Untitled

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 437, 31 December 1861, Page 2

Why potter over Blue Books ?—Sir James Graham. Blue Books have always been formidable objects. They were once formidable to lazy members of parliament: they are now foimid able to cabinet ministers. And why ? Because \vithio these ten years they have been studied almost exclusively by the workers of Euflla d and the few, very few, *independent' members .of parliament, who have soul enough not to ally themselves to either of the two factions whicii have misgoverned England for the last century —increasing her debt, her crime, her paupers. And how came these workers to un.ienake thi* laborious and unpleasant tusk? Why, i»y eschewing chartism, sham reft rm, ballot, ami all the so-cslled questions of tlie day, hihJ bj studying well what their rulers hud ilone, ay that they might judge what tin-y were likt-ly tv do. And how cuiue this woiiderlui change wvrf the muds of a dr.u.ed peojiie ? The fiia' attempt at making meu tlii'ik, ami lead, am juag* tor ihemstlves, inste.nl ot listening it' wordy and probably weiipai<i deiiiajaOyins who eventually ally themselves to one ot tne laeiionH they had pretended io abuse, was no easy tabk, and none but a master mind could have accomplished it and made it produce tne fruit it has. The first meeting was atteuded by two working men and a beggar at Newcastle on- Tyne, and now there are hundreds of Foftign. .vffair» Com oiiltees throughout En^aiid, to wiiose txertious are due the late exposures'in the Britiah pallia ment, which infer that England's ministers connived at the destruction.of tlie.Biiiish armies in Affghau and the Crimea, and that the auine ministers or minister have been the main obstacle to the restoration of Poland : on Uiia last point we direct the reader's atteutiou to tlie speech of Count Z>imo) ski in out next. New Zealand lias her Blue Books—and that too in uo mean number. But who reads them ? Nelson likewise has her annual Biue Book. Bui who reads it ? It is of this latter we are about to speak, or rather to make a few extracts from, so that tht public may judge, if they will, of the acts of their governmem and the conduct of their representatives. This book consists of several parts. Eightyone pnges include the Superintendent's address and the Votes and Proceedings in Council. The 'Reports of the-Select Committees' occupy one hundred and six pages Seven pages sre devoted to the divisions in Committee of the whole Council. The Acts passed occupy twenty-two pages. Tne Superintendent's address we gave in full at the time ; the votes and proceedings consist of the notices of motion, &c,, which have duly appeared in our reports of the doings of Council. As money matters most concern the public in regard to the conduct, of iheir representatives in voting the sanie, wo shuli extend our abstract in tlifit department The first table contains the paniculate of tbg raaiket towards which £SUO was vottd by the

o>u cm. There is not much more to be said on this subject, as the Board of Works.is comfortably housed, and, although tbe building cannot be looked upon as oue of tbe architectural beauties of Nelson, an unsightly corner bus been improved. The next item is far from satisfactory, at least to the public, whatever it .might be to those ililett nti members of the Council and Executive who f>rced the Superintendent into such expensive charlatanry. We allude to what is «.«lled * Mr. Haast's Exploration.' Aud what does the readet suppose this affair has cost the province ? Only the small sum of £1717 6s. 6d , out of which the lucky explorer bagged J2500. We should like to have seen in what part of the Teuton's mouth his tongue was when he pocketed the cheque ; and then there is tbe verbose, egotistical, but useless report of the said exploration, which oost j£Bo ss. lOd. Had there been anything in it, it would have been the only useful thiog conneoted with the job for nothing uew was added to the discoveries of Brunner, Rochfort, and others in that region. From tbe Ist of January," 1860, to the 25th; of May. 1861, there were 528 dog tickets issued, the city of Nelson alone taking 387, showing, we think, a great affection for the canine race. The Expenditure of the province was as follows (the financial year now ends on the 31st of March"): — . 1 £ s. d.

