THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1101, 16 June 1882, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1882.

The good people of Christchurch have of late been subjected to a violent eruption of larrikinism, which recently has assumed such formidable proportions, that respectable citizens are actually afraid to leave their houses after dark, as in doing so they are in fear of either gross insult or violent and unprovoked assault. In Christchurch, too, the most aristocratic city in New Zealand, it is most singular that it should have chiefly arisen, we say chiefly, because in other centres, Auckland especially, we hear of the same element having shown itself. As all know, in Melbourne and Sydney for many years past, the larrikin nuisance has thiven till it actually represents a power, and all the legislation to check it hitherto has proved unavailing; About three months ago in Melbourne, the evil had gone to such a length that the magistrates met and, after consultation together, submitted a string of suggestions to the Premier which he promised would meet with the best consideration of the Government. The chief point in the whole recommendations was that magistrates should have discretionary power to order the administration of the lash to elder offenders, and the birch to the more juvenile, and no doubt the power asked for will shortly be placed in their hands. In the cases of Sydney and Melbourne, it is not surprising that a race of savages should have sprung up. In the first place New South Wales was, for considerably more than half a century, a penal colony, and the descendants of most infamous criminals worthily fill the larrikin ranks. Their parents never had any moral control over them, and they grew up without a good instinct implanted in them, but their evil was allowed to flourish without check or hindrance. Moreover, many of the g-eatest criminals were the shrewdest men, and by early purchases of land at the expiration of their sentences have left fortunes that could not have been dreamt of at the time of buying.

In Melbourne, too, the gold discoveries of 1851 attracted all the vagabonds on the face of the earth, and even though those golden days will never return, and steady raining labor associated with large capital is alone recognised, still the progeny of the original adventurers have grown up, and many of them are fitting soldiers in the larrikin army. But in New Zealand all the cases that so afflict the above mentioned colonies are absent, and the growth of this unpleasant element is a' matter thai should be nipped in the bud. Though the nuisance was not last year half as bad as it has since become, Mr Weston introduced his Bill entitled "Offences Against the Person' Bill," but it shared the fate of scores of other useful and greatly required measures through the stupid conflict of party by which all that was done was done in a most hurried and incomplete way, and half the present session will be required to tinker up the half-baked measures that were recklessly pushed through. The reception of Mr Weston's Bill on -the present occasion will be a very different one. All sides of the House see the urgent need there is to put a stop to larrikin proceedings before they attain a great head, and this Bill will in every way have the effect intended we have no doubt. Experience has proved that the most hardened criminals dread, above all things, the infliction of the lash, how much more will " the gilded youth " who take up larrikin practices fear it after one fair taste of this kind of punishment. In the Bill, provision in accordance with the Victorian magistrates recommendations, is made, the cat and the birch being leading instruments of reform, for some offences where fines are now permitted, is made a sine qua non on conviction. Better provision is made for the protection of female children against the fiends that disgrace the image of man from time to time, and ! altogether the measure has been introduced most opportunely, will be a great step in advance, and will probably prove an effectual check on incipient larrikinism at its earliest stage.

