THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3835, 13 April 1881, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1881.

His Honor the Chief Justice, with reference to the charges against a clerk named Downes for tampering with stamps, is reported to have eaid ia his address to the! Grand Jury at Wellington the other -day, that the Government in their anxiety 'jo -ccilect revenue .by.- ; ,means J of stamps "w©re~fiving~opportunifcies -foirfrSSarffie" deduction of course being that the old system is preferable. With all due resj?»ct to His Honor's opinion, we totally disagree with him, and will hail-with, satisfaction the extension of the stamp systam to such a degree that all revenue is collected by that means. In the first place'the Stamp System saves Government officials a large amount of work, lessens their responsibility, besides greatly diminishing the temptation for embezzlement. We are quite prepared to admit that the Stamp System can be made far more perfect than at present, so flawless, indeed, that fraud would be an absolute impossibility. We have the opinion of several officials in whose departments the collection of revenue by means of stamps has been introduced, and they all regard it as infinitely preferable to the direct payment of money with the trouble and work entailed thereby.