THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1871.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 47, 30 November 1871, Page 2

THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1871.

The estimates of income and expenditure, submitted by the Auckland Provincial Government, are highly instuctivc in their way. They are very ingeniously compiled. There is just sufficient light to make the darkness visible. As little information as possible has been furnished by the Executive. One fact appears quite patent, however, that but for the gold duty the province is not in a position to cany on its legislative functions. The goldfield is the sheet anchor of the province. Tin’s truth was admitted by the Provincial Secretary in his speech on the second reading of the Appropriation Act. It was tardily admitted, no doubt, and the admission was made in a not over gracious manner : but still it was made, and that is clearly something. When a man who has been converting trust funds to his own use, frankly admits that he has so transgressed, there is some hope of him making atonement for the wrong, and refraining from alike course of procedure in the future. But what would be thought of a person who made such an admission and cooly informed those, for whose benefit the trust estate should be administered, that it was absolutely necessary, in his own interests, to continue the system ? Yet this is in effect the position of the Provincial Executive. Let it be clearly understood, however, that we do not impute any moral delinquency to the members of the Provincial Executive. Far from it. What we do say, however, is this, that they ostentatiously mixed the goldfield revenue with the general provincial revenue last year, and by that means evaded the necessity of making a specific appropriation of goldfields revenue for goldfield| purposes. The consequence is not far to seek. It was very clearly stated by Mr Lusk in the Provincial Council on

fTpcMay niglit, when he said that they shad been receiving large the ', goldfield and had not Spent ; a fair proportion of it on works of, permanent utility on the field. . Now, this remark can only apply' since the close of 18G9, as Dr Nicholson in his estimates for 1871, which were set aside by the Council, brought the goldfields into debt to the province to the extent of £15,000: in other words, that a sum of £15,000 had been spent on the goldfield by his predecessors, in excess of the goldfields revenue. Now, although we dispute the accuracy of his finance, in this respect, it is patent to - every one here that since 18.(39 no public works of any magnitude have been undertaken on the goldfield. .--The effort appears .to have Been- to sec how small’ a sum could possibly be spent, for the mere sake of keeping up appearances. And in the art of shamming the present Executive distance all competition.

1 It is true that considerable sums have been placed on the estimates and voted by the Council, but they have not been spent. The process adopted by the Executive was ingenious and effective. They mixed the goldfield and ordinary provincial revenue together, they treated the goldfields as part of the ordinary departments of the province, and they obtained appropriations for services in all parts of the province greatly in excess of revenue. Thousands of pounds were locked up in fancy votes for steam subsidies and kindred projects ; and a sum of £20,000 was absolutely set apart for the Kaipara railway, although £3,000 will be the utmost outlay on that head during the current year, or indeed hereafter by the province, as the work will be finished by the General Government out of loan. That being so, this happened. The Executive were unable to give effect to all the appropriations of the Council, but they necessarily had the choice of works. And what did they do ? Mr. Lusk tells us. They took the goldfield income and spent it elsewhere, to the neglect of the field. They pledged the revenue of the province to the extent of £42,000, being £22,000 in excess of the appropriation of the Council, for the Kaipara railway, to open up a district which, although sparsely peopled (indeed, which has no inhabitants at all along the railway line), but which is fortunate in numbering amongst its local proprietors at least one active member of the Executive.

Anil now wo find the Provincial Executive coming - down with a penitential budget, and in tones tlic most dolorous that ever emanated from an Executive bench, the goldfield is assured that hereafter their claims will be fairly considered, and the expenditure proportioned to the revenue. But the. goldfield community are not so easily deceived. They arc apt to look at figures, and have a readiness in balancing accounts. And they will undoubtedly look at the estimate of revenue to ascertain how the Executive mean to deal justly by the goldfield, and yet maintain the ordinary departments of the province without a resort to direct taxation. Having done so, they will find this very important fact, that the estimated revenue is illusory, and that Mr Lusk, for his colleagues, protested too much. We shall restate the. estimate of income for 1872, in an intelligible way, thus Provincial Income.

4 t 7 Wc maintain that tlio.se figures arc all the province can fairly estimate as revenue for 1872. No doubt there are contingent assets, but those, with the single exception of £(>,000 sale of railway plant, are not likely to be realised, at least in the time and manner calculated on by the Provincial Executive. Now, setting aside the goldfield estimate, what is there for maintaining the ordinary establishments ? The estimate of expenditure, under the head of “ departments,” is £37,57)2 14s, which leaves £5,877 Gs for miscellaneous, instead of £84,700, estimated by the Provincial Government. It is true that we receive a sum of £27,000, calculated as receivable from the goldfield, and we think we are justified in insisting that this amount at least should be specifically appropriated for the Thames and Coromandel, over and above the ordinary departmental expenditure, as an acknowledgement of the general indebtedness of the province to the goldfield. We arc therefore reduced to this fact, that the province is barely able to maintain its establishments during the coming year, and that it could not so maintain them without absorbing the entire of the goldfield revenue, after paying £25,000 to the Auckland harbor account, as provided bv law.

Our readers will excuse us, we are sure, for going into the financial proposals of the Provincial Executive at such length. From what we have written, they will understand the hollowness of the’promises of the Executive, and they will not be far wrong in supposing that however much may be appropriated for public works on the goldfield, only a trifling sum will be spent. The General Government are not so full of funds as to buy the compensation awards of the Auckland and Drury railway lands at our own price; neither arc they likely to recoup the Province all preliminary expenditure on the Kaipara railway. As for the mortgages and arrears of interest due in 1872. We wish the Executive may get the £IO,OOO. If they get £2,000 they will be extremely lucky.

