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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4178, 11 August 1874, Page 2

The Government have lost no time in taking stops to bring before the country the subject of Provincialism in the North Island. Mr. Vogel lost night gave notice that he will today submit resolutions .. to .the House affirming the desirability of abolishing Provincial Government in the North Island ; and that the Government should, during the recess, take into consideration how that can best bo done, and how the division of the Provincial revenues should bo carried out, according to the compact of 1856. In the course of the discussion in Committee of the House on the Licensing Act Amendment Bill, Mr. Vogel expressed a hope and anticipation that the business of the session might be brought to a close in the course of next week.

At half-past one o’clock this morning, in response to a somewhat earnest appeal from Mr. Fox, who pleaded fatigue, Mr. Vogel consented when the 25th clause of the Licensing Act Amendment Bill was arrived at, to progress being reported. The Committee will sit again to-night. A very large number of members were anxious that the Bill should be gone on -with, and finished out of hand. “Another dose,” said Sir J. 0. Wilson, “ would be insufferable.”

Mr. Von der Heyde, the newly-elected member for Waitemata, took the oaths and his seat in the House of Representatives last night. He was introduced by Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Sheehan. A few minutes afterwards the hon. member presented a petition from a number of residents in the Province of Auckland, praying that the Government would take into consideration the propriety of constructing a railway to connect the Kaipara and Waikato lines. About half-past four o’clock yesterday afternoon the fire-bell sounded an alarm, and the engine was quickly got out and manned ; but on inquiry it transpired that the fire was confined to a chimney in Willis Street. The adjourned meeting of the Wellington Co-operative Cattle Dealing and Butchering Society (Limited) takes place this evening in the side-room of the Odd Fellows’ Hall, at eight o’clock. It mil not be forgotten that- Mr. Burford’s benefit takes place at the Theatre Royal this evening, when “Milky White," and the burlesque of “Black-eyed Susan” will be produced. Mr. Burford is well-known as an able actor, who deserves a bumper benefit. The business at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday was of an unimportant nature. In the civil list the following eases were disposed of :—Dodsworth v. Ruck : £1 15s. 9d., claim for wages. The defence was that plaintiff had done his work in an unsatisfactory manner, and when spoken to about it left without notice, and did not finish the job he was engaged at. A verdict was given for defendant with costs. Medding v. Davis : Fraud summons ; defendant ordered to pay ss. per week, in default one months’ imprisonment. Poulson v. Wylie : £ll 4s. Judgment for amount and costs.

We have received from Napier the copy of what, in the best interests of the Colony, must be considered to be a most important document. It is an application to the Parliament from one who describes himself as a “ lord, baron, and knight,” and who offers to effect the early arrest of Te Kooti and all of his kind, provided he (the applicant) be only appointed successor to Lieut.-Colonel Moule and all other Commissioners of Constabulary and Police in the Colony. The application is as follows :—“ To the Members of Parliament of New Zealand. Parliament House, Wellington. Gentlemen, —I hereby apply for the appointment of Commissioner of Police for this Colony of New Zealand. I have been exploring the North Island during the last twelve months. I travelled up the banks of the Waikato from Mercer to Lake Taupo, and from thence to Napier, and I visited several Native towns. If you appoint me, I shall very soon arrest Te Kooti and all other assassins in this Colony. I served as Commissioner of Police for Ireland when I obtained the title of knighthood. I served as teacher and returning officer in this Colony for some years. I have writings of my name and title from the Governor of this Colony, the Governor of New South Wales, Education Board (Auckland), and others. I can further refer to the Queen. —I have the honor to be, gentlemen, A Coeonet, A CeOSS, and A Geokge, etc. —God save the Queen.” A meeting of the Manawatu Highways Board was held at Palmerston on Friday, the 31st July. Members present —Messrs. Snelson (chairman), Dalrymple, Stewart, McKenzie, Farmer, and Hughay. Applications were received from six