SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1871.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 614, 30 December 1871, Page 2

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1871.

{ A few weeks since considerable m--1 i terest attached to the question of the f change of the market day in Auckland. . So far as was apparent the substitution ' of Friday for Saturday was accord u n "" to the universal wish of the cit^j a. uc^ as for the country settlers, it f^ 3 with them that the' agitation originated. We hope that the then apparently all-prevent, has not oozed , out at the fingers' &<**■ How &r this lis the case we *-ow not > bufc have seen a petitio* a^d memorial going the rounds, to be signed by } the country settlers, addressed to the ! auctioned of the cifc7 and praying for I a returr *° tne °^ arrangement. That >j a few $ tne country dissented at the * I timo^'*ne alteration was known, but ) ! jj. $a& believed by every one that U Jb reason of" this dissent was only a conservative cJiuging to old customs, and that if the change was firmly adhered to for a few months all would drop into the arrangement and no inconvenience could possibly be felt. Persistence in any course is sure, however, to meet with a certain measure of success, if it is only opposed by indifference ; and the few dissentients having kept the agitation awake, unless now a determined stand is made, the whole community will have stultified itself in taking up a movement and then abandoning it on the first show of difficulty. The auctioneers of the city unanimously signed an agreement which they .flourished forth in all the papers binding themselves to abide by the new arrangement, v^e are really surprised and sorry, and almost ashamed to see that the ink was hardly dry on. their proclamation when one after another they begin to abandon their intentions and hold their sales on Saturday* And then, these gentlemen are so desperately touchy when we tell them that they have made fools of themselves; yet foolish and cravenJiearted they have shown themselves tJc^ : l?e, and we tell them so "distinctly, regardless of what they think. And we call,,on the people in the city to take actien in this matter. There is not one valid reason why Friday should not be the market day; and there are numberless reasons m its favour to which it is wholly needless that wo should agaK refer. The petitioners say it is inconvenient to them. Of it is ; and m is every reformation inconvenient before its advantages ;ii|ye been properly felt,, It was utterly izofossiblo that any advantages could

yet have been experienced from the j half-hearted way in which tho movement has been gone into by those who should have known better. Those that have put their hands to the plough in thia matter and looked bade have made two market days instead of one, and have so confused the thing as to make the arrangement more difficult to cany out .now than it was before. It must be admitted that those who originally took the matter in hand stopped halfway, and unless they carry the work through complete, their desires deserve disappointment. The general pay day for wages should also have been nltei*ed to suit the change of market {"lay ; and confident we are that a little agitation would induce every employp-r of labour in the city to agree with tViis necessary arrangement. The liistory of the movement, if it results ' m defeat, will be perfectly characteristic of Auckland No concerted movement is attempt but somebody proves^ recreant, -1especially if there is a chance c obtaining some paltry personal advr lia£eBut there are so lgfany advan*S ea 3>n the change of market day frc Saturday to Friday that we cal) on those who have identified them" 1*'08 witil the original movement to im^ De position they had ta.,ke We trust the auctioneers addro , s .-«i hy this memorial will treat tte- petition as it deserves, as emanatfo^ from—nobody, and as misrepresenting the true state of feeling both in town and country. As men of busioess they will not much increase respect for tl emselves by taking up a cause and the) ■ abandoning it; and instead of yielding to the puny pressure, they should taboVi the black sheep among' themselves, who, by deliberately breaking their writ en bond, have provoked this agitation.

Jjhe proprietor of the U.S., N.Z., and A. Fruit Depot has gone another step in aid of the endeavours of the temperance societies. Anticipating a rush of people to the ■ Domain on New Year's Day he has provided a handsomi fountain, which will be erected on the ground, and from which will flow iced effervescing drinks of every description. It must be remarked that the purity of these drinks is beyond all question, for the flavoring syrups are extracted by Mr Messenger himself from the various fruits. All kinds of fruit will also be there in abundance.

The p s Enterprise, Captain Scon, will make a tripto Ohinemuri to-morrow. She will leave the wharf at ten o'clock at night and take passengers right through without stopping. . The fare is to be ten shillings.

The Eev R. F. Maenicol will deliver an address at the Young Men's Christian Association Rooms to young men tomorrow afternoon, at 3 o'clock, on "The Passing of Time."

night to-morrow.

The Auckland Temperance Drum and Fife Band having been supplied with new instruments, will test them to-morrow, Sunday night, at 11-30 by playing the Old Year out, and the Now Year in. They will march round various parts of the suburbs, ancf back to town.

The next criminal sitting of the Supreme Court *nd gaol deliver}', will commence on Tuesday morning, 2nd January. The calandai is rather a heavy one.

,'A not'ee has been issued by the Sxperinteident of the Fire Brigade, stating tlat in future any person trespassing in their Engine House, or interfering with their machinery, will be prosecuted-