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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4180, 13 August 1874, Page 2

Mr. Vogel, soon after the meeting of the House yesterday, stated that as various opinions seemed to he entertained as to the importance the Government attached to the resolutions they were about to propose on the subject of Provincialism in the North Island, he hoped that no hon. member would make up his mind to vote against them until he had heard what the Government had to say in support of them. The resolutions would be proposed as the first business to-day. The debate would probably occupy the day, and if not then finished he would propose that it should be adjourned till Monday. On Friday the ordinary business would be gone on with. The Government had come to the conclusion that an organic change was necessary in the Constitution of the Colony, and they were of opinion that it was better to proceed this session, so that if the resolutions were assented to the change might be made in the last session of the present Parliament, when an election would not be necessitated earlier than would occur in the ordinary course of things. The Government did not present the resolutions as mere fancies to provoke an objectless debate. They staked their existence as a Ministry upon them. If the House did not approve of them, and if the country shared that feeling, then tho Government of the Colony must pass into the hands of those who held other views. He hoped the session might not he protracted beyond next week, or the beginning of the following week, and to lighten the business he would proceed no further than the second reading—to test the opinion of the House—with the Bill for the encouragement of trade with the Pacific Islands. The resolutions would not he put singly, but as a whole. The question, he observed, was too large to he considered from any other than the highest views. A telegram, dated London, July 31st, was received yesterday from the Agent-General, announcing that during the month the following ships sailed for the Colony : —Star'of India, with 370 emigrants, for ‘Wellington ; Bebbington, and Denny, with 580, for Napier ; Zealaudia, and Jacksons, with 640, for Auckland ; Chile, with 220, for Nelson ; Duke of Edinburgh, with 340, for Lyttelton : and the Invercargill, and Headman, with 720, for Otago. The following railway plant and material was despatched during July :—Six locomotives, eight carriages, 700 tons rails, and 260 tons of bridge work. * The movements of the San Francisco mail steamers are as follow :—The Tartar left San Francisco on the 28th July direct for Auckland, at which port she is expected to arrive about the 21st instant ; from Auckland she proceeds to Sydney. The Cyphrenes will return from Kandavau to Auckland, where she will wait the arrival of the Tartar. She then proceeds south, and returns to Auckland, where she meets the City of Melbourne, from Sydney. The Cyphrenes then proceeds to San Francisco, calling only at Honolulu. The Macgregor comes to Auckland from San Francisco via Honolulu about 9th September, transfers mails for Sydney to the City of Melbourne, which will be in waiting at Auckland. She then proceeds down the coast to Port Chalmers, taking up the through service. On arrival at Sydney the City of Melbourne proceeds to Kandavau, connecting with the Macgregor. The s.s. Victoria has arrived at Auckland from Sydney, and brings on all the cargo for New Zealand earned on by the Mikado. The House was edified yesterday, in Committee on the Nelson Waste Lauds Act, by the spectacle of the Superintendent and the Provincial Secretary of that Province taking views of a directly opposite character on some of the clauses. On that relating to the leasing of mineral lands the latter contended that the regulations required great attention, because the practice was to apply for large areas of land under lease, and then to “shepherd” merely until the right men came along, who were obliged to arrange with them. Mr. Curtis denied that snob was the case. Mr. O’Conor said he knew it to be a fact if the Superintendent did not. On the clause relating to the management of the forests there was an equally wide divergence of opinion. Several of the members from tho Province took part in the debatej affording evidence that the Executive and the Provincial Council of Nelson must together form a very happy family. An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in the Patent Slip Company was called at the company’s offices yesterday, Mr. E. Pearce in the chair. The meeting was called for the purpose of electing auditors, fixing the remuneration for their duties, and to pass a resolution defining authority of directors relative to the transfer of shares by the agents of the Company in Great Britain. The following resolution, moved by the chairman, and seconded by Mr. Hunter, was carried : “ Notwithstanding Article 7 of the Articles of Association the directors may appoint an authority in Great Britain to approve or reject transfers of shares and to direct the registration of approved transfers in a register of transfers to he kept in England. A transfer ■accepted and registered in England by, the appointed authority shall not be rejected by the directors, and on the registration of a transfer in the register kept in England the transferor and the transferee respeotivcly shall he entitled to have a certified copy of the entry, on receipt of which by post or otherwise at the company’s principal office in New Zealand, the secretary or other officer of the company shall register the trails-, fer. The keeper of tho register in England shall also by each mail transmit to tho score-: tary a copy of any entry on the local register riot previously so transmitted, and the secretary shall forthwith on receipt of the intimation register tho transfer. The directors may provide for the deposit and custody of instruments of transfer offered for registration in England.” The mover of the resolution stated that this course was suggested by their London solicitor, ns out of £30,500 subscribed in the company, £25,500 was held by English capitalists. The auditors elected were Messrs. Walter Johnston 1

