THE Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XI, Issue 1230, 4 March 1882, Page 2

THE Bay of Plenty Times

"THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES WALL TEACH ME SPSS" XIH«t JOHN, ACT 1

SATURDAY, MX BOH 4 1882.

Thf attempted assassination of Her Majesty the Queen the day before yesterday, particulars of which appear in another column, will be read throughout the British Empire with only one feeling of indignant abhorrence .of so eow&rdly and unjustifiable a deed, and one so repugnant to the feelings of every subject of a goos, just, and most' liberal Sovereign, a benevolent and amiable woman, always the first in the relief of distress and sympathy with trouble, and as a wife and mother always irreproachable, and above even the whisper of calumny, beloved by her children, as by her subjects, as a woman to be connected with whom in any capacity is a blessing such as Providence does not often bestowi It may bo imagined, then, the fierce anger that will thrill the hearts of nil Britons who read that some dastardly wretch has dared to attempt the life of their beloved Queen. It would appear that no political significance can be attached to the wicked deed, which was only the result of a diseased mind, preyed upon by misery and want. Some pity may then be felt for the poor wretch, even in the storm which will not fail to be aroused, for want and a diseased mind are curses against which the best and bravest man may give way, but had the intended crime been an act attributable directly or indirectly to any political villiahs and adventurers, the general cry would be to the Government to hand over the whole of the gang to the people they have so insulted and aggrieved, and they would meet with no mercy. There is no comparison l^ween the attempted wicked ,

muider qi ; oiir Beloved Queen and the ferocious cnnie committed in Russia or •the slaugtitei* of ,the mild President OaMeld. Bespbtism is/as it has beep defined, ." rule of brute force qualified by assfelssination," and in Russia the "Sovereign stands alone in opposition to the will of a people 0f.80, 000,000 slaves, 'and must, take his chance of death at any moment. There is an acknowledged license to rowdyism tinder democratic rule that places the good and amiable at the mercy of every unscrupulous blackguard, and the only defence is to go well armed with revolver and bowie knife, and trust no one. But in a country in which every consideration is shown to the wants of the lowest sooner than to those of the highest, and a kindly and grey-haired mother — who never refuses her purse to the wanting or her sympathy to the distressed in mind, so gentle as to^ have been accused of over sentimentality — is Sovereign, to attempt such a deed deserves, except in undoubted insanity, instant punishment for which the hangman's rope is too kind ; and for which the stake on Ludgate Hill, with the people to-, behold and sanction the execution, would be more Jin accordance with the popular feeling. Most people who have paid any attention to the working of the Corrupt Practices Bill will have become ' convinced that it is a very dangerous and ill-drawn measure. So evil, in fact, in ;its operation that it will require amendment next session. It was brought up last year just before the House rose at the, request of Mr Saunders, sent to a 'Select Committee to report on, and hurried through its ..various stages at racing speed. Very few jE)f the members knew what it meanfy and when the lawyers in the House explained its provisions, their explanations w" ere re " ceived with an incredulity amusi. n & * c behold. It, however, became law, > an^ in two instances, in our opinion, LV E already been the cause of inflicting great injustice. The Stanmore election was upset through no fault or act of the candidate whom the Returning Officer declared to be elected, but from ■what appears: to liave teen a ; conspiraey among those * who were supporting another candidate. The Wakanui election was made void through the negligence of the Returning Officer, and the respondent to the petition had to pay the costs of the hearing. At the Stanmore election the petitioner did not claim tho seat, and the petition was only filed at the last moment allowed by law. This delay was to prevent counter petitions being filed. The Judges remarked that no claim being made to the seat showed that the petition was instituted on feelings of personal dislike, and not from a zeal to ensure purity of election. Mr Pilliet has forfeited his political rights for three years because, as a Southern . journal puts it, " the candidate . ; and : ? his committee had been made the victim of a well laid plot or a. series of plots • concerted for one especial purpose— ?'.<?., to prevent the return of Mr Pilliet, or to capsize his election, should it turn out that he was successful." • The gravamen of this charge in our opinion, from a careful reading of the evidence, and the finding of the ..Court, is conclusively established. Such a state of the law cannot be tolerated to endure, as under its operation any single scoundrel in any single electorate can make void any election. By this unique piece of legislation corruption on the part of your opponents' supporters can vitiate the validity of your own election. You have not only to keep your own meu clean handed, but also the hands of the men who are opposing you. In the case of the Strathmore election, in our opinion justice has miscarried. Neither is the result of, the ,Wakanui election petition more satisfactory. Thero was no act of Mr Wason's invalid or corrupt that the Court had any knowledge of, but he lost his seat through the Returning Officer refusing to alloAV persons to vote who were entitled to do so, as their voting may have altered the result of the polling. Neither Mr Wason nor Mr Ivess was to be supposed to teach the Returning Officer his duty; indeed if they had made such an attempt they would have doubtless been told to mind their own business. And yet Mr Wason loses a large sum of money through this officer's proved incapacity. He has incurred a heavy penalty through 1 having offered his services as a representative of the people in Parliament. To a man like Mr Wason the loss of the money is a bagatelle, but the operation of the law renders a j>oorer man chary of incurring a considerable risk. : It is no consolation to ' the County or to Mr Wason that the Wakanui Returning Officer appears to have been remarkably inefficient, and ignorant of his duties. Under tho Corrupt Practises Act it is probable that half the Lite elections could have been made void. There is,, howovor, an equally objectionable part of our electoral machinery which many people thought wo hud succeeded in abolishing. The judges have to forward their finding to the Speaker, and the House, on being informed by him of such finding, (< shall order the same to be entered on their Journals, and shall give the necessary directions for confirming or altering tho return (i.e. tho finding of the Court), or for issuing a writ for a new election, or for carrying the determination into execution as circumstaneos may require." Thus, the whole battle of tho elections that are made void can be fought over again in the House, and until the Speaker lias been directed to issue a fresh writ constituencies in the position of Stanmore and Wakanui remain unrepresented. Any person familiar with the tactics of Parliamentary procedure will be grieved to hear that election scandals such as that of Christchurch in 1879 may transpii* in 1882, and will not entertain any higher respect for the General Assombly from the huge mess thoy marie in their attempt to secure electoral purity in ISfew Zealand.

