The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 150, 13 October 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

" VTof.U »r« thin *•>. ;i-niE & ►>£ cewU fcittins: rtp»>n a thouirfrt may prmfuw that which nutse* sfuHwandt think.."

It will !><;> remembered that a sdmrt time since » pgti;ion «w presented to bis V> orsdr.p the Mayor, and .?ignwt by about ""awty-five men. who prayed that they might be found work. The memorial received due attention at his Worship's binds, and was laid before the Council, when it was ttechtrd to invc a quantity of bine metal brought into town, and employ those who wanted work in breaking it up. Looking at the Engineers report, which was- read at the Council meeting last evening, we ticut that at present there are only ten men engaged stone-breaking, and of these not mare than halt" signed the memorial lately handed to the Mayor. No doubt this statement will cause Mtrprise to many who imagine*! tha memorialists had just ground of complaint : but the fact must not be lost sight of that since the application was made the majority of the memorialist*, and a number of others, have betaken themselves to the Honiara Rush, consequently the lack of work then felt, has at present no existence. We understand that so far from their being any scarcity of employment, hands both in ant out of Oamarn, are obtainable with difficulty. In his recent address to the Auckland electors. Mr. Lnsk was good enough to say : "I cannot point out any great reduction pinposed by the Opposition, or attempts made to reduce the annua! charges on the whole of New Zealand. We thought—ami you, too, would have thought, if you had been in Wellington, and had seen Wellington as it ta that there was great reason why economy was not possible in New Zealand. Wellington is a city which is rapidly growing, possessing splendid buildings, ami in those building*, you see where a large part of the money of this Colony has been going. To take one illustration : You see a huge public building, with no less than '2OO rooms, am! yet this is to,> small to give accommodation for the public officers in Wellington. Many of tae rooms would have to accommodate. not one, but many clerks. That great wooden structure is said to be the largest iu the world. It has cost £70.000 to this Colony, and that is only one illustration of what the whole of Wellington is—an illustration that yon have an unnecessarily vast and most unproductive expenditure concentrated in that one spot. We conceived that the only thing that would striks at the roots of this vast upas tree, which is certain, ere long, to destroy th« Colony, was to remove from Wellington the administration of affairs."

Mr. It. P. Whitworth f the Colonial author, who is on .1 visit to the Kumaru, narrowly

escaped drowning, through the carelessness of the coach-driver in nearing the river. He had to "dive " for it, and swim. The Wellington An/us of the 7th inst. states that " Mr. Wiltshire completed his extraordinary feat of walking a thousand in ilea in as many hours, at twenty minutes p».at eight o'clock this morning. He was fresher during the last few miles than he had heen for a long time past. In order to give visitors to tiic athletic sports an opportunity of seeing him walk, he continued his journey rftiring the day, walking his mile each hour. He will do so up to six o'clock this e%-ening, which will make the whole distance walked 1,010 in the same number of hours. We understand the takings at the sports to-day will he handed over to Mr. Wiltshire."

The Morlliorouyh Pr?** says that a case has rccentlj- occurred there which proves how the administration of the law can subject a person to great hardships, even while he b iunocent in its eyes. A little time since a young man was accused of embezzlement, and having been charged with the crime before a Magistrate, was formally committed to take his trial before the Supreme C»>urt. At the time of hearing, the sitting of the Supreme Court had not long terminated, and, failing to find bail, the accused person was detained in custody. There is nothing wrong in all this, but it led to a great wrong being done, for the accused had a wife, and it happened that during the time he was in custody she was taken seriously ill, and shortly afterwards died, and during her illness she wa3 without the consolation of having her last moments soothed by the presence: of her hasbaud. She was almost a stranger to the place, and the last oSlces done for her on earth were performed by the kind hands of recent acquaintances she had made. law in this case pressed heavily on her v. ho had not offended. The husband also deserves some consideration, for the theory of the law is that every person h innocent until proved guilty, and in this cas-e the .-..Mnmption is that the accused perron is not guilty of the crime with which he is charged. Notwithstanding this theory the- practice is ?,o opposed to it that he was ftetaiiitd in custody, and was unable to see his wife from the time the was taken ill

it;iti! she died, and he will ever have to hear in uivifi»ry the rcHrernhiance that he could not hear her last v.ithus, nor.-c 3 her remains deposited iti their railing [dace. Guilty or not s«ity. the rejection will be a sad one t;> the hitil> md ; aad should a jury hold him &u:U!c3.j, the law will hav- added to its terror.-) a n:tt' phase.

This i; h»w the editor of the SMr sits on a man win- u\t>A that the report of a certain wetting was incorrect :—" We have received a letter iron Mr. Chisholm aner.t the meeting iu Ro.-lyn, in which he charger; our reporter with r:ii-::<tate:iiC!its regarding »vt;iig 0:1 titj re.-orctioi-.f. Our reporter we knovaiifl rely upm, and cai.not accept Mr. Cliishf>l:.i j V(.»-?i»ii in preference to his." Mr. Chi holm c.ui draw iib own conclusions from the above. Xiie South* nt Crw* think that " the Assembly has of late had too much of the modem and terribly detonated Wakefield brood."