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Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3151, 25 March 1879, Page 2

4. Every such list when go prepared shall be signed by the clerk, and shall be countersigned by the Mayor, and shall be forwarded to the Registration Officer for the electoral district within which the municipality, highway cr road district, or other division of the Colony under the control of such governing body shall be situate, on or before the seventh day of the month of April in each 3 ear. Provided always, that when any municipality, road district, highway district, or other division of the Colony as aforesaid, is in part, comprised within two or more electoral districts, then the Clerk to the governing body of such municipality, road district, highway district, or other division as aforesaid, shall, in preparing the list of ratepayers required to be prepared under this Act, make a separate list for each of such portions of the municipality, road district, highway district, or other division as aforesaid, and shall forward the same to the Registration Officer of the electoral district wit hin Which such portion of the mnnicipality, road district, highway district,- or other division at aforesaid is contained. 9 If the Cl°rk of any governing body shall wilfully or negligently fail to comply with the provisions of (his Act, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding one hundred_DOund-a.^ -tn^birwCTvwß^eummaruy~uli3er the Justice of the IVaee Act, 1866.

Yesterday Major Murray received the fallowing telegram from the Hon. John Sheehan:—" Wellington, 425 p.m. — Major Murray, Conirranding Volunteer Force, Grahams town.—Sir G. Grey wires no difficulty about arranging for Volunteers, but T will wire you more definitely. —John Sheehan." This is considered satisfactory, go we suppose our volunteers will have the pleasure of a trip to the Waikato at Easter. It is conjectured the Hinemoa will convey the volunteers to Auckland, from whence they will be taken to Hamilton by special train. The field day will be held on Easter Monday, the men returning the same evening.

We desire to call attention to the concert at the Academy of Music on Wednesday evening next on behalf of the Kaitangata Relief Fund. We trust that the Committee will be rewarded for their trouble by having a large attendance, and from the advertisement in another column it will -J>e seen that a good programme is provided. The object is a most desirable one, and the Thames, with its good name for liberality, should not in this matter be behind the rest of the towns in New I Zealand. All the Southern papers speak of the generous conduct of the inhabitants of the Middle Island, for nearly every little comm.unity are making efforts to contribute t<> the general fund. The committee of the Grahamstown Fire ; Brigade deserve every credit for their prompt and generous action in undertaking the management of the benefit.

The name of the Telegraph Office known as Pukorohoro has been changed to that of Miranda.

On reference to our Auckland telegrams to-day, it will be seen that the tender of Mr J. J. O'Brien for the Shortland contract, Reclamation and Formation, has been accepted.

In , connection with the question of registratipa, the following clauses from the Begi'stration Act, 1875. may be of interest, at least they should be to the officers mentioned :— 3. On the thirty-first day in the month of March in every year, or if that day falls on a Sunday, then on the thirtieth day of the said month, the Clerk of every governing body, shall compile an alphabetical list of all those persons, being males of twenty-one years or upwards, who shall have been assessed to, and shall have made pajment of any rate struck by such governing body in respect of rateable property situate in an electoral district within the year snding on the 30th day of March than instant.

We haye received Messrs J. H. Clough and Co's, of Melbourne station, produce report for the week ending sth March. Speaking of the grain market it says :— "The market has undergone very little change since last week, except in Maize, which is lower. Both Breadstuff's and Feeding Grain are in good demand, and the following are the quotations at which we have sold during the week:—-Flour— Good country brands, £9 17s 6d to £10 ss; wheat—lnferior to Medium, 3s to 3s 9d; Fine, 4s 6d to 43 8d; oats—3s 6d to 4s 3d; barley—Feeding, 4s to ss; Malting 6s 9d to 7s 6d; maize—Good samples are worth 3s lOd to 4s; peas—3s 9d to 4s.

Whilst looking over a budget of Parliameutary papers recently, received we came across a return laid before the Houses of Parliament, giving a statement of the value and the number of tons of Newcastle coal imported to this colony

during the year ended 30th June, 1878. I From it we find the total tonnage to be ! 144,478 tons of a declared value of £224,412. Considering the great mineral wealth of New Zealand, and the number of coal beds already discovered, it seems passing strange that close on a quarter of a million of money should be annually expended on imported coal from New South Wales. All that our coalfields require is development, and their produce would soon push its way in the market, and in a great measure exclude foreign importations. Coal bods, though almost quite unprospected, are known to exist in several portions of the Thames County and the adjoining shires, and if capital was expended on their development now, when a constructed railway from the Thames to Waikato is an accomplished fact, colliery owners would find they had invested in a very remunerative speculation. This suggestion is well worthy the consideration of local capitalists.

A meeting of the Charitable Aid Committee and the subcommittee appointed by the Hospital Committee was held at the Borough Council Chambers yesterdny afternoon, for the purpose of deciding how the £400 vote for the Old Men's Home should be expended. Aft rr some discussion it was resolved to leave the expenditure in the hands of the sub committee.

The Australian and New Zealand Gazette, a London paper, in its issue of the 18th November, reviews at considerable length the extraordinary progress being made by New Zealand. The concluding portion of the article is as follows : " And all this mighty • bulk of mercantile enterprise must be the work of, at the very utmost, less than one quarter of a million of persons, whose exertions have thus lifted the colony to a position of commercial power and opulence, which, doubtless, is secretly envied by;; more than one of the old-established States of Europe. Competent authorities, who are intimately acquainted with the material capacities of New Zealand, tell us that the two principal Islands will, eventually, support with ease a population of at least fourteen or fifteen millions ; several millions more, indeed, might be maintained."

We have received from the secretary of the Bible in Schools Association the address, printed ia pamphlet form, delivered by Mr T. B. Park before the Otago Schoolmasters' Association upon the subject " The Bible in Schools." Ihe Tablet's remarks upon the paper, received by telegraph, appeared in yesterday's issue. The paper proceeds to consider the question under the three, following heads—l. Some of Ihe objections made by secular educationists to the use of the Bible in schools. 2. Some of the objections made by Roman Catholics. 3. A few made by those who, for want of a better name, may be termed the temporising objectors." ;In treating the first of the heads of his paper, Mr Park defines the position taken by secular educationists, thus :— " The term secular, as applied to the affairs of every day life, is understood to have reference only to the present world, and comprehends whatever pertains to the support of life and the preservation of health, in short, the temporary prosperity of men or States. The secular educationist, then, according to this definition, is one who, toj be consistent, must ignore our spiritual relationship to a divine being in the school education of the young. He may have the most profouud interest in the welfare and happiness of man as a social being, but can have no concern that this education should recognise, that more enduring happiness which is inculcated in the Bible. He is doubtless anxious that all men should be good and peaceable citizens; but he believes they can be made such, and kept such, without educating the religious nature of the child in school.

A Wellington telegram—*«y«-«'=lt" has_npt_xeJLbeen decided by the Cabinet who is to succeed Mr Smith, the late, Assistant Onder-Secretary in the Colonial Secretary's Peparttnent. Mr Hugh Pollen, the chief clerk of the department, has so far undertaken the duty, and if promotion is to follow in the order of seniority in this branch of the public service, in all probability Mr Pollen will be gazetted, and permanently attached to this particular office. There is no hope whatever of Mr Smith being reinstated iv his position.

Ms Veset Stewart has received official notice Irom the Government that the services of the Katikati Mounted Rifle Corps will be accepted, but the Defence Minister states that as at present there are no cavalry Snider carbines iv store available for issue, it will probably be some time before it is possible to arm the corps with that weapon.—Bay of Plenty Times.