POLITICAL.

West Coast Times, Issue 176, 12 April 1866, Page 5

POLITICAL.

In our last Summary, we announced that the district of Westland was engaged in the preliminary stages of a contest for the seat assigned to it in the House of Representatives, the two candidates being Mr W. S. Moorhouse, who had already been returned for the district of Mount Herbert, in West Canterbury, and who was and is a candidate for the office of Superintendent of the Province, and Mr Shaw, the pro- , prietor of tho " West Coast Times." It , is scarcely, indeed, proper to describe 1 the latter gentleman as a candidate. ■ He had very reluctantly consented to , stand, in the absence of any other local j candidate, undertaking, if elected, to ] serve the district for a limited period, j but not promising to do more, in conse- ( quence of the claims of his business upon his attention. Before j Mr Shaw gave this conditional , consent to his being nominated> j

f,v teJtffcvery generally prevailed that a i"'bca]..man, whose interests were largelr ) 1 .dentified with -the distriat', would be > preferred by the people to a stranger, , however well he might stand as, one of the public men of the colony. Mr t Moorhouse was brought forward by v some Christchurch friendd,' settled ia business in Hokitika, his name being first proposed at a moment when it ap« peared unlikely that any local candidate would enter the field, and a certain— and as it turned out, a decisive— -meaattw of support was thus pledged to him. He enjoyed, moreover, all the prestige of his public position, and was enabled to make much of tho faot that all pro0 babilituis tended to the conclusion that he would be the new Superintendent of tho Province, and in that capacity would, enjoy largo powers of doing good l < to "W/estland. The district had from the first suffered greatly from the neglect of its interests shown by the Canterbury authorities ; and it was out of this neglect tho des iro for separation, and for the ereetioa -of Westland into an independent pro* vinco, originated. The people had seen a large portion of their revenues diverted from their proper uses, viz, — the construction of local works, and tracks for •opening up the country to mining and settlement— to the formation of a costly road over the dividing range to Christ* church, from which, little direct or material benefit is over likely to result td : the district, and tho most obvious works of utility within the district itself neglected. Moreover since the first opening of the JGoldfields, tho Supdrin* tendent of the province had never deigned to pay tho West Coast aperuonal visit, to ascertain with his own [ eyes what its merits were, and the cir. 1 uumßtance had created a very strong Reeling of dissatisfaction. When Mr Moorhouse came aud assured the people that his election as the new Super- , intendent was almost certain; ,that that position would 'render him powerful to benefit the district; that in his official capacity he would make it a point to reside, for a certain portion of each year on the West Coast ; and that he would endeavor to include one of the Westlaas representatives in the Provincial Council in. whatever Cabinet he might form ; he at once conciliated public ' favor . and became to some extent a popular' man, even with those whose preferences were, on the whole, in favor of the election of a local member. Yet, at a public meeting called to receive him on his arrival in Hokitika from Christchurch, although he was received with all cordiality and with great demonstrations of applause, the motion that he was a fit and proper person to represent the district in the General Assembly was negatived ' by a large majority, although his chairman deolined to announce the result, ltfr Moorehouse, who was evidently surprised at this result, at once stepped forward and declared that he would take no action whatever to secure his return. He would only go to the extent of toy* ing that, if elected, he would take his seat for this district in preference to the one (Mount Herbert) that had already returned him. At the nomination, the show of hands was deolared to be ia favor of Mr Shaw. Beyond the two public meetings held by the respective ' candidates in Hokitika; one meeting held in the township of Kanieri by Mr Shaw, and the hurried appointment of committees on the night preceding the Poll, no exertion was made by either candidate to promote his election. There was no general canvas; the principal outlying districts, whore there are large numbers of voters, were unvisited either by candidates or eleotion agents. It resulted that in these districts scarcely any electors came to the Poll. At Greymouth, for instance; there were only five votes recorded J at the Waimea only 17 ; at Ross (the Totara)only 1 1 ; and at the town of Cobden only one ! The total numbers were—for Mr Moorhouse, 202; for Mr $haw, 162 ; giving a majority to the former gentleman of 40. Mr Moorhouse secured his majority in Hokitika, where the friends who had brought him into the field worked very hard to justify the inducements they had held out to him to stand. Ho polled 152 voted' to Mr' Shaw's 69. At Kanieri, however, ' this only digging district which Mr Shaw took the trouble to visit, he polled 84 votes to Mr Moorhouse's 25— a circumstance which clearly indicates the ease '"' with which the result of the eleotion might have been reversed. \ v i Of the significance of the issue of " this contest much cannot be said. The,'; first thought that strikes one is, thafjjfi ( political feeling on the West Coast s fl^ must be almost dormant. The number ■'' ' of voters polled represents scarcely ! more than ten percent, of the total 'J' 1 enfranchised population, who hold the ' suffrage in virtue of their possession of >; "Miners' Rights," or '• Business' Licenses." The second is, that a, large number must have unex<. - pectedly found themselves deprived of the right of voting through 1 technical disqualifications of various ' I kinds, whilst others were placed in the ' ! '' same position through the practical ' failure of all the' schemes yet devise^!'' " for incorporating the goldfields in the; representative system of the colony. I " Westland, although now cbnstituted an ' Electoral district empowered to send" ono member to the General Assembly, '■ and five members' 'to the Provincial • Council, is still & <*'gdldfields " district, and as Buch, its voters possess a special qualification, quite distinct from '' any. recognised in the general electoral 1 law 'of the colony. Tke production' df hl a"MinRr f 8 Right" or "Business'fciicense," held for six months consecutively ' vand 1 immediately entitles the holder to ' present it at the polling booth and re* : ' cord his vote, without any previous" ' 1 registration on a roll. Ia HokitUta,

