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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4951, 3 February 1877, Page 2

The Corporation Jiave had ■ in their possession for nearly a month the report of Mr. Climxe on the'drainage of the city. It T haa been.printed, and, every arrange-; mentm'ado for its full publication when' the Council think fit to publish it; but as yet they have not thought fit. The pub-; lie very naturally are desirous of know-1 ing why there is so much secreay ■ observed. The discussion on the document was one of the items on Thursday’? border.paper,- but (because, there was’a' little extra business before the Council; this matter was' put aside for another fortnight in that calm way in which the consideration of petitions and other) troublesome documents is deferred alto-; gether irrespective of the inconvenience to the outside.publio. What can there be in the report which leads the Council to act so gingerly in respect to it„and apparently wish to have' a discussion upon’it before ■the public? ha?..any information-as to the contents. , Its subject matter is extremely important, and we hope~..that,dt ,will not be disposed of in a hand-basket fashion.; If it had been laid on the table at the last meeting,, the discussion on it could properly have taken place next week. Under the circumstances a special meeting of. the should be called and the report laid upon the table. While, referring to the doings of the Cor--poration', we may ■ add : that the' proposal made by the Mayor on Thursday, in re-) ference to the water supply, vyill give very great dissatisfaction if carried into effect; The policy of the Corporation in respect to water is just.th? opposite to what it should be. In place of encouraging thej inhabitants to make free use of water to keep the city in a healthy condition, and making arrangements for a fuller supply,; the Council seems to delight in the Procrustean policy of making the present absurdly small supply sufficient by imposing such charges' as almost amount to 4 prohibition in the case of, the poorer classes, If, .the Corporation .does not know what to do with their £IO,OOO, let them spend it in, increasing the water supply. Another "reservoir would form a ■more substantial memorial of Councillor Dbansfield’s greatness than a Town Hall. 1 i„,:w ; ,-r :,n? 1

The education Iqtfestion iti .Victoria has not by any means been disposed of, and there is every probability that during the ensuing elections there will be another*-struggle made by the party averse to the Act. The Melbourne corjrespondent of the Hampden Guardian has expressed a' belief: that 'at'the next general elec) tion “there will be three distinct parties before the country; two open and avowed, and one secret, and working like a’ mole in the dark.” On which.the Argus remarks ;—“The probabilities are So strohgly in favor of this opinion, that we desire to impress it on the minds of our readers. 1 ‘ The two parties alluded to as conducting their operations in the face of day are, of course,' .those led'respectively by Sir James McCulloch and Mr. Berry. Those who ;support these (gentlemen will contest the various constituencies as Victorians desirous of promoting.the interests; of .the .colony, but differing, as to the policy best calculated to attain .the. egd; Id yieyK •The,- other , party ‘working in secret, but "none the less Indus) •trious,’' will; ctmsist-of -the,,lrish],- Catholics; who, in virtue of their religion, are more con) cerned : for triumph,of their Church than they are for the well-being of the land they live in. Their object will be to place Sir C| ;Ga\an JOuffy ,in- power,, as the- first step towards the mutilation -of the Education Act! Some people may say' thaf if 'is invidious to single them . out. in this manner from the general bddy of ‘the colonists^' and to l aeouse them of entertaining ‘secret-.-designs against the, order o) Jthings established by the majority) We'fnust remember; however, that according to the formula of I their. . Churbh they (Roman) Catholics first, and Australians afterivards/’o ’. " I !

