West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 285, 22 August 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1866.

'Taackaageof Ministry at Wellington Xvili not necessitate the holding of new elections for the incoming members of the Government. The new Ministers, on being sworn in, can at once piocefed to the discharge ttf tUefr ttflixiial duties, and will continue*!©, hold their seats in Parliament Undisturbed: No very considerable delay, therefore, will be occasioned in the .progress of' business, although it is unlikely that go much, work •will be got through by the General Assembly as mlgUi have been the casa had the, Stafford Ministry been left in a position to-carry out its programme. A new government must be, allowed some time to frame a new policy. If Mr Stafford his cabinet, to whatever extent he may adhere to those portions of the policy of the Ministry of which he was lately the head — which met with the "general concurrence of the Legislature—he must accept the necessity of -'remodelling that part of if upon which the vote of want of confidence was' basear v> "Mr 'Stafford, resuming office under these circumstances, may either ask for an adjournment of the two Houses for a limited period, to enable him to concert with his new colleagues the necessary mea-. sures for carrying on the government of the country, or he may propose the postponement of general legislation until a new session is convened, providing only at present for the passing of the Estimates, and of, a few urgent measures.. ' This latter course, we think, from all avo can learn, is the one most likely to bo adopted. If-so, the probabilities* are that the session of the General Assem My, from which, so lnuch^vas expected, will bo void of any appreciable fruits, and that the condition of expectancy and hope. wiU^as, far as the- polony : at large, and Westland in' particular, are concerned— be perpetuated. However much this dis&ict,nia£ be, disappointed m many of its just anticipations, should the Session of the General Assembly thus be prematurely brought to a cUse, one incidental advantage will result from the oirenmsfcinQe, Tk4 meeting

-pf lluv Provincial. Council will be hastened; arid probably the produeilmgs of (his body, which is invested with large powers for the raanftgetneut of the internaLaffairs of tke Province, will be practically of iWdrts importance to Westland than any action which the General Assembly could, or would be likely to, take. We presume that th, e, *)ecessarv amendments in the Registration and Electoral law which 1 Mr Moorlioitee promiseVi to. press through J tW AssemMyv Vyill bet carried . They .are of a purely technical character^ Little can be hoped for during the present Session oh -the subject of the .amendment of the Gtoldfields Regulation's Aft' unmanageable committee of the two houses, consisting of not less than twenty-tSvo members — a small parliament in itself— has befcn sitting for some weeks past. A large' number of witnesses were summoned: from the various gOldftelds districts, anfl. the process of examination was Veiryfar indeed from beinft exhausted when Mr Commissioner Sale and Mr : Warden Price left Wellington last week. The prospect of the early presentation of a report, would, be small under) these cir-, cumstances, even if there yreve no special causes of delay!. But the Avssenibly would ] bY littk' likely to take '^WeAy action upon the report of the •fiommittee, until tlie questions iodised , in general jde- 1 bate, as to the continuance of the present rate of gold export duty and tb.fc transfer, of the goldfields raaflsgenient to the j (General GroVoihm6Dt, had been disposed of. lio\vever protracted, therefore, the present Session of the Assembly might have (been, it is not very prebnble that • much practicable benefit woulcl haye resulted t,o this' district from its labors. The continuance of the sitting of the Assembly is understood ' to be the oi»Jy cause of- hindrance to thn convention of j the Provincial Council, and assuming! that the prorogation of the former, body will jtake, place in Ihe course pf two , or,; three Vrefefts* it may be reason ibly'anti-i, dipated^that the Provincial Council will be summoned for despatch of business, not later at all events than some day i,'n September, His Hen&r is re^uiren. j to conyeae CoUncii b.y j)rocfematiotaj m the " Gazette; 1 ' but th£ nifty- be 'fesu'ed 1 ifiL an'ticipatidn of 'the' prdi-dgfttioh" of 'the Assembly, lt ! Vtdil! not be necessary for the Superintendent to protract his a&endaAefe upon the Assembly %, single day after its more substantive business has been disposed of; and tk'e members of the House of Representatives who are also members of the Provincial Council) may Vfell betake themselves at tile Saiae ,time to their less ambitious, but certainly! more useftxl duties.. We, have, no ddvitit that it is his Honors desire; ta call 10 his counsels-, at the earliest possible date, tke Who have been elected by l^eseveral districts of the Province to represent tne piiblic sentiment. The proyintoe urgently needs that its legislature should be at once convened; .and 6f all parts of the ' province' Westland needs' it mo?.t 'u'^eiitly. Here, the whote system of administration requires td be reorganised ; the great alterations in the conditions of society, and of trade, that have followed the first opening of the goldfields, have rendered wholly unsuited to the present circumstances of tke district, the sy stem 6? government Which sufficed 'ibV the earlier stages of hs development. And for all the Reforms that are needed; we must look to the meeting of the Provincial Council. Even for the establishment of a more correct appreciation by the portion of the province which possesses the g-overning power, of the prevailing political sentiment of the West Coist, find of the grounds *if its just Complaints, this opportunity is waited for. So long aS I;he Christcliurch papers feel it safe to talk about Westland affairs, in the silly and ill- informed style of the article we quote to-day from the " Press-,^ it is patent that thfe division of tf\e province h^s no 'Chance whatever of securing justifte until the actual state of aftatt-S is made better understood.

