New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4879, 10 November 1876, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10.

Thebe ia an old saw which says that the perfection of sport is to have the “ engineer hoist with his own petard.” We venture to think that Mr. James Mac andbew, even with the result of the Convention before him, should have as practical and clear an apprehension of the application of 'this truth as any other gentleman in New Zealand. No doubt the point of view from which ho will see the truth is different from that of other people, but the truth will be not the less incisively impressed upon his mind for that reason. . Had Mr. Macandrew anticipated the state of matters and of minds which his efforts to assemble his Convention would reveal in the province of Otago, he would, we imagine, have adopted some other mode of warfare, Otago is so very_ far from unanimity on the point, that it is not at all certain that by far the greater number of her sturdy and sensible people do not hold an opinion quite at variance with that of Mr, Macandrew and the bnsybodies who act with him. The replies both from individuals and from bodies corporate to his invitation to this precious “Convention” must have been more wholesome than pleasing to his taste. It will be well for his peace of mind and for the good of his district if he will read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the very sensible replies which have reached him. Southland dings his patent nostrum “ Convention ” like physic to the dogs, and straightway proceeds to beep high holiday on the very day of the funeral of the defunct provincial system. But above all, let Mr, Macandrew lay well to heart the practical rejoinder made by Oamaru. We think that this reply of the people of Oamaru is honorable to themselves, and completely embodies and exemplifies what the attitude should be of persons who although they dissented from the principle of the Abolition Bill, yet remember and realise the fact that they live under a constitution il government, and wish to obey the laws enacted by the Legislature in which they have a voice. For the benefit of any who may not have, read the telegram, we here re-; print it . Oamaru, Monday. . At a special meeting of the Municipal Council this morning, the following resolutions were unanimously passed f— That this Council decline .to appoint any person to represent them at the convention called by, Mr. Macandrew, as they are of opinion that the. Abolition Act haring been passed by a very decided majority of both Houses, it should now, be fairly tried on lie merits; neither can they fall to recognise the extreme undesirability of establishing as a precedent the right of the minority to use their power to prevent the operation of laws passed by a largo roajo ity, even before such laws have had any trial. Further, the Council Is of opinion that it all parties unite to give effect to abolition, they are much more likely to eliminate anything unsatisfactory in the working, and to substitute Improvements. In all aspects this unanimous resolution of the-Muhicipal. Council of - Oamaru reflects the greatest credit , upon it. ! We believe this place elected both its members oppoaedtothA policy‘of permitting the Abolition- Bill' to' becbme law, but now that' the battle has been fought and lost by them, they desire that the policy

embodied in this Act shall have a fair trial. They refuse to be parties to the truculent attempt of a. small portion of the colonists to set at'nought the wellconsidered decision of the national assembly, and like men who feel that, institutions are more than form, and patriotism more than breath, they wish to test, and perhaps improve, the working of, the new institutions. In all this there is much, very much ground for congratulation. It is plain that no inconsiderable part of the people of the Southern' part of the colony either retain, or have ao-. quiredthe true constitutional spirit, which is the spirit. of mutual allowance and concession, in fact the ’ essence of politics. It is clear that these people can now see beyond the boundaries of what was the province of Otago, and are able to realise that they are citizens of New Zealand. All this we say is most satisfactory. At best, as a colony, we are in a transition state; our efforts at adopting the form of our institutions to our expanding life are but tentative, and it will require the best co-operation of the best men in the colony to carry out to a successful issue the scheme of policy initiated by the Legislature, It is certainly calculated to alarm people who never perhaps devoted a thought to the matter when they see the pernicious and pestilent spirit of political disunion and paltry locality which provincialism has fostered. But at the same time it must be reassuring to all to note portions of the colony subjected to the worst of these influences, and but lately rabidly responsive to their evil power, now awaking from their day dream, and the people giving proof that they never had really lost the solid substratum of their common sense. Again, we would advise Mr. James Macandrbw and all others, the little great men who can’t see their own smallness, to study diligently this most remarkable resolution of the Oamaru Council.

