INTERPEOVINCIA.

Southland Times, Issue 1308, 16 September 1870, Page 2

INTERPEOVINCIA.

.- ...-"S2le_mafee_ the following extracts from Northern files to hand by the last mail :•— Intelligence has .been received of the return of Bopata and party, after an unsuccessful pursuit of Te Kooti. It appeared that the latter, or, at all events, the band that committed the raid on Tologa Bay, dispersed after they left, and evaded pursuit bj this means. Two trails were struck by Ropata, but neither had been made by more than one or two- individuals. Bopata is anxious, if the Government sanction it, to make another attempt when the season is .a little further advanced. ' ' -....-'-'. From Wairoa we learn that, on the 24th tilt., whilst some of the mounted men at that post were out scouting, they met a Maori at Turiroa who proved to be the bearer of a 'letter from Te Wlienuanui, a chief of the. Uriwera, to Paora to Apatu, the contents of which were that he and his people, in all 100 men, and two otherr chiefs, with their hapus, were willing to give themselves up. Paora sent the messenger back, with word -to_tbe,Hau .Haus to come^ in. It appears that a new religious fanatacisnflias broken out in the' country districts of Wellington, that has led to a great deal more excitement than attended the spoutings of Beauchamp, the If or* mon Elder. There is this difference, however, (sajs the Independent) that the apostle of the new faith, who bears the name of Feist, instead of proselytising by holding out the bribe of polygamy, places his sole reliance in the water cure, and accordingly goes in for cold douches. Accord* ing to all accounts he has been tolerably success* ful in making converts, as we hear that no fewer than 43 persons have joined his standard. A correspondent writes concerning the lata attempted arrest of natives at Shortland : — I have read with much Htirprise an accoilnTof "the proceedings taken by Turton and 1 others for the apprehension of Aperahama Te Reiro» and-Te Moananui for money affairs, connected with the land at the Short-laud boach and diggings. Ido not wish to call your attention to the political aspect of the matter, nor do I question the legal right of Mr Turton to advance at night with an army upon a native settlement ; but what I want you to reflect upon is this, that the course adopted by these gentlemen has destroyed the last hope of the proceedings of the Native Lan is Court at Ohiiiemuri resulting in opening upthat district. Wiien Te IliraanJ the party who .hold his. views observe. that Taipari is in the Insolvent Court, and that Reiroa and Moananui, both large owners of land in Shortland, . are fleeing from Mr Turton's civil army, they will naturally say, ." Don't talk to us about the comfort and happiness to be derived from opening our lands to mining.* !We had rather be as we are than like Moananui and the rest." Sir, I tell you that Mr Turton and his coadjutors, and others of the game sort, have put an end to the last hope of the Native Lands Court doing anything at the sitting which is shortly to take place. ' I fear we shall see the more decided result of physical force being used to prevent any sitting at -aIL--'. "Writing from Dunedin, under date the llth.inst., a correspondent Btates:— We had' rather more excitement than usual during the past week. Its distinguishing feature* were the criminal sitting; of the Supreme Court, the war news by the Suez mail, and last, and perhaps least, a presentation to his Worship the Mayor, whose tern of office has been distinguished by an event of some importance in a domestic sense. The chief feature of the assizes was the trial of the Clyde constable for the share he was alleged to have taken in the late robbery there. You will herewith receive a separate report of the trial, so that it is unnecessary to make more particular allusion to it. One or two circumstances arising out of it, may however be referred to. From the outset it -was evident that popular sympathy was in favor of the. prisoner. This may appear strange when I state that I hardly .imagine a single doubt .existed.. regarding his guilt. The very name of an informer is repugnant to British instinct, and the fact never ap* peared to better advantage than it did throughout the whole course of M'Lennan's trial. There was nothing extra brilliant or ingenious in the defence set up for him, and yet the 'remarks of his counsel were received with unbounded applause' by the large audience who sat patiently throughout the hearing of the case. The evening paper gives the following particulars of the closing scene : — " His Honor's. summing up lasted an hour and a half, and was from first to last decidedly in the prisoner's favor. He stated plainly that the chain of Corroborative facts was not very strong. Had it consisted merely of two or three facts he should have felt it his duty to direct an acquittal, but as they were very numerous the matter was taken out of his hands. There" was some; applause at the termination of the address. The jury agreed in twenty-five minutes after leaving the box, but in consequence of his Honor's absence, it was nearly nine o'clock, before they were brought into Court. The verdict of '" not guilty" was reoeived with great enthusiasm. The' court was crowded, and as cheer upon cheer came' from" those inside, it was taken up by those outside, who numbered fully .4oo, .the efforts of the_j3oUce_J»U obtain . silence beipg of no effect, for a, couple of .minutes. When order was restored his -Honor directed the police to bring before him any persons who had taken part in the demonstration'. 1 The only person who was brought up was a boy about 17 years of age, named Patrick Fair, who was detected by the Sheriff. His Honor sentenced him to '24 hours' imprisonment for /contempt) observing that he wished more had been brought up. . He said he could excuse slight applause at the close of addresses by counsel foraprisoner who had conducted bis case .with great ability,; but could not excuse it wheo-judgea summed up, or when juries returned their verdict. Judges and juries bad simply to do their duty, but when they wont

