The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 190, 11 August 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1879.

It will be seen by our telegrams that Sir George Grey and Mr Sheehan intend visiting Nelson in the course of a few days. This, it is said, is to be the opening of the great electoral struggle m which the colony will be plunged for the next three or four weeks. A rkqdisition- asking Mr John Graham to come forward as a candidate for the representation of the City of Nelson is, we understand, in course of signature. A Christmas Tree laden with prizes, a concert, and a reading by the Rev J. Leighton form aa attractive programme which should lead many to pay a visit to the Wood Sunday Schoolroom to-night. We quoted a paragraph from the N. Z. Times the other day referring to a speech made by Mr Saunders relative to Sir George Grey's declaration that the House should grant him supplies whether they liked it or not. The tiamard report of Mr Sauuders' speech will be found on our fourth page. We regret to learn that Mrs George Darrell has been suddenly taken so seriously ill that it is impossible for her to leave Wellington at present, and consequently the performances that have been announced in our columns for some days paßt are postponed. This will be a . great'disappointment to many who had been anticipating a treat of no ordinary kind, but we trust that ere long Mrs Darrell may be sufficiently recovered to pay Nelson a'visit. The indefatigable agent, Mr Geddes, who has been exerting himself to give every publicity to the proposed performances will no doubt be as disappointed as anyone on finding that all his work has been of no avail. Those who have taken season tickets will have their money returned on application to Mr Stanton. A branch Postoffice has been established at the school-house Motupiko Valley, which will prove a great convenience to residents in that district. We have been requested again to call the attention of the public to the fact that the office of the Registar of births, deaths, and marriages is now at the Post Office. The reminder seema to be necessary as several people have lately gone to the Government Buildings to transact business with the Kegistrar. It is rumored that Mr *V. Wastney intends offering himself as a candidate for the representation of the Suburbs. A splendid collection of oranges, lemons, and citrons, comprising several varieties of each is now to be seen at Mr Budden'a shop in Bridge-street. They were grown in the nursery of Mr Pitt, of Adelaide. The drinking fountain and lamp pillar recently erected in Trafalgar- street to the memory of the late Mr John Synions by a number of his friends was on Saturday night formally handed overby Mr Cock, the manager for the firm of Messrs N.Edwards and Co., to His Worship the Mayor on behalf of the Corporation. Mr Dodson expressed the pleasure it afforded him to receive, on behalf of the citizens of Nelson, the handsome memorial, and referred to the successful career of him to whose memory it was erected. A description of the pillar has already appeared in our columns. It was lighted on Saturday night for the first time, and the effect produced was exceedingly good. There was a good muster of Volunteers at the Church Parade yesterday morning notwithstanding the unfavorable state of the weather, about twenty of the Stoke Rifles being present in addition to the town corps. After mustering at the Drill Shed the Volunteers marched to the Presbyterian Church, where an eloquent and appropriate sermon on the death of the late Captain P. L. Gully of the Naval Brigade was delivered by the Rev. P. Calder, who took for his text the worda " Jesus wept." The following letter from the Rev J. C. Andrew appears in a Wellington contemporary:— " Having been rated, as I conceive, exorbitantly for land tax purposes, I have, as a private individual, thought it due to myself and children to ascertain the amount at which the Premier, who appoints, and can

at pleasure remove-afc Khedive of Egyptthe final judge of appeal in land tax cases, is assessed I find the following resulti»Jiwau, five thousand two hundred and sixtynine acres (626«J). capital Value, twenty-one *oi !-™ fOUt huudri!tl and seventy pounds *-«,4/'Jj; improvements, nineteen thousand two hundred pounds (£19,200); net value. ?S?i- N? nd one hundr ed and seven pounds t Au • haVC no wish to d« s P»te the accuracy of this calculation, but if other properties In^t W u ealan , d *!