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New Zealander, Volume XXII, Issue 2471, 1 July 1865, Page 3

Militia.—There will be no parades for sailitia and volunteers daring the month of Jily. Waik«to Steamboat* The Wa'kato steamers will shortly be offered for sate by the Government. Coal.—Tenders will shortly be invited by the Government for the lease or sale of the Wsikato coal mines. ChambmJof Commerce.—A special general nesting will 4»ke place on Monday, to receive the report of the committee on the tariff. • IMebwho ow Pollock Bettlkrs.—A meet«f the Pollock settlers was held at Mr. Dewar's Academy, on Thursday evening, for the purpose ot considering the peculiar position of the nttlement. It was resolved that a deputation gfcoeld wait opon tbe Council, requesting them to convene a meeting, at which to submit a npurt of their proceedings. The Secretary not being present, no farther proceedings were g >ne into, and the meeting separated. Fie«-Brioade. —There was no meeting of the Brigade last evening, as nothing further had transpired to make it probable that their services would be any longer reta ned ; so that now the city is without any orgauised body to act in ease of a fire breaking oat. Signals of Distress.—A report was spread last evening that a vessel had been seen burning a blue light, and firing a rocket t but as the signals were net repeated, it it supposed that it was from some vessel that dragged her Anchor* for a short distance. Soutukkn Monthly Magazinb. —We have received the Jaly number of this' periodi«el, and hope soon to notice it at gmater length.

IfuTiNO or the Wellington Provincial Council.—By the Gazette of the Province of Wellington, we perceive that the Provincial Cooecil is summoned to meet at the Supreme Conrt in Wellington, on the llth July. It is anticipated that the interval between the llth and 14th, if rightly used, will be sufficient for the dwmesion of the business likely to be brought before the Council, as it is not anticipated that any party questions are likely to give rise to prolonged debates. Tnus the meeting of the Council would cot interfere with that

of the General Assembly. "Look-out."—ls it allowable for storekeeper! to lower their goods direct upon the footpath ? If to, the practice seems to us to be a very reprehensible one. No later t>>au the day before yesterday a friend of oars, while purine close to one of the stores near the bottom of Queen-street, heard the exclamation at 4he head of this paragraph ; and though not "being aware that it was addressed to him, his natural instinct caused him to turn sharp!/ round, and as it fortunately happened, just in tia», as a cask was being lowered at a very 'fdpM rate from a crane immediately oyer his head, and by a quick movement he was jnst able to save himself from "• knock-down blow," as R "came down by the run." We frost this hint may be taken before we may be compelled to record some serious accident from this cause, and we thiuk, moreover, that during each operations it would be well to have "a man at the look-out" to warn passers-by from _ '- - Tkuoiathio CoxftwiOATioir.—Now that a Jwmon has been effected by the troops between wangantii and Tarsnaki, we think it would be well worthy the consideration of the authorities ja connection with the military telegraph, whether it would not be advisable to connect the two places by the magic wire, and, if possible, to connect Wanganui with the furthest station of the telegraph now in operation, either by the coast line or across the country. Then, if the lias were continued to some point as near •• possible to the Northern Island, we might very shortly be sarojjport with the several provinces of the Middle Island, as the telejrraph is now it mil operation from the Bluff to Christchurch, and will be shortly 'completed as far as Nelson —that awe being again continued to some convenient pHet opposite the terminus of the line tffsfwsad abof e, and a smart boat being in attendmm»»Va kfait accompli. A portion of the work suggested might fairly be undertaken by the) . tieMfel Government.— Communica «A Thi (hoavtioos use or Firb-ahk*.—We

extract tha following from the Lake Wakatip | „ MeM j—" W# are informed of a dangerous acci4nt wider rather extraordinary circumstances. A wwr, nearer Kawarau Junction, received a mw revolver and caw from Dunedin. Pleased *uh th* deadly toy, he turned to His mate and nid, Til shoot you,' but on pulling the trigger, to his dismay, found* that it was loaded, and *I»M be had shot hit mate. On examination it

