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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1880-01-16, Page 4THE HURON EXPOSITOR. JANUARY 161 1880. NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. Stock -Taking Sale—Duncann &' Ducan. School Books—Lumsden & Wilson. Bargains in Boots—Thomas Coventry. TheHuronFoundry—J. S. Runciman. Boar for ervice—Wm. Henderson. To Saw --.1. ill Men—Beckett & Williams. Annual eeting—H. Y. Dirstein. Note Los ,—jaines Earl. Something, New—Robert Haxby, Varna. Farm foriSale—Andrew Ross. Painting—Wm. R. Frew. Mortgage Sale -of Factory in .Hensall. ..monennown•••••.%, -.411•111111 iirott exproitra. .SEAFORTH JANUARY 1E, '1880. t • ; Tmpontaiat Measures. Of the many important measures promised by the G-overnment at the opening of the Ontario Legislature, and which are to be submitted during the present session, those to which the fol- lowpg referenpe was made in the •ad- dress are, probably, pre-eminently im- portant. We quote the words ofthe Ad- dress foreshadowing these measures. First it is said: - "Some extension with d.u,e safeguards of the- jutisdiction of the Division Courts appears to be called for by public opin- ion, and &bill With. that object will be laid, before you." . The proposition to. extend the juris- diction of Division..' Courts has been fnily discussed.fer some time, and it is a question upon -which public sentiment isvery much divided. This Court has frequently been designated the: "poor man's court," and there is no doubt but. the expenses -of litigation in connection with itare very much lighter than in •.ii, torinection wit the higher ceurts ; and - if its facilities, can be extended with- .] oat making it al "dearer court," the pub - lid will certainly be' advantaged. . The division court, in a measure, is brought - to the people; instead. of the people hav- ing to,.go- long distancesto attend it. • if, therefore, its limits can be extended , so as to includeithemore trivial of the large suits without making its ma- •' -chinory too cumbersome,. a vast deal of time and money:will be saved. to liti- gants. Even should the increased busi- ness requiretheholdiag of the court for two.da,ys each term, instead of one as is now usually the practice, the expense a will still.be very much lighter than 111 connection with ahe 'County Co=urt. The divisions . are usually sallaand liti- gants, witnesses,, -&c., can go to their homes at night, and, if necessary, re- turn to court - next morning.. This, in itself, would be a very great saving and . _convenience ; but even this would pro- bably- be the least 'of- the saving, as the , higher up we go in court matters the greater the cost, as there are an „Moretti. - ed. niaraber of lawyers a,nd officials to be feed. The proposition of the Govern- ment is, therefore, a wise. one, and will p .meet with the approval of the people. Thereis, however, one important mat- ter which will haveto be provided -for. , 'Under the existing law the decisio,u of the Division Court Judge is final in all eases. While sticha a provision may tend to check legislation, it does not se.era just. ... The privilege Of appeal should be granted from this = as from other courts. . This would be just, and would likewise have atendency to Make Division COurt judges more careful in renderingtheir verdicts-, knowingthat their deeisionacould be reviewed by a .staperiorjudge. It is not likely that . such a privilege ..would frequently be taken advantage of, as we believe that the decisions of ' division court judges usually give universal satisfaction, but the privilege should, all the same, be .open to any who may feel a,grieved. The next measure is referred to as follows : . • -I ' ,. . . "From the proceedings in the .Do- minion Parliament at its last sessiou, the early abolition of the Dominion In- solvency Law appears': to be inaminent, and, in view of that event, it may be desirable that a measore for the equal distribution 6f the property- of execution debtors should be placed on the statute book of Ontario without delay." We think in th...aqnstance the Gov- ernment properly 'interpret the feeling and sentiment of the Dominion Parlia- ment. Had it not been for. the Senate _ the Insolvency Law would have been abolished, but it. is scarcely proba,ble .. • that even that body of irresponsibies will have the•temerityto lonePer stand out in opposition to the strong feeling on the part of the public for the abolition of the law. The action of the Local Gov - 4. ernment is, therefore, most timely. In fact, the--raeature they propose, will ful- fil in One, important , particular . the fimetions Of the existing itsolvetcy law, viz.: the equitable distribution of assets-. With a measure making prop& provi- sion fon this, we are not sure but. the country, upon the Whole, would .be as well without an insolvency dow.. We must confess thati,,experienc-e and ob- .servation have very materially modified • our views respecting the necesSity for or benefits of.. an insolvency law.. It does seem bard and cau,e1 that an honest man who happens - to be,. unfortunate should for ever afterwards be kept in a conditiOn of .pove"ity, by his . creditors seizing upon. his effeets. whenever he at- tempts, a new start in life. But, it is also a.fact, that many wile take