Hawke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1877.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3892, 7 April 1877, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1877.

The Telegraph of Thursday remarks that the Heraid gloated over the spectacle of the presence of its proprietors and managers in the Supreme Court to answer the charge of libel brought against it by Mr Scaly. As this is very far from the truth, it may be as well to quote what we actually did say on fliat occasion. It ran as follows : — " It is impossible to suppose that he (Mr Scaly) can really entertain the anticipation of sending six gentlemen —three of whom had, in all probability,

not the remotest connection with the obnoxious article — to prison on account of its appearance. If he should succeed, the shares in the New Zealand Times, the Southern Cross, the Dunedin Guardian, and the rest of the joint stock nttwS- ' papers, we imagine, would go down with a run. They would be felt to be a kind of stock in which there was more than . the ordinary degree of risk in investing in. The true remedy for libel lies in: pecuniary damages. The making <of it a misdemeanor is, like imprisonment for debt, the last relic of A state of things fast becoming obsolete, and against which public opinion has long ago pronounced itself in unmistakeable terms." When we . remember that these remarks were made at the time when the case was pending, And that by making them, as Mr Scaly himself thought it proper to intimate \ to us, we laid ourselves open to a penalty of £100, we think that we went a good deal out of our way to assist a rival newspaper in its difficulties, and we do not think that we now deserve to be described as having gloated over the spectacle of them. As we remarked before, the observations on the sale of the Pourerere block are not, so far as we are aware, applicable to Mr Scaly at all, though he has taken them up as being so, nor is there anything in them condemnatory of any individual, but of the system only, j The suggestion that they were written with the view of currying favor with the members of the Waste Lands Board , strikes \is as something wonderfully absurd. We stand in too high favor with that body already to wish for more. Two of them intend getting £1000 apiece out of us in a few months' time.

The improper use of their free passes by members of the Legislature, which was brought up by Lieut. -Colonel Lambert at the meeting of the Waste Lands Board on Thursday, is attracting a considerable amount of attention in the southern part of the colony. One " honorable" gentleman, it appears, has actually become a commercial traveller on the strength of his free pass. On this a contemporary very justly remarks, " That a man, because he happens to be a member of the Legislature, should be permitted to travel free by rail with the sole object of pursuing his avocation of commercial traveller is monstrous. It is notfair to the country which, grants the privilege, and, what is more, it is a gross injustice to the general public. In business all men should be on an equal footing, so far as the Government are concerned. But are they so in the instance alluded to I Has not the commercial traveller who is able to move from place to place at the expense of the countiy a very great advantage over his fellows who are compelled to pay, and that pretty dearly, for their locomotion I Decidedly lie has, and a very grave injustice is thereby done to a large section of the community." The free passes were granted to members by themselves ostensibly on the ground that it was desirable that they should go about the country, and acquaint themselves with the character and condition of the various parts of it. It is evident that they are not subserving this purpose to any appreciable extent. -We do not find any members making the tour of the colony, or, indeed, travelling anywhere except where their business avocations bring them. We trust there may be enough honesty found among them next session to. bring about the renunciation of a privilege which has proved itself at once so useless for any purpose of public benefit, and so liable to gross abuse.

The interesting letter of our East Coast correspondent, published in another column, draws attention to the eligibleness of the Waipiro hot springs, as a site for a sanatorium. We can bear witness from personal knowledge to the truth of what is said, both as to the excellence of the springs, and their easiness of access. They are only about seven miles from the beach, and a dray road could be made to them with trilling expenditure. Unless we are much mistaken, the land where they are situated, too, is now the property of the Government, or is, at least, under negotiation. The proprietor of the hotel at the Waiwera Hot Springs, near Auckland, must be making his fortune, and we dare say the time will come shortly when we shall see someone making a fortune at the Waipiro Springs.

We have filled \ip a couple of columns, in another part of our paper, with a report of the Waimate libel case, as one of the principals and some of the parties introduced incidentally are known in this district. In view of the circumstances of this case, we must retract the opinions quoted above from our own remarks made some time ago in connection with another matter, to the effect that libel should not be made a penal offence. The only question is whether flogging should not sometimes be the penalty. We think, too, that any one who reads the evidence will feel that it is a matter of regret that the proprietor of the Waitangi Tribune was not proceeded against as well as Mr Sherrin. The personality of Mr Reed the gentleman attacked presents a curious psychlogical phenomenon. Though, no doubt, entirely guiltless of the gross offences agamst moi - ality laid to his charge, he is one of the most scurrilous, virulent, and unscrupulous newspaper writers in New Zealand, and it is singular to reflect that he should be a duly qualified clergyman of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand.

