West Coast Times. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 137, 26 February 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1866.

The result of Mr Prosser's meeting is so far unsatisfactory that it has led to no distinct enunciation of public opinion on what is certainly the most important political question of the day, and has, indeed, proved the occasion of introducing a new element of uncertainty into the situation. So far as could be gathered from the general tone of the meeting*, there is a preponderance of opinion in favor of the proposal j to separate entirely from Christchurch. and place the district under the wing* of the General Government. The great argument urged in support of that scheme was, tho impossibility of trusting to tho fair play and equity of the majority of tho Provincial Council. With its proper proportion of its Customs Revenue, and the proceeds of its land sales, legally assigned to it by an Act of the Assembly , Wcstldnd would be guaranteed against any capricious act on the part of a legislature composed for the most part of tho representatives of interests distinct from its own. The observations of Mr Sprot himself, which wer6 intended to answer Mr Prosser's arguments on this point, may be cited in proof of their justice and pertinence. Mr. Sprot admitted that the district had been ungenerously dealt with, but lie contended that every thing might be hoped for from the approaching change. The province was on the eve of a general election. A new Superintendent and a new Council would come into power ; and this meant a change in the policy of administration. , But, in these changes of policy, it is obvious there is danger to Westland. Mr. Prosser referred to some indefinite promise, made by Mr. Hall, not to use to the disndvantage of tho district, certain powers he asked to be confided to the government. The promise was, not to offer for sale the portion of the auriferous lands proposed to be reserved, that were being actually worked by the miners. But Mr. Prosser showed his good judgment when he said, "if that promise could be relied upon, it would only have been binding upon the present Exeoutive, and their successors would have been at liberty to act as they pleased." The weak point of the Christchurch sbheme undoubtedly lies in the circumstance that it offers no security to the district for tho enjoyment of the whole of its revenues, from year to yeav. We have justseen anexampleof tho caprice and resentment that often actuate public men. In a fit of contemptible spite against Westland for the virtual defeat oflris land resolutions, Mr. Hall suddenly issued a decree ordering all public works on the West Coast to be instantly stopped. Ministers are tho heads of parties. They hld offico because they command the support of a majority oi the members of tho House. And if in preparing their estimates of expendi ture, for cither of jpublio policy, or of private feeling, or form anything special in tho exigencies of the East side to render such a course, desirable they choose to propose to the Council a diminished vote for ' Westland, it may be assumed with tolerable safety that tho House will follow the lead of a Government which, on general grounds, it desires to retain in office.

To obviate this objection to the plan proposed of district Government under Christchurch, it would bo necessary, by some special enactment, to guarantee to Westlaud the whole of its proper proportion of the revenue of the Province on a basis not liable to be disturbed by the annual votes of the House. As such an enactment would be tantamount to a curtailment of the powers conferred upon the Provincial Councils of dealing at discretion with tho whole revenues of the several Provinces, after the conditions imposed by the General Assembly have beeu complied with, it follows that the " Press " scheme thus emnded would involve quite as radical and fundamental a change in the Constitutional system of the Colony, as Mr Sprot urged as a fatal objection to the plan proposed by Mr Prosser.

In either case, however, we apprehend that that objection is more techuical th«u valid. It is|fGlt that f.he

