THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, JULY 21, 1890.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8862, 21 July 1890, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, JULY 21, 1890.

Thk political position does not appear to have been materially altered since the very decisive division which took place on the 11th inst., when the Opposition leader found himself in a minority of 11, in a full House, upon a motion, to reduce the Estimates by the amount of the primage duty. This, which, if passed, would have been tantamount to instructing the Government to recast their Estimates, was necessarily treated as a Ministerial question, and the division may be regarded as a fair test of the relative strength of parties in the House. Every available vote was recorded, and the Government may now reckon upon a majority of 12 on any crucial question, Bince the member for Timaru, a steady Oppositionist, who was paired on the occasion, has since died. The danger threatened by the determination of certain Ministerialists, that the ordinary expenditure proposed for the year should be reduced, has been averted by the concession of Ministers, who undertake to retrench L 50,000 upon the Estimates, and) there is nothing, so far as can be seen at present, at all likely to disturb the concord of the party. The Opposition, however, are evidently not inclined to admit that their cause is hopeless, and accept the inevitable. Their present tactics, as demonstrated during the past week, are to attack the Estimates in detail, raising desultory discussions on every item which affords an opening—a course which, if persisted in, must almost indefinitely lengthen sittings of the Committee of Supply. Even it credit be given them for desiring to enforce strict economy, it can hardly be supposed that old Parliamentary hands such as Mr Eallance, Mr Larnach, and other leading men of the party, really believe that anything material can be thus effected in the way of retrenchment; but for some reason or other which we are unable to divine, their policy is procrastination, the object, to all appearances, being to delay, so far as may be possible, consideration of the business of the session. As this business includes important measures for the amelioration of the condition of the working classes, which should certainly be proposed by the present Parliament, the country is getting somewhat restless at

the obstruction, which ostensibly serve 3 no good purpose, and thcro is a very general consensus of opinion that^tho Opposition should confine themselves to their proper functions and allow business to proceed. In the system of Parliamentary government the Opposition hold an important place as the constitutional critics of the conduct of Ministers and of all public affairs. It is their function, says an able writer on the subject, " to state the case against " the Administration—to say every- " thing that may plausibly be " said against every measure, act, "or word of every member of " the Ministry,—in short, to eon- " stitute a standing censorship of " the Government, subjecting all its " acts and measures to a close and "jealous scrutiny." But, the same writer continues in effect, while thus valuable security is afforded by an Opposition, "it is liable to abuse and " may easily be perverted to factions " and unpatriotic issues. It may be " made the vehicle of personal acrimony " and false accusation. It may pander to " popular passions for selfish or sec- " tional ends." Mr Sallance should consider that his party are just now at the bar of public opinion, and that their present conduct is likely seriously to compromise their chances at the general election.

We do not ourselves attach any very grave importance from a political point of view to what may bo termed the special indictments preferred against Ministers with the purpose of injuring them with the Houie and the country. The direct charges by Mr Hutchison in connection with the Bank of New Zealand are under investigation by a Select Committee, and being thus sub judice are not properly open to comment. We venture to predict, however, that the report will not be of a character to shake the position of the Government, however it may evidence the former existence of a state of things by no means satisfactory in the public interest. In respect of the advance!) to the Taranaki or New Plymouth Harbour Board, this transaction—or perhaps we should say series of transactions—had on first consideration an ugly- look, owing to circumstances to which it is unnecessary specially to advert. It is, however, quite clear, from the short discussion in the House on Thursday that the responsibility of the advances made to the Board to meet accrued interest on the debentures rests, not on the Government nor the Colonial Treasurer, but upon the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives. Mr Ballance and Mr Larnach were members of the Committee, and the former spoke up very straightforwardly in justification of what had been done, and absolutely repudiated the statement that the Committee was a mere " creature of the Colonial Treasurer." The hon. gentleman told the House that the members of the Committee were convinced that the credit of the colony would suffer if the advance was not made, and he himself had come to the conclusion, " very reluctantly," that the money should be advanced on security. It appears, therefore, that the money was so advanced on the distinct recommendation of the Public Accounts Committee—a fact which entirely exonerates Ministers from having acted otherwise than in good faith. The question of aiding this particular Board from the Treasury, it may bo recollected, came before the House last session, when "Mr Hutchison asked what financial assistance had been given "in respect " of the two half-years' interest accrued " since August last, and the means by " which the money had been pro- " vided." Sir Harry Atkinson then explained that in October 188S the Treasury advanced L 6 90 against rates on Native land " now payable, and on " April 1889, a further sum of L 2200 " against the 25 per cent, of land " revenue accruing to the Board and " rates on Crown and Native lands for " the current year. The amount esti- " mated to bo received from land re- " venue was L 2886, from Native land " rates L 650, and from Crown land " rates L 130." L 661, he further said, had already been recouped out of the land revenue, and the further sums from the same source, together with the rate, would be more than enough to repay the balance of the advance. It was a " very common practice," he stated, to make advances on securities to various local bodies when in difficulties. The advances now in question, which have been charged to "unauthorised expenditure," will come before the House in due course for approval, and Mr Mitchelson has intimated that he will on that occasion be prepared to give the fullest information.

