SUMMARY.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 406, 13 September 1861, Page 1

SUMMARY.

The proceedings in our General Legislative Assembly at Auckland, cannot be better placed before the? public than by reprinting the straightforward and manly explanation of the honorable member for the Waimeas, at a meeting of his constituents at Richmond. At the end of the speech a vote of confidence was ...put, and passed with but one dissentient. Mr. Saunders thanked the electors for the manner in which they had responded to his invitation, and in accordance with the opinions he had before expressed that constituents should be well informed of what their agents at the House of Representatives did, he would endeavor to give some account of his own proceedings. He was somewhat at a loss for a guide as to what they wished him principally to speak upon, but he would give a sketch of the.general proceedings, and inform them of the part he had taken in them. They were aware that he did not arrive at Auckland until after the house had met, but finding that nothing of importance had occurred, he had no reason to regret that circumstance; no businessof much importance had been done, and members were not sitting more than an hour or two a day. The first measure that he was called upon to consider was the Governor's message Asking tho house for an opinion as to the course it *ould adopt with regard to the war. The reply pro-, posed by Mr. Stafford was eliminated in a long speech that would, be-rememtieved from his having used the terms of ' cowards, slaves, and knaves' to those who did not think as he did on the war. On this serious subject Mr. Fox had very properly asked for a postponement of two days, but before he did so he ( M r. S.) had sketched out some amendments which ho considered necessary, and showed them to Mr. Domett. At a meeting of independent members (those not pledged to support the then ministry) called by Mr. Fox, he showed those amendments to that gentleman, and he (Mr. F.) had them printed and laid on the table. Mr. Richmond the then Colonial Treasurer proposed nome slight alterations in his amendment to which he had personally no objection, but did not of course feel at liberty to alter what had been agreed to by others as well as himself without their consent, and ultimately was led to believe that those amendments would not be opposed. To his astonishment, however, they were handed in by Mr. Stafford in his reply to the address as his own. It was generally felt to be a mean dodge, and the trick did not escape the remarks of even their friends Having dwelt upon that part of the reply which, if allowed to pass, would have pledged the country to assist' as far as in us lie' in the war; paying a tribute of appreciation to General Cameron, of whom he had the highest opinion as one likely to make short work of any warfare entrusted to him, still not the man to be supreme, or one to whom all our civil liberties were to be entrusted hastily—(they had heard enough of military rule, of militia getting all the rough work, while the soldiery were left to guard their wives and daughters). [Mi. Saunders then referred to the comparative cost of regulars and militia, going into items that we have previously reported.] The next important event upon which ho recorded a vote was the want of confidence in the Stafford ministry ; and it was not till late on the second day of the discussion that he made up his mind, and that after most diligent attention to the subject. The meeting might have gathered from his former assertions that, although not approving of many of the acts of the Stafford Ministry, he had felt that if satisfied that they were equal to the conduct of the war, he should be justified in supporting them; but after most patient consideration he could come to no such conclusion. The war had been commenced rashly, carried on imbecilely, and concluded most disgracefully to the British arms. The settlers had been left in a perfectly unprotected state, and the forbearance of the natives saved the settlers rather than any care that was extended to them. Mr. Domett tried to ahow that they were justified in trusting to the natives, but this was strangely ip contradiction to the character for treachery and cruelty which Mr. Domett's party have always been so anxious to attribute to the Maoris. In any case there Bhould have been no uncertainty, and protection should have been afforded. Having assured himself that the Stafford Ministry had not capacity for bringing the war to a desirable issue, he had given a sincere vote of want of confidence in them. The meeting would see that this question was one of peace or war: whether war should spread over the whole of the northern island, or whether the question should be amicably settled, and such was the position of the votes that every man who Toted against ministers might say that he turned them out. The removal of a ministry who were so determined to keep up a war, or at least a war expenditure, immediately succeeded as it were by the views of the appointment of Sir George Grey, was a fortunate circumstance for the colony; the natives had become reassured, and the confidence of the settlers returned, crops were being eown with some reliable belief that they would not now be subject to the destruction which previously appeared to be certain in the confusion and disorder consequent upon former mismanagement. When he reached Auckland he found that