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Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 452, 20 August 1879, Page 2

Mr F. R. Jackson will hold his monthly stock sale at Wavorlcy, on Friday next.

The plans of a breakwater, submitted by the New Plymouth Harbor Board, have been approved of by the Governor in Council.

Major Atkinson held very satisfactory meetings at Manntahi and Kakaramea, on Friday and Saturday last. Votes of confidence were passed. The Major lias gone to New Plymouth, where no doubt be will make bis colonial speech. The Wanganui Spring Meeting lias been fixed for Friday, November 7. £3OO will bo given in stakes. The Minister of Public Works has promised to lot twenty small contracts between Stratford and Noraianby at once. On Monday, during a rifle match at Waibi, the marker was struck in the eye with a splinter of load from the target. Dr Keating was at once wired for, and was in attendance as soon as possible. It is feared that the eye, if not altogether lost, will at least be permanently injured.

It is generally believed that the, surveyors are about to bo put upon the Plains again. The Constabulary have for some time had their touts, &c., ready for camping out. No doubt much of the work will have to bo done over again, as the Maoris have probably removed most of the pegs It is certainly a good time to resume the work when a largo number of the enemy are in safe keeping, but there is always room to fear that a Government that does not keep its promises will not fulfil its threats.

The roads were never so bad this winter as they are at present. The Manawapou is a perfect slough of despond lilted up at one end, A hoot was observed in the mud yesterday, which is supposed to have belonged to some unfortunate horseman. It is a thousand pities that the surveyors had not had tlio wit to put that famous bit of road on the other side of the gully where it woidd have had a little sunshine. It is simply 7 the lack of this commodity that makes the Manawapou unenviably conspicuous among our many gorges.

There is an impression abroad that Felix McWorkumpoint, J.P., will withdraw from a certain contest in favor of one of his opponents. Wo believe, however, that he is by far too ingenious a man to make himself .a cats-paw to pul) votes out of the fire for anybody. Being a man of peace, he knows that neither of his opponents will attack him while ho keeps them on a string ; but he moans to bo in at the death, and the two lions who hope to make a jackall of him will look sheepish. “Go in and win ”is the motto of Felix. When he has won, no doubt the Post Office and the Kailway Station will be put in the right place at Norman by. In an article on the failure of the Grey Government to present to Parliament some proposal to deal with the native aggressors, I the Taranaki Herald says ;—“ Judging by the past, we should say that any action taken by Sir George Grey to settle o native difficulty would involve the clement of temporising to a considerable extent. It may be that experience has taught him, as experience has taught other people, and that he will resort to a now plan foreign to his character, as deduced from his past actions, to deal with this difficulty. Wo, however, regret to say that we do not think so. During the past two yems temporising has been the policy, and we have no guarantee that it will immediately change. It will thus be seen that the session has brought us no relief. The Colony is called on to elect a new House. The native difficulty will, no doubt, to a great extent occupy men’s minds in native districts, but in other districts the relief of financial pressure and the construction of local public works will mostly engage their attention. If the.Taranaki difficulty is at all thought of, it will be with a muttered expression that it is an unmitigated nuisance that in some way interferes with public works and colonial progress. To us the settlement of this question permanently, is the most pressing of .all questions, for while it remains in abeyance it checks industry and all enterprise of a character which requires time for its proper development. We look to the new House for a satisfactory settlement of this question, deeplv regreting that the solution was postponed by the intervention of a dissolution.”

The New Zealand Times says:—lt will be in the recollection of our readers that we lately recorded the accidental death of Mr Thomas Shalders by drowuingTn Cable Bay. Tne deceased gentleman* was an officer in the Telegraph Department, and was much respected by all who knew him. Since the sad event every endeavor has been made to recover the body; but without success. Mr Shalders has left a wife and family; but thongh a very young man, lie had taken the wise precaution of protecting those dear to him by a life policy, and it will be a source of gratification to his friends that such is the case. Thoughtless persons often object to insuring on account of the delay which, as they state, ensues before the policy is paid. If such be ever the case, the present instance is certainly an exception, for on the 24th p£ July the claim was sent in to the Commissioner of the Government Insurance, and on the 2nd of August the widow received a cheque for £SOO.

It is-reported that Mr F., A. Carrington has retired from political life. He has.no doubt been a' useful man, but we think tlie time lias arrived when the step he has taken'was necessary.

The whole of the assets in, a late bankruptcy estate here amounted, we believe, to two chairs. ' The liabilities were about £l4O.

A sitting of the Assessment Court, to In-ar objections to the Valuation List, will he held at the Court House, Carlyle, at 10 a.m on Saturday next. A meeting of small boys was held on Saturday evening,for the purpose of trying to form a Cadet Corps for Carlyle. Over forty names were handed into the Chairman (Mr H. M. Dyer) as willing to bo enrolled, and it is not at all unlikely that within a few weeks wo slmll see our young warriors in full marching order. This is a step in the right direction, for the drill not only improves the personal appearance of boys, but in time to come they will be ready, without any preliminaries, to take their idles in defence of their country. We trust Government will accept of the ■services of the Corps, The New Zealand Times says :—Mr George Darrell has> been served with a writ for £2,000 at the instance of the proprietors of the Saturday Advertiser, for an alleged-libel contained in the Figaro,” a handbill published in this city about a fortnight ago, which, it is contended by the proprietors of the Advertiser, was printed and published at the instance of Mr Darrell. We understand that on his part Mr Darrell is about to issue a counterwrit against the Advertiser, laying the damages at £5,000, so there is likely to be a very interesting case before the law Courts in a short time.

Judge Halibnrton, better known as Sam Slick, was probably, one of the best critics of human foibles who ever lived. In a second edition of “ The Attache,’’published in 1843, he wrote about Liberalism in the following strain : —“ By nafur, there is snnthun’ noble and manly in a Britisher, and always was, till this cussed spy system got into fashion. They tell mi; it was the Liberals first brought it into vogue. How that is, I don’t kno.w ; but I shonhln” wonder if it was. them, for i know (hist if a feller talks very libera) in politics, put him into office, and see what a tyrant lie’ll make. If he talks very liberal in religion, ils because ho haute got none at all. If he talks very liberal to the poor, talk is all the poor will ever get. out of him. If he talks liberal about corn law, it tante to feed the hungry, but to lower wages, and so on in everything almost. None is so liberal as those as haute got nothin.’ The most liberal feller I know on is ‘ Old Scratch himself.’ If ever the Liberals come in, they should make him Prime Minister. Me is very liberal in religion, and would jinc them in excluding the Bible from common schools I know. He is very liberal about the criminal code, for he can’t bear to see criminals punished. Me is very liberal in polities, for he don’t approbate restraint, and likes to let every critter ‘go to the devil’ bis own way. Oh, he should be head spy ami Prime Minister that feller.” The extract appeared to ns to be so singularly applicable to some of the Liberals of the present day that we could not resist the temptation of republishing it. —A r . if. Mail..