Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1898. Colonial Statistics.

Manawatu Herald, 15 March 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1898. Colonial Statistics.

Wk have pointed out the dark outn ' look there ig for the colony unless ' some alteration takes place in the I domestic relations of the sexes, and j the popular cTy.of "New Zoalana for the New Zealandera " will be come the laughing stock of our neighbours, as, as we are going on, there will soon be no New Zealot^ for New 7.^-- " , , . — uclH — uißoa, and the country will have to import people. It is a question of the very greatest moment to trace the reason for the decline in our birth rate. In spite of being thought guilty of too much repetition we must point out that in 1887 the birth-rate of the colony Viras 82.0& per 1000 of the population, and that of England and Wales was 31.9, and France 23.5. Now just note the drop for 1895— England and Wales was 30.4, New Zealand 26.83 and France 21 9. Why should this drop take place ? It cannot be from the actual poverty of tho population, n« the private w'ea'th p r \uvil in 1837 when the birth iv. Le w-is highest waonly £210 p^r hew], and cd.-l.y enough, when tIK-binli rate is lowest, the private wealth is stated to be tlv highest, rqualling £338 p r head. Another efiange pnin-j in this ques tion is, that in 1887 there were only 5 97 per 1000 of marriage, but in the year 1896 there were 6. 85 per 1000 1 These figures show good cause far alarm and the desire that now exists for show, and dre3a, must be partially assigned as causes tending to the decadence wo have proved. We come to the qu stion of ;h& lwd of getting our young people upon the land, and thrugli tha present government have bei-n v gn>afc in urging the young mm to g<i, and have like wise made very liberal land-laws, yefc there is something which stops them going.. We have at times pointed out the unfortunate com* parison that must be made between the lot of those who are settled on the. land with those who dwell in the towns, to the disadvantage of the countryman. The land will never be well settled whilst the only thought given to the occupiers is simply that of the price they shall pay for the land, as in every other 1 way they are taxed as heavy as the . man who can take the fullest ad- | vantage of all the conveniencio3 pro ; vi&d for education, sickness, and ; amusement in towns. The difficulty . of securing education for children, the impossibility of elder children securing suitable employment near home, and the inevitable dreariness of a country life, all tend to encourage the congregation of people near towns where the style of living makes inroads on the bread-winner's pui'?c which would not be were he in tho country, and he thus exercises every precaution to avoid any unnecessary expenses, and apparently, ; Hiccacd?.

I That some of the Labour party would be vexed at Mr J. Hutcheson'a action at the last election was a foregone conclusion, and an agitation is being worked up against 1 him. Mr Hutcheson purposes addressing ; his constituents and will, if they are dissati isfied resign, but, if pushed, he is prepared ' to be a great deal more explicit about j Tradps Council methods than he cares to be without provocation. He professes to be able to " sooa expose the straw stuffing of that donkey." Mr T. Wilford has a wholesome dread of Constable Gillespie's knowledge. On Saturday he spoke to Sergeant Wilson, who was prosecuting in a case and Mr Wilford at once appealed to the Bench to stop him from rendering any assistance. Mr Green- . fieid told Mr Wilford that the sergeant had every right to get all assistance from the force and that there was nothing for him to object to. This was an unexpected compliment from Mr Wilford. The New Zealand Commission of the Peace contains about 1700 names, and additions are frequently made. There are only 32 Coroners in addition to the Stipendiary j Magistrates. i There are now some 4,200 acres under wattles in the Auckland Provincial District. At the Plumpton Steeplechase Meeting the Southdown St^ep'echase was won by Mr S. H. Gollan's New Zealand- bred horse Norton, Sting being second, and Barque Sarry third. The Premier told the Wanganui Chronicle's representative on Wednesday that if he lost the Wellington election he would lose all faith in human nature. At the last annual meeting of the Palmerston North Gas Company the following paragraph app ared in the report :— The cause of the lower reveiiue from gas was due to the unusual y dry, fine summer reducing the number of hours during which artificial light was required, and secondly to the sta'e of business in the town, which had not been quite as good as could have been desired. Lipton's teas have been so well advertised and worked that after having been knighted at the Diamond Jub^ee he turned his property into a limitsd liability company and, lucky man, the amount tendered was over 30 millions, so that it is sure that I his company has floated. j Owing to the usual breakdowns of engines oil the Wairarapa Line, an an added difficulty of some points being split (for some reason at present unexplained), a school excursion from Carterton returning home was blocked at Kaiioke and delayed there twelve hours, the party, 550 of them, not getting back till eight o'clock the next morning. There seems " somethiug rotten in the state " of railway management. In another column Mrs Patrick Guerin offers for sale or lease a valuable and convenient property. At the Sports on St. Patrick's Day the services of a trick and fancy bicycle rider has been secured. No dogs will be allowed upon the course,

