THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam out Faciam." DUNEDIN, MONDAY, OCTOBER 27.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 266, 27 October 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam out Faciam." DUNEDIN, MONDAY, OCTOBER 27.

We are in receipt of a pamphlet published in Edinburgh for distribution at the Great Exhibition entitled, "Descriptive sketch of the Province of Otago." The matter contained in it was published some months ago in the Witness, which paper was indebted for itto thecourtesy of a high Provincial authority. The tabks were published in the Provincial Gazette, and the pamphlet as a whole may be said to be semi-official. Under these circumstances it is much to be regretted that the publishers have omitted to stamp it with this character. The pamphlet appears in a gaudily colored wrapper, and its title would make it appear to be a fancy sketch, instead of an authoritative statement. Several newspaper articles which are bound up with it are printed in the same type as the original matter, and taken as a whole the pamphlet has anything but an official appearance. It would have had more weight with those amongst whom it is likely to be circulated if its title had been plain y stated " A Description of Otago, published by authority;" and if instead of the fruits and flowers that embellish its wrapper an ordinary cover had been used. Before proceeding with the matter of the pamphlet, we should mention that it contains also a well executed map of the province, and three large chromo-lithographic colored engravings of views in Dunedin and on the diggings, taken from the excellent photographs by Mr. Melhuish, sent home by him to the Exhibition. The pamphlet contains much useful information, useful to those who residing on the spot may still be only partially acquainted with it. A short description is first given of the geographical features of the whole of the colony. Proceeding then to the first establishment oi the province, which is the subject of the memoir, the writer says:—

" The original design of the founders of this settlement was to form a colony in accordance with the principles of the Pilgrim Fathors, and with the hope 'that while the name of Dc Chalmers would be associated with the locality, the principles of Dr. Chalmers would hi enirraven in more enduring characters on the memories and hearts of the Scottish settlors in 0 tago.' The scheme, in a financial point of view, did not succeed ; the country, therefore, was thrown open to all who were desirous of investing and settling in it, and the result is, that at the present moment ail national and denominational distinctions have given place to more general views. " It has been considered expedient to mention these circumstances, because the tongue of disappointed ambition and thwarted speculation has not been silent. The colonists of Otago give a hearty welcome to their fellow countrymen who desire to cast in their lot amongst them; they care not to inquire whether they come from the meivy dales of England, the botmie braes of Scotland, or the verdant uplands of Ireland."' Of the climate, the writer says, it is " simi- " lar to that of the southern parts of England, but warmer in winter, and cooler in " summer. There is scarcely a fruit or flower " intertwined with our earliest recollections " that does not find a representative in our "adopted country. The English gardening " and farming calendar may be safely used " by merely changing January for July." Upon the subject of land the writer seems to approve the present regulations more than we are perhap9 inclined to do. His remarks, however, apply to the past, and perhaps he may recognise that the altered state of the Province requires an alteration in regulations determined on and found to work satisfactorily under other circumstances. He says: Land may be,had at between £1 and £l 103. per acre, with a right to departure stock. The upset price is £l per acre, but 'should two or more persons' apply on the same day for the same allotment, it is put up to auction between them, a«d falls to the Irghest hidder. The whole sul-j.-ot of the sale of 'and is engaging the attention of Government, with a view of offering every facility to the man of limited means of buying land at a fixed and reasonable price. Generally speaking the land is easy to clear and bring into cultivation/ In certain localities there is a deficiency of >ood for enclosures, but the soil is admirably fitted for the formation of a substantial bank and ditch, which, with a rail at rhe top, makes a satisfactor y f e uce. Ihe country is well adapted by it uriduiating character, being -well watered, and its mild climate, for combined agricultural and pastoral pursuits; and, so soon as the land of'the fanner is

cropppd off and laid down in'grass, lie may expect to derive a lair income from the*outiay of his capital. The whole country not included in Hundreds, amounting to about-12,980 square miles, or 8.307,200 acres, is in possession of flock-owncs, on licenses for 14 ypars. I» a few.yean, on an average 7or 8, the whole country will be resumed, and facilities will then he offered for the profitable investment of capital on terms ensuriug a securer tenure to the s'.ieep farmers, and a m ire handsome income to the Government ; in the meautime these properties cban ge bands at a valuation ol from one shilling to two shillings an acre for the good-will of the property. Though the land referred to is in the possession of the shefp farmer fora certain period, any portion of it may be lesureed at any time should it be required for agricultural settlement. Formerly a purchaser might take up land wherever he wished throughout the country, but this was altered in order that the owner "might not be injuriously disturbed in his occupation; the Governor, however, retained his power to take immediate possession of whatever land he required, and throw it into Hundreds—a power which has been freely used, and will doubtless so continue to be whenever occasion demands.

