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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 960, 7 March 1871, Page 2

The Wellington Independent has of late taxed its ingenuity in accounting for various dispensations of Government patronage. Here is one to which we have seen no allusion in its columns. We quote from the Otago Daily Times' Auckland correspondent : " Colonel Haultain has been appoint ed Inspector of flax machines. What his duties are I cannot say, but the salary is said to be £2 2s per day, and expenses. There is much dissatisfaction at this appointment, and the current joke is that the gallant Colonel will shortly have the Inspectorship of sewing machines added to his duties."

The Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes as follows on native affairs : —From the Waikato we have no reliable news. Mr M'Lean has at last gone there, and we shall watch his proceedings with some anxiety, His interference in the election at Eden, and the manner in which he has been taking Mr Skeet—the Government candidate—along the East Coast in the Luna, have excited a strong feeling against him here. No doubt it will find vent when the Assembly meets. The last week he has spent in the North, where an election also is pending, and the result of which, like that for the East Coast, will be largely affected by Maori votes. Wi Katene, a leading Maori, stated at a public meeting that they had received letters from Mr M'Lean, and should vote against Carle ton as advised. What electors and what a Government ! are the cries one hears on all sides in reference to this lapse of Wi Katene's. There is no doubt the Opposition, so far as Auckland is concerned, will be very strong. I* embraces the ablest of the Auckland members, and the Government have lost caste immensely by Mr Yogel's efforts in the first instance, and Mr M'Lean's since, to influence the elections.

The following is from the Lyttelton Times. 2nd March :—" The Kowai was rising at in id-day on Tuesday ; in fact, an eye-witness described it as coming down with a wave. The Ashley began to rise at an tarry hour in the morning, and had risen sufficiently high to enter the bottom of the morning coach down from the Kowai : there was a sieady rise in the river all day. Mr Wilson, the contractor for the new works at the Ashley bridge, had a number of hands employed in carrying the timber which was lying about on the river bed, and

placing it on higher ground so as to bJ out of reach of the flood. The northern] mid-day up-coach could not cross, as by] that time the river was coming downjj heavily. There were only a few sengers, and the mails were carried oveiv the bridge, which now offeis a safe tran., sit to foot passengers. The groin on, the north bank, above the bridge, wi u> it is hoped, prove a complete success • for though only the piles are as yet driven, and entirely unfaced by planking, the current which hitherto had a strong set to the north ward, has already shown strong symptoms of taking the desired course ; the force of the wateiinside the piles is quite deadened. There is little doubt but that when the work is completed it will have the effect of diverting the stream into the centre of the river bed, though perhaps it may be advisable to extend it a little further."

From information which we have received from several sources we regret (says the Lyttelton Times, 2nd March) to state that the recent heavy rains have considerably damaged the crops in this province. What appeared last week to be a few passing showers has resulted in an almost ceaseless downpour of rain for the past week, the consequence of which is not only farming operations, but business generally, has been almost entirely suspended. The prospects of the weather improving are still very doubtful, as up to last night it would have been difficult to prognosticate a change for the better with any degree of certainty.

Mr Henry Labouchere, who is now a besieged resident in Paris, writes to the Daily News :—I reallj am sorry for these silly, gulled humbugs among whom Tam living. They have many amiable qualities, although in trying to be Spartans they have mistaken their vocation, They are, indeed, far too agreeable to be Spartans, who in private life must have the most intolerable of bores. It is a sad confession of human weakness, but, as a rule, persons are not liked on account of their virtues. Excessively good people are—speaking socially—angular. Take, for instance, the Prussians : they are saints compared with the French. Tr.ey have every sort of excellence; they are honest, sober, hard-working, well instructed, brave, good sons, husbands, and fathers; and yet all this is spoilt by one single fault—they are insupportable. Laugh at the French, abu.se them as one may, it is impossible to help liking Lhem. Admire, respect the Prussians as one may, it is impossible to help disliking them. I will venture to say it would be impossible to find 1 100 Germans borne south of the Maine who would declare, on their honor, that they prefer a Prussian to a Frenchman. The only Prussian I ever knew who was an agreeable man was Bismarck. All others with whom T have been thrown—and T have lived for years in Germany—were proud as Scotchmen, cold as New Englanders, and touchy as. only Prussians can be. I once had a friend among them. His name was Buckenbrock. Inadvertently I called him Butterbrod. We have never spoken since. A Prussian lieutenant is the most offensh e specimen of humanity that nature and pipe-clay have ever produced. Apart from all political considerations, the supremacy of this nation in Europe will be a social calamity, unless France, like vanquished Greece, introduces the amenities of Society among those pedant quires and martinets.

