The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3928, 1 August 1881, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1881.

Oub contemporary devoted a leading article on Saturday last to the importance of securing the purity and completeness of the Electoral Roll for this district, particularly in view of the forthcoming electionsThere can be no doubt that the question is one which concerns every individual in the community. The matter of the article referred to would appear to be but a rechauffe of one published in a southern paper, but now reprinted with variations by the Advertiser, partly with a view of j referring to certain representations made to Government by the llegistrar of Elec tors at Hawkes' Bay in respect to the imperfections of " The Registration of Elec tors Act, 1879," and partly for the purpose of calling the attention of the Registrar of Electors for this district to his duties in the revision of the Eoll. As to the first, we doubt whether Mr Collins will derive any satisfaction from having given his opinions to the Government unasked, and with regard to the revision of the Thames roll, we believe that Mr Allom has never relaxed in his duties in that respect. We referred a few days ago to the steps being taken by him for the purging of the roll by striking off' those who have left the district. It is not the Registrar's Ifault if the public do not assist him. We concur with the Advertiser that the pressure upon his time in the various Law Courts, without the assistance of a subordinate, must materially affect the performance of his electoral duties. He will probably overcome any immediate difficulty, but should the public permanently suffer any inconvenience, it is not the local officer who will be to blame, but partly the people themselves, and partly the cheese-paring policy of the Government presided over in that large building at Wellington by Messrs Batkin and Seed. The Act might be greatly improved, and we are surprised no steps have been taken in the matter. From the experience of the Registrars of Elec tors throughout the colony a great number of suggestions might be gained, some of which, if acted upon, would go a long way towards remedying the defects of the present law. We are not aware, as the Advertiser states, that " the Registration Officer has received instructions to call in the assistance of the police, when necessary, to enable them to purge the Roll, or to add to its numbers properly qualified individuals." It is true that the police, as far as they are able, are at t'ae disposal of the Registrars for the purpose of making necessary inquiries, but the Act, so far as it goes, is so clear that the Government have very wisely abstained from giving specific instructions to Registrars in matters of detail. It is a mistake to suppose that the public have no share in the work of forming or revising the Roll, or that " the entire responsibility rests ou the shoulders '' of the Registrar of Electors. With electoral laws amounting to universal suffrage, so that every person of twenty-one years of age who has resided in the colony twelve months, and in the particular district six months, has a right to be enrolled as an elector, if he will but make himself known to t'te Registrar either personally or in writing, we are at a loss to understand what " assistance " the public have " a right to expect." And as regards the purging of the roll by striking off fictitious names, or those who are dead or absent, the .principle is distinctly laid down in Section 18 of the Act, that any person may take the necessary proceedings to do so. Who has been public spirited enough to help in this work, os even to pay tho small sum of Is Gd for a •opy of the printed Roll, in order that he may ascertain what names are omitted therefrom ? It is, in fact, to a great extent, owing to the apathy of the public that " the Registration of Electors Act, 1879," has not been so successful a measure as it might have been. Persons entitled to be electors will not place themselves on the roll, neither will they take sufficient trouble to enable others to do so for them. They will not even make the necessary inquiries of the Registrar, and those who it may be presumed are leaders among our local public men make no sign of the slightest interest in the matter. The action of the Registrar of Electors will result in a steady and material diminution in the number of electors upon the present Roll, and we cannot find much fault with him, if this decrease shall remain permanent. It will be remembered thaj; in forming the new Roll early in 1880 it wag jokingly remarked that the Registrar had disposed of gome two thousand electors (nearly half the old roll) by a " stroke of his pen !" We should lifee to see some of the missing two thousand roil up and show themselves while there is yet time. The Registrar will, we feel assured, give them a hearty welcome. At the forthcoming general election there will bo terrible howls of indignation from 'those who now so easily allow themselves to bo. disfranchised, but they will only have themselves to blame.

The Liberal Association meat Lhie erenipg at the Hauraki Hall. The Secretary will read extracts from Mr Sealey's pamphlet, and a discussion will follow. A good attendunco is anticipated.

