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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5427, 19 August 1878, Page 2

In the Legislative Council on Friday last a Bill intituled (i An Act to enable a lt Member of the Legislative Council not “ holding a Ministerial office to be apiS pointed a Member of the Executive “ Council ” was, after some discussion, read a second time, and ordered to bo committed on Tuesday next. The business of the Legislative Council is now very much too largo to be transacted satisfactorily by one Minister, and the division of labor is unfair which keeps six Ministers in ihe House of Representatives and one only in the Council. The proper remedy appears to bo either to add another Minister to the Cabinet with a seat in the Council, or, if the number of Ministers cannot bo increased, to make an effort to manago with five Ministers instead of six in the House, and transfer one to the other Chamber. The Hon. the PostmasterGeneral does not appear to have very much dialectic or official business to transact, and would fill the vacancy on the bench in the Council very satisfactorily. It may be gathered from the report of the debate that honorable gentlemen will not be content, much as they desire that the Colonial Secretary should have assistance, with any tiling less than a Responsible Minister. In this we think they are right. Wo will not suppose that any slight is intended to be put upon the Council by the proposed arrangement, but the inconveniences of it are manifest. A member of the Executive Council, not being of the Cabinet, is not a Responsible Minister, and does not necessarily go out upon a change of Government. If two or more such changes take place during a session, and a fresh addition to the number of the Executive Council be made upon each occasion, his Excellency would in time have a somewhat incongruous collection of advisers, and the harmony of meetings might bo seriously troubled, whilst the “ liability” of honorable members to receive travelling allowances would bo proportionately extended. The necessity for the presence of a second Minister in the Council being admitted, it is to bo hoped that the want will be provided for in such a way as to give no fresh ground for complaint of want of respect and consideration, on the part of the Government, for an important branch of the Colonial Legislature.

The difficulty in determining the question of retirement by rotation in the Municipal Council is not yet ended, but, like the troubles which fell upon Mr. Briocis, of comic memory, in consequence of his attempt to deal with a loose slate upon the roof of his house, are only beginning We printed in our last an opinion given by the City Solicitor that Dr. Diver must be the retiring Councillor, and not Blr. Alia:,. .The City Solicitor having, wo hope, since received a “refresher,” has taken a now view of the case, as will bo seen from the following memorandum addressed to the Town Clerk :

[Memorandum for Town Clerk.] August 17, 187 S. I was somewhat misled Lj r tho terms in which the question wa* put to me as to whether Mr. Diver or Mr Allan should retire from the Council for the pappose? of tho forthcoming election. The facts I understand to bo as follows :~ At a first general election within section OG of tho Municipal Corporations Act, 187 G, Mr. Mills was, amongst others, nominated as a candidate for one of the wards, his name being then on tho roll, although improperly so. Ho was declared duly elected, and was sworn in as a councillor and sat at several meetings. Under these circ 'instances lam of opinion that Councillor Mills’election cmid only havcbeciv impeached under tho second part of section 50 of tho 3'c 'illation of Local Elections Act, IS7G, which was not done. Mr, Mills however, in view of tho penal clauses of the Municipal Corporations Act, resigned his seat, and thereupon an election was held as if an extvaordin try vacancy ha I occurred. It is to bo observed, however, that no power of resignation is given by the Municipal Corporations Act, and therefore the office held by Mr. Mills was not properly vacated. Under these circumstances 1 am of opinion that Dr. Diver’s election was a mere nullity. A similar difficulty existed under tho English Municipal Corporations Act untU amended by the 0 and 7 William IV., C. 1(U, section 8, by which latter Act provision was made enabling c uncill'»rs to resign their offices. No doubt, under tho Municipal Cor porations Act, 187 G, Mr. Mills' office may bo treated as vacant in consequence of ids having been absent from four consecutive meetings of the Council without leave of the Council, but until some formal step has been taken to treat his office as vacant, I am of opinion that, Ids election not having been impeached, he must be deemed to be a councillor for the purpos a of the coming election. In view of this opinion, I think it unnecessary to enquire into the very difficult questions which would arise under tho .Regulation ot Local Elections Act. as between Dr. Diver and Mr. Allan, if there had been a power of resignation in tho Municipal Corporations Act.

