The Daily Telegraph TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1882.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3541, 14 November 1882, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1882.

In reference to Mr Bryce's offer to Tawhiao the Christchurch Press does not hesitate to say that those proposals ought never to have been made. Our Southern contemporary goes on to say that they are derogatory to the dignity of the supreme government of the country; they aie humiliating to the Legislature ; and they are not warranted by law. We should like to know by what authority Mr Bryce has power to confer a life pension of £400 a year on a man who has never rendered any public service whatever, or to give away 20,000 acres of the public lands, together with other properties, the cost of which has never been voted by Parliament. The Government have the power, we suppose, to make Tawhiao an Assessor of the Resident Magistrate's and Native Lands Courts; to place him on the Commission of the Peace ; and to summon him to the Legislative Council. But it cannot be denied, we think, that any of these appointments, and especially the last, would be a gross abuse of power. What has Tawhiao done to entitle him to such honors, and what are his qualifications for such offices ? He is conspicuous only by having for many years resisted the Queen's authority, defied the laws, harboured malefactors, countenanced outrages, and obstructed settlement. This, surely, is a strange record to constitute a claim to the highest rewards in the gift of the Crown in the colony. Then as to his qualifications for a judicial office among Europeans as well as natives, and for a seat in the Upper House of the Legislature, Tawhiao is hardly removed above a savage. He is exceptionally ignorant for a Maori, owing partly, no doubt, to his isolated and gloomy mode of life from boyhood, and partly to a lack of natural capacity. In intelligence he is not superior, certainly, to an ordinary schoolboy of fourteen or' fifteen. He is also sadly given to drinking, so much so that at the last meeting at Whatiwhati-hoe he made a shameful exhibition of himself before all his people. Yet this poor creature is to be made a Magistrate and a Legislative Councillor. And all for what ? In consideration of his abandoning a sovereignty which never had any real existence, and which has. long been a laughing stock and a by-word even among the natives themselves. Tho reward is not only totally disproportionate to the service done, but totally inapplicable to it. If it ia desired, on Tawhiao and his friends consenting to abandon their foolish Kingism and behave like rational beings, to confer some recognition upon them, the best plan would perhaps be to recommend the Queen to make Tawhiao a K.C.M.G., and the rest of the chiefs C.M.G. Those distinctions, at all events, could not do any possible harm. But to make such a fuss about Tawhiao as Mr Bryce proposes to do, and, above all, to place him in a high judicial and political position among the European subjects of her Majesty is simply preposterous." The Evening Post comes to the rescue of Mr Bryco and covers his retreat from the interview by rather more than hinting that the proposals were made in the full knowledge that they would not be accepted, and so it was of no importance how liberal or preposterous they might have been. The Post says:—" We quite admit that the offer does seem a very Bubstantial. " consideration " for the abandonment of a mere shadowy kingship. But then, you see, it was not accepted. It has been made, and so the " king " has been treated with the most extreme generosity, while he has been explicitly told that if he rejected that offer it would never be repeated, but was rejected once and for ever. He has rejected it, and, unless we grievously mistake Mr Bryce s character, it will never be made again while he remains in office. Hβ is now free to deal with the question in his own way." It would not have mattered to our Wellington contemporary which way Mr Bryce's interview with the King terminated. The Post was quite prepared to turn it to the glory of the Native Minister. The circumstances that most peoplo would regard as most depressing under wbich Mr .Bryce returned to Auckland the Ministerial journal couaidera tbcua all

in favor of the Government. We cannot say that we do. We think Mr Bryce made an unnecessary venture when he essayed the feat that Caesar once boasted of accomplishing. He went and he saw, and he had to come back again without conquering, and anything of that sort may be regarded as a mistake.

We hear that by the death of his father, Minister of State in Denmark, 1848, Mr Holm Langkjer, of Napier, inherits a considerable fortune.

The Hawke's Bay portion of the European mail via San Francisco has been forwarded from Auckland by the Southern Cross, which vessel left for this port at 6 o'clock last night. We may therefore expect our mail on Thursday evening , . The following weather forecast, taken in Wellington at noon to-day, has been received by Mr Wilkie from Captain Edwin : —Bad weather approaching between east and south and south-west. Glass further fall, and within twelve hours sea heavy in bay.

For the repair of the Havelock road th 9 Borough Council some time back voted a sum of money which fell short of the amount required by £12 5s 4d. This amount has now been contributed by the residents along Havelock road, and the much needed work of repair is to be proceeded with immediately.

