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Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3920, 22 July 1881, Page 2

Mb Hales, the District Engineer of Auckland, proceeded to-day, in comp ny wi'h Mr Aitken, County Engineer, and Mr Dean, Town Clerk, to inspect the damage done the Domestic Water Eace and -the large County Eafe. Mr Hales is certainly making a roost minute and thorough inrestigation, and it ■will not be his fuult if the Government refuse the local bodiet all the money they require to make good the damage done. Mr Hales has with him a most complete sketch map of the district, showing all the places at which injury to the public works lias been done bj the flood. We - anticipate that a., very . fair allowance ■will'De granted the local authorities, for Mr Hales will certainly place before the Govern* ment in detail the amount of damage sustained, and the sums required to recoup the County and Borough for the unusual demand upon their fi&ances. It is very satisfactory tifftnd that a investigation is being made by Mr Halfc»,-who h»s>made a most favorable impression, during this his first-visit tothe Thames.

The Tablet says:—lt is notable that among the petitions presented to Parliament of late on ' the education question, not one has emanated from the Catholics of the Colony And this is the more remarkable since of all people in the colony the Catholic* are ttie most hurt by the Education Act. The Tablet is rather rough upon the Presbyterian Church of Otago and its petition to Parliament It saya another petition in favour of the Bible-in-Schools has been sent to Parliament. It has emanated from the Synod of the Preebyterian Church of Otago. and Southland, and it is raos*l .characteristic of its origin. We need say little else in condemnation of this document, which also founds its claim upon tlie majority, and further makes known to us that the pious body wlienco it emanates estepim half-an hour a day spent in bible reading sufficient to complete the educational system by making provision for the "moral culture of the youth of the land." This culture evidently appears to the Synod, a matter of easy accomplishment. The Synod, however, professes to ground its prayer upon a basis that" is completely inaccurate, —or, we may say at once, wholly false. Their fourth clause runs as follows :—" That your petitioners tal<e the ground, with the whole of Christendom, that the Bible is the Word of God, given to man for the purpose of supplying him with the necessary helps and motives to fit and guide him fullr to discharge the relative duties of life." This is a complete mistake j vastly the greater part of Christendom holds no belief of the kind. It boldß, indeed, that the Bible is the Word of God given to man for the purpose of supplying him with necessary helps and motives, but not 'fthe necessary helps and motives to fife and iguide him fully to discharge the relative duties Hf life," for to say this is to assert that the Bible alone is the rule af faith, and that, vastly the greater part of Christendom denies. "At fclie "Bale.-afc~f?arawai yesterday the beef cattle yarded were of good quality throughout and in average uutnbers, but owing to attndance of a few outside purchasers, were short of requirements, and a brisk market was the consequence, though we cannot quote any advance in; price. For a few of the mo^li choice steers* 27s 6d per lOOlbfl was obtained, but the'average of the-market did not exceed 265. A. full market Napier „ wethers were , briskly 1 competed for, realising 15s 3d to 17s, .or 3Jd per lb; Bishop Rsdwood visited New Plymouth for a iiew idays, and of course had (tn addreßrpreßented him. The following is! ft portion of the address :— ' ' May it■ please your Lordship — We, Catholics of this poor, lonely place, To greet you come with joyous hearts today, Blessing our Lord for the most precious gruce, , In our favour he was pleased to display. First, we thVfilir^you for more than one For your kindness in sending us here Our good pastor, ;dear Father Chastagnon ; Him we do love,' and respectj and revere. [ Aflablp, meek, pious, and generous, From the first moment here he did come, * Who could narrate all that he did for us ? Finding the place most heavily mortgaged, At once lie tried to diminish the debt. Generous friends everywhere he engaged ; And every one, my Lord, has done his best. Three hundred pounds are almoßt cleared : ' Sum enormpus'for our scanty number. :■■ Aeplendid,school here was established, And was entrusted by our dear paptor To two ladies, most highly accomplished. His Lordship ig reported in the Herald to have "returned thanks for the beautiful ad- ; dreag. He? m|gjlfc have suggested to the writer of the address a caiirse of instruction pt the "splendid school, entrusted by the dearpagior to the moat highly accomplished young Udiee."

