The Puapeka Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1868. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 40, 14 November 1868, Page 2

The Puapeka Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1868. " Measures, not Men."

" How are we to raise money to compensate the runholders ? " is the cry of those who oppose the present land agitation, a cry reflecting little credit on the financial ability of our " Statesmen." " Where there is a will there's a way " is an ancient and truthful proverb ; but here, while the "way" is easy, the " will" is decidedly wanting. The financial affairs of a nation are too generally looked upon as radically different from those of a commercial firm, though the absurdity of such a distinction will be evident on the slightest consideration. The question indeed comes to this. How would a merchant act who had pressing need of ready money, but whose resources were all locked up? Any child could answer such a quer\-. He would, on the strength of his property, draw bills, and thus create a kind of ..private paper currency. Whj- should not a nation act similarly with even greater success, as its own constituents would be its creditors. The landed estate of the Province of Otago may not at present be available as money, but it is moneys worth, and an issue of a paper currency secui'ed on it would immediately solve the problem which is at preseut puzzling our " profound statesmen." IS or would such a currency be either dangerous or inflated; it would not be a mere promise to pay at some indefinite date, but would actually be money — i.e., the representative of a certain value in commodities. We are aware that there exists a kind of superstitious prejudice in favour of gold, but we question whether its advocates ever asked themselves " What is gold ? " It is plain enough it is a metal, less useful or, in other words, less intrinsically valuable than iron, tin, copper, or lead. But men discovered at an early period that a system of barter was attended with great inconveniences. A man who went to market could hardly carry, e.g., a ton of iron for the purpose of exchanging it for beef, mutton, clothing, &c, so ifc was tacitly agreed to have some universal and easily portable representative of the ton of iron we have instanced. The representative thus chosen was gold, and although a sovereign is intrinsically worth almost nothing, yet extriasically it is worth a great deal, as it represents a certain quantity of commodities in themselves indispensable. So rooted is this veneration for the "yellow dross," however, that almost all the paper currencies yet issued have been made not representatives of the articles which make gold valuable, but of the gold, itself, thereby creating a double medium. But within the last quarter century the science of political economy has made gigantic strides, and the currency question is rapidly approaching a rational solution. Our merchants have virtually abandoned the old and clumsy medium, and adopted the more convenient and portable form of paper, and several Governments have followed their example. It is frivolous to urge the cry of " an inflated currency" against such a course, for there is no reason why paper should be more inflated than gold. Such an event is purely accidental, and l^as arisen, from, tjie feet that only

a,t times of great necessity has such j a currency been adopted. In Otago such a cry could never be raised, as the issue might be confined to half the value of the provincial estate, security enough, vre should think, for the most nervous worshipper of the golden calf. The results would be most beneficial without alienating the property ,of the people, ready funds would, be supplied for every necessary improvement, the squatters might be compensated, and an industrious race of yeomen settled on the land. And we will ask our readers is such a scheme to be rejected because some thousands of years ago it was resolved tq accept gold as the medium of circulation. Specie may be necessary in • our commercial relations with other countries; but among ourselves a paper currency would' be* -amply sufficient.

Again we are called upon to chronicle disaster and defeat— again have the Maori insurgents triumphed over the Pakeha^ A change of commanders has Heen tried, instead of the change of system which was required, and defeat ha<* been the result. The friendly natives are beginning to speculate on the advantages of revolt, and the future looks all the more threatening on this account. Some weeks ago we advocated a determined course, but rashness is rather a display of weakness than of strength. Raw untrained recruits, who never saw a shot fired in anger, are hardly the material for a commander desirous of performing brilliant exploits, or fife antagonists for men trained to war from their childhood. This disaster at Okutuku reflects less disgrace on the men, who appear to have behaved well enough, than on their officers who led them to certain defeat. Nor is our loss confined to the list of killed, wounded, and missing, although even that is more than we can afford, as our sovereignty over the Maori race is endangered by such a display of our weakness and their strength. Never" before, we believe, did a British officer so disgrace himself, so tarnish the honour of his fla<?, as Colonel Wliitmoro has done. He congratulates himself on " carrying away all the wounded that could be seen ; " but we shudder to think of the fate those unfortunates who were overlooked in the hurry and confusion of a stampede, and were left to the tender mercies of bloodthirsty cannibals. To abandon the wounded has always been considered the action of a beaten or brutal general, and that even in cases when J a civilized foe was encountered, whose respect for the laws of humanity might be depended on. But here, when the enemy has no respect for the courtesies of warfare, such an abandonment seems to have become almost too ordinary an event to excite indignation. A system,, which bears such fruits cannot continue long. If Government cannot defend the colonists, they must take the matter into their own hands, and either by a system of rewards for every Maori scalp, or by entering into a bordsr war, teach the savages that a white man can excel them even in their own kind of warfare. We trust such a course will soon be adopted, otherwise we may look upon the abandonment of a large portion of the North Island as only a question of time.

