The Evening Echo. FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1878.

The telegram in re Father .Henne- Ibery’s alleged denunciation os adultery of marriages between Protestants and Catholics, has raised a perfect storm of indignation throughout* the country. The Catholic organ in New Zealand, the Tablet, published at Dunedin, yes terday issued an extra containing the foi l-owing denial : “Tt is hardly nece sary for ns to inform oui Catholic friends that it is impossible the Rev. 1-tUber ITenncbery can have made the statement fttrihuted to him by the Hokitika Evening .Stitt tnd the Kuntara Times, for they are already aware that no Catholic priest could brand mixed n tirriages as invalid, no matter how contracted. We think it as well to say, however, that we have received a telegram from Kumara, by which wc are informed that the accusation has been indignantly contradicted ffy the Rev. Father Martin of Hokitika, and the whole Catholic congregation. The statement is a pure fabrication.”

while Father L. M. Ginaty, in a letter to the Lyttelton Times, asserts that he knows Father Hcnnebery too well to believe that he could be guilty of such an assertion, and that the rev. Father, being a priest of the Catholic Church, could not be guilty of knowingly propagating error. Whether the Kumara papers have told a deliberate falsehood, or the rev. Father had used language capable of being twisted to convey the idea now circulated, or the rash assertion had actually been made, we cannot of course presume to say, as assertion against assertion is no proof. At present we can only share in the regret expressed by Father Ginatv that the feelings of many good people should have been hurt by the publication of a statement calculated to throw unhappiness into the midst v. f many families living happily together though holding different faiths. The evil the statement may do cannot be estimated, and the sooner an autho ritative denial is given by Father ITen neberv himself, the better for the peace of mind of many men and women who have hitherto lived together in happy wedlock, but who may now be led into misery, strife, and separation.

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Our advertising columns to-day announce the intention of Mr S. B. Seymour, dentist, from Christchurch, to visit Ashburton monthly. He

will pay us bis first visit on Saturday, April 25th, and bis stay will lest till the Monday following, his operating room being for the time being at Quill’s I lotel. At the usual fortnightly sale held at the Ashburton Sale Yards yesterday, there was an unusually large attendance of farmers ar.d oilier settlers from the outlving districts. The number of sheep was the largest ever yarded here. Farmers appear to prefer cross-bred sheep and voting cattle for their paddocks instead of breeding from merino ewes, so that the demand for merino ewes for breeding pur poses was not so keen ns might have been expected considering the season. Fat sheep were almost a coni pi cl c drug in the market, as all the butchers seemed to be well supplied. Those sold were at least fid. per head less than at tbe previous sale. Cattle —f>7 were yarded, and all sold, with the exception of one small line of young stock-, at very satisfactory prices. About 53 horses were offered. For good draught stock there was a very fair demand. Light harness and hacks were verv difficult to be got rid of. Pigs fetched much better prices Ilian at the last sale. We shall give transac tions and entries to-morrow.

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

To-Day—Before A. T.f. G. Campbell, Esq., R.M.

Joseph Mulligan, for being (hunk and dis orderly. was fined £l. John Burns, for attempting to rescue Mulli gan from the pobce, was fined 10s. Michael Leo, for being drunk, using insult ing language, and obstructing the police in the discharge of their duty, was fined 10s. David Kerr, pleaded ginlty to having been drunk while in charge of a horse and dray on Wednesday last, and was fined T\. Wilbam Hughes, drunk and disorderly on the same date, was mulcted in 10s.

Francis M'T.aughlan did not appear to an swer a charge of being drunk and disorderly at Raknia Railway Station. He had been locked up by the constable but admillted to bail. Fined £l.

