The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4199, 28 January 1871, Page 2

The Daily Southern Cross.

LUCEO, NON URO. If I have been extinguished, yet there rtie A thousand be*consjfromthe spark I bore.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 187 L

In reading ikevratf telegtfame just KfiflSived ?i& Tauranga, it would be impossible from the mere record of engagements to form any very distinct idea as to which side legitimately claims the balance of success. Battles have been fought which, in presence of such armies, must bo regarded as mere skirmishes, but which in other days would hare fixed their names in history. From the peculiar action of the arms of precision with which the soldiers on either side are all armed, the effects are invariably disastrous, and we can realise the meaning of the frequent statement — " Heavy losses " were sustained on both sides." It is apparent that in all these marchings and counter marchings, takings and evacuations of towns and military positions, carnage unexampled is proceeding. And as, in the new style of warfare, victory and defeat seem to depend more on the thinning of battalions than the capture of positions, the conviction is almost forced on us that this terrible war will, in its continuance, depend on the numerical exhaustion «f the combatants. Taking however a general view of the position, we believe that it may be safely said that advantage rests with the French. In the various engage* ments they do not seem to have had their equal share of victory, but the prestige that they have gained in having stayed the advance of the Prussian forces if in its moral effects equivalent to many victories. At the first irruption of the German forces all France was aghast. The rapidity of victory on victory bewildered and demoralised. That is over now, and evidently the Prussians have encountered a dogged resistance more like their own national characteristics, and wholly different from the impulsircncflfl that was built up from ideas of invincibility, and which characterised the Imperial army on the road for Berlin. The French temperament has undergone a total change, and, sobered by the stern realities of invasion, the whole people are moved by a stern reso lution to make France the grave of the German armies. The main en gagements seem to have take place between the opposing armies of the Loire; but the fact that Tours, the late seat of the French Government, has been occupied by 24,000 Germans, tells to which side the successes on the Loire belong. The fact that Havre, Dieppe, and other Northern French ports are blockaded by the French fleet shows that successes have also attended the Germans in the .North ; while from the South and West and central portions of France there is a singular absence of information. Around Paris the war still rages intermittently, and here the chief successes of the French have been won. Besides the aggressive action of their forti, the Parisians have made several mbst successful sorties ; and it appears natural from the position of their armies, ; in winter, so far from the German frontier, and submitted perpetually to the attacks, of a warlike »nd desperate people, that, as stated by a telegram) the position of the German army is critical. There are the usual stories of insurrectionary movements inParis, which areas uiual con-, tradicted, The bombardment of the city was still delayed : in fact, uon a former

lame truth, it/is stated, that the longthreatened attack was to be made on Fort Averon on the morning of the departure of the mail ; and the guns of the Saxons, detailed off for the service, doubtless were almost heard as the news wai translated through the wires. The statement as to the bombardment has been so similar by every mail that we shall not now believe in the attack on Paris until it is over. Luxembourg, which has been long an explosive element, in Europe, has fallen under the displeasure 6f: u Pnis!|ra, who declares the neutrality, m o longer recognised. This question, which at other times would hare canted *wor)H of diplomacy andbeen pertap* a, o&sub belli, seetas to have solved itself, the offended party having been appeased by the explanation of the little stronghold, and perhaps assisted somewhat to this state of satisfaction by the energetic action of England. But to us the most satisfactory news perhaps is with reference to the Hussian question Great advance has not been effected, but the little done is signi> Scant. A conference on the Eastern Question has been agreed upon ; and, in the concession to reopen the terms of the Treaty of Paris, we have the pledge that a spirit of conciliation will be maintained. And though some difficulty has arisen with reference to the Conference, in consequence of views put forth by France as antecedent and conditional, the date had been filed for the 9th of January ; and everything indicated a peaceful solution of a difficulty that seemed to hang like a thunder-cloud over the face of Europe.

