The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1877.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1763, 25 June 1877, Page 3

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1877.

.[■[] ; ; j Unless the Timaru Harbor Board disl:play very ; l soda :i a'_ gpoddi 'i?eal imSie energy and unanimity^ than , t they hive hitherto '- ' tlley will, we honestly believe, see the Milford Harbor full of shippinp while ; they; are still dreaming alfo«t'n'Bfealtwatei;.liOTe Thej Temnka people seem Ji to^li< thoroajrhly 1 i'n ! '%aVnOTr' ;< ;^'d;'it^ill;n9l be for want of jenterpme^ or sejj^reli' •"ance" on rtieir^^OTt^ir^the v *^njßnre"^i harbor work* f v'in' : ;'the;^sjtlaat 1 y ?'s's* Opihi does nor \tfpye & ""grand ."succjess They have had , no assistance, io -thei wa] of subsidy oroState encournpemettt ;iye tbey have already obtained J fl N pfefrmv

\ nary Report by a competent engineer I on thp r,ip:ilii!i'iHs of the locality; arid ; they :ir3 now pursuing a course of surI veyß iitnl n!>servations, which will ! presently take the form of a detailed | plan. Mr Hardy Johnston and a conj sideraMe have' been' for some time 1 hard at worlc taking levels and foundings, ami ascertaining all the information as to local conditions which is necessary for the elaboration of a scheme of harbor works. It is expected that Mr Johnston will be able to furnish complete plans m three weeks or a month ; and, from all that we can learn, these are likely to be of a very satisfactory nature. There is, we believe, a great deal of misunderstanding 1 as to th« nature of (his project. It j is by many supposed to be. a mere! vision, a wild chimaßra— a fantastical scheme by which a swamp is to be excavated into docks, and a harbor entrance is to be artificially formed through a bank of travelling shingle. These are mere delusions. The Milford lagoon, as it is called, is h handsome sheet of land-locked water, several miles m length by a half-a-mile or more m breadth, studded with islands,, and ramifying into long, broad reaches between'permanent bsinksL It receives the waters of the Teuiuka and Opihi rivers, besides those of -several smaller streams, and its depth throughout a great portion of it varies from eight feet to seventeen or eighteen feet. It is separated from the sea m its entire length by a huge natural dyke ofsand,; clayi and shfogle,. through which its wa ers m part filtrate, and m part find their escape to the ocean by a breach at the weakest point. This breach is at all times tinall — so small that the tide never rises inside the estuary to more than half its proper height ; and sometimes, pfter a long continuance of drought, it closes altogether. The object of the Engineer, then, is to enlarge this opening sufficiently to admit the full flow of the tide, and so to direct and concentrate the impetus of the inner waters as to create the maximum of scour at the ebb. It is not for us to go into scientific or technical particulars. •We only wish to explain m gein-ral terms the character of n, project which we are convinced is a very ? rehVohaWe lone, and well worthy of serious attention. We shall not endeavor to set forth m detail the means by which Mr Johnston proposes 10 keep the entrance of his harbor open. His final report will no doubt do that far better than we can. We shall not, therefort:, enlarge any further at present on his plan. We may say, however; that we are convinced that, if the proposed works for keeping (he mouth of the Milford lagoon navigably ojieA I prove successful, one of the finest harbors on th,e coasff.of this colony will be immediately creaked; • It *■ is all a question of getting m and out m safety. The lake^ — for the expression " lagoon " i con veyy-no^adequate idea of the Imag* ' nificent expanse of deep water at this spot — is capable m its natural state of ; berthing the whole coasting fleet of'the, colony ; and we do not think that those are much too sanguine who believe it might easily be made to take m the largest class of traders. Surely then the project of opening this admirable haven to the high roads of the world is well worth attempting, even at a heavy cost. We are assured, however, that the cost need not be great — that, indeed, it would be utterly insignificant m comparison with the advantages which would, accrue from it to the whole district! s - We-have heard darpfng critics say : v Oh, this Milford scheme is all very well, but it is only intended to make fortune, of two or three residsntalin; the tieipJJborliodd. p What a narro^vVe^t^talteXjßhl-matterf & be sure ! Suppose that it does enrich to a very \&r^e eitetftt Several! dfAtlfe residents m the neighborhood, what then? Let us .congratulate themon their good fortune, rather- tha,nn env 3L them their success. If this, scheme is successful, every residentiwithin'«e?.enjty miles'-of Milford kill l be; the; bettrfr off for it. A seaward outlet for th'e trade essential to the welfare of the district ; andtft) really' matters -very little alb what > particular spot it may be created.,.. Of, course, wherever the nVst harbor is' • made, "the -property* m the' inimeeHare' f n^igh|)^rhood ;t #ill j»cqUf« We gnfotefcjp valued $# I ss>ftfaiMftp i #j : sffi% a.radius not tapp^dby oth.ee ports witt also share m the benefit, aa'd' tile wild© colony will be tbe richer for the additional, faoil'f if 1 " f>»n,.« fnrntehp' l ♦'"«• i *•■*-■ trade. We do not pretend to offer an opinion as to wh^uirAJßOXolTifiton/s. plans of the Milford Harbor are sound or not. We may be able^ speak'more positively on that point m the course of a few weeks. But we do say that we sincerely trust they are sound-f'-^Whd' that, m ouij opinion, the whole of South Canterbury will have cause to welcome the- diry~ when— the~firsr vessel" sails~nr -at the mouth of the Opihi. _ v , Our attention has been drawn to an article whichS^KlfC^ei&Mßff.TK'i Lyttelton Times, commenting on_the_ circutrs^anoesj under which Hamilton, convicted oft a ore'a^h of the D^stillaUpn Act, wtts released, on ..aqi appeal. 9 Our coa4empevary -considers this result a grave miscarriage »«!' justice, and induljres/iaa\^ood rfeaLlofc Tirtugiw, iadJKnftUQn > , i pn,i sh.^.^hjept,, Whel"Ueß;H«ißiltOttrßGconftiotioh;cor,thiai subsequent release was the greater act "oPuJjusnce, is we think^ e"nfirely a matte.E_oi opMon. r Eor-ou£ v parL-we j^aroVhifi. bfcn^-sefltencaduo-Uuentfirst instance to twelve months' imprisonment without the option of a fine, aa ,^he n^test .outjoj; the, (.many jbtowtare which^have characterised ? ihis i case. The law certafnly empowered the Magistrate to ■end i .-£he~in&n n^o ftf ison for* a year; bat it aTso^mpowereu^hnn to inflict a fine of any amount, un ta £100. Tbe offence was a compararivefy trivial one of its kind, and was flot aggravated by any of those circumstances inrOTdeV iol^vi^^tagairfs't wbich ; imprisonment is properly al-