The editor of the Cynthiana News, in making an appeal to those owing him who are in arrear to pay up, says :- "We hope they will settle without delay. Not that we want the money--oh, no ! Our ink is given to us, we steal our paper, and Me win our printers' wages at ' seven up.' So it us nothing to carry on business. .Nevertheless, as a matter of accommodation, and to ease their conscience, we will take what they owe us, if they will send it immediately."

We extract the following from ft Nelson contemporary : creased expenditure on one hand, and * falling revenue on the other, the Colony is burning its candle at both ends, and clever as Mr Vogel may be, we doubt his ability to retain the confidence ot men who, although captivated by fe

scheme of finance, are neither so infatuated nor so blind as to refuse to see the consequences it will bring upon the Colony if persisted, in to the end. Before July next, these consequences will become more clear; and the unsoundness of the Treasurer's calculations from beginning to end will be so apparent, that thinking and prudent men will no longer put trust in them. "We feel, we confess, no small pleasure that, out of the nine members returned wholly or in part by this Province, only two are supporters of the FoxYogel 'Government, and these of the mildest order. Nelson, therefore, more Shan any other Province, has declared itself opposed to Mr Vogel's visionary schemes, .and the day is not distant when it will feel proud of its decisions in the late elections.

The Evening Post says :—"Mr Skey, the Government analynist, has, we learn, recently been analysing the seed of that well known native shrub the Karaka, and has found that the poisonous principle is contained in the seed in the form of an oil. The berry itself is agreeable in taste, and is said to be very nutritious, the Maoris using it largely as food. They, however, carefully reject the seeds contained in the berry, and these seeds are known to be very poisonous. It is to Mr Skey that the discovery of the tutu poison being an oil is also due. It is said that this is a very unusual form for vegetable poisons to be found in."—Our contemporary is mistaken about the karaka berry. The pulp is little else than a thin skin, with an unpleasant resinous taste. The kernel, which is eaten by the natives, contains an acrid poison, to remove which it soaked in water until it is half-putriiied. In this condition it may be nutritious, but it is to a European palate, very disagreeable.

In reference to the support the Government is likely to receive from the General Assembly next ses>ion, the Daily Times Auckland correspondent writes :—Much will inevitably depend •on the four million loan. If that be not obtained, we shall doubtless find changes of front on the part of many members. In the pei'sonnel of the Go- ■■\ eminent no one pretends to have the slightest confidence, and they are bound to do something extraordinary or lose •hold of office. The failure of the Neilson contract is in this sense a heavy blow. It is not only the mail service itself—that will probably be replaced by a branch line connecting us with Webb or Hall, or we may even get the main line here, and leave Sydney the branch, if they allow it, and we are willing to pay for the privilege. Meanwhile, there is no doubt of the repudia tion of the contract by Webb on the ground that Neilson had no authority to act as he did. The Cross and Herald have said as yet nothing about it. On the contrary, they publish glowing but ex+remely vague extracts from the News of the World, and Bulletin, evidently inspired, if not written by Neilson. But the truth is leaking out, and the public disappointment is proportionately great. We can only hope that Webb will yet arrange with Hall, but gone for ever is our proud position of dictators to Australia, and with it the exclusive right to carry mails across the continent and the promised exertion of Webb's all-powerful influence to get the tariff on wool and flax altered in our favor. What the public most feel at present is the sting of these losses, and annoyance at having been so easily gulled into a seiiseless and unreasoning policy, based upon false assumption and brilliant but baseless visions. I believe that in saying this I correctly interpret the feeling among all who have yet heard the true position of affairs. Should the loan also fail, there will be a new and powerful impulse given to the reaction already begun here, and retrenchment of the most extreme character will become the popular cry.