WEEKLY EPITOME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 6, 7 June 1873, Page 6

WEEKLY EPITOME.

IT is well our friends should know the following facta :— Mr G. E Barton was asked to present the petition of the Catholics of Dunediu in reference to education to the Provincial Council ; and after endeavoring to persuade the Bishop to nsk another member to do so at last reluctantly consented to present it. The Bishop sent down the petition and a note to Mr Barton, and those were laid on his desk in tke Council Hall. For three days they were kicked about the House and ultimately the Bishop was compelled to take steps to induce some other member to present the petition. The first asked, positively refused. We abstain from mentioning his name, solely because we have not perso/ial knowledge of the fact, although we entertain no doubt of it. At length Mr Cuttcn presented the petition. But the ppmt we wish to impress on the Catholic public is, that Mr Barton is not our friend. Last week this paper published a copy of a document stating that a Roman Catholic had been refused an assisted passage in an immigrant ship to Otago, because he was a Catholic. Mr Macandrew in Irs hustings speech, declared h:s belief that thiß charge would be found to be a mare's nest. We sincerely hope it may be found to be auch. But the original document, signed in presence of witnesses, is in our possession, and Mr Macandrew can see it at any moment he pleasei.

O'O.SSL? ™*yo M »T Iksmtutiow.- A letter written by the Rev J. So lafe fS fw hOP v™"' hM be « n Benfc t0 U9 *» publication, but thi. IJ£ J > week » " Bu « swe Shall publish it next week. Prom The concert in aid of the H.A.C.B. was, in point o f attendance and as an entertainment, a great success. « ovißuuanoe l*M THE S? bin £ fc J" de^ed to call the Assembly together on July 15th._ The Post says that Otugo and Auckland hare too much influence in the Cabinet, to the prejudice of Wellington In the Canterbury Provincial Council a Committee has b«en appointed t0 enquire into the administration of the waste "lauds by tho ♦i w i, ands 7io>>ra - An Education Bill is to be introduced into the Wellington Council. It imposes household rates, varying from LI to Lb according to the value of the house j also a tax of LI on unmarried men not householders, in receipt of wages above a certain amount. It limits school Fees to one shilling per week per child • not more than four children in any case to be paid for. Eeligious ins'truc« tion to be " non-controversial," and at previously stated hours, so that children may be withdrawn. "W hen the Hero left Sydney £139 000 worth of the 4 per cent. New Zealand debentures had been taken up on/ Tlie land BoW in Ca » terb ury during April realised L6l In the case of the Wellington Education Board against a ratepayer at Wangauui who refused to pay the Education rate iudement was given for the plaintiff. The defendant gave notice of appeal lue chief point in the case is that the .Education Act is ultra vires, as creating summarily recoverable debts of upwards of L2O —*— A large public meeting has been held at Poverty Bay for the purpose ot forming a company to lease the land on which the oil springs are situated, and the area of which is 5344 acres, the leaseholders to receive 1000 shares, and 15 per cent, as a r>yalty. Experiment* made in burning samples of the oil were successful, and 800 shares have been taken up. The Waikatos anticipate fighting within a fortnight, unless the murderers are surrendered. Mr Mackay reports that a warrant has been issued for the apprehension of t Mr C. J. I/avis, on a charge of inciting Ruru to take his (Mr Mackay's) life Shots have been heard between Mr O'Neil's farm and the boundary line. The Constabulary went out, but did not encounter any Natives. The settlers on the west side of the river have come in to Alexandra Ie Jssind that Rewi advised tho Ngatimaniapoto at Kopua to dispose of their produce in case of war. Late news from Waikato represents all quiet. Ihe settlers are recovering confidence. The Government are pmwing redoubts, and constructing roaisand bridges, and strengthen* ing the outposts by reinforcements of well trained men. Mr M'Lean ha 9 received a letter from tl^Ygapuhiu, of Hokianga, condemning severely the conduct of the Waikato and the murder of Sullivan ah! ottering their services to assist the Government to "obtain reparation ' Thk Supeiintendent of Napier, in his opening address, »aid' that tius year there was much of a satisfactory character to be saM The Province had a credit balance at^the bank of£43,ooo,uearly all of which wa» available to supplement the coming year's revenue. The survey .mift/T P ?, ki . pt } ki *.° Waipukurau was completed, and tendew would shortly be called for its construction. This line would develon the timber trade, for which .£50,000 a year now left the Province! Ihe want of labor was much felt, but he had received assurances from the General Government that 750 immigrants would arrive by the end of the year. It was desirable that the Council should make a recommendation to the Assembly on several subjects beyond its own power to deal with, the most important being the breakwater, a work infl. nitely easier than that at Oamaru,and not likely to cost above £100 000 Ihe i Colony might reaaonably contribute to it, as the formation of a harbor of refuge on the East Coast wa» a matter of colonial concern ilia Government had promised to send an engineer to report on the I 0!?'I 0 !?' w Th . ere Twaß»»T wa8 »» unpleasant sublet to refer to, via , the agitation re the Native Lands Commission. Its appointment had encouraged the Natives in the belief that the lands could be got back by the repudiation of engagements and assignments, and iv consequence there had been the attempting of repudiation of almost every tranaaction in he dis-nct including the first purchase made by Government. From the Published evidence, he felt sure the report oi the Commission would show the imputations on the settlors to be wholly false It was intended, amongst other., to bring iv an Education Act, imposing household rating by valuation, the increase of the capital g-anti to schools, and to secure a superior class of teachers, on which reailv the whole success of the system depended. Ho did not approve of free education, as it teuded to lower the standard. The Government would also utrodooe a Bill to enable him to advance funds £ ?£e reclamation of the Napier swamp, and a Sheep Bill to excise the clauseß relating to fopk-rot, as it was impossible to check it, the tendency of it being to increase as English gram* increased. The danger of the introduction of scab from Wellington required ure-. tionary measures. ° * cl 4 l "«»a. pre-. The section of the railway line from Selwyn to the Rakaia 12 miles 50 chains in length, has been opened, together with fIM rS 11 ?"; f^« bridge is 4,480 feet long, and its total cortt £34,300. The total distance from Christchurch, of 27 miles, was run in an hour and twelve minutes. At the dtjeuner, the Hon. Mr Sta? ford, tq the toast of " The General Assembly," said that ™T 1 u'^" 8 , UP the ?° Untry b 7b 7 meanß of railwa /« **<* bridges wa B duetoMrMoorhouse,whoyearsago pressed upon the Government the advisability of the construction of railways, but the propoTi. t on, owing to the crippled state of the finances, could not be enteSd JJ o*"7r0 *"7r Dt . lemenhaTesubßcribed£s9B Awards establishing £10? Tlf y . ft™ 4011 ""*- Mr George Gould heads the list witl ±-100. Ihe local Press advocates the Council voting a sum towards the necessary buUdings. J)r- Monckton/s lease of the AuckUnd

