THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri FRIDAY, 26th JUNE, 1874.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1588, 26 June 1874, Page 266

THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri FRIDAY, 26th JUNE, 1874.

Amongst the appropriations made by the Provincial Council during ;the present session, none is of more importance or more satisfactory than that for providing better accommodation for the insane. Wo do not pretend that the vote can provide all that is desirable or even necessary for the proper treatment of lunatics,, but it is at least one great step in the right direction. The provision hitherto made by this Province for the treatment of this unfortunate class of the population has been anything rather than satisfactory or creditable. No sufficient distinction has been made between those unfortunates and the criminal population, and the course of treatment, instead of being adapted to cure or ameliorate the affliction, is calculated rather to intensify and "increase it". Under the law of the Colony, a supposed lunatic is on suspicion first of all arrested and brought before the Eosidcnt Magistrate and charged with " lunacy " as if it were a crime ; he is also, tried much in the same way as if for an offence against the law, and if convicted* fs sentenced tothe common jail, and though of course/ the treatment to which he is there subjected is not the same as that accorded to a felon, it is easy to see that it cannot be such as to promote recovery. It is in fact neither right nor proper to consign the afflicted to the same establishment with the criminal. Lunacy is generally curable under judicious treatment, and it is also liable to become intensified and confirmed by that of an improper character. The surest way to make a man mad is to treat him as a madman. In all civilized communities, of late years, important advances have been made in the treatment of lunacy, and this with the most beneficial results. The ancient practice of dark and solitary cells-—strait jackets, &c, has passed away and has been supplanted by the more rational system of kindness and proper medical attention. This has been attended with results of the happiest description, and we may reasonably expect that improved treatment in the case of our own establishment will be attended with the like results.

It is greatly to bo regretted that under the proposed improvement, the asylum for lunatics is still to be an appendage of the jail. Not the jail but the hospital is obviously the proper establishment with which to connect it. It is gratifying to observe that some of the members of Council took this view of tho case, though they were overpowered by tho argument of the additional cost it would entail. Wc have only to say that now, if ever—when there is an unexpected surplus of revenue at the disposal of the Council—is """ f"f - ~-

desired reform, and it is to be regretted that so judicious a suggestion was overruled by mercenary views. However, as we have said, the change proposed is a step in the right direction, and one which will greatly tend to the comfort, and we trust improvement of the mental state of the afflicted patients.

Late Auckland telegrams announced the discontinuance of "The Templar Standard," a weekly newspaper, the property of Mr J. H. Field, printer, of Auckland. But the causes of the said discontinuance were not assigned, and they are somewhat suggestive, tending as they do to show a remarkable similarity in the manner in which Provincial Government business is conducted in different Provinces. Mr Field, in starting the Standard, did not fail to take into account the exceptional difficulties which a temperance newspaper has to contend against, and fully anticipated a loss during the first two or three quarters, until it was properly established. Having, however, recently secured the contract for the Council printing, he looked to his contract as the source from which he would derive the requisite funds to carry on his newspaper. One of the rejected tenders was that of the Daily Southern Cross, its prices being about ten shillings per foolscap sheet higher than Mr Field's for all kinds of work. One of the conditions of the contract was that it was terminable by either party on giving a month's notice in writing. Another condition was all in favor of- the Government :—" Should the business of the Council extend beyond the term of this contract, the contractor shall be bound to complete the printing to the end of the session, at the prices and subject to the conditions specified in his contract." The Council having met, and a portion of the work having been duly executed, the Government suddenly gave Mr Field, who 3iad gone to the expense of £IOO on account of the contract, the month's notice of withdrawal, and on the expiration of that term handed the contract over to the Southern Cross, at the rates given in its tender. No reason was assigned, and Mr Field, after seeking in vain for redress from the Provincial officials, petitioned the Council, This petition was referred to the Private Grievance Committee, who duly reported, in a document about the same length as the report of the Hawkc's Bay committee, which appears in our columns to-day. We extract as follpws from the concluding sentences of the report:— " The committee do not call in question the legal right of the Government to terminate the contract. The case for the petitioner rests upon custom. He had, undoubtedly, a right to expect that the Provincial Council printing would not be taken out of his hands ; he did incur expense in making provision for carrying out his contract, and up reason has been shown, either jjo'n the grounds of neglect or incapacity, for taking it out of his hands. Nor was the contract taken out of his hands on the ground of economy, for -the tender from the Southern Cross office, to which the