The Wanganui Herald Bays : — " There are some of the old soldiers of the 65th yet in Wanganui, and they will be pleased to hear that an old comrade of theirs, Mr Peter Levy, is alive and well. Petsr, after leaving the Army, drifted to Ne'.Son, and was f °r 2. iong time a respected member of the Force. Afte* leaving the polioe, Peter started a cab, and Wanganui visitors to Nelson will find him plying between that town and the Port. Peter well remembers Wanganui in its early days and the stirring times enacted then. He was one of tne rescuing party sent out to the relief of the Gilfillan family, the party afterwards bringing in the survivors and the bodies of those the Maoris had massacred*" There will be a special meeting of the Borough Council to-morrow night. w Wa have been reques^ one Q .uuwj tne facia, to correct a report mads by our Roncotea correspondent, in as far as he gave the Eev. Mr Cocker the credit for establishing three new churches in his district. Our informant says that to the Rev. Mr Clement must be awarded tho credit for the churches at Colyton and Awahuri. The civil sittings of the Wellington Supreme Court cdhimenced yesterday, and amongst ihe business is that of E. A. Howe v. P. Bartholomew, claim £200, seizure of a steam launch. We understand that Mr T. Westwood is likewise intprested as a defendnnt in this case. The claim is to be heard before a special jury of four. At the present civil sitting? of the Wellington Supreme Court; the case of the Queen v. Thomas Wilford, a claim under me " Crown Suits Act, 1881," will Be heard without a jury. A Bo'icitor in the loca 1 OoUrt on Saturday vilified the character of a female witness at the commencement of the case, and on a mild remonstrance from the Bench declared he would shortly prove hig statements, and that h<= had made similar statements in the District Court. Most extraordinarily at the close of the case for the prosecution this same solicitor declared that he had no intention of assailing this witness's character— probably because the time had arrived for him to produce the proof— and yet the Bench made no comment. Our readers will not forget that on Thursday morning the tram will meet the 9 a.m. train, at Carnarvon and take visitors to the Sandon races, ro'nrning in time to catch the last train in. Th" fares are very cheap. Thursday night is the date fixed for the Catholic concert, and, a.* an advertisement has it "Don't you fo:get it." The programme is a first-class one, and the inclusion of Mr McCaughey, who is reputed to be a very good comic singer from Wei ington, is fortunate. A glance at the programme also shows some other performers new to a Fox lon audience who are appearing, and a full house is all that is nreded to make the concert a success. Tickets are selling freely, and may be had at Mr A. Fraser's or from the secretary, Mr Wm. McDermott. The probability of war between Spain and the United States and Spain is great, all the Powers with the exception of Austria and Germany have promised to remain neutral. Mr Justice Williams, who is going to the Old Country on leave, has resigned his office as president of the Industrial Arbitration Court. France is making great efforts to partially rule the seas, but before being successful she will have to learn how to build ships. Cablegrams inform us that the French battleship Massena has made another trial trip at Brest, but she failed to answer her holm or attain the contract speed. She cost £1,250,000. We have to acknowledge receipt of the Mutual Provident Messenger for March. The new business of the Association for the past year is exceedingly good, 12,442 policies having been issued, assuring £3,---157,404, and the net increase of new business will probably exceed £1,000,000. The actuarial v :luation is now near completion, and members may look forward to receiving their ever-welcome annual bonus at an early date. The Chicago Independent for December, 1897, in the course of a complimentary article on the society, speaks of it as the highest example of life underwriting intelligence in the world, and as being better managed than any company in America. Certainly (he most, effactiv9 medicine in ths world is Sanders aud Son's Eucalypti Extract. Test its eminently powerful effect in Cough?, Colds, Influenza; the relief instantaneous. In serious cases and accidents of all kinds, be they wounds, burns, scalding?; bruises, sprains, it is the safest remedy — no swellings — no inflammation. Like surprising effects produced in Croup, Diphtheria, Bronchitis. Inflammation of the Lungs, Swellings, Ac, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Disease of the Kidneys and Urinary Organs. 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