SATURDAY, SEPT. 29, 1883.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 16, 29 September 1883, Page 2

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29, 1883.

Tiif. resignation ff Mr Whitakr»r of his |)o.v)tjon as Premier ami Attorneyi^norn! wir announced on Mordny Inst, and tlinnj?h it wns by no moans unoxpectf'd, Rtil! the retirement of «*neh a vftornn politician was ft source of sincere lojrrrt. to many thr mghont the colony. Ho has serve- 1 New Zealand at intervals for over tliirfy years as one of its c l nof administrative officers. He was A'.fornoy-G^nern] in the first Ministry i Forme 1 after responsible Government was granted to the. colony, and since ! then has been n member of several j Kxocnth-e*, VinEf Promi-'M* in I#(>3, and i ;t^ain on Hi" withdrawal of Sir John | /Jail from what may be sdd to be the present Ministry. W> mny safely sny th \t no one who hns held office in this colony lum rarned gre iter respect alike i*r»»nj pn^iticrt) foes and friends. T'we cannot he a <lonht that in losing Mr Whitakcr the Government of the day lias l<»*t its "strongest supporter, and had lie not loyally stuck to his post during t.ho Into session, other kin^s might have ' ruled in I-riel instead of those who at ; ptv^Mit \\»)\ ofhVe. A?j a maHer of course a readjustment was uoue^ary on

the Premier's resignation, and Major; Atkinson vtps sent for to reconstruct nj Ministry. This was done with the I result that he took the Premiership j bimsMf «at tin* <iame times refchini q th portfoi qof (JolmiH Treasurer Mr Connolly sn eeeds to the vacant Attorney - Generalship, J'etHinim? hi? present ' department «>f .Justice. Mr * >liver, formerly Minister of Public Wor .<». hut htto y a member of the Executive without a portfolio takes Post unit Telegraph, whilst luo othe offices are unchanged. If, as is .<tuto«i, Mr Johnston really j? <es home in May next to reli ve Bir Dillon Bell of the Aurency-Genoral, there will be other now blood infused into Ministerial life beforo Parliament meets. Now, with respect to .Yinjur Atkinson ns Premier, if that gentleman had especially wished to accept ft role for which ho is preeminently unfitted, jig couhl not have been more successful in his que^t riionifh an admirable memher of a Ministry, a smart deha'er, and excellent in tin 1 position t uit he lately and still occupies as Treasurer, he is utterly deficient in the first requisite for the head of a Government tact. He Ims not the faintest cuncepf ion of the maviter in m<hh, hut relic- whoUy on the fort Her in re style of ruling. Stvh a word as conciliation is omitted from his vocabulary, and he does Not know how to gracefully yield a little in order to secure much. Without douhfc lost session this n>ui>'n riding manner hnlf alienated many supporters, an ', but for the knowledge t ..it Ministerial defeat meant throwing the. affairs of the country "nto such dangerous hands as those of Messrs Montgomery, AJacandrew, Grey, De Lafour and Co., there is reason to doubt whether a majority would always have followed the Ho . Treasurer into the same lo' by In ordinary prudence, SeUjacitv, and tact, Major Atkinson will contrast very badly with his predecessor, unl'iss he changes greatly. Possibly in the iiii^iu'i position he may do so, but wo doubt it as much as that the leopard can L-Ji.in^o its spotd. Cut the next so&sion will prmu whether or not our estimate of him as a Premier is correct, o whether, with its increased responsibilities, the ofticc m»y nut have theeifect of toitiui? down some asperity, and iv« i u loiiu.ic its occupant more amenable to tfMitW nn-\ y«t morn elT^'ctive inUuonvvs. The retmn of the Prodigvl in tuc s vine of Mr Oliver to the Minist vial hosom means nuthiug wliatevev, Ix-yon-l tio i.K-t, i.nportaut to himself, i u.it hu now will draw salary and hoKl a portfolio, instead of occupying ttie l»o-iti«»ii us a volunteer in u iir-st-clas^ H'^fjiuent, but drawing no pay. His it'-toi.»tion to e)os»e» connection will not help the Ministry one iota. His influence in the House i» small, and durini? ;iii> U>im of office he faiieJ to any iii'liL-atton whatever of marlce 1 ability of '(i) kin i. One of his sentences n a Public Work.> of a few y n ;irs iu;o was ee'ebraievl MH»owiiar, and its vairueness lei't nothintif to be desi.ed. At the pniod iv question t' i ere had -•eon ?ome ayit.ition on the Weat Coast •if tue Souta X&iattU tor the completion of a ?'iort railw«t} to connect the towns of ilt>!xitikn i\h\i Greymuutu. Tnis had been promised, the survey made, and <o»u' work even commenced, but the new government repudiated all pledges and dctcrraiueil to postpone further .let ion. Iv the Statement iv question r Oliver, then Minister of Puhlic Works, iclcrrim/ to the line in question, mno need with great solemnity that the Go ernment fully recognised tie imporu.nee of the line, and " would keep it >tea>!ily in view." The manner in which tii is valuable assurance was delivered, the self-satisfied air of the speaker, and the full knowledge of what the sentence meant was too much for the gnuity of the House, which roared incontinently. The expression became a p!irase to signify anything in the shape of public works that was doomed, and, up to the present day, being "kept steadily in \«fw n is the only advauta c t'aat that railway has ohiaine-d. Mr Connolly us Attoniey-Geik'iaf will no doubt fill the olliee satisfaeto«'tiy, and is l>otli painstaking nn\ conscientious, but certainly neither brii!i:tnt nor nnpie^ive. ;l )n to whole there a; c h:w but v>\\\ feei t tat fie r<'-conHtnieto.i Mini.stry is weaker far th;m its friends would wish it, and it is quite on the curd% should tie Opposition posses <inyt)»'mff like utilisation wheu Parliauicnt meets, that the Government will have to do dl they know to preserve their beats n (ho nss.i aits t.^«fc will be directed a^aiusi thorn.

