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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4793, 2 August 1876, Page 2

In the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon Sir Julius Yogel stated that the select committee on the Eaatern Maori District election having reported that Karaitiana should take his seat, the Government intended to offer no opposition, and-would-give-every possible facility for the carrying out of the recommendation of the committeo with as little delay as possible. - Subsequently Mr. Curtjs' proposed that Karaitiana Takamoana" ahoiild be permitted to take his seat. He entered into an explanation of:the: proceedings;of the com^ttee>:-'and.'iiiiltinwtely:>moved7 that the :elerk to the House' should attend at half-pjist j two o'clock, in order'to endorse the return of Karaitiana on the writ for the Eastern Maori District election. Sir Julius

Vogel "said that thfeGoverhment,-whilst not endorsing the' conclusion arrived at by the committee, recognised sie inquiry which that v cQmjmittee had and would thereforejaequieace' in" the result. Mr. Curtis's motion "was then carried on the voices. During the afternoon's proceedings in Parliament yesterday the Hom;.Mr.~Bichardson made a statement a 3 to the'damage done to the Brunnerton Gorge,railway bridge. He described that by theT anchor plates on the south side of the--Grey giving way, the superstructure of the;", \ bridge ; -»fell into the river. The piers' were in no way injured. Since the acpident active steps had been taken to recover the material, and it was hoped that not more than a small proportion of the superstructure, costing ■ £6O, would be lost. The estimate was that the reconstruction of the work would cost £IOOO. The calculation was that the, strength of the anchor plates was three times the strength requisite. The accident, Bhowed either that the castings were faulty,, or that there was an error in the general calculations and design of the bridge. The design was made in the head office in Wellington, and the Government intended to make the strictest investigation—to lay blame where there was blame, and to discover whose fault it was—and the result of that. investigation would be laid before the House. In reply to Mr. Burns, he added thati. there were!! no other bridges in the colony being ibuilt on,the same plans, and Mr. Burns' obtained leave to withdraw questions of which he had given notice. Complaints about the accommodation, or want of accommodation, in the Resident Magistrate's Court, have become very monotonous, so far at least as the Press is concerned. Leaders and paragraphs abusive of that miserable little hole which does duty for a court of law, have so frequently appeared that to refer to it again might lay us open to a charge of fadding matter wherewith to fill the [paper, were it not for the fact that a protest has been entered from quite a different quarter. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, just prior to the commencement of an affiliation case, Mr. Moorhouse drew the attention of Mr. Crawford to the fact (one with which he is already too well acquainted) that there was no accommodation there for the Bench, the Bar, the Press, or the public. Lawyers had not even sufficient room to put their papers with any confidence of their not getting mixed up with other things. The clerk occupied the whole of the table. Mr. Crawford stated that he had given the business up as a bad job ; he had made plenty of representations as to the insufficiency of the accommodation, but no good result had followed. Mr. Moorhouse then requested his Worship to make a strong representation to the Government on behalf of the Bar. Mr. Buller, who was opposing Mr. Moorhouse in the case before the Court, expressed his entire concurrence in the remarks made by his learned friend ; and Mr. Crawford promised to convey to the Government the complaints made by the Bar. Something ought really to be done without delay. The matter has already been postponed too long. There are more evils than one calculated to arise out of the existence ofjsuch a cramped, primitive style of room as that which is known as the Resident Magistrate's Court of Wellington. The officials, clerk of the court and others, have positively not sufficient room for the efficient performance of their duties, and there is no accommodation for spectators further than a space scarcely large enough to swing a cat in. As to the gentlemen of the legal profession, when occasion requires they seem to get in anyhow, and such is the wonderful confusion of things, everybody seeming to be in a heap, as it were, that they never emerge again into the free air without exerting their physical powers to an extent perhaps even greater than . they have been exerting their intellects previously. It is needless to say anything about the reporters who are compelled to attend the court. They have suffered long, and begin to regard. the, inhalation of foul air, and being occasionally* flattened but between large sections of the body politic, as part of their daily duty. Speaking 'seriously, however, we may be permitted to repeat that the building is a positive disgrace to Wellington. It's existence is a crying shame, and the sooner it is pulled clown, and another substituted, or in some way altered so as to suit the times, the more creditable will it be to Wellington and those who have the responsibility of seeing to such matters.