THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi MONDAY, FEBRUARY .7, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3779, 7 February 1881, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi MONDAY, FEBRUARY .7, 1881.

As each new tax is levied on the public, the question crops up as to the manner in - which Maovies shall be made to contribute as well as Europeans. The Dog Tax is an example. In Maori villages the canine race are almost as numerous as their colored brethren of humanity, and it has become a vexed question as to the best mode- of ensuring the payment of the Tax. It would be lopked upon as a cakts helli, were the collector to shoot the animals for whom no tax has been paid, and as our Maories treat our laws ' with disdain there is not much probability of the tax being paid in native districts. We must appear truly ridiculous in the eyes of the Maori. We make laws which, they object to and treat with contempt. We thereupon say, " Ah well, it is not much use endeavoring to alter matters, as the Maories will soon die out." And in the meantime, until the Maori, with his customary condescension and politeness, informs us of his determination to exterminate himself, we are to submit to the disobedience and illegal contraventions of various English laws, of which the native race is guilty ? Is the march of civilization and improvement of the colony to be stopped in order to allow the natives free will, irrespective of law and order ? . Are we to be compelled to starve, in order that our " coloured brethren " may live like lords, and smoke the pipe of contentment ? Are roads and bridges not to made, and is the country to remain in a blissful state iof undevelopment just because a Maori madman, or. thickheaded chief announces that it, is his pleasure that certain lands should not be touched ? Are we, who claim to be a civilised people, who profess to be more enlightened, and who are certainly less repellant to the eye than the Maoris and who moreover claim that "we never shall be slaves," to be the servants and slaves of a degraded and brutalising race of Maories, whose highest aspiration is to wallow in a mud whare in a state of drunken imbecility ? It seems very much as if we were drifting fast to that end. The Maories are far better off than Europeans, so far as the operation of the law is concerned. The numerous murderers and criminals in hiding now at Parihaka and other places are in comparative security, and almost daily instances occur where our laws are infringed by the natives, who can and do exhibit a supreme contempt for us and our laws. Te Whiti. our

esteemed Maori agitator, practices the art of sedition, and countenances treasonable actions, and yet we say not a word. He (instead of being in the Eden gaol as he ought to be) is never stopped from inflaming the minds of his flock against Europeans, but is allowed to conspire against the safety of the English, according to his own sweet will. The more we think over this matter the more disgusted we become, as we think of the futile attempts of the different Governments hitherto to place things on a common footing between Caucasian and Polynesian races, some by conciliation, others by stern and uncompromising justice. Both of these hare failed as the Maories been tried, and with but one result— the growth of that feeling of contempt for us and our laws which is characteristic and patent among all aboriginal races. Ifc is still a vexed question—the treatment of the Maori race —but as kindness and liberality have failed to bring about an amicable settlement it is time severer measures were taken to enforce law and order, decency and morality, among the native race. The question proved too hard a one for Mr Bryce to solve, and although he endeavoured by straightforward action to force Te Whiti and his troop" of howling fanatical worshippers to recognise British law as supreme in New Zealand, his colleagues, with that PakehaMaori instinct so characteristic in men who have in view the acquirement of a few thousand acres of native land, failed to assist him in his laudable attempt to settle the question, and in consequence the matter is very little nearer settlement than it was in the time of Sir D. McLean, when the flour and blanket policy cost the colony thousands of pounds without doing one sixpenny worth of leal good. We trust that next session the Government will pay more attention to these matters than they have hitherto done,' as the complete obedience and subjection of the native race is necessary to insure the progress of business and civilization.

Ottb suggestions made recently to the effect that a rifle team should be picked to proceed to the Wairoa has been acted upon, and we understand that a team of fire men from the Scottish Battalion will leave the Thames on Thursday evening for the purpose of contesting a match with the Wairoa team.

A NUMBEE of Thames people will leave tomorrow on horseback for Te Aroha in order to be present at the races on Wednesday.

