The Westport Times. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1873.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1039, 21 January 1873, Page 2

The Westport Times. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1873.

SiifCE first this colony became a self governing community there have been special 'commissions appointed upon almost all conceivable subjects, and as .a rule .it may be said .that their labours have been of small practical benefit, or have even involved the colony in ■considerable liability, -as instance the Civil Service Commission of 1865. There have been Commissions on Native pffairs, and Public Trusts, Flax, and Penal Establishments, and the Civil Service, and on a vast multitude ; of matters too numero is to specify, the whole result of which is a mass of elegantly worded reports, which are •entombed in the blue books, and have to be sought out with no littie labor by such inquisitive colonists as desire information on these subjects. That it is a gross impropriety to seek after knowledge respecting government matters, may or may not be true, at all events it is the principle laid down by the New Zealand Government, and strictly adhered to through 'many years, and the consequence is that much valuable iuformatiou, •collected at very considerable expense to the public has been of no further service than to afford employment to government printers, and perhaps a delectation to some civil service clerk •who had some further interest in the colony than was created by his salary—if such a phenonemon exists. Respecting special commissions though, they are not altogether useless, on the contrary where ordinary means are taken for the dissemination of the information which they collect,' they are capable of being rendered the instruments of very great public good. Provided always that the persons who compose them are judiciously selected. ; One such commission we think might at the present time confer inestimable advantage on the colony by its labours, and that the publication of its labours might awaken the colonists to a full sense of a great advantage which they are suffering to slip .away from them, and the people of adjoining countries, in the existence of a ready and cheap supp y of an indispensable article. The subject to which we allude is the coal deposits of New .Zealand, and although it has frequently been,a subject for comment, it is so important and • active measures .to open out her resources in this respect are so imperative, now when it .may be said that there is a kind of coal panic throughout the British empire, that no apology is needed for again alluding thereto. We have 'before us the report of the joint committee on colonial industries lately laid before the Assembly, a very useful document in its way, but mot one which is likely to lead to any practical result, or stimulate either the Government or people into taking more active measures for the develop-! ment of the industries in question. f J?hat safe to leave the matter to that a good article will eventually find its place in all markets, Home or Foreign, unassisted by government, but that is no argument for delaying the day as long as possible, letting other countries establish a market for their inferior coal, where New Zealand eoal might have been facile I princejps, and even sending out annually about £130,000 to purchase our own supply of such coalIn order to .carry out the object in question no better plan could be adopted than the appointment of a commission of experts; indeed this seems to have been the idea of the Committee above referred to, whose only recommendation respecting the colonial coalfields is practical exploration of the value and extent of the New Zealand seams as soon as the Government find it possible. This report concludes with the sentence. " The evidence taken by your Committee on this subject leads them to the belief that New Zealand ought in a very short time to supply its own wants, and also become an exporter of coal." It is not however by the mere superficial investigations of the colonial geologist, for more than superficial they are not, that such an object will be achieved, that the extent and quantity of the coal seams will be demonstrated with accuracy sufficient to induce the importation; of the large capital which will be needful for its development, and to create a market, a thing which even under the most favorable circumstance,

is only to be done with labour ami judgment. 'On the contrary if there were disseminated among business men in Loudon aud the Australian cities, trustworthy reports on the we are convinced that such magnificent opportunities for investment would not long lie idle, though the hesitation of a government to make tl*e needful feeding lines, lest they should not pay ! The mine owners or lessees would themselves take that risk; they would open the mines, make lines, provide the ships, aud lastly make the markets, and still be able to retire an a few years with enormous profits from tho'venture.