and E. W. Mills, and the remuneration was fixed at five guineas. This concluded the business of the meeting. Sir George Grey is mentioned in a Napier telegram as being a passenger by the Luna, now on her way to Wellington. The Licensing Act Amendment Bill was read a third time in the House last night, and passed. The Agent-General adds to his telegram, which was received yesterday, announcing the vessels that had been despatched for the Colony, that he had arranged for emigrants to proceed to Taranaki and Marlborough in August and September. The Highway Boards Empowering Bill, and the Westland Waste Lands Act Amendment Bill were read a third time in the House last night and passed. The latest addition to the Colonial fleet of steamers, the s.s. Eastby, is reported to have passed the Bluff last evening on her way to Dunedin, where she is owned. Mr. Thomson gave notice last night of an amendment which ho will propose when the Ministerial proposition for the abolition of Provincialism in the North Island is proposed. Its purport was not stated to the House. The Nelson Waste Lands Act passed through Committee yesterday, and was reported to the House ; the Loan Bill for that Province was postponed ; and the Water Works Loan Bill was dealt with in Committee. A petition was presented to the House last night by Mr. Williamson, from electors of Coromandel, praying for separation from the Thames district, with which they were now united. The petition was read. We lately quoted in these columns the contents of a letter from Messrs. Brogden & Sons to the Agent-General, urging a claim on the Government in respect of “ the heavy liabilities they had incurred in connection with the New Zealand emigration.” Theletterwas forwarded by the Agent-General on the stb of May, and to him, on the 3rd of July, the Minister for Immigration promptly and emphatically replied, to the effect that the Government was of opinion that “ Messrs. Brogden and Sons are not entitled to the relief they ask, nor to any relief whatever.” It is added' —“Messrs. Brogden and Sons have the remedies, and their employes the rights, the laws of the Colony afford, and to them they must be left.” The grounds for the Government’s decision are given at some length in the letter, which we shall quote at an early opportunity. In answer to Sir. Rolleston, last night, Mr. Vogel stated that Mr. Julian, who acted as financial-agent in floating the loan of £1,200,000 when he (Mr. Vogel) was in England, received £IOOO or - the twelvehundredth part. Neither he (Mr. Vogel) nor Dr. Eeatherston had received any consideration in connection with the loan. Bills for the construction of roads and other public works, to apply moneys out of loans as advances to Provinces for public works and other purposes, foi the construction and purchase of railways, and for the encouragement of trade with the Pacific Islands —all indicated in His Excellency’s speech at the commencement of the session—were read a first time in the House yesterday. The comedy “Milky White,” and the burlesque “ Black-eyed Susan,” were repeated at the Theatre Royal last night to a small but appreciative audience. The performance ran very well, the dancing being particularly good. The public certainly cannot complain tbat tbe Grif Company has not placed before them sufficient variety in their performances this season, and it must be admitted on all sides that the pieces have invariably been well put upon the stage and excellently played. To-night is the last but two of the season, and the last free night for children. Doubtless, there will he a good house. An extraordinary proposition emanates from Hokitika, or from the gentleman who is discharging the duties, of Deputy-Superintendent in Westland. The idea of constructing a railway between the Province and Canterbury by Browning’s Pass is apparently abandoned, but instead of accepting the alternative route of the Amuri, Mr. Tabart and others favor a railway southward to Martin’s Bay, and thence to eastern Otago. The idea is a magnificent one, undoubtedly ; hut what about the physical difficulties ? To say nothing of the gradients between Martin’s Bay and the Lakes, there are rivers innumerable to be crossed—so numerous that the line could be little else than an elongated bridge. Culpable overloading of the steamship Macgregor on her passage from Sydney to Kandavau was a charge made by the passengers on their arrival at the latter port, and they protested against her going to sea. Their protests appear in the Sydney papers, to which Mr. Hall writes, describing them as overdrawn, but admitting that through simultaneous accidents to machinery and steering gear in a heavy' gale the vessel fell into the trough of the sea, and shipped water largely. In consequence of the protests, the New Zealand cargo was not transhipped at Kandavau. The sub-committee