There can be little reason to doubt that the fate which has befallen the kerosine store and the Music Hal has been the act of incendiaries. And the recent attempt at the Thames for the destruction of the Academy of Music tends to the conviction that there is concerted action in these dastardly outrages on the property and peace of the community. This circumstance is calculated to produce an uneasy feeling in the public mind, and demands prompt and decisive action. We have no doubt, however, that the energetic steps taken for the detection of the guilty will have a reassuring effect; and the inherent love of la»r and order in the minds of the citizens will not have violence done to ft in the triumph and escape of the perpetrators of such a crime. It is in the highest degree gratifying to observe the large Tew»rd for detection which has been offered by the City Board, in conjunction with the insurance companies, and also to see that a fall pardon to an accomplice is offered by his Excellency the Governor. Such cowardly acts are rarely the remit of individual effort, and we can easily fancy that, among those whose principles permitted participation in such a crime, the fidelity which is supposed to exist among thieves will hardly stand the temptation of such a reward ; while the ready means of escape from all but inevitable consequences, in a free pardon, will present deliv&Tft.'acfc from. a. burden, of fear that must be by this time very difficult to bear. And as the first informant alone can consider himself secure, we have every reason for expecting that the police will aoon be on the track of the incendiaries. One conviction is all that will b« necessary to inspire a wholesome dread of consequences ; and the good effects which resulted a few years ago from the conviction of Elcock, and his condemnation to penal servitude, will be reproduced in the abrupt stoppage of incendiary tendencies, if a single culprit is trapped and consigned to spend the remainder of his days in miserable servitude at Mount Eden.

The deputation from the City Board which yesterday waited on the Superintendent was opportune ; and the main subjects pressed on his Honor's attention, and in which he expressed acquiescence with the views of the deputation, have special interest at the present moment. We cannot doubt that the insufficiency of the police force to make adequate provision for the protection of the city during the night has been indirectly the cause of the successful burnings within the paat few days. And if such protection cannot be afforded by the province to the city, the city must protect itself. There is an intimate connection therefore between the two subjects, insufficiency of police protection, and the adoption of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1867 In the provi«ioni of that measure the Municipal Council of the city has full power to •mbody a police force of its own, supplementaf to the, Armed Constabulary, even though the whole of that force told off for the protection of the city should not hare been placed under the control of ciric authority. And the comparatively defenceless state of the city at night, and its exposure to attack from the ill-disposed, now so forced on our attention, together with the vast amount of property imperilled, give a special force to the demand that the Municipal Corporations Act should at once be proclaimed operative in the city of Auckland, All the preliminary steps have been completed, an obstacle occasioned by the omission of an affidavit has been removed, and as, from the reply of the Superintendent to the deputation, the recommendation of his Honor will not be withheld, all subsequent difficulties are removed, and we may anticipate that a very short period should suffice for the oity to be gazetted as a corporation. If the events of the past few nights in showing the insufficiency of ike present police ioKe fo* the pi»Otection of life and property in the city serve to hasten t&e advent, and awaken an interest in the yalue, of munioipal institutions, they will not be wholly roid of profit. And painful though the lesson may hare been it will not have been lost on the community.

The English telegrams vi&Suez aregiren in another place. They were receivt-d by telegraph at Tauranga on the 25th by Mr. Sheath, and immediately despatched overland to the Thames by the mail contractor, Mr. Warbrick. On reaching the Thames howerer the news could not be sent, on by the wire to Auckland, a temporary breakage haying occurred in the line between the Thames and Mercer. Mr. Bull, the telegraphist at the Thames, immediately set to work, and copied the messages for Qreville's Telegram Company, despatching them to , Auckland by the steamer 'Golden Crown.' i Thepublipof Auckland are therefore indebted to the energy of Mr. Sheath, Inspector of Telegraphs to the mail contractor, and the telegraphist at the, Thames for the early receipt of the English news. The telegrams were promptly taken fronvthe steamer and handed to the manager of Grreville'd Telegram Company by Mr.rjiiher, chief telegraphist at the Auckland station. The annual meeting of parishioners of St> Matthew's was held last night,in the Schoolroom, There was a Vejy large attendance of parishioners, present. Th«\ annual report and abstract of accounts were read and adopted. Th» Stone Church Btuldrag Fund iwas stated to be now £3,717 15s. 4d, t , The Baokawm bo closed on Monday next), ttc|att»P»y. v

