THE Otago Daily Times.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2801, 28 January 1871, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times.

; SpjJRE^Jm 2s, 1871. :: Many complaints have reached us of; the manner in which some of the recent? elections have been conducted. \ Some may have been made through ignorance of what really are the details of' the present law; but in other cases there appears to be iio doubt that the officers conducting the elections referred to have acted improperly,, in consequence of not having properly studied the law they were called upon to administer. According to a cqt;reßpondent whose letter we published yesterday, who is personally interested.iifjhe,matter, the Cayersham eleciibn is lifeeiy to be called in question on account of a very stupid blunder. Other mistakes which have been reported to usjHay^Jieen-eqyiially-aerious in their character., That which it is alleged was made at the polling .booths in the Caversham"District might have originated in a slip of the tongue, but such errors as certainly occurred during the election for Dunedin could only have been made through: arrant stupidity on the part of those with whom they originated. It is particularly provoking ,that the new Electoral Act shonld be; thus brought into disrepute in Otago, of all the provinces in New Zealand. The movement in favour of the Ballot system originated; so far as we are aware, in this province, and to one of the representatives 'of Dunedin belongs the credit of having, with indomitable perseverance, and in £spite of much discouragement to his earlier efforts,' pushed it to success.. The example of our,municipal electoral system has also been freely quoted in i favour of vote by Ballot. But if the new law is not to be more carefully ladministered than it would appear to have been during r the city election, it would have been safer for the interests ;of all to leave "the old system in force, and if such things are allowed to continue, the Ballot Act will most certainly fall into disfavour. I■ It is very difficult to understand how any man with his wits about him can fail to understand the provisions of the Act. The Act itself is clear enough. It is certainly more fiee from ambiguities than that by which our municipal elections are regulated. ; The officers who* have to preside at elections are, nevertheless, not left to their own unaided judgment in regard, to their duties. The Government has wisely taken the/precaution to furnish each with printed instructions. These instructions are so explicit that we are Iquite at a loss to discover how any one, possessing sufficient intelligence to understand the clear English in which! they are written, can make any mistake in carrying out the really simple' duties ol a presiding J officer. Yet it is certain that these in-' | structions were not adhered to during the late election in the City. Again, jthe principal Returning Officer ap-. peared to be altogether in doubt as to what course he should-pursue when he discovered that five persons had voted at both polling booths, and had finally to be instructed in his duty by one of the candidates. This is not a state of things which should be tolerated. At the elections now being carried on, the | number of voters who come to the poll is very much less,: as . a rule, than is likely to be the case when the elections of Superintendent and Provincial Goun- | cillors take place. If things are allowed to drift into confusion when a majority of the electors appear to have hung | back from the polls, what may we expect in the case of any great rush to j record votes ? Presiding Officers who i | cannot get through their duties satisfactorily in a quiet booth, will soon lose their heads in an irretrievable flurry if | they are hurried by the pressure ot a i Crowd; . -. : •■■:.'•': ! Connected with this subject, the question occurs—What is to be done in the case of the five persons who voted

at botli polling booths during the city election of the 20th inst. ? Whose place i? it to prosecute them for the grave misdemeanour of which they have been guilty ? If no steps are taken to bring ; the offenders to justice, their nanies -ought at least to be made public. There were, on the occasion;'.lre-: ferred to, no scrutineers in attendance; to represent any of the candidates; is;"/; it not possible that amongst other mistakes, some may have been made in regard to these,.five names'? The wrong numbers may have been put on the tickets of perfectly honest electors by' the presiding officers. The matter ought to be cleared up. The mere cancellation of the votes is no sufficient penalty if the law has been deliberately broken; and if there has been no breach of the law—the more likely circumstance of the two—the constituency ought to be relieved from the imputation at the earliest possible moment. We understand that Mr Macassey, having been pressed by a number of electors to contest the representation cf the Waitaki district for the General Assembly, has consented ■to become a candidate. The nomination takes place on Monday next, the 30th inßt., and we believe that Mr Steward, of the Oamaru Times, will be the only other candidate. A little boy named Pitaford narrowly escaped drowning in the Water of Leith on