TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 210, 6 September 1870, Page 2

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1870.

Caledonian Society. — We are requested to call the attention of all those ' interested ia the formation of a Caledonian Society, to the advertisement calliujr a meeting in the Temperance Hall, tomorrow evening, at half-past seven. Wangapeka Land Purchasers. — Tlie Select Committee to whom was referred the petition of the late laud purchasers at Waugapeka, and of which Mr. Domett was chairman, have reported their in- : ability to arrive at a satisfactory solution of the difficulty. The WANGArEKA. — We are glad to learn from a letter received by a trentleman in town to-day, that Batchelors' party have succeeded in striking Doran's reef, at about a quarter of a mile below the prospector's claim, and that tbe stone affords every appearance of being rich in the extreme. Winter Evening Entertainments. — We would remind our readers that the Bishop of Nelson will deliver his lecture on Venice, illustrated by between thirty and forty beautifully executed photographic dissolving views, at the Provincial Hall, this evening. Each view will be introduced by appropriate airs on the harmonium. Coroner's Inquests. — An inquest was held at the Hospital on the body of Martin Gibbs, whose death we recorded yesterday, when a verdict was returned fo the effect that death was caused by the fall. — Another inquest was held at Spring Grove, on the body of a child of 16 mouths old, the son of Mr. Hermann Fayeu, who was found drowued in a small stream. A verdict was returned in accordance with the evidence. Drowning at the Grey. — We resrret ' to learn that a youug man named Wm. George Hall, brother of Mr. H. Hall, of the Waimea-road, was drowned by falling off the wharf at Greymouth, on Tuesday last. As the deceased was a member of the Ancient Order of Foresters, the members of the Court Concord turned out iu regalia at the funeral, and were joined by the members of the two local lodges of ' Oddfellows, who escorted the body to the grave. Hall had been on the Grey since its first settlemeut, and was greatly respected by all with whom he came in contact. ] A Sign of the Times. — The Waimea Road Board are advertising for " an active and competeut person as overseer of the roads within the Waimea District." His duties are thus described, "He must devote ; alibis time to the service of theßoard; inspecting all the works in progress, advising the Board as to the condition and requirements of the trunk roads, aud generally carry out the instructions of the Board and of their surveyor." As the trunk roads extend over a considerable) number of miles, thus rendering it impossible for this factotum to perform his duties on foot, it will of course be uecesary , that, in addition to keeping himself, he should also keep a horse, and when we say that for this office, with the munificent salary of £150 per annum attached to it, there are over 70 applicants, some idea may be formed of the number of persons ' who have a difficulty in procuring a living for themselves. ' Washed Ashore. — Th- Taranaki \ Herald says that a whale over seventy feet : in length has been washed ashore near i Bell Block. \ Mr. Vogel mentioned in tbe House on Friday that the session would probably come to a close iu about four sitting days , in this week, and that the Government j would make arrangements for the conveyance of members to their respective j homes.

I A strong expression of opinion has been given by Judge Ward, with regard to the practice on the Nelson side of the Grey river of allowing rainiug agents to appear in cases heard in Eesident Magistrate's Courts. He thought that Magistrates should not allow it. The census returns for Westland are all in. They give the population at over 15.000. It was very inaccurately taken. Many persons in Hokitika are known to be omitted from the returns, while refusals to fill or sign papers ia the country are alleged to be numerous. Her Majesty's ships Galatea, Clio, and Rosario, took their departure from Wellington on Saturday, the Galatea towing the other two out. The Clio and Galaiea proceed to Sydney, where, as we understand, the latter will be docked to undergo some repairs. The Rosario is bouad for a cruise among the South Sea Islands. Parliamentary Bon Mot. — During the present session our legislators have made some very good jokes. Mr. Stafford yesterday added another to the list. Tbe hon. gentleman was alluding to the inconsistency of the hon. Colonial Treasurer in ! expressing his desire to get the business | concluded and allow members to return to ' their homes, while at the same time the j Government were, in both branches of the I Lpgislature, introducing a swarm of bills. In conclusion the hon. gentleman said that the Government were fast becoming a species of ornithoryi.cus — a beast with a bill. This sally was received with shouts ol laughter. The hon. Colonial Treasurer explained that they were nearly all of a merely technical nature, and although important would not likely take up much time. The following report to the Colonial Secretary, on the graving dock at Otago, is published in the Government Gazette : — Sir — With a view to its becoming generally known that vessels of her Majesty's navy, as well as of the mercantile mariue frequenting these seas, can be docked and repaired in New Zealand, I have the honor to request his Excellency the Governor may be advised to call the attention of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to the graving dock now rapidly approaching completion at the Port of Otago, the dimensions of which ar- as under: — Depth of water at dock sill, ordinary tides, 19ft 6in ; do do, spring tides, 21ft; do do, neap tides, 17ft 6in; length of dock, 330ft; width, above, 68ft; do, below, 41ft; do, where ship's bilge would be, 43ft. I may add that the dock will be ready to take in vessels in January, 1871. I have, &c, J. Macandreav. Statistics. — The following returns are compiled from tho Gazette of Thursday last. The Customs revenue of the colony for the year ending 30th June last was £808,451, and for the quarter ending on the same date £187,981, that for the cor- : responding quarter of last year being £213,145. Nelson's share was £6979 for th-' quarter, as against £9027 for the corresponding period last year. The total ' value of the imports at the various ports for the quarter was £1,048,321, of which < £48,189 worth found their way to Nelson, which in the corresponding quarter of last year imported goods to the value of £95,410. The exports for these ssme three months have been, from the whole colony, £1,194.824, being au iucrease on the corresponding quarter of last year of over £100,000. To this sum Nelson has contributed £16,117. Nineteen vessels of ; an ag_»re«£ate of 7860 tons were entered inwards at this port from the United Kingdom and other British possessions during < the quHrter. The number and amount of Savings Bank transactions in Nelson for the same period are as follows : — There 1 are three Savings Banks, in which 44 I new a counts of the value of £1452 were i opened ; 142 additions amounting to ] £1744 were made to previous accounts, i making the total number of deposits 186, i of the value of £3196 10s. The amount < of principal was £1994, the interest paid _ on closed accouuts being £7 7s. Bd. We j now come to the Money Orders paid and 1 issued at the several chief and accounting i Post offices in the colony. The total j number of orders paid was 4505, the j amount being £19,556 16s. 7d.; on the i other hand there were 7657 issued, the < value of which was £33,468 19s. 4d. In this i list Nelson figures as follows : — Orders i paid, 429, value £2208 275. 4d. ; orders i issued, 295, value £1332 19s. 9d. i

