THE COLONIST.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 347, 15 February 1861, Page 2

THE COLONIST.

NELSON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1861.

Ouu files from the North and the South— extracts from which will be found under their respective headings in another part of the paper-T-are filled with various speculations general and provincial. The elections at Auckland have not turned out at all favorably to the ministry, though a few of its strongest opponents have been superseded by new hands. Thus Mr. Forsaith is replaced by Mr. Russell, who says, in his address to the electors, that he will support this or any other ministry who will carry on the war as it ought to be; but thinks that ' their policy in many respects is injurious to the colony; they have squandered the public money, creating an enormous establishment, and are still fast plunging us into debt. He further states that he will endeavor to procure for the provinces the largest possible share of the revenue of the colony — a share much larger than that doled out to them by the

General Government. This seems to be one of Mr. Stafford's impossibilities—an , independent member; and we trust the majority of the house will be of a like mind. Even the Southern Cross, the reputed i ministerial organ, says that ' Government ) will not find itself in command of so avail- ' able a majority as they had during the last [ session. For some reason or other oppoi sition to the present Government has been a popular cry on every subject except the i war.' It further says:—' Find out where , a man's property and interest lie, and you may make a pretty shrewd guess as to his political views on this subject.' For further particulars on this point inquire of Stafford and his obsequious contingent. On the war the same reliable authority has the following comfortable assurance :— ' The insurgents are still in the field, and although large reinforcements from India and England have arrived, it does not appear probable that the war will be brought to a speedy conclusion. Military occupation of the country seems to be the only plan likely to succeed in quelling the insurrection, for even the great losses which t^e natives have suffered have so jlittle tended to daunt them that they actually seem to be gaining courage, and have certainly adopted a more open and European style of warfare than hitherto. The attempt to storm the redoubt occupied by a detachment of the 40th, is something unexampled in the history of New Zealand, and the courage shown by the assailants on that occasion is only equalled by the admirable manner in which the attack was planned.' We copy the following from the same article, as it appears to have given Dr. Monro an idea when he was haranguing the half score or so of resident electors of Stafford's or Weld's pocket-borough of Picton:—'The natives have been looking on the English for the last twenty years much as one of the knights of Coeur de Lion would have looked upon a Caxton —with a kind of good tempered, contemptuous admiration. The New Zealander considered the inventions of civilised life as useful contrivances to do woman's work; he thought that the men who came with nothing but these, must be women at heart, and he good temperedly patronised them and despised them accordingly : he is only just beginning to realise the fact that rifles and howitzers are admirable contrivances for doing men's work (for fighting is the only work worthy of a man in his opinion), and his ideas are gradually undergoing a wonderful change in consequence. He will soon understand the principle which actuates a truly Christian community—to love peace and study its arts, but to study also how best to fight for it.-' To a man, it is expected the Wellington members will be opposed to the ministry. The papers are filled with comments on native matters from all quarters. Some good remarks on Stafford's oration we shall endeavor to find room for in our next. Affairs at Hawke's Bay (one of Stafford's unfledged twin provinces) will be somewhat understood by referring to a petition to the House of Representatives by the residents of that place which will be found in another column. The newspaper bitterly and justly complains of tha want of regular steam communication, and thus suggests a remedy :—' Were the Provincial Governments of Auckland and Wellington to meet us liberally in this matter, bi-monthly communication, as before by the White Swan, would be easy of attainment, for the quota of each would not be a sum to press unduly upon its resources. Hawke's Bay would be the greatest gainer by the arrangement; but the commercial advantages to be derived by the other provinces from regular comi munication with Napier, Poverty Bay,-and the East Coast generally, can scarcely be j overrated. We believe that Auckland (the government of which is a far-seeing and sagacious one) would readily be a party to and fair arrangement; and although WelI lington, having less to gain by such a contract, would probably fight shy of the matter at first, it might ultimately be induced to contribute a portion, however small, of the required subsidy.' Great complaints are made by the Lyttelton Times of the increasing difficulty of finding fitting members for the House of Representatives, It says :— c The task is peculiarly difficult. It must be acknowledged that very few indeed in this province show any inclination to take part in the public affairs of the colony. Every year, it seems that we lose instead of gain in this respect. In 1854 we had representatives every man of whom could compare to our credit with those who were returned from any other province; but each succeeding session has seen men on the' Canterbury bench with fewer pretensions to lead in the house than their predecessors. We speak this truth solemnly, with deep regret, and as the ground of a most earnest exhortation to the electors now to be careful whom they choose. The choice is now more difficult and more momentous than ever. There are nine representatives to be chosen; it has hitherto been difficult to find six candidates, and, as has been said, the class from which the ranks are to be recruited is very small and very poorly supplied. Of those competent to serve very few are willing; and of the few who are willing scarcely any are able to make the necessary sacrifice. The great fear is that mete willingness to serve may be taken in lieu of all other qualifications, and that the benefits of our free constitution may be degraded into a premium upon place-hunting ambition, or, little better, upon mere empty vanity. The concerns of the colony and of this province particularly must not be allowed to fall into the hands of such men. We want education, honesty, energy, and sound judgment at least, and, after these, eloquence if we can get it. There are men amongst us possessing these qualifications, but neglecting or forgetting, we fear, to use them; too timid perhaps to venture into public life without a request: these men should be

