THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2497, 6 January 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 1877.

The police of this provincial district really seem to go frcm bad to worse, and the accounts we have received from one of the witnesses who has returned to the Thames after giving evidence in a recent assault case in Auckland ■ only tends to confirm us in the opinion we have formed, and, moreover, from the action taken by the magistrate in the case-rwhich. action seems to be to back up the police in spite of evidence — to merit the deserved satire in a wellknown burlesque vented on the magistrates of London "for some of their iniquitous decisions—.

' My Lords from hinformation I received, (Of course a bobby is always believed). The case was this : A man was taken up by a constable in Auckland. The said taking up appears to have occupied some time and given rise to some brutality, the latter predominating. The evidence went to show that the Mayor of the Thames, a gentleman who from his experience as a lawyer, and from what he has seen elsewhere, must be in a position to know about these sort of things, witnessed the arrest ; that he disapproved of the treatment the defendant received, and spoke to the constable, who proceeded, instead of taking the prisoner with him—though he (the prisoner) expressed his willingness to go quietly—to handcuff him, and treated him with unnecessary violence. This evidence of the Mayor's is corroborated by two other witnesses, and yet in spite of this, the unfortunate Mr White is convicted of assaulting a constable while in discharge of his duly, and sentenced by the sapient magistrate to pay a fine and costs amounting to about £6 ! Does not this seem disgraceful ? The police force has been formed for the protection of men's lives and limbs and properties, not for the commission of such acts as have been recorded. Besides this, is the word of a policeman, simply because he is in the force to be allowed to outweigh the testimony of three or four on-lookers, who are probably totally disinterested witnesses of the the scene ? From what can be gathered from what we have heard and read, if the law bears out the actions of the policeman and magistrate, then the particular law is disgraceful to any civilized nation.

We are informed that in Auckland there is already on foot a movement to secure the establishment of a penny morning, paper. It is*scarcely to be expected that in a city like Auckland the field of journalism will be left to one morning and one evening paper. The state of political parties, and the exigencies of the occasion at periods of political excitement, will create the necessity for another organ. However, under the circumstances which preceded and attended the amalgamation of the Herald and Cross it is not probable thatany opposition willbeatonce successful' The Herald and Cross combination is such a powerful one that the attempt to break the monopoly enjoyed by it would be a laborious and expensive one. We believe it to be true that some of the largest ad> vertisers have given an absolute pledge not to advertise in any other morning paper for a specified period. This we do regard as a very deterrent element against starting another morning paper. If the necessity exists for another morning paper —and it has been practically recognised as existing for many years—a second will be started ; possibly only to enjoy an: ephemeral existence and then follow many of its predecessors to the limbo of defanpt journals. But if such be the case, that a pew paper springs into existeuce and dies, another will succeed it, probably only to share the same fate ; and jtjl the end, if Auckland city prospers, thfire will undoubtedly be a good field for a second morning . paper : for as long as newspapers are recognised to be leaders of public opinion— especially political opinion—each political party will require to have an organ to represent it, and to instruct and lead its members. We do not think much of the success of the movement for starting a new pappr in Auckland from the names which have been mentioned in connection therewith. Moreover we are of opinion that the Herald and Cross, with the probability of a modified tone on general

politics, will be far above any competition that may be brought into the field against it for a long time to come. However, there is the example of Dunedin to show what can be done after repeated trials in the way of establishing a second morning paper against a powerful combination and an old paper.