THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1080, 28 April 1882, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1882.

Wb very greatly regret the determination arrived at by the County Council at their meeting on Wednesday evening last, in refusing to aid the Exhibition Committee, for the decision will most seriously and disastrously affect the welfare and advancement of the district. Without doubt the Council have muddled Exhibition matters in a disgraceful way} and when others step in to repair the damage their own negligence has occasioned, some of the Councillors stand on their dignity, and refuse to render the assistance that they are in duty bound to afford. Had thsy been active in the cause themselves there would have been no necessity for the recently formed Committee j or had they, as in Greymouth, and nearly every other place in the Colony, called a public meeting months ago, and not only formed themselves , into a committee, but asked the as- , sistance of others in constituting a* ; popular committee, all would have been well, but what did they do instead ? A few circulars were sent to the mining managers, or directors, inviting exhibits ; a short advertisement was inserted in one local paper, asking the public to send in exhibits, and promising tp forward and return them free of charge. That was the sum total of the appeal made, and, as a matter of course, the response was a very feeble one, while the exhibits forwarded were utterly disproportionate to the wealth and influence of the Inangahua district. A little spasmodic effort waS subsequently made by the Council when public attention was drawn to the inadequate representation.of the locality. A couple of. men were told off to get a small cube of marble., irtstead of broad slabs which would fairly give an idea of the value of the quarry. As we can gather from Wednesday evening's proceedings, other men may be employed in obtaining samples of timber, but why were not these got before, and sent with the first consignment of exhibits \ The Chairman very rationally said,, when speaking on granting a Subsidy, that to do so would, in a measure, admit the incapacity and 'incompetency bf the Council to deal With Exhibition matters. He hit the nail right on the head in these remarks, and stated exactly what the . people of the • district haVe had full and ample proof of. The Council has proved itself both incapable and incompetent, unless they accept the alternative charge of being careless and indifferent, and it was only when the public found that such a poor sho^r had Jjon*% -to Christchurch that they Voice 'up td suppletqjigt^hem,^ : iarm^'_^^o^)^^imm^^ist%^k l and interest^ a%k%&> iM^mr Mf shown, twpe after fime, here wait, a. great opttorfttaity .afforded to prove be- j yonil all question what the*** vast re- 1 soaoeefof t&e-dl«ri«fc are, but it wasl not fleifced by tfie OounciL What wasl dpne, was done in a tame, lukewarmj half-hearted way, though the enorm-l 'ous value ot energetic action must havH Ibeen apparent, indeed was admitted ofl Wednesday evening by the ChairmaH himself. Surely, having made a mil itake, it' would have been more gracH ful on the part of the Council to hajH admitted it, and worked hard as wH as spent money, hand-in-hand with t|H Committee, rather than have taken iH the position of Wednesday last. ItH evident that that body is somewhat H the position of the lawyer's clerk w^J because not happy himself, could nl bear to see others happy. The CoaH cillors have signally failed to do theH duty to the public in connection wifl the Exhibition, and now refuse to a&sifl those who are both able and willing im make good their sins of omission. Th« consequence will be that, in upholdingi tlieir dignity they punish the public, byl not encouraging the Committee in pro** 1 viding a full and creditable catalogue of local products, to supplement the meagre and miserable list already despatched. If they maintain their present attitude they inflict a grievous wrong on those whose interests they are sent to the Council to protect, for a similar chance to advertise the Inangahua has never before occurred, and may never again be offered. It was said by one of the speakers at the late Council meeting that the Committee was not the public, but was only composed of a few persons. That is in some degree true, but those "fewpersons " comprise a large proportion of the leading people of the district, and are thoroughly representative of all classes, so much so that they may be deemed to be the public. What they will do now remains to be seen. It is certain that they will not sit down quietly under this rebuff, but will call a public meeting to consider the question, ask for an expression of opinion in reference to the action of the Council, and, lastly, invite public subscriptions to carry out the objects for which the Committee was formed. Proper representation at the Exhibition is of inestimable and incalculable consequence at this ' time, when the district is so needing capital to develop its known resources, and too great prominence could not be given to them, nor money better spent than in in proving how vast and valuable they are. We hope, therefore, that the Committee will not be discouraged, but appeal against the Council's decision to the Councils constituents, and we have no doubt as to what the upshot will be,