From some unintelligible cause; ti\e applications of our reporter at the Uoiuraissioner's office, for perihisßion to inspect and copy the (Joldttclds Wardens' report^ are invariably unsuccessful.' Some tinle agb A public announcement WaS made that those documents would always be open io the inspection of the representatives of- the press. As it is not to be. presumed that the, original documents are allowed to pass out of the Commissioner's office, the refusal to the reporter of the "West Cqast Times of all opportunity of access to themj-is rt circumstance requiring some~ex- ! pknation. ; '- I ■ Until noon yesterday, t he weather was j really* fine— the preceding night having been frosty, and was followed by a bright, cloudless morning, which as the day advanced proved tfariu and genial. Folks ■ congratulated each other at such a sudden eruption of spring weather, little dreaming of the sudden change so close at hand; for, shortly after noon, clouds banked up in the western' Horizon, and, driven by a hard SJW\ wind, in an amazingly short time covered the sky, and sent showers of hail and sleet driving 'through the streets. Tempted by the fine morning many of tho softer, sex ventured abroady and the 'strpete were ppusualty ; crowded with pedoslrUms,' ' which them, a i gay; r and bu&fcling appearance cheering to contemplate. Suddenly down came"the rain, and " hey presto," iflia- scene' changed,- as'there was a general scatter , for shelter, ■ and in less than half , an, -hour the crowd dispersed and the streets were deserted, ,Bftve by those whose business was too urgent to bo painsayed by the weather. . ■ i ■ .

Throughout yesterday > the sea. chafed and fretted on the beach, 'breaking, in long lines of surf, which extended 1 far 'into 'the pifiug;, tJiinU doring binne upon the' bar' TuV huge r'diiers, : which most effectually closed up" tjie' entrance,' and. prevented comn^roipfttion wjth fhe.road> !te«d, Tbe cujm, futislimy w<ttmua[ ivAmd

