News of the Dominion.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 24, 14 December 1910, Page 4

News of the Dominion.

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER. WELLINGTON, December 10. TL - ’Frisco Mail. ©NCE upon a time Auckland had the honour of being the Ne>v Zealand port of arrival of the San Franei-seo mail, and at frequent intervals Queen-street wharf rebounded twangily with tire great- American language. Now Wellington has snatched that privilege from the Queen City of the North. This week there swam in the pioneer steamer of the new thr nigh mail line from ’Frisco, via Tahiti, the R.M.S. Aorangi—once a favourite liner of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s fleet, now wearing the red funnel badge of the Union S.S. Company Iler (leeks were piled with South Sea Island fruit for the Chiistmas market, and her rail was lined with passengers for the Laud of Freedom. A sprinkling there was, too, of Britishers of all sorts, from belted earls to commercial men. There were tourists among them, and anglers; several of them have come out all the way from England for the New Zealand trout-fishing. The fame of the Taupo trout has spread to the uttermost ends of the earth, and has drawn out to us many an Englishman, whose chief worry in life is not to keep the wolf from the door, but to find enough troutlings and pheasants and other creatures to slay. So the Earl of Oxford, with his daughter, Lady Dorothy Walpole, landed from the Aorangi, with their fishing tackle, and lost no time in departing for Waiouru and Lake Taupo; and Sir Daniel Gooch, a rich Englishman is close on their heels; and there are others. A Man from Nevada. An interesting American visitor—down by the Aorangi—whom I met yesterday, was Mr. J. \V. Adams, from Carson City, Nevada. He will be up your way next week. Mr. Adams is a good type of the best and pleasantest kind of American citizen. lie reminded me of Mark Twain and Bret Harte and the various fine old colonels and judges that they have immortalised. He well knows, too, the life that Mark Twain described in “Roughing It,” for he is one of the pioneers of the great State of Nevada, where the silver comes from, and was there in the days when Samuel L. Clemens also sojourned in that land of sagebrush ami coyote. Tall, thin, white-haired, an I white-moustached, with the courtly manners of an old Virginian-—for choice—and with a soft and pkasant “down-East” accent, Mr. Adams is a typical citizen of the Yewllited Slates. He is seventy-six, but for all his years he has a youthful heart; and he is keen—like most Americans — on learning all he can about our laws, our institutions, our products our manufactures, our “paeking-houses”—• alias meat works—and so forth. Mr. Adams has had a distinguished political career. Forty years ago he was elected Governor of the State of Nevada, and for seventeen years he held that office. He lias so< n a lot of wild life in Nevada. Now', as he says, he is just a private citizen travelling for pleasure and information. When I left him he was going to look up Mr. Edward Tregear, heal of the Labour Department; then he was going to inspect the big meat works and woollen works at Beton i. Next week he goes to gaze upon the wonders of the Hot Lakes Country; he says he wants to warm his hands nt a geyser before he dies. He is one of a class of Americans whom we should welcome here as visitors —the real American, who is being slowly but surely swamped by foreigners of all nations. A New Land Court Judge. Mr. Thus. Henry Wilson, chief clerk in t! e lauds branch of the Government Railway Department, Ims just been appointed a Judge of the Native Land Court. The decision was made by Cabinet this week, but has not yet been gazetted. It is a distinctly wise appointment, for Mr. Wilson is both by birth and by training well litti d to enter upon Native Land Court work. He is a half casta! Maori, and will be the first man of .Maori blood appointed as Judge of 11 o Land Court. Air. Wilson was born forty-two year*

ago at Cambridge, in the Waikato. His father was the late Major John Wilson, of the 3rd Waikato Regiment of Militia, who served through the Waikato War of 1863-4. His mother, the late Mrs. Wilson, a Maori lady well known in the Waikato, was a member of the NgatiRuar.ui tribe, of Taranaki. He was educated at the High School, in the South Island, and studied law in the offices of Mr. R. W. Dyer, of Cambridge (now a Magistrate) and Messis. Russell and Campbell, of Auckland. Thirteen years ago he entered the Railway Department, and for many years had had charge of the conveyancing and other work connected with the Department's laud branch. Air. Wilson starts his Land Court work far better equipped than some other Judges have been, for, besides being a Alami-speaking Judge, he has a deep knowledge of native customs and history. It is expected that he will be associated with Chief Judge Jackson * Palmer in the Appellate Court. As a cricketer, Judge Wilsou will be well remembered in Auckland. He was one of the leading players in your city at one time, and held high official positiou in the cricketing world. He is regarded as about the best authority on the laws of cricket in New Zealand.