IV m. Tiios. Locke Travers, City Solicitor. It appears now that a Municipal Councillor under our colonial Act, like a member of the House of Commons, has no power to divest himsolf directly of tho trust with which he is invested by his constituents. But the member of Parliament may disqualify himself by accepting the stewardship of tho Chiltorn Hundreds, and tho Municipal Councillor by absenting himself, without leave, from four consecutive meetings of his Council. In either case there must, it appears, bo a formal declaration and record of the vacancy. Tho consequence is that Mr. Mitts, whoso election was probably invalid, and who resigned, lias been a Councillor all tho while, and that Dr. Diver, whoso election appeared to bo regular and valid, has uovor been a Councillor at all, tho extraordinary vacancy which ho was supposed to have filled novor having had any existence. There has thus been a “stranger’ 1 in tho Council at every meeting, and _it will probably bo held that all its proceedings have been informal in consequence. Fortunately tho Parliament is now sitting, and a “little Bill” may cure this very remarkable defect hi the constitution of tho Council; but it is impossible not to fool some regret that tho case for counsel was not stated in tho first instance with sufficient fulness, or that tho “refresher ” should havo opened the oyes of tho City Solicitor so very wide.

In another portion of our columns will be found a very interesting paper by Mr. Monekton Synnot, the well-known Victorian woolbroker, who for a considerable time past has boon unremitting in his exertions to opon the markets of China and Japan to the staple product of Australia and New Zealand, Tile visit of the Japanese Comraiss'onors to Sydney and Melbourne has boon taken advantage of by Mr. Synuot to bring tho subject prominently under the notice of these gentlemen, and to point out to them that tho wool produced in New Zealand is e<peoia!ly adapted for weaving into cloth suitable for wear in their country. If success attends tho efforts made to open up this trade no little credit will bo duo to Mr. Synnot, who has steadily kept tills object in view for years, and has pursued it amongst many difficulties. \Ve have on several occasions directed attention to the great value and importance of those new markets being open for our wool, fooling convinced that if this trade is once fairly established there is practically hardly any limit to it, and that the great prosperity which this colony now enjoys will bo vastly augmented by it. As our rentiers are aware, the Cfiamber of Commerce —a very proper body to deal with the question—-is quite alive to tho advantages to he derived from tho trade, and will do what it can to promote it. Wo are not without hope that the Japanese Commissioners will pay a visit to Now Zealand before returning to their country', an I that the Government will afford every facility for such a purpose; but tho reply of tho Brainier to a question recently put in the House of Representatives, as to what had been done in tho matter, was so very vaguo, as reported, that wo hardly know whether anything practical lias been done or not. If, however, tho commissioners do not visit us, no time should bo lost in forwarding to them samples of our wool, yarns, &c., and also affording them the fullest information possible on tho subject. If this is not done, a groat opportunity of promoting tho welfare of the colony will havo been lost.

A deputation appointed at a meeting of persons interested in the proposed Wellington and IToxton railway by way of the West Coast, bold at the Chamber of Commerce ,on Thursday last, will wait upon the Minister of Public Works, by appointment, at eleven o’clock this morning. •

The Wellington Volunteer Artillery Ball is advertised to take place, iu the Provincial Hall on Monday, the 2nd September. A person named Edward Smith Bailey was arrested yesterday for attempting to commit buicide. The master of the barque Sophia R. Luhrs gave one of his seamen in charge on Saturday for wilful disobedience of lawful communis. The man will ho brought before the Resident Magistrate to-day. A number of footballers, representing different clubs, had a scratch match on the Basin Reserve on Saturday afternoon. The day was fine, and during the game some very good play was exhibited. Mr. Pharazyn will to-morrow ask the Colonial Secretary whether it is the established rule of the department over which he presides, that when complaint is made against the misconduct of a civil servant of the Government, the complainant is referred to the Courts of Law for redress ? The programme of to-night’s concert at the Athenauun will bo found in our advertising columns. It is, as is invariably the case, a most attractive one, and notwithstanding counter attractions elsewhere, the usual largo and appreciative audiences for which these popular concerts are noted will in all probabilty be obtained on this occasion. An accident occurred in Willis-streofc on Saturday to a light market cart from the Xlorokiwi District. The vehicle upset (how wo did not ascertain), and turned completely over, sending its contents, principally eggs, flying. Beyoud the damage to the eggs but lie tie mischief seemed to have been done, for in a Uttle while matters were put to rights, and the cart proceeded on its way. On Saturday night Sergeant Smith and Constable Connolly while going down the wharf saw a sailor reeling from side to side. The man was evidently very much the worse for liquor, and was taken into custody. If some one had not been at hand to take charge of him, he would in all probability have tumbled off the wharf into the water and been drowned. Notice has been given that a motion will be founded on the official communication of the Speaker presented to the Legislative Council on Priday. The memorandum suggests to the Council the desirability of referring to the Standing Orders Committee the expediency of taking measures for securing to that Chamber, by Act of Parliament, theservices of competent persons, to enable it to exercise with efficiency and despatch the functions entrusted to it by the Constitution Act.

