The Southland times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1294, 16 August 1870, Page 2

The Southland times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1870.

Iff our last issue we placed before j?ur readers the then position of the " readjustment of. the representation" question, as .nearly correct i as; could be made out from the conflicting information to hand. Our" object; m so \ doing, wejieed hardly say, wak-to .acquaint the people isdth the probability" of -the jproyince being deprived of ,twa of Jts,. members, in order that, by public meeting dr otherwise,' they might," before it was too late, utter a strong protest against so flagrant an injustice. When we wrote, it appeared as if the House was bent on giving an additional member each to Auckland and Westland, without increasing the total number of representatives for the Colony, and that Southland was likely to be made the sacrifice to propitiate these more powerful factions. -; According to Hansard, and the Order Paper for the day, the allocation of members to the several divisions of the country, on the original motion of Mr Fox, on the 29th July, stood thus : — "Thatwithin eachprpvinceandthe County of Westland, the number of members to be "returned should be as follows :— Auckland 15, Hawke's Bay 2, Taranaki 3,' ."Wellington 9, Marlborough 2, Nelson (including Cheviot) 8, Canterbury 12, Otago 15, Southland 4, and Westland 2." On this resolution, however, according to telegrams, alterations were, made, giving Auckland and Westland an additional i meuiber,'and reducing Otago and Southland combined, from 19 to 17 members. Intelligence since to hand seems to show that the alterations have themselves been altered 5 — that the Government has departed from its intention of restricting the numerical strength of the House to existing limits, and has compounded with the two noisiest claimants for an increase of. members by adding two to the number of' our legislators. We have recapitulated above some statements previously made in order that our readers may without trouble take up the connection of wha

follows, which we take from the summary of proceedings in Parliament given by the Wellington Independent in its issue of the 4th inst. The summary relates to the business transacted by the House on the 2nd inst : — . BEADJTJSTMENT OP BEPRESENTATIOUV Mr Fox said the Government would make an alteration in the resolution originally proposed, and the course would be to allow the resolution to be negatived and then move an amended resolution. The Government would take their stand upon this amendment. They would give Auckland one more member, and Westland one. Although Nelson would apparently lose one, it really would not do so, as the resolution only" added "Weatland North to the county of "Westland ; thus Nelson would lose one only in name. The resolution as previously proposed was negatived on the voices. Mr Fox then moved—That within each province and the county of Westland, the number of members to be returned Bhould be as follows : — . ; Within the province of Auckland... 16 members Ditto Hawke's Bay ... 2 „ Ditto Taranaki =■ ... 3 „ Ditto Wellington ... 9 „ Ditto Marlborou?h ... 2 „ . Ditto Nelson (including Cheviot and exclusive of Westland North) ... 7 „ Ditto Canterbury.... ....._ 12 „- "Ditto Otago ... 15 „ Ditto Southland . ..... 4s. „ Ditto County of Westland and , Westland North ... 4 „ I Mr Swan moved as an amendment that the word seventeen be inserted in lieu, of sixteen opposite Auckland. Mr Gillies seconded the amendment. Mr Stafford said that he thought the figures placed on the resolution by the Government approached as nearly as possible to equal representation as they could hope to attain that session, and he therefore hoped the hon. member: would not press his amendment, ; Mr Swan declined to withdraw his motion. Mr Eeynolda would oppose this amendment with a view of proposing that one member should be taken off Taranaki and two off Wellington and given to Auckland. Mr Borlase warmly objected to the attempt to jump upon Wellington by. a combination of the extreme North and the extreme South." He felt bound to raise his .voice against the combination. He would support the proposals of the Government. . Mr Creighton said that the Government, while conceding to the West Coast goldfields an additional member on account of population, refused to recognise the just claims of the goldfields of Auckland. He did hope to have seen the Government bring down a bill on this, subject instead of throwing these resolutions on the floor of the House to be fought over. The large and important goldfields of the Thames had been for two years unrepre# sented in that House. Mr Header Wood hoped the Government would concede another member to Auckland, a concession to which it was clearly entitled, on the score of its increased wealth, population, and contribution to the revenue. Mr Gilließ supported the amendment of the hon. member for Franklyn (Mr Swan). He desired to corroborate all that had fallen from hon. members respecting the - permanency of the population on the Thames goldfields. He would desire to point out that the Government proposals really reduced the number of the Northern members, as it gave the Southern portion of the Colony one more member, making the relative proportion 30 to 44. Mr Yogel said he thought the hon. member for Mongonui should be very well satisfied with the c representation conceded by the Government to the province of Auckland, which would, he believed, be quite ample for her position. The West Coast of the Middle Island did require another member, and therefore to_e,qualise the representation of the two islands another member was given to Auckland. # - The original question, giving sixteen members to Auckland, on being put, was declared carried, ?when a division: was called for, with the following result: — Ayes, 41 ; Noes, 21. Mr Reynolds then moved that the word three be left out opposite the province of Taranaki with a view of inserting the word two in lieu thereof. A division was taken with the following result : — Ayes? 4; Noes, 43. . The amendment was therefore negatived. Mr Reynolds then moved as a further amendment, that the word seven be inserted after the word Wellington in lieu of 9. Mr Birch seconded the amendment. , A division ensued with the following result :— Ayes, 3j Noes, 40. The amendment was therefore negatived. The following members voted with the ayes : —Messrs Birch, Keynolds, and M'lndoe. On the original question being put, Mr Barff moved as an amendment, that the item county of Westland should be increased by one member. The amendment was not seconded, and the original motion was put and carried on the voices. Mr Fox then moved — That the goldfield districts within the province of Otago should be subdivided into ordinary electoral districts, but without prejudice to the right of holders of miners' rights to vote as they are at present entitled to do ; that the number and position of the Maori members be not affected; that, subject to instructions to the foregoing effect, a select committee be appointed to report upon the most convenient boundaries of the electoral districts, and upon the number of representatives for each district; with power to call for persons and papers. Mr Brown moved the erasure of the name of Mr Webster, which was negatived on the voices. He then moved <