In Mr. Maeandrew's evidence before the Committee appointed to investigate the Clutha petition, we find a statement which very nea^y concerns the inhabitants of the Tuapeka district — viz., the avowal of the intention of Government to declare a portion of the/ goldfields, into hundreds, in order thavit migHn be sold. This block turns«fjt£tojJß the land- round Table - Hiflfl^^| comprises some 30,000 or J^^^^J Manv^p^our readers will renn^^H Mr. Macanrlrew's address a^^H Bine* Spur some nine or ten m^^H ago, when he congratulated Tu^V^H on its magnificent commonage, tfl| when a gentleman present askecr him if he knew how unavailable j and useless that commonage was, owing to its being situated about fifteen or twenty miles away, he | professed .his entire ignorance of the question. There is now an opportunity of giving a really good commonage to Tnapeka without involving tho province further in debt. Let the Executive apply the " £3 or £4 " per acre to be realised from the land thus declared hundreds to compensating the' two runholders, and the district will make them heartily welcome to a tract of country almost useless to us, and likely to be valuable to our Tokoraairiro and Taieri friends. Let them do this, and perhaps they irtay not be compelled to puzzle their grains fqr a taldpg cry at the n"ext election.

We have been requested to intimate to all collectors for the Land League that the subscription lists will be called in next week. We trust that every effort will be made to procure signatures to the memorial before that time. - A melanoholt accident occurred on Monday morning at Wetberstones, which caused' the death of a miner named George Clinkscale. It appears that the deceased was standing in a race, undermining a fall of earth, when the ground fell in and crushed him. His partner, Mr. Mo^ney, at once rushed to his assistance, and removed the earth from his head, and bathed it with water. He then called in the assistance of several miners who were working 7 near, and with their aid extracted Mr. Clinkscale, but unfortunately life was found to be extinct. Mr. .Clinkscale was a man in the prime of life, and" was generally respected by every one. He read at the Wetherstones readings on several occasions, and always took an active interest :n anything calculated to advance the interests of the district. .His funeral,* which took place on Tuesday, was numerou&ly and respectably attended. Deceased was a native of Berwick, in Scotland. We have received the following from a Wetherstones correspondent :— FLOWING RINGLETS. Flowing ringlets— how I love them— Beautious emblems of the fair ; Modest, graceful, bright, effulgent, Waveing in the balmy air. Flowing ringlets —they remind me Of the past and peasant hoars Spent with one now gone for everOne of nature's fairest flowers. But a simple lock I cherish ; 'Tis but one, but 'twas the last, Rarest gift of her who loved me, Dear memento of the past. Flowing ringlets— they are ever Lovely as the summer's bloom ; Yet they cull up sad emotions, ' Bringing echoes from the tomb. Mb. Matthew Hay held a sale at Tapanui of town sections, on Monday last. The sale was numerously attended, and the lots found purchasers readily. There was not a single objec- | tion to the valuation of the Sections, 65 of them selling at the upset price. i The weather during the past week has been remarkably fine, although hot very beneficial to the country. Little or no rain has fallen, and a good many miners have had to cease work owing to the want of water. The power of the sun has been very great, and the whole country presents a parched and dried up appearance. We trust our fears as expressed in an article some weeks ago are not going to be literally fulfilled. • Mb. Hamilton's art union will be drawn this evening in the Commercial Hotel, at 8 p.m. j On Monday, the birthday of H.R.H. the Prince of "Wales was hot celebrated in any marked manner by the inhabitants of Lawrence, very few of; the stores being closed. The brass band, however, showed their loyalty by parading and playing loyal airs. After they had made the circuit of the township, they proceeded to Evan's Flat, where they were most hospitably entertained by Mr. Evans. We are glad to observe so marked' improvement in their skill, and trust that before the next holiday will give them an opportunity for public display, a still greater advance may be made. We understandthat the Mayor, in accordance with a numerously signed requisition, has called a meeting of ratepayers for Friday evening to consider the question of .the advisability of erecting a Town HalL The climate of Waipori is .hardly adapted for horticultural pursuits, but it 1b wonderful what obstacles perseverance and skill may overcome. We question whether a finer array of flowers can be shown in any other garden out of Dunedin than that which may be seen in Mr. Cairn's, Waipori. His pansies are especially worthy of ' notice, being, we believe, a new and fine variety of that favourite flower. The notorious Garret has again got himself into trouble in . spite of his protestations of reform. He was brought before the Resident Magistrate, Dunedin, on a charge of burglary. It appears that on the 9th inst., he entered the store of Mr. Allan, Princes Street, and appropriated a considerable amount of valuable property. He was remanded till Tuesday. - We learn that the town auctioneers have intimated their intention of withdrawing their I advertisements from the "Daily Times" after 'next seek, in order to give them to the new ■4jjtter organ, "The Sun." Any attempt of can only injure those who benefit by s^s^BJsteinhH.Pf will readily see that it is ins^^ WSSshment for the patriotic course .3 ■^■fTimefc" on the land question. .case 3of tutu poisoning have the death of several heenbe Water Company iHßSlovered (3~4 s,ouroe from which they proposed bringing an additional supply of water is too low to give the necessary fall. Ah unfortunate accident occurred at Waita. huna the other day by which * man commonly known as " Phil the painter " lost bis life. The' unfortunate man was seen on Tuesday rather the worse of drink, and since then he has not been seen. • On Thursday, his body was found lying head downwards in a digger's hole, with about four feet of water in it, and distant only twenty yards from his hut. Dr. Johnson, Mr. Higgins, and others, pulled him out, but life was of coarse exttact. An inquest was heldon Friday, Deceased made a living by doing small jobs as a painter and bellman. We are glad to learn that Mr. T Pope intends running a weekly coach to Switzers, to start from Lawrence tfvejy Tuesday. Mr. Pope's enterprise is highly commendable, and will provide for > waijt which has long been felt by all portion of ti< community.

