The Tuapeka Times. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1869. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 74, 10 July 1869, Page 2

The Tuapeka Times. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1869. "Measures, not Men."

The wrath of Mr. Henry Driver is aroused, and already the " Echo " and " Wellington Evening Post " have felt the weight of his displeasure. Those wicked periodicals have ventured to impugn the public character of the great and good statesman who represents Roslyn in the Assembly; and none will regret their merited misfortunes. Of course, Mr. Driver is too enlightened, boo well-informed a person to attack any journal for doing its duty to the public in a fearless manner ; nor can we imagine him for a moment denying that the characters and actions of public men are the property of the public. Oh, no ! What this disinterested patriot complains of is that the tender outpourings of his confiding nature should be exposed to the gaze of an unsympathizing world. But there is still another question to be settled. Is Mr. Driver a public person at all ? Have the people of Otago any right to concern themselves with his peculiar standard of political morality % We have the authority of Mr. Harrison, as will be seen from an article in another column, for answering both these questions in the negative. Mr. Driver asserts that he is the agent and representative of a Foreign Country ; that he has full powers to negotiate on behalf of that Power — that, in short, he occupies an office utterly incompatible with the position of a Member of the •Legislature of a British Colony. It is quite clear that there is some extraordinary mistake, some confusion of two distinct persons by the public. For it is quite evident that Henry Driver, United States Plenipotentiary, cannot possibly be the same person as the British subject, Henry Driver, M.P.C., M.H.R. An ambassador is a sacred person, and

those ignorant journalists confounding the distinct individuality of the two Drivers have violated the law of nations. They have attacked Driver the Ambassador, whose'-posi-tion forbids such a liberty, instead of directing their artillery against. Driver, M.H.R., whose character and conduct are fair and legitimate subjects of comment. While Mr. Driver has been thus ga|iantfl'y vindicating his character^ Mr. ' James Macandrew has noti proved a laggard in the race to DatcheVMead. -We rejoice -to^jid, that our noble Superintendent — the chosen of the people — the friend "'of the" working" man — preserves "the angelical' and 1 unsullied' »repu.tktioh which in bygone years provided him with free lodging's 'in the high places of Dunedin. He is such an .innqcenfr! sq \ delightfully- ignorant 1 ' of everything it would be inconvenient, to. Jcnpw^ that cannot refrain from pointing out the chief beauties of his highly satisfactory explanation. Following that straightforward course of policy which' has always , characterized his actions, our Otagan James the Just gives his- explanation .to the< public in a roundabout manner. He writes it in the form of a note to theDeijyutySuperintendeiit, who favours the "Daily Times "'with the following extract-: — "1 note your remarks, "aboujfc,- Driver, and : his, Jetter to " Tre week, and am at a loss to con- " ceivelto what he/ alludes, as'l'have "never had any dealings withr " either Driver or Treweek, with " respect to which they could have " broken faith, or which may not

" be proclaimed upon the house-top. " The only matter to which there " can be any possible reference must "be the attempt which I made to " get the Government out of a " scrape, in respect of some agricul- " tural leases which it had received- " applications for upon Treweek's "run, without having taken the " n.ecessary step to acquire the right "to grant such applications. " In " order to get over the difficulty in " the case of a Highlandman at the " Beaumont, Treweek and Driver " offered to compensate the man if "he made off. ' I strongly recom- " mended him to do- so upon the " strength of the offer. Subsequently " I believe there was some hitch in " the compensation, and I imagine " it must have been in reference- to "this that Driver had written to " Treweek that he would be break-

" ing faith with me if he did not " pay the sum agreed upon." How clear ! How convincing ! Howtriumphant this vindication is ! Mr. Macandrew is first " at a loss to " conceive to what Driver alludes :"' his conscious innocence, his unblemished honour, fear no exposure; he cares not though his whole private history were trumpeted from the house tops. But stay ; there was something, one of those acts of benevolence no generous mind desires to recall. The unfortunate Government had got into a scrape, and Macandrew, like a Deus ex maclvina (buggy) intervened to cut the knot. A Highlandman stopped the way ! But he who was about to " move the spheres " proved too strong for even Gaelic valour. Everything is at once made clear. "The Government and I fully understand each other ; " the reference to breaking faith and all the rest of the famous Tre week .letter is at once explained away. What a pity Mr. Driver did not write more clearly, for strange to say there is no mention whatever about compensating the "Highlandman" to be found in the whale letter. It is secrecy that is. enjoined ; it is, publicity that "will upset the whole affair, and break faith- with Macandrew." What an absurd precaution in reference to a man who has no objection to having everything proclaimed from the house tops. It is melancholy to think that the • cloud of .suspicion .should have dimmed the lustre 'of siicH a man ; it. is pleasing to learn tjiat iris -faith in the gullability of the people of Otago continues unabated.

