The Ellesmere Guardian. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1891.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 887, 14 February 1891, Page 2

The Ellesmere Guardian. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1891.

'.Aqaits has tjie Ellesmkbe Guardian changed ownership, if not hands, and it is now tinder the control of Mi W. H. Giles, whose name has been bo long connected with' it. Oar readers will, we are sure, regret to learn that Mr W. "W. ■\l74isp»r -who recently . purchased the property has been compelled by failing health to relinquish the active management of the business, He has therefore leased the Guahdian fop a term of years to Mr" Giles, as appears by advertisement m another column. Unbappily during the past few months, the unsatisfactory arrangements m force, m, some degree jnUttftted against the entirely

successful conducting of the paper. These objectionable arrangements have now been done away with, and the proprietor has resolved to make his journal fully equal to any countiy paper pub« lished m the colony. Special arrangements have been made* in the literary department, ancl m future the fullest prominence Svill be given to all loca*l matters, whilst the general news oE the colony,- and the Outside, world will also find place. The proprietor trusts that' the support of the public may not be found wanting. He will do his best to supply the district with a thoroughly j local paper*i and anticipates that his efforts may result alike m pleasure to bis. readers and m profit to himself. The Premier has spoken. .: That m itself is something to be thankful for. We have at last got to go upon more substantial than the frothy vapourings of ■■"'our. ""special correspondent at Wellington," ! or : "our . own representative, oh the Ministerial benches," whose lucubrations hitherto have been the only hints obtainable of the proposals of " the best' government New Zealand ever had.*' j But though be has spoken, Mr Ballance has tempered his oratory with a vast amount of discretion. As to the future, that is, When he applies -himself to casting obloquy on his predecessors on the government benches, he is less restrained. Indeed, after a careful perusal' of his address at Wanganui, we are forced to come to conclusion that <were all his aouse of the Opposition; -omitted,: it would read very much like the play of Hamlet, with the part of the Prince of Denmark omitted . The main head and front of the offending of the Opposition is apparently the effort they made to impress a sufficient sense of decency into th« House, tb persuade them to forego their unearned honorarium. This, to a Liberal— we use the word, though we deprecate the claim of the party to it —^-Government is nothing less than rank blasphemy. They are willing to bleed for their country, but they wanted their pay, earned or not, just the same. Mr Ballance then patronises the Governor. He was not to be blamed for the iniquitous appointments to the Legislative Council. He was m the hands of bold and unscrupulous men, who forced him to obey their impious behests. This is very kind of the Premier, and m face of the well deserved snubbing which the Governor administered to bis party, shows a truly admirable spirit of forgiveness. Mr Ballance does not tell us much of the financial proposals of the Government, He drops tantalisingly alluring hints as to an entire change m the incidence oil taxation, which will relieve people who now unjustly pay more than their fair share of ; the country's expenses, but he does not tell us who these unfairly treated victims, of oppression are. Of course he makes glowing promises as to reserving land for bonajide settlements. That cri de guerre is as familiar m his mouth as household words, and has never; had much practical result so far. On the Labour Question, he is decidedly vague. Of course he eulogises the "Labour Candidates," whom, by the way, he wants to rechristsn under the name of " Liberals," but he does not formulate any policy likely to conciliate the opposing forces of capital and labour. On the whole, the speech is what might reasonably be expected. Full of vague generalities and catchy truisms, it leaves the colony pretty much m the same state of blind ignorance as to the intentions of the Government, m which we have been languishing for the last two months.