t jdier.ejier.tainly some poH**" i tical "exiwtemejnt dul exist, we can only i \a|dounl'foryM faoc of the .paucity of : ' yo\t 7 ?s redofdedW'the hypothesis4hat a i >J vas£majprity of those had taken,- a ■ ; ; livejy;paft in th^ preliminary proceed- 1 is i at the critical i 1 moment 'Viq tie..' non-electors. At 'the, fjpToblio; ~1- meeting at which ' T Mr .^M^orhoiise , and Mr Shaw 'explained their .views, there '^ould n not^aS^e ,be ; en fewer than a thousand 'of .'jtwifehfe hundred adult males preTiat 1 ' ,TKe was very intense "Spin.' candidates were loudly cheered, End were severely questioned. . On the !tfq(& qeijig ;taken ( nundreqis of hands "wlre.'|ieTd.,up .. for/e ither,, thie large Have staged, being for Mr I§naw.V Yet to^ polling -list showed only Jjf vp'teß';re6prded, for that gentleman. It' isHoVome extent , accepted as, a solu?fo°# tKat'a very -large, number of Rights ]mcP Licenses were found to bear a date of^ssue'latef than that required by the pFmonths condition of holding ; and to ojßyiate, for tKe future such a source of disqualification, it has been suggested ihattnVse Upcuments when received by {figWaf den,, shall have the fact of their raievf'al, stamped upon them, together with tse date of issue of the expired documents of which they ate renewals. I j^important change is .however to nags (gver'tiie^ conditions, of the electoral qWifleitiQns^in Westland. Whilst the Special .'GoWfield, Franchise, will, no doubL (v pe^ .' continued, , tjie , . machinery has* 'at tengtlj. peen set in operation to b^S|pe^ ; r^ident5 r pf the West CSast J : townsTiips! r within o^jbtip/generaitelectoral law. A Registration, 6fficer' ii^s, lieen appointed in the pqppS of Mr Warden Revell, of Greym^ti^nd .Saturday, the 31st ultimo, was, announced, ,as the last day allowed bylaw for sending in, claims for insertion on the Roll. ,Who were entitled to .send in claims was a question upon wtnch )nany cfoubts prevailed, owiag to the exceptional status of the district as a '♦ gold-field," without proclaimed towns or. lands alienated from the Crown, and ■\vitnout,'.iherefbre, the regular property holdings, \ which are the basis of the electoral system of the colony. We were, enabled to point out, before the fin ,l^y Jojr^ sending in claims, that whilst.^hjC Joiners' Franchise Act provided that-no,|inrplment should be necessary with rggarfljo the holders of "rights and^ licenses," it contained a , clause enacting that nothing contained in it B^ojild limit or interfere with the right of any miner to be registered for any district in., respect of " any other qualification which he may lawfully possess." Under this, clause, therefore,- it is held that, in addition, to the special gol^-fields franchise,, ;the ordinary electoral qualification^ exists here. also. A large number of jpergons, are either tenants or holders of pr^paises pf more than the value requirea inlaw to confer the franchise, and. the, advice, was consequently given to Jp^ese to, send .in their claims to registration.', How far this advice has been followed we have^ no accurate means of kowijc^, i; jnjothe^-dietrictg the lnts of cla^ants^ haje o been- already advertised by'the.-Registajation Officers.. Westland, however,, ( . ig, in many strong senses, an "outlying district," and is made perpetually to feel it., In this case the offi^iajl documents have to be sent to Chn^tchurch before their publication is sancj^ioned. -We believe, however, that son)e,th^glike three hundred claimants haye, sentj in their claims at Hokitika and^rej^iouth., How far the validity of theif^ciaims can be established is a question that waits to be decided in the of .Revision. Since s&r Moprhouse's election an impprfapt, and interesting question has beeji raifi£d_£B to the validity of his return.,, which it is not improbable will be Ig!Bted,.Qn petition to the Governor, by the^Hpu^e of. Representatives. It is maintained that, in the absence of specific provisions in the local constitution,^- the local statutes, the common eleofpra£;law of England prevails in the colonies: .-"In- England it is ruled thaino, candidate can be returned for any.,CQnstituency whilst lie is the sitting member, for- any other, although in the eveat ,of his being simultaneously returne4,|fpi} two districts he has the option of; : making; his selection of seats. WTieivTMr.Moorhouse presented himself as ajca,ndidase. ,toy Westland, he had beea.abfeady returned for Mount Herbert.-- Was he a " sitting member" for that district, seeing that at the date of the ,!tVe3tland election, the full return ;JO of> members, of the Assembly had not been made, and that the newxoHouss of Representatives had consequently . not been convened ? If i so itjwould appear that Mr Moofhouse's candidature -being illegal his return is i inval^} n^nd that Mr Shaw is really the -member for the district, needing onlys to,, petition to secure his right. It is on}sfrfajr..,to i that gentleman and to the of the West Coast to state, thatrtbifl,point has not been mised by him or }njie ed. by anyone on this side of thevrauge, and that no steps' have as • yet b~een t , taken, here to dispute the legality, of Mr MoorehoU&e's title to sit. in tfy§, Assembly as member for this distriej;. it Whether . the question will hereajter. ,be raised by petition will probs]bjly depend greatly upon the issue of thejapproaching elect'on for the Superintejndency. , There can be no doubt whatg^.thatMr, Moorhouse was returnqdj, upon th" assumption that he was .tpj.be the new Superintendent. It was.'.admitted that his . opportunities of serving the district in the General Assembly., would be few, as the very fact rpf.-uhi^. .election would dispose effec^u^VjOf the question of Separation But j£ w^jfglt that as Superintendent he wquld,.jhave I.i&any1 .i&any means of benefitting;a /< 4jgti4c.s tQ which he might be presujnedj to, jap- attached by gratitude fjr a..y-pia.rted'. compliment conferred upon.h^nv , Should he fail to carry the

