LATEST TELEGRAMS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1850, 10 July 1874, Page 2

LATEST TELEGRAMS.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

L ANGIO-AUSTKALIAN-: PRESS TELEGRAPH AGENCY.]

: Wellington, July 9.; ; On Mr Gillies's motion for the produc- 1 tion of correspondence relating to Judge 3 i Chapman and Ward, he thanked the | Government for so readily and courteously acceding to the request of the \ Premier, and hoped that the whole matter i would be allowed to pass' into oblivion as Boon as possible after the information should have been supplied. He did not consider it necessary that. , the documents should be printed and. appear upon the minutes of the Houae, but would lay the necessary papers upon the table for the use of members only. Mr Fox thought the quarrel between the judges as a very petty one as it stood, but it was not necessary for the public to interfere in it, as no complication or anything detrementai to the public interest was involved in it, though, perhaps, it might suit many of the Otago people to hear, more of it; but there was one aspect of the case which he thought the House should search more into; It was by what means the Otago Daily Times became possessed of the, contents of those ; telegrams, which were admitted by tbe Premier to bear a close resemblance to j the originals. He was perfectly certain that there had been either gross negligence or a gross breach of faith by somebody, because he was assured that neither of those engaged in the quarrel had in their private capacity, furnished the information. He must therefore con elude that it found its way to the .Times through the Telegraphic Department. Ht thought he had no reason, from : his acquaintance with that department, to doubt the honesty and trustworthiness of its operators in such matters. Mr Fox then

rehrred. to the various ways by which telegraphic information sometimes leaks out, instancing the case where some important financial information was taken off the wire in transmission by a person listening through a wall, who took the substance of a message and operated upon it for speculative purposes. The Premier had spoken of the matter as if it waslike,, " Junius' letters," . or "The Man with the Iron Mask," buthe-felt-certainif- the House would follow the matter up they, would suceced in stripping the iron mask from the brazen face of the right person, • and discover the means by which these telegram? appeared in the Otago Times. Mr Fox referred !at some length to another ■ -telegraphic! mystery, in which the same paper figures The information Had been 'supplied by its Wellington correspondent, and he Regretted his connection with that matter. During his visit south he felt compelled to characterise the affair in such strong ; terms as a double -dyed transaction. rXTnfortunately they had never yet been able to discover how that knowledge escaped the Government 5 but he had no doubt he would have been able to do so, h^,d the : correspondent in questioh carried -opt' his threat by entering an action for libel. He was sorry he never was afforded an opportunity^ of extracting evidence regarding the channel by which the infor-' , mation leaked out, -by means, of a judioial examination in the: witness-box he could have discovered the guilty party. It was clear that unless the recipient had been guilty of sheer negligeuce, there must have been gross negligence; on the part of the department. ,. ; : He : hoped .that Mr Gillies would move for' a Committee 'to r inquire into the, higherparfc of the question, one in which the. public was more r directly 'interested, and thus enabl^ the ' Hpiise 1 to disbpyer Jthe : affair was the.result of a breach of confidence-o'r . of ia. want of precaution on the part of the recipient. After referring to the case of Macassey v." Bell, he said telegrams should ; not be kept any. l raore : than the letters left in the Post Office, arid except in the case ; of business telegrams, involving large monetary transaction, all telegrams should be destroyed as soon as possible, j •; Mr Gillies hoped the mover would not '> be led astray by the ingenious -speech of the member for Rangitikei, but would first ascertain whethef there was anjf truth in the charges ; . of gross favoritism made by one Judge against another.! Telegrams that though .called impudent forgeries by one personj were admitted to be substantially correct by another, and as for the insinuation made against; a department it was the first time, he heard of such a thingi connection with this case^Ju^agver said in Ohago the public f elt a^^^rable interest in the question,! but on public grounds alone it was impos-j sible a question involving such grave; charges should' be allowed to sink inttf oblivion. ■ ,: - ■': - : : ; The documents were ordered to be pro-! duced. „ :! . t „:■ : . : i ! The Nelson Loan BUI was read a first; time. i ' An Imprest Supply Bill for L2so,qtioJ went through the first stage. Drafts of the following Bills sent down by message from the Governor were reported to the House :^— A Bill to amend the Supreme Couri? Judges Act, 1858. '.': j . ,;A,Bili to make provision for the 1 estab-l lishment of state forests, and application; of revenue derivable therefrom.;; . : j A Bill to amend Law relating to the 1 Civil Servide. / ' | A Bill to amend Westland Loan Act, j 18T3. V I A Bill for, amending Post Office Savings Bank Act, 1867. ' Z : V ' \;. A Bill to repeal New Zealand TJniver- j aity, Act, 1870. . ; - :.: : , ' J The House adjourned. -; ■

• / ; . ■:■■■.* Wellington, July 9. j Fivepublicans were fined L 5 each this jj morning for selling liquors on Sunday.' ': \\ . Lyttelton^ Ju1y.9..;: I ; The ; state of the Northampton's imini- 1 grants at the quarantine station, Camp ! Bay, and Ripia Island is kept private. > Cleared-r-Graribaldi, with water mains for Hokitika. „...,. ! . :;;•: , DuNEbiN, July 9. I Flour; LlO to Ll2 10s ; oatmeal, 23s_;j pearl barley/ 25s'; bran,. 5s ; ; pollard j |$s ;!j chaff, L4=3Os ; hay; L(s;' 'potatoes, L410S";! carrots, L 3 ; jturnips, L2;los ; wheaty 43; 6d to 5s ; barley/ 4s 6d to 5s ,• pats, ,4s to ; 4s 2d j b' utter,' ls. 2d',ta.i[s 3d :;>,cheese,. 6d tO Sd."^ \-\; : ■"v'j "' '"' '" < """' i '""

.It is stated, says-the West Coast op the most 'reliable authority^ tha&the/Ber,vices of Mr J. Lazar, who has been acting for some time, in Jthe capacity of Provincial Treasurer, were yesterday dispensed with by the Superintendent>nd!Executive.' .We'may take leave to mention, in case, any erioneous impression should have > been formed 1 iri : thfe minds of any of the public, through pertain rumors being' afloat "as " to '"incorrectness "6l accounts .a.S; referred to .in: the., Pro.Yincial Auditor's last report, that not the slightest tittle of reflection on the integrity of "Mr Lazar was thereby conveyed. On the contrary, the> books and accounts of the Treai sury, so far as Mr Lazar was concerned, have been found to be correct and accurate to a penny, and we feel assured that it "must have been with much reluctaßce' on "the -part of Mr Todd, the newly-appointed Treasurer; that the services of Mr Lazar has been dispensed with at all.: - But personal friendship on his part has been -doubtless interveighed .by. the voices of his colleagues in the Executive on the matter. We cannot refrain from expressing at the same time our entire want of concurrence in the summary, mode of dismissal as conveyed 1 in the official communication reported to have been forwarded to the officer •in question' yesterday afteraoou, which did not give even a month's notice.