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Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2645, 9 August 1871, Page 2

Port Chalmers. —A public hoi /day by ord-T of the Mayor, was announced at Port Chahner> to-day, in commemoration of the Centenary of Sir Walter Scott. The Ahuriri. —We arc requested by Captain MTvinnon to state that there was no foundation for the telegraphic report that the Ahuriri grounded on the bar at Riverton. Depart mental. —We understand Mr Hislop has resigned the honorary secretaryship to the Otago University Council, and that Mr. Alexander Livingston, formerly Provincial Auditor, has been elected bis successor. It is not true as stated by a contemporary that Mr Hislop nas resigned the secretaryship to the Educational Board. Waitaki andMoeraki Railway.— We understand that the General Government have instructed Mr Calcutt to put himself in communication with the owners of property between Waitaki and Moerakq to acquire land necessary for; the construction of the railway. It is evident that the prosecution of public works by the Government will he pushed on vigorously. Princess Theatre.—The house was very poorly attended last night,Jthe natural reflux of the preceding evening ; however, those who were present heartily enjoyed themselves, and'the whole performance went off in a most spirited manner ; Miss Forde and Miss Nye in the burlesque, being particularly successful. This evening “ The Pilgrim of love” (burlesque) will be repeated, prior to which will be presented “The lonely man of the ocean.” Supreme Court. —Mr Justice Chapman held a sitting in banco this morning. On the motion of Mr Maca-sey, a rule nisi for a new trial of the ca-e Pritchard v. Gibbs was granted. In Bathgate (Trustee) v. the Bank of Otago, Mr Barton asked for a rule nisi for a new trial, on the grounds of the verdict being against the weight of evidence and misdirection. The argument had not concluded at: the rising of the Court, and will he resumed to-morrow morning, ' at .eleven o’clock. • - Police Changes.— ln submitting the last police estimates, the Commissioner made provision for two sub inspectorships, and these he has determined on filling up, and has appointed Sergeant-Major Moore and Sergeant Thompson to the offices. Both officers joined the force on its -establishment by Mr Branigan ; and previously had seen considerable s rviee in Victoria, so that their experien e fairly warrants the belief tli at better men could not have been selected. But the duties of their new office have been fulfilled by both officers for some time past, we believe, with as much satisfaction to the head of the department as to the public. They will retain charge of their present districts ; and consequent on their promotion Constables E. Coneys and Fair, two deserving members of the force, haye been raised to second-class sergoantsbips. The Beau Ideal of a Bailiff, —We have heard of the swell who died in despair, because he had lost his laundress, but we scarcely expected to hear of an editor penning a long lament at losing the bailiff But there are bailiffs upon bailiffs we suppose. At apy rate the Grey mouth Ereniny Star writes :—There are those among our readers who will regret to learn that Greymouth is shortly to lose one of the most kindly and considerate of men, in the person of our bailiff. Mr Gourley shortly resigns his appointment, and it is to he hoped by all classes of the community—for nothing is more certain than death or the bailiff coming to us at some period or other—that his' successor may possess his merits. Never did a man with a writ or a summons to serve have a more exquisite or delicate touch. He would meet you in the street, and, with the smile of a rather aged cherub, who had not given up the worldly habit of smoking, would pi ce a summons in your han i in a manner which would lead one to believe that he was paying over a cheque, for which a receipt was quite unnecessary. With Mr Gourlay to deal with it was sometimes a positive pleasure to receive a summons ; one felt like as if a compliment were being paid him, and if, again esteemed friend, the bailiff, had to convey a customer to the lock up under a writ of arrest, the manner in which he performed the task amounted to genius. No one who ever saw Mr Gourlay in company with someone else, but would be quite under the belief that the two are going to dine together, or at the least drink to each o( her’s health, success, and prosperity in life in a glass of sherry. And so in the most beautiful manner does our friend serve a ca. m. ; and in the most humane, comforting and assuring way, he takes Ins client off to the look-up after seeing that he has not neglcted to provide himself with the materials for a quiet and soothing smeke. “Here your arc !” our bailiff' will say, “ nobody can touch you until you get out again, and that will be very foolish for you to do until you have squared matters and made your life easy.” Now, this is the functionary we ore to be deprived of, to be replaced by we know not whom. A man, if lie does not like his baker or his butcher or his grocer, can change him ; but it is not in his power to do so with his bailiff; he must take him as he finds him ; and therefore it is we deeply regret the retirement of a gentleman who, in the most liberal interpretation of the term, has so long been connected with the Civil Service in Greymouth. The Chinese Question, —The fresh arrivals of Chinese are causing no little anxiety in the minds of our country friends. The miners are already in arms, and we bear that a Miners’ Protection Soci. ty is likely to be formed at the Arrow. A Mr Miller, the head of the Local Minors’ Association, recently delivered a lecture on “China,” in the course of which ha suggested, as a remedy for the present Chinese invasion which was rapidly driving us away from the Province, that the Government should refuse to grant miners’ rights to Chinamen. The injury was only beginning. No European immigrants would come to a country to.compete with Chinese labor, apd 'the attraction of the country would be gone when opce this was found to he the case. Mr Miller thought it

impossible for European labor ever to conr pete.with that of the Chinese. 'The state of affairs in O.ago should be made known in England ; so that people might know what they have to expeet' before they start for this much-vaunted Province. The chairman of this meeting, Mr Cope, quite endorsed the views of Mr Miller, with •respect to the Chinese difficulty. He would not object to the Chinese on grounds of morality, or that they were not settlers in the country ; he would grapple with the difficulty at once, and say that the Chinese were too keen competitors for ns in the labor market, or in anything else; either one party or the other must leave the country. He' thought that the government might do.here, as a temporary measure, the sauie as was done at Lambing Plat, New ;SSouth Wales—draw a plough furrow and apportion off part of the diggings to Chinese, and the other to Europeans. That this answered well at Lambing Flat; the line was not broken, and there were no more disputes or riots. Mr Cope further went on to say that in Singapore and other islands in the Indian Ocean where the Chinese had settled,- they had monopolised, not only all the labor, but all the small trades ; and it would be the same, here. Wherever there was a business that could begone into with a small capital, it would fall into the hands of the Chinese ; they and the Dunedin merchants would have the country all to themselves. The ratepayers of Maori Hill who signed the petition to the General Road 13oa:d, are requested to meet in thePiesbyterian School House on Fsiday evening next at 8 o’clock. A Public Meeting of the Dunedin Abstainer’s Union will he held this (Wednesday) evening at S o’clock, to receive report and elect officers, &c.