The nomination of candidates for the office of Mayor of Lawrence 'takes place to-day 1 . Mr Bastings is as yet' the only candidate in the field,, but it is rumoured that >ome opposition will be attempted. ' " '■ • v - - • ■■ - - The Athensetim Headings came off on Thursday evening, and proved an entire success. The attendance was very- large, and^the programme judiciously selected and -well sustained.- . Spine unruly persons* present "made themselves disagreeable on one, occasion, but they were promptly suppressed,' and it is to be hoped will not again intrude in-such a manner. To Mr. Brown the whole i credit <of the. successful entertainment is due. He has .shown Himself to be superior in energy fyad- piiblic spirit \p all the other members of Committee put together.

The goldfield recently supposed to have been discovered in Canterbury turns out after all to be a' duffer. The parties prospecting the Malvern Hills have as yet got little more than the colour,

Mr. Driveb has commenced proceedings against the proprietors of the "Echo" and "Wellington Evening Post" fOJf 0J libel. Sq much for the right of criticism, as regard* public men in New Zealand. We are informed, on good authority, that one of the squatters, part of whose ran the Provi^ cial Council has recommended to be decla^Jj into Hundreds, has proceeded to Wellington TH o%in,<foe influence of his friends there to pre, vent the Council's recommendation being carried, into effect AYe are tojd. thaj; he took with him a Wmoriiil signed' by a few residing in the neighbourhood of the run, endorsing his own statement that the land was not fit for agricultural purposes, of something to' that effect.* *It is reporteditiat one or two bf thefresidents who .iiajl.nre.viously. exhibited a great; desire to ha.ye the land thrown. open famed tail, and signed, the document. We trust there has been no. case .of. bribing jn the matter. ( . „ ~ Mr. Cowap, Beaumont Ferry, opened bis new hdfel.on Wednesday lafeiij/ Ikeibuiiaing&lafge and fitted uj? ,with .every convenience for the .comfort of the travelling public. ' We have to acknowledge th,e. receipt of , " Hansard.." Nos. 3 a,nd 4, and Parliamentary papers. '. '" .' Mr Samuel Goldston of th&; Arrow- writes to the '''Daily Times " that he is on the eve of perfecting a flying machine. He urges; the necessity of delaying the construction of spiy rail-, way until his invention is completed. .He doea not fix any definite date for the appearance of his "argosy of magic sail," but we cannot be far wrong in stating ie will sail over the Blue -Mountains on the Thursday i after tble Greek Kalends. ' \r The contest for the mayoralty of Dunedin is. likely to ,be keen and close. Five candidates are in the field, namely, the present Mayor,, Mr. Birch, and Messre. Fish, Miller, F.S.A,. Dods, and Wilkinson. The works in connection with the TTether-. stones deep shaft continue to progress in. a satis*, factoiy manner. The workmen have sunk seven feet into the bed rock, to act as a well, and arenow driving a chamber on the old level, in the direction of the dip, which app*eails to be at an angje of about 60 degrees. The chamber they.are at work on is intended to be four feet wide and five feet six inches high and- eight feet long After it is completed they will^ commence a narrower drive, which' it is believed will not require to be timbered. Great hopes are entertained of reaching the gutter in a very short time, and we believe the expectation to be well grounded. Auriferous strata strongly resembling the cement worked in the Wetherstones hills have been passed through, and everything tends to encourage the belief that a successful termination will reward the. promoters, of the work. At all events the question should be put at rest, and the value of the lowerbottom thoroughly tested before the workings are allowed to stop, If the funds in hand prove 11:1 1 : efficient, it is the duty of Government ta g .it the small extra sum that may be required, otherwise the money already es.wa>i^nii might, as well have been thrown in?S£&^ MolyneuXi-**"! The new' Victorian Land Bill has passed a. second reading. The most noticeable and amusing feature of the debate was the delivery of a speech in rhyme by Mr. Whiteman, Emerald Hill. The quality of the. effusion may be. judged from the following specimen given bythe Melbourne correspondent of the "Daily. Times " : —

