The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 104, 10 March 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1879.

Our laws in New Zealand are nol

altogether perfect, Sometimes tliey are obscure, occasionally they are, however wise tliey may be in theory, foolish in

practice. Consequently in the adm:

istration of the laws a little latitude is allowed as occasion requires. Ministers of the Crown at a pinch have not hesitated at times to disregard statutes and ordinances, and when such examples have been set in high quarters it lias

been a matter of course that more

humble personages have trimmed their sails after the same pattern. There are, however, some few men who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and who in all their actions display an unswerving obedience to the laws of the

land, Chief among such is the Hon. G. M. Waterhouse, the terror of evil- • doers in high pluccs and low ones. Mr Waterhouse is a sort of amateur detective, who is always finding some one out and sotting someone right, quietly but firmly. On the one hand 110 Minister can now stray from constitutional paths to the by-ways of expediency without a reminder from the vigilant ex-lord of Huangarua; nor on the other can a poor carrier get an unlawful half-crown from him. Anything from a Governor to a messenger is game at which he will fly at all seasons and under all circumstances. The Hon, G. M. Waterhouse, too, is one of those disagreeable men who are almost always in the right, and who, while they throw stones at other people, have no glass houses in which a return volley can be pitched. The latest shell thrown by G. M. Waterhouse has been pitched at the Corporation of the City of Wellington, and is reported as follows: ''To His Worship the Mayor of Wellington. Sir,—lt appears from the published proceedings of the last meeting of the Corporation that the existing overdraft of the Corporation is in excess of the amount authorised by law. Under the 15fth clause of the Municipal Corporations Act, any excess in the authorised indebtedness becomes a personal debt of the members of the Corporation, and may be sued for on behalf of the Corporation by any burgess, It will be thus seen that the Legislature throws upon the burgesses the duty of protecting the interests of the Corporation.

I feel that I should be wanting in my duty, both as a public man and a burgess, were I tacitly to acquiesce in an illegal action. lam therefore impelled to give the members of tfte Council notice that unless their overdraft is reduced and maintained vviHiin the authorised limits, I shall feel it my duty to commence proceedings against them in their individual capacity for any indebtedness they may incur in excess of the amount authorised by law.-I am, sir, yours obediently, G. M, Waterhouse."

Councillor Young: It is getting serious, Has anything been done in the matter 1 The Mayor: Nothing. _ Councillor Young; Arc we beyond the limits now ?

The Moyor : We .are. We may congratulate ourselves at Masterton that we do not possess a patriot like the Hon. Gr. M. Waterhouse, for the Borough has for some time past possessed an illegal overdraft, and it lias been open apparently for any burgess to claim the wpey. Perhaps now the cat has been lot ,qut of the bag so unceremoniously by deteptive "Waterhouse, we may And an humble imitator of him in the district, but fortunately Masterton is rapidly drifting out of the quicksands, and we believe that at the end of the present month the overdraft will be within the legal limit. We rather expect that Wellington and are not the

only Boroughs in New Zealand which have overrun their constable, and in all parts of both islands the recent action of the Hon, 6. M. Waterhouso will create a flutter. It is as well that the Colony should have some man of this stamp to.occasionally bring it to its bearings, and we are rather inclined to believe that good will result from the somewhat Quixotic letter which has just emanated from the ex-Premier of South Australia and New Zealand.