; The Effects of Earthquakes in : Wellington. — The Thames Advertiser i says : — From Southern papers to hand wo i observe that Wellington has again been visited by one of those powerful disturbers of equilibrium called earthquakes, yet nothing can cure the people there of the insane idea that they should have dry docks built, capable of holding a fleet. Why, such violent shakings as they have had lately would knock the bottom out of \ them and of what use would they be then? ' The empire citizens say that Wellington is bound to be the port of call, as it is the political centre, the geographical centre, and that it is no fault of theirs that it is also the earthquake centre, instead of being the commercial centre. We should like to , know who would call at Wellington if they could avoid it. Why, in all probability ifc , will be swallowed up some day as Jonah was , by the whale, and vomited forth on some other portion of the colony. Ifc is only sheer compulsion that takes the Ackland members there ; and to their co3t soma of them get plenty of rocking on the sea, without any additional dose ou land. For some days after their arrival they felt the ground shaking like an ill-bal-lasted ship, while at every corner they run 2ieat risk of being blown over the houses. Yet, when seen in this pitiable condition, the Welliogtonians uncharitably say that they are screwed, that if they would drink less they would walk better. We learn that the last shock was so severely felt in the House that the member for the B:iy wa3 pitched over a table ; but the Wellington folks deny that it was the earthquake, and say that the hon. member had been at Bellamy's, and that his legs are, like his politics, shaky at tha best, and not fit to be trusted. Retirement of the Speaker. — The following is a verbatim report of the remarks made by Mr. Speaker, in the House of Representatives, on Monday last, announcing his intention to retire at the end of the present session : — Before proceeding to the business of the day, I desire to ask the attention of the House for a very few minutes. I think it i3 only consistent, gentlemen, with the respect I owe to this House, that I should inform you that it is not my intention to seek to occupy the chair after this session. Various considerations, which it is not necessary for me to explain, have urged me to this conclusion. One aloue is sufficient: I doubt my ability to undertake the duties of the chair for five years more. It has been my fortune, gentlemen, to occupy the position of Speaker of this House for ten sessions — a long period in a young country, where events succeed one another with a rapidity unknowu to older communities. These ten years, upou which we now look back, have witnessed events of the greatest importance in the history of New Zealand ; and the action of this House has, to a corresponding extent, been of a responsible and important character. I trust I may be allowed to say that the attitude of the Legislature during the ten years to which I refer, has been one of great earnestness and devotion to public duty ; and that, whether engaged in the work of building up the political fabric of a rapidly expauding community ; whether engaged iu the duty of devising measures to protect the community against danger which almost threatened its existence ; or again, in reconciling the conflicting interests of two very dissimilar races, — the proceedings of this House have throughout been characterised by a large amount of singleness of purpose, by statesmanlike ability, and above all by a most remarkable and honorable forbearance and generosity towards the weaker race. In carrying out this work it has been my duty to preside over your deliberations, and to interpret and apply those rules which you have laid down for the conduct of your business. I have felt, gentlemen, that as your representative, I occupied a position of much honor and responsibility, and it has been my anxious endeavor to maintain and extend the high character of your proceedings, to secure for the Legislature its legitimate position and privileges, and jealously to guard the honor and reputation of the House. I am about to retire shortly from the position that I have so long occupied, and I assure you, gentlemen, that I cannot make the announcement without considerable emotion. There remains now for me in connection with this matter one duty still to perform, and that is to thank you most sincerely for the indulgence and support that Jt'you have

