The Evening Star. FRIDAY, JUNE 19. 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3533, 19 June 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. FRIDAY, JUNE 19. 1874

Perhaps two years ago, more or less, our contemporary the * Daily Times,’ in a long-continued fit of nervous apprehension, spread alarm throughout the Province, the Colony, and ultimately England and Scotland, by its muddling over the public accounts. A gentleman, who dabbled in finance, fancied our Treasury clerks in Wellington were overawed into falsification of the books by the then Honorable the Treasurer, that our revenue was failing, that our public servants were mere tools in the hands of ambitious men, and that the whole system was rotten to the core. We never cared to correct the mistakes made by that elaborate mystifier of public accounts, Master Humphrey. Every day results proved the fallacy of his figures., and although he persuaded himself as thoroughly of their correctness as did Dr Gumming himself and others of the date of the Millenium, and in accordance with his own deductions left a Colony fated so soon to collapse into ruin, the ‘ Daily Times’ has not learnt wisdom by the failure of his predictions. At that time it was more than suspected the design of our contemporary was less patriotic than private ; that the true intent of giving insertion to the strings of figures of a hypochondriacal financier was to ruin the financial reputation of the then Colonial Treasurer, and to drive him into obscurity. Of course that was only an ill-natured idea j but people will be ill-natured, and one cannot help such insinuations being thrown out, no matter how false they may be. Unfortunately, whether the constant mistakes of our contemporary arise through the ignorance of the writers, or the incompetence of those who admit their critiques to distinguish right from wrong, the damage false conclusions do is the same. Those long strings of fallacies which carried such solemn appearances of truth with them, and were often commented upon with all the gravity of innocent belief in their correctness by the editorial staff, were accepted as true in England and Scotland, and proved very damaging to the efforts of our immigration agents, and to our Colonial reputation. More than once the * Daily Times ’ was quoted to show that their statements of the condition of New Zealand were false : that so far from its being a desirable land to dwell in, it was hopelessly involved in debt and on the brink of ruin j that its government was' corrupt, its leading statesmen swindlers, and its inhabitants overburdened with taxation. Time, it is said, works wonders. It often cures diseases, but their symptoms do not all at once disappear. If not eradicated from the system, they break out occasionally in one form or other, and yesterday our importunate contemporary suffered a relapse into his financial fever. Certainly it has assumed a milder form than formerly. This time it is a mere inability to understand a balance-sheet—a not very uncommon complaint where complicated accounts are concerned. The singular part of the matter is, that, confessing to ignorance of what the accounts mean, instead of waiting for explanations from better informed men, such broad conclusions are arrived at as are put forward,. The fact seems tq be that our contemporary has mystified himself through departing from the statement of receipts and expenditure, given in detail, which are simple enough to be understood by his junior clerk, and which appear in a separate form. The balance-sheet, of which he complains, is merely a summary of all the previous statements— showing how. all the entries in the Government ledger balance each other, dn the well-known principle in book-keep- j for every debtor there

must be a creditor. There was no necessity that it should have been published at all, for the statement of account is quite perfect without it. We suppose it is given to the world as a matter of routine, merely to show how accurately and systematically the accounts are kept. If the poor man who got a headache through poring hopelessly over this mysterious document, had had the nous or perhaps the knowledge of arithmetic necessary, from the details presented he might have manufactured such a balancesheet for himself. The public need be under no apprehension that every thing is going to the bad because the editor of the * Daily Times’ is in a fit of financial nervousness. Thev may rest assured that, although in accounts in which there are shifting transactions some little difficulties occur to a right comprehension of them by those not practically engaged in the Treasury, the accounts, as stated, are substantially correct; and that with a consolidated revenue for the quarter of L 384,601, and an expenditure of L 329,670, there is not much danger of getting wrong, notwithstanding the inability of the editor of the ‘ Daily Times ’ to understand the meaning of a summary of balances.

