PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1901.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11718, 19 July 1901, Page 2

PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1901.

♦ The decision of the Supreme Court in dismissing the motion for a writ of cerfciorari in the matter of the Hotel Commonwealth license will, we believe, be received with satisfaction by the majority of unprejudiced people. The circumstances of the case are too well known to need recapitulation here, but we may congratulate Mr Stanford upon his aecisun being upheld. In the absence of any Licensing Committee being elected he was placed in a position of great responsibility, a position, indeed, which no individual ought to be asked to occupy, and despite all kinds of underhand methods being used with the object of influencing his decision, despite threats and despicable, insinuations, he did what he conceived tovbe his duty ard his practical common-sense decision has been endorsed by four judges out of five on the Supreme Court bench. "No more need be said upon the matte 1 : were it not for the aforesaid insinuations with respect to "pecuniary bias." These insinuations are so despicable and so cruel in their shadowy indefiniteness that in common fairness to the Magistrate his accusers, whoever they are, ought to openly state their charges or .withdraw their insinuations. Mr Stanford is in a position in which he cannot reply directly to his accusers, even if their charges were more definite ; under the present circumstances ifc is intolerable that he should be subjected to such grossly unfair criticism without even the satisfaction of knowing what he is charged with, or who is making the charges. It is the more unfair because there is not a licensing district in the colony where the Committee has made greater efforts to compel respect for the licensing laws than Mr Stanford has done. Sitting as a Licensing Committee he has invariably studied the welfare, convenience, and safety of the travelling public. It is an acknowledged fact that the accommodation and conduct of the hotels in , this district have been greatly improved, and. this is largely due to Mr Stanford's firmness with licensees. In the matter of fire escape.* he has persistently insisted upon the safety of the inmates of hotels being studied in : every possible way, and ifc is due io ' him that before very long, when the alterations insisted upon by him are ' made, the hotels in New Plymouth will be the safest in the colony in case of fire. Under such circumstances,, when a Magistrate fearlessly carries out what he deems his duty as a Licensing Committee, it is, we say, grossly unfair that he should be laid upon to' such shadowy indefinite charges of " pecuniary bias," which, because of their indefiniteness and because of his position, he is unable to meet and refute.

Messrs Veale & Sons notify Nimmo & Blair's seeds for the new season. Captain Edwin wired at 12.40 o'clock to day :\— Strong south-east to south and south-west winds; glass rise; tides good; weather very cold. , Mr R. L. Stanford, S.M., presided in the Police Court this morning, when W. Brown was charged with being an idle and disorderly person. Brown was sentenced to seven days, with hard labour. The members of the Fourth Contingent enthusiastically describe their commanding officer — " the little colonel " they call him — as a " white man." Than that expression there is none that is more appreciative. The decision of the Supreme Court in the Hotel Commonwealth case is a feather in the cap of Mr Shailer Weston, who was chiefly responsible for the conduct of the case for the applicant for a license, both before the . Committee and before the Supreme Court. Captain Hood, >the harbourmaster, reported that tho'tpow Surprise arrived at the breakwater ttbout 1 o'clock to-day (Friday). The ecow left Mokau for here last Thursday week with a load of coal, but was driven out to sea by a heavy easterly gale* that arose the same night. As the weather for some days was easterly the scow could not work back, to port until the wind changed. It was at first feared that the crew of the scow would suffer from shortness of supplies of provisions: but as she was provisioned for three trips this want was probably averted. The scow came to anchor off the breakwater about 1 o'clock, and it was understood she would be towed in this afternoon. A couple of the Harbour employees went off in • a boat this morning, and found that the mariners, some 4 or 6, were well, and had. had plenty of food during their involuntary cruise in the Tasman Sea.

We have received the following addi- 1 tioual donations for the Boys' Institute: — A.V.X., 2s 6d: Fish Oh, 2s 6d: Dolf, 6d; Mrs Cliffe, 2s 6d. After his South African experience 11 Colonel Davies holds that a succeasf a! in I vasion of New Zealand by a foreign Power is an absolute impossibility. '• (iive me 2000 men," he says, " in the North Island, which I know and where I am known, and let me play De Wet, and inside a month any enemy would wish he had never landed." In response to the circular sent by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce respecting the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act, 1900, and the Imprisonment for Debt Limitation Act, 1900, the Canterbury Chamber has decided to draw tfr-e attention of the Canterbury members of the House to the objectionable clauses. During the visit of the Duke and j Duchess of York to Tikitere (says the j Hot Lakes Chronicle), the Duke asked I the driver of the coach what sort of a place it was they were about to visit. The driver told him it was known as the Inferno, on account of the weird sights to be seen, and that all the inhabitants were at Rotorua. " What," said the Duke, "no band, no soldiers, no school children, no ' God save the King !' Thank God for that." The Auckland papers are quite enthusiastic in their praises of Musgrove's Grand Opera Company, which opened a three weeks', season there on Monday. When will Taranaki people have the privilege of hearing such performances ? The first requirement is radical alterations at the Theatre, to give greater stage room and more seating accommodation in the auditorium With these prcvided, we are given to understand that many first-class companies which now pass us by would give us a call. The Dairy Commissioners will hold a class of instruction in butter-making at the Stratford Dairy Factory (Taranaki) from the Ist to the 17th of August. There will be only one course, so that early application by intending students is necessary. A class in cheese making will be held in Southland during September, and a short course for the same object will be held at some central factory in Taranaki before the opening of next season. The classes are to be confined to managers and first-assistants only.-) Colonel Davies, speaking at a social at Dunedin, said he did not think any of^ them would say that there was any hard-* ship for healthy men in going through the campaign. The commissariat was marvellously well conducted. He did not think it became them to come back and say they were ill-used. He had gone through as bad things in his survey camp in New Zealand. There was one thing to be avoided in South Africa, and that was drinking water. Never drink water. — (Loud laughter). He would not have given that counsel to his men coming up in the train at 11 o'clock thatdiy. — ( Laughter). Nevertheless, it was an absolute fact. The Weekly Press this week devotes a large amount of space to New Plymouth. Excellent pictures aie given of the town, the breakwater, the Recreation Grounds, the mountain houses, the churches, schools, and public buildings, views of Old New Plymouth, portraits of the" Mayor, Borough Councillors, and Town Clerk, and a portrait also of Major Parris. The letterpress, which from its accuracy of detail we judge to be from the pen of Mr J. Parker, formerly of the Herald staff, is full of useful information about the town and district, and cannot be otherwise than an excellent advertisement. There is also a highly interesting narrative by Major Parris of some of the native troubles in Taranaki from 1854 to 1859.