* a^essed on a different and higher scale, the Premier does hot pay his fair stare of taxation. It sometimes pays, cv en in cash, to be an advocate of the so-call"ed rights of humanity-lam, &c, J. C.Andrew." Lommenting oil the aboVe* the Post says •— As a pendant to this and a specimen of the manner in which "circumstances alter cases," in the eyes of land tax valuers according to tne ownership of the properties valued, we may instance the case of another " Islaud Home, which, unluckily for its owner, is possessed not by the •• Great Proconsul " but by a private citizen of Wellington. We refer to Mr J. F. F, Wright's property on Mana Island, which although only 600 acres in extent, was actually valued at £4280— £7 per acre for unimproved land on an out-of-the-way island off the coast, far away from any settlement, possessing no regular communication with the mainland or access to any market. Mr Wright objected that this valuation was to high by fully £3000, £1200 being the outside value of the property, but his Valuation was disallowed. It is evident that under the Grey regime there is one law for the " Great Pro-consul," but quite another for men who by hard work have saved enough money to purchase land for themselves and their families. This is quite in character with the spurious "Liberalism" professed by Sir George Grey. As the Americans say it is really " too thin." Liheral principles appear to be the order of the day, and the House of Representatives have adopted them with a vengeance, for they have indeed been truly liberal to them selves in the matter of honorarium which, as our readers know, is set down at £210 for the session, which is generally supposed to last about four months. The present session, however, has not extended over a month, and yet the representatives of the people have cousidered themselves entitled to the full amount, and would hear of no reduction. The discussion on the question is very briefly given in the Wellington papers. The Ae*o Zealander in its report merely says: —Mr S wanson moved—" That the sum placed on the Estimates as honorarium for representatives (£18,000) should be swept away, at the very outside 50 guineas instead of 200 guineas being allowed for each."— Dr HodgkinaoK, who had previously moved that the honorarium should be reduced by £9000, withdrew in favor of MrSwanson.— A vote was taken, and a division called for, when there were 21 ayes— that is, for the abolition —and 28 noes, against, it. The amendment was therefore lest.— Dr Hodgkinson's amendment that £9000 should be laken off the honorarium was then put, and lost by 36 to 2.3, so the full amount was agreed to. The following is the division list :— Ayes, 23.— Beetham, Bowen, Bryce (teller), Driver, Goldie, Hobbs, Hodgkinsoo.M'Lean, M'Minn, Murray, Oliver, Ormond, Reeves, Richmond, Rolleston, Russell, Saunders, (teller). Stevens, Stewart, Studholme, Sutton, Swanson, Wallis. — Noes, 36. — Adams, Atkinson, Barff, Barton, Brown, J. E. (teller), Curtis, De Lautour, Feldwick, Fisher, Fox, George, Gisborne, Green, Hamlin, Henry, Ilislop, Jackson, Joyce Kelly, Manders, Morris, Nave Pyke, Rees (teller), Rone, Shanks, Sheeban, Taiuui, Tawiti, Thomson, Tole, Tomoana, Turnbull, Whitaker, Williams, Woolcock. There seems to have been considerable difficulty in obtaining from Sir George Grey a distinct statement as to the day on which the dissolution should take place, and it is amusing to see how cleverly he fenced with the leader of the Opposition and others who were desirous of pinning him down to some specific promise. At last Mr Barton suggested a step which, however, does not appear to have been taken. The Post says :— •' Mr Barton thought that the action of the Opposition showed that they did not believe the word of the Premier, and he thought that the best thing that they could do would be to get the Bible from the Library and make the Premier declare on oath that the dissolution should take place within three days after the prorogation of the present Parliament." A special telegram to the Post, dated London 7th instant, says:— A despatch has been received from Sir Garnet Wolseley, in which he states that he regards the present prospects of peace as being very favorable. He considers the country very suitable for settlement, and believes that the plan proposed of dividing it into separate principalities will be found to work well, and will have the effect of very much lessening the chances of any similar ming in future. He proposes to reoccupy Uluudi, and there meet the chiefs who have sent in their submission, in order that the basis upon which the country is to be governed in future may be clearly defined and understood. The operations against Cetewayo will be continued, the chiefs regarding his capture as imperative before any terms of peace can be satisfactorily arranged believing that there would be no security against another rising so long as he is allowed to range the country. The following London telegram appears in the Post ■. — " Advices from South America Btate that the war between Chili and Peru continues with unabated vigor on both sides. An important prize has been taken by the Peruvian cruisers, which gave chase to and captured a Chilian transport vessel carrying a regiment of cavalry. After a sharp resistance, the latter were secured and taken prisoners, and the vessel was towed into Valparaiso." Mr Manders' speech on the honorarium question (says the Post) was more coherent than his utterances usually are. He made a very fair defence of the principle involved iv payment of members, and only lost his head once, when, instead of addressing the chair, he spoke to the House as " Gentlemen." For this piece of forgetfulness he was promptly called to order by an honorable member. Mr Manders at once apologised in his usual graceful and airy manner, explaining that he thought for the moment that he was addressing an audience of gentlemen.