advan- tage of the Insolveney Act ax' e not hon- est, and are not Ailing' to . pay their honest debts even if able, aid it is ofteu the case that these take advantage of the Act for the express purjpose of evad- ing the payment of their honest debts. Besides this, it not unfrequently occurs that honest traders who strive hard to inake a respectable living, and pay their way as they go, are seriously in- jured and crippled by the recklessness and carelessness of these same luso'- . vents. We have known men who have paid off their liabilities with 15 and 20 cents on the dollar, contipuing to do work and sell goods at prices which others who strive to pay dollar for dol- lar could not a.pproacli, and the public, in too many instances, utterly regard- less of this fact, patr6-nize the cheap man to -the injury and loss of him who only demands fair value for his work or his wares. Iu this way the honest man is made to suffer, while the dishonest insolvent is distributing his favors at the expense of his creditors. The In- solvency Act facilitates and encourages • this sort of thing, so that it has at leng,th become a question whether, it is • better that an occasional honest unfor- tunate should be permitted to suffer at the hands of relentless creditors, or that the army of u fortunates should be largely increase with the hope of re- lief through the nsolvent Court held out -before them. Itseems to us that the former would be the least of the two evils, and this is the view which is rapidly seizing a strong hold of the pub- lic mind. • The next subject is referred to as fol- lows-: "The frequent serious accidents, at- tended in many instances with loss of life, to brakesmen „erdployed ou rail- way.e, suggest the importance of some legislation making it the duty of the railway companies to provide means by which the dangers of this necessarily perilous avocation might be diminish- ed. I invite your earnest attention to this subject." This subject is not being taken up by our legislators a day too soon. The heartless disregard of the lives and C0111- fogt of their employees, and especially of brakesinen, by railway corporations, . makes it imperative that the Legisla- tiire should 'interfere on behalf of the fernier. Theoccupation of - a brakes - man, even under the most favorable. circumstances; is perilous in the ex- treme. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the measure to be introduced will be sufficiently stringent to compel rail- way companies to furnish ample safe- guards for the. reasonable protection of this class of their employees, and thus put a stop to the terrible destruction of life occasioned in connection with this . occupation. The next and last of the promised measures which we shall notice, is one which has already created considerable discussion. It is referred to in the Ad- dress as follows: "Certain of the statutory exemptions from the burdens of municipal expendi- ture have been felt to be a grievance in. sonae of our municipalities. A bill on this subject will be proposed for your acceptance and at the same time you will be asked to considen some other changes in the incidence of local taxa - Tho question of tax exemptions is one of considerable difficulty to deal with. We Will be better able to judge of the determination of the Government in the matter when their measure upon the subject has been formulated. In the meantime we need only say that the Government will require to be ex- tremely•cautious, and not allow them- selves to be unduly led away by the clarnourings of the cities on this ques- tion. There is now considerable pro- perty exempt which might be taxed without injury to any interest. But any measure which would propose the levying of a tax. upon aerobes and the ground they occupy, upon cemeteries, or upon Provincial or Dominion pro- perty, wouldsinot be acceptable to a ma-. jority of the.people of the Province. The demaad.for change -in this matter proceeds almost wholly from the_cities.. The people in the rural districts' sate generally satisfied with thelaw as it now stands, as it does not materially affect there. But were it changed so as to include as taxable the property which has been -procured in, those cities with their money, they. would speedily feel its effect. There is no doubt, how- ever, but the Government thoroughly understand the. position, and it is not likely they will go so far as to estrange from there on this question their warm- est and best supporters. The measures referred to above are not all, by any means, that have been proraised for this session. They are, however, among the most important. But even were th.ey the only plies to be I submitted, they would form by no l means an insignificant budget for one I session. Intaking up these, it cannot be said the Government have evinced. i either timidity or -a desire to avoid! difficult and dangerous questions, when ! the public needs demaild they should I grapple with them. On the contrary, we think even their most bitter oppou- ents must admit that they lax, e shown au appreciative! knowledge of the- re- ! quirements of the people, and a deter- i miaation to supply the legiSlation to ; meet those requirements, even although that legislation may be somewlat trou- blesome and dangerous for. them