PROVINCIAL MEMS.

Southland Times, Issue 726, 20 September 1867, Page 5

PROVINCIAL MEMS.

A most disastrous fire broke out recently in Nelson, when upwards of £12,000 worth of property was destroyed. The premises burn, belonged fo Messrs Askew, Hornby, Wilkie Davis, and Black. The insurance companies lose about £8,000. A large public fountain is about to be erected in Christchurch. The local papers state that the tank and fountains will furnish a supply of 16,000 gallons of water, to be used in cases of fire. The tank is to be fed by five artesian wells, each of three inches diameter in the bore. We learn from the "Timaru Herald'^that the loss sustained through the late heavy storms cannot for some time be ascertained, but are told that the squatters in the upper Waitaki district are heavy sufferers. Messrs G-ibson and Meyer are mentioned as heavy losers, as their flocks were lambing down at the time. Messrs Studholme, at Waimate, lost about 1500 lambs and 500 ewes. The case of illicit distillation, (says the " Bruce I Herald," heard before the Eesident Magistrate yesterday, occupied a long time. Peter M Queen was charged by the Collector of Customs with having in his possession on the 2nd September, a still, &c. The report of the evidence we must hold back till next week. His Worship inflicted a penalty of £150, or in default six months imprisonment. Mr Dyer, gave notice that he intended to appeal. In discussing the question of the Separation of Westland from Canterbury, the -' Grey Eiver Argus" suggests still further alteration on the map of New Zealand. Our contemporary says : — "If the Hokitika people are determined to go in' for a separate G-overnment. we would suggest an arrangement which would probably suit all parties. Let the Hokitika memorial specially except the country north of the Teremakau, and ask that the proposed new Province include the whole coast line, south of Hokitika to the boundary of Soathlahd. We do not think that Otago would raise any objections to parting with her West Coast territory, which is practically inaccessible except from the coast itself, and can be much easier governed from Hokitika. The resources of the territory south of. Jackson! s Bay are as yet little known, but enough information has been supplied to show that they are both varied and extensive." The " Timaru Herald" sajs : — '* Three petitions to tne House of Eepresentatives are now being circulated for signature. One is from the inhabitants of the Timaru district, praying for local self-government, and has about 500 names attached to it, including all the principal men in the ■■■ district. Another is from the shipowners, merchants, and storekeepers in the town of Timaru, setting forth the great loss sustained in consequence of the Provincial G-overnment refusing to carry out the work recommended by Mr Balfour, and asking for local government. And the third ia from fanners and carters, complaining that the Provincial Government have neglected to bridge a single river in the district, and showing the loss they Bustain in consequence. They also pray iox lo.$& S«lf«gOY§rani§nli withou.";

