OUR MELBOURNE LETTER

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 57

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER

— o(Fbom Otte Ofrs Correspondent.) MELBOURNE, August 5. Uno of the. forms whioh Government activity is taking is directed against the corporate bodies which have managed some oft" 12 chief public agencies of the metropolis for many years. The water and sewerage service of Greater Melbourne is managed by the. Metropolitan Board of Works, which consists of a paid chairman. (£ISOO a. year) and 39 honorary representa"tives of jthe various municipal^ councils around Melbourne. The". Harbour Trust consists of 17 members elected" by"" -the shipping," commercial, • and other interests concerned, -with some Government nominees. They divide £1700 a 'year in fees, and manage the" docks and wharves and" collect the shipping dues. The Marine" Board is a similar body, which looks" after the pilotage 'and" "sea worthiness of "ships and the dredging of the waterways. Sir Thomas Bent has now foreshadowed bills to cut the Board of Works down to five, members and "to amalgamate the ' Marine Board • and "" . the - Harbour Trust, and appoint five members only. Then© is to be a pa-id chairman of j this "new body an £1500 a year, and already Mr Pitt, the -honorary Minister, wiho has { a seat on the Harbour Trust, is mentioned jas chairman. There will be a very decided opposition to the amalgamation proposal, and already the Government scheme is received - with much- hostile criticism. Sir Thomas Bent is in favour of the "straight cut " soheme, whioli is advocated by many, .and •which was recommended -by Mr Fergu'son, the Wellington engineer, in his recent report. ~ The Harbour Trust is against the project, and the Premier is accused of trying to oarry it by getting rid of the I existing body. There is no doubt that the Premier sighs for a direct political control in many directions in which it will not be tolerated by tihe Government.. For instance, he has never taken kindly to the commissioner system in connection- with the railways, and rarely loses an opportunity of gibing at it. But he has a long way to go yet before he wil' induce the people to accept again political influence over the railways. THE MURRAY WATERS. - " No -more difficult problem has faced a Government , for many years, than the control of the Murray waters. Three States.. are. interested, and it' took very "much conferring to get South Australia to accept what New South. Wales and' Victoria .regarded as fair. However, an agreementwas arrived at some little time ajzo. by which it was arranged that the three States concerned should simultaneously pass measures providing for au independent body to control the river waters. This body was to decide what locks and weirs were to be erected, what waters are to be diverted by New South Wales and Victoria for irrigation, and what was to be left io South Australia for navigation. Now the country party in the LegislaI tive Assembly is getting a little uneasy 'about the measure. Air Swinburne, mtro- ! ducod the bill some time ago in a Mm- , i prehensive second reading speech, but 6ince chen the country party has strengthened . in tho belief that the measure should be . referred to a parliamentary committee. , On-a reason for this is that- since tftc ( measure was introduced Mr Ehvood Mead, | an eminent American irrigationist, has been engaged to superintend water conservation j and .°lxxiga.tioii in Victoria. "The party , recently carried a resolution urging- the , reference of the matte, to a committee, and forwarded the resolution to Mr Swm-- - } burne. He has now replied that it would I ; be very inopportune to . refer the bill to a committee. One ■ agreement with the' s other States is that the measure shall hs ,* exactly at the same stage in all three 5 Parliaments. However, he -pointed out < that as Victoria has now to wait on - the ' other States, members would have "plenty of opportunity of studying the bill more thoroughly.' - • . A TWO-HEADED BABY. \ \. There is an end at last to the protracted c litigation in New South Wales regarding J the ownership of a preserved monstrosity" known as the two-headed baby It was i originally — as far as the present phase of ( the case i« concerned — in the uoseeesion of j v

