THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, SEPT. 23, 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 23 September 1881, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, SEPT. 23, 1881.

Madame Lottie Wilmot'a lecture on «• Courtship and Marriago," was announced for Wednesday evening last. There was a fair ottendance, and at the appointed hour the lecturesß appeared and explained that she labored under some disadvantage in keeping her engagement that evening, having caught s severe cold travelling upj^fj tbre coach from Westport. Although she always made it a point to faithfully keep her advertised appointments, yet on that occasion ehe was compelled to throw herself upon the clemency of the audience. She would proceed with the lecture if such was the desire of those present, if not, the money would be returned at the door, or the tickets retained for the following evening. As it was quite apparent that Madame Wilmot was suffering from a severe cold, the audience yerj con* siderately gave way. Madame Wilmot has a commanding appearance on the stage, and Downing a clear and effective delivery, can hardly fail to impress her audience that she knows what she is about. The meeting of the ?utypqmniittee. of the Diamond Drill Company has been adjourned tjll this evening, for the purpose of preparing their report, which will be presented at a full meeting of the Provisional Committee, to be held at Dawson's Hotel to-mp.rr.6w evening. The witnesses in the case of Begins v. M'Gabey ofq reminded that Messrs Campbell and Mitchell's special coach will leave Dawspn's Hotel to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock. The South Hopeful Company, Boatman's, whose mine adjoins that qf the Just«in •Time, resumed work on Wednesday last, and as the company, is a strong one and possesses an experienced directory, good things are expected from the operations now begun. It jff the intention to follow down the stone show* ing in the eastern side, of the spur, where very good indications are presented. A few tons of stone have already been taken out. Complaints have, we believe, been made of the danger cauied by allowing horses to wander at large through the, town, and in* structions have accordingly been issued to the police to prosecute, all erring owners. A number of forfeited shares in the Inkers man Company Were offered bj public auction on Tuesday last, the whole of whioh were purchased at an average of Is 3d per share. The vast body of stotiq in this company's mine, together with the great improvement which of late has shown itself in the quality pf the reef, is just now attracting active attention,. How much assistance the passage of the Railway Bill has received from West Coast members, may be gathered frp,m the hst that Mr B. Beeves left for Nelson on the day upon which the third reading of the Bill was to come on in the Lower House. Mr Beid abienfed himself from the House, apd Mr Seddon opposed the measure tooth and nail. Mr Gisborae, alone of the West Coast mem* bers gave Mr Weston any assistance. It is really lamentable to think that in a matter of such deep concern to this part of the Colony the bulk of its so-called representatives should have shown such an. utter disregard of their constituents. However, as the electors sow, so must they expect to reap. Whatever may be its ultimate effect upon the field, it is beyond dispute that the Chinese are gradually gaining a monopoly of every available water-right iv the district. A)l the alluvial gullies in the Inangabua are now almost exclusively in the possession, of the Mongolians. The Chinese population of the County now exceeds $ye hundred, and they bold the Rriority to nearly every tributary stream throughout the district. If then there is any evil \n Chinese invasion the people here should shortly know something about it. It may be said that much of the ground they are now working would otherwise have remained unproductive for many years to come, but it would appear that the only adr vantage which has so far attended the open* ing up of the country by track-mining has been to offer greater facilities to the Chinese to pbtqiq a more firm footing in the field. Whether in tbi» respect the game is worth the candle, is an open question.. An anonymous correspondent pf the Grey River Argus complains that ■' Some time, ago a shareholder of the Just-in .Time Company, Boatman's, himself an experienced miner, visited the claim with $ha purpose of inspecting the mine for his own information, and at the request of pther shareholders," and was informed that he would nqt be permitted to go into the company's workings, an<3 urges that euch conduct is calculated to destroy all remaining public confidence in the district. It seems that the directors some time ago ordered a gate to b,e placed at the mou.th pf the tunnel to prevent persons entering the mine except with Ihe written sanction of the directors. Whether this mandate procepded from th,e whim of the directors, or from the necessities of the pen casipn we know not, but it has bpen carried out with the. utmost strictness, but not for the firet time in the field, for the same company did exactly the same thing three or four years ago. We cannot, however, but regard it as a very arbitary and unnecessary Blep to tajie. Shareholders are naturally