Mr Weston, M.H.R., will arrive in Reefton on Thursday next. He wishes it to be distinctly understood that he will ' visit all the centres of population in the ! electorate before he leaves the district. Mr H. Williams of Greymouth, wellknown as a photographer of long standin , on the Coast, announces that he will open portrait rooms in a few days in the premises adjoining Mr Schulhoffs in Broadway. He has secured the assistance of Mr George Gregory, a recent arrival from the old country, who is in possession of all the latest improvements in this art, and is highly spoken of. We. have no doubt that Mr Willliamß will have a prosperous campaign, but his stay will only extend over a short period, so those wishing to visit him must not delay. The Westport coach, as stated elsewhere, could not leave yesterday, but goes down this morning. It will return on Saturday, and will go down on Sunday, thereby setting the time-table right again. Mr Bowman is, we believe, in Westport, and may be expected by the next up coach. As no reply had been received from the .County Council on Wednesday evening last, the Exhibition Committee meet■ing that was to have been held was •adjourned till this evening at 8 o'clock, at the Oddfellows' Hall. Mr J. Ring, photographer, notifies in our advertising columns his intention to visit Reefton ou Saturday next, the 29th instant, when he will bo prepared to execute every description of. work in connection with his profession. Mr Ring bears a high character for ability in his special line, and will no doubt meet with a fair proportion of support. His terms for cartes de visits are 15s. per dozen only, as per announcement. A handicap billiard tournament ha s been initiated at Cochrane's hotel, Broadway, entrances for which were received on Wednesday evening last. The handicap [will be declared to-day at noon, and the icontest will come off this and to-morrow 'evenings at the above hotel. Wejliear| some good players have entered, andjgood' sport may be anticipated. We are sorry to havo to record another death at Black's Point from scarlatina, making the second within a very short time at that place. The child of Mr Richards, bandmaster of the Black's Point band, died on Wednesday morning 'from this disease, and we regret to hear that many other children are suffering from it also, though in a much milder form. The heavy rains of Wednesday night put a stop to all communication between here and Greymouth yesterday, and the .Westport down coach waßUot ,able Jfco get away. '', v . __> An old miner named Joseph * Woolf, lately residing at Antonio's, was found drowned in a tail-race on Wednesday last. Information was given to the police, and jOonstaSle Ks& was sent j^_^^^M^ |$ody, ' tnt^eeffoft^O^flHßHvK here, Mr Weston, M.H.R., says that he and others interested in the Reefton railway aro daily anxiously expecting a cablegram from Sir Julius Yogel respecting the prospects of getting the enterprise taken up by English capitalists. He also says that the Westland bay in the Exhibition already looks well, and attracts great notice. He hopes that tbe additional exhibits from Reefton will be forwarded with as little delay as possible, for that when they arrive they will make the bay thoroughly complete. An extraordinary meeting of shareholders in the Sunnyside Gold Mining Co., was held on Tuesday evening at Mr Bowman's office, for the purpose of electing directors and auditor, passing rules, and considering the steps necessary for opening up the mine. There was a large number of shareholders present, and also a great many proxies. Mr John M'Lean was voted to the chair. The election of directors resulted in Messrs J. M'Lean, Brown, Lecher, Cummings, and A. King being chosen. Mr F. Smith was elected auditor. It was further resolved that immediate steps be taken to test tho value of the property from which such favorable indications had been found when the ground was first pegged off. The directors were requested to visit the mine and determine when and where active operations should be commenced. This mine promises well, and tho shareholders are sanguine of its future results. As illustrative of the expensive absurdities the present Licensing Act provides for, the Grey River Argus of Tuesday has the following :— " One of the most delightful instances of costly nature of the Licensing Act is furnished by the return of the polling for the Maori

Creek district under the local option clauses of the Act, only two -yoters all told having recorded their votes. s These were polled at Dunganville, while At Arnold not a solitary elector deemed it necessary to exercise his high privilege. The Chairman of the Committee conveys the , electriying intelligence to the public ] in an advertisement, according to the form provided, at least eight inches in length, space enough to contain the lives and pedigree of all who voted in this memorable election, and nthp brought about the important result that liquor licenses of any kind may not be increased throughout that flourishing district known as Maori Creek. A few more local government measures conducted in the same liberally elaborate scale as the Licensing Act, and' the jeople of the * Colony will be ready for. another loan — or tlie poorhouse." The Parihaka correspondent of the Auckland Star Writes :— " The portions of land to be taken from the Natives on the reserves made for them as an indemnity for loss sustained by the Government in suppressing the so-called Parihaka sedition, are rtoW being surveyed. The lines being cut on the Waimate Plains, are chosen l^thoat regard to the convenience of the but ear so taken as to incltfde in the re-confiscated land that most likely to fetch a high price from its contiguity to centres of population. The quantity to bo tdken on the Plains proper is 5000 acres nominally, but if all is re-confiscated which is included in the proposed lines, the Natives will lose nearer 8000 acres than five. There are four hapus on the Plains ; of these two contribute the whole of the re-confiscated land, the other two, though equally guilty or equally innocent, escaping loss altogether. Of the tvf© iapus who suffer, one loses two-thirds if not three-fourths of the whole. Such is the fairness and impartiality of thosb who are appointed to make the selection, re-confiscation bears very heavy on a few ; the majority of the Parihaka followers of Te Whiti escape free. Wanganui contributed more men than any ; other tribe in Nety vfcpalan-d to the Pfirihaki sedition ; they lose not an acre nor a shilling. Hone Pihama spent more money than any other man in upholding the policy of Te Whiti by enormous presents of food and money, not only before but subsequent to tiie large award being made for him by the Royal Commission. He loses nothing, is treated with honour and distinction, and gains a property worth £20,000. He is. a particular friend of Mr ParriSi ' :•■;■' The straits to which " prohibits" under the new Licensing Act are driven to obtain drink are, says the Riverton Star, very amusing, and with ingenuity born of desperation they sometimes devise means of evading the law, -flinch, although quite transparent def^,cdnvictk>n. •In the case of one of the unfortunate class referred to, who it was well known was procuring drink freely, it was found impossible to ' -$^t the BOurc^^u P Dly|Jon a recent •jJiis individual ar^ftel in comI'hy with anot>|i|r person.' Thinking he dat last solved the mystery, the conible quietly followed up the trail, and on ening the doer of a private room he disvered the two*'"anoient, trusty, drouthy mies" sitting at a table, upon which was c pint beer pot, the contents of which ire partly consumed. The "prohibited" m had writing materials in front of him, d he pretended to be engaged writing a ter for his friend ; but the ruse was too tent, although it served its object. The c pint of beer at a time implied that ly one of the two was drinking, and rved to ward off suspicion ; but it leaked t in some mysterious way that they ire indulging in the "sip and sip about " ;ket, The constable must have felt mewhat disgusted at being baulked of i prey by such a flimsy device, but on jovering from the chagrin consequent Breupon, his Hibernian humor enabled n to enjoy the joke,