Superintendental el°ction the position j will become entirely altered,' for Mr; Moorhouse's own warmest friends will admit that in that case the very assumption on the strength of wlrch his election was carried has been destroyed. In such an event it may not be improbable that his legal claim to sit for the district will be submitted to scrutiny. However, we repeat that no dis position to dispute the validity of the return has thus far been displayed in the district itself.

The Provincial Council, after being convened for a brief special session to correct some technical defects in the Ordinance passed to provide for the enlarged represention of the people in the legislature of Canterbury, has since been finally prorogued, and a request has been forwarded to His Excellency the. Governor, with whom the constitutional power lies, to dissolve the House at h's earliest convenience. The issue of his Excellency's proclamation to that effect is now daily waited for, and immediately following its publication will come the election of Superintendent. There are three candidates in the field for this office — viz., Mr Moorhouse, Mr Lance, and Mr Travers. The probabilities are still uuderstood to be in favor of the return of the first-named gentleman, .although he appears to some extent to have lost ground lately, and Mr Lance, his only formidable competitor, to have gained it. Following the return of the Superintendent, will be the election pf five members to represent Westlaud in the Provincial Council. This enlargement of the electoral privilege has been ceded to it by the ordinance to which we have already referred, and under which the town of Hokitika is entitled to return two members, the town of Greymouth one member, and the goldfields two members. Mr Edmund Barff, one of our two members in the Council now waiting dissolution, has addressed several meetings of miners and announced his intention of becoming a candidate for one of the seats. This is the only sign that has yet been made of preparation for the approaching contest. It is probable, however, that on the issue of the writs of election a greater political stir will ! become apparent. The present attitude is one of wailing.

