Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1880.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 169, 17 July 1880, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1880.

The emancipation of tbe 80 000 serfs upou whose hardships and woes Sir George Grey delighted to dilate, has not been attended with the results that were anticipated, the electoral rolls, as made up to the 31st May last under the new Act, showing that, instead of an increase in tbe number of electors, there is positively a falling off to the extent of 3125 ; I hat on the old rolls having been 82,721, whereas, on the new ones, it is only 79,896. This reduction has been brought about by the careful purging of the rolls under the new system, and the removal of deadheads, duplicates, and so on, but, from all we had heard of the burning anxiety manifested by the " serfs " to obtain their lull electoral privileges, we should have thought that so soon as their shackles were struck off by the passing of the very liberal Act of last year they would have rushed to the Registrar's office in such numbers as to more than supply the deficiencies created by the elimination of those names which had been removed. Such, however, has not been the case, and ample proof has been afforded of the correctness of tbe statement, so often made by those who were speaking from their own experience, of the difficulty they had met with in persuading people to register, that the desire to obtain the right to vote did not exist to anything like the extent that was asserted by Sir George Grey. The result of the new law upon the rolls in this district is shown by the following figures : — For the City of Nelson the number now is 1073, against 1091 on the last roll, but 71 are struck off as having left the district, 29 dead, 30 names were repeated, and three are in gaol. For the Suburbs the number is 373, as against 352. Here a considerable addition is shown, as there remains an increase after striking off 26 who bad left the district, 11 dead, one in gaol, and 11 names that were repeated. For the Waimea there are 427, as against 439. Sixty-three have left the district, seven are dead, and 12 names were repeated. The most {astounding reduction, however, that has been made in any. electoral district is in that represented by Sir George Grey, namely, the Thames, where, instead of 4446 names, there now appear only 2564. Auckland City East loses 257, and Auckland City West 697, while Dunedin shows a reduction of 1571. Wellington gains 257, Cbristchurch 900, Hokitika 200, and Port Chalmers 250. The full effect of the new law will scarcely be realised until next year, but in the meantime there is sufficient to show that there is a lack of that great eagerness to be placed on .the roll which was said to exist among the people of the colony. The Customs receipts for the week ending to-day, amounted to £1022 18s 4d. Odr readers are reminded of the Evangelistic meeting to be held at the Temperance Hall to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock. There was a large attendance of Volunteers and civilians at the meetiug in the Nelson Hotel last evening called for the purpose of promoting a Carbine Club on a similar basis to that in Duuedin. It was unanimously agreed that the Club be formed and styled th& Nelson Carbine Club. A number of gentlemen were proposed for the Management Committee, and a ballot rfisulted in the election of the following members, being three from each of the carbine Companies and three civilians : — (Artillery) Sergt Major Wimsett, Sergt. Bird, Gunner C. Moore; (Navals) Lieut. Hunter, P. O. Rowlings, Seaman Hislop; (Civilians) Messrs B. C Roberta, A. Hunter, and Jesse Hounsell. Lieut. Toplisa was unanimously elected Secretary. The Club promises to be a thorough success judging from the warm interest displayed by those present at the meeting. It will be encouraging to those who are not first class shots to know that the matches are to be carried out under the handicap system, thus giving an equal chance to all. It was resolved that the first malch should take place on the first Monday in August. Entries will be received at the general meeting next Friday evening when the handicaps will be de--1 clared. One of the heaviest downpours of rain we have had for a long time occurred between eleven o'clock this morning and one p.m., the consequence being that all the low lying parts of the town are under water, the sewers and other artificial outlets being quite unequal to the demands made upon them In Trafalgar-street there was a rushing torrent extending from the centre of the road to half way over the footpath on the eastern side; in Hardy-streefc ease there was a river running down both sides of the road. From the Congregational Church to the railway station was a lake — in some places or a considerable depth, the top rails of the fence near All Saints' Church being almost covered — into which the water was pouring

from Tci-Toi Valley with considerable velocity, the road being entirely covered, and some of the houses in Gloucester-street having several inches of \t ater in the rooms. So great was the force of the water that it burst the Waimea-street sewer near Patterson's corner, and rushed acoss the road into the low ground at the back of the Soho Foundry, a heap of bricks and mortar aud the seething of the water showing where the rent had taken place. Strange to say, the Maitai rose very little above its ordinary level, the great body of water being at the other cud of the town, where the general aspect of the streets and unoccupied lands was such., as would have been creditable even to Blenheim iv a flood. From the Waimea we learn that there is a heavy flood in the Wairoa. Fortunately, the railway is in no way damaged.