Tlie 'Tarahi Tramway wm be opened tliis tr&insqs’Tll ReAve Havcu-strcct every "ihaH-irour. j ! *l|| Court stands adjourned until Jftesday next, tdt&fty being a general holiday. Judgment was given yesterday in the Evening Stitriflise in favor of defendants, as will be seen by reference to our report. Want of space compelled us yesterday to hold over the case of Wickham v. Keunan, which will be found in to-day’s issue. A rather important meeting of the Waiotalii District Board was held yesterday,at the Governor Bowetrt]Hotcl, of which a report will he found in another column. It will be seen hy refcrcnco to our report : of t lie proceedings in the Provincial Council, that Dr Sam apologises for non-attend-ance, on the ground of domestic affliction. At this particular time it is most desirable, if possible, that none of tire goldfield members should be abseut.

A committee meeting of the Carpenters’ Association will he held at the Mechanics’ Institute at 7 this evening. At the Police Court, Auckland, before Messrs. Owen and Thomas, William Owen was brought up hy Caroline Pell, to show cause why he should not support liis illegitimate child. After a lengthened hearing lie was ordered to pay ss. per week, or £25 in full of all demands. The notices of applications for leases and register of companies published in the Provincial Government Gazette, which was issued at' a late hour last night, will appear in our next, issue. The s.s. ‘ Plieebc ’ brings 50 hags of malt for Messrs. Ehrcnfricd Bros., and 90 cases fruit for Mr Biuuey. Bachckler’s Panorama drew a fair attendance last eveuing. This evening, in honor of St. Andrew’s Day and the general holiday, an extra number of valuable gifts will be distributed. A very handsome tea and coflee service will he awarded to the best dressed highlander, and an excellent and apparently very useful clock to the best bagpipe player. These, and several other valuable gifts, are to be awarded from a committee chosen from the general audience.

We understand that his Honor the Superintendent, accompanied by Mrs Gillies, will visit the Thames to-day to witness the Caledonian games, and that they have intimated their intention of attending the Masonic ball in the evening.

It is expected that many Auckland people will visit the Thames to-morrow. Amongst them the Goldfields Secretary, Mr. John Sheehan. It is probable that he will remain for a day or two, for the purpose of attending to business on the field conuectcd with his department. Wc noticed yesterday that one of the lucky shareholders of the late Shooting Star Claim, Mr Michael Britt, has taken unto himself au helpmate. 1 The wedding was celebrated in the presence of a large number of friends, at tlie Catholic Chapel. The following appears on the Provincial Council notice paper of yesterday :—“ Mr Dyer to move, That a respectful address bo presented to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to furnish this Council with a return of the amount paid for the preparation of mining leases, such return to state the persons who have been engaged in the preparation of such leases, and the amount paid to each person for preparation of such leases.”

Wc understand that the s.s. Aliuriri was insured in the oilice of the New Zealand Insurance Company for two thousand pounds, of which one thousand pounds was insured in the Australian General office, Sydney. Mr Archibald Clark, M.H.R., of Auckland, together with a considerable number of southern representatives, was on board the Aliuriri at the time of the wreck, and his escape from imminent death will be a source of gratification to liis friends. Mr Creighton has discovered that the Maoris consume tobacco, and, unfortunately for themselves, spirits, also ; likewise that they are large consumers of blankets. The honorable gentleman might have added that our brethren are large buyers of another dutiable article, —white hats. No Maori buck in Napier or Auckland considers his toilette complete without one. Of saddlery and slop clothing too the Maoris purchase largely, though in Napier, where so large a proportion of the natives arc in receipt of regular incomes from the rent of laud, many of them have gone a step beyond slops. As the Honorable Agustus de Boots drives his mail plucton or T cart to Poole’s, and spends an afternoon in ordering coats, so the genuine Maori swell of the period, with a white hat oh his curly head, a flower in his button-hole, a cigar in his mouth, and driving a pair-horse buggy, drives to the local store to be measured for his suit. —Napier Tele • graph. Oil Saturday next the members of the Auckland Rowing Club will give their second series of athletic sports. Sixteen events are on the programme, to each of which very fair prizes will be awarded to the successful competitors. There will be a. one hundred yards race, seven fiat races at different distances, and under varying conditions. bicycle, sack, aud|thrcc-leggcd races, an “all-fours” steeplechase, a hurdle race, and pole leaping. The sports will be enhanced by the presence of the fine baud belonging to the Auckland Artillery Volunteers. The public announcement omits to state at what hour the sports will commence.—U. S. Cross.

We observe from the Wanganui Chronicle, that the new bridge was to have been opened yesterday in great state by his Excellency the Governor. A grand procession was to take place, and au address presented to his Excellency. On the same evening a public ball was to be given in the Odd-fellows Hall, in honor of the Governor’s visit. The bridgeis one of the finest in the colony, and wc are informed reflects the greatest credit on the contractor, Mr O'Neill, who was formerly a resident on the Thames.

Balance, less engagements for £ 1871 10,080 Capitation, &c. 4,000 Other sources 19,400 £42,430 Goldfield Income. fluty 22,000 Other sources 5,000 £27,000