THE HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1874.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1608, 4 September 1874, Page 346

THE HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1874.

The following, from the Thames Advertizer, throws some light upon the "policy" of the Native Minister as regards opening the country, as well as his idea of the New Zealand press:— " The following copy of a telegram from the Hon. D. M'Lean to the Hon. Mr O'Rorke, Resident Minister in Auckland, dated 14th December, speaks for itself:—'Thanks very much for telegram about Thames demonstration; see editors of papers and induce them to write against it and the action taken by the miners respecting Ghinemuri. The Government do not wish the country to he opened' The above telegram came into the possession of Mr T. B. Wilson, formerly of the Thames, and has been by him handed to us for publication." One of the principal reasons adduced by Mr Cross, the Home Secretary, for the introduction of a new Liquor Bill, was that the Bill of the last Parliament admitted the principle of magisterial discretion in the matter of the hours of opening and closing the liquor shops : yet he has not been able to avoid the objectionable principle in his own measure. He has retained the principle in two cases, at least one of them closely approximating that which he condemned. His Bill provides that public houses shall open and close at stated times in " populous places," and at other times in places that are not " populous," leaving the licensing magistrates to decide the question for themselves as to whether any particular place falls under one or the other of these definitions; and as the opening and closing hour is to depend on their decision, it does not appear to differ very greatly from the discretionary power respecting those hours, to which he so strongly objects. The other inthe endorsement on the licence question. The present law gives a discretionary power of not endorsing a conviction on a licence if it be of a trifling or frivolous nature ; that is if there be good reason for not so endorsing. The proposed course is to give a discretionary power to endorse when there is sufficient reason for doing so. As the Times remarks " the difference between the two cases ought to be nothing," but in practice "it will amount to a good deal, and the change will be to the disadvantage of the people." So far however as these concessions affirm the principle of local option, so far will they be accepted as instalments of what is a popular right, which sooner or later must be acknowledged. > ■ The Press of England on the Intoxicating Liquors Bill is especially outspoken in its terms of condemnation. We have marked many extracts bearing out this assertion, but the space at our command precludes their insertion in our columns. We cannot forbear however from giving the following brief sentence from the London Times, being part of a long and able leading article on the Bill. It refers especially to the ordeal of the House of Lords through which the Bill has yet to pass before becoming invested with the dignity of the law. " There is another House of Parliament, which may have a good deal to say on a measure like the Licensing Bill. The Lords are country magistrates, and not a few of them are best described as country gentlemen, and these latter members, detached as they are from official life, and from the pressure of election pledges, are men who could still exercise a useful influence on the Licensing Bill. Lord Kimberley brought the Bill of the late Government into the Lords, where it was remodelled with great freedom . . . If we want to see the real strength of the case against the Bill, we have only to turn to what was urged by way of apology for it. A legal gentleman attempted a defence of it which ended with a confession that the drafting of the Bill was bad, but this might be amended in another place . . . What does the Home Secretary select as the valuable portions of the Bill? For the most part those about which there is no dispute, and which are of infinitesimal importance .... No instance has been adduced by Mr Cross or by any other member, of the endorsements of frivolous offences, and the law is about to be altered without a single case being presented of its injurious application . . . We are not without hope that the House of Lords may do something to guide the discretion of local magistrates in the definition of " populous places," and"they will doubtless be moved in this direction when they consider the embarrassment they would feel if called upon to decide themselves what is, and what is not a populous place."

Since our last the English Opera Company have performed three pieces, to good houses:—" The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein," "La Sonnambula," and "Fra'Diavolo." The Rev. J. & Smalley, Wesleyan minister, Trill conduct a religious service in Danish, at the* Oddfellows' Hall, next Sunday, at 3 p.nv Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes are affectionately invited. ' ■■; • ■ .-. ' Information reached town yesterday of the death of Mr Edward Saunders, drayman in the employ of Messrs Hart and'M'Kinlay, who was crushed beneath the wheels of his dray on Tuesday last, at Titiokura. Very few particulars have come to hand. An inquest is to be held to-day, at Pohui. The last number of Te Waka Maori contains an article in which it is stated that the report of proceedings in the Legislative Council, published in our Maori column on the 4th August, is " not an accurate interpretation of the words spoken in the Council,, or of their plain and obvious meaning." We shall probably refer to the matter more fully in our next issue. Our Tauranga correspondent telegraphs :—" 3rd September.—The immigration buildings from Auckland are being erected on the old parade ground. Opotiki is beginning to manifest signs of life, vessels continually leaving the port laden with produce. Messrs Snodgrass and Longford have been there recently, making extensive purchases of cattk for the Auckland market. The Southern Cross arrived yesterday, laden with valuable horses." A few days ago some experiments were tried on the telegraph line between Napier and Wellington as to the working of Mr Lemon's duplex system of telegraphy. The result was the most successful yet attained of the series of experiments in this direction, and the system is soon to be applied to the regular business of the line, which is rapidly increasing. Mr Lemon's system is the'same in principle as that successfully introduced in the home country by Dr Playfair, but differs from it in many respects in its details of operation, On Tuesday, in the Resident Magistrate's Court, a laboring man was charged with stealing a piece of timber, valued at 35., the property of the Provincial Government. It was not denied that he had the wood in his possession, but as it appeared that there had been no felonious intent, the case was dismissed. On Wednesday Mis Hate, anew arrival (whose husband is at present in prison for an assault), was committed for six weeks with hard labor on a charge of having no visible means of support. Yesterday one inebriate was fined five shillings. In the Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, before H. 8.. Sealy, Esq., R.M., and E. Catchpool, Esq., J.P., Eaihania, a native, sought to recover from Stephen Hunt, pound keeper, Waitangi, the sum of £1 ss, damages caused by trespass of a certain bullock. It appeared the plaintiff claimed for damages to a fence and to his crops, but in examination he refused to state how the result was arrived at. It appears that it was with great difficulty that the poundkeeper could induce him to fix a definite amount of damage; he had at first stated that it was not less then £5, but ultimately fixed it at the amount claimed, which was paid to the poundkeeper by Mr M'Hardy, the owner of the bullock, under protest. Mr M'Hardy, in evidence, stated that the natives had repeatedly, when inpounding cattle, laid damages at all kinds of arbitrary rates—3os, £2, £2 10s, &c, without the slightest reference to actual damage or loss incurred. Suspecting something of the kind in the present instance, he went to the scene of the alleged trespass, and requested Raihania to indicate the mischief done. The plaintiff was very reluctant to comply, but after pressure showed him the tracks of the bullock through a piece of ground recently sown ; a broken wire in the fence, and a split post. The wire, he could swear positively, had been broken for months; and the post, which was worth about 2s, appeared to have been split for some weeks. The fence had long been out of repair, and, moreover, did not belong to plaintiff, as it enclosed about one hundred acres, of which he only possessed a small plot.—The Magistrate told the plaintiff that the Act did not intend people to make a profit from impounding cattle. The Court would allow the full amount of damage they considered shown, namely 2s; but as the defendant had rightly disputed the claim, the plaintiff must pay the costs, which amounted to 9s.—The plaintiff appeared somewhat disconcerted at the result of the case.