The Standard AND PEOPLE'S ADVOCATE. (PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY.) WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1875.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 285, 30 June 1875, Page 2

The Standard AND PEOPLE'S ADVOCATE. (PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1875.

■ We shall ac)('toi lid il4 jilsticelor right: We eliall deny to no mail justice or right: We.shall defer to no man justice or right,”

desire to take up the running ;bis-®idrning,7/in' reference to the renders for supplying /.metal at Waihirere, near Ormond. We should not have conceiyal ?it opr. this,* tfi'J wit; a close itfspedtioh of'the specification and conditions on which :he District Ejigineer is prepared to iccept tenders, present a phase irhich, n some measure, piay account for the •eluritiUiee rikhitiited by the settlers iere to embark in the' undertaking. Jur contemporary, in deploring the irobable loss to the district of the urn of £2OOO promised by the Government as a , commencement of' the mproyement of the., main road, thus •dhiarks“ The details of the con- ‘ tract Ho not appei# jh the advertise- ‘ mqqt, but we hear that thecontractor ‘ is required only to open the quarry, “tri take oirt tne'stotie, and to deliver ‘ it at the quarry mouth, broken iftto ‘ a certain size.” This is a little

nside the mark, as’ vve shall proceed ;o show j bqt as the writer’s inforinaion is, admittedly, based upon hearsay evidence only, we need impute no flame to him.in taking the spew of the natter tie has, obviously,’done. It nay be an easy matter to say that the contractor has “ only” tq do.quqh and--1 uch things; arid that', as a natural < onsequenve, i £2OOO will be sailed to ■he district; but calculations, .based ipon J the strict terms of the specification, do not ,bear out that view.c The 1 euderers, no doubt, are practical men pl business, and arm just as likrily to 1 ook as keenly to the possible they may sustain by the contract, as to the. hypothetical gain that may accrub to the district in the expenditure of. the moneys The specification says that ‘ pitchers and fine jnetal shall be ‘ supplied of good, hard, compact ‘ limestone,’’- and this, too, after' the ( carry has been opened by |the contactor. At the very outset a difficulty { resents itself. W.hat if the cont ractor find no limestone at all, such ata thq. Engineer will accept ? Herb is a contingency, added to the expense oif opening the quarry, the cost' of flinch a eontractor cannot ignored In the event of finding metal he has to spalLnone half 1 to 1 ' a gauge '■ 'of' 8»n. x lOin. x 6in. f and the .othpr half; he is to bretik sb mathematically nice, that the pieces will pass through a 21 ikchring— rtheirown-diamtter. Then he has to stdek the metal, and pitchers, and She debris ; qpon “ platforms ” of hid "own making, at his own cost. He is, also, cpmpel)ed-[to.!‘!re(mbv'e!l /ahd.'/to “ideposit,” in any place, indicated by the Engineeiy the . earth a<pd other ‘d|bris excavated in stripping the quarries -j.Mhoi.iai likely-to kniririW stripping.' the face of a hill 1 , what, amount of labor I ’and exprinsb thiefc' mhy be in exploring than those Who have studied the mhtter ? But, it has been pointed out to .UBf as forming one of the' fihUf 1 elements of expense'', that'a somewhat arbitrary power is" reserved by the. Engineer to acedpt''di 1 ' reject' fee materia), even after it has been provided, and broken, and " stacked ; a discretionary , matgiil v ltii>wqysr,(. /provides tbit if he should accept indifferent, .metal,, .he J ibay< -riiake ‘■o. dueti 1 ‘‘deductions from money due to the “Contractor as' tie -{the* Engineer) “may determine.,” , Thus 5 in ;fhe first place,"' the contractor has to run the risk of finding" the material, -he has:, then.- to chance -an' nrfrf-

men! of opinion between '= himself' anil the District Engineer as to -whirt is “good, .hard, compact limestone,” 1 and to tuijffier .rejection'of, probably,' the result of many weeks’ labor. We' do not presume to say that these confditions are not in accqrdguqe . yfitK established custom and the requirements of the service ; but it allowed that thepe/arp ; ,two,/distinct and opposing interests which form the substance of allcontracts, and although Mr. Bold niay be quite correct' ip viewing the inktter frbin 4 his own standpoint, it is net to say that any person desireus of taking tip acontra'ct is of necessity to 'be either boqjul by his figures, or controlled by his ideas. j This leads us to remark that the Herald has drawn an -unfavorable—not to say - an uiijust — comparison between the cost of supplying metal in Napibr, Auckland, anfi.Poverty.Bay. Eigh't shillings per cubic yard, it .appears, is the lowest; tender for the Waihirere contract, whilst in Napier, and Auckland, limestone, and pcoria are Supplied- fr6m 3s . to"4s 6d. It must- nbt be-• overlooked that the

