MISCELLANEOUS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 395, 7 October 1876, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The fail are of the G rand Jury to find a " true bill " against the proprietor of the ' Evening Star' is, on the whole, a satisfactory conclusion to a charge which was laid purely with <he intention of protecting the interests of the Catholic Church in this Colony. In resenting the aspersion on the conduct of hisclergy the Bishop or that Church was justified. But the offence was, we think, magnified unduly when it was taken into a Court of law,- The insertion of the extract from the'Tuapeka paper was an oversight for which, of whatever value, the proprietor of the journal was of course legally responsible, however morally inuocent; and, had the offending journalist's attention been drawn to it, or aa opportunity for contradicting it been afforded, the matter, we have not the slightest doubt, would have been remedied as far as possible, and there it might, very properly, have ended. Tho * Tuapeka Times'—the real offender, the' originator of.the slander—apologised,■ although not prosecuted. There were no evidences of malice on the part of the ' Star ' in republishing the paragraph, and there was evidently no attempt at conciliation on the pars of those immediately offended. His Lordship will no doubt be satisfied that he has shown that those over whom he had spiritual charge shall not be m-digued uujiistly and without ensuring his protection as far as possible, while journalists generally will have learnt from the charge brought against-the ' .Slar 'to be care-' ful in the extraction of items from contemporary journals affecting the standing of the Koman Catholic Church and the purity of its representative members. The matter has caused a good deal of sectarian feejing, and, we think, without sufficient reason." There is no one in this city that knows Mr. Eel! who would be capable of wilfully maligning or hurting the feelings of members of the Eotnan Catholic Church, and in this matter he had clearly noth-, ing whatever to do with the inser ion ! of the offending paragraph. And, sensitive as iioman Catholics are to the honour of their clergy, we do not think that in these circumstances either clergy or iaity would have really desired J'o have seen him punished. The rumor bore absurdity and refutation on its-face, and no further legal proceedings could possibly have increased the refutation.—' Guardian.'

The interest displayed by our mining population in the newly-found ICumara Diggings is still undiminished—each steamer which leaves the Port taking her quota of passengers for the rush. Yesterday the s.s. Ladybird had no ]pss than 75 passengers for the West Coast; and in order to meet the increasing demand for passages, theUnion Company have taken steps to make large additions to the passenger compartments of their splendid new boat, ,tfae>}Vakatipu, which leaves the Port ouT Wednesday for the West Coast and aydhey.—' Guardian.'