THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, JUNE 27, 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 27 June 1881, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDA Y, JUNE 27, 1881.

The first enow-full of the season tool place on Saturday evening, but did not exceed an inch or so in depth, and quickly disappeared before the genial sunshine**of yes* terday. A Bill is to be introduced during the present session to enable the Government to resume the ownership of londs which have been proved to be auriferous. Mr C B. Hall, surveyor, well known in the Grey Valiey, is said to have been killed by the Boers in the recent rebellion at the Cape. Be joined: the British forces as a volunteer, and was shot down in the first attack by the rebels. ; We learn that the property in own" as Kane's Farm, at the foot of Rainy Creek, in the upper Iriacgahun, changed bands the other day, the prioe being £1000. The purchasers Were Robs brothers, of Lankey Gully, nnd it is said that they have since been i^feFgfi io iHtia^of £200 t)n fhw targßittr The property comprises several hundred acres of good agricultural land, and is situate directly on the line of the projected WestCoast railway. ', ' ! The Chinese, some two hundred in nnmber, lor-ated in Jhe gullies southwards, towards the Big Biver, are evidently well satisfied with their earnings, hud mean to settle down. They are building substantial slab huts, clearing ground for gardens, and otherwise preparing for a long stay. In conversation with one of the Chinamen oar re« porter said he'eupposed, now that so many Chinese were settling here, that they would soon require the services of one of their own medicine men and a clergyman. The man replied that every Chinaman was his own doctor, but if any one man showed that he possessed better healing skill than the rest, he was bound to extend the benefit of his knowledge to his suffering countrymen gratuitously. As for clergymen, they had none. The half-yearly general meeting of shareholders in the Eureka Company was held at Mr Lee's office, Bridge-street.Jon'fJJaturday evening last, when the report and balancer sheet was read and adopted, and directors weVo elected. Tenders are invited by the Low Level Tunnel Company forj extending tunnel 150 feet. ' * ' '" It is said that the Minister of Mines intends to put on the Estimates £10,000 for prospering tracks and minor works on goldfields, but he is opposed to renewing the projecting vote of £2000. Members will take steps to have the vote renewed. The cost of the Government Printing office is as follows :— Salaries and wages, £14,250 ; reporting Hansard, £2,500 ; stores, £13,000 ; total £29,000. The receipts from Gazette advertisements, subscriptions, and sales of Acts amonnt to £2024. Forms of applications to register votes may; be obtained free of cost, either from Mr Eenriok, Greymoutb, or from Mr Lucas, .' Beefton. ' ■ ' f The Wanganui Chronicle says: —The many friends of Mr C. F. A. Broad the urbane accountant of the Wanganui branch of. the National Bank will be sorry to learn that ; he is about to be transferred to the Beefton : branch. During the time Mr Broad has been stationed here he has made many friends by his obliging and courteous disposition. We wish him every success in bin new sphere of usefulness. Somebody has been hoaxing the writer of "Passing Notes" in .the Q; ago Witness. The following story, he says, has "reached him from Wellington " : —" A certain learned Judge, well known in Wellington, has a habit of using illustrations to a very large extent to ma ing his meaning clear. On one occasion a witness was before him who was somewhat scrupulous about swearing a cert tain thing, though he was morally sure of it. The Judge accordingly remarked, ' Well, you feel convinced in your own mind that it was so, though you cannot deny you might be mistaken. For instance, I left my gold watch at home this morning, I am morally certain —I feel quite sure— that I left it on a table at the head of my bed, though it is just within the range of possibility that I might be mistaken.' The witness was comforted, and the case went on. When that learned judge returned to bis ' am fireside ' he was met by the wife of his bosom with the re» mark, 'Why, my dear, what a fuss you were in about your watch to day, you sent no ' less than three people after it. Of course I gave it to the first that came. Tableau— The i Judge aghast; fond memory recalling hia un» i happy illustration in open court, and the fact ] that there had been time for clever rogues to ( act upon it. fie never saw that watch again! t The story is riot a bad ope, but is somewhat ] musty, having been tojd for many years of an , English Judge. It was republislied some ] months ago in an article jn Chambers' c Journal, entitled • Mis-applied Ingenuity,' ' and since that time has been reprinted in ; r more than oce colonial newspaper. — Post. . r The editor of the Curtersville (Ga.) Ex- a press says:— 1 There is a little brown eyed, t eniKuaiastio, high-spirited lady, who, after n she has cooked breukfust, cleared the' things r away, set the house to ' rights, attended the 1; call of the bread wagon, and milked the cow, v dons her hat and cloak, comes into this r office, yangs U9 out of the editorial chair, c pounces on the exchanges, amputates every 8 item of interest, stacks them on the copy vi hook, grabs up a Faber, travels it over a quin tl of editor's manuscript paper, ren.oves her <3 snowy -white apron, shoves up heir Bleeve9, vv grubs a stick and rule, and sets it all into ; sj type, reads the- proof, and corrects every c Brror." That's our Wile, and she will get hi r si reward in heaven.' ' ci The Wellington correspondent of the Press a; wys that the complete railway return for tho p financial year has just been presented, and ai proves of a' vry satisfactory rature. The n iciuul nit profit for the year was £32-1 503, ci

that of Aniberl<7»King:>ton line, 788 miles in length, being £254,513, or over a quarter of a million clear profit towards the net. costequal to £330 per mile. Tho Auckland line 115 miles £19,255. or £177 per mile but the Greymouth coaMine beats them all, yielding a net profit of £728 per mile. I hear that the return for April, the first month of the current financial year, will be out next week and will sliow surprisingly favourable results, the working expenses bejng reduced below (JO per cent, of the gross receipts. '