1 put it now To this Assembly, in plain spoken words, If one provision in this Bill affords To tenants of the Crown freedom of thought ? If they're not all politically bought ! If every squatter's acts will not be scanned, If every fiee selector who has and Will not be at the mercy of the Minister' In power? and no one, sir, can tell what. sinister Designs some man mey basely entertain. My duty, sir, appeal's to be so plainLy pointed out, that I don't hesitate To say, and say it boldly, if the fate Of this Land Bill of eighteen sixty-nine • Depended on my vote, it would not shine 'Among the statutes which' adorn onr shelves.. The ship Undaunted, which left London on. the 23rd Itfarch,- arrived at Port Chalmers on Thursday. She brings twenty pas&engers. " Encouraged by the terms offered by the. Phoenix Water Co., a party has been formed to. test the cement deposit on this side of Wether-. stones. Several claims have been pegged off, and as the auriferous deposit is not so hard asthat found in the John Bull and Mooney's claims, there is every probability, of' it being worked to advantage. Me. Fox has completed the formation of- his Ministry. Mr. Gisborne is appointed Colonial Secretary* Mr. Eox being Premier, and Mr. Dillon Bell a member of the Government without a portfolio. Mr. Yogel, having accepted, the Chief Commissionership of stamps, will onlyhold theTr,easurership un.tij,,the. end of, Hie session. _ "

On 1 Thursday l - the 15th inst.', an entertainment, will be given in the Sportsman's Arms, Wetherstones, by the Dramatic Club, for the benefit of thefaidpk and oTjildijen of thelai^fr3ftrri<[tt. The two pieces, "Nan, the Good-for-Nothing," and "D'ye Know.M* Naw ?" will, be and the great popularity of an excellent acting recently, displayed, in the latter, wjll ao r doubt attract a crowded house. ' -.■-->■<. We believe the Waipori people are beginning to grumble at the hi^h price charged by thabutchers there, and propose offering induce-, inents to some of our-enterprising tradesmen ta visit that locality. \ - We observe-from-an advertisement in another ■ column^ that step's are -about to- be tak&n to get up a ploughing match in the distriat. L From our advertising columns it will ba«H^ that Mr. Griffin is disposing of his hotel,, stocky &c, on "Wednesday next.. " ; •

We are glad to learn that several gentlemen here and in the neignbouring places have formed themselves into a band of "Original Christy Minstrels." This society will no donbt prove a great addition to the local amusements. The Waitaliuna company proved a great success. Wetherstones fortnightly readings for a week, when we beHe,V6 s lui attractive programme will be gone through. On the evening of Monday the sth inst-, Court Havelock A.O.F. was formally opened, in the Bridge Hotel, Havelock, by Bros. Thomson and "Woodlands, from Dunedin, assisted by the Chief Ranger, and Bros. Morison, S.C.R., "Walker, and Donovan, of the Court Star of Tuapeka. After the Dispensation was read,J and the Court opened, eighteen members were duly initiated into the mysteries of Forestry. Bro. Busst was elected Chief Ranger, and the offices were filled by other brethren of the Court. After all the business -was done, and the Court closed, the brothers and their friends adjourned to +he Assembly Room, where Host Coghill had provided a most sumptuous repast The chair was occupied by Bro. Busst, CR , supported by Bros. Thomson and Woodlands, and the vice-chair by the Sub-Chief. After ample justice had been done to the good things provided, various toasts, songs, recitations were given, and every body seemed thoroughly to enjoy themselves till an early hour in the morning, when the social gathering broke up.

Odb Blue Spur Mining Correspondent repoits as follows :— The Otagot Co. lj&ve. fired a blast, the charge consisting of 24 kegs of powder. The blast did all that 1 it possibly could do, although the stuff turned out very lumpy, owing to the hardness of the strata ; in fact, the place js more like a quarry than a cement claim. It is one continued firing of hand-drill shots in this claim from the time they commence in a morning until leaving off time in the evening. Morrison and Co, have washed up in their lower face, and for the first time this washing up has paid something over expenses. This company deserve to.be handsomely rewarded for their perseverance in carrying on, their .workings On this face, as they have expended over two thousand pounds in opening it out. They are making preparations for a heavy blast. The tunnel is being made by contract, at 7s. per foot. The British American Co. have nearly completed theii tailrace, and will shortly corn.mence washing away their blast. The tributers of the Blue Spur Sluicing Co. have washed up ; the washing has paid wages. Their .contract Jias exphed, and they are awaiting intelligence whether it is to be renewed or not for another period, as soon as tbe humbugs, or rather directors, can make it convenient to let them know. This is a registered company, under the Liability Act, and these delays are occasioned by Dunedin management. The water supply is very good, and the demand is greater tban the pupply. Two races are running IjOO inches daily at the rate of £7 for 100 inches for the week. All the other claims are washing away their former blasts,