The members of the Thames Scottish Battalion on Saturday fired for the honor of representing the Battalion at the Nelson meeting. The following are the highest scorera:— Volunteer Weir, 74—81—155; "Volunteer Brownie?, 72 —73 —145 ; Lieut. Brownlow, 68—74—142; Vol. Kendall, 62—79—141; Sergeant McLeod, 75 —66—141.—A sugar basin, presented by a friend of the corps, was then fired for, and was won by Volunteer Weir (59). The second and third men were Volunteers Kendall (56) and Brownlee (55).

The presence of such a large number of people in the Academy of Music as attended Mrs BTatnpson's services last night, prompts the question are all the means of egress available ? . .

Aw accident which might have heen attended with fatal consequences took place on Saturday, at Shortlaud. A spar, some 40 feet long, was beiDg carted past Dodd's hotel, when the shaft h^rse swerved, causing the end to go through the window of a room in which a son of Mr Dodd was sitting. Had this been a foot lower, the probabiliiy is that a fatality would have eventuated, as the spar smashed the timber of the window, with tremendous force.

A TIEB, attended with fatal results, occurred at Newton, Wellington, at ten o'clock on Saturday night. A house occupied by Chas. Whittington, a driver, was destroyed, and hia three children, Herbert Christopher Whittington, Sarah Olive Whittidgton, and Millie Whittington, aged six years, three years, and ten months respectively, were.burnt to death, Mrs Whittington put the children to bed early and came to town, her husband remaining in the house. He left the building about an hour later to meet hia wife on 1 her return, and when near his home found there was a strongsmell of fire. Whittington ran to the bouse, and discovered the back portion of the place on fire. He gained admission, but was unable to reach the children. The fire by this time had a firm hold, and all efforts to rescue the inmates were unavailing. Great excitement prevailed aman^ the spectators when it waß known that the children weiv in the burning building. Whifctington states everything was sufe when he left, and that no lights were left burning, but a few sticks of wood were burning in the kitchen fire-place. It is not known how the fire originated, but it is thought it must have been caused by the fire in the kitchen. The remains were found at midnight. Only the frunk of the eldest girl was found, and nearly all traces of the infant were destroyed by the fire. Whittington saved nothing, and not beiDg insured is a heavy loser. The building, which was totally consumed, was owned by Sutherland, and it , is not known if it was insured.

At G-ollan's Bay, Lytlelton, on Saturday morning, a stone weighing from 30 to 40 pounds rolling down the hill side, struck a girl of 12 years, the .daughter of Mr Edgar, on the head, causing concussion of the brain, it is feared that the accident will terminate fatally- -

The following are the terms of admission to the proposed Training School in Auckland :—" 7. Candidates for admission must at least be 18 years of age, and shall furnish the Auckland Board of Education with testimonials of good character up to date, and shall produce a satisfactory medical certificate of good health, g. Junior assistant of the prescribed age, who have performed their duties to the satisfaction of the Board, and' teachers "who have been more than a year in charge of a public school shall bo admitted without examination on the certificate of an Inspector of Schools. 9. Holders of scholarships or those whose time has but recently expired, may be admitted to the training college if of the prescribed age, and the ooard shall consider them to give p>omise of becoming efficient teachers. 10. All candidates to declare their intention to adopt the profession of teaohing, and shall give security that they will teach in the public schools of the colony for at least two years aiter leaving the training college. 11. Teachers recommended for admission upon. Inspector's certificate shall attend for the period named in the certificate. 12. All other students to attend for at least a year. 13. The Board may at any time dismiss a stu* dent "for incompetency, repeated neglect of duty, insubordination, or gross misbehaviour, and a student so dismissed Bball forfeit any allowance for maintenance he may hold in connection with the training college. 14 The subject of study ehall be those prescribed for examine.-

t.ion for Class E certificate, the compulsory, and at Last three of. the optional subjects prescribed for Clnss D certificate, as weli as any other subjects the Board may determine 14 The time to be Allotted to each subject shall be ss under : — English, 3 hours (weekly) ; history and geography, 3 hours ; arithmetic, 2; mathematics, 2 ; drawing and music, 2; science, laws of health, or domestic economy and Bewing, 2 hours; French or Latin, theory of school management 3 hours; gymnastic) and drill, 1 hour.