Over the way, over 'ho way, I've sepn^a head that's* fiiir an \ gray ! I've sen kii d eyes not now to tears, a form of grace, though full of years. Her fifty 'summers have left no flaw—and I, a youth of twenty-three, st> love this lady, fair to ccc, I want her for my mother-in-law. Akotheh lobby riimor current in Wellington is that if the Representation Bill is not carried an attempt will be rr ade to repeal the Triennial Parltement* Act on the pretext of ■ allowing another shance of redistribution of scuts before general election. A?, however, Nelson and Westlaud nro the only parts of the colony which lose by the Bill all other places gaining, some by incrensed representative.*, others by increased population entitling them now to certain representations which was excessive under the former census, I fancy the-Bill stands a fair chance" of passing in some form or other. The chief disputes are likely to bo about places grouped together that have not community of interest, but this probably can be rectified. The Bay of Plenty Times says : —The proposal to tack on the County of Coromandcl to the Tauranga district to form one electorate, which was telegraphed to us by our Wellington correspondent as having been gravely entertained by the Government, has b en discarded ; and a more* sensible Bcheme adopted in its stead. It must have been apparent to the Government on a moment's consideration that such an arrangement would never be acceptable to this constituency, and that it would be almost as ■well to allow matters to remain in statu quo. We now learn that in the r edistribution of. Seats Bill, which is to be brought forward in the House, the separation of the Tauranga district from Poverty Bay is proposed, each district to have a member of its own. The Tauranga electorate will comprise Tauranga, Opotiki, Maketu, Kotorua, Oliinemutu, Te Arohu, and we suppose Kutikuti; and the Poverty Bay electorate will include Gisbome and the surrounding district, Wairoa, and a portion of Hawke's Bay. This arrangement, if carried out, should give entire satisfaction to the people of Tauranga, and will enable them for the future to have a representative after their own heart. Fbom the first (writes the Dunstan Times) it wub understood very generally amongst all classes that the Property Tax was what could be fairly called a secret tax, inasmuch as none of the particulars were to be made public, the total revenue from it being all that was made known. la this we do not doubt for a moment we shall find those who agree with us on every side, and equal with ours will bo their Burprise to learn that " a return of all payers and exempted n n-payers of Property Tax, the different amounts paid, amount of foreign capital uctuxed, and totals of real and; personal property taxed and exempted," according to the Hohj Mr Whitaker, is now being printed. Tuat^this is a- direct beach of faith there is no denying. Me Timothy Bnckley writes asking us to contradict the statement made by our contemporary in reference to his intentions in the matter of the death of. his son. He says he did not authorise such a statement to be made, but only went to the Advertiser office to ask that the whole of the statement made by his late son should be published. The Hon Mr Whitaker, replying to a question, said the Government would consider the propriety of preventing boys using aring. . The lords have carried a motion in favour of Bible reading in schools by 15 votes to 12. The names of the imbeciles who voted for the motion are bs follows : —The- Hons Baillie, Miller, Pharazyn, Scotland, Acland, Holmes, Wilson, Peters, Bobineon, Nurse, Reynolds, Martin, Brett, Mantell, .^nd Menzies. The Hons Dr Pollen, Williamson, Frozer, Chamberlain, Dignan, Wood, Lahman, P. Buckley, G. Johnson, Peacock, -Whitaker, and Hart voted againßt the moti&n. What about the scarlet fever? Has the flood banished it for the time from the minds iof t 1 c people. Has the High School buen closed ? We believe not, nor yet the.Catholic Schools. We fancy the Local Board of Health has been' beaten by the direciors of the schools mentioned.