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Southland Times, Volume VII, Issue 531, 1 August 1866, Page 2

An amateur dramatic performance in aid of the funds of the Hospital, was given on Tuesday evening, July 31st. The house was well attended, and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. The principal feature of the evening was the duet — a-cornet-a-piston — between Messrs. Hare and Hume. The following is the state of H.M. Gaol, for the week ending, Tuesday, the 31st current. Sentenced to penal servitude, 6 males ; sentenced to hard labor, 6 males and 1 female. Lunatics, 7 males and 1 female. Debtors 2 males, imprisonment 1. Total, 22 males and 2 females. Received during the week 2 males. Discharged during the week, 1 mala. Increase for the week, 1 niale. We would call the attention of the members of the Chamber of Commerce, to the meeting thathas been called for Monday next, the 6th August. A meeting for the purpose of reviving the Invercargill Total Abstinence was held in the schoolroom, Dee-street, on Friday evening, the 27th July. It was resolved that those present who had not been previously connected with the Society, should consult with the leading members of the former Association ; with a view of establishing a co-operation that would infuse fresh life and vitality into the organization, which has the laudable object of promoting the cause of temperance. Another meeting will be held, at the same place, on Wednesday evening, the Ist August. Some time since we intimated that the establishment of a Stewart's Island Fishing Company was contemplated. The gentlemen who first initiated the movement wisely resolved not to put the project before the public until at their own cost they had proved the feasibility of the scheme. They have gone to work in right earnest, and we have the satisfaction of knowing that between three and four tons of haddocks, rock cod, and other choice fish Has been exported. They are carefully packed in casks, and from personal examination we can express an opinion that they are well-cured, and will arrive at Melbourne and the West Coast, the markets which it is proposed in the first instance to test, in an excellent state of preservation. There is every reason to believe that the undertaking will prove a success. Great credit is due to Mr. John Wright, the agent of the company, for the persevering energy he has displayed, and we hope that he will have the satisfaction of finding the little company of to-day a gigantic association at no distant period. The following are the resolutions on the question of Separation, by Mr Whitaker, (Auckland) which have been debated in the Assembly, and referred to committee for further discussion : — " That, in the opinion of this House, temporary i provision ehould be made for the better government of the Province of Auckland. That with a \ view to that object the office of Superintendent of the Province should be abolished and the whole administration of the Government conducted by a lieutenant-Governor, with • the advice of an Executive Council. That the Provincial Council should be abolished, and a Provincial Assembly established. That such Provincial Assembly should have exclusive power of legislation on all subjects except such as shall be reserved for the General Assembly That no law to be passed by the Provincial Assembly for *ny of tho purpoeeo hereinafter

mentioned, should have any force unless assented to by the G-OTernor-hvOhief, .thai is to say : — The imposition, abolition, alteration, or regulation of Duties of Customs. The establishment or abolition of a Supreme Court, or the alteration of the constitution, jurisdiction, or practice of such Court. The regulating of the current coin, or the issue of any paper currency. The regulating of the carriage of. letters between any of the Provinces of the Colony, and between the Colony and foreign places. The regulation of weights and measures. The erection and maintenance of beacons and lighthouses on the coasts. Regulation of Marriages. That on all such subjects the General Assembly of the Colony, and the Provincial Assembly should have concurrent powers of legislation ; provided that all law* made by the General Assembly control and supersede any law made by the Provincial Assembly on?any such subject. Tkat all pecuniary debts and liabilities of the Colony should remain as at present a charge on the Colony, and proper arrangement* made for securing the due nayment of the share chargeable to the Province of Auckland. That after a day td be fixed, the whole revenue arising within the Province should be made Provincial revenue. That after such a day the whole cost of the Civil and Military Government of the Province should be borne by the Province, and an equitable contribution provided for towards the expenses of the General Assembly. That in consideration of the continuation of the existing arrangements whereby the Land Fund is made Provincial revenue ; aud in consideration of the Province of Auckland relieving the Colony of the expense of the administration of native^affairs, and the cost of "military defence within the Province, an annual allowance

