660
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

Inspector of Weights and Measures appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 26th September, 1874.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

GEORGE BARTHOLOMEW PURDUE, Esq.,
to be Inspector of Weights and Measures under
"The Weights and Measures Act, 1868," for the
District of Southland, in the Province of Otago.

WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS,
(in the absence of the Colonial Secretary).

Districts Court Clerks appointed.

Department of Justice,
Wellington, 28th September, 1874.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

ERNEST CHARLES KELLING
to be Clerk at Reefton, vice H. Lucas, and

WILLIAM MAYBERRY.
to be Clerk at Charleston (vice E. C. Kelling) of the
District Court of Westland North. These appoint-
ments to date from the 1st October proximo.

WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS,
Acting Minister of Justice.

Clerks of Resident Magistrates' Courts appointed.

Department of Justice,
Wellington, 28th September, 1874.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased
to appoint

ERNEST CHARLES KELLING
to be Clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court at
Reefton, vice H. Lucas, and

WILLIAM MAYBERRY
to be Clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court at
Charleston, vice E. C. Kelling. These appointments
to date from the 1st October proximo.

WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS,
Acting Minister of Justice.

Despatch from Secretary of State enclosing Letter
from Board of Trade relative to the Enquiry into
the Stranding of the Barque "Anazi."

Customs Department (Marine Branch),
Wellington, 25th September, 1874.

THE following despatch, with enclosures, from
the Right Honorable the Secretary of State for
the Colonies, is published for general information.

WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS,

Downing Street,
(New Zealand, No. 36.)
24th July, 1874.

SIR, I transmit to you a copy of a letter from the
Board of Trade enclosing a copy of a letter from
the Secretary to the Customs Department at Wel-
lington, and commenting on the Report of an enquiry,
held under "The Enquiry into Wrecks Act, 1869,"
in reference to the stranding of the barque "Anazi,"
of London, near Auckland, on the 5th of March,
1874.

I request that you will bring these papers under
the consideration of your Ministers, and that you
will draw their attention to the recommendation of
the Board of Trade that the power of the Wreck
Courts of the colony to deal with certificates for
misconduct, &c., should be placed beyond doubt.

I have, &c.,
CARNARVON.

Governor the Right Honorable
Sir James Fergusson, Bart., &c., &c.

The Board of Trade to the Colonial Office.

Board of Trade, Whitehall Gardens,
22nd July, 1874.

(Μ. 9824.)
DISCIPLINE.

SIR,-I am directed by the Board of Trade to
transmit for the information of the Earl Carnarvon
the accompanying copy of a letter from the Secretary
to the Customs Department, Wellington, enclosing,
together with other documents, a Report of an enquiry
held under "The Enquiry into Wrecks Act, 1869,"
in reference to the stranding of the barque "Anazi,"
of London, Official No. 52,823, near Auckland, on
the 5th of last March.

[The writer here comments on the conduct of the
master and officers of the "Anazi," and then pro-
ceeds as under :-]

The arguments of counsel appear to have been as
follows, viz.,-

1. That the Court had no power to do anything
   more than was authorized by the Colonial Wreck
   Act.

2. That this Act did not give them power to sus-
   pend certificates unless serious damage was done to
   the ship.

3. That there was no power under any Colonial
   Act for them to enquire into misconduct without a
   casualty.

4. That the Colonial Act gave them no power to
   make a report upon which alone certificates can be
   dealt with by Colonial Courts under the Imperial
   Acts.

5. That if they could derive power from the Im-
   perial Acts of 1854 and 1862 (which he denied),
   those Acts would not give them jurisdiction in this
   case, because it was not one of material damage to
   the ship.

Upon these arguments I am to make the following
observations, viz.,-

1. It is clear that the power given to Colonial
   Courts of Enquiry by Imperial Acts cannot be taken
   away or diminished by Colonial Acts authorizing
   such Courts of Enquiry unless specific provisions are
   contained for that purpose, which is not so in the
   case of the New Zealand Act under which this Court
   was authorized. The Court had therefore all the
   powers of a Colonial Court of Enquiry under the
   Imperial Acts of 1854 and 1862.

2. It was not necessary for the Colonial Act to
   give the Court a power which it already possessed
   under an Imperial Act. In fact, section 15 of the
   Colonial Act appears to be altogether unnecessary;
   it would have been quite sufficient for the Colonial
   Act to have authorized the Court to make enquiry;
   the power of dealing with certificates would then
   follow under the Imperial Acts.

3. There was in the opinion of this Board no
   necessity, as far as this case was concerned, for the
   Court to possess the power of enquiry into miscon-
   duct pure and simple, as section 3 of the Colonial Act
   specially mentions stranding as a case in which
   enquiry can be held, thus amending the Imperial Act.

4. No Act is required to enable a Court to make a
   report if they think fit.

5. The Imperial Act, 1854, (section 242, sub-
   section 5,) gives power to the Board of Trade; and
   therefore the Act of 1862, section 28, gives the power