MUNICIPAL LAW.

Evening Post, Volume LXVI, Issue 45, 21 August 1903, Page 6

MUNICIPAL LAW.

The Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill, introduced by the Government, provides that where a person nas a« rating and another qualification he shall be entered on the roll in respect of his rating qualification. Where the population of a borough, whether divided or undivided, exceeds thirty thousand, the Council shall consist of not less than fifteen nor more than twenty-five members, exclusive of the Mayor. " Every elector is qualified to be a Councillor. Power is given to the Governor, by proclamation on petition of the Council, to alter the boundaries of a borough so as to include adjacent land reclaimed from the sea or any land that ought reasonably to be included in the borough, and in respect of which there are no electors. Councils are given power to lease land which they have acquired for recreation purposes, instead of themselves fulfilling those purposes, providing that the land must be offered by public tender and no building erected on it except in accordance ' with plans approved of by the Council.

A phase of the civil suit William C. A. Dimock. bacon-curer, v. Henry Owen Williams, late of Wellington, Clerk in the Stamp Department, was before Mr. Justice Williams to-day. In this action the plaintiff seeks to force the defendant to execute to him, as per an agreement, a, mortgage of certain Dunedin property, and to obtain judgment for £30 12s Bd, money lent <n 1895, and interest. Today the plaintiff asked for leave to proceed with the case without service on the defendant, on the ground that defendant is absent from the colony, has left no attorney, and difficulty in serving him is anticipated. His Honour made the order as prayed, conditionally on security being given to pay to the Registrar all such sums as the defendant shall recover in the action in case the judgment given shall afterwards be set aside. Although nothing was telegraphed, it appears that following the enquiry held at Lyttelton before Mr. J. W. Poynton, Public Trustee, into the dismissal of Dr. Upham from the position of Health Officer, arising out of his action in connection with the outbreak of smallpox on the Gracchus, a similar enquiry was subsequently held at Timaru into the case of Dr. Reid, who was also dismissed. Drs. Mason and Valintine were present on behalf of the Department.' The sitting was a short one, and the main point involved was the alleged neglect of Dr. Reid to forward on to the Health Officer at Lyttelton advice which he had received concerning the Gracchus from the Health Officer at Dunedin. Mr. Poynton will communicate his findings in both cases to the Minister for Public Health. In the Christchurch Magistrate's Court a, few days ago, before Mr. Haselden, S.M., Solomon Lewis, bookmaker, was charged with unlawfully using a tent .for the purpose of betting at the New Zealand Gun Club's Pigeon Championship meeting at Heathcote. Detective Herbert said the defendant and other bookmakers were in the* officials' tent. The defendant was betting on the different results of the shooting. When a man went to his mark to shoot, he called: "I'll bet £1 no first." Wagers were made by the defendant with various people on the result of the shot; fired, and witness saw the defendant at times pay money, and at other times receive payment, according as he lost or won. He continued doing so from 11.30 till about 5 p.m., during the whole of which time witness never missed him from the tent, though he was not there all the time himself. The accused was a professional bookmaker. In cross-examina-tion, the detective said he did not know that the bookmakers were there by invitation of the club, and he had not been called there by the secretary to remove a bookmaker who would not pay the entrance fee. There were more bookmakers present than spectators. Mr. Cassidy submitted that the tent belonged to the club, and was erected for the convenience of officials. The -uagistrate said he did not think the information fell under any of the clauses of the Gaming and Lotteries Act. The case would be dismissed. A similar charge against Walter Jorgensen was also dismissed. Mr. Gray moved before Mr. Justice Edwards this afternoon for a stay of proceedings in the case of C. Begg and Co. v. Carl Naujoks, in which a. common jury of four yesterday fohnd a verdict for the defendant. The stay of proceedings was sought pending the hearing of a motion for a new trial. Mr. Jellicoe, for Naujoks, submitted that under the rules the Court had no power to order a stay. His Honour said his present opinion was that he could grant the application. He added that an important matter had not been mentioned yesterday. The statement of claim, on the agreement, did not depend upon continuance of service at all. It depended upon a collateral agreement. In his opinion, if Naujoks was dismissed at all he was rightfully dismissed, as a matter of law. His Honour believed he should have directed judgment for the plaintiff upon his claim. He, however, omitted to do so, and his attention was not called to it. It probably arose from the mixing of the claim and counterclaim. If he was right in this view the jury must have found a verdict for plaintiff on the claim. He was not at all disposed to allow the plaintiff to be put at a disadvantage under such circumstances if he could prevent it. His Honour believed he had the power to grant stay of proceedings, but he would reserve the point for consideration. „ A number of missionaries are corai"? from England by the new missio.. atea; I Southern Cross, now on her way to Auckland from England. It is < proposed to ma>rk the occasion in the northern city by a public reception to the captain and missionaries, to be held on some evening next Aveek. Owing to the supply of food running short at Norfilk, Island the Southern .'Cross will be obliged to make her stay in Auckland as brief as possible, and she will be despatched as soon as she can be filled with stores for the islands. The sending outof the mis"sion ship evoked a great deal of interest in England, and the Archbishop of Canterbury took a chief share in the religious ceremonies connected 'herewith. When the Southern Cross visited Adelaide a few days ago, the greatest interest and sympathy \\ero manifested by the Adelaide people, -who remitted all Tiarbour, wharfage, pilot, and other fees.

