The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1868.

Southland Times, Issue 982, 8 July 1868, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1868.

We are in receipt of a document from the London agents of the New Zealand Government having reference io the consolidation of loans. It is intended for the dissemination of information as to the financial position of New Zealand, in order to secure confidence in its monetary transactions, and facilitate the floating of the new debentures on advantageous terms. The document is valuable, and even in New Zealand much information may be obtained from its perusal. It sets forth by stating the authority under which the Home Agent, Mr Fitzhebbert, is empowered to raise a loan in England of seven millions, and exchange Provincial Government debentures for Colonial oorip. It 1-u.oidly points out that the insufficient security of Provincial bonds of different descriptions have proved injurious to the colony by causing a depreciation of their value m the Home market, and points out the advantages arising to the bondholders and to the colony from the consolidation of these loans. But it does more than this. It supplies information of the exact indebtedness of each province, the rates at which all the provincial loans hay*? been aegotiated, and provides material from vhich to estimate the cost of the long jrotracted, and fearfully bungled Maori var. The scheme for raising the leven million loan, and the redemption >f Provincial debentures, appears a well natured one, and if found feasable, will to doubt realize Mr Fitzheebebt's exlecfcaiion of diminishing the interest on ; ■few Zealand Loans to the extent of >40,000 per annum. It will be seen com the subjoined list of Provincial de-

bentures that the interest varies from 8 to 30 per cent, Mr 3?it2HEßßert's plan is to exchange General government 6 per cent scrip for Provincial debentures whenever the holder will consent to the arrangement. At first sight it appears almost absurd to think that bondholders would be willing to give up a 10 per cent security for that of a 5 per- cent, but in looking more closely into the matter there are certain advantages offered, that with British capatalists might be an inducement, the new issue being of much longer date than those of the Provinces, and carrying a colonial instead of a Provincial security, The amount of debentures, Colonial and Provincial, is stated at •£5,800,000, and the amount now to be negotiated -£1,1 14,000, making a total of -£6.7&3,000. To extract from the document — "power haa been taken to oonvert the whole of the loans of the colony and different provinces of New Zealand, as above specified, but that portion of the coloaial debt which has been guaranteed by the -Impeml G-overnment, amounting ' to -^I,ooo^ooo, and .the 7,. 8,. and 1$ per cenfe-nprbYiricial loans, amounting to ■£499,000, are not included in^ny ot the present proposals... The exij»*fcirig debts of the colony are as follows!:— General Government loan, 1857, Lsodooo. The object for which this loan was raised is not stated; thenextitem bearing date 1861, is L 150,000. "We are also leftii tbe dark as to what object this sum wak applied, but we think there is no question but that it was for the Taranaki j war, and should have been classed with 1 the war loans. "We next come to the yarloan of 1803. This embraces seven instalments, amounting to -£3,000,000, wbici, if added to the above £150,000, will show that onehalf of the seven million loan has been spent in abortive attempts tp settle the native difficulty; that over three millions have been wasted by mistaken benevolence, blundering, and corruption for the suppression of a rebellion which,had energy and determination been displayed by the Government at the commencement, could have been stamped out at a cost ofnotmore than two or three hundred thousand pounds. The next schedule is that of Provincial loans, and the interest they respectively bear. Auckland has negotiated debentures to the amonut of £500,000, at 6 per cent. Taranaki, L 75,000 at 7 and 8 ; Wellington, L 155.000, at 8 and 10; Hawke's 8ay,L60,000,at6; Nelson, L 54,000, at 