present relations of Westland to the eastern side of the Province are intolerablo; and, for our own part, we incline more to share the fears expressed by Mr Prosser than to indulge in the hopes entertained by Mr Sprot, as to the future disposition of the Government and the Provincial Council towards the district. It may possibly benefit by the next change, but it is just as likely to find itself in an even worso position from the change following. A guaranteed allocation to it of its whole legitimate revenue for local expenditure — tho most necessary feature of whatever system may bo adopted— can only be secured by resort to the General Assembly ; and we apprehend Mr. Sprot is not to be understood as suggesting that the General Assembly is incompetent to pass the requisite enactment. We are told that the Colony is by law divided into Provinces, and governed by their Superintendents and Provincial Councils. But that law itself is the offspring of the Assembly, and may be amended or repealed by the same power that created it. It ha» already been amended in most important particulars, and other amendments equally important have been proposed and debated. A Bill was introduced which was defeated on division by a very narrow majority, to revolutionise the whole system of appointment .of Superintendents; to withdraw the right of election from tho people and from tho Councils, and to give the right of nominating Superintendents to the Governor. At the opening of the last Session, tho Weld Government brought in a Bill to limit the operation of the Now Provinces Act by rendering it discretionary for the Governor rather than compulsory upon him to accede to the memorial of any district for separation. This measure was withdrawn in the face of' certain political tactics, not because of any doubt existing as to the competency of tho Assembly to entertain it. At a subsequent stage of the Session, an Act was actually- carried re pealing the Now Provinces Act, and materially modifying the law as it affects the political status and the integrity of the several existing provinces. By this measuro it is provided that no portion of any Province shall henceforth obtain separation except by a special Act of the General Assembly, on a case maie out to its satisfaction* There are besides, the resolutions proposed by Mr Jollie, the Provincial Secretary of Canterbury, to give a certain political status to portions of Provinces under tho designation of " outlying districts," and to regulate the allocation to them and the expenditure by them, of their legitimate proportion of the Provincial revenue. The Provincial system has been dealt with freely, both in its principles and its details It is not in its present'shape, nor was it in any of its antecedent shapes, piirt of the organic constitution of tho colony ; and it may be again pulled to pieces as it has already been pulled to pieces, again and again, by the simple enacting power of the General Assembly. Mr Sprot is no doubt strictly correct in saying that such an arrangement for the local administration of Westland finance under tho immediate authority of the Geneial Government is impracticable under the present law. But so is the separation of Westland from Canterbury impracticablo under tho present law, without a special act of the .Colonial Parliament. Yet it would have been perfectly practicable at the date of tho opening of the last" session of tho Assembly. The coming session will- be as competent to effect changes in tho existing system as tho last session was to effect them in the former system. Of course, what is meant is that tho Assembly should be invited by the district to take tho necessury legislative action to give effect to its reasonable and legitimate wishes. What the precise nature of tho action asked ior should' be, is the question to bo entertained by a committee of citizens, whon they shall have been appointedj Wo hope sufficient has been said to show that the work it is proposed to remit to their hands is a practical one, and that no constitutional obstacles stand in the way of their undertaking it with good hopes of the result.

The mystery that has hitherto hung about tho fate of certain telegraphio messages received and charged for at the office herejon the day of the opening of the wire, and which were believed to have reaohed Dunediu and Invercargill on the same day, has at last been cleared up. Communication was interrupted between Christohuroh and Dunedin, and the messages lor the latter place were allowed to lie for days in the office at the former, without any intimation of the circumstance to tho sen»

ders. The " Otago Daily Times" of the 14th instant says :—": — " Complaints are made, aud not unnaturally of the great delay which has occurred in the repairing of the injury done to tho line of telegraph between Dunedin and Christchuroh. With ordinary precautions for such contingencies, it is considered that the line might at least have been put in sufficient temporary rep \irs to admit of communication being re-estab-lished. It seems to bo strangely arranged also, that, while the line continues down, messages continue to be received and charged for at some of the offices, there being little or no ohance of forwarding them with any greater expedition than an ordinary letter. Messages for which usual rates were paid, have been despatched from Hokitika, intimating tho arrival there of the Albion and other vessels, but have only reached Dunedin two days after the arrival of that vessel in this port, and the receipt of all the news they contained."

Tho object for which these messages were sent* viz., the early conveyance of news, having been thus obviously frustrated by the failure of the telegraph department io fulfil the contract upon which the charges for them were paid, we presume that the several amounts will be at once refunded. We may add that the " Daily Times " of the 15th instant states : — " Telegraphic communication between Dunedin and Christchurch is now hourly expected to be resumed. Tho damage to the line at the Rakaia had been repaired, and we hear that at tho Waitaki the line had also been put up afresh, but was carried away or broken a second time."