iftitiri{>nti</ri& llifil by (ho evening's high w&tur the hur would have smoothed aufliciontly to admit the departure of tho Persevere with gold and passengers for tho Eangitoto, which vessel, since tho preceding d«y, had been, steaming about outside, Waiting to be despatched. Tho afternoon unforrllrintcijr feamu tn'BljttaUy* aiid tho surf If anything Somewhat increased-, so that Ifche tde*. o]t reaching her that .Ud'e wtt% Vefy unwillingly abandoned by the agcrtfi and- Oaptaih MaeMoacan. ' 'Thfe w* communicated U tile by signai, a^id sRe immediately steamed away slowly to the Southward, and was soon lost to view in the mist. She will run in again to-^lay\ and we sincerely trust the weather will llaVe suflicien'tly fndderfttod Vo allow the harbor feoa't to reach her. j. From an official notice it appears that, in | cpnsequence of newspapers being footed in duplicate, or in pn'ckage* bf & still larger nuinapi\ tliey navo been detained at the chief Post Office. We would therefore call the particular attention of our readers to the following rule, which we understand will be strictly carried out, viz. :—": — " Newspapers for transmission within this colony ahail be-posted in ftiffglo numbers, sd put uji that tiio date ttl? pubhcaition in*y b^ rrtkcUly^een. Tackages of; n:e\Vej)aperß consisting of more than pne number, shall bo treated as book packets'." ' j In the : 6k^rit!a dSatrioti on t^o ilitn insrant, a boatiAah n&rifed uaune, when rounding the Wainti bluff, picked up a boot which con- > tamed a human foot. It hod separated from tho leg jiut above tho ancle, nud from Its d>s- ' composed slato must hii,re-bcteft l \n tiie water a long time. It \s, dottblloss, a portiou of the tfdny oT soipo one of the nrnny unfortunates who have been drowned in the dangerous r ivers which abound in that district. : Tho Eight Rev. Dr. ttrtvp&iS Sishop of Chri'tchurch) loft town yesterctay morning for . Chrislchurch h ; y Cdbb'a Bjpa'cli; trust lie will 'cx^e'rieuco a quick and pleasant jb'A.rttey across tho ranges. His sou, the Venerable Archdeacon Harper, who is appointed to the district as officiating minister and archdeacon, may be expected to arrive in » week or two-. ; Since tne departure of tno uo'tlienburg, fhicli Vcssei wa» ei\^p6aed to .have cleared the Wk» tt golcl dust, between 10,000 and 11,000 ounces have; accumulated, oni. novr await ! shipment in the Rangitoto. We bust that this \Viis eMtt&cd 6n this morning's tide, as we were given to understand the Persevere had resolved to attempt the bar if there was a chonco of doing so with any degree of safety-Twenty-five passengers booked for Sydney by J the RangitOtO* The VftfoWA Vl Police Gazette-,"' of '^uiy 19', 'tne following tfccMn't^fth Notorious iurge^s :-^-" Ricnard Biiigess, alias Sydney i ttjliv c)\^r^6ti with conspiracy, to murd.er ft Mr! Fox, is identical with Richard Hill, olias Charles Hiir-ris', tickef-of-iifnV^ holder, illegally , it lar^c." : Tlie adjourned meeting of the Dodbou Me- ] jnori?.l Committee was held, at tlie dummissioner's office last eVemnf . Tlie only members H'refeVit were Messrs Bright, Cooper, and Eaton. The absent members were Messrs Browning, Mitchell, (absent from the district) Prosser (do), Mueller, Shaw, Turnbull, Rochfort, White, Hawkce, (returned to Christchurch), South, -Sprot, Wmter, • Jones, Sale, Barff, Sevell-, fceogh', Schaw, Ijlmer, aiid Price-. The last five-named gohtoemen being Warden*, pfebted bh tlie committee as representatives of their several dish'icts, may be held excused for their non-attendance. The same excuse may be extended to Mr Sale, who was named an honorary member of the conilnittse only. As for tho remainder it is greatly to bo regretted that then 1 interest in an undertaking-, in thie promotion o^ which they were So earnest at the dntseb ajijieai's to liave so corajiietelj- dioa - 6ufc. As it seems impossible to induce anything like a quorum of the committee to assemble at an ordinary meeting, it was agreed to by the three gentlemen present last evening tluit a special meeting should d 6 convened for four o^clbct, .tin Friday 'nVst^ at which it nl%lit fee finally (kt&rminod whether tlie 'mtfvemßiic should be proceedod with in an earnest , and practical spirit, or whether it should be added to the long list of Hokitika's " flashes hi tho pan," and the subscriptions already jahand returned-. . j The escort lea-vSe Uwn to-Aay ?6r Rosstown.

"SesfceiftidLj 1 iMxerridon, a boat Which was conveying goods to 'the Kahieri capsized in the rapids, opposite tine "up^er etid" '6*f Gibson's $uay. The 'two men who constituted the crew succeeded in gaining the shore, but one of them was very much exhausted. They managed to recover the boafc, and but a por 1 . tion of the cargo was lost*

, The body vf \k6 uliforfcunftto man !foley, whd was frowned on Monday, has not yet been recovered, although a close watch was kept upon the beach throughout yesterday. Drags were also freely usod round the point of the North Spit, and as Air into the surf as it was prudent to' ventuve, but without success. ' Should tho body ever be given up by the 6ea, it will bo found, we believe', a long distance north, as a strong current in that direction lias been running! during the last two days. As a tribute of respect to the memory of the unfortunate young maii, the different vessels, in port hoisted their fcolo,rs half-mast yesterday.

Tho Hokitika criminal calendar for the week ending Saturday, August 18, . is unusually light, as 2 prisouors only were committed for trial in the R. M.'s Court ; 3 sentenced to hard labol* ; and 1 imprisoned. 4 mafes and 1 female having completed their. sentences; were discharged from, custody. Tho number arid 'classification 'of prisoners In thffbl&'&iol at, the above date, areas follow,: — hardlobor gang, 8 males and 2 females j imprisonment only, 3 males;' lunatics, l;on remand,' 6. T^otal, 20. Total, numbtr ff confiin fi in Oli and District Gaol, 53 malob and 2 feinaloe.

