Untitled

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 32, 22 June 1877, Page 2

A letter, under the title of " Extended Jurisdiction for District Courts," appeared in yesterday's paper, the writer of which expresses dissent to some remarks of ours as to the advisability of granting extended powers to District Courts, This dissent, denuded of its common place verbiage, would appear to resolve itself under three headings. First as to our article having appeared "in two classes of type " ; second, that it would be improper to grant to District Courts the right of determining appeals from Magistrates* Courts, (uo reasons given); and lastly, "that having regard to the presumed writer" of our article it "appears to me to bare been conceived in the worst possible taste,'* Now, in the ordinary rule of p% cedence, the first of these " objections 1 * is entitled to be ranked as the most important, which it undoubtedly is, and here we must confess the writer has us upon the hip. As to the second objection* the writer confesses his inability to follow us upon our 11 jaunty * proposal that the "District Court; should absorb the functions of the Supreme Court by allowing appeals from the Resident Magistrate's Court to be determined by the Judge of the District Court." We feel extremely sorry for the mental condition of the writer under reference, and for this reason it would perhaps be unkind on our part to refer him to the May number of the Jurist (just banded to us by Mr W. H. Jones), wherein not only is this extended power argued for the District Courts, but also the following : — Abolition of [Resident Magistrate's Courts, increase in the number of District Judges, abolition of the pecuniary limits of jurisdiction in the District Courts, and to make these Courts of first instance without excluding any cause of action; enlarged machinery for District Courts, &c. In the absence of any argument in support of this portion of the objections of " Lex/ we need say no more. With regard, however, to the concluding portion of the letter, referring to the presumed authorship of the article in our last issue, a word of explanation is nece3B*iry. The letter appears to haye been written with the one object of creating a belief that the article had come to us as a contribution, We need only say that " Lex " is here most charmingly at fault, and as he has provoked it, he has our gracious assurance tbat the article in question was neither written nor dictated by the gentleman hinted at, but emanated from a purely "lay mind,' 1 not in any way dissociated with the ordinary conduct of this journal. The necessity which impels mto this kind of explana* tioo, induces us to think that the era of bowie-knives and six-shooters cannot be far off.

Mr Wil'i «n Walsh announces a sale of eligible cottages and land at Black's Point, also quantity of household furniture, &o. See advertisemont, A special sitting of the District Court, before his Honor Judge Woeton, will be held on Monday next, 25th instant. The sitting witt be chiefly occupied iv settling the list of contributories in the Eainy Creek Company. Mr Benjamin Osborne, lone; and favourably known on tho West Coast in connection with the "hostage" of the Empire Hotel and Cafe de Fans at Hokitika, has become "mine host " of the Custom House Hotel, Nelson. The members of the M'Gillicuddy Belief Committee are invited to meet at Williams' Hotel, at 3 o'clock p.m., on Sunday next, for die purpose of closing the subscription lists and arranging upon the disposition of the funds collected. All members are particularly desired to attend. Cut-and-comesagain ! We don't know what we'd do only for that Suspension bridge. It has just been stated to ua seriously that when the Westport people first saw the bridge floating down the Buller, they took it for the back-bone df the country, and the consternation this occasioned may bo but faintly imagined. It seems that Beefton is not the oniy place in the world where the votes of Chinamen have been made use of at contested elections. It is recorded that during the recent Victorian elections, squads of the Celestials were brought into requisition at the polling booths, it being a noticeable feature also that the Chinese votes there were nearly all over the colony cast for the stonewall candidates. Owing to the continuous wet weather of late, the out works of the Dauntless Ex* tended Company have been somewhat retarded; but advantage is being taken whenever possible to push the works ahead with as much speed as possible. The last section of the tramway line is fast approaching com* pie tion, and should the weather clear up at all during the next fortnight, everything will be in readiness to commence crushing operations iv the early pait of next month. We are glad to see that the Dispatch foundry Company, J Greymouth, is holding its own well against " foreign manufacturers." The Company has just secured the eontraot for supplying a complete crushing plant for tho United Alpine Company, Lyell. Tho class of work turned out by the Company for this field has given the utmost satisfaction, and as the charges are regulated upon an extremely moderate scale, we ceo no just reason why the Company should not secant the exclusive furnishing of this field. Since the departure from the Inangahua of Mr Theodore.Hanft, the fossil and generally geological interest of this district has been sadly, neglected. We observe that somebody has been trying to keep this rather dead sub* ject alire by raking up some Moa bones near the Landing. These relics are in the posseseion of Mr Frank Courtney, at the Landing, who expresses his willingness, in the event of a Museum being established in Beefton, to hand them over to the institution pro bone-o, &c. We have also been shown a number of fossil shells obtained at Boatman's. Wo cover think about these thing* without think* ing abont Mr Eauffc, aud that just reminds us ; that Mr Kanft is, at the present time, bow of a tin mine somewhere in Tasmania. Old Theodore was heavy oa fossils — bat he was'nt a bid sort after all. A man named Murks had a narrow escape of bis life on Sunday last. Marks is alluvia} mining, or ns it is termed " gully raking " somewhere in the viciuicy oi the Landing, aud on the day named bo left bis hut for the purpose of obtaining a supply of tucker for himself and mate. Daring a snowstorm, however, he lost his way iv the bush, and as he did not return the next day bis mate, Knopp, became alarmed and proceeded to the Landing, and upon obtaining no tiding* there of Markka search party was formed and the bosh scoured, and after some hours wandering about the party came upon Marks, who was found sitting in the snow against a tree in tho last stage of exhaustion and on the point of death. He was succored with brandy and conveyed to the Landing, where he robee* quenfcly recovered. Ho stated that after losing himself ho wandered about the coua* try, and becoming diz.sy Jand exhausted, he was finally compelled to sit down in the snow, and for some hours before relief came he had yielded the last hope of deliverance. The rumpus iv connection with the Alex* undra Company has, it appears, culminated in the appointment of a directory of Grey, mouth shareholders. The Alexandra ground is situatotl 6oßth of and adjoining the Hopeful lean, Boatman's, and it would appear that some of the distant shareholders are unable to understand how it is that the venture has not been quickened into success before this. To those who avo aware of the difficulties whioh the Company has had to encounter in the past } tho formation of tho ground within the lease, and tho nature of the work required to open tho mine, this delay is easily comprehended, but it seems outsiders are not as Well informed, and have been induced to regard the matter from quite another point, and hence the present step. The action just taken, so far as we can learn, has, if we may so term it, been carried by storm, aud in the face of the wishes of a large body of the local shareholders, who desired that a special meot« ing should be called to accomplish it. The course indicated, however, has now been taken, and we can only hope for the benefit of shareholders at large that tho new directory will be able to show by results that they are wiser in their generation than their predecessors in office.