We are informed by MrW. Hindmarsh, legal manager of the Lankey's Creek Gold Mining Company, Limited, that the battery, steam engine and boiler have been shipped at the Thames, and the vessel left for Greymouth on Wednesday last. Arrangements have been made with Mr J. Mitchell for the carriage of the plant direct from Greymouth to the machine site. A meeting of the Committee of the Reefton Athenaeum was held on Wednesday evening and arangements concluded for the removal of the Reading-room to more commodious apartments in Mr Schulhoff s new building. It was decided to apply to the Minister for Mines for a Geological Map of New Zealand, and for Geological specimens to start a Museum. It was also decided to allow the Readingroomtobe opened from 2 to 4 o'clock each afternoon to ladies. Messrs. Lewis and Sergeant were elected to the vacancies caused by the resignation of Messrs. Broad andCarew, and Mr Sergeant was appointed Hon. Secretary. It is expected the new books, ordered in March, will now be on their way from England. The directors of the Caledonian Extended Company have accepted the tender of Messrs Crabb, Peno and party for driving extension of the low level, the price being 445. 6d. per foot. At a meeting of the members of the Reefton Jockey Club, held last night, Mr G. C. Bowman was elected president ; and Mr. T. Lee, vice-president of the Club. The following were appointed stewards : — Messrs Beilby, Cochrane, Finlay, Connolly, Williams, Edwards and Potts. Mr P. Q. Caples was elected judge; Mr John Dick, starter; Mr G. Wise, treasurer ; Mr J. I. Aiken, clerk of the scales ; Mr W. Richardson, clerk of the course, and Mr R. J. Scoltock, secretary. A private letter just received in Reef ton from Mr R. E. Gulline, states that mining matters in Tasmania are beginning to show unmistakeable signs of improvement. Speculation has lost much of the feverish impetuosity which characterised it some twelve months ago, and the progress made in. the mines since then lias been solid and convincing. Mr Gulline, who is now mining manager for three companies, for mining managers there, like legal managers here, are permitted to hold as many managements as they can attend to, and are not required to do manual work. He is now busy with the erection of machinery for the Land O'Cakes Company, the prospects of which he speaks very highly of. He expects to be ready to crush in three months time, and has two years constant work for the stampers, the stone being expected to go loz. per ton. The company's shares are now quoted at 255. Mr Gulline's many Reefton friends will rejoice to hear of his success, and join with us in hoping that it may continue. Another of those unfortunate accidents which have made the Black's Point road the terror of draymen, happened near the slip yesterday. Mr James Kidd was passing the point mentioned with his dray yesterday morning, when both dray and horse went over the precipice, and at once disappeared in the whirlpool beneath. The river was slightly flooded at the time, and it was quite impossible to attempt to do anything. Up to the time we write neither dray nor horse have been seen, and, therefore, it is beyond hope that the horse, a splendid animal, and the dray, together valued at something like £70, have been irretrievably lost. The loss is a very heavy one to Mr Kidd, and the greatest sympathy is felt for him. We have repeatedly pointed out the necessity of erecting a railing round the slip for the protection of traffic, and after the many

accidents which have happened, the Council may now be induced to attend to the application. ! Mr Win. Thurogood of Totara Flat has purchased from MessrsvMason and Vallence, Canterbury, the well-known thoroughbred stallion, 'Volunteer, the price paid being two hundred guineas. Volunteer is one of the best bred horses in New Zealand, and ;iti ia the intention, we believe, of the ntew owner to travel with him on the West Coast, where he should command ample patronage. Volunteer is a son of the imported Diomedes, who was by Hesperus (winner of the Two Thousand Guineas), It is notified that there are vacancies for boarders at the . Bishop's School, Nelson, and that the third quarter of the current year begins on Monday, July 17th. For terms, prospectus, &c, apply to Rev. Mr A. H. Sedgwick. The suggestion of Mr Win. Arnott, builder, to sink stand pipes in Beefton for the use of the fire brigade, was put to a practical test on Wednesday last at the rear of Dawson's Hotel. An iron tube, perforated araie lower entt,.. was driven into the ground to a '^epth of about sixteen feet, and the subtiqii' pipe of the fire engine was then screwed on to it, and the engine set going. '$b result Was, perfectly successful, forjjhe pipe, although only some two or three inches in diameter^ ( yielded a full supply bf water, the engine being kept going for nearly an hour without any sensible diminution in the quantity of water thrown. These standpipes, now that their success has been demonstrated will, no doubt, entirely supersede the wells now used in Broadway for domestic purposes, as they can be driven down without disturbance of the surrounding surface, and to a depth to guarantee a supply of water perfectly free from surface drainage and impurities. The matter is one of some importance to householders. The sharemarket, during the last day or two, has tamed down a little, although prices in the chief stocks have not receded at all. Wet weather, has always a very soothing influence upon the minds of investors, and the present break in the weather is no exception to the rule. A , healthy business is, however still being done in the most forward mines, aud the confidence of holders shows no abatement. The severe indisposition of the Colonial Treasurer or his Budget, or possibly both, is again the cause of the postponement of the delivery of the anxiously looked for Financial Statement. It is now promised that the important manifest will see the light on Tuesday next. Mr Holmes, the member for Christchurch South does not appear to have produced a favorable impression in Wellington. Of him the Post says : — "lf he does not desire to become notorious as a Parliamentary nuisance and insufferable bore, whose rising will be the signal for a headlong stampede alike from the benches and the galleries, he will take a friendly warning in time. Let him speak more Beldom and much more briefly. Above all let him avoid the offensive personalities with which his speech of yesterday was disfigured, and he may yet be a useful member, instead of—what he is at present." — The N. Z. Times also handles him somewhat roughly : — " We do not approve of nicknames, especially as applied to public men, but we cannot help remarking that one member of the House of Representatives has been fitted with an appropriate appellation. " Adjective Holmes" has already made his mark as one who is beyond compare in running the gamut of positive, comparative, and superlative degree, with a facility and flow of eloquence which, if not edifying or convincing, is at least amusing, until, by reiteration, it sinks to the level of awful boredom." Beecher says that no man without a healthy stomach can be good over two hours a day. The gold yield at Sandhurst (Victoria) for the week ending May 25th, was twenty-six thousand ounces, the largest for years. The Native debate in the Council was chiefly noticeable for the vigorous defence by Sir George Whitmore of his military career and its sequel. He strongly condemned Sir Donald McLeans policy, and declared that he (the speaker) could have finally settled the Native difficulty in another week had he not been suddenly " dismissed with disgrace an contumely." Mr Hart withdrew his motion for a Committee of Enquiry into the West Coast Commissioners' report. We were shown a private letter from one of the West Coast Commissioners at the Christchurch Exhibition to a resident in this city, in which it is stated that West Coast Exhibitors have been awarded six silver medals,and that the jurors have further recommended five gold medals, including a special ,one to the Commissioners for their excellent display and arrangement of minerals. When population is considered, very few of the divisions of the Colony will occupy a more honorable position than this. — ' New Zealand Times.'— Buller News. A special meeting of the Buller County Council is to be held on Tuesday next to consider ' • the position. " What they have to consider, so far as we can gather, is how to pay present accounts amounting to £1500, with an exhausted overdraft of £4000. A loan of £5000 or £10,000 for that matter, if they can get it, is, we believe, the way the little present embarrassment is to be got over and the way made to keep the pot a-boiling. The new Local Courts Biil gives very much extencfed-pTjwers in the civil business to the Judges of local Courts, the criminal jurisdiction remains about the same as the District Court has at present, and the bankruptcy powers are indentical. Two matters peculiarly within the jurisdiction of the District Court are a p

