The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4234, 10 March 1871, Page 2

The Daily Southern Cross.

IiUCKO, NON URO. If T )me been extinguished, yet thoo rise A thoi'^aikl ben- Mi-, iiomtlic sptrlc J boio.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1871.

We recently drew attention to tho un warranted leniency bhown to habitual ciiuiinals, and to the error of acting towards them as if the sole intention of i punishment was the reformation of the offender, and not also the protection of society. But thove is a second aspect of our system of criminal punishments that is equally unreasonable, and even absurd. A man is guilty of crime against the laws and order of society, and society undertakes his support in idleness for years, and, if the crime is sufficiently flagrant, for the remainder of his life. As punishment at present exists, the criminal contributes in no manner, or in an infinitesimally small degree, to his own support ; and saving a little non-productive labour sufficient to keep him in good health, he leads a lik of ease and plenty at the expense of the honest and irfdustrious people whose laws he has violated. The utilisation of prison labour is a subject that has received thorough attention elsewhere, and its feasibility has been practically proved. And it is really difficult to tell why Auckland, more than any other place, for want of a little ingenuity and effort, should lose the advantages of the labour which the execution of the laws has placed at the disposal of the authorities; and why our criminals more than others should prey on the industry of honest men. The prison system of America has of course attained a perfection to which we need not aspire for many years to come. But we know that from the penal establishments of the United States have come forth to these uttermost ends of earth furniture and other manufactures which we daily use. In one of the Australian colonies, one of the largest and best conducted sugar plantations is worked by convicts ; and by Betting apart ja fertile island — St. Helena, in Moreton Bay — as a penal settlement, the longbour convicts of Queensland, by the growth and manufacture of sugar, are compelled to recoup to the State the costs to which society has been put in their capture and punishment. In one of our Southern provinces also the question of the remunerative utilisation of prison labour lias been solved, and i the rational system is enforced of making the criminals pay for their own support. That Auckland has not long since arrived at the same perfection in the treatment of criminals argues not any local difficulty, pecuniary or otherwise, but simply a local poverty of invention. The various purposes to which our piison labour has been applied are scarcely deserving of consideration, and nothing should satisfy but a system in which every convict should not only pay for his own support, but leave a surplus to reimburse the expenses of that machinery which is provided for the capture and conviction of those who prey on society. Next in value to the systematic application of convict labour to some regular industry in manufacture or production, is its employment on public works, and the Government of Victoria has recently shown in wla wav pri soners can be effectively useful. In the fortification of the harbour of Hobson's Bay there has been most extensive use made of convict labour ; and the batteries at Sandridge and Wiliiamstown have been repaired and renovated by detachments of convicts who had already served the greater patUw oi tlwit scateuQe*, Mshby~

' nino men have in this way been rcgu larly employed on tho Sandridj»e battery for some time, going on board the hulk ' Sacramento' every night. It appears that, by breakfasting before leaving the hnlk in the morning, and taking provisions with them for an al fresco dinner, the men are enabled steadily to carry on their labours in the earthworks of the battery throughout the day with satisfaction to i;he authoi'ities, and no inconsiderable gratification to the men themselves. The change from the monotonous round of prison life, and the idea, which has a profoundly moral effect, that they are engaged on real and useful work, have been found to exert a most beneficial influence on the convicts ; while a very proper incentive to good conduct and steady work is presented in a trifling weekly allowance of wages, which will be handed to the prisoners when their term of servitude expires. The experiment has been so successful that the system is about to be extended in Victoria ; and various public works will receive tke benefit of the new and sensible order of things It is difficult to see why the system of utilisation of convict labour, at least in the form recently tried in "Victoria, should not be put in operation here. We, too, want harbour defences. A limited exchequer will not allow of the throwing up of earthworks, and otherwise preparing for the protection of the harbour, by ordinary labour. But we cannot see why we should not follow the example of Victoria, and employ, on this most useful work, the labour that is fattening in comparative idleness at Mount Eden.