James Main Wallace was accused of having been drunk on Sunday last, and very refractory on apprehension by (be police. The constable said the prisoner k'cked like a maniac, and was “ the most ‘contrairy’ man bo has seen in his twenty-years’ experience as a policeman.” Prisoner denied having been drunk, and ac cused the police of unnecessary violence when putting him in the cell. His arm had been so injured by this .violence as to unfit him from work ever since. Tie adduced two witnesses to bear testimony to bis sobriety—one of whom had been in his company since one o’clock of the day on which the alleged offence was com mitted, and was sure he had not had sufficient

liquor to intoxicate him.. One glass of brandy was not enough, and beyond that the only tipple indulged in had been raspberry anil ginger.

The Seargeant did not wish to cast reflec tions on the evidence of two respectable trades men in the township like the brothers Leitch, who had given evidence in prisoner’s favour, but when he went into the lock-up, on hearing the noise made by the prisoner and the police, he felt satisfied that the prisoner was drunk, lie was not anxious, however,- for a conviction, and his Worship dismissed prisoner with an admonition. Wallace, in cross-examining one of the constables who had apprehended him, as to the violence used, drew forth a remark from that official that many intoxicated prisoners struggled and fought, injuring tnemselves and being injured, and when sober accused the police of unnecessary violence. The police were sorry to have to use violence, but it was sometimes absolutely necessary. James William Newman and Alfred Cox were accused of fighting in the public street. The charge was withdrawn against Newman, but a special charge of drunk and disorderly, and using obscene language, was preferred against Cox, who was fined 10s. Cox stated

he had been in drink, had attacked Newman in a fit of temper, had never previously been before a Court of Justice, had borne a good character throughout a long service in a Regi ment of Hussars, and hoped he would be leniently dealt with. John Hurley was accused of stealing a coat, the property of Mr. David Wilson, farmer. Lower Wakanui. Hurley had been in Wil son’s employ, and this coat, which had evi dently seen far better days, was only valuable in Mr. Wilson’s estimation, in that it served as a change to any of the men on the farm who got wet on a rainy day. He had allowed I lurley to wear it unquestioned, for some time, hut he had no right to take it away. The article would he perhaps worth 2s. or 2s. fid. Mr. Crisp defended Hurley, and asked his Worship to dismiss his client without a stain on his character. The whole case was a miserable affair, as shameful as it was mali cious, and one that ought never to have been brought into Court. It was trivial in the extreme, for a man could not he found in that Court, he was sure, who would take the coat in a gift. 11 is Worship dismissed the case, but refused counsel’s request for costs. Frederick Howard, a tall, powerful man, was accused of assaulting Agnes M'Laughlan, servant in the employ of Mr. J. F. Butler, New Tnn, Ashburton, and or using obscene and abusive language. The offence was com mitted on Monday last, when accused (as the evidence of Agnes M'Laughlan, Mrs. Butler, and Esther Butler, her daughter bore) had molested Agnes M ‘Laughlan in the dining room, and in the washhouse. In the dining room Agnes flourished a knife in defence, and threatened to stall Howard if he did not go away. He again annoyed her in the wash house at three o’clock in the afternoon, and she called Mrs. Butler to her protection. Esther Butler was also about, and had gone between prisoner and her mother, when he threatened to put the old lady’s head through the board, and treated her to language which was not decent, and was the reverse of complimentary. The actual assault upon the girl was of a very trifling nature, but as she swore she would not risk herself alone in his company, and that he was a general nuisance about the house, his Worship fined him Z 5, with the choice of fourteen days in gaol.

CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.

