INTERPROVINCIAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 155, 3 July 1877, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL.

!; y Wellington, Monday. • . The mmemhers of-the 1 " Wellington police force ,Vfere sworn in. 1»-Say :for the official year commencin^yesterday. ,-. Th#"Cl-ief Justice^ id commenting upon the criminal calendar whehT charging the jury, Jointed out in the fraudulent insolvency i case, |hat;under the'cAct^of 1876 an insolv-ht was liable to imprisonment for two^ears if he did not disclose the wliglff of his aroperty ,to his trustee, and the depofteion-lshowed that the prisoner Gray had' 'tonceileo. the auount of hia property. Touching the case of criminal libel against Henry Powell, his Honor said a charge of that kind that persons in another employment were guilty of misconduct- was certaiuly li_eUot__ and defamatory, and if made with intent to injure them it became malicious, aad was p'ainly indictable as a criminal offence. It wpuld not, however, be malicious if made with an honest ipurpose and a thorough belief that the allegations were true. Even if thb allegations, were subsequently found to be. without foundation, there would be no case for malicious. libel, supposing the statement hid been made with honest intent in the first instance, and the statement would therefore in fact be a privileged one then, presuming that! ih that base it was made without fear of prosecution by an a!ction; for libel. . y__ - L . y The Temperance Conference this eyening was well attended. The Bishop pi Wellington occupied the chair] Nearly atl the clergy ofj the place were present, besides aj large number of influential jcitizens, including the _ H6n. the Premier. The following is the text of ja petition which the conference propose to adopt for presentation tb Parliament:— " The petition of the undersigned, inhabitants^of the Province of '.. respectfully sheweth, — That in consideration . of the acknowledged ev|ls of intemperance, and the .-advanced state of public opinion on the matter of prohibition, no Licensing , Act cai meet the necessities of the case without clauses to the following effect, viz. 1— l.a That all licensing districts shall as far as possible be boimdecl by the - same boundaries as the existing highway district.-, • borough wards ; of boroughs, or other already defined areas of . nojt too great dimensions. - 2. ; That all licensing officers shall be elected by the ratepayers. 3. (That on the Requisition of twenty householders in any district, it shall be imperative on the chief magistrate or other authority of the district to take the votes' by ballot of all tfale adult residents in ; the}- district in the district in the usual electoral manner as to whether" aiiy licence shall or .shall, not be granted. 4. That in case of two-thirds of the actual votes given' being ! ; agaihsc the granting of any license, no license shall be granted for the said district; nor shall any district under any circumstances whatever be re-tested within a less period than three ytjars. 5. That no new licenses shall be g!Jaat_d unless the .person applying :f or such license shall in addition to complying with all other requirementsof the law, furnish to •the clerk df the court a memorial in favor of su|ch4icense being granted signed by at least a majority of the adults resident in the dis- ' triet 1 in which the house for which the license I, sojught is situate; such memorial tobe lodged one month prior to the day appointed for j the annual meeting of the licensing officers, ! kdd to be open for public inspection, and the genuineness of the signatures thereto to be verifiedon oath in open court.. , L 6. That applications for licenses shall be heard only at th!e ; ahnual meetings of 'the licensing officers! j Ypur petitioners pray "that the law of New lj Z. aland may be altered in conformity with rtb^s' petition, and that your Honorable House 1-niay be pleased to pass Tan Act embodying thp aforesaid clauses in such a manner as to give full l-gariorce and. effect."' ' -'•'■ i - . ■-„*,. ..... Tuesday. jOn yesterday's cable; hews, dated Singa- ' pore, June Siithi being repeated from Sydney, it was found that the following items were left out :-—"■ The Russians have occupied Sisfova. Thirty thousand Russians have crossed the Danube." ; The Australia arrived at San Erancisco on June 28th. She left Auckland oh June 6tbe The Grand Jury made a presentment to the : effect that there was ho legal provision existing in the district for keeping an official record of the brands and description „of cattle slaughtered by the butchers, and "the want of such a record led to a difficulty ' in ; tracing cattle, and to the miscarriage of justice. The jury also drew attention to the miserable Court accommodation. The Chief Justice promised to forward them to the proper quarters. The Grand Jury found No Bill in the case of Hillsden against Powell for criminal libel. A good deal of discussion took place last night at the conference for the suppression of; intemperance, but an adjournment till Monday took place without any result being arrived at, though the following motion was proposed: — "That the conference approves and recommends the main principles of the Local Option Bill." The speeches were very moderate in tone, but considerable diversity of opinion prevailed. In the Supreme Court to-day in the perjury case arising out of the Ocean Mail disaster at the Chatham Islands, Mr Travers gave notice of his intention to demur to the indictment on the ground of the informality of the procedings at the Chatham Islands. Joseph Burgess, for stealing a watch, was sentenced to 12 months; Matthew Kean, for stealing money from a boarding house, to 12 months; Frederick Lynass, for stealing a pair of boors, to two years, two previous convictions having been proved against him; James Kerr, for wife beating, to 12 months; E.A Walter, for stealing a cash box, to 12 months; George Morris, for stealing from a ChiaamaD, tb 12 moutlis.

CasiSToaoßOK,. Tuesday. Optoma duties qolleeted- during the past quart&r. amounted, tb, £_Bj93B,\aud rthe corresponding quarter last year amounted to £44<312. '■ ' ■ ; \ ; The: merchants who lost their produce by the fire in the export shed at Lyttelton a \shorfi. thj-h. ago ihteiid.pr aceedjhg kgai_)t fe' the\ Government for d*amages. v Counsel bas been retained, and the mercantil. community are Tto be asked to subscribe towards the oxpenses. I " Tbe police were sworn in under new re-gulations-yesterday. Sis men declined to bs . sworn in,- aud r great /dissatisfaction exists' among the police at the new atate of things; and if the swearing in had occurred in the summer a larger number o£ men would have ref osed further service. ■'•--■ -■ -- --■ Auckland, Monday. The cutter Dante, which left Onehunga two days ago for Waitara, is supposed to be ,|P.V* .l^attey <>•*■ wreckage and candles known as a portion of her cargo having been found on the coast between Manukau and ' Raglan. At the Supreme Court to-day, Judge GHhesi .fa his charge to the Grand Jury, said th«3_,calehdar was ihe lightest ever known in the* aopals of the' Court. Sis out of the ' Seven cases were from the out-district., only one being -from tfie city. In a case where a a juryman aent a medical certificate for nonatfendanbe, the Judge said this was not sufficient, and- he must sepd a person to' Court •ttbio to. swear to the genuineness of thesighature of: the medicarman. Jackson, for stealmg^fro__ a dwelling-bouse 'was sentenced--- to twelve imbntba' imprisonment. j A prkefighfefor ££0 a side was Interrupted by :the police just >_ the combatants wero about to begin. ' ' ! . - . ■>■ " xTFbatheestoht, Tuesday; Mr Georg^ Beetham iwas to-day elected a member of _ the House of Represkntatwjsa, vica Mr Andrew, [unopposed.'* -- "i 7.'. ', •'.; V lv t .]LiiiTß_,Tdk, Taefliji .- Hawea sailed North at 1 p.m. Passenger for Nelson— Mr Kicha_dson7 ' I .