Tie washing wj> in the Little Wo.tder claim has been finished, but Messrs Carroll and Cairns are Teticent as to the exact yield. Kumor with her hundred tongues speaks of bucketsful of amalgam, and it is said that Messrs Carroll and Culms bad to borrow a weighing machine to weigh up. The gold will probably reach Westport to-jnorrow. The Treasurer for the Westport Hospital acknowledges the receipt of £l4 4s 2d, net proceeds of the Dramatic Entertainment on New Years Eve, for the benefit of the institution. The gross proceeds were £36 12s, and expences for dramatic properties, £9 5s 4d; rent of Hall, refreshments &c„ £5 15; printing and advertising £7 7s 6d, leaving the net balance above stated. We have received from the Provincial Secretary of Nelson, a volume of tbe*Votes and Proceedings of the Provincial Councial during the last session, together with the various documents connected therewith. Messrs C. H. W. Bowen, J. S. Fleming, E. !P-oche, R. Whyte, and Hugh Neil, have been gazetted as trustees in the management of the public cemetry at Orawaiti. Probably some steps may be now taken to put the cemetery in more fit and seemly order than has hitherto prevailed there. Considerable surprise is erpressed at the rumoured intention of the local authorities to remove the Atheneum building from its present site up to the new township. It is argued, and with reason, that the building in such a location will be perfectly useless to the public, and in fact that its removal there will benefit no one except the librarian who happens to live in that neighbourhood, but whose office would then tiecome a sinecure. The majority of present or probable subscribers to the Atheneum funds will not take np their residence anywhere near the township site until absolutely compelled to go there, and the chances are against such compulsion being immediate. It has been suggested that a good present site for the Atheneum would be on the street line running alongside the Schoolhouse. The street will not be required as a thoroughfare for a very long time and the Atheneum building might well be allowed to remain there, facing towards Palmerston street, until the gradual occupation of the new township renders it necessary to shift it to the site now proposed, close to the Government buildings. This is a matter that concerns the present subscribers, and they should lose no time in giving formal expression to their wishes or opinions thereon. The residents at Addiaon's Plat are preparing to give the Eight Eev. Bishop Moran, D.D., a complimentary reception on hi 3 arrival, which is expected to take place about the middle of February. A banquet will be held at Mr M'Enroe's Hotel, and a numerous gathering will no doubt be there to welcome his arrival. The heavy gale seaward has driven to the beach s >me unusual visitors. A large albatross, measuring from ten to twelve feet across the wings was picked up on the beach yestcrlay, towards the Mohikinui, and a smaller specimen of tlie same species was washed ashore on the Westport beach at low water on Saturday. Both biids had been evidently killed by tbs violence of the storm. The .perfect development of the Anatori reefs seems only to be a question of time, as the valuable quality of the stone has been assured. The reefs are on Maori land, and hence have not yet been declared a goldfield, although no obstacles are in the way of the Superintendent doing so. At present some seventy or eighty men are on the ground, who have made certain arrangements among themselves as to the area of ground held by each and details of tenure. The principal work done there is in getting out small quantities of quartz from drives and breaking it up with hammers, afterwards panning oil' the small particles. This primitive system of work is said to yield about l£ozs to the load of stone. Some excellent specimens have lately been taken in to Nelson. By the quarterly return of receipts and disbursements of the Provincial Treasurer during the quarter ending 31st December 1872, it appears the total receipts were ,£13,478 12s Id, and total disbursements for the quarter, £ 15,887 193. The special items for local purposes on the South West Goldfields, are, Westport Hospital £3OO, Charleston and Brighton Hospital, £2OO : Westport Fire Brigade, £75"; Charleston Fire Brigade, £75; lemoval of Government buildim s and repair o: streets at Westport, £Bll 2s. The number of useless, illbred and unmannerly cur3.infesting the streets of Westport, are again largely on the increase, and the police authorities have taken measures to repress the nuisance. The following extract from the Ordinance contains a note of warning :—Any person who shall have in his or her possession one-or more dogs upwards of three months old, whether on the chain, confined, or at large, without a dog ticket affixed to it, shall be liable to a penalty of forty shillings. The recent rains have detained the Greymouth and Reef ton Coach, and it is said by travellers that no possible chance of regularity can be depended on in wot weather, until the road is mado between the Arnold and the Ahaura. The following is a description of the Bank notes and cheques of which Mr Hayes was robbed at the time the gold was taken from him near , the Ahaura: —Seven £5 Bank of New Zealand notes, Nos. 050794 049343, 051705, 051530, 051203, 050791] 015350; one Bank of New South Wales £5 note, No. 14745; six cheques, crossed and endorsed by James Hayes. A reward of £250 is offered for the recovery of the property and conviction of the thieves. This is in addition to a free pardon to an accomplica. The now County Chairman for Westland, has lost no time in telling the ratepayers the exact financial position of the County. Ho states as an actual fact that while the annual income does little more than pay working expenses, Westland is in debt to the extent of £46,673, of which £13769 require immediate settlement. The County is in ■extremis and radical retrenchment lias became an absolute necessity. Oddly ->nougb, at a recent sitting" of the County Council, tenders had been called for pub-

lishing notices of motion, and supplying the Council with printed slips. The •■ Kegister' offered to do the work for 4s 6d, and the ' West Coast Times,' 7s Gd per day. The tender of the latter was accepted, five members voting for it, and four against it. The respective .admirers of Black Eagle and Peeress in Auckland -are anxious to bring about a *iroee between these two horses, and we learn that the friends of Peeress have ottered to back her for .£SOO, also giving the Eagle 141b. The late heavy northerly gale and spring tides did considerable damagy to the Beach Road at Nelson, washing down the face of the embankment and undermining the tramway. There were imported into New Zealand last year 93,867 tons of coal, the total value of which was .£121,151. The exports were 169G tons, valued at £1612. Considering the fact that coal of a fail - quality, and in some cases superior, has been found in almost every part of the colony, it is singular that the community should continue to send such largo sums out of the country for an article lying almost at their doors. From a return recently published it appears that the number of cases treated in the Nelson Lunatic Asylum during the past six yeurs has been, males, 81; females, 39. The nationality of the patients were : English, 55; Irish, 42; Scotch. 19 ; German, 4; French, 3; American, 1; Italian, 1; Dane, 1; Swede, 1; Nelson, 4. The conditions as to marriage were :—Married — Males, 23 ; Females, 35. Single—Males, 60; Females, 10. Widowers, 2; Widow,.l. On the 31st December. 1872, there remained in the Asylum, 28 male and 17 female patients.