The Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1879.

Evening Star, Issue 5041, 1 May 1879, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1879.

With all clue deference to the legal opinion of the solicitor to the Board, and of headquarters—whatever, and whoever that may mean—we still hold to the conviction that the Chief Commissioner of the Waste Land Board is wrong in his interpretation of the section of the Laud Act, 1877, which regulates the terms of the sale of licenses of runs. We admit that the wording is obscure, and that, grammatically, the words may possibly have the significance which is sought to be given them ; but statute law, where obscurely worded, musts needs be interpreted not only by the principle of common law but by common sense ; and it is clearly contradictory to both that outgoing and incoming licensees should, during the same period, pay rent forthesameland, andit seems altogether an extravagant assumption that the Government should make such a demand. The highest Courts of judicature have ruled that in instances of obscurity or contradiction of terms in any statute, the interpretation must bo guided by the intention of the Legislature, and in this case the intention most certainly was not to handicap purchasers in so monstrous a fashion, giving the present licensees so palpable an advantage. As we stated in a previous article, the only sensible reading of the 123 rd section is that, in the case of runs now held under license, the purchaser, if other than the present licensee, sh-,l' pay at the time of sale the rent from the date of the determination of such license, and the Ist March, in addition to .one year’s rent from the Ist March, when hj is own license will be issued. If the land tc be leased is not now held under license, then of ■ ourse the purchaser pays from the date of sale. The Attorney-General, who is also Minister of Lands, is still in Dunedin, an,d we would suggest that no time should bo lost in consulting him upon the subject, in. order that before the sale of the Waikauaiti runs to-morrow the mind of the Government may be known upon the matter. If Ministers, in passing the Land Act, did intend thus, according to the interpretation of Mr Maitland, to bar outside purchasers from competing with the present licensees, it is well that the country should

know it. If, on the contrary, section 123 is only defective in the Wording and no such absurdity Was intended, Mr Stout, as Minister of Lands, has it in his power to direct the Chief Commissioner to frame the conditions of sale in accordance with the intention of the Act,

On March 12 Sir Cunliffe Owen, the secretary of the British Commissioners at the Paris Exhibition, was presented with a cheque for L 3,500 from 550 contributors who were exhibitors at the Exhibition J and Lady Owen received a, valuable diamond Maltese cross as a memento of the occasion.

A brewer’s collector who is well-known in sporting circles is “wanted” by the police on a charge of embezzlement. The defaulter represented a firm carrying on operations near the Water of Leith, and until a year since filled an important office in connection with a public society. His defalcations are said to be considerable; but we understand that th« firm are covered by a Guarantee Society,

3? uslDeas done at the Immigration Depot, Caver,ham, during the last fourteen days is as follows Received per vessels btadt Haarlem and Westland, IM malec, 180 females, and 49 children) total, 273; left the depot to take situations, forwarded Ij their friends, or otherwise located, 77 males, 115 females, and 29 children; total, S2L There therefore remain in the depot, 17 males, 15 females, and 20 children; total, 52.

Major General John Dwyer, late colonel ot 14th Regiment in New Zealand, died at Lome on February 11 last. He was intimately known in the North Island, where he served during the war in 1864-65, in command of the 2nd Battalion (medal). He was also throughout the war in the Crimea (medal and clasp), Knight of the Legion of Honor, sth class of .the Med jidie and Turkish medal. He. entered the army in 1831, and retired May 7, 1872,

~VpJ'® da^ e Ll,loo has been collected in the Wellington district in aid of the Kaitangata relief fund. The central committee acknowledge The receipt of the following donations :-PerJ. Hu .nage, L 5 17s 6d ; per Captain Clark, LI; per A. M'Kinnon, LI ■ G * Ge ‘ ld , e3 ’ LS 43 6d I P° r AleX * andei Thomson, Kakanui, L 8 18s: ner Mr Schlotel, North-east Valley, L4l4s 6d P ; Bath street school, 13s 3d.

