THE HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1874.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1614, 25 September 1874, Page 370

THE HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1874.

Notwithstanding the important interests involved in the constitutional changes threatened by the recent resolutions of the House of Representatives, and the effect those changes will produce on Hawke's Bay, it does not seem that either of the two gentlemen representing this Province will condescend to explain to their constituents their questionable act in voting for the resolutions. It may be that reasons apart from that of supporting their political chief influenced them in the course they took. It is just possible that they believed they were advancing the interests of the Province by assenting to a vote for its extinction, but they do not think proper to tell us if it were so, nor how it was thpy could assume that they were giving expression to the will of their constituents, in the absence of any appeal to them for its indication. While, however, our representatives decline or neglect to meet the electors, there is no lack of ex-parliamentary utterances on the part of the representatives of other districts. One of the latest of these is the address of Mr Eeeves, delivered on Tuesday evening, to to his constituents in the Province of Canterbury. Mr Reeves, though a believer in .vlr Vogel's policy of gigantic loans and great undertakings in the way of public works, dissents from the proposed constitutional changes, first, because the people of the Colony had not desired them, and it was injudicious and inopportune for the Government to initiate a measure of that description ; secondly, because the present Parliament was elected without reference to the probability of any such proposal, but mainly in relation to the policy of public works. Other reasons against the proposed change were found in the fact that the Parliament had shown itself unfitted for the decision of so important a matter, manifesting more interest in the question of an increase of the honorarium allowed to members than in the public business generally; also in the fact that thejabolition of the Provinces of the North Island meant the abolition of all the Ordinances in force in those provinces —a point which we believe had not previously been considered. It was also absurd to abolish the provinces in one half of the Colony, leaving the other half undisturbed; and the difficulties connected with Finance would be found so great that it was impossible to over-rate them. He was of opinion that the provinces in the ,-outh Island would also be sp"edily abolished ; and notwithstanding all that Mr Vogel had said about the permanency of the compact of 1866, the laud funds of those provinces would be appropriated as Colonial revenue. He applauded the conduct of Mr O'Rorke, in leaving the Ministry rather than a-sent to the proaud maintained—supporting his argument by facts and actual statements by Ministers themselves —that tlie Provincial Governments had not impeded the action of the Government of the Colony in carrying out its several policies of Public Works, Immigration, or with reference to the management of the natives, but had rendered it the greatest assistance. The reason, he said, for the proposal, was a financial one, The Colony was engaged in large

undertakings, borrowing large sums.of money, and needed larger security to offer for loans, and a larger area from which to raise revenue ; but Mr Voge] had not the pluck to come clown to the House and state the matter plainly, preferring to drive at the land revenue of the provinces in all sorts of indirect ways. He was prepared to say that if the truth had'been openly stated to the House, such -an apportionment of the .land revenues as would meet the requirements of the Government would have been readily made; and the Colony would prefer that course rather than submit to additional taxation. The members for this Province probably differ in opinion from Mr Reeves on several points ; but as a whole, we think his arguments are sound and convincing. Neither can our representatives complain or wonder, if their silence since the close of the session is construed into a conviction that they have nothing to advance in defence of the coarse they chose to adopt ih the House on the question of the abolition of the Provinces in the North Island. ■ • Our Dunedin contemporary, the Guardian, in a recent able article on the woman's crusade in America, described it as a tyranny, voluntarily submitted to, " which bids fair to evolve in course of time, consequences of a most disastrous character." The obnoxious trade, the Guardian argues, being lawful, is entitled to that protection which the laws of the country did not give it. .'