parentiy unprovided for, viz., the appeal from Wardens under the Mines Act, and the winding up of Companies under the Mining Companies Act. The Bill provides that no one can be a Judge of a local Court with extended powers unless he is a barrister of at least seven years standing. Supposing this becomes law the only one of the present district Judges it will affect is Mr Hardcastle, of Wellington, who was admitted in May, 1879. All the othera are barristers of more than seven years standing, the dates of their respective calls to the Bar being as follows :— Judge Ward 1853, Judge Macdonald 1867, Judge Kennedy 1869, Judge Broad 1874. It is marvellous to think of the advancement of New Zealand since the Dutch skipper, Tasman, first sighted its shores in 1845 ; or when our übiquitous Captain Cook, some hundred and thirty years later, planted the potato and the British flag, both of which have taken root, and flourished in the Colony ever since. Captain Cook proposed to colonize New Zealand even then, but it was not until 1836 that anything was really attempted. We have not the means of knowning hoUv many European inhabitants were in the Colony that year, but it is stated that there were 1200 within twelve months of that date. Forty-two years have passed, and now we number close on half a million To. populate a country with that number of people, importing and exporting at the rate of twelve millions sterling, in round numbers 150,000 horses, 600,000 cattle, 14,000,000 sheep, employing nearly 1500 miles of railway, is an accomplishment the like of which the world has never seen before. — Standard. According to the London correspondent of the Newcastle Daily Chronicle. "It is roughly estimated that there are about £6,000,000 of arrears of rent due to Irish landlords that cannot be got. Men well informed on Irish matters believe that it will become necessary in the end for the Government to yay the landlords £2,000, 000 of this on their undertaking to free the tenants from the other £4,000,000. The landlords despair of getting half the arrears, and if they were offered one third down they would— be thankful. The tenantry are not in a position to pay — so men acquainted with the country say. It would not be a surprise to see a proposal made in Parliament in the course of the year for a grant to the Irish landlords for such a sum, in consideration of their making a clean sweep of the arrears. "