MR. STOUT'S RESIGNATION AND ITS SEQUEL.

Evening Post, Volume XVII, Issue 545, 25 June 1879, Page 2

MR. STOUT'S RESIGNATION AND ITS SEQUEL.

? The news that Mr. Stout has definitely decided to resign his seat in Parliament and his portfolio in tho Ministry will be read with general regret. Mr. Stout has won for himself the deserved reputation of being one of the ablest members of the present Ministry, and bis loss cannot fail to be a severe one to his party. Nothing is known positively as yet regarding the intentions of the Government as to filling up the vacancy thus created. It has been rumored that Mr. Kees would succeed Mr. Stout in the Attorney-Generalship, but we are assured, upon apparently goud authority, that this report is without loundation, as also another to the effect that Mr. Moss, the member for Parnell, was the coming Minister —tbe Attorney-Generalship to be left vacant for the present. It is understood that the new Minister will be a Southern member, in order that the equilibrium may be maintained, and rumor points to Mr. Montgomery M.H R.

for Akaroa. as the most likely man to be telected for the honor. We believe that a special meeting of the Cabinet will be held this evening, when it is probable that it will be defimttly derided whit course shall be adopted. If Air. Montgomery be offered and acrept a seat in the Ministry it is thought that he will have simply the portfolio of Lands, the poet of Attorney-Qeneral^iot befog filled up

