THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1803, 2 May 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1874.

« The meeting of fclie Council yesterday, being a reassembling after a recess, was not inaugurated in the usual way by a speech from the Superintendent in person, but by a lengthened message in which the Superintendent' states what the Provincial Government has been doing during the last four mouths, and what measures it intends to propose during the session. The first subject dealt with is that of settlement on the. waste lands, but. although the Superintendent is enabled to speak hopefully as respects several districts, there is no large proposal made: The Superintendent states that further lands are to be purchased for settlement from the natives, and that ascheme is proposed for the disposal of the remainder of the confiscated lands. We hope that the Superintendent has not failed to draw the attention of the General Government to the great, and \ve_ believe .unnecessary,,, delay which haß taken place in the purchase of laud in the Thames. The General Government will neither do not let alonewill neither buy themselves nor lot other people buy. The first subject touched on of immediate interest to us is. the statement that;" it' : was fouud desirable that a large extent of the foreshore should be utilised so as to afford enlarged and safer accommodation for shipping, for wharfage, railway, and other purposes." No distinct plan is proposed, but his Honor states that the General Government are willing to hand over the foreshore, by leave of the Assembly. There is nothing in the message of the proposal to hand the foreshore over to the municipality, and the Superintendent evidently does not intend to let it go, although he states that the formation' of the municipality will lead to the great improvement and general advancement of the district. 'I he Superintendent gives au outline of his negotiations on behalf of the aid to the Pumping Association, the particulars of which we some time ago laid before our readers. He then aunounces the fact that he has succeeded in obtaining a grant of £40,000 from the General Government on the security of; the land revenuej of the province. This will enable the to undertake. several works which must otherwise have 'been left aloue. A number of steam subsidies are to be grauted, to'improve the cornmunication between Auckland and the coast settlements—a legitimate object of expenditure, although the Council will have to be cautious in distributing the money. Extensive changes are proposed to be made in the functions of highway boards, which are distinctly set out in the message, and on the whole seem to be in the right direction. Perhaps there was as much curiosity to learn the sentiments of the Government with respect ito the Eduoation Act as on any other point, but here the Superintendent is vague, stating. only that a bill will be submitted which will" provide a further and better system of education for the youth of the province.": What the Superintendent means when; he speaks of providing.a measure which' will be more "generally acceptable," we cannot imagine, but shall not anticipate evil. The steps which he speaks: of taking in respect to utilising endow-; mentsifois education are praiseworthy, if the aid is only to be given to national' • and, unsectarian sphoqlß. ; 'The General Government have, it appears, deter-] mined not tp. proceed with . th,e railway ; between Riverhead and Auckland, a determination which we think very: sensible. Tho only wonder is how| anybody ever came to propose the line.i On the whole, the message is a good one, and appears to deal exhaustively with the present position of the province.: : The approval or disapproval oi the Government will mainly depaud upon the features of the Education Act, and upon their proposals for expenditure. With the exception of the statement about harbour accommodation and the foreshore, no public works are spoken of as to ,be undertaken on the goldfield, Ng doubt the friends of Captain Fraser, who met together at the Governor Bowen Hotel on Thursday evening, assembled there with a sincere and honest desire to' pour ! oil upon the troubled waters, and to endeavour to bring to a satisfactory conclusion at once the great into whiqk hq

