Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1878.

Evening Post, Volume XVI, Issue 119, 15 May 1878, Page 2

Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1878.

The Cheviot election contest appears to be a tolerably lively one to judge by the reports of meetings, at which the candidates have addressed the electors, which appear in the Marlborough Express. The polling will take place on Friday, the 17th instant, and in the meantime Mr. Saundkrs and Mr. Ingles, the respective candidates are busily "stumping" the district and canvassing for support. Should the electors vote for political experience, honesty, and brains, then the odds are "all Lombard-street to a China orange" in favor of Mr. Saunders. That gentleman is a clear-hoaded thinker, and holds sound views on all the leading poliical questions of tho day, such as readjustment of the representation, extension of the franchise, taxation, and a liberal land law. Mr. Saunders is thoroughly imbued with liberal principles, and moreover has an intelligent understanding of how they should be practically embodied ia legislation Mr. Isqlhs, on the other hand, though possessed of many good qualities, and deservedly popular in a social sense, has no special qualifications for political life, and, during: his previous career in the Assembly, showed little evidence of ability to deal with public questions in an enlightened way. In this particular contest he ha 3 been put forward by what k known as "the fos-il party," and is generally understood to be the nominee of Mr. 'Robinson, of Cheviot Hills. Mr. Ingles, therefore, stands on a conservative platform. He detests manhood suffrage, is opposed to a redistribution of representation on the basis of population, condemns tritnnial Parliament*, and will fight tooth and nail against a land tax. On the question of education, Mr. Ingles said ho was content with the secular system in the country, but that ho was of opinion that the Government ought to support denominational schools in the towns and centres of population. This pretty clearly indicates that Mr. Ingles is endeavoring tp obtain a certain block vote of a number of Roman Catholics who live' at Kaikoura. But while Mr. Ingles professes views such as those indicated, he is only able to support them by the weakest and most superficial arguments. For instance, he opposes a redistribution of representation on the absurd alleged ground that if such a scheme were carried out, on a population basis, " Wellington would have 27 members as against only one for Cheviot." We do not know by what process of arithmetic Mr. Ingles arrived at that conclusion, and he was careful not to inform his auditors. Then he objects to extending the franchise, "because," as he says, " the centres of population would be placed at a decided advantage, and probably unfairly so, as the bank clerks, officials, and persons simply employed in stores or ns laborers, who might have no thorough knowledge of the questions arising at elections, would so affect nic decision as to place persons who had property in the country at a decided disadvantage. The centres of population would thus be placed in the position of ruling the sparsely populated districts unfairly." That Mr. Ixoles has got rather into a fog on this subject is apparent from the above confused statement It is, however, clear enough that the conservative Mr. Ixgles entertains a lordly contempt for such poor creatures as bank clerks, shopmen, and store laborers, whom he does not consider sufficiently inte!l ! gent to exercise the franchise properly. Wo take the opportunity of informing Mr. Ingles that in making such a statement ho wantonly insults \ a large number of intelligent members of tho community in every centre of population throughout the colouy. Why should an educated bank clerk not understand political questions quite as well, if not better than Mr. Ixgles himself? Because a man is a shopman or laborer, does it follow that he is a fool, and unable to exercise his right to vote in an intelligent way ? It is amongst the people of the towns that political life is most active, nnd intelligent views on public matters most widely diffused. Mr. Ingles may be a fitting candidate to represent sheep and broad acres, but he is certainly not worthy of election at the hands of intelligent and independent men.

Several correspondents in the Upper Hutt nnd adjacent districts have made some strong representations to us about the outlay to which country people are subjected for travelling expenses when they are summoned to serve as jurymen in cases tried in the Supreme Court here. It is stated that during some former sittings of the Supreme Court some Upper Hutt residents had to make as many as six jouqpeys to and fro by rail, so as to be in attendance at the Court until discharged. Some of these people, it is asserted, had to pay as much as £1 10s each in radway fares, besides losing their week's work and incurring other expenses. The remedy suggested by our correspondents for this hardship is, that country people called upon to servo on juries should be allowed to travel free on the Governnvnt railway lines when going to Court and returning to their homes, at.d that the summons to attend should be regarded as equivalent to a free pass by ?aiL There is much to be said in favor of making such an arrangement. Members of the Assembly and of County Councils are allowed free passes becapse they travel on public business, and people who are called upon to serve the public by sitting on juries have a pretty strong claim to a similar privilege, The suggestion is worthy of the attention of •• the powers that be."