Council printing was .transferred, was considerably higher than that from Mr Field.. .The Government itself appears to have been uncertain in regard to its own" position towards the The Committee have the. honor port that, although petitioner has suffered loss through the action of the Government in their departure from customary proceedings, and although in the opinion of the Committee petitioner, has been harshly treated, they have not, under the circumstances, considered it their duty to recommend the interposition of Council between the Executive and a contractor, on the.ground of «a breach of understanding without transgressing the limits of legal powers strictly interpreted." It will be seen that the disgraceful injustice of the Government is fully admitted; butas their dishonorable conduct has not involved any breach of the letter of the contract, no redress is recommended. Mr Field accordingly has been compelled to wind up his newspaper, which was gaining a footing, and to. place a quantity of his printing plant in the market. It may be supposed that the Southern Cross is a faithful supporter of the Auckland Provincial Executive. By no means. It has distinguished itself by its virulent personal attacks on the Government. A wise prudence has therefore doubtless been shown in heaping coals of fire on the head of an enemy ; but if the Auckland Executive could be thus generous, the least we could expect would be'that they should at the same time be just.

The warmest " debate" of the session occurred on Wednesday evening in the Provincial Council in Committee of Supply. We have full' notes of the affair, but have concluded that our space may be more profitably occupied than by a report of what was little else than a personal dispute between the Speaker and the Superintendent. The matter arose* quite unexpectedly on a road-vote, Mr Buchanan intimating that his Honor looked specially after a neighborhood in which he had lately become interested. Mr Ormond denied the impeachment, and stated that it was a well-known fact that his own district Porangahau was a specially neglected one. Mr Buchanan replied that his Honor's leading motive was self interest, and that he had made the interests of the public clove-tail marvellously in with his own. Mr Ormond demanded an instance. Mr Buchanan, in reply to the challenge, instanced the Heretaunga purchase, and the present large appropriations! for the Porangahau and Tahoraite districts. Mr Ormond replied that in reference to a foolish statement of Mr Buchanan's that through rejecting him the people of Napier had lost the plains, ho could inform the Council that Mr Buchanan himself •• acted as the paid agent of a speculator who wished to acquire them. He had talked Largely of what he would do in the matter—he was a volunteer captain at the time; yei una ueiteu warrior, ax a great meeting on the subject, could only say ho would tell his ina; that was, he would report the matter to the home authorities. That was what disgusted the Napier people, and led to his rejection.—Mr Buchanan said that his ■ with Mr Stuart -was no secret. Mr Stuart's plan was to pay the purchase-money fairly in cash—rather a different course from that adopted by the member for Porangahau and his colleagues. Mr Stuart was only defeated by the only available interpreter being bought over, besides being threatened with dismissal if he cont'inued to act. With regard to peraonal courage, he did not, like his Honor, call, "They're coming! For Goodness sake —a* horse!" at the Omaranui fight.—Mr .Ormon.l asked for Mr Buchanan's authority.—Mr Buchanan indicated the member for Havelock —Mr Tanner. —Mr Tanner expressed surprise; lie had not the slightest recollection of making such a statement.—Mr Ormond said it was simple rubbish.—Mr Buchanan maintained the truth of his statement. This was not a matter for the public ; but he had not sought the discusssion.—Mr Ormond said he had exposed the member for Waimarama as a political humbug. Colonel Lambert said he hoped this unseemly strife* would now cease.—The Chairman was proceeding with the business when Mr Carlile rose and began to comment on the affair, but he was called to order. He said it was unfair that other members should be allowed to indulge in personal recrimination, and he should bo denied ft hearing. He believed his Honor would have given a a great deal not to have raised this discussion. He was then called' to order from all sides, and resumed his seat. After this little storm had passed over the business of the Committee proceeded just as before.

Mails close for Poverty Bay, per s.s. Rangatira, this day at 2 p.m.; for Wellington, Southern Provinces, and Australian Colonies, per Rangatira, on Saturday, 27th insfc., at 5 p.m.; for India and China, per Rangatira, on Saturday, 27th inst., at 5 p.m.; for United Kingdom and' Continent of Europe, via Sue*;, on Saturday, 27th inst at 5 p.m.

A public meeting was held at West Clivc on Wednesday evening, in the School-room, to consider the subject .of erecting a public hall in the township. Mr W. Orr, of Orrwell, was voted to the. chair. A section of land for the purpose was offered on very liberal terms by Mr Vaughan, and it was decided to a hall 50 x 30 feet, the estimated cost of the undertaking being about £BOO. .