To the Editor of the Evening Echo,

Sir, — I am glad to see hi yesterday’s Echo a letter signed “Leighton Kesteven,” on the subject of Sir George Grey’s meeting, as 1 am always glad to see great public questions freely and fairly discussed by a gentleman who ;s not afraid to sign his name to his opinion. Before T attempt to reply to his letter, will you allow me to say that if I did speak of Dr. Stewart’s speech in the curt way which I am reputed to have done, I must express my regret for having done so. There was nothing what ever either in his speech or his manner to jus tify such a remark as “ailing fine speeches,’’ but T am conscious of having felt fidgety lest Sir George should he kept longer than he had kindly promised to stay at Ashburton, and that it would be hardly courteous to make comments on his speech to which lie had no time left to reply. I hope Dr. Stewart will accept this as my apology for any unintentional rudeness I may have been guilty of to him. No one is more fond of hearing both sides of any question than I am, and no one knows better than T do that Sir George and his views would both have been placed in a better light by any discussion we could have had at that meeting, as lie is far greater in reply than in any other kind of speaking, but a fair discus sion of the points in Sir George’s speech would have required many days, and that was not the object of the meeting. We could have said nothing to Sir George about his views that he had not heard before— his views are not now to be formed but to be acted upon, and, as Premier of this Colony, he came to tell us what they are, and wish that they should be embodied in laws at the next sitting of Parliament. Tins ’s more than any Premier has ever condescended to do before, more than many persons think he

ought to do, and because he meets us so far it is hardly right to complain that he does not take up the position of a candidate for election as a member of a debating club. I shall be only too pleased to see other meetings called to discuss these great questions amongst ourselves, and will undertake to attend and - take part in them, but not to defend all Sir George Grey’s proposals. Indeed, if Sir George Grey were surrounded with less powerful, less selfish, and less bitter opponents I should employ myself in opposing some of his most extreme measures; but seeing that there are plenty to do that, I am ready to give him all the help I can in doing away with class legislation and breaking the dangerous and ill-used power of those selfish men who have helped each other into every public place of trust, and then used their powe r to promote what they thought to be their own private interest.

I should judge that Mr. Kesteven is a young politician, and lie evidently quite misunder stood Sir George Grey’s proposal as to taxing land, and bases the greater part of his letter on a false fiction of his own creation. Let me ask him to study this important question, and he will see that his arguments show the injus tice and impolicy of the present rating system— not of Sir George’s tax. Sir George would tax land alone—his opponents would tax the fences, buildings, drains, and every artificial and industrial improvement which the actua 1 settler makes, and which the absentee pro prietor or mere land speculator docs not make. Sir George would make In's tax press hard on land speculators—his opponents would shift the burden on to land improvers—on to what Mr. Kesteven justly describes as that “ hard working and industrious class of the popula tion who by their own unaided exertions have brought it to the state of prosperity in which it is. ” On this important part of the question I cannot do better than to advise Mr. Kesteven in his own words, and say—“ Let us study very carefully this and many oilier of Sir Grey’s reforms before we throw in our votes in the dark.” Some of Mr. Kesteven’s questions are not very relevant to the subject, and need be very briefly answered. He asks “ what good resulted to France by the adoption of the per nicious system ?”

I hope much good has yet to come of it even in that misguided and long misgoverned coun try ; at any rate, I believe no true patriot would wish to see a return to the oppression and injustice of the old class tyranny. We are next asked what was the fate of Greece ? and where is it now ? In reply, let me ask what has become of the despotic empire of Alexander, and where is it now? Is such argument as this worth following ? A more pertinent question is : By what statistics does Sir George get the large major ity who are non-voters? By simply taking the total population of New Zealand, computing the population of male adults, and comparing Mie result with the total 90,000 on the electoral rolls, minus the large number of those names repeated many times over of absentees and of dead men, which reduce the net total to little more than 40,000. I am sorry to be obliged to admit that there is so much truth in what your correspondent says about the indifference and apathy of many who might vote under the present system if they would take the trouble to qualify, and the little value set on their political rights anti pri vileges by those to whom Sir George would extend the power. This is the weak point in all free systems of government, and the one which every true patriot should labor to remove. Without it no good free government is possible. If the great body of the people will not take an interest in their own government a lew in terested persons will bring about a state of things which they think will suit their own selfish purposes, and though they ofien fail to benefit themselves, they can hardly fail to injure the rest of the community by their ungenerous proceedings.

