The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1883. The Legislative Council.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1042, 7 September 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1883. The Legislative Council.

If the General Assembly and the Ministry have been busily employed during the last three months in doing nothing in particular, the latter have in the closing days of the session contrived to produce a budget of wonders for the inspection of the country during the forthcoming recess. From time to time a variety of schemes have been broached for changing the constitution of the Legislative Council and preventing deadlocks between the Council and the Lower House, and doctrinaire opinions of every kind have been freely given for the instruction of the constituencies, which evidently care very little about the matter, one way or the other. The Ministerial measure is apparently an attempt to please everybody. The ultra-Radicals have flaunted before their eyes the vision of an Upper House elected by manhood suffrage; while the advocates of the system of indirect election are to be conciliated by the provision that, if a chance vacancy occurs in the Council, the House of Representatives is to enjoy the privilege of filling it up. The nominated principle will be vindicated in the persons of the Maori members, who are to be chosen by the Governor, though why the unfortunate natives are to be debarred from electing their own “ honorables ” the framers of the Bill alone can tell. Then Hare’s much-talked-of system is to be applied in the elections by the constituencies; while another “system,” viz, the Norwegian, is to be used for the purpose of preventing deadlocks between the two Chambers of the Legislature. Altogether, if this latest production of the Ministry exhibits but little statesmanship, it at any rate displays a marvellous amount of misplaced ingenuity. The Attorney-General has for a long time posed as the advocate of Hare’s system of election, and some years ago when our electoral laws were under discussion, he proposed to make it apply to elections for the House of 8 epresentatives. The working details of the scheme which he submitted to the Legislature were, however, of such a character as to be incomprehensible to everybody but himself. It was universally regarded as an insoluble conundrum, and we trust “ The Legislative Council Bill ” will be accompanied by a full explanation of how the elections under Hare’s system are to be conducted, so that the country may, at its leisure, form an opinion as to whether the system is really workable or not. One objection which has been raised to the system both in New Zealand and other countries is that its details are necessarily of such an intricate character as to make it quite unpractical, That objection, serious as it is, seems to us subordinate to others of a more irfiportant nature. We rear that, if each island were to be formed into one constituency for the election of members of the Legislative Council, as is proposed by this Bill, the inevitable effect would be to establish in this colony the American Caucus, with all its personal and political corruption. .Two or three caucuses would control the elections in each island. A “ticket” would be chosen, and- .10 candidate, however eligible in himself, who failed to meet the views of the wire-pullers of the machine, would stand a chance of election. The wire-pullers, if we are to judge from American experience, would not be men of “ light and leading,” but persons whose proper place of abode is the common gaol. The degradation into which American politics have fallen is a matter of worldwide notoriety; and their unfortunate decadence is mainly due to the system whereby the elections are controlled by a comparatively few men who make a trade of politics, while the mass of the electors, nominally enjoying a liberal franchise, are virtually shut out from any voice in the election of their Parliamentary representatives. Our own politics are bad enough, but we are still a long way above the American level, and we ought to pause before taking any step which would tend to assimilate our election system to that prevailing in the United States, Reflection will show that under the Hare system the country districts would really have no control over the elections for the Legislative Council. These would be managed in the large towns, the natural centres of political activity, and all that would be left for the country electors to do would be to vote for one “ ticket ” or the other which might be presented to them. In point of fact the country districts are invited to commit political suicide.

Mr Caygiil, of Ashburton, has successfully passed the law examination held recently in Christchurch. The ship Pleiades from London arrived in Lyttelton yesterday morning, 76 days out. She brings a number of passengers, and all are reported well. The quarterly inspection parade of the Ashburton Kiflesia ordered for six o’clock in the evening on Monday, 24th inst., on which occasion Adjutant Newall purposes putting the men through judging distance drill. The Christchurch Industrial Exhibition Committee have received applications for space representing 4,950 square feet, and enquiries are coming iu so fast that it is doubtful if the proposed, building will give sufficient room. The promises of pictmes and. works of art are most encouraging. Tne Ashburton Band will give an open air concert to-morrow evening, when the following instrumental selections will constitute the programme : March, “See the clouds are gently breaking”; lancers, “ The British fleet ”; euphonium polka, “The Jockey”; fantasia, “Confidence ’ ; gallop, “ Rosy Cross waltz, “Mountain and glen”; sacred march, “ Christ the Lord is risen to-day ”; “God save the Queen. ” Bandsmen are requested to attend punctually at seven o’clock at the Baring Square platform. The tender of Messrs Kincaid, McQueen and Co., a Dunedin foundry firm, has been accepted for the iron work in connection with the new Dunedin railway bridge. The amount is not disclosed yet. There were fifteen tenders, and the Public Works Department consider them highly satisfactory, as showing that the work can be turned out in the colony at about the same price similar work would cost at Home.