In ordinary districts, the land umnamired yields 35 bushels of whoat to the acre, weighing 63£lbs. per bushel; oats, 45 bushels per acre, weighing' 431bs. per bushel; and barley, 59 bushels per acre, weighing 1 551bs. per bushel; potatoes, 6^ tons per acre; and turnips, 23 tons per acre. Tlicnnturc of the soil is a a clayey loam, with a friable subsoil. In many of the plains there are rich alluvial deposits, bearing heavy ! crops ; but, generally speaking, the soil is the same on tiie tops of the ranges of hills as iv the adjacent lowlands. The number of sheep in the country maybe roughly estimated, including lambs, at a million, ami the importations are large; the clip of wool is satis- i factory, and the per centaae increase of lambs pari ticulavly so. Wheat realises on an average about 6s. the bushel, I oats about 4s. the bushel, and potatoes £6 the ton. Reference is here made to the tables in another part of the work, by which we find that the total gross area of the Province is 23,000 square miles, or 14,777,600 acres; of which 8,307,200 acres are occupied by sheep or cattle runs, 968,320 acres as Hundreds (up to date March 1862, we believe), and 5,;>02,080 unoccupied or barren. We quote the table showing the area and situation of the Hundreds : ~ Acres. •■ Punerhn 72,320 " E-istlaien 73 OuO J^ es(;T;iicri G0.160 JNorfn lokomainro ... ... .. 70,4')0 South Tokoniairirj 7.1*400 K aill<#i '." 70',4u(> WestClutha ... 53 7»)0 Bast Clutha ... .. .. 4>j 720 ! Oamaru .'.'. 87^010 > V t t0!0V l>. 53,760 Mosruki G3,9i0 Hawksbury 71.0J0 Waikouaiti 25,600 I New Southern Hundreds. Waitahana .. .. ... .. 40 950 Pomahika '." .'.' 4b\oßo AipotiuuKi .. .. 00,100 96i,320

The number of acres sold is not stated, but from a table of revenue, we gather that from 1854 to the end of 1861, a total revenue of has accrued from the sale of rural land, and of £51,231 from the sale of town land. In reference to the last, a significant fact is to be observed, —the revenue for 1861 was on y £7,009, whilst for 1838 it was £8,697; for 1859 £19,133; and for 1860 £9,991. These uneven and retrogressive results for town lands, show the want of a proper organisation for developing municipal institutions, and argue strongly for the introduction of a municipal act, such as has worked so well in Victoria. The sales of rural land? have also heen miserably inadequate. The total revenue £200,339 probably represents 150,0'J0 acres sold, whilst close upon a million of acres are put apart for sale in the shape of hundreds. Everything goes to show that the land sj'stem wants remodeling. We will continue, on another occasion, a further review of the interesting contents of the pamphlet.

Ma. Tlowortu's letter, defending the result of the trial of James S.nith for obtaining money upon false pretences, leaves the case very much where it was; indeed, it rather, we think, weighs in the prisoner's favor than against him. Still, as it professes to arrive at a different conclusion, we may be excused for reviewing it, as a matter of the kind should not be permitted to remain in the doubt that gathers round conflicting arguments. We rea lily endorse Mr. 'Howorth's assertion that the administration of justice should not be lightly interfered with by a public journalist, but we deny that the remark applies to ourselves. On several occasions we have had to take exception to Mr. Justice Gresson's mode of conductiug criminal business, and we fancy no one can complain that we have done sj without reason. - We readily admit Mr. Gresson's integrity and ability, but he seams to be deficient of the quality wiiich phrenologists designate Comparison—the power of duly making distinctions and comparisons. The administration of justice, besides, being equitable, should be consistent—in fact, it cannot be one without the other. No one can reconcile with consistency the nine months' hard labor to which James S.nith is sentenced tor cashing a false cheque, with the imprisonment of virtually only four montli3 to which Brutton was subjected for taking advantage of his situation of trust to systematically and deliberately embezzle funds to which he had access. We would not rekr to the latter cas3 but that Mr. H.worth's remark concerning the interference of a journalist evidentfy has a retrospective contemplation. Mr. H worth, fo:lowing the examp'e of tile great historian, d.)es not notice the arguments which tell most against him. His facts are correct a3 far as they go, but he djes not state than all: We are prep ire Ito allo.v, that accepting Mr. Hjworth's statement,.and putting, on one side the legil objections .as to the informality of the in Jictment, aad the debateable paint as to whether the cheque bein^r drawn on an agency of the Dunedin Bank, the "date Dunedia was incoi-rect, that lie makes out a case of obtaining money pn a false pretence. But the whole gravamen of the charge, as he puts it, rests on a point which in candour he should have allowed was amenable to doubt; we allude to Horr'sstatement at the trial, that the prisoner said he had plenty of money in the Bink at Dunedin. At the Police Court, Horr's statement was that the prisoner said he cou'd have got the money at the Bank at Dunedin, but he left before it was open. This, as stated previously, is not inconsistent with his drawing the cheque on YVetherston*B, as it is not unusual for the Bank in town to cash small cheques for its country customers, on ita country agencies/* Here is