. Wo havo to acknowledge to tho courtesy of Captaiu Ponsonby of the Olaudo Hamilton, a copy of tho Jlome News, from which wo extract olsewhere. Tho main intorest of its contonts has, howovor been exhausted by our tolegraphio summary of intelligence, published on Thursday last.

No civil cases were hoard in the Resident Magistrate's Court on Saturday. Margaret Ashton, who was arrested by constable Carr at Okarita, on a charge of stealing a valuable brooch from Mrs. Annie Myers, and brought back to Hokitika in the Bruco on Friday last was remanded until to-morrow, as tho attendance of tho proseoutrix cannot be obtained boforo then, she oeing at the- Grey

On Friday last the skeleton of a man was washed up upon the beaoh a little to tho south of the Mukewa river. Not a partiole of clothing save a pair of watertight boots, remained upon it, the whole having been torn off by tho aotion of tbo sea j even, the scalp was totally devoid of hair. It presented a horrible spectacle. • The remains were gathered up and buried, no inquest being held, as identification Jwaa quite an im> possibility.

In the Supreme Court, Dnnedin, [(in banco) on Monday, the 19 th inst., tho rule nisi to set aside the verdict, or reduce the damages, in the late trial of MoNab v, MoMeekan and Co., Mr. Justice Chapman gave judgment, (Mr. Justice Richmond concurring,) discharging the rule. This, i t will be remembered, was an action for non-fulfilment of agreement to have the steamer Omeo at the .Bluff Harbor, on a fixed day, to convey 1000 bheep to Uokilika. It was contended, in reply to the rule, that part of the expenses sought to be recovered (L 230) were inclined by oiher causes than the nou-amval of the stuamer to date. This view the judgment of the court overruled.

Ono of those exciting races that sometimes come off between " cruok" ocean steamers, took place during the la,-,t passage made by the sB. Otago and ss. South Australian from MeU bourns to Dunedin. The South Australian left Uobson's Bay some horns before the Otago, but on arriving outside the heads, she hove to and waited for her rival, and as soon as she cume up an excellent start was effeoted, both vessels being under easy steam . For several hours they kept stem and slein, until at last the Otago drew closely ahead, and wag gradually increasing hor distance, when somo hitch in her machinery compelled hor to slaokon hor speed and finally atop altogether for nearly an hour. Tho mishap, having been roinodied, she again Btartod, drew rapidly on hor opponont whioh was by this timo somo distnnco ahead, passod hor, and iv oight hours had run her out of sight, arriving at Dunodiu fourteen hours beforo the South Australian, thus in contestably proving tho superiority of hor sailing qualities. On hor last trip from tho Bluff to Melbourne tho Otago mado the passage in four days and four hours, tho fastest wo havo on record.

A most amusing scone occurred on Friday last aa tho p.s. Ballaarat, on route for Nolson (P) was loaving tho rivor. Vory much disappointed at being dobarrod a passago in hor tho previous day to Okaritu, a number of minors on hooting she waß rtbout to start — being impressod with tho idea she might after all be proceeding to hor original destination— manned several boats, and whon sho was about half way between tbo wharf and flagstaff dashed out and attempted to board her. But her nettings being triced up and a desperate resistance mado by the orow, who wore gallantly hoadod by her captain, agent, and the gentleman from tho Customs, tho bold attempt was happily frustrated, and the daring freebooters compelled to return on shore, leaving ono of their number behind in the hands of tho enemy ! l

An awfully sudden death ooourrod on Friday last on tho Kanicri diggings, under somewhat singular oiroutnstancos. A party of three miners were employed in working a olaira, situate on the flat, which lies oloso under this side of the main terraoe, one of whom, was bolow whilst the others wore employed on tho surface. As the evening opproaobod tho latter gave notice to (heir mate below thftt they w# going homo to get mppw

ready, to which ho mado no reply. Whon tho meal was roady, ono of thorn roturned to tho shaft to call him up, but not recoiving any answer ho desconded and thero found his mato lying quite dead in tho drivo. Ho was quickly removed and medical did sent for, which arrived too late to be of any service! as lifo waa extinct. An inquest was hold on the body noxt day, tho particulars of which will be found in another column.

