The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 98, 27 April 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1871.

The idea which has hitherto been prevalent that, the business,, . tp be. i transacted ty the prbyincmllQ^uhcii is of a .very limited hatui c, a^Ebai,'- consequently, the session will hermit la short ono, must by this, time have been . dispelled from ._ the &W ( ■-.' & B *J ' ?be . who : has, carefully perused the speech of his Honor, the Superintendent, as, so far from being ia interestj.„it: appears <■ to us ; to ; ope'n up. questions .of more ;thau ordinary importance, which, will require to be bundled, with the, "feWfe" 6 in tfiatr-, they Jmos^fleriously, affecrth^^esent Welfare! of tth© Province,^Sn.d|are 'likely to have* a material influence upon X our future condition ,jf f:^whether 'dor r good • J o§' : fdr\ -evil .♦fiepjeftds entirely tfpoh'^lib^^ia/in.^iicp.i Ttliey .are dealt with during"'' tne' next few! weeks. The duration of the last session 'Msta -unnecessarily ©attended b^'lim^roWritti quaa-relq and .^.nqftUed ,/pr

taking move or less of a personal nature ; let us hope that the present periodical meeting of the representatives of the people will be characterised by an earnestness of purpose, aud an unanimous desire to advance the welfare of the province, the prosperity of which depends to a very large extent upon the action taken by those who have been sent up by their constituents to devise and carry into execution such plans as are best calculated to prove advantageous to those whom they represent. Considering the depression that prevails throughout the Avhoie of New Zealand, it is cheering to find that tbe revenue of the past year was very nearly equal to that of the preceding twelvemonths, tho falling off amounting to ouly £2,000. Inayouug colony it is natural to look for an annual increase rather than a decrease in the receipts, but special circumstances have militated against the more desirable state of affairs, and there is, everything considered, but little reason to complain of the very slight retrogression that has occurred iv our financial position, particularly as it is found to be owing chiefly to a falling off in the numbers of the more migratory ciassof the population, upon whose movements it 'is always impossible to calculate with any degree of certainty. Passing over the reference made by the Superintendent to tbe altered stale of tbe law bearing upon the accounts between the General and Provincial Governments, we come to a question, the importance of which it is scarcely possible to exaggerate, namely, tbe * proposed amendments of tho Waste Lands Act, which, it is hardly necessary to observe, were adopted by the Council last year but rejected by the Upper House for reasons to which we will not now refer. The encouragement afforded to bona, fide settlers by their being assured that on making certain annual payments for a term of years they would become proprietors of the land they had reclaimed from the wilderness, would, without doubt, be fraught with most beneficial results, in that it would have the effect of inducing many to settle upon portions of the country which at the present time remain in their natural state, as no one cares to expend his labors upon improving the ground upon which such a price might ultimately be placed as would effectually preclude him from becoming the purchaser. We are glad to find that Mr. Sbephard has already brought the matter forward for consideration, and trust that the Council will, by an unanimous expression of opinion in favor of the resolutions, condemn the action taken by the Legislative Council in refusing to remove the obstacles which at present stand in the way of tho settlement of our up-country districts. The question of the annexation, of the Grey Valley to the province of [Nelson is one of the highest importance, to which justice cannot be done in an article such as the present which pretends to nothing further than taking a mere cursory glance at the chief topics of interest in the opening speech. The acquirement of new territory is at all times possessed of. a certain amount of fascination, but there are, in this particular instance, drawbacks which must not be overlooked, and it can only be after mature, consideration and earnest deliberation that; the rejection or adoption of the proposed scheme can be resolved upon. Not one dissentient voice will, we are sure, be raised -against the conclusion arrived at by the Superintendent, that the introduction of immigrants into the province without some employment being first provided for them in the shape of public works, is extremely undesirable, as it is quite clear that to. import laborers in ,the existing state of affairs would simply" be the means of swelling, the pauper list, a consummation most studiously to be guarded against. If, however, as we are led to believe, there is a prospect of the, Nelson and Foxhill, and Brunner and Cobden railways being, ■ commenced, then an accession to our population would be gladly weicomrecJL, and would, it may be hoped, have the effect .of increasing the numbers of I settlers in the out districts, as no doubt many of those employed upon the works | would, after saving out of their wages a small amount of. money, sufficient to. give •them a, fair start, take .' up land in the interior, upon, which they could ; form Homes for themselves and families, . Resolutions affirming tbe desirability of at once commencing; these 'terminal' portions of a railway that we. hope, .ere hiany years have passed, to see carried' through thie ; .hiearrj of tbe province, have- already .been, placed upon the Notice Paper! -and' will: dn' all probability: ...meet ...with ' the .unanimous approval of the Council.-. ■ . „--X\\ The extension of our. present system of waterworks*,- gasworks* for the town,' and the • ' of '' water'' supply ■ for' birr mining districts, all find a place on the programme provided by the. Superintendent for the i. present;. session, and,- 'these, together n^h subjects: that aire sure to crQp^up..forr(discussiod>'*wi»lli fully opeupy.^tbejjatfiention of the Councillors