'he Honourable Mr Rolleston, accompani^d.lby *^c Suryeydr-Genml/ arrived at Op otiki overland from Gisborne, last night *at half-past eighty: and left Opotiki for ,T»i uran # a at, two o'clock this after;- v noon, '.He will probably arrive here tomorrow evenin 8* ' V •i h e lit ensing Committee for the Katikati district meet at the JJ.M. Court, Wai erf oid, at noon on Wednesday next, the Bth inst. " Messw Ch^ebrough and Firth Wrigley issue addresses to-day to the burgesses of » a uranga, notifying their candidature for seats iv the Council. Persons wlio have promised subscriptions in aid ot fencing the new cemetery are requested by advertise meat to pay the amounts to M> J. W. Ularebrough. A ball under the auspices of the Tauranga Regatta Club will be given on regatta night, March 17th, tbe music at which will be supplied by the Hobson Band. By advertisement appearing in another column the vestry of "J rinity Church particularly request t&afc perswns attending Divine service will not allow dogs to follow thorn into the building. The time-table of tlue Northern Steamship Company ha» been slightly altered. Thes.s. Wellington, previously advertised to leave tbis port tor A uckland at 4 p.m. on Friday, the 17th inst., will not leave until 5 a.m. on Saturday, the 18th, in consequence of Friday being the Regatta Day. A London gourmand lately out in search j of cure for dyspepsia in the hot springs und medicinal waters of Rotorua, pronounces the " butter fish," with which he firscmade acqunintance in Tauranga., the greatest treat in fish. he has ever tasted, not even excepting sahnqn. Colonials are not sufficiently impressed with the delicacy and variety of our New Zealand fish, but strangers think very highly of them, and some cannot be surpassed m any part of the world. Messrs Tanner's butchery at the corner of Wharf-street and Cameron Road is a shop peculiarly adapted for the requirements of the meat trade. This position is unexceptionable, and being on the highest ground in the vicinity i* open to the full benefit of the clear bright breezes for . hich Tauranga is so well known. A n Ay 'feet draught is obtained t*hrou«h the nrem * ses> an( * no e ®° rfc ' 8 neglected by tbe t> rib tors to render their ©itablishment worthy o F c ufcmost public confidence. a f ii. _ fn -tnightly sitting of the Waste Lands Boam in Auckland. on Thursday last it was re 9 oi. ved that * P or , tlo £ oi .f c Xopuru block be . "TO? 1 , and offered for sale Five acres at Pakjri were reserved for a cemetery site, . and ehe acres at the same place for r6t 'Nation purposes. The Board also decided to f cr ft f ur * al , e f immediate payments., bloc, f °j „ ai To survey districts, and one-half °* D loc f. J > Waihi, both in Pukeroa block. . I , ne °,™ er half of block 2, Waihi, will be oh, "™ tor sale on deferred payments at %. 3 P er acre. The contract for the part of the Thame*. Tauranga Road remaining unfinished anc accepted by the Tanner Brothers will, we are thankful to say, be completed in reijard tw the public convenience and not in regard lo pecuniary profit. The contractors will first of all form the road, so that even at the worst places a coach will be able to pass, and thus facilitate through traffic between two imp jrtant distt icts by wheeled vehicles. Of course this entails the road being gone over again by the contractors, but the public benefit will be so great that we have no doubt the local authorities will recompense the contracfiors if any pecuniary