OUR MELBOURNE LETTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14439, 4 February 1909, Page 5

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER

'■> | (Fsou Ouk Ovts Cosbesfondekt.) * MELWXiRNE, January 27. s Most of Ihe mud-throwing that <?oe.s on l during an election campaign is forgotten ■ when (lio campaign is ovor. The nmd is s uol mpaiif to slick, but merely lo create . a little confusion at the lime. However, some of (.hp tiling that were said about s Sir Tliomas Bent were rather more definite llmu usual. One of them had reference tc the late Premier's land transactions. It was said tnat ' misled the House when the ; Brighton •trie tramway was under dis- . cussion. and iliai the line passes ((ttite dost S to a quaiililv of land hold by Sir Thomas ! Bent, to the great personal 'advantage () | 5 llie ex-Premier. Sir Thomas .Hem's replj ? to this is that the line does not go within more than a mile of the route which lit 5 proposed when he introduced the bill. Thei it is said that, wliettUie purchased the Wer ribee Park Estate for closer settlement h( ; paid much too high a, prive—somei-hint about £14 an acre,—and that, he ignore!, the Closer Settlement Hoard iii the matter 1 Well, it lias now been desided that a lloya ■ Commission shall inquire into these mat. ' ters. Sir Thomas Bent, is auxions fwone : and the Ministry is fti.voiiro.ble. l But there is another point oil .. Thomas Bent has been taken to 1 task. I has been said that he paid awav mo _ without, the authority of Parliament ; the dissolution. Tim ex-Premier practical!* ' admits this allegation. After the llnusr was dissolved he found that he bad not ' supply to pay the public servants, and lit . had lo do something to meet the difficulty, j The procedure to l>e adopted in making tin , Treasury oC the country available for tin ; country's creditors is as "followsA Supplj or Appropriation Bill is pnssedto Apply out of the consolidated revenue a certain" sun: . for the service of lite State. The/Auditor I general then certifies that the sum ii l legally available. The Governor next sign; , Treasury warrants aulhorisins 'he pay j ment.s, and the Treasurer then issues order; to the banks to honour the cheques, and it is the duty of a Governor to assure himself before granting a dissolution that- supply is available to carry on the services of the country. Sir Thomas Bent assured flic Governor when applving for a dissolution that this was s). lie was under the impression that the money from tlm Treasurer's advance was available for this purpose. In this lie was mistaken. The Treasurer's advance is passed to meet urgent claims that may arise ''before parliamentary sanction is obtainable." It clearly, therefore, cannot be used for paying salaries. When Sii Thomas Bent found this out. rather than deprive the public; servants-of their Christ' mas cheques, he decided on an illegality: he simply ordered the hanks to hon«->iir I lie eliecpies without waiting for the Auditor, general's certificate or I,lie Governor's warrant. Thus about £120,000 was unconstitutionally paid away. When the Houses met the Assembly asserted its privileges by carrying a resold ion of protest. The Committee of Public Accounts is also to try and devise a safeguard to prevent the thing being repeated. But even Mr Hurray admits that the ex-Premier, having got himself into the hole, did perhaps the best filing to got out of it. So there is not likely to be any further severe penalties over this matter. VACANT CHIEF JUSTICESHIP. Some trouble is being caused in Sydney ovor _ the question of a sncccssor to the Chief Justice, Sir Frederick Darley. It has been known for .some time that: Sir I'redcriek contemplated retirement, lie has been 25 years in his high office, and is approaching 30 years of age. Consequently ihere has been much speculation as to jyho is likely to be bis successor. Mr Gordon, K.C., and Mr Knox, K.C., have been popular legal tips. It Ims been suggested that the olfer might be made to "Mr Justice 0 Connor to leave the High Court Bench lor the Srate vacancy. The office carries a. salary of £3500 a year, which is £500 a vear morn than a High Court judge. In addition, ii. docs not involve tile travelling which falls to the High Court, and, further, it will in time, no doubt, carry the l.ieuleiant-Governorship and a certain Knighthood. It also carries a pension, which the High Court judgeship does not. So if, has many advantages even for a High m 'ur i ®"'i s t'll anollier selection is jUMiitde. who holds a trump card in that lie is Premier and Attorney-general. There ;- 4 vose "jc question, however, of whether Mr Wade would not have some delicacy iu appointing- himself. Jrrihe midst, of the speculations, the Chief Justice applied to the Cabinet for 12 months' leave of absence on full pay, announcing that at the end