appointed to take in band tbe collection and other matters in aid of the erection of the new Church of England met by appointment at Government House yesterday, when Mr. ■ Powles was elected Uou. secretary, and Mr. Kebble hon. treasurer, and a form of advertisement and regular system for canvassing were agreed upon. An addition to the funds was made by a subscription of £SO by Mr. Hunter. The annual ball in aid of the Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund takes place at the Odd Fellows’ Hall this evening. Admission is by circular only, and Mr. Marshall’s quadrille band will provide the music. The hall has always been a popular one, and in addition to the pleasure to be derived from it, the laudable object in view will doubtless assist in making it a great success. . The sale of poultry, birds, dogs, shrubs, rugs, &c., lately imported from Hobart Town, which took place at Mr. Veunell’s auction rooms, yesterday, was well attended, and satisfactory prices were realised. Fowls brought £1 Is. to £1 7s. 6d. each; magpies, from £1 Is. to £1 12s. Cd ; canaries, £1 each; opossum rugs, from £3 to £3 10s. ; ordinary rugs, from £1 10s. to £2 10s. A pair of Italian greyhounds were sold for six guineas. The music-loving portion of the New Zealand public "will be pleased to hear tbat it is the intention of the most distinguished pianist of the world, Madame Arabella Goddard, shortly to visit this Colony on a professional tour. She is now commencing a second tour through Australia, having just returned from a most successful visit to India, China, and Java. “Mr. H. H. Hall, managing director of the A. and A. Mail Company, has received advices from London, dated June 12,” the Sydney Morning Herald states, “intimating that the steamers building for the San Francisco line are nearly completed. The firrt steamer, constructed by Elder and Co., would be launched in July ; and Messrs. Lang and Co., of Newcastle, will have the second ship ready in August. Under ordinary circumstances the first vessel would be enabled to leave England in November, so as to take up the through service from Sydney to San Francisco in January, 1875.” Telegrams from Wellington inform the Charleston News that “the broken ring of Nelson made one more effort at reconstruction, but without avail. The iustrument made use of for this purpose was Mi'. A. J. Richmond, M.H.R. for the electoral districts of Suburban North and South. He called a meeting of the Nelson members of the General Assembly then in Wellington, in order to assist him and the Superintendent in. upsetting the retrenching policy of the new Provincial Secretary and Treasurer, and throw back the Province into its old consumptive state.” Mr. Richmond must, no doubt, feel complimented, Mr. George Fawcett Rowe, in a letter on the production of his new drama of the “ Geneva Cross,” trusts that “it may not be long before he shall he enabled to renew in person associations with the kind and generous public” of the Colonies.

Thomas Maher, the claimant to the Buckley estates, has died in the Melbourne gaol. Blondin, who has been “astonishing the natives ” in Queensland,- is to give a series of his wonderful performances in Sydney. A hundred pictures of New Zealand scenery, by M. Chevalier, were lately exhibited in London, and were much admired. Mr. Fisher has shipped from his stables, for New Zealand, via Sydney, two valuable race horses. Goldsborough is tbe horse most fancied fertile Melbourne Cup. Horatio is in great favor for the Sydney Metropolitan, and Poodle is also in request. Two ten-pound notes were lately sent to Warden Carew, at Tuapeka, by “ A Friend.” Mr. Carew gave them to the Hospital Committee. The Ross diggings lately contributed to the export of gold from Westland, in five weeks, and through the Bank of New Zealand alone, thirteen thousand ounces of gold. The Tasmanian and Victorian submarine cable yielded in revenue last year, £6501, including a Government subsidy of £4200, leaving a net profit of £4482. . After many months’ delay, Mr. Moriarty’s report on the Greymouth harbor works is understood to have been received from Sydney by the Victoria, which has arrived at Auckland. ' The New Caledonian Monitcur of July 8 devotes a column v and a half to an elaborate and vivacious criticism on the performances of Mademoiselle Claus and M. and Mademoiselle Rekek While in Nelson a central site has been purchased for a telegraph office, a new office is to be built in Greymouth in a most inconvenient situation for business purposes. The inhabitants have protested. On the departure of the racehorses Lurliue and Papapa from Nelson for Melbourne, by the steamship Otago, there was quite a crowd on the wharf, and Mr. Redwood’s parting words to Cutts, who had charge of the horses, shouted from tbe wharf as the steamer moved off, to “ run first and second for the Cup,” was heartily cheered by the crowd who stood upon the wharf, and also by the numerous passengers on board. There appears to have been more real damage done by the high sea of Sunday week at Okarito than on any other part of the West Coast, and mining property seems to have suffered especially. The waves dashed against the fronts of the houses of the township, sweeping clean across the river, and Blanchard’s bridge was washed away. Mr. James Mathews, father of Julia Mathews, died at his daughter’s house in London, from heart disease, at the age of seventy. Miss Mathews still continues to be a leading attraction on the London stage, but has lately been in bad health.