The resignation by the Hon. Robert Stem oi his feat m Parliament, for Dunedin, wai placed in the hands of Messrs. Hunter ace Brandon, M.H.R's, the Commission representing the Speaker of the House, and thos< gentlemen this afternoon issued a writ for thi election of a member in Sir. Stout's place. Mr. M'Guire, Chairman of the Hawen County Council, leaves for Wellington to-day to wait on the Government with the view oi urging the desirableness of employing the force now in the district to push on roads througl the disturbed country. The arrival of the steamer Stella at Taranak! had not been received up to 2 p.nl. to-day the left here on Sunday, about 1.30, with i detachment of 60 Armed Constabulary, and, il she met with fine weather, should have arrived at Taranaki on Monday morning, ifo doubl the late southerly gale has made her seek shelter at Stephen's Island. The adjourned meeting of the committee appointed by the City Council to confer with the representatives of the Fire Underwriters' Association and Architects took place yesterday afternoon. The building regulations were dfecdgsed at considerable length. The architects were in favor of the regulations being so amended as to admit of buildings being erected in No 1 district entirely, of plate iron (not cdrrugated iron) instead of insisting on their being built in brick, stone, or concrete as at present. A suggestion was made that discretionary powers should be given to the Council to modify the building regulations, as circumstances arose, but this evoked a strong feeling of opposition from the large majority of those present. We certainly agree with those who opposed this proposition. The lesson taught by the recent disastrous fire fa that the building regulations of the city should be made more stringent rather than relaxed, and if the Council were to have the power of " modifying " those regulations, the Corporation might just & well have no by-laws at all on the subject. All that any person who wished to evade the regulations would have to do would be to " button-note " Councillors and get them to consent to their being " modified " to suit his particular case. The new Foresters' Hall will be opened tonight, when a dinner to celebrate that event and the 13th anniversary of the Ancient Order of Shepherds Sanctuary, Sir George Grey, No. 3118, will be given. The hall is rather an imposing structure, and seems to be well adapted to serve the purposes for which it has been designed. The entrance to the hall and private portion of trie building is from the side street, rnnoing at right angles with Torystreet. The entrance-lobby is commodious, and the hall above is reached by a spacious staircase. On the right of the lobby is the kitchen, fitted with all the latest culinary appliances. The dimensions of the hall are 45tt. by 34ft., and 20ft. in height, and there is a gallery which will seat comfortably 100 people. The decorations are artistic, and the hall is well lighted and tastefully and comfortably furnished. The contract price for the building was £1965, which has been increased by extras I to £2000. The contractor was Mr. J. Edwards, of Taranaki-street", and the architect Mr. C. J. Toxward The plastering was done by Messrs. Foley and Burton, and the painting and paperhanging by Mr. J. T. Bovi3. At the Primitive Methodist school-room, Sydney-street, last evening, the Perseverance Tent, 1.0 R., held its quarterly meetiog. A member was announced as being on the s,ick list, and the doctor's certificate having beon read, the benefit of £1 per week was passed by the Tent. The Secretary, Bro. W. Johnson, read a communication respecting the Government financial tables, aud explained that aa they bad been passed by the District Council they would bs brought into operation at once, so that thoso who now join the order would derive the benefit. Ail candidates in the iuture will only have to pay, as initiation fee, the sum of 10s, and it should be understood that this is regardless of age, for the period mentioned ranges from 15 to 45 years. The following officers were elected and installed for the next six months : — Bro. H addon, CR ; Bro. Beecher, D. R ; Bro. Parsonage, Treasurer: Bro. W. Johnson,' Sacretary ; Bro. Fuller, CS. • Bro. Sims, B S. ; Bro. M'Namara, Guardian • Supporters to the Chief Ruler, Bro. Robertson and Bro. Nees ; aud supporters to the Deputy Ruler, Bro. Hall and Bro. Callaghan. Owing to the illness of one or two of the members and the absence of others, there was no quorum at the meeting of the committee of the Benevolent Institution called for yesterday. We notice by an advertisement that Mrs. Florence has taken over the Wellington Steam Laundry from Mr. Bayliss. The proposition of Mr. R. W. Gary to take a troupe ot Maoris to the Sydney Exhibition to dance the " haka," has been declined by the Commissioners. The Rev. Mr- Grant, Presbyterian minister at the Hutt, will preach at the house of Mr. Nairn this