We arc glad that Mr Colenso's motion for jthe appropriation of £BO of public money for the erection of a gymnasium was rejected by the Council, it being very properly argued that the object sought was peculiarly one of those which should be left to private enterprise,

The Rev. J. S. Smalley. "Wesleyan Minister, will (D.V.) liold service in the Oddfellows' Hall on a.m. and 7 p.m. $ . " >,

We would call attention to the lecture originally advertized for Tuesday, but how aunounced • for Monday evening next, at the Eechabite Hall; Waipawa, on the subject of "Macaulay." The lecture, which is to be delivered by the Rev. J. White, is, we believe, intended to be the first of a series; and we hope the efforts of those who thus seek to provide instruction and amusement to dwellers in country districts will be adequately supported.

A native riot, on a small scale, is reported from Waipawa. A party of natives were drinking at Bennett's hotel, when a dispute arose, and the Maori tipplers,'who were in rather strong force, smashed the windows. Everybody—, native or European—knows that it is illegal to supply liquor to a Maori, and knows also that occurrences like these are the natural result of a breach of the law ; but we fear that those hotels where the law is observed are the exception, not the rule. Mr Sutton's motion for the adoption of the report of the Tender Committee (which we give in extenso elsewhere) gave rise yesterday to an animated debate. Mr Colenso made a long speech, deeply regretting the tone of the report. He complained that in this matter—a paltry squabble between two individuals—a long and elaborate report was presented, while the Committee on the Representation Act —a measure affecting the welfare of the whole community had compressed all their recommendations into very brief space. In accepting the Herald tender the Government did right. The Herald had fifteen hands, the Times five. The Times office had not yet arrived at the degree of civilisation attained by the Herald, and if the tender were transferred to the Times they would have smudged forms, and bad paper upon which it would be impossible to write. If they took the contract from the Herald, they must compensate them for all their standing forms and other requisites, which would cost some £IOO. The recommendations of the Committee were inconsistent. He strongly objected to the proposed " Tender box," principally on the ground that the inscription would be altered to " Tinder box." He regretted the stigma attached to Government officers, and trusted the Council would reject the report. —Mr A'Deane, as Chairman of the Committee, said their sole end had been to administer even-handed justice. They saw clearly that a wrong had been committed, and recommended that it should be righted. The comparison of the numbers of the staffs was unfair. It was quite open for the Times to increase its staff, and possibly, the Herald staff would not be so numerous but for the Government work. —Mr Ormond expressed his opinion that the report was unnecessarily harsh. lowest. Had the other tender been reported to him as the lowest, he would have made careful inquiries as to the capability of the office for fulfilling the work before accepting it. As it was, the question did not arise.—Col. Lam? bert said the committee had taken unusual pains, and acted with due deliberation. It was an unpleasant duty to convey censure, but they felt bound to do so—had they acted otherwise they would have failed in a plain duty, and their proceedings would have been a farce. It was clear to the Committee that the Province was a loser of £7O or £BO through the negligence of the Board, and they at one time thought of recommending that those officers should be required to pay that sum out of their salaries.—Capt. Russell thought the committee, of which he was a member, deserved credit for being sufficiently to bold to make the recommendations they had done. There was a natural tendency in men's minds to smooth things over ; but their sense of duty would not permit them to do this. He denied that there was one word of a personal or offensive character in the report. He alluded to the corrupt state of affairs in the matter of public work in the United states, as showing the necessity of this part of the public service being above suspicion.—Mr Rhodes thought his Honor would have acted more wisely if he had merely said—as he would have been quite justified in doing—that the Government accepted the highest tender for good reasons of their own. Having admitted the mistake, he did not see how the Superintendent was to get out of it.—Mr Lee thought the committee would have been justified from the evidence before them, in passing a much stronger censure upon the officers concerned. He then pointed out several serious inaccuracies in his Honor's former statement to the Council. As for the difference in the staff, extra printers were easily obtained. He did not see any difficulty in the way of cancelling.the tender—a former Government found no difficulty years ago in taking it away from Mr Harding after he had held it one month, and giving it to the same establishment that now held it. It was noticeable that this was the first occasion for three years on which a bond had been entered into for the performance of this contract. The member for Clivc seemed to think his Honor had made a mistake in telling the truth —as though a political He was no harm. —Mr Sutton in reply said the fact was plainly endorsed oh the Herald tender that it was accepted as the lowest. He believed the .machinery and appliances of the Times were quite equal to the work. The terms of the report were more than justified by the evidence, and the laxity complained of had existed for years. It was in evidence that on a former occasion a tender was allowed to be altered after being examined by the Board.—The report was adopted on a division. Ayes, 8; Messrs Sutton, A'Deane, Russell. Lambert, Lee, Johnson, Kennedy, Rhodes. Noes, 5 ; Messrs Ormond, Colenso, Tanner, Kinross, and Maney. ''-.".-•':• y

