THE EVENING POST. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1865.

Evening Post, Issue 14, 23 February 1865, Page 2

THE EVENING POST. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1865.

In our yesterday's issue a requisition may be found, signed by 263 members of the community, calling on Mr. Joseph Masters to t-tand for the Superintendency, and if this requisition be acceeded to by that gentleman, it will slightly throw out the anticipated programme, inasmuch as the 263 signers were bona fide supporters of Mr. Bovlase. Presuming Mr. Masters does come forward aa a candidate, Dr. Featherston will have it all his own way, and, in sporting parlance, may win as he likes— that is to say, unless one of the rivals retire in favor of the other. Onq thing is certain, namely, if loth come to the poll, the Featherston party will show two to one against them. Either Mr. Masters has been grossly misinformed, or he simply comes forward to force the running. If, as we suppose, the former be the case, the arguments used are perfectly fallacious; the new candidate must have been told, or, carried away by a fertile imngination, he supposes thnt Mr. Borlase will think twice ere giving up his lucrative practice at the bar, with the chance of the Provincial Solicitorship, for the mere pleasure of deposing the present Superintendent. On reflection, he will doubtless discover that Mr. Borlase must have weighed the matter well ere permitting himself to be set forward as the stalking horse of Dr. Featherston's opponents ;—; — electioneering is an expensive game, and in this case le jeu nc vuut pas la chandelle, inasmuch as the salary attached to the post is only £800a-year. But perhaps Mr. Masters, alarmed at the bare possibility of Dr. Featherston being re-elected, hopes,by the stereotyped clap-trap of the working man's friend, and the always alluring antityranny and oppression banner, to entrap the votes of the working classes, and theu hand them over to Mr. Borlase ; may be he even has some faint hope it may be the other way, and that at the last moment Mr. Borlase will retire in his favor. If both stand, nuiher have the vestige of a chance ; it is simply cutting each others throats. We can well imagine with what mixed feelings of hope and dismay the expected address of this bucolic aspirant to Superintendental honors will be greeted. On the one hand, while the Featherston party will hail it with delight, well knowing how it strengthens their hand, the Borlase faction, unless already a party to it, will regard it as a device of the evil one.. That they, as a body, would, with all their disapproval of the present Superintendent's political tenets, transfer their confidence (in the event of their man withdrawing), and fraternise with the working class representative, notwithstanding " his irreproachable honesty, spotless character, and consistent political career," is extremely problematic. We are certain that, after a little money has been expended, and a very great deal of valuable time Tost, Mr Masters will discover that but few will array themselves under his banner, and that numbers of his professed friends, the signees of that hyperbolical requisition referred to, are in reality firm supporters of Mr. Borlase, resolved to exert their utmost efforts to secure his return. To suppose that both will come to the poll as opposers of Dr. Featherston, with any chance of success for either, is simply absurd; therefore, we are inclined to imagine the request of the 263 is either intended simply as a hoax, or is an expiring effort of the opposition, indirectly, to influence the minds of the working classes, enticing them with the well-known "down with the bloated, aristocracy bait," to attach themselves to the people's candidate.

Some practicil joker has evidently been hoaxing the Independent, for with all . our respect for the vivid imagination of the author of the pa*agraph under the bead of " Mr Mister's Cmdidature," we think it hardly possible he could have invented the absurdity that "overtures have been already made to secure the able and powerful advocacy of the Penny Post." We always conceived the duty oi a public journal was to narrate the topics of the hour, and to do so with some little regard to truth. Nothing can be more injurious than jumping at conclusions, especially when the said conclusions are published either with the mistaken idea that they are witty or amusing, or with the intention of: casting ridicule over any particular persons, or body of people. To prevent this subject shocking the suisitive writer of the nonsensical paragraph appearing in an "Independent" newspaper, we b'g to hint that as Mr. Masters has not applied for our advocacy he may, perhaps, be expecting the valuable assistance of our unpurchasuble contemporary. The Resident Magistrate's Court was densely crowded this ino-ning, when Eliza Hamlin and Mary Anne Griffiths, alias Noddcr, were brought in o Court, to be examined with reference to the late case of infanticide. Our space precludes our giving the evidence in full — it was conclusive, however, and the younger prisoner (HamlinJ, at certain parts of it, expressed much agitation. Dr. Meredith's evidence showed that she had litely been a mother, and the other two witnesses shewed she and the elder woman had had tea at the i'ea-gardens, in Oriental Bay, on the evening of the 18th inst., and walked towards the magazine. While on the way, a basket, carried by the elder, was hardly visible, as fche had it clasped in her arms ; but on their return 6he carried it by the handles, swinging it as she went along. Inspector Aitchcson, on oath, stated that he had found a dress — which he produced in Court — of the same pattern as the apron, which, it niny be remembered, was found near the body, and then applied for a remand, which was granted until Saturday next. There seems every reason to fear that the steamer Star of Australia, trading between Sydney and Queensland, has foundered at sea. She has been missing a long time, and the steamship Boomerang, after carefully examining the coast and the adjacent islands, has failed to discover any trace of her. The Melbourne Argus understands that a requisition calling upon Mr. Michie to resign his seat for St. Kilda, has been numerously signed by the electors of that borough. The political profligacy of which the honorable Minister of Justice has been guilty is richly deserving of some such punishment as tin?. A pension of £150 per annum has been bestowed upon Captain Mayne, R.N , on account of the severe wounds which he received while serving in the Naval Brigade, under Commodore Sir William S. Wiseman, Bart., in New Zealand. Captain Mayne is a son of Sir R. Maynp, the respected Metropolitan Police Commissioner. We understand that Mr. W. Ryan, the celebrated dramatic actor (late of the Dunedin theatres), purposes giving a treat on Saturday evening next — " Retribution ; or, The Drunkard's Curse," a drama in two acts. The programme seems to be a very attractive one. Carpenters are engaged and scenes being painted, so we may fairly prognosticate I hat he will have a full house. It will be seen by an advertisement in another column thnt Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dillon, having arrived by the Wellington en route to the South, will give an entertainment for this evening only, at the Odd Fellows' Hall.