to handle. On this as on all fornaer occa- sions they have bravely -faced their duty. We have frequently- before stated that the Ontario Legislature has been the f pioneer in respect of all the reforms of modern times; and that the larger ande more pretentious body at Ottawa, as well as the Legislatures of this other Provinces, have been merely iinitators. Judging from the programma submitted for the present session, our Provincial law makers are still bound to hold their position. That the people appreciate_ their efforts has been repeatedly and amply proven, and. the few who affect to believe . that our Local Legislaturo. has outgrown itsusefulness, are only those who are jealous of the progress we have made, and. Who desire to destroy the system solely that they may there- by inflict a blow upon those who have worked it so successfully. The' Ontario Legislature—Not From the Gallery.. (From Our Special Correspondent.) The opening of a session of Pori ment is always an interesting occasio Then the leaders of contending parti are confronted. on a common platform the expectation which always awai the announcement of a Governmen has the unenviable notoriety of pro- ducing the longest election case on record (it is uot yet out of - court), has sen t. to this Parliament Captain Neelen, who sits, ruddy -faced, stout, and happy, and dressed in a grey tweed suit, on one of the back benches. Of the members for Hur , Mr. Ross retains his old seat in t .e front row, Mr. Bishop sits on thes Tend row, while • Mr. Gibson, with characteristic modesty and unob- trusiveness, clings to the seat away back against th.e Wall, which be occu- pied last session. THE OPENING PROCEEDINGS. You have already noticed the election of Col. Clarke to the Speaker's chair, so that upon that subject I need not say more than that- his popularity on both sides of the House is a proof of the hap- py choice that the Government made, es and a guarantee that both majority and minority will receive impartial justice at his hands. ia,- The Speech_ from the Throne, in its n. fullness, comprehensivenesssand import- ance, was somewhat of a surprise, and es so completely paralysed any disposition ; on the part of the Opposition to grurn- es ble, that their leader had hardly a word of complaint to offer. He was forced to policy is brought to an issue; there is the usual pomp and excitement attend- ant upon the visit of royalty or vice- royalty to the "faithful commons ;" and the people, through their representa- tives, take a fresh start in political pro - (Tess. But an enlarged and special in - Ver st has connected itself with the ope ing of the present session of the On ario Legislature. It is a new House; and in the somewhat severe struggle from Which it has emerged, a good many old heads were knocked off, and a good. many new ones set up. The changed. aspect of the House; the demeanor victor and vanquished might.be expect- ed to show towards each other, after the hard and merciless blows of their recent encounter; the raising by a few Tory journalists of the question of the desirability of the very existence of the Local Legislature ; and, above all, the fact that the Speech from the Throne delivered last week was, from the num- 'promised, perhaps the most impotant num- ber and greatness of the measur it that has been presented since Coifed- eration ;—all these_ considerations as united to impart to the public a Oa 01 than ordinary interest in the pr:sen express his approval of several of the measures promised, the only paragraph to which he raised any objection being that containing the proposition for the erection of new Parliament buildings. He, theiefore, took the wise course of deprecating any protracted ,debate on the Address, and it ouly occupied on Friday a little less than two hours,..the only speakers beiug the mover, Mr. Mc- Laughlin, of West Durham, and the seconder, Mr. Waters, of North Middle- sex, Mr. Meredith and Mr. Mowat. In former sessions the Debate on the Ad- dress sometimes extended over nearlk as many weeks. The most salient characteristic of the debate was the good feeling that per- vaded it. Mr. Meredith plade a manly speech, which did credit to his good sense, and called forth applause from both sides of the House. He did not shirk the Stern Fact of Defeat, but frankly declared that he had gone to the people on the principles of econ- omy, that the people had chosen to reject him, and that he bowed to their decision. While announcing the intention of the Opposition to constant - re watch and criticize the Government, 13 he also stated that they were willing to t assistin any legislation for the cora- ., mon good of the country, and he hoped that both parties would forget the bit- ter feelings of the past and in future learn to give as well as to take. These ,session. i THE NEW HOUSE. The most striking feature of • the ne Assembly is the large amount of ne blood which it contains. I have co 11 ed no less than thirty-five member n which he did in a short speech, replete e, with good feeliug, 'humor and happy e flashes of wit, which rallied the whole - House about him. With such an ex- - cellent beginning, therefore, and with a, the Opposition on its good behaviour, a there is every prospect of this session being a model one of practical