At the Provincial Council yesterday t th whole of the business on the order paper wa disposed of. The Education Bill was throwi out, and three members of the Central Boan of Education were elected by ballot, to fil the places of those members retiring on th Ist February. The Harbour Board Bill wa finally passed, and the following bills wer passed through all their stages : — The Regis tration of Brando Bill, the Sheep Act Amend I ment Bill, and the Grahamstown Fire Bati Bill. The Hospital Trust and Managemen Bill was withdrawn, on a promise that th( Government would bring a similar bill dowi next session. The Council adjourned unti two o'clock on Tuesday, when, after th< transaction of some unimportant business hia Honor th© Superintendent will prorogu< i the Council, I A sitting of ths Resident Magistrate* i Court was held yesterday. A claim foi I damages to a carriage alleged to have beei sustained owing to the carelessness of th< driver, was heard. Mr. Beckham remarkec very severely upon the dangerous habit o driving at night wiihout carrying lights. The other cases were unimportant. As one consequence of the burning of the Music Hall on Friday morning, we learn that owing to the loss of Mr. McComish's music, instruments, &c, the ban') will not psrfonr tbis afternoon at Government House. Mr. J. G. Freer writes to us as follows ;— ' ' Sir, — A report is being busily circulated in •* uckland, by the friends of my opponent that I do not intend to go to the poll. J desire you will give this my most unqualified contradiction, and I beg to assure the elector: of Waitemata that nothing shall prevent mj being at my post on the Bth of next month.' An exceedingly brilliant meteor was visibh lasfc evening ab aboub 25 miaates past nine o'clock. It passed from nearly du< north to -outh. Our Coromandel correspondent writes :— " The Rev. Dr. Croke, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, is expected to arrive it the ' Lalla Rookh' on January 26 from Auck land. Great preparations are afoot in ordei to receive him with a hea' fey welcome, During the Bishop's stay he will be the guest of W. Fraser, Esq. To night an ex celleut musical entertainment is to be helri in the school r oom in aid of the funds for the erection of anew Eoman Catholic chapel.' Some of the men who attended the meeting of unemployed last night were heard te express thei>* intention of burning the effigy of his Honor the • Superintendent on the Barrack Hill to-night. We learn that the various insurance com panics were litera'ly besieged yesterday by persons wishing to insure their property against fire — a fact which no doubt may bt attributed to the occurrence of so many fires during the last week. One of the agents of a foreign company had so much business thrust upon him that he had to express his inability to attend to all the applications. A meeting of shareholders of Kellys Gold' mining Company was convened for yester day, but was adjourned for want of i quorum. At the Native Lands Court, yesterd ay, bef or( Judges Munro and Maning and two Native Assessors, the Te Aroha case was advanced another stage. We understand that this case is likely to last a few weeks longer. A terrible bush- fire was raging on the afternoon of Thursday in the Whakaroa Creek, Coromandel, which broke out early in the morning. In its progress it surrounded the Whakaroa battery and portions tfi Tfsokay's Shaot ; but happily > through, the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Tierney and an active staff, no damage was sustained up to the time of our correspondent despatching his letter. We are glad to learn that the inconvenience suffered by the Thames machineowners in consequence of the strike at the Kawakawa coalmines is not likely to be so serious as we had anticipated, the directors of the company having taken the wise precaution of at ouce shipping off to that place three cargoes of