Things being as they are, the probabilities of the session are hardly to be conjectured further than that Ministers will retain their seats, and, therefore, continue in office over the general elections. It is not likely, we think, that they will yield either to pressure or obstruction so as to accept Supply for six months, which would entail a second session in the year; but whether they will succeed in placing the measures introduced on the Statute Book is quite another matter, and we much fear that several of the more important, involving as they do debateable points, will have to be abandoned.

The Law Practitioners Bill, which is now waitiDg to go before the committee of the House of Representatives, is a measure tvhicb will appear both unnecessary and unwise to most people who are not so far carried away by their zeal for the interests of the unborn millions as to overlook the welfare of the existing community. The Bill proposes to do away with the necessity of passing the preliminary examination in general knowledge, which at present is demanded from all candidates for admission to the legal profession. This preliminary examination required by "The Law Practitioners Act 1882" is denned by an order made last year by the Judges to be, as regards solicitors, the matriculation examination of the New Zealand University; and, as regards barristers, the junior scholarship examination; and the gravity of the hardship that the Bill proposes to remedy may be judged from the fact that these are examinations which should present no serious difficulty to any industrious lad leaving school at the age of 16, and in some cases are passed below that age, In moving the second reading of the Bill the introducer laid special stress upon the impossibility of an individual following some other calling, and not in good circumstances, procuring the knowledge requisite to pass the examination; and instanced Abraham Lincoln and General Grant as men who would have been so situated. Putting aside the difficulty of such a person obtaining a knowledge of the law sufficient to qualify him to practise —a point which was apparently passed over as not worthy of notice—we are not aware that either of these eminent men owed his fame to the pursuit of the law. Indeed, General Grant, according to the usually accepted biography, was never ad-

mitted as a lawyer, his nearest approach to it being to carry oa business as an estate agent. Bat can any reasonable person believe that either Lincoln or Grant would havo been checked in their career by au examination which is not beyond the powers of :i boy of 1G? The illustration is on a par with the contention of those who opposed the institution of a qualifying examination for the army and navy on the ground that neither Wellington nor Nelson passed one. The analogy, however, is a fallacious one, as the state of New Zealand at the present time,-with its numerous and complicated interests, bears no resemblance to the rough and primitive condition of the Western States of America 50 years ago. The means of obtaining instruction in the colony are within the reach of all who choose to avail themselves of them, and noman whohas theenergyand the capacitj to acquire a knowledge of such an abstruse and intricate subject as the law, and is well fitted to win success in the practice of it, need be prevented from obtaining admission to the profession by the existing preliminary examination. Is it advisable, however, in the interests of the public to open wide the portals to the legal profession in this country 7 Putting aside the interests of the present members, who after all, as being part of the community, are entitled to some consideration, is it the fact that the public are benefited by an unlimited supply of lawyers? To anyone who is acquainted with the state of the profession there can be no doubt that the number of practitioners is more than sufficient for the amount of legal business, and an increase in the number of lawyers does not necessarily mean either an increase of the number who are competent and trustworthy or a diminution in the cost of litigation. It may mean an increase in the cost to the community by increasing the number of i speculative or " try-on " actions undertaken in the hope that they will be settled before they come to trial, and generally ending in considerable loss and annoyance to everyone concerned. In many of the transactions of life people are compelled to report to, and to place themselves unreservedly in the hands of their legaljadvisers; and any measure which tends to overcrowd the ranks and to. compel members of the profession to resort to illegitimate means of obtaining business, and so lower, even indirectly, the standard of professional honour, and lessen the sense of responsibility, must be looked upon as a loss and a misfortune to all who have to depend upon them for advice and assistance. The abolition a few years ago of the requirement that solicitors should serve under articles in a lawyer's office—a measure which owed its passage to the exertions of Sir George Grey—has proved injurious, in somo instances, to the interests of those whom it apparently served. An admission in New Zealand is not recognised in the neighbouring Australian colonies where articles are still enforced, and the effect of the present measure will be to limit still further the sphere within which the New Zealand qualification is still recognised.