The New Zealand Presbytery, now m session, is again attacking what it deems the vices of the age. Amongst others, like almost every religious body, it condemns gambling. Bat unfortunately there appears to be schism m the fold. .One reverend gentleman, hailing from Wellington, had the boldness and honesty to say that the chqrches which permitted gambling m their bazaars and fancy fairs could not conscientiously nor with clean hands ask Government to illegulise the impious totalisator. This bold avpwal seemed to cgnsiderably astonish the Moderator, who vehemently impugned the accuracy of his colle. .j's premises, and.virtuonsly., scouted the idea of the possibility oiguoh ft heinous sin

as " raffling" at any church bazaar. He 'ailed to convince the propounder of the heresy, and herein we fancy that gentleman will bare, denpite the Moderator's asseverations, the support of the public . Who is there amongst us who has not been again and again inveigled into the investment of more shillings and halfcrowns than we can well afford, on the extremely slight possibility of winning a monstrosity m Berlin wool, a tobaccopoach calculated to turn the visits of the nymph Nicotiana into the veriest nightmare, or a pair of baby's knitted boota ? And -there is uo difference, save only m degree, m the crime — if crime it.be— of. investing a shilling m a lottery for a useless prize of fancy work, or o( speculating the same, or any greater, amount m the delusive hope of winning an eminently tiseful money prize m a " consultation." Possibly however, the reverend Moderator makes a distinction. Gambling], Ke may say, consists m investing money- in the hope of winning something iincler ih!e J risk of losing the sum invested. Henco bazaar raffles, wherein no sane man ever covets the prize, merely tempta man to, improvidence. He ; speculates without hope of gain ; argal, he is not a gambler. It has long been a matter of painful notoriety that ciri6 affairs . posses'sl- but; small interest to the bettpr „c lass. , ooff f citizens, and the offices ofi Mayor;, and; Councillors m almost every borough m, iha colony aie filled by men whose qualifications for the office are not as high as they might . be, In t^e. more important r centres, the Mayor, as representing the citizens, has many social duties to perform, or rather, there are many social duties which ought to be performed by him, but which very seldom are. In some cases, possibly, the omission of these is caused by financial reasons, but m the majority, the official head of the borough gins through pore ignorance of what is expepted of him. A man, by constant agitation m some petty scheme of interest m his immediate neighbourhood, succeeds m getting elected to the Council. Henceforward his task is easy. He has only to keep himself prominently before the Council and the borough for a time, by ■ persist tently speaking on; one and every subject, and his election to the Mayoralty follows m due course. Men of standing and culture do not care to enter the lists against the blatant windbags who swarm at every corner, and the. consequence is the gradual falling into disrepute of the" highest office the burgesses have, it m their gift to bestow. A striking example of the unfitness of the aterage Mayor to cope with any question at all out of the beaten track, was exhibited recently m Christchurch. At least we suppose we are correct m stating that the Mayor of Christchurch is equal to the average run of civic chiefs throughout the colony. But, at any rate, Mr Gray was found unequal to the discharge of his dutiGS as representing one of the foremost cities of the colony last month, when Christ-: church was honoured by the presence of a body of the most distinguished and learned men m the -Southern, world. The Australasian Association for the Advancement . of Science has visited' most of the principal town and cities, of the Colonies. Nowhere have its mem« bers been ignoied as they were by the Mayor and Council of Christchurch. That visit marked an epoch m our colonial history. Possibly, no country m the world offers such attractions to men of science as New; Zealand. The botanist, the mineralogist, the zoologist, the ethnologist, each finds m these little islands specimens and conditions discoverable nowhere else. What an opportunity for advertising the colony under the most favourable auspices? But is it any wonder that these distinguished scientists left the City of the Plains drawing comparisons by no means favourable to Canterbury hospitality ? Therein they are wrong. Canterbury is hospitable enough, but 1 Christchurch has made the grievens 1 mistake of entrusting the dispensing of its civic hospitalities to men who do ' not .thoroughly understand the duties their office entails,

