THE Thames Advertiser. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12,1874

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1889, 12 August 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12,1874

There is a report current in "Wellington to the effect that the present session of the Assembly will be brought to a close in less than a fortnight, but we do not think that this is likely to be the case, for the speech of Mr Vogel on the proposed, abolition of the provinces, which is to be delivered to-morrow night, is certain to bring on a long and stormy debate, and to prolong the session for a considerable period. It would be observed, from the telegram published in our issue of yesterday, that Mr Vogel's proposal only contemplates the abolition of the provinces of the North Island, but we still hope that the reform measure may be so amended, improved, and enlarged, that it will, be made to apply to both Islands, and that the compact of 1856, whereby the land revenue was given absolutely to the provinces, may be rescinded. A proposal to abolish the provinces is one which we cannot but bail with great pleasure and gratification, because the principle is one for which we have long fought, and upon which we hold sincere and earnest convictions. Therefore we cannot reject it, or declare that " no good thing out of Nazareth," because the proposal happens to emanate from a politician in whose general policy we have never professed much faith, and upon whose political promises we have placed little reliance. But if Mr Vogel will voluntarily take up this great work of ( re-moddelling the Constitution, he will convert many of those who have hitherto been his most consistent opponents, into his most. enthusiastic admirers. The question for the people of the colony now to decide is whether they will have a half measure of reform, or none at all. The original idea, which which was to " consolidate" the provinces of the North Island, appears to have been abandoned, as it was seen that the creating of one province for the North Island would have meant the perpetuation of provincialism. The question arose how the province was to be endowed, without robbing the outlying districts of their strictly local revenues, and the Ministry, wisely and judiciously we think, resolved to make a clean sweep, and blot the northern provinces out of the map as political divisions. Mr Yogel has thrown dojra the gauntlet and the Superintendents have accepted the challenge, so that we may expect a bitter fight. It is not worth while at the present time to unduly urge the advocacy of, details, because in doing . so. wo may possibly lose sight of the great principles involved in this question, but we do not see the least difficulty in the way of taking the existing machinery (suitable for carrying on local works without the aid—or rather, the interference —of

Provincial Councils, Provincial Executives, and Superintendents. The powers of the provinces have beeu gradually taken away from them, their sources of revenue (iu the North Island at all events) have been, one after the other, shorn off, and other local bodies have beeu constituted to take charge of strictly local works. By grouping the Highway or Koad Boards, aud giving , them increased revenues and increased powers; and by properly endowing the Municipalities and giving them annual grants from the funds which would then be available for distribution; and by taking over to the-General Government the various departments with the necessary public officers, the whole of the machinery could be provided without any very complex legislation. There are other questions of detail—such as uniform land laws— but they really present no great obstacle to the scheme, and if the Assembly is disposed to assent to the principle embodied in Mr Vogel's resolutions, he would be able during the recess to frame such measures relating to all these questions as might be satisfactory to the country, We confess that we look upon the proposal to abolish the North Island provinces as merely the " beginning of the end" of provincialism. It would be impossible to keep up the provinces of the South for any length of time after the abolition of those in the North, because the disparity under such a system would induce every' member from the North to go down to Assembly with one great object—the sweeping away of the Southern provinces, and the rescinding of the |land compact. With the aid of members from West- ■ land, Nelson, and some of the outlying districts of the other provinces, where provincialism is not held in greatfavour, there would be no serious difficulty in gaining a majority on the point, and the provinces would assuredly cease to exist. Is it wise then, or is it prudent that we should refuse to accept an instalment of reform, because we cannot gain all that we desire? Mr Yogel is afraid to touch the South at present, because he has formed an erroneous opinion regarding the strength of the provincial party there, but it is , quite possible that he may change his opinion before another year, and gain sufficient courage to go to the country on a great and grand scheme for abolishing the provinces in the colony, and not in the North Island only. In the meantime we hope to see the House assent to his resolutions.