legisla- •d tion. Parliament. The Government isjith • same, and the Opposition is the ea e— only rather less so. The well-knbw faces of the leading supporters on can side, with a few exceptions, are • to b seen crowding as near as possible to th front benches. One of the most re marka-ble, and at the same time spiels did, things about Mr. Mowat's. victor of June last, was that not only ever member at his Governraentrbut tearl every one of his leading supporters i the old House was returned, while hi opponents lost several of their best men Among the latter was no less a ma than a prospective member of Mr Meredith's Government. I refer to Mr Deacon, who felt So sure of his electio that he actually went among his con stituents beforehand telling them tha he was going to be the next Commis sioner of Crown Lands. Haw the poi) man raust have cursed the irony o fate! The Opposition have also los Dr. O'SulliVaai, who has abandoned politics iva fit -of disgust—no doubt with his Own party; Dr. Barr, Mr. Flesher and- several other men Whose usefulness they willmiss. They retain however, Mr. Creighton, the almanac man and an interminable talker; Mr. Merrick, who rides the Orange AssOcia- tion donkey; Mr. Rosevear, the buffoon of perrenial smiles, but without a grain of sense; Mr. Calvin, an eccentric old gentleman in his dotage, who has got into Parliament through the influence of his wealth; Tooley, who never opens his mouth, but is a good voter; and, lastly,, that great hulk of nothingness, !Mr. Lauder, who abor4 under the hallucination hat le is the Edward Blake of1 the ory Opposition, but is really a dead eight on his friend: 'Their acquisi- ions include Mr. McMaster, a , young Montreal lawyer, who representsan uteri° constituency (Glengarry), land vho has within the past few weeks prung into some notoriety from hi4 an- exation-independeuce theories. They aye certainly, apart from numbers, ost much of their. previous strength, hie ,their original weakness has been onsidera,bly augmented. Mr. Mere- ith must have recognized this, for, he as intimated his desire that the as- erities of last session might be absent Om the debates of this. The snubbing e and his party received at the hands the people, has brought his high oraach down. The Government's strength, on the ther hand, appears to be so greatly in- reased as to be almost a subject of un-. asiness ; for no patriot should observe e permanent aggrandizement of any arty in the State with complacence. he sterling honesty of Mr. Mowat nd his colleagues in the Government, owever, disarms of its force any ap- aension of this kind. The really le supporters of the Government are numerous that it would be invidious name one or two without naming any more; still I cannot avoid refe ng to three or four new member ho will certainly prove to be strop quisitions. The seat in the fron w, next to that of the Treasurer, fo erly so ably occupied by Mr. Jame ethune, whose absence will be muc t, has a worthy occupant in Mr mes Young, an old Dominion Par reentarian and a useful man in an pacity. Almost directly behind hi s Mr. Herman Cook, another ex mber of the Dotainion. House. Mr bson, of Hamilton, Mr. Badgerow, o st York, and Mr. McLaughlin, wh ved the address, are all gentlemen ssessing the qualities of successful slators. • The county of Lincoln, ch- was unrepresented during the ire term of the last Parliament, and t- sentiments Mr. Mowat was,. of course, s both ready and happy to reciprocate, whom I do not remember to have ee in the last House; in addition to ti es Stormont and West Hastingswhic ar still, owing to the decisions of the lec tion Court, unrepresented, will both un doulitedly send new men. • This i House of eighty-eight members,' 's pretty considerable change. Still, the House is essentially the ol FORMALISM AND RED-TAPEISM. A good deal of useless formality and red -tape still cumbers the opening pro- ceedings of a session of our Provincial Assembly. We Canadians. are becom- ing more and more so Democratic and. practical in our tastes as to pay no deference to anything savoring of mum- mery. I am not now referriug to the grotesgne and solemn comicalities the y flimsy mockery of ' royalty, and the n gasping attempt at pomp, which ac- s companies the delivery of the Lieuten- . ant -Governor's speech, but to the mina - 11 idry which takes place in the House . mostly after His Honor's departure. . What nonsense, for instance, is. it for every newly elected speaker to repeat - that statement, in which he declares t I that he is '"but little able to fulfil the - important duties assigned to me,," when r he knows that if he was "but little, fe\ able" to fulfil those duties, he never 0 11 1 fr 1.1 of at th a pr ab SO to ac ro fel lia Ca sit me Gi Ea D10 egi whi nt 11 • would have been elected to the office -Then he claims "access to your Honor, person at all reasonable times," which I supposesis a proper claim to pref before the representative of royalt though it seems superfluous when have the duties of Lieutenant -Govern ors distinctly defined in the British North American Act. In reply to these statements and claims, the Pro vincial Secretary reads the stereotyped form, "I am commanded by His Honor the Lieutenant -Governor," &c., when the Lieutenant -Governor had. never said