governor to be \ isiting Justices of the prison at Naseby. We have to remind our readers that a lecture, in aid of the Athenaeum funds, will be given by H. W. Robinson Esq., on Friday evening, 20th inst. We understand that the Naseby Amateur Brass Band intend giving a concert and dance, in aid of the funds of the Mount Ida District Hospital, on the 2/th inst. The programme will app.-ar in our next issue. At the weekly meeting of the Ark of Safety Lodge, 1.0. G.T., on Monday evening last, after the initiation of seven candidates an essay was delivered by Bro! the Rev. Jas'. M 'Cosh Smith. The essay was well received. A large number of members were present. Latest news irom the Kumara rush are anything but favorable. Large numbers of miners are on their way back to their old haunts, sadder but wiser men. Extensive fields, only wanting energy and enterprise to develop them, exist nearer home, equally as good as those at Kumara. A meeting of hotelkeepers, of Naseby was held on Saturday afternoon at Mr. Pinder's Empire Hotel. It was convened by Mr. IVlosley, the representative of the Otago and Southland Licensed Victuallers Assocfation, to consider the desirability of forming' a Mount Ida Branch of the association. Mr. Pinder having been moved to the chair, Mr! Mosley explained that branches, such as it was sought to establish here, had been formed at Tnvercargill, Pviverton, Queenstown, Cromwell Clyde, Tuapeka, Milton, Balelutha, Taieri, Palmerston, Waikouaiti, Blueskin and Port Chalmers, embracing about 250 members. He then pointed out the objects to bo gain dby combination. A resolution, move by Mr. Horswell (Royal Hotel), and seconded by Mr. Pinder (Empire Hotel), in favor of the formation of a Mount Ida branch was carried, and four of those present, took their member's tickets—Mr. Pinder being, elected Secretary. ° Mr Birch, J.P., appeared on Monday, at the Supreme Couit as the plaintiff in an action for damages (£500), against the publisher of the 'New Zealand Liberator,' a temperance organ printed in this city. The cause of the action was an article which appeared on the Ist. July last, in which Mr. Birch was designated a " devil's mason," a" "consistent worshipper at the devil's chapel," was taxed"with inconsistency as a Justice of the? Peace, aud sneered at for "his great unpaid services." The abuse was based on the fact that A 1 r. Birch had taken part; in a private jollification connected with the laying of the foundation stone and christening of Kavensbourne House on one Saturday afternoon. The house, it was alleged, was intended as a hotel, objectionable to many of the inhabitants of Ravensbourne, and the defence contended that Mr. Birch had sacrificed th® dignity of his position as a magistrate in serving the interests of a good customer—the proprietor of the hotel in perspective. The Jury found a vsrdict for the defendant. ' Guardian/