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Otago Daily Times, Issue 151, 10 May 1862, Page 4

Wo understand that, in view of the expensive nature of the agitation for Separation, a. subscription list i 9 being got up, and from new subscriptions alone an amount of .£325 alone is forthcoming. We should also refer to the notice in another column, in winch the proprietors of this journal announce their intention to offer a prize Silver Cup, of the value of at least £50 for the best pamphlet on Separation. The conditions are not quite finally,settled, but there will be no material departure from the following : —About four .months will be allowed to prepare the pamphlets. Gentlemen on the' editorial staff of the paper will not becompetent as candidates, and the task of decision will be left To a committee nominated by'the committee appointed at the public meeting to-day. The resolutions, it is iii- ! tended to propose are, we believe, as follows:— I Ist.—"That the proper Government of the Middle Island of New Zealand from a seat of Government in the North Island, at all times inconvenient, has now, from the vast increase of European population in the Middle Island, become an impossibility." 2nd.—"That justice to the British Colonists of' the Middle Island, now numbering nearly 60,000 (sixty thousand), demands that legislation and administration for their interests, which are so dissimilar to those of the North Island, should not be &3 hitherto travelled by and sub-ordinated trf'considerations of a" native policy, with which the Middle Island has no immediate connection." 3rd.— •" That this meeting considers that the only remedy for the evils referred to in the foregoing resolutions is the separation of the two Islands, and the having a Government and Governor permanently resident in the Middle Island, and that this separation should be effected upon terms consistent with the honorable fulfilment by the Middle. Island of all public liabilities to which it is now a party." 4th—" That a subscription be opened to raise th« necessary funds for. carrying out the agitation for Separation to a successful issue." " sth—" That a Committee (with power to add to its number, and" appoint -sub-Committees) be appointed to enlist the co-operation of the other provinces of the Middle-Island of New Zealand, and by means of th« press, meetings, deputations, delegates,, publications, petitions, and otherwise as they consider expedient, to use every effort to obtain a separata Government for the Middle Island." We learn from the Lyttelton Times of April 24 that a rumor is afloat in Christchurch that a seam of coal^ four feet thick, was discovered on the previous morning in the Railway .Tunnel, on the Lyttelton side. ' During the hearing of a- case yesterday, in which Colin Macdonald, purser of the Mary E. Ray, sued Dummett and Huxtable for damages sustained by breach of contract, in not providing the plaintiff with proper sleeping accommodation) the Bench, ruled upon'evidence adduced, that the plaintiff had sustained a wrong, but that his remedy lay in proceedings against Adams and Co.; the owners, not Dummett and Huxtable, who were merely acting under power of attorney for tliat firm. The Resident Magistrate's Court will be held in" the Atlianseum building .in High-street until the Court-house is retrieved from the higher jurisdiction. Several causes of a civil character, filed for hearing before the Resident Magistrate of tho city of Dunedin, were yesterday disrobed from the paper and erased from" the rec^^pn noh appearance of the litigants, but public notices o~ the removal of the Court to -the Athanseum had been placarded in conspicuous localities, so that the parties to the various discharged summonses Have no alternative but to proceed afresh, if it so please them. We learn from tho Southland Provincial Gazette, that the land revenue for the first quarter ■ of 1861 was £18,419 os. 3d.. The Provincial balance-sheet of Southland also, appears in the sanM Gazette, and exhibits a total revenue for the quarter of £33,243 10s. Bd., in which is included a sum of £13,582 2s. Bd. in the hands of the Treasurer on tho Ist January.., The expenditure for the quarter has been L 12,820 12s. Cd., leaving a balance in the hands of tho Treasurer,on Ist April, 0f.£20,422 18s. 2d. In the Provincial Government Gazette, of. May 7, appears the appointment of Mr. E. G. Erhim to bo Deputy Provincial Auditor. * It will bo seen by an extract from" the Gazetto, published elsewhere, that Major Richardson has been appointed Major of the Duaedin "Volunteers. The Provincial Council last, night adjourned to four o'clock, on Wednesday afternoon, the 4th June. We remind our readers of the monster meeting called for this afternoon, at 5 o'clock, in the Princess Theatre, on the Separation question.

The trial of Brutton for embezzlement will probably take place on Monday next. There will hiost likely be a special day fixed for the trial of the notorious highwayman, Garrett, but no definite time is yet appointed for that purpose.

It is one of tnc boasts of the English criminal law that the trial of accused parties shall be conducted in an open and public manner. On tho one hand, no unfair advantage is allowed to bo taken of or awarded to a prisoner; the person acensed is, or ought te be, confronted publicly with his accusers, and the jury ought to-be ab\e t clearly and distinctly to see the countenances of both witnesses and prisoner. It would appear however, that the authorities in Dunedin have lost sight of this principle, for by the position and construction of the criminal box in the Supreme Court it is only wiih considerable difficulty, and by means of standing on the bench inside the dock, that the prisoner can sco or bo Bean. In a case of doubted identity it would bo next to im* possible for a witness to judge of the height of a prisoner when he is stood up in the manner described. Means ought certainly to be adopted to remedy this defect, and have the prisoners placed iv full view of jury, witnesses, and the public.

Last night, in the- Provincial Council, tho Speaker took the Chair at ten minutes past four; and by five o'clock, or within fifty minutes, two important Reports were brought up, read, and adopted ; three Bills were read a third time, and passed; an alteration, affecting the trifling amount of £4,500, which the Government in their precipitancy would have utterly ore'rlq|j(*4 had it not been for Mr. Howorth on TSuSWiiy evening, wa3 introduced into the Municiptf"Lean Bill'; two Messages from his Honor^tie Superintendent were, received, and read/the -Appropriation Bill passed^tiifough the., three parliamentary stages of fiiist, second, an#tfcird readingand was adopted: besides - which, a resolution was assented to by the House for indemnifying the local Government in any contingent expendi-ture-that may hereafter be deemed expedient in consequeuce of any new goldfields being discovered. By fovor of Captain Lewis, of the Cosmopolite we have Hobart Town papers to April 29th. Quotations yriil be found elsewhere.

" From a letter extracted from the" Gazette it will be observed that Major Richardson has been

appointed commanding officer of Volunteers and Militia in the Province of Otago, with the rank of Major, .Encouragement is held out to the formation of a third company of Volunteers. TestTday there was an alarm of fire in the offices next door to Noel's Cafe, in Princes■treet, but we are happy to say* that the fire was almost instantly got under, and extinguished without any serious damage being sustained.

"We understand that the engagement of Miss Harriet Gordon at the Princess' theatre is drawing to a close. ; This favorite actress and singer is to take a farewell benefit on Monday next, for which occasion* a very attractive programme is announced, consisting of the comic drama of the "Little Devil's Share," "Jeanette's Wedding," and " 'Twas I," all new pieces. It is to be hoped that Miss Gordon will have the satisfaction of seeing a full house.