OTWAY V. ARMSTRONG.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3999, 16 June 1870, Page 3

OTWAY Y. ARMSTRONG.

We observe that the New Zealand Herald dissents from our opinion on the subject of the decision in the ease Otway v, Armstrong. The Herald argues that, if judgment had been given for the plaintiff, it must, under the present Act, have been for the whole a mount claimed. The wording of the thirtyeighth clause of the Act is as follows :—: — " Payment of all calls due by any shareholder to the company, and payment of any contribution in tne event of any company ,being wound up, may be enforced before any two or more Justices, who are hereby empowered to make an order for such payment, and sugh order and every warrant thereon may be in such one of the forms in ! Schedule E to this Act as shall be applicable to the case." It is not easy to see, if the Justices have power to enforce "any contribution," how it can be argued that bhey have not power to enforce any just and reasonable contribution, even though the Official Agent should make his claim for an unreasonable amount. Unless it can be shown that, in .the matter of magisterial powers, the greater docs not include -the less, -we shall be compelled, in spite of our contemporary, to hold our previous opinion. As to the legality of the decision, the Herald admits that the Justices did not give' a judgment in accordance with the r law : " The Magistrates acted, we think, with perfect justice. They had only two courses before them— eitHer to. follow the track 1 laid down by the Act (an unspeakably' foolish one),- which, would have been likely" to' have had, a very .'disastrous, effect, or to 'reject the system altogether. They adopted the latter and wisest plan."* That, is to say, the* Justices had the right and the wrong, tie course prescribed by the law, and

that outside of the law, open to them ; and, according to our?contemporary, fthey.fchose the latter. That^Justices have the power to reject laws, where, in their opinion, those laws conflict with equity, is another new legal doctrine peculiar to this case.

The Wellington Advertiser has, as we yesterday announced, been enlarged in size. Judging from the first leader published after this increase, one would conclude that its editor also had been enlarged mentally, so authoritatively does he write of the New Zealand Press and Legislators. The article in question commences with the somewhat trite proverb, "You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear," and the writer, evidently under the impression that there is nothing of the sow's ear about himself, goes on to show how miserably off poor New Zealand is for statesmen and writers. The author then proceeds with a kind of general criticism of everybody, from which it is very difficult to discover his views, save that he cannot much longer " tolerate the existence of nine petty governments that can exercise no useful functions." A metropolitan Press is the thing 1 required, and the Daily Advertiser offers itself to supply the want. If we may form an opinion from the English of the following sentence, we should venture to say that the metropolitan Press — at all events as represented by the Advertiser — is not likely to flourish :—": — " That the leading newspapers now are too much under the influence of either General or Provincial Governmen influence we have only to point to those of Wellington, Auckland, and Canterbury." The nineteenth "half -yearly meeting of the j shareholders of the New Zealand Insurance Company was held yesterday, when the report and balance-sheet were unanimously adopted ; the retiring auditors — Messrs. Fraser and Warner — were re-elected ; and a vote of thanks was passed to the directors, ' officers, and agents of the company. A ' dividend at the rate of 10 per cent, was declared, £5,000 was placed to the reserve fund, and £6,079 16s. sd. was carried forward to the piofit and loss account. There was another sitting of the Supreme Court yesterday. The whole of the day was occupied by the case of the alleged shooting by Frederick Houghton, with intent to kill a native named Pene Amine, at the "Bay of Islands. Several native witnesses were examined. The jury ultimately returned a verdict of not guilty, which was received i with cheers by the pnblie in the gallery. ! On more than one occasion lately, corres- \ pondence in mails between this port and the Thames has been delayed in delivery, and on inquiry we find that it has resulted from some of the masters of steamers plying to the Thames omitting to deliver the mail on arrival, and taking it back to the port it was shipped at. We may state that such neglect renders -the master liable to a penalty of £100, under the 29th clause of the Post-office Act, and we believe that action is now being taken by the Chief Postmaster against one captain, under this clause. It is only right that, in this matter, the saddle should be ptit on the right animal, and that the Postal Department should not be credited with the sins of others. We have been requested to state that the Revising Officer will extend the time