The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1884.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6991, 12 July 1884, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1884.

Thb rejection *of the County Fraxichise Bill in the House of Lorda is from every point" of view to regretted. The object^bt^that"tifi7^"ii"~ia"^ well knowD, was to extend the household franchise to, tho countiea-r--tnat is, to put; the rural districts on an equality with, the boroughs, and to give'to the agricultural labourer the same electoral rights which the late Lord Derby conferred upon the (artisan in 1867. TBut a small section of th^e Conservative party have ventured to offer any direct opposition to it. The justice .of the main principle involved is beyond dispute. : The most that the Opposition have been able to say against it is that there has been no demand for it in the country, and that it ought to have : been accompanied; by a bill for the redistribution of seata. Lord ; Hartington, in •,the, able speech he made on the' first night of the second reading of the bill in the House of Commons, met these objections in advance. Redistribution, he allowed, was a necessary consequence of the extension of the franchise, but the Government thought it unwise to endanger the passage of the a main principle, upon which all parties were agreed, by making it dependent upon the complications attendant upon redistribution. As soon as the franchise has been extended, he practically said, "We will bring down a scheme for the redistribution of seats, but there is no object to be gained by making the one measure dependent upon the other." As for the statement that there'had been no popular agitation for the bill^ large meetings in the principal provincial towns had declared in its favour, and there had been no sign of any opposition to it anywhere in the country. 7No one oan doubt that the Conservatives, if they got into office to-morrow, would be obliged to bring in a similar bill. Sir Stafford North cote made the best fight he could for-the amalgamation of the two bills, and Conservative after Conservative protracted the debate by idle talk, but the sense of the House was so completely. >with the Ministry that the bill . was passed triumphantly by a large majority. The Upper House, however, has reversed the decision of the Lower. It is known that the Conservative party can •always command a majority there, but this majority has always been; tempered by the knowledge that the very constitution, of the House may be endangered by too great resistance to the will of the people. Erbini the London papers we gather that it was quite uncertain six weeks ago whether the Lords would venture to reject the bill. Lord Salisbury vehe-: mently urged this course, but the more moderate members of the Conservative party were opposed to ifc. From the fact that Lord Cairns moved the amendment it is evident that the' cautious section yielded. The result has probably been decided by the indignation which has been excited by the conduct of the Government with regard to France and Egypt. The bill has been defeated, not in England, but in the Soudan. The Lords have counted upon tho unpopularity of Mr Gladstone's Foreign policy to Btnother the outcry against their resistance to his Home policy. How far they have judged correctly -»c have not the means of. knowing. It is true that this Reform Bill hae not been accompanied by the same popular agitation which forced its predecessors down the throats" of both Lords and Commons ; but rb far as we can gather, its justice