gentlemen, offering their services as superintendents of works under the control of the Highway Board. The offer of Mr. Kockel, Carnarvon, was accepted at £65 per annum. The collector laid a statement of his accounts for the past year before the Board, which were considered satisfactory. It showed a balance still uncollected of about £216, including £165 12s. 6d. due by the Feilding Corporation. He was instructed to apply at once to Mr. Halcombe for a settlement. The treasurer reported the sum of £948 to the credit of the Board at the Bank of New Zealand, against which sum there is chargeable about £6OO for contracts now in course of completion in the various wards belonging to the district. A letter was received from W. Erenstrom asking to be allowed to split and remove timber from off a line of road which he is clearing by contract. Resolved : That the matter lie over at present until the Board have had an opportunity of seeing the timber. Kesolved : That a notice be inserted in the newspaper cautioning persons against cutting or removing timber from any of the road lines under the control of the Board without first having received the consent of the Resident Warden of the district. A letter was received from Mr. S, Abrahams, of Palmerston, asking permission to erect two turnstiles (according to plan accompanying letter), on the footpath opposite his premises, his object being to prevent horse traffic therfeon. They had no objections to offer, providing it did not interfere with foot passenger traffic. Application was made by Warden McKenzie for permission to expend the sum of £2l in the erection of three culverts on a road line in this ward. Granted. Application was made by Mr. Snelson for permission to undertake certain works, in connection with clearing a lino of road leading from Palmerston Square to the public reserve, which is situated on the banks of the Manawatu. Granted. Resolved : That the rate for 1874-5 be struck, and that the rate-book be advertised as being open to the inspection of ratepayers, at the office of the Board, from the 12th of August till the 12th of September next. Resolved : That Mr. Dalrymple be requested to ask Major Willis if he would allow the Board to hold its meetings in the Court House at Palmerston. , Resolved : That Mr. Farmer wait upon Mr. John Lees, ‘in order to make arrangements on behalf of the Board, for certain deviations, required on a line of road which is intended to cross a portion of that gentleman's property, situated in the Saudon district. A tender received from A. Grammer for certain work required on Rau Kawa road, at £2 7s. fid. per chain, was accepted. Numerous accounts were presented and paid. The Board is to meet again at Palmerston, on Friday, the 4th of September next, at one o’clock, p.m. A telegram from Akaroa states that Mr. Montgomery has been re-elected unopposed for that district. The circumstances which led to Mr. Montgomery having to go a second time before his constituency were thus explained by him at a meeting which ho held at Akaroa on the 6th inst. :—“Before the commencement of this year a number of individuals on the Peninsula used to send «p sleepers in consignments, which his firm passed to the General Government and collected the money for. About January 9, he understood from his book-keeper that the General Government objected to receive sleepers in small quantities from different people, and that he thought of arranging with them to deliver 3000 or 4000 in the name of the firm. He (Mr. Montgomery) remembered telling him to take care about making any contract which would render the firm liable for delivery within a certain time. He paid no more attention to the matter than he did to any other matter of comparatively small importance, and it passed from his mind for some time altogether. His book-keeper wrote on January 9, offering to make an arrangement with the General Government for the delivery of 3000 to 5000 sleepers, and to this the Government replied that 300 to 400 per month would be received at a certain fixed price. The sleepers were forwarded to the firm, and were passed to the General Government at the price stated. About the time of his election for Akaroa, he told his book-keeper and salesman to be careful not to sell any goods to the General Government, and to treat the General Government the same as the Provincial Government. He was perfectly unconscious of the old contract disqualifying him from taking his seat in the House, and was much astonished when he made the discovery.” The Gourlay Family sailed by the R.M.S. Cyphrenes from Auckland for San Francisco, on their contemplated American tour.

