The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, AUGUST 19 1886. Mortgage Debentures Act Amendment Act.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1319, 19 August 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, AUGUST 19 1886. Mortgage Debentures Act Amendment Act.

The Mortgages Debentures Act 18S5 Amendment Act 1886, of which we have been requested to give a summary, is, as its title implies, merely an amende ment of the Act of last session with which it must be read and construed. The Mortgage Debentures Act, it will be recollected, provides machinery by which Companies now or hereafter incorporated and carrying on business under tne Companies Act.lßß2, cr incorporated under any Act of the General Assembly, may from time to time borrow money upon mortgage debentures founded and issued upon securities -affecting property in the j colony of the following descriptions:— (1) Lands, messuages, and hereditaments, including improvements thereon,' or some estate or interest therein: provided the principal moneys which may be secured thereon do not exceed twothirds of the value thereof, to be ascertained in the manner provided by the Act. (2) Debentures authorised to be made and given by local bodies by any Act of the General* Assembly in respect of rates, dues, assessments, or impositions upon the owners or occupiers of lands, messuages, and hereditaments, (3) Annuities, charges and securities upon or affecting lands, messuages, and hereditaments, or any estate and interest therein, executed, made, given, or issued under the authority of any Act of the General Assembly. The amending Act 3 provides that section 4 of the original Act shall be so altered as to give power to any Company constituted, under the Companies Act 1882 to amend its memorandum -of association for the purpose of extending jits operations to the business contemplated by the Act. A [ blank in section 5 is filled by the inI sertion of the words “ one-third,” and power is given to the Company to receive, apply and give a valid discharge, unless a receiver shalljhave been appointed under the provisions of the Act. The reading of section 33 is materially altered by the removal of a , comma; by this simple act of punctuation the notice required for the repayr ment of principal sums is fixed as notless than twelve calendar months. Another palpable clerical blunder, in section 35, is corrected by the amending Act, and it is provided that if the Company shall at any time be desirous of freeing and discharging any registered security, the Company may make application to the Registrar for the purpose of having j such security freed and discharged | from- the charge of the mortgage debentures issued by the Company. Upon it being made to appear to the Registrar’s satisfaction that the aggregate of the principal sums secured by all the mortgage debentures of the Company then outstanding does not exceed the total amount of the registered securities of the Company at the time being, exclusive of the security proposed to be discharged, or that a security or securities at least equal in value to the security proposed to be discharged have been registered in the manner provided by the Act, or that an equivalent amount of the Company’s mortgage debentures has been cancelled the Registrar shall allow such registered security to be so discharged, and shall on request re-deliver to the Company the several deeds or ibstru-

ments to which such security relates Section twenty-four of the Act is re pealed, and in lieu thereof it is enacted that all moneys received by the Registrar under the provisions of sections twenty and twenty-one of the said Act shall be paid by him into the Public Trust Office to the credit of the Company, and shall be paid out to the Company upon a certificate under the hand of the Registrar-Geneial* And it is further enacted that where by any mortgage or other like security to the Company, the principal and interest moneys are payable by periodical payments which do not distinguish expressly principal from interest, the amount of value ot such mortgage or security shall, for the purpose of the half-yearly returns required by the said Act, be deemed to j be the amount or va’ue estimat d by an Actuary as provided by the thirtieth -section of the said Apt, after deducting so much of the periodical payments receivable during the ensuing six months by the Company under the provisions of section sixten eof the said Act as amended hereby as is, according to such Actuary’sffcalculation, payable on account of the principal moneys secured by such mortgage.

Parliament was formally prorogued al 5 p.m. yesterday until December 16'h.

The following h a schedule of the business of the House of Representatives, and of Bills passed and lapsed in both Houses during the session : Select Committees.—On Public matters, 9 ; on private Bills, 4. Standing Committees, 11; ditto on private Bills, 3.

Public Bills Originated In the House, — Received the Royal Assent. 65; dropped, or otherwise disposed of, 56. Brought from the Council.—Received Royal assent,. 7 ; dropped otlotherwise disposed of, 2

Lopal Bills.—lntroduced, 24 ; passed House ofjPepreaentatives, 16 ; passed and reseated to, 15. Bills other thau local BI Is.—lntroduced by private members, 36 ; passed the House of Representatives, 7 ; passed and assented to, 5. Time devoted to consideration, 34£ hoir-s. Private Bills originated in the House, —Received Royal assent, 3 ; dropped, 1. Brought from the Council. —Received Royal assent, 1. Petitions. —-Presented from Europeans, 364 ; from Maoris, 96. Divisions. —In the whole House, 82 ; In Committee, 144.

Sittings.—Days of meeting, 65 ; hours of sittings, 476 j daily average, 7 hours 19 n ’lutes.

