GREYTOWN.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5502, 14 November 1878, Page 3

GREYTOWN.

* November 8. The Hon, G. M. Waterhouse, M.L.C., has displayed his usual'liberality by again apportioning his honorarium between three leading iiirititutiniH in the district. The Wairarapa Hospital and the Wairarapa Institute, in Greytown, as well as the public library at Featherston have each received from that gentleman the sum of £l6 13s. 4d. The funds of the institute will'thus be augmented to the large sum of £2OO, with which its library can be handsomely replenished, and further improvements effected to the building. Mr. Waterhouse at the samo time forwarded a dona- ; ti®n of £5 ss. to the Working Men’s Club, regretting that be could not be more liberal owing to the depredations of rabbits and the fall in wool influencing his income. It affords mo a pleasure to testify to generosity of this kind. There are several wealthy men at this end of the valley.possessing valuable estates from which they .derive large incomes, and who have reaped considerable rewards from our railway policy, who should exhibit aaimilar spirit.* Their generous deeds however may be likened to objects viewed at the wrong end of the telescope; or if perchance they do slacken their purse-strings somewhat, it is to make their parsimony the more, conspicuous by the extent of their aid to any charitable or useful purpose. * The local' journals have had paragraphs respecting the one-sided manner in which one of the public departments treats different sections of the community when dealing with demands for additional facilities. Thus the, request of the Mastertoa people for letter-receiving boxes was refused, but two such conveniences have been provided at Featherston,a far smaller township, without solicitation. The same can be said of a letter carrier, refused to the principal town of the Wairarapa, but granted to the smallest. But what shall be said of the treatment Greytown has received at the hands of certain departments of the public service? Whilst they have not hesitated to be lavish in their expenditure on public buildings in every other township, indeed so lavish in some quarters as to justify the term of wilfully squandering the people’s money, they have up to the present time religiously abstained from spending a shilling towards improving or replacing the disgraceful old wharea that do duty as court houses, post office, and school buildings here. “ Kisses go by favor” even under the most professedly pure administration. Those who cringe the most receive the most; but those who are too high-spirited to become revolving satellites round the opaque bodies of would-be luminaries, are only most unmercifully snubbed. Here wo have a township called after our democratic Premier, peopled by a body of settlers formed of that class, the working class, for which he expresses such extensive sympathies, and for whom ho promised so much. Notwithstanding these excellent advantages, they avail ns nothing,' for favors are showered at every other place but this one. Democracy is all very well; it is an excellent platform no doubt, but even under the most pronounced of democratic Governments, possessing remarkable strength and extraordinary union, a democratic community pure and simple is treated with persistent neglect. The ; reason is clear, as a friend of mine stated the other day, we have no man of influence, no “ big bug,” to back us up, which is absolutely essential under whatever regime we may be placed for the time being. This is peculiarly the case with us, besides being virtually unrepresented in the House. Our two members are careful of the interests of the respective divisions in which they reside, but ignore the centre of their constituency. Laud is advancing rapidly in value in our neighborhood. A small farm of 33 acres of rich soil, and abutting the south side of the Waiohine Biver, has just been purchased hy Dr. Taylor, of Wellington, for £BOO. The same property was a few months ago for £3OO, and changed hands shortly after at an advance of £2OO. We have till quite recently been much overdone by theatrical companies and local amusements. We are now under the infliction of an iuroad of life insurance agents, no less than four working tooth and nail for their respective offices. Such are the manifold blessings conferred by a high civilisation.