loss is sustained through their public spirited action. The canvass of the Wesleyans to obtain subscriptions for the erection of a church for their special sect hus been marked with great success. The bazaar they inaugurated was an unqualified success. They realized over £100, and had £80 of odds and ends left. Tlie subscription list tops up £180 to £200 in addition, making a grand total of over £300. Some of tbe inhabitants hnvo not put down thennames, but will in addition t •> the subscribed amount contribute some small matter. Those who have pluced their , names for definite amounts will -no doubt redeem their pledge The to *n has been ean-esily and consistently canvassed, and i from the result residents here appear to have a fit conception of their duti'-s in- > dependent of mundane üblgatmns. ! The Government are rapidly r< cognising the advantage of the 'elophone over the telegraphic system. It is a very sort ■ ort time i since the telephone idea got a fair chance ' of development. W.e now find the authorities desirous of i> tr ducing it between the Tapu Cre-k on tlio Thames side ; and Tamahere "ii t ; c Waikatu kle. Thi* service, it will b reitie uler d, goes ! through extensive and imp r: »nt districts. It will go through the Thames Valley and goldmining il-strots. and the Upp-r \ 1 hames at present is on« on wliich the eyes ■, of mining speculators is fixed with eager < interest. The pluuuix-like district of Te '. Aroha pjrtakes in t : c benefits conferred, i and we need not sate t'uit district is of ] imponance to. ri o-io. The t»-le- 1 phone pystem might «•( 1 it jul -ptud to tlie requirements f »ome of • nr minor sett'e- • ments such as Te Puke, AYh ".iitane, »fee. . ! We observe that M- B S. Corleit, 1 architect, has acted v nil ur suggesli <n i ami placed the photiyiMphs he brought with him from Auckland on tlie walls of * the Mechanics' Institute, and lovers of * N*w Zealand scenery and f- s'erers of New Zealand art will be well re-paid for , a vsit to these views of tho Northern Wairoa district and charming coloured portraits. The latte-* by Miss Stuart, of - Auckland, where i'cr talmts are we.l l known and appreciated, are w r e ; l worthy of j cay ful inspection a- higlily fini-ihod works j of «rt This you >k I'dy, who has taken x several awards of merit, and we believe t the gold medal, for drawing from the figure, will take a higher position in her J pz'ofession than young New Zealand can * afford her, if we are not nuStnken, but \ young colonials sh>u d lvm mber that \r alth is not the only thin .- to ncquire in i his world, and that artistic refinement s; raises a man and gives him more pleasure , 0 in life with a few shillings only than all rude boorish wealth cou d givo. The t views include s >me bu4i S'-enes, duck- s shootina: along the course of one of JSTew t Zealand's charming, windi'i.-, rippling c little rivulets ; some gigantic logs nine or t ten feet in diameier, and other objects of c iEfcerest to the bush lovers of the country. . v As a suggestion we would observe th it a , "school of art" in Tauranga might afford profit as well as pleasure to those {, who attended it. One can get some idea of the amount of P scientific instruction given in England from t] the fact that while twelve yeara ago the number of schools examined under the Science and Art Department was only 212, and the ' number of students only 10,000, there were j 11 last year over 1,300 of these schools and isi nearly 60,000 pupils, ' jfc