The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1867.

Southland Times, Issue 863, 11 December 1867, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1867.

It -will be observed from our advertising columns that the Volunteers are for the future to meet for parade at the rear of the Government buildings, the evenings being Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at a quarter to eight o'clock. In the 2Teio Zealand Gazette of the 24th ult, attention is called to the 14th section of the "Stamp Duties Act Amemdment Act." The section is as follows : — " Where any deed or instrument liable by law to any stamp duty shall be written on paper, and shall be signed and executed by any person before it shall be duly stamped for denoting the payment of the said duty, there shall be due and paid to the Commissioners the whole or the deficiency as the case may be of the stamp duty payable upon, or in respect of, such deed or instrument, and there shall also be paid over and above the said duty or deficiency a Bum by way of fine if such deed or instrument shall be presented to be stamped more than one month, or lesß than three months after execution, at the rate of twenty pounds per centum on the value of the stamps to be affixed, and if such deed or instrument shall be presented to be stamped more than three months after execution, at the rate of one hundred pounds per centum on the value of the stamps to be affixed but in no case shall the last-mentioned fine be less than five pounds." The new Act, which came into operation on the Ist inst., fixes the amount of money to be paid by detaining creditors towards the maintenance of debtors •in custody at 12s per week instead of 5b as previously. The Act does not state whether this applies to debtors in prison before that date. The Grey Biver Argus relates that." a party of men -who were out prospecting in the country behind Charlestown, a short time ago, fell in with an old man, alone, in a very exhausted condition. He was mating his way towards the Buller Biver, from one of its tributaries, and judged himself to be within five miles of its bank, but owing to weakness was unable to cross an intervening range. For fourteen days he ha-.l subsisted on one loaf of bread and some Maori hens* caught by his dog. The party supplied him with B even days' tucker; and saw him next day start again on his way, and we hope he ha 3 reached his destination in jsafety h

The following extrnofc from a Speech delivered ! to a public meeting in G-reytown Schoolhouse, Wellington, by Mr 0. E. Carter, appears in the Semite's Say Bomld. Mr Carter, referring to the New Zealand exhibits in the Paris Exhibition, said : — " Now, I daresay some of you are ready to ask, * What did New Zealand exhibit ?' Well, that New Zealand which thinks so much of herself — which contains a population of over 200,000 — which exported in 1865 over two millions Bterling worth of gold, and above a million's worfch of wool — which has educated and eminent men as her leaders and legislators — which talks of "loans by millions up to sevan— whioh submits to have a more expensive government and heavier taxation than any other couutry — which is ao poor as to require a little loan of a quarter of a million — which is so rich a3 to make a present of a quarter of a million to foreign creditors — which is to be the United Kingdom of the future —which is to sweep the seas — have a brush with Australia, and conquer India. How do you think this country of anomalie* was represented at tlie Paris Exhibition, in order that emigrants might be attracted to her shores, and capitalists be made aware of her intelligence and vast resources ? I will tell you what this Colony did exhibit to the ' crowned heads ' of Europe and millions of people. One dirty Maori mat, a thigh and a leg bone of a moa, a full-sized drawing of a moa, four or nve unclean fleeces of wool, a sectional drawing of the Canterbury country — and what else do you think? I am afraid I "should stay here all night before you guessed it, so I will tell you — it was a bundle of heart of totara Bhingles, and that an indifferent specimen (Great laughter.) I sneaked out of" the New Zealand Court, for when I heard people asking the way to it I felt ashamed of my country, and my hope for the credit of the Colony was that these contributions had been sent by patriotic Maoris." The Mokihinui correspondent of the Westport Times relates the following story of the inhumanity of a digger towards his mate. A party of two were following some men who were returning to some new ground they had discovered. One of the two men was week and could not keep up with his mate, and so he asked him to leave him some f( tucker" and he would follow more leisurely. But so eager was this latter to push on, so as not to miss the known ground the others were making for, that he would not stop even to untie his swag. The consequence was, that the man was actually out from Sunday to Wednesday without a morsel to eat, and it was only by the threats of the parties he had followed that the strong one was made to go back in search, and discovered the other nearly perishing. The men told him if his mate did not turn up, they would keep him in view and report him to the police. So the inhuman fellow brought his mate in, who said he had struggled on until his strength failed, and then lay down by a creek and had actually been then three days without eating, taking a drink of water now and then. The "Wellington correspondent of the Oamaru Times writes as follows : — " The General Government has jußt completed arrangements for taking over the Canterbury Provincial line, extending from Christchurch to Greymouth, on the first day of the new year. The consequence will be that the line will be extended to Westporfc, and that a material reduction of tariff for messages a long that part of the line wi 1 be made." A correspondent of the Sotithern Cross writing from the Thames Goldfields, says :— "There are now nearly 3000 Europeans at Xauwaeranga. The district will not give permanent employment to more than 600 miners. What are the rest to do? Unless more country is thrown open, or something extraordinary happens, a dreadfnl state of things will ensue on this overcrowding a small district. Hundreds of hard-working men are unable, after the most preserving labor, either to find a payable reef, or tojget employed as laborers. Many would return to Auckland, if they could raise the five shillings to do so. One thing can yet be done, and that is to discourage a further rush. A further responsibility may yet rest upon those who have been instrumental in causing large bodies of men to break up their homes and leave their occupations in Auckland, by the publication, either privately or in print, of grossly exaggerated aud over-colored pictures of what could be done ikt the gold-diggings. Men must live; and I should not be surprised to hear of cases of ' sticking-up,' and other violence being perpetrated at Kauwaeranga. Unless Providence intorposes for our relief in a way we cannot now foresee, or some other extraordinary and unlooked-for event occurs, I do not see what is to prevent fearful distress, with other clamaties, befalling us in consequence of this indiscriminate rush to the Thames.''