three-fourths of the j members of the northern island were opposed to the war, and that, in reality, the Avar was maintained by the southern island; we were actually compelling them to go to war against their convictions. The .New Plymouth men were interested, and of course they wanted to go to war; they wanted the land; and when they remembered that Mr. Richmond, his brother, and brother-in-law, represented the province of New Plymouth no one could feel much surprised that the representatives of that province approved of the conduct of Mr. Richmond, and they would see that it was not so very surprising that such an untoward event had been precipitated. AH that he had since seen had confirmed him in the correctness of that vote, and he had since been very glad that he had so voted. With regard to the character of Mr. Fox, far from the frightful individual that he had been described to him—one who would do no end of harm to Nelson—one who would form a Wellington ministry, with many other baleful prophecies, he would aay that there was only one Wellington man in, Mr. Fox himself, that he was very well disposed towards Nelson, and quite as likely to consider the interest of Nelson as any of the late ministry. If it should ultimately prove otherwise, he (Mr. S.) should be as ready to give him a vote of want of confidence also. Mr. Saunders then went into the particulars of the formation of the new ministry, and expressed his respect for the handsome way in which Dr. Featheraton took upon himself the important duties of Colonial Secretary pro tern, in illustration of some ground for the opinion he had formed of his unselfishness and willingness to help the country in her need. He did not think badly of ttlen that, when representatives, did the best for their province^ but a ministry was a different thing; they had then to act fairly to the whole colony, and he believed this would be the case with Mr. Fox, in whose ability he had great confidence. In fact, any one who watched that house would at once say that Mr. Fox and Dr. Featherston stood in point of ability head and shoulders above any other member in it. Dr. Featherston had cheerfully accepted a severe and laborious task, when physically unfit for it; he had Bhown that there were none more competent to fill the place of Colonial Secretary, but when a good man was found he at once resigned; he would not accept B ny salary for the time he held the office upon the ground that he received that of Superintendent, and would not accept the. pay for two offices at one time. He considered him to be the most disinterested man he had ever seen in the course of his travels. There was a bill introduced by Mr. Stafford for pensioning persons whom he might think proper to remove from office, saying there were many who were incompetent officials, but had not done wrODg, and it was necessary to remove them although they had not held office long enough to be entitled to pension under the existing pension law. Now, as it appeared to him (Mr. S.) the obvious plan was to remove them for those better, qualified, 'as the bill : was intended to find retiring pensions for the purpose of creating supporters, he felt himself fully justified in voting against it. The Amendment of .Registration of Electors Bill was a necessary measure. Previously, a claim to vote had to be attested by a magistrate; now, leaving out the chance of such a one being a political partisan, the law was an exceedingly inconvenient one, and in the case of the Takaka electors tho Superintendent had to pay Mr. Mackay to go to attest claims, or that district would have been disfranchised. Mr. Stafford of course wished to appoint officers'.for the purpose; but as he (Mr. S) thought there were too many already, he proposed that the attestation of an elector should be sufficient. After much difficulty, and having to recommit the bill, ho lound the ministry

were ready to go even further, and that any householder or freeholder would be sufficient, and in that way it nosy rests. It was attempted to repeal the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th clauses of the New Provinces Act; but it fell to the ground. The act however would probably be adjusted in the Assembly. Another bill of Mtv Stafford's wag the Bankruptcy Bill, with 383 clauses, and looking very likely to lead to t\m, appointment of almost as many officers ('.aughter). It was a ridiculous attempt to furnish "our little colony with the cumbrous machinery of an English, bankruptcy court. The wants of the colony were however better provided for in a short bill of Mr. Bran-, don's,introduced afterwards. The committee appointed to enquire upon the steam-postal service", proposed by Mr. Firth of Auckland* had only one Nelson man amongst it—Mr. Domett, who said that he was something like Daniel in the lions' den (laughter) amongst them: the report was therefore Auckland altogether. The propositions made would have been very detrimental to Nelson, -it appeared at- first that we were to have a steamer direct to Nelson from Melbourne, but upon further enquiry it turned out that it was to come round by way of Otago, so that Nelson would get her letters last and have to send away first. Tho House rejected this, the .Wellington joined the Nelson members heatily, and it was thrown out. Ultimately it was arranged that it remain as it is; but with this compromise they were obliged to vote £3,500 out of the general revenue to enable the Auckland men to get