lowed lof fie" substituted^ for a fine, 1 t wrasa first offence ; the prisoner Wore b : pood ohnrnct^r, and had no connection wliatpver with tho criminal class ; lie offered no resistance to the police, four, on tbe contrarj', -i gnv« them all the information f hey "needed ; and "lie employed no defence, but left himself m the hands of the Court. The Court immediately visited him with the severest penalty that it had the power to inflict on the most hardened, violent, and contumacious offender! Hamilton Had, admittedly,-committed an offence against the revenue, but he was no enemy to soe'ety. Yet he was dealt with as a man who could not safely be intrusted with liberty, while no endearor was made to restore to the revenue what he had taken from it. No -wonder, then, that the poor fellow used every available effort to obtain his release, especially as the proceedings against him were conducted so loosely, and witn so much haste, that thpy were manifestly open to question on legal grounds. After repeated appeals from on« Court to«nother, and after Hamilton had actually been imprisoned for •six months, it was .found that there was' really Ho' "lawful'- warrant for hi* imprisontnent at all, and that he had long since had a right to claim his release.! ; ; He : • was; accordingly discharged, and this is what the Lyttelton Times calls "a gross miscarriage of justice." Now, if the Magistrate had, on Hamilton first admitting his offence, fined him £100, the revenue would no douli^ have baen -more than recouped all that it it had lost by him. The public purse would have been saved -th«*-«»xpense of maintaining the prisonerW'or six months, and of defending three appeals. Finally, justice would have beeH'Rmply.'fiVinjdi4aJed > . fcntl , the Lyttelton Times been spared much anxiety. So much -for the case itself. It is all over now, and' hiay well be forgotten. There is one part of our Christchurch contemporary's article, however, which we desire to remark upon further. The Times blames certain officials, whom it vaguely terms " the law officers," for bringinojabout the "gross miscarriage of justice" oy their " inconceivably stupid blundering." One of these, it seems, isMr .Wcttfllcomb.e; the Resident Magistrate, for whom the Times declares that '! there is no excuse." Our Hibernian contemporary then announces that v there is lass for the Crown prosecutor."'* If there is no excuse for Mr Woollcbmbe, we can hardly realise how there can be less for the Crown Prosecutor j but that is not the point to which we specially 'wish, to refer. We want, rather, to know who this " law officer " is. The article first mentions somewhat mysteriously that " he is supposed to be a lawyer of eminence, who nnderstands his profession ;" next deglares paradoxically that" thedocuments which he draws for the public service are proverbially bad;" and then suggests •that '** a sharp wigging from the Minister of Justice would do him no harm." Who can this eminent lawyeV be, who HrjaWjr; proyerbially bid documents, and deserves a punishment which would do him no harm 1 It cannot b%Mr WliiTe. ,the, Cn>,wn. Prosecutor nt Timaru, because he -li«d nothing to do with the case m question, beyond being Hamilton's counsel m: |b.e matter of his first appeal. "* It must be'ilr Duncan, the Crown Prosecutor at Christchurch, and we think it would* only? ha^e , been fair of the Lyttelton Times to say so plainly. That Mr White has on more than one occasion made a mistake, especially -wfieri hiwltoT^Ue'SupTrtifS vObbrt work, we are ready to admit. We have several ' times '^omnrenliSn oft tlie"fSc"l, with" our habitual frankness... But that is no reason \vW heishoiildjbe Sinade to bear theMjfame^of taeWrerV-oPWery Crown Prosecutor m the country. If the (ZjfiteltbibJlXlneslaust be so desperately severe on " law officers," it migtft at ~hesst indicate specifically the objects of ita-wraJh;^ J?' it not possible thaj: our friend has — ihot # an arrow o'er the' house, !A.nd hurt his brother.?. „ ■■'„:• ;