The cable steamer Agues leit vVoraer Bay yesterday afternoon about three o’clock, and picked up the cable in the Strait without the slightest difficulty. It was successfully buoyed before half-past seven, and she again returned into the harbor a little after nine last night. As to the allegations which have been made as to the rooky character of the bottom where the oable is laid, it may be mentioned that it is not rocky at all, but actually consists o* blue mud, which Captain Sims considers the best species possible. The bearings of the new buoy are advertised in another column.

W, 5 would not trouble our readers with a further reference to the case Thomas v. Wood, but that our evening contemporary, the Post , in its .Wednesday night’s issue calls in question the accuracy of our report in a material particular. The defendant, by Dr. Duller, contended that a claim more than six years old could not be taken out of the Statute of Limitations by a written acknowledgment, unless that written acknowledgment were signed by the party to be charged. Mr. Quick contended, on behalf of the defendant, that the signature of o lawfully authorised agent would be quite sufficient, Dr. Duller-was perfectly right as to the wording of the Statute of Limitations aid the state of the laws for some time afterwards, but by the Imperial Act, 19 and 20 Vic., c. 97, and by our own Mercantile I,aw Amendment Act, 1860, it is enacted (in reference to the Statute of Limitations) that “an acknowledgment or promise made or contained by, or in a writing signed by, an agent of the party chargeable thereby, duly authorised to make such acknowledgment or promise, shall have the same effect as if such writing had been signed by such party himself.” , Dr. Duller quoted that part of a text-book which referred to the state of the law prior to 19 and 20 Vic. Mr. Quick quoted a text-book in its reference to the state of the law since 1860. We leave it to our readers to judge which was the more modern authority. The adjourned meeting of the Hutt County Agricultural, Horticultural, and Pastoral Association was held in the Taita schoolroom on Wednesday evening, Mr. Worth in the chair. Although there was a fair attendance, it was’ thought desirable to adjourn the meeting to the Mechanics’ Institute, Lower Hutt, in order that people from other portions of the district might be enabled to attend. Prom the interest already manifested, arid the desire exhibited to become subscribers, a large meeting is anticipated, and the members of committee present promised to have the meeting well advertised, arid they had no doubt that once the objects of the society became known, it would be generally supported. The rules and regulations laid before the meeting were considered very appropriate ; and the names of Messrs. N, Valentine and William Brown were added to the preliminary committee. Mr. Powell, the ventriloquist, gave his first entertainment in Wellington in oulcott-street Halllast night. He comes to us with firstrate credentials from the West Coast as having no equal in his line of business, and we are glad to welcome him back to the profession which be was compelled to abandon by a serious illness. Some of his feats were truly extraordinary, and we should like to have the opportunity of seeing his skill tested in a larger building. There was a large attendance, and the performance was erithu iastically received by those present. Mr. Powell was assisted by some Ucal amateurs, who did good service in varying 1 the entertainment throughout the evening.

The New Zealand Herald of the 6th instant says that Sir George Grey left by steamer for the Kawau on Saturday morning, to enjoy a short respite from official life for a few days. Late exchanges contain accounts of the gale which has been raging in the North, -nd from which it would appear that Considerable damage has been done in various directions, particularly at the Thames, which is much exposed to the fury of storms when they occur, and one of the cowers which support the line across the Thames river was, as we have already stated, struck by lightning, thereby stopping communication with Auckland,; whiph was afterwards restored. It is sng gested by a Thames correspondent of the New Zealand Herald that it would be better,to submerge the wire, and do away with the coat of repairs, as well as the nuisance to vessels navigating the Thames or Piako. In an article on peripatetic Parliaments the Southland Timet expresses its affection for Dunedin as follows ‘ Dunedin represents nothing but Dunedin und the district immediately surrounding that city. It has long lived-on the plunder of the country districts, and there is no love lost on either side between the two.” Then follows a laudation of Invert cargill’a claims to be regarded favorably a< the locale for Parliament: —“If it is necessary that the seat of Government, or the session of Parliament should be transferred to some place in Otago, so that the people might become acquainted with the geography, manners, and customs of the most important provincial district in New Zealand, Invercargill 'would be the most suitable place. It represents Otago, which ,Dunedin does not,. We are not bigoted, however, in.favor of our own town, though it is a thriving and increasing one, has a fine climate, and excellent soil, and will probably in a few years be the capital of the South of New Zealand. Perhaps we might suggest, as a provisional compromise which ought to suit all parties concerned, that while the seat of Government should remain for a time at Wellington, we should have an itinerant Parliament sitting in successive years at the most important places in the colony, the various portentwhich the mail steamers call, starting with Invercargill in 1877. and working up to Auckland in seven or eight years hence." There were no cases down for hearing at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, criminal or-‘civilJ ' It is seldom, that such a fact has to' be recorded. At, least there are generally a few cases, in which inebriates arts interested, to bo recorded. ' .. . ; , , i