We have an interesting letter from our Poverty Bay correspondent, which ,we are obliged to holdover. >

-We would call attention to Mr M. E. Miller's great cattle sale at the Shamrock Yards,' to take place this day, at noon. Particulars may be seen by advertisement, oh our first page. .:J A petition to the Provincial Council has been drawn up and is being numerously signed by the electors of the Clive district. It protests against the proposal to throw Havelock and Olive into one district, as tending practically to abolish the voting poiver of Clive. We publish this morning the Report of the select committee on the Representation Act. Mr A'Deane, the Chairman of the Committee, moved the adoption of the report, but as certain important changes were recommended, and members had had no time to consider them, the consideration of the report'was postponed. ■ Yesterday, in the Provincial Council, Mr Sutton' presented a petition signed by 148 town residents- against the division of the town into electoral wards, proposed in the Representation Act. Later in the day, Mr Carlile presented a counter-petition, in favor of the bill, with 150 signatures. Both petitions were read and received..

The Herald reports:— A Provincial Gazette, published on Wednesday afternoon, contains a notification that Mr John Bennett has been appointed Chairman of the Redclyffe Road Board, in place of Captain A. H. Russell, resigned. It also contains a notification to the effect that a meeting of the ratepayers of the West Waipawa Road Board District will be held in the Rechabite Hall, Waipawa, on the 3rd day of July next, at 7 p.m. In the debate yesterday on the question of tenders, Mr Sutton narrated a striking example of provincial economy. Upon the Stamp Duties Act coming into force, the question arose whether the Provincial cheques were liable to the duty, and the matter was referred to the Attorney-General for his opinion, The law officer of the Crown answered in the negative, whereupon, the Provincial Government had unstamped cheques specially printed at the Herald office, at the rate of 12s 6d per hundred, or 4s 2d more than the cost of the stamped cheques 1 In the Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, one drunkard was fined five shillings. There was also a case of abusive language, which was dismissed. Yesterday, a boy named Murphy was charged by Mr R. Goldfinch with stealing certain timber, valued at 7s, from a'new building. The boy had been seen' in his own yard in the act of chopping up a totara house block, valued at 75., on which was the prosecutor's private mark. The block was. produced in Court, and it was stated that a quantity of other timber had been missed. Mr Scully said that _ builders suffered considerable loss from the depredations of children sent out by their parents to gather " chips." , In some cases a watch had to be placed on buildings in course of erection. Mr Goldfinch did not wish to press the charge. The Magistrate said he deserved credit for bringing the matter before the Court. He did not wish to send the boy to prison, and therefore discharged him, after administering a severe reprimand and caution, both to the lad and his mother.

11l the Provincial Council last night, in committee of supply, on the item, " Inspector of Schools, £100." Mr Buchanan remarked that he did not see the necessity for the vote. The present inspector held the position of an irresponsible executive officer in the Council. He consideredjhVan objectionable practice for either contractors or salaried officers to sit in the Council. He moved that the voto be reduced to Is. —Mr Ormond said the officer was necessary. The schools had been largely benefited hy inspection,—Mr Tanner said there was some weight in the objection to a salaried officer sitting in the Council. He would however support the item as it stood.—Col. Lambert would.support the vote, though objecting to salaried officers sitting in the Council.—MiKinross thought the present Inspector of Schools a very efficient officer. He had acted in a very independent manner m the Council; had taken a very, fair view of the matters under consideration. He honored the lion, member for the manly way in which he had spoken his sentiments.—Mr Sutton did not approve of paid officers or contractors sitting in Council, but would support the item. —Mr Colenso said he knew the amendment would not be carried, but would say a few words. He would resign liis office if such was the wish of two-thirds of the Council. Had he known the amount of work connected with the office he would never have accepted it. He then gave certain particulars of the duties.—Mr Rhodes thought his friend was under an error if he thought there was any wish that he should resign his office. The Council would "rather that he should resign his seat than his office. —Mr Buchanan said he had no objection to the Inspector receiving a salary. His objection was solely an abstract one—to the conjunction of Inspector of Schools and member of Council. With the permission of the committee he withdrew his motion, and the item was passed as read.

The graveyard attached to the ohurch at Te Awamutu is in a most disgraceful state (says the Waikato Times.) The'ground is full of the graves of those who were killed or died from disease during the war. The fence is down ; the cattle have free ingress and egress, an opportunity that, is availed of by the pigs, which root up the graves. It is now more than: a month since money was obtained to repair the fence, but as yet nothing has been done. It is a great pity that those whose business it is to see to this matter should be so dilatory. The present state of the burial ground is a disgraco to the population. '