Islands has been signed. He intend* to establish a sheep and cattle station there, to sttpply whalers* and will also carry on sealing. The Government nave not received any information as to Mr C. O. Davis having incited the attack on Mr Maekav, and have n6t siren any instructions regarding the issue of warrants for the arrest of the murderers of Sullivan. At Taupo a great rush of run seekers has taken place, and »U the lands are being taken up. All the shares in the Hokitika Gas Company are taken up. The total number of shares in the Albion Coal Co., taken up in New Zealand is 4069, distributed as follows t— Auckland and Tarahaki, 1278; Dunedin, 113*5} Westport, 500 j Nelson, 263; Wellington, 235; Chrlstchurch, 150; besides 50 allotted to flic original proprietors. Mr George Turnbull, of Dunedin, has applied for the balanea, viz., 715, of the 20CO shares offered in Canterbury and Otdgo. If the' 1000 shares offered in Victoria are taiten up, the total number required, viz., 6000 will be complete. Mr Alfred Beetham has left, en. route for the Ngakawhau nririe, finally to clinch the negotiation* with the proprietors. The Company will commence operations immediately. — Proposals made by the Directors of the Prirss Association for amalgamation with the Anglo- Australian Press Agency have been rejected by the latter. Thi-ifevenue of Otago has exceeded the Expenditure during the year by £72,253 11s 6d, but as the Province began the year with a debit balance of £44,658 10s the net balance in its favor at the end of the year was £27,£95 Is 6d. The Court of Appeal at Wellington is still sitting. The Blue Spur case is going on. The Court pronounced judgment in thieo <Aitnin»l cases. In the case of Kegina p. Palmer— an appeal from Nelson— ihe' conviction was quashed. In the case of Eegina ». Woodman, also from Nelson, the conviction was affirmed. In the case of Regina v. Barclay, from Auckland, thl conviction' was affirmed. — Floods liave taken place at Greymouth and communication with Eeetton 'and llokicika is stopped. Numerous landslips have taken place, "but the damage done is not serious. A waggon was swept away in the Little Grey River, near Squaretown, and three of the horses were drowned.—^-William Garitey, the mute of a whaler, lately stabbed at Eussell, Auckland, has died from his wounds. Two men, named Joseph Shipwright and William Fisher, have been committed for trial, charged with the crime. Edward Brennau an I John Verner, both members of the Armed Constabulary, at Auckland, were " larking " with a penknife; when it ran into Brennan's body near the heart, and he died. — - The latest share quotations from Auckland are : — Caledonian, £15 51s ; Cure, 19s ; Imperial Crown, £2; Queen of the May, 6s 6d; Bright Smile, £2 10s; Soufc,. British Insurance, €2 3s ; New Zealand Insurance, £2 15s. The last monthly escort which arrived in Dune* din, brought the following quantities of gold :— Queenstown, 1081 ozs ; Cardrona, 434 ozs 11 dwfs , Arrowtown, 731 ozs 10 dwts ; Cromwell, 1402 ozs 1 dwt ; Clyde, 500 ozs'; Tevipt, 710 ozs 15 dwt ; Blacks, 600 ozs ;St Bathans, 193 ozs 2 dwfs ; Mount Ida, 1 192 ozs 6 uwts ; Macraes, 106 ozs 14 dwts ; Pulmerston, 46 dzs 18 dwts ; Waikouaiti Bozs 7dw"fs ; Alexandra, 490 ozs 4 dwts ;— Total, 7497 ozs 8 dwts.