Thursday afternoon. He went to bathe in ;the hola in the river bed about fifty yards [■above Messrs Wilson "and Birch's brewery, having, ho says, no idea of the depth of jwater in the deep parts of the hole. Missing ,his footing, he got into deep water and sank, iuntilhe was lifted, apparently dead, from the river bottom, by Mr Green, who is employed 'at the .brewery mentioned. He was liited ■on to the. bank, and soon after carried ;to the house of Mjr Menzies, where he was ;attended to, being then ' Stiff and-cold. A .doctor was at once sent for, but in the mean. i Itime the. little feUowVas rubbed with'flannel ijwithout cessation, and had some brandy and 'w^ter poured down his throat. In; about 2{j ! minutes or half an hour after he had been lifted out, warmth and consciousness were restored. The doctor arrived in a little mere than an hour, when his recovery was already ;oertain;'"; ■■'■ \ v-.7;-':";';. .-=:■', ""i:. :':'.'':. j Part of Bond street, north of Jetty Bireet, has , lately been formed and metalled by a gang of prisbnersi.and the footpaths formed along each side. Footpaths have also been formed ;a!6ng the rest of that end- of the fstreet, and .from Bond street, through iManor^ street; into Princes street. These back streets having been cleared of timber, arid , at, least partly formed,- traffic ican now pass uninterruptedly through them. ;Prince"s street Eouth, from Manor place to the Recreation Ground, has also been widened, and a footpath formed on the east side of it. The other footpaths have also been repaired and drains cleared as far as the Cemetery.; That part Of rWaterKstreet, between Bond street and Crawford street is being formed and metalled by prisoners. -Another gang is being employed m removing the fall of the High street cutting, which is 27 feet in height, and projects 17 feet on the >teeet_ lineu:' The ; material obtained from High street is used1 in the reclamation of the land near the Rattray Btreet jetty. : r Mr Ross addressed about 150 electors at the Drill Shedi' Eaikbrai, last evening*. After having explained his views, and answered several questions satisfactorily* a vote of confidence in Mr Ross was proposed by Mr tawson, seconded by Mr Chisholm, and carried unanimously, with the exception of Messrs Farley and Fountain, who proposed^ an amendment. A vote of thanks to the chairman, and three cheers for Mr Ross, terminated the proceedings. ■ On Wednesday evening last the annual soiree ■of the Hanover street Mutual Improvement Association was held in the Baptist Chapel. After an excellent tea, provided by the young ladies connected with the Association, had been disposed of, there was a public meeting, the President (Bey. J. Williams) in the chair. The report, read:by the Secretary, showed that the varied operations of the Association were in a very encouraging state. Readings, recitations, an original essay on "The perfections of God, as displayed in the discoveries of Astronomyj" by a member of the Association, and some exceUent smging"by Mi- Brownlee'B tpnio sol fa class, contributed to an evening's entertainment which the company evidently appreoL ated very highly. The return match between the Citizens Cricket Club and the Second Eleven of the Dunedin Club, will take place to-day, commencing at 2 o'clock. Mr Driver addressed a meeting of the electors of the Roslyn district at Caversham on Thursday evening. Mr R S. Cantrell occupied the chair, and there were from 80 to 100 persons present. At the dose of his address, which was well received, a vote of confidence in the candidate was unanimously pissed. Mr Driver also addressed the electors of the district at the School-house; Northeast Valley, last evening. Mr W. Simpson presided, and there were about 100 electors present, by whom Mr Driver was attentively listened to. A vote of confidence in him, moved by Mr Watson and seconded by Mr Farquharson, was carried almost unanimously, a hostile amendment by Mr Short finding only two supporters. Mr Thomson, MP.C, one of the candidates for the representation of Clutha, addressed the electors at Kaihiku on Tuesday last. At the close of a long and able speech, Mr Thomson received a vote of thanks, and the meeting pledged itself to use its utmost efforts to secure his election. A Committee was appointed to wait upon the electors who were not present at the meeting, and urge them to attend the polling place, and record their votes in Mr Thomson's favour. Mr Maoandrew held a meeting at the Waiwera on Wednesday last. As the time and place of meeting were not properly advertised, the meeting was but poorly attended. A vote of thanks was given to Mr Macandrew. t • With regard to agricultural and pastoral matters in the Upper Waitaki district, a correspondent of the Waikouaiti Herald says :— "Sheep shearing is mostly finished in this district; shearers, though not numerous, were about up to the mark, most of the sheds having their full complement of hinds to start with ; the rate per 100 being 15s. The clip will be a good average of former years, both as to weight and qu* lity. Stock, both, sheep and cattle, are in. exctllenfe condition, the fineness1 of the spring and summer haying fully compensated-? in that respect for the severity of the winter. Although the