Legislative Councillors are not more satisfied with the condition of their Chamber than are the Representatives with theirs. To-day the Hon. Mr. Hart is to move—“ That it is desirable that the attention of the House Committee should be called to a resolution of the Council, —‘ That it be an instruction to the House Committee to inquire and report upon the means in use for the ventilation of the Legislative Council Chamber.’ ” And the Hon. Mr. Mantell intends to move— 11 That it is the duty of the Government to maintain in due order the approaches ’to the Legislative Chambers.” What would be an Admiralty question at Home is raised by a query to be put to the Colonial Secretary this afternoon by the Hon. Mr, Nurse, who desires to know—“ If the Government is aware of the fact that the Provincial Government of Otago is constructing a bridge across the harbor at Riverton, which will impede the navigation of the river above, there being no drawbridge <sr opening in it ; and whether he will obtain and lay on the table of this House the opinion of the AttorneyGeneral as to the legality of such action.” The letter which some “ good-natured friend” of Mrs. Howard published in Dunedin has not generally been received with complimentary comments; rather the reverse. The New Zealand Herald is decidedly uugallant, though, perhaps, correct when it says;—“There are few, indeed, who will be so credulous as to believe Mrs. Howard’s statements. The daughters of farmers, taught by priests and nuns, and living, under the care of parents and friends, temperate and chaste lives in remote country parishes, are the last who would, permit themselves to be" surrounded by strange men, or who would allow themselves to be led into the thick of a Whitechapel mob, with bad characters of all descriptions waiting to pounce upon them from all sides. The women that would do this are altogether of an inferior stamp. Mrs. Howard’s selection must have constituted, as is now known to be the case, the sweepings of reformatories, pauper houses, and the refuse of the back slums of the city they emigrated from. Had she drawn them from the class of females she alleges, she would not have found the slightest difficulty in dealing with them. There would scarcely have been one (minus her experience) who would have required any more looking after than Mrs. Howard herself. It was a very spiteful act on the part of this lady's friend to have published her letter. But the perusal of it has shown how very unfit this woman was for the work she undertook to accomplish.” Mr. Daniel Campbell, manager for the Otago Daily Times and Witness Company, was a passenger to Wellington by the Ladybird, having, we understand, been summoned to appear before the Ward-Chapman Inquiry Committee. In chronicling the fact of Mr. Campbell being thus summoned, a paragraphist in the Times affects to be witty over the circumstance, as per specimen : —“ Had the manager given his evidence before the Committee, it might be considered as a breach of privilege were we to indicate the nature of his evidence. As he has not done so, there can be no harm in letting it be known what testimony he can give which can have a bearing on the subject matter of the. inquiry. He has not been called upon, we believe, to produce any papers, but should he go by the steamer to-morrow, he will be fully armed with the veritable manuscript from which the telegrams which appeared in our’ issue of the 22nd May, were printed. He will also be furnished with the names of the compositors who set them up. We may here state that those parties have never been in Wellington, and are exceedingly anxious that their evidence should be taken by the Committee. The name of the d 1 who carried the copy from the editorial sanctum to the composing-room has also been handed to the manager, and if pressed by the Committee he is prepared to say where the d 1 can now be found. We think it right to state, also, that a number of articles which in their way contributed—indirectly, it is true—towards the setting-up of the telegrams in this office, have been packed up, and will be taken by the manager to Wellington for inspection by the Committee. These include a beer-can (empty) which was in use on the momentous evening; and no doubt, Mr. Box will be able to trace some connection between the appearance of the telegrams in this paper and the presence of such an unholy vessel in the apartment where they were made up for the press.” ■ It appeared doubtful, from the contents of a late English telegram, whether the escaped communist, Rochefort, was well or ill received on his landing in Ireland. From the following paragraph it would seem that his reception was anything but favorable ; —When the steamer Parthia arrived at Queenstown on June 10, a large and unruly mob had gathered on the dock awaiting the appearance of Henri Rochefort. As Rochefort passed down the gangway he was at once recognised by the crowd, who received him with bootings and execrations, and made a rush for him as he landed. The police surrounded Rochefort, who, it is feared, would have been lynched but for their protection, The intensely-excited mob pressed forward hooting and yelling, following the Frenchman to the Queen’s Hotel. From that place the police escorted him to the depot, where only passengers were admitted. His arrival at Cork was not expected ; he therefore passed through the city unnoticed, and took the train at 9 p.m. for Dublin, whence he proceeded to London.