Votes and Proceedings.—Questions asked of Ministers, 545 ; entoriaa in jou l * nils, 1213 ; daily average, 27. Orders for papers, 59. Papers laid on the table and ordered to be printed, 59. Reports from Select Committees. — Public Petitions, 185 ; Native Affairs, 153; Waste I »nds, 47 ; Goldfields and Mines, 10 ; Local Bills, 24 ; Other Committees, 43

It is announced that Mr Andrew Orr’s monster sale of drapery will be continued at the Arcade, on Saturday next. A concert in aid of the funds of the Catholic School wil 1 be held in the Town Hall, on Thursday, September 9. The next San .Francisco mail is duo at Auckland to-morrow. The Ashburton river was in heavy flood this morning, but during the day the water subsided a good deal. Mails for the Australian colonies only, via Hobart, close at Auckland per Alameda, upon her arrival from Honolulu.

The fo’lowing southern members of Parliament left We’lington by the Penguin yesterday afternoon:—lion W. S. Peter, Major Steward, Messrs Gore, Stewart, Bichardson Prait, Hatch, Montgomery, Seddon, and Pyke. The Penguin arrired at Lyttelton this morning. At the B.M. Court, Lyttelton, yesterday, Kate Kelly was charged that on August 7th she did unlawfully and feloniously slay one Thomas Kd ll y,lier husband. Evidence having been taken the accused was committed for trial, bail being allowed in £IOO and twp sureties of £SO each.

The Mohican, the American war ship now at Auckland has been instructed by cable to sail to Samoa on the 27th, in connection with the Samoan International Commission. Moat members of the legislature have now left Wellington. The southern members came south in the Penguin yesterday- afternoon. The Hinemoa has gone north with the Taranaki and Auckland members, and the Stella takes those hailing from Marlborough. The Premier has sent the following to Mr

DargaviUe, M.H.R., in reply to a telegram Lom that gentleman suggesting that a Com. mission be appointed to investigate the Stark land purchase:—” I shall submit your tele, gram to the Cabinet, but without evidence what could the Commission do ? It the

indignant persons would only get any evidence'

or tell us what exact point Is to be investigated, wo would act at once. Do they mean to liay Messrs Seaman and Brewer should be dismissed, or w"' tbey.name the conspirators 7 If there has been any fraud practised on Government, I would dojwhat I could to bring the offenders to justice, but vague statements and inclination are not evidence.” The Intelligence Officer of the American warship Mohican has forwarded the following to the Press: —In compliance with instruct ion s received in July from Admiral McCauley, the American corvette Mohican, Commander Day, made a special 1 tip to the Hand formed by volbabio action since .October last. At a distance of fifteen miles steam could be dis. covered rising in the air above the former I site of the Falcon shoal. On arriving at the ' spot the Mohican steamed round, taking bearings of its position,'and sketches and photographs of its contour and appearance. The island is of a circular shape, 230 ft high and a mile and a half wide. It has a steaming crater on the east aide ; to extreme west there is noticeable a wreath of smoke. On taking soundiogs good, anchorage was found on the north side of the island, longitude 175 deg. 20mio. W., latitude 20deg. 20min. S. The island is situate! 48 miles N.N.W. of Nukualofa. The impression conveyed by its appearance.'was that the bad of the ocean bad been uplifted out of the water. Schacht’s Diorama will be shown in tbo Town Ha 1 l on Saturday and Monday evenings next.

BetweenJseven and nine o’clock last night the streets of Ashburton were wrapt in complete darkness. For some reason, which the Boioagh Council should explain, the street lamps were not lit, and traffic was attended by much inconvenience and some danger. Druid anniversary August 25ih. Dramatic entertainment—Booe tos a Widowj— (Adyl)

The next Government inaped&ur parade of the Ashburton Bides and Guards will take place on August 30.

According to a Paris'nowspaper, the Princess Pignatelli is serving as a waitress in a Vienna oaf 6 concert ha'l. In the midst of bis infirmities, dating which he has sometimes for ’days together been unable to hold a, pen, Mr Spurgeon baa issued, hia 1900th sermon.

According to the Frankfurter Zeituvj, *he restoration of the* “ Goethe-house ” to the exact condition in which it stood in Goethe’s youth is now completed. jWe understand that a number of sheep* ovlners in the Upper Waka&ui district have suffered serious losses during the past few days by the depredations of stray dogs.

The Hunt Club Ball held in the Oddfellows’ Hall last evening was a great success. Notwithstanding the inclement weather, there was a good attendance, and the affair passed off with the greatest iolat.

An ingenious gentleman at Stockholm has invented a fireproof garment “ which wil* permit the wearer to stand oa’mly in the midst ofja raging fire for an hour without suffering any inconvenience.’’—Chicago Times. A Massachusetts spinster is quoted aft writing exultlngly: “ Thank God for Governor Cleveland! His example has aroused the manhood of Massachusetts. I>.at evening I received my first offer of marriage.”—Waterbary American.