of tMl , ,e would retire. Tim leave was granted, and Mr Justice G. 13. Simpson. w:n |, "r"| 1 '- r' l "r S was appointed Acting Chief Justice, I lien the criticism commenced. Was Mr Justice Simpson lo have the reversion to Ibe office when it became vacant? That Could hardly he, for he is just on the eve of the retiring age himself, and was he Simply \I, \v'V |J aCe fol ' a >' ear wl'M» All Wade made up his mind? Both morning papers agreed that this is what ii amounted to Mr Wade could not be drawn very definitely Me defended I,he concession made to the Chief Justice as being in accordance with custpm. He said tliat no iiiiangcmenl had been made with Mr Juslice Simpson for a permanent appointment and no arrangement of any sort had been made with himself for the succession. So he arrangement stands. But the objection to it is that, it upsets the judicial arrangements and introduces the spirit of unrest into the world in expectation of the lrcmiers retirement. A SHIPPING MISHAP. When tlm s.s. Ennetxlale arrived in port recently from New Zealand the reported a collision on the voyage. A charge of misconduct was preferred against the master, I'ivderick William Cox, and it was investigated by the Court of Marino Inquiry last week. Capful,i Cox, in his evidence, said that he held an extra masters certificate, issued in New Zealand, the Lnnerdale left Grevmonth with 600 000 feet of sawn timber for Melbourne. 'On the night of January 6 the vessel was off Habcl feland, and he shaped a cour.se between the Two Sisters. At half-past Bhe went be.ow, leaving (he second mate in charge, with instructions to be on the alert for the southern set of the tide, awl on no account to attempt to pats within a mile 0 the Mirth ward of Craggy Island. When, about half-past 9, the second mate sent word that tlie vessel was about a mile and a-Jralf oli Craggy Island, lie went on deck Bearings taken showed that Oraggv Island bore W.S.W. and while lie was considering whether lie would haul the ship out nrtlier to the northward she struck something heavily forward. She was going at the rate of W knots, and the tide was tvko knots. A large piow of tapering rook about a foot long, which had been taken out of the aperture of the vessel, was produced, and tJie captain admitted thai it Showed the vessel must have struck a rook He Jiad never taken the passage between the islands before, but he was keeping helntld Flinders Island, so as to be in smooth water. ll (e vessel was trimmed and reached port wifely, though she was makimr water very freely. Examination showed that.about 20 plates were buckled and one portion about the bilge keel buckled in Captain (.'ox urged that the pinnacle of t u , j st,ruck , ool,l(l ". ol l»e on the chart. ■He had more than ordinary interest in the Annerdale, having recenllv refused a "ood position to remain villi' her. I-he court, after long deliberation, in which there was evidently some conflict of opinion, held that the charge of misconduct had not been sustained. In an annex the court reviewed the evidence a „d commented on it. The course being taken by li;e vessel at the time was through uutravel ed waters, yet the master put the second mate m charge at a timo wheji | ro stiould liave remained on the bridge. He should also have taken cross-bearim's frequently to ascertain her position. In the opinion of the court he failed altogether to realise the responsibilities of his posii.ion. Owing to i-he omission lo take cross-waring#, t.he court was far from eon-viicc-d that the vessel made the eourso by the master. Consequently it wits Not id w position j<) dotp-rinme wiih cortainty whether the vessel struck on a charted or uncharted oWuction. Under tn« oircniiKtancfti it gave the master tho boiwat of the doubt. ANOTHER SHIPPING STORY, There appears to have been a rather lively time aboard the barque Largo Bay which arrived at .Newcastle a few days a"o! As ii lesillt a Court of AJarine inquiry has been inquiring into charges made against the captain, Donald M'Lcod. According to Ihe evidence given, tho barque left Barry 0,1 July 19. carrying coal. .She was towed to Sunday island, and before she left there Captain M'l.eod was very drunk. After that he remained below for a fortnight either under the influence of drink or°recovering from the effects. In t.|, e B av of Biscay the captain's wife came on "deck and altered the course It was so altered that according to the chief officer, thev made land very suddenly, and must have gone ashore if they had continued. They wece live weeks at Monte Video, and the captain was drunk most of the time. When they wore coming out of the River Plate an apprentice was at the wheel, and be received orders from tho captain which were so obviously wrong that he took no notice of them. The mate got the shin to and. tl;a._M£tain jsaj.a. on &gk ajjj^