evening, at 7 p.m. Court Robin Hood, A.0.F., met last night, when there was an unusually large attendance. The election of officers resulted as follows : — C.R., Bro. P. M'Coroisky ; H.C.R,Bro. A. Garner; treasurer, Bro. W. Jessup (re-elected); secretary, Bro. A. L. Sution (re-elected)! S.W., Bro. S. CooperJ.W, Bro J. Ward; S 8., Bro. A. Whiteford; TB, Bro. S. R. Coleman; auditor, Bro. A. Garner. Secretary Bro. A. L. Sutton was elected as delegate to the next District Meeting in October to represent Court Robin Hood. The next meeting of the Court will be held in the new hall, Tory-street, which is described elsewhere. Messrs. Joseph Nathan and Co. announce that they have received cable advice from Foochow that their first shipment of new Mason's tea, 1879-1880, has loft that port, per ss. Killarney, and that they expect to be able to show samples early in August. At the usual weekly meeting of the WelliDgton Literary Association held last evening-, a committee was appointed to report on the advisability of holdiDg a musical and literary entertainment on the 22nd July, when it is proposed to give selections from " Hamlet," An interesting essay on "The uses of a Literary Association," was read by one of the members. Some of the gentleman who are on the special jury list, but who have been summoned to serve as common jurors at the next sitting of the Supreme Court, are very indignant because they think it is infra dig. for them to serve on the common jury. It may be well to direst their attention to clause 14 of the Juries Act, 1878, which provides that "From and after the coming into operation of this Act, no person qualified as a special juror, and whose name appears on any special jury book, shall thereby be exempted from serving on any petty jury." * The following ia the business to be transacted at the meeting of the City Council to-morrow evening :— Consideration of report on R W. Watson's claim (adjourned); report from Hospital and Charitable Aid Committee; report from Building Regulations Committee ; report from Public Works Committee. Tenders— Kerbing, &c, Dixon and Taranaki-place.wool-shed on English T, and hospital supplies; accounts. Councillor Diver will move that immediate steps be taken to procure a steam fire-engine and a floating fire-engine for the use of the city. Councillor Allen—" That it is desirable that steps be taken to -widen that part of Manners-street and Cuba-street in which the buildings have been destroyd by the late fire;" and Councillor Ejsher willmove resolutions for the immediate raising of s loan of £100,000 to carry out the Wainui-o-Mata water-supply scheme. The following report has been received from the manager of the Golden Point Mm», dated the 23rd inst. :— I have to report that the main shaft is now down the hundred feet, which is the depth I purposed going before I open out a drive to meet the lodes underlying to the bottom of shaft 1 have now to open out a drive in the direction of the underlay, and as to the exact distance I shall have to go before we strike, will depend whether it has continued its course at the same underlay as we have traced above. In the small shaft we are down 44ft. I came across a leader which shows gold freely, but it is only five or six inches thick. I shall put this shaft down say 60ft. We have a good drop of water to contend with, but 201bs steam does all the work Some of the ends of the tubes gave way last week, and the engineman had to put rings upon them to make them secure. TnefosteUation of the W.M. and officers of the Wellington Lodge, No. 1521, E.G. took place in the Masonic Hall list night. The hall was draped in black, in token of mourning for the late Bro. John Lizar, D G.M. of Westland. Bro. a White, DG. Registrar, acted as installing officer, and performed the beautiful ceremony in a most admirable and impressive manner. Amongst the visitors present were— R.W. Bro George Graham, D.G.M., Auckland; R.W. Bros. Gillon and Powles, representing the Provincial Grand Lodge, North Island, N.Z., S.C.; R.W. Bro. ToxWrd DD.GM, Wellington, EC; WM . and officers of the Pacific Lodge, £ C; R.W M and ofiicers of Waterloo Lodge, S C; R.W M* and officers of St. Andrew's Lodge, S.C. Sir Edward Osborne-Gibbes, Bart., was duly installed as W.M. of theWeUingtonLodge,and the other officers were then invested as lollows •— S.W., Bro. A. de B. Brandon; J.W., Bro. K. Wilson; Sac, Bro. H. Wrigg; Treas., Bro. L. Roskruge ; S.D , Bro. G. G. Orbell ; J J)., Bro. R. OH. Smith; I.G, Bro. N. Werry; Tyler, Bro. Buck. After the conclusion of the Lodge labors the brethren adjourned to a banquet, where the usual lo3al and Masonic toasts were duly honored, and a very pleasant evening was spent. In the course of his remarks the new W.M., Sir Edward Osborae Gibbes, alluded in congratulatory terms to the cordial and friendly feeling now existing between all the Masonic lodges in Wellington. The monthly inspection of the D battery of