Sincerely as the friends of France must sorrow for her present humiliation, ifc may be that the present war will be productive of great and lasting profit to thenation. Affliction to a whole people is often the same in its effects as affliction to an individual ; and France may emerge from her present trials purged of many faults, sobered, wiser, and even invigorated for the pursuit of all that is mosfc worthy of a great nation. The day when war waa considered the noblest work in which a nation could excel is fast passing away ; and probably the terrible carnage that the present conflict has shown to be necessary in modem warfare will contribute in no small degree to disenchant men's minds, and make war exceedingly unpopular. France was vain of her military prestige, and it tempted the Government and people into a habitual attitude that was highly provoking to neighbouring nations. That prestige is now wholly gone, .and perhaps ifc would be impossible for any successes to ever restore it. Wounded national pride, and resentment against the people from whose hand France has received such humiliation, may prompt to desires of vengeance. But it is more probable that the humiliation, received together with the tendency of universal public sentiment, may contribute to turn the attention of the Fi'ench people to the pi*actice of the arts of peace, which may lead that nation to a commercial eminence never before attained^'* It is from the prostration whiph Prussia herself suffered at Jena that that nation dates the era of advancement. Since the humiliation of Sadowa, Austria has advanced in civil and religious liberty, and in industrial progress, in a manner unknown before. Since the fall of Sebastopol the history of Russia has been the spread of education and civilisation an J freedom among the people of that vast empire. And even > ranee can date the advance of science and arts, and industry and commerce, from the fall of the first Napoleon. And we cannot tell but that our gallant allies may come out of the fire purified, and enter on a career of internal industry and commercial prosperity, more conducive to happiness and to ultimate greatness than the imposing military organisation of the past.

: In pursuing our remarks on the Land I Transfer Act, 1870, it is to be borne in mind that the provisions of the Act are binding only on lands acquired | from the Crown since the 31st of I January, 1871. As to other lands the old system of conveyancing remains in force until such lands shall be voluntarily brought under the operation of the Act by the owners thereof. The extinction of the old objectionable system of conveyancing rests, therefore, mainly with the owners and purchasers of land, nor can we I think that it will be long delayed. The ! mode of bringing land under the operation of the Act is simple and expeditious. The application is mado on a printed form supplied at the District Land Registry, and left with the Registrar, together with a sufficient plan of the land, and all deeds and documents relating thereto. If the title consists of a single Orown grant, the grantee is at onco admitted to registration, and receives in. exchange for his Crown grant a certificate of title. If, however, there have been subsequent dealings with the land, no certificate of title can be issued until opportunity has been given by advertisement for parties interested to object to the application by lodging a caveat with the Registrar. Should no caveat be lodged within the time limited, a certificate of title is issued at a cost (including advertisements, but exclusive of the assurance fee presently' referred to) of about £2 ss. In the ease of a simple title by Crown grant, the cost (exclusive of the assurance fee) is £1 7s. Once admitted to registration, the title of the registered proprietor is indefeasible, and can be upset only on the ground of fraud ; the object of the assurance fee being to provide a fund out of which losses occasioned to other claimants on the land, by the improper admission of titles, may be compensated, so that the number and nature of claims on the assurance fund will constitute a pretty fair test of the working of the system. The assurance fee is charged at the rate of £d. in toe. £l on the value of the land brought ,uncler the , provisions of the Act, , There ia one provision of the Act to

attention of intending purchasers, viz., that the certificate of title may be issued to the applicant or to such person as he may direct. The certificate may thus be made to effect the double purpose of bringing land under the Act, and of effecting a transfer thereof at about two-thirdsof thecostof an ordinary conveyance. With regard to the comparative cosb of pealing with land under the provisions of the Act, a few examples will suffice. For instance, the cost of an. ordinary lease^conveyance, or mortgage under the old system is £3 3a. and upwards, the tip ward tendency being considerable. Under the Torrens system a transfer would be effected for £1 125.; a mortgage w lease, 12s. Under the old syatem the mere release of a mortgage cost £2 25. ; under the Torren's system, ss. These figures are on the assumption that the parties transact their own business, which they may easily do in the simple forms of the Act, an advautage which those who hays had to transact legal business in the old style, with its characteristic obstructions and delays, will fully appreciate. There are no complicated titles to be investigated, no time lost in attending lawyers' offices at 6s. Bd. a visit. The seller simply goes to the District Land .Registry, hands in his certificate of title, signs a memorandum of transfer, and a new certificate of title will forthwith be issued to the purchaser. We have heard of an impression in some quarters that the Act is principally for healing bad and infirm titles. Such is by no means the case. On the contrary, it is of the utmost importance to the credit of the system that really bad titles, the acceptance of which might occasion claims on the assurance fund, should be rejected ; and, in drawing tho line discreetly in this respect, the fitness of officers charged with the administration of the system will be exemplified. What is intended is not provide a hospital for bad titles, but to establish a cheap and popular system of transfer ; and we shall be much surprised if a system so much more consistent with the principles of business and common sense than that. hitherto in vogue does not speedily become popular. Elsewhere we give an able letter ou tho same subject from the Obago Daily Times.