We have heard several complaints lately of the inconvenience under which people who live at a distance from the post office labor in there being only that one place in the town for posting letters, and it has been suggested that pillars for the reception of letters might be placed, with advantage to the public, in various localities about the town. The system prevails in other places, and have proved a very great convenience, and we cannot see why it should not be adopted in Napier. The expense would be only that of the pillars, as they could be cleared by the letter-carrier when on his ordinary rounds. The number of writs issued in native land matters up to last Thursday was j twenty-one. Against Frederick Sutton there were eight, the following being the plaintiffs : — Haharoru Toi, Ahipene te Ruru, Reko Mangaonuku, Holiepu te Ringanohu, Rotu Porehua, Urujrene Puhara, Rota Porehua, and Hohani Waikato. There were eleven against John Gibson Kinross, the following being the plaintiffs : — Ahipene te Ruru, Meihaua Takihi, Te Waihiku, Ihaka Kapo, Rora Nonoi and Wi Rangi (her husband), Reihana te Ihatohi, Te Hapuku, Pera Wheraro, Hene Ipakitea, Paraniina One One, and Karaitiana Takamoana. There is one agamst Thomas Kennedy Newton, the plaintiffs being Enoka te Rua, Era te Whaharuamoko, Aharetu Munga Munga, and Hira te Rauparihu. There is also one writ against William and Henry Parker, the plaintiff being Te Waka Ivawatini. The writs all bear the name of John Sheehan, as solicitor ; and in each case the action is for "specific performance." It should be, we suppose, for <f specific relief. 1 ' We are requested to call the attention of members of the Fire Brigade to an advertisement in another column, requesting them to assemble this afternoon at the engine shed, for practice with the new engine. They will leave the engine station at half-past four sharp, and proceed to the salt-water well at the back of Messrs. Newton and Co. 's promises. From that well they will work, throwing tlu - eo streams of water in the direction of the Oddfellows' Hall. If the muster be sufficiently strong, the " manual " will also be taken out. We are sorry to state that the material of which the uniforms are to be made has not yet arrived. It ■would be much more in keeping if the

men were able to turn out in uniform on such an occasion as testing the new engine, but we anticipate this will soon be remedied, as the cloth is now on its way ttcfxh the Mosgiel Woollen Company's Factory. A person employed as clerk 'in ft solicitor's office was arrested yesterday afternoon on suspicion of being in some way concerned in a robbery of some bank notes f7 v om the person of Mr Schultz, of Emer-son-street. The amount Mr Schultz is said to have lost is £145, or £146. The accused will be brought before the Bench jit | the Resident Magistrate's Court this ' morning. Yesterday a epurt -for tltiS revision of the jury list was held, the Bench consisting of R. Beetham, Esq., KM., and John Alexander Smith and James Anderson, Esqs. , Justices of the Peace. There were no objectors. The Bench, however, finding the name of his Worship the Mayor on the list, struck it out, he being exempt as a Justice of the Peace. Inspector Scully having sworn to the correctness of the list (to the best of his knowledge and belief), it was signed \>y the magistrates, and the business of the court terminated. Whatever Mr Travers may be in other respects, Ministerialist or Oppositionist, it is evident that he is safe on the Separation question, as, indeed, any Wellington member must be. In one of his election speeches, he referred to the subject as follows: — " There is one question which is not at all unlikely to crop up during the coming session of the Assembly, a matter we have heard more than once rumored both in the North and the South. That is the question which is called " Separation," and I cannot tell you the thorough contempt that I entertain for the suggestion as it is made by those people who support it. It seems to me to be so utterly ridiculous as scarcely to deserve discussion. This colony is essentially intended to be one, by situation, by the mode of its foundation, by the genius of its people, by the character of its institutions, by its resources, and by everything, in point of fact, which could tend to make a united nation. (Cheers). I should utterly oppose everything tending to Separation, because this cry for Separation is not founded on any sound or patriotic feeling, but is simply intended to subserve the interests j of some isolated portions of the colony. It is our duty to maintain the unity of the coloivy, and I believe that even those who raise a cry of Separation are scarcely aware of the amount of folly and absurdity that is involved in it. " Yesterday (says the Herald of the 28th ult.) the people of Auckland experienced for the first time the blessing of an adequate supply of water. The water has rather a muddy appearance, but this is attributable, doubtless, not to the springs, but to the condition of the pipes, and perhaps in some degree also to the washing away of sediments necessarily contained in the reservoirs. Next week, in all probability, clear water will begin to flow. The Thames Advertiser states that several parties are at work on good alluvial prospects at Gentle Annie Creek, one of the tributaries of the Mata Creek. Mr Powell, of Shortland, returned a few days ago with a parcel of gold, which included a very handsome nugget weighing Gozs. lOdwts. The gold was got by sluicing the creek and washing. At Waiomu several men have been getting good gold by washing the creek for some time past. The Waitangi Tribune reports that although threshing commenced lately in the Waimate district, and cannot possibly be considered in "full swing," a difficulty has been experienced within the last few days in getting away the grain. Further south we find the same deplorable state of affairs, grain having to be stacked in some places in the open by the side of the railway, for want of trucks. The Rev. J. M. Fraser will preach at Kaikora on Sunday at 3 p.m. : and at Waipawa, in the Oddfellows' Hall, at 7. The Rev. R. Fraser will j>reach at Waijmkurau at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Sydney Morning Herald estimates the wealth of New South Wales, exclussive of fixed and floating capital, at £84,735,065. The Duchess of Galliera has offered the celebrated Magdalen, by Canova, to the Louvre.