WELLINGTON.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3054, 28 November 1878, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

This day.

A subsequent scrutiny for the Mayoral election showed that Dransfield's majority was only two, instead of three, as first announced. The official declaration will be at neon to-day.

Mr Hutchinson's supporters are endeavoring to get the legality of the election of Air Bransfield as Mayor tested in the Supreme Court, the veidity of the election being disputed on several grounds, one being that some five or six people voted who, although on. the roll, had no legal right to vote.

It is understood that for some time back Mr Barton, M.H.R., has been urging the. Government to cause an inquiry to be made into the conduct of the Supreme* Court Judges regarding himself, but the Government positively declined to do so,, not considering there was ny necessity. Mr Barton has 1 intimated that in such case he would be compelled to leave Wellington, and most probably to resign bis seat H £ar i; ament. .Wednesday.

The Mayoralty contest to-day excited great interest, greater than has been shown on any similar occasion. Each candidate had committees, energetic and well acquainted with the; town, and abundantly provided with cabs', which plied incessantly. The difficulty anticipated from the inconvenience of the booth seemed to be obviated by the electors mainly polling early, for in the later hours of the afternoon there was little' or no crush. The poll was not declared till 7.20 o'clock, the following being give a as the figures:— :: Dransfield... 730 Huteainson ... ... 727 Good order and generrl sobriety marked the day's proceedings. The official declaration is not yet made. The ballot papers will be again counted to-night. A supplement to a Government Gazette of Thursday issued this morning contains an Order in Council, giving the various divisions of the colony into districts under the Land Tax Act, 1878, together with the boundaries of each district. The second schedule gives the counties in each district 'as follows: — Auckland shall comprise the following Counties, and all Boroughs within the taid .Counties: The Bay of Islands, Coromandel, Eden, Hobson, Hokianga, Kawhia, Manukau, Mongonui, Piako, Raglan, Rodney, Taupo, East Taupo, West Tauranga, Thames, Whakatane, Whangarei, Waikato, Waiapa, and Waitemata. Hawke's Bay: Cook, Hawkes Bay, Waipawa and Wairoa. Wellington comprises the Hutt, Manawatu, Patea, Rangitikei, Taranaki, Wairarapa Eust, Waircrapa West, and Wanganui. Nelson; Amuri, Buller, Cheviot, Collingwood, Grey, Inangahua, Kaikoura. Marlborough: Sounds, Waimea, aad West-., lend. Canterbury comprises — Akaroa, Ashburton, Ashley, Geraldine, Selwya,. and Waimate. Otago—Bruce, Clutha,: Fiord, Like Maniototi Peninsula. Southland—Stewart Island, Taieri, Tuapeka, Vincent, Waikouaiti, Waitaki, and Wallace. The following appointments under the same Act are gazetted : —John Sperry, Land Ta~; Commissioner, as from the 13th inst.; Thomas Mackay, Deputy Land Tax Commissioner for Nelson District, from the 13th inst. j Edward Circuit, the latter Duputy Land Tax Commissioner for Canterbury district from the 21st inst,; Richard Bowden Martin, Deputy Land Tax Commissioner for Otago district, from the 24th inst.; Benjamin McLean, Deputy Land Tax Commissioner for Auckland district from the 26th inst. The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners are authorised to frank letters and parcels posted on the public service. ' An Order in Council in a Gazette makes regulations for tho purposes of the Land Tax Act, of which the following is the substance: — " The Commissioner shall have full control, over and give instructions to all subordinate officers, and may from time to time require their books and papers for the purpose of examination. The duty of valuer is to obtain from every owner of land within his district a written statement of the lands and tenements occupied by him, with the value thereof to sell, and the nature and value of the different improve* ments, and where such a return cannot be obtained personally the valuer is to obtain it. Any obstruction to the valuer involves a penalty. Upon completion of the valuation lists they are to be deposited for fourteen days in a public plaice. Every collector to make his returns in a prescribed form. Every District Land Registrar and Eegistrar of Deeds shall,! in the first week of every month, deliver to the Deputy-Commissioner a return of all lands in which any change of ownership has taken place. Every Commissioner of Crown Lands sha.l also, the first week in each month, deliver to the. Deputy-Commissioner a return of all Crown lands, sold or otherwise alienated in his district. Wardens' clerks shall also furnish similar returns regarding leases or licenses granted or transferred rider the Mines Act, 1877." The Court of Appeal sat again to-day.

The point reserved in the case of Kegina y. Anderspn was arguea. Anderson was in .partnership with another man as contractors, in Napier, and managed the business of the partnership at a salary of £<t a weak.;. A jury found he had embezzled a cheque for £150, the property of the firm. The point arose as to whethera charge of embezzlement could lie, as the law contemplated an offence committed by a servant, it being contended that Anderson was not a servant, but a master. After hearing the AttorneyGeneral the Court decided that under the Larceny Act, 1860, the conviction must be sustained. In the case of Begins v. Pain, the defendant had been found guilty of embezzling a cheque, the, property of the Waimate- Eoad Board, to wnicli he was the clerk.. It was a. contractor's deposit cheque, and counsel for defendant contended that as it did not form part of the ravenue or rates given to the Board by the Act under which it was constituted, the cheque could not be the property of the Board, therefore the indictment was bad? The Court decided that it was not necessary that the title of the person to whom the money was conveyed when embezzled should be substantiated in order to support an indictment. The crime consisted in the fact of a person in a fiduciary position getting money which was intended to go through the channel of his tranifer or conveyance to the master or employer, and instead of performing that ; duty appropriating the money to his own use. The conviction, therefore, was affirmed.