Mr. Thomas Gilkspie has been appointed an inspector under the Slaughtering and Inspection Act. The Gazette notifies that Gaetano Cappiello, gardener, of Rona Bay, has become a naturalised English subject. The New Zealand bookbinders' dispute has been referred by the union to the Court of "Arbitration for settlement. The lonic and Paparoa, now in port, brought out a quantity of the cable which is to be used in connection with the new tramways for the city. This is now being unshipped, and it is probable that the next week or so will see a beginning made with the laying of the cable along the route which the tramway is to to follow. Other material is on the way out to the colony. The weather remains unsettled, but is an improvement upon that experienced earlier in the week. A heavy drizzle set in this morning, which the sun endeavoured to pierce, and ultimately succeeded, but at the time of writing the sky was cloudy and threatening more rain. What little wind there was came from the south, but the atmosphere was warm. The shade temperature in Wellington this morning was 50deg, while at Auckland it registered 56deg, against 38deg at Dunedin and'4odeg at Christchurch. Most of the northern centres appear to have had rain in the night, but in the south it was fine. About £450 has been collected towards the cost of the "proposed hospital at Dannevirke. After the routine business had been transacted at the weekly meeting of the Star of Wellington Lodge, 1.0. G.T., last night a short musical programme was gone through. Items were contributed by Messrs. M'Cutcheon, Thomson, Body, and Sparkes and Misses M'Donald and Morris. At last night's meeting of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council, letters were received from the Building Trade Labourers', Carpenters', and Operative Sausage Qasing Makers' Unions agreeing to affiliate with the Council. At the request of the Canterbury Council, it was decided to write to the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Labour in reference to the excessive hours worked by, and the low wages paid to, asylum attendants. The Council decided to support the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Bill in its present form, with the right of appeal from the Magistrate's decision to the Arbitration Court, but any appeal to the Supreme and Appeal Courts was opposed. The Arbitration Court Emergency Bill was also approved. It was decided to write to the City Council in support of the proposal to run the tramway through the Basin Reserve. The appeal of the Collector of Customs against the decision of the Magistrate in dismissing the information charging Fan j Tv with being unlawfully found in possession of ten tins of opium suitable for smoking was argued before Mr. Justice Edwards this afternoon. Mr. Myers appeared for the appellant, and Mr. Jellicoe for -the respondent. The nain point turned on whether the defencf was complete when the person charged proved that the opium was imported prior to the coming into operation of the Act prohibiting the importation. Argument was proceeding at the time of going to press. A notification in the Gazette states that as the material known as "leather-board"' or "oompo," on which the tariff of New Zealand imposes a duty of 4d per pound, is being imported cut into shapes for the manufacture of lx>ots and shoes, and entered at 22£ per centum under the tariff heading "Leather cut into shapes," thus evading the heavier duty of 4d per pound on the same material when imported intact, the Governor has directed that a duty of 4d per pound be levied on the said leather or compo cut into shapes, on, and after this dato.

The Wanganui Education Board has placed on record "its disapproval of the statement made in the House by the Premier to the effect that Boards of Education could not be trusted to pay to School Committees a special grant voted by Parliament for those Committees, and to express the opinion that there is no justification Tor the implication that the administration of their funds by Educations Boards has been carried out in anything but the most honest and economical manner." Mr. H. W. Stevenson, English champion billiard player, arrived in Auckland by the Sonoma. Mr. Stevenson has just completed a tour of Australia, where he has put up some fine performances and some world's records. He plays his opening match in Napier on Monday next, and is due in Wellington at the end of the month. At the Petone Police Station yesterday, before Messrs. W. Inglis and F. Pirani, Justices, J. M. Adams, charged with drunkenness, assault, and using, obscene language in the presence of females, was ; sentenced to three months' imprisonment ! with hard labour, without the option of a fine. During the four-weekly period ended 18th July the colony's railway revenue j amounted to £150,558— nearly £13,000 in excess of the corresponding period last year. The North Island contributed £57,554, including £37,229 by the Wel-lington-Napier-New Plymouth section. The expenditure amounted to ,£109,965, nearly £8000 more than last year, the North Island amount being £42,474.