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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1282, 17 May 1880, Page 2

Tiie Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes as follows : £i The Native Minister, Mr. Brvce, has pulled up a mass of arrears of business , belonging to his department. Strong efi'orts have been made by rings of land speculators to get certain blocks tied up ; bv proclamation released, so as to enable them to operate. Unless the representatives of the people look out, the only large tracts of available land to the south of Auckland -will have fallen into the i hands of combinations of capitalists, to the exclusion of the general public. With all the abuse of land-sharking which has ) characterised the adherents of the Grey following, it is somewhat remarkable that a 100,000 acre speculation now being put through is engineered by two prominent members of the Liberal party." "We know that Mr. Sheehan has been suborned by the great Conservative party, but the name of the second Liberal referred to does not occur to us. If there really is another land shark agent who has been a Liberal, we suppose that, like Mr. Sheehan. he found himself in such circumstances that he was tempted to consult his own personal interests rather than those of a political party and succumbed. WedeploreMr.Sheehan'sfalling off, and,hadhe been as high principled as he is clever, he might have adorned one of the highest positions that are available in the Colony. He can never retrace his steps. "Whatever may have been his weaknesses, he until now at least earned a character for honesty of pm-pose and a finn adherence to the principles in support of which he spent his eloquence. Whoever would have dreamt that the man who last year publicly inveighed in such scathing terms against the wholesale robbery of land speculators would, before a year had passed away, be one of the pliant minions of those speculators; that he would bring the reputation which he had earned' > as an advocate for fairness to 1 both natives and Europeans as a keen : weapon by which to serve the very ■ men whom he had rightly denounced > as despoilers of the colonial estate. Mr. Sheehan «an never be reinstated • as an honorable : and trustworthy mem- - ber of the party whose name he has i sullied. By no possible process of < penitence can he recall the affection, f the esteem, in wiiich he was held by that party. Redolent of questionable land transactions he will enter the House. He may call himself a Liberal; i but nobody will think him one. He will be viewed with suspicion even by right-thinking Conservatives. There is not a member in Parliament who is honest enough, or untrammelled enough, to think and act for himself—unless it be speculators and_ the Government who are assisting them in their nefarious operations—-who will permit native lands to be alienated on terms so unfair to the country as fhose connected with the acquisition of these large blocks. Now is the time for the people and Parliament to set themselves seriously to work to frustrate the trickery of the accumulated army of schemers who, under the shelter of a .corrupt Government, have made another strenuous effort to enrich themselves at the people's expense.

The Select Committee appointed to consider the question which arose through Mr. Charles Bradlaugh's refttaal to take the oath of allegiance to the Queeit has decided that he must take the oath before he can take his seat. What the upshot of this will, be it is difficult to fortell, especially at, this distance. That Mr. Bra/i laugh will not take the required oath we are pretty certain, and the number of artifices he will call ini.o play will be numerous. Mr. Bradlaugh is a man of indomitable will. When "he has an object in view it takes nQ small amount of opposition to prevent him from attaining it. Again'and again does he return to his task with increased vigor. In 1868 Mr. Bradlaugh first entered the political arena as one of the candidates for the suffrages of the electors of the Liberal Borough of Northampton. He came out in the Radical interest. He was then one of six candidates—two Liberal?, two Conservatives, and two Radicals —and at the time for declaring the result of ■ the po 1 Mr. Bradlaugh found himself ranking fifth on the list, only polling a few hundred votes. He, however, bore his defeat manfully, solacing himself and those who went to the poll with him with, the assurance that, if the Ballot Act were phased, the next election would see him at the head of the poll. But this assurance was in no way verified, At the next election, which occurred in 1874, Mr. Bradlaugh still found himself last on the board, although the ballot and LlO franchise bills had been pds££d during the previous sessions. He was defeated again in 1876 by a Conservative (when the death of Mr, Charles Gilpin rendered a seat vacant), and the Borough was represented by two Conservatives, an event which had not occurred at anytime during the previous thirty.years. But Mr, Bradlaugh, not the least disheartened by defeat, returned to the Contest at the late election, and we learn by cablegram that he has been returned. So far as his election is concerned, he has therefore attained his ebject, but before he can take his seat he must take the oath, for, q.s he js not a Quaker, he cannot be exempted. What will fre fjo next ? Surely the object that he has aimed at for the lagt fifteen years, and now all but attained, will not be relinquished on account of the mere taking of an oath. This, to an athiest, cannot mean much sacrifice of principle. We do not suppose that he has an antipathy for an oath on loy4 grounds, seeing that the great Radical leader (Sir Charles Dilke) does not objeefc to submit to the ceremony. It is upon the theory God or no God that Mr. Bradlaugh takes his stand, and that he will adhere to his whim must be a niatter for some doubt, with such a tempting goal on the other side of a harmless ceremony. One result easily to be foreseen is that those who plumped for Mr. Bradlaugh "will during the next few years be disfranchised, and all this because they have blindly voted for a man who is no more than a stump orator, and who has never done anything for the amelioration of society, and never can, while holding his present views.

Captain Edwin telegraphs as follows : Bad weather approaching between south and south-east. The glass will further rise. Expect hard gale and considerable sea within 12 hours, with weather unusually cold.