A correspondent of the Otago Daily Times calls attention to the excessive rates charged for postage from New Zealand to India. He says —“ To the Home country, a distance of about 16,000 miles, the charge for a letter is 6d., and'for a newspaper Id. To India, which is not half the distance from New Zealand as the former, perforce we have to pay double the rate. Twelve years ago I recollect only having to pay 6d. each letter ; and now, and I may also say for several years back, the charge has been Is. for a letter, and 2d. for a newspaper. There might be some excuse if India was under a foreign power and Government for the heavy charges mentioned ; but, being a British possession, and under British Government, I think that it should be allowed the same privileges accorded to other British Colonies, that is, a nominal charge for the carriage of letters and newspapers." Writing on the subject of Mr. Von der Heyde’s present position, and the petition of Mr. J. 3. Maofarlane against his return as member of Parliament on the ground of his being an alien, the New Zealand Herald says : —“ Mr. Von der Heyde was naturalised in a sister Colony. He was, long ago, gazetted a Justice of the Peace, and he has also held a commission as an officer of volunteers. Of course it does not follow that for this reason lie is to be allowed to sit in our Colonial Parliament. Still it is so apparent Mr. Von der Heyde sought his candidature and obtained his election in all good faith, that the question arises whether this gentleman’s return should not be sanctioned by a short Bill introduced into the House declaring him to be a duly naturalized subject of this part of Her Majesty’s dominions. Such a procedure is not wanting in precedent to support it." There will be some among our readers, no doubt, who will remember the well-known C. E. Jones, a member of the Victorian Assembly, and at one time Commissioner of Bailways. He was undoubtedly an able man, but somewhat unscrupulous, and ultimately was expelled from the Parliament of Victoria. He went to San Francisco, from thence to Utah, where he sojourned for a while, passing on thence to New York. It appears that he is engaged now as one of the exponents of Barnum’s great show business, and is highly appreciated by the King of Charlatans. One of the Hawke’s Bay journals mentions as a gratifying fact in connection with the immigration to that Province, that amongst the immigrants who arrived a few days ago by the ship Winchester there were several who were possessed of sums of money ranging from £IOO to £I2OO. A now discovery of oil springs has been made near the mouth of the river Waiapu, in Poverty Bay district. These springs are about six miles distant from those previously known to exist.

The Taranaki Herald of the sth instant reports with pardonable pride that on that day it entered upon the twenty-third year of its existence. The following telegram explains one published recently with reference to the Earl of Yarborough having been found wandering on Jersey Island: “London, June Bth.—Earl Yarborough, who is said to be frequently ‘ drunk as a lord,’ appeared in the House of Lords on Tuesday last, when a deputy Ser-geant-at-arms, flunking him in an unusually bad condition, accompanied him to an anteroom and left him. He has not been seen since.” The annual report of Mr. Hodgson, Inspector of Schools in Nelson, has led the Colonist to make some comparisons as to the conditions under which education is promoted in the different Provinces. According to our contemporary’s calculations, in Otago about 255. is raised in the various districts for every child attending the schools ; in Wellington, where a school fee of £1 per head, in addition to the household rate of £l, is proposed, about 355. is paid by the inhabitants for each scholar ; while in Nelson less than 10s. is contributed towards the education of each child sent to the school, the balance of the cost being thrown mainly on the general Provincial revenue. The newly-elected King of Hawaii has lost no time in inaugurating a vigorous policy. He has found that his country has not kept pace : with that of the “most favored” nations, and he desires to see it do so. A northern contemporary, which appears to have received Honolulu journals by the last mail—our own files miscarried—thus sketches the King’s inten- , tions :—“ He has propounded a free-trade and immigration policy, the latter on a most liberal scale, in the interests of would-be settlers. The Government j oumal has issued a sheet, intended for distribution in America, in which figures and facts are grouped, in order to show how great are the advantages of settlement in Hawaii, and now we hear of amost extraordinary proposition. The decrease of the native Hawaiian population has been so great that the King, in his first address to Parliament, proposes the exemption of fathers of numerous children from taxes, the restriction of divorces, the adoption of measures to check infant mori tality, and the improvement of the sanitary system generally. Perhaps, says a San Fran- , cisco journal, the better plan to increase the t Native population would be to re-convert them , to their ancient superstition, under which they numbered 400,000, though now they are only 60,000. Five out of six have disappeared within a century.” In an article on the recent publication of evidence taken before what is commonly called the Ward-Chapman Committee, the Lyttdton Times states thus briefly some of the obvious objections to such premature publication : “Mr. Justice Chapman has a right to complain, for it is clear that if the evidence taken before the Committee is to be