The clause in the Municipal Corporations Bill which gives plurality of votes for elections for Councillors, was passed yesterday in the House of Representatives, after considerable discussion ; and so also inadvertently was a clause which affirmed a similar principle in the mayoral elections. The Premier intended to move an amendment on the clause as printed, so as to give burgesses only one vote, hut he did not hear the side note being read, and the clause was passed. The Bill will be recommitted, in order that the clause may be amended. In the House of Representatives yesterday Mr. J. E. Brown took occasion to dub Mr, Stout a walking encyclopedia of “ isms.”
"We are glad to learn that the lamps for the Martin Fountain have arrived by the last Melbourne steamer, and on this occasion uninjured and in perfectly good order. They will be put up during the week.
Attention is directed to an advertisement in another place notifiying the issue of a supplement with the New Zealand Times mail summary to-morrow, which will contain a portrait and memoir of the late Dr. Featherston.
The Rev. Dr. Roseby, a Church of England Minister, of Dunedin, who has recently been handled severely for having expressed some broad and advanced views in his lecture on “ Evolution not irreconcilable with Christianity,’’ has been presented with an address expressive of high appreciation of his ability and perfect confidence in hia teaching. A meeting of the committee of the Wellington Benevolent Institution was held yesterday afternoon. Present Mr. J. G. Holdsworth, elected chairman, Archdeacon Stock, Rev. Father Petitjean, Rev. A. Reid, and the secretary. A donation of £27 Is. 6d. was received, being proceeds of soiree at the Odd Fellows’ Hall for the benefit of Paul, Reidal, and Young.
Considering the condition of the weather, there was a very fair house at the Theatre Royal last night, when [the burlesque _of the “Invincible Prince” was repeated with the best possible effect. The burlesque is announced for repetition to-night,. and those who like to see a good piece well .put on the stage and well acted, should not lose the opportunity of attending.
At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday a man named William Powell was charged with stealing a coat from the shop of Messrs. Munro and Co. Robert Shearer, a lad in the employment of the firm, saw the man take the coat from a pile of goods exposed at the door of the shop. Prisoner had but recently come out of gaol after serving three months, and on the present charge he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, with hard labor.
The second of the aeries of concerts in Wellington by Mdlle. lima De Mnrska takes place to-night at the Odd Fellows’ Hall. The programme which is published in our columns is a very attractive one, and should draw a crowded house. It contains, amongst other numbers, a beautiful Hungarian song with variations, composed by Doppler expressly for Mdlle. De Murska, and much appreciated wherever she has sung it. But the great event of the evening will undoubtedly be Mdlle’s. rendering of the cavatina “ Casta Diva,” from “Norma,” spoken of every where as being in her hands a marvel of vocalisation. From what we have heard of Mdlle. De Murska’s powers, we predict such a treat as our citizens have never before experienced. Then there is the grand trio, “Belisario,” with Mdlle. and the Signori Eosnati and Susini, also a grand concerted duo on . violin and piano by Maestro Strauss Ilia and Mr. J. F. Hadley, besides solos by Signor Bosnati and Signor Susini. Altogether the programme is a most attractive one, and an entire change on its predecessor. A very large number of seats have again been let off, giving promise of as large and fashionable an audience as on Monday night. The proposal of the Government to make candidates for the office of Mayor deposit £lO on nomination day, to be forfeited if a certain proportion of votes are not polled, created a lively discussion yesterday in the House of Bepresentatives. Mr. Swanson dissented from the proposition unless it was made to apply to elections for councillors and elections for members of Parliament. The Premier pointed out that the House was not discussing a parliamentary electoral measure, and the distinction between the office of councillor and the office of mayor was, that the latter was a salaried office and the former was not. The clause was passed. For some time past a very pretty little quarrel has been going on among Foresters in Wellington as to the ownership of the Foresters’ Hall and the land upon which it stands. It seems the site was granted by the Superintendent of the province a number of years ago, when there was but one Court—the Sir George Grey Court—in existence, but since then two other Courts—Court Eobin Hood and Court Sir George Bowen —have been inaugurated, and the question as to whom the property belongs has been the bone of contention ever since. The old Court contends that the property was granted to it as a Court, and not as a society, and that therefore the other Courts have no share in the property. Some few years since an amicable arrangement was come to, but quarrels again arose,- and the parties refused to abide by it. Last session Court Sir George Bowen and Court Eobin Hood triad to get a public Bill passed to validate the arrangement, but the matter was dropped, and this year it was brought before the House as a private Bill. The Bill was referred to a committee, which took a large quantity of evidence, and yesterday the Chairman, Mr. O’Borke, brought up a report recommending the disallowance of the Bill. Court Sir George Grey therefore remains in possession of the property. In speaking to the subject, in committee on the Local Elections Bill yesterday afternoon, the Hon. Dr. Menzies paid a compliment to those of the laboring class with whom he had been brought into' contact professionally and otherwise in his district. Taking the fiftyacre section holders as specimena'of their class, he thought, considering their education and experience, as much good feeling would be found amongst them as in any other section of the community.
