THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1881. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2262, 2 July 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1881. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

In view of the expressed proposal to alter the status of our Upper House, attention has been called to the very uneven way in which Councillors are distributed over the various provinces. As matters at present stand certain provinces have a voice in the Legislative Council altogether out of all proportion to their population. But if the Norwegian system were adopted, and any “dead locks” that might occur were to he settled by the two Houses sitting together after a due interval, it is evident that the matter would be still worse, and indirectly these provinces would gain a power that they should not possess. Wellington is the principal defaulter in this respect. Out of forty-four Councillors, ten belong to her. She possesses but a tenth interest in the House of Representatives, i.e., out of eighty-eight members only nine are Wellington members. But in the Upper House she has nearly a fourth interest. Nothing serious has as yet arisen out of this anomaly, but if the Upper House is re-organised by the Government, it is very evident that this matter should ha seen to. Canterbury possesses but six Legislative Councillors, a proportion out of all harmony with her population and importance.

THE STATUTES REVISION COMMISSION. The above Commission have not been ■ idle since their last report. Their present report, just laid before the two Houses of Parliament, gives a summary of the work done during that period. A volume of about 500 pages has been carried through the Proas, containing, according to the directions of the Act of 1879, a selection “of such portions of the statute law of England, applicable to, and binding on the colony, as seem to be of general importance and interest.” The volume contains all the matter to be found in fifty-nine volumes of the Statutes at Large, at least all those enactments which seem applicable in the # colony, all merely formal and redundant matter being removed. There are indeed certain exceptions, which are indicated in the introduction, but these are attributable to the probability of almost immediate legislation on the subjects excepted. The Commission has besides prepared seventeen Consolidation Bills, absorbing eightythree Acts from the Colonial Statute Book. For instance, sixteen Acts relating to the Customs have been “ boiled down” into two Bills. Ten relating to the Post Office have been reduced into one, seven on Fisheries into one, seven on Public Domains into one, and seven on Companies into one. The other subjects treated cover a wide ground, and include Lunatics, Parliamentary Privileges, Volunteers, Diseased Cattle, Ac., Ac. The consequent simplification of our Statute Book cannot but he a matter of congratulation.

A TERRIBLE LIBEL. What between the fear of offending the delicate susceptibilities of the Upper Courts of Justice, and of committing libel on individuals, newspapers have frequently rather “a lively time of it.” In the Australian Colonies various journals have of late found that “ contempt” is a very elastic expression, and covers a multitude of sins that were certainly never previously recognised as sins in a free country. The law of libel, too, can be stretched on occasions in a manner to make all journalists shudder. Then there are actions for publishing paragraphs calculated to causa a breach of the peace—an expression that may be stretched to almost any length. A gentleman at the Thames, however, has somewhat overshot the mark in this latter respect. Ho is a lawyer of the name of Henry Elmes Campbell, and ho brought his charge in the Resident Magistrate’s Court against William McCullough to the effect that the latter had in the “Evening Star ” called him a “hematite-haired man of law.” That ho is a man of law appears to us certain, and the expression could hardly cause much annoyance, so that the bite of the paragraph seems to lie in the phrase “hematite-haired.” Wo presume that the locks of Mr. Campbell are of a somewhat auburn hue, but why should he object to have attention called to the fact ? Auburn is the favorite colour of poets descanting on crinal attractions. Mary Queen of Scots was a “ hematite-haired female,” and so were numberless other celebrated beauties. Perhaps, on the other hand, lawyers object to being thought too beautiful. It may be difficult to reconcile the idea of personal good looks with the idea that a man is a good legal workman. Or, again, the color may have had nothing to do with Mr. Campbell’s objection. Hematite

is a form of iron ore is, indeed, sesqui-oxide of iron —so that the expression “ hematite-haired ” might be nsed to imply “ the man of the iron locks.” Now an ordinary lawyer is good enough at drawing; np stiff bills of costs. When the general public have to pay eight shillings and sixpence for the posting of a letter or tho buying of a penny paper, this is self-evident. But a lawyer into whose composition iron entered so freely would be a very dangerous person indeed to deal with. A client might have to pay eight and sixpence for even looking at him, so that Mr. Campbell might have objected to tho expression on this ground alone. However, to cut matters short, Mr. Cam pbell did not gain his case. In point of fact it was shown that ho made use of very violent lau guage to Mr. McCullough (who had previonsly stated his regret that tho expression had appeared in the papor) and that if anybody should have been “ hauled over the coals,"” it was tho “ hematite-haired man of law” himself. Tho Magistrate dismissed the case, without even calling upon the defendant to give evidence.

WHAT BECOMES OF THEM ? In the Legislative Council a few days back Mr. WAterhouse moved for a return of the number of females trained at Normal Schools who were not teachers or were engaged in other pursuits. The speaker alluded to the expense of the Canterbury Normal School, aud stated that each teacher, during tho two years of her training, cost the country £ll2 14s. In Dunedin the cost of producing a teacher was £76. The number of male students was small, but the number of female was excessively numerous. The question was, did all these interesting young’ persons become teachers. “ Fie believed the majority, after so expensive a training, made engagements quite different to educational ones, being abundantly qualified to shed lustre on the domestic hearth.” The return will be an interesting one. If all Mr. Waterhouse says is true, about the only persons who will be satisfied with the present arrangement will he the lucky gentlemen who absorb this expensive lustre into their own homos at the cost of the State.