Hares still continue to increase rapidly in the Waihola district, where they are beginning to be looked upon as a pest. Two cases of blood-poisoning, attributed to the use of blue mottled soap, are reported to have taken place in the neighbourhood of Havelock within the last fortnight. The measure for the payment of members, which has passed through coounitte in the Queensland Legislative Assembly provides that the members of the Assembly shall receive LH 3s per diem, as remuneration for their services. Last evening we were shown by Mr Black, librarian to the Athenseum, a bittern caught by him between Green Island and the Halfway Bush. It is about three feet in length, and has a long beak. It has since been presented to the Museum. In connection with the Samoa hoax, we were to-day informed by a well-known resident in the City that the island was thoroughly prospected more than twenty years ago by experienced miners from Cali fornia, and not the slightest trace of gold was found. A correspondenfwritea us, that Dr Carr arrived at mistaken phrenological conclusions from his cranial development, and comes to that decision from personal com ciousness. lie may be right, but we do not think the matter of sufficient public interest to insert his self-vindication. There are five common jury cases set down for trial at the ensuing session, and three more are expected to be added to the list. One of the number is, we believe, the case of Dawson v. Mackay, in which the plaintiff seeks to recover LSOO from the proprietor of the ‘Bruce Herald’ for alleged slander. The City Council of Wellington have voted a douceur of LSOO to their surveyor, Vlr N. Marchant, in recognition of his services in connection with the waterworks of that city. Had t’ic Corporation employed another professional gentleman his remuneration at the lowest usual rate would have amounted to L 2,500, A special meeting of the City Council was held this afternoon for the purpose of revis ing, with a view of modifying, the existing Huilding At present certain hardships are entailed upon those of the poorer classes who may be desirous of building. The meeting was held at too late an hour for us to be able to report it.

It appears that the information conveyed to several papers, ourselves amongst the number, that Mr Warden Kobiason was to ne located at Tqapeka during the absence of Mr Carew, who, it was said, had applied for leave of absence, is incorrect, as Mr Carew informs the ‘ Tuapeka Times’ that he had no intention of retiring from his duties. The Masonic Hall was well filled last evening, when Dr (Jarr gave another of his entertainments. The opening lecture on “The Flirt and • the Coxcomb,” though short, was very amusing ; and the antics of some who were put under the mesmeric influence very mirth-provoking. There will be another performance this evening. During the coming season a visit to London will be paid by 18 cricketers from Arnerica. Although cricket is to be made the specialty of the team, they will nevertheless give two illustrations at each ground of the American national game of base ball, as played by the two champion Nines of that country. Their stay is limited to one month. The Bruce Herald ’ believes that during the . tenure of office pf Mr Horace Bastings propositions were entertained for draining Tuakitoto Lake, which would have given an enormously rich tract of agricultural land. It was calculated that the sale of the laud at L 6 an acre (a low estimate), would pay the cost of drainage and the branch line to Kaitangata also.

The Government (the ‘Bruce Herald ’ understmds) do not intend to lose any time in pushing forward the surveys of the proposed branch railways. A portion of their engineering staff, we believe, is to be at once detailed to that work. The first line to be surveyed is the Outram branch; the Tokomairiro line to the coal pits, the second ; and, in all probability, the Ka’itangata line next. These being short lines will not entail much cost, which is prudent until the fate of the Loan Bill in the Assembly is ascertained.

The Provincial Government have declined to recommend to the (General Government the construction of the suggested sludge channel at at which the local paper waxes wroth. It is sensible in counselling that the matter should not be allowed to rest here, but should go to the General Government, as the arguments in favor of the scheme are so numerous and so palpable that any Government who gave it any consideration at all would be impelled to support and advocate it, but is childish in assuming that “because our members, Mr Horace Bastings and Mr J. C. Brown, are opposed to the present Provincial Government, our district must be made to suffer, and that any scheme we may initiate, no matter how promising, will be pooh-poohed by Reid, Turnbull, and Co.” One of the most impudent cases of atto evade just claims occurred in the District Court, Hokitika (says the ‘ West Coast Times ’) when a bankrupt named John Hopkins came up and asked for a final order of discharge, t >ut of his own mouth it was proved that he was living in adultery with a Irs Smith, who has a husband in Victoria, and who, according to Hopkins’s account was in the habit of receiving money from her confiding spouse. Bankuipt ran up a score of between L 25 and L3O to Mr Gibson, of Ross, and on being pressed for payment filed his schedule, the soi disant Mrs Hopkins resuming her old matrimonial name of Smith, and claiming all the household goods m the Hopkins-Smiwh possession. All the

debts together very little exceeded the ah we amount. The bankrupt was, and has been in full work, and his filing was a deliberate attempt to baulk his creditors. His Honor, without making any comment on the bankrupt’s conduct, suspended his certificate without protection for the longest period the law allows, three years.