uniformly extended .to me. That I have often stood in need of it, it is impossible for me to doubt ; but it has rendered comparatively easy the performance of a duty in itself of an onerous, responsible, and delicate character. I assure, you gentlemen, that I shall always retain a most grateful recollection of your kindness, and that I shall look back upon my connection with this House as the most honorable passage of my life. Supposed Letter from the Duke or Edinburgh. — It will be remembered that some {ew mouths ago there appeared in the newspapers an exceedingly clever letter, purporting to be from the Duke of Edinburgh to the Prince of Wales, and which, by many, was believed to be genuine. Ir. the same paper which was the first to give publicity to this letter (the Madras Mail), there appeared another, coming apparently from the Prince of Wales to tbe Duke, but we learn tbat both of them were forgeries, and that at home it has been thought needful for the Prince of Wales to formally disavow the authorship of the letter that was ascribed to his pen, and also to authorise a contradiction of the genuiueness of that purporting to he addressed to him by his brother. Friendship often ends iu love; but love in friendship — never.

[ A Scene in the House. — Oa Wednesday last Mr. Richmond moved that the House go into Committee to consider an address for a grant of £300 to the Botanical Gardens of Wellington. This waa opposed by the Government, but on a division, was carried by a majority of ten. I Ou the result being known, says tlie Post, Mr. Vogel rose in a rather violent manner, and declared tbat the log-rolling that had been used to produce that vote would render it impossible to carry on representative government. The principle just established was a most disastrous one, and a similar vote should be passed for all the other Provinces. To carry the vote members had resorted to a highly objectionable system of private canvassing. He could prove that it had been carried on at balls and dinner-parties, aud everywhere else, almost, and it was utterly subversive of the independence of Parliament that such proceedings should be tolerated. (Laughter and irouical cheers.) Even Ministers had been canvassed individually. He would propose a similar vote to each of the Proviuccs and the County of Westland. The Speaker explained that this could uot be done on the present occasion; arid Mr. Vogel then made some remarks about the Standing Orders beiug enforced in certain cases and relaxed in others. Mr. Rolleston said that he would sooner have put his hand iu his pocket to make the gardens than have seen a Minister of the Crown make such an exhibition of himself as Mr. Vogel had just done. (Cheers). He denied having been guilty of any improper conduct in regard to the motion, aud he considered it a flagrant breach of decorum on the part of a Minister of the Crown lo bring such accusations as Mr. Vogel bad made, and he had yet to learn that the position of private detective was a proper one for a member of the Government to assume. Mr. Bunny thought log-rolling the very foundation of representative government, and he admitted that he had often resorted to it, and thought it very proper to do so. Mr. Taylor rose to say that he had not countenanced any log-rolling, when he was interrupted by Mr. Vogel, who, in a very impertinent manner, said he had not referred fo Mr. Taylor, as he was not aware that that gentleman took any interest in the question before the House, or in any question which might come before it. Mr. Taylor, in a very quiet manner, said that the interest of members in the business before the House was not to be judged by their readiness in jumpiug up to speak. Mr. Barff thought that the whole of the ten million loan would not be sufficient to form a satisfactory Botanical Garden in the desolate soil aud inhospitable climate of Wellington. He opposed the vote in toto, and pronounced the meteorological returns totally unreliable, as regards the climate of Wellington. Mr. Hall corrected some of Mr. Barff's rather wild meteorological ideas and stories. The Speaker, referring to Mr. Vogel's remarks implying partiality, explained the principles upon which his ruling was based, and said that if in his calmer mood Mr. Vogel still accused him of favoritism, he regretted it, but was not very deeply wounded by the charge, as he knew that the Colonial Treasurer was the only man in the House who would entertain any such idea. Mr. Vogel made rather a forced explanation, denying 'that he had iutended to accuse the Speaker of partiality. On the I formal motion that the Speaker do leave [ the chair, Mr. Vogel's voice was the only [ one heard in the negative, aud he demanded another division. While the bell was ringing, Mr. Fox crossed over, aud, apparently asked his colleague to withdraw tlie demand for a division, but Mr. Vogel did not do so, aud when the question was again put, Mr. Maia asked for the division. It was taken, and was another defeat for the Treasurer, the ayes being 26. :«nd tlie noes, 20. Right you are Pat. — An Irishman describing metaphysics, says: — "Two men are talking together, one of them is trying to explain something he don't know anything about, aud the other can't understand him. Teacher : What pwt of speech is the word egg ? — Boy : Noun, sir. — What is the "gender? — Cau't tell, sir. — Is ifc masculine, feminine, or neuter? — Cant siiy, sir, till it is hatched. — Well, then my lad you can't tell me the case ? — Oh, yes ; the shell, sir.