Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1898. THE BOROUGH.

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2103, 14 May 1898, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1898. THE BOROUGH.

To a perceptible extent the future and fortunes of a borough are determined hv the prudence or otherwise exhibitod by those at the head, of affairs during the first year of its existence. It is not, therefore, necessary for* us lav any particular stress on the necessity on the part off the for caution in appointing gt»da and true- at« the forthcoming *m ; , elections to superintend the laui. bmg of*,the Borough of Te Aroha ol the troubled seas of municipal life. It » responsibility that makes history and with the increase of its responsibi itMMand consequently powers audprivde te cs | To Arolia may now be said to be entering upon its history making epoch. A. .Jew volume in its life is began, a£r where the first volume had one ' reader, this new one will have hundreds. ; Prom another point of view To Arolia may he- said to have attained its majority; emerged from the obscurity of the nursery and received royal recognition at fchehands of H or Majesty’s representative, the Governor of this loyal and prosperous colony Even the Colonial born with all their pride of race, and perhaps in some subtle . way on account of that very pride, are not so proud of their birth-places of their homes, as the people of the Old Country are. England—the cradle of the most virile nation of the ea rth—s home " to them still, and their unity with the empire their proudest boast. , Let England and her- traditions be our pride, but surely so fair a spot : as Te Aroha merits a share of our ! affections. Surely her welfare deserves our.most earnest solicitude quite apart from any question of individual gain. As a summer resort - y as a playground : for holiday folk from all points of the compass ; albeit the scene, through the beneficent agency of her- thermal springs, of a thousand cures, Te Aroha cannot® be said . to have yet enjoyed more than two seasons. The other day we quoted certain returns bearing on this point, which excited considerable : surprise. We who live* hero do not seem to. realize it j but the fact rei mains, Te Aroha is rapidly forging i ahead as a popular and fashionable summerjresort. When we were brought at last face .to face with the changed condition of things and the crying wants of the new situation, the movement to convert the community into a borough Was greeted with unmist.ikeable evidences of favour on all sides. All this has been satisfactorily acc >m plished,, wo are glad to say. fWith his ready grasp, the Premier on being made acquainted with the facts- of the case by Messrs Thomas Gavin and James Mills/, who were the chief spokesmen at' the deputation that waited, on- him un'the subject, declared that he had . no hesitation, in sayiug that, ho recognised that.it was impossible for mere Townaud Domain Boards, with their limited powers, to do anything like justice to. a place like Te, Aroha, whoserarfftialural endowments elevated it at once- into the position of national property and in whosedevelopmentniggardliness waste be deprecated The hon. gentleman pointed out quite a number of blemishes - in the township and in the domain grounds. At the same time he fully admitted the force of what the speakers had said that with suejh a narrow margin for expenditure it was absolutely imposflible to effect the improvements ‘indicia ted. A fitter and more proper case for t recommendation ’ the PVeraier probably never came across.. To persons fully cognisant of the facts the judiciousness of the local Board’s expenditure,, with one or Wo trifling exceptions, during the dark impecun ious days, - now happily passed away for ever, which overshadowed the making-of Te Aroha, is very striking.. We have been exceptionally favored in'the men who have , presided over | our destinies in the past, and we are I duly grateful to them. That the • natural tendency of human nature, is ’ to blame rather than to praise, is a trite saying. Public men are held accountable for all defects in the public bodies to which they belong and receive scant credit for what such , bodies,mndcr their direction., successfully accomplish. We believe that many who have been in the habit of denouncing the men serving the township in the past, would be sorely puzzled to say in what the denounced fell short.. Contrary to the custom at Home the mayor of a New Zealand borough is. elected before the councillors, and for obvious reasons we cannot help thinking such a course may not always be conducive to smooth working. In any case we must have something like unanimity in the council chamber, for a borough is a delicate nursling during the first year of its existence, and* to secure this, perhaps, be prepared to make some sacrifice on, the score of our -predilections. Some of us, no doubt, would like to see what we are fond of calling‘new blood’in the council chamber. We do not think this a fitting opportunity to make experiments in the matter of introducing new blood. We want a strong man, accustomed to deal with with affairs of public interest and the handling of parochial questions. We should like to see as mayor of this young Borough, with all its troubles like an unlicked cub, before it, a tried j

public servant in touch, with tho permanent heads of the various departments The Government, thanks to the good offices of our worthy member, has done much for Te Aroha and we feel grateful to it, and feeling grateful we should recollect that gratitude is generally taken to mean a j lively sense of favors to come, and not do anything to disturb the channels [by which we have been accustomed to receive such favors. We have not heard of any candidates* for" mayoral Minors with the exception of Mr Thomas Gavin. And we are glad of it] Of that gentleman’s past services itl would be supererogat ry to speak Jiike every strong man resolute in the aischarge of what he considers to be his duty, he has his hostile critics. That he is a clear, level-headed man and. a lucid, if not ornate, speaker, nobody will attempt to deny. In our opinion no has shown excellent sense in not meddling with the improvements in the Domain, unless he- considered the making of a suggestion came within his province as Chairman of the Board. Messrs Hay, Yickermann and the Government architect at Wellington, are all highly salaried officials, and al in oaf more impatient moods, we may have felt inclined to cai'p at their methods,, it should be clearly understood that the Domain. Bpard chairman is in newise responsible for their shortcomings. Impatience-, if things are not going in the; exact way we desire, is a common infirmity in humanity but it must be put on one, side in dealing with such questions as the fitness of a candidate for election to an important office. We sincerely trust the people of Te Aroha will not treat this election in a perfunctory fashion : but will seriously debate within their own mends *the claims of any and every candidate- coming for* ward. Mr Gavin’s long service in the splendid training ground .afforded, by the numerous local bodies, to which from- time to time he his belonged, and at present, belongs, eminently fits him. in our opinion, for the more responsible duties of a mayoralty. i