sought out by the constituencies; .their services should be demanded, urgently, for the good of the state, because the crisis is imminent.' In the course of the article the writer thus remarks on the Stafford Ministry :—' There has been a Ministry in power now nearly five years whose policy has declared itself to be aggression upon the provinces. It has cramped the executive powers of the local government in essentially local matters; it has treated with indifference the claims of the districts remote from the seat of government; it has endeavored openly to abstract the revenues which ought to be devoted to local purposes; and it has brought into operation a plan for splitting up the provinces info sections whose condition, whether they fail or thrive, shall be one of prostration before the central Executive. It has done this under the pretence of giving local self-government to outlying districts; and it has done it with-, out leaving a chance that any possible injury to that district or to any other shall be avoided, making the monstrous assertion that there is no tribunal in the colony fit to be trusted with the task of investigation into the circumstances.' While one paper has been thus dealing with general matters the Standard has expressed itself pretty strongly on matters provincial—especially on the subject of the expenditure of public moneys by the Executive without the sanction of the Council—a practice which the public should support the members in opposing by every means. In truth we should like to see an Act passed by which the Provincial Executives should be made amenable to the courts of law, whenever guilty of such a breach of privilege and infringement of public rights. In Otaoo the principal topic of discourse is the defalcation in the accounts. The Superintendent, on a private suit, is in durance not vile, for he has taken advantage of some power vested in a Superintendent, and declared his own house a prison within the meaning of the Act. The Accountant-General has sent in his report to the Governor, and the Speaker of the Council has written a long and angry letter in answer to some remarks made by the Superintendent in his exculpatory epistle. The Lady Egidia has arrived in Otago; a frightful mortality among the passengers on the pa?sage out. We have received two numbers of the Marlborough Press, which are very barren of intelligence, except a few skittish advertisements, a reproduction of Mr. Stafford's ministerial manifesto, and a barren coldwithout speech by Dr. Monro before a very select few at Picton. The Doctor is more weakly than usual in his oration; he seems to have lost the little fire he once possessed: if ho . had not declared otherwise, it might have been supposed that he was rehearsing the part of Speaker to the house, and acquiring that calm dignity considered so essential to this seat of, repose for effete, politicians. An abstract of the half-yearly receipts and expenditure, ending December 31, 1860, has been published:— RECEIPTS. £ S. d. Ordinary Eevenue— Publicans' Licenses .... 220 0 0 Publicans' Special Licenses . . . 202 0 0 Customs—Three-eights gross receipts . 401 1 7 Total Ordinary Eevenue . 823 I 7 Territorial Revenue— Receiver of Land Revenue, Sales, &c. 13,0i2 10 10 Incidental Receipts — Miscellaneous . . . . . 5 0 0 Total Receipts . ... . 13,870 12 6 DISBURSEMENTS. ' Departments— Superintendent and Crown Land . 566 12 (5 Treasurer 42 14 10 Gaol and Police 129 15 0 Provincial Council . . . . 55 13 4 Provincial Engineer . . . 69 2 7 863 18 3 Public-Works and Purposes— Picton Road 462 15 0 Other Roads 1,039 19 H Bridges 201 4 7 VVairau Ferry . . . . . 308 15 7 Tools and Implements ... 83 9 7 2,096 4 8 Mifcel laneous— Instruments and Drawing Mateiials „ 15 4 0 Surveying Crown Lands . . . 360 5 3 Immigration . . . . , 115 0 Copying Plans, &c 102 16 0 Printing Gazette. &c. . . . 26 2 0 Furniture for Resident Magistrate's Office 18 0 0 Education 29 3 4 Medical and Charitable Aid 8 0 0 Piiot and Signalman 25 0 0 Aid to Taranald Refugees . . . 250 0 0 Taranalu Lund Purchase . . . 83 0 0 General Contingencies . -. • . 31 110 950 7 5 Supplementary— Departments 442 5 0 Public Works and Purposes . . 211 11 0 Miscellaneous \ ,498 4 1 2,152 0 7' Total Disbursements . . 6,062 10 11 Balance to next half-year . . 7/SOS 1 7 Total 13,870 12 6

Maryborough.—A cricket club, with the out-of-the-way title, Garibaldi Club, has been ' organised 'at Blenheim. Gold is said to have been discovered at Massacre Hill, by a man named Ross whilst working on the road near that spot. ' The punt for the Wairau ferry was launched the other day; it is forty (feet long and twenty feet wide. The Tua Marina bridgp is opened. The Waitohi road is progressing rapidly towards completion, and is now in in a very good state. The Spring-creek bridge is commenced, and will be completed with as little delay as possible.'

