Our Wellington Letter.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3801, 4 March 1881, Page 3

Our Wellington Letter.

(fbom ottb special cobhespondejjt)

Wellington, February 10th, 1881

DISAG-HEEMENT AMONGST THE JUDGES

Lately the stale of feeling amongst these gentlemen is reported to be the reverse of amicable, and daring the last fortnight a rumor has been prevalent in the Wellington Club that the Chief Justice and some of his colleagues do not relish the way in which their brother Judge, Mr Justice Gillies of the Auckland Circnit, has been acting. In fact, gossip goes the length of saying that His Honor of Auckland has been cutting up rather rough, and that some unpleasantness may arise between these high officials. Ooe special instance of how Judge Gillies has lately disposed of some law matters in his district has been mentioned, but as I am not acquainted with the details I cannot go into particulars. The leave of absence which was granted to both Judges Williams and Gillies during the Jate and present recess may be one of the Parliamentary matters which will no doubt receive the attention of the House when it meets in June. In the meantime, the rumour of Mr Justice Johnston retiring on a pension is gradually believed. The Royal Commission report on the mode of proceedure in the higher Courts of the Colony will, it is stated, be tho means of the Cabinet instructing the present Attorney-General to bring in amended bills dealing not* only with the Supreme Court, but with all tho District and Resident Magistrates' Courts, after all the Ministers reassemble in this city in view of having their measures ready for the meeting of the Assembly.

THE AUDITOR-GENERAL. Those of your readers who recollect the oratory of Mr Fitzgerald in the House of Representatives in Auckland in 1863-4 will not be surprised to hear that he has made and sent an able and exhavstive report to the Colonial Treasurer on the subject of auditing the public accounts in the adjacent colonies. It will no doubt be intended as a justification for the unauthorised expenditure which Ministers sanctioned in allowing the AuditorGeneral, one of the most important officials in the whole of the Government Service, to absent himself from his important duties for nearly four months. If Ministers sanction the recommendations contained in the report, fresh legislation in connection with the Audit Department will follow. Already the document with other papeis intended for presentation to both Houses of the Assembly are in the hands of the Government printer.

The Premier and his colleagues are not likely to summon Parliament for the despatch of business until June, or in other words until after an expiration of nearly three months from the close of the financial year. When Sir George Grey was in office in 1878, the Auckland Herald denounced him and his Government for not calling the House together before the end of the then financial year on account of the rumoured financial position of the Colony. No doubt the Herald had very good reasons for writing to order them, as as it was generally understood that Sir George Grey who was acting Colonial Treasurer had got an advance or loan from a rival institution to the B.N.Z. I wonder now whether your contemporary •will act equally " independent " and assail ministers for spending immense sums of moDey in anticipation of Imprest Bills. We must wait and see. Of one thing your readers may rest assured, that immediately the last day of March comes there will be a great flourish of trumpets from the agents of the Press Association all over New Zealand, detailing the numerous public'undertakings which are, and will be authorised by the various ministers of his Excellency's Government in the different provincial districts. This, however, will not blind the eyes of the electors who must know full well that all these matters should have been gone on with from monies voted last session, and which were passed in anticipation of being spend during the current year. The Colonial Treasurer will come down and ask the House no doubt, to congratulate himself and his Government in having a large surplus in hand, and why ? Because districts where monies were voted for never got it, whilst in other favored parts the arms included in the Appropriation Act were exceeded and in all probability will require further votes to complete them. In a' letter just to hand from the Garden of Eden—not the Eden Mr Whitaker got rejected for, but the Taranaki Eden —amongst other items of intelligence is the following:—The Taranaki Herald has just taken a proper stand for once in its life, and has turned dead against the Government. At the deputation that waited on Messrs Rolleston and Atkinson, Mr Weston, the proprietor, refused to attend because the Government ship is sinking. If. as is said, coming events cast their shadows before, there may be something in the announcement that the Herald here is going to forsake its allegiance to the continuous Ministry. The Hall Cabinet may yet find out that the sacking of Judge Weston was not an act of well considered deliberation.

J NATIVE LAND 3IATTEBS —WEST COAST JT DISTRICT. The names of Major Brown, Mr Bailey, Mr Parris, and Mr Christie, of the B.N.Z. have been so mixed up in connection with recent acquisitions of Native Lands, that there must be something in the proposed enquiry into the allegations which are talked of when the House meets. As there is seldom any smoke without a little fire, I suppose your readers will hear farther about the subject. The late Native Minister, by his removal of the proclamation over native lands under negotiation to the Crown, I estimate roughly, made a positive loss of over'a million of money to the colony. I wonder what set-off Messrs Swanson and Co. can shew for this loss, notwithstanding the famous compact and the "great" sacrifices they made. When the late Native Minister lies on his deathbed he must surely have some qualms of conscience about restitution, and I fear he will have very little peace of mind when he re reviews the past and is inwardly charged by himself with the enormous loss to the public revenue which he sanctioned in 1880. The Scriptures say proper weight and measure are acceptible before the Almighty. Honest John Bryce should, as some light restitution for this grave act during his lifetime, and before his death bequeath all his houses lands and chattels to charitable institutions, as a memento of one who erred, and grievously too, in a weak

moment., when dealing not with private interests, but with large and weighty public trusts. Patotere speculators will no doubt lament his and the " four's " last ending, and say in the language of a great poet— Oh ! for the touch of the vanishsd hands, And the sound of the voice and " rats " that's still. How different will it be with the Patetere Company. They will then be enriched— the land will be disposed at an enormous profits—settlers will be building, fencing, and tilling, whilst those who made their pile will say sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Messrs .Rich. Whitaker (the old bird), Tom Russell, Dilworth, Howard, Walker, Williams, Sheehan, Pounds, and others will assemble ou the pick of Patetere, when Mr Bryce's demise is announced, and recite separately from Tennyson's " In Meruoriatn " — Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean ; Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rush to the heart, and gather in the eye, In looking at these happy autumn fields, And thinking of the days that " Bryce" is nomore.

HISTOEY BBPEATS ITSELF When the ever famous " four," whose actions enabled Mr Bryce to reverse the proclamation, be consigned to a portion of the "silent city," many a one now living will visit their graves or tombs from curiosity to cast a regretful look ou ihe .spot where ibey are interred, and will leave it with a melancholy thought which may be summarised thus :— Few who knew them politically in life will over them weep, Peace be to their ashes ; let them safely here sleep ; They sold the interest of Auckland for a, piece of waste paper, And now have gone forth to answer before their own , Maker? itU32OBS PILL THE AIE. Humors oi an entirely new feature in the redistribution of portfolios in the Cabinet are going the rounds to day, but as the mail is about closing I must postpone writing about these matters until my next despatch.