EAST COAST NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1597, 8 November 1905, Page 3

EAST COAST NEWS.

irupAßom,

(Ftom Oiur Own Corrcspondemt.) November 4. The weather now seems to have taken , . op, consequently shearing is in full swiog, Matahiia station being the first to start on the Ist inst. and Tuparoa on the 3rd. The Tnparoaites wore treated to a leotura on “ Prohibition " by the Rev. Mr Walker daring the week, the rev. gentle r man being a fluent speaker and a fine elocutionist. There is one injastios which has probably oocurred to many people, 'Und which I have not yet heard any reoturer introduce in dealing with the liquor question. Why should a man oharged sixpence for a long beer have to pay the same amoant for a short glass of the same liquor ? This is a subject, if properly dealt with by the Reform League, would meet with general approval, and gain many converts. In my opinion the long beers procurable at the Coastal hotels are not half long enough, particularly now that the hot weather iB approaching. I regret having to record the death of J. Paddy, our blacksmith, on Friday night, 1 under sad circumstances. According to his statement, on Wednesday night, he «m having a walk on the bills at the baok of the township, and stumbling, fell about a distance of five feet into a gully. He vta found next morning at 7 o’clock in n hapless condition, having been there all olgbi He was mentally quite clear and remained so until within a Bhort time of his death. Dr. Davis diagnosed bis injuries m frsoture of the spine. He leaves a wife and grown-op family in Auckland. Much sympathy is felt for them by the residenis of this district. The Kaeo arrived here on Saturday, and discharged twenty tons of general cargo.

miAXUAKA.

Lb (From Our Own Correspondent.) £ November 7. “ Mr Clayton addressed a meeting of tbe electors in the Pakarae Hall last evening, , when a fair attendance of the free and < enlightened turned np to hear him. Oq the motion of Mr Wallis, seconded by Mr i Seymour, Mr V. S. Lardelli was voted to the ohair. After the nsnal introduction, the candidate spoke for two hoars or so, in the coarse of which he plaoed his views very olearly before the meetiog. Mr Clayton expressed himself in favor of tbo freehold teaarg of land, giving tbe natives a free hand to deihf. with-their own land, ;?^s!.^»r,rowrsi;;T.7K. ; a» eliminate political patronage, fair al oca lion of pnblio moneys to the district. Customs duties for revenue only, and other questions of importance to the district. Mr Clayton humorously referred to Mr Car toll’s address to his supporters in town on Saturday taat, and considered it very satisfactory to himself. Although all shades of oolitioal opinion wera represented at the meeting, ha was given a most respectful Searing. At the close of the address the chairman called for questions, but there was no response. At ihe instance of Mr Fox, seconded by Mr pyett avobeoi thanks was accorded to the oandidate Wit applause, also a vote of thanks to the chairman, proposed by Mrs Shaw and supported by Mr Clayton, and the'meeting terminated It may ba mentioned that Ibis was the first political meeting ever i held In thedistriot, but we expect visits Messrs Wall and Carroll.

TOKOMARU,

(Times’ Cermpo*dext.) Novembsr 6. ■sstfsa i wSsrs Fh sirs as usual on Boxing-Day. jj, for improvements to the grouu Tokomaru school, to close on the lUth in Word has been received from Wellington that progress is being made With the plans for our new Post-offioe-

SfAIPIRO BAY*

(Times Correspondent.) Nov 4, on WedoesaTho Haupiri arrived on Thmaday, and i^s2^“jaga-| W The weather is all that could be daSit G s 'neral shearing commences on Monday on the Waipiro station. , I mild form of potato bligbt-not to> confounded with the Icl9h ,| but made its appearance bore this year, b eo far has not done a great deal oi damage.

PORT AWANIXR

. (Time* Correspondent-) Ray 4. The eveDt of tho week, as I suppose I dual olass it, waa a double Maorii wed-] ding celebrated at the Horo when Mr Joe Fox waa united to Miss Hohi, of Ta Araroa, also Jimmy Morehu, of the Horo. to Mias Waikakaa Bangi, of the same place. The tables were beautifully laid out with all the delicacies of the seaßOo, and two large wedding cakes, one at each end, where the respective bridal catties took their places After ample Justice had been dona to the ediMes Bpeeohes and good wishes were the order of the afternoon. A large number of Europeans were present, and a ball m the TSSSJTSi , 2?S-»*-ftl ashore. and were received with the usual •» »<■ x ! i 3 plentiful tbero ought to be clen ß tv of fa* sheep for market shortly. is full of politics at present anf the general opinion seems to be that the Hon. J. Carroll will go in, if both the °*r°ftii!ht-out fight between the Opposition and* prohibition candidate and the Gov . ermnenti'there would be a very interest, jug eleotioo.