In consequence of pressure on our space, a number of letters are unavoidably held over. The' usual meeting of .the WOlhugton Teachers’ Association will be held in the Sydney-street schoolroom on Saturday morning. The' man,’Anderson whowaaarrested at Nelson for stealing .a dog in Wellington, left by the a.B. Wellington for-thia port yesterday. A man named Robinson, who had his leg broken at Foxton by the fall of a tree, was brought to Wellington by the Tut yesterday, and admitted to the hospital. . . The Artillery Cricket Club have sent a challenge to the Christchurch Artillery to play the latter a match in their own city. It is expected that the challenge will be accepted. The following recipe for tiue eloquence is given by a Down Bast orator ; “ Get yourself chuck full of the subject, knock out the bung, and let nature caper.” A meeting of the City Council will be held to-day at 4 o’clock p.m. This is the ordinary meeting; and is to be held to-day because yesterday was a general holiday. The Supreme Court will sit to-day for the ’purpose of hearing an application on behalf of Louisa Smith for admission to bail, and two civil cases. A telegram in a San Francisco paper announces the death of Mr. Lawson, formerly financial editor of the London Times. The deceased gentleman obtained notoriety through his connection with Baron Grant’s business transactions. The six o’clock train from the Upper Hutt last night carried very nearly 1000 passengers, which is certainly the greatest number of passengers conveyed by any one train on the Wellington railway since it has :been open: for traffic. The Southland Times has a neat little mourning border round its obituary column, and the following notice in early English type ; —“ Death.—At Dunedin, on October 31, 1870, the Superintendent of Otago, and the members of his Executive, deeply and sincerely regretted by all who knew them.— Itequicscant in pace." At the last sitting of the Church of Auckland Diocesan Synod, the principal business was the consideration of plans for the extension! of Home Mission work in the diocese, and the passing a resolution as to the desirability of forming an association for its furtherance.- Some noteworthy details were given by Archdeacon Clarke as to the spiritual destitution prevailing in the Bay of Islands district, and kindly acknowledgments were made of the debt of gratitude owing to the laity who had acted as Scripture readers, and in other ways to further the cause of the Church, This is what the New York Sun says of a female dwarf half the size of Tom Thumb : A large number of physicians went to Tony Pastor’s Theatre lately to see the Mexican dwarf, Lucia Z: irate. They measured her, and ascertained her height to be twenty-one inches, her feet three inches long, her legs below the knees four inches in circumference, and her hands an inch and a quarter broad. Her mother, who is robust and of medium size, says that Lucia is twelve years old. Her face is older than that. Her features are Spanish, and her complexion dark. Her activity is incessant. She piayed pranks with the physicians and talked fast in Spanish. She stepped into a high silk hat, crouched down, and was out of sight excepting her head. She squeezed one of her pliable little hands through a rather large finger ring. The baud of an adult made an ample seat for her. Standing on a chair, and holding to the back of it, her fingers stuck through the spaces in the canework—holes that just admitted the passage of a small penholder. She was not weighed, but her weight is said to be five pounds, and, poised in the hand, she does not seem heavier. Her clothing is comically small, as though intended for adoll. the shoes and stockings especially being toylike. Tom Thumb has grown appreciably since he was exhibited by Barnum; but when he first astonished the public he was twice as large as Lucia, and he was then about her present age. She has not grown any, her mother says, since she was a year old.