On Thursday next, the 4th innt. y Bradley & Co, will com nence running ihwr coaches U> and from the Thames daily. Mr Bradley started on Thursday lant to p)ace the horses and mako ftll final arrangements for starting, i'iiu iir-tt stage will bo from Waiorungomai to f aeroa, where a larger coach will be met, ami the next singe will be to HiKuUiio. Prom there will he the last stage to the Thames. The coach from hore to Paeroa will seat eleven paasengois, and be drawn by four hotyt«, the one fiooa there will comfortably curry fourteen, and will have a live-horse team attached. The driver from this end will be H. fjfiiilh, who handlei the ribbon** for the last two wason* w' Imit unx acoident whatever, and N. Fe gu^ou, well-known at the T mines an an o tnn-ni whip, \v»ll drive to auJ from Paeroa. The honrß of leaving will be 0.30 a.m. from W.viorongoinai, an I 7 a.m. xharp from Te Aroha, arriving at the Th.inio-^ at 12.30. The coach from the Tiumos will leave half-an-ljoui* ea« f lier, viz., at 6 a.m. Mr Bradley will he roa I manager along the route. Application has been made to Mr Coney, Po»tm wter at the Thames to allow of the houiH of the mail* clomng to bo altere' ho a» to unit coach time, and as the cUantfe,wou!d undoubtedly h« a public bonefiu, theie can bo Htllo doubt that lie Will favorably consider the luqiieub. The resumption of co.ich coiitmuntcaUuci >vill ha an lUKjuest'onable boon to tra,veller« of all deaotiptious, an : in future it will be powiblo vory frequently for persons wiahin'-j to jn'o^oed to Auckland to cfttch tfao fltoamer and thereby reach fcliere iv

one day. It is to he hopol before n.xt winter comes that the Thames County portion of tho road vrill be mule, «o <.thut coach traffic may not again be interrupted when th« bad weather comes on. A meeting of tho Bace Committee was held on Ttiefrlay evening last, Mr Cuff in the chair. It was agreed by those present to send out collectors at once to ascertain what amount of snbAra ipti'orm could be gathered from jjcrrmm in the district, liefou? finally committing themselves to any special programme. When thi» is* ascevtaine I the varioaa slakes will at once bo advertised, and be as liberal as possible. Applications are made in the Gazette of the 20th inst. for tho following patents :— By Awdry and Ingranj, of Marlon, for an improved wool-prow; by C. Malfroy, of Boss, for an improved reversible turbine for winding purposes; by G. H.Marsdea, of Puneiin, for an invention for the manufacture of atmospheric gas ; by J. Alves, of Dunedin, for improvements in apparatus for cdnvoying material on aerial tramways or endless rope ways; by J, Asplnall, of Skipper's Point, Otago, for a hand or motive-power rock drill. Some twenty new bail lings are in course of erection at Waiovongomai, two shnvebiokeis have started business ; altogether tke township bears a very healthy an! prosperous appearance. The quarterly meeting of the Upper Thames Wyalayuu Ciicuit was hold in the Pueron Church on Monlay, Sept. 2lih: the Key. Hemy Ball preside 1. There were also present the Eov. G. T. Marshall (Circuit Minister), Messrs Tetftty an \ Phillips (Circuit Stewards}, Menars Bennett and Bramioy. The returns «h<jwet an increase o" fi/e church members, with thiets on piobaliou for membership. The S tbbnth-achools were ateo reported to be h\ ix piosperous} conlition. Vigorous efforts are being made throughout the district for the Circuit Fund Saztiar to bo held in December, next at Te Aroha. The Circuit income for the quarter, inclusive of donations for the new horse purchased a few months ago, was £58 JU}» s^, and expenditure £53 8s -id, thus yiel Img a few pounds towards the reduction of Circuit Debt Fnnd. Mr Phillips brought before the nice ting a proposal to divide tho present Circuit, on the ground that it was too extuiibive to be worked extensive. On his motion it wtw agree I to recommend that Paeroa with contiguous places ue iunucd into a Home Mission station with a grant of €30 from the Home Mission Fund. On the motion of Mr JJenuetfc Te Aroha wa* recommended a*> a separate Circuit, Messrs Phillips and TetJey were requested to attend the next district, meeting and urge the adoption of fche-e recommendations. Arrangements were finally settled for celebratiug the Aumvoinuiy of the Paorutt Church by a grand soiree and entertainment, the date and particulars