In the general politics of the colony little has occurred that is of the slightest interest to us. The war drag;; itself drearily along. Its operations extend over so large an area that its fortunes vary, and the accounts received from the different scenes of present or past hostilities, are destitute of all harmony of tone. From one part we hear of submission of natives, of others of a hostile disposition being shown by tribes that have hitherto been staunch in their fidelity to the European rule. It is, however, generally held that the back of the rebellion is effectually broken; and that the present — which it it is to be hoped will be the last — war is virtually over. Should that be the case no part of New Zealand will have so much cause to rejoice as the Southern settlements, with whose social, political, and material develop ment this protracted and exhaustive war has in many ways most cruelly interfered. It has engrossed the attention of the General legislature ; it has made the " Native Question " almost the sole ground of party warfare; it has. both swallowed up au enormous proportion of the Colonial revenues in a service worse than unproductive, and — by its heavy draughts upon the English capitalist has most injuriously restricted the legitimate power of the peaceful and industrial provinces, to avail themselves of the surplus funds of the mother country as a means of opening up resources, which, notwithstanding the brilliant results that have been realised, have really never been adequately testec 1 . And beyond all chis, it has exhibited New Zealand to the eye of the emigrant class at home, as a colony continuously troubled with a gigantic Native difficulty, most unfavorable to the progress of peaceful settlement. So much do the Southern provinces owe to this most unhappy war, and great, consequently, is their interest in every presage of its termination.

SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC. Under this head we may not inappropriately class, as the first incident of importance in the history of the month, the sale of Government lands in the towns of Hokitika andGreymouth,which commenced at the former on Tuesday the 3rd, and terminated at the latter on Saturday the 7th instant. The total amount realised was £4207 — viz., at Hokitika, £3412, and at Greymouth, £795. On nearly the whole of the allotments disposed of in the two towns, improvements had been put up in the shape of buildings by occupants holding the ground under the warrant of their business licenses. These improvements were valued, and one of the conditions of sale was that the cost of the improvements should be paid by the purchaser in case of his not being the holder, and handed over to the latter. In veiy few instances was the right of the " present holder " disturbed by competition, and the result is, that whilst a considerable ■irea of town land has passed from th Crown into the hands of private owners, these latter have for the most part consisted of those whose enterprise led them, in the first instance, to erect business premises on the ground, or of those who purchased from the original squatters such rights to it as belonged to them. The recent sale does not include many of the most important and valuable business sites on which costly improvements have been erected, such as those in llevell, Wharf, Weld, and Sewell-streets. The sale of these is