is universally recognised, and the country will refuse to be deceived by the pretext that it is rejected on account of the desirability of its being accompanied by a redistribution ofseata. It is obvious that the rejection is really due to purposes of faction, and if it were not for the possibility that the Government may be overthrown on their Foreign policy, we may be sure that the Lordswould have thought twice before obstructing a measure which has the hearty approval of the country and has beea passed in the Lower House by so overwhelming a majority. To bring about a dissolution has been the aim of the Conservatives for many months past, but.Mr Glad stone has been right in not acceding to it on account of this rebuff. Doubtless the rejection of the bill would be a very excellent cry to go to the country upon under ordinary circumstances, but just at present an appeal to the country would probably be decided upon the Foreign rather than the Home policy of the Government. We can quite understand that Mr Gladstone , prefers to get General Gordon off his hands, and the Soudan in a more satisfactory condition, before he entrusts his fate to the electors again. Someone has compared the position of the Government to the quarrel of the two knights about the colour of the shield, which was either dark or, bright, according to the side which was" seen. If we look at the Foreign, policy of the Government we find a succession of blunders such as few Governments haye committed. At Home, on the other hand, their programme is one which will commend itself to every colonist.' The enlarge* ment of the franchise, the reorganisation of the London municipal government, and the Merchant Shipping Bill are three reforms such as are rarely disposed of in -one session. To find sucb. a trio of important measures we have to. go back to the palmiest days of Mr Gladstone's last Administration. Which side of the shield the electors would be likely to look at in case of a general election, the wisest and most experienced authorities in England cannot Bay with any certainty > but it 1b only natural that the Government have preferred to wait till the dark side ia less heavily clouded before putting their fate to-the touch. The effect of the debate upon the House of Lords ia perhaps the most interesting aspect of the question. That there will be a good deal of indignation expressed we may take for granted. .. Threats will be freely indulged in at popular meetings, and Mr Gladstone will possibly invent a phrase to the effect that they have driven a nail into their coffin; but whether the effect will be at all permanent is doubtfuh If Mr Gladstone could, have afforded to go to the country upon the question the position would be different.; The resolution which he has arrived at, to hold an autumn session for the purpose of bringing in the bill again, shows that he is determined upon passing it this year, and the Lords will hardly venture to reject the bill again. Providence may be tempted once, but scarcely twice. The function of the House of Lords nowadays on questions of this importance is only to reject bills about which there is reason to believe that the opinion of the country is at variance with that of the House, or which seem to have been carried by a purely party vote,, irrespective of their merits. In ■departing from these,, and allowing itself to become the organ of a small minority, it cannot be doubted that the Upper Chamber is threatening its own existence, or at least proclaiming-the necessity for a reform in its constitution. The persons who have best reason to be pleased with this vote are Mr Bright and Mr Chamberlain.

In our supplement this morning will be found a very large"numbeiTof •letters"to The" editor, ou* Canterbury, Auckland, and American letters, Passing Notes by " Civis," sporting by "Beacon," and other matter. On our fourth page appear a report of yesterday's Supreme Court, a quantity of mining news, &c. We have to hold over bur report of JSlr Fulton's speech at Mosgiel last evening.

We intend issuing as a supplement on Tues day morning our special correspondent's account of the cruise of the Wairarapa among tho islands of the Pacific.

The rejection of the Franchise Bill by the House of Lords has led to a meeting of the Liboral party, at which Mr Gladstona announced that the present session would end shortly, to meet again in October'to again pass the bill. The Liberals are organising an agitation throughout the country, but according to our cablegrams the Lords are confident the country will recognise their willingness to pass the bill. . . ■ . - :'

. Mosgiel has the honour of having afforded, at Mr Eulton'a meeting there last night, certainly more amusement than has been obtained at any of the meetings during the present electioneering campaign. The chairman lost control of the meeting most completely, and for over 10 ininutes he waß the only parson in the room with a solemn face, ior candidate and audience sat splitting their sides with laughter. The confusion was first brought about by an individual suffering from deafness, who went on to the platform to get the effect of a resolution proposed. The chairman tried in vain to enlighten him, and then in desperation ordered him back to his seat. Then a full-blooded negro came forward on apparently a similar errand, and he got on to the platform, from which, after much gesticulation and loud talking, the chairman threw him down. After further confusion, the worthy chairman gave up his task, and with much dignity, declaring the meeting closed, walked off the platform.

There is only one notice of motion for Monday evening's meeting of the City Council— viz.,byCr Robin—"That the Finance Com. mittee inquire into and report on the financial position of the City Corporation."

It is worthy of mention that the British Queen, when she entered Port Chalmers on the 2nd inst., was drawing more water than any other vessel that ever entered the harbour. Her draught was 22ft. sin. aft and over .18ft. forward. .

A telegram from Auckland states that a settler named George M'Crae has received a threatening letter hinting at his contemplated assassination.