The Alameda with the inward mails, via San Francisco, reached Auckland on Saturday morniog. The Wanaka, with the Southern portion of the mail, ia expected to reach Wellington to-day, and will tranship to the Rotomahnnaj leaving for Lyttelton at 3 pm. The mailß should therefore reach Dunedin by the express train on Tuesday evening.

Cable communication was restored yesterday evening, end this morning we are able to again publish European cablegrams, although owing to the block of work only a meagre instalment is to baud. The Eastoni Extension Company apparently made no special effort to get the work through. We received our first message about 10 p.m., but it was not till nearly 4 a.m. that further messages commenced to filter through slowly. The Telegraph department informs us that all three cables failed suddenly oa the 11th inst., apparently about the same ■ place, one hour after a severe shock of earthquake had passed over the southern portion of Java. The repairing steamer Sherard Osborne recovered and buoyed the Baujoewangi end of one of the cables about 30 miles from the shore on Saturday morning, and yesterday picked up the Port Darwin end and joined tho cable again, re-establishing communication.

During the present month two of tha patients at Seaclifi Asylum have committed suicide. In one case a patient named Arabella Hagar, from liivercargill, hanged herself in one of tha rooms about the beginning of July. An inquest was held before Mr Coroner Garew and a jury, and a verdict to the effect that deceased had committed suicide by hanging herself was returned, the jury adding a rider exculpating the attendant (Jane Paterson) from all blame in the matter. In the other case, which occurred about a fortnight ago, another patient named Peter Watson, who was once in Mr Larnach's employ on the* Peninsula, was found drowned in a reservoir, close to the asylum. An inquest was held in this case also, the jury finding a verdict of " Found drowned," and recommending that the reservoir should be fenced in. Dr King, superintendent, stated that he had intended for some time previously to have this done, and that he'would have it protected at once. The information which we have here given was obtained from Mr E. H. Carew, coroner. On making inquiries from Dr King, we learn that there was no reason, so far as he is concerned, for the facts in connection with these cases not having been made public before, and if applied to he would have been quite prepared to supply any information desired, as hecourts the utmost publicity in these matters He does not, however, consider that it is part of his duty to notify these cases to the press. An inquest is held whenever a death occurs, and as the jury is composed of settlers residing in the district, there is thus a public inquiry into every death which takes place.

A man named Augustus Sourdan died suddenly at the Benevolent Institution on Saturday night; aged, 71 years. An inquest will be held to-day.

Mr Jules Joubert leaves by the express this mormug for the North en route to Australia. Upon the close of his connection with the exhibition the directors passed a resolution thanking him for the zeal and efficiency with which he had performed the important duties of his office as general manager. It has been recognised on all hands that Mr Joubert threw himself as heartily 'flto the exhibition work as if it had been his own venture, and that to his experience, resource, and administrative ability no small part of thu success that was achieved is due. His genial disposition has further made him troops of friends, and he leaves Dunedin with fresh laurels added to his reputation a3 an exhibitionist amid general regret.

During the hearing of a divorce case in Wellington last week, the Chief Justice (says the Post) expressed the opinion that marriages were entered into in the colonies with less consideration than in England, and that a large number of divorces in the colony were in consequence of the insufficiency of knowledge which the parties possessed of each other before they were bound in the bonds of matrimony. At a later stage his Honor said it would be interesting to know whether more divorces were granted in New Zealand, according to the population, than in^Englaud. Mr Jellicoe said he was certain that there were more in New Zealand. His Honor stated that he had been informed by Mr Thomas, the deputy-iegistrar, that more divorces were granted in Auckland than in any other of the four centre?. Mr Jellicoe was afraid that the number of divorces in the colony was the result of cheap law. In England facilities for obtaining a dissolution of the marriage tie did not exist to the same extent as in New Zealand, and mo3t people, beiog unable to afford the expenses, patched up their differences without appearing in court. The subject then dropped.