We are glad to find from the report elsewhere of the proceedings at the extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the City of York G.M.C., held last evening, that at least one body of Thames shareholders have been found • who are alive to their, own interests, andi are not afraid to attend and assert their fights as such in opposition to any clique. The victory attained by the shareholders of that! - company over a certain ring formed for pur*' poses antagonistic to their general welfare is only another evidence that investors on the Thames are desirous of seeing companies honestly and straightforwardly worked, notwithstanding the efforts of a few interested persons to the contrary. It appears from all that transpired at •last night's meeting that certain parties were to have the control and management of the mine, and a few shareholders had possessed themselves of a large number of shares and , ', proxies in order to attain their ends—in other,.' '' words, that a ring had been formed to, obtain / possession of the control of. the mine, and so " make dividends out of the fluctuations in the market value of the company's shares for their ■ own especial benefits it is' generally' belieyed . c . the same parties do in an adjoining City of London. The object of last iittight's.'' meeting was to accomplish this by removing the office of the company, and nominating their own directors, but the shareholders were in this instance on their guard, and very wisely prevented them from carrying out their intention. The p'.s. 'Enterprise' made an excursion to Whakatiwai yesterday, taking nearly 200 per* sons. The natives who have been here somQ f days awaiting the commencement of • the meeting, left at daybreak, and arrived some hours before the steamer. This was a great disappointment, ai the excursionists expected to have arrived there in time to see the welcome accorded to the invited guests of the meeting. The tide was such that the ladies -had to be carried on the backs of the Maoris, in erder to land dry-footed. In the afternoon a large num-. .. ber of natives improvised a war dance for the * delectation of the guests, under the direction of Mr Jas. Mackay, Jun., the Land Purchaser for the Government. The visitors returned about dusk, after a very agreeable day. We notice by advertisement that y. the Vivian Concert and Variety Troupe will open the Theatre Royal to-night for a short series of performances. The troupe has had some additions since its previous appearauce at the Thames, and will no doubt provide a good entertainment. We are informed that-at a meeting of the . committe of the Thames Choral Society, held last evening, it was decided to give a concert during the ensuing month, on which occasion Mozart's 12th Service and some recently received secular music will be performed, The regular weekly meeting of the Northern Pioneer Lodge 1.0, G.T, was held last night in the Masonic Hall. Several candidate were , initiated. The following .officers for {he en:. suing quarter were duly installed by LD Bro W. J. Speight:—Bro Hammond, WCT; Bro Colebrook, RH3;'Sister Gribble, LHS; Bro Nodder, WYT; Bro Green, WM ; Bro D. Scott, WDM; . "Bro. Hind, WT ; Sister Kichards, jun,, WFS.;'Bro T. Graham, WS; Sister. Kichards, sen., WO; BroKelsall, WlGjs'; • Bro Carnell, WOG; Bro 'W. fl. Oldrey passes/ on to the i'WCT's chair. - r T; . • The s.s. ' Taranaki' arrived in the Manukau on Monday from Southern ports.Passengers t —Saloon-Misses ' Piper, : Hansen, Phillips; Messrs Kempthorne,' Hart, ' low, Walker, Gibsons, Owen, Levy, Hamilton, '• and Captain James. Steerage-Messrs Lay, • Windir, Wilson, Hamel, .Halman, Perrin, . .... Jacob, Defrate's,' Singleton, Miss Johns, and 3 '■ others. 'iu. , . I We (Gross) are informed that an _ injunction f has been served upon Captain Perritt, of the, _ • 'Miltiades,' not to pay over the' £1,625; the amount awarded for salvage to ■ Captain Casey,,. as the captain and crevr of the 'Lady Bowen , ... have also put in a claim for a portion'of the award. ■ ' '' \ \ ' ' The Alia California says:—"On general principles, everything that partakes of the character of revenge should be fro^nod ; down. A crowd of fanatic husbands have broken loose - . in Wisconsin, and are crusading the raillmsra, praying and begging them not to. deal-out to their wives and daughters .the intoxicating Spring bonnet and the ravishing pork-pie .hat, with ribbons on a side-dish," ■ •