This is exactly the same argument that was used by the old slavery party in England. We were told that the slaves were fit for nothing else, that they would not know how to conduct themselves as freemen. But would they ever have learned in a state of slavery? And does die exclusion of half our adult males from the franchise give them a greater interest in learning their public dudes, and make them more fitting guardians of their own and their children’s and their neighbours’ interests ? If we really seek the greatest good of the greatest number, is it likely that their interest, present and future, their elevation in intellectual power and moral control, would be best promoted by excluding them from all participation in the privileges and responsibilities of their own government? These are serious quest’ons, and are not to be answered by merely calling an equality of political privileges “ this pernicious system.”

I am, &c.,

Alfred Saunders.

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

INTERPROVINCIAL

[Per Press Agency.]

Auckland, March 21

In reply to a deputation at Pareora, Mr. Sheehan said the Government would not repudiate the Broomhall bar gain if he kept his conditions. Samuel Atkins, of Fiji, writes, cau tioning people against going to Fiji, where the labor market is overstocked, and artizans and mechanics are fre quently unemployed. Wages are 16s. for good tradesmen, but some are as low as Bs. to jos., and rent is four times that of Auckland. Meat is iod. to is. per lb. ; bread, Bd. the 31b; loaf.

Friday,

The Blanche brings news from Roro tonga of a dreadful hurricane at Pau moto. Five hundred lives had-been lost, and many vessels wrecked. A correspondent, writing from Rorotonga on sth March, says one of the Society’s vessels arrived from Gabiti. reports that an island named Awau had been com pletely swept by a hurricane or tidal wave, of houses, trees, &c. Mr. Bosie, trading agent for Messrs. Branders, Tahiti escaped, with a few others. The greater portion of the group of islands had been devastated, and between 400 and 500 lives had been lost, besides several vessels wrecked. An eye-witness at Pan poke writes

The water rose overland, sweeping away everything. We retreated to the highest point, about twenty feet above sea level, and fortunately the cyclone abated when the water was within two feet of us. The Tahiti Government sent a man of war to the island of Kaukira, which had suffered most, losing 117 people, and all its houses and boats. The Messrs. Branders lost three schooners, one cut ter, twelve small boats, and the whole of their establishment at Arran. The cyclone continued from the 7th Feb. to the Bth.

Gr ahamstown, Th ursday.

The Governor’s reception was most brilliant, the whole community, Native and European, made holiday.

Friday.

The banquet to the Governor and suite last night was an equal success with the proceedings during the day. Subsequently the Governor and party attended a grand ball given bv the natives to European friends, which also was a great success. His Excellency expressed sincere pleasure at the general manifestations of loyalty, and the cordiality of his reception. Kumara, Thursday. Father Hennebery, through an agent, opened a shop in the main street for the sale of candles, rosaries, &c., and was required by the police to take out a business license, which was done. B alclutha, Thursdav.

An extraordinary accident occurred to Williams’ coach, running between here and Clinton, to-day. When near to the Waiwera a slight explosion occurred amongst the parcels, and im mediately the coach was enveloped in flames. There were five passengers, who got out with difficulty. The horses were unhitched and a portion of the mail bags saved. Only the iron work of the coach remains. The cause of the explosion or nature of the mate rial that exploded is unknown.

G Rkymouth, Th ursday. A remarkable accident occurred at the races. A , mounted constable had dismounted from his horse, when the latter in shaking himself made a pistol in the holster explode, the ball of which struck a boy sixty yards away on the arm, passed through another boy’s clothes without injuring him, and finally lodged in a third boy’s coat pocket. The occurrence was purely accidental. Timaru, Friday. Timaru Cup.— Lund’s b m Mnritana, 6st 61bs, 1 ; Ray’s b g Bide-a-Wee, 6st slbs, 2 ; Walters’ blk h Hippocampus, 3. Ariel and Templeton also started. Won by half a length, Hippocampus a good third. The result was a great boil over for the betting, which was in favor of Ariel and Templeton.

Handicap Hurdle Race. —Powell’s Shillelagh, aged, lost slbs, 1; Dunbar’s Theodore, aged, lost i2lbs, 2. Won easily. Eclipse fell at the last hurdle.

THE EVENING ECHO, FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1878