Messrs. James O'Neill and G. B. Owen were the presiding Magistrates at the Polico Court yesterday. There was little business, and that little of small importance. There was only one case which excited any interest, Lyon v. Macready, for assault. At first ib was attempted to make it an indictable offence, but the evidence would not sustain the major charge, and the JBonch decided to deal with ifc summarily, and sent M icready to gaol for a period of one month with hard labour. The Defence Minister has caused a notice to be given to the officers of the General Government in Auckland, that the offices of the Government will bo closed after twelve o'clock thiß day, to enable those who desire it to go to One-tree Hill to witness the colonial prize-firing. It is also intended to give a general holiday next week at the close of the contest. This will give e"clat to the proceedings, and tend to make riflefihooling more popular. An exceedingly interesting soiree was held last night at St. James's Presbyterian Church, Wellington-street, at which a iarge concourse of people assembled. A tempo* rary platform had been erected, on which was stationed the choir, the services of which added considerably to the success of the meeting. The tea provided was of a liberal character, and was enjoyed by all. The exhibition of works of art in the City Hall continues to attract a large amount of attention. It will be again open to visitors to-day. At the Theatre Royal last ? evening there was a good attendance. The first piece pro- j duced was the comedy of "Time Tries All," which was followed by a dance by Mr. Glover. The performance concluded with the excellent burlesque of "Once upon a Time there were Two Kings. 1 ' Our Otahuhu correspondent writes :—"I: — "I ! am sorry to trouble my very good friend the census enumerator, but I beg to draw his attention to the incomplete way in which several of his subs have performed their duty. I am credibly informed that in several districts around here papers hare not been left with some, and even where left have not been called for again. The public interest must be my excuse for this." Yesterday afternoon there were various rumours about the town respecting changes to be mads in our local police force. From inquiries made as to their truth we believe they are well founded. From the skill displayed by Sergeant Jeffery in working out the cases against Dunn, tried at the late sittings of the Circuit Court, we understand Inspector Broham has seen fit to promote him to the Detective department. Jeffery will commence his new duties on Monday next, when Detective Pardy, whose place Jeffery will take, will be employed in the Inspector's office, in consequence of some changes being made there. This is a well-merited promotion for Jeffery, and we trust he will be none the less zealous in his new sphere of duty than in the old. While speaking of the police, we might draw attention to the rast number of prostitutes flaunting shamelessly in all our principal throughout the day as well as all the evening. We hope to see this nuisance abated, by the exercise of the Vagrant Act or some other means. We are requested to announce that the Society of Artists have issued an invitation to the Southern, provinces Volunteers, at present attending the prize-firing in Auckland, to visit their exhibition during the afternoon and evening of Saturday, the 11th instant. Volunteers proposing to avail themselves of this invitation will be good enough to come in uniform, to enable the doorkeepers to recognise them. Mr. E. Stephens, Mahurangi, writes :—: — " New Zealand will never be at all worthy the name of a prosperous colony nntil its districts are studded over with villages and towns. Every district will then have its market, and there will be a home and local demand for agricultural produce of every description. Every district of sufficient extent should have its tannery, cabinet-shops, with the other useful trades, together -with spinning- wheels, one at least in every farm-house, at which the daughters might find healthy and very profitable employment; a carding machine, and a loom, for the manufacture of our own wool into yarn, cloth, socks, shirts, and other warm garments for winter wear. Some little time ago there was not a spinning-wheel, with hand cards, to be had in the city of Auckland, and I suppose it is so atill ; but this certainly ought not to be. All the above should be in active operation at the very earliest period possible after settlement." A meeting of the.;. miners of Thames, Coromandel, and' Tapu is convened to be held in the Theatre Royal, Grahamstown, on Saturday next, to nominate members of the Mining Board for the ensuing year. , We observe, by advertisement, that the Chess Club, which has recently been established in Auckland, and termed " The Wtrt Hud Chest Club," offer to piny a mutch with *ay jpatltmira noir to AwWwi from