In the letter of W. 0., which appeared in Saturday's, the writer was make to say that from £12,000 to £15,000, would be'swamped before the wharf was renovated, the figures should have been as many hundreds., :

The New Zealand Times of Wednesday says :—'• Odd applications occasionally come before the Benevolent Institution, and not one of the least singular was discussed yesterday afternoon. A sailor who had sent his wife out to New Zealand, 'just to read her a lesson,' as he expressed it, and -who had evidently not been always on good terms with her, wrote stating that he had sailed from London to Sydney by the ship British Enterprise, with a view oi rejoining his wife As, however, he had shipped for the return voyage to London as well, it would ba necessary for her to go to Sydney, claim him, and thus get his discharge. The wife accordingly applied to the Society for her passage money, but the Committee considered that it would not be right for them to lend thenuelves to an evident ruse to enable the man to desert his Bhip, and refused the application."

The actiou of the New Zealand Timber Company in so propily offering erery possible facility for the development of the mineral resources, and more especially the utiluauon of the auriferous wealth of its large and valuable eßtate at Whangapoua, is deserving of public recognition. Imteod of damping the ardour of mining enterprise by demanding enhanced prices for short leases of claims on their estate the directors have taken the better aDd more effectual course of unreservedly throwing the whole of it open for prosdectiug for gold mining purposes. The claims will be three acres each in extent, and the rent will be determined in accordance with the following scale :—For first two years, £2 10s; for second two years, £& per acres ; for remaining three years, £6 per acre. Indubitable proof has already been given that, the property in question is intersected by well defined reefs of gold bearing quartz, and the contiguous private owners, fully alive to the fact, hare been driving hard bargains with the prospectors. Tiernan and j Coghlan's claim, in which some very encouraging prospects have already been disclosed, lies acoss the boundary of the Whangapoun estate from Mrs Mclntosh's land, about half of it being on the other, side of the dividing line, while prospectors have come across rich deposits in various other portions of the area owned by the Company, viz., 25,000 acre?, and particularly along the course of the Owera and Wairoa creeks, as well as the upper branches of the Waingaro creek, which are not far from the recent disooveries at the Tiki. Tbfcse details are well known, and there can be no doubt that the effect of the publication of the Company's liberal terms will be to give a decided impetus to the work of prospecting and testing thoroughly the value of the entire district as a field for mining industry and speculation. — Star,

The New Zealand Times has the following: —A rat in a peculiarly perplexing predioauient was espied in one of tlia stringers of the Queen's Wharf on Saturday. Tne unlucky rodent, on foraging expedition intent, had c.-pied one among the multitude of mussels clustered on the timbers with its shells invitingly open, and scenting within a toothsome tit bit thrust its paw in, The biralve instantly closed, and the rat was a prisoner hard and fast, with no hope of release. Its plaintive equeakings soon drew attention, and an onlooker took his ratship by the tail and performed the happy despatch by knocking its head against the planks.

In consequence of the water in the reservoir which supplies Wellington with water being so low, the Public Works Committee has (according to the iiTeiiing Post) hai to stop the supply to the various church organs.

The actual beer, production, of th« world for 1879 is given by an Austrian newspaper on .reliable authority as follows :—G-ermany, 38,964,511- hoctolitres ; Great Britain, 36,597,550 ditto; United States, 15,400,000 ditto ; Australia, 11,184,671 ditto ; France, 8,721,000 ditto; Belgium, 7,854,000 ditto j Russia, 2,300,000 ditto ; Holland, 1,600,000 ditto; Denmaik, 1,100,000 ditto; Sweden, 930,000 ditto ; Italy, 870,00J ditto ; Switzerland, 724,000 ditto ; Norway, 615,000 ditto. Total, 1,264.387,400 hectolitres. One heotolitrea is nearly Z6\ gallons wine measure.