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Southland Times, Issue 688, 26 June 1867, Page 2

A large number of the electors assembled, bj circular, on Tuesday evening, at the Theatre. Owing to a mistake having occurred &a to the place in which the m«eting was to be held, a number of gentlemen, who purposed taking part in the proceedings, were debarred from attending, and those who did attend the meeting a t» the Theatre, were consequently at a loss how to proceed. After some delay, one of the electors, Mr Eeynolds, was requested to propose the following resolutions: — 1. Resolved: "That the electors presentformthemselvesintoanAasociation, to be called ( The Southland Liberal League,' having for its object the promotion of measures calculated to advance the interests of Southland, and especially in securing the return of members to the Provincial Council favorable to the immediato construction o£ the Northern and Eastern railways." 2. — "That the qualification of members of the League shall consist in their subscribing to the foregoiug resolution, paying at the same time an entrance fee of 10s." The Chairman, Mr. Hume, put them to the meeting and they were affirmed unanimously. After one or two other gentlemen addressed those assembled, the meeting then terminated. It is to be regretted that there was such ill-management exercised by those who were the promoters of the meeting, as the whole of the electors present were unanimous in favor of the object of the resolutions, and appeared to be disappointed at the abrupt termination of the proceedings. We forgot to mention that some person, not an elector, created a slight disturbance at the close of the meeting. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday Henry Wilson was brought up on a charge of stealing a decanter, value five shillings. Constable Toohey proved arresting the prisoner for being drunk in Esk-street at half-past two o'clock on Sunday morning. On searching him at the watch-house a decanter, containing some dark brandy, was found in his coat pocket. In reply to the question of how he came by it, prisoner replied it was no business of the constable's, and that anything he had to say about it he would say to the magistrate. Ellen McCrostie deposed that she saw the prisoner at the Royal Hotel on Sunday evening, and identified the decanter as one belonging to the hotel. There was no stopper to it when she last saw it, only a cork. It was kept on a shelf in the bar, and contained dark brandy. In reply to the Court, the witness said she did not miss the decanter until it was brought to the hotel for identification by the police. Prisoner to the witness — Is there anything remarkable about the bottle ?" Witness, " No." Prisoner : its no use my saying anything more — there are many decanters like that one." The witness in reply to Serjeant O'Keefe— " I have been in the habit of using the decanter." This was all the evidence adduced. The prisoner admitted having been drinking, and declared earnestly that he did not know how the decanter came into his possession. He did not question the statements of the witnesses. Mr McCulloch said his impression was, that prisoner went into the bar and took the decanter. Certainly some men were more apt to steal when drunk than when sober, but that should induce them to keep sober. Ha should sentence prisoner to 10 daj'e im« prisonraent with hard, labor. Miohael H&rfc tos fined 20s for using obscene language, WUHam.