The following is the programme of music to bo performed by the Artillery Volunteer Baud on Government House lawn to-morrow afternoon, 'commencing at 4 o'clock : — March, "Queeu of the Harvest," Do la Moutte ; overture, "Zarapa," Herold ; quadrille, "Falconer," Ford; grand selection, opera, "GazzaLadra," Rossini; waltz, " Whiteand Red Rose," Gassner ; polka mazurka, "The Little Shepherdess," Weipreght; galop, "Alabama," Cousins; grand march, "The Watch on the Rhine;" "God save the Queen." Mr. J. McVey Baird, of the Auckland College, solicits tenders for the supply of uniforms for the Auckland College Cadet Corps. Particulars will be learned on reference to our advertising columns. It was stated by counsel, T m a case heard at the County Court, Sandhurst, on 9th February, that, when a distraint was made on the property of a well-known undertaker, all that was found to levy on was a secondhand coffin, and another in which the corpse of a child was found. ' ' I his was described," the Independent ( Says, "as a 'dead loss' to counsel's client." Mr. W. Crowther is about to supply a public want. To-day a line of 'buses will be run from Queen and Shorfcland-streets for the Butbs. The first will start at eleven o'clock. We have the folio wins; from "A Volunteer'VSir, — Having seen in your paper,intho advertisement relative to the Volunteer Ball, that the price of admission is to be one guinea for a gentleman, I beg to offer my opinion that the above price will render the ball too exclusive, and make it impossible for those to attend by whom it is supposed to be given. As many of our Volunteers have not enough guineas to spare, I would suggest that the double tickets be from 15s. to a pound, as such a sum would bo quite sufficient to rcake the entertainment select." The anniversary of the district school, Hamilton, was celebrated by a soirGe and dnnce on Tuesday evening in the Hamilton Hall. The company enjoyed themselves until an early horn-. A girl of fourteen, named Hope, has just been convicted at Ararat of petty larceny. The local journal says :—" Though young in years this child is old in crime. Some two years ago she robbed a little child of a pair of new boots, and then threw her down a shaft some fifteen feet deep. Fortunately the child was discovered and its life saved, though the poor little creature was sadly bruised by its fall." Yesterday's Thames Advertiser says : — "We are glad toloarn that since the 30th of October last only six applications have been made for protection of claims, and that these wore only small claims. Formerly, it was quite common to have twenty applications for protection granted in the course of a month. This shows that there is more payable ground being worked, or, at least, that that the relation between working aud paying is inoi'e equal thaza it ever has been before. Lessees and applicants for leases are much more sharply looked after than they were, and it i 3 not now easy to hold grouud for lengthened periods on speculation. There is still, however, we are informed, a considerable extent of ground under-worked in this way : A company holding a leaso, when asked about the working of the ground, reply that il is let on tribute. The tributers, perhaps, consist of three or four men, who are thus holding twenty men's ground. Through the advance in the prospects of the field, and also through the fdctg becoming known to the Government, the number of such cases will, we have no doubt, gradually become fewer." The partnership hitherto existing between Daniel and Henry Keene, plasterers, is advertised to have been dissolved by mutual consent. A remarkable instance of early acquaintance with the virtues of tobacco has been brought under the notice of the Pathological Society by Dr. Dickinson, in a boy three years of age, an in-patient of the Children's Hospital in Great Ormond-street. The boy was admitted with marked symptoms of that form of paralysis knoAvn as locomoter ataxy, which is extremely rare at an early age, and the peculiarity of his antecedents was that he was a habitual smoker. It appears that ' he early evinced a remarkable objection to female society, and preferred marching about with his father, who was a gamekeeper, and sharing his comforts, including a short pipe and strong tobacco. When admitted into the hospital, an inquiry into the history of the case elicited the fact of his being a smoker ; and on testing his predilection in this respect when in the hospital, he exhibited a proficiency in the art which could have only been acquired by some practice ; aud he preferred smokiug that particular vegetable product which is known to the initiated by the name of " shag." At a recent meeting of ironmasters in Birmingham, specimens were shown of purified iron and improved steel manufactured by Sherman's process, as it is called, after the name of the American inventor. Some samples of the steel tested at Chatham dockyard bore a tensile strain of seventy tons to the square inch, and wore at the same time more ductile than any other specimens of the same strength. Common English rough iron by Sherman's method of treatment can be converted into bar steel equal in quality to the best Swedish : so tough and strong that a bar a half-inch square bore a strain of fifty-four tons to the square inch. The process by which these results are produced is as yet a secret ; but we believe that the conversion takes place while the iron is in the puddling furnace. The London scientific correspondent of the Amtralasian contributes the following, which is well worthy the attention of our local authorities : — "Mr. Cooper, who some years ago took out a patent for laying the dust on our streets, has again been urging his views upon the public. Acting upon the well known chemical fact that some of the chlorides possess in a great degree the property o\ attracting moisture from the air, and even of undergoing solution in the moisture which they thus appropriate, it occurred to him that he might turn this property to account in street - watering. He employed and patented a mixture of equal parts of common salt (chloride of sodium) and chloride of calcium, which was mixed with the water in an ordinary water-cart. He claimed for this process, first, that the solution would dry very slowly, and a surface saturated with it, even after being completely dried by the sun's rays, would attract moisture again as soon as the sun had declined ; secondly, that the chlorides would combine chemically with and would fix the ammonia and other volatile gases now given off by the organic dirt ; and, thirdly, that they would combine chemically with the materials of the roadway, and would improve its surface. He therefore hoped to effect a great saving in labour, to banish water carts from the streets during the busy hours of the day, to apply a smaller quantity of water than is at present used (and thus to avoid the excessive production of mud), to improve the surface for traffic, to lay the dust effectually (even over Sundayi or other days on which the carts might no be out), and, lastly, to fix the ammoniaca and other exhalations. His system has beei successfully adopted at Malvern, Greenock Btston, Liverpool, and elsewhere. Th< saving of water thus effected in Liverpool v. said to amount to 70 per cent, Freat experiments have this summer been mad< in London (at Westminster, down Parliament and Downing-streets), from the 3rd to th< 16 th of June ; and from the report they have received, the Sanitary Committee resolved that the process should not only be continued in Westminster, but extend to the Knightsbridge district. In a paper which he has just read to the British Association, he recommends that a sufficient percentage oJ chloride of aluminium (which has been recently introduced as an antiseptic by Professor Gamgee) should bo added to the other chlorides, in order to absorb noxious gasas arising from putrefaction, and to destroy organic germs. This salt costs only onethird of tho price of oarboiio aoid, and doe! not possess its uaplqajwrt ohwU mk ppiaott9W $ropKtt«K tt