or- two'afterwards, nncfcthore was no fur>t.her fault to be found with him until lie reached Newcastle, wlicn ho started drinking again. While at Newcastle the surveyors noted a few deficiencies in the lifesaving .appliances. The cabin boy took a list to tlio master, who said: " This is some of the mate's dirty work." He thereupon suspended the mate from duty and ordored him to remain below. This was what led to Hie inquiry. .Several of Ihe A-.i3.'s ami apprentices gave evidence of the captain's condition. One A.13. said: "When wo were gel tin" under way at Monl o Video I was on the topsail halyards sinking a son." The captain came up and said it was the best, song he had ever heard, and gave me a bottle of whisky. He \ VM so intoxicated that lie could hardly stand. The chief oikcer said they had no acc.ess.to the chip's chronometer, and could get no advice from the captain as to navigation, which was all uone by doad reckoning. Captain M'Leod produced his log to show that he was suffering from rheumatic fever and injuries received bv being knocked Clown by a sea. lie had a compass ahovo Mis beau as 1k» lay jp bunk, and gave-orders as to navigation, The mate could have got. at the chronometer at anv time. There was no danger off the coast'of Spain, and it was false to say that at any firms at, Monte v ideo he was so drunk (hat he 'Wild liot all end to his duties. At. Newi , to ' ( ) " lf> male to keep below, : because ho liebeved he was trvimf lo keep Hie watch hank in order l„ del.v'tbe shin. the court Cupliiin M'Leod's hcertiiicate for six months.

BROKI4X 11I1X TROUBLE. The strikers at Broken Hill J„ lV e a novol plan wind, are sai d to b( , ~,,0ut., out . to put mto oxecmmn for <M»hanassii»o- tho authorities. Thov are going | 0 tho aw openly, not. m lar S p, but in small Jnatioi>, so thai a body of Mhmii, to the number of lxuwcen 40() and 500 Shall ho 'IV holding capacity of tho gaol will not lie e:|!Ki! to tho number, so that they hope to bring ||,e law into conompr by ilu'ir plan. An<l if thov are locked up, they reason, tI IP authorities will have to support them, s0 that, tho drain on the strike funds will be diminished. The packets say that if Tom Maim and the others under arrest are guilty of offonccs so are they. ll,e y aruiod, ami are breaking Mi.- law by I heir action. Tlnwfor.- not, only Mum, ami „ few ot . ilora should luivo liecn arreted, l m t. the whole lot of them, and arrested they am defernmied to bo. They will not, 'if they obey irslructio.w, commit any acts of violence, but tluy will commit, petty assiuilfs, trivia! trespasses, acts of spoliation', ami so on— anything t-hat- will cause ihem to ho taken into custody."

" IF jVlann and the others are committed," said a leading -unionist, yesterday afternoon. ■' there will be trouble. If they are sentenced there will be an upheavalthroughout, Australia, Tlie position tofe is critical for Australia."

J'lhiti kind of [Evil Ilc is not. hkeiv to have imioli mftuonee on the. result. Three mom have already teen very sharply dealt with, without any revolution. In connection-, wall tlio affray in Argont street on Mon-.' i lay of Just wwk. .lames Harrison wae.« charged on Saturday last with using tliroa. lomiiif words and assaulting Constable J3ro\\n, John TVilliaiiK, with riotous boJiaraour and assaulting Constable Browne «uid Jnino-3 Knovii-t, with riotous behaviour* and assaulting Constable Tooliey. Mr }3i r ~ nett, .S. M., said the assaults were waiiton, cowardly, and without provocalion, Williams got tiiree ntontiis, Knevitt four monihs, and Harrison five inontlis. Tilery ware all bound over for six months on!' oilier charges.