Mr. John Reid arrived by this moon's train from the North, .He informs us that it is his intention to enter into the present contest for the vacant Waitaki seat, and that he will take an early opportunity of addressing the electors. A meeting of Sir. Eeid's supporters, as announced in our advertising columns, will be held at the Star and Garter Hotel at 2 o'clock to-morrow afternoon.

The following testimonial and memorial were presented to Messrs. Hislop and Shrimski, M.H.R.'s to-day :—" To T. W. Hislop and S. E. Shrimski, Esq.'s, representatives for the Waitaki District in Parliament. —Gentlemen, —We, the undersigned employes on the Windsor-Livingstone Kailway Works, tepdej: to you our heartfelt thanks for your kind interposition with the Government with a view of bringing about the re-commencement of the WindsorLivingstone Railway. Your efforts in this direction, so wisely put forth, were fortunately successful, and what you have effected will, we think, be the means of not only benefiting the district and the colony, but of relieving a large number of the unemployed of the district and their families from absolute want. For what you have done on our behalf you will ever live in our grateful remembrance. [Here follow 125 signatures.] The above was presented to the abovenamed Messrs. Hislop and Shrimski this 17th day of May, 1880, on behalf of the above signatories, by the undersigned.

A. Desjiarest, John- E. Lyons, Charles Pistor, Michael Dougherty." The following memorial was also presented: " Windsor, 17th May, ISSo.—Gentlemen, We, the deputation appointed to present to you the testimonial signed by the men working on the Windsor-Livingstone Railway, beg permission to state to you the grievances and difficulties which we have to encounter. In the first place, we have no firewood, and as the winter is coming on, this is an absolute necessity. Secondly, although we may work as hard as we can, 21s to the single, and 28s to the married men (per week), is the limit of our pay. WJiat we want, therefore, is to be paid a fair price per yard for the work, to be allowed to do as much as we can, and to be paid according to a fair measurement. We may also state that, on the Albury line last winter, the men were supplied by the Government with firewood, although the prices paid for work were much higher than is at present paid on the Wind- [ sor-Livingstone Railway. We should therefore be glad to know why Canterbury ' is so much more favored than Otago.—We beg to remain, &c., —Charles Pistor, John P. Lyons, A. Desmarest, MicbaelDougherty. —To Messrs. Hislop and Shrimski." The deputation then spoke of the necessity for making some provision regarding a post office and schoolhouse, and it was resolved that- a memorial would be sent to the Government about these matters.

In consequence of the Volunteer Hall being engaged to-morrow evening," No. 1 Company's Band will meet for practice in St. Andrew's Hall, above Mr. Taylor's shop. Members are requested to be punctual in attendance.

We are always glad to encourage the efforts of our local voluntary choirs by praising where praise is merited. We are glad' therefore to hear from two old choristers—one belonging to Christchurch and the other to Dunedin—that in neither of those cities is there an Anglican choir which can for a moment compare with that of St. Luke's. Such testimony must be gratifying to all concerned. An accident tending to the injury of Dr. Wait's horses and carriage occurred to-day, While the coachman was turning them round on the high ground.be got the carriage too near the steep bank, and the wheels going over this, the horses and carriage were pre*

cipitated to the bottom, rolling over several times. The, poll of the carriage was broken and other injuries inflicted upon - it. The horses were a good deal shaken, but it could not be ascertained whether or not they had received any more serious injury. It was fortunate that. the carriage was unoccupied at the time.

General Davidson inspected the Hampden Company on Saturday evening, and, notwithstanding the ia . we .ther, shore notice, etc., there were 29 on parade, under the command of Captain Murcott. The corps also paraded for church on Sunday, when they numbered 31 of all ranks, as follows : —1 captain, 1 sub-lieutenant, 3 sergeants, 26 privates. Drill-Instructor M'Pherson was also present. General Davidson was pleased to say that the operations of the men were excellent. The General will inspect the Otepopo Company this evening. Yesterday ths Rev. It. L. Stanford preached morning and evening at St. Luke's. In the morning he gave an eloquent discourse suited to the spaspn of Whitsuntide, from the words "My peace I leave with you." Mr. Finch was assisted at the organ by Mr. Richardson, of St, Matthew's Church, Dunedin, who contributed the voluntaries at both servies.

With a view of encouraging members to take a greater amount of interest in the drills of No. 1 . Company Oamaru Rifles, Lieutenant Headland has presented a gold medal of the value of L 5 sa. for the best attendant at the drills during the year. This has been supplemented by three prizes given by the Company. The competion will be commenced this evening, and the prizes are certainly well worth striving to obtain. The anniversary sevices in connection with St. Paul's Presbyterian Church were held yesterday. In the morning the Rev. Mr. Paterson, occupied the pulpit, and preached an eloquent sermon from the text, " Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works wa3 faith made perfect." At the evening service, the Rev. A- B. Todd preached from the text, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, apd reaphipg forth unto those which are before." The collections were in aid of the building fund. _ According to an official announcement bearing the signature of the officer commanding the district, the headquarters companies will parade for inspection during this week. Particulars piay be gleaned from the advertisement,