WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 111, 10 May 1872, Page 2

WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

Mr. Collins motion relative to the expenditure of the Public Works Fund allotted to this province was, at the request of the Provincial Solicitor, postponed in order to allow the Council to proceed with the consideration in Committee of the Highways Bill. — On the motion of Mr. F. Kellino, it was resolved that in the opinion of this Couucil it is highly desirable that a telegraphic station should be established in the township of Richmond, and respectfully requests ii'-rr. ri-inir- 1 i i- t i irriiTfiii__i n»w iiiiiinii«»iii>nimi'iiii_wiiiiiniiiini

his Honor the Superintendent to take the necessary steps to procure the same.— Mr. Reid asked the Provincial Secretary (1.) Whether his Honor the Superintendent, in accordance with a resolution passed by the Council last session, caused special enquiry to be made, by commission or otherwise, as to the circumstances under which town sections in Westport were sold and occupied, asto the safety of the present site of the township, and as to the steps necessary for the preservation of public and private property ? (2 )If such special inquiry hag been made, what has been its result ? (3.) If such enquiry haa not been made or is deemed unnecessary, is his Honor disposed to make any recommendations on the subject ? (4.) If so, what is his Honor dispossd to recommend ? The Provincial Secretary, in reply, said that it did not appear to be necessary to make enquiry as to the circums-tances under which town sections in Westport were sold and occupied, as the Government were in full possession of the facts. The sections of the Government township were offered for sale by auction, in accordance with the l«nd regulations The sections upon the Colliery reserve were occupied ngainst the wish of the Government, subject to twelve months' notice of re-entry. The sections on the Maori reserve were not under the control of the Provincial Government. With respect to the safety of the present site of the township, the Superintendent investigated the question when in Westport in February last, and was satisfied by the Provincial Engineer that the greater part of the township, as laid out before the occupancy of the Colliery reserve, might be considered perfectly safe. As to the steps necessary for the preservation of public and private property, the Government was advised that no works within the means of the Province would he of any avail to prevent the encroachment of the sea. further work had been executed tor the protection of the river bank, and more was now being done ; but a very large outlay would be required for effective and permanent security from the action of the great body of water brought down by the Buller river in times of flood. The Government had instructed the Provincial Engineer to clear and metal a portion of Palmerston-street to the reserve for public offices, and also to clear a portion of the reserve itself, so as to enable the Government Buildings to be moved there in case of need, and at the same time to make a considerable part of the sections deemed to be safe, available for occupation. The Government had placed upon the Estimates sums to cover the expenditure above referred to, but did not see their way to make any other recommendation on the subject. Mr. Dokne moved, " That, in the opinion of this Council, it is desirable that the Publicans' Licensing Acts now in force in this Province should be forthwith amended or repealed ; and that this Council therefore requests his Honor the Superintendent to cause to be brought down for the Council's consideration during the present session amended Licensing Bills for the Province, or an amended Licensing Bill which shall suit the requirements of the Province as a whole." The motion was, after some discussion, adopted, as also a resolution proposed by the Provincial Secretary to the effect that a Committee should be appointed to take into consideration the Licensing Acts with a view to their amendment. The Council then went into Committee on the Highways Bill, and, after sitting until nearly 10 o'clock, adjourned until This Day. On the motion of Mr. F. Kelling it was resolved, " That it is essential to the more beneficial working of the Highways Act and the Towns Improvement Act of this Province, that such amendment be made in. the Highway Board Empowering Act. 1871, of the General Assembly, as will enable the Board to levy special rates, although the said special rates togethf-r with the general rate be in excess of the limits laid down ! in section 6 of the said Highway Board Empowering Act," The Council then adjourned until Monday evening.