The following is the local team to play in the football match Ilakaia v. Ashburton, in the Domain to-morrow afternoon, commencing at 2.30 p. m. Lechner, Baddeley, Hugonin, Fooks(2), Coffey, Blaney, Stewart, Jephson, McLean, Mcßobie. Pauling, Bradley, Bro t, Hepburn ; emergency—Fleming, Field, Leitch. As many of the team as can are requested to turn up, and meet the visitors by the “ Express.” The charge of child murder against Josephine Green was continued at Hawera yesterday. Detective Benjamin, Constable Manning, of Bulls; Motley, of Woodville ; and McAnnully, of Foxton, have given evidence. They deposed that they had made exhaustive enquiries, buthad been unable to discover anything of Williams, the reputed father of the missing child. Motley, who is post officer at Woodville, said no letter had been received there for Williams for twelve months past, except one a month ago, and that had not been called for.

Austin and Seymour have managed to come to terms with reference to the proposed twenty-four hours’ and forty-eight hours’ pedestrian matchesjjin Dunedin with Edwards, the Australian champion. The first of the two events will come off in Dunedin in five weeks time, the second a week later. The conditions give Mr Austin the right to name which event shall take place first, and also the right to name Scott or any other man he may think proper for the forty-eight hours' walk. Scott has already been named for the shorter distance, and if he shows anything like his old form, he will also be named for the longer distance. The Merry Thoughts and Happy Moments Company will appear at the Oddfellows’ Hall on M nday and Tuesday evening. The troupe consists of Mr and Mrs'D’Arcy Stanfield, Mr Fred. Dark and that old favorite in Ashburton, Miss Amy Horton. Mr Dark will no doubt be remembered hare as one of the prominent members of tjho Tambour Major Company, and although Mr and Mrs Stanfield are not known to playgoers in this town, very favorable notices have been accorded to them wherever they have appeared. The entertiinment consists ot drawing-room comedies, impersonations and monologues, and we are pretty safe in prophesying that there will be crowded houses at both performances in Ashburton. A 1 the Invercargill Supreme Court yesterday the only case of interest was Hornsby, of the Lake County Press, v. Warren, of the Lake Wakatipu Mail, for a libel contained in the followin: extract from the Arrowtown correspondent of the Mail on the occasion of a lecture by plaintiff on “Ireland” : —“lreland has once more to cry ‘ Save me from my friends.’ The lecturer appears to have an insatiable penchant for ‘ Blood and murder,’ inculcated, perhaps, in his early youth, as he hai's from Tasmania, and it has before now been remarked that his lineavoSis to be traced in the records of the Chatham Isles. This accounts for, and excuses, a great deal.” The jury gave a verdict for LSO, the claim having been LI,OOO. The Judge reserved the law points raised by the defendant for a nonsuit.

At the Dunedin Police Court yesterday the Borough Council of Koslyn proceeded against James Durston, soap-boiler and bone-dust manufacturer, for having premises which were a nuisance. The t own Clerk explained that the proceedings were taken under the Public Health Act, in consequence of a petition by residents. He said of his own knowledge that the smells could be noticed 100 yard • away according to the direction of the wind. There were at least three d stinct smells—(1) of ground bones ; (2) of melting tallow ; (3) of storage of refuse. Some witnesses said the smells caused water in tanks to become stagnant so that they could be cut with a knife, and that only the Government Analyst (Professor Black) could tell what they were really like. Defendant admitted that to most people the smell from his pre ises was offensive. He had lived beside it for years, and done well on it ; hut people who were not educated up to it did not relish it. Medical evidence was given that while the smells were decidedly unpleasant they were certainly not injurious to health, and a witness in the trade said the smell purified the air, and was so ething like that of a prime Dutch cheese. The defence was that the best practicable means were tried to abate the nuisance, and the Magistrate said this was proved. He dismissed the case on the ground that though there was a nuisance there was no statutory penalty for it. The bad weather which was experienced on Wednesday and yesterday was by no means local, reports coming from as far South as Oamaru testifying to the unusually heavy rainfall, Th express train did not pass through Ashburton last night till half-past nine o’clock, a landslip which occurred near Purakanui causing the delay. Christchurch suffered very severely from the storm, all the country from the East Belt to blow Brighton being under water. At midnight people in some of the stieots between Madras street and the Cast Belt along Oxford Terraco were leaving their houses, as the flood threatened to swamp them out. Our Waterton correspondent writes; “Waterton has been flooded for the last two days, the rain on Wednesday night coining down in t rrents. In two hours the water rose up about two feet, and yesterday morning was quite a day for a boat, as no one could go about without getting up to their hips in water. The town has been well named Wa r erton, the water all around the Hotel being quite a foot deep in the a'ables. A. paddock close by had over fifty acres quite under water, and sheep in ihe same paddock were standing belly deep till late in the afternoon. Lambs are lying in scores dead about the paddocks, and a good many old sheep, too, have died. It has boon very hard for the lambing during last week. It is still raining, and it is to be hoped the weather will soon clear up for the sake of the flocks and farmers.”