slack. This will afford an ample supply to the machines for some time. The new Presbyterian Church, Pollenstreet, Thames, which was only commenced some six weeks ago, will be finished to-day, and to-morrow the opening services are to be held — Mr. Cosh, of Auckland being the minister who is to preside on the occasion so interesting to the Thames Presbyterians. The church contains sittings for four hundred and twenty worshippers, and will cost £450. A new programme is announced for to-night at the Th6a.fepe Royal. Captain Freer will move in the Provincial Council on Tuesday next, "That a reward be offered for the detection or apprehension of incendiaries. " The annual soire"e of the North Shore Presbyterian Church will take place on Monday next, at 5 o'clock. The 'Lalla Rookh' will convey passengers to and from the soiree at single fares. A dividend in the All Nations Company will be payable on and after the 31st instant. A man named Maurice Walsh was yesterday arrested for stealing a quantity of clothing, worth £1 65., from the dwellinghouse of Matthew Gill, Waitemata Mills, Riverhead, on the 27th instant. Two prisoners were brought up from Poverty Bay by the schooner * Tawera, 1 One has been sentenced to four months' imprisonment for giving a false alarm, stating that Te Kooti was about to attack the settlement at the Bay. The grand swimming and diving matche 8 at the Auckland Salt Water Baths take place on the 30th instant. We have the following from " Anti-Hum-bug :" — "Sir, — Your correspondent 'Citizen' cannot surely be a. fair sample of the class he professes to represent as to cry craven already. Does he serve the publican with greens, or does his wife do the publican's washing? In either case; if he is a true Permissive man, he will give up at once and for ever the wages paid by money obtained by the publican from that most infamous of callings. 'Citizen' says of his own knowledge he knows a person who took vengeance upon a man in business because he Toted for the Permissive Bill. Could not "Citizen" j get a clause inserted to prevent the publican doing so again? ' Citizen's' name might then stand a fair chance of being handed down to posterity with the Auckland Permissive Bill, > 9» 9, model of -wisdom as the bill is of legislalion." The Dunedin Starsays: — " Astatement hast been going the rounds of the Provincia Press, to the effect that a split has occurred in the Ministry, in consequence of Messrs. Bell and Featherston having repudiated connection with, and declined to support, the financial proposals of the Colonial Treasurer. A flat contradiction appeared in the Ministerial organ, the Wellington Independent, but it must have escaped the notice of some of our contsmporariea, for ire find some of them reproducing the statement. The Hon. Dr. Featherstoß, since his return to the colony, has openly expressed his approval of the policy ; and the Hon. Dillon Bell, in intimating to the electors of Mataura his intention of offering himself for re-election, has authorised one of the Southland papers to state that there is not the slightest I foundation for the report that he disagrees with the Government policy. We have been requested to insert the following :— " Sir,— A few months ago I fell into conversation with a man breaking atones on the road. I asked him if he liked this sort of labour. He did not much object to it if he could get nothing else to do. Speaking of the wages of labouring men in this country, compared with the remuneration to the same class at home, he said, ' Sir, if a working man in this country (a single man) has not always * spare ten- or twentypound note by him it is his own fault; and he would have it too if it were not for these drinking-b»rs, which stare us in the face at every few steps.' I believe thia man spoke from personal experience, and his experience is probably, that of the vast proportion of I. tat* *$|M*^