a steamer to place her on an equitable footing. It certainly was a hardship that Auckland should contribute sj much for what was of little benefit to her, as she generally received English news by some of her many first rate sailing vessels earlier than by \he steamers. Tho Otago men tried to get the same, but failed. There had been a great deal of misrepresentation about Mr. Fox having tried to deprive Nelson of the steamers; but instead of that he had given his best ability to continue the arrangement as it was. The position of being placed at the head of that House compelled men to act for the colony instead of a particular province, and it was for that reason that he held that members of a ministry were by no means in the best position to represent their own particular constituency. He then came to the ' Provincial Expenditure Control Bill.' It appeared that since Mr Stafford had ceased to be Superintendent himßelf he had tried to do all he could againßt them, and to leave as little power in the hands of the Provinces as possible. This had in fact been the characteristics of the Stafford, or he would rather say the Richmond ministry. This bill compelled every little province to appoint two additional officers —an auditor and deputy auditor; no Superintendent was to pay anything without the direct vote of the Council, so that if the Superintendent put a mad person into a place of security at the public cost he would be liable to be fined £100 and bo disqualified for office for three years. Another was introduced in opposition by the Fox ministry; it was a little better than the other as introduced, but by the time it got through the house it was positively worse; it enabled the Council to bi ing the Superintendent before a supreme court; now if Councils were fair and sought only justifiable ends there would be no objection, but it was too well known to be the coutrary. The biil, he was sorry to say, passed at last, and it enabled Councils to ding the representative of the people of the whole province before a colonial judge, and to fine him £100 for each or every single item he may have spent that was not previously voted by them, so that if a prop fell out of a bridge he could not have it replaced. The only recourse then would be to vote large sums for contingencies, one evil engendering another. If an application were made to the House of Lords to repeal the bill there was much doubt if they would do so, being virulently opposed to Superintendents altogether. In company with several others, he (Mr. S.) had tried to lessen the mischief by limiting the term, but through the opposition of Mr. Wells they were frustrated, and the bill would probably exist for the next five years. He had voted against the Picton Railway, because he felt that such a thing was premature for a place so little populated. If it had been • for Auckland Harbor or other places of considerable traffic, he should not have been so decidedly against it. But Pictou possessed a good road that we had expended £10,000 upon, where there was scarcely one person passed in a day, and the fern was not trodden down ; so that, in his opinion, it was an unnecessary work. There were some absurd calculations made about the amount of traffic. Mr. Morgan gave evidence in committee that he alone consumed about 700,000 feet of timber annually; but Mr. Dobsou, who was candid in such matters, said that he didn't think there were 700,000 feet of timber in Picton altogether (laughter). In the claim of Mr. Whitelaw for £310 debentures destroyed, by fire, it was not clearly proved that they had not been brought into the Treasury, but it was said that Whitelaw Brothers had not paid their creditors; this was not true, and Mr. Whitelaw defied Mr. D. Bell to make such a statement in another place than the house. To his (Mr. S.s) surprise, Mr. D. Bell denied having said so, and proposed that Mr. Whitelaw and the printer be brought to the bar of the house. Mr. Saunders said that he remembered Mr. D. Bell using word 9 which gave him exactly the same impression that they gave Mr. Whitelaw, and if the words were calculated to cast a serious and unjust aspersion upon Mr. Whitelaw's character, he considered Mr W. quite justified in contradicting them as publicly and as strongly as he did, but Mr. Bell and a few others had expressed great astonishment that he (Mr. S.) should dare to defend such a letter. After this it was proposed that no one should be allowed to criticise the proceedings of the House (laughter). He (Mr. S.) said that for his part he should trouble himself very little about that matter, as long as they were pro teoted from special juries and spiteful judges (laughter). The disgusting oise of Major Cooper, who held the appointment of Captain of Militia at Wanganui, and who took away a Maori girl of 10 years of age as his mistreis required to be mentioned. In his military capacity he was liable to be called against the natives, and his conduct had been most abominable; be had however acted as political agent for the old ministry, and their interference extended only to sending him a letter, in which the ministry expressed themselves as bein<j sorry that he had brought a reproach on their Government. Mr. Churton, who had offered the Bishop £46 0 for a reformatory for Maori females, having written to the government about the matter, as well as the father and brother of the girl, requesting to have her sent back. Mr. Stafford attempted to defend the