THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2013, 17 June 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1875.

Our Tairua correspondent the other day sketched in very graphic terms the "legal jumper," as he appears on the actual scene of operations. We aro quite sure that it was far from our correspondent's intention to identify the 11 legal" jumper with any one-belonging to the honorable " legal professions although some persons who cannot assign any but a literal meaning to the word have assumed that such was meant. The error is pardonable under the circumstance, as a legal gentleman—that is, a gentleman following the " profession " or I " calling ". of the law was, at the time of! the letter being written, the ostensible ' plaintiff in a case to oust the Tairua - Prospectors from their claim : in common j parlance, " a jumper." Now, we have no desire f to argue this matter out with the persons who say that, bocause a gentleman who ia a lawyer lends his name to test a , point of law involved in a goldmining case he is a " legal" jumper. He may be a .public benefactor, or he may be only a tool—a puppet, a marionette, who "jumps" and capers and dances to the pulling of gentlemen behind the curtain, who would fain keep the place of the showman in order that the illusion may be complete. In case of defeat the wire pullers escape the odium which attaches to the jumper—professional or otherwise. It is not pleasant to be told that you were unsuccessful in. an attempt to deptire your' neighbour of that •which was his by every principle

of right, and justice, and equity, tut you may receive the congratulations of friends and sycophautic admirers if you succeed by means of legal quibbles, and long plaints, and badgering of witnesses in asserting a "principle." But to return to our correspondent and his pourtrayal of the legal jumper. Our readers hare seen him on the field of active operations, Tfith tomahawk and tape line in hand. The tomahawk is indispensable, as without it the professional jumper could not put in a peg; and moreover it may sometimes be useful in protecting his precious carcase from the just indignation of the miners; while the tape line enables him to cheek the measurements of the duly qualified surveyors, be their instruments never so true, and their qualifications irreproachable. Armed with the tomahawk and tape line, and primed with a a little knowledge of " the Act," the professional legal jumper is cap-a-pie. He proceeds^ to: bis dirty work,; and;; if he succeeds"' in one case out" of ten

he reaps the reward of his meanness; while his victims —the trees round whioh the parasite winds his sinuous foldshave to pay through the dose. But we have not now to^deal with the jumper at work, but in a state "of inaction ; "as he appears to • the goldmining world. He is a very ordinary specimen of the genus horno —a nondescript. He manages to do something for a living—very little—often approaching the condition which would render him amenable to the provisions of the Vagrant Act. Sometimes he is a fine stalwart miner who finds it more convenient to jump than to vrork. Of such was " Jumping johnny "- of the old times. At others he approaches the manikin typegiven to idleness—a drone of drones* Whatever shape he Kay appear in, however, his proclivities are the same. The jumper lives and mores and has his being in the industry of the bona fide miner; and, as an incubus —a parasite—a common nuisance, he wants exterminating. He is tolerated amongst decent men only because they do not know the time a tool may be wanted to perform some dirty work. He has a sententious manner of delivery in conversation, and in certain circles ho is looked upon as an oracle. He affects " wut," which is as labored as a " one horse shay " at a steep hill. All these attributes belong to the true professional jumper; and people flatter and butter him, all the time entertaining the most supreme contempt for the man who can prostitute • what liUle cunning he has to earning a precarious living by the labor of others. The flattery pleases h'-n, and the sound of his employers' applause is a sufficient reward for the performance of the most despicable work. After a successful job the jumper can hold up his head for months. He can braaen out his appearance in place* .of public resort, and talk in loud tones of his achievements. Success engenders boldness, and the patronage of a few reputable citizens gives courage to the perpetrator of what is charitably called " a smart tiick." Such is life, dear boys ; and such is the professional legal jumper—the indh Idual who works under cover of the law. He is ?n animal whose habits.we abhor; his tactics are such as should be classed with those of the spy in war times, and his fate—the nearest tree. Unfortunately the jumper is not amenable to martial lawi If he were, his class would not. be numerous, as physical courage is a quality unknown to the professional jumper. To sum up the jumper, he is a sneafi and a loafer. He lives upon the industry of others, and is therefore a drone in the public hive. He is an impostor, because he trades upon the innocence or ignorance of legitimate workers. He is a nuisance, in that he. promotes litigation and retards the progress of honest labor. He is dangerous to society, obnoxious to individuals, and a common nuisance which is only tolerated from the inherent .lawloving feeling which pervades, the community in which his pernicious influences are exercised. Our Tairua correspondent sketched the jumper as he appears at work; we have given Ll3 peculiarities generally. Ife. is the curse of-all goldfields, and his extermination is a consummation devoutly io be wished.

The following is the textof tbo petition to the Queen signed by two hundred natives in the Kaipara District, praying' that Sir Donald McLean might be made permanent Native Minister, to which reference was made in ovv telegraphic columns yesterday:— N«w Zealand, District of Kaipara, Te Aratapu, May 29, 1875. To Her Majesty Victoria, the Queen; long may you live! We, the native tribes and people of New Zealand,'desire to come into your presence, and lo lay before you this our humble petition; the prayer of the petition is really, this, .that your. Majesty may bo pleased to let the dew of your loving-kindness fall upon us, 1.0 that your 1 Boyal assent may thus be granted to this end^ that the appointment of Sir Donald /.McLean as Native Minister may be coni firmed to us for ever—an officer with j whose administration the 'inhabitants of these islands bavc already enjoyed good experience—by whom also, and through whom, our requests may be made known before the Parliament of this colony ; and thus be the means of preserving undisturbed the blessings of peace to us, and to all people throughout the length and breadth of this colony.—And your petitioners wili ever pray. Although attaching very little value to the petition a3 to the terms which it embodies, we cannot deny that tlie administration of Sir Donrld McLean has been productive of great good to the colony, which, the prayer of the Natives who have signed the petition indicates, and which the European population will generally acknowledge. Peace has been maintained, and "friendly relations have been established

with tribes with whom we were formerly at daggers drawn. The present Ministry have a powerful, p^.y in the Native Minister.