Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 191, 12 August 1881, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1881.

We must again call attention to the inconvenience arising from there being virtually no Resident Magistrate in Nelson, a cast having come under our notice which shows what may happen in the absence of such an official. A woman whose husband bas become a perfect slave to drink, and wbo refuses to contribute anything towards the maintenance of his wife and family, wants to obtain a protection order, but as tbis can only be granted by a Resident Magistrate she' learns on application at tbe ofiice that it is impossible to obtain one before tbe 15th of September, about which date it is expected tbat Mr Broad may return from hia visit to the West Coa6t. It may be said

that this is only a small matter, bnt, small or great, there should be no possibility of its occurrence in a town like Nelson, and the (jGVernment should lose no more time in making so necessary an appointment aa that of a resident Resident Magistrate. If our interests are so neglected at present, what sort of treatment may wo look for if the provisions of the Representation Bill are carried out as proposed, and our power of commanding attention to our requirements is bo largely rf duced ? Captain* Bunny, acting in charge- of the district, received this morning a letter from the Undc-r-Secietary for Defence, stating that His Excellency the Governor has approved of Private James Hunter, of the Waimea Rifles, being dismissed from the Volunteer Force of New Zealand for repeated absence from parade and disobedience to ordei-3 and rules. The dismissal will be gazetted in due form and made public throughout the colony. This should be a wholesome lesson toother members of the force who may be drifting into a similar position. A football hatcii will be played in the Botanical Eeserve to-morrow afternoon between the Nelson and College Clubs. The following is the Nelson team : — Adams, Askew, E. T.Atkinson, W. Atkinson, Bolton, Burnett, Godfrey, Etching, Palmer, Pickett, J. Pollock, R. Pollock, W. Richmond, Whitwell, and Walker. The Rev Mr Berry's lectare on America, which was to have been delirered at Wakefield on Tuesday last, was postponed until next Tuesday on account of the inclement weather. Public Hall at Stoke was well filled on Thursday evening upon the occasion of the delivery of this lecture, the musical selections being provided by the Misses Green with their usual ability. The Rev W. A, Wbyte, who presided, remarked that from what he had heard of the lecture he had come expecting a treat, but that the reality surpassed his utmost expectations. In order to remove any misapprehension that may arise from a letter which appeared in our morning contemporary relative to the possibility of the country correspondence for the San Francisco mail being shut out by the advertised closing of the mail at 9 o'clock tomorrow, we have been requested to state that no anxiety need be felt on that bead as ariaugementß are always made for forwarding letters, &c , from the country even should they arrive in town only half an hour before the sailing of a steamer. With the limited staff in the Post Office it is, perhaps, compulsory that the English mail should be closed at wbat appears an unnecessarily early hour, but the complaints are not so loud on this point «s they frequently are at the time appointed for the sailing of the steamer, which is often a couple of hours earlier than there is any occasion for, and sometimes as much as that before she actually does leave the wharf. This might, and on English mail days ought to, be avoided. After waiting Borne days to learn from our Wellington exchanges that which should have been supplied by the Press Association we are able to give the result of the trial of Galland at Hokitika. A telegram from that place dated Tuesday last says:— The jury did not agree in the case Regina v. Galland, for indecent assault, and were discharged at 8 o'clock yesterday morning. A fresh jury was empanelled, and a new trial began, wbich lasted all day, concluding at 6 p.m., when the jury, aftsr retiring for half an hour, acquitted the prisoner The JV Z. Times of yesterday says that rumors have been current the last day or two respecting a probable change in the general management of railways. It wag said that serious differences had arisen between the Acting Minister of Public Works and the general manager, and that in consequence thereof the latter had Bent in his resignation. Without being in a position to pronounce positively upon the truth or fahehosd of these reports, we yet are inclined to believe that there is something in them more than mere unfounded rumor.