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Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2305, 26 September 1870, Page 2

Potitical. —The Danatan Times is informed that Messrs Haughton, Main, Captain Baldwin, Shepherd, and one or two local personages wdl coated the Goldfields Districts at the ensuing elections of the General Assembly. We believe that Mr Haughton will stand for the Lake district late Hampden; Captain Baldwin, Messrs Shepherd, Bradshaw, and Mr Fraser of Earnscleuch, will offer themselves for the Dunstau district, and Mr Main, for his own district, Mount Ida. Crime at tick Dunstan.—According to the local paper, the Dunstau district, from

the number of criminals it is sending down to Dunedin, must be gaining unenviable notoriet}'. For the last criminal sessions, burglary and larceny was the nature of the offences committed ; for the coming session, sheep stealing and unlawful assaults. In all ten prisoners have been committed from the district within the past few weeks. Mixing Intelligence. Accounts from Bendigo Gully are encouraging. The Cromwell company are busy crushing, and the Aurora company have five stamps at work. Several of the other claims are preparing for trial crushings. The Molyncux still continues at a very low level, but from the quantity of tailings runnirg, the dredges arc at present doing nothing. Accident. — -A strange accident, ami unfortunately not unattended with slight results, happened last week to Dr Borrows, resident surgeon at the Dunstan Hospital. It appears that having been called out to attend an urgent case, soon after mounting bis horse at his own house, came foul oi a clothes line, which dragged him off. He received some serious injuries through being trodden on by the horse.

Sporting. —The much-talked of trotting match between Mr Samson’s marc M‘lda ami a mare bo’onging to Mr R. Lancaster, came off on Friday last. The match was for L3O aside, the distance from Clyde to Alexandra, in harness, the owners driving. Lancaster’s marc kept the lead the whole way, and came in an easy winner ; the time occupied being about 28 minutes. — The Dunstan Jockey Club have is-.ued the programme of its annual meeting, to be held on flic 3rd and 4th February next. The aggregate of the stake? to be run for amount to LG3S.

The Native Meeting. —lntelligence has been received overland from Taranaki that IT. M.’s ship Blanche, Captain Montgomery, arrived there and landed Mr Commissioner Brannigan and the ( onstabnlary in twenty-four hours. Everything was quiet at Taranaki. The meeting at Parihaka is attended by a large concourse of natives—about 1100; the majority of them are well disposed. Titokowaru, who was alleged to have marched within three miles of New Plymouth, had not made his appearance. No danger of any kind was apprehended ; on the contrary, it is expected that the meeting will he attended with good results. — II etlimjtnn Independent. Native News.—The following is an extract irom a private letter from Parihaka, dated 18th September, 1870 Yesterday afternoon a messenger from Tito Kowarn arrived here, and stated that be (Tito Kowarn) was at Omnlnrangi, two miles south of Oeo, on bis way to Parihaka ; most probably he will arrive here to-morrow. All well. Bo news. Do not listen to any reports ; there is not the slightest danger.” The report of Tito Kowarn being seen within three miles of New Plymouth, or between New Plymouth and Mount Fgmont, is therefore quite as reliable as the recent native news telegraphed to certain papers throughout the Colony.

New Publication. We have received from the author the Ilev. K. Sutherland, a copy of a new work on “The Lord’s Supper,” published by H. Wise, Dunedin. Mr Sutherland is well known in Dunedin as an author, He has previously published two works “ Urgent Appeals,” and a controversial work on “Baptism.” We have only had opportunity of dancing over a few pages of the latest, which appears to be powerfully and clearly written, especially where (he author avoids what he is apt to fall into, a Johnsonian inil.ition of style. Wo c nfess ourselves no admitors of the common run of tjicplogical writings. Instead of adopting what is i ,no in eastern modes of thought to the everyday lifje ni/ylerp Britons, they merely perpetuate the learned puerilities of the days of the reformation, winch were founded upon them. Mr .Sutherland’s work is not free from this fault. Every man’s experience contradicts the assumptions which are based upon Eastern imagery, and thus it is that the separation made between religious and secular ideas has r.ndcrcd the rirst imaginative, and the other practical ; thus retarding the incorporation of the religious with the common duties of life. We had much rather have things called by their right names than continue to present religious ideas in metaphor. Language that requires extended knowledge to render it in telligihlc, conveys no precise idea to most of those who hear it, and if theologians ever intend to impress a generation accustomed to precision in urn use of terms, they must adapt their teaching to Ps requirements, or their efforts will be in vain. It was very well amongst the Easterns to talk about the world being a prison and the people captives, but nobody now-a-days f-els himself in so unhappy a plight. Wc cannot help thinking that though the efforts of the Howes and the Baxters are worthy of remembrance as suited to their generation, their style of treating subjects is unsuited to the present. The mission of the pulpit of to-day is to embody trgth in language suitable to modern thought so that it rpay coMpncnd itself to the minds and consciences of modern men. It is time to cease to talk in parables, iOX persons do not need them no.w-a days, and ministers need not fear the consequences of straightforward speaking, except from those whom they have helped to nurture in superstition. There is much in Mr Sutherland’s work with which we do not agre", hut we have no doubt that a certain class of readers will peruse it with great pleasure, Judicial Proceedings in Wellington.—The correspondent of the Oamarn Times writes: —“The criminal sittings of the Supreme Court terminated here on Friday, and the usual number of thieves and blackguards were provided with board and lodging free. There was also the usual bungle made. Since I have been in Wellington I do not think there lias been one criminal session that there has not been at least one case so bundled as to cause a miscarriage of justice. The Crown Prosecutor is not popularly supposed to he so well up to his work as might be wished, and whether the Judge bullies him ou this account, or simply from an umontrollable predilection, I can’t say. The fact remains the same—the Crown Prosecutor bungles, the Judge bullies, and criminals escape. This time it was one of those cases in which no stone should have been left untuned —no exertion spared—to sift matters fully, and convict the prisoners, if guilty. Two brothers were charged with selling, at Wanganui, in 18d7, percussion caps and powder to To)la ami others, then among the Hau-haus fighting against ns. The evidence against them was the testimony of Topia (now Major Topia, in our service) and his uncle. The witness, at the time of the trial, was ill at Wanganui, and his depositions were produced ity Court,

