OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1101, 10 December 1884, Page 3

OUR DUNEDIN LETTER.

(From our oion Correspondent.) From time to time letters appear in;our daily papers under the heading f? Where are the Police?" but as a rule these letters are uncalled for, and the complaints contained ' in them ' are trifling. It may not be amiss to mention here that the Dunedin policemen, taken as a body, are as intelligent and energetic a set of men as will be found anywhere in the

Colonies. Of oourse they have their faults ; but, when everything is taken into consideration, they may be. commended for performing their unpleasant duties in a fairly satisfactory manner. The Nenthorne murder case, however, looks at first as if the country police were sadly negligent of their duty. The facts of the tragedy in a few words are as follow : — A man named Meldrum and his wife were keeping one of the numerous sly-grog shanties that exist on the Nenthorne railway works. Early in the evening of the Ist instant, Fitzgerald alias Garrett, Crowley, and White went to Meldrum's hut, ostensibly to play cards, but in | reality to have revenge on Meldrum for some real or imaginary grievance. The four men sat drinking till about midnight, when someone threw stones on the hut. Meldrum thereupon deliberately loaded his gun and went down to a creek close at hand with the intention of shooting the offenders , Mrs Meldrum and the three men followed him. Fitzgerald tried to take the gun from Meldrum, and in the struggle both fell into the creek. - White and Crowley rushed to help Fitzgerald and Mrs Meldrum fled for assistance. From this time nothing is certain ; but it is supposed the three men stabbed Meldrum, at least ones, while he was in the creek. He managed to escape to another tent belonging to a man named M'Naire. The three ruffians followed him, drove M'Naire and his mate out, and, in their absence, out Meldrum about in a frightful manner. During the time that they were perpetrating this outrage they were heard to say that they intended to murder Meldrum, and murder him they would. When M'Naire returned to his tent, Meldrum was lying unconscious, but he recovered sufficiently to be able to drag himself home. The doctor and police were at once communicated with, but the unfortunate man succumbed to the effects of his injuries while he was being conveyed to Outram en route to the Dunedin Hospital. At the inquest held at Outram on Saturday, a verdict- of " Wilful Murder " was recorded against the three men ; and anyone who had listened to the evidence would be well aware that a jury could come to no other conclusion. White and Crowley have been lodged in Dunedin gaol, but Fitzgerald is still at large. As he was seen late on Saturday afternoon at Clarks Flat, in all probability by this time he has been arrested. In the evidence at the Coroner's inquest, it appeared that this Nenthorne contract is a little hell upon earth, and truck-loads of bad whiskey and coarse rum are weekly sent up to the workj. There is no doubt whatever that the police have not been very diligent with regard to the carryings on at these and other works ; but as it is proposed to establish police-camps at these places in future, it is needless to" say more on the subject.

M. De Harven (the agent for the Belgian Government) and M. Beckx (Belgian Consul-General for the Australasian Colonies), accompanied by the SurveyorGeneral (Mr J. T. M'Kerrow), will, in all probability, be visiting your district early next week in order to spy out the land. M. De Harven has come to New Zealand to Bee what prospect there is of establishing a special Belgian settlement in the Colony, and he^s going to be shown the pick of the unoccupied Crown lands. The Belgians, as a nation, are a hard-working, industrious, and frugal race, and any district that obtains a few thousand of these men may be considered to have had a stroke of luck. M. De Harven, from what he has seen of -New Zealand, ia much taken with the country, and the opinions of a gentleman (and a foreigner to boot) of his experience are well worth having. His great objection to the starting of manufactures in New Zealand is the high rate of wages, as he shrewdly aayß ; A company ia formed for instance, to establish a carpet factory, and brings out several hundred hands ; in a few months these men will learn the amount of wages paid in New Zealand to similar artisans, and then will either strike or leave their employment. To avoid the ponsibility of such an occurrence,he proposes to establish factories on the co-operative principle, and, not unreasonably, thinks that if this is» done both New Zealand and the Belgians would be benefited. When M. De Harven visits Lawrence, I would suggest that some of your public men should wait on him, and point out all the advantages that exist for a special settlement in Tuapeka County, and at the same time they will find that he will be quite willing to explain his views to them and give his opinion upon such matters as he has already seen and noted.

In spite of the numerous letters that have appeared in the papeiß and the pamphlets and poems that have been circulated to the disadvantage of the " Fair of All Nations," it has proved an immense success, and the fancy dress-ball that is to be held to-night will, in all probability, be a successful wind-up of the ten days' bazaar. The "uncoguid" and other sects have been down upon Bishop Neville and his clergy for allowing raffles, and, above all things, " dancing girls " and " Christy minstrels." They say that the children who have been dancing in the national dances which have been given from day to day have had the seeds of ballet-dancing sown in them, and will be fit for nothing else except " playacting." Without disputing that there may be some slight foundation for saying that the proceedings at the Fair of All Nations has not been quite so decorous as is usually the case at Church bazaars, it is too bad to maintain that ohildren are spoilt for life because they have been taught some graceful dances, and that the money obtained at the World's Fair will be a curse to the Church because a few young men blackened their faces and sang Nigger melodies. With regard to the raffling and lotteries,! may say that I have been to many bazaars,both Anglican, Catholic, Wesleyan, and Presbyterian, but never before saw raffles drawn in such a fair or open manner as they have beeu at the Garrison Hall during the last nine or ten days. A good deal of money has been netted, and it is to be Hoped that petty jealousy is not at the bottom of these absurd and exaggerated stories. Mr Downie Stewart, M.H.R., is in hot water, and if the rumor that Parliament is to be dissolved next July becomes an accomplished fact, it is more than probable that Mr T, Dick will once more hold the honorable position of member for Dunedin City West. The facts are briefly these : The Dunedin Corporation, when constructing the Silverstream water-race, took a certain portion of Mr Sidey's land. Under the Public Works Act, by which this land was acquired, it became necessary for Mr Sidey to send in his claim within five years from the time of the proclamation for taking the land. Messrs Stewart, Denniston, and Holmes (Mr Sidey's solicitors) either failed to do this, or sent the claim in in a faulty manner. At the md of the five years, the City Council

offered Mr Sidey £486, which he refused. During the last session, the Hon. the Minister of Public Works, at the instance of Mr Do wnie Stewart, introduced a clause into the -Public Works Amendment Aot whereby six months extra were allowed for sending in these claims. At the last meeting of the City Council, Messrs Stewart, Denniston and Holmes sent in a little bill on Mr SieUy's account for £4806 (exactly double the amount of the previous claim), and referred the Mayor and Councillors to the clause which had been tacked on to the Act unexpectedly. Starting with the Mayor, nine Councillors rose from their seats and hurled forth denunciations against the enemy who had done this evil. A deputation waited on the Premier during tho week, but did not get much satisfaction from that gentleman. There is a good deal to be said on both sides of the affair : it certainly looks very like a big job done for the benefit of a client, but Mr D. Stewart has ably defended himself in a couple of lettors to the "Otago Daily Times/ and the next step ia looked forward to with great, interest by ttie majority of the ratepayers. Bth December, 1884.