a man named Reuben Doodewa'rd, but-th© police not only stopped him from exhibiting 1 it, but seized it. He sued them in the District Court for detaining it, but the court held there could be no ownership of a, human body, and nonsuited the plaintiff 1 . He took the case successively to the Supremet Court and the Full Court, failing each! time, and then he went to the High Court. The Chief Justice of the High Court, ml giving judgment, gave a history of tho exhibit which, may awaken a chord ofl memory in old New Zealanders. He said! that the mother of the baby gave birth to it in New - Zealand 40 years ago"; that ib was stillborn (by which he understood thati it never ha-d an independent existence) ; I that the mother's medical attendant (Drj Donahoo), who arrived after the birth, took the body away with him and preserved! it in spirits as a curiosity in his surgery;! that at his death" in 1870 it was sold byi -auction with o,ther personal effects, and) realised between £30 and £40; and that ifc afterwards came into the possession of .tha appellant Doodeward. The evidence, his Honor said, showed that the body had] come "not unlawfully" into the > possession} of Dr Donahoo ; that some work and skilU. had been expended on it, and J that it hadl acquired an actual- pecuniary value. In the'■absenee of Any positive Jaw to the contrary* — for tlie Anatomy . Act -j did not 'bear ort the case, — he thought the" appellant) was- en-> titled to possession. I _ , - * •"*- "Mr Justice • Barton, concurred, but Mr* Justice Hig.gins dissented. The Last-named! judge said that if the - appellant were <?n-, titled to " recover possession of the body( there was nothing to" hinder anyone from/ "snatching" the corpse of spine" eminent man.', say, Napoleon, arid keeping "it in a bofctleij for degrading ■ purposes. - Even - parents^' ooulcl not giye'-a, medical 'man the right to>' keep* the corpse. 'It' was not- theirs to give-.*' The majority 'prevailed, the appeal ~waa allowed," with -costs, "and the case was remitted to" the" District Court to deoide thai" original question as to who was entitled to» possession. . SUNDAY GOLF. The royal and ancient game of golf has N taken, a- very firm hold in Victoria. Clubs/-' are established all over the State and it is( •estimated that there are fully 10,000 playing members in Victoria. The Royal Meii* bourne" Club at Sandringham has very ex* , , cellent -links and a very sumptuous resiW dential clubhouse, and is now so sought after that* J dozens of people are awaiting^ their turn for election. It cannot be de-> nied that the game is played fairly fre-J -quently on the Sunday, a feature which? has caused some distress to rigid Presbyterians. The -matter lias been discussedf more than once -at Assemblies and Presby-i teries, and the Rev. James Weir, Moderator^ of the Church" in Victoria, lias now acSj dressed the fallowing eirciilar ,to the councils of all clubs in the State:— , ' Dear Sir, — On behalf of the' Preaby-"" te'rian Church of Victoria, I am requested! to draw the attention of your council toj a matter "of 'grave importance. We are* aware, that iri . connection with many-golfi" cluWplay takes' place on the Lord's Day.; This -we deeply i v egret, because we believer - the. use of 'the ' Sabbath for games tends} to destroy it as a reigious institution and/ " . a day of rest. i V We are also awa-re that on some linkafr ! Sunday .players employ - boys to' carry.] : .- their clubs,, and we appeal to councils tot ' use their influence, to stop' this practice.!*! These boys are induced by the shillings, they earn to do what, probably, theirv conscience disapproves, what is contrary!] to the tradition of most homes, and whafc; is, in many- cases, against the wishes ofi! their parents. Such action must -inevit-j . ably tend to lower their moral sense, injj addition to its removing- them froni th&i Christian instruction they should be re-'j ceiving. We believe that very few golferSj 'orb luckless of tKe interests of. others,^ and that this practice, -where it exists, naefjj gradually ' come in through lack oil 1 thought. * , I trust our appeal to your good feeling / will not be in vain. " J The Presbyterians are practically the onlyj body now that keeps up a fight for thet rigid Sabbath. They are constantly tilting at the Railway Commissioners fort extending the Sunday train service,, and are* muoh, averse to the growing popularity ( ; of the " pleasant Sunday afternoons." The'" proposal of the Government to 'transporti* the Cadets from the country on a Sunday,] in connection with the American fleet eele-|( ■" orations has provoked opposition, and the] Ministers' Fraternal Association in Kj'ne-j ton, 'which includes, all the Protestant; ministers,- has carried a- resolution viewing I with." alarm and . regret "' the proposajU' 1 They consider it- a " most dangerous prece-J dent" thu3 * to disregard the observance' of the day of rest and "particularly." in--.furious'to the rising generation," and .they; hint that many parents "will' .be compelled! < to refuse permission to their sons to jdin^iiV' the celebrations on such terms. It cannot^ be said that this plea for tho strict Sabbat!* takes any hold on the mass of the people. ' • . PREPARING FOR' A FIGHT. The preparations for the arrival of thd American fleet have not for a moment put out of -the mind of a very large section the movements of the prize fighters Squires? and "Tommy" Burns. Squires arrived' in Melbourne ' yesterday, and he had as large a crowd at the station waiting- ie/ meet him as if he were an eminent public; man. He" has been interviewed by tho press, and has given, over again the accounts of the battles he lost. We have been told in minute detail how he 'looks and in what respects he has changed — though, of course, it is always premised/ that he has not changed fof .the worse.. On-'the day that Squires arrived in Melbeourne Burns reached Fremantle,, and! over tho wire we have had as much about ' him as we got about Mr Deakin returning 1 . Erora tits Imperial Conference- Burns is very .generous to his former opponent, and? explains a\va\ his 'losses ~es well as possible. He ..thinks Squires improved greatly be- ■ Lween the two .fights, and is improving 1 still.. The two. men are "to meet twice - . during the "fleet" weeks iri Melbourne' and Sydney for some handsome sum', 'th<* 3etails. of which I -mentioned previously aut- have " now forgotten.

The directors of the Westport Coal Comj )any have declared an interim dividend >f 3s 6dper share for the half-year ended Fune 30, payable on the 26th in&t. It is stated that 'one person who received srrass seed to the -value of £180 from tho iovernment to resow his land has property valued at £30,000.