until Monday, the 26th June, for those persons whose claims to vote have been insufficiently filled up, to send in fuller descriptions of their qualifications. He has received only three or four communications from all those persona, although their names were published in full in the several issues of the Daily Sopthekn Cross. These remarks aoply, we believe, to the rolls for the City of Auckland East, City of Auckland West, Parnell, Newton, Northern Division, Franklin, and Raglan. A writer, who styles himself "An old newspaper editor," 1 has contributed to the Thames Advertiser on account of his experiences during three days' incarceration in Mount Eden Gaol, on a visit of ca. sa. Speaking of the regulations as regards food, he says :—"I: — "I found that I could be kept in custody for fourteen days, and that, according- to the just and humane regulations, assented to by the just and humane Judges of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, I could have such cooked food as my friends outside the gaol might bring to me, and that I would be allowed such wine, beer, or spirits as the doctor might order, and as I might be able to drink in the presence of the gaoler without leaving the place where it was delivered to me, all of course at my own cost, or that of my friends, if I had any. A pleasant fix this — a man picked up in the street without any preparation, and taken 60 miles from his home. " Further on he speaks of the deficiency of proper cooking utensils. He says :—: — "We were, therefore, obliged to cook, and this was our cooking apparatus :We had an urn, or hot- water boiler, the gift of a late distinguished visitor to the villa ; a piece of fencing wire bent into the form of a gridiron ; and a pan, which was a voluntary contribution by a dog. It had been tied to a dog's tail, the clog rushed into the Stockade, and the other dogs in the Stockade took the pan off him, and made a cooking utensil of it." According to the established rota, Messrs. J. Baber and A. Beetham should be the presiding magistrates at the Police Court this morning. We give the following scrap for the edification of the Drury Alliance :—": — " A Michigan woman has recovered by law all the money that her husband had spent in a liquor saloon for six years. The prohibitory liquor law of that State does not regard liquor as property, and the woman recovered the money on the ground that it had been paid to the liquor- vender without consideration. '» Mr. A. McDonald, Pukekohe, writes to us aa follows on the port-of-call question : — "Sir, — l feel perfectly astonished to think that any man could dare to make such statements as Mr. Collie has done as to the qualities which the harbour of Wellington possesses as recommending it as superior to the harbour of Auckland. lam no nautical man ; but am a settler who arrived in Port Nic. so far back as August, 1841, in the barque 'Tyne,' commanded by Captain Robinson, who afterwards commanded the ship 'Simla,' well known in the port of Auckland. Moreover,. what lam about to atate can be substantiated by Sir William Martin, Mr. Swainson, our first Attorney-General, Mr. Outhwaite, and Captain Derrom, of the Volunteers, all of whom came in the ' Tyne.' Now, when Captain Robinson made Cook's Straits, outside of the Wellington harbour, the wind was blowing a perfect gale straight out of the harbour, which, I think, is northwest. Under this wind no ship could make the harbour of Port Nicholson. Well, sir, we had to knock about for, I think, 13 days. Captain Robinson more than once fired the ship's gun for a pilot, but received no answer, and on the fourteenth morning the wind blew a perfect hurricane from the south-east. The captain then had no choice but that of attempting to make the harbour under closereefed maintop-aail, or else be driven on to a lee shore, He of course ohose the former, and in we went, with a look-out in the fore and main-top, as also some of the crew constantly heaving the lead. I shall never forget that morning. Those on shore told us afterwards that they w-.re watching most intently* expecting to see us heel over on the rocks. It was , alone the power of the Almighty that preserved us from death on that day. I will not you how I felfc disappointed with the appearance of the place, i and how. I wenrand engaged with Governor Hobaou, who arrived in Wellington two or i three days after tho ' Tyne,' But, sir, this much I will tell you, that, during some nine days I remained there, two ships which arrived some days after us, and which had on board the Nelson" Surveying Staff, dragged their anchors and were driven on shore, among rocks," at a, point of the harbour called Kaiwarawara ; and that nine men lost their lives during the same time, through the capsizing of cutters from gusts of squalls coaming down' upon .the ha'rbouY from the tops *of -the mountains which surround it. „_TEe good, barque 'Tyile',«2- on her VoyagV. swas 5 was completely wrecked outside Port, Nicholson, at a place called Sinclair's Head.; So' liiucn for the capabilities of Wellington harbour, as entitling it to be chosen as the port of call.*'