At the City Police Court yesterday, before Messrs Logan and Jones, J.P's, a couple of inebriates were sentenced; arid for behaving in a riotous and indecent manner Jane Brown was sent to gaol for three months. William Henry-Anderson was charged with false pretences, in having, on May 23 last, at Dunedin; by pretending that he had a share in a contract with Alfred Blanden, and also that a person named William O'Brien was indebted to him in the sum of £10, induced one James Sel} lara to endorse a promissory note for the sum of £10. Mr Solomon appeared for the prosecution, and Mr Macdonald for the defence. The case was remanded until next Friday,'bail being fixed at £50 and two sureties of £25 each. ■

The Good Templars in Sydney are now complaining of the clubs which have in many instances opened in connection with publichouses as defeating the objects of the Sundayclosing clause of tho Licensing Act. They say that, in spito of the public-houses being closed on the Sunday, there was a good deal of drunkenness in the streets. A bogus club had sprung into existence, consisting of a number of working men who clubbed together and rented a room in connection with a publichouse. They obtained drink on Saturday night, and went to the " club" on the Sunday and consumed it.

A short time ago we noticad that experiments were being made in the direction of drying damp wheat, and we are now in a position to say that of the several processes tried there is at least onewhich has given great satisfaction—namely, that of Mr E. H. Banks, of Christchurch,—the result being nearly all that could be desired. A samplo of good wheat, decidedly damp, having been put through and gristed, has turned out a fair, average sample of flour, which when baked makes a loaf quite equal to any manipulated

froth &dimd dry seconds wheat. It. is also a matter 't or congratulation to the farming community that it has not deteriorated in regard to Us germinating properties, fully 95 per cent., on testing;, showing quickening powers equal to the best harvested samples. "We trust that the perseverance shown by the experimenter will meet with the reward of a fair return for outlay. Unfortunately it is to be regretted that the value df the article is so low this Beason as to preclude the possibility of beneßting either him or the farmer to the extent that could be desired.

Thesecretary of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Association requests us to state that 'it 13 °°? }^ r . intention at present to hold an exhibition of local industries in the Garrison Hall. We understand the Naval Brigade Band have a project of the sort in hand, and it is probable that the information supplied to us.refers to their projected exhibition.

The Kaitangata correspondent of the Bruce Herald describes whafc.would appear to have been a tidal wave experienced last Sunday, the water rising some 7ft in the river opposite the township. At Coal Point the sea must have risen some 10ft higher than it had ever been seen before, as pools of salt water have been left where they had never been noticod previously. The sea outside was fearful to behold.

The only declaration filed under the Bankruptcy Act during the week was that of John Guthrie, of Dunedin, lighterman.

A meeting of those favourable to Biblereading in schools (writes our Oamaru correspondent) wan held to-night (Friday), but it did not create great enthusiasm. Resolutions in favour of an amendment of tho Education Act. so as to admit of the reading of the Bible in public schools, and in favour of the candidature of any candidates who would support such an alteration of the law, were carried.

There was no performance at the Queen's Theatre last evening, as it was found that the slippery, condition of the floor would be liable to lead to the stubborn • horses which Mr Hy. land proposed to subdue receiving injuries by falling. Thia evening Mr Hyland and Professor Payne will perform in the lower part of the Garrison Hall, where a good footing for horses is tobo found.:

Messrs :C!arko Brothers and Cd. will Bell household furniture 10-day. .-. . ■ A, special ..meeting of the Oriental Company will be held at Reefton on Wednesday, 23rd last iics^rs Jaiaea Samson will sell household furniture, canaries, &c. today. ' Hes-rs.Bastuiira, Leary.and Co. will ee!l a number ot American decks on Tuesday. . Mr D. M. Speiding wUi seil teajind American Ea'.mon x)n Wedotsday. On 3un.lay evening, iyt tUe Lyceum Hall, Mr Bolt ™J feadf lecfure on "The Land Question." There will be sekcticna by the band and glees by frantlomen atnateurs.-^ - - .....

G. H. Giovir akb Co., Princes Btreot, are now Bhowlng a.splmdia assortment o! hard hats made from J,ow _ Zetland rabbift fur, manufactured by Chusty*. of London. See windoW.-[A'i)VT.] . *l or wedding, wedding breakfasts, dinners, and ?!?■ 'i T* Gra^ Hotel <aystali &=• on hire. During tHe winter season special arrangements for permanent guoaia.—[Adtt.]