We understand that the fo'lowing arc pirticulars of some of the legacies and annuiiiehnqueathed by the late William Barnard Rhodes, of Wellington, merchant: — To the churchwardens of the parish of Epwortb Lincoln, £200, to be divided amongst the poor; the Bhbop of Wellington, Hpi<copa! Church, £400, for the promotion of religiou? education, and also £400 for the Diocesan Fund; the Bishop of Wellington, Roman Catholic Church, £50, for the promotion of education; the trustees, Benevolent Institution, £100 ; the Wellington Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute, £100, to be Jail out iv the purchase of standard works for the library, to have inscribed in each the name of the donor ; to be applied in the purchase of ground for. and in the erection of, a family vault in the Wellington C«*ra«terv. and for a marble or brass memorial tablet in the English Cathedral Church, Wellington, £500 ; to thr governors of tli9 Wellington College, for the founding of the Rhodes scholarship, £500. the scholarship t~> be tenable for three ypars. the terras and the conditions to be at the discretion ot tho governors. Legacies and i anniut es of various amounts are left to the- j following: — His brother Robert Heatoo Rhodes, his godson Rhode" Donald, to each of the servants at Highlaud Park, his clerk Arthur Edward Rowden, Frederick Augustus Krull, his niece I<ab lla Matilda Cutbill, bis nephew VVm. Barnard Rhodes, his sister-in-law Maria Wright, Mrs. Catherine Wemyss, his niece Maria E. Marchant, his niece Sarah Marion Wright, his nephew Robert Peter Rhodes, his niece Mary Elizabeth Heaton Rhodes. hi 9 sister Mr*. Caroline Littlewood, his niece Mary Ann Jones, his slaters Theodosia Maria Rhodes and Margaret Rhodes, his niece Mrs. Wright, his niece Mrs. Seymour, and his sister-in-law Elizabeth Moorhou c c. Legacies are left to ea«*h of the executors, William Wariog Taylor, Thomas MasoD, and John Studholm. Mrs. Rhodes is also an executrix. It v provided that trust moneys shall be invested ia debenture* of the colony of New Zealand, in shares in Ihe banks of ttie colony, in first mortgages on freehold land, or in the purchase of freehold. The residuary legatee is Miss Rhodes, daughter of the deceased. The probate duty, as we stated on a former occasion, will amount to over £•20,000. There was a short sitting of the Appeal Court this morning. As Mr. Justice Richmond and Mr. Justice Gillies have not yet arrived, the case of Ormond v. Rerihiki, which was specially set down for hearing this morning, was adjourned until this day week. A motion by the Hon. Mr. Stout in the Dunedin case of Calder v. Duff was adjourned until to-morrow week, Mr. Izard, who appeared on the other side, undertaking to stay proceedings in the interim. The Crown cases will be taken on Friday. There will be a sitting of the Divorce Court on Monday next. There are five cases down for hearing, as follows : — Henry v. Henry and Moore (Christchurch); Barnes v. Barnes and Martin (Wellington); M'Mahon v. M'Mahon and Russell (Wellington); Wooleock v. Woolcock and Waddell (Wellington); White v. White and Bennett (Auckland). A meeting of the creditors of the late Henry Lawson will be held at Mr. S. Carroll's office, i on Friday afternoon next, at 3 o'clock, to take into consideration a request signed by a large number of the creditors, for the gift to Mrs. Lnwson of nearly the whole of her late husband's assets now remaining available for distribution in the estate. AH creditors are particularly requested to be present, as it is of the utmost importance that a unanimous resolution should be passed upon the subject. We understand that Mr. Jacob Monteith, who has held the office of dispenser at the Wellington Hospital for 10 years past, is about to resign that po^t. While contending strenuously for the necessity of having a duly qualified resident surgeon for the Hospital, and without, retracting any opinion we expressed a 1 * to Mr. Monteith's error of judgment in respect to a recent case, we fully recognise the fact that he has worked hard and conscientiously for very inadequate pay, and we hope to hear that on retiring from his present position ho will be able materially to advance his worldly prospects. x The Cemetery Committee of the City Council went out to Belmont yesterday to view the land offered in that neighborhood as a cemetery site They previously inspected the places offered nt Wade3town, Karori, and Ngahauranga. In a'l probability they will report to the City Council at its next meeting which of tho various hites, if any, they deem suitable for the purpose. The City Solicitor has given an opinion to the effect that thero is nothing in the Act to prohibit