to be fixed upon the basis of the estimated amount of such expense, should be made by the Colony to the Province. That effect be given at once to these resolutions, so far as it is competent for the General Assembly to do so, and that the Imperial Government be applied to give full effect thereto with the least possible delay." The "New Zealand Advertiser" of tha 18th says : — " The purchase of the Manawatu block is not yet completed, and though the indefatigable exertions of Mr Buller have overcome great difficulties' and secured the acquiescence .of a large majority of those interested in the land, yet there are still many difficulties in the "way, and late imformation that ire have on the subject tells us that the dissentients have gained a fresh accession to their strength. Wi Hapi and Ngawaka, two noted Kingite chiefs, have returned from the Waikato, where they have been acting in concert with the rebels to Houhou, in the Rangitikei district. These men lay a claim to ownership in the block, and it is said they are determined to oppose the sale, and that they will bo joined in their opposition "by those already adverse to it. As a specimen of their intentions, we are informed that they met a friendly native out shooting pigeons the other day, and robbed him of his gun and all he had about him. They would have done worse and treated him with violence, if not killed him, had he not assured them that he was only one half loyal and the other half Hau-hau. The latest news we have is that a Maori of Wi Hapi's tribe has come into town, and Bays that these men have not arrived. His statement must, however, be only taken for what it is worth. JNgairo, a well-known rebel from the Wairarapa district, is also said to have returned there, though we believe Wi Waka — the now loyal chief, since he has taken the oath of allegiance — denied when he was down here that his amiable companion had come back.' ' Notwithstanding all we hate heard of the distress in Auckland, of the numbers of mechanics out of employment, it appears that " strikes '• are still prevelant. The " New Zealand' Herald,' ' 16th July has a long and able leader upon the question of tho masons strike from which we extract th» following sensible remarks : — " Wo might quote statistics to show the vast lobs that certain strikes have entailed on employer, workman, and tradesman, without any advantage accruing to any one except to the paid agitators and the committeemen, who are supported out of the subscriptions of the working men. But we prefer to look ; at sthe question from another \ point of view, and notice the effect which strikes hare very frequently had upon certain trades. It is a notorious fact that combinations and strikes among workmen, especially if prolonged and of frequent occurrence, have had tho effect of driving'away a trade from one place to another, to the permanent injury of the former. Capitalists w3l not embark their capital in undertakings where the laborers are ever ready to thwart their designs, and render it impossible to carry them out. Rather th^n do this they remove their establishments to a place where there are greater certainties of procuring labor at a fair price, so as to enable them to compete with others in the same line of business." The Otago escort, which arrived at Dunodin on the 27th July, was extremely small. The '' Daily Time," 2Sth, attributes this to the severity of the weather. It says : — " The fortnightly Escort which arrived yesterday brought down but 4304 oz. The smalmess of the quantity is due mainly to the continned severity of the frost, which has interfered most extensively with all sluicing operations ; and partly to the damage done by the recent floods. We hear that several creeks, through which it has often been a difficulty to get the escort waggon, owing to the rush of water, have this trip been found frozen so hwd, that the ice bore the horses and waggon without cracking in the slightest degree. In only one or two races was water seen flowing ; and the result of a sudden thaw woud be disastrous to races, and especially to the fiumed parts of them." The "Daily Times," 28th July, :— We understand that only 113 letters for Otago were received by the first Panama mail, which reached the Post Office last evening ; and they were all, we believe, specially addressed for the new route. But one mail, for Wellington, seems to have been, made up in London, and that was for Wellington ; or, at least all the Otago letters were received in the Wellington bags.. The home authorities, in ehort, appear to hare sent just what was addresssed >l via Panama," and no more. There were not more than 200 newspapers received. So far aB could be observed, there are no letters or papers direct from the United States or America ; and, altogether, while the first mail by Panama, has arrived with satisfactory punctuality, its contents were as limited as could well be supposed possible. The latest dates are London ; June 2nd ; and Panama, June 24th. The JJakaia was j list a month on the voyage from Panama, as she started on the 24th June and reached Wellington on the 2ith July. Punctual working will no doubt secure favor for the new service; but clearly, folk* at home are' far from inclined to trust it until it has prartd fcaelf to be reliable," ' ..

The Otago, b.s. that -was advertised to le»tft the Bluff on the 30th July for Melbourne, hM been detained. Her day of sailing has not yet been stated. A correspondent to the " New Zealand Advertiser," 25th July, writes :—" It has been strongly suspected for years past that the natives hero were largely supplied with arms, ammunition, &0., and the cry has always been, " Oh ! the American whalers are the guilty parties." For a long time I was inclined to believe there was some truth in that report, although from twenty-five years' business intercourse 'with whalemen, and being t perfectly cognizant of the quantity of powder, &c, those ships usually carried, I was convinced there must be other culprits, but I little suspected at that time that our own fellow-settlers were making money by supplying people in arms against their own countrymen with the means of destroying them. Within these last few weeks, lam sorry to say, proof to 3atisfy any sufficient disinterested party has been produced ; that large quantities of rum, powder, ball cartridges, and, in fact, arms