wm farad that the ballet had passed through - J»2L*wf*»» Md oat at his back. He is a> pretlfMfi* Dnnatan Hospital in a dangerous «Mftt * This ii onrf another link in that long chain of accidents from incautious use of firearme. w JT*B Baka-j* PASS.-Mr. Griffiths, the coHmmtk with Mr. Browning of the roate by &Sftßv • nd who, 11 oar readers will reffwiy; war fetpatched by -'W. Sale from Itoiitik* to: make further explorations ol the fojie in eosopany with Mr. Cahilt, returned to yeatarday. We are not in a fgWp » gwt ■ detailed account of his exftoiaoi,' bit we may merition the general """■•.of aia freeh difcbveries. He reports, ff.py», Phf*. that Browoimt'o Past ia now by a says, **«» WdvWßsalt on their first joarney aJISSR??iff *'W > V J «he open country apotaeoi by the Maons, on the other side of ""H*!. » reports about' 5.608 acre2Zfe" yi jfe* U oi opinio-, agood bridle T ' 000 '* * nd **?**£■ "> m *<»• back to Hokitika. to *■* for steel. Neither of fhese gentlemen J*W* a'-iray rMil-%^. prtc tieaWe; unless SllT Kmm Standard, ' ' -2™ ? *" l ?*.' corieains the fbltowin-: ■W_li T h " <Sfc we * ouW recommend for 22P**t ?Miim,; holders of, corner tenement!', mJt RfJMMWff-y l*fi*P«t7 3oard i-r; were, on Tuesday morning, "■■oaed before the Resident Magistrate, to ■J*™*' •aarteanf. nfgliwting to clean the iootfft'2? *fW?J,of,their premises a' the corner of 2J**** i hartte Magisteate took the bppori *»!!ku E!?* miii 9 * n "pinion that it was imTsEXt' ty' 0 !* ¥ W tenement to first pro•«*ta*» the crossings ,hoold be- kept clean. At pree ,tt, the crotsinga in Princes-street are cooditioa, and it it to T»o SSi.?* 1 r!f • u fß«*'o'» of the Magistrate :S**w ihe attention of the Cocomis- ,■ ■:>', >■•„"■■' .""•*-w.o** <, >«ii- ■. l****i> AooDtm 19 LTTTRtVO-f Habbob. *$ .jgm-mhfcntP.m aaya* -We regret to *2**6 a UrW between 11 and IS o'clock oa .?°*"y> aight, resnltins; in the lose of three the boat of the barge *****'**<*•***( about thatthsw with ***&*» *e»«*J, wiieh ia aow tying near the & , wreefcofea* i Cterttttory/ bat whan abosa lob |w. - <* MO yards off it, by sosae raeaos at 'praasat

' unexplained, was capsized. The cries of the drowning men woke up Captain Adams and i other poison* on board the vessel, but tliej h*d [ no means of rendering any assistance, being ! without a, boat; their shouts, however, succeeded in arousing a person of the name of William Stout, living at Stoddart's Point, who, the mom-Tit he comprehended the nature of the disaster, hurried on his clothes, and got into a boat that was fortunately handy, and was the means of saving the life of one ot the four who wa* found clinging to an oar, but was quite insensible. Eveiy praise is due to Mr. Stout for his promptness in the cause of humanity. Captain Adams, and the rest on board tbe vessel, did all they could to give assistance. , The names of the persons drowned are—Duncan Slight, one of the oldest coasting captains in the province, who was to have had the command of the' Canterbury' when she was raised ; J. Hbmersham, master of the ' Glasgow,' and J. Chambers, seaman. The boat was found bottom upwards. None of the bodies have yet been recovered.

Sooihl»nd ImpKcr/NiosiTT. Last week two men, named Harrison and Lisk, were sentenced to two weeks, and one month's imprisonment, respectively, by .the Resident Magistrate at the Bluff, for stealing from a tent. Instead of undergoing the punishment there, however, they were marched np here in charge of a constable, though the Bluff can boast of a tolerably ample gaol accommodation. The reason why is said to be a very fair one, viz., that the Campbelltown storekeepers having refused to give the Government further " tick," the authorities there are. unable to feed their prisoners, and so are obliged to send them here. A cood story is told of a sailor, wbo for some trifling offence wat sentenced to a fortnight's imprisonment immediately after the dealers had resolved on the " ready cash " principle. On being told that he would have to walk to Invercargill, Jack hesitated, hitched his trousers, and finally, rather than take the joumey, offered to pay fur his own board while in custody. The offer was not accepted.— Southland Timet, June 14.

Cotton. -It is stated that a company has bees formed in London for the cultivation of cotton in Greece. A space of 40,000 acres is said to have been set aside for this purpose, and from experiments tried on the spot the speculators assert that it will be possible to obtai t as much as 800 lb. weight per acre. Little reliance is. however, placed upon these local trials; and it is u»d rstood that the shares of the company will not be dealt with on the London Mock Exchange unless the Greek Government abandon its present policy of repudiation, the present company being formed under concessions supposed to proceed from that Govern • nent. — Empirr.