According to the Akaroa Mail, through the ntarrention of the msmber for Akaroa, the Minister for Defeuca has communicated with Admiral Lord C. Scott, who has arranged that the whole flaet in Australian waters is to ba in Akaroa Harbour on the 10th of August for the purpose of assisting in any celebration that may ba held to commemorate the hoistiDg of the British fHg at Akaroa. Mr M'Gregor, M.H.R., is also endeavouring to induce the Government to assist in the erection of a suitable memorial on the site where the flag was hoisted.

Porno persons in Christchurch profess to bo vory much scandalised because the- Roy. P. R, Monro, of tho Presbyterian Church, and tho Rev. L. M. Isitfc, a Wesleyan minister, read the lessons at tho service hold in connection with tho reception of the Bishop of Christchurch at Sydenham, especially at their wearing surplices on the occasion. A correspondent of the Telegraph, who signs himself" Presbyterian " waxes very indignant over what he terms "a grave scandal," and hints that if the Rot. P. R. Monro had appeared in a surplico at Dunedin he would have had it torn off his back.

A Wellington telegram states that the up train to Masterton on Saturday was delayed half an hour owing to the greasy state of the rails on the Riniutaka incline. The train ran away, and a serious accident was narrowly averted. The driver was thrown off, but not injured.

The Cologne Gazette, in an article on the Togolands, admits (says a Dalziel telegram) that the German colonial policy ia West Africa is simply a pretext to poison the natives with schnapps (whisky). It calls upon all European Governments interested in African affairs to prohibit the importation of spirits to Africa, and appeals to the German Government to exert its influence to lead the way in this international movement to save the African people and the colonies from utter destruction. The Democratic Frankfort Gazette says with reference to this remarkable admission on the part of the chief exponent of the German colonial policy:— " The Opposition has always held the opinion now expressed by the Cologne Gazette, and has long eudeavoured to procure an International Anti-whisky League for Africa, but with no success. Too much money is made by selling schnapps, however, to the niggers to allow the German colonial enthusiasts to view ths situation from our standpoint."

Mr Christie Murray's play " Chums " was pro. duced at the Princess Theatre for the second time on Saturday night. A greater measure of success attended the performance than even on the previous night. The attendance was very good, and although perhaps not up to the merit of the performance, was better than is usually the case on Saturday evenings. Those who put in an appearance were amply rewarded for leaving their firesides. Jack Furlong, as represented by Mr Murray, was a realistic and artistic representation. The natural acting of Mr Henry St. Maur, as Ned Fellows, again secured for him the hearty approbation of the audience, who were also delighted with tho clever child Leo, in the character of Harold, Ned Fellows' chum. The other members of the company likewise had good reason to be gratified with the reception they were accorded; while the scenic artist, Mr Thornton, had, 83 on the night before, to appear twice bofore the footlights and bow his acknowledgements of the compliment paid him by the audience in calling for him. To-night "Chums" will ba repeated, and thc3e who have not yet seen it should certainly take the opportunity of doing

Mr John Grindley (on behalf of tho Farmers' Agency Company) sells grain and produce at 10.30 to-day at the company's stores.

Messrs Donald Held and Co sell grain and produce at U o'clock this morning at their exchange. Mr D. M. Spedding sells perfumery and fanoy goods on Wednesday at 2.30.

Messrs B. C.EeynoldsandCo. sell 100 tons European sugar at their rooms on Wednesday. They also give preliminary notice of a sale of Harbour Board leaseholds on Wednesday, 13Cli August. Messrs Wilson, Tame, and Co., Invercargill, notify their wiUin R ness and ability to do business. E. H. Smith, sbarebroker, A.M.P. Building. Telephone 370.—[Advt.] As evidence of the esteem in which 'doctors hold Purity Cigarettes, it may be Interesting to know that a well-known medico wakes up |every morning regularly at 2 o'clock to smoke one —[Aiiri.] Barhy's Teicophbrous FOB the Hair.—The oideat aud the best. Revives the perishing hair. It is not a dye, yet it darkens, renews, glosses, preerves, and multiplies the fibres, and thoroughly leanses the ccalp. Ti