hav plunged. Bub if. this was their o'ject, it was most effectually defeated through want of tact aud discretion, and the steps taken by the meeting will certaiuly tend to bring about an exactly opposite result to that' for which it was called. In the first place we can scarcely admit the right, ana the Press generally will never admit such a claim, of personal friends on one side to sit iu judgment on an abstruse question of libel, to act both as judge and jury, condemn the defendants as guilty without a hearing, fine them% £50, order them to pay the costs oa both sides, and exact from them an ample "if not an " abject" apology. The proposal is too ridiculous to bear investigation, and would never, wo feel convinced, be listened to by any newspaper in the colony. The whole of the proceedings were, in fact, a serious blunder. One of Captain' Fraser's solicitors sent a private note to his partner who happened to be at the Thames, in which he expressed an opinion that an apology might possibly be tendered by the defendants, but on what grounds he came to this conclusion we are not told. This note was evidently never iutended for publication, because a lawyer would not have been guilty of a public admissiou that it " would not be judicious to press the matter too strongly" against the defendants. But it was read to the meeting by Captain Fraser himself, and on the strength of the suggestions contained in it was framed the singular resolution which was eventually carried. Of course the meeting at the Thames has given the defendants an opportunity which they have most readily embraced, of shoeing the foolishness of the suggestions offered to them, and the scorn' with which they treat the whole proceeding. Viewed in the light of that meeting the counter-proposals of the defendants, as contained in our Auckland telegrams elsewhere, are neither uncalled for nor ridiculous. With the action of plaintiff's solicitor, Mr. Richmond, in the matter, we have nothing to do, bub we must, equally with our Auckland contemporary, deprecate the frequent threats of actions for libel, which do not always arise 'from-.a desire on the part of plaintiffs to vindicate:injured feeliugs or character. If in the hurry of commenting upon any. matter of interest a newspaper is led into error or oversteps the ordinary bounds of criticism we think some forbearance should be shewn, although we have no sympathy with coarse abuse or vulgarity iu journalism. Tho mistake in>tbis instance appears to have been the meeting of Thursday, when it was sought to .'throw upon the defendants the onus, of a compromise which they had never conceived, aud which only appears to have emanated Irom plaintiff's solicitor.

A few days ago, the appearances seemed iu ' favour of a coiitinuance of wet weather, and everybody was glad of it, for rain infers water Bupply to batteries oil the hills, logs to the saw-mills, and moisture for the pastures and gardens, 'The Shortland Saw-Mill is now idle for want of water, a supply of which is lying in iu the beds of the river waiting on the Hood, Gibbons's mill at the Kirikiri is working at kahikatea till the kauri is brought down by flood, . ' ' Last evening,'about six o'clock, a horse attached to a cart belonging to Messrs. Murphy. Bros, bolted from the vicinity, of the ; Bright Smile:battery, and made,: right towards the: beach at full gallop, There was no person in the cart at the time. Some men in the employ of Mr Holdship saw the animal coming, and one of them, Mr Andrew Clark, 'fearlessly confronted the auimal and. succeeded in stopping him, just in time to save the animal and the cart from being dashed to pieces, .We'learn that Mr H, 0. Youog has laid a complaint against,Mr O. ,M. Creagli for abusive and threatening language. ; . These two gentlemen are the rivals in the purchase of the Komata block, as to which we Hive"' had so. many rumours, of, war from Ohinemuri. Tho fighting has not taken place .up there, and the war has apparently travelled dowa here in tho amusing form o£ Folic* Court cases. If things in the Resident Magistrate's Court are to go on as . for the last few weeks, there will be strong argument for' removing the. Court nearer io Tararu, for the majority of cases seem to concern, the residents of. that locality. Yesterday ,a goat case lasted for several hours, and a large proportion of the inhabitants of that pleasant locality were present as litigants, witnesses, or interested speo< tators. § . Judgment was_ given in the Native Lands Court yesterday, in the case of Ipuwhakatara« tara, a block of land near Warahoe, on the river Thames. The Court had previously given a judgment in favour of Raika and Honiana, and the present was a re-hearing on the application of the Taiparis. . His Honor Judge Alonro gave judgment yesterday, affirming the former decision of the Court. At the usual weekly meoting of the Star of the Thames Lodge, 1.0. G.T., held on Thursday evening, in Vie Karaka School-room, several candidates wero proposed for membership, and a considerable amount of lodge business was transacted, at the conclusion of which the following members'were duly elected officers for the ensuing term:—W.P.C.T., W. F. McNeill; W.C.T., Jas. C. M. Gibson; W.Y.T., James Cocks; W.S., E Honiss"; W.F.S., H. H. Wright; W.T.y Wm. Aitken; W.C,, Rev. B. C. Uutland; W.M., W. J.Cain; W. 1.3., R. Pitkethley; W.0.U., James Herring; R.H.S., Sister E. A. McNeill; L; H.S., Sister Honiss; A.S., J, P. Jones; D.M., Thomas Arnold, At the close of the ordinary business of the Borough Council on Thursday night, the following notices of motion were tabled by Mr J. Butt" That, in the opinion of this Council, the restrictions under the Native Lands Act should be abolished within the limits of the Thames Borough, and that this Council should prepare a memorial to be laid before the next , Assembly by, our member,'Mr Charles O'Neill." —"That it is the opinion of this Council that out of the first money available by them for public works that a good substautul bridge should be erected across the Hape Creek on Wrey-street.'' ;''• • •; 'Some anxiety has been expressed concerning the con-arrival of the barque ' Empreza' from Liverpool, which left the' Alsrsey on tho 16th October last; she is consequently six and a* . half mouths out aud may be considered as considerably over-due. Advices state,, however, that she was to call on her passage at Porto Alegre, in tho Brazils, andihe may probably be ' deiained at that port. Tho 'Kmpreza' is'a Clyde-built composite barque of 249 tonaregiater. She is commanded by Captain W. R Bartlett, her owner, and has for 6ome years traded between Liverpool and South America. No advices have been received' by merchants in town of her description of cargoj and, it is un- \ cerainat present to ,whonnhewill be consigned. —■Herald. ' '