Many beneficial uaes iave been found for carbolic acid, and naturalists now find that, by washing out with it the inside of birds which they have not immediate tirao to skiu and stuff, the birds can be kept a week or more in a Bound and flexible condition. During the prevalence of the kine post, carbolic acid was Largely used as a disinfectant j and farmer 3 have discovered that the ticks which infest sheep and lamb 3 can be killed by dipping the animals in a bath of the acid diluted in water. How it is that so many newspapers are known to be posted by people in England, which are never received* by those to whom they are addressed, is explained by the following statement of a correspondent of the Shippers' Monthly Circular :— " An old regulation has lately been put in force at the General Post Office in London, by which all papers for abroad must be posted within , fifteen days after the date of publication, or they will be thrown aside, and, if not bearing the address of the sender, will be destroyed (it is even proposed to reduce this time now to seven days, but at present the fortnight is allowed), so that if a friend makes up a monthly file— say of four copies of any paper — for regular despatch by the Southampton mail, the whole would be lost, as, two of the datea being beyond the limit, the packet would be kept back. I had occasion to visit the Dead Letter Office a few days after the despatch of the last ' heavy ' Australian mail, and there found nine sacks of detained newspapers from that mail — most of them evidently from relatives and friends here to those they loved in the antipodes— papers that would interest, instruct, aud delight the recipients, had they reached them, but which are now reconverted into pulp at one of our paper-mills because of their being a fortnight old. Many here, in England, are unaware of this regulation, as it has only been enforced a few months ; and, therefore, colonial friends would do well to mention tho f<ict to their co-respondents in. the old country in their next letters." At Ravenna, Ohio, the other day, a remarkable marriage ceremony was performed, The bridegroom's name was Walter Pierce, and iv a paper drawn up he had agreed to accord to the woman equal "rights, socially, religiously, and politically, " with lrimse'f. In return, the lady said, "I take Walter Pierce, whom I now hold by the hand, and whom I intelligently, religiously, and spiritually love, to be my companion through life ; and I agree not to usurp over or transcend him in any particular.'' Then they both said, "By this voluntary and premeditated act, in your presence, we declaro ourselves religiously, philosophically, and scientifically married." And then the Mayor declared them married. Beferring to the Queen's visit to the Empress, the Te'erjraph says :— " In connection with queenly acts of kind feeling, we may mention an incident which accords with her Majesty's well-known thoughtfulness. Among the things which the Empress most deeply regrets having left behind her, in the hurry of her departure from Paris, was a photograph album which she had received from the Queen, .and which contained the Royal donor's autograph and a selection of interesting portraits. Hearing of the loss, the Queen immediately gave orders for the preparation of another album, which will take the place at Ciii&elkurst of that which lias been lost ; the inscription and the cartes do visite being as nearly as possible the same as those which imparted so much value to the gift at the Tuileries. "