Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL : TUESDAY, AUGUST 22.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 93, 22 August 1871, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL : TUESDAY, AUGUST 22.

Mu Pyke, Resident Magistrate and Warden, made some remarks on Thursday last in the Resident Magistrate's Court which call for prominent notice. The case of Regina v. Carpenter was in .hand : Mr A. Jtkough appearing for the prosecution, and Mr W. W. Wilson defending the accused. The case being likely to prove a long one, counsel desired an adjournment, as they averred that the whole of the witnesses (about fifteen in number) could not be examined at one sitting of the Court—especially in so crowded a Court House. Mr Pyke said he was prepared to go on with the hearing of the ease till it was finished. He also stated that a calumnious statement had been made in high quarters by four persons, assuming to represent the people of Cromwell, that he was in the habit of hurrying the business of the Courts for the purpose of getting back to Clyde at night ; and, therefore, if he acceded to the request for an adjournment, he wished it to be distinctly understood that the adjournment was for the convenience of the professional gentlemen engaged in the case, and not at all for his own convenience, but the contrary, as he preferred remaining to conclude the case. The " calumnious statements made in high quarters," of which Mr Pyke very justly complains, turn out to be a Memorial to his Honor the Superintendent, complaining of Mr "Vincent Fyke's improperly hurrying the business of the Courts in Cromwell. The persons who concocted this Memorial, and assumed to represent the people of this town were the ex-Mayor (Mr W. Smitham), ex-Councillors Whetter and Dagg, and Councillor Brown. We have made enquiries concerning the matter, and do not hesitate to say that the gentlemen who were parties to the sending

of that document to his Honor the Superintendent acted' in a very improper and unjustifiable manner. If a real grievance existed, there was a proper and regular course to adopt, with a view to its removal; and the matter would have been a proper subject for discussion at a meeting of the Town Council, when a resolution might have been passed and a memorial signed and sealed with the Corporate Seal. The following is an official copy of the Memorial : To His Honor the Superintendent, Dunedin : Memorial from the Cromwell Corporation : Sir,—We liavo, at the request of the inhabitants of the Cromwell district, respectfully to call your Honor's attention to the very unsatisfactory manner in which the business of the Warden and Magistrate's Courts is conducted. Ist. That Mr Warden Pyke is supposed to visit Cromwell weekly, but such arrangement is not carried out. He did not attend here last week, and sent as an excuse that he had to visit Blacks instead. From information we have received, we find that he did not go there, but remained at Clyde. 2nd. That due notice was not given of his intention to stay away ; and several persons came from a long distance to transact business in Cromwell, and were put to great inconvenience thereby. 3rd. That when he does visit Cromwell, he does not arrive till nearly one o'clock, and the business is hurried through to enable him to return to Clyde the same evening. 4th. That as we consider the district of sufficient importance, we respectfully request your Honor to give effect to the report of the Gold-fields Administration Committee, —viz., that there should be a Warden and Magistrate stationed in Cromwell. We are respectfully,

i W. Smitham, Mayor. Signed ) R. E. Dagg, Cr. ) Robt. Brown, Cr. ( W. H. Whetter, Cr. Note. — The original, of which this is a copy, bears neither Date nor Seal. A. D. Harvey. What are the facts'? This Memorial was drafted and written by a gentleman who was not then a member of the Town Council; it was privately handed round by the parties above-mentioned; it was not entered in the records of the Council ; nor did it bear the Corporate Seal. In fact it was an ill-advised, illmannered, " hole and corner" affair from beginning to end. We are not surprised that Mr l J yke resents such a proceeding. And we enter our protest against the assumption by Mr Smitham and his eomomonalists of the right so to use the name of the inhabitants of this tows, except in duly authorised form, under the pretence of advancing the public interests. It is reported that Mr Pyke has tendered his resignation to the Government. We have no doubt that the gentlemen who only a few days ago perpetrated an itnpro-

priety, by memorialising the Superintendent in the language of complaint, against an excellent and able public officer, would now, with municipal inconsistency, sign any quantity of memorials for the purpose of inducing Mr Pyke to remain in a district where he has been maligned!

Much ae we desire to see a Warden and Resident Magistrate permanently stationed in this town, we do not consider that the business of the present Warden's and Magistrate's Courts is conducted in a. "very unsatisfactory manner" (as the ists state). Slowness is no proof c&LScicncy ; and smartness may exist without undue haste" or hurry—a thing which the memorialists seem to hold in detestation. Yet they hurried this document into existence, and sent it away to "high quarters'* with scant ceremony.

The new Municipal Council, with Mr Jamss Taylor as Mayor, met last night, and on a copy of the Memorial being submitted to them, they very properly declined to endorse, in their Corporate capacity, what their predecessors had ventured to do as private individuals.