The happiest results have attended (he rereraoval of snags from the river by the harbor master and his crew ; the channel, whioh was considerably obstructed by sand bars, having cleared and deepened quite three feet in some places. But as it is a work of great difficulty to drug one of these monsters out of the stream, we would suggest the advisability of bearing in mini the trito old saying that prevention is better than cure. Any one taking a walk from the custom houso along the river side, as far as the town belt, may, if he takes notice, see any quantity of logs, whioh years ago wero brought down by floods, stioking out of the bank in all directions, somo of them quite clear, others only partially bo. Every flood sweeps some of these into tho river, out of which they have again to bo dragged by the harbor-master's men. We wonder that the idea of removing this dead timber, ere it be converted into " snags," has never etruok the' engineer of works. It might bo done at small expense, and would save muoh trouble, and a greater outlay hereafter.

In spito of tho unfavorable atato of the woathor on Saturday night tho entertainment of Professor Jacobs, at tho Corinthian Hall, was yory fairly attonded. Tho astounding sloight-of-hand tricks and wondrous delusions of tho Wizard, aB usual, both delighted and astonished his audience ; but that part, whero he introduces his song of "Slap Bang" was most enthusiastically encored. The conjuror fairly carried his audience by storm, and was compollod to sing another song, a ridioulous nigger melody, with a rollioking chorus, whioh was heartily joined in by every boul in the hall. Tho jolly Wizard never appeared to bettor advantage then when he led off tho song which, so pleased his audience that, they encored him to tho echo, and would, wo believe, havo kept him singing all night. He was, howovor, compelled to rofuno, and at onco proceoded with tho more legitimate business of tho evening. To onumerato and comment upon the separate " tricks" is out of tho question, but one or two of them were bo excellent that we cjiunot refrain from mentioning thorn. The " Arithmetical Cards" waa one of tho best, and defied oven supposition as to how it was effeottd. As' a landlord tho Professor was well patronised, anfl for a short time there wss quite a "run" upon iho lilliputian tavern. But the beßt triok of tho evening was the "Mogio Tape" which after being but in half,, then knotted and given to thro^'gontlomon to hold, was out at a given signal, made whole and compact, to tho intense astonishment of the party who held the knotted part in his hand. Wo can vouch for tho excellence of the Wizard's coffee, although quite at a loss to imagine how it was conoootod. Wo shall Bay nothing of his 'soance,' with tho invisible powers as tho weather was against him and the noise of tho rain on the iron roof of the building destroyed the effeot of his powers as a Ventriloquist. A most enjoyable evening was howovor spent, and all left thoroughly satisfied with what they had seen and heard. At the conclusion of tho performance the Wizard gave notice that one week more would positively complete his stay in Hokitika. Wo trust the publio will bear this in mind and make good übo of the opportunity of being pleasantly deceived by one they will in all probability never sco again.

Tho Wellington correspondent of the "Ola go Daily Times " Btates : — Preparations are being made to accommodate the increased number of members in the next Assembly. It is intended to turn tho present Eepresentatiye Chamber over to tho Legislative Council, and convert tho Chamber it sat in into two stories of offices, of which there is a eoaroity — the Native, Defence, and Registrar's Departments being conducted in separate houses. A new HOIIBO of [Representatives is to be built nearly adjoining tho old one, a covered way connect' ing it with Bellamy's and the Library, Tho designs aro onjy now preparing, and are not likely to be finished for a few weeks yet. The calling for tenders and erecting will tako some months, so that tho new building cannot bo completod by June— tho date which common report haa fixed for the meeting of Parliament.