deferred until some special act shall > have been passed by the General j Assembly at its next session, designed c to secure, ulore effectually than can be s done under the present law, the equit- 1 able rights of the present occupiers. i It is hoped that one of the early fruits of the sale of Crown lands, and the altered position of the towns consequent upon their partial withdrawal from the gold fields, will be the establishment of municipalities, with powers of levying ratis and effecting town improvements. This work has hitherto been done, as well as the circumstances of the case permitted, by a committee of citizens and a voluntary rate. But such a system could only be temporarily worked with effect, and the time has now more than come when it is felt to be indispensable that proper and legal institutions of self- government should be established. It appears, however, that there is no general municipal law existing in the province, and that a special ordinance introducing them is requisite in the case of each town. The Fire Brigade is another voluntary association that has undertaken to perform a most useful public service. It now exists in full strength, and with the assistance of a Government subsidy in augmentation of its own funds, has commenced the construction of an engine-house on the new site granted it in Revell-street, which, promises to be a great ornament to the town. The brigade have received their hook and fire-ladder from Ballarat, and are taking the necessary steps to procure an effective fire-engine. We regret to say that the calendar of crime and accident for the month is a somewhat heavy one. There have been several instances of death under melancholy circumstances, the details of which will be found in the "resume' of the month. Offences of an unusually aggravated character, in a community which has hitherto been pre-eminently distinguished for the maintenance of law and order, have occupied the attention of the Magistrates' Courts, and a large number of prisoners stand committed for trial at the next sittings of the Supreme Court. The conduct of some " rowdies " at the recent rush to Bruce Bay, of which particulars are furnished elsewhere, was particularly disreputable. It would be wrong, however, to include any large body of miners within this condemnation. The authorities found themselves well supported by the peaceable population, and order was soon restored. The most painful sensation was created here on the arrival of the news of the foundering of the London, steamer. There is felt to be something astounding in the whole story of modern wrecks. Th- 1 British colonies themselves, youthful, but already powerful maritime states, are proud as England herself has a right to be, of her traditional repute as the mistress of the seas. Yet in these, the proudest dnys of her career, she apoears to be succumbing helplessly to their forces. The same story that recounts the triumphs of her naval architecture, tells a hundred instances of the inefficiency of her best constructed and .Tio.st completely furnished .ships to do successiul battle with the winds ;ind waves of ocean. It is not to be assumed that the laws of nature have materially changed during the last hundred years. But even in proportion to the number and tonnage of the ship* that now go to sea from British ports, the losses are enormously in excess of those which took place in the earlier days of English navigation. The seamen who braved the dangers of unknown seas in the grand era of maritime adventure and discovery, were not more skilled navigators than the traine masters of modern raerch ant ships. Certainly th c vessels in which they sailed on their daringvoyages, would be reckoned in these days unfit to be " classed" as sea going boats. In aiming at a maximum of speed and at the construction of ocean palaces, have the modern shipbuilders ignored in their models or their equipments any of the essential conditions of safety at sea ? We are happy to say that the list of colonial wrecks is small in proportion to the tonnage of vessels employed in these waters as compared with the losses of the mercantile marine of the old country. Yet, it cannot be alleged that the "Australian coasts are less dangerous than those of Great Britain ; nor can it be affirmed that the class of vessels employed in our coastal trade have any special qualities that should guarantee their greater security. Some of the most terrible accidents in the colonial wreck register are connected with " Crack" English ships under the command of English officers. The Schomberg, the 'Duncan Dunbar, the Orpheus, may be cited as instances. To whatever cause It may be assigned, it is a fact, that accidents to Australian, and New Zealand coasting vessels are fewer than might under all the circumstances have been expected. We except the stranding of steamers and oth<n* vessels in attempting to cioss bar harbors, such as those of Hokitika and the Grey, which can hardly be said to come within the category of wrecks in the common acceptation of that term. Yet whilst congratulating ourselves on the measure of immunity we have enjoyed and the ! very little sacrifice of life that has taken place, it still remains a fact that more than one vessel has left New Zealand ports of whose fate no tidings have been heard. The whole community has just been horrified by the detailed story of the loss of the London, as a year or two back it was horrified by the news of the wreck of the Royal Charter. The magnitude of these disasters invested them with a preponderating importance. When hundreds of passengers go down, the circle over

