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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 219, 17 November 1866, Page 2

We understand that a requisition is being got up to Mr. Blackett, Provincial Engineer, to induce him to* come forward as a candidate for the office of Superintendent, in the event of Mr. Saunders resigning,, notice of which the latter has already given to the public. The requisition, it is said, has been numerously signed both in country and town, and is of such an influential nature as to warrant Mr. Blackett in believing that there would be little doubt of his election, ih the event of his coming before the constituency for that purpose. It is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Blackett, from his long profes-

sional acquaintance with the province, his knowledge of its public works, and his ability to appreciate its growing requirements in reference to roads, railway, and other things of importance, would be well qualified, in these respects, to discharge the duties of Superintendent of the province. Other duties, however, will devolve on the Superintendent of a general and political character, and till Mr ; . Blackett has given the public a statement of his views in reference to these, and convinced them of Ms ability to discharge them efficientl)'-, it would he premature to state positively that he is the only candidate whose competency entitles him to the suffrages of the electors. Other candidates will, no doubt, take the field, who, although unable to compete with Mr. Blackett in engineering knowledge and skill, may lay stronger claims to an intimate acquaintance with the science of -government and the administration of provincial affairs, than he would pretend to do. We do not say that this wili be the case, and only suggest it as a probability. The other candidates, if any, will soon make themselves known, their merits will .be fully discussed, and the electors will, as they are bound to do, give every man a fair stage and no favor.

Mr. Justice Johnston in his charge to the Grand Jury, yesterday, congratulated them and the province on the lightness of the criminal calendar this session. The criminal cases to be tried were of such a character .as to cause a feeling of regret that so much

costly machinery should be called into action to deal with them. Of course the previous heavy criminal session was an exceptional one, and so it had need be, for the province can ill afford to pay £1800 to convict and punish the refuse of the gaols of England and the other colonies. The offence of obtaining money by means of valueless cheques, seems to be rather prevalent in the country, just at present, and the judge very justly remarked that it is the duty as well as the interest of the trading portion of the community to adopt preventive measures in reference to it. The attempt to obtain money by means of fictitious cheques, is generally done by strangers, few meu daring to commit themselves in this way, in a place where everybody knows them. It would be easy for every tradesman to lay down a rule in this respect, which would render it impossible for travelling sharpers to victimize him. Every man of means sufficient to keep a banking account in another part of the country, finds no difficulty in obtaining a remittance through a local bank, if he requires money on an emergency. It would be desirable for tradesmen to refuse to cash the cheque of any man who cannot give a reference to some respectable householder in the towu. If tradesmen will foolishly cash the cheques of men of whom they know nothing, and without inquiring into their character and antecedents, it is as the Judge said, to encourage fraud on the part of a lot of vagabonds who live by their wits, and trade on the industry and good nature of their fellow creatures.

His Honor Judge Johnston stated, yesterday, that an application was recently made to the judges in conference, by the legal profession, for an alteration in the term of the present vacation, established by statutory rule, on the ground that it would be better suited to the couveuience of the profession and the commercial community. The present vacation is from the 20th March to the 30th April, inclusive, which it is proposed to alter from the 20th December to the 31st January. The judges had resolved to give no answer to the application till they had ascertained the opinion of the profession and others interested iii it. It was desirable to ascertain the feeling in all parts of the colony, in order that as little inconvenience as possible might be inflicted on individuals. It was possible that what would suit one province might be unacceptable to another, and till the opinion of the whole community was known, the judges would suspend action. The profession in Nelson were invited to express an opinion on the subject.

From statements that have appeared from time to time, in the West Coast papers, respecting the negligence of the police authorities here in sending down Sullivan to give

evidence against the supposed murderers of Mr. Dobson, the public were led to believe that there was some foundation for the statement. It appears however, that the; police authorities dii ,the West Coast, have themselves solely to blame in the' matter., They are the prosecutors of the murderers of Mr. Dobson, and it was their duty to obtain- the Judge's order or the writ of habeas corpus without which Sullivan could not be removed from .Nelson gaol. It is true that the Nelson police authorities held warrants for the rearrest of each of the men implicated in the Maungatapu murders, in the event of their being acquitted on the charges preferred against them here, but on such warrant Sullivan could not be removed from the custody of the gaoler. The West Coast papers were equally wrong in stating that the telegrams sent by the police to Nelson were not replied to. They were replied to the moment they were received and in the plainest manner. The mistake has arisen from the supposition that the Nelson police authorities have anything whatever to do with prosecuting the murderers of Mr. Dobson. It is understood that the West Coast police authorities have now applied to the General Government for the removal of Sullivan, and that a writ of habeas or a Judge's order has been granted. It was their own fault that this was not done long ago, and they seem to be quite as easy in their mode of bringing the supposed criminals to justice, as they were in allowing a number of them to escape here, when they had a case of the strongest suspicion against them.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court, to-day, Constable Levy complained against Messrs. Hooper, Dodson, & Aitken, for allowing four horses to be at large. The defendants stated that the horses escaped, for a few minutes, from a paddock, in consequence of the removal of the rail, they were at large for a very short time without their knowledge, and that as they were not taken to the pound by the constable, a fair interpretation of the act would prevent the fine from being imposed. The Magistrate said by the existing law, cattle wandering without persons to look after them, for ever so short a time, came under the Cattle Trespass Act, and there owners were liable to be fined. He should therefore inflict the usual fine of 10s. each aud costs. In the cases of John Lockett, Daniel Wilson, James Stockwell, John Patching, and G. B. Shannon, a fine of 10s. and costs each was inflicted, for allow I n g one horse to be at large ; aud in the case of W. Osnian and Joshua Sigley, a fine of 20s. aud costs each for allowing two horses to be at large. Joseph Hargreaves was complained against for driving his horse and trap furiously through the streets, on the 1 5th inst. He admitted the charge, but said he was driving a young horse which took fright at something in. the street, and that it was the first time he had ever been complained of for doing anything of the kind. He was ordered to pay £2, and 6s. 6d. costs.

A rather clever coup (says the G. R. Argus) was accomplished the other day by Mr. Inspector James, during the hearing of one of the cases in the recent prosecutions for sly grog selling. A witness was being examined for the defence, when Mr. Inspector James, who has a keen knowledge of the science of physiognomy, detected in the wituess a strong resemblance to a " portrait of a gentleman" which had been forwarded to him by the police authorities at Wellington, which souvenir had been despatched for the purpose of assisting in the apprehension of one Henry Burnett, who had enihezzled money from his employers and absconded. Sure enough the resemblance was complete, and the witness was reluctantly compelled to admit that the portrait — a carte de visite, taken, no doubt, for a very different purpose — was his. " From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step," said the great Napoleon ; and from the position of a "highly respectable witness, your worship," to that of a common prisoner was, on this occasion, only one step more, from the witness-box to the floor of the Court. The unfortunate victim . of misplaced confidence in the security of Greymouth was consigned to the lock-up, and afterwards remanded on the warrant to Wellington.