NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5051, 1 June 1877, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

SUMMARY FOR THE MO X TIL <. For transmission h'J Vk I'.M.C.f. Australia, from Auckland, on ill CtU J tin:; to KiuoiK, tm Han, J-'mmusa: His Excellency tub (lovkuxok returned from his trip on tlio West Coast early in the month, r.nd has since remained at Government House. Commodore HosKix.s was for a short time a guest of his Excellency, but a fortnight since left in the Wolverene, taking with him on a trip Lord Phim'S. His Excellency on Monday leaves for Canterbury, where he will stay for a week, and will then return, and remain in "Wellington till the end of the session. The lion, the Marchioness of Noioiasjby is in good health. la political matters there is little to relate. Ministers have during the month l>een considering their measures, and it is pretty well believed that the proposed egislation has been so carefully considered hat it will not only consolidate the Minsterial party, but will be of a nature calculated to satisfy all parts of the country. Amongst the most important measures expected are an Education Bill, which will urovide for the administration of education a!! over the colony on the secular principle;—the Native Lands Act, ■which is intended to eii'ect a great change in the present law, and which is believed to be framed on the principle that personal "overnment of the native race is no longer necessary ;—and the Lands Bill. Parliament, it is generally understood, will meet on July 10, but up to the present time nothing definite has been made public as to the intentions of the Opposition, or what serves for an Opposition, in New Zealand. Financial ai.ll even insular separation have been spoken of, and the new members recently elected in Auckland in the i.IiiEY interest have pledged themselves to support it. However" the idea is chimerical, and to those at a distance naturally seems absurd. Tf the Opposition leaders have no more tempting platform than this, it is clear they will not get a respectable following. In New Zealand, as elsewhere where constitutional government is in vogue, an Opposition is indispensably necessary to wood ruling, and it is much to be regretted that a body of capable men cannot be got to act in unison upon some definite principles, to supply the want. However, while Sir Geokob Giiey is determined to light for the rights of humanity in general, arid Mr. Macaxdeew devotes all his time to bemoaning the imaginary injuries and insults heaped upon Otago, we must regret the absence of an Opposition which the country would support or the Ministry respect. The 24th of May by its observance was intended to denote that spirit of loyalty to the P.ritish Sovereign which is more active even in the colonies than it is in the old country. But whilst the amusements, ceremonies, and observances of the day were in progress, there was one event taking place that marked the loyalty of our little nation here to the memory of a man who had identified himself with not only the government and good order of the community, but with the whole advancement, business and social, of the place and the colony. The late Dr. Feathebstox was a natural leader of men. The extinct form of local administration in New Zealand made in each of the provinces, into which the colony was subdivided some particular min come prominently to the front as the representative head of that province, chosen by the colonists who dwelt within its limits. And it i 3 creditable not only to these men, but to those who chose them, that the past glories and successes of each province are coupled in each case with almost a single name. In the instance of Wellington and Dr. Featherstox, the faith of his province never wavered and never faltered during his tenure of office as Superintendent. In other provinces, and as regards other Superintendents, there was not the same unvarying trust on the one side, or the same continuous tenure of office on the other. Yet, nevertheless, even in those other great provinces popular trust, whilst it ebbed and flowed, remained tolerably constant to one man, or at least connected the greater part of the progress and the welfare of the province with one man. The late Mr. Williamson in Auckland, and Messrs. Macaxdrew and Moorthouse in Otago and Canterbury respectively, are instances in point. But in respect to Wellington, Dr. Feathekstox was always its head, was always the statesman with whom the majority of its electors were satisfied. And this fact, if none other, would show that he must have had in him much of the stuff of which leaders of men are made. In truth he had. His self-will, such as it was, was never for self. It was merely the outcome of his belief that what he thought was best for the community and for the colony was necessarily best for them. But his belief was ever dissevered from any notion of personal gain or personal inteiests. On the contrary his last thought was given to himself in such respect, his first to the good he might accomplish by having the opportunity of working for the benefit of others. Tho ceremony of the 24th, when the marble which is to endure as the image of those features in which " earth's dull cold lips cling in the kiss of endless sleep" was uncovered, was in all circumstances worthy of the occasion.' No more fitting time for honoring the memory of a popular ruler chosen by the people could have been selected ; and, at tho same time, as Dr. Featiiekthox was in life the last man to yield in what he thought right to any popular clamor to the contrary, his career may bo thought of as embodying those best principles in our Constitution which prohibit tho ultra democratic rule that is more autocratic in the end than the purest autocracy. The Goldfields Wardens latelyassembled in conference here have submitted to Government rules and regulations on which they have agreed, and which are intended, if given legal effect to, to have general application to the goldfields of tho Middle Island. With this object in view they have to a certain extent incorporated the various advantages of the present rules and regulations. The Wardens recommend as far as possible tho withdrawal of restrictions on miners, by dispensing with unnecessary surveys and the necessity for renewal of registration, except in the case of ordinary water licenses. They also recommend tho reduction of the registration fee from £2 10s. to £l. They have framed a series of regulations enabling miners to take up special water-race licenses for periods not exceeding fifteen years. The object of this latter provision is to promote the settlement of miners, and to put them in a position to carry out extensive waterworks'schemes and other works for developing mining resources. They have adopted what is known as a lien clause from the Westland rules, and have also adopted, with some slight modifications, the gold-mining lease regulations now in force in Otago. The Wardens rccorrmend that these gold-mining

j leases be, in tho matter of rent, reduced to £1 per acre. An important recommendation, ' and one that will at once commend itself, is that the miner's right should run over the whole Middle Island, no matter where it may have been originallyissued,and that in certain cases miners' rights should bo issued for a term of years. Also that there should be issued consolidated miners' rights, to embody the interests of a number of persons in one document. Of course it would be impossible to obtain such advantages in the North Island until the native claims on goldfields ceased to exist. A recommendation is made for the introduction of a measure providing for the temporary occupation of land (where doubts exist as to the auriferous nature of the. same) for agricultural purposes, by short leases or licenses, not giving a power of purchase. The Wardens suggest an assimilation of tho mode of enforcing judgments in civil cases in Wardens' Court? to that under the Resident Magistrates' Courts Acts. To prevent the alienation of auriferous or other mineral lands, they recommend that the several Wardens of the Middle Island should (as is the practice in Otago) be the medium of communication "with the Waste Lands Boards for tho reception of applications for land within their respective districts. They suggest that the whole of the goldfields in the Middle Island should be proclaimed as one goldfields district, and that the survey charges upon agricultural ' leases on the goldfields should be assimilated to those of Otago.