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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5708, 16 July 1879, Page 2

His Excellency the Governor was favored with real “ Queen’s weather ” yesterday, on the occasion of his opening visit to Parliament. The newly-formed Wellington Naval Brigade turned out in great strength, and formed a guard of honor while the Volunteers took up a position on the reclaimed land, and fired the salutes—the first commencing as the Governor entered the Legislative Council, and the second on his leaving it. The carriage of his Excellency was accompanied the short distance it had to go by two mounted troopers, who acted as a body-guard. A large number of the general public turned out, and both the Council Chamber and the House of Representatives were as crowded as they could well be. In the former the ladies mustered in great force and in brilliant costume, and appeared to take a lively interest in the proceedings. There were also a large number of ladies in the Lower House, but not nearly so many as in the Upper. Nothing was done in the way of business beyond the purely formal, and the House adjourned before half-past three o'clock.

Repentance comes too late when all things are consumed. The fact that from a Government point of view all things are consumed is sufficiently evident, indeed we believe that there is a considerable deficit, and that a number of clamorous creditors are asking for money from the Government but are receiving none. The death-bed repentance referred to is the notice of motion given by the Minister for Public Works yesterday when he proposed that a committee should be appointed to inquire into the system to be adopted in respect to the distribution of Government advertising. Ever since their accession to office the present Ministry have exhibited the grossest partiality in respect to this matter Government supporters have sometimes had as many as sixteen columns of Government advertisements in one issue, and the more an Opposition paper was, the fewer Government advertisements it received. For months this journal was in the habit of printing important Government advertisements free of any charge ; and now when a change of dynasty is imminent, the Government desire to appoint a committee to inquire into the system of distribution to be adopted. The system which has been adopted is notorious, and will not bear inquiry into. When Sir William Fox, as leader of the Opposition, gave notice that he would move that Mr. Seymour be appointed Chairman of Committees of the whole House, the announcement quite took the members by surprise. It has always been regarded as one of the duties of the Government to see that a worthy successor was appointed to supply any vacancy which might occur. As a rule, notice is given that a nomination will be made by the Ministry as representing a majority of the House, but upon this occasion the duty was shirked by the Government, and quietly surrendered to the leader of the Opposition. It is said that Mr. Bryce distinctly declined to come forward as a Government candidate, and the announcement that he would do so, which was made by our morning contemporary, was altogether incorrect. Since it became known that a majority of the House were pledged to support the appointment of Mr. Seymour, we believe that Mr. Bryce has absolutely declined to allow his name to be brought forward. To show the feeling of the settlers in the districts affected, it may be stated that amongst the petitions yesterday laid upon the table of the House of Representatives Was one presented by Major Atkinson, and very numerously signed by the settlers of the Okato district, praying the House not to release the Maori prisoners from custody until they had first undergone punishment for their offences. The explanation of the object of the petition drew forth a very distinct “ hear, hear,” from all parts of the House. There was very great difficulty experienced in the reporters’ gallery during yesterday’s sitting of the' House of Representatives. What with the proverbially bad acoustic properties of that Chamber, and the whisperings and suppressed conversations which were going on in all directions, it was next to an impossibility to hear what was being done. We understand that a deputation of gentlemen connected with the Press will wait upon the newlyelected Speaker, with the view of inducing the hon. gentleman to have some means devised by which the reporters will be relieved from the very serious inconvenience under which they labor at present. If something effectual is done, hon. members may not have then to complain of being so often misreported. The only wonder is that they have been reported at all on some occasions, considering the great difficulties the reporters have had to contend with through not being iu a position to hoar clearly what was said. Two notices of motion, of considerable importance, were yesterday given by the Minister of Public Works. They were for the appointment of two committees—the one to take into consideration the question of telegraphs as affecting newspaper privileges and the public, and the other to consider the whole question of Government advertising in the public Press. Amongst the notices of motion yesterday given by Sir William Fox, was one to the effect that at the next sitting day (to-day) he should nominate Mr. Seymour to the vacant Chairmanship of Committees. The challenge not having been replied to by the Government by the nomination of any member of their own party, it may fairly be assumed that they do uot intend to oppose the election of Mr. Seymour.