(By'! Kahulfure.")

Tho weather still continues as bad as ever. It has boon very wot this week, and all tho rivers are now in flood. Most of tho settlors aro shearing earlier this year than formerly. Preparations aro now being mado so as to bo ready to oommonoo operations as soon as the weather settlos, as tho settlors are anxious to got their wool away in timo for tho first sale of the London series in January, it being antioipalod that prioos will fall towards tho ond of tho series.

The Haupiri arrived horo on Wednesday, and loft the same day after landing a small cargo and five paesmgrrs, among whom were Mr and Mrs Arthur Kirk, who are roturning home to Tuparoa from Auokland and Rotorua, whore they havo been aponding their honoymoon.

THE REV. L. M. ISITT AND NO-LIOENSE.

(Special to fTimesXa I It is stated by tho Rev. L. M. Isitt in tho October Review of Reviews, in the I opening paragraph of an ariiolo on tho oomlng no-lioense poll in New Zealand, that 11 the vouoher oxoitement has sub- ' sided, and all over tho two islands the peoplo aro talking no-lioense. In perhaps a dozen oentres tbo bulk of the feeling is aneul the return or defeat of some oandi dale, but in tbo majority of the electorate? the candidates and their chances are matters of secondary interest, the licensing vote is of snpromo importance.” Mr laitt could not havo hit upon a worse introduo- I tion. His referenoo to the vouoher inoi- I

I dent is unfortunate, but unavoidable, as I the most prominent aotors in the voucher I faroo were prohibition leaders. To say I that in perhaps a dozen centres only the I minds of the electors are dwelling on Ihe I political situation is a state of affaire existI ing only in Ihe fertile imagination of Ihe bigoted prohibitionist, and olearly shows that in his lnat for no-lioense this paid I agitator will allow the country to go to perdition in so far as its government is I oonoerned. His mention of the vouoher ! inoidenl and no-lioense in the same sen- j tenea is suggestive. It seems almost to I imply that there was somo oonnootfon I [ betwoen the two, in that these extremists I hoped by a great exposure to kill tbe repo- I tation of the Bight Hon. Mr Soddon and j ihe liquor trade at tbe same time. The less Mr Isitt says about the voucher Inoi- I dent tbe better it will be for bis oause. At the oonolusiou of his article he says I that he leaves it to the judgment of reason- I able men. Here is a sample of his argument. He quotes figures to show that in I Ashburton the consumption of liquor oom-

paring 1904 (uo-lioenso) with 1903 (license) fell as follows : Ales and stouts 23,492ga15, | spirits 3831 gals, wine 824 gals. These figures are given as fads without any qualification. He should, as a lover of truth, have stated that the figures quoted are those given by the offioials whose duty it is to take tally of snob. But he is so fond of suppression that he suppresses the fact that liquor has been taken into Ashburton iu so many ways that it has been impossible fpr the authorities to note correctly tbe quantities. Therefore Mr Isitt’s figures, although officially true, are not aotcally so. Indeed it is probable that if the true quantities consumed could be given they would show an inorease J

instead of a deorease. If Mr Isitt desires reasonable men to follow him he must be absolutely trnthful in his statements, and not endeavor by half-truths to influence votes. Such tactics are despioable. Mr Isitt also says, “ On the moral side men must acknowledge we win. Suoh official returns as favor my side of the question I now give. If any ask why not give those that tell against you, I answer that Ido not know of any." He then gives a table illustrative of drunkenness and crime in Ashburton, Chalmers and Mataura to prove his oase. An analysis of this table gives a peculiar result,and one

that Mr Isitt did not work out, for it actually tells against him. Take Ashburton —he ebows that under license' from 1901 to 19G3, there were 224 offences in conneo- I tion with drink (drankenness, prohibition I . orders and sly grog oases); under no- j .(/cense, 1903 to 1905, 64 oases (drunken- I offenoea~nSael-Tio'enaa total of all I was 446, under no-liccnse* isw- *-* take off from these totals the offences m t connection with drink, the result is that j under license there were 222 other ofienoes, I ] and under no license 208. This clearly shows that the closing of the hotel-bars bad little influence on crimes Other than drunkenness, and that no lioense is not the boasted preventive of crime it is supposed to be. The figures for Mataura are even more striking. Mr Isitt shows from offioial records that under license there wero 127 oases of drunkenness, under nolicense 25 drunkenness and 22 sly grog convictions. The total of all ofi9 °° e V“ Mataura under license was 406, and under no-lioense 324. By subtraction we get 279 crimes other than drunkenness under I Sense, and 299 (including 22 a y grog under no-lioense. and yet we ate i no-lioense oheoks orime. From the figures quoted it appears to stop wbat migbt bo nailed “open dcunkenaeaß, bat 16 nas little or no influence in oheoking other j crimes, and far more serious ones. M M be true that the abuse of alcohol is the great oause of crime (other than nessl, then by Mr Isitt s own showing there is just as much abuse of alcohol ; under no-licease as under lioense. lnat is the oonolusion that one must ooma to 1 after analysing the tables given.