An interesting and sorrowful reminiscence in connection with Judge Wilson's family is that his uncle, Captain Wilson, and most of his family were killed by Te Kooti’s murderous gang in the Poverty Bay massacre of 1868. The only survivor of the family was a seven-year-old boy, James Wilson, now a well-known surveyor; he escaped in a wonderful way when his father was shot down and his mother and the children bayoneted or tomahawked. Poor Afrs. Wilson was not killed outright; she lived for some days, succoured by her little son, who fed her with eggs and whatever else he could find about the place after the Afaori murderers had gone. The Dominion's Water Power. The proposals of the Government in connection with the scheme for the development of the abundant water - power of New Zealand for electrical purposes have advanced another step. The Government has decided to advertise for a first-class electrical engineer, at £BOO a year, to carry out the development work. The position will only be advertised' in New Zealand. The first work to be put in hand, 1 believe, is that at Lake Coleridge, in the Canterbury district, and which it is expected will form one of the chief future Sources of electrical energy for the city of Christchurch. A Cause Celebre. A just-decided divorce case, which lias aroused a lot of curiosity in Wellington was the petition, Frank Evans v. Fanny Evans (respondent) and Huntly Eliott (eo-re.spondeiit). It exiled this week in a verdict for the' petitioner. The jury, after a retirement of four hours, found by a th rec-fourths majority that the allegation of misconduct against respondent and eo-respojident had been sustained. The jury awarded the petitioner the sum of one farthing damages against the co-respondent. The amount claimed was £5Ol. Mr. Justice Cooper granted a decree nisi. The interest which surrounded the case lay chiefly in the fact tint the co-respon-dent is a retired Ciw l Servant, of advan. e:I years; he held -a 1 fe pcs tio.i n he Government service when he retire 1 on a substantial pens : on. And whit made the public particularly inquisit ve about the scandal was the fact that th’ trial—the second hearing of the case —was conducted in camera by Air. Justice Coorer, who heard the ease. Extraordinary secrecy, indeed, surrounded the trial; the utmost efforts were made to prevent the public getting an inkling of what was going on, and the Br-ss were forbidden to publish the evidence, or even tne names of witmssis. This s rt of thing naturally causes much comment, aid “ favouiitism ” ’S one <f the m Ide st terms used by the man in the street. It i-ertainlv -ci ins curious that th- parties in the Evans-El'o't ease iho Id b’ so carefully shieldi 1 from the rude v : nds of Star t hnmbi r p-oi’"ii'ings of this sort are certainly not in the best interests of the community; th" Press should bo allowed to < xer is ■ its d sir otion in the reporting of all cases in the

courts of justice. And as long as ordinary divorce cases are beard in public, and certain snecial ones in secret, so long will th-re b’suspic ons of undue influence and Sunreme Contt judees will have only themselves to blame if the publ'c siys, as it often dors, that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor.

Our New Military Commandant. Major-General A. R. God'ley, the new C-omiranda nt of the Do-minion’s military forces, looked a fine stamp of soldier as he stepped off the Sydney steamer at the Queen's wharf this week, and acknowledged the salute of the Permanent Artillery guard of honour, which presented arms to him. He is tall and thin and lithe, quick and sharp-eyed, and evidently in every sense a man of action. A pleasant-mannered' man, too, but with the professional reserve that marks—or ■zhould mark—the soldier. He is evidently’ very keen at his work, and seems determined to make a good job of our defence system. From all accounts, he » just the right man for the work. He isn’t new to colonial conditions, for he has had a lot of South African service, and he fought well in the defence of Mafeking against the Boers. With our only Major-General came his staff—Lt.Colonel Heard (Director' of Military Education and Training), Lt.-Uolonel Burnett-Stuart. D.S 0. (Director of Military Operations and Intelligence), and Capt. D. C. Speneer-Smith (Staff Officer to the Commandant). Alajor-General Godley has his wife with him, and they are at present the guests of 'his Excellency tire Governor at Government House.