case upon the ground that the girl was 12 or perhaps even more years of age; he and Mr. Wilson being the only persons in the house that attempted to do so. He (Mr. S.) believed that Major Cooper would be removed from his command by the present ministry. He had advocated the payment of members at the rate ef £50 for those residing 20 miles oft", and £25 for those of 10 miles, for future sessions. He did bo because-he saw an evident desire to Hpin out the work. All the real business transacted during the time he was there might ha ye been done in a week. Nevertheless, bill* were never read over, the title and analysis were enough for the slovenly way that things were done in. He arrived in Auckland on a Thursday afternoon, and saw that the House was not tutting ; was sworn in next day; but nothing of any consequence done (nothing is done on Saturdays or Mondays, those bein^ festive days at Government House); on Tuesday, those who had exerted themselves so much at the Government House ball on the previous night could not get up in time to reach the house by 12 o'clock, and therefore the house was counted out, nnd it.was not unti. Wednesday evening at 5 o'clock that the house met a^ain; a week therefore nearly elapsed bulbre anything was done after he arrived. He had now to explain why he had left before the business of the Assembly quite terminated. He found that the business would be dragged out, although nothing remained that misjht not hiive beecj done in a few hours; they had gone half through the Estimates in one evening before he left, but the southern members would not break up until Sir George Grey arrived, though he thought that if there was a man who required no watching it was he. Nearly all, or nine out often, of those who have left the house and come home by the last steamer were supporters of the rox. ministry. A pledge was given that no further attempt should be made at present to unseat the ministry, but should any attempt be made he had no doubt the house would be prorogued. With regard to the arrival of Sir Gteorge Grey, he looked

upon it as the chief solution of the difficulty ; he would arrive hero armed, in all probability, with greater power tlum any Governor ever had been invested with since the: introduction of the Constitution Act. He neither joined in the deprecation or defence of the Governor; it was evident that his course was not to interfere with anything, he was simply a chip in porridge, and entirely at the direction of his late responsible ministers. The appointment of Sir G. Grey on the other hand was a wise and happy occurrence, and he sincerely believed that it was the appointment of the right man in the right place and at the right time too. In answer to some questions from an elector, whether Mr. Saunders did not go pledged to oppose the Stafford ministry, and why the Fox ministry were not prepared to declare their policy when . ; thay ousted the Siafford ministry,' ■■*■* :'._ •■"•■'•■ ' . ....... Mr. Saunbers'replied certainly^ot. He had clearly stated that he Hid not approve of many pf their nets, but if there had been"- any reliance to be placed in their capabilities of settling the Native question he should have supported them. With respect to the rest he never did, and never would go pledged either to. oppose or not to to oppose any ministry (cheers). He then said it wan clear that the : gentleman Lad never read anything ahont the matter. Mr. Fox had declared his policy, and he did so fully arid clearly; the inhabitants of Auckland had received it.with enthusiasm and delight for its straightforward and manly tenor. Ke had observed that the Examiner, and papers of that class, had said that Mr. Fox had adopted the policy-of the Stafford ministry; there could be no greater libel than such assertions, but such statements had few supporters; it was indeed about as creditable as the mean system they pursued of inserting all the speeches on ono side and none on the other; one instance of which was the accusation against Mr, Wood of having promised never to accept office; that was inserted in the Examiner, and decent fairness should have led it to publish the reply, but that was left out. That tras a sample of the general conduct of that paper (hear, hear). Since our last summary* in which we gare the constitution of the new ministry, more permanent arrangements have been made, and the ministry is composed as follows :— Mr. Fox, Colonial Secretary. Mr. Sewell, Attorney-General. Mr. Reader Wood, Colonial Treasurer. Mr. Mantell, Native Minister. Mr. Ward, Postmaster-General and Secretary for Crown Lands. Mr. Henderson and Dr. Pollen without office. The most important business of the Assembly since the formation of the new ministry was the vote of want of confidence in that ministry (lost by one vote) moved by Mr. C. W. Richmond, after solemnly declaring that he would not factiously oppose them, and even that he would work * night and day' with and for them to settle the native differences. Nothing of general importance besides what is treated of in the above speech has taken place, with the exception of the recall of Governor Browne, and the very able and, we may say, unexpected Financial Statement of Mr. Reader Wood, the new Colonial Treasurer, of which we give the main figures :— Civil List ..£19,000 0 0 Permanent Charges .. .. 35,783 3 7 Class 1 Executive .. .. 4,20t 5 0 2 Legislative .. .. 12 692 10 0 3 Judicial 17,913 1 6 4 Registration .. ~ 2,310 0 0 5 Customs 21,3156 15 0 6 Postal .. .. .. 