• That drunkenness is a very terrible evil no one can doubt, but anarchy is a more terrible one." " The fact of the movement's being carried on in an illegal and revolutionary manner completely counterbalances and outweighs everything that can be said in its favor. It does not matter how noble their object may be, or how good their intentions—they are in a state of anarchy, than which nothing can be worse. A nation may exist under bad laws; but where there are virtually none, national ruin is, sooner or later, inevitable." The position taken by the Guardian is far from being so Bound as it may appear. Admitting, which we do not, that the so-called "crusade" is an evil —the question really is, whether it is greater than that to which it is opposed, and which it has to a great extent overcome. The trade may be " lawful,' but its direct results are not, and the law having proved powerless to resist them, the reformers have taken them in hand. It is not to the letter but the spirit of the law, that we have to look, and this accounts tor the fact that constituted authorities have not endeavored to check the movement. The Guardian argues that such action should have been taken—overlooking the inevitable result, which would have only been to have stimulated the movement to fourfold vigor and extent. Our contemporary would elevate law above the general welfare of society, for which alone it exists. When any interest becomes so strong in a community as to influence and pervert the laws to its own purposes, resistance becomes a public duty, though it may come within the Guardian's definition of " anarchy,"—which, after all, is not the greatest of all evils. The liquor traffic has always a peculiarly paralyzing effect upon the law and its administration. For no other interest would such a vote of "compensation" have been passed, as was granted last session by our Assembly, without a shadow of justification. Every policeinspector has been repeatedly disheartened by the almost impossibility of obtaining a conviction against a liquor dealer, even with the clearest moral proof. Our own experience of the evils of the liquor traffic is bad enough, but it will not bear a moment's comparison with the state of things in some of the xVmerican cities. Let our readers ponder the following, from the New York Herald of the 16th June (a paper generally in no way' favorable to temperance reform), and in the light of the state of affairs there revealed, judge whether the "anarchy" occasioned by the woman's crusade is "a terrible evil"—or a blessing:— The Sunday Record op Crime— Tt is a humiliating and (li.-heartening fact that the Sabi.ath Day seems to be the particular period of the week for the worst passions of men to display themselves in this city. Scarcely a Sunday passes without a murder or some outrage of a kindred nature. A raffle held on Saturday night for the benevolent purpose of assisting a distressed carman resulted the next morning in a row. in which a pistol and an iron bar were used with fatal effect. The victim iu this case was, unfortunately, a peacemaker, whose efforts in the cause of order have brought him to the hospital, and, likely, the grave. Another crime ou the list is one which has become paiufullj frequent in some of our tenement houses. It is a brutal case of wifebeating, brought on, of course, by drunkenness. The same fruitful source-of crime led to two serious stabbing affa rs in Brooklyn on Sunday morning. A temperance crusade of some kind or strict police regulations are needed in the metropolis, particularly on Saturday night ami Sundcy. When liquor dealers are permitted to serve out to drunken customers their vile poison without a care for the consequences, it is time for a stringent excise law to be put in force, as far as such dens are concerned. We should then be spared the disgrace and shame of a regular list of murders autl outrages for every Sunday morning, ■' ~ <s• • U.vnrcn the heading of "The New Zealand Press," a contributor to the Tribune (Wellington) has commenced a series of articles. The pit per chosen for the subject of No. 1 is the Tnnai'ii Herald, and the article on Mr Vogel and Mr Stafford, a portion of which we have given in another column, is selected as a mark for his angry invective. The article, though written in the style of an editorial, does not occupy a leading position, from which we infer that the editor does not hold himself answerable for the views it contains: The writer is indignant at Mr Vogel being unfavorably com pared with Mr Stafford, and his article No. 1 is remarkable for nothing but its abusiveness. The editor of the offending journal is described as "a young Mohawk upon his first warpath, rushing frantically through the woods, with liis' barbaric yawp,' flourishing his tomahawk, and longing for some one to scalp, brain, and make

mince-meat of. Yes, there is no mistake about it, he is a sanguinary being." The writer possesses a lively imaginative faculty,' and is not satisfied with one simile, however suggestive, tor he afterwards says, " We abominate blow-flies and all their nastiness, and we exhaust our contempt upon the,journalist whose articles are ear-marked- by the slander they circulate." Perhaps when the ex baustion of this literary gentleman's contempt is so complete as to impel him to refrain from writing altogether, his readers will breathe more freely. But this is not all. "As regards the Premier, no hired bravo could show more truculence, no discharged civil servant more malevolence." "To use plain and appropriate language, this is what we can only call the histrionics of literary blackguardism." We have quoted enough to show the style and qualifications of the writer who has undertaken the office of Mentor to the Press of New Zealand ; but we may as we 1 add that