anxious about their investments, and eager to see all that is to be seen f r their money, and it cannot but he very disappointing after : journeying to Boatman's, to find that because they have not complied with a petty [ and perhaps unknown regulation, they are denied the privilege of inspecting their own property. Visitors to Boatman's are not so numerous, but that directors can well afford to suffer whatever inconvenience such visits oocasipn, and the directors will, in our opinion be acting wisely by rescinding the regulation. As we are not in the secrets of the directors of the company, we are unable to say whether they are any better or worse than any of their predecessors, and cannot therefore join in that fulsome glorification of their actions which has been attempted, nor do we see that they stand in any need of it. We are prepared to believe that their desire is to do the 6'crt toe? can for the company, and as they oan wish no higher commendation than this, anything whioh goes beyond it must carry with it the suspicion of parti* ality. This practice of newspaper fawning upon directors of companies for patronage is but a beggarly device, and there has unfors tunately been too much of it in this field. The history of the Victory Company is not yet forgotten, nor is it advisable that it should be. As to the animus which the Int angahua Herald displays towards the legal manager of the Justin-Time Company, that of course is well understood here, and will be received at its just value. Madame Wilmot owing to the effects of the severe cold caught on the journey up j from Westport fras unaftle tq deliver her lecture last night, and has therefoie posts poned opening until Sunday eveuing next. The subject will no doubt attract a large attendance. Tambourini, the celebrated conjuror, will open ij> Dawson's Hall on Saturday evening with a host of startling novelties. Under the heading of something rotten in the state of the wheat market, a Christohuroh paper says :— All our market reports this morning quote wheat at 4s 4d to 49 6d per bushel in Christohurch. In Adelaide 80,000 sacks changed nantfs tntee days ago* at 5s 6d. Yet Canterbury wheat is worth more money at this present moment, in London, than Adelaide Wheat. Surely, there is room for a Farmers' Co-operative Association. Dissatisfaction is expressed at the departure, of the Governor while Parliament is sitting. The Post says:— lt has all along been notorious that Sir Arthur Gordon it much more of a High. Commissioner of th« Pacific than Governor of New Zealand. The former title stands first among his official design* ations and is always awarded the place of honor. It is notorious that the greater part of His Excellency's time is absorbed in the business of his High Commissionership, and it now seems that this Colony is to be deprived of his presence at a most serious and critical juncture. We trust Hia Excellency will yet see fit to alter his determination, and will delay starting until he has porogued Parliament ; if not, we ftogg the matter will be taken up warmly in the House and a very decided expression of opinion given. New Zealand pays her Governor, and is entitled to bis whole services when required. In any case Parliament ought not to separate with* put talcing stops to guard against any repetition of this very undesirable amagamation of incongruous positions by a stringent pro* vieo in regard to fhe salaries of future Gqver* nors, making their amount conditional on the Colony enjoying the full benefit of the services for whioh it pays so liberally. The present arrangement is in all respects most unsatisfactory.' The Wanganui Herald states that atSt Mary's Roman Catholic Church, on Sunday last, the Bey Father Kirk took occasion in the morning to refer to certain insidious matte r whiph appeared in the newspapers of the day and to warn parents to keep them out of their children's hands. The reverend gentleman (says the Herald) was not understood to refer to the Wanganui papers specially, but hjs; red marks were b«lie?ed to hav.e. reference to the free discussion whioh is now taking place upon the revised New Testament and the text of the Bible genprqllj. General Garfield affords another example of ' self help.' His mother was left a widow when he was but two yean old, and had fo struggle hard to support her family. At ti n years of age he had to take his share in providing for the household by farm work, and at sixteen he began life as a mule driver. But h« had brains and a love for books, a^d he managed to secure a college education He has played his part as teacher, preacher, soldier, lawyer, and politican. Physically he is described as ' more than six feet in height with broad shoulders, a massive head, and a robust condition. No less than 44,000 persons died in Eng» land of small-pox during the three years 1870-72. A writer to the Modern Review recently quoted these figures as a proof that vaccination was an inefficient preventattve, but he was replied to by a reviewer in the Spectator as follows i— ' He (of the Modern Beview) is clearly ignorant of the fact that a hupdred years ago the small-pox mortality of London, alone (with its then population of under a million) was often greater in a six months' epidemic than that of the 20,000,000 Qf England and Wales is now in any whole year ; that the average number of deaths by smalUpox was estimated at eight per cent, or the tqtal mortality of the country ; that of the then enormous mortality of children under 10 years of age the mortality by smallpox constituted one-half ; that whilst it is now the exception to hear of a case of smallpox in the persons or families of one's friends, or even wider acquaintances, it was then exceptional for any one, in whatever rank of life, to attain middle age without haying been the subject of its attack : that 'seaming' and • pitting ' of the face were then sp common that it was estimated that one out of every three persons met in the street showed traces of it j that for a ' professional beauty 'to have her face disfigured by small-pox was an incident often introduced into the novels and tales of ' the period ; ; and that loss of sjght by that disease was then co frequent that at least one third of the inmates pf blind asy-