34,903 10 0 7 Militia .. .. .. 6,319 2 6 8 Native 10,000 0 0 9 Miscellaneous .. .. 11,296 15 O 175,779 2 7 3-Btha Customafor Provinces ~ 86,250 0 0 Making a total of 2 7 In the course of his speech, the Colonial Treasurer said that he now turned to another part of the subject, the result of which will be iar from satisfactory, that was what related to the war expenditure. In the last session authority was given to raise a war loan of £150,000. The appropriations under that loan were divided into eight different headings :— £. s. d. Arms and. accoutrements ~ 30,000 0 0 Relief of Taranakians'.. ~ 25,000 O 0 Native Insurrection .. ... 40,000 0.0 Native Conference- ~ ~ 6,750 O 0 Barracks 5,00'J 0 0 Bonus to Militia, <fee. .. .. 29,000 0 0 Ammunition 2,000 0 0 Balance ~ ~ .. 12,250 O 0 150,000 0 0 Nearly the whole of this sum has been spent, though from a recent statement made in the house by Mr. Fox, only a small amount of the loan had been yet raised. The Imperial Commissariat Department had the following charges to make against the Colonial Goyernraent up to the date of the debate (July 23): — £. s. d. Militia Charges from Junuary Ist to 31st March, 1861 15,192 6 11 Sundry claims for clothing, &c, to 31st December, 1860 .. .. 53,183 1 4 Demand of £5 per head for troops in New Zealand from April Ist to 31st March, 1861 .. .. .. 25,868 15 0 Demand on account of stores supplied October, 1860 .. .. .. 2,856 17 4 Estimated demand on account of Militia to 30th June, 1861 .. .. 10,000 0 0 Do. do. £5 per head to same date .. 6,250 0 0 Barracks at New Plymouth .. .. 7,000 0 0 £120,851 0 7 With regard to a certain portion of these demands the Colonial Treasurer said he had no hesitation in stating that they are most unfairly charged against the colony. The honorable member said:— l As to the Revenue, the first and principal item is that of Customs Receipts, which were estimated by my predecessor to amount to £193,000. They will be found to have reached £205,000. The Postal Revenue was estimated at £11,000, and has actually reached to £11,564. The revenue from the various courts under the head judicial, was estimated at £12,300, and has only reached to £9078. On account of the Land Claims Settlement Act, £800 have been received, £500 were estimated. The fees of the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages have actually amounted to £966, and were estimated at 800. The fees arising from Crown Grants were estimated at £1500, and have amounted to

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on|y £1095. Those from miscellaneous sources were estimated at £500, and £353 ha'ire been received. The total estimated | Revenue was £219,600. The actual Revenue was 4228.556.' , The House of Representatives presented anjaddress to his Excellency the Governor, to which he replied as follows:— ".Mrs Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:. '. ■: ,_, ;; ; "jjl t'nank you sincerely ibr the assurance-; of your. confiidftcation, and estee,my,and for th& good wishes f6r;; myKvoifaie and prosperity, contained \n -the-.address-•you- haye^ now presented, tp ■jne." Thi§;afisUNtfic&hafl additional value, asi comfng frona' a House o/ ; Repre^; ientativ.es whose , have been conducted with an ability and' moderation which have commanded and received my admiration and respect. '•I rejoice, in the opportunity afforded me of expressing, my sense of the extreme courtesy t have invariably received from the three parliaments with which 1 have been placed in relation. "It &ives me very great satisfaction to know that tha House of Representatives appreciates my earnest ' endeavors, to, facilitate the operations of Responsible and to fulfil the promise which I made in my speech prior to its introduction in 1856. " I solemnly assure >ou that in the proceedings connected with the war, I have been influenced solely (as you say) by the sincerest wish to place the-1 relations between the aboriginal inhabitants, of this colony and her Majesty's Government on a basis upon which the host interests of tho former, may be recon-. ciled with the prosperity and progress of the European colonists. ■' " How to promote the welfare of both races of her Majesty's subjects in this colony, has occupied my thoughts continually during the six years I have had the honor to hold her Majesty's commission as Governor, and wherever I may be, I shall continue to watch the progress of New Zealand with the deepest interest, and earnestly to desire its permanent prosperity. ' " T. Gore Beowne. " Government House, Auckland, 2<>tb. August. 1861." Nineteen Bills have been initiated in the House of Representatives, fourteen of which have been passed. The most important of these are, the Provincial Audit Act, 1861, New Provinces Act Amendment Act, 1861, Diseased Cattle Act, 1861, Act to provide for the protection of certain Animals and Birds within the Colony of New Zealand, &c. This last act provides that, * in order to afford time for sufficient increase, no Deer, Hare, Swan, Partridge, English Plover, Rook, Starling, Thrush, or Blackbird shall be hunted or taken before the year 1870, and after that time only in our winter months. Pheasants, which in the neighborhood of Auckland have become very numerous, and Quail may be taken or killed in the months of March, April, May, June, and July in any year.* The House was prorogued on the 7th September, by Governor Browne, in an address, which will be found elsewhere.