The New Zealand Examiner and Australian , Afqi/,, an English; journal devoted solely to colonial news, writing on the question of Ne\y Zealand finance, makes'the' following very sensible .and,, pointed remarks —‘.‘.Tolerably recent' statistics demonstrate. pretty plainly that the debt -of the colony has been growing in a very much larger ratio than the increase of the population, and in the present year that debt is put down "as* high as £6l per head. This is, however, an exaggerated and probably unjust way of viewing, New Zealand financd. The - deist '"which to home 1 sounds 'so alarming, has been directly instrumental in giving to the colony■ those absolutely 'necessary agencies/to civilisation and progress—railways and haron their reproductive state, while the various industries they will„ultimately aid in fully developing are in mosl'instances still in a very genual condition. Is is, true, the money may not*hthvbbeen'Jdid* 'out to-fihe best' advantagp,, and that it has not always been obtained on the best terms, yet still we may hope that what has actually been expended will ripen and bear fruit as time goes on. It would, indeed, seem impossible for anyone at all acquainted with the internal affairs' bf - ‘the colony to feel despondency os to the future. The elements of. J odm'merfcial pbWer l arid : Wealth abound 'in Ne\h Zealand far beyond t the imagination even of j who J take r ‘iS'faVSrable-'vfew of the future of , the colony. The population at prd-' sent, 'regarding''Which 1 thefe' has been somp warm controversy, does not amount to half p million;: '.but' .the JreqhiSitd yphysical agencies will soon exist for setting as many more to work ; and it must-be remembered that in' gold, in wool, in timber, in iron, and coal, New Zealand is extraordinarily rich. Careful' 6Bs&vers.whojhaVbAesiddd, for years in various ; provinces of the, two assure us that a population of fduftfeteinbt fifteen milllions could be sustained in great comfort and with a high' iveragp maximum of,.'individual ;wealth.;;.aud it is easy to perceive that the value of thje' coudmercb jofi rsucKi m- community r.wouldl b|o something difficult to conceive at present. The finances of- the colony, mpy possibly be ajt the present time in 1 some disorder, but thereis not, we believe, the slightest ground for any alarm among the friends of that Britain of the Sputlj, whoso future.so (ar as can be humanlyforecast," is"destined to bp bfinternal prosperity and commercial greatness • only rivalled by some of the sister members of the great Australasian group.”,-.-, 1

Although we differ entirely from Sir George imfiffcn wn~cap nMer Ajhderfafe* Ithe' 'Mnr««b®Kfe. hw'refitfeired 1 tn'NCV-Zealand’ in the past, nor,, fprget that, many of the best id-; stitutions of' r be traced to the' activity and energy of his far-seeing mind. Wo are led into theSO" remarks by the of some date Cape, papers, in which , a high' tributel4’-prfif , TO*iStf Qfeoijgb Wejfr afc having been the originator of an idea for the establi&jfitt# ofhOTtift) iri,KlbgWilliam]itown, which has been successfully worked out. ■lt'seeiiis’; that-1d11856' the prbvince of British KaSraria was entirely destitute of hospital accommodation for either civilians or natives, and there was no civil practitioner within eighty miles of King Williamstown. Indo-

pendently of this state of things, there was a large native population, amongst whoma large number of native doctors were practising and over whom they exercised a very extensive influence; for they taught the people that sickness was the result of witchcraft, and that they alone were able to cure the sick : person. .; The ■ people implicitly believed in their power, and whenever any person was afflicted with sickness the witch doctor was sent for to smell out,,the individual who be-' -witched the patient, this-'procedure generally! ending in the torture hyfire or stinging ants and the death of the person accused, in addition to his being stripped of all_his cattle and property.; From, amongst this body of doctors false: prophets frequently arose, inciting the people to war; Every Kafir war had its witch doctor,; who professed to be able to bewitch the, enemy, and to impart strength to the Kaffirs 1 to overcome the Europeans. Owing to the instrumentality of Sir George Grey these evils were cured. A hospital was established at which native youths were taught the science of The evil was to be attacked in its own stronghold.” The 'pretended “alleviators of human .suffering and the' presumptuous averters of impending evils were to be opposed; by men of- their own race, and speaking their own language, but "instructed at the feet of, science, and armed with the skill and the appliances of modern surgery. Taken from the people; and trained under .qualified European' practitioners, cultured by the adoption of, civilized habits, taught by practical experience the beneficent aims of European medicine,' they would return'to their peOple the qualified agents of . a science which has. much to do! with the happiness and morality of mankind; The result has been most successful, as about sixty thousand people have been attended since the: hospital .was opened, a favorable feeling towards the medical profession created; and some of the prejudices and obstacles removed, although a good deal remains to be done, ■ . ; , .