for some time to come. The people look to their . representatives to deal with all these -matters' .'in ' a serious, business-like manner, and fully, believe that if they are entered upon in a right spirit, and the members of the Council are animated only by a desire to promote the welfare of the province, the session just opened will prove, without exception, the. most important that has taken place since the passing of the Constitution Act. Most earnestly do we hope that such anticipations may be fully realised.

Provincial Council.— Nothing was duue in the Council last uightdieyond appointing a number of Select Cwnmittees. English Mails. — The Ph'oobe will leave Nelson „pp Satuffiay next to fetch the Sau Fraucisco ina'ilf with which she will leave Manukau .on the sth May, arriving here ou the evening of the 6th. She will sail again for Manukau with the outward mails on the 16th May. Band of Hope.— A meeting of the children of the Band of Hope was held at the Temperance Hall' last night when between 300 and 400 were present, to whom several addresses were delivered by friends of the society; after which the magic lantern was exhibited by their tried friend, Mr. B. Crisp. Stoke Farmers' Club. — 11. J. L. Augarde reports the third sale came off on the 25th inst. A good show of sheep of mixed breeds were held for 8s per head, and some good owes and lambs with a cross of Romney Marsh were offered, but held t at 10s. In pigs nothing was done. A few cows offered at iB to £9. In steers one good 2 \ -year old realised £4 10s. The business was limited, and the show of cattle not so good as at the last sale. Horses as usual were a drug in the market. A Fine Nugget. — A rich specimen of gold aud quartz has recently been found in Golden. Gully on the table laud better known as Salisbury's Open. The weight of the specimen, which looks like a piece of broken rock, and is quite rough, showing no symptoms of tbe action of water, is 10| ounces, the gold being estimated at at least 8 ounces. A number of men have been for several years working on this gold field with varied success, but owing to the great difficulties in . the . way of getting provisions, all of which had to be taken over Mount Arthur, and the scarcity of water in the dry season, the amount of gold obtained from here has not been large, but now that a pack track, has been made from the river Graham to Flora's creek, a distance of seven miles, nearly . half way, aud that a good track- is in formation over the remaining distance of eight miles, which opens out on to a large plain (Salisbury's Open) of 5000 or 6000 acres, there is little doubt that a large and payable gold-field will be worked in the spring, as all the gullies, of which there are a large number on the Open, have been proved to be gold bearing. It is believed that the track will be continued from tbe table land to the Karamea beud, which will unlock a large block of auriferous country. The pack track is being made under the superintendence of Mr. Tarrant, from the sum of money alloted to the Pangatotara Road Board cmt of the £4,800 received by this' province under the " Payment to Provinces Act" of last Session. There is a lake of considerable size a short distance from the table land, which, if of sufficient height, would afford a supply of water to this gold-field during the dry weather, and as the subject of water supply to .the goldfields lias now been brought before the Council, this no doubt will receive the attention of the committee appointed to take the subject into consideration.