But, according to law, when a witness is unable to appear, the best possible evidence of the fact must be given, and the medical attendant, if ho has one, should appear and give professional evidence on the subject of the illness, before the depositions can be taken. This precaution the Town Prosecutor did not take. Tahana’s depositions were produced, but not the su gcoti who attended him ; the depositions were therefore rejected. Topia’s evidence was unsupported, and the jury of course would not convict on the unsupported testimony of a Maori whose motive for coming forward —namely revenge —was clearly proved.” Legislative Errors. —Since out article was written, the If r eHhujton Independent has supplied us with full particulars of the allcdgcd blunders in legislation. _ We may observe in explanation that the Bills in our possession arc those as passed by the House of Representatives, and the omissions in the Land Transfer Act were in that passed by the Legislative Council. The Independent says :—The Evenhuj Pod has been parading one or two errors, little more than clerical, in two of the Acts passed during the late session, and endeavoring to make mountains out of molehills. Two of these errors occur in the Land Transfer Bill, and notwithstanding the Pod'a assurance that they may prevent the Bill being put into operation, t' ey arc really not of the smallest consecpicncc, ami will not interfere with the working of the Act in the least degree. _ The lirst occurs in the 97th section, and consists in the omission of three words at the end. The section directs that a certain affidavit shall be ‘inserted in the Government Gazette and at least one newspaper published in.’ The words, ‘the nearest town,’ were probably those which ought to have been inserted. The only effect of the ommission will he that in interpreting the Act, the words ‘published in,’ will be held to be aurpnlsagc, and publication in the Gazette ami any one newspaper will suffice. The other error in the same Act is of exactly the same character, and occurs in section 11)7, which prescribes that certain surveys must be made by persons ‘ specially licensed for that purpose by the,’ The words here ombted after ‘the,’ were no doubt ‘ Registrar-General or District Registrar,’ and in interpreiing the Act the words ‘by the’ will be treated as surplusage ; while, in practice, licenses will ha 1 granted by the Registrar and District Registrars. As these omissions were made in the Legislative Council, where the Act was very strictly criticis d in committee, and almost every clause proposed to he amended by somebody, they hardly justify the Pod's diatribe about' hasty legislation. At aU i events the owners of land may rest assured that they will not lend to the suspension of i the Act for an hour, and we arc informed ' that a Registrar-General has already been ■ appointed, and that steps will he taken : without delay to bring the Act into operation. The error in the Representation Act is also very simple and easy to he got over, ! without any of the dreadful consequences which the bewildered editor of the Pod imagines. It is simply this The manuscript report of the proceedings of the committee, in defining the districts, described several by reference to the Act of ISGO ; and from the manner in which the Cheviot district was referred to, it appeared to be one of these. Consequently wdien the schedules | were being put together by the printer, the description of the Cheviot district was cut out of the Act of ISliO, and not as it ought to have been, out of the Act of ISGS, they having been altered by the latter Act. The district so described, consequently, is not the district of Cheviot as it ought to he ; but, under the provisions for making up the rolls, and the using of rolls for unaltered districts, the difficulty is easily got over in practise, and it is’believed no inconvenience will arise ; while if there should bo any doubt as to the result, a short Act at the beginning of the next session is all that will lie required to cure any irregularity. The suggestion that the oongoqucr.ee would be to invalidate the elections in other districts, and that the new Parliament would be no Parliament at all, is simply puerile and absurd.”

It will be seen that Mr Birch proposos meeting his constituents at an early clay, when he purposes giving an account of the transactions during the late session of Parliament. A special meeting of the directors of the Caledonian Society will take place at AVain’s Hotel, to-morrow (Tuesday) evening, at S o’clock. The secretary of the Otago Hi fie Association announces by advertisement that competitors’ subscriptions for the ensuing year must be p.aid on or before 20th Nov. next. The members of the Court IMde of Dunedin, A.0.F., are summoned by advertisement to attend at the Court Room, Hoyal George Hotel, to-morrow (Tuesday) evening, at 8 o’clock, upon business of importance. A lectuke, in connection with Knox’s Church Young Men’s Society, will bo delivered by Stuart Hawthorne, Esep, in Knox’s Church, to-morrow evening, .at seven o’clock Subject:—“ The mechanical and chemical properties of the atmosphere,” with illustrations.