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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2971, 23 August 1878, Page 2

At the conclusion of the sitting of the District Court yesterday, after we went to press, His Honor Judge Fenton said he regretted that he was called upon*to take leave of Mr Macdonald, who, he understood, was about to leave the district. The highest compliment he could pay Mr Macdonald" would be to express a hope that in the new field he would be as highly appreciated as he was here.

Thbee was on exhibition at Mr T. Lawless's to-day a handsome naval sword, to be presented to Lieut. Bennett by the Naval Brigade, and a sword belt, also for presentation to that gentleman by the St. George's Naval Cadets.

A delegate to Wellington in the interests of the brewers and publicans tele* graphs as follows:—"The Colonial Treasurer has informed us that the beer tax is only the forerunner of other taxes on industry and manufactures. Bring all commercial influence to bear to prevent the.firßt step in taxing local industries, as there is no saying where it will end."

A Wellington paper says after the termination of last session the mace was put away so carefully that its whereabouts could not be clearly ascertained until shortly after the opening of Parliament on Friday. There was, of course, no little uneasiness about it, but all fears were allayed by its being unearthed some minutes before the House met.

The Marionettes entertainment was repeated last night to a house well filled in some parts, the wretched weather again militating against the attendance in the front part of the house. The performance was faithfully gone through, and the audience was a very appreciative one. We would remind parents that a matinee will be given to-morrow, for the special benefit of schools and families, in whose interests we express the hope that the day will be fine, as the entertainment provided is eminently suited to please the tastes of the juveniles, many of whom, perhaps, have never seen a pantomime, with the eccentricities of clown and pantaloon.

The Sydney Morning Herald has a leading article on the Financial Statement of New Zealand, from which we quote tho following:—" The land-tax is to spare all below 509' acres, and is to be a halfpenny per acre on all the rest, and a halfpenny in the pound on uniraproved land; and as improvements are not to be reckoned, all land seems to be fixed for the purpose of taxation at the-uniform value of a pound pel? acre. Pending the arrival of the details which are necessary for showing the working of the scheme, we may remark that the area alienated in New Zealand must amount. at the present time to nearly fifteen million acres. The exemption of a maximum of 500 acres will probably restrict the tax to one-half this area at the most, and, if so, the Treasury will get a gross revenue of only £30,009, which will leave perhaps no not revenue at all in exexcess of working expenses for the first year. The average rate of the Victorian land tax is s|d per acre, or ten times the rate of the New Zealand tax. In its incidence it spares city and municipal property, and also a maximum area of 640 acres, and a value of £2500 in all other parts of the colony. The area alienated in Victoria is eighteen million acres, or about one-fifth more than in New Zealand, and yet the tax has only produced £120,000, one-third of which will be swallowed up in expenses. The tax^n the profits of joint stock companies is fixed at threepence in the pound,, or lj per cent. Turning to official document, we notice that in 1870 there were forty of these companies registered in the colony, with a nominal capital of less than half-a-million sterling. A tax on profits earned from such a small sum would not we worth collecting. Whether the banks, which have a capital of five millions, and the large financial and mercantile companies of the colony, also come within the incidence of the tax, our telegrams do not state ; but without them the revenue will not benefit much by this proposal of the Treasurer. The rate of taxation from all sources was £3

11s lOd per head in 1876, againat £1 16s lOd in Now South Wales, and the alleviation now proposed will still leave the fiscal burdens of Now Zealand twice as heavy as our people have to bear for the government of a territory three times as large.

A countuy hotelkeeper has given us (FIB. Herald) notice to "knock off" his advertisement;, and states his reason to be " simply because he cannot afford the money it costs now that the price of beer is about to be raised." He baa, he says, to consider how best to make both ends meet, and one of the means he adopts for effecting this very desirable conjunction is to withdraw his advertisement. It is to be hoped that his scheme of. economy will not prove that the remedy is worse than the disease. He remarks that "people talk about the extraordinary profits of selling beer, but they forget all about the big rent which the publican has to pay every week, besides £40 a year for license." Then he exclaims, " What horrible scoundrels these publicans are ! They ought to be crushed! So ought tne honorable Shrimski! " Evidently our correspondent feels warmly on the subject, and somewhat sore too.

Sunday next, August 25, has been recommended by the Bishop of Nelson' (in the absence of the Most Reverend the Primate of New Zealand) to be observed in all the Churches of England in iSew Zealand "as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the preservation of peace." The Bishop of Waiapu, in furnishing this information to the members of the Church in his diocese, says ;—I very cordially adopt the recommendation, and invite you to give it effect by a full attendance at the service on that day. A special form of thanksgiving will be issued for the occasion. I-feel sure all will recognise the propriety of a public acknowledgment of the Hand of God in warding off from our beloved Mother Country the dire calamity of war which lately seemed so imminent. While opinions may differ as to the share that one or another of our staesmen may have had in bringing about the pacific solution in which we all rejoice, there can be but one feeling of gratitude to the over-ruling Providence which has restored peace to the nations. When the public mind is thus pervaded by a common sentiment, nothing can be more suitable than to give it expression in our service of Common Prayer and Praise in the House of God.

Ma Spub&eon's recent suggestion that the foul-mouthed who wish " to come out strong, should use some big Greek or Latin words, which would relieve their feelings and do no harm, is likely to bear fruit, on account of its extreme practicability." We have probably only to wait till the next great peace demonstration comes off in Hyde Park to hear some beautiful specimens of classic expletive. First Jingo: Well, I'm Xenephoned; here's a hydrostatical Atticum of a Peace Party all by hisself, with a dc eandrian rag of a nil desperandum Russian flag P Second Jingo: Let's go for the monstrum horrendum, and give 'im a posse comitatus prop in the caput mortuum. First Jingo: !S'elp me, heptagynous Alcibiades ! he's dropped me a modus operandi on the currente calamo. Medical Student:. Smash him over his pterodactyl jaw! Pickpocket: slog Mm till I Peloponnesus well collar his brutum fulmen ticker! Pcce Party (rising and collecting his fragments): Well, strike me dum vivimus, if ever I come across such a zygoma tic set of Sophocles CEdipus Tyrannus in all my Caesar de Bello Gallico! Hoi polloid if I did .'—Funny Folks.