that the name of Mr Beynolds should be omitted, which was also negatived on the voices. The original resolution was then put 1 and agreed to.

The lecture on Spiritualism, by Mr Perkins, will be given this evening, in the Exchange Hall, at 8 o'clock. His Honor the Deputy-Superintendent will preside. Without venturing on the ground likely to be taken up by the lecturer, wo may assume from the importance of the subject, and the general interest therein, the attendance will be large. The devotion of the net proceeds to' the Hospital should materially aid to secure the filling of the hall. At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday, 15th, a workman named Black, sued two subcontractors on the Winton line— Tannock and Lambert— for £7, due to him for wageß. Defendants pleaded inability, to pay, on the ground of not having been yet paid themselves. Plaintiff alleged that defendants had got paid, at least for a large portion, of their contract, and naively remarked he thought men ought to be paid before masters pocketed.. profits. Judgment for the amount, with costs. The fourth; of thfl current series of lectures in connection with the Young Men's Mutual Improvement .Society, was delivered in the Presbyterian Church last evening, by W. H. Calder, Esq.* The subject chosen was "The Sword and Pen." The lecturer handled the subject well, and maintained the interest of his audience to the close. An : announcement appears in our other columns, that Mr and Mrs George Darrell (late Mrs Rbbt. Heir), are to visit Invercargill BhortlyJ Mr Darrell is highly spoken of by the colonial press as a clever aotor and impersonator . ot character. Of the lady, nothing commendatory need be said, her talents being so well known and acknowledged. A poultry show was held in Christchurch on the 7th inst., when 173 exhibits were made. In. concluding hia speech on the financial proposals of the Government, Mr Wilson gave an excerpt from an imaginary history of the colony, written ten years hence, and which we published in our columns. Mr Yogel" retorted upon the honorable member for. Coleridge by Baying that he had prepared a historiette, which was as follows:—" These railways were constructed at the instance of a beneficent -Government, supported by a wise and far-seeing Legislature, out of .money which otherwise might have been wasted on the introduction of Goorkhas, to please the vanity of a well-meaning but wrong-headed old gentleman named Craoroft Wilson, C.8." The attention of intending contractors is called to an alteration in Messrs Driver, Maclean and Co.'s advertisement, calling for tenders for certain earthworks at Winton. We have to remind intending tenderers for alterations to the Commercial Sale Yards property, that their enclosures must be in by the time specified in the advertisement— Thursday. We understand that if a reasonable offer is received, the job will assume dimensions of some magnitude — brick being made to replace wood in the main walls, &c- - ■ -■-■ — Mr W. Evans has been elected a member of the Weßtland County Council in room of Mr Reeves, resigned. % The Ballarat Star Btates that Mr Eddie, manager of the London Chartered Bank at Ballarat, and Mr Guthrie, assistant manager of the same bank, are to be reli«ved, and that Mr G. A. Chalmers (late of Moa Flat, Otago), of the head branch at Melbourne, is to succeed Mr Eddie in the managership.- - A large nutrgefcwas brought into Milton (Tokomairiro) on the 13th inst. It is described as being about the size and shape of a pullefs egg, is apparently one mass of solid gold, weighs 11 ozs., and is said to bs worth about £41. John Smith; in whose possession it was seen, says he found it on the 27th ult., beneath a large boulder in a gully near to Mr Mill's farm, about four miles from Milton, on the Canada road. He and his three mates have, been working.in the gully for the last 3 months, but hitherto have only made " tucker." Smith says the gold in the locality is coarse (and, in coroboration, produced a very good sample), but patchy, and only found in very small quantities. ">'■■■ A gentleman at Clyde has becoma possessor of a few Maori relics, recently found in a hole or cavern in a gully called Italian Gully, which lies on the east bank of the Clutha, about half-way between Clyde and CrpmwelL These consist of a mat of about five feefc in width, but of which only two feet of the length have been made, the ends of the unplaited flax still hanging fringe like, as if the Maori who was making it had to leave it unfinished ; a quantity of dres3ed flax in hanks, ready for use, and colored white, red, and black ; a short hank of twine made from flax ; and a few chert stones. Also, a tremendous eel-pot made of narrow bands of flax. These are all, considering the time they have lain — probably 50 or 60 yeara— in a fair state of preservation. On the white flax, small pieces of the yellow skin left by careless dressing, can be easily seen here and there. Something like the dye which has been used is observed covering the floor of the cavern. It is the intention of the possessor of the relics to visit the spot and examine it carefully. Probably the Maoris have : had in haste to take to this hole, scared by the- sight or approach of the North Island natives who made a raid on this Island some half century ago.