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Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 376, 24 March 1871, Page 2

An amuaing chapter might be written as to the various party cries by which the residents in villages are distinguished. Parnell is divided by the controversy " Back Slums v. Main Street." Yesterday was a field-day, and the residents in that usually peaceful village were in a high state of excitement. The meeting had been called by the Backslummers, and every effort had been used to excite the virtuous indignation of Parnell against the main street. The atmosphere seemed charged with electricity and terrible was the anticipated storm. The premonitory mutterings had been heard at the last meeting of the Highway Board, and the personal encounter on that occasion was regarded as foreboding something very extraodinary indeed. Some disappointment must be felt in the result, for the meeting has been flat as possible. It appears that the misrepresentation of the intentions of the Highway Board had been the cause of the agitation ; and the " backslummers " hastened to disown one another, and all complicity in each other's intentions. We are exceedingly glad to see that no steps have been taken antagonistic to the important public work resolved on by the Highway Board of the district. As was well observed by a speaker, the main road is used by all, whereaß the side streets are only of interest to a few. And the removal of the difficult incline, and the raising of the road at the base of the hill, are works of absolute necessity to the progress of Parnell.