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Western Star, Issue 805, 29 December 1883, Page 3

According to the statement of a man sentenced at the "Wellington R.MV Court on Monday for stowing himself away on board the British King, things at the Cape do not wear a satisfactory aspect. Hundreds of men are out of employment, and every effort is made by persons to leave the colony. In consequence of the scarcity of work many families have been reduced to the vergo of starvation, and the greatest distress prevails amongst the lower classes. The accused is a mechanic named Casey, He regretted that he had been obli"ed to secret himself on board the steamer, but expressed his opinion that the arrival of so many artizans in the colony would be beneficial to the community. A cable message from Sydney states that the trial of the great New Zealand libel case, Cook v. Larnach, concluded on Saturday night after occupying the Supreme Court for five days. The Judge summed up strongly in favour of the defendant, whose evidence remained absolutely uncontradicted, notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts on the part of the plaintiff to upset it. The jury, after au absence of six hours, were unable to agree on a verdict and were discharged. It is stated that eight were ia favor of the defendant, and four for the plaintiff. Great praise is given to the Hon. P. A. Buckley, of Wellington, for the manner in which he conducted the defendant’s case. The Parisian and French papers generally in their leading articles on the Pranco-Chinese difficulty are now averse to further mediation with a view to an understanding with China, and are almost unanimous on recommending that vigorous warfare should, if necessary, be prosecuted against the Chinese in Tonquin. The Sultan has reappointed Prince Aleka to the government of Eoumelia.