Our readers will be glad to learn that at a meeting of the Te Aro Public Hall Company, held yesterday, steps were proposed to be taken for building a new theatre on the site of the Imperial Opera House. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday, S. Lowe sued T. K. Macdonald, the trustee in the estate of Jonas Back, for the sum of £ls, under somewhat peculiar circumstances. It appears that some time ago Mr. Low supplied Sir. Back with a quantity of cigars, &o.; subsequently he learned that Back was not in a solvent condition, and went to his place to demand payment or the restitution of the goods. Back gave him £2 in cash from the till, and allowed him. to take goods, it is said, to the value of £3O. These goods were removed to the New Zealander Hotel. Shortly afterwards Back filed his schedule, and Macdonald was appointed trustee in the estate, and proceeded to seize the goods left by Lowe at the hotel, Lowe having it appears proved his debt of £ls, although he retained these goods. The action was now brought by Lowe to recover the value of thegoods. Afterevidencehad been given on both sides, his Worship decided to reserve judgment in order to look into authorities on the point. Mr. Edwards appeared for defendant and Mr. Gully for plaintiff. The defence of course was that the transfer of the goods was a fraudulent transaction.

In consequence of Professor Salmond’s lecture at the Athenseum, the usual weekly meeting of the St. John’s Literary Association did not take place. Mr. Young was to have delivered a lecture on “ The Progress of Life in Geological Periods,” and it was decided that it should be given on the 19th of August. The hearing of appeals against the Land Tax valuations will be resumed at the Resident Magistrate’s Court this morning at ten o’clock. The first cases on the list are the Town Belt leases.

The great necessity that exists for the proper development of our coalfields is not alone considered by the residents of this colony, but it is also making itself felt in some parts of Victoria. In a late issue of our contemporary, the Australasian, we find the following telegram from Echuoa, a rising township on the river Murray :—“ At the Borough Council meeting to-night it was stated that it was almost impossible to obtain New Zealand coal for generating gas, owing to the collapse of the Melbourne trade with New Zealand.” A woman named Mary Gilpin yesterday waited on the Magistrates, at their Court at the Athenaeum, and stated that she and her two children were in a state of considerable destitution. Her husband had recently been earning very good wages at, stonebreaking, but lately he had taken to drink, and left her and the children to starve. A summons had been taken out against her husband a week ago, but it had not yet been served. The Bench thought that in a place like Wellington a summons' could have been easily served in any part of the city, and directed a constable to go with the woman and serve the summons at once.

There was a good attendance at last night’s performance at the Theatre Royal. Any criticism from us on a work so well known as Flotow’s “ Martha ” would be superfluous. Madame Le Oouteur gave “ The last rose of summer” with considerable effect, eliciting an encore. The band was hardly so effective as we have heard it. and,, knowing how much local talent is engaged in the orchestra, we can only put it down to an omission in supplying the necessary parts. Professor Hughes should surely have seen to this before so important a work was produced. “ H.M.S. Pinafore ” will be put on this evening.

We understand that Mr. T. Turnbull’s design has been accepted, subject to certain conditions, for the new Wesleyan Church to be built in Taranaki-street. There were two other designs sent in, one from Mr. E. F. Jones, and the other from Mr. Schwartz.

A sitting of the Bankruptcy Court was held at noon yesterday before his Honor the Chief Justice, when the following bankrupts obtained orders of discharge : —Wm. Tonka, J. J. Birch, Jonas Back, Cecil Boadley, D. Kelly, and G. T. Robinson. The deeds of assignment were declared to be completely executed in the cases of M. Monaghan and A. Lindsay. There was another very large attendance at St. George’s Hall last evening, when the Mammoth Minstrels made their second appearance, and fully confirmed the favorable imps jssion they had created on the previous n ght. The programme was the same, and the songs, witticisms, dances, and farces were all exceedingly well received by the audience; A change of programme is announced for this evening.