to disparage Mr Stafford he has, "to refresh the memories of those who may have forgotten this little episode," derived a contemptible slander, which he says he " never believed." We were sorry to see such a production—as spiteful as it is foolish —in a respectable paper like the Tribune. We can heartily echo one sentiment of the writer—" Alas for the high duties of the press while that kind of thing is tolerated!" . .. c~— The Beecher-Tilton scandal appears to be at an end, after furnishing abundance of highly-spiced items for the depraved taste of American readers. We are sorry to see the columns of a New Zealand contemporary filled ad nauseam with quotations of this description from the American press, under the heading of " The Great Sensation !" Mrs Tilton, it appears, is many years Mr Beecher's junior ; he had known her from a child, and a strong and intimate affection subsisted between them. Mrs Beecher and Mrs Tilton were equally intimate. Mr Tilton some years ago joined the sect of " Free-lovers," the lowest and most degraded of all the abnormal fungus like "religions '' which flourish in the United States. Domestic unhappiness was the natural result, and Mr Beecher suggested to Mrs Tilton that she should seek a divorce. Mrs Beecher, without consulting her husband, appears to have given similar advice. It was not, however, taken, anl this seems to have been the sole foundation for the scandalous stories circulated. Two disreputable sisters, Mrs Woodhull and Miss Claflin (notorious as the libellers of the husband of Madame Jenny Lind-Goldsmid). lecturers and publishers of a "free-love" journal, took the matter up, claiming Mr Beecher as secretly a convert to their views. The slander was promptly denied by Mr Beecher, and from the latest telegrams we perceive that the committee appointed to investigate the matter, have acquitted him. Mrs Tilton, even according to her husband's own showing, is a lady of unimpeachable character ; and altogether the affair appears to have been a diabolical plot of the " Free-lovers" to damage one of the most prominent Christian ministers of the day. The New York Tribune says that "a gigantic conspiracy " has been revealed ; and another paper plainly asserts that Tilton's object was to bring a new journal of liis into notoriety by securing a great circulation for the " specimen number," in which he set forth the story of his woes. This is not at nil improbable; and if such is the case Mr Theodore Tilton is entitled to a position of special prominence in the next edition of " The Humbugs of the World. 1 ' Meantime, it would be satisfactory to hear that he had been relegated to that establishment known as " The Tombs," where he would undoubted y be an instance of " the right man in the right place.'' If the amiable sisters Claflin and Woodhull were similarly disposed of, all respectable Americans would rejoice. With such malignant slanderers at large no character or reputation, however unspotted, is safe for a moment. It is, however, a source of profound satisfaction, that this last atrocious conspiracy has been defeated. II Mr Carry and party commenced operations on Mr Richardson's artesian well, Port Ahuriri, yesterday morning, and so fur the result has bee.i encouraging, At 5 p.m. yesterday, when the men'knocked off a depth of 50 feet had been attained, and no serious impediment had been encountered. The four insubordinate seamen helonging to the barque Winchester were taken from the gaol and sent on board that vessel on Wednesday last, preparatory to her leaving for Newcastle. The change was far from being a welcome one, apparently ; one of the most refractory attempting to strike the captain with the handcuffs it had been found necessary to put on him. We mentioned in our last that a man named Woods was unable to answer a charge of drunkenness, as he was lying nt the lock-up in a state of delirium tremens. It was not until yesterday that he was able to appear, and, indeed, he has escaped very narrowly with his life. The attack was a most severe one ; and it was only by the most careful nursing and nourishing food that he was brought round. So long as the law goes no further than to punish the drunkard, such cases will continue. The statement made by our Police Inspector last Monday, that in this city of hotels a laboring man could with difficulty find food or shelter, but unlimited drink, discloses a state of things calling loudly for reform. If some portion of the expenses attendant on drunkenness was made to fall upon the drinkseller, the landlords would beware of plying a man with liquor and turning him adrift on the verge of madness to be looked after by the police. In the present instance, the police deserve great credit for the attention bestowed on this unfortunate man, who probably owes his life to their caro,