Shortly before noon yesterday a signal was hoisted at the Flagstaff for a barque inside Tiritiri, and not long afterwards the signal ■ was altered for "a vessel disabled" (B.G W.). This announcement caused much excitement amongst those interested in nautical matters .after it was found out that the vessel was • the ' Ansdell,' from Newcastle. The vessel " having anchored, her agent, Mr W. Kirby, ! ' despatched the p.s.'Effort'to her for the . purpose of rendering assistance, but _ tlie : steamer was detained for a considerable time, • having to coal; and by the time she reached the North Head the barque was met coming up under all available canvas before a favourable south-east wind. The following'is some account of the gale from the log:—At .10.30 p.m. on the Ist instant ; the s'ea broke on board washing the decks fore and aft, and striking the bowsprit with such force as to cause the shroud holt to draw out of ' the port below; the bowsprit and jibboom , were curried away. With the bowsprit also ■ ■went the fore topmast, fore and main topgallantmasts, and'fore topmast cross-trees; the foremast head cap was also carried away. The . starboard bulwarks .-were stove, and also the , • longboat, The vessel sustained sundry other damages and loss of sails. The main topgallant sail was split through, the mast carrying away. The captain of the vessel was at the helm at the time the disaster occurred, and put it hard up to get her before the wind to save the foremast. After she was got before the wind the crew,were employed in securing the foremast by means of tackles in lieu of forcstay, and in , cutting away the wreck, of tlie bowsprit to pre- • vent it injuring the ship. At 4p m. the last : of the wreck was freed from the ship, the vessel , then scudding under two lower topsails. Wind W.S.W., blowing with hurricane violence, the sea was very high, aud bi uke on board several times, filling the cal.iu with water. The barometer falling to 29deg.—Cross. For nearly a week past conflicting rumours have beeu current respecting contemplated changes in the Government of the North Island Atone, time Mr Reader.Wool was to move in this matter; and at another it was expected the Government would take the matter into their own hands. It will be seen, however, on on reference to the telegrams published in , another column, received from the seat of Government last night, that this uncertainty has tbeen put an end to, aud that the Premier is to move a series of resolutions, aflimiog the de- ( ' suability of abolishing the provinces in the '• North Island.. Should these resolutions be passed, the Uovenuneut during the recess will < prepare a measure giving effect to them, to be - submitted to the next meeting of the Assembly. I Wellington is to be retained as the seat of the Colonial Legislature, and clauses will be introduced into the promised measure validating . "the compact of 1856," by which the land revenue in the Southern provinces will continue to be used as local revenue. As the measure to give effect to these constitutional changes is ' only to lie prepared during the coming recess, ample time will be afforded to thorougly consider the question in all its bearings, so that the Assembly, when it proceeds to discuss the measure in 1875, will be backed up an educated public opinion on the subject.—Cross The Auckland correspondent of the-Otcujo Daily Times writes as follows respecting the Native policy:—"The Native policy is being talked of also by the candidates for the Assembly, and no one has a word to.say in its favour. This is not to be wondered at, for the reports of the Native Officers in some of the districts show how unsatisfactory the preseut condition is. There, for example, is the report of Mr Woon, of Wanganui, telling the Native Minister of the excitement caused in his district by the appear- ■ . ance j of Henare Matua, the Hawke's Hay chief, who having sold, or, as he alleges, having , • ■ 1 been cheated out of his own laud—is organising '' .. a Land League aud King movement, only under another phase or garb. Aud, adds Mr Woon, ■ All-, their demands are not acceded to, there will be a danger of their openly'casting off their ■ allegiance to the Queen, aud setting up an ' ' authority of their own utterly antagonistic to ' •• gM government and the extension of peace and • quietness throughout the country.' Depend upon it the last Native Linds Act will be a great help to Henare Matua in His attempt to create opposition to the alienation of la-td under any pretext to. Europeans. It has worked wretchedly, and gives satisfaction to none except the few bis; capitalists whom the Govern,ment have taken into partnership in tlieir . purchases in order to avoid their competing for i , the land. The Maoris know this as well as we V, - do, -perhaps better, for they have their friends ' and agents, whose sole business is to sue to these thiugs, and to watch Maori interests. That they should be dissatisfied at what is exceedingly like the collusion known as a ' knockout' among a certain class of auction room £ equenters, is not unnatural, that they should resent it is to be expected, and in | • ■ Henare Matua they have the man at hand to . (.