THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1589, 8 September 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1873.

In a letter which appeared in our issue on Thursday, signed " Win. S. Staite," the writer drew attention to an article which he says " lately appeared in these columns, commenting unfavorably on the performance of his duties by the bailiff at Ahaura." The writer further on informs us that "averse as he is to rushing into print, he cannot allow such an incorrect statement to pass unchallenged. " When one person becomes the apologist for another, and accuses a third party of making " incorrect statements," the apologist should be perfectly certain that he is accurate in his own assertions. No article ever appeared in this paper commenting unfavorably or otherwise on the officer Mr Staite seeks to champion. A paragraph did appear in a recent issue to the; following effect: — "We have received several communications complaining of; the manner in which the duties appertaining to the office of bailiff of the Eesident Magistrate's Court at Ahaura are performed. We refrain from remarking on these complaints at present, because we think that any irregularity in the mode: of conducting the business of his Court should be brought under the notice of the Resident Magistrate in the first instance. The : Magistrate is the proper authority to entertain such charges? and if brought before him in the usual manner, no doubt a remedy will be effected." The latter course was suggested because it was followed in the case of a former bailiff of the Court at Ahaura.. against whom certain charges were preferred. It will be seen by the extract given above that the complaints alluded to ■were directed more against the office of the bailiff than against that officer personally. We purposely abstained from commenting on the contents of the letters received on' the subject, and. did not publish them because we looked upon them in the ligtifcjof being exparte statements to which the bailiff is not in a position to make a reply. But now that the matter has been again dragged forward by a "friend" of the bailiff, it may be stated that one of the complaints made was, in substance, that that officer effected a seizure of a sewing machine at No Town, at the suit of O'JJourke v. M'Kenzie, and that a young girl named Perry claimed the property, and made good her claim to thje satisfaction of the bailiff, who relinquished possession. -The specific complaiht;is, that the bailiff afterwards again seized the same property at the suit of another person against M'Kenziey and sold it, although a uimilar claim was made by Miss I*erry, supported by exactly the same proofs of ownership. Another complaint was that the i' bailiff of the Resident Magistrate's Court, in making a seizure at; Halt-Ounce on a warrant or order issued by the Judge of the District Court, exceeded the authority of his office, because,there is a regularly appointed bailiff of; the District Court at Ahaura resident within the:jurisdiction ot that Court, and he 5 should be the person to give effect to the order 'of Judge Harvey. The manner of; making this particular seizure was also cojnplained.of, for it was alleged that although no resistance was made, or likely to be made, to the execution of the warrant, the bailiff was accompanied by a posse of policemen, a proceeding which, to!- say the least of it, savored of intimidation. Another charge was that the bailiff, inS the case of Wick v. Classen, stated that he had seized certain cattle, whereas he afterwards admitted that he had never ;seen those cattle. Afterwards, when the cattle were hunted up through the bush arid yarded, the bailiff saw them for the first time, and subsequently sold them on receiving, a guarantee, although a claim was made by a person who alleged that he purchased the cattle before a legal seizure was effected. Other complaints were made about the ruinously heavy expenses and fees charged for the performance of the duties of the bailiff, and if these allegations be true there is certainly good ground foe complaint, but the bailiff cannot be held responsible. There were other accusations, but the foregoing are sufficient to show that although the bailiff in question may be, according to Mr Staite> "conscientious and indefatigable in the performance of his duties," lie may also have an erroneous idea of the best means of transacting those duties, and that be should take care to instruct himself so as to avoid committing the blunders which are the groundwork of so much dissatisfaction. Of course there is always the remedy open to parties who feel aggrieved of seeking: redress in. a conrt o£law, but no one knows better thai Mr Staite, that on the principle of the cur 6 being as bad as the disease, the adoptiou of such a course is frequently impracticable and always objectionable. , We will take another opportunity of referring at greater length to the allegations respecting the heavy and prohibitive fees imposed for the performance of the bailiff's duties' in connection with the Resident Magistrate's Court at Ahaura.

; . Of. the two Westland projects which have been before Parliament during the present session for providing water-supply for mining purposes, the Randall's Creek water^ace may be said to be shelved for a year through, the insufficiency of the only survey which has .so far been made. Oh this account, it was staged by telegram, Mr.' Harrison was compelled to withdraw at its last s,tage the motion which he had previously successfully carried, arid 1 the .authorised reports of proceedings^ confirm that as being the reason why. As Hansard represents Mr Harrison, his explanation was to this

effect :—" Since the 30th of July, he had been in communication with the Minister for Public Works, and he found that even if the resolution were carried, it would be impossible for the Government .tp,..ca'rry out the work, or to do much more before next session than to make a thbrough survey, wijbh the view of ascertaining whether the carrying out of the work was really practicable. He was under the impression, when he spoke on a former occasion, that a survey of a more or less reliable character had been made of the country ; but he had since ascertained that nothing more than a reconnaisance survey had been made, so that there was not at the present moment any reliable data in existence upon which an estimate of the cost of the work could be based. He had been assured by the Minister for Public Works, that during the recess an examination of the country would be made, and that the Government would come down next session with a recommendation that the work should be proceeded with if it was found to be at all practicable." The Minister of Public Works corroborated this statement of the facts, and at that point the Randall's Creek project stands for the present. With regard to the Mikonui water-race, it will be seen that Mr Tribe is still persistent, and will not realise that, in fightinV for his pet project, he is either defeated or deserves to be. Two fresh petitions from his district and that of Hokitika afforded him excuse for re-opening the question, and he did so by referring them to the Public Works Committee, upon whose recommendation he now desires to know what course the Government propose taking. In referring these petitions to the Committee, we notice that he again quoted figures favoring water-supply generally and the Mikonui Race particularly ; he ! had also an opportunity of making a favorable quotation from the report of Mr FitzGerald, who in his official capacity as Warden gives the scheme his strong recommendation; and he added — "By the last post he had received a letter stating that Mr Michael Cassius would be prepared to spend £10,000 upon one claim if he could get water. At Ross there were twenty acres of ground which had yielded on the average 500oz per week, and if the water was taken out of that ground, they would go on obtaining large yields, employment would be given to 2000 men, and the old prosperity of that town would be restored." Whatever may be the fate of Mr Tribe's efforts in this matter, there can be no denying that he 1 has exhibited extraordinary tenacity of purpose, and a keen appreciation of the interests of his constituents and of a district which, without some ' extraordinary energy, seems doomed to decline as a gold-field. The latest item of information regarding the last-mentioned project is that, on Friday, Mr Tribe asked the Minister of Public Works what action the Government proposed to take on the report of the Public Works Committee re the Mikonui Water Race. Mr Richardson replied that the Government had not yet considered the report. He added that while attaching weight to the recommendation of the Select Committee, the Government was in no way bound by the sained They would, however, reconsider the matter after the close of the session.