MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 23 May 1881, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

» By the new Land Bill the tenant's right compensation for improvement is to guaranteed. Tenants may apply to the Court to fix what is the fair rent Only tenants payiog £150 rent and over can contract themselves out of the provisions of the Bill, Excepting io the previons cades, leases and con~ tracts inconsistent with its provisions are declared void. This prevents abuses such as would take place in spite of the Land Act of 1870, landlords like the Duke of Leinster having sompelled their tenants to accept leases contractiug themselves out of the provisions of that Bill. Limited owners can exercise the same power as absolute owners under this Act. This is a departure from the fundamental principles of British land laws, and it perhaps foreshadows the wonderful of the law of entail. Provision is also made to enable the commission to give purchasing senants a Parliamentary title at a fixed scale of prices, in order to avoid the local exchanges attendant on sale and transfer of landed property under the ordinary law. Tenants can repay the principle and interest by an annual payment of £5, on the £100. The Treasury may authorise a board of works to advance money to companies for the reclamation or improvement of waste land. At an adjourned meeting of share* holders of the North British Railway Company, it was unanimously agreed to approve of the bill proposed to be introduced into Parliament for the restoration of the railway communica* • ion across the Tay, near Dundee. Mr Stirling, Kippendayie, the Chairman, stated that every month made it more clear that without the restoration of the bridge the North British Railway Company could never hope to hold its own <md get a fair share of the north of Scotland traffic. Looking at the strong feeling prevailing in favour of reducing; the height, the direotora were to make every effort to get a lower bridge, and he was not without hopes that they wouli succeed in getting a most material reduction in the height. It could not only be made safe at a less height, but it would re* store confidence. i A London correspondent says that tbe speech delivered by General Roberts at the Guildhall, after being presented with tbe freedom of the city and a sword of honour, created a great sensation, and came very opportunely just before the approaching publication of the report of Lord Airey'e committeemen on army organisation. General Roberts declared most emphatically against tbe short service system, and condemned the system of linked battalions whereby he said regimental esprit was destroyed. He further declared that the present army io unfit for our need?, and advocated the formation of two armies, one for Home and European service*, and the other for the Colonies, India, and Chandahar on the principle advocated in the House of Lords. The whole question continues to increasingly occupy pub* lie attention and an ardent con» troversy ia proceeding at Home between the partisans of abandonment and retention. General Roberts strongly advoacates reteition, and a memorandum of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, commander-in-chief, takes the dame view. Sir Garnet Wolseley favours abandonment.

Writing of the bursting of the Argyle dam at Charleston, the local paper says -.—Nearly a hundred miners are thrown out of employment, their claims useless, and a generally ' strave out* must ensue. The Government have been informed of the catastrophe, and the news of their intention in the matter is keenly looked for by a famine-threatened people. A man named Addison Rowland died ab Cleveland United States on February 3. He was a miner and lived in a shanty, and was'thought to be ia great poverty. On searching hia house after bis death £90 war found in gold £290 in silver, £528 15s in greenbacks, a bushel of pennies, quantities of fractional currency, 6 gold and£2s silver watches, and a lot of jewellery.

The Wanganui Chronicle says :— We have received a copy of a Bill, which it is proposed to introdace||nezt«*session of Parliament, entitled, •• A Bill to provide for the Formation of anj Institute of Surveyors in the Colony of New Zealand, and for the incorporation thereof." The following arelthej'proposed qualifications of members of the Institute, and it muit be admittedjthat the man who 'does nut come under some one of the headings can be [of no' standing' {whatever in the profession «— ' No; personj shall '.hereafter become a member of the said Institute unless he he over 21 years of age, and shall have bad not less than five (6) jears, professional experience, and shall be pos« sessed of some one of the following qualifications, name'y (a) a 'certificate of having pasiedjexamination as Authorised Surveyor for the Colony of New Zea» land ; (b) a certificate of having been cm* ployed as Engineer and Surveyor under any of the various branches of the Public Works Department of New Zealand ; (c) having been admitted as a Member or Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London ; (d) a certificate of hay« ing passed examination as Civil Engineer or Mining Engineer in some University of New Zealand; (c) ; who 'shall have passed such examination as the Council shall prescribe by byeiilaws tol.be passed under this Act, (if) being of high stand*, ing in the profession, bnt not possessing any of the above qualifications, if elected unanimously at any advertised meeting at which not less than members>hall be present, or if eleoted by a majority of the Council.' The last section in the Bill provides that no one shall be able to recover surveyors' fees in New Zealand, unless he is a member of the Institute, I or qualified to become one. Although definite results of the work" ing of any of the new gold mines in Southern India have not yet been at* tamed, there has been active speculation in the shares of the older of the com' panics during the past fortnight. Results from the South Indian Gold Mining Com* pany's property are being looked for almost every day now, and the dreams of some of the shareholders are of a veritable El Dorado, which will bring wealth find fortune to their feet. The reports that have been received from the engi* neers of some of these companies have greatly encouraged the hopes of the more ardent promoters of the enterprise. tTbere is still nothing for it, however, for reasonable men but to wait what is to come with suoh patience as may be prae» ticable. If one* tenth of what is said proves true there will be an ultimate addition to the gold stores of the world from the Wynaad alone of very appreciable magnitude and amount. The chances of additions from other quarters also continue to expand. There are glowing accounts arriving daily from the United States regarding the vast mineral resources of Colorado, which are only beginning to be opened up* The South British Insurance Com* pany bad a risk of £700, and the Standard Company one £300 on the gear on board the s.s. Taupo when she founded. New Zealand must be a perfect para* disc for the legal profession, to judge by the way in which the ranks of the law* yers are being increased. No less than eight new names have been gazetted within the last week or so, three of these being those of English barristers, who have been attracted to these shores.