- 'make their complaints heard, so that, on the :/ -J 'whole, J we' may expect to hear more of that ; genileman aud his friends before we have done ' " ■'witlrhim.'' The Melbourne correspondent of the Ballarat Miner says:—"A case was tried in the Cjunty Court yesterday of a peculiar character, ' and to-day the key has been found to what appeared to be an interesting 'riddle.' A young lady named Emerson, of Kew, some time ' >:back purchased goods of one Woods, a draper, giving, as she supposed, some£l notes in payment. She subsequently discovered, however, that one of them was a £20 note, and hastened td'Woods' ; establishment to demand its restitution. Here, however, it was denied that such a note had been paid, and the cash taken during the day showing'no surplus, bore out the disclaimer. Miss Kmerson, however, had no doubt about having paid it at Woods' estab-'' lishment in mistake, and she brought an action for restitutim. Now for the explanation. At the latter end of last May, the wife of a mer- • chant named llowan went to purchase some goods, tendering a note in payment which she believed to be for £\, The shopman, to her • surprise, however, gave her change for a £20 ■ note, and when she protested he showed her the note, a very dirty one, upon which the numbers were scarcely legible. Mrs llowan could not remember how it could have come into her possession until she saw the report of the case Emerson v. Woods in the paper, when it occurred to her that she had purchased some drapery at Woods' shop, and had received some notes in change, Satisfied that the £20 note thus came into his wife's possession, Mr Rowan has paid Miss Emerson the money, leaving the question of costs to be settled between the lady and Mr Woods." A correspondent writes:—"An accident occurred at the Mount Kgerton Quartz Company, Mount Egerton, on Wednesday, Bth inst., by which it is feared that a miner named Edward Williams will lose his life It appears that the poor fellow was employed in a jump' up. in the No. 5 level in company with another 1 \ man, and at a quarter to 12 o'clock noon, thej fired two holes of dynamite. They then re tired to have their dinner, and returned t( work at 1 o'clock. Williams then went up tc work down the .quartz thai had been shaken bj the two charges, but had not been long at worl when he went down into , tho drive and com plained to his that he felt very sick, anc $ant(jd to have a wash to see if it would do bin 'any good. ;He then got in the tank that wai in the,shaft and signalled to be taken up to thi ; No. level. s The then taken up •. and the poor fellow must have faiutei brought so suddenly inti . the - fresh : air out of the fumes o the' dynamite, and fallen in the tank his head got jammed hetween the tanl and the side of the shaft, and win dragged up > considerable distance in that state. Fortunate!; for him the plat boy in No. 4 level hearing th ! i, tank come up,and knowingsoiuethingwaswrong ' signalled to stop the engine, which was at onci done. A man then descended the shaft am found head jammed in between th ' f tank aiid the side of the shaft, his body ,bein; across the tank. One of his cars wai cut cle*i ■ off, and the side of hia face fearfully lacerated *'<' his'side, arms,.and legs aie.also injured, and i Vis feared that his j tw-bono is also broken. D :{: Marr, of Ballan, was sent for, but being abson '• from home at'the time, it was eleven o'cloc ' • before he arrived. Dr ltadcliffe, of Ballarat has also been in attendance' on tho sufferer, am . both doctors recommend his removal to th Ballarat Hospital,—Miner,

SPECIAL TELEGRAMS. -^r—■ (Per Anglo-Australian Telegraph Press Agency.) o Auckland, Tuesday, 6.10 p.m. The Harbour Board have resolved to appoint another assistant pilot at £200 year.—lt is expected that owing to the late arrival of the ' Tartar' at San Francisco the inward English mail will be a fortnight late.—Sailed: The s.s.' Taranaki' for the South. SharemarketSales: Thames Gas, 355; Tokatea, ldn Gd; Moanataiari, 40s; bright Smiles, 85*; Caledonian, £8 17s 6d. Euyers: Old Whau, 45s Gd; Queen of the May, lis; Cure, lis; Crown Price, 295; Golden Calf (double issue), 10s; Albion (first issue), 555. Sellers: Alburnia (paid-up), 36s Gd; City of London, 30s. (fjiom: oue own cobeespondekts), Uotoeua, Tuesday. The Government are about surveying the proposed new road from Jiolorua to Cambridge. It is supposed the distance is forty-five miles.—The natives are busy removing their dead from tho lands sold to the Government.