The Evening Post. TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1874.

A striking instance of the retrogressive action involved by legislative blundering is furnished by the proposed alteration of* > gauge; /on f -the*. Canterbury and Southland railways from that adopted by the Respective : Provincial, Council* when tnose railways were constructed — sft 3ire/and 4ft B§in — to that most un advisably fixed by the General Assembly as the New Zealand Colonial gauge — 3ft 6in. „<Wben the que&tion of gauge was discussed in Parliament, there were certain? date-before the which might hare beeo imagined •officiant to decide the point at once, The gauge of 4ft B£in had been fairly tested in Great Britain, and had beeCT found in every way the best and, in the long run, the cheapest* Other gauges, both broader and narrower, had been tried, but all in the end bad. succumbed 1 ' to the- superior advantages of the 4ft S^in — now known as the "national" gauge. Yet this, which was so strongly recommended by experience—thtt most valuable experience in the world, that of Great

moreover actually bad been introduced and was* working profitably , in this colony, was rejected in favor hi a comparatively untried species of amateur gauge — the present absurd compromise. The consequence is that to remove the delay, trouble, and expense occasioned on the Canterbury and Southland lines by a break of gauge, it has been found necessary to decide upon the alteration of those railways, from the gauge which has been proved most profitable and convenient, to that which was adopted by Parliament, simply as a miserable balimeasure between proper railways and no railways at alf, Uar wise legislators'endeavored to strike the mean between the two extremes, and resolved on a class of railway which can be only a temporary expedient, and inevitably must give . way, as the Colony grows, to the system which experience has proved best adapted to the requirements of all kinds of traffic. Already it has .been proved by comparison of the lines from Port Chalmers to DnneAin{3t'b Gin), andfrom theßluff to Winton (4ft B|in>, with every advantage in favor bf the former, that tho; latter: can. be worked by for the more cheaply and' eeoodtiiidally, the expellees being so much smaller irr proportion to i the returns,' This was brought under public .notice in Ojbago' not long since.' Ye# Canterbury 'and Southland, although at present possessing' railways 'equal to «ny^ in the world/ capable of performing with ease and 'safety ' att* average , speed of. thirty miles an, hour, and of ctoing'» forty, .tiity, -and; even sixty miles '-an houf without the slightest danger should any emergency -require it, will be forced to relinquish these' advantages iri order to obviate the extreme inconvenience imposed On them, hy, .the -Colonial adoption of this r irrational 3ft> Gin . system. Hence they will have to resign their roomy, comfortable , carriages, and high speed, 1 and 'submit to the narrow, c¥a'rnp;e(l,omnibus-likecars,an'clche'Very deliberate rate of progress "(15 miles an h'otir)/ which at?e regarded as' " railways., travelling^ . on .-' the (Wellington aud Hutt, the and Torfc Chalmers, 7 and th£' other 1 4ines consfcracted'tinder tne 'f( Kait way policy/ Letftts hope the retrogressive movement may prove onty j temporary — an instance df " reculer': phur ,mieux muter J f . ;\. t „"

Mr Morgan is certainly a modest man. He proposes to deprive the City of Wellidgton .of five. of its representatives, and tad tdtf&ot Wauganui,- of, two, aud to distribute* the ; seven seats amongst the country districts,' - 'This* hfe v^isnes to^do because the towns' have, he aaya', the priv.ilege.."oi local self-gov,ernmeofc, denied to the country districts; ' Mr Morgan is evidently in si fog'-r^spficWng 'the' relative dutier^pf fflunicip'aT, bodies and the Provincfal Government, The existence of a municipality does not-- in the slightest de* gree- lessen . the powers 'of the Provincial Council within' the municipal, boundaries, and the municipal authorities have none of the legislative powers which appertain to the Prdviocial Council*, ' - Mr Morgan, would, Because Wangantii and Wellington can license hawkers and regulate the removal of night soil, and, through their. Municipal Councils, perform similar furictfonV haodiovbr'to the' representatives for the country districts, through their members, the power of dealing almost entirely with the revenue which w mainly contributed by the towns, and tbe power of legislating on harbours, licensing, and oifef 'important "sfibjetets in which the towns are more particularly interested, A glance at the number of electors in the ' various 1 diVtridts Will shdw the ¦manifest finjasttce of Mr Morgan's proposal. The whole Province has 4.799 electors, who are represented m the Council by 25 members. Weilingtott City- hks 1^496' elector*;' and Wangaoat 70S, giving a total nf 2,295, or very nearly half the electors of the Province, who are represented by only ten orifc of 25r j iMrj'ltfacissey' will prdbably -regret that he did not ta&e into consideration the kiodly warning given by the Evening Star in the following American anecdote : — "A certain Yanked iv the early days of penny postage, was so assiduous in Lw lingual applications to * stamp as entirely to divest it of adhesiveness. Being a man of re» sources, However*, he pinned tie stamp & the envelope, and wrote beneath it, ' Paid, if/ the darned thing will only stick/" Now, tbe Star affixed its stamp to tbe 'ptaMitifo shoulders' as Hghtty as the case admitted, No doubt the editor took into corisiddttition the ricketty nature of hfi political constitution,- and ihe fact that his birthi into'thel OtagO Provincial Council — in a warming pan— had been preceded by jio\ fewer than three electoral abortions. Had the matter been left at rest, the Chinese petition audits aiders and abettors might have quietly snnk out of sight. But since Mr James Macassey, with his precious action for libel, has cboson to lick the •tamp go everlastingly, the public will pat a pin through it to a certainty, and it will stick to him for evermore; '