At 4 o'clock this morning observers (we Doti:ed but few) had a glorious opportunity of beholding an almost total eclipse of the moon. To him of poetic fancy, possibly it would have seemed that Diana was hiding her luminous countenance behind a thick dark veil in the clear star bespangled firmament.

Yesterday, being the first day of the peasant shootiug season, a number of amateur Bportsmea might be seen wending their way in the out-districts in search of game A passenger by the' Golden Crown' from Auckland brought down several brace, which were an evidence that the " early birds take the worms," unless, indeed, they were taken in anticipation of the day.

The Thames Football Club will meet on the Shortland ground'to-day, at 2.30 to play a match with a team from the Thames Navals.

A meeting of the Kauwaeranga District Board was held last evening. In consequence of the vast quantity of telegraphic intelligence which came to h»nd at a late hour, we ara compelled to hold a report, of the proceedings oyer for onr next issue . ,

In ; a Provincial Government Gazette published on Thursday, the following notifications appear:—Notice of re-entry on the Bank of New Zealand' Company's ground, Alabama Creek, Karaka; election of William Davie*, Bsq., as Mayor of the Borough of Thames; of alterations of boundaries of Tararu and Waiotalii Highway Districts; of changes in the Waiotahi Highway District Board,

The members of No. 2 Hauraki Volunteers met for drill at their drill-shed last evening. There was a good attendance. The men were put through squad drill • by Sergeant-major Grant, after which Major Cooper called Capt Hazard to the'front, and complimented him and the officers and company upm the way in which they had passed their annual inspection. He said it gave him much pleasure to hear Major Gordon speak in such high terms of their efficiency, arid advised them to keep together and pay attention to their drill-instructor, for it would be a sure way of keeping up the prestige which, they had al.eady acquired.

Amongst the licenses issued for shooting game we notice the followingT. 8. ICennan, Grahamstown; William Cato, Shortland; William Drake, Shortland; Valentine Savage, Shortland; E. W. Puckey, Shortland.; John Webb, Orahamstown; George Brett, Shortland; Michael Hennelly, Grahamstown; Clement A. Cornes, Grahamstown.

Miss Clara Stephenson,took a complimentary benefit at the Academy of Music last evening, and bad, as we expected,' a well-filled house. The piece de resistance was the " Lady of Lyons" Many thought it an ambitious flight for this company, but their success last night showed that the management well knew their strength anl weakness, and acted accordingly. The piece was well mounted and played, and the principal characters rendered with a fidelity which astonished and pleased the audience. Mr Collier phyed Claude Melnotte with an amount of success which many were unprepared for. In it he showed that he is fully equal to the delineations of the highest dramatic characters., In the earlier acts he was quiet, and unassuming, perhaps rather tame, but as the interest rose he was master of the occasion, and gave the fullest expression to the splendid language of the author.' Miss StephenBon, the fair beneficiare, played Pauline .with a grace and expression which elicited warm plaudits.' In the principal scenes she displayed an emotional'power of the highest order, and there was an energy and truthfulness in her delineation of these scenes which fairly took the house by storm. With Miss Stephenson's abilities in, other branches the public were already acquainted, but all were surprised at her success in this difficult piece. Of the other parts we have only to refer in terms o' praise. Mr Booth's Beausant was carefully played, as was also the Mons. De-chappelles of Mr South, who infused a spice of humour into it which was not at all disagreeable. Mr Searls as General Duma? was immense. As the frank old soldier he appeired to admiration, and bis performance was heartily appreciated.. Mrs Searle played Madame Deschappeiles with excellent effect, and on the whole the greatest credit is due to the company for the commendable manner in which this difficult but oft-repeated drama was performed, An amusing farce concluded the entertainment. To night the last performance of the company on tha Thames will be given, when the great seusation drama of " Under the Gaslight" will be produced