A man named James Collins had a very narrow escape from drowning on Saturday morning, and had it not been for the prompt assistance of Brown, the night watchman, Collins would in all human probability have been drowned. It appears that as the watchman was walking down the wharf he heard a noise as if from a man in the water. On making a search he discovered the man Collins clinging to one of the piles in an almost exhausted state. Brown at once let himself down, and succeeded in keeping the drowning man above water until extra help was obtained, when Collins was safely landed on the wharf and taken to the police station, where he was attended by Dr. Diver, and was soon out of danger. An accident occurred at Petoni on Saturday to Mr. John Cavanagh, who was driving a trap into town. When near the railway crossing the horso got one of his forelegs into a hole in the road and fell, bringing the vehicle down with him. Mr. Cavanagh was thrown out, and was much shaken and braised, the trap had one of the shafts broken and was otherwise damaged, and the horse is said to be so much hurt as to be rendered incapable of doing any work for some tuns to come. The road at the spot indicated, as well as in some other places between the Hutt and town, would be none the worse forthe filliugof holes and other repairs, and tho road board, now that its attention is thus drawn prominently to the matter, wilt no doubt see the necessity of putting the road in thorough repair. Two seamen belonging to the ship Medea were charged at the Police Court on Saturday with attempting to rescue a prisoner from the custody of Constable O’Farrell. The case was fully proved, and their Worships (Messrs. 1 Wallace and Holt) sentenced the prisoners to two mon:hs impris lament, Jwitli hard glabor. The only other business was the disposal of one inebriate, who was fined 55., with the alternative of 21 hours* imprisonment, and an unfortunate woman who was brought up on suspicion of and remanded for medical examination. until this morning. A country hotelkeeper has given us {Hawke's Bay Herald) notice to “knock off” his advertisement, and states his reason to be ‘•'simply because he cannot afford the money it costs, now that the price of beer is about to be raised.” He has, ho says, to consider how best to make both ends meet, and one of the means he adopts for effecting this very desirable conjunction is to withdraw his advertisement. It is to be hoped that his scheme of economy will not prove that his remedy is worse than tho disease. He remarks that “ people talk about tho extraordinary profits of selling beer, but they forget all about the big rent which tho publican has to pay every week, besides £lO a year for a license.” Then ho exclaims, “ What horrible scoundrels these publicans are ! They ought to be crashed ! So ought the hon. Mr. Blank.” Evidently our correspondent feels warm on the subject, and somewhat sore too. We {Hawke's Bay Herald, 16th inst.,) learn that an information has been laid against certain natives for having stopped the road works in course of formation between Wanstead and Tahoraite, and seized tho tools, &c. The matter will probably come before the Court at Waipawa in a few days. We (Wanganui Chronicle, 16th inst.,) notice that Mr. Stalfan, who for a longtime has been engaged in tho manufacture of rope from New Zealand flax, has purchased a powerful engine and boiler, which he has erected on his premises in St. Hill-street, where the work of flax-dressing is now in full awing. Mr. Staffan lias worked long and patiently to establish ropemaking as a local industry, and we trust that with the increased appliances now at his command, he will have full success.