Now wv come to tbe ' proposed expenditure ' for the said year 1862, which will be somewhat of a criterion of what bus passed. As this ia a point upon which the public should be we 1 iv formed, we shall go a little more into detail. * In the fallowing list the Superintendent's und Provincial Secretary's salaries are left blank ; but we have assumed that they will be as heretofore. This list will show the public what « number of well paid (and we trust faithful) servants they have, and how well the world would be off if every private establishment kept up so extensive a staff.

Mefs-eiiger .. J Tiii* miiay ot Proviuc hJ <>ra' hi? —numbm'.ja » in 'Siilotjlili-any of oik vo'uil*er (iitmpatii^-r----i.;es Tj.tt at a >'i replevin the esitite t»'veriimentai u«!ul)us. Ii does nur iix-lu-ie i!■-- Cusd-nis depart •i»en«, whic'i tor this sn.iil [.luce, «iih U-ss ihn•me E'it»lis'i snip-tMTiviiig pt-r uionili, and witir u>i foreign trade, require,-, or rather has,'almU' ten full grown men occupied in assiitiug each ■itber. Then there is tlie _M-*gi.-=t» -te's Court, con sitting of ihe resident m.'-gistui>e, litn magistrateV clerk, the magisuate'a clerk's clerk, the bnlS and his satellites,, &<\ &c. Again 'here is tiie Post office, with its chief master, assistant, clerk (?). and postman, besides the contractors for the c.iiui>tiy disiricts. ■ in addition must be namid the Board of Works for the city us well »s the vurious road boards, with paid officers attached to each. Nor must the educational system be overlooked in this enumeration, with its wellpaid oity schoolmaster and its underpaid country sell' olmusters ; with its unnecessary inspector and secretary to the inspector, curiously combined in one and the same individual. But that is no novelty in this proviuce of pluralities, where the duties of office are of so light and pleasant a nature, that one man can perform the duties of half-a-dozen. So that the government squad, general and provincial, will amount in round numbers at least to one hundred. What a pity we have not the Monro-EUiott soldiers here to assist them! What these people do is incomprehensible to the public. In a future number we shall take some of these officers—especially those who bold pluralities, and place them on the dissecting table, to undergo the process of outting up; so that the public may see what they get for their money, which we think they are entitled to know, and which we think it is our duty to exhibit to them. This expensive staff has been made a point cTappni from which to attack the Superintendent. The quarter whence the attaok came proved its hollowi,ess, baseness, and iusin cerity. Those who have closely watched the proceedings in Council know full well, aud it is essential that the public should like wile know it, that Wt»uy of tUcso otticeri h»v« beeuftroed.

ou the Government.by the very men who bring it forward as a slur on the Government. Ii must be remembered likewise that when the present Superintendent'took office, every department in the government was in arrears, entirely through what we have above complained of. Mi. Robinson remedied this in one or two instances, and at all events, he is not the man to permit government officers to interfere «'iti> private enterprise, nor because they are[well p«i*i by the public let hem go into the genera* market and undertake private employment uiuiesuch unfair advantages: this is not just competition, • We hope too that the electors, of the city i particular, will mark their disapprobation of members of tbe Council getting up in their places and proposing additions to the salaries of government officers, because they are friends, or neighbors. Oue or two members indignantly denounced such indecent eon duct on the part of members of the Council, thus interfering with tbe duties of the Executive under whom these officers were employed. Let us have no more of such 'earwigging.' Regatta.—We call attention to an advertisement respecting the little steamer Undine, which will be devoted to the reception of passengers during the regatta, which takes place this day. The brass band will be stationed on the Albion Wharf during the racing. We believe that the boats entered will bring about a spirited contest for some of the prizes. ;." Violent Assault.—On Thursday last William Monk, while sitting inside the Turf Hotel, was struck twice, it is said, by a man called ' Breeser,' a scuffle ensued and Monk sustained a fracture of the left leg, either by a fall or a kick; we hear that a -charge for assault will be preferred against the above named ' Breeser.' . ■■. ; Grey Coal.—A Canterbury paper says tha the 'Lord Worsley on her last voyage from Nelson, made use of twelve tons of the above coals, and ii-ports that it gave the greatest satisfaction. A small specimen was presented to the Lyttelton Museum.' Tahanaki.—The Compensation Commissioners have Keen appointed—Messrs. A. A. Atkinson, G R. Bin ton, arid W. Liaise. The examination appears ciii<fly to be directed towards ascertaining: »vho are the parlies entitled to the relief, with due regard to the relations of landlord and tenant, and ;he interests of third parties; and also what (if any) stuck or other property has been recovered siiice the claims were investigated by Mr. Sewell. We hope the pi ess will he on the alert in this matter, and not allow the poor of Taranaki to be wronged in the shameful way the poor of Nelson wore under somewhat similar circumstances. General Cameron and Staff, it is rumored, are about to visit Taianaki.