The N. Z. Hmkl has the following paragraph, the censure in which is deserved:— "The whole of the census returns have been sent in to the chief enumerator, with the exception of Grahamstown, and the tables are incomplete until these returns are furnished. Considering that the census was taken just two months ago, the sub-enumerators in the district referred to cannot be complained of for any undue haste in the matter." :

Mr Allen left Napier on Monday, for the Waikato, with 82 head of fat bullocks.

Partridges are increasing in Canterbury. The other day a covey of sixteen was seen in a field at Greendale, near Ohristchurch.,

Mr E. Yuill's prospecting party returned to town on Saturday morning, after an absence of several weeks. They were unable to discover any gold ia payable quantities, seeing nothing but the colour. They came, however, upon an excellent seim of brown coal, on the banks of the Mahunga, in the Patea district, some fifteen miles from Messrs Birch's station. A sample of the coal, which exists in the above-named district in large quantities may be seen at this office.—H. B. HeraM, March 31.

The Corporation of Riverton would seem to be blessed witha Town Clerk, whose services (for their variety and value) it would be difficult to over esiimate, The local paper says:— "The versatile Town Clerk of Riverton is at present.devoting the whole of the imirense energies be possesses to enforcing proper respect being paid to the municipal by-laws. The sight of that official walk: ig up the street, casting his eagle glance around, strikes terror in the hearts of citizens possessing animals of truant dispositions. The other day Mr Grant, while roaming about the town in search of stray cattle, found a perambulator containing a child ■ standing unprotected on the side-walk.. He immediately eCected a capture, and proceeded to trundle his prize triumphantly to the pound. 'He had not gone far when the young lady who had charge of the vehicle turned up, and " went for" MrGrant under heavy pressure of canvas, ■and with such effect that he relinquished his • capture and beat an ignominious retreat. The ■ worthy Town Clerk since that time has spent his days and nights trying to find out some Ordinances under which to increase the municipal revenues by having the owner of the perambulator and its occupant fined. His : studies have been so intense that his raven locks are rapidly changing to iron.grey."

The Perth Inquirer gives the following ag the text of a libel action tried at Perth in January: Crowther v. Gray--This'was an action for libel tried before his Honor the Acting. Chief Justice, _ Damages.were laid at £1,000. The ~alleged libel consisted of. passages in a letter written and addressed by defendant to his Excellency .the Governor, dated Bth October, 1872, animadverting on the matters in which elections generally were conducted in the disi tricfc where he resides, and setting forth that at an electioneering dinner given at Hoskea's hotel, Northampton, a few days'prior to the Heraldton election of 1872, the plaintiff, who is a justice of the peace, did so far prostitute his magisterial,office as to ply the electors at the said dinner with liquors supplied on demand out of a magic can, whereby they became tipsy, and that while in that state, he obtained proxies from them in favour of Mr Major Logue, It was alleged in the came letter, to his Excellency —and this constituted part'of the libel complained of—that at the dinner referred'to one of the electors, Mr John Williams, a sheepfarmer, was'stripped, and prevailed upon to sing ' Rule Britannia' as a chorus to every obscene song rendered for the delectation of the company by the plaintiff.'' The defendant, who pleaded not guilty, had apologised tardily, withdrawing the allegations in the libel. Thecase lasted two daygfyd the jury qould not agree, were discharged.