where the fact of the VTetherston's account . comes in with peculiar significance. Oa the one hand, putting apart the legal points re-' ferred to, if the prisoner stated he had plenty of money in the Dmiclin Bmk, ha obtained' the cash for the cheque on a fuisa pretence, even although he had an acconnt at Wetherston's; on the other—if the first and therefore most reliable statement of the prosecutor was to be accepted,—the merely saying he could have cashed the cheque at the Uimsdin branch, taken in connection with his having an account at Wetherston's, would undoubtedly have entitled him to an acquittal. The Judge then, in directing the jury to attach no weight to ths evidence as to the Wetherston's account, deprived the prisoner of the testimony which in the event of the first statement of the prosecutor being accepted as the more reliable, would have operated in his favor. If jurie3 by a side wind are to be excluded from judging of facts there is an end to their use.

Mr. Howorth next comments upon the agent's, at Wetherstoue's, evidence, as to the unusual nature of the signature. Surely it i 8 most unfair to dwell upon the unfavorable part of this evidence, and exclude- the favorable. No one contends for more than that the agent's evidence should have been accepted for what it was worth. If the JuJ^ had allowed the jury to consider it, they could have weighed its various points. The a<rent would probably have added that uneducated persons were often in the habit of varying their signatures. We now coins to a rather nisipriu, distinction which Mr. Howorth states the Judge attempted to draw between the two pretences stated in the indictment, and of which he says if one was not proved the othel was. It is quite true that the indictment stated the double pretence that the prisoner kept an account at the Bank of New Zealand, and that the cheque he gave was a worthless one, but the meaning was, evidently, to associate the two pretences, for further on it literally states "by means of which false pretences" the money was obtained. Mr. Howorth knows well enough that the fact of the cheque not being a valid one, would not be sufficient to constitute the oiFence, as En-rlish Judges have rubd tlm whare an account is kept at a Ban'v, the giving a cheque for a larger amount of funds thin rests to the drawer's account, does not come within a penal offence, however worthless the cheque miy prove. The gr'tvainsn of the offence the ), was the not having an account at the Branch of the Bank on which the cheque was drawn; and leaving on one side the informality of the indictment, in not statin r that the cheque was i>r tended to be drawn 0.1 Ouuedin, wa have the fact that if only the one pretence was proved the oifene.e was n-.it sulicient to sustain the charge. Mr lloworth would find his occupation as Crown Prosecutor much enlarged it the drawing a dishonored cheque constituted a criminal offence.

Mr. Ho worth does not combat the legal points which we adlucel, namely, that the iudietment was informal, or in other words that the offence stated by it was clearly disproved, viz.: " wherjas in truth and in " fact the said James S nitli did not keep an "account w th the Buik of New Zealand, 1 whilst the evidence" proved that he did. By the omission of the word lXmediu, the indictment became like the play of Hamlet without the cha acter of that name, as soon as it wasshown that the prisjn^r hvl an account at VVetharstone's. Xar dil Mr. H worth combat the point that W reth-.?rstone's being an agency of the Dunedih branch, the cheque was correctly drawn,—that is to say, that legally the Bank was bound to pay it. But he supplies evidence which much strengthens this point, It appears, by Mr. Howorth's letter, that Snith drew his cheque from a chequebook lie carried with him ; and that the agent swore that the book was similar to that with which he supplied the custom-rs of the agency. He ailed that 113 wis in the habit of giving verbal instructions as to the erasure of the word Duned n, and substitution of Wethersto.ie's. Supposing that the agent could have sworn that in this particular instance he gave the verbal instructions, such evidence should not have bsea ai nbsibb. If, insteal of Horr criminally proceeding against Smith, he had brought au action against the Bink fo. the recovery of the nuney, and tha Bank had resisted it 01 the groutil of the cheque being informally drawn, the evidence as to parole instructions concerning the alteration of a written document, would not have been received. If the Bank admitted issuing, at Wetherstone's, cheque books to its customers, marked D.iuedin, it would be bound by those docu nsuts in the form they were presented, and not allowed to take advantage of verbal instructions. So that, whilst, supposing the prisoner to have hid a sufficient balance to the credit of his account at Werherston's (about which there is no evidence), the Bank could havp been compelled to pay the cheque, and the- inurnment have, therefore, b^eri a valid one, 112 was prosecuted criminally for that which wu nt eyen a civil wrong. In ii uit is' tut oily imsertaiti that the prisoner pretai le 1 hi hxl an aiou.it at the pirt culVr p!xi.3 01 "v ti; 1 t'i3 chique was dra^vn, but it also is hi rhly probably tine the instrument wis a vttid )M an I that the liink would have bjen b)un:l to pay it. Thit is to say, it would have bi^n vili.l hi I there been a sufficiency of fuu Is to the priso.i.fr's YVdtherstone's account ; and supposing there to have been an iasuhibiemy t-u off-uw would have been a civil not a criminal one.