General Government whidb $$y bad '" a right to expect from the alacrUytivith which they accepted service when called upon, they have shown an internal vitality which we trust will be fostered by the present government. Two', country companies challenged the crack No. 1 City Corps, and the match came off in the city 'shootrng ground, in the Maitai Valley. Thefollowing are the. results of the shooting, three iroundsvJbeiiig fired at each^distajiceJ^ ~'.■]• ~.-:;.■■"'■;■ No. 1 Udl£pAkv..':^--vV»\^_ ■ -- ,■/".. loo,' apti" Soct.\ \,Total.< ■. "■ iJ.-Webb; .. ■ "--. i !-■ i-" rV:< 15 '•; W.H. West ..„■■ 7 3 5- ■ 15 J.T. Catley .. *7 4 3 ...14 r ,\ W.Edwards ■ .. - 7 4 3 14 G. Maling .. .. 7 4 2 ; 13 G.Clark .. ..8 5 0 13 11. Lewis .. ..9 3 0 12 R. M-Kao .. .. 6 5 O 11 W. Lane .. ..4 4 3 11 J. Contial■:>.• ..6 4 0 10 j J. Aitken .. ~5 4 0 9 H. Young.. ' .... 6 3- 0 .9 Totals..' ..79 47 20 146 No. 7 AN» No. 9 Companies. ■ 100 200 300 Total. G. Rutherford ..8 5 2 15 . C. Martin .. .. ■ 6 4 4 14 J.Rutherford .. 8, 3 2 13 S. Hammond ..7 4 2 13 J. Ricketts.. ..6 5 2 13 I A. Baigent.. ..7 3 3 !' 13 A. Baigent.. ..6 4 2" 12 B. Hoult .. ..7 3 2 12 — Tunnicliffe ..6 2 4 12 J. Bird .... 7 4 O 11 J. Price .. ..531 9 — Perrymau .. 7 11 9 Totals.. .. 80 41 25 146 The result of the shooting being equal, three rounds were then fired at 200 yards. The following is the score :— No. 1 Company. Ist 2nd 3rd. Total. H.Lewis .... 0 2 0 2 J.Webb .. ..0 2 3 5 W.Edwards ..0 O 0 O R. M'ttae .. ..11 2 4 J. Connal ~..122 6 W. Lane .. ..1 I 1 3 J. T. Catley ~1 2 0 8 J. Aitken .. ..1012 H. Young ~ ..23 O 5 W. H. Weet.. ..101 2 G. Clark ... ..233 8 C. paling ~ . t> 2 0 3 5 Totals .. ..12 16 16 44 No. 7 and No. 9 Companies. ' Ist. gnd 3rd: Total. — Perryman .. 1 1 O 2 C. Martin .. ..1 2 1 4 G. Rutherford ..3 2 a 7 J.Rutherford ..1 3 0 4 . S. Hammond ..0 0 2 2 J. Ricketts .. ..112 4 — Tunnicliffe ..2 0 2 4 A. Baigent .. ~ O 2 2 4 J. Bird .... I O O 1 J. Price .... 0 0 2 2 S. Hoult .... 1 2 0 3 A. Baigent .... 2 3 1 6 Totals .. .. 13 16 14 43 . Our social institutions are advancing slowly, but surely. The iNelson Institute has issued its half-yearly report, and cheerfully states that this time they have the satisfaction of furnishing facts instead of hopes and promises as heretofore. Of the new building we have given an ample description in a former summary. Speaking of the exhibition, the Committee say that the works of art, objects of vertue, and curiosities innumerable, which were then so readily contributed, afforded the public in general a great treat, and resulted in a pecuniary benefit to the Institution. The Committee acknowledge the liberality of the Provincial Government and Council in granting the sum of £200, and they pay a just tribute to the members of the Nelson Trust Funds for their assistance towards the building, library, and museum. Altogether we may say that the Nelson Inetitute will stand second to anything of the same kind in New Zealand. The Christian Young Men's Association Hall has been formally opened since our last. Another ne* Hall, adjoining the above, is in course of erection, which is to be devoted to the purposes of Temperance, Teetotal, and general purposes. .. :i The Agricultural Association have had < their annual ploughing matches, which fully carried out the purposes for which this Society was established. They are about to erect buildings to be specially devoted to this most utilitarian society .established in our province. Great results are expected to accrue from the united experience of the practical men engaged in forwarding this most important branch of economic science.