published in this unofficial, and therefore unauthenticated form, his case may>be greatly prejudiced. Besides, it is obvious that evidence of this nature should not be made public at all until the Committee has sent in its report. Even then, it would become a question for the House to decide whether it should or should not be published, though, as a rule, we believe publicity to be by far the best policy in the long run.” A good deal of warm writing has been provoked in Nelson, both on the part of the local papers and of correspondents to their columns, by the reports of the recent interviews between the Premier, the Minister for Public Works, and the members from that Province on the subject of the Nelson and West Coast railway. The Colonist, in dealing , with the subject, if'not elegant, is decidedly emphatic in its language when it says ; “ Make a railway from Nelson via Tamdale to Canterbury and Marlborough, and there will ‘ be as much done to benefit Nelson as might be , done if any pseudo-Samaritan took a starving man and rubbed his back with a loaf. We . want relief ; our back has been rubbed with a brick, or the crust of the loaf, long enough ; i we now want internal assistance, in fact, we ( want a railway that will tap the interior and ■ not run round the exterior of our Province Such being our desire, how can we obtain it ? First, let us show to the General Government and the Assembly that this is our one great re- , quirement ; let our Representatives say to the Powers that be that we want the West Coast railway—the whole of the West Coist railway —and nothing hut the West Coast railway, and there need be no fear of our getting it, especially if they be backed, not by the ' faint cheers, but by the roar of the whole ‘ Province in support of so reasonable, a ; demand.” . 1 The following matrimonial solicitation by a | gentleman who evidently has no small opinion of Iris personal attractions, appears in the ad- ' vertising columns of the Dunedin Star; — ! “ Matrimonial.—The advertiser being anxious to enter the matrimonial state, would be glad to meet with a partner. Would exchange 1 cartes de visitea with any young lady. Address 1 Adonis, Box 270.” The Harbor Board of Auckland appears to differ from Mr. T. B. Gillies as to the necessity of a steam launch for that harbor. We take the following on the subject from the New Zca- . land Herald :—“ The Harbor Board, having considered the question of the pilot service in , all its bearings, have come to the' conclusion , that it would not be advisable to remove the station to either Tiritiri or Rangitoto ; but they have decided that a steam launch should be provided for the use of the pilots. A new pilot vessel has long been considered necessary, '• and the cost of a steam launch will not exceed beyond about a couple of hundred pounds that of a new cutter, while the expense of keeping the same will be less than having a pilot station on Tiritiri or Rangitoto.” It is mentioned by the Otago Guardian that on a recent morning Dunedin harbor, in the vicinity of the shore at Anderson’s Bay and Vauxhall, was covered with many acres of sheet ice. It is added that “ such a thing has never been known before,” but. this is a mistake. At this season, twelve years ago, the bay was so frozen over that boats leaving the jetty at an early hour in the morning were unable to proceed until the ice had been broken with the oar, and the sheet of ice extended from the jetty to what is known as Black Jack’s Point. Owing to the outflow from the Water of Leith, the surface water in Dunedin is often fresh; and a thin coating of ice is the consequence on nights of severe frost. ■ The subject of lawyers’ costswas incidentally j referred to in the Supreme Court, Christchurch, ' last week. His Honor Mr. Justice Gresson ' said there was a great outcry made by the ' public with regard to the law costs charged in ’ the Colony, and the matter had been mentioned ' to the Judges by the Government, as repre- ' senting the public. Mr. Carrick said that the ; charges in Canterbury were not nearly so high 1 as those made in Otago and Wellington, but it was a common thing for people to complain that law expenses were higher than they ought to be. Mr. Joynt remarked that in the old country the law costs, especially on the equity ■ side, were much higher than they were in Canterbury. The West Coast Times gives the following as a specimen of law costs The Hokitika and Grey tramway case against the Province has for its own law costs over .£550. By a return laid on the table of the Provincial Council, it is shown that the costs of the Commission taking evidence is set down at £276 16s. 6d. The Attorney-General’s fee and clerk’s fee, is stated at £l6l ss. Mr. South’s counsel fee and clerk’s fee is £BO 12s. 6d. ; and Mr. Fell’s fee is £l6 55., and the costs of adjournment in banco, are set down at £25, making a total of £556 18s. 10d. The interest taken in the expected debate on the Licensing Act in the House of Representatives last night was shown by the largeness of the attendance in the galleries. Long before the doors were opened they were besieged, and a good deal of hustling and scrambling took place. The ladies’ gallery was crowded, so were the Speaker’s and strangers galleries, Lady Bell’s private gallery contained a numerous party, as did the gallery appropriated to the Legislative Council The interest in the debate, however, did not appear to extend to members themselves, the number who were, in their places being unusually small. Mr.. Fox spoke for an hour on the general question, reserving his remarks on the details, of the measure for discussion in Committee,