THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, January 26, 1860.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 175, 26 January 1860, Page 3

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, January 26, 1860.

The English Mail of November arrived at Wellington on last Thursday morning. We extract the principal items of intelligence. The steamer “ Royal Charter,” homoward bound from Melbourne, was totally. wrecked near Holly Head on the 27th October last. 450 live 3 and £500,000 treasure have been lo3t by this disaster. Owing to the dry weather in the Australian colonies, a considerable advance had taken place in the price of potatoes. 2’here is nothing in the shape of newß from the North.

During the last week a summons was issued out of the Resident Magistrate’s Court, at the instance of the licensed victuallers of this town, against Mr. Stephen Curtis, to recover the penalty for a breach of the Licensing Act. It seems Mr. Curtis was charged with having sold at one time, one gallon of brandy and one gallon of wine, by: which act he bad laid himself open to the penalty of ,£SO. Mr. Curtis having undertaken that no sales of a like nature should in future bo made by him, the prosecutors, at his earnest solicitation, consented in this instance to withdraw the information, declaring, however, their unanimous determination to carry the law to the extreme upon all future occasions,, and thus endeavour- to protect; iliemselvcs against a practice as injurious to their’interests, as it is unfair, and-unjust in those that follow it.. It has been imagined; but erroneously, That a sale* of different kinds, of 'spirits■.at;one time, the whole amounting together,to-two gallons, would not bring the seller within.reach-of the !penalty.- Tho following is the clause upon

-which- the, .question.. re*ta !..rh too plainly to be for onlTrooi f&M shall seJlany quantity lpss tbtUJ twp- gallons il of 'any oncfoSbription efrjsjtimfaotisiiyuors, “ pine, ale, or beer, or shall'perihit.'Hhe-same “ to be sold by any : other person in or upon “ his house or premises,; or shall peryiittdbe “ removed from his premises at anyone-time “ any quantity less than two gallons of any “ one description of liquor wliich may have “ been so sold by him, he shall forfeit and pay “ for every such offence the sum of fifty ■“ pounds, to be recovered in a summary way/’ It may be further observed, that. the convicting magistrate has no power to'mitigate the penalty. f

A. letter, signed “ Rate-payer,” in our last, seems to demand notice, as indicating the commencement, in the Mataraua district, of one of those unhappy road disputes which havcprove.d so injurious elsewhere In part, the writer x s labouring under ‘ nmtake3. as the notice to which he refers merely specifies the usual business of'an annual meeting as laid down in the District 'Highways Act; and if there be no roads to repair, the difficulty can be met, as elsewhere, by malting a nominal rate just to comply with the act. Wardens, too, cannot lawfully commence new works, even on an original line of road, without first complying with the provisions of the act as to plans, meetings to hear objections, &c., still less on a line laid off by Sir. Park. Neither can they apply lepitiring rates in the manner suggested, as it would be the auditors duty to disallow any payments so made. We know nothing of the actual fact 3 connected with the;;; line of road referred to by our correspondent, and regret to learn that the case h complicated by the interference, in road mattery of one whose duty was merely to lay o&Vcorrectly the original boundaries of land purchases; but front our knowledge of the.gentlenien composing the Mataraua Board, we feel .sure-that ‘ Ratepayer’ is wrong in imputing personal motives'to them. The great difficulty, hitherto', in 'making roads has been, that many persons, from a'misapprehen3ion, real or pretended, of the nature and effect of the government road allowance, have tried to gat new roads laid off, or old ones altered, for their accommodation; but have been unwilling to pay-for tho injury thereby done to their neighbour’s property'— have sought, in fact, to get at the cost of others the utmost possible benefit to themselves. The Mataraua Board should know how far this feeling exists among those interested in the road referred to by “ Ratepayer.” If he be right in supposing that the majority of his neighbours are, like himself, willing to defray the cost of extra fencing and other damage to property arising from the alteration he suggests, and, can show, that the; .rqa&Vould be improved thereby, nb individual pr individuals ought to be able to prevent such alteration; and we feel sure that he has only to bring the matter before the Board to ensure it every attention. If, however, he be wrong in his supposition, there can be no question that the Board is not only justified, but that it is its bounden duty, to incur any .expense, and put “ Ratepayer,” and his neighbours, and the public generally, to any amount of inconvenience, by adhering to the original line, rather than waste money upon surveys, &c-, which would be useless, or become parties to any attempt at unjust and illegal interference with private property. We have ever regarded it as one of the greatest evils arising from the obstructive policy of the Wakefield party, that it. has prevented /those .modifications of the Highways and Trespass Acts, which would reconcile the conflicting interests of those who want roads, and those ovor ' whose ..lands they would pass; the hope that by indicating at once the point on which the question must ultimately turn, wc may prevent the dittereiice increasing so as to impede the construction of roads im the Mataraua district. - . V:.

Local Intelligence.

Fires. —JVo regret to report the total destruction by Fire on Monday, evening, last, of Mr. J. D. Hcwett’s recently erected Dwelling House, at his Farm, near Kaiwii. The fire originated in the kitchen, which is detached, at about 4 o’Clock, and soon spread to the house. We are glad to learn that owing to the timely presence and exertions of Colonel Wyatt and Mr. Peake, most of the furniture was saved. We understand the property was not insured. -

Another fire broke out at aboutlialfpast 9 o’Clock the same evening, at Messrs. Taylor Watt & Co-’s Farm at the Westmefe; it commenced it is supposed rin the barn and rapidly spread to the stables. Mr. Maxwell and the farm people succeeded in saying, the horses, but all the harness, saddlery, other gear, a large quantity of grass seed,- &c, were consumed. The loss is estimated at £ 2oo—the property was uninsured. Wo hear of a sale of a mixed herd of 200 head of Cattle, the property of Mrs. Boddington, at £3 10s. ,pey, head,-—young calves given in. .... . , ...