A bookseller in Melbourne named Terry has been petitioning the Divorce Court for judicial separation from his wife on ?the ground of cruelty, and has proved his case triumphantly. The poor fellow has enjoyed seventeen years of his amiable wife’s society, and seems never to have dared to call his soul his own in all that time. Blows and hair-pulling, Hack eyes, and a bleeding nose, were among the most ordinary form of conjugal endearment in his happy home, while his commonest mode of exit from it was through a window, without any hat, and sometimes with no clothes to speak of. The petitioner deposed on oath as follows :—“I noticed that her assaults on me usually took plaoe after she had had pork and porter ; it brought on biliousness, which usually ended in a row. ”

We take the following from an English paper :— ‘ A dog who already bore about his muzzle some not inglorious scars accompanied his master, who carried on his breast tbo Victoria Cross, to the Ashantee campign. B’ing of the bull dog breed, and with a natural turn for fighting, ha distinguished himself on several occasions, and indeed throughout the campaign. In one instance he rushed into the enemy’s ranks, and singling out one of his. naked foes, so bit and worried him that he actually brought in his prisoner in triumph. He was such a favorite with the men that in a heavy engagement their fire was suspended for a minute to allow of his .uninjured retreat from one of his desperate forays. He lives to enjoy his return and his honors, and at this moment is one of the greatest pets of Belgravia.’ “Green Bushes” attracted a large audience to the Princess Theatre last evening, especially in the lower parts of the house. The drama is too well known to require description, but last night’s performance of it was anything but satisfactory.. Mrs Hill, as Miami, and Mr Steele, as Connor ©’Kennedy, tilled their parts well; bnt Messrs Musgrave and Keogh, as Jack Gong and Grinnidge, descended to unnecessary low comedy, and of a very mediocre calibre. They dragged out the piece to a weary length with their continual repetitions of feeble and wretched attempts at jocularity, and it was a relief to turn to the minor characters of the play, such as Nelly O’Neil (Miss Alice Bray), Dennis (Mr Wilson), and others. “The Milliners’ Holiday” was the afterpiece, and, being a screaming farce, was of course tolerably amusing, one young lady being especially lively and gushing. “ East Lynne ” will be performed to-night. There was not a great deal of business done at the Immigration Barracks to-day, for the simple reason that of the Atrato’s immigrants for this place there were only four single girls available for employment as domestics, and, as may be easily imagined, their services were in eager demand. One of the girls (a cook) got L 35 per year, and the other three (general servants) from L 25 to L3O. Five ploughmen found employment at from L 45 to LSO per year. The demand for this class of workmen still continues, single men being mostly inquired for. There is a large number of married couples iu the barracks, accustomed to farm work, but unable to find employment on account of their families. The want of house accommodation is severely felt, and the whole of those cottages recently built by the Government, specially for the immigrants, are occupied. There are between 300 and 400, souls in the barracks, including eighty to ninety families : in fact the bedding accommodation has now necome insufficient. They may be engaged during the week. It is a somewhat singular circumstance (remarks the chatty London correspondent of ihe Auckland ‘vStar’) that when people taketo appropriating other folks’ money they, in numerous instances, seem to aim for New Zealand as their ark of refuge. Whether it is that the fact of the great distance makes them think it a safe asylum I know not, but it certainly seems to be regarded as a kind of Alsatia pr sanctuary for the wicked. Two instances of the kind have cropped up in the papers during the past month. In one case Mr Herman Gfrorer, a clerk, was hauled up for stealing a valuable account book from the Baron de Worms, bankers. He said he was first going to New Zealand, and Lad applied to his employers for the loan of LI, 500 to start in business. They had declined to make the advance, and our friend had collared the book as a kind of hostage. In the other case a clerk, named Thomas Cogar, was committed for trial for forgery of a cheque for L3O, which he said he had done because he was hard up, and was about to go to New Zealand that day with his family.