to be advertised. In view of the proposed division of the Circuit, the stewards decided to foiego their right of nominating the Minister fin nexlye.u, leaving tho matter entirely with the Conference, Mr J. Jatu.es wan appointed S wi uneutal dvcvavd for Te Aroha West, and Mr Brumley secietary and tioftsncer for the Circuit Auxiliaiy Home Mission Fund. The To Aroha Recreation Grounds have bceu brought under " The Public Domains Act" and the powers delegate! to the Te Aroha Domain Hdai I. Ttic notice was gazette ion the 20th inst. Meiers C. S. Stafford. X F. itoach, (i. L<i»««ey, H. K. Whi faker and J. JUavery, arc gazette 1 as the IV Arjua j Domain Uokm Tins body mto moot monthly, j the iir-ii- meting being on Fri lay. O< tober sth. Tho sduio gentlemen are also gazetted as Trustees for the maintenance of the Te Aroha Cemot< ry. It is to be hope 1 now that prompt steps will be Uken u> ouclo-»u and otheiwise aifcnd to the Inttt'r, fot itt> piosent neglected con lition is neither sn-ne nor loss than & p.iblic sea)»dal. I Mr Donald Stroaach, in a lo>fer to the Otago Daily Times, in which Jio it'fen is him«elf again it 1 some imputatioira cast upon the] New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency I Co. by the general Manager of the New j jZcalanlMcut Fj owing Co., nayt, : — '■ It is I undoubtedly a fact that small &harehoUersj I dispose of their allotments to lai-ger share- j I holders, and that tlie latter ate making a good | thing out of it. I un leratand la to Is 6d j i per head on sheep allotted j>ei shaie is about j the rate given, and the allotment of sheep per i share in about 2£. The net profit on this 2$ i nheep m London market in, I presume, about i 79 to 8s per head over Kow Zealand pi if 3, so j that tho small sharehoMeis get 2b Od to 3s 9d ' I while the shipper get 3 17s 6i to 20s. This is I nil quite well, as long as the small shaveholdeis are satisfied, and it certainly pays them very well.' A stream of visitors is now ebbing and flowing to and fioiu the Te Aioha di^tiict and there are none who have inspected the reefs but go away convinced of their great j value. Mr J. B. Whyte, M.H.R. for this district, waa here for a few days last week, and j returned on Monday last. He expressed his surprise and pleasure at the great strides the district had made during the last few months and was on the whole highly satisfied with its future prospects. j It \w uld seem as though means of com- j munictttion created trafiic, judging from the ! in:inntr in which the Wiioron^omai coac.heH load. Though the fore in su HsiiHannulu <ho number of passcugcis offering makes* the trade remunerative to both bra Hey A Co. and Gall igher, e:ich of whom make several tiips a day. The road is now not only passable, but 1 absolutely good, so the time occupied between i the l\so places is not long. We arc glad to '■• know that this enteipri.se is being fairly re-: warded. | The usual fortnighrjy meeting of the Bund of Hope was held, on Monday evening last, in the VVenlcyan Chapel at 7 o'clock. Mr lloti m theelwir. Theie wr»s a good attendance, and a very interesting programme was gone fhrough — some of the nieces being exceptionally good. Previous to commencing the progiamrne tine Chan man nJchessud tho meeting on the evils of drink irom a "ro.ttmercml" point of view, having, on tho previous ocoasion, spoken on the-aame subject from a "monetary" point of view. He referred wgtin to the 'a.ta and figures then put forward to the f«ct that the amount of money annually spent in (iteat Britain on intoxicating liquors amounfel to about £110,000,000, a sum <?<jra* to nearly £12,000.000 a month, £.'5,000,000 a week, £128,000,000 Q day, over A' 17,000 per hour, nearly £300 per minute, or £5 every second, day and night all the year round. Another way of looking at it was that this amount of money jupio^ented about 41 (sovereigns to every letter in the Bible (3,566,480). Whilst he would again draw the attention to these Vtf-h: would also bring unler tl.eir notice that uiu inhabitants of New Zi-ulan 1 arc already spending on an average about £0 per head per annum on strong drink; and were thns far exceeding the people of Great Britain on the average amount sy>ent on flrinV in proportion to respectivo populations*. The tcupfiance sougi, uivlev tlie U'alwship of Mr Aahbv, were exceedingly weJl rev lered, an 1 much of the success of these meetings i» doo to him for his able ftesiatiuice. Nnxt meeting is arranged far same place and hour on Monday, Ootobor BtJi. TJu.' Hey. Wm. Forguson will preach a sermon ufc to-morrow evening service in connectiou with tlie deadi oi Chades Wilbju, who was accidentally drowned a fortnight ago. The present and late Premiors, Major Atkinson, and Mr Whitaker will a^tenJ a. ronrescntatives of Naw Zealatil at the Aum^iitton C mforen<-e tb bu hold at Sydn<:y in November nuxfc.