lums, within my own time, owed their privation to it." There are very tew of the great improvements made in the lot of mankind which are able to quote so vast &nd clear a body of evi.ienee in their favour as stands to the credit of vaccination. In the House the other day Mr Fox said : —I should listen with very much greater interest to these orations which have proceeded from the honorable member for the Thames if it were not that my memory is too long. I have passed through many periods in Ibe history of fchfc colony tfhieß ore no« within the knowledge or the recollection of by fur the larger number of members who are present to listen to the honorable gentle* man to-night, and Jam sorry to say that the experience of past years renders it impossible for me to participate in that which appears to be a real pleasure te all those members in certain portions of this House, who, knowing nothing of past events, willingly and honestly believe in the perfect sincerity and the deep feeling of the speaker. Sir, I oannot do it. When my recolleotion goes back to the earlier history of this colony, to the political work in which I myself took a humble part—not on the flooi of this House or in any other repre* sentative Assembly, because we were de« frauded of our political rights, and therefore had none— not under any form of provincial government, for we were rendered incapable of making our voices heard, except at a long distance, where we could appeal to friends in England, who heard our outcries from afar— in those days I yery well recollect passing years pf keen political contest, in whioh on the one side were a? rayed the people of New Zealand struggling for even the smallest atom of politibial liberty, and on {h§ other si^e was the honorable member for the Thames, exeroising his great abilities and his immense in* Stance with the Imperial Government for a series of long wretched years— wretched to us, wretched to the poor, struggling colonists of this country— jh flue's to . prerentr us get* ting the smallest particle of self-government or representative institutions of any kind. 1 remember very well, Sir, when, to render powerless our appeals to the Imperial Government, he uijec} tp brand tbe early colonists of New Zealand by such naoi es as runawaya from the other colonieß, as men who had no love for the English Government or any other Government and whom he etigmati£cd with other opprobrious names in order to prove thaVwe were not fit for. representative institutions, holding out terrible pictures of whaj; would happened if we were \ ever trusted with the management of our own affairs. Sir, we lived on for many long years under these misrepresentations by whioh we 1 were prevented from obtaining the smallest partical of liberty ; and can I believe my eyes and ears when I sit here in my place in this House and hear the honorable member for the Thames, his voice trembling with emotion, ' appealing to t his House and the world at large, on behalf of the liberties of the Strug* gling colonists of New Zealand ? Sir, when he had it jn, his power, in those early days to solicit the bestowal by Imperial Parliament of those constitutional powers, he wafsole impediment. He is that person who fora long stapes of years' placed in bur way every obstacle by which we could be prevented getting them. Aye, Sir, long and bitter was that struggle of the early colonists, and I connot hear the honorable gentleman in his voice trembling with emotion, and he himself exercising nil those outward arts and de< ! vices which captivate the gentleman in bis immediate vicinity, and believe that it if that same individual who, during those long years of trouble, was our .bjtter and constant an* tagonist. The Shanghai Mercury, of May24th f in speaking of China's hidden wealth, says: — ' pn both banks of the Mm river, in Fokhein province, there are the unmistakable signs of mineral wealth in every direction. On one : rivet alone two gold mines (one alluvial), one 1 coal mine, one popper mipe, anc| three iron mines, have been discovered, There is iron enough to bujld railways round the entire world, with coals close to hand to work them ; timber unlimited, for the cutting down ; and sufficient gold, if the ground is oqe tithe as rich as it apppqra to be, to pay for all the labour, not taking iuto consideration the value of all the other minerals which are known to exist, notably copper ; together with a magnificent Water-course which could be u?ed for floating these treasures down to the j port. It should be mentioned that this river j could be made navigable, for steamers draw* ing five or sjx feet of water, for upwards of two hundred miles, with the most ordinary engineering skill. It seems almost incredble that the Chinese Government know of this great mineral wealth and that they will not allow it tp be worked,'