A man named George Williams was arrested by thg police yesterday for stealing goods to the value of £1 from Mr. Wm. Bishop. The charge agaiust the accused will be investigated this morning. We are glad to be able to state that telegraph stations have been opened at Normanby, in the county of Patea, and at Stratford, in the county of Taranaki. The former township is about four or five miles from Hawera, and tbs latter fourteen miles. Every mile of road opened up, and every new telegraph station erected, in the disturbed districts, is so much gained by the Europeans, and so much lost by the disaffected natives. We trust that the Mountain road will be promptly finished, and that should the Taranaki County Council be in want of funds, the Government will not be backward in lending a sufficient sum for the purpose. The work is a national one, in every sense of the term.

Even the Government organs are sometimes inclined to kick over the traces. In a late issue of our contemporary, the New Zealand Herald, we find the following very gentle reminder “It was generally anticipated that, on the present Ministry taking office, an immediate and beneficial change would have been made in the laws affecting native lands. The known capacity of the Native Minister, his legal education, the time he had devoted to native interests, the attention he had paid to that portion of the law, the scandals he had exposed in its practice, and the imperfections he had discovered in the law itself, all tended to point him out as the person most fitted to prepare a new Act. Such an Act was looked for with considerable expectation. It was confidently predicted that it would be an eminently practicable measure, easily worked, and most conducive to the best interests of both races. The honorable gentlemen himself promised some such measure at the earliest possible moment after attaining office, and proposed, it we are rightly informed, to place it before the public in sufficient time to enable its provisions to be canvassed, and the benefit and advantage of criticism through the Press obtained. But session after session has glided away without any amendment in the law; and though Parliament will meet again for the despatch of business in a few days, we see no signs of any new Bill on the subject being in progress. The question itself appears to us one of vital importance to this part of the coleny.” A man named John Hellis, alias Elson, alias Harris, and lejoiciag in several other aliases, to the number of about twenty altogether, was arrested by Constable Phair at Newtown yesterday, on two charges of obtaining goods under false pretences. The fellow would appear to have gone to work in a regular systematic manner, but although pretty cleverly devised, it was almost sure to be detected sooner or later. The plan was to go into the sUres, and order a lot of groceries and other things to be sent to houses the owners of which knew nothing whatever about the goods, and sometimes to teuantless habitations ; while he invariably took away one or two plugs of tobacco, which of course were to be charged with the remainder of the goods. This “ weedy” gentleman is supposed to have evinced a taste for tobacco cultivation iu some of the up-country townships, and it is probable that there will be several other charges brought agaiust him, in addition to those to be preferred by Constable Phair.

With respect to the strike among the railway navvies the Wairampa Standard furnishes the following particulars :—“ There was some excitement in Carterton on Friday afternoon. We learn that some navvies who had been engaged on the Waiohine railway contract, and who had previously struck work owing to a reduction of wages, armed themselves with sticks, stones, and other missiles, and waited on ten fellow, workmen who were engaged on the Carterton-Taratahi portion of the contract, and demanded they should cease working at the rate of pay offered by the Government, viz., 7s. 6d. per day. The workmen at first refused, but perceiving they had nothing else offered them, joined the strikers. The whole body of men, numbering 150, proceeded to the house of Mr. Mason, the engineer, and demanded the reason why the wages of the men on the railway line should be reduced. Mr. Mason came forward, and expressed his surprise at the tone taken by the workmen, and advised those present that during the present dull time, when capital was scarce and labor plentiful, it was not politic on the part of those present to demand an increased rate of wages, and further urged that it they desired employment it was absolutely necessary they should agree to the terms offered by the Government. The workmen would not listen to reason, and adjourned to the Marquis of Normanby Hotel, where they drowned their grievances in the flowing bowl.” Dr. Kemp will deliver a lecture—being the second of the aeries—on Friday evening at St. Paul’s Church-room, Tinakori-road. The subject chosen is a most interesting one, namely, “ The Eye and its Functions,” which will be illustrated by diagrams. The boat belonging to the two young men who had such a narrow escape from drowning on Sunday afternoon, at Evans Bay, has turned up on the Petone beach. A sitting of the Supreme Court in Banco will be held on Thursday next at 11 a.m. Mr. Cornelius Burnett, of Wanganui, was yesterday admitted to practise by his Honor the Chief Justice as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Wellington. The Poverty Say Standard states that some persons who were sinking an artesian well at Sydenham tapped a stream of gas, which sent a flame three feet above the ground when a match was applied to it. Captain Porter proceeded last week (says the Poverty Bay Standard) by the Rosina, to endeavor to bring Tuta Nihoniho down. Rumor says that Tuta has armed himself with a snider, taken to the bush, and defies any one to arrest him.