Parliament is- formally profogueaHby Gazette notice till June 2.—»

{**% r Abbey, Waihou, has a good cow for sale, as will be seen from an advertisement in another column, m ».

<r - Messrs Campbell, Ehrenfried and; Co., have decided to throw out a wing consisting; of twenty bed-rooms at the Family Hotel, in. consequence of the growing popularity of thp house.

The popular hostess, ofthe Family Hotel (Mrs O’Meagher) returned on. Thursday from a fbur weeks trip, to Auckland. A strange occurrence is reporfce 1 in connection with the election of a School Cun* ; nut tee-at Duncvirke. According to the declared result of . the poll, one candidate received only 24 votes. *' A Recount, however showed that he had received 53„ while two.others received more votes, thao/ were ©.•edited to them. Two of the three scrutineers. are, it ia alleged, prepared to swear thiit the declaration-of the po.l. was correct.. The ballot papers will probably be forwarded 1 to. the Hawke’s Buy Education Board. It is-hotified in. the Gazette that after the 9th inst bicycles, tricycles or velocipedesaccoinpanying'paS3eugers must be fully and legibly addressed with.the name and destination e£ passenger-, a.>d be at the railway station at least fifteen-, minutes before the advertised t.me-of departure- of the train; by, which they are tu be carried* Taa department will not be responsible for bicycles i tricycles, velocipedes, or perambulatorsimproperly left about the station -i.re.u- ses. A fog signal that is-to be alSxed to Pen carrow lighthouse,, so that steamers . and other vessels maybe warnedin thick weather when the light is. obscure 1 will be ready in. a day or two. If the experimfict proves, a success other lighthouses, will be equipped, ia a like manner.

It ia said that horses with Broad foreheads are fhr more intelligent than, others, and adapt themselves to military drill and discipline much quicker thin those with narrow heads.

According, to the returns.just published, the enrolled strength'of the Militia of the United Kingdom is 13a,502. distributed as follows. —England,. 88,725.; Ireland 29,082 and Shetland 15.695. But of this force the numher'at training last year- was :—England, England 64,576' Ireland, 23,156; Scotland, 11,743: Consaqu *ntly the militia is no less than 14,000 below its. proper establishment. ' -

So many boys are offering.themselves for the Royal Navy that- the admiralty have increased the . standard height and chest measurement by half an inch. Since April last upwards.of 4,000 boys have been entered on. board the Impregnable add stationary training, ships, and nearly 600-in the-three seagoing training, ships. There are now about 9,000-boy sin the navy,, upwards of 2,000 being on active service,, and about 1, 000 in the reserve and coastguard ships, and in training. More boys have been recruited last year than in any previous year. 0 ? ’

The total export of New Zealand produce during the year ended March 81 last shows an increase upon tho previous year of £l, 076,772.

The new proposals of the British -Government in reg.ard to vaccination will include the continuance of the system of gratuitous vaccination,, with permission, in the case of those, parents who entertain conscientious objections to make a statutory declaration An extension of the age within which vae» cination is to be-required to six months is contemplated and power will be* given to all parents to"require the use of calf lymph. ‘ Mr Wm. Hobbs, surgeon dentist, will pay his usual visit to Te Aroha on Wednesday next. A very busy and animated scene was presented at the site of the new Presbyterian Church on Thursday afternoon last, when a ‘ Working Bee ’ of a dozen or more of stalwart Presbyterians were energetically engaged with pick, shovel and barrow, in levelling the ground. The ‘fun’ was fast and furious, and the noble band of volunteer workers made short work of theii contract. The builders, Messrs Sutton and Son, have already part of the framework in position, and when finished, the building will be an ornament to the town.

The American - race - horse Judge Denny has reduced the two-mile record to 3 minutes 26£ seconds.

The Hon A. J. Cadman leaves Wellington for Auckland shortly, to open the new bath-house at le Aroha on file 24th ijast. lhxs information has by letter.

On Thursday afternoon Messrs W- 1 Maingay and Skipwith met in the 2nd round of the tournament, the game ending in the latter’s defeat., the score being 6-5 and 6-4. The winner of the game between Messrs ‘ Thomas and Pavitt will play in the serni-nnal against either Smales, Kina ban or Maingay,. Footballers will see by advertisement elsewhere that the match, Thames School of Mines v Te Aroha,. which was to take place this afternoon, has been postponed till further notice.

Telegrams have been received from Mr Cadman to the effect that the services of the landscape gardener at Rotorua have been requisitioned for the Te Aroha Domain! and that Mr Derhaov has been instructed to report on the question of a water-supply and electric lighting: for the Borough of To Aroha., •