DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1319, 21 October 1872, Page 2

DUNEDIN.

[from our own correspondent.] •.■■--■- October 15- - The telegram announcing the defeat of the Stafford Ministry, which was received here on the forenoon of Saturday last, caused the utmost surprise among the general public, and threw a feeling of dismay among the quid nuncs of the Club. Wherever you went, during the whole day, there was but the one subject of conversation, and a strong expression; of satisfaction that Yogel was likely once more to assume the direction of the affairs of the country, and particularly of the public works policy of which he is the author. Notwithstanding the efforts of our "leading" journal to crack up the Stafford Ministry as the one thing needful for the salvation of the Colony from ruin, the only men who were honest, &c, its prophecies have only been laughed at among the citizens, who simply wonder at its perversity. It is. amusing, on looking' over the up-country papers, to notice the confident .tone most of them assume iv speaking of- the accession of Stafford to power, and predicting all sorts of benefits as likely to Sow from it. No one looked for the division so soon, Tuesday being the night when the debate was generally thought' to come off, so that the telegram fell like a thunderbolt on the Province. The writers of gome of the articles referred to . must have felt mighty queer after reading the division list. In connection with the above subject, there is another which has caused no little talk in town, and which yet remains as much a mystery as ever— l mean the dismissal from office of Mr Donald Reid, our Provincial Secretary. That he was dismissed is only known from a statement made in the House by Mr Yogel, and now a rumor is current that he has been reinstated in office. Our Superintendent (Macandrew) and Mr Reid never have pulled together, and dislike each other I cordially, and it was to be expected that Mac would take the earliest opportunity of getting rid of him. But it is generally thought that the Superintendent cannot legally dismiss him in this way, and that things will remain as they were, more particularly as Reid is now out of Colonial office. If a Coalition Ministry ever becomes a fact, it would be a point of strength were Mr Reid of them, for though a man of limited, education and of rather narrow views, he is clear and straightforward, a fluent speaker, and a capital hand at debate, having had considerable experience both in the Colonial and Provincial Legislatures. This little affair will likely cause a fight whenever the Provincial Council meets. Some time ago, Mr R. Campbell, a station, owner near the Waitiki, made an application to the Waste Land 3 Board for an area of 10,000 acres on theMarewhenua gold field. This was strenuously resisted by the diggers, whD maintained that the land was auriferous, and was supporting a good many men, while others had constructed water-races, &c. It was also mentioned that the grant would stop the .water-supply to a large district. Great agitation resulted, and meetings were held to organise resistance, &c. But the Government has stepped in, and the matter rests meantime. . ; The Supreme Court sat on Monday for the trial of the various criminal cases of the past quarter. The calendar was light, and the cases, with one exception, light and . of an unimportant nature. The exception was that of Plummer, for escaping from custody and five charges of larceny. When placed at the bar on Monday, Plummer urged as a reason for delaying his trial, that he had not had time to prepare his defence, having only had the depositions of the witnesses for a day or two. So- Wednesday was fixed for his trial, and the other cases were taken up and all finished by Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, therefore, the Court was crowded early, and after some sentences had been given, Plummer appeared and, in the coolest manner possible, .pleaded not guilty to the charge of being illegally at large, " against the Queen, her crown, and dignity." After evidence had been; led in proof of the charges, which Plummer denied out and out, and then entered into a long discursive statement to the effect that instead of his running away from custody, custody ran away from him ; and being thus left out in the cold he had no other remedy than to provide for himself as he best could. During his statement he made many good points, and several times both the Bench and the audience broke out into peals of laughter at his way of putting things. Of course, there was no getting out of it, as the mere fact of his being at large was an offence, and so the Judge told him, and proceeded to pass sentence, when Plummer again broke in and wanted his case taken before the Court of Appeal. But this dodge was alike useless, as .there was no point of law or any doubt to settle, so; the Judge gave him two years. Of the larceny cases, he denied one or two, and confessed to the others, making a long statement as to the possession of certain purses by detailing a queer gambling affair he had in a public house in a street that ran up a hill out of Princes street, the other party being a hawker, whom he cleaned out of all his money, and then played him for goods, of which he won a pocketful. But the circumstances were too plainly against him, and the jury, after Borne deliberation, found him guilty. There were five charges, bo he got six

months for eachj making, with the other, four and a half years to be added to his former sentence, which would have expired in 1881. It will thus be 1886 ere Mr Plummer will leave his comfortable quarters in the big self-supporting stone hotel on the beach down the bay side. The Cricket Clubs commence their season to-day by matches between sections of their members. A little more interest is being taken in the game this year than ' last, and a good season is expected. The Dunedin Club held a series of Bports on the North Reserve last Saturday ; they were mostly well contested, and a good number of spectators were present. The Volunteers have begun their season too, and shooting matches are now the . order of the day with them. We have enjoyed a week of fine weather, though. one or two of the days, and nearly all the nights, have been rather cold. Still things are growing well, and every promise is given of a great fruit crop.