If Chriachurch football clubs are so exceedingly poor as to be unable to pay debts, at least they might exhibit their poverty at home and not abroad. A Victorian paper of July 12th says ;—Judge Cope ruled that a visitor from an adjoining colony, who had ordered goods to be made up at a tailor’s establishment, was liable to the jurisdiction of our Victorian courts, though not domiciled here. His presence in the colony was sufficient evidence of his “ residence ” to bring him under the law ; and a verdict was given for the amount and costs against the secretary of a football club in Christchurch, New Zealand, for which he had ordered uniforms.
The main provisions of the Land Transfer Act Amendment Bill, read a second time in the Legislative Council yesterday, are as follows:—When any land shall have been brought under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, 1870, upon the application of any person claiming to be the proprietor thereof, no person claiming any estate or interest in such land by virtue of any deed or instrument which prior to the bringing of such land under the said Act might have been registered against the same under the provisions of the Deeds Registration Act, 1868, shall have any claim or action against the RegistrarGeneral of Land, or upon the assurance fund, by reason of deprivation of such estate or interest occasioned by bringing such land under the said Act upon such application, unless such deed or instrument shall have been duly registered as aforesaid. The District Land Registrar may, if required by any lessee, mortgagee, or purchaser from the grantees, or from either of them, of land within his district granted to persons of the native race, assess the amount payable for contribution to the assurance fund in respect of the land so leased, mortgaged, or purchased, which assessment the District Land Registrar shall have power to make upon such evidence as to the value of the land as he shall deem sufficient ; and upon payment of the amount so assessed, and of all fees due for the issue and registration of the Crown grant, the land the subject of such assessment shall bo released from further liability to the assurance fund in respect of the grant, and the District Land Registrar may register any dealings therewith. Acknowledgments by married women to be valid if made in accordance with the provisions of the Conveyancing Ordinance Amendment Act, 1871. Sections 6,7, 8, and 10, of Conveyancing Ordinance Amendment Act, 1860, and Sales by Mortgagees Act, 1870, to extend to sales by mortgagees under. Land Transfer Act. Any person who, not being duly authorised, shall in any manner represent himself to be, or shall transact business as, or use the style and title of, a land broker under the said Act, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay a penalty of £SO,
Thomas Sale, who was arrested here on a warrant from Dunedin, charged with larceny of a watch as a bailee, has been discharged without a stain on his character.
The warrant for the arrest of the man Blair, charged with fraudulent bankruptcy, arrived from Dunedin yesterday. Blair will be brought before the Resident Magistrate to-morrow, and remanded to Dunedin for trial.
The Otago Times states; Between the 20th of June and the 20th of July there were 58 nominations, equal to 54 statute adults, made through the Dunedin office for free passages for persons at Home to this colony. The Dunedin Evening Star, writing of Mr. Whitaker’s resolutions re colonisation of the land fund, says ;—When it was pointed out before the last election that this was part of the Opposition platform, this journal was pronounced blind, and members were elected expected by their supporters to vote against the Government, although last year they took a determined stand in support of the compact of 1856. The chief reason for opposing the abolition measures was that our land fund was in danger, and so persistently was this set forth by the candidates and our contemporaries that reason was utterly useless to expose the hollowness of an election cry. The mask is now off. Sir George Grey, the idol of last session, is pronounced the incapable of this—small compliment to the brains of those who accepted him last year as a leader. Mr. Whitaker, the proposer of the laud-swallowing resolution, succeeds him. Party feelings out of the question, how can our Otago representatives vote with him 1 If the present Ministry is ousted, he must become a leading member of a new administration. Supposing he succeeds to office on the question of financial separation—the new move on the part of our Superintendent and Otago members—they are to assist a man into office whose leading object is to rob the province. We do not think a Ministry could be formed under his leadership that would last a month ; but should he succeed in forming a Government, he cannot, if true to himself, throw over the principle he has so prominently asserted. Notwithstanding all the coquetting of the leading men, it is difficult to form an Opposition platform on which they can agree. Otago wants what Canterbury does not desire ; Auckland will help Otago to cut its own throat, and thus far no plan has been shown likely to work more satisfactorily than that proposed by the Ministry. They do not commit themselves at present to any measures that may not be altered by the House. The great battle of the session will most probably be on finance. On that subject there are plenty of quacks and few that understand it. We doubt if even on that subject men superior to the present Ministry are available. Twenty-four shillings per head has just been obtained for 38,000 sheep on a Barcoo run (Queensland.) A small herd of cattle on the same run has brought £9 per head. The Capricornian says that five years ago the vendors are said to have bought this same run from the Union Bank for a mere song. At that time sheep and runs were deemed almost valueless by shrewd bank directors, and every unfortunate squatter who had anything to lose was unceremoniously screwed up and turned adrift upon the world. Times have changed now, certainly, when in the face of a drooping wool market a run 400 miles from port fetches 245. per head.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4787, 26 July 1876, Page 2
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2,112Untitled New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4787, 26 July 1876, Page 2
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