The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1874.

Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1502, 3 December 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1874.

For the cauxe that lack? uslstancc, For Che wrong tnat nct'Us rusiutkSCCt For the future in the distance. Aad tho ff»od that w« con do.

As will be seen from our telegrams the Strathnaver salvage case is over. It was dismissed with costs, and the owners now proceed to sue for demurrage. , It is surprising how one immoral act has a tendency to produce immorality. It was the case of the Miltiades that directly originated this monstrous claim for £10,000 at Wellington against the Strathnaver, and had the case resulted aa the Miltiades'case. did in Auck--5 - .0) buttUSMM Tt^i-is..^-^. .. t sau*irj<,T ,'WAacß.a.ja X If

land, we should not have woudered if shipowners had avoided our coasts as they would fly from a fastness of pirates. The Strathnaver case however was uc 5 left to arbitration, but was brought into the legally constituted Court 3, aud in behalf 'of the commercial fame of New Zealand) we thank Hea-

yen for the result-. The rescue of the Strath' n ver b.y the iStorm Bird presented feature febacgave at least decent gr<?iind£ \di aclaiin. Assistance Was reslly tendered to the vessel was oil the rocks, and had some i>i her copper removed by abrasure. But notwithstanding all this, we belilpre thß idea of making suck a monstrous claim wo'iid

never have entered ttte fe.eaAs of the owners

of the steamer had i; Hot been for what had jusfc Occurred at Auckland. It should afford ulimingled satisfaction to every well-wish^i 1 of ]STew Zealand; to everyone f-hafc h&s Ahy regard for commercial honesty-, if heavy damages for detention a!re obtained from the owners of tfe.e Stormbird. It would have the effect

of neutralising the evil that has been done*

stifle the incipient tendency to lie in wait fot vessels in distress, and show to the world that we are Hot like " wreckers " praying for disaster, til at we may fall upon and plunder the luckless mariner. There cannot be a doubt that when a steamer encounters risk in the effort to save life or property, her owners and her ere?/ should be recompensed for the risk incurred. But to endeavour to trade on the misfortunes of others, and by twisting the law of salvage so as to make money out of other peoples distress, is happily nob characteristic of British Com-m-rce, and the Admiralty Court has now proclaimed that there will nob be thrown over it the protection of the law.