Local Affairs.

Provincial Government Votes.—The Council at its last session revived a bad precedent, which we had hoped was obsolete. A sum of £230 was granted to assist in building a German Church, and £24 (the price of two sections of town land bought at a Government land sale), to the Church of England at Waimate. In the former case the division showed 22 for and 14 against; in the latter Cade, 18 for and 13 against. We notice with more satisfaction a vote of the 4th June, on the motion of Mr. Sawtell, upon the question of a public cemetery for Christchurch It was resolved to request his Honor the Superintendent to make a reserve of not more than 100 acres of waste land for the purpose. It will be hard to find so much near enough to town, unless it be among the Sandhills. On the necessity for the vote a remark will be found in another paragraph.

Public Cemetery.—The present cemetery arrangements for Christchurch are very unsatisfactory. The only public cemetery is a small one of one acre, and we believe is quite full. The Roman Catholics have one of the same size adjoining it. The Church of England cemetery consists, we believe, of twenty acres. The so-called Scotch cemetery belongs to a private company. It is high time that some public and adequate provision were made for the wants of the town in this respect. Until the recent vote of the Provincial Council (referred to in an another paragraph) is carried into effect we must continue to be subject to an inconvenience under which we have long suffered. There have been five deaths this year in connection with our congregation; in three cases out of the five the Church of England cemetery was deemed the most convenient, and the pastor was therefore shut out from the exercise of his ministry at the grave. We earnestly hope for some improvement in this matter. Meanwhile it may be interesting to our readers to learn that the Barbadoes-street cemetery, lately known as the Wesleyan Cemetery, is now under the management of a Board nominated by the Superintendent, and who probably have the confidence of the various denominations who are interested. The regulations for its management have been decided on and published in the Government Gazette. A visit to this long-neglected cemetery will shew that already great improvements are effected, the walks being laid out, the larger trees all removed, and a new fence placed round the boundaries. Persons desirous of obtaining an exclusive right to any plot can now do so, on application to the Board, in writing, and we would suggest that those interested in this announcement should lose no time in communicating their wishes. The following are the names of the Board:—Messrs. G. Gould, F. Garrick, G. Booth, T. Abbott, and J. P. Jameson. Information as to funerals may be obtained from T. Cotton, sexton, Kilmore street.

Canterbury Collegiate Union.—Seeing that connexion with this association is necessary to qualify residents in Canterbury for an intro- page 12 duction to the New Zealand University, we must protest against its exclusive constitution. The operation of that constitution at present is to shut out from competition for university scholarships all boys who are not attending Christ's College Grammar School. Is it fair to give the Church of England this distinction? We trust that the Provincial Council will not hand over any portion of the school reserves to the University until a more liberal system is adopted.