An accident, attended withswiotts PesVllttb happened m Clyde street this ftftfeliloOh. A lad named Scanlon, non of Mr Scanlan, of the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle Hotel, Fh li! oU i! fceen y ears of age, was returning from the beach at Pellahefc Bay, where he had been, in Company with his brother and one Martin Brennan, to water some horses, and was passing near Mr J. H. iiarns q residence, when he was thrown from f^ or + Be V, H , e *aa at once picked up and taken to the hospital, where, he was attended °’j . , **[ , ull was fourd to be fractured, and, lua left arm broken. It is Just possible taat he may recover from his injuries.

A complimentary dinner was tendered by the employes of Messrs Arthur Briscoe and Co. last evening, at the Imperial Hotel, to Messrs Aitken and Roberts, the late heads of two departments, who have severed the connection in order to commence business in Christchurch, The chair was occupied by ™- r Hugh M'Neil, the resident partner of the farm, who, in proposing the toast of the evening, referred to the untiring efforts of Messrs Aitken and Roberts on behalf of the firm, and while regretting its loss, he trusted that the gain to their guests would be unlimited, Messrs Aitken and Roberts made hie replies. The other toasts were ‘‘Arthur Briscoe and Co,” proposed by Mr John M‘Neil; “The Employes,” by Mr Aitken; “The Ladies,” by Mr Rutland; and “Kindred Houses,” by Mr Hugh M'Neil, jun.; severally responded to by the chairman, Messrs Fenwick, H. M'Neil, jun., Mr A. M'Neil (on behalf of the Melbourne) and Mr (Gellatly on behalf of the Wolverhamptonh ouses). Several other toasts were proposed and duly honored. Messrs A. M'Neil, Rutland,' Truman, Lewis, Gellatly, and Jones rendered some songs capitally during the evening, Mr Truman presiding at the piano. The proceedings were very enjoyable. Host Haydon catered in his best stylo. : .

At yesterday’s meeting of the Oamaru School Committee the following letter from Mr Pryde was read:—“ Your Committee seem be unaware that the practice adopted in the present case has been the invariable one since the present Board came into existence. For the post of head-teacher in the North School there were, in fact, ten applicants. Two of these persons were not eligible, as they had not been twelve months in their present situations; one was only provisionally certificated ; and of the remaining seven there were four whom the appointments committee of the Board considered unsuitable for various reasons. Tho names of the three most suitaable were forwarded to you.” After some discussion the following resolution was ca'.ried “That this Committee, having fully considered the Board’s letter of the 24th inst. re the appointment of teachers to the North and South Schools, adheres to its former resolution, and would recommend to the Board the necessity of complying with its requests, so as to enable this committee to legally carry out the objects for which it was appointed.” Mr Montagu said it would be well for those outside to know that this committee did not arise from any hostility to the Board, hut simply because they were anxious to uphold their own privileges under the Act.

Before the Supreme Court rose yesterday, their Honors intimated their intention of taking the case of Richmond v. Hepburn to-morrow, and expressed the hope that one sitting would dispose of it. Judge Johnston added that it was not probable their Honors would sit together in'banco again until after the next sitting of the Court of Appeal. On looking over the long list of cases, it had suggested itself to the Court that some of them might immediately be taken to the Court of Appeal if it so happened that counsel engaged ,in them were going to attend the Court upon other cases. “ With regard to cases which are likely in any event to be taken to the Court of Appeal,” continued His Honor, “it is not so important they should be disposed of by two Judges in the Court below; it is rather for ca'es where the intervention of a second Judge might possibly have the effect of preventing the necessity for an appeal, that these sittings are held,” Mr Smith; “To save the expense of an appeal.” His [donor; “Yes. That is what we have had in view, to a great extent, because in cases which are almost sure to go to the Court of Appeal, one way or other’, it does not matter whether it is heard before one Judge or two.” In reply to Mr Smith, Mr Justice Williams said that he considered it undesirable to take cases immediately before the sitting of the Court of Appeal, because counsel were generally then preparing for that Court, but if any gentlemen were prepared to argue cases nex<ii week he would sit in banco.