8 and 10 j Canterbury, L 830,000, at 6; Otago, L 685.000, at 6, 8, and 10; making a total of L 2,359,090. From this is to be deducted L 400,000 ?rorth bf Provincial debentures not issued, making the amount negotiated L 1,959,000.. However, to this must be added Southland's liabilities which are put as follows : To the General Government L 380.000, under the " Southland Provincial Debt Acts, 1865-6" ; contingent liabilities, L 42,000; and L32,000f0r which the Provinces of Otago and Southland are jointly liable under the "Surplus Revenue Adjustment Act 1867"— in all L 454,000. There must also be added the items for Telegraphic extension, lighthouses, Colonial Defences, Redemption of Taranaki debentures, and Marine survey, 260,000* This makes the loans raised for Provincial purposes amount to L 2.673.000, or a little over onethird ofthe , Colonial debt. Let ua now see what proportion of the amount of the debt has been incurred for the provinces ofthe Middle Island. Taking the whole of the southern debentures sanctioned (L 400,000 of which, we presume, are not yet issued) they make a total of L 1,569,000, and if we add to this Southland's Debt of L 454,000, one-half of the item of L 260,000 for lighthouses, defence, &c, we find a grand total of L 2,153,000. Tlinq it will be seen that the Middle Island, having an European population of three times the number of the North Island has contracted scarcely ne third of the Colonial debt. It was high time that the debts of the colony were consolidated. The heavy interest, that in many instances had to DO p£VL<A . ljy provmooo poooooocl <>■£ ample security was ruinous, and the scheme of Mr Pitzhebbebt is calculated to diminish this burden, and by the adoption af a Sinking Pund make the liquidation af the debts gradual and easy. Still these figures are strong arguments in favor of the Southern representatives iemanding some kind of a financial idjustment, and a remodelling of the governmental machinery. It is but right :hat we should be just before being gener)us, and we cannot afford longer to find iinds to be squandered in childish tttempts to suppress maori insurrection. !f the North cannot or will nofc defend it- [ elf, it has no claim on the South . o fight its battles. Ifc is to be hoped that , io further loans for other than eproductive works will be required. Lett he Government grapple with the native ' ifficulty in earnest, with a determined, fcrong arm punish rebellion at its first * ppearance; in reality confiscate :

the rebels land, and no fuHbe* loans will be required. The subjoined extraot from the published document embodies tha scheme proposed by Mr Fitzhebbebt- " These new debentures will bear interest at the rate 5 per cent, per annum, payable quarterly,- and th© principal will be repaid at par by a one per cent, cumulative sinking fund, applied by annual drawings to the extinction of the debt. By this process the whole amount will be paid off in about 88 years. The Crown Agents for the Colonies, acting on behalf of the G-overnment of New Zealand, are now prepared to receive applications from the holders of the various debentures herein referred to on the following terms, via s — For every LIOO G-eneral , Government 5 per cents, payable in 1914, holders may receive L 99 lOs new 5 per cents, as above described. Por every LIOO General Government 6 per cents, payable in 1891, the holders may receive Lll3 10s in the new 5 per cents. "For every LIOO sit per cents, of the Provincial . Government of Auckland, Canterbury, Otago, and Hawke's Bay, payable from 1879 to 1914, the" folders may receive LlO9 in the new 5 per cents Interest on the new 5 per cents, will commence from the 15th April, 1868, and all interest accrued prior to that • date on such of the old debentures as may be converted will be paid to the^ respective holders in addition to the foregoing rates i of exchange. The Bonds will be made to represent sums of LI,OOO, LSOO, L2OO and LIOO respectively and fractions of the latter amount which may be unavoidable in the conversion, will be, adjusted either by the issue of one bond more or less, and by the payment of the difference in money."