The Nelson Harmonic Society gave a concert, out of the usual routine, on Wednesday, the 21st ultimo, the object being to procure funds to enable the committee of management to purchase a pianoforte that full justice may be done to the advanced state of both the vocal and instrumental performers. The Provincial Hall of Nelson, in which the concert took place, was well lighted for the occasion, and every provision was made to give eclat to the first attempt of a public or paid performance. We have, however, to regret that there was but a very poor response to the invitation either by subscribers (all of whom had to pay) and also by those triends of subscribers who have hitherto been so courteously supplied with free admissions. The performers were not thus to be deterred from doing well,, for they exerted themselves only with the praiseworthy object of supporting the interests of the society. * : The. first part of the programme consisted of selections from Mendelssohn's Oratorio, St. Paul, which were really well delivered, the time and intention of the author being fully i carried out, and the solo, parts of which bad excellent representatives, both in voice and taste. We cannot, however, permit our kindly leaning towards this society to interfere with our small critique, and we would ; have somewhat stubbornly objected to the introduction in the programme of the trio for female voices, which fell on the ear quite I " Stale, flat, and unprofitable;" ! indeed that was the only disappointment we had in the course of the evening. The second part commenced with Rossini's brilliant overture to Quillaume Tell, arranged for four hands, on the pianoforte, j violin, flute, and violoncello. This was the first combined attempt at instrumental performance, and we were perfectly satisfied by the manner in which this was executed, we look with pleasure for a continuance of this style of music, not, however, confining the selection to overtures. The song The deep Hue sea, was most pleasingly sung, and elicited much approbation. Two of Moore's melodies The Harp that once thro* Tarn's Halls, and the Last Rose of. Summer, were petfectly sung, and had the ! gifted author of the words of the last mklody heard this beautiful air as we did then, he could only have expressed himself thoroughly satisfied. But here again we most strongly reprehend the essentially bad taste which insisted on having |a chorus at the end of each verse, which most positively chased away every pleasure of thought or sentiment of the simple, and exquisite singing. We are glad to intimate that one of the Society's regular concerts will take place in a few weeks, when without doubt the room will be filled by subscribers and their friends who will then come by " free admission." Although our volunteer companies have not had that encouragement from the

One man was killed at Wangapeka by the falling of a tree, some part of which struck him on the back of the head. One of the diggers came all the way to town to get medical aid, the gentleman who was some twenty miles nearer, not finding it convenient to expose himself to so rough a journey. As some of the medical gentlemen in. town could not very well go the Superintendent requested Mr. Cusack of Waimea South, whose residence the man who came to town knew nothing of, who at once promptly started off, having had to walk the last fourteen miles in that very rough and comparatively new country. But on his arrival he found the man was dead, having received several vertebral injuries, which caused paralysis and death. Mr. Creasy, J.P., of Wakefield, held an inquest on the body* and very appropriately complimented Mr. Cusack on his prompt humanity in at once starting off to assist the poor fellow; he likewise very properly praised those who attended the sufferer so carefully after the accident. The man's name was Henry

Sept. 13/13. Godfrey, one of the witnesses stated that mmediately after the accident when placed upon a bed in the tent the deceased said— * Bob, I shall never live to get off this place.' A young fellow, after drinking pretty freely so as to cloud his perceptive faculties, wandered into a stable, it is supposed to lie down, that he was so much injured by the horse that he was at once conveyed to the hospital covered with bruises, and having a compound fracture of the thumb, which is frequently attended with fatal consequences. He remains in a very bad state still. An accident likewise occurred to a young woman who was walking across a plank in Brook-street, when she fell and broke her collar-bone. We have likewise the melancholy