Mrs. Lockwood has been admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court. Having succeeded so far, she may yet become Lady Chief Justice. Sub-Lieutenant Ooyte, of the Royal Navy, arrested on suspicion of being the author of the story about the pirate ship Off Fastnet Light, on the 16th of January, has been convicted of the offence and dismissed from the service.

The Poverty Bay exhibits intended for the Sydney Exhibition have been collected. Although few, they are very creditable. The fewness is owing to the apathy of the settlers, and not through any neglect of Mr. Bryant, the secretary. He has been exceedingly aotive in riding hither and thither using his persuasive powers endeavoring to induce people to contribute. We would suggest that the balance of the Government vote of £ls, after all expenses have been paid, be handed to Mr. Bryant as a slight remuneration for his services. The exhibits are :—Two casks ale, W. F. Crawford ; two samples sponge, W. Helps ; honey, beeswax, and meal, H. J. U’Ren ; mineral water, F. Archard; petroleum, A. Ross ; maize (Indian corn), Thomas Adams ; flour. King and Co. Mr. Look is forwarding his contribution from Napier. —Poverty Bay Standard. The personification of the immortal bard of Avon’s oft-repeated quotation “He was a man,” &0., is to be found in New Zealand, if the people would only realise the fact. The following extract from a private letter, which has been sent to the Wairarapa Standard, will prove it conclusively, we should imagine, even to the most sceptical : “You will be glad to hear that——, still retains the confidence of Sir George Grey ; but I very much fear that Sir George Grey will not be able to retain his position as head of the Government much longer. He and his colleagues do not seem to work well together. He is far too honest and conscientious to agree long with colleagues to whom the patronage and enstalments of office, and not the honor of the position, are the chief allurements. Sir George may be truly said to be the father of the colony; and he aimed at making it a model common-wealth, but the people do not support him. Liberties and liberal institutions, such as the world never saw before, are not appreciated because they came without a struggle, and almost without asking. But such is the fate of all truly great men. The one he is most like, with whose history I am acquainted, is Sir Stamford Raffles ; and could he, like Sir Stamford, have supreme and unincumbered power in these islands New Zealand would be blessed indeed.”

On account of the rapid increase in business in the Featherston Post and Telegraph office, tne staff has been further increased by the removal of Mr. Bourke from Greytown to Featherston.

This day (says the Wairampa Daily of Tuesday) the session of 1879 practically commences, and a weak and disunited Ministry meets a strong but irregular Opposition. No doubt from the latter half a dozen men will be found to pull together sufficiently well to form a Government to carry on the work of the country, raise a loan, and wind up the native difficulty.

The Post Office officials sent the very handsome cheque of £223 yesterday, as tneir contribution towards the Kaitangata Relief Fnnd. A meeting of delegates of the Wellington Cricketers' Association will ba held this evening, at eight o’clock, at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel.

Mr. T. C. Ashwin, who had been connected with the Customs department for a considerable time, but who recently resigned his position, has set up in business as a commission, shipping, and forwarding agent. We feel certain that Mr. Ashwin will do much better than if he had remained in a service where he was supposed to do work, after his regular day’s labor, without receiving either fee or reward for the extra hours which he would have had to put in, had he chosen to do what was demanded from him. The Rev. W. Rhatigan, a Roman Catholic priest, and about 40 other persons, are under prosecution at Clifden, Galway, for riotous attacks upon a Protestant missionary school at Connemara.