The usually punctual mail coach did not make its appearance in Napier yesterday till 9.30 p.m.—too late for the mails to be delivered. Flooded rivers occasioned the delay. The steamer Hero is expected to leave Auckland at 11 a.m. this day. Telegrams for the Australian Colonies or Europe, via Java cable, will be received at the Telegraph Office, Napier, for transmission to Auckland, up to 10.50 a.m. to-day. In the Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, the Magistrate gave judgment in the case of Brogden and Sons v. W. H. Stevens. We reported this case in our last, but may again mention the particulars. Defendant was sued on Friday last for £45 13s 3d, amount of passage-money and outfit per Chile, for which sum he had given plaintiffs a promissory-note, and out of which £lO 13s lOd had already been deducted from liis wages, leaving a balance of £3O still due. He did not dispute owing the money, or that he had signed the promissory-note ; but put in a plea of infancy, having lately seen that plea succeed in another case. He also stated that had he been aware of the law on the subject in time, he would have refused to have paid any part of the advance made to him by plaintiff. The Magistrate thought that the implied admission of the liability by defendant after he came of age, in allowing deductions from his wages to be made on account, might defeat the plea, and judgment was therefore reserved. In giving his decision on Tuesday, Mr Sealy said he considered the proof sufficient that the defendant, when he entered into the bond, was not of age. As to the reserved point, he found on reference, that the law was very clear. An implied admission of the claim was not sufficient; for a minor on coming of age to be legally liable for old contracts a formal and distinct acknowledgment in writing was required, and such in the present case had not been given. Plaintiff nonsuited, with 12s costs. — Grant v. Nairn Claim of £7 Is lOd, goods sold and delivered. The claim was admitted/and judgment was given for the amount with costs. Defendant, an old man, gave the Court a brief and plaintive history of his misfortunes. He kept a lodging-house at the Spit, and all went well with him till he arranged with his cook to remunerate him by a share of the proceeds of the business. From that time he found he could not meet his bills, and discovered, too late, that his part nership with his cook was a serious mistake. Disputes arose, resulting in an action for threatening language, in which he failed to have his troublesome partii. r bound over to keep the peace. In order to dissolve the partnership he had the business sold by an agent, and it passed into the hands of the Lite cook for some £2O less than he could have, obtained for it privately from another party. This additional £2O would have cleared him; as it was, he was penniless, and the only offer of employment he had yet received was a situation to keep the books and make himself generally useful to a tradesman in Napier for a salary of 10s per week, —On Wednesday there was one case— Pocock v. Mahoney, a charge of assault on a little boy, who appeared in Court. From the statements made, it appeared that defendant, seeing a number of children molesting one of his own, rushed out with a horsewhip and laid about him. As is usual in such cases of indiscriminate punishment, the innocent came in for the lion's share, and "plaintiff's little child, who was in company with the others, went home bearing marks of severe castigation.—The matter was arranged by an apology and payment of costs.—Yesterday, an inebriate named Woods, just recovered from a severe attack of delirium tremens, was dismissed with a caution. James Moyle, charged with the larceny of a purse and its contents, was further remanded for a week. From the Poverty Bay Standard we learn that a respectable laboring man named James Osborne, who arrived recently from Auckland, came to an untimely end on Saturday last while crossing the Waipaoa river at the Rangatira block, on his way to the oil springs, in company with his mates, all of whom were under engagement to the Petroleum Company. Three constables have been employed searching for the body, but without success. All that is known of the cause of the accident has been furnished by Mr Williams, Engineer to the Petroleum Company, who states that he was proceeding to the oil springs on the 19th inst., with some workmen, deceased among the number. On reaching the Rangatira crossing, Osborne's horse stumbled, and unseated his rider, who suddenly disappeared, and was not again seen by any one of the party. The river was much swollen and discolored at the time. lii Wellington, on Wednesday night, Messrs Pearce and Hunter addressed their constituents, and were very well received, Mr Pearce said he never was a warm supporter of provincial institutions, but he was confident that the abolition of the provinces would not necessarily reduce taxation. Whatever good the provinces had done in the past, he thought the time had gone by for rendering them a necessity. He held himself thoroughly free to vote for the Bill, when brought down. Mr Hunter said that he held very decided viewß against the abolition of the pro: vinces, lint he would give any measure brouglitdownforthepurposeof doing away with them, the most careful consideration) and if convinced it would be an improvement he would support the change. He did not think the colony had reached the full extent of its borrowing powers, so Jong as the revenue continued to increase. He highly complimented Mr Vogel in befriending Wellington. He thought the compact of 1856 an unimportant matter, for in a few years the North Island would have far more valuable estates than the South. A vote of thanks was passed to both gentlemen.