anything to him about it, but he future years make the house look simple. - MISCELLANEOUS. The prooeedings of Monday - and Tuesday have been almost solely routine. Some Government measures have been placed ripen the notice paper, but none have yet. been introduced, asa little delay is necessary, so that the Government may consult their sup- porters upoa their provisions before submitting them to the House. Little actual business will probably be done before 'next week. The proposition to build new Parlia- ment buildings comes in for a good deal of discussion. Mr. Meredith thinks the Government ought to cling to the pres- ent buildings, because of their historical associations—something like saying, as the Globe remarks, thatt'people ought to continue to wear fig leaves like Adam and Eve, rather than incur the expense of heavier clothing. As about $350,000 can be got for the present grounds,. and as land enough for the new structures can be obtained in the Queen's Park for nothing, it is believed that the expense of their erection will not inueh exceed what must in the course of a few years be expended on the present building in repairs. It is not yet even certain, how- ever, that the Queen's Park will be se- lected, as some of the members think that is too far away from the railway stations and hotels. A good many jovialities were indulged in among the members last week. The c.4-overninent gave their supporters a din- ner, and the. usual State Dinner took place at Government House. With customary promptitude, the re- ports of the Minister of Educatiou, the Commissioner of Public Works, the In- spector of Division. Courts, and the Inspector of Asylums and Prisons have already been laid. on the table. TORONTO, January 1.4, 1880. , News of the Week. •RELiEF.—San Francisco sends $2,000 to Dublin for the relief of the sufferers in Ireland, ANNULLED.—The Court of Appeal. Rome, has annulled the marriage of the house, and on leaving Struck lira on the head with a club. He was found unconscious the next day:a His condi- tion is critical. No arrests. BRONEN-HEARTED.—The officers of the Bremen steamer Weser, which ar- rived at New York on Friday, report that while at sea a young man named Carl Heinrich committed suicide in his cabin by cutting his throat. Before he died he confided to a passenger that he had committed suicide because he had been discarded • by his intended bride. THE D! ND OF Game/a—General Webb was hanged at Hillsville, Virginia, for the murder of his father-in-law, Joshua Nester, on June 20th. The victim was a respectable farmer, aged 86, and Webb's motive for the murder was to obtain, through his wife, possession:of his property, which would descend. to her on the old. man's death. He shot Nester in the latter's house from Price's woods, near by. THE CHICAGO STRIRM—There was considerable excitement 'at the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, on Tuesday morning. A large number of the Union men,who have been off work for a num- ber of weeks on strike, went to the yards on Tuesday morning with the intention of resuming work, but found their places filled with non-union men, whereupon a terrific encounter ensued. The Union men assaulted the non-union men with sticks and stones and several stabbing affrays took place. The police have been called out, but at latest an- countsit was feared they would be unable to quell the disturbance, and it is ex- pected the military will have to inter- fere. The ma,yor has ordered the clos- ing of all the saloons in the vicinity of the yards. The whole city is in intense excitement. # - • TRANSVAAL.—The Transvaal difficul- ties appear to be approaching a crisis. A leader of the party in favor of forci- ble measures to maintain the indepen- dence of the province has been arrest- ed, and the bearers of despatches from the British forces at Pretoria are being stopped by the Boers. It is- hardly possible that open war will be attempt - Garibaldi with the Countess Raimoudi. ed by the Boers, divided as they are PRISONERS 4—The wife and mother of said to be, and. opposed by a cotapara- Yakoob Khan, ex-Ameer of Afghan- tively large force, which has already istan, are on the way to India as pri oners. CRITICAL.—it is believed that Prin Bismarck's health is in a critical cond tion. No hopes are entertained of h recovery. SURRENDERING. — A despatch fro s_ secured a firm hold on the country.' The forces which were employed against Secocoeni and. Moiroisi having ce accompliehed their work, were gathered is at Pretoria to await the settlement of the difficulty. Had either of the two re great mountain chiefs been able to hold. Cabul, Afghanistan, says that nearly jj a of/ the Kohistan, Loghran. and Log c iefs are surrendering. SWINDLERS.—The business of thr more New York firms engaged. i swindling through pretended stock o eratienS,has been stopped. Onir.-LaSergeant Parry, the emine English lawyer, is dead.—Frank Lesli the New York publisher, died on Sa unlay from tumor of the throat. REELY.—Keely, of motor humbug n toriety, is once more heard from—th time iu connection with a gun which, is claimed, will throw projectil fifteeu THE "Baan."—Russia's military pr out for any length of time, it is not al, probable that the Boers would have •eeized the opportunity to effect their! ee independence. • 1 n IRISH TROUBLES.