In reparing one of the tables at M'Dougall and Cherry's machine, Morning , Star ■ -Hill, Wood's Point, Victoria, a short time. ago, 300 ounces of gold were found, which had escaped through a mall crevice, or crack. " The " Nelson Examiner " ha s' the., following : — " Intemperance.— The first case ; of posting a drunkand under, the new Licensing-- 'Act^f took 1 place yesterday, when the following notice, from I the Eesident Magistrate was served on. all the j publicans respecting a well-known individual of the name of John Smith, formerly a brewer in Nelson ;— ' Notice : The undermentioned person having been convicted of drunkenness three times within the space of six calendar months, 'you are hereby cautioned not to supply him with spirituous ■ liquors, wine, ale, beer, or porter, for a period of one year from this date/ Then follows the name and description of the offender." We think the practice of posting up habitual drunkards might, with great advantage, be introduced in this part of the Colony. , ;jii ■.. ; The following particulars of . the progress of Acclimatisation in Otago are taken from, the, local papers. The "Daily Times " of the llth "inst., says :—" Water is now being introduced by pipes to" the Acclimatisation Society's grounds, for' the purpose of supplying the pond which has already been formed by the Manager, . Mr Clifford, and the breeding ponds intended for the reception of trout ova which are expected shortly from' '{Tasmania. The Water of Leith is the source .from which this supply is brought ; a. four-inch pipe being laid from that stream some distance above Duncan's Mills, through the , Town . Belt, and across the road immediately contiguous to \the toll-house. Inside of the grounds a! tank; has been built for the reception of any silt conveyed by the water, and from the tank the .water is led by a three-inch pipe to the artificial, pond, for birJs, and by a two-inch pipe to the fish-breeding boxes. The pipes used are ordinary relay drain pipes, but they are being jointed with zinc or tin, and well ■" puddled ; ahd' : it is expected that they will fully answer theipurpose which they are .intended to, serve. The fence around the pond for water-fowl has now been completed, and Mr Clifford is at present busy finishing the pond, as far as it is at present intended to form it, and iii laying ' the necessary out-let pipes and rubble-facing to the banks. Around the pond will be planted "weeping willows and other trees of a description suitable to the situation, and the black swans, which are hatching, will be some of the first of its inmates. At present the fence forms a convenient temporary enclosure for the Cashmere and Angora: goats which, however valuable they may otherwise he, have really done a considerable amount .of harm by destroying the bark of . many of the smaller indigenous trees. The fencing of the breeding-ponds for trout is the next piece of work to be done, and an -enclosure for the Axis Deer is also contemplated. The "Bruce Herald" of the 4th inst. has. ihe following item of acclimatisation news :^-"Xb, is with considerable satisfaction that we understand the island in Lake Waipori has at length been put into a proper condition for the safe keeping of the hares which, have been turned loose. by the Acclimatisation Society. The six feet ditch, separating the swamp from the island has been completed ; and we trust the three "squatters" to whom the Government have granted free use of these fifteen acres will not fail to have them very fully stocked before many years, so] that a large number of hares may ba available to stock other parts of the Province,- and secure to our country gentlemen some of the home sports. . The following leading article, ■ from ' the "Lake Wakatip Mail," bears indirectly on the subject of Centralism, and it is a good index of the feelings of" the people on the " Local Government Bill" in the Lake District: — If one movement can command admiration mora than another in the political arena of the House of Assembly . sitting at Wellington — in the people's Parliament —it is the stand that is being taken by the Stafford Ministry on various subjects. For years past it seems to have been the annual custom to change sides — for the Opposition of one year to occupy the Treasury benches the next. To read the history of Parliamentary . government- in Auckland, and other places where the" Parliament sat, is a subject worthy of attention. , It will be found upon the perusal of these proceedings that each party ' had a grievance — but really! a grievance of no particular value. That the party of one session hold opposite views toithajiexfc, that the requirements of the country were, on the whole, considered little 'less than a political game of battledore and shuttlecock for office and pay. All this may have been then very well,, but now the colony -is beginning to see that such kind of amusement is both expensive and dangerous, — that for the pleasure of seeing an exchange from one side of the Houbo to the other upon some fanciful notion, arising -from the results of some party debate, and an excited division, the benefits of self-govern-ment are too dearly -purchased. The Stafford Ministry seem to have felt this. They further seem to have cast upon the House the responsibility of considering measures for the public good, and not to view these measures from a party view of the question. This is as: it should be. " (The action of Mr Disraeli in the matter of the Beform. question may be adduced as a case in point, without referring to valuable measures introduced by Gladstone, Peel, and others;) The G-overnment fought earnestly for the Local G-overnment Bill, and a true colonist ; must have witnessed with extreme regret the combination of ,ultra-provincialist3, section -voters, and large land owners, against the rights of the people to enjoy locally tha administration of funds derived within certain areas. The change of opinion and of action of Messrs Yogel,. Campbell, Dillon Bell and two or three other recalcitrant members has, for a time. only, we hope, put a stop to this privilege. But the Government stood out against every persuasion that they should withdraw the Bill. They unanimously resolved that the people should know who voted against the principle when the Government offered every facility for the most comprehensive changes in Committee. Under these circumstances we congratulate the country on having a Ministry: possessing sufficient moral courage to brave such a combination, and they .must expect imputations of all kinds to be thrown at them.;' The. dirk will not, however, be found in the end to cling, and can easily be brushed off. In, the ■ face of taunts, of insinuations, and f of imputations, we think the Stafford Ministry show a spirit and ait intelligence that commands admiration; and that, furthermore, hy remaining in office, .they :.are doing a good to the colony not to be lightly estimated. The principal newspaper of this. Province considers it very "dishonorable" "oh 'the part of the Stafford Ministry not tor resign. 'No doubt. But the "Daily: Times" never obtained much credit for its political honesty, !or soundness of its political principles or doctrines, and it 3 opinions will therefore have their due weight with all intelligent people. The feeling is strong t^ftiftit ft chaugo of Mimatera