More wrackage . from the barque Asaaye has been washed a p at Chatham Islands. Amongst the jetsam, was a largo cask of oil marked M.R. and Oj., Napier. 5 fcThe Presbyterian General Assembly has been m session m Christchurch during the past week, dealing with matters of importanoe to the church. The charge of perjury brought against a Little River Maori, named Levi, m connection with a recent sheep stealing ase, waß dismissed on a technical point. Duncan Ross, who is styled, or styles himself, champion of every style of wrestling^ hj»s /as far, failed to^adc^ Qeqrge Robins6n~to bis list of vanquisheii fofirden; The mighty Maou", though rolling m fat, and altogether-out of condilwn, succeeded m besting the visitor m both the «atch-as-catch can and, American side-hold styles. Ross won^the Cumberland? and Q-raecl-/ Roman. The collar and elbow ended in'a draw," the match b.eins? postponed for ten ! days, and the stakes doubled. O'Connor offers to row iMcLean for £200, or , for the Championship and £1000. The race to take place m America . : , ; ■■ ■'.■■:..•'.:■• 'j" '' .■;;■■■ » A picture, supposed' to] be Titian's "Venus and Cupid," has beeaj unearthed m Melbourne and sent home for identification- ■■■' - U ? r - '■:' 1 ''■" ' ■' : , ' The If Ojr'th Jslai^d a|e isaid tq be )a{ling( tlie '^BsW that lays th^e golden e»^; f ' : ' 'They "iarif :n acijusyd \ of., >.' aiding! •storiiona te charge's tb'ioni'fets visitjng ' th? Hot Lake district, and a6 : scaring; away many .weuld, be. visitors. , 1 „ A^.o rae'etmg, of the fionthjbridge Town jßoaridfon Thursday, a letteriwaa received from Dr. (iossett informing the Board of a case o£ typhoid fever whiph had occurred m tue district. ; The ctae Was isolated and the patient had since bee(n removed to Chriatshurch. The doctor'clid not anticipate any spread of the dieeaae/ j The drought which has sojlargaly interfered with the general run o(£ the crops m .Canterbury, has not quite gained all the Bllesmere farmers. Mr. Hoi ley, of Leeston, 18 harvesting ama^ni&coht crop, some of which should run sixty bushels to the sere. A few yields like thisjwill atone for a good many of the Mid-Canterbury three and four bushel crops. ' Charily does not always begin at home. A case m point came before the Charitable Aid Board m Ghristchnrch at its last meeting, a gentleman, deceased, having left his property, to charitable institutions whilst hid relatives were m need of, at least, part of it. It will be interesting to know what action the board will take m the matter. Corporations have no souls, aad Charitable Boards are singularly devoid of bowels of compassion, b«t we trust .that our- local is the glorious ezceptioM. j The heirs of the deceased philanthropist should at least share m bis universal philanthropy. The Timaru goal is closed, and the Tjmarttviatis are disappointed. They think, with Artemus Ward, that a prison is a great boon, and that the removal of their strong hold reduces the South Canterbury capital to the level of a one 1 horse town. The Grand Jury of the Supreme Court made a prese ntment to the Judge the other day, oh th 6 subject, but "t^ey failed to adduce any very striking reasons why the looal instution should be continued. ' We have to acknowledge the ; receipt of the last quarterly Crown Lands guide for January 1891. The' guide, as usual, gives every information of Crown Lands for sale or lease, and of ihe mode of,, ac-, quiring them. ' - " { '" ' It will bb fresh id the memory of our readefs that Borne raonthi a ,'o the people of Leestpo ountributed some £6. 9s. to the fund for therielief of the survivors of the Charge. Qfthe } Light Brigade. This sum "was sent home and its receipt has just been acknowledged. A mysterious and a wily cow is haunting the environs of the Southbridge Town ! tlall. One dark night reoantly a member, of the Town Board, accompanied by the clerk, set out to waylay, identify, arrest, and generally scarify the sacrj'egious bovine. But she is evidently gifted with profound foresight, for when the investigators arrived on the soqne, .the cjw wasn't. But no sooner were their backs turned, "than; according to the evidence 6t other witnessed, she returned and calmly chewed the cud of the Belf-satisfied beast who. knows she is feeding where she didn't ought to was. And the ,next time those gentleman go stray cow hunting, they will take their blankets and camp m the TownJpEall all highf, but they will catch her, ' '