The Evening Star MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1872.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2792, 29 January 1872, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1872.

"We hardly know what to conclude from the telegram received yesterday as to the result of the illness of the Prince of Wales. It will create no surpi’ise if it should prove, as reported, that he has died; for it was evident that when the last advices left England he was in great danger. Should it be true that he is no more, but one feeling of sympathy with Her Majesty and her family will pervade all classes throughout the Empire. We do not.

suppose it will very materially affect national progress. The succession to the throne is so well defined by the English Constitution, and the advantage of maintaining _ it so self-evident, that there is little danger of any violent changes consequent upon even a regency. This, however, it is to be hoped, will not prove necessary during the lifetime of the Queen, whose reign, we trust, will be prolonged until the heir apparent to the throne reaches manhood. On this subject there seems to have been a good deal of misapprehension in the Colonies, We have heard it frequently suggested that the death of the Prince of Wales would place the succession to the throne in the Duke of Edinburgh ; but this could only have been had the Prince of Wales been childless. His eldest son is heir apparent, assuming the news of his father’s death to be true. Should, unfortunately, the Queen die before the child is old enough to fulfil the duties of sovereign, a regency would have to be appointed. An able writer on the subject says : “ Wherever there has been heredi- “ tary kingly office, it has been found “ necessary sometimes to have recourse “ to the expedient of appointing a “ regent. The cases are chiefly those “ of (1) the crown devolving upon a “ minor, too young to execute any of “ the duties belonging to it; (2), men- “ tal incapacity of the person in whom the sovereignty or kingly office is “ vested ; (3), temporary illness, where “ there is a prospect of the long con- “ tinuance of the disease, and of in- “ capacity in consequence ; (4), absence “ from the realm. Putin the first case “ the regent has usually been called in “ England by the name of Protector : “ the latest instance being the minority “ of Edward the Sixth, when Lis uncle, the Duke of Somerset, was the “ Protector.” Before the birth of the Prince of Wales, and after the birth of the Princess Royal, an act was passed appointing the late Prince Albert regent, in case of the demise of the Queen. During the reigns of the first two Georges, who were frequently absent from Great Britain on business connected with their continental dominions, regencies were frequently appointed for the sake of convenience. Sometimes the power was vested in commissioners, and in George the Second’s time, commonly in the hands of his queen, Caroline. When George the Third was first attacked with insanity, the question was stoutly debated in Parliament whether the heir-apparent, afterwards George the Fourth, being of full age, and the King’s eldest son, did not of right become Regent. The Whigs held that he did : the Tories that it was necessary for Parliament to appoint a Regent. The King’s sudden recovery postponed the settlement of the question for a number of years ; but on the return of the malady, the Prince of Wales was appointed Regent by Parliament, with the consent of all parties. His power was limited for the first year; but after that he was invested with authority to fulfil every duty pertaining to royalty. Beyond the news concerning the Prince of Wales, there is little of immediate political moment by the Suez mail. The commercial intelligence is cheering enough : wool, flax, and preserved meats continue in demand at good prices, and the financial derangement consequent upon the payment by •France of the German indemnity appears to have been tided over. Judging by the result, it would almost seem to have been an unfounded alarm on the part of the Directory of the Bank of England. While the Bank was charging five per cent, for discounts, money brokers were enabled to operate in sufficient abundance at a much lower rate ; and, now that the danger of pressure is past, the Bank of England has reduced it to three and a-half. Were it not that the prices of raw material justify the conclusion that manufactures arc in brisk demand, the plentifulness of money would seem to intimate that trade is slack at Home. But other causes have most probably operated to produce this state of the money market. Prior to the Franco-German war, English capital was largely invested in Continental securities and schemes of various sorts. The shock to Continental credit given by the war has induced more caution, and we should not be surprised if capitalists look more to the Colonies for profitable investments than they have been accustomed to do. At any rale, Colonial securities appear to be regarded with increasing favor. So far as European politics are concerned, there seems at present no reason to apprehend any disturbance of the world’s peace ; and it is pleasing to observe the evidences of widening sympathy between Great Britain and America. The ties of blood are strong, and, notwithstanding the people live under different forms of government, nations speaking a common language, having a common literature, and institutions springing from common traditions, are

bound in ties of friendship and relationship unknown to other countries.

Political. — Weave glad to learn that MrMacassey will in all probability contest the seat vacant through the resignation of Mr C. E. Haughton. We should not like the district represented by a less able man than the retiring member.

Legal Vacation. —The long vacation has now commenced ; and will continue till the 11th March, During that time the Supreme Court offices will be ©pen only from 10 a in. to 2 p.m.; and the only civil business taken will be bankruptcy matters, which can be dealt with by the Registrar. Nelson B.W. Goldfields. —Dr Hector has reported very favorably of the value of the Inanaghua reefs. A rush has set in ; and we are informed that the Government intend cutting tracks from Greymouih and Westport. This prompt action of the General Government forms a striking contrast to the apathy of our Provincial authorities.