At the Queen Theatre last evening another performance of “ Two Men of Sandy Bar ” was given to a very good house. The play went well, and, notwithstanding the complicated nature of the plot, interest in its development was sustained till the last. The best-played character in the piece is that of Colonel Starbottle, who, in the hands of Mr H, Daniels, is done the utmost jus.ice to. There is a great deal of power in Mr Ogden’s representation of the drunkard Sandy, but he flings himself on the ground and knocks himself about generally in a totally uncalled for inanin r. Miss Beatrice has little to do as Donna Jovita, for Mary Morris is the most prominent female character, and this is prettily played by Miss Bronton. An incident that the management or the attendants might well have taken notice of was the extraordinary conduct of a family party of three amongst, the audience. These, seated in the centre of the front row of the dress circle, cracked nuts vigorously and noisily throughout the evening, throwing the shells on the floor t" hj“ ground under tluir Let with mere inise and sustaining at the same time, io a loua tone of vi a running fire of comments on the performance. Such conduct ought to have been summarily put a stop to, for besides its vulgarity it was a source of annoyance to the audience in all parts of the house. This evening the dramatic season will be brought to a close with a repetition of “ Nancy Sykes,” which created a great sensation when played last week.

Mr Alexander Findlater Blood, of the King’s Inns, Dublin, barrister-at-law, was to-day admitted and enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand by His Honor Mr JuStiee Williams. . M; C. S. Reeves, J.P. , was the presiding justice at the City Police Court this morning. For drunkenness, William Smith was fined 5s ; Michael Button was convicted and discharged. The information against Alfred St. George Hamwerisley (charged on the complaint of W iiliaiu Orokcr With having, in tne Arcade, on the 15th ult., with divers other idle persons to the number of ten and more, riotously assembled and gathered together to disturb the public with unlawfully making a great noise and disturbance, and with unlawfully assaulting the said William Crokcr) was dismissed, neither complainant nor defendant putting in an an* pearaiiee.

At the invitation of the Sydney Commit s tee here Mr Lewis J. Godfrey this morning submitted to Hitt Esakslleußy Governor a CUllSOtioJl oi carved work prepared by him for show at the approaching Exhibition. Most of the objects are in wood, and they comprise a set of cedar dining-vor-m panda Jj?r Air LckrhfUili S ftbideildiS, representing Birds, fruit, and other natural products, all beautifully executed; candelabra of handsome design; timepieces, backets, etc. In addition to thesu thorn arv the group of shells ftnd a crab carved out of Huon pine which gained first prize at the Otago Exhibition; and the lime-tree timepiece which took the first prize at the London Exhibition of 1862, Thia ia mi extremely tasteful and delicate piece of work and altogether Mr Godfrey’s exhibits will form an attractive feature of the New Zealand department at the Exhibition. His Excellency and his family inspected the articles closely and expressed themselves highly pleased with the result of the artist’s efforts.

Thu following Timaru telegram appears la this morning’s ‘North Otago Times’:— “Relative to the statement wired a few days ago from Dunedin that Captain Hammeraley, of the Timaru Artillery, was to bo summoned to Ihu Dunediu Police Court for riotous con* duct in the Arcade, it is simply a gross untruth. Captain Hammersley, immediately on seeing the telegram in the ‘ Timam Herald, telegraphed to Dunedin, and received a reply that there was no idea of taking any such proceedings. Dunedin people have gone out of their Way to deliberately insult the Timaru Volunteers in the same way as they did the Canterbury football team at the last interprovincial match, and the result will be that no Volunteers from here will ever visit Dunedin again. We have the best authority for stating that although one Timaru private made a spectacle of himself, the officers who were the principal leaders in the riotous proceedings in Dunedin hailed from fully 100 miles from Timaru.” The concoctor of that telegram is an inventive genius.

The Fort Chalmers Natal Volunteers will parade for inspection at ihe Drill-shed tomorrow, at 8 p.m.

The First Battalion O.R.N. and City Guards Cadets will parade at the GarrUon Hall on "Wednesday evening next. The secor d annual gathering of the Dunedin Operative bootmakers will be held in the Temperance Hall on Friday evening.

A concert and ball in aid of th<» funds of the local Volunteer Fire Brigade will be held in the (Javersham Town Hall on Friday evening. Members of B Battery are to form the gjard cf honcr for His Excellency tc-morrow morning '• r.e fall-in is ordered at the Custom-home at 8.30. Ihe Queen Theatre will be re-opened on Saturday evening by the Royal Illusionist t, who are said to be very clever in their p articular line. They have done excellent business in all the towns in the North that they have visited.