INTERPROVINCIAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 103, 19 April 1876, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL.

Greymouth, Wednesday. The general meeting of the Greymouth Coal Company is adjourned for two months to ullow shareholders in Wellington, Dunedin, and Aucklaud to ba represented. Wellington, Tuesday. Itis understool that the Government have for Koms time been comidering tha who'e question relating to tbe prohibition of importing cattb. Winn last the matter was brought before tbe Uouse of Representitive?, it was decided that prohibition was not necessary, and that a system of quarantine would suffice. The question is virtually re-opened by tho decision, after much deliberate consideration of all tlie other Australian Colonies to continue prohibiting for an infinite period. Under these _ircurmt*nceß lhe Government have decided to invite tbe consideration of both Houses of the matter by relegating it to the deliberation of a joint select committee. This intention is thus eirly notified ii order that all who inti rested in the question may eudeavor to make their views known. Wednesday. Government have taken steps towards investigating the charge made against the reclam-ition contractors by placing the matter in the hands of the police, as the signature to the letter proves to be fictitious, no person of that name having been emplojed on the work, or can be discovered. The handwriting is very marked should tho writer be discovered. Both Governments will see tbat the quality of the work performed is examined and every opportunity given him to make gocd his charges. Auckland, Wednesday. The following tenders have been received for the docks :— Cameron, £62,211; John Taylor. -£fi8,467; Owen, Jones, and Co, £5 4 >75-; John Breitman and Co., £58,875; R. Dickson, £54,00); Henderson and Co., £64.662. That of Owen, Jones, ani Co. was accepted. Two seamen of tho Merwairjee Frarojco have been arrested on a charge of garrotting an old man who had been Bftilmnker of the vessal, and jast paid off. They enticed him into the Domain, an i robbed hira. Gkaiiamstown, Wednesday. His Excellency ha? mot with a he irty reception, lhe Volunteers turned out, and addresses were presented. Navier, Tuesday. News from Poverty Bay reports that the vesiel wrecked on the Ei&t Cape on the lith inst., h named Helen, the property of Watt Brothers. She was laden with coals from Newcastle to Napier, and Bt'uek on the East Coast Islanl, and then drifted to Uorocfca, and sunk in deap water. No livos were lost. All on board are at the n-uivo settlement, »ud will bo lorwarded to Auckland by the fmt opportunity. The vessel is insured in the New Zealaud Company for £1,50.). Dunedin, Tuesday. Tho nominations for tha Duuedin Derby for lB7?-7-""; close at 8 o'clock ou WednesJay (this) eveniag. Arthur Robert Maulo, belonging to Melbourne, has been committed Jor trial today, on a charge of aiding, abetting, and assisting Edward Kellet to forge a signature to a conveyance of l>nl at Woodstock, in Victoria Kellet is a child e'even years of age, ami his signature was apparently obtained to represent l Lut of one .Edward Ktliet, who was alive in 1858. CintisTCHtrncir, TueEday. The Autumn Meeting was continued today. The weather was beautifully fine until 3 o'clock, when a alight shower of rain fell. There was a large attendance, and the racing wae very good all through. The Autumn

Handicap w|as a great boil over. nB after Templcton'sirunning yesterday no one would have bim at «ny price, 10 to 1 being freely offered ag-u'jist hirii before ihe s'.art Ariel carried a very large sura of money, and Cloth 'of Gold was aleo backed heavily, and but for running against a post would have *• gone very mar winning.. The race waß throughout one of the beßt over seen on the Canterbury course, no horse being reilly out of it when the lot turned the corner for home. The Selling Stakes Handicap was also: a fine race, and another boil over. Mana'le and Tadiror were hot favorites, Parawhenua also \ eing much fancied. Flying Stakbb of 150 boys (for two-year-oMs and upwards), added to a sweep take of 5 soys each D. stance, three-quarters of a mile. Mr Redwood's Guy Fawkes, 4 yrs, 9st 3lb (Lyford) 1 Mr Webb's eh c by Traducer, dam Ala, 2 yrs, 6st lOlbs (Allen) 2 Mr Webb's blk c by Traducer, dam Tantrum?, 2 yrs, 68t 10 bs (Demeth) ... 8 Pungawerewere and Dead Heat also ran. Parawhenua, Fishhook, Mangle, Sylph, and Songster were scratched. Betting, even against Guy Fawkes, 2 to 1 against Dead neat and Ada colt, and 3 to I egaintt Pungawerewere. At the start Guy and the Tantrums colt led. Pungawerewere third, Ada colt next, Dead Heat laßt, having got a bad start At the corner turning for home, Guy and the Ada colt drew away from the others, aud a good race endued down the stra-ght; ball way down it was anybody's race, but the cot swerved under the whip, and Guy Fawkes shot in a winner by three ' lengths, the Ada colt second, Tantrums colt ' third, the rest Btraggling. Time, 1 mm. 23 seen. f : Cavalrt Race. No weight under Ilet. , Distance, 1 mile. Mr Craddock'- Phantom, 5 years (Owner) 1 Mr Britain's Royalty, aged (Owner) ... 2 Mr Uawkin's Purakanui, aged (Owner) ... 3 Great Autumn Handicap of 300 soys, (for three-year-olds a d upward*), added to a sweepstake of 10 toys each St. Leger course. Mr Delamain's Templeton,. 5 years, Bst lllbs (Wat'y) ... ... 1 Mr Buck'and's Ariel, 3 years,' 7st 7lbs (Mathews) 2 Mr Redwood's Guy Fawkes, 4 years, 9sfc (Lyford) 3 Daniel O'Rorke, 7st 71b; Tadmor, 7st 4lb; Elfin King, 7tt 3lb; Fi-hhook, 7st 2lb; Right Bower, 7st lib; Cloth of Gold, Cat 131 b; Tattler, 6st 101 b, also ran. Parawhenua, Sst 31b, and Pungawerewere, 7st lib, were scratched. Betting, 6 to 4 against Ariel, 3 to 1 against Cloth of Gold, 5 to I against Fishhook, 10 to 1 against Right Bower and the others. After one or two fa ; se starts, caused by Ariel being fractious, a splendid start was effectel. Cloth of Gold at once took the lead, with Fishhook lying second, Guy Fawkes third, and the reit all in a cluster. They ran in this order until reiching the back ol the course, when Templeton and Ariel came out of the ruck, and gradually closed on Cloth of Gdd. Turning into the straight the latter, having a slight lead, ran against a post, cannoning on to Fis'.ihook, snd both horses fell, the rider of Cloth of Gold being rather seriously hurt. After this Templeton took up the running, with Ariel on. his quarter, and a gran 1 race eusued down the str light; Ariel, hard ridden, looked very dangerous, but Inside the rails Watty called on Templeton, who won cleverly by a length, Guy Fawkjs a good third, and the rest well up. Sel- ing Stakes of 50 soys, added to a sweepstakes of 5 soys each; weight for age. Distance, three quarters of a mile. Mr Watty's Parawhenua, 6 yrs,Bst 31b5... 1 Mr Mallock's Mangle, 2 yrs, 6Bt 31bs ... 2 Mr Roy's Tadmor, Bst ldlbs 3 Hercules, 9st 3 bs; Elfin King, fst 71b«; Pakeha, Sab 4lbs; and Tho Bat, Bst 4 bs, a'so ran Betting 2 to 1 agnin3t Mangle and Tadmor, and 4to 1 ngainst the rest. This was a good race. At the top turn Tadmor had the lead, with Parawhenua close up; coining into the straight Parawhcnu i began to come up, and a goo I race ensued between him and Mangle, in which Parawhenua managed to get in first by aoout two lengths. Consolation Handicap of 40 soys. Distance, one milo. Mr Coombes' Right Bower, 7st Blbs ... 1 Mr Studholme's Cloth of Gold, B*t ... 2 Mr Koßworthy's Tattler, 6st 7lbs 0 Splendid race Right Bower and Tattler finished a dead heat; but as the latter ran outside a post he was disqualified.