duty of recording the death of Captain Hays, his wife, and child, while on their passage to the United States in the Waterwitch, from Callao, which vessel wag lost with all hands ■ • on the-14th April. Captain Hays wag well known in Australia and New between - wbicli places he traded*- antl \was Captain of the Waterlily ;and Maori. He - ;• had resided some time in Nelson and Wellington where he was much respected; ' The following acts of the Provincial Government, reserved for the sanction, of the Governor, have received such sanction:— : ; ■ ■;. ■-. <"-.; ;'' •' ■' .. "'" An Act to authorise the Superintendent to convey to her Majesty certain land granted for public purposes in the city of .Nelson, ' ' : , An Act to amend ' An Ordinance to increase th& . . number of Members of the Provincial Council,' and to alter the Electoral District of the Province of Nelson. An Act to authorise the Superintendent to guarantee certain Interest upon the Capital 'to be, expended iv constructing a Dry Dock or Patent Slit£ at (he Port of Nelson. .....••• / "".' From aC Gazette just issued we see that the receipts and disbursements of . the Provincial Treasurer for the quartet ended June 30,1861, are as follows :— . £. s. d. Total Receipts .... 10,452 10 1 Balance from last month .. 6,163 15 0 16,616 5 1 Of this sum a balance of £9,636 Is. Id. \% taken on to next quarter. The Land Department shows as follows:—• ! '■■'■ ■'.'•.'"'. £.8. .d. '. . ■ Receipts .. .... /■< 8288 16 3 . Balance from last quarter ..''■ 1125 7 5 '. ~ ~ 9414 3~~5 The expenditure amounts to £8324 Bs. 6d., leaving a balance of £1089 14s. lid. to next quarter. The Customs Revenue Tor the same period is as follows :— • £. s. d. Spirits «. «■. . .. .. 1667 2 9 Tobacco,. , 550 10 0 Cigars and Snuffs „. .. ' 88 10 0 Fixed Duties .. .... 1642 13 2 -■ Duties by^^ Measurements ■> .i ! 873 10 - 0 i "Warehouse Bierit .. 14 14 7 Export Duty on Gold Dust .. 172 2 6 Incidental Receipts .. .. 11 3 0 Gross Revenue, Collingwood ~ 125 14 0 5,146 0 0 We never had a lighter police sheet to exhibit to our European friends, and long may our easy-go-lucky Resident Magistrate enjoy such otium cum dignitate in the same way. We should much prefer paying for no law than have to chronicle daily scenes of drunkenness, assaults and batteries, and wife-beatings, and other horrors of highly civilised states of existence. Our old favorite steamer, the Tasmanian Maid, is about once more to follow her peaceful pursuits, under the auspices of a new company, called the Nelson and Marlborough Steam Navigation Company. We trust that we shall now have a regular weekly communication between the two provinces. The little steamer Undine, built • by Mr. Stock, is nearly ready, and will probably make her first pleasure trip to Motueka in a few days. The specimen of the coal from the Grey district sent home to England to be analysed, has proved to be composed of the following:— Composition of coal in 100 parts. Carbon 79;00 Hydrogen.. n 5-35 Nitrogen 089 Oxygen...,. 771 Sulphur >,„ 2*50 Ash 3-50 Water (Hygroscopic)... 105 10000 This document is signed by Mr. John Percy, of the-Metallurgic Laboratory, Government School of Mines, London, and dated May 14, 1861. We are again able to report considerable progress in this undertaking. We understand the whole of the earthwork, bridges, draining, and forming, from Brook-street to the mines, a distance of about eleven miles, is now completed, and the contractor for laying the permanent way upon it is making progress—a portion of the road being already completed, and the waggons running on the rails for the conveyance of materials further up the line. The Company being now in possession of their Bill empowering them to continue the line through the town, down to the port, the committee of management ttave let the contracts for the necessary work for that purpose, which are being proceeded with at a rapid rate; so that there is every probability that the entire line, from the mines to the port (nearly fourteen miles in length), will be ready for traffic by about the end of the present year. It is worthy of remark that in a colony so young as Nelson—and during a winter too, such as the ■* oldest inhabitant,' (certainly not a mythical personage here) cannot recollect equalled, for long and heavy rains— a work of this magnitude could have been carried out, with such spirit and Vapidity, and we cannot but suppose the success which has attended the management, must be highly satisfactory not only to the direc- ' tory 4)ad shareholders in England, but to"., ',-. all who are concerned in it.