respect for an honest working man, and would willingly aid him in his difficulties. But I have neither reapect nor sympathy for many working men in this colony, in difficulties or not, when I see what wages they get, and how they waste their money many of them. The working man injures himself when he tries — as many do— to extort exorbitant wages from the farmer, and perform as little work as he can in return. Such conduct is neither honest nor politic. If the farmers do not prosper, there can be no general and wholesome prosperity in this country. Without agriculture, what is any country ? Little else than a placo for reckless adrenturers, beggari, and swindlers, who try to prey on each other by means which had better not be particularised. It is something melancholy to see able-boclied men m a conntry like this, mta so vmss publiC'housea around us, hanging on at the door of the Superintendent's Office, begging for work, and pleading t inability to get it elsewhere. Such a sight is apt to excite one's indignation, as well as pity, at this time, when the farmers— as Mr. W. Buckland tells us — have such difficulty in getting men to work at fair wages, and on reasonable terms as to hours." Attacks of English cholera are, according to the OippsLand Times, very prevalent in the neighbourhood of Sale. The annual meeting of the shareholders in the Gladstone Goldmining Company is announced to be held on the 14th February. A London journal contains the following : — " We are sorry to be obliged to record a circumstance connected with the war which is likely to revive the prejudice against the Jews, which it had been hoped was rapidly dying away. Much notice has recently been taken by the more veracious newspaper correspondents of the plunder of furniture, books, and other valuable articles by the Prussians all along their destructive march. People reckoned on plunder of wine, spirits, and food, but what, may naturally be aske'l, could these "thinking bayonets" want with pictures, glass, and pianofortes ? The mystery is now cleared up. In the rear of innumerable hosts of Prussian soldiers march nearly as numerous hordes of German Jews, who buy what the soldiers take at ther own prices, and send them back to Germany by the return provision-trains. It would be impos sible to imagine anything more execrable than such traffic. We call on the respectable Jewish community of London to protest against this infamous commerce, and, if they cannct induce their German brethren to cease aggravating the horrors of the war by tempting the soldiers to plunder with their unholy thalers, at least to disown and repudiate them. There is hardly a home between the Rhine and the leaguer of Paris that hau not been thoroughly wrecked at the instigation of these J ews, and the produce bought up for the German market, at the prices which the universal Fagin knows so well how to offer for goods which have been dishonestly come by." The Paris police have the department of specially delicate" cases. They hay c offices with double and triple doors, false issues, pierced ceilings, and assistants waiting their orders. For the secret life of a city like Paris is full of terrible adventures, comic and tragic. Among these is a class of measures more numerous here than anywhere else — extortion by threats. In such cases, the police become a second providence. Persons m trouble dare not speak to their friends, or have none ; they know the slowness of judicial proceedings, and yet all life and honour may depend upon the moment's action. They hasten to the police, crying, " Save us !" Such wag a recent occurrence which created a great sensation among tae lew people who were admitted into the mystery. A young man had been the secret lover of the wife of a very great personage of the Imperial court ; her husband was extremely jealous, and she as anxious for her safety as the honour of her children. Afterwards the same young man had fallen in love with a girl of bad character, who oue day entered his room in his absence, aud set to work examining his papers. Among these she finds, unfortunately, a package of letters written to and by the great lady, and, with demoniac promptness, she sits down at his own desk and writes these words: "If, by to-morrow, at two o'clock, you have not sent me fifty thousand francs, at three o'clock your letters will be in your husband's possession." The lady receives the summons, and cannot see her former lover till next morning; after a fearful night, she tella her trouble. She has not fifty thousand francs ; he is poor ; besides, they feel little disposed to pay the sum. He goes at once to the police and confides to the agent in question the whole secret. Time pressed, tor it was twelve o'clock. By one o'clock the letters had all been destroyed, the greatlady was re-assured, her husband enabled to live on in p. ace, and the honour and good repute of two children, bearing a great historic name, were secured for ever. 'I he following description by Mr. Fell of his new railway will be found interesting :—"lt: — "It consists of a double beam of wood or iron, supported at intervals on a single row of pillars. The gauge of the rails laid upon the beams is from eight to eighteen inches, and this is made equivalent to a i>roader one by the steadying power of horizontal wheels working on guide bars which are fixed on the sides of the beams and below the carrying rails. The depth of distance of the guide bars below the carrying rails is equivalent to a corresponding extension of the gauge. When the gauge on these railways is eighteen inches, and the distance of the guide bars below the rails twelve inches, I the eighteen-inch gauge becomes equal to a 3ft. 6in. on an ordinary railway ; and carriages of the same width may safely be run upon it. The stability with which these carriages run is also partly due to their being suspended from the axles instead of, as ,is usual, resting upon them, by which means the centre of gravity is brought low. A. line upon this system is about to be opened for traffic from the Park House haematite ore mines to the Furniss Railway, in North Lancashire. The length is about one mile, the gauge eight-inch, and the cost, exclusive of stations and stock, £1,000. It passes over a somewhat hilly country, at an elevation varying from 3ft. to 20ft., is worked by a stationary engine and endless wire rope, and will have a traffic of 50,009 tons per annum. Small carriages have been run on this line with seats for eight people, and at a speed of fifteen to twenty miles per hour they are perfectly safe and steady. A locomotive engine has been designed for working on this class of railways. The weight is from six to ten tones." The Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister Bill has cost more fuss than necessary : most widowers prefer a new family connection right out. Once away from the majority of interfering mothers and sisters - inlaw, the down-cast, broken-hearted, and bereaved widower gets right-down wary. Wh«u the tear has been carefully stowed away on the top of his new buttonless shirt front, the bereaved one generally clears out of that particular family, sells off his furniture, and takes to his loneliness and liquor ktrdly, Aly, too, with male acquaintances. — Amcirs. A Kentucky paper says : "Mr. Blake, of this village, while walking about his room the other night, bad a clothes-line slipped around his neck by his wife, who in* ended it should appear that he had hung himself while he was asleep. Mrs. B. is now in gaol, whence she had to send a negative answer to the young man 'who had previously proposed to her."