season has not been what might be termed hot, still it has been fine growing weather sunshine and showers ; and grass was never seen in greater abundance than it is at the present date.' As this is entirely a pastoral district,. little can be said witK? regard to crops. What oats arejsown are principally cut down for hay, w£ich will be a heavier ■crop than last year." ! Mr J. M'Kenzie, who is a candidate for I the representation of the Waihemo district lin the : Provincial Council, addressed the | electors at Palmers ton on Saturday last, and i received a vote of confidence from them. In I reply to a question, Mr M'Kenzie is reported to have said that "in advocating the introduction of female immigrants, he did not |: wish to see other than useful domestic servants brought out, and had no intention of having that class termed ' riff raff' sent here. He spoke from practical knowledge when he asserted that domestic servants were wanted. He had advertised for 14 days for one in the daily paper, and could not obtain one. They were unobtainable at L4O per annum." The crops in this district, writes the Waiwera correspondent of the Bruce Herald, are very promising at present, and there is every prospect of an abundant harvest if the weather continues fine. The Waiwera has one drawback, however, and that is, it is occasionally exposed to very severe frosts in the morning, and only a few days back it I was visited by one of them, which in several instances did great damage to some crops of potatoes; otherwise, there is little to complain of, and the busiest time with the j farmers is close at hand. The new township of Maxwell, near Wanganui; is to have its streets named after English sages." Newton, Herschel, Faraday Lyell, Buckle, Tyndall, Huxley, Darwin, ; Hooker, &c, will figure in the list. The effect of the stimulus given by the war in Europe to the tra-^e in Australian preserved meats appears to have passed off. We learn from the Times that a public dinner was lately given at the Norton-Folgate •agency for colonial produce r to a number of medical gentlemen, officers of health for different; parts of. London, and among whom were Drs Lankester, Hardwicke, and Letheby. The meats were cooked in the same ; manner as those supplied to the public ;by Mr Tallerman in his " penny | dinners." The Times goes on to say:— j •' The dinners as Berved were pronounced j to be excellent, and the large company voted Mr Tallerman thanks for his ; efforts, oarried oat .at considerable trouble* !to overcome the prejudices of .the people ! : against the good and meats now i exported from Australia. Mr Tallerman, in reply, stated that it was hia purpose to persevere in thia labour,"/and he informed his ■; audience that a vast quantity of meats had ■ been imported j and were' lying-aT the doeks_ in tons, there being no. market for it, and I : this at a time, too, when meat was very dear in this country." A concert in aid of the funds of the Bene. : volent Institution, and announced to be the first of a aeries, whose proceeds are to be Jdevoted towards that ofejectj came off at the iNorth Dunedin Drill Shed yesterdHy eveniing, the Mayor, 3fir H. S.'Fißh, in the chair. •The attendance, though good, was not equa • to the average attendance at the saaae pkce. I Songs were sung by Miss Webb, the only jlady vocalist who appeared, and who was particularly well received, and by gentlemen 'amateurs. Mr Cavalier's performance on the concertina appeared to be much appreciated ; and a clog hornpipe, by Mr Hannigan, came in for loud applause, but he sensibly declined to give an encore, an example which might have been followed by j others with advantage. Mr Moss acted as ' pianist. A dance afterwards took place. i i'Theperformanoe^atithe Princess Theatre I were witnessed yesterday evening by a fair audience, and passed off well. For: this I night; only, a fitting Saturday night piece, j the sensational drama of " tinder the Gaslight" is announced te be produced; v : The entrance examination for boys wishing to enter the High School, takes place in the School Hall at 10 o'clock this morning, f Mr Ross will address the electors of the ;Roslyn district at the Schoolhouse, N.E. j Valley, this evening at 8 o'clock. ; A meeting of persons desirous of opening a division of the Sons .of Temperance will be held at the Athenaeum at 7.30 this evening. ; Funeral sermoos with reference to the late Dr Barns wUI be preached ia the First Church, Bowling street, to-morrow, aa follows :—ln the morning, by the Rev. W. Will; in the afternoon, at 2 30, by the Rev. D. M. Stuart; and in the evening by the Rev. G. Sutherland. The Rev. Mr Johnstone will preach on the same subject at St. George's Hall in the evening, i The Rev. J. Williams wiS preach on "An ;old picture of a modern form of religions life," in the Hanover street Baptist.Church, to-noor/ow evening at 6.30. i Mr S. Elborn will preach in the Oddfellows' HalL George Btreet, to-morrow evening at 6 30. * We have to acknowledge receipt of the Illustrated New Zealand Herald for the ourrent month. It iB a more than usually good number, and among the many excellent engravings it contains we may particularise, as of principal interest to Otago readers, a view of the he*d of Lake Wakatip, and another of a gorge in the Tokomairiro ranges.