An adjourned .general meeting of the members of the Southland Club took place on Tuesday, the 7th July. The committee appointed at the previous meeting, to report upon a change in the constitution, brought up a report which was adopted, recommending, among other alterations, the reduction of the subscription to the Club from three guineas to Jne guinea and a ha]£ We have been favored with the following extract from a private letter, received by His Honor the Superintendent from Dr Hector, with reference to the samples of Southland coal forwarded for his inspection -.— " Wellington, June 25th, 1868. My dear Sir,— Your letters and samples pf coal arrived during my absence, but the analyses are now completed, though I doubt if they can be sent by this mail, as I will require to go over some parts of them again. Meanwhile, I may state that the coal from the Otepiri Creek is of the same age as the Grey and Buller coal, but that the reßt are common hydrons or brown coal of a very superior kind." The " Nelson Examiner," 20th June, says :— We are glad to learn that Mr Wrigg and Mr J. Morrison, accompanied by Mr Burnett, left Nelson in the steamer Charles Edward, on Thursday evening, to inspect the Mount Rochfort and Brunner Coal mines. The following extract from the " Scotchman " shows in what esteem the works of the lato artist M'Culloch are held at Home.— "The fine exhibition of the works of Horatia M'Culloch is due to the friendly care and zeal of Mr W. D. Clark, one of Mr M'Culloch' g oldest friends, and now his sole surviving trustee. It comprises upwards of ninety pictures and sketches, of the greatest variety of size, style, and subject. This forms, of course, but a moderate part of the artist's whole works ; for he contributed not less than 200 to the annual Exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy, and df these only twenty-four are here. But the present selection has been made with great care and judgment, and the result is eminently satisfactory. There are about a score of M'Culloch's most important pictures, illustrating various stages of his career from 1833 to 1867, and a large number of works, smaller in dimensions, but not less characteristic and valuable — some of them, indeed, among the most perfect bits of landscape painting anywhere to bo seen. The exhibition is in one raspect saddening, as it enables us more fully to realise the greatness of the loss we have sustained in the death of that noble artist and most lovable man. But it is also deeply gratifying, and makes us more than ever proud that our country produced such a painter. Friendly partiality may have sometimes exaggerated the merits of individual workß during his life - but it seems to us now no exaggeration, but the most obvious truth, to say that with him Scottish landscape painting received its most characteristic development, and reached the highest point it has yet attained. May we not also safely say that, in the whole roll of oar British painters, there are very few whose works will hereafter be more prized, for that combination of truth and poetry, which was the distinguishing characteristic and the glory of Horatio M'Culloch." It will be remembered that his last the drawing for Art Union prizes last year. The export of chicory, grown by Mr Orlebar on his farm at Tooram, Victoria, is worthy of especial mention. o n c hundred and eighty bags have been shipped to Melbourne. This (says the " Warrnambool Examiner") is another addition to the produce of the Western district, to the growth of which our soil is bo well adopted. We give the foliowing on the authority of the " New Zealand Advertiser : — " Amongst the cases recently heard before the Native Lands Court at Whakatane, was the claim of two half- j casteß to a Crown grant for that singular j volcanic island, off the East Cape, known as White's Island. The claim was established, and ere long a Crown grant will probably be issued. Then it may be found possible and profitable to utulise the vast sulphur deposits with which the bland abounds, or rather of which it may be said to consist. Within the last few years several attempts have been made to lease it from the Crown for the purpose of waking the sulphur. Of course, nothing could be don* until the question of ownership was decided. Now that thi* iias been done, the owners may &id White's Island to be a valuable property.' '