the receipt by City Councillors of payment for acting on the wharf sub-com-mittee, and that such a payment does not disqualify them from sitting or voting in the Council. A special meeting of the City Council was held yesterday afternoon to deal with tneannual balance-sheet and auditors' report. These were presented last month, and an abstract has appeared in our columns. An opinion was read from the City Solicitor to the effect that the auditors' remarks, as to the classification of the wharf accounts, went beyond their fuuetions. and ought not to have formed part of their report. After some casual discussion the balance-sheet was formally adopted, and the Council adjourned. His Honor the Chief Justice sat in Banco (this morning, but stated that the Court was not prepared to deliver judgment on Mr. Barton's motion in Peters v-. Joseph and Cj. The Court was therefore adjourned until tomorrow morning, when, it was understood, judgment will be delivered. In reply to Mr. Barton, his Honor said tho Court did'not propose to take any other cases on the list unless Mr Justice Richmond arrived in the meantime, in which case notice would 1)8 given to tho interested partus. Yesterday evening the raembrrs of the Britannia and Antipodean Lodges, 1.0.0. F., met at the Odd Fellows' Hall, to present to Bro. D. Susans a handsome marble clock, in recognition of his energetic services as Chairman of the Building Committee during the ast three years. P.P.G.M. T. M'Kenzie made the presentation in a suitable speech, and Bro. Susans warmly replied. The clock was supplied by Mr. J. Marks. At the ordinary weekly meeting of the managing committee of the Benevolent Institution yesterday, the members present were Mr. D. Lewis (iv the chair), the Revs. Messrs. Harvey and West, and Messrs. Holdsworth, L. Levy, and C. P. Powles. The following subscriptions were received : — Union Bank of Australia, £5 ss; Mrs. G. Moore, £3, and Miss Cochrane, os. After we went to press yesterday Messrs. J. H. Bethune & Co disposed of the* following properties at their sale : — Suburban section at Woodville, 7 acres 2 roods 3 porches, £150; suburban section (it Palmerston, 3 acres 3 roods 8 perches, £4o ; two allotments at Featherston, £-300. The band of the Choral Society had a very successful practice last evening under the direction of Mr. Bonnington. Tho ot erture and accompaniments in Auber's "Masaniello" were rehearsed. Sir John Coode will drive round the bay tomorrow, to inspect the shore Hue. Nothing has been done to-day. The members of the Young Men's Christian Association, with their friends, will hold a tea meeting at the Atbenteum on Friday evening. The second term of the Wellington College commences on the 28th inst. At the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning Frederick Holmes was the only prisoner. He was merely charged with drunkenness, and Dr. Diver, who sat in the absence of Mr. Crawford, R.M., discharged iiim with a caution. "Lost in London" was repeated at the Theatre Royal last night, and the piece went even smoother than ou the previous evenng. To-night the same piece will be presented for the last timo, aud will be supplementtd by " u'Callaghan on his Last Legs." At a meeting of those interested in the establishment ofTurkish baths in Wellington, held at the Odd Fellows' Hall last evening, it was decided to take preliminary steps to float a company with a capital of £4000, in 800 shares of £o each. A baptismal service, in connection with the Featherston-street Baptist Church, will be held in the Bethel, Herbert-street, to-morrow evening, when the Rev. T. Harrington will immerse eight candidates. We remind our readers that the Artillery Band's concert will take place at the Odd Fellows' Hall this evening. The Bijou Minstrels intend shortly to give an entertainment in aid of the funds of the Amateur Athletic Club. They boil down sheep at Rangitikei, and sell legs of mutton at sixpence each. A large hotel is ab ut to be erected near the railway station at Featherston. We ment'oned on Saturday the astonishing prices of land in Dunedin aud its vicinity as a proof ot the great Tise in vnlue of property all over the colony. To- day we can give a further instance. At Christchurch, dose to the railway .station, Messrs. Gutbrie k Larnach have paid for a quarter-acre of land, on which to erect their branch establishment, the sum of £5000. This is at the rate of £20,000 per acre. We venture to assert that the true value of land in some of the strictly business parts of Wellington is greater than this, and that Wellington's prospect of being; a largely populated city is much more assured than is the ease with the city of Christeoureb.