which the dark shadow of grief rests is proportionately extended. But socially, \. one life is equal to another. Every 1 shipwrecked man has his own circle of Mends who knew him, who loved him, who mourn for him. In connection with this subject, we may state that a very strong feeling exists here as to the apparently insecure qualities of the London as a sea-bom, and as to the circumstances undo: which she was loaded and fitted. Il is believed that the London was built with regard only to considerations o' speed, and that little regard was paid to the far more important consideration of providing for the safety of the lives of the passengers who mii»ht be induced to embark on board her. It is believed, further, that great disregard to the safety of life was displayed by the owners, in overloading her, and encumbering her deck with cargo, in order to make the utmost possible farthing out of her carrying capacity. No doubt, the whole of the circumstances will have been investigated by the Board of Trade ; but there is a suspicion here that these enquiries are more formal than searching, and that nothing but the stem interference of an unrelenting public opinion will effectually check the risks to which the lives of passengers are now exposed by shipowners'and masters. As it is important for English readers to know what is the growing public sentiment hero on this subject, we quote the following observations from an article which appeared in our columns on Tuesday last . — " If these facts (the alleged improper construction of the London, and her over freight) be established, by what standard shall wo estimate the moral culpa-. bility of those who, after building the the London for speed rather than safety, and freighting so as to get the utmost farthing out of her carrying capacity, guaranteed so far as human experience and skill could do so, to more than two hundred trusting people, a safe passage to the antipodes ? Shipowners can insure both their bottoms and their freights. They thus guarantee themselves against loss. But what insurance can be effected upon human life ; what atonement made for its heedless sacrifice ? No responsibilities can be more solemn than those of the owners and commander of a passenger ship. The responsibility of the latter is the heavier. To have obtained his grade* he must have been a man of large and long seagoing knowledge and ex perience For the sake of obtaining the command of a reputed "crack" ship, he is not justified in shutting his eyes to her patent defects as a sea boat, nor in making favor with his owners b; consenting to take her to sea overfreighted, loaded with deck cargo, and otherwise out of trim, as it seems clearly enough proved that the unfortunate London was. We have a de^p conviction that the lives of passengers will never be effectually protected until such a public opinion is created and expressed on every suitable rccasiou that the captain of a merchant ship is | morally responsible for »very life lost by his ship going down at sea. uuless, it t-aii be distinctly established that he aot only displayed the heroism of a British sailor in the hour of peiil, bu'. L:.at he harl every ground for believing that his ship, before he took her out of port, was both safely built and furnished. : safely laden, and adequately manned. This calamity has fallen with '■v.eh a crushing blow upon the colonies ; it has brought desolation upon so many homes ; lacerated so many tender offec tions ; destroyed so many bright hopes ; 1 clouded with the dark shadow of an 1 unending sorrow so many yet surviving ! lives ; that it has naturally excited very ' general comment. Thousands travel ' annually — nay, monthly, — between the ! mother country and her colonies. Thou- > sands of members of scattered families ! seek the joys of occasional reunion. > The pathway lies across the great ocean, i ' No community can have a deeper inte1 rest than that of Australasia in the 1 safe navigation of the sea. Andascon1 tributing to the consolidation of a ' healthy public opinion on this subject, ' the press of the colonies, on the eve of *■ the departure of the Mail, should take 1 the opportunity of making it distinctly known, that in the prevailing opinion ' here, no bravery or heroism in the hour ! of shipwreck will cover the guilt of 1 having heedlessly put the lives of men : and women in peril." The deepest sor- • row is felt here for the loss of poor Gustavus Brooke ; of Dr. Woolley, of ; the Sydney University ; of the wife j and family of Mr Justice Chapman, of 1 Dunedin; and of others well known 1 and endeared to the colonists. 1 We dispense with our usual heading 1 " Ecclesiastical," because the Church [ history of the month is a blank. Ser- ' vices continue to be conducted each ! Sunday in the Roman Catholic and , Wesleyan Churches at, Hokitika, Greymouth, &c, and there is also preaching ' on Sunday evenings in one or other of I the concert rooms in town. The Church of England has as yet done nothing to [ redeem itself from the deep disgrace of possessing neither a resident clergyman \ nor an edifice for public worship throughout the whole of Westland — ', a district estimated to contain a population of upwards of twenty-five thousand [ persons, and belonging to a province which was avowedly founded on a ! Cnurchof England basis. The circum- ' stance is, we believe, unprecedented in the history of the Anglican Church and of Church colonists. Under the head of Public Institutions, we have only to record the | opening of the New Hospital on the [ south side of the Hokitika River, and . the removal to it of the several patients . under the care of the medical officer ? (Dr R. Ryley.) The opening was un- . attended with any public ceremony.

The scandal of the confinement of prisoners in the miserably inadequate log huts in the Camp Reserve, dignified with the designation of '' Her Majesty's Gaol," continues unabated. The new gaol buildings are proceeding with a dihtoriuess that is in >st unsatisfactory In the erection of new public buildin ;s marked progress is being niaile. The Engine-house of the Volunteer Fire Brigade, and the new Offices of the Bank of New Zealand will, when completed, in conjunction with the new premises of the Union Bank, which has also secured a site on the Revell-street front of the Camp Reserve, constitute v.n imposing architectural feature in our principal street. The present Superintendent of the province, whose term of office is about expiring, has paid a brief visit to the district during the month. He was accompanied by Mr Stewart, the Secretary for Public Works, by Mr Brittan, the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands, and by Mr Dobsou, the Provincial Engineer. His Honor received deputations during his stay at Hokitika and Greymouth. Reference to what passed is made elsewhere. The whole body of officials left Westland last week. In our last issue we announced the opening of the telegraph wire from the Bluff Harbor to Hokitika. It has since been extended to Nelson, so that direct telegraphic communication is now established betweon the most southern and the most northern points of the Middle Island.