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Evening Post, Volume IX, Issue 250, 5 December 1873, Page 2

The Evening Post. FRIDAY,DECEMBER 5,1873.

Tub Iffctfy tying, jy f Constitutions is : the new one'jttsfe promulgated kuEiji, It is certainly ft liJtiiqae /specimen, | <!j«nd cateoldCedi.ito afford , those who« advocate the annexation of that kingdom a strong; *£trj;ttnJft at in' their favor. At our readers are no ilotibt aware, the old ;Contijtittttion r .i under which M««r*..i Woodjf, Thnwton and, »Co secured ' th^s^lve*: in - power, *raX sumMdriH tr?»tTBp¥flf<lefdt r ? »tT8p¥flf<lefd 1 m coDseoaeiico ; of ,» nuaiber of, the white setters resisting aw attempt to swamp their votes by those of the »*ttre* «fc a genentl«l^ctiVn' held kfter the Assembly had been, dissolve j, a* not being sufficiency pliant s to the , will of tbei Ministry, The settlers, natttraily indignant »t the saspension of the Constitution, snch &s it was, flppeafett'tif. Captain Simpson, of the Jjlancfie, %ht he read Bis orders to recognise the Goreniraent. de factor as obliging him toribder aw unqoalified •apport to the, e>t*ibliBbed authorities. Thus backed up by the presence anil support of an English nwn-of-war, Messrs Thnnton and Wood hare attempted it bolder flight than heretofore, and h'&Ve proclaimed anew Constitution, .which is virtually < but . a , thin vail ' to cloak the abaolut* deipotism of Oakobaa Bex, who' of course is but a puppet •in the bknds.of ; his astute and unscrupnlous white advisers, .'• Under the new constitution, the white, residents in the Likud will only be allowed the merest stiu'dow of. a voice in." the government of .the country. There is to be a National Assembly, which; is to meet every two years, and to vote ■upplies for two years. This AisemWy is to consist of not more than 36 members,* Twelve are to be nativeborn Pijime», appointed by the King on the nomination of the native

GovertKH'3 of Provinces, Eight are to be representatives of foreign resident*. The qualification for voting for these representatives is to be six months' residents, and an oath to nphoM the constitution. Three Secretaffes of State, eight native chiefs, nominated by the King, and any member of the Privy Council whonv it may please the King to appoint. There will thus be Jess^than a third of elected white men in this National Assembly, No elected repre'seafcttire of phc foreign residents is eligible to' a seat in thfe Mini&try, The 'three.- Ministers are to sit in the Assembly, tmt will be totally independent of it, as they hold office at the King's pleasure. The National Assembly in to sib for five years, but, the King' has the poWer of dissolving it, JMwer is ' exprdssly reserved to Assembly. to punish at discretion any one guilty of •" insulting comments on its proceedings," Liberty, of the Press is h"p£,lthfcrefore, one of the' libdjpes griaranUect by the new Constitution. The Governors of Provinces mast be native born, or naturalised .subjects appointed by the King, 'and they are to bfc aided in tfieir, ditties ''fey £ kind i of 'Provincial Council, of which' all the -Magistrates are to be ex offido members. The National Assembly is to Ue'tt#mine the constitution of these Cquh'cifs when it meets,. In -his government the Kipg is, to, be assisted t»y a, Privy Council, and three Ministers^ who form the Executive,' All title* bf honor and distinctioh are to , emanate from his Majesty, His private property is to be inviolable ; his power is in all things supreme : and, ri imlty, his* person ' i* sacred. 4m ' the wortfs of Che Constitution itself, " The .King is sovereign of all the^- chiefs* anct'of all ;the people. The kingdom in his.'' There is to be a permanent standing army of noo less than 1200 men enlisted for thres year^ from the native population. Justice is, to ;be^ -.administered by a Supreme Court, and such other Courts, as may from time to time be constituted. The Supreme Court is to;, be presided over by a Chief Justice, and there are to be two other Judges, one of whom must be a native. Trial by jury is a'ppafren'tly contemplated, but the Constitution omits to provide what is termed the palladium of our liberty — the. provision of Magna Chairta by which every man is entitled to be ■tried by bis peers. The omission is significant, as without it the right of trial, by jury will really be dependant on. the will of the Government of ,the | day. The Constitution is, however, | declared to be permanent and unchangeable on a variety .of other points, such as the maintenance' of the independence of the kingdom and of the sovereignty, the King's right of jurisdiction ' over alt .persons and things in the kingdom, the guarantees of liberty, of conscience, personal freedom, apd the rights^pf property, &G. "All past or preaenfc,ebgagement» of^ ihe Government are } also to be maintained,.. Einally,. slavery is altogether abolished,, and ,it. is, declared 'thai? i '* involuntary sef vifcude^ except for" crfnse.is for ever, prohibited in this kingdom*,] , |Whenever; a ? slave /shall enter the kingdom of Fiji he shall Be free," Our readers can guess for themselves what amount of freedom thfe white 'setfters are likely to enjoy Ij/inder aJ'GdverntnWi si^h as 1 thM; pro,vide'd?t>y tne new'Obnsfcitu^ion/ Ttiey must be awaiting with no small anxiety tb<J re«nlt of the investigation now being^ caiTied, (hi by n CpaifAodore Goodenough; and - Consut lioyard^ on the result of .which ifc,/isr;tinder3tood the future relations , between Great B^taitt^nd Fiji 1 Will 'depend, " l - •

