HINTS FROM HANSARD.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1575, 22 August 1873, Page 2

HINTS FROM HANSARD.

BAILIFF AT GREYMOUTH. Mr Harrison, in asking the Minister of Justice, Whether he is aware that the County Council of Westlan d has declined to vote the salary of the bailiff of the Resident Magistrate's Courtat Greymouth, and whether it is the iutention of the^Govern.ment to apply the provisions of the Goldfields Officers Salaries Act, fco this case ? said the position of the Resident Magistrates in the County of Westland was very anomalous. Whilst exercising jurisdiction as Resident Magistrates, they were paid salaries as Wardens by the County, and occasionally the County Council had refused to vote salaries for some of the officers of their Courts, on the ground that they were appointed by the General Government. Last ' year j or the year before, the salary of the clerk of the Court was omitted from the local estimates, and Had to be voted by the House of Representatives ; and he was informed that a similar case had now occurred with regard to the bailiff of the Resident Magistrate's Court at Greymouth, whose salary had been struck off the estimates of the local body, and who was now virtually without any voted salary at all. Mr Bathgate replied that the Government was aware that the County Council of Westland had declined to pay the salary of the bailiff at Greymouth ; and if the honorable member would refer to the estimates for 1873-74, he would find that it was proposed to make provision for the bailiff's salary. The Government had not at present determined to apply the provisions of the Gold-fields Officers Salaries Act to this case.; : . TELEGKAPH TO THE LYELL. Mr Yogel, in laying on the table a return of guaranteed telegraph stations, in compliance with an order of the House on the motion of the honorable member for Nelson City (Mr Curtis), begged to apologise to the House for having stated, when speaking on this subject, 1 that. other Provinces besides Nelson had been required to give guarantees for the cost of lines id course of construction, i He found that' Nelson was the Only Province which had been called upon to give such guaran- ' teesj. and- he would add that the Government would not, under the circumstances, r ask;that Province to give a guarantee for the Ly'ell line. :! .^i/.. THE LOSS OF THE BANGITOTO. Mr Stafford, in the course of the discussion on the grounding of the Lady Bird at Manukau, . said >the : :hon . member for Wellington City had called attention to a very important fact uwhen pointing out that, in the case of the Rangitoto, a very important provision' for the safety of iron vessels had been infringed by cutting through a water-tight compartment, and he (Mr Stafford) might add that Mr Blackwood, who was part owner of that steamer, had told him that it waa a most fortunate circumstance that the engineers had not been able to execute the order to reverse the engines which had been given to them, or the vessel* niust have come off the rock and sunk in thirty fathoms of water, when every soul on board would have been lost. Only fifteen, minutes elapsed from the. time of the vessel striking to her being run on shore, and it would have been impossible for the danger then incurred to have been so serious if the water-tight compartment had not been destroyed. He would like to know what ware the duties of the Inspector of Steamers ? What Mr Nancarrow was doing when he allowed a water-tight bulkhead of the Rangitoto to be cut through?