tbe Provincial party; and the elevation to that position of Mr Macandrew. Both these prominent Provincialists are unmistakeably in, earnest; but as a logical ahd an able advocate the Superintendent of Otago bas proved himself immeasurably superior to the head of tbe Auckland province. The decision at which Mr Macandrew has arrived with-" reference to the Commission, and the attitude be intends to take up towards it is put in a very few words : — " I must inform Messrs Gisborne, Seed, and Knowles tbat so far as the Provincial Government of Otago is concerned, tbey cannot expect any aid in their mission." And so has tbe first note of defiance been officially sounded from Otago. We have said that we give Mr Macandrew credit for logical reasoning in his letter to the Premier, but as we demur to tbe premises upon which his arguments are based, we are altogether unable to agree with him in the conclusion at which lie arrives. He does not put it in so many words, but it is quite clear from tbe whole tone of his letter that the stand point from which he started, and the prevailing idea in his mind at the time of writing was — Otago is New Zealand ; lam Otago. There can be no doubt . whatever that Mr Macandrew represents Otago, or that he does so honestly, faithfully, and well, but we are not equally prepared to admit that Otago represents New Zealand. Otago is beyond all question the most influential and prosperous province in the colony, but we are not, for that reason, going to allow that her interests alone should be studied. There are many others which, though scattered, are, in the aggregate, quite equal to those of the big province of the South. In support of the position he takes up Mr Macandrew says : — " The probable revenue of Otago may be set down as about one-half that of the whole colony, while the voting power of the province in the disposal thereof in the Colonial Parliament will be less than one-fourth." We presume that included in this boasted revenue are the Customs duties raised in the province, but these are not entirely or nearly derived from articles consumed in Otago alone: Dunedin is the chief commercial centre of the colony, and, as suehshe imports very largely for other parts of New Zealand, . and, although a fconsiderable proportion of the duty is received there, it is the residents in other provinces who ultimately contribute the amount so raised to the colonial coffers. Thus it is manifestly unfair to regard these duties as the property of Otago exclusively, and tbe fact of their • being collected from various and distant parts of the colony goes far to show, what Mr Macandrew. had apparently forgotten, that Otago is dependent upon the colonists outside her own boundaries for a large portion of tbe revenue raised within them. It is, indeed, the old story over again of the belly and the members. While presuming tbat Mr Macandrew included the Customs duties in his calculations, we cannot overlook the fact that they do not form the principal item in the sum total. It was the land fund of which he chiefly thought ; it is the land fund he fears to lose. He objects to " reducing Otago to the dead level of colonial uniformity,'' as he fears would be the case if the revenue derivable from the sale of lands south of the Waitangi were fairly distributed. Others, however, who have at heart the interests of the colony rather than those of but a portion of ifc might be inclined to ask why Ofcago should claim to be raised above the level which her Superintendent dreads. Is it owing to the fortuitous circumstance of her having more saleable land within her boundaries than any other province can boast of? If so, the sooner these boundaries are done away wifch the better, since the effect of them is to starve other portions of 1 the colony in order that one may revel in wealth. Mr Macandrew's letter, which, regarded from a purely Otago point of view, is a masterly production, is not likely to find much favor elsewhere. It is so thoroughly selfish in every sentiment to which it gives expression that it should have appeared under the heading: — " Prosper Otago ; Perish New Zealand!"