Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1696, 10 January 1874, Page 2

The only report of the Tramway Company's action which appears in the Nelson papers to hand by the mail is contained in the Colonist of January 8, and is as follows : — ''The Hokitika and (Treymouth Tramway Company (Limited) v. The County Council and the Inhabitants of the County of Westland. — An action for breach of a contract by which the defendants agreed to pay reasonable compensation to the company if any Government road should be opened, ami losses thereby be sustained. Damages were laid at L 20.000. Mr Newton and Mr Pitt for plaintiffs, and the Attorney -General, Mr Mouth, and Mr Fell for defendants. The jury consisted of Messrs W. Wells (foreman) J. R. Mabin, C. Saxton, T. R. Horlder, H. Goulston, Roderick M'Rae, T. Cawthron, R. Levien, C. Muntz, H. Bukeridge, and C. B. Wither. Mr T. R. Fisher, the twelfth juryman, waa fined LlO for being absent, and the ease was tried before the above eleven. About six o'clock last evening the jury returned a verdict of total damages io end of term of agreement with the authorities of Westland, Lls 549 ; or, to end of September, 1873, L 5224. Mr A. R. Guinness, [who is contesting Parna, addressed the electors of Maori Gully on Thursday evening, in Costigan's Hotel, and the meeting was one of the largest ever held in that locality. Mr Peter Purcell was voted to the chair, and in a few appropriate remarks introduced the candidate. Mr Guinness made a long and exhaustive speech, going minutely through the various subjects that are likely to occupy the attention of the Provincial Council, and explaining the duties and functions of that body. He was exceedingly well received, and on the motion of Mr Michael Phillips, seconded by Mr John Ryan', a unanjmoiis vote of confidence was carried. The usual vote of thanks, to the chair terminated the proceedings. We have been reqested to draw tfye attention of subscribers to the London Art-union to the fact that the list closes on the 12oh iust. The prizes drawn by the Greymnuth subscribers of last year, consisting of three valuable oil paintjngs, and a bust of the Princess Louise, are noy on view at t he rooms of the Greytnouth Literary Socjety. \n the absence of Mr W. M. Cooper, the Honorary Secretary, Mr H. Kenrick will receive the subscriptions, The drawing in London takes place in April next, so that the present mail, closing on the 13th insfc , wjill be the last opportunity of forwarding the list of subscribers. The libel case, Donne v. Lucas, which has now been pending for six months, was tried in Nelson last Tuesday. In this case the member of the Provincial Council for Charleston, sued the proprietors of the Nelson Evening Mail for damages sustained through the publication of a certain telegram. The publication was admitted, but it having been shewn that it was accidental, and without malutijQus intent, the jury only gave damages to the amount q\ Giie farthing. It is notified by the Assistant Engineer-in-Chief that fresh tenders for the construe- I tion of the Nelson Creek Water-race will be received until noon on Wednesday, llth February. Plans aud specifications may be seen at the Public Works Office, Greymouth, .Qharles Lewis who. was committed ou a charge of manslaughter, in the tsjTelson Province has been acquitted. It will be remembered that a man named' Gainpion died a few days ago from the effects of a wound in the abdomen inflicted by a pitchfork thrown by Lewis. The evidence showed that the whole affair was an accident. In his charge to the Grand Jury ou Tuesday last, the Judge is reported to have taken the occasion to lament that the criminal law which, in other departments so abounded in useless distinctions, should, in regard to homicide, fail to discriminate between acts of widely differing"mqraj. character. Mere momentary negligence, or va'nt qf caution in some peaceful employment, occasioning the death of some human being, was classed along with homicides which closely approached to murder. All were alike stamped with the ignominious character of felonies, and exposed the offender to no less a penalty than that of penal servitude for life. This want of classification frequently stood in the way of convictions., ft \vas difficult to get common juries to return verdicts of guilty, even on the clearest evidence of negligent conduct, when they knew that such a verdict exposed the defendant to a possible sentence of penal servitude for the term of his life. The Judge 3no doubt, might, and did, correct the barbarous simplicity of the law, by the use of the immense powers of i apportioning punishment which were allowed them. T-hij gentence for manslaughter might be anything from a'fine of J.s ,cr a day's imprisonment, up to the tremendous' sentence of penal servitude for life. But it was not desirable that so large discretion should be left. The law itself should distinguish cases. Thus there would be no difficulty in making Jiomjcide, resulting from culpable neglect, a* specific 'offence, ' not jiiibjecting the offender to any infamous punishment, ' '■ At the Magistrate's Court, before M. Price. Esq., yfi^tprday, P>atrivk Walsh made His first apoearanfie this? year, changed wjtb having given way to his custpmarjr weakness, and was f>ned 20s. A. charge of using abusive language was adjourued until to-day for the apprehension of the defendant. In the case of Rowley v. Parker, a fraud summons, defendant