The Post says :— The principal feature of yesterday's (17th) .sitting was the discussion arising out of the Premier's proposal for the second reading of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Bill. Mr Hall, inter alia, explained that the great objection to leaving the management of Hospitals and Charitable Institutions in the hands of local bodies was that, as the districts were so small and the people were so often changing their places of residence, frequent disputes would arise by local bodies complaining that they had to provide for persons who did not belong to their districts. The debate which followed, however, was more upon the question of local government than upon the provisions of the Bill. After Dr Wallis had called the measure a tort of hodge-podge, necessitating further taxation-, and had ■ recommended the Government to set aside four per cent, of the waste lands of the Crown as an endowment, a suggestion which Mr W. Johnston subsequently announced his concurrence in, Mr Moss, in a vigorous Bpeech, recommended the Government to withdraw this and kindred measures till they brought down a comprehensive measure for dealing with local government, or, at least, permitted Sir George Grey to do so. He moved, as an amendment to the second reading, 'That the consideration of the Bill be deferred, in order that the Government may bring down some comprehensive schrme of local government that will render the cons'deration of such Bills by the House unnecessary.' Mr Murray sup* ported the resolution, but Mr Shephard favoured the Billon the whole. Mr Sbrimski's opinion was that the Bill was calculated to drive people out of the colony, though he did not explain .how.2)He, too,* went in for local government, generously offering the Ministry his support if they would withdraw the measure in favour of a Local Government, Bill. Mr Ballance severely criticised th« Bill, especially the clauses throwing most of the power into the hands of the Governor in Council, and placing the power of imposing taxes in the hands of Government nominees. Such a measure would be quite unnecessary, he thought, if local government was managed in a right way. Mr W. Johnston followed with a general defence of the Bill, but, as already indicated, favouring the suggestion of Dr Wallis to make landed endowments in aid of hospitals and charities. He also promised to vote with a motion in Committee striking out the clause regarding nominee members on Boards. Sir George Grey repudiated any connection with, or previous knowledge of, the amendment of Mr Moss. He said the whole difficulty would &*, goti) r ver by proper local institutions. In hie speech he brought up the subject of unearned increment and the Chinese immigration question, and insisted that there should no longer be compulsory poverty in the colony. He surprised the House somewhat when he said the action of the Ministry was calculated to hamper and materially influence the action of the Imperial Government in dealing with the Irish question, nor was' the surprise lessened when he intimated his intention (I) To prepare a resolution expre-sing f sympathy with the distressed labouring classes of Great Britain and Ireland ; (2)£ To bring down a Local Government Bill fc which eyerybody would accept, and which would render need" less the present measure. He further expressed his willingness to follow any other member, on either side, who would bring in such a Bill. Mr Wakefield made an effective speech. He first of all lashed out at Sir George Grey, and asserted that Sir George, only a few weeks ago, had told the people he would abolish all local governments and the Legislative Council, and centre the whole government in a single Chamber of Representatives, elected by the people, while now he told tbem tbat good local government would be the salvation of the people. He, however, agreed with the member for the Thames that it would be wise if the Government did not proceed with the Bill until they had given a definite intimation as to what their intentions ware regarding; local government. Mr Turnbuil. in a voice so low that no one could hear distinctly, was understood to agree withJJMr Wakefield. Mr Pitt and Mr Gibbs spoke in favour of the second reading. Mr Swan son created some amuse ment by saying he would vote for the Bill, but hoped it wpuld not pass. Captain Bush sel said it would be impossible to pass a suitable Local Government Bill, hurriedly, and he therefore supported the measure under notice. Mr Do Lnutour spoke against the Bill, and said it could not exist beyond a couple of years. Major Harris, who is the ' funny ' North Island member, said to get a poll-tax out of Aucklanders would require a pole-axe, and if the Government didn't look sharp they would lose his support. Several unimportant speeches on either side were made, and then Mr Lundon relieved the monotony of the proceedings. He first related how a number of men had refused to work for 7s a day, because they had to feed on pork. Then he stated that many persons could make a good living out of growing sweet potatoes, the Parliamentary name of which be did not know. If (hey did this there would be no talk about the eick and destitute. He set the House in roars when he stated that he was in a position to speak his mind, as he had no constituency, his constituents having deserted him. and having selected another man. The amusement inn creased as he proceeded — How could, he asked, small districts afford to Bupport the poor ? Onehunga was the homo for the sick an 1 destitute, because it had good land and more grass on the streets than the cattle could eat. And then thero was Howick, wilh a

Board possessing a revenue of only £16 per year to disburse in a place where the people were poor and lived upon timber — kauri timber. As a means of getting over all diffi« culties he suggested that every man should go to work for two or three rears and pay off the national debt. Paupers he held to be WO' se than Chinese, because they didn't leave the country. He had not read Ihe Bill, but if the Government would come down with a voj e of £100,000 or £200,000 they would get -his support. A poll -tax was no good, because when people wouldn't pay a dog tax they would not be ready to pay for (he sick. The Premier, in reply,, said he looked upon the amendment as a vote of want of eonfilencc, and no Government could, with self-respect, do otherwise. He had stated in. his opening temarks that the Bill Would be put aside after the second reading for sotae time till the Licensing Bill was dealt with, so that there would have been ample time for members to consider the local government'question, and the Opposition ought to have been satisfied with his statement. Having dealt with the objections > raised to the Bill, the adjournment was moved, and Mr Montgomery spoke in favour of the euggesidn to bring down a Local Go« veremenfc Bill> Mr Moss , also had another

" say," statingftbat, as there was no Opposition, he felt himself at liberty to move the amendment/though he* did not loot upon it in the same light as the Premier. Eventually the second reading of the Bill was agreed to, and the debate closed.