THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 2 September 1881, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1881.

The debate on the Representation Bill proceeds, and notwithstanding the so called " slooe«*wallihg," of the measure by the Anakland, Nelson, and West Coast members there seems a fair prospect of the Bill being pushed through. Tbe opposition of the Auckland members to the Bill is not, like the Nelson and West Coast members, because they demur to population alone being made the basis of . representation, but because tbey desire that some 40,000 Maons should be taken into the computation for the Northern electorates, which would of cou r se mean giving Auokland a great increase in the number of members. It has long been a standing reproach to our representative system (bat Maoris should be per' mitted io take pvt in tbe delideratioos and votes ofthe House, but tp admit the entire Native population to the calculation of Oisiipf^re__resentation WQUld.be a monstrous aggravation of the evil. It is notorious that in all important divisions in the House the Maori member? are guided in their votes mo**e by private and. personal leanings (han the ordinary dictates of public policy. If they venture to address the House upon any debat* | able question, it is a mere parrothke performance. Their utterances are dictated by those who control their votes, and be* ing free from the restraints of constituents and the voice of public opinion, they have it in their power to make or un* make a Ministry at any time. We >■

a good instance of ihe dangerous power which (he Maori members wield in the position of the Government at the present time. The whole of the Native members as creatures of Sir George Grey and Mr Sheeban. nre arrayed against the Government, and their dumber is ju-it sufficient to turn the scale against a* working majority. By the same rule should Sir George Grey ever come into power again the same four Maori votes will no doubt keep him there in s"pite of the voice alike of the House and country. We regard it then aa a great pity that in dealing with the question of representation the Government did not have the courage, or feel strong enough to grapple with the difficulty. It must be apparent that as long aa there are these four Native votes in tbe House, no Government can long live in opposition to them, hecause a majority does not mean a majorit v of the House, but a majority of the European members. As representatives of their caste the Maori members have proved an utter failure, seldom attending the sittings, except when their votes a**e required by their leaders to upset a Midistrv or obstruct a particular mess* ure. If these four votes were withdrawn from tbe Maoris and tbe additional re* , presentation conferred upon the out-) lying, dv-tricta of the Colony, a lasting benefit wonld be bestowed both upon tbe House and the country. .The longer the question is delayed the gre iter will he the difficulty of dealing with it. The Representation Bill now before the House proposes to take one member away from ihe West Coast and one from Neison, and although the Act will no doubt pass, it is a moral certainty that an attempt will oe made to undo the injustice in the new Parliament, when we ranv hope to see the question of the Maori, representation dealt with.

The South Hopeful company's lease is situate south of the Just-in-Time ground, Boatman's Creek, intervening between th* two properties. There is a small broken reef turning good gold exposed on the suf(ace, and a large body of likely-looking gold beuring quartz j-howmg in a small slip. A level 85't long ha. been already driven, and the general indica'ions of the quartz and its situation tend to the belief that with a little further prospecting a continnation of the Just.io.Time lode will be picked up. Yes-' terday nearly fen>o UH and of ilmoow pany's s'ook were purchased, and principally by successful, local speculators. Work will be resumed in a few days, nnd as the company has a good credit biilao.e ia hand,- it is to b>

hoped be prosecuted with vigor, as the bearing ofthe lode on the south of Boatman's Creek, will givo a fresh impetus to the whole district, Tbo punt at the Inangahua Landing was carried away during the late flood and stran« d?d on a shingle bank some miles down the river. _ • ... -Subscribers in Jacques art-union are in - formed that tbe drawing will take place at Dawson's Ball, on Saturday evening next, at 8 o'clock.

