Untitled

Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 91, 19 March 1877, Page 2

The ruling given by his Worship on Friday last in the matter of the petition against the late Antonio's election goea to establish the contention which we have all along urged, that the election was a first election, and therefore ought to be conducted under tbe '' provisions for first elections," as contained in tbe Counties Act, and farther that the term " district" must be interpreted in its most ample sense to mean tbe electoral district. Our readers will probably recollect that this contention was at the time strongly opposed in a certain quarter, and the opposition was to some extent strengthened for a time by the fact > tbat tbe [County Council bad, so we ' are informed, taken legal advice upon the point, which advice was to tbe effect that the election was not a i " first election," that the term " dis' trict " meant the riding and not the electoral district, and that the election would hare to be conducted under the Local Elections Act, and not under the 1 Counties Act, as we argued. We mention these facts, because in default of being able to coerce the action of the Returning Officer, an attempt was made in the quarter already indicated to ia* timidate him by a rather significant , reference to tbe penalties be would ■ expose himself to in tbe event of bis failing in a course of conduct chalked out for him, but more directly because the Returning Officer was publicly accused of an intention or desire to set tbe law at defiance to serve the interests of one set of constituents to the injury of another. If charges of such a character are to be made against men filling responsible public positions, ifc may be as well that those wbo have tbe rashness to make them should be brought face to face with tbe stern consequences. Having mentioned this matter ifc ia all in oar pro- . vince to do, the rest now remains with ; the Returning Officer. So far as we > ourselves are concerned, we can derive some satisfaction from the fact tbal . what we contended for has been upheld, and therefore if so far tbe | result has brought humiliation, we at all events do not share it.

-It is el»ewhere announced that the school children's pic-nio will take place to«morrow. J> The Catholic school bell will summon the juveniles at 10 a.m., and half an hour later a procession will be formed and will march to the ground. It will be understood that the school ohildren of all denominations are cordially invited to attend the picnic, preparations having been made with that object in view. At the conolurion of the quarterly meeting of the members of the Hibernian Society, on s Saturday evening last, the brethren were ' invited to a reunion at Williams' Hotel, and a very enjoyable and social hour was spent. r, Mr J. Kelly occupied the chair, and a number of long?, recitations, and speeches having been listened to, the company separated at 11 p.m. It has been arranged to play a match at fooNball in Mr M'lnerny's paddock this (Monday) morning. The members of the the Hibernian Society will march in procession to the ground at 9 o'clock sharp, and the - ■ whole of the brethren are requested to attend. The game will, we believe, be open to all-comers, and as the ground has been prepared for the some good sport is looked forward to. Mr P. Twohill met with a most unfortunate , accident on the race course yesterday. He was in the act of opening a bottle of sodawater, when the bottle burst, a fragment of glass striking him under the left eye, inflict* ' ing a deep and dangerous wound. Mr I Preshaw, who, fortunately, chanced to arrive 7 on the ground shortly after the occurrence! dressed the wound, but not before the sufferer had lost a large quantity of blood. ' We were yesterday shown some specimens . taken from the Boatman's Creek mine, and in richness they compare favorably with any - golden stone we have seen from that district. The stone was struck on Friday last, and the report of the fintl had a ' tragical influence upon interests in the Company, which Tan up at once to a high figure. The stone is in possession of Mr QiV ill, and is well worthy of iuspectiun. Mr and Mrs Cotterell's ooncert on Saturday evening was greeted by a bumper house, and the performance itself passed off with even greater eclat than any of the preceding ones. The songs by Mrs Cotterell had been selected with striking fitness to the occasion, and being rendered with that lady's accustomed efficiency, elicited enthusiastic applause. Mr Cotterell appeared in one of his most genial moods, and his impersonations were greeted with rounds of applause. On the whole the concert gave the utmost possible satisfaction. The hearing of the petition against the return of Mr M. Byrne was commenced and ' conducted in the Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday last. Evidence at great length i was taken in support of the allegations con* tamed in the petition, but ths bulk of it api peared quite unsubstantial. Upon the chief point, as to whether the election was right in being conducted as a first election, and under ' the provisions therefore provided by the Counties Act, his Worship decided against the contention of Mr Pitt, and ruled that the returning Officer had taken the proper interpretation of the law. In summing up the ease his Worship said there were two important points to be considered. The first was as to whether the vacancy having been decided by the Court to be an extraordinary one ( was conducted ia accordance with the pro* visions for suob, made in the " Regulation of Local Eleotions Act," and whether the law in that behblf had been otherwise complied with, fle would treat the first two allegations in tha petition as one, as they both attacked the election upon the score of irregularities. That some irregularities, particularly in regard to the time of the required notifications, did ' occur, was admitted. It was also admitted that such irregularities occurred knowingly and designedly, and merely through stress of I circumstances. The appointment of the Be- , turning Officer, it seemed, was not made until the eleventh hour, when it was found I that the law could not be strictly complied fc with, and what was then considered as the , best way out of the difflculy was adopted. It j, was a very grave iratter whether, under all 3 the circumstances, the election should be T upset merely on the ground of irregularities* » That the Eetuming Officer had aoted pro* t perly and as far as could be in accordance t with the spirit and intention of the Act, the 3 Court was opinion. There could be no doubt 1 that it was the intention of the Legislature 3 for the purposes of the first eleotions to make I the franchise as wide as possible, and there- " fore in arriving at the opinion the i miners' rights issued anywhere in the electoral i district of the Grey Valley were admissable, 3 the Returning Officer had taken a correct ' view of the measure, and was right in refusing * to put questions which it seemed clear were ' never intended to apply to first elections. i Whether theotber irregularities admitted were } in themselves sufficient to upset the election ' and put the County to the expense of another , contest, he would have to take time to con* sider. He would say, however, that he wa» f reluctant to declare the election void merely upon technical grounds. In order that he might do ample justice to the parties he would t reserve hia decision until Tuesday n j xt (to morrow). A full report of the oase will appear in our next issue. * A fool may give sound advice, and the * Tuapeka Times shows that John Chimaman 3 can favour the European with some (home 3 thrusts. A recent issue of that paper con--1 tamed an advertisement inserted by thirteen Caineae residing at the Camp, intimating that they intend to aeli off aud clear out of the L place. Of this literary effort the Times says :—When JotjA brought in this advertisement we naturally asked him why was this thusly, and we give his answer in his own Q words. He said— "Mb obliged to leave this c plaoe, as police too sh). o. They look very sharply aftor my countrymen because thej play quietly by themselves, and have small