We believe that Mesnt. 'Brown, Smith, and Co. have all but completed their arrangement!

for the opening of the Viotoria Saw-mills. The [mills are tituated in Qleukenioh,'and are dia. tant about t*jb miles from the township of ' Tapanui. The machinery is worked by a splen. did Liverpool built high pressure engine, of 25 hone power, with a fly-wheel weighing of itself five tons, steam being supplied from two*large boilers built in with .a *-ed sandstone or con. glomerate, found about a mile from the site of the.milL " The saw, bench, is raised about three feet, in order to allow of the accumulation of saw-dust, and it is calculated that from 5,000 to 6,000 feet of-tiuiber will be turned out daily. A crock runs within a hundred, yards of the place, which has only been once known to" have dried up, and the company propose to construct a dam to save water for the engine, be. A considerable portion of the surrounding bush has been cleared for a tramway, and the timber has been found equal, if not superior, to any grown ia the colony. The average -height available for sawing purposes is 30 feet, although in many cases 45 to 50 feet can be made use of. The usual Wetherstones readings came off on Wednesday evening, when the various per. formers acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of a numerous audience. We understand that the General Government is about to appoint a commission to enquire into the administration, or rather maladuiiniatraiion of the Waste Lands and Goldfields Act* in Otago. We believe that the Provincial Government intend declaring the Table, Hill portion of the Tuapeka district into Hundreds.' When we wrote our second leader, we little thought our fears as to the effect. Kowarau's sue cess might have on the native mind would be so suddenly fulfilled. Surely the disastrous news which we print in another column will have some effect in rousing public spirit to face the emergency. The polling places in this and the adjacent districts are declared in the "New Zealand Gazette" of the 23rd ult. to be';— The Courthouses Lawrence, Waipori, Hav'elock, Roxburgh, Switzers, and Moa Flat, the post-office and store Nokoinai, and the schoolhouses at Wetherstones and Blue Spur. - This list remains the same whether for the , elections of Superintendent, members of Provincial Council, or members of House of Representatives. J ■ Our readers are reminded taat the drawing of Mr. Hay's Art Union will takl place on Friday evening in the Commercial ' Hotel, when .Messrs. Bastings, Ferguson, j M'Beath, and Morris (Blue Spur) will pre3idl Owing to the large number- and valuable nature of tbe prizer \ we believe this drawing will ijttraot more at--tention than any previous aij union in thedistrict. * We beg to remind our waiW that the* Athenaeum ball comes off on Tii3day, the 17th inst, when we expect a brilliart assemblage of "biaw lads and bonnie lassies." Our readers will find in our advertising co. lumns the programme of theentrtainmenttobe given by the Dramatic Club in 4d of the Hos« pitaL From the well-known oilifcy of many of the performers, we believe t performance will be both brillianjb and amusii , It is stated that Mr. Smith, itnager of the Dunedin Savings /Bank, while soaring up to Lawrence on a visit with his'layp lost a bag containing some valuable propert I Mr. Smith's motive, we learn, for not offerii ' a reward is the highly creditable one of a d lire to refrain from encouraging dishonesty ; bo we have no doubt an honest finder would n sire a liberal recompense. Wk regret to learn that Mr. H 1 lost a valu« able horse -the other day in raier a singular manner. He had fastened it by rope close to his house near Stranraer-street, 'hen in some way or other it slipped into, th< jutting round ■the 1 house, arid got jammed in sbh a manner that when assistance arrived it found to" be quite dead. j Lecture.