and ammunition of all kinds are brought from Auckland in coasters, and retailed to the native* from that port to the North Cape, and the prices obtained for these articles cenvince me that shooting pigeons is not what they are required for. Thirty shillings per lb for powder, and eight shillings for. twelve cartridges, is the price willingly paid. It is, of course, very difficult to get proof sufficient to convict these parties, as th« buyers will not inform, and as the vessels engaged in this iniquitous trade are mostly sailed on shares, it is obvious that the offenders be screened; but last week two natives who were employed in a small schooner belonging to this port, came before a Magistrate, and produced a canister of powder, which they said they had purchased from a man named Thomas Kelly, on board the cu*ter G-azelle, of Auckland, then at the Awanui, a port about twenty milei north of this. Their information, through the proper officer, was taken, the man apprehended in Auckland, and forwarded to this port. The case was heard before the Eesident Magistrate, and although the lawyer the prisoner brought with him from Auckland cross-examined and bullied the two witnesses for the prosecution ,th» whole day, their evidence was not shaken; nevertheless, the prisoner was discharged. Now, I think, with all due difference to the Resident Magistrate, he shouldj have sent this case to s> superior Court." The " New Zealand Gazette " of the 19th mat. contains a statement of receipts and expenditure of . the ordinary revenue of the colony for the quarter ending March 31st. The total receipts amounted to £247,747 8s lOd, derived from the following sources : — Customs Duties, £211,469 3s 5d ; Fines, Seizures, &c, 7s 3d ; Postal (including telegraph), £14,460 17s lid ; Judicial Fees and Fines, £6466 18s 3d ; Registration of Deeds, £3629 8s 3d ; Births, Marriages, and Deaths, £705 2s ; Fees on the issue of Crown Grants, £866 ; Fees under the Arms Act, £302 10s ; under the Merchant Shipping Act, £114 18s ; Joint Stock Companies Act, £37 13s j Patents Act, £20 ; Lost Orders Act, £1 ; Marina Board Office, £132 3s ; Interest on Public Moneys, £18 9s 9d ; Incidental Receipts, Credit of Votes, &c, £8231 18s. During the sama I period the expenditure has been for the Civil List, £4860 14s 2d ; Interest and Sinking Fund, £128,075 5s lOd ; permanent charge under Acts of the General Assembly, £2604 8s sd. Appropriations j Executive, £1637 Us 6d ; Legislative, £1574 2s sd; Judicial, £11,181 Is 4d ; Registration, £3012 10s 3d; Electoral, £525 17s 8d; Customs, £13,194 10b 6d; Postal, £31,907 8s 6d; Internal Defence, £2160 17s lOd ; Native Depart. ment, £9717 8s sd; Geological, £342 10s lid; Miscellaneous, £4966 9s ; Refunds of Revenue, £2064 6s lOd ; Supplementary," £l4,sl2 14s ; the total being £232,338 3s 7d, to which must be added three-eighths revenue paid to the province?, amounting to £79,078 13s 7d, making the total expenditure for the quarter £311,416 17s 2d, showing an excess of expenditure over revenue £63,999 8s 4d for the quarter. For the nine months, ending 31st March of the financial year, the revenue was £671,912 2s 3d, and the total expenditure £703,940 13s 2d. We extract the following from the "Homa News," 2nd June : — " Another tremendouß conflagration, demonstrating the extremely dangerous character of modern combustibles, has just occurred at Bow-common, near a canal, which, appears to be a general depot of inflammable matter. The fire commenced in a lucifer-match. manufactory of considerable extent, from which it was quickly communicated to some pitch-and-tar warehouses and w»rks of several oil refiners. It may easily be imagined that a vast mass of materials so intensely inflammable produced an extraordinary volume of flame ; bulf the scene which followed when the fire reached a stack of petroleum casks, 1600 in number, is said t« have been indescribable. Each cask, as it became ignited, exploded with great force and scattered the blazing petroleum in all directions. An immense quantity of the oil, pitch, and tar flowed into the canal in a burning state, setting light to three large barges, one laden with coal, which were burnt to the water's edge." The " Wellington Advertiser," of the 25th inst., gives the following account of the arrangements made in relation to the Panama Service : — " Again an alteration has been made in the time of the mails via Panama starting, and arrangements have been entered into by which the dates of departure will be the first of each month. In consequence of this there will be no mail despatched by this route after to-day, until 21st September, from here, when the Rakaia or Mataura yni follow the Ruahine."