The Committee ofthe Southland Acclimatisation Society met on Monday at tho Government Buildings. sre»ent.—Hiß Honor the Superintendent, in the chair j Messrs Moore, M'Arthui-*, Pearson, Lumsden, Crouch, and Butts, hon Secretary. The Curator (Mr Howard) stated that he had visited the ponds afc the Waiwera and f ound that they were smaller than those proposed *o be constructed aUhe Makareifa, and pointed out thafc a reduction in &c cost of construction could be made withont diminishing the capabilities of the ponds. A resolution was passed requesting the Engineer to reduce the expenditure accord, ingly. Arrangements were perfeoted for the Curator's immediately proceeding to Tasmania > and the transmission of trout ova. It was deoided t6 hold a meeting in support of the Sooiety at Riverton on Tuesday 14th June. Our flies "of Tasmanian papers are to the 27th June, from which we take the following s— *' The compiler of the agricultural returns, MrNowell, estimates the surplus wheat available for export in 1868-9 at the somewhat unexpected flgnre of 1,170,692 bushels. The Hobart Town Meroury corroborate this statement. The Victory, which arrived at Launoeston on the 26th ult from Mauritius, reported that two of her men had died on the. voyage from yellow fever, and that a third man hadbeen attacked, but had^ recovered, The Bhip had been placed in quarantine. A meeting had been held at Launceston for tiie purp6li~of establishing local manufactures." The " Tasmanian GovemmenT~Galette***~T!o*x*' = tains a despatch, announcing the Colonial Secretary's decision upon the question of precedence, raised in Tasmania during the Prince's visit and referred home : — " In the absence of any local law or authoritive usage, it would be your duty to conform on these points to the colonial regulations. The term 'bishop' used in these regulations was intended to include Roman Catholic as well as Anglioan predates, aocording to the spirit of lord Grey's circular despatch, 20th November, 1847, and subsequent instructions given by hiß Lordship 'and the Duke of Newcastle." In a table of precedence accompanying, "the bishops" immediately follow the Governor and the senior officer in command-of the troops. Some time ago a lode was discovered on the River Don, in the Devon district,, yielding cobalt, silver, copper and antimony.- The "Mercury" states that an analysis has been made of some specimens Bent home, and from the "Illustrated London News" we learn the result as follows :— - Cobalt, 4oz to the ton ; silver, 100 oz to the ton ; and copper, 14 per cent. A Melbourne journal says that Mr Wm. Nixon is now in Melbourne, organising a company for the purpose of manufacturing flint glassware. Mr Nixon is acting on behalf of two glassmakers, now in Sydney, and he himself iB one. They intend to lease suitable premises in Melbourne and suburbs, where they will only require to build the furnaces, the number of which will be three. They purpose to build the fusing furnace large enough to hold four pots, each to hold 6 owt of metal, but at first they will only make their pots hold 3 cwt of glass. With pots holding the latter weight of .metal they will be able to work from one ton to 30 cwt of glass per week. The number of persons employed' will be three skilled workmen, two 'laboring men, and three boys. The capital required, ifc is stated, will not exceed £2000, and the shares haye already been taken up, some of the leading men in the city having shown an interest in the* "scheme. It is proposed to make, at first, chimneys, and gas globes, fish globes, and confectioners'j garden and other shades ; and some of the largest importers in Melbourne have agreed to buy all of these articles the company can make. The enterprise therefore promises welL It will . be fresh in the recollection of our readers that two gentlemen 'representing a Melbourne company, sailed in the Albion for the Fijis, with the intention of making arrangements for the formation of a new British settlement. We take the following information with reference to the progress of the expedition, from the Sydney Telegrams, published in the " Age " 27th. June. Under date 24th June it says :— -" The news of the arrival of Mr Brewer and party at Fiji, in the steamer Albion, and which haß been published in the Sydney journals, is commented upon here, and the treaty or agreement, with King Thakambau is not regarded as sufficiently reliable or capable of being enforced. The representatives of Sydney houses write, condemning the arrangement as prejudical to the interests of the other European settlers. The new company are likely ' to secure the tract of land promised to be granted to them, but it is doubted whether they . will be able to collect the taxes which they may bis authorised to levy. It is also suggested that although her Majesty's ships visiting the islands would assist the Rang in such a case as avenging the murder of Mr Baker, they would refuse any assistance to the company to enforce their claims against the native tribes, or the opposing claims of other settlers." On the 26th ult., there is the following : — " Private intelligence has been received from the Fiji Islands to the effect that King Thakambau has written to the British Consul there intimating that the charter prepared by the representatives of the new company which it is proposed to form in Melbourne was misinterpreted to him when he agreed to it and signed it; and that since its provisions had been made known amongst the settiersjgd^^natiyeßjithad caused, _ a vase amount of dissatisfaction. The British Consul has, therefore, entered a strong protest against the proceedings of the company's representatives, and it is not probable that the charter will be confirmed."