By notice in the Gazebo all Public Libraries desiring to share in the grant of £6000 voted luring the itwfc .session, mu«t make application before the %2n\ of January, 188 i. The distribution will take place on the 80th of the sivrue month. All applications must be accompanied by a statutory declaration as to the amount oi income. The following conditions are also annexed : — Every public library maintaine I by rates will be entitled to shave in the distribution according to its inoorne from rates ; and every library maintained by subscriptions an- 1 voluntary contributions will be entitle! to share aucor.Uug to its income from subscriptions and voluntary contributions: Provided in either ease that j the income for the year has not* been less than £2 ; and that admission to the library, j if within a borough, is open to the public free of \ charg? The income of each library may be stated either for the year ending 31st December, JBB3, or for the year ending with that day in the year 1683 on which the annual accounts of the library were made up. The distribution will not be m proportion to the several incomes of the libraries ; but a nominal addition of £25 will be made to the amount of each income, an I the vote of £0,000 will be divided in proportion to the amounts as thus j augmented, but so ua that no institution j shall receive more than £50, and that no pay- ' men 6 shall be in ado in respect of incouio i derived from endowments or grants from j Borough or County Councils, or of moneys ; receive I for building purposes and not simply j for the library itself. ' j The po/tts are being erected for telephonic communication between Matamata an 1 Waio- ! rongomui, tin for the superintenJeaee of Mr W. 1\ Firth. Tho posts were erected from the I lattery Co.'s ottice, Waiorongomai, as far as Shaftesljury yosto-cdoy, and complete co.nmtmicaiiou ia expected to bo entabHahcl within a fortnight, Tho distance will be 20 miles. In our last issue we promised to insert today a letter from Mr P. Ferguson, relative to the Waiorongouiai road depute. As, however, the same letter verbatim rt ULrutum hau since been published in the Waikato Times of Tuesday laat, the end sought for by Mr Ferguson has been already achieved, and there is no occasion for our reprinting the letter in question. Mr Farrell announces that he has now received and opened up spring and summer goods of all descriptions. These comprise requisites both ladies and gontleincn, an I those requiring clothing of any kind cannot do better than pay Mr Parreli's establishment a visit. Mr Baskett, of Waiorongomai, has a number of men employed in draining his swamp land, who met with a serious lyss this week. Whilst away at their work their whare by some means caught fire, and was not only burnt down but unfortunately -ill its contents, including the whole belongings of the men in question wete consume !. The Ics, we need hardly say is a serious one to them. The lovers of the art of self-defence will have an opportunity of seeing some scientific professors this evening at the Public Hall, as announced m another column. In addition to boxing, wrestling will be exhibited, and one of ihe company is to have a wrestling bout without using his hands. How this can be accomplished we oannofc imagine, but such is promised in the bill. A meeting of the library committee was helt! last Saturday evening, when a fair amount of business was done. Ife was decided that immediate steps be taken to procure temporarily a room or rooms suitable for present requirements. A number of newspapers and periodicals were selected for iwe in the reading room, and a sub-committee was appointed to choose books for the library. From the Government grant in aid about £50 may bs expected which, with the sum now in the hands of the treasurer, will enable the committee to make a fair beginning.