necessaries. A dozen of them put down twopence a week each. Even that they had some difficulty in sparing from their pinched earnings. They called themselves the Co-operative Equitable Pioneers. In 1844 they numbered 28, with a capital of £28. They expended £14 in fitting up a store, and the same amount in stock. The store was in a miserable alley called Toad lane. In 1845 they had 74 members, did business to the extent of £710, and realised £22„ profit. In 1846 the business done amounted to £1146, and the profits to £80. In 1849 the business done was £6611, and the profits were £561. So it went on mounting until in 1867 the number ot members were 6823 ; the business done for the year £284,910; and the profits fcr the year £41,619. Tbe association had then a fine library of 9000 volumes. This instance is only one out of many. In Thornton on Labor, a work of high repute, it ie stated tbat in 1850, the registered co-operative stores in England and Wales, did business to the extent of more than £6,000,000 annually, and realised an annual net profit of nearly £4Q0,.000, or an average net profit of 27 per cent. A Medical Strike.— A medical "strike" is a decided novelty. We have had " combinations " in all sorts of trades, but professional men have hitherto kept aloot from such movements. At Valparaiso, however, the doctors are imitating the operatives, and have "struck" work. This state of affairs arose as follows : — So independent had the medical men become that unless a physician saw a large fee at the end of a visit he would not attend the call of a sick person ; and at night, it became almost impossible in some quarters of that city to secure the attendance of a physician for love or money. The Intendente of Valparaiso being a courageous and determined sort of man, declared that at all hazards the citizens should have medical attendance if they wanted it. " The sick must be cured —at all events they must have medical attendance at any and all hours, irrespective of their ability <o pay." The medical faculty replied, «We are free men, and you cannot force us out of the routine which we as a profession have prescribed to ourselves." The man of authority then issued an edict, making it. obligatory upon the doctors to furnish from among the members of their profession four each day, whose duty it should be to hold themselves in readiness to march at the signal of sickness, and at any hour that such signal of distress might be given, irrespective of circumstances, and visit the patient: And the arrangement was ; to he such that all the physicians in the town would, by turns, become members of the healing squad of four. This was not an unwise arrangement, since every sick person was then certain of being treated in some way or other, at some time of the day or night, as these detailed men of medicines found time in which to visit them.' This rescript of the Intendente caused a mutiny in the camp of the healers of men, and they then refused to practise in the fated city at all. Here was a dilemma. If these gentlemen would not give physic, who could compel them ? And if they were compelled, who would dare to take the drugs administered by them ?, Some of them sought to emigrate from the city. This the Intendente promptly prohibited, unless they first obtained a permit from him — a boon which, he never intended to grant. The doctors appear to have been particularly obstinate, for the. last we hear of the dispute is that the municipality of Valparaiso has voted 10,000 dollars to bring out medical men from Europe, to fill the place of those on " strike " in that city. The influx of Heathen Chinee in Otago has for the time being abated, and to a certain extent an exodus of those interesting strangers is taking place therefrom. The last ship, sailing direct for Hong ' Kong, took away some 120 Chinese passengers, all of whom had succeeded in realising a little " pile " on the Otago diggings, chiefly in the neighborhood of Tuapeka and Waitahuna. A recent visitor to Dunedin describes a curious incident in street sights. The day previous to the sailing of the vessel a string of lpDg-tailed gentry were seen wending their way gingerly through the mud of Princes-street from the Treasury, each man laden with a spiti-span and new cash-box, which he carried carefully under his arm, watching each passer-by or on-looker with glances of. dread, suspicion. Theso boxes,, so jealously guarded, contained each individual Chinaman's share of gold, which, with customary 'cuteness, he preferred taking. back to the Flowery Land instead of either the paper money or gold coins of the barbarians. Many of these Chinamen had not been more than two or three years ! in the -province, where, by dint of. \ hard work and harder fare, they had succeeded in amassing ' little competencies. ! The SNbw. ; BLOoiE_VDE.^--The follow. > is an extract from a letter , to. the s viTimes fawn a New cowißs^on^

dated February 2: — The severity of the receufc wintry; weather has occasioned much suffering, and very great inconvenience in the interruption of travel. On the line of the Pacific Railroad the snowdrifts still impede the passage of tho trains, and defy the efforts of the labourers to cut a way through them. Beyond Omaha the blockade is represented as for the present hopeless. The quantity of snow is so great that a sudden gust of wind in a moment fills up an excavation from which the. drift had just been ..removed by the snow-ploughs, and every few days a fresh fall of snow adds to tbe obstruction. Passengers who left Ogden on the 26th of January were reported at Miser Station the day before yesterday, having performed less than a hundred miles in eleven days, and from the lack of provisions reported all along, the road there is ground to fear that Misar Station for these unlucky travellers may prove miserimus, the trains, going. west having been moving at the rate of eight or. nine miles a day. It may yet be bard to determine which is the weaker sex, for the ladies are certainly "going to the front" in various parts of the world at no small rate. As the latest New Zealand example of the reversal of privileges or protections, we find in a late Dunedin Star, that a lady named Maria Fairbank, hailing from the Portobello Road, announces that she will not be responsible for her husband's debts from that date. Mr. Fairbank ought to feel proud.