The Evening Star. MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1871.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 449, 19 June 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star. MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1871.

We do hot believe the public is generally aware of the important question at present pending in the Municipal Council. There seems a tendency to •psep the knowledge of it from people out of doors, the inutility of which attempt is only equalled by its folly. The question simply stated is this : The Municipal Council is empowered to "adopt" all or any of the by-laws contained in schedule 13 of the Municipal Corporati ns Act of IS'iv On such " adoption" all legislation affecting the subjects* treated in the adopting bylaws is repealed within the .city bounds. But thY difficulty arise 3in this, that these "adopted" by-laws do not coituinto force for three months. The practical consequence would be, as in believed,.that in the mamtime there must be an interregnum of authority, the present legislation being defunct, and the new by-laws being embryotic and unborn. The Council are awed at contemplation of such a result to the first essay at legislation, and have taken the opinion of Mr. J. B. Russell. aiid of the Attorney-Oeneral, and now are taking the opinion of Mr Whitaker. Mr. J. B. .Russell's •opinion, .we believe, is tantamount to all right 'go ahead ! The Attoney-G-eneral's is not so fast! stop jier I -and seeing breakers ahead recommends the Council to* not he " adopt" jthe by-laws, but wait till the meeting of the General Assembly, and have the 13th section of the Act which creates the difficulty, amended As this has been brought into force-?in :a number of places down South.—Wellington, Christchurch. JDunedin,—Hokitika, the difficulty haw apparently, been overlooked, and if the opinion of the AttorneyGren'eral ii correct, then, doubtless, various decisions in those places, during the suspension of law,Jhave been illegal. — \t is, certainly, a singular state of thnfgs, but not half so singular as will be the state of things in the city for three months, if the Council " adopt" the by-laws, provided the Attorney-General's opinion is correct. Having thus let the cat out of the bag, we shall be excused for indicating what that state of thirigs will be. Tn the first place, and this we believe especially excites, the apprehension of our civic authorities, any may build any mariner of "house lielikes in the city, be it wooden, calico, or pasteboard, during the suspension of law, while a very Jarge. number of those offences daily adjudicated upon under the Municipal' Police Ml will cease to be offences. We cannot see what advantage.; "could be hoped from tryingto keep this fact from the public, for there is nota doubt that our lawyers are wide awake enough to discover the lapsus if the Council makes it. We shall be interested! in learning Mr Whifaker's opinion on the subject, but whatever may be his opinion,' there is apparently doubt enough p.n,the. sub jeefc to make action on the'part of the City Council a somewhat risky thing. I Such, then, i» the myfetetious question at present engaging the earnest cogitations of our Municipal Councillors ;

and it cannot be" denied that'they have encountered a puzzle at the threshhold.

Mature is full of exceptions. Hence the axiom tfflct the exception proves the contraryZas the rule. Sydney Smith in reviewing a book written by the tutor of a young lord noted the unusual fact that a serpent was found in Ceylon which, being dissected, discovered " a man in black." The illustration was not discovered to be figurative until many years after this famous review was written. Paradoxes are to literature what exceptions are to nature. They prove the health of public life. In the Australian Colonies they have the omithorynsus paradoxus. This animal is more " dismal" : than the mole. It is hulk-bodied, webfooted, and if placed upright with an umbrella and large hat, it would be taken for a dismal creature, flat-footed. Sydney Smith's man in black was found to be a "local preacher." The combination of incompatibilities is the essential characteristic of colonial low life. It was so in America, it is so in all new countries. Lord John ftussellcommanding the Channel Fleet is not half so curious as defective spelling editing a local newspaper. But the fact exists. And a fact happens to be a very stubborn thing. It talks about " spitting spite," thinks there is no honesty in human nature, dubs men rogues instead of knights, and is the fountain of all uncharitableness. There are three folks, say the wittyauthor whom we have already quoted, to whom nature has behaved unkindly. These are the " cross-risioned," the unheeded, and the " out at-elbowed. " Charity was not in the gift of&uch people. This virtue was made as a providential compensation for them. Without it they continue nondescript. Dofh not a machine want oil when it grates? and will not the-most jdisraal humanity cry out against contempt ? Happy had ft been for literature had no " dismal" folks entered its walks. It was once conversant with university prizes, and nice points of honor. It is not quite an evil, but it is a misfortune that " dismal" ethics should have come in with penny newspapers. All >is vanity, saith the parson; no man is nonest saith the local preacher — look at me. Che exception here again proves the rule. Strange person is this literary paradox. Achilles was wounded vi the heel. The gods expressly provided this exception, and no one c:::! wound him. A man mifht walk in a crowd and no umbrella would "gall " his kibe." We know the literary lhenomenon will not understand this. We did not expect that he could. All •rreat people are men of facts. "Where they have no facts they. look " im- " inense." JFact is modest, pretence is blatant, and as often as not wears a large hat, or carries pregnant "hum- " berellar," and tells the world how "it loves it." The world knows it not. Tt is a " dismal" world we live in, and there are " dismil" people in it. But, to take a figure from the late Mr. Jerrold, is it because the world has grown so " dismal" there should be no more " penny newspapers ?" Certainly not. There is room enough'in the world for all. The color of the^skia reveals the soup. "We talte Warning, and pass by. —[ Communicated. _