DUNEDIN. (From our own Correspondent.) Monday, 19th December.

North Otago Times, Volume II, Issue 44, 22 December 1864, Page 2

DUNEDIN. (From our own Correspondent.) Monday, 19th December.

Though the excitement about the election ha| been greater than about any previous siniilS affair, and although the English Mail lias arrives during the week, the crowning event of the weel| has certainly been the receipt of the news of th| imposition of a War Tariff. This was received! on Thursday evening, and though it cam* through an irregular channel, our merchant! found the Collector of Customs arrived nest morning with the Government Gazette requiring him to impose the increased duties at once, Business hours at the Custom House were ovei on Thursday before even the most alert of ouj business men got the news ot a change so impor. tant to their interests. No one, therefore, hac any of displaying his astuteness ot profiting by smartness. This was as it should be, in all cases of the kind. Some shameful occurrences in the sister colonies had no doub* rendered the Government wide awake to th( necessity of leaving no loophole for imputationagainst its members of giving private information to a favored few of the coming changa. People have hardly yet recovered from their astonishment. War Taxes seem to have beet expected by no one. We have often heard pre. dictions that the Provincial proportion of the revenues would be seized upon, or that the land fund would be claimed again as the property of tht General Government, but no one prophesied ai increase of Customs duties, already in many in. stances oppressive enough. The first result of the announcement was a burst of indignation, and 5 wide cry for separation as the only remedy foi such evils. One candidate had throughout hi electioneering career made " Separation " an itett in his card of reforms. Another who had spoket more hesitatingly on the subject, appears to have been at once converted by this argument levellec at his pocket. The following morning (thepolifl; day) appeared the following advertisement ;-! " The last straw breaks the camel's back. Ths new Tariff settles the question of Separation M'Leod is an out-and-out Separationist. Vot; for M'Leod, Separation and a reduced Tariff: Yet if any sensible thing has been done by tht Assembly during its brief session, surely this t the most so. Nor is it only in regard to thi financial affairs in the Colony as a whole tha' such an effort to increase our revenues wai desirable. Our own Provincial Treasurer wil not object to find his share ot the Customs revenue enhanced by twenty-five per cent Oppressive duties check consumption, no doubt but that the Revenue will be increased very con siderably by the recent change is a certainty. Ii one or two instances— such as bottled winesthe legislature has undoubtedly over-stepped thi line of prudence, and the revenue will sutler notwithstanding the increaseddfei^>f duty, but as a rule consumption wi^^^KKJF&ft&fad by the change. The extra dut^ra^pirits and l>eer wil fall cbieflly on the publicans, not on those wht drink these liquors — few will drink less tea be. cause twopence a pound has been added to it price, and with trifling exceptions the extr shilling per cwt. on hardware, candles and soap and a shilling per foot on groceries and drapen will not be felt by the retail purchaser. Thi trading class will have to pay a very large proportion of the extra duties out of their alreadj diminished profits, and as it is not their interest to check consumption generally, there need be n< fear but that our Customs Revenue v ill yiel one fourth more than it has done, which wii make a difference of nearly £20,000 a year to Mi Clapcott's receipts. But that the trading classe should cry out loudly is not to be wondered at The result of the election is something won derful, and may be taken as a significant intinu tion that " things as they are " and "men as the; are " by no means satisfy the Dunedin public The number of votes polled was 897, divided & follows :— Bastings 412 ; Barr 347 ; M'Leod 122 Maddock 16. Nearly twice as many votes wen recorded as at the last general election, and M Bastings has the suffrage of about the sam number of electors as supported Mr Dick a that occasion. Mr M'Leod's supporters desertp him in great numbers to vote either for Barr 0: Bastings, because it was sedulously reported tbj he had himself no chance. Many of Mr Mad dock's supporters also left him in the lurch fo; the same reason, but for the most part abstains from voting altogether. Mr Bastings' return \w pretty generally expected by those who wen merely onlookers at the struggle, but few ha any idea that he would command so large a sap port. It was believed that Barr and M'Letx were dividing the stronger party, and thus secur ing the return of their "new identity" opponent The result shows that the supposed strength c this party is much less than it was believed to Ix There can be no doubt that, had Mr M'Leo withdrawn from the contest, the result woul only have been to narrow Mr Bastings' majoritj By how much it would have been decreased is': matter upon which opinions differ. The ides prevalent at first that M'Leod's supporters woul all have voted for Barr if their own candidat had not been in the field, was dissipated durin. the polling day, as one and another deserted fair to vote for Bastings because they believed ths to be the only way to keep out Barr. As I hav said, the result must be accepted as a loud pro test against the ways and manners of tha Frovin cial Council as at present constituted, and as proof that the old and new " identities " have nc yet amalgamated to any great extent. By the Airedale's mail, the Commissioners re ceived a renewed promise from his Excellent that he will open the Exhibition in person. Whe ther this will cause any little delay in that even has not been announced ; but those best acquain ted with the circumstances which must regulat his departure from Auckland, say that he cannc be here before the middle of the second week t January. A delay of this trifling character woul be rather an advantage, as almost every exhibits has left his preparations to the last minute, ac the building presents a sadly naked appearance.

"We le<n-n from the "Dunst-in Times " that accont from the Hogburn are very satisfactory. " There is nc ! a plentiful supply of water for the number of me working, but the general opinion appears to be that tl ground is fully taken up, and that fresh arrivals wonl meet with disappointment. At the time <»f our vfe there were on the ground several speculators in wate races fiom Alexandra and Hamilton's, but the result': their investigations, after taking levels from the sever water courses at the heatl of Ida Burn Valley, were tt reverse of favorable to bringing in a supply on accoffi of the workings occupying too elevated a position. Tl only place where water could be brought from is tt Drunken Woman's Creek ; but in consequence of the being so many steep and rocky sidelings to b oild roun: the expense would be too heavy for the undertaking < prove remunerative. As a field for the pursuit < sluicing operations this neighborhood is piobably tl best in the country. The gold is very evenly distribute over a most extensive area, the bed rock is but a iff derate distance from the surface, and there is a capita fall to get rid of the tailings." It was conjectured by some that the lata peace p£ clamation by Governor Sir George Grey hf d primarf emanated from the Home Government; and that: case of its failure, the war would be carried on wit additional vigor. At all events, the "Army and Nat Gazette " states that there is no truth in the repo! that the War Office intend withdrawing any regimes from New Zealand at present. The last mid from tt North, however, reports more favorably as to the peae ful tone of the Maoris, except at Taranaki. * The usual fqrfcnightly escort has arrived in towi bringing down 12,943 oz 15 dwta of gold. The quanti: of gold exported to Melbourne from Otago during tt past month has been about 36,000 oz. 2000 oz ha' been shipped from Southland.