Mr H. R. Jone3 showed us this morning a piece of quartz showing nice gold, which wus taken out of his mine (the Manukau) close by the boundary r.f the Golden Crown^ He said something about an encroachment^ but the Court will be called upon to decide such a question. Mb Rußebt Gbaham got lost in the bush on the road from Cambridge to Ohinemutu. He was exploring the best lines of road preparatory to the Princes' visit to the lake country. Mr Graham has secured a large block of land from the natives, about 60,000 acres, and intends cutting it up for settlement. Thebe was no business at the R.M. Court this morning. Sebg-eant Provo, of the Dunedin City Guards, will be tried by court martial on Wednesday, for causing a local to be inserted in the Daily Times damaging the Company. The Borough Council are calling for tenders for curting debris from the streets. Me Ai/lom notifies persons interested in securing transfers of licenses, &c, that all applications muet be lodged by the 15ih in st. In straightening the Karafca Creek tiie Borough Council will require portions of a number of allotments, and steps will be taken in the first place to arrange with the owners and lvsspes. If, however, such canr.ot be done satisfactorily, advantage will be taken of the provisions of the Public Works Act, and the Magistrate will be called upon to asaofs the damages done in the carrying out of the vrrv noctssiry work. We shall not be sur" prised to find owners of property meeting the .Borough Council in a liberal spirit, for it must be apparent to every person that such necessary repairs must be made at once to the creek bed, as will prevent a recurrence of the disasters which resulted from the lato flood.

It has been frequently said during the last few days that tlie persons assisting in securing the infliction fines against the brewers for breaches of the Beer Duty Act, would participate in the amounts secured by the Government. Now this is wrong, for all forfeitures under the Beer Duty Act are required to be {.aid in to the Public Account.

At a special meeting of the directors of the Moanatniri Company, held in Auckland to-day, we learn that a resolution was passed to the following effect:—That Mr Comer be requested to discharge all. hands from the mine, and pay them their wages ; afterwards to hand over charge of all matters outside to Mr John Hudson, and the mine and workings to Mr Vivian, late mperintendent of tributes. At twelve o'clock to-morrow the men will be paid their wages.

TO'MOBROW evening in the Wesleyau schoolroom, Willoughby street, Shortland, will be given a grand musical entertainment. A capital programme appears in another column, and a great deal of trouble has been taken to make the affair a success. When we mention that the proceeds of the entertainment go towards tho building fund of the school, we are sure friends will make it convenient to attend to-morrow evening. Tickets are only one shilling each.

Yebtbbday special services were held in the Shortland Wesleynn Sunday Sc' 001. The attendance at both morning and evening services was very good, and the collections made in aid of the schoolroom fund amounted to a considerable suaa. The Rev. R. Laishley (of the Congregational Church) preached in the morning, and took for his text Nehemiah 6th, v 15 and 16, "So the wall was finished in the twenty-aad fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to puss that evf-n all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were very much cist down in their own eyes, for they perceived that this was the work of one God." The discourse, which was both eloquent and interesting, was listened to with marked attention, and it was evident the rev gentleman's exhortations made a settled impression on the congregation. In the evening the Rev W. J. Watkin preached, and in the course of his remarks referred to the opinion of the Sanitary Commissioners that bad and defective drainage was the caiue of smull pox and scarlatina. He, however, thought people should be more careful in their ablutions. They should use plenty of water and soap, and have baths, whether shower or Turkish did not matter. Were they to do this, horrible diseases would receive a genuina check. The sermon was attentively listened to.—Mr W, Pascoe presided at the harmonium, and the choir sang several hymns (Sankey'a collection) in a highly creditable manner.

We learn with regret 'hat a very serious accident happened to one of Mr Mulligan's children yesterday afternoon. It appears a large number of children were returning from the Eotnan Catholic Sunday School in the afternoon, and a number of them, amongst whom wus Mr Mulligan's son, were croesing Richmond street from Twohill's corner to Mr Bobbe't's, vrhen Mr Davies' milk cart, the horse of which was driven by a small boy at a rapid rate, turned the corner, knocking down the little lad, the wheel of the vehicle passing over one of his legs, near the thigh. The child when picked up wjs insensible, and it was thought had b wn killed by the accident. He was, however, quick y laken to his father's residence, the Cornwull Arms hotel, and attended by Dr Oallen, when ib was found that the bone of the Jeg was not broken, bub very serious injuries had been repejved, and some severe wounds about the heai and Qther parts of the body. This morning th\e little sufferer is better, and s probably will gsb over the injuries in a few days. We have heard several aomplajnts about boys being allowed IQ drive milk-carts about the streets, and have ourselves frequently seen such carts with half a dozen bojs in them quarrelling wh«> should be the driver 5 the owner of the cart at the time being ' absent delivering his milk, leaving only a small boy in charge to drive the cart to some point where ft would be met and a fresh supply of mijk procured. Vfe hope the occurrence of yesterday wjLIl be a warning to persons leaving their carts to the care of boys. j

AppLIGATIQIsr has been njide by Mr Hogg to the dovernment fop a return of the ftne inflicted upon him for a slight breach of tho regulations of the Beer Duty Act. Under the Act the Government have power to grant the request.

