THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1874.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume II, Issue 184, 10 June 1874, Page 2

THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1874.

I?he spirit of the times shall teach me speed.** KI&G JOHN, ACT IV.

It is a matter of regret and serious public inconvenience that, in consequence of tbe removal of Mr H. T. Clarke, the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court in Tauranga should have been reduced from £IOO to £2O. rendering it necessary either to carry many cases to Auckland, or to reduce claims to the amount which the local court can legally award. Major Roberts has hitherto proved himself an efficient Magistrate, and we think might fairly be entrusted with an extended jurisdiction; say, in the first place, to the amount of fifty pounds. A.s the probability of Mr Clarke’s return to his magisterial duties in Tauranga is remote or uncertain, it is most desirable that Major Robert’s powers should be extended. The district has, of late, greatly increased in population, and the amounts sued for in the Resident Magistrates Court are becoming larger every day, therefore the extension of jurisdiction in place of reduction appears to be a matter of imperative necessitv.

Mr Vogel, it is said, has expressed: bis opinion that Parliament will be dissolved before tbe year closes. The M Grey Eiver Argus,” an acknowledged authority on such matters, states :—“That although there almost a dead calm in politics, and while the colony is simply watching the development of the great policy initiated by Mr Vogel, the approaching session of the General Assembly will bo the last of the present Parliament.” We have already had a hint of at least one of the probable questions which afford justifiable grounds for a dissolution. A change either in the incidence of taxation, or fresh taxation to supplement the revenue, has been shadowed forth, and it is more than probable that the Premier will submit to the next session, a measure of such a radical character as to effect a great change in our fiscal system, and one which although presented to Parliament for its decision, may probably by mutual consent be referred to tbe constituencies for their opinion.

The following return, recently completed, has been handed to us by 2dr Hopkins Clarke, Native Census Enumerator for the district of Tauranga {including Motiti). °

Males .- Under 15 years, 162 ; over 15 years, 500. PeMALES : Under 15 years, 169 j over 15 years, 411 Total 1215. In 1869, tb© number of natives resident Jn the district was estimated at 1,100, The late census, therefore, shows an increase of one hundred and forty-five.

Otra member. Captain Sfwrris, has dons the district he represents, and the province of Auckland generally, good service by the action he has taken in causing an enquiry to be made into the working of the Homestead Act, and to ascertain if its operations can be extended so as to facilitate settlement. The New Zealand Herald refers to the subject clearly and concisely thus;—“ We are bringing into this country (province) people from over-populated districts of the United Kingdom, in the hope that they will occupy and settle upon the waste lands. Yet we have a large number of resident population who are practically excluded from such a benefit. Why should this be so ? Experience is necessary to the colonist who would

be successful, and it is fair to presume that tha person resident for years in a colony has more of it than persons newly imported. Many who would occupy land if it were available are young men bom in the colony. Is it wise to exclude such from any participation in the benefits assigned to free immigration ? We cannot help thinking that now we are told men are leaving the province, this question is assuming a character of urgency. The debate is one likely to be revived in the Assembly during its next silting. A land of strangers is surely as strange as a strange land.

In another column will be found an advertisement from the Colonial Architect, Wellington, inviting tenders for the erection of a residence for the officer in charge of the Telegraph Station, Tauranga. The advertisement is dated Wellington, 27th May, and it appeared in the General Government Gazette and in the Wellington Newspapers the following day. It is nob saying much for the «ons or energy of the Colonial Architect, that the notice is published for the first time in our columns to-day. As matters stand, the builders and mtractors have only four days grace—the time for receiving tenders terminating on Monday next. This is grossly unfair to the residents of our district, who surely have an equal right to the same notice as contractors living in Wellington. The advertisement is not a lengthy one, and we are at a loss to understand why the District Engineer was not instructed by telegram to insert the advertisement in the columns of the Bay op Plenty Times simultaneously with the Wellington papers.

We are indebted to Captain Morris, M.P.C., for the following telegram received last night;— * £ Pilot, boatmen, &c., passed last night.”