circumstances are widely different. In Napier — indeed,,stthroughout the greater part of.»fthe Province of Hawke s Bay—Timestone requires no *-espl.riKng(’ z low eiriHyaccessible bills consist of ’little else. A man and boy with a, shovel and a horse and cart, can earn handsome waged,; and ■ contracts can be entered into without the slightest probability of having to “ fossick ” for material that may be rejected There is hardly ■A district in that is without jtz> quarrjf nor a hilljor rangffi of mountains, that will not soon provide Auckland. - The scornr quarries in that province are more easily worked) evferithdn the limewohJ °** ea -GaWke’s Bay, while in both, -places there is a surety of the metal being found which, at present, iri pur imperfectly, eifplpred hillsgis, pot; 'ithecase. ’ I We perfectly agree with our contemporary, in thinking 'it 'is highly rable th^t, a ,tpndpr, ,qf some sort, ttioulo be accepted, and from this district,, if possible ; but while it may be expedient that a modification shouldbe made in the terms already submitted, it is but fair that the Government should also make a concession, Under the circumstances, in favor of thdi tenderers; The present is but an l initiatory step in what will, doubtless, qnd iri a' gheht ‘ufelefthking; ' arid the' further expenditure of. „lqrge sums, of, Government money in;the district. Itis. :a triak—a mere experimente-do' ascertain whether or not there is large Supply of good Ji jpefql, jit. fur road making purposes '; and we think it unfair in the Government to make that experiment at, the expense of the Settlers, and to apply the stringent Conditions usual in a more experienced state of affiairsr; sr rgv¥ « T « 3 4 ,r;; / Many authors of works on New Zealand have.borne .tesfjiqqny tO) M t|tie > inborn gift whicti the native race possess tfomptfblie speaking,"bjiirgs a C peeimeA-efMfebrr-erMotyy'bo Wfittg Could excel the peroration delivered by Riperata Kahutia On the bccasioh df her reviewing the. evidence and Supporting her claim l 'to the ‘Wai-o-Hiharore block. Wishing to he qudehrtbrid. ks expressing i rid ripinion ■ whatever on a case which is still sub jtidice, we state that .this dative pleaded her 1 cause before'ihe Court on Wednesday last,-with such; qlear sightedness and ability, which Was tire' aAtnilatidii allherl and cannot fail to place her among, the most intelligent of her race. For ojver an watering for aqiUstanf f {id, and without the slightest hesicy, this chieftqindsS Spoke with thht' nd eloquence which an all-abiding se of the justice of one’s own oarise erally inspires, and was listened .to jughoub( ifjVv n by those who most determinedly losqd hpnjcbiim. t£»e power of '

; Pound Salb.—Mr. M. Hall will hold a~ sdle of homes at the Bound Xiartis at MaAatSka this day. . _ INkwQuabtbb. —Tile present issue ends tie current |..q»»rte» r^ew f -subscHbe«»- will oblige bj fomffl|ide efcrlyu. I Obmlwd Dbamatic Club.—We are glad to learn that this Qlub iSjtqjopt tp giyei Mofhw performance shortly, some new pieces be)ng in cqurae of rehearsal. '■' ' ll< " 1 <’ . .Annual Meeting Or Ratbpayebs.—The) date fixed. foc-wheikAntgd ktebUoiViWf tfcte-' payers, is Wednesday the 14th July, at 11

a.|n. iH Ui»4x>urV House, Gisborne. | Militia Notice —The officer commanding the district gfvekl'nbtiee'that WrthiMry'-pro-cqedings will be taken .against all defaulters who fail to deliver their arms i^.,.into stare by the 7th I July l nest? To-euen we say, “ peware. Take care.”last Mr. Gilmores, tender for. works on Bloomfield Road”tri* Middle ’Road, was accepted. Also Mr. King's ,for.the erection lof culverts on the road between the mill and JEgruhettliikSif .The Board also decided not itp 'pay the sum of £25-granted by a previous Board in aid bridge, 'j.

Al Boat Accident.—On Sunday afternoon lasit great excitement was'eausod in the town-ttiitl-nier, lahriching its four, occupants into tho water, and two of lt appears that four youths named respectively Joe )Seatle William* (AHirpHy t&6 employ of Mir. Dugleaux baker; Kenneth Nasmith, brother’- bf-'ifr. Nasmith, watchmaker of GisbUrnSj-Af’chie Munn son. of one of Napier’s piejnebrs of that naipt? aiiif a Maori lad were crossing to the the'Turanganui .rivbr, in a Maori o’clock on "fhej day in question, when, as is, unhappily, but toq’:pft£ft Jthp.S’ jHth. sinjilarly situated, one of the party commenced careening the canoe from side to side in so. reckless a. marniery i and ih : opposition io thewarning: .of.; the ’. that /at-uhpl rahe JieeJed over and, alj fivir. The two unfortunately drowned we?e, we bdlieta,; ftot' seenAfCdr-their iinrrief’Biori/ 'jghd attentio/r^s> tojtherAhree, afloat/ Fortunately the Maori* and young Nastnitji. could swim, the former sufficiently to land Munn, ibutc with tome diffictdiy -on Recount ; of * '■’the firm< y-QOth hp|d,iQf.. him, while Nasmith had enough to dp tp sa-ye, '"‘himself heavy 1 cfdth'ihg' be'sidea. tpjdhyigsgev. idweK/.frbin.. Seatie’s grasp. Although ‘Captain Chrisp. andi a party of police .have been- in constantsearch, the bodies have not’Keen seen since. We; extend oii’r -slneere l condolence to Mr. Mufphy-ML’thPi loss: -lieJias sustained by the ddath-,<?f his son whp apprenticed to Mr. Dugleaux. We understand that Seatie’s has sb me “distant relatives, will, probably, commfahicato tW v Sau intelligence in due course.

• -i;' iG T 7;;i:Trr" , 77:->mirT [/.<)/ ‘We saw on the premises of Mr. Wood, butcher, some wohderfjil pigs, bred from, a sow introduced” itftb the* district' ftokh 'Onehunga. soine time-sgq gentlema n l. The dam weighs between 65Qapd 7QOlJ}®, and of ! her progeny a boar tow* have ■tdAadj 0 mchefl >th<9« jWaense ; 4501b5. Mr.'Wood has. paid careful attention 1,0 the breeding of these animals, and, his been fuHy* rewarded! TKtf pigg would, be Well worthy! of; exhibition in ; AdclP- > land, and would ppen. eyes of those who have' been accustomed to view the obese »iii< nsters shewn amongst the pme carcases at Cl ristmas