Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1871.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 202, 14 December 1871, Page 4

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1871.

'• MEASURES, NOT MEN."

SHOULD a session of the General Assembly be held in Duuedin, it will be a step in the right direction, and will doubtless cause our Parliament to be a peripatetic one for some yeara to come. Cooped up in Wellington, which is nothing more than a den of officialdom, the vnernber& of the General Assembly are beyond the reach of the little public opinion which exists in the Colony, and are liable to be unduly influenced by a power whose growing proportions render it inimical to the public welfare, viz., that of the swarm of , Government officials whose salaries so heavily tax our already over-burdened exchequer. An itinerant Parliament will entail a greater expenditure than one always sitting in the same place, but j the • advantages likely to accrue ! from the former more than counterbalance its extra cost. The approaching changes in Provincial institutions lender it almost iinperati/e that the Central Legislature' nhould be brought into iramerlitite contact with the people its members represent, and no better- means can be devised of doing this than holding sessions successively in' the capitals of the various provinces Such a course would induce the colonists to take a lively interest in the proceedings of the Assembly — which it is notorious they do not at present, — thereby la} 7 ing the foundatiou of that public opinion on colonial subjects, the absence of which has been so much In men ted. Honourable members would be able to get a fuller knowledge of the subjects they will have to legislate upon, and many prejudices and misconceptions engendered by ignorance, which they, in common with lesser mortals entertain, will by the aiencv of knowledge thus acquired disappear. Provincial institutions, we believe, will die easier, and their demise will be less regretted, should the principle of peripatetic parliaments be adopted Should the General Assembly decide to hold sittings at the principal' centres of population, we - suggest that a sum should be placed on the Estimates for the purpose of enabling hon. members to visit the country districts, and ascertain by personal observation their relative importance, capabilities, and requirements.

At the last session of the Provincial Council the sum of £200 (payment to be made in land) was vot.ed for the construction of a road from Dochertv's Hotel to Smith's Bush As yet no action has been taken on this vote, and until those most interested bestir themselves, there does not seem any probability that the Government will trouble themselves in the matter. The agricultural leaseholders in the vicmitv have a good opportunity of benefiting both themselves and the district generally. Let those, the terms of whose lenses are about expiring, combine together and pay for their holdings by making this road ; or they can take up additional areas for any work they may performtowards constructing" it. By this means this much needed road would be expeditiously and satisfactorily constructed, arid made fit -to bear traffic during next winter. Should our 'suggestion be acted upon, we recommend- immediate _a^tion, ps governments are not famed for the celerity with which they transact business, and should much time be allowed to elapse before negotiations are commenced, the coming winter may find the road as impassable as it was the previous one.

DBTOOING on the ShoWer. is s-u upended, on account of the recent rise in the river.

The British mail via San -Francisco will close at the Lawrence Post Office' on the evenin? of Wednesday, the 20th inst... The mail via Suez will close on the 21$t inst. . < . AT a meeting of tbejnentbere of the Jlasoaic . PjhfUgp of St. GFebrge. E<X, held on the evening | •of Thursday, the 7th inst', at the Lo<lg4itoTTni. Pjrefc &.W. .Bastings wa.i.Vectert*-'W<-ftl\, ami PtyTt S-W.jgarrop was.-e'poted Treasurer. The \v".M. appointed Bro. Budge, S.W.. Bro. Meyer, P,W., Bro. Harrop, Secretary,. Bro. Williams. > S.D., and Bio. # s^es J.G£ The installation will 'take place' fir January, and' will he, cele- . hrated by a dinner . We nndeWfand that ttft' tHeaivteation'of the-'inefnfters of tlm Lnilsrp t 0 ! give A,halL early .in' the coming yeatf, and ju<l&-' j ing from the style in which balls nndpr the ' auspices of the craft are generally got up, will, we nave no doubt, be one of the best over given ii» Lawrence, r , ■-. ci s.