- The Una mine, Grahanifctown, has yielded 105 ounces of gold for the fortnight's crushing. Energy "claim, Reeftown, has obtained 136 ounces of gold from v crushing of 118 tons of quartz. The Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, purposing to acclimatise' Australian as well as British insectivorous birds, are taking steps to obtain 500 Australian magpies A movement is on foot at Auckland to organise a team of cricketers to proceed to Canterbury or Otago in the spring, to play against any of tlie Southern elevens who may be willing to meet them. Ihere is a large exodus from Waipori, and now the idea of an extensive sludge channel at Waipori Flat has been developed and steps are being taken to get a survey made to test it's practicability. The amount of revenue collected at the Custom House, Dun din, during the moi.th ending M«y3l, whs £22,367 14s 4d. The amount for the month of April was £23,174 14s 8d ; the decrease being chiefly in goods by measurement, wliieh was £6,206 7s 9d for that period. The heaviest flood ever known at Westport occurred there on Wednesday. All the wharves, save one, were swept away, together with a large number of 6tores, hotels, and houses. A large* number of people have been rendered homeless and are in great distress. Acres of land have disappeared. 'I he losb is estimated at. L 16.000. News from London dated on the 26th May, tell of important changes in France. The French Government were defeated by the Legitimist nnd Imperialist votes, the result of the division being 3i*o against 344. Th sis virtually a. defeat of the Republican Cons' itution. M." 1 heirs at once resigned, and Marshall M'Mahou was linmeniitely elected President by 390 votes. Jl. Gambetta and the Left abstained from voting. Marshal M'Mahon swears to ro-pect Republican Institutions, but it is thetinm>i\-ul opinion that his i lection will lead to Legitimist or Imperriulst Restoration. One s : gn of increased confidence is that French rentes have risen 2£ per cent. A sixpence saved daily will provide a fund of $7000— sufficient to puivhase a ygood farm. There are few employees who cannot save daily, by abstaining liom cigar-, tobecco, liquor, etc, twice or ten times the amount of the six cent piece. Every person should provide for old ngo, and the umn in business who can lay by * dollar a clay will eventually find himself possessed of over §100,0UO. It the Pupal I'ower hud nut been adapted to the condition of Europe, it could iot have exisled. We have only to look at the Abyssinian and Oriental llimc 1 cs to sec what hurope would have been without the Papacy. It was morally and intellectually the conBeiTdtive power of Christendom : polilu-ally, too it was its^aviour, for in all } .robabilily the West, like the East, must have been overran by Mohammedanism und sunk in irremediable degradation, if, in that crisis of the world, the Romuvi Church had not ruu-ed tho nations to a united and prodigious effort cormirensdrate with the danger. — Soulhey Col. Michael P. Walsh died lately in Shasta county, (California) hospital aged seventy-eight years. In 1832 he went to Chicago and purchased eighty acres of land, for which he paid §200. This he kept for one year, when, the new town not coining up to his sanguine expectations, and thinking it was not a very healthful place, he sold the lot for 1 fife ffmount he had paid for it, and emigrated to a place of more flattering prospects. When Colonel Walsh went to Chicago, it

was waa but a mere outpost on the western border of civilization, containing lorn than 600 inhabitant!. That eighty acre lot is in the" very heart and centre of that opulent city of 300,000 inhabitants Had he kept that, piece of property he might hare counted his wealth by tens of millions. While he was running out the sands of life in poverty in the Shasta county hospital, the census of 1872, shows that tract of Jand which he once bought and sold for $200 represented more wealth than all tho broad acres of California from the mouth of Feather River to the Oregon.line.