beyond it, they did not do their duty at all. The boy was then removed in custody, but was, we believe, discharged shortly afterwards. Mao Lennan was then put on his trial on the charge of stealing 300 ounces of gold and £2000 in bant notes, thn property of the Corporation of the Bank of New South Wales. The Crown Prosecutor declined to offer any evidence, and the "jury, by direction, returned a vetvlicfc of' 4 Not Guilty." Thereupon the prisoner w>w discharged, and on malting his appearance outside the court, tfie more enthusiastic of the crowrl, not content with che«ring him, endoavored to carry him shoulder high up the street, but he declined the offer, and got away from them as quietly as he conli" With poor Bonnie, who was no doubt the victim of misplaced confidence, however criminal that I confidence tnay have been, matters fared vastly different. The day following he was brought up for sentence, and a goodly number of people assembled to hear his doom. No sooner did he make his appearance outside the court than he was greeted with a low growl. The crowd is estimated to have numbered about 500, and bo strongly was popular rage manifested towards him, that it. required some tact on the part of his : " legal guardians " to prevent the crowd rushing him. Although ha seemed to take little or no notice of the hostile demonstration, it was evident he felt relieved on making his way inside the precincts of the court. On receiving the usual challenge from the registrar, he said that his age : was 25, and called upon two parties to testify to Iris previous good character. One of them did not answer. The other, a constable stationed at the Arrow, stated that he had always considered Bonnie's character good, and that he had looked upon him aB an industrious man. He was then sentenced to a cumulative sentence of six years' imprisonment. A less-distinguished criminal, who likewise made his bow before the judge, was Samuel Taylor, who at one time held a position in the Customs of your town. Taylor, who seems to have been going back in the world ' for a long time past, was indicted for forgery. The offence" was not denied, but a plea of insaoity was set up. The defence entirely broke down, and the prisoner was sent to gaol for eighteen months. The remaining trials were pretty much of the ordinary class, and need not be particularly referred to. Of the presentation to the Mayor, the Evening Star says : — A very handsome cradle and silver tea and coffee service with gold lining were presented to the Mayor, in commemoration of the birth of a «on during his mayoralty. We understand they are valued at about £70. Mr Mercer, a member of the City Council, was in the chair, and most of the .members of the Council were present. The presentation was made by Mr Thoneman, who said that he had been deputed, in conformity with an old custom, to present to the Mayor a cradle on the birth of a son during his mayoralty.' It had originally been intended that the gift should be a miniature silver cradle, but the subscribers had ultimately determined so far to depart from old usage as to present his Worship with the handsome cradle then before (hem and the more substantial and useful tea and coffee service which had been purchased. He trusted the Mayor's son would grow up a good and useful citizen. The Mayor expressed the pleasure and gratitude he felt at the repeated expressions of regard he had received from the citizens of Dunedin. Last year, although defeated in his candidature for the Mayoralty, he had been presented with a purse of sovereigns ; and this year, in addition to his election as Mayor, he had, through the accident of the birth of a son, received another substantial recognition of the approbation and kindly feeling of his fellow'citizene. He had only been about four years before the public aa a representative of their interests, and the ready appreciation of his services should induce both old and young to work for the public good, with die iull conviction that they would meet reward. He trusted that his son would not forget how his birth had been signalised, and that the remembrance of it through life would stimulate him to useful effort. He could not express the thanks that Mrs Fish wished him to tender - on her behalf, but such a present was most gratifying to her. On the motion of Mr Shepherd, three cheers were given for the Mayor, and one for the boy, and a rote of thanks to the chairman brought the proceedings to a close.