was ordered to pay 10s a week, DeWri'danf; Stated that he was earning only 15s a week by selling rflsk ? and asked that the amount should be ss. The Magistrate gaid he was perfectly satisfied that in a town like this a man could pay 10s a week .who had no family to support. Mr Sarne# g,ddresse& a large meeting of electors a{; Maori Gul}y ? fjn Wednesday evening, Mr Killepn ppeupjed the. "pbafr. The candidate entered fully into $hg policy he should pursue if eleoton, and was continually cheered throughout. After a number of questions had been answered, Mr Doody proposed, andMrßoland seconded, that Mr Barnett was a fit and proper person to represent the district of Paroa, which was carried Unanimously. $■ vote of thanks to the chair terminated the ifreeting. The New Zealand Herald of 29th December . states : — Mr Daldy informs ub and we have no reason to doubt bis statement, that the kauri tiii.ber trade represents the outlay of a capital of L 150.000, which gives employment directly to COO men, and indirectly to as Vnariy'mo^e. Mr Daldy states, what must be well known'tb all intjmate with the forest timber trade of the Province', fhat iHhe Jaw prevents driving dams being used, it will ' close two-thirds of the mills of the Province A lecture was delivered at Wanganui Jt he other day by the Rev. Mr Berry, a' local 'cJLergyman, op the evils of horse-racing. I n 'the course of his lecture, Mr Berry declare^,

that betting was worse than swearing, telling lies, or breaking the Sabbath. Betting men were not atheists in theory, but they became so when they gambled, as they then defied chance. Mr Berry also asserted that, " for every man in the old country connected or interested in horse-racing, taking the ratio of population, there were fifty in the Colony." A writer in the Nelson Mail relates the following facts regarding the increasing importance of this Colony at Home :— " Talking of prosperity, 1 am reminded that a few days since T had the increasing importance of New Zealand as a whole bi ought forcibly under my notice. 1 was looking over the advertising columns of the London Times ot the 24th October, and I there saw a list of the ships at present engaged, or about shortly to be engaged, in the New Zealand trade. And how many do you suppose there were ? You might answer perhaps with a certain amount of surprise at your own rashness— ' Five and twenty,' but you would be far under the mark, and 1 suspect I shouWhave to tell you several times to guess again before you arrived at the actual number, which was fifty -four. Nor are they small insignificant boats, for the tonnage rauges from 798, the lowest, to 2500 the nighest. Not bad this for England's youngest Colony, \ which when the last census was taken did not number more than a quarter of a million of souls. lam sorry to say in that long list I could only find two whose destination was Nelson, but I hope by this time next year we shall require more than these to do our work. Of the vessels named six are now building for the Otago trade specially. They are to be 1200 tons each, and will be named respectively the Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Nelson, Dunedin, and Invercargill. New Zealand must be somewhat bettor known at home than it was a few years ago, when such a fleet as is advertised in one London newspaper is required for its trad« with the home country." The first number of the Southern Mercury,' a weekly paper just established in Dunedin, of which Mr "Vincent Pyke is said to be the editor, has reached us. The number contains the commencement of a tale by Mr Pyke, entitled " The Adventures of George Washington Pratt." Iv announcing itself the Mercury says :— "To advocate the cause o the people — to address ourselves to the people— ti wrestle manfully for the people — these are the objects we have in view." We have received the first number of the Educational Gazette, a monthly paper which has just been started ia Wellington. The objects of the Gazette to record all matters beariuir upon education within the Colony, anli also to afford information on the same subject concerning the doings of the rest of the' world are set forth at length With regard to the edu -ation question in New Zealand, the Gazette looks forward to the ultimate recognition by the Colony of its duty to undertake this most important matter, but it would be averse to, any forced amalgamation of the several systems Aybich have been already successfully established by the Provinces. The Rev Mr R.igg. a Wesleyan minister, preaching at Duoedin the other day, denounced kissrin-the-rjng, at Church festivities especially, and spqka warmly against kiss-in-the-ring at any time, especially on such occasions It had, he said, an evil influence upon those who took part in it, and was a blot upon our Christianity, A case is mentioned by the Hawke's Bay Herald, which New Zealand emigration agents in Britain should bring under the notice of the working classes there It is that of Mr G. Macdonald, who has boughtland at a large tannery and fellmongery, Mr Macdonald was an assis-ed immigrant, and he landed in' the Qolqny qnly 18 months ago. During that periad he has 'not only paid off Lis debt to the <TOvernment, but has amassed capital sufficient to start him in business on his own account. The publication of a few authenticated cases of success such as this could not fail to exert a beneficial influence iv inducing immigration to Ne\y Zealand.