to know that there is a i probability of the' Provincial .Council, on its next assembling, finding; -itself ia» the • poiitiofliof a^ happy family, , The arrange' ment come to between Messrs Bunny and Ebarazyn a* seems to be generally .acceptable to the meinbersof the Oppo"iiiidtiW weWaßtq the sapporkersrof jtfae Government, so that there . is not 'likely to ,be much ,' more contention abont what 'pVoVed the dinicalty last sessioti. The rroTinciat Government . have also, we notice, 'intimated 1 to 'the Ma'nicipal aachori»tie» their readinea* i^'intr^dace^'atr'act the freehold of the-Te f AYo redama"tJoo io ttifk Corporation. This, we presame, Will be satisfactory to. Mr Carter, while in all probability the coming rifcit of his Honor the Superintendent and the 1 Prbtincial Secretary to Wanganni willresttlt io satis* ■fyinclhe' almost insatiable appetite of the Wanganni members, as it is understood that Chemembers of the Government will be accompanied or followed by Mr Blackett, lO.&t whose doty it will be to' make a survey of the Wanganni Kirer, in order to collect data regarding the improvement works, .required there. Altogether, we Chink that provincial politics look hopeful, and that tbe new year will probably open* under Brighter auspices than seemed probable some time ago, . :-.,.',

Io the City Council yesterday the* Mayor estimated the revenue from water rites if everyone bad it laid on at £4024 yearly. If nobody bad it laid on the return would bd 42012 annually; if only half used it the result would be £3018. The shipping 'charges would bring in about £600, making & total of £3618, The expenses ..would be £1850 for interest, Working expenses about £1000, and wear and tear and repairs, &c, about £500, leaving £250 for soddry expenses. The fall rate was then decided on for the first year. The rates leviable by the act are as follows J-r-(l) Where ''annual value does not exceed £12 10s, rate to be 10s per annum ; (2) between £12,10s and £10U r rate not to exceed 7 per cent-; (3) be*ttween £IUO and £200, rate not to exceed fc percent ', (4) between £200 and £300, rate sot to exceed & per cent j over £300, rate not to exceed 4 per, cent. Half rates to be levied os buildings which conld have water laid on but do not, and 2£ per cent on all buildings other than dwelling-houses. At the inquest yesterday on the body of John M'Murtrie, after we went to press,

Mr Foster, druggist, waa examined, and stated that he had often sold rat poison to deceased, that deceased came to him on the afternoon before his death to bay strychnine, and that, having none in hand, he recommended arsenic orphosphorusinstead, but deceased insisted on having prussric acid, and as he knew Mm well, and often had supplied him before with .poison for same alleged purpose he gave him it with little or no hesitation. Deceased was per* fectly sober, and explained the mode he intended using the poison. All the conditions of the Sale of Poisons Act were complied with. The act now in force does not require a witness to the sale when the purchasers is well-known to the seller, or in this case. There is no limitation in the act as to the quantity of poison which may be sold to one person. Dr Harding stated^ that the deceased had died from the effects of prnasic acid, of which^bfi had taken enongh to kill six men. THlgury returned a verdict, that deceased committed suicide while laboring under temporary insanity. Nothing transpired to show the slightest probable motive for the deed. The share list for the province of Wellington of the Standard, Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Tfew Zealand will close on Wednesday, the 24th inst. Amongst the passengers' by the Ladybird from the South to-day was Mrs Wm. Gray. Her return will be warmly welcomed by a large circle of friends, while all who knew the late Mr Gray will, sympathise with her' in the bereavment she has sustained since her departure from Wellington. A correspondent writing id reference to the recent curious erection opposite the Court House, enquires if.ifrwin anyway connected with the Phallic worship, Mr Gordon Baillie, d£ Cuba-street, has published a very excellent carle de visile of King, Lewis, and Fulton, the three Wm. Tapscott prisoners. The likenesses are excellent, and no doubt many who have taken a warm interest in this remarkable C39e will be glad to obtain a copy of the photograph as an interesting remembrance. [t is said that Mr O'itorke is not likely tor have j»» walk over/ in the election of a Speaker for the Provincial Coun6il of Auckland. Mr Hamiin, Mr Carleton, and Mr Hurst, are all mentioned as probable candidates for the chair. Considering Mr O'Rorke's position as a member of the General Government, we certainly think he would best etinsalt his own dignity by not becoming a candidate for re-election to the Speakersbip, and if he does stand, the Council would best consult its dignity by not electing him. An alarm of fire was given last night about 1 1 o'clock. After a general stampede of the whole city and suburbs, it was discovered that a small furze bush in Courtenay Place! was smonlo'e'ring. The two Wellington Fire j-Jrigade engines and one of the Central Brigade, with the assistance of the thousand persons or so who rushed to the spot in frantic haste, proved competent to extinguish the conflagration. We learn that Messrs {Johnston and Co hare been appointed agents for the Union Steam Shipping Company at this port, Mr Bernard King, late chief officer of the William Tapscott, was among the passengers to Melbourne by the s.s. Claud Hamilton to day, the cost of his passage having been geaerott&ly advanced by Mr K. Barrett, without waiting for the result of • the, Committee's proceedings. We are cer« tain Mr Barrett will not be allowed by the public to be any loser by his liberal action. Mr Marshall's first quadrille assembly at the Odd Fellows' Hall passed off very pleasantly last night, although the attendance was not so numerous as it doubtless will be on future evenings, when the excellent and orderly way in which the affair is conducted is more widely known, A scratch match between two Wellington elevens is to be played on the Basin Reserve to-morrow afternoou. Wickets will be pitched punctually at.two o'clock, when it is hoped the pfay er& will 'manage to be in 5 their places', so as'tb allow a good match to be played and finished, ' • •'• '' '' * " ' ' ' '