lottery ; but they no interfere with hotel* keepers who keep their houses open all night, with lot of swells playing euchre and poker. All the same young white fellows do what they like, no ged fined £26. My countrymen never get drank, never go bankrupt, never swindle public; and never fight but police look after them sharp. Chinamen spend plenty money with storekeepers, always pay up white fellow get plenty tick. No good at all." Ibe Celestial went on in the same strain for some length, and appeared to feel tery keenly the manner in whioh he alleged his countrymen were persecuted by the authorities, while Englishmen are allowed to break the laws in many ways and are cever punished. There is- to be a general clear out from the Camp, as the Chinese say the police are making the place too hot for them. The Daily Telegraph sayß the first day of the year 1877 will long be memorable for a gale surpassing in its violence any tempest that ras visited our coasts since the memorable hurricane of 1703, in which the old Eddystone Lighthouse was washed away. It would seem as if for some reason or other, which it must be left for scientific men to determine, our planet were at this moment passing through a sort of zone of whirl wind hurricane, and cyclone. It is certainly a singular fact that, if wo look back over the I records of past centuries, we shall find that | about onoe in every hundred years the whole surface of the world is swept by gales and tempests. As regards the damage caused in Lambeth, the extraordinary thing is that it should be possible for meteorologists to pre» diet, as they do, with the greatest accuracy, the occurrence of an inundation such as that which lately swept the southern bank of the Thames, and that yet no precautions should be taken to guard against emergency. A well informed correspondent writes to the Pall Mall Budget as follows :—" The present state of Jerusalem shows, on a small scale, what that of Turkey in Europe would be if Russia occupied Bulgaria ; and also proves the efficiency) as a police force, of the regular Turkish troops. In the Holy City it is the tolerant protection of the Turkish soli diers. as peace officers which alone holds back the rival Churches from coming to blows, and protects the Jews ; for the common hatred of a Jew by these rival Christians is not smaller than that of each other. A Jew guide whom I employed there said he was sure to be killed if he were to go into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; and his unu mistakeable terror wb.pn I urged him to enter with me shewed that he was in earnest. Any one who has been in the sacred J building at Easter knows how well the Turks fulfil their trying duty . The Russians have under the guise of a convent, built a fortress ouside the walls of Jerusalem, and this commands the city. Allow Russia to occupy Bulgaria, and »he will in likewise threaten Constantinople. When the " Siolc Man " dies, their fortress gives the Russians power over Jerusalem, and then woe betide their rival Christians and the Jews ! Would it be otherwise as to those im habiting Turkey in Europe?"