—A conference of p farmers' chabs has been held at Mal- low, County Cork, to consider the land nt question. Several members of Parlia- ment were present. Mr. Shaw, Home e, t_ Rule meniber of the COMMODS for Cork, said the question involved was o- whether a million of people who might is live comfortably in Ireland were to be it driven to the poor house or swept away e to America.—The Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Achonry, Ireland, in e_ acknowledging a French subscription parations in Asia are attracting genera attention in England. The relation between England and Persia. are ver cordial. - PEACE.—The Emperor of Germany replying to New year congratulations c the Municipality of Berlin, gives a de cided expression of hope that his ef forts may succeed in securing peace fo 1 for the relief of the distress in Ireland, dwells on the pitiful condition of his flock, and declares it is painful to have Y to stretch out the hand to Anaerica, and . France rather than to flourishing Eng- land, which yearly receives millions from Ireland .as taxes.—Taking advan- tage of the agitated. condition of the Gerprmooalin3;1., HARD.—Naftal, who is ac - used of setting fire to his clothing, tore at Red Bank, New York, causin disastrous conflagration, surrendere n Friday. He protested his innocenc ud wept like a child. LATE STORM. — The terrible storm hich destroyed. the Tay bridge hies own 8,000 trees at Amberteldy, -and at oss 3,000. Indeed, the weather has _cense aborainable that last week theril ere only eight hours of sunshine. affairs in Ireland th Fi iE land are begiuning to revive their op- erations, which for some time have beenanuch neglectd. In London, Liv - ✓ , e en alas n ng- . . a e s r - I/ ci tr had clipped this • assertion from • the Votes and Proceedings of some previous year. He then proceeds to assure them of His Honor's confidence in them, and so forth, though this to me would sound rather strange if. the LieutenautGrov- ernor happened to belong to the party opposed to, the Government, as the next Lieutenant -Governor is certain to be, and therefore without any confi- dence in them whatever. The Premier also makes a numbet of formal/notions. One of these declares that the Votes and Proceedings shall be printed, "hav- ing been first perused by Mr. Speaker," erpoolt Manchester, Ashton, Chester, g , .1 c. i : Birmingham, Sheffield and other large e mantufacturing towns, the Fenian lead- ers are active, and rather startling stories are told concerning the extent of ✓ their revived organizations. 'THE CZARINA. — The Berlin corres- ondents of both the Post and g'ime8 tate that private advices from Cannes eport the Czarina's condition as al- ost hopeless, but direct advices from annes indicate that the Empress is in o immediate danger. . BLOCKIDE.—A grain' syndicate has een operating in Chicago with auch uccess that all the ,elevators in the ty are nearly filled, and the grain ade is at a stand still. The quantity elevators and cars is said to. be -about 16,000,000 bushels. A WOMAN IN .IT.—At the farm of ex - Sheriff Payne, Rock Island county, Ill., John Keyser and John Palmer quar- relled about a young lady while at sup- per on Thursday evening. Keyser seized a hammer and fatally pounded Palmer. The merderer has been ar- rested. SPANISH SLAVES.—The Spanish. So- ciety for the Abolition of Slavery has addressed a petition to the Cortes for the immediate and simultaneous libera- tion of slavesan all the Spanish posses - ons. Three sections of the minority in the Chamber of Deputies persist in who shall "apppint,the printing there- si of," though, as a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker never sees the Votes and Proceedings until after they The Lowest Tender. Mn. Eamon,s-I was at a municipa election on Monday, 5th of 'January, t vote for Councillors for the township o , Tuckersmith. There was a good larg number of people voting. There wa, also considerable discussion going on about our municipal and school affairs There was one man in particular among the crowd Making •a, great noise and finding fault , with the School Board , and their Mode of hiring teachers and giving them too ,, much salary. I Von- , turedbte ask the noisy gent if he was a ; trustee 'what plan he would. adopt in hiring ° tea•chers for the township of : Tuckersmith. He said he would dis- charge every one of them at the end of ! every year, the good teacher and poor f teacher alike—those that were giving igood satisfaction and those that were giving .poor satisfaction, and make a clean sweep. He would then adver- tise for a new batch of teachers and accept the lowest tender. He declared there were no bad teachers at the pres- enttime in the country. He said the fledglings from the Normal School were as good as veterans in the profession. He found fault with the trustees for giving Mr. George Moir Mr. Samuel Hicks, Mr. Henry Cameron and Mr. Mr. R. Hicks is giving good satisfactioa in. Egmondville. Mr. Henry Cameron, Brucefiehl, has a very large school, arid his work speaks for itself. His pupils are taking certificates every year at the Board. I think he is the right man. in, the right place to teach the young idea how to shoot. I think our noisy friend is not very well posted about the sal- aries of teachers. U he inquire be will find there are teaehers in all the neighboring townships getting $500 per annum. Perhaps our friend would like to get to be a trustee on the Scheel Board and teach free trade in hiring teachers, and bring in universal econ- omy all arotmd. Mr. Editor, I am afraid his chance is a little ren3ote. Yours truly, RATEPAYER. TUOIRRSM, January 7, 1880. Compulsory Voting. - To .fhe Editor of the Huron Expositor,. Dtaa Sui: As the annual elections have recurred once more, with all their accompan.ying excitement, and though of a local nature, it brings forcibly to mind the need of a change in the elec- tion la*, or rather of adding a clause to make voting compulsory. 