Artillery Volunteers was made last evening when a strong muster was present. Afte; being inspected and put through a variety o movements, Sergeant Mason, of No. £ detachment, was formally presented with the Government prize won at shot and shell competitioi at the Evans' Bay rifle range. After this th< battery was formed into a half circle, and, the band being called to the front, the bandmastei was addressed by Captain Moorhouse, hefirsi having taken formal possession of the bane instruments in terms of the Volunteer Act Captain Moorhouse spoke to the following effect : — Bandmaster Cimino, having now car* ried out my duty as captain of this carpti&nd taken possession of one instrument as typical of the whole, I now as formally return then to you, and in doing to I think that I an carrying out the wishes of tbe whole of the battery— (hear, hear)— who are fully cognisant of the circumstances under which they were acquired) and 1 do so with the pleasurable knowledge that, although your immediate services will be lost to us, the instruments will still be Used in a volunteer corps. I trust that the good feeling which has always existed | between the battery and > ourselves will be carried by you to the corps with which I understand you aw now about to ally yourselves the Naval Brigade) and that your attendance will be as regular on that Corps as it has always (at least with one exception) been on this. The roll having been called the corps were dismissed. We utderstand that Inspector James has held a searching inquiry into the charge against Detective Sullivan In connection witb bis recent entrance of a house in Adelaide Road. We are informed that the inquiry showed that the child alleged to have been made ill by the visit of the detective and constable is subject to fainting fits, and that some of the statements made by tbe complaining parties— notably a.% to the condition in which the house was left by the policemen— were very much exaggerated. The fact remains, however, that tbe detective acted illegally and improperly in entering the house without a search-warrant. The tacts elici'ed at the inquiry have now been laid before the Commissioner of Police. Tenders are called for erecting Powder Magazines, at Kaiwarra. The site is said to be a very good one, and we think the Government has done well in abandoning the old site at Msgaztne Point, a spot where a magazine wh^uld have been a possible source of great danger. The Committee of the Working Men's Club have secured a most suitable and convenient suite of apartments over Messrs. M'Dowell Brothers' premises, and when the decorations and some alterations have been completed the Club will have very slight occasion to regret tbeir change of quarters. The main entrance to the new Club Rooms will be opposite the Bank of New Zealand A broad flight of stairs leads to a well-lighted passage, which extends the whole length of tbe premises, and upon which the doors of all the apartments open. The room first entered from tbe passage is a spacious apartment, which is being fltied up as a billiard and bar-room, then come the readingroom, library, chess-room, committee room, steward's room, &c. At the extreme end of tbe passage is a door opening upon a landing, from which are stairs leading: to the private entrance under the archway in Willis-street, and to the downstairs premises, consisting of a kitchen, larder, servants' quarters, bath-room, fee. The Club may be congratulated upon their success. An important matter relative to the volunteer bands cropped up last night at the D battery parade. The band wished to be transferred to the Naval Brigade, and by a clause in the Act of 1865, all instruments, &c, used by the band for the use of the corps are vested in the captain, except such as are the private property of any single individual The band had purchased all the part-playing instruments as a body, so as they did not belong to any single person they had to give them up to the captain, who kindly returned them again. If he had been so disposed, however, it would appear that he might have detained them, and hence have occasioned the band some little trouble. This is a point worthy of consideration by volunteer bands generally. The Union Company's fine steamer Arawata will arrive in Wellington from Melbourne via southern ports, to-morrow morning ; she brings the Suez mail. Our morning contemporary is not correct in saying she will not be here until Friday. A large muster of the Naval Brigade took place at the Arcade last night. About 60 were in their new uniforms, and it is expected that tbe whole brigade will be fitted out by the opening of Parliament, in order that they may take part in the demonstration. Last night the band were present for the first time, and played one or two marches. The brigade are improving- rapidly in their drill, and promise to be a really smart and efficient body of men. It now numbers over 200 members. Mr. John Futter, who for some time past carried on, at Wellington, the business of cab and carriage proprietor has purchased and tafeen possession of the Manawatu Hotel at Foxton. The Wellington Amateur Athletic Club have I determined to have a handicap paper chase across country for a distance of 10 miles. The event is announced to come off on the 19th of July and will doubtless attract considerable interest. The Theatre Royal was fairly attended last night. We would remind our readers that the first appearance of Mr. Wybert Rivers takes place this evening in " George Geith," when it is anticipated he will be welcomed by a bumper house. Referring to the dismissal from the Civil Service of Christopher John Frank, Clerk to the Warden's Court at No Town, the Nelson Mail says :— " The reason for this, we are given to understand, 13 that, having to attend two I ourts some miles apart, he was allowed horse hire, for which the customary vouchers had to be sent in to the Government. Instead of riding, however, he walked, but got a livery stable keeper to sign bis vouchers, and put the money into his own pocket instead of expending it upon the hire of ahorse. Instantaneous dismissal followed the discovery of what he had been doing, but we have not heard of any punishment being meted out to the stable keeper." Mitchell's English Opera Company will commence their season in Wellington at the Theatre Royal on the 7th of July. Some of the most popular English operas will be produced. It is not the intention of the management to raise the prices of admission. The box office is now epen at the Athenaeum Bazaar, where season tickets may be obtained. Packets of twelve tickets for the dress circle (transferable) may be obtained, and seats reserved for the twelve nights. M'Lennan, who now stands committed for trial tor the Napier murder, and who is tot unknown to business men in Dunedin (says the Morning Herald), arrived in this province as aa immigrant by the ship Wellington nearly Jour years ago. He was described in the list of immigrants as a gamekeeper and forester, and it is supposed that this designation was a correct one of his old country calling. Tbe Wanganui Herald announces the death at Putiki of Reuben Venne, the young native artist, whose pictures have been very favorably noticed lately. Just before his death be requfsted that his easel, together with his pictures, should be buried with him. Considering the circumstances under which the little fellow picked up his knowledge of colon (says the Herald) he certainly showed remarkable talent. The following tenders were received at the Public Works Office, Wellington, for the Opio contract of the Otautau-Nightcaps Railway : —Accepted— James Innes, Dunedin, £5739. Declined— D. Robertson, Dunedin, £6408Kennedy, Gallagher, & Co., Invercargill, £6514; J. Calder, Invercargill, £6563; Hughes & Co., Invercargill, £6584; Mathison Bros., £6676.

If those who are stricken with disease only knew what was good for them, the ranks of the medical profession would soon be decimated. As it is, the army of physicians should be reduced, and the only effective means of shutting out its constantly increasing recruits is for patients to familiarize themselves, from the voluntary teachings of experience, with the remedies applicable to their respective cases Thuß Udoepho Wolfe's Schiedam Abomatio Schnapps would subserve the purposes of multifarious prescriptions. — fADvr.J Mr. B. J. Duncan will Bell to-morrow, at 2 o clock, at , the Arcade, a valuable leasehold, 16 years to ran, in Willis-street, with building thereon. — -e> The sale of furniture of the Temperance Hotel (late Tamer's) will be continued tomorrow, commencing at 11 o'clock sharp by Messrs. Samuel & Co.