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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4132, 18 June 1874, Page 2

Although tlie Provinces of Nelson and Westland are contiguous, similar in character, and populated mainly by miners and those who furnish their supplies, there is between them a considerable diversity of feeling and practice in politics. In Nelson, lately, the duties of Secretary and Treasurer have been assumed by one whose experience in such departments of public work commences with his advent to office, and the Council accejrted the appointment with an apparently extraordinary indifference as to how the duties of these offices were to be discharged. In Westland they seem to be more critical. No sooner was the first Executive formed than a member of Council tabled' a motion of want of confidence, and, although the mover, Mr. Seddon, was absent on the evening appointed for the motion being brought forward, it has since been discussed, and has resulted in the removal of the members of the Executive from their scats and responsibilities. The reasons for this undoing of what was recently done is not intimated in our telegrams, but, from the reports and arguments which appear in the local papers, it seems likely that this result has been the consequence of a feeling that the honors and duties of presence in the House of Representatives are incompatible with the proper discharge of the work of a Provincial Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. John White, M.H.R, resigned the Speakership of the Provincial Council in favor of the Hon. Mr. Lahman, and in consideration of his appointment as Provincial Secretary, Provincial Treasurer, and Secretary of Public Works, but he has not been long permitted to hold Iris new position. By his colleagues and by the Provincial Press, or a portion of it, his occupation of the two positions'was warmly questioned, and to the feel- ■ iug on that subject is apparently duo the early overthrow of the first Westland Executive. There may have been other circumstances contributing to this result, but no other complaint seems to have been openly made in the interval between the appointment of an Executive and its dissolution, unless it is that of the Provincial Auditor, whose description of the mode of keeping the Provincial accounts during changes in the departmental service is anything but satisfactory. How the new Superintendent is to he assisted in carryingout the administrative work of the Province it is difficult to see. The Executive, appointed contrary to his will, have already been ousted ; there are no men in the Council better fitted for executive duties than those who were originally selected ; and without an Executive he will be at the disadvantage of having to leave in the hands of departmental officers work which these officers have been very dilatory in accurately performing. The situation must be a troublesome one to Mr. Bonar, as it must be disappointing to those who were willing, for a consideration, to share his duties, and the probability is that he 11111 have to remain in immediate superintendence of Provincial work, instead of being present, as he appears to have intended, in his place as a member of the Legislative Council.

On the faith of a telegram received from Hokitika, we recently congratulated the shareholders in the Groymouth Coal Company upon the directors having secured the lease of the Brunner coalmine from the lessees, Messrs. Hughes and McCarthy. The telegram in question seemed to indicate definitely that it was by the company in question that the lease of this valuable property _ had been secured, but, from a paragraph which appears in a late number of the Grey River Aryus, this does not appear to have been the case. The lease, rolling stock, and plant of the mine have changed bauds, but the company by whom they have been purchased seems to bo altogether separate from the company knotvu as the Greymouth Coal Company, -which was formed some months ago, and which has since been at work searching for coal on the south side of the river Grey. This is not stated in so many words, but the names which are given as those of the representative purchasers arc different from those included in the directorship of what has been blown as the Grcymoutli Coal Company, and the proposed capital of the company hy whom the lease has been procured is also different. The directors of the company to whose hands the lease of the mine has been transferred are —Messrs. Martin Kennedy, F. Hamilton, J. Hamilton, Donald Maclean, and Hamilton Gilmer; and the capital is stated to bo £20,000, in 4000 shares of £5 each. The same gentlemen are shareholders in the Greymouth Coal Company, but their purchase of the Brunner mine seems to ho a separate venture. Whether they purpose carrying on the working of the mine without connection with tho local company first formed does not appear. Tho probability is that there will be a coalition of interests, but, failing that, it is satisfactory to know that the residents of the locality have such faith in the resources of the district ns to bo encouraged to initiate two separate euter-pi-isos for their development. Whether tho

new company —if new company it be, in fact, as well as in name —purpose inviting the investment of capital from other parts of the Colony, has not transpired.

The sixth volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, which will be ready for publication within a month from the present date, promises to be even more interesting to scientific readers than any of its predecessors. The 550 pages of reading matter which it contains will be embellished by thirty-two lithographic illustrations, in addition to a number of woodcuts. Amongst the miscellaneous papers comprised in the list of contents are several communications upon various engineering, schemes for utilising - the natural resources of the country. The zoological section of the volume includes an account of the great extinct eagle (llttrjmgornis), and another of the extinct goose (Uuemiornis) ; and succeeding these are several papers relative to the cetacea, and others having special reference to recent additions to the described birds and fishes of New Zealand. Entomological science is aided by the production of elaborate lists of all the insects found within the same limits ; and the botanical chapters embrace lists of the algas of the Chatham Islands, and of the flora of the Province of Wellington, the latter being accompanied by descriptions of several new plants. In chemistry, the volume contains a valuable paper upon the petroleum oils of New Zealand, and a further report of tile chemistry of the phormium plant. Geologists may derive some enlightenment from a paper upon the structure of the gold-bearing reefs of the Thames Goldfield, the range of research being extended by a paper theorising on the formation of mountains, by others referring particularly to the glacial period in New Zealand, and by a description of the fossil reptilia. The appendix contains a second essay by Mr. Thomson on the origin of the Maori race, Capt. Moresby’s interesting, lecture on New Guinea, and a valuable paper on the botany of Tahiti. The proceedings of the branch societies, and the opening address of the president, complete a volume the contents of which are, as already stated, more than usually interesting.

The Estimates submitted for departmental expenditure to the Provincial Council of Nelson amounted to £30,653, and the amount passed in the Appropriation Act was £20,657. A reduction of £996, therefore, would appear to have been effected. This has been accomplished while the vote for charitable institutions was raised from £I7OO to £2OOO, and among the appropriations is one of £2OO as a retiring allowance to the late Provincial Secretary, Mr. Greenfield. “ Mr. O’Conor,” says the Colonist, “purposes to effect retrenchment by such a consolidation of offices as null ensure full employment for every officer,” and has set “ a notable example by undertaking the duties of Secretary and Treasurer at less than the salary formerly awarded to one of those officers.” Increases of revenue are anticipated during the year to the extent of £72-18, but of that amount the receipts from land are expected to amount to £5216. The gold duty, it is hoped, will contribute £1289 more than it did last year, as the quartz reefs are now beginning to yield well. The Colonist says ; —“We are inclined to take a hopeful view of the immediate future of the Province in new hands. The loan of £30,000 for harbor works, the progress of the West Coast railway, and the possible loan of £250,000, should each exert a favorable influence on the trade and finances of the Province ; and if our affairs are conducted, as we would fain hope they may be, with energy and discretion, the next Appropriation Act will be a more extensive and important one than that just passed.”