't'And as the will of the majority should. rule, it would tend to give a fairer represents). - tion of that will by causing the indiffer- ent, stay-at-home, or take -me -in -your -a sleigh voters and grumblers to go to the polls and record their ve-tes. I say grumblers, for generally speaking, those who are the least willing to go out are the most ready to find fault if anything goes wrong ; and if they do- go with you they think they are conferring an honor on you rather than discharging, their duty by voting.- All such should be compelled to put in an appearance and vote one way or the other, aocording to their Conscience, without fear or favor:, thereby saving a considerable inconveni- ence to canvassers or persons interested - in getting the ri,cpat men into -office, It would also add a finishing touch -with. regard. to bribery, as there is nothing now to prevent a voter being hired to stay at home. Hoping to hear from yourself or sorne one more oompetent to advocate the subject than your hunable servant, I am, A VOTER. •ArnruN, january 1201, 1880. ___.1•11"momm..)11•0111moi_ Seed. Grain. To the:Editor of the _Huron, Ezpositor. DEAR Sins—For the information of those Wboill 311 ay concern, I have been, instructed, with your permission and gentlemanly courtesy, to say that the committee to report on spring -wheat for seed, at the last meeting of Prince Albert Division Grange, held at Hen-sall on the 27th tilt., specialy re- commend the White 1113Saian or Lost Nation, which proves to be only one variety tinder two names. Since the Aranatka seems to have done well in some localities, they say give it another trial. I may also say that, since peas are gone to the bugs, barley will, to a certain extent, be subetituted, and will, therefore, be sown in greater breadth. The Egmonaville Grange have instruct- ed me to oommunicate with parties near the Bay of Quints for a car load or more of seed barley. Any farmer, whether he belongs to the Grange or not,'Can be accommodated by telling any of the memberss or by dropping a post card to My address stating the quantity needed. Yours respectfully, M. McQuann, Egmondvile P.� TUCKERSMITH, an. 12, 1680. •Stephen and the Railway. Mn EDITOR,—Sir : We hs,ve read the news in your worthy. paper of Jan- uary 2nd, about the project of the South Huron Railway. The project seems quite sensible. Stephen people have ne • objection to the route so long as they are not asked to contribute Mile bonus, and. have no use of -the road. They were once led astray by some smart sponters, in -whom they had set their confidenee and thought they would do the best for the township, but the O best they did was to run , the township f into a debt of $18,000, for which the e ratepayers have more loss than profit; s and, therefore the people of Stephen township 'be on their guard in the future. They are naore willing to Con- tribute a bonus towards the Credit Valley Railroad, which is supposed to come from St. Marys via Crediton, wit through Stephen to Port Frank. As long as Stephen don't get at least a good station at Crediton, there is no hope for any bonus for any railroad„ no mat- ter:where it comes from or where it goes. VOICES 00 STEPHEN. Perth. Items. Mitchell ratepayers have abolished the market fees in that town. —The eldest son of E. W. Harding, Esq., Mayor ,of St. Marys, died sud- denly on Tuesday morning of last we—ekS.ome big threshing was done on the farm of Mr. Geo. Mayberry, in Eima on the 27th ult., Messrs. X. and H. Whetlauf th g s tashels of oats in three hours. The work was done by acnine nu actured by McDonalda abstenation. Richard Hicks t500 per alumna ; he . —A man named James Efollis was aturclay night, at 630 about a mile and a hall north of .Millbank: He was struck by a freight 'strain on the Port Dover and la McPherson ds Co, Stratford. • ROYAro VISIT.