It is a pleasing prospect for; the future of the field to find that the Golden Fleece Extended Company have determined to at once procure a diamond drill for prospecting their mine. As the Fleece Coir.pany were the first to introduce steam machinery and crushing plant, so they will be the first to secure to themselves the aid oftthe diamond 'drill. Enterprise such as this company has shown is worthy of commendation and encouragement. Other companies in the field require the diamond drill quite as urgently as the Golden Fleece Company, but instead of going pract ica^v to work, by subscribing for) the purchase of the machine, iheir conduot it not unlike tbat of the boy who criedj'for "the moon. For companies to wait for their tarn at the Government drill is something like wailing for a dead man's shoes. Com* panics requiring the drill cannot too soon be brought to see (hat the readiest escape from the difficulty is to put their hands in their own pockets, 89 the Fleece shareholders are abont to do, and purchase it. It is stated in Mr M'Kerrow's Report that the Inangahua County Council bas been good cno -igh to offer to purchase the Government drill, out of the pockets of the ratepayers. But however desirous we are, 'to see£the diamond drill introduced, we'do not^hesitate to question the propriety or justice of saddling the burden_of the purchase* upon the shoulders of the ratepayers. It is very easy to be liberal with other peoples' money, and tbe instance nnder|([no.-ce only shows what the County system is capable of being brought to. Head-over-heels in debt, with a floating liability of some £12,000/' and'driven to all sorts of shifts in order to keep its head above water ; with streets, roads and by-tracks in the last stage of decay ,'the Council^bas been good enough to offer to purchase a diamond drill at the public expense 1 Artemus Ward felt so strongly upon a .certain subject^ that he was prepared to shed the last drop of ' bit brother's blood ' in'supportßof^it.^And the County Council*, some of the members of which are largely interested* in mining, is ready to sacrifice the public. But in the face of such an expenditurejwbat! would|haye become of all those splendid arguments which have been abvanoed against ibe abolition of the gold duty ?— We pause for a reply. In conclusion we recommend.other companies to follow the* example of-* the Golden Fleece Company, and instead} of^frittering away their substance in protection orde.s, expense of legal management, lease reut. &c, to apply the capital in a way likely to bejreproductive to tbemseives and beneficial to the field 'generally;

The fire brigade concert nassed off mery success.ully on Tuesday evening last, the hall being well filled.! fThe Black's Point Band gave their services for the occasion, and their excellent music added greatly to the pleasure of the occasion. The various . vocalists acquitted themselves very creditably, Some of the readings were rather hackneyed and perhaps a trifle too lengthy, hut these are mistakes common to most amateur efforts of the kind. The recitations by Messrs Cohen, Cummins, and Atkin, and Charles were all good, rand 1 , suitably, applauded; Of the ladies, Miss MceHer sang ' Eleen Allanah ' with exquisite taste and finish, and in response to a vocifierous encore gave the eyer popular ' Twickenham' Ferry,' the . rendering of which met witb enthusiast io approbation. Miss Austin sang '.Liquid Gems,' in a most pleasing manner, and was warmly applauded, and in obMience to a call repeated fhe last verse. Miss Allen sang ' Kiss Me," Goodbye Darling,' veryl nicely i * and^ correctly . Miss O'Brien rendered 7 Belle Mahone' very attractively. Messrs [Lynch, Broad, *Casely, Sergeant and Keid acquitted themselves ably, as also did Mese-ro Richards . and Harris in a cleverly executed duet (povnet and euphonium and taken altogether "a pleasant evening was spent. It is thought that" the brigade will nett about £8 by the entertainment. We understand that the p- ogramme for the nert concert has* already been filled up.

The directors of tbe Caledonian Extended Comoany, Larry's Creek, have aooepted the tender of Crabh and party for driving; low level tunnel, 100 ft, the price being £1 10s per foot. The mine*manager has been instructed to prospect a leader which is showing in the roof of. the level, nnd which, in cutting awny the eround for timbering up, has greatly improved in appearance.

The snow fall of Tuesday last apppars to •nive been general oeer the whole of the West Coast. In purts of the Grey Talley the fall was very heavy, particularly at Orwell Creek. Considerable injury was done to the telegraph wires by the sto-m, and for many hours on Tupsday all the Reefton lines were interrupted with the exception of that to Nelson- All tue.linei bare, however, since been restored.,.

It wi'l be 6een that the Golden Fleece Extended Company has applied fortwoadi ditionnl gold mining leases, both areas abutting on the northern end of the special claim already held, in the form of the letter T. The applications have been made in view of the intention of the company to import a diamond boring machine The company bave already worked and prospected the southern h»lf of their special claim, down to a depth of 500 "t, so that io the face of the large oqt* lay «on'emplated the management are justi« fied in asking for nn additional area on the north, as that is the ground winch the drill will p'O^pect.

In two judgment summons cases heard pt the R.M. Court Wellington, recently fhe defendants were women of ill-repute, named Mary B*»wen and Bose Palmer, against whom Mr S. W. Acorn, drape •, 4-3 , appeared to

obtain an order forthe payment, by periodical instalments or otherwise, on account of judgments that had previously been made against them. Mr Shaw, RM., declined to grant .noh an order, remarking that if diapers and others choose to'n'g 7oat ' women of this class on th* credit §pk*n tne 7 must aocept the risk of their action. M* Alcorn eaid he understood the, palling of a prostitute was not an illegal one.'to whioh bil Tworsbip replied there wat such a thing as ah immoral contract, such contracts being void. Mr Shaw added tliat he had already had occasion to point out that tradesmen could only legally recover debts of prostitutes when those debts were for the common necessaries oi life, such as food, ordinary clothing, fto. Mr Alcorn said the gdbds supplied included ordinary olotbing. Upon' this the Magistrate referred to one of thej items, a ' morning wrapper.' Both cases were then adjourned for 28 days,

At the ' levee' held by the Prince of Wales on June 22, Mr Joshua Strange a Judge Of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, was presented to His Eoyal Highness by his father, Mr Joshua Williams, Q.C. Sir Samuel Wilson was among those who attended the ' levee/

The Melbourne Benevolent Asylum Committee have prevented a Mrs Hubbard from entering that institution for three months, because she. gave tbe inmates with her own hands, some buna and jams, preferring this mode of presentation, to patting the good rhings through the hands of about 20 officials, whereby the quantity might have been diminished by the aotion of atmospheric evaporation.