Mr Middlcton, who arrived J in town yesterday from Greyraouth, "reported, to fchoJ police that a dead body was seen hi the surf a/ the mouth of the Torcmakau. An advancing Vave nearly, landed it on the beach, und- a.-y.ujh waß made by some porsous standiog*thero to socure it, but it was washed buck again into the surf boydnd their reach, and carried away to the" wrthwrd, So. clpse was jt, hotfrevpr, tl>ftt jfe P9 fWeqiM M tflß FfHlfljjjS of a bajd/

hoaded mini, about 5 feet 7 inches in height denuded of clothing, save a pair of molesklu trousers and lace-up boots-.

The lMilce df Wales OperA House last night presented a brilliant apiionranc©, eVery^part of the Ibhuatro being cr6wAed to excess. We need hardly say that the first app 1 earan'ce of Miss Julia Mathews Was " tile ftttr'actWn." TJie late hour at wnioh the performances termin'afed obliged U& to withhold any lengthened critical notice until our next issue. We may, however, congratulate the manager, upon the suce'ebs which promisee to foli»j\V thi engagement of JJTiep Mathews. The attendance at tlie theatre on this occasion should prove to him that a liberal, or oven a moderate introduction of. legitimate, talent is more lifcqly to bo productive of solid aiid permanent Advantage to tne Theatre treasury than tho practice of getting up complimentary benefits and testimonials. The people of Hokitika are not to bo amused by the employment only of inferior and scantily paid professionals j and if the manager of the Prince of Wales will ottly rely, like other, business people^ tip"dn tlie intrinsic merits 'Of life productions, lie may depend on reaping an adequate return for his enterprise. Mr Bradahaw, one of the Otago Gold Fields' ' members, has given notice in tlie Hoitse of tleprcsentotives , fd move— " That in the opinion of this House it is improper that gentlemen holding the subordinate qffice of gold- ; receivers, and especially such gentlemen as are i clerks of Wardens' CWtrt;s anti Resident Magistrates' Courts, shnu hold her Majesty's Commission of the Pence, arid sit as such in the districts where they hold such subordinate o(licef3 ; itr-d silch practice" ought to be disfontinuetl, as tending to lovrw the dignity nhd offeutircnpfß of tile loot _ inferidr Courts of Justice thi'oiighoiu. l.ho colony', and tp lessen tliat respect for the judicial offce df Eefiident ltagi«stvale 3C indispensable to the public welfare."

The following picture df the present condition of British Columbia is given by a correspondent of the London " Times :"— " Tftere iB the slightest ftdSßiMfc inducement for ft settled pop" ulailofe I'toa climate is in winter eices- i sively severe, grazer River, the inlet and' outlet, has been fro 'en and inaccessible to yes' sels for ;, some time, laaek — ef Wlrse', 'i g%&t detriment and hindrance to trade. The mining season is short, and nearly every miner leaves the conntry in tho end of autumn, and only returns to work in June or July, giving the country the benefit of only ©ne^Ualf of his annual .'expenditUl'e-. Jt is difftcttlt'fcd See. how agriculture 6? SonmWc'e can spring intoiife in 6ucft a county. The single MereSt \\iix, nas hitherto kept '$b eoWlitry aliy,e is mining j but hei 1 ifunes do not take somehow. Tlie miners | are decreasing regularly every 'year, anil it is ' admitted by tliose wl\o Keet know, that if next summer so smull a number as 2000 miners remain away — that is to say, if the mining population is less by 2000 next season tUan : it was last, season, . fkeix the" GoreMni^ will j not, be- able t# siiMSt', Bt to esisg' for that nidtter. It will not have money enough" to.'' pay its staff with,"

In Committee of the House of Assembly, lately, on the Registration of Electßrs Act Amendment Bil), the following took p"lace with reference to Justices bf the Peice : :— The Hon. Mr Stafford. made a JjbjV remarks on, the manner in which ■jjustVfee^ M W% pVacb ])enorhi tll'eiv duties. He did not know why gentlemen were so anxious to be placed on the commission when they never afterwards did any work as justices except perhaps on licensing days, which appeared to have peculiar attractions for them) but why he did nofc&riow. Thero were sii Mncfreu, oii, the commission and he did not travel out of 'tjie record he said tM't on'e-ten'tu dw not perform ilieif duties. Hie w"&8 tidfc.at.all certain that the Government would not think it right this very session to amend the Petty Sessions Act. The Speaker said there were some reasons why justices had generally, performed their duties unsatisfactorily ; in tlie first place ther,Q were persons on the Conlmisgiqn .who #eie not competent-, and. wotfe not of that character and integrftj? that other justices; who were more fitted for their positions, liked to associate with them. In the second place, tho pi'esence of a paid magistrate deterred them from making themselves useful,