A Sprat to Catch Mackerel. —An American journal, published in Ohio, mentions the case of a well-dressed young man of good manners, who gave in his income to the assessor at several thousand dollars, paid the tax, and had the pleasure of seeing his name in the lists among the nabobs of the country. On the strength of this he courted a wealthy man's daughter, and married her. Then it was found out that he had no money, and had sold his watch to pay the income-tax. The Government made a good thing oat of it; so did the young mai. Lambing —A gentleman, who has returned from viewing the lands for selection in the Hamilton district, says that the lambs are lying on the runs by thousands. The great mortality i«, doubtless, principally due to the severe drought, followed by heavy rains and piercingly cold weather, but directly to unwonted exposure in the night time. The lambs are not now, as formerly, attended at night by shepherds, but left behind in the open paddocks, as they are too weak to follow the sheep when driven into the folds.— Adelong Times,

LAW OF DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. The following is the reply of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce to the Attorney-General's letter, inviting the opinion of the Chamber on the Debtor and Creditor's Law : "Chamber of Commerce, " Wellington, June 16,1855. " Sir,—ln reply to your letter of the 20th January last, addressed to this Chamber, inviting an opinion and suggestions on the law relating to Debtors and Creditors, and in particular to the Debtors and Creditors Act, 1862,1 have the honor to inform you that the subject has had the earnest attention of the members, and it is now my duty to report to you the decision they have arrived at.

" In the first place, I must tell you frankly that they are unable to answer — seriatim —the questions put by you, and for this reason, — they art of opinion that there should be no Court of Insolvency at all. The evils of the existing state of the law require a remedy stronger than the alteration of the minutiae. To quote the words of an able Writer on the subject, the cardinal error consists in imposing ' on a body essentially judicial duties essentially administrative.' " They believe that the estate of an insolvent ought to be managed by the optional administration of a separate executive department of the Government; s'nch department acting tnrrifigh an Official Trustee to be appointed for each district. By 'optional' they mean that in the first instance the creditors should, if they choose, be allowed to appoint a trustee to take possession, get in debts, realise, and in short manage the estate of the debtor, for the purpose of winding it up with all convenient speed. In the event, however, of the creditors failing to agree on, and appoint a trustee within a time to be fixed by law, then the entire control of the insolvent's estate should be vested in the Official Trnstee, who should act on his own judgment, but there should bo the power of' appeal. ' "They believe it to be a mistake (I use the words of the author already referred to) *to choose a bod/adapted for deciding legal controversies to be the executive body for transacting mercantile business.'

" The Supreme and Minor Courts should, of coarse, be open to all parties, provided any wrong was done, just in the same way as the Courts are now open to alt or any one who may have real or supposed grievances to redress; but what this Chamber contends is that when a man is declared an insolvent his creditors should, if they choose, be able to appoint some one to manage his estate, and if they do not choose to do so, or fail to agree 'on a trustee, then, as before suggested, an official trustee should take the matter in his own hands. It will then be the fault of the creditors them-selves-if the estate does not yield as mnchasit should have done..

"Thelaw, however, most define what is to be an act of insolvency. It is not sufficient to allow the debtor to »>e the only judge as towhethei he is to take the protection of the Act or not; the creditors must also have the power, under some circumstances, of declaring the debtor insolvent; and lam advised by the Chamber, to suggest that after judgment has i been granted, in any Court of law, it shall be in the power of such Court (upon sufficient proof of claim being adduced to its satisfaction) to order an ad interim sequestration of the debtor's estate for a period of . . days, sufficient to enable each claim to be established, and on the application of any judgment creditor, whose claim may not have been satisfied within . .days,, the Court shall order the estate of the debtor to be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of th'e Act. The object being to prevent the original judgment creditor having a preferential claim over an insolvent's estate.

" Dae provision should, of coarse, be made for the punishment of any fraud or attempt at fraud. " This Chamber ia supported in its views by many high legal authorities, and by the knowledge of the result of the working of the English system in England, where statistics show a sum •qua! to 45 per cent of the realised assets is wasted in expenses, while in Scotland, where the trustee system is adopted, and where there is no Court of Bankruptcy, the cost of collection does not amount to more than 20 per rant. . , , "In conclusion, from what I have said, yon will notice that this Chamber believes that the present system cannot either be modified or amended with advantage. A new system, a radical change, is wanted. ~ Our Judges most not be required or expected to become executive officers lb* the' purpose of directing the management of Insolvent Estates, nor should we devolve administrative duties oa courts of law. ; "The Honorable the Attotaey-€raneraL N *