— Matthew Hay, Esol M.P.C., delivered a lecture in the Town Ha] Tapanui, on Monday evening, in aid of the Wool funds. The Rev. Mr. Uric presided,snd in* hi« opening remarks, referred to til good- object Mr. Hay's lecture was in aid of. |le was glad to say the school wa3 progressing Very favour* ably. The number of scholars ha<3 tood at nine for a considerable time, but unjr the abla management of Mr. Neish the nuc er had been raised to thirty. The rev. gentle an then introduced Mr. Hay, who was receM with loud applause. Mr. Hay said he had iken as his subject " Convict Capitalists am the British Merchant in Difficulties." - In the irst portion of his lecture he entertained his i dience with a racy history of Redpath, Robs^, Pullinger t Sir John Dean Eaul, and others, i4o were eon* vioted of embezzlement, and complied to leave their country for their country* good. He » treated the second part of his subj rt in a most able and amusing manner, exposing all manner of tricks of trade. He showed in Very strong colours the difficulty the British rap-chant had in being honest in this age of diepttoi* said fraud. At the conclusion of Wjmost aM* lecture, Mr. Stream, on behalf of the School Committee, proposed a vote of thinks to Mr. Hay, which was most heartily acceded. We trust Mr. Hay will not forget thai there is * school in Lawrence also in need of Hnds, and that no excuse will be accepted now since ha has proved himself an able and; eloquent^ lecturer, . , , I f 4B~ We see from the "Provincial il Government has called for tendei^^M, ° r * widening of two bridges^ Manqka Ci^Wj Oa ** Tokomairiro road. Thk sale of sections in Lawrence o ' Con>l off on the l7ih inst, Mr. M. Hay auc^K r * The annual licensing meeting willK . „ ll) the Resident-Magistrate's- Oourthou^,^ out the Province, on Tuesday, *^Bj ISi fclr AH applications murij bs & foui^ee^S^ ?**SW

,2.? JW*Wi*wtf»M from, a Dunedin oorrespdn. 4sat the following address to the " Star : "— j , t frwliSU* tinkle, lfctle, V Star,? Still your little folianiar ' ' , I, the little rag will buy. J ' c * "Wlen theWrty" ri » Sun" is gonei j I And iU dirty work is done, [ -..^Comwthe little '"Star" I trow, * [, Xte small dab of mad to throw. ..;TwiDlde, twinkle, little " Star," Slwsed by iquattew from afar ; I „ , *VogeX Fox, »nd alrthe crew , < • f .Aat as gas«men, u St»r," for you. , .Twinkle, ."Star,!', for though your light M^y fee borrowed, far from bright, ,' •♦*'- Still I question few, if any, E'er would grudge your paltry penny. OUR readers will see from our advertising Columns that a public tea meeting will be held at the Blue Sp»r on the 25th met, in aid oftthe 'Church of England fund. ▲ CHlNAMAN,*kn'own by the nickname of 11 Maori," was charged before - the Besident Magistrate, Teviot, with stealing a sheep, the • property of Captain Baldwin. The delinquent, • although he was evidently over 30 years of age, ' urgeijlihe defence that he was of tender years, and had' been so terrified by the charge, that he forgot where he had purchased the mutton. He waa sentenced to one month's imprisonment, with' hard labour. Sir. Blewitt appeared" as Interpreter, and the prisoner was undefended. It is proposed to have a race-meeting at Tapariui sometime in Boxing week.