We give to-day the second portion of an interesting letter from our Fiji correspondent. The latter portion of the letter cannot fail to be interesting to New Zealand settlers, as showing the extremely practical and effective character of the native policy of the white settlers of Fiji. We have received a letter from Mr. E, JShanks, of Whangarei, complaining that our correspondent's account of an asaault upon a little girl, by a man known as French Peter, was in many respects exaggerated and incorrect. Mr. Shanks complains that no mention was made of the fact that at the time the man Peter was intoxicated, and lie affirms that the "horrifying account" of how the- fellow dragged the child on the ground for a considerable distance, threatening to cut off her head, was proved to be a deliberate falsehood. Mr. Shanks adds that, so far from no notice being taken of the matter, the man was fined £3 and costs, with the alternative of one month's imprisonin int. G. P. Pierce, Esq., J.P., presided at the Police Court yesterday. The only business was the imposition of fines upon a fewdrunkards. The magistrates whose turn it was could uot attend, and considerable delay was experienced in finding a J.P. to undertake the business at a moment's notice. The Secretary and Treasurer of the Hamley Gun Club has kindly forwarded to us a copy of the rules of the Club, bound in a very neat little book, which we beg to acknowledge with thanks. The little book contains photographs of the President, his Excellency the Governor ; Vice-President, J. O. Hamley, Esq. ; Secretary and Treasurer, S. Jones, Esq. ; and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. Besides the rules and the photographs mentioned, the book contains a list of original and elected members, and the opening match of the Club. The book itself lias been very neatly got up by Mr. Atkin, and the photographs by Mr. Bartlett are remarkably good. A few of these books are for sale at Messrs. Upton's, in Queen-street, and as a book of reference it will be found an excellent guide to the sporting community. This afternoon, at three o'clock, a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce will be held in the Mechanics' Institute. For the credit of the community we hope to see a quorum present. | We have received a copy of a pamphlet j "On the Symbol of the Divine Light ;" an inaugural sertnon delivered by the Rev. R. Kidd, LL.B., on the opening of the Masonic Lodge of Light at the Thames. The pamphlet also contains the charge delivered at the constitution of the same lodge, by G-. P. Pierce, Esq. In speaking upon the ' ' drink traffic" at the Port Albert anniversary meeting on May 30, Mr. G. T. Hartnell said : " For hundreds of years, legislation has been directed against the demoralising tendencies of the drink traffic. Moreover, like legislation is now in force against betting houses, gambling hells, and other kindred social evils. No civilised community could exist any length of time, if it resolved to abrogate all laws of this kind. My second proposition is that it is the duty of society to prohibit this traffic ; indeed, if all other methods fail to obviate the vast c ils with which it is ever attended, no other position is at all tenable. There are three ways only of dealing with this question. First, regulating the sale of drink by a license law. From the time of Edward VI., 1552, when, I believe, the first Licensing Act was passed, to this day, all legislation has notoriously failed to render this traffic harmless, or even to materially lessen its evil results. Second, throwing the traffic open. Third, prohibiting its common sale altogether. Incontrovertible facts, open So all who care to see them, prove this to be the only satisfactory adequate remedy. Here at Port Albert we have no open sale, and scarcely any, if any, of an illicit kind, and we have neither drinking nor drunkenness. An outline history of the licensing system, from 1552, will pro^e how utterly and completely it has failed. The preamble of the Act of Edward VI. reads, 'Forasmuch as intolerable hurts and troubles to the commonwealth of this realm doth daily grow and increase, through such abuses and disorders as are had and caused in common alehouses, and other houses called tippling houses,' &c. Fifty years later, -in the reign of James 1., another Act states that, ' Whereas the ancient, true, and principal u<?e of inns, alehouses, and other victualling-houses, was for the receipt, relief, and lodging of wayfaring people travelling from place to place, and for such supply of the wants of such people as are rot able by greater quantities to make their provisions of victuals, and not meant for entertainment and harbouring of lewd and idle people, to spend and consume their money and their time in lewd and drunken manner.' Soon after what is termed the gloriovts Revolution of 1688, we have an era of dishonour and infamy as far as the .history of this question is concerned. Laws were enacted, for revenue purposes, to encourage distillation from grain. The results were disastrous in the extreme. Gin was sold for sixpence per quart. In 1732, according to the testimony of Smollett, the signboards stated, "You may get drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, and have clean straw for nothing." Coming to near our own time, in the reign of George IV., a Act dated 1822, begins :—: — • Whereas all the several statutes now in force for regulating, &c, are found to be defective and inefficient.' This must be the verdict of every thinking person at this present time. The fact is, all such tinkering legislation must, and ever will, fail to eradicate those evils, or, indeed, to materially lessen them in any way. It has been proposed to substitute wines for the spirits now so largely consumed. There may be some slight advantage in this if it could be accomplished ; but everyone knows that the tendency of drinkers is not from the stronger to the weaker liquor, but the reverse. The utter failure of the "Beer Bill, which was to soberise the English people, proves the usolessness of such a remedy." This evening, at eight o'clock, a vocal and instrumental concert will be held in the New City Hall, under distinguished Masonic patronage. Judging from the advertised programme, there will be a higher class of selections and greater variety than is generally presented to an Auckland audience ; and, from the known ability of the chief performers, therd is little doubt but tlxe whole entertainment will be a complete success. In bankruptcy matters the following notices are advertised : — The creditors of H. S. Meyers meet this afternoon, in the office of Messrs. Combes and X aldy, at 3 o'clock. The meetings of creditors of J. M. Perrier and Charles Mclntyre have been adjourned until the 22nd instant. In the estates of John Brown and Willoughby Bras3ey, the Provisional Trustee has become the trustee |on behalf of the creditors. On the 23rd instanb Solomon John Fernandez intends to apply for the complete execution of a deed of composition. A meeting of the creditors of John Black is called for " Thursday, the j 21st," to appoint anew trustee in the place of John Marshall Mowbray. A few days ago we noticed the destruction of a portion of the footpath in Jermyn-street, caused by carts, and pointed t ut an easy remedy to avoid the same result in the future. Yesterday, a large body of labourers under the direction of Mr. Walker, Foreman of Works to the City Board, were employed carrying our suggestions out. The street is now repaired, and a large ptiriri stake placed firmly inthe'ground at the corner of Jermynand Eden-streets, to prevent 'similar encroachments in thfeffnture. It is pleasing to observe public bodies paying attention to the hints occasionally given in the press, for journalists find it a more pleasing task to commend than to condemn the acts of public bodies. This evening, at half past seven o'clock, at the drill-shed, a meeting of the < ommittee of management of, the Auckland Rifle Volunteers will ba held, when business of import ance will r be considered. ■ The information for ' a breach of the Dangerous <fl|f>ds- Act "tagainst Mr. Samuel Biown, by the Inspector of Weights and Measures, will be gone into to-day afc the ; Police Court.