—It is reported that Al- asserted the best second-class tea,chers instantl kill d. iast could be got for $400per annum,and that no trustees in other townships were givinga any oftheir teachers $500 per -annum Now, Mr. Editor, I humbly beg to di.4- sent from some of the . conclusions of our noisy friend. In the first place, teachers are not B.11 alike in the same class. Everybody knows there are good and bad in every class of teachers. Some are well worth $500, while others would be a bad bargain at $200. And further, I think it would be bad policy for trustees to discharge all their •good teachers at the end of every year and run the risk of •getting poor ones, for the Sake of a few dollars. The lowest tender business is all very well, but it will not do for universal applica- tion. I think the best plan is to keep a good teacher when you have him. If a teacher is doing good. work and giving good satisfaction to the people, it is surely sheer folly to discharge him for the sake of a few dollars. With regard to the four teachers onr friend COM,-; piamed of, I might write a few lines. First, Mr. George Moir has taught a long time in Tuctersinith with success, and always gave good value for the money he got. He is allowed to be the best teacher that ever taught in section No. 1, With regard to Mr. Samuel Hicks, I need. say but little. He has been so long in Tuckersmith that he has become part of the instittitions of the place, and always gives a good deal of work for the •money he gets, as his school is a large one. As fax as I know, are printed, and has nothing to bert, Victor and George, sons of -the do with the printing of theme which Prince of Wales, who are now on H. is included in the contract of the M. S. Bacchante, at Barbadoes, will be prmnter. is resolution also declares that "no person bht such as he (the speaker) shall appoint do pre- sume to print the same." The Globe and Mail violate this regulatioh every day,- and yet the House not only does not punish such a gross and direct infringe- ment of its own rules but actually ap- proves* and encourages it. A still further resolution. contains a number of very stringent regulations regarding corruptpractices a elections, and threatens that this House will proceed with the utmost severity agaiiist all persons guilty of such offences. This might have done very well before our present election law was on the Statute Book, but now if the house proceeds to do what its own resolution authorizes it to do, I venture to think it would come into a somewhat serious collision. with the election. cohrt. It has been sought to justify these !resolu- tions on the ground that they are pre- cautionary, and that circumstances might arise rendering it necessary for the House to invoke them in self- protection. If so, I don't see why they should•contain misstatements of fact and I think they might be quite as ef- fective if deprived of their absurdities. ram glad to notice that Mr. Mowat has decided, at any rate, to place some of them in the lumber -room of the stand- ing orders so that they will not i at Halifax about the latter part of this month, when the Princess Louise will arrive from England. It is expected they will make a short stay at Rideau Hall. WEAKNESS SOMEWHER D Magee, Bishop of Peterboroi, England, writes to protest against the a:ppoiutinent of a special day of humiliation and prayer for the sins of intemperance, saving that the wave of intemperance which has swept over the land is subsiding and that the present generation is soberer than their grandfathers. UNPROFIT.kB4) PXPORT.-011t Of a lot of 205 swine s ipped by Daniel Cough- lin, of St. Tho as, for the British mar- ket, 156 died on the passage out, and the Inspector -for the Privy Council pronounces the disease to be malignant typhoid fever or hog cholera. The hogs were said to be perfectly healthy when inspected at Point St. Charles, and it is thought that the disease was contracted by exposure and rough weather at sea. UNGRATEFUL VILLAIN'S. — Thursday night eight masked robbers entered the residence of Jacob Nishley, tallier, aged 60, Lancashire, Penn., and de- manded his money or his life. Nishley, fearing violence, gave them $150, all he had in the house. The robbers received this with loud cheers and thanked him n for his kindneSs. They then ransacked Huron Railway. He is supposed to have been under the influence of liquor.. —Not long ago the Public School Trustees of Listowel carried a resolu- at one of their meetings to engage a music teacher in connection with.• the. school. At a subsequent Meeting, how- ever, they took a more prudent view of the matter, and rescinded their mo- tion. - —" Woman's rights" is a stern reality in Mitchell. According to a local • paper there, Nve are t -old that at au • election for a sehool trustee the contest was fought mainly on political grounds, A large vote was polled, and even some • ladies -exercised their franchise on this • occasion. —A_ somewhat novel affair to the vii lege of Burns, was the grand party given Christmas day by Mr. and Mrs. John Watson, to their two sons, who are going to distant parts to finish their education. There were present 30 cousins to the young men whoare about to leave. Among this eorripany there s were four twins, and had the full force of C'OUSi338 turned Oat there would have been equal to something over 50. After the company had done justice to the array of good. things, the spread was removed and the entertainnaent of the evening began, which consisted of the usual patriotic toasts, followed by the ladies and the guests of the evening, tA which Rem their a very , these ,--T the T1 driver road, being hie 1 that seriou • again Fergia for pa, aay lout n bas ed absee • that and It'B be eon -Tame but t rear lifstry adloi- blowi nate/. of May fire b was tbe is no runa inst. were bray, the wa • -the 1 The sane cnn - As. thei cat Tur the stat ene the' • hea b.ea don per4 the ber* gen one Th sta eta pr •tisa• i the, Con bat hov ene aro Thl 331.1t Wl ani col fro si