POLITICAL,

(To the Editor Gisborne Times.) Sir.—East Coast electors are taking mnch interest in the visits of the oandidates for political honors. Mr Wall has been here and has left behind him a .g°°* impression. Beiog in out and out opposi tion to tho present Government he will seoure many voles. Mr Clayton will esnlain his attitude when he addresses us. ££ e is styled an Independent Oppositionist. Well one has only to look at the very ondignified position of the in the House duriog the session that has just finished to see wbat benefit to the country an Independent is, and until New Zealand is enlightened enough to oeaßO party warfare and have an Elective Eleoutive .t does not pay an eleotorate to return an Inde pendent Perhaps Mr Clayton will be abbs to convince the electors otherwise. An Independent member under the present system of party government cannot secure a fair proportion of the “loaves and fishes, and bis mana in Parliament is not gopd, ha he ever so good a man. If he does happen to get M.H.B. after his name his tenure of office is never very long, and his district suffers. One has ouly to revert to nrevious elections to see bow Independents have fared. There was the case of Eugene o“o«S, to “ Bullet fc -to "» „,v.,r a Bttcng party »•; I» *“ ““ election he was defeated by Bodoricls /r«nK'f'n7io a Libera. O’CoDnor has not since entered the poliu--0 uli and Mr MaoKonzie has been a C " mher ever since. and is likely to be so ra the end of tho chapter. Then there was Mr Russell, of Riooatton. After a few • h ‘*. , f l 'h.“togh h toi “kiag tbians, his hand agarast both Beddon a Mnssov, and both parties against him. He StoS ea.».»»t ?> three years of seclusion. 1 : be that at this olsotion be will B B® , relegated to political obscurity, “Itho bis opponent is an Independent. U Mr Clayton can make good his case, probable that Mr Wall, as an uodoub ed Oppositionist, will secure the bulk of the Opposition votes.-Yours, i e i .o, iTTaß , i

A LITTLE LESSON,

(To the Editor Gisborne Time*g ir _\Ve have read with gsome pain that the oultarod Mr Ngftta-avery inch a gentleman—wes, with oollegiate companions, refused provisions at refreshment rooms at Hastings, because they were Maoris That is juet the kind of thing we “ g hi «E«»« «i*6 A publc.o might have lost his license for refusing to [serve these gentlemen with food; a pro-

prlotor of an ordinary dining-room could order them off with impunity. That might not much matlor in a place like Haetings, but it would bo very awkward In isolated plaoeß. The Coast can boast of somo of the best country hotels in the colony, and splendidly controlled. It is only natural wo should prefer them to houses than oan with impunity rofaso to servo food to gentlomon like Mr Ngata, to say nothing of sly grog.—l am, oto., SETTLER. Tolago Bay, November 4. I

COASTAL GUBBENTS

By “ Roma,"

Tho triennial olootion of County Connoillors, whloh was oxpeotod to oause a littlo exoitemont loonlly, has passed off without a murmur, and tho samo members who rapreeouted tho different ridings in tho Waiapu County during tho last three years, havo again taken up tho reins of looal government at their own sweet will. Tho ratopayors in this county havo in tho paßt boon few and far between, and the members havo been enabled to retain their seats with but little fear of opposition. It was to be hoped that with the increase -of ratopayors and the impetus given to the county by virtue of the townships, an additional interest would have been taken in looal matters, resulting in some little competition for the honors of representation, but either the people of Waiapu are well satisfied with the outgoing Councillors or they are entirely unoonoerned in matters which may and do materially affect them. Possibly there is j no partioular reason why the old Councillors should not be re-installed, but no body is infallible ; end whether County ! Oonnoillors are ooDsidered in the light of deml-godß or publio servants it Btill remains the duty of each and every individual ratepayer to know who they are electing to represent them in their particular riding and to satisfy himself that tho candidate < knows the requirements of the county and | is prepared to aot on that knowledge independent of any personal interest. That much oredit is due to the Counoil for the good and lasting work that has been done hitherto oannot be gainsaid, and it is indisputable that the work has elicited such favorable comments from all

and sundry that the county generally might bo deservedly held up as an example. Apart from that, it is always as well to remember, that the infusion of

new blood is just as essential in a local body at times as it is in the House of Representatives ; and in the laoe of the faot that “ sdenoo gives coosent,” the ratepayers have only themselves to thank should there bo any inertia or indisoretion arise from their look of interest in the election.