The mammy at Beulah, supposed to be that of the Queen Ambsis 1., of the IBth dynasty, has been unwrapped before the Bhodive, his Ministers, Mouktar Pasha, and Sir H. D. Wolff, It proved' to be the mummy Baineses 111., of the 20lb dynasty, and was in perfect preservation. Early yesterday morning a number of larrikins, whose social position should not save them from the penalties they deserve, created a most unseemly disturbance in Tancred street by throwing stones and other inissilca on several residences. We learn that informations have been laid against the offenders and that they will appear at the R.M. Court to-morrow.

It has been found by Dr Tait that the ear in women can perceive higher notes, that is, sounds with a greater number of vibrations per second than the ear in men. The highest limit of hnman hearing is somewhere between 41,000 and 43,000 vibrations per second. Few persona have equal sensibility to acute sounds in both ears, the right ear usually hearing a higher note than the left. The lowest continuous sounds have about sixteen vibrations per second. The Journal Officiel publishes some interi •sting, statistics concerning the number Of applications for divorce made between the 27th of July, 1884* the day on which divorce was re-established in France, and the 31st of December of the same year. During that period 1773 divorce cases came before the Divorce Court, but out of that total 1649 oases were for the transformation of legal separations into decrees of divorce. Notwithstanding the adoption of divorce, the number of demands for legal separations in 1884 was not so'much smaller as might have been anticipated. In that year there were 3660 demands for separation, whereas in 1883 there were 3714.

At one time the Hon Charles Thompson

had for a client a man who was accused of selling liquor unlawfully. The prisoner was of an appearance perhaps best described as alcoholic, and bis nose might have served as a beacon on Eddystone Ledge on the tVirkett night. The testimony was taken, and the case wont on until Mr Thompson rose to make his plea. “Y-your Honor," he began, «I-l.look at the j-j jury. of the i-jury, 1-1-look at his Honor. Y-your Honor, I-l-look at the p-p-prisoner. P-p-prisoner, 1-look at his Honor. G-g-gentlemea of the jury, 1-look at the p-prisoner. D-d-does he look as if he’d s-s-s-sell a p-p-pint of liquor to anybody ?” The argument was irresistible. The nose of the accused outweighed all other testimony, and Mr Thompson triumphantly won his ease. —Froviden re Journal.

>r j A special meeting of the members of the i I Tradesmen’s Baoing Club was held at the d I Commercial Hotel last evening. There was la only a small attendance, and Mr J. C. Duncan presided. A letter was read from the Ashr, barton Baoing Club, staling that theraceh course could not be let for a race meeting e during the month of October or November, g A long discussion ensued as to the propriety ir t of holding the Spring meeting of the Club on 0 I some other coarse. Several members urged I that the meeting should be held at T-iawald. v l it was resolved that the Chairman should 0 I interview the Hon J. McLean with a view to a obtain the lease of a piece of ground on the 1. 1 Laghmor estate for racing purposes. The T I Chairman was authorised to call a general s I meeting of members when prepared to report I upon the subject of the foregoing resolution, j I The meeting then adjourned, s The Tory larrikin (says an exchange) who . I now leads the House of Commons was coni' I spiouons during the recent electoral campaign 1 j at Home by the fierceness with which he . I attacked Mr Gladstone. He never chose his ; J words with any degree of nicety, but revels . I in the possession of a stock of vitnperatiVes 1 1 that must have been highly relished by the i I Conservatives. Here are a few gems from i j the utterances of the noble lord whom the . I Paddingtonians delight to honor and the I Conservatives are inclined to regard as a i Premier in futuro :—“ The boundless egotism lof the Premier.” “This trafficking with I treason; this condonation of mime; this I monstrous mixture of imbecility, extravaI gance, and political hysterics.” “ The united I and concentrated genius of Bedlam and j Oolney Hatch would strive in vain to produce I a more striking tissue of absurdities.” “ This J farrago of superlative nonsense.” And Mr I Gladstone himself was spoken of as exhibiting I “ senile vanity,” " the ambition of an old ( I man in a hurry,” and *' a man who makes , the most unparalleled claims to dictatorial \ power.” It was the coarseness of Lord -1 Churchill's abase of- Mr Gladstone that * ■ goaded the latter’s admirers to run a oandi- I date for Paddington ; otherwise bis lordship ® would have been allowed a walk-ovsr. To i quote the memorable phrase of Lord t Beaconsfield to Mr Gladstone, “ the exuberant f verbosity ” of Lord Churohi'l was of great help to the Tory cause, as no speaker on their side was so much reported during the election.