WELLINGTON.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3178, 26 April 1879, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

This day.

It is stated that the Gorernment contemplate introducing a bill next session to amend the Law Practitioners' Act, and it is expected that the bill will prpbafbly parent solicitors from appearing in Court to conduct cases unless they hare passed the Barristers' Examination, vw

The commissioners appointed under the Appeals Act of last session will not finish their labors for a considerable time yet. Owing to difficulties arising, in consequenc3 of commissioners baring no authority to consolidate the law, ijb, is, probable Parliament will be asked to grant further powers. '

A deputation yesterday waited on Mr Macandrew with a view to obtain a site for achoralhall. MrMacandrewadrised the deputation to communicate with the military authorities, as it was contemplaced to grant a site for a drill shed, and he thought both objects might be combined.. Yesterday.the commissioners on higher education examined Mr' Cox, assistant, geologist, on matters relating to the establishment, of a. School of Mines, and in regard to technical education. / . j •■ It is feared that the illness of Mr G. S. Cooper has taken the form of typhoid fe?er. ,■•■■'■■■• -: - ' '.'■ ■ '■'■'■" ' -„"■'

The Italian who gashed a fellpw-coun-"tryman with a razor has been arrested. The Mast?rton correspondent of the ]>T.Z. Times reiterates the. atatotnont that Te Whiti has written to certain Chiefs asking them to be prepared, as a longday of blood had arrived, and adds he could supply names of those who received the letters, they having made nd secret of it at the time.

Friday. The Post says that the action of the Government in appointing £?ir Julius Vogel an agent for the conversion and inscription of New Zealand stock is undoubtedly a very wise and proper one. After pointing but the advantages which must accrue to the colony : :frpm ■ the arrangement, it says—" The transaction in which he is now engaged will prove a profitable one to the colony, and cannot be questioned, and we shall not grudge the Agent-General a handsome commission on the work."

In an apparently semi-official article the Chronicle to-night :Bayf:—"It is evident that if the time has not already arrived it soon will come to be opportune to place another lean on the market. ■, By virtue of the verbal assurance giveri by loan agents to the Bank of England the colony is prevented from announcing another loan before September next, and we should say that one of the first proposals to be made by the Government next session will be a fresh Joan, the amount of which is not likely to be less than four millions. It is now; plainly demonstrated that, the Opposition in ,1877 in reducing theloan frohi four millibnß to two and a-half millions seriously injured the colony. Another million and a-half,

if now at the disposal of the Minister of Public Works, would have given the colony a lift ovor the temporary period of commercial depression, by relieving the pressure on the bank reserves, while it would have strengthened its position with the Bank of England and the English market by extending the interval of our demands, —an important consideration with the financial firms, on whom so much of the success of every loan depends." Tenders for the erection of the new Supreme Court buildings will at once be called for.

The Insurance Companies intend to give further pecuniary assistance to the fire brigade The Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade received ex Wave Queen a large consignment of working plant, &o. This consists, among other things, of one fire suit of latest construction, in which a fireman may enter any building in a state of smoke or combustion. Attached to this suit is a life line and an air pipe ; also a whistle for communication purposes, which acts something after the manner of a telephone. The Corporation Finance Committee will next week decide upon what steps they will take to place the £100,000 Joan on the London-market.

Mr Mansford, the R.M., has .been ■seriously indisposed during the 'last couple of days.

Tlie-Cdldnial Insurance Company held, its first .annual meeting, today... The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, remarked that the institution being a colonial one, its success was a. general public benefit, and as such he commended it to insurers. Competition bad become very keen throughout New Zealand, but still the results were very satisfactory. The insurance! from all sources, calculated for nine months, amounted to £31,230 10s 3d, after deducting re-insurances, £5880 3s; losses £9036 :6s .lid; commission, discounts, salaries, and general expenses, £8280 6s lOd. The amount to credit is £11,072 13s 7d, from which it has been decided to deduct the whole of the preliminary expenses incurred in the formation of the company, £3214 13s 9d; and books and stationery, £1138 5s 6d, which still leaves a balance to the company of profit and loss of £6719 14i 4d. The losses throughout the. colony during the last six months sustained by Insurance Companies have been unprecedented, and the Colonial has had to bear its proportion. ■ The directors recommend the balance to be carried forward to the profit and loss new account The investments of the company were first-class securities, bearing good interest; and due.: provision has been made to meet any possible reverse the company might sustain. The officers of the company were men with a thorough knowledge of the details of their respective trusts. The business of the company is increasing, and the directors confidently look forward to success. The report was adopted unanimously.