The aeV cdtnrtitti^ of the Wellington Choral Society held their first meeting of Tfcfie season last night, at the Masonic Hall, Mr Rons Marten in the char. A long discussion todk place aa to the best mode of clearing off the society's heavy debt. A public ball, a miscellaneous, concert, and a soiree' dansante were suggested* and ultimately ib was resolved to give a soiree, | opening with * short concert of not more than an hour's duration, to bo followed by dancing, » good band being secured. The •date w*s fixedrfor Friday week, and the in Ji ~r v t • i '

hon secretary was instructed to hare the j tickets printed for distribution forthwith, the price of the latter being decided to be 5s for double ticket, 3s single— each performing member of the society receiving a double ticket at 2s Gd. If this soiree proved as profitable as anticipated, it would be proposed to follow it up with another after a dne interval. It was resolved that until the debt of £10.? was reduced to reasonable'proportions the ordinary work of the society should be entirely suspended, ifc being considered that even if the first quarter of the season were ocenpied in liquidation of the debt there still would be ample time to give the four subscription concerts, as in each of the last two seasons six concerts had been givenj and last year no fewer than five within seven months. It was pointed out that the present unsatisfactory state of the society's "finances aroae from the neglect on the part of subscribers to pay their subscriptions, some being two years in arrear, although they regularly used their tickets. It was resolved that the defaulters should at once be called on to pay their arrears. The system of working was also reviewed, and several suggestions as to reform thrown out for consideration at a future meeting. The practice meetings were 7 decided to be resumed next Thursday evening, to which time the meeting adjourned.^ On no occasion has Mrs Hill appeared to such advantage as last night, when " Ca'mille" was produced at the Theatre Royal to a remarkably good house, considering' the extremely wet and stormy night whid& led many to expect that the Theatre would be closed. As CamiUe, Mrs Hill played excellently from first to last, and Mr Douglas a3 Armand, and Mr Steele aa De Varville, both were admirable ; indeed, at tba close of the fourth act the impassioned acting of these three leading performers el'cifced a peifecfc storm of applause and an enthusiastic double recall, several bouquets being thrown. The smaller parts generally were well and carefully filled. This evening " Eob Roy" will be given. The Church of England Standing Committee and the vestries of the two city churches met last evening, at Messrs Bethune and Hunter's office, to consider the advisability of building a third church iv Wellington. The Right Rev the Bishop of the Diocese presided. It was agreed that a third church had become absolutely necessary, and a long conversational disedssibn took place as to the' most eligible locality for the proposed new church. The general feeling of the meeting was in favor of a site near the Ade'aide Road, aud a piece of ground belonging to Mr De Castro was suggested as suitable if obtainable on lease. Ultimately the meeting adjourned to the Ist proi, aud a committee was ap* pointed to ascertain all necessary particulars in the interim, the committee consisting of the Right Rev the Bishop of Wellington, the Yen Archdeacon Stock, the Rev B. W. Harvey, Messrs Hunter, Kebbell, Stow, and Heaps. The Wellington "Volunteer l^ire Brigade held their monthly meeting last night, and at the conclusion were hospitably and liberally entertained by Mr Hatch of the Imperial Hotel, at an, excellent supper, a very pleasant convivial evening being spent, Mr J. M. Perrier, sub-editor of the Danedin. Gqardian, having > resigned that office, was entertained at dinner by the staff of that paper, and presented with a handsome gold chain and locket by bis late companid^l The Ofcago Daily Times remarks: — If the males and females from the Immigration Barracks who have since their arrival .interviewed^ the R.M, are fair samples of the Asia's consignment, we trow that they would have been more beneficial to ¦ the Colony had they kept away from it. Three months' abstinence is scarcely a plea for women breaking out in drunkenness and revolting conduct, _' , > ' Mr B. C. Mounier, for many years ac« conntant of the Union Bank of Australia. Christchurch, who has obtained a year's leave of absence for the purpose of visiting the old country, has been entertained at dinner by the leading merchants of that city, as a mark of the esteem in which he is held by the mercantile community. Mr C. C. Bowen, R.M., occupied the chair, and presented the guest of the evening with a cup and a purse of 100 sovereigns. Courts of law have often been called on to interfere in strange cases, but the idea of a Court being applied to for an injunction to stop people praying is rather novel. It has, however, been done in? America during the present feminine crusade against liquor sellers. The fair teetotallers carry on operations as follows ; — They erect a tent opposite thgMoor of a liquor shop, and take.it in* turns to stand 'outside praying and exhorting. They put down the names of all who enter, aud " at last of course the customers -fall off, until at length the liquor dealer gives in : /the ladies then enter, his house, sing and pray, and take their departure. One liquor seller, however, objected to be thus operated on, and applied to the Supreme Conrt for protection. His name was Dunn, and he served eighty- three ladies) who occupied the tabernacle opposite his store, with the following in janction, which they obeyed :—: — "This is to command you and said abovenamed defendants, each and ail of you, from using for praying, singing, exhorting, or any other purpose a certain plank and canvas structure or shanty erected on High-street, Hillsboro, or in front of the drug store of said W. H. H. Dunn, And it is farther ordered that you said defendants, are ordered to remove the said structure or shanty forthwith, and expand every part of the same, whether plank or canvas ; and you are each and all hereby restrained and enjoined from re-erecting or re-placing the said structure, or any similar structure,

in said locality or upon said street, to the annoyance of said W. H. H. Dunn. And it is further ordered that you, the said defen Jants, eauh and all of you, are hereby enjoined and restrained from singing, praying, exhorting, or making a noise and disturbance in front of said drug store of W. H. H. Dunn, or on the sidewalk, or on the steps thereof, or in the vicinity thereof, to his annoyance, or from trespassing in or upon hia said premises, or in any manner interrupting his said business, and this you will in nowise omit, under the penalty of the law."