The ‘Melbourne Argus' writes t— * r The will of the late Mr Henry Melville, of whose remarkable writings on the “Lost Mysteries of Freemasonry” some account was recently given in these columns, has been entered at Doctors’ Commons, and an extract of it is given in the London journals. It directs that immediately after' his decease, his books, papers, manuscripts, &,<?, should be secured by Mrs Maria Gibbs, and that she should, without loss of time, apply to the Drown for a patent to use the Masonic symbols on planispheres and celestial charts, by which the original of the Sacred Bible and other mysterious works can be interpreted; and then goes on to say: “The patent having been secured, I recommend that application be made to the British Government by the said Maria Gibbs for a commission of inquiry to determine whether the knowledge should be made public, or detained for a certain time (to be determined by the said commission and the said Maria Gibbs) and then made public. I recommend that copies of my manuscript work should be raadi, and that no one copyist should be allowed to transcribe more than one book, and that such copying should be executed only in the presence of the said Maria Gibbs.” We extract the following from the ‘ Tuapeka TimesTo be caught in a snowstorm on the uplands of Otago is no treat at any time, and within thirty miles of Lawrence we do not know of any worse places to be caught than on the Waipori hills or the Switzers road. A few days ago a lady and gentleman left Eae’s Junction Hotel, en route for M'Kellar’s station. They had only succeeded in getting to the top ef the Big Hill, about six miles from the Dunrobin Hotel, when they were overtaken by one of those “ snelly blasts o’ winter’s brewin’ ” which makes the strongest wince. After a tedious journey they arrived at the Dunrobin Hotel, but not before the lady had fainted from exhaustion. There is every reason to believe that had there been no shelter and creature comforts within reach, she would have succumbed to the fury of the storm.— i he Dunstan mail coach, heavily laden with passengers and luggage, got stuck iu the mud on the hill on the Beaumont side of the Junction Hotel, on Thursday morning last. The under-carriage of the coach was almost out of sight in the black mud with which the surface-men fill up the ruts in summer time It required the combined efforts of the team and some waggon horses to extricate the coach. Among the passengers aboard was Mr Joseph Clarke, the Victorian squatter, who was on the way to his Moa JHat estate. We wonder if any of Mr

Clarke’s friends will tell him that of the L50.0U0 he has paid to the Provincial Government for his land, hardly a single penny has been expended on the main road that leads to his property. u

The foolish manner in which some people hold out a premium to thieves by traversing the streets of Colonial towns at night with large sums of money in their possession, says the Melbourne ‘ Argus ’ of a recent dat?, was brought under the notice of the police, and but for the j tdicious conduct of a member of the force, a large robbery from the person wou d probably have been reported. At midnight Senior-constable Ryan noticed a man in an oyster saloon in Lonsdale street, and made a remark as to the expression of his countenance to the saloonkeeper. The man came out and asked the comtahle to have “a bottle of champagne or something of that sort. ’ On Ryan declining. the man said, ‘ Don’t suppose I can’t pay for it. Now how much money do you do you suppose I’ve got about me?’ Jhe constable confessed that he was no medium. Why, said the man, ‘l’ve got L 1.400 in my pocket. byaa took him to a respectable hotel, where, in presence of the landlord, the man drew forth a heavy canvas bag full of sovereigns, which caused an exclamation. Hold on, cried the man of money, * that’s not all—look here,’ and diving into the folds of his raiment he drew forth a roll of bank notes. The senior constable and the landlord then took the man to his loduings and gave him into the charge of the lodginghousekeeper.

Mr Justice Chapman sat in banco to day, when the argument in Healey v. Heenan, an application to arrest judgment recovered at the last civil sittings of the Court, and failing that a new trial granted, was concluded, his Honor reserving his decision. Brogden (appellant) v. Crowson (respondent) was an appeal from the RM. Court, Dunedin. On December 13 Messrs Brogden and Sons brought in the R.M. Court seven actions—that against Crowson being accepted as a test one—to recover sums due under the promissory notes given by navvies brought to the Colony by the firm. Mr Strode decided against the plaintiff, on the grounds first, that there ha*d been no endorsement of the promissory note by the payee; and, second, that there had been no demand made for payment prior to action brought; against which decision this appeal was now brought. Mr Smith, for the appellants, argued that neither of the grounds on which the Magistrate’s decision was based-, constituted a condition precedent to the right to sue on a promissory note payable on demand. Mr istout, contra , said that the real point of contention in the Court below was not as to demand or endorsement, but as to whether or not the plaintiffs were before thdOourc, and the point really decided by the Magis trate was |that plaintiffs were not before the > ourt. If there was any ambiguity in the Magistrate’s decisi in, the case should be sent back. Further, the question was one as to the admission or rejection of evidence, and the judgment, whether right or wrong, was not final but merely interlocutory, therefore there could be no appeal. The argument was not concluded at 4 o’clock.