1857 16,762 16 6 1858 .. .. .. .. 31,522 18 11 18f>9 (one. quarter) .. 7.338 0 .7 186» ' 65.78H 5 8 1861 .. .. .. .. 58,265 13 2 L*avi u a balance to be taken to the year 1862 of £6163 8s. 8<l. The estimated revenue for 1862 is .£36,150, 15s. which is calculated as follows :— £ s. d Balance in Treasury at. commencement of financial year .. •• 6160 15 0 Customs. 6<5l>0 ° ° Registrai Ion of Deeds 450 0 0 Pul licans'Licenses 1.200 0 0 Auctioneers' Licenses 120 0 0 Education Hate l-'2O 0 0 InsJt)«iitaU 2,300 0 0 Lrtnd.Ueveiiuo (exclusive of IMit Government anrl pronorportion payable to Central Board of liducatbn) 5 8.000 0 0 Total estimate,! Revenue £36.150 15 0

£ 8. d. Superintendent.. .. .. .. 500 0 0 Provincial Secretay & (C.L.O.) ■ Chief Clerk 250 0 0 I Assistant Clerk ...... .. 60 0 0 Messenger.. .. .. .. .. 60 0 0 Office Keeper .. 50 0 0 Provincial Solicitor .. .. .. 250 0 0 Provincial Treasurer .. .. 150 0 0 Auditors .. .... .. .. 45 0 0 Crown Land Commissioner .. 300 0 0 Chief Clerk ditto ... .. .. 300 0 0 Assistant Clerk 200 0 0 Chief Surveyor •.. 350 0 0 Draughtsman .. .. ... .. 300 0 0 Assistant Surveyor.*.. .. .. 200 0 0 Second Assistant ditto .. .. 75 0 0 Provincial Engineer (including travelling expenses) .. .. 450 0 0 Registrar ol Deeds .. '.. .. 800.00 Assistant Clerk 150 0. 0 Extra Clerks .. .. .. .. 30 0 0 Gaoler .. „ 150 0 0 Turnkey HO 0 0 ..Overseer 100 0 0 : Sergeam-Major of Police ., .. 175 0 0 Sergeant ... 136 '7 6 Six Constables .. 711 15 0 Special Constables .. .... 60 0 0 Seven District Constables .. 340 0 0 Native Interpreter (travelling expenses) .. .. .. .. 80 0 0 Inspector of Weights and Measures (with Contingencies) .. 150 0 O Registrar of Cattle Brands .. 62 0 0 Me.lical Officers 200 0 0 Hospital Attendants.. .... 140 0 0 Lunatic 150 0 0 Harbor-Master .... .. .. 150 0 0 Second 110 0 0 Three Boatmen 273 15 0 Signalman .. .. 100 7 6 Attendmt on Port Lamp.. .. 25 0 0 Pilot Collingwood \. 120 0 0 Speaker Provincial Council .."] •Fifteen paid Members .. .. | Clerk .. .. } 647 14 3 A ssistmit Clerk I