The following good story of the Erapercr William is related by the Berlin correspondent of the Boston Post: — Last year, while, hunting in Selesia with the Bake of Mecklenburgb and the King of Saxony, the aged Kaiser proposed returning to their castle on foot, but soon becoming weary of the walk, he hailed a passing waggon and requested the driver io take tbem home. The peasant . complied, but could not long restrain his curiosity, and •soon remarked , ' 1 suppose its all right, and you look all right, but will you please tell me who you are ? ' • I am the Grand Bake of Mecklenburgb.' 'Oho o-o ?' exclaimed the rustic ; " and who are . you ? ' *I am the King, of Saxony.'^' Oho ! ahem!'ejaculated their driver : ' and you, mister, who are you ?' * I am the Emperor' * -There, that will do, my friends,' grinned the peasant, ' and I dare say you would like to know who I am. lam the Shah of Persia, and when it comes to joking I eanjtake my part as well as the next man.' Tbe three sovereigns ware Convulsed with '- laughter, but the -peasant drew a long /.use .when he found .that he had beenHbe 'only joker. 7 * - THe Evening -Standard says, it appears that fourpenny»bit*' and hai f-crowns are to be abolished— an unnecessary '■ proceeding, as Jibe balf«covfn is a very useful coin, and by the aid of Tom-penny and threepenny bits, any sum of money which does not include fractions of a penny.can be paid without the use of coppers. But while the authorities are die— oußsing the question of ooins. tbey wouleX 4p well' to^i^ the desirability of intro* ducing a piece of money . which ' bas obvious advantages, and is much needed— a gold five shilling piece. The qld.faehioned crown, which seems to have been chiefly devoted to the '-tipping}'. of littlei school-boy 3, though ho doubt regarded as a handsome and glorious coin by its youthful recipients, was felt to be burdensome by the grown-up financier j aud even now that crowns are scarce, a sover*

eign's worth of change, balftcrowns and florins, is a heavy weight to a pocket, and bulges out a-purse considerably. So far as We know, almost every other country has a coin about equivalent in value to a golden crown, and it is impossible to seethe ob* jeotion to issuing one from the English Mint. Change foi a sovereign consisting of three of these coins and some small silver would be portable aud emvenient, and the coin, which would be about the size of a theepenny piece, would not be so small as (.0 make its loss— by being mix p d up unnoticod with other rooney —at all probable. The popularity of the similar coin abroad shows tbat it would be welcome in this country, and there can be no doubt that the issue wonld be bailed with satisfaction by persons who are constantly called upon to pay small sums of money as is tbe case with the great majority of those wbo have any to pay. '

There seems some prospect (remarks a home paper) of electricity taking the place of steam as a moiive power in launches, yaobts, aud even small boats. Tbe other day M. Faure might have been seen disporting hlmielf with two companions in a smalt boat on the Seine between the Pont Bojal and the Pont des Arts for nearly two hours, without any visible *ig% of effort. Tbe boat, which was 17ft long and 4ft wide, was urged though the water by tfaeans of the electric current. This was supplied by a battery of twelve Wallaston cells; which weighed about half a hundred weight, and the current was passed through a small electromoter no heavier than 51bs. The power thus produced amounts! to rather more than the force of an ablebodied rower, and it was utilised in turning a little screw attached to the stern ofthe boat in a niche cut out of the rudder. The speed attained was about four feet per second, >or eighty yards per minute, and, the smoothness of the motion was very pleasing. There was neither jar nor noise, a condition which admirably fits the electrical boat, not only for pleasure, but for sporting purposes, whether angling or wild fowl shooting. Another advantage is that the electric apparatus can be readily applied to ary existing craft with little alteration of the boat. Ihe experiments are about to be repeated on the Boisde Boulogne lake, and if the first success is borne oui, we may ere long hope to see the noyelty adopted on the Thames. .

The remains of Dr Campbell and bis family, who were drowned in the Tararua disaster, were interred to d»y» The pro-■■es-don was a'-*nut a mile long, and included about 70 carriages. The principal streets through which it had to pass were lined with spectators.