Harmonic Society.—The fourth conceit of this society will take place on Thursday next, at the Masonic Hall. The first part will be devoted to a portion of Haydn's Creation, the second to a pleasing selection of secular music, according to'Jthe improved plan lately adopted by this society.

Building Societies.—ln the District Courfc of llawke's Bay a case of considerable interest to these societies was decided. The action was brought by Mr. Webb against the Trustees of the Napier Building Society, to recover damages for the ' blench of an agreement alleged to h&ye been entered into in July, 18§D, whereby/the plaintiff was entitled to purchase four shares in (he said society, apd for damages stained by the^ refusal

of defendants to sell the funds of the said society upon three shares held by the plaintiff upon which he had declared to draw when sufficient fund's came into the hands of defendants as such trustees; also, for damages sustained by plaintiff through the refusal of defendants to comply with the provisions contained in section 1 of the 12th of the printed rules of thn said society. The plaintiff claimed £50. The defendants put in several pleas, but. judgment was given'on the first, which alleged that the plaintiff could not maintain his action, for that by the 23rd of the said rules, in case of dispute, reference is required to be made to arbitration in* the manner therein set out. His Honor delivered judgment to the following effect:—The Building and Land Societies Ordinance'requires those societies to provide for the reference of disputes to arbitration, or to two justices, and empowers two justices to award the payment of money. The members are bound by the rules, which in this case direct a reference to two justices; and the plaint, being only for the recovery of money which such justices are authorised to award must, as it stands, be dismissed.'— H. B. Herald.

Iron Sand.—We believe there is plenty of this valuable material in the Massacre Bay district. We copy the following cheerful intelligence from the Lyttelton Times : —A private letter from England by last mail conveys authentic intelligence of the value of the Taranaki iron sand, in a commercial point of view. It is found to make almost the best steel to be got in England. About ten tons of it had lately got into the hands of a Sheffield firm, who had worked it up into all sorts of fine cutlery. The same firm expressed their willingness or rather their anxiety to have considerable quantities of the ore, and arrangements were being made by Captain Moreshead, who took the first parcel home, to establish a smelting place at New Plymouth. There i? life in prospect for Taranaki, even after the wav shall have done its worst.

New Zealand Flax.—We copy the following sensible letter, signed 11. Christian, from the Melbourne Argus: —'There has probably been more nonsense said and written about New Zealand flax within <he last thirty years than about any other subject. We are continually hearing of some grand discovery about to be made in connection with it, but somehow it never turns up. I have been told that experiments have been made with it, in which several thousands of pounds have been sunk, and, it would appear by parties who have no practical knowledge of the niatter. They seem to have lost sight of the maxim so well understood by our grandmothers " that we cannot make silk purses out of sows' ears." That Phormium tenax, when freed from its objectionable silicious [?| coating, will make an excellent rope, no practical man will deny. That it ever will become a substitute for flax I very much doubt, as the horl is essentially different from that article. A short time back I obtained, by permission of Dr. Mueller, a small quantity of New Zealand flax from the Botanic Gordens. I separated the fibres, softened the vegetable matter, and washed it out. When dry, I dressed it, with much greater ease than any ;of the ill-prepared stuff which 1 received from New Zealand. I made from it samples of rope, which may be seen in Melbourne, and I assert, without fear of contradiction, that there is no more difficulty in making New Zealand flax a marketable commodity than there is thrashing a sheaf of wheat, the objectionable gum notwithstanding—which, by the by, I have never met with. Having manufactured some 16,000 .halters in this colon}', chiefly from New Zealand flax, and as my experience in flax and hemps of various sorts extends over a period of 40 years, I may be presumed to have some knowledge in such matters. The great mystery to me is, how they have kept it out of the market so long. It may be done— that is, dressed—by hand labor, but there is a machine in Melbourne, invented by an ingenious, mechanic, by which the work can be accomplished more expeditiously and more effectually, and a small capital only is required to set the machine in motion, which can be driven by water, or any other power. I have no doubt that before long, New Zealand flax will take its place in the markets of the world, by the side of the best samples of Russian hemp, aud be the source of immense wealth to any parties who may embark in its preparation. I am induced to make these remarks by an article which appeared in the Argus a few days back, taken from the New Zealander, and which appears quite as mystifying as its predecessors. It appears from the above-named article that a premium has been offered to any party who shall make it an article of commercial value. If that is the only condition there need be no difficulty in knowing whom to award it to. I trust that when New Zealand flax again makes its appearance before the public it will be in the columns of the " Prices Current."