TOWN NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume I, Issue 29, 22 July 1867, Page 3

TOWN NEWS OF THE WEEK.

'■ Tuesday 6, a.m. Speculation is rife as to whether the ministry will be ousted on Mr Vogel’s motion there being so many new members , the state of parties is doubtful,: and it is said that although few hare faith in Stafford,-yet that Julius Vogel is not the man to takehis place, for altbougn he has hitherto proved himself an adept in turning out both Provincial and General Ministries, he could not command the confidence of the country.

A telegram was received last evening that'the steamer Ahuriri, commanded by Captain Flowerday is ashore at the Buller, in a had position. If the Ahuriri is lost.this will be the second vessel the N.Z.S.N, Company will have lost on the West"Coast. Mr Justice Johnston sat in Bankruptcy yesterday, Edward .Smith’s protection was continued and the case was postponed, T. H. Hill’s case was adjourned until next sittings, hut protection was continued, his solicitor stating that'he was not, not in a position to appoint a Trustee. The correspondence has been published relative to the disallowance of the five P.ovincial Bills. The public are desirous to know of what use is ■ a Provincial Solicitor if lie makes such mistakes as are apparently shown by Mr. Staffords letter.

.The low prices given for wheat and oats together with -the bad weather, of which I hear complaints from all parts of the country, must be very disheartening to the farmers in your district. 'But business of every description is very dull, and the market is largely overstocked. The Midas arrived on Sunday evening from Sydney on her way to Opara, the new coaling station of the Panama boat. '

The fanatics on the East Coast require a good dressing, we hear nothing from there hut the most fearful atrocities, Biggs and Moore the men who were lately missing at Tauranga -have ■ been found brutally murdered and mutilated, Mr Bennett. White has also suffered in the same manner. ; How long, are these wretches to pillage, murder and destroy witlioirt receiving retribution ? Mr Boidase has carried ;a motion .for the production of all correspondence relative > to -the ■■ erection :of- ! telegraph Stations in v your 'district, ; when 1 ‘it becomes public, property I ydlpfofiwafd Itito' you .fbr.puhlication, as no doubt it will be in--terestihg to many .of your, readers. That splended bit of useless Architecture the “.Market Folly,” is to be sub,-, mitted at last to public competition, (.

A public meeting has been held in Wanganui to hear an explanation of certain votes, given by'provincial members, which ended in no resolution being come to.

Thursday, 6 a.m. _ The debate was continued until last evening, rattling speeches were mads on both sides, but the speech which caused the greatest amount of enthusiasm and carried the greatest amount of weight was made by Dr Feathers ton, he spoke eloquently, but you will have to wait until you get the Government Hansard, before you can lay it fairly before your readers, as the meagre and abridged account of it in this morning’s paper cannot giveyou any idea of what took place. The Government,, instead of meeting the motion by 3 direct negative gative, met it by an amendment which, though in other words, was virtually tantamount to the original resolution.

Some of the speakers showed that in personalities they were not behind those parliamentary gentlemen in the neighboring colonies who have got representative institutions into bad odour in this hemisphere, and foremost amongst these was Mr.’ Cracroft Wilson, the member for Coleridge. He violently and coarsely attacked Mr. McAiidrew, who, in his reply, said ■He could not deny that irregularities had occurred while he held office before, but he utterly denied the inferences that had been drawn from those circumstances, and denied that he had ever misappropriated the public funds. It had been asked why he did not apply to a court of law for redress against his slanderers, but he had not done so because the temple of justice in this country required a golden key which he did not possess. ( Oh, oh). He had had the honor of sitting in that House as member for two constituencies —constituencies as immaculate as the hon. member for Coleridge himself. That hon. member might be looked upon as a type .of that humanity which looked upon poverty as a crime, and misfortune as synonymous with misconduct. Notwithstanding what he had said, the name of the hon. member for Chitha would survive in the grateful recollection of thousands of persons—would go down to posterity as one who had done the State some service, when the name of the hon. member for Coleridge had gone down to its native oblivion. He was the elected head of a fourth of the population of the colony—the office had been thrust upon him, and had been accepted even by those who had most vigorously opposed him.

The best reason given in support of the motion tvas that advanced by Mr. Patterson, who was lately one of Mr. Stafford’s colleagues. “ He said with reference to the contract of the Government that had they submitted the proposal they now offered at the commepcement of the dispute, the people of Otago would ;have been quite satisfied. The Government had yielded the whole question in dispute, and their-proposal and that of the hon. member for the Goldfields were essentially the same. His reason for voting in support of the motion (Loud cheers from the Otago members) was not that be had any great confidence in the hon. member for Goldfields, but when the Government took a round-about and evasive course to effect the same object that the hon. member proposed to effect iu a few plain words be felt bound to support the straightforward course."

After a two days’ debate, a division was called for when the amendment of the Government was carried by the small majority of 4. The members for this province who voted for the Government were Messrs Bunny, Ludlara and Taylor ; the members who voted against them were Messrs -Borlase, Brandon, and Featherston ; and Messrs Harrison and Watt were not present; so that on this important motion this province really had no voice whatever, and was wholly unrepresented in the division. The other business before the House was comparatively unimportant. Mr. Reynolds, however, has given notice of an important Bill, having for its object the better securing the freedom and independence of Parliament.

A hoax lias been attempted by a policeman from your districtou the “Independent,” hut how they could for a moment believe the trumped-up story which appears in this morning’s paper is to me a mystery. I believe a warrant is out for his apprehension, hut I suppose you will know more about it ere this than I am able to inform you. W. Dorset Esq., has been appointed Auditor in the room of H, S. Harrison who has been elected a member of the House of Representatives. He a brother of the late I)r Dorset, who was highly respected and Chairman of the Constitutional Association in days of yore.

The English Mail has not been telegraphed up to this hour. The Nathan Troupe is still drawing good houses. The following curious compilation of Statistics appear in the “Independent” of this morning. Perhaps you may be able to understand them, but to the uninitiated they are totally inexplicable-: Statistic tables compiled by Dr Bennett, and issued in anticipation of the usual .yearly volume, show that, on the 31st December, 1866, the total estimated European population of New Zealand, exclusive of the military and their families, was 204, Jl4, of whom 125,030 were males, and 79,034 females. This is an increase of 204,114 over the estimated population December 31, ISG6.