The Superintendent. —The Wallace in which vessel his Honor the Superintendent, the Besidenfc Minister for the Middle Island (the Hon. Mr Beeves), Professors Black and i aegregor, sailed for the South arrived at the B1 ■(! to-day. She encountered very stormy weather, which prevented at Gatlin’s Ifiver, on account of the heavy wind and sea. The Wallace lay all night under the Nuggets. The party landed and inspected the works. They in 1 end leaving for Stewart’s Island to-morrow morning, weather permitting.

Political. —The writ for the Wakatip election is not expected to reach Queenstown before February 7. The usual notices of nomination and polling will probably take fourteen days each, so that the election will probably not be over before the beginning of March. There are only two candidates in the field at present, Messrs Jamcs Miller and fb Hallenstein. From the Mail we learn that the first shot of the campaign was fired last week at Arrowtowu, the proceedings being a complete Jvisco, At a pubic meeting Mr Miller and Mr John Shepherd, the latter a local draper, were proposed as candidates, the fo mer securing a show of hands. According to a correspondent of our contemporary the meeting “was one of ihe largest as well as the noisiest possibly the very silliest that over was held on the Arrow.”— Mr J. W. Robertson, member for the Lakes in the Provincial Council, is about to resign bis seat, business engagements preventing his absence from the district for any lengthened time.

TWO THINGS WORTH KNOWING. —It is not generally known that a small portion of scraped horseradish will keep milk for two or three days from turning sour. The process has been extensively tried in Christchurch, with success in every instance. The horseralish does not import an unpleasant flavor to the milk. A correspondent of the Lyite ton Times gives a simple remedy, given with success to many diggers on the West coast goldfields, for diarrhoea. It is cochineal reduced to an impalpable powder, axd given in a liquid, such as a little tea without milk but sweetened with sugar. The dose for an adult is as much as will lie lightly heaped up on a shilling, administered once a day for three days. It relieves the distressing pain in a short time, and as it does not cause the discharge to cease too suddenly, danger from inflammation is avoided. It has been given to infants in arms in smaT doses, and has never failed—two, or at most three doses being sufficient even for severe cases. For children the dose must be in proportion to the age of the child. Municipal Squabble. —Under this heading we have chronicled from time to time the doings of the Hokitika Borough Council, which at the present moment cannot agree to a choice of an occupant for the mayoral office. The last act in this disgraceful comedy was played about ten days ago. The claimant to the office, Mr J. B. Clarke, stated his determination to stick f,Q the chair, while other members appeared to be as determined to oust him. The following was the determination of the meeting as reported by the West Coast Times: —Cr. Jack said that he would have supported the Chairman in his election for Mayor, but for the way in which he had acted, which was anything but right; and the maimer in which he had taken possession of the chair was a low, mean dodge. The Chairman said that he might have been guilty of mean dodges, blit fie had never burned his partner’s books. (Groans and hisses from the crowd, and cries of “Put him under the pump,” “ Chuck him into the lagoon,” and “Kick him ”) The majority of the councillors then left their seats, and there not being a quorum the meeting was adjourned.

The Upper House.—Upon the subject of the constitution of the Upper House, Mr Curtis, M.H.R., in his address to his constituents at Nelson, said it was understood that in the proposed constitutional changes of the Colonial Treasurer there would also probably be included a measure for a new constitution for the Legislative Council, which at present being a nominee house, open to being added to at the pleasure of Ministers, was not satisfactory cither to the members themselves or to the country, Referring to the Victorian method of having an elective Upper House, \yith a property qualification, he thought the property ,qualification would not suit here, because, although in England, from higher education and generations of its advantages, property owners might he deemed to be in training as legislators—here there was no such training, and the possession of land and sheep often meant money bags and nothing more, for it did not by any means follow that the posses sion of land implied fitness for legislative duties.

The Weather. —The country people a 1 e complaining bitterly of the continuance of the prevailing drought. From eery a tarter the same cry comes. In the Mount X la district we hear of the Shag River and the Kyeburp being dried up, the hitherto formidable and dangerous Taieri capable of being jumped across, while at M.ierewhenua an uncomfortable scarcity of water .exists. In Naseby things are not quite so bad ; but the stoppage of the supnh furnished by the local water works is not unlikely, if the drought continues a fortnight .lunger, in which case the phronicle dreads to contemplate the result. Perhaps the most remarkable change of weather that was ever experienced in the Colony was felt at Naseby o;i Tuesday last. At noon on that day the heat was nearly tropical, the the mometer' registering KlO degrees in the sun ; at night there was frost enough to destroy potato

crops, the thermometer registering 32 degrees. In the Queenstown district the heat was intensely warm. The thermometer has ran.ed in the shade from 78 to 83 degrees ; and in the sun from 126 to 132 degrees. At seven o’clock on the 23rd it stood at 78 degrees in the shade, and during the previous night it never fell below 70 degrees.

The usual annual meeting of the I?-unedin Athenaeum and Mechanics’ Institute will be held in the lower hall, on Wednesday evenin , the 31st inst., at 8 o’clock.