Our Wairoa correspondent telegraphs that a largely attended public meeting was held last night in the County Hall to consider Mr Stewart's plans for harbor works, and to elicit the opinion of the ratepayers as to a special rate, and all the resolutions were carried with but one dissentient, Mr J. Powdrell. The special rate proposed was carried nem con.

The attention of the authorities has been drawn to the danger of leaving unenclosed the large concrete tank lately constructed in the Botanical Garden. Last Sunday there was a depth of fully six feet in this tank, and several children were leaning over the parapet to the imminent danger of their lives. We understand that the tank is to be enclosed with a barbed wire fence.

There was a large attendance at the art exhibition yesterday evening. We should, however, like to see the number of visitors greater during the day. On the whole we think the exhibits are seen to greater advpntage by daylight, the gaslight beiog hardly powerful enough. The exhibition was visited this morning by the pupils of the High School, who evidently greatly enjoyed the treat.

From Gisborne we learn that four thousand forfeited shares in the Southern Cross Petroleum Company were sold by auction yesterday at from 1/6 to 2/1. This chows a ri=e of over 100 per cent, on the prices realised at the last sale of forfeited shares. For sale yesterday there had been advertised 10,000 shares, but, owing to the excellent prospects at the company's works, 6000, mostly held at Melbourne, were redeemed, and only 4000 went to the hammer.

The Municipal Public Works Committee held an ordinary meeting last night. Tenders were opened for the construction of an approach to the Port Ahuriri bridge. The following recommendations to the Council were agreed upon : 1. That the Council reconsider in committee the advisability of amending or repealing bye-law No. 19, building regulations, or any other bye-law. 2. That the vouchers amounting to £223 4s 2d be passed for payment.

The lovely full-blown azalea which forms the coup de grace to the flowering plants and ferns displayed on the central table at the exhibition has been a source of general admiration to visitors. It is the finest plant of the kind we have seen. It stands nearly four feet high, and is covered with a profusion of highly developed blossoms. The flowers are so large and perfect that some visitors express doubts of their genuineness. Every one interested in horticulture ought to see this beautiful plant, which was lent to tbe exhibition by Mr J. G. Kinross. The annual meeting of shareholders in the Napier Land and Building Society, No. 5, was held in the Council Chamber last evening, Mr Large in the chair. The report and balance-sheet showed the shares good on the books to be 499, and the profit for the year £289 16s, being at the rate of 11s 6-J-d per share. On the motion of Mr Cox, seconded by Mr Prebble, the report and balance-sheet were adopted. Messrs Cohen, Holt, and J. Sidey were re-elected members of committee; Messrs William Smith and George Scarfe, auditors; and Mr Charles Palmer was appointed trustee. The most painful part of the proceedings at the Harbor Board meeting last Monday (says the Wairoa Guardian) was when the members of the conference took down the county map to go over the different blocks with a view to arriving at a suitable rating area. The block granted to the Napier High School came within the proposed three mile radius, and when those present came to recollect Major Atkinson's refusal of 30,000 acres in theTaramarama,far away inland, and considered that this block, so near the township, would have enabled the Harbor Board to start the necessary harbor works, their indignation was naturally great. The fact is: the House is too educationally inclined, and not ready enough by half to assist in opening up the country by harbors and roads. If some one at the North Cape or Chatham Islands asked for 10,000 acres to endow a High School, or build an Art Museum, the House would most likely grant it without a murmur ; but 10,000 acres of land to endow a harbor, to open up half a million acres for settlement—the thing is not to be thought

of. Decayed teeth are not unfrequently_ a prolific source of stomachic disorders, which often arise through the inability of the sabject to properly assimilate the more solid forms of food necessary for the sustenance of the body. To preserve the teeth it is highly necessary that they should be carefully brushed night and morning so that neither acids or particles of food which destroy the enamel may attach thereto. Professor Moore, of the Waipawa Medical Hall, keeps the largest and cheapest stock of tooth, hair, and nail brushes, of any chemi&t in the province.—[Advt.] The old adage, that " a creaking door hangs long on its hinges," proves conclusively that longevity is not always the accompaniment of a strong constitution. But it is equally axiomatic, that constant suffering must of itself wear away the human frame and exhaust vitality, unless some auxiliary is brought to bear directly on the affected parts. Such an adjuvant is Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Abomatic Schnapps, a powerful alterative, an effective stimulant, a thorough tonic, and, withal, a most grateful and exhilarahng cordial.— [Advt.] 1