An exchange says ;—One of the species of the famous aoa-serpont, the mystery surrounding which has been a source of trouble to the scientific mind, was exhibited in Melbourne a few days ago. Like the wonderful Australian bunyip, the sea-serpent has often been seen and heard of, but the distinction of securing one was left to young men in Tasmania, who wore fortunate enough to obtain that exhibited in May last. Its length is II feet 2 inches, whilst the breadth of body, which is not round, but Hat, is 10 inches, but it is smaller near the head and tho opposite extremity. It has small fins, and a delicate mane. When first caught, it was of a striped and silvery color, but this color having faded, it has been skilfully supplied by a silvering process, whilst artificial eyes havo been inserted in the head. The annual report of the Inspector of Distilleries in Queensland has been issued. It deals mostly with distilling as carried on in tho colony, and gives, says the Queenslander of tho 3rd instant, lengthy extracts from reports by tlie Government chemist, showing the nature of tho horribly vicious compounds sold as brandy and other spirits. Tho inspector suggests, casually bnt truly, that wore the rum product of tho colony kept until age could amalgamate and mellow it, there would be tho base of a more honest and reliable spirit than the average import, or as spirits are doctored for nso. Concerning tho land under cane, Mr. Bryant's return gives 12,877 acres as the area. In our report from tho districts tho total was given as between 13,000 and 15,000 acres.' We are now in tho belief that there arc fully 15,000 acres under cane, the larger portion of which will bo crushed this year. The total sugar returns of last year gave 12,2131 tons. Tins season wo hope to record over 15,000 tons. Tho attacks of frost during Juno are proving drawbacks, tho cane crushed up to this timo being of low density ; but the quality la improving, and a satisfactory season is still looked for.

Wo are in receipt (says an exchange) of particulars of another sheep-shearing machine. The news comes from England, and with the assurance that,“the thing wanted has been readied this time.” As in former machines of tlio kind, the cutting power in this one is obtained from a circular slioar-liko knife working in a disk that is applied by tho operator to tlio sheep. The cut is made on a principle similar to that of the reaping machine; but for sheep-shearing each cutter makes,from 300 to 800 movements each minute. Compressed air, supplied through flexible tubing to the cutter, supplies tho motive power. Tho knives, wo are assured, cannot possibly out or wound the animal, and so great is tho cutting powor_ that “an ordinary Leicester or Cheviot sheep is stripped of its fleece perfectly clean in six minutes/’ It remains to he seen whether the denser wool of the merino can be taken off with equal facility, or whether tlio machine is suitable for Australian purposes. The inventors say they will have competent hands here during the next shearing season.

The Nelson Colonist of Saturday last says : —Some of the finest specimens obtained from D’Urville’s Island Copper Mine were brought to Nelson yesterday by Captain M'Gee, of the s.s Wellington. The ore now obtained in the different veins is so rich that pieces may be pared like pure copper with a pocket knife. There are now foar shafts that bottomed on the lode, which is five feet thick where last struck, aud the ore is far richer iu quality than was ever anticipated. It would appear that the shareholders are iu for a good speculati n. Mr. Darwin's fame, says the Melbourne Leader, has travelled to Moscow, where his philosophy has been well received. In a series of public lectures delivered by the professors of the University of the old Muscovite capital, the most popular of all was one by Professor Tirairiazef on the theme “ Darwin as a man of science.” The audience was exceptionally large, aud the applause enthusiastic. The matter is only worthy of mention in so far as it is an evidence of the decay of prejudice over the world. A very few years have passed since it required some courage in any one to name Mr. Darwin without a protest or a sneer. Now he is never mentioned, even by his opponents, without respect. It must not be imagined, however, that the Greek Church is tolerant of such a philosophy as his. Most likely the priests are profoundly ignorant of its principles, and, if so, this is one of those predicaments in which ignorance is bliss. A key to Professor Timiriazef’s eloquence is found in the fact that he is one of the few who has enjoyed Mr. Darwin’s personal friendship. Mr. J, H. Wallace will to-day sell some valuable exhibition prize furniture, and to-morrow, as advertised, Mr. Wallace will hold an important sale of city and country p-operties, also land scrip and. shares in public companies. Particulars of which will be found in our advertising columns. Mi’. Duncan's sale of the leasehold properties in Panama and Brandon-atreets. with the buildings thereon, takes place at his rooms to-morrow (Tuesday). at 2 o’clock precisely. The particulars of these valuable sections will bo found in our advertising columns. Plans of the various business premises, which are equalled by few and excelled by none iu the city, are to be obtained at the oftico of the auctioneer.