Sebgt. O'Giudy to-day arrested a man named Thomas Walker, alias Daniel Thomas, on the charge of deserting from H.&I.S. ■Wolverine ai Sydney. The man deserted at Sydney, and mads his way to Newcastle, where be shipped on bo^rd the barque Seng, bound for the Thames jyifch if cargo of coal and maize. The Stag arrived here on Saturday night. and he came ashore, eri unlff witl; the intention of goiug to the Eiy of irfiii'irls, for whier} tlio police arrested liiui be wis on ba»r4 the

Speedwell, which is bound for that port. The name be gives is Daniel Thomas, while the man the poli.e were told to He on the look-out for was "amed Thomas Walker, but it is though he lias been travelling un ler an assumed name. Mb Campbelli, for many years in charge of the horses of the Borough, has resigned his office, and this morning gave up charge to his successor. Foem of applications to be placed on the electoral roll may be had gratis by calling at the office of this paper. A WJJIXINOTON correspondent of the Bay of Plenty Time 3 says:—l have spoken to several persons familiar with native matters abjiit Mr Rees's East Coast Settlement Company, and they all agree that the scheme, so far as the natives are concerned, cannot work, and the result of the late libel action decided in favour of the Free Lance, at the suit of Mr Rees, should have a most damaging effect upon the proposed company. If, how ever, such companies are honestly worked, and in the hands of persons of established positions, they should confer great ben fit on the colony, by bringing our native lands under occupation.

A FULL m eting of th^ shareholders of the Columbia G-jldmining Company was held on Friday in Mr D. Gk Mac lonnell's office, Insurance Buildings, for the purpose of considering the advisability of an amalgamation with the Albion Goldmining Company (Limited). Mr Patterson occupied the chair. It was proposed and carried on the following basis, that the company comprise 12,000 shareß, the " Columbia" to hold 9000, and the" Albion" 3000.

IT is not improbable that the Railway Construction Bill will be brought dowa early next week, and there is every likelihood of a strong combination being formed to get it passed. Of course as I telegraphed some time ago, Otago, Canterbury, and Wellington will go in for it, to get lines long looked for completed. It does not yet appear what Auckland is likely to get by the Bill, but people here say it will be her own fault if she does not come off as she ought.—Star.

The nativeß again commenced to obstruct roade near Parihaka on Saturday morning. The men constructing the bridge on the road between Puugarehu and Rahotu were stopped by natives who bad assembled in great numbers. Messengers were at, once despatched to Pungareliu, and the constabulary were ordered to proceed to the spot to protect the workmen. The natives refused to leave after the Constabulary arrived. Mr Parris and Major Tuke wtre pent for, and they took their departure for the camp this morning. The reason the natives have obstructed the work is they gay because the Government are encroaching upon their land.

Mb Supebintendent Thomson has written to the Auckland City Council on the working of the Adulteration of Food Act. He makes the following remarks on the inspection of dairies and functions of the Public Analyst:— " With reference to the periodical inspec ion of dairies, I am decidedly of opinion tlmt under none of the provisions of the Public Health Act could a convicti >n be obtained for dirty or ill-druined dairies, the existing 1 w being manifestly defective in this respect; and such apparently is the opinion of the local Board of Health at, Ohristcburch, judging from the attached Press telegram, in connection with which I may state that the Contagious Diseases of Animals Act, 1878 (an Imperial Act), is not —so far as I am aware—in force in this colony. In reply to your concluding questiou, I beg to inform you that Mr 3. M. Tunny holds from the Government the appointment of Public Analyst here, at a-salary of £100 per annum, and his services are available to analyse any drugs, liquors, milk, or articles of food that may be purchased or otherwise procured by the police for the purpose of analysis."

Otjr attention has been called fco an article appearing in our contemporary this morning headed " A New Mining Invention." The invention referred to has, we find on reference to the paper from whk-h the article has been taken, been in use in the mine in question since October 1842, so it can scarcely be called a " new " invention. The Herald says Mr G-arrard, the great agitator, moved by the statement that "sixty thousand serfs" have been excluded from political privileges, has set out on a self imposed mission to place them on the electoral roll. He has succeeded in discovering nearly one hundred of these unhappy men already, and is busily engaged in filling up their m>tioes claiming to be put on the roll, with a' view to using these votes potentially, at the ensuing general election. There is a good opening on the Thames for a " h lover ot his country " ta fly round and fill the electoral rolls.