TROGLODYTE CREEK.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 296, 2 October 1873, Page 6

TROGLODYTE CREEK.

Bockhopper House, September 26th, 1873. By this time, I have no doubt but that you have arrived in common with others of »the lower regions, to the conclusion that we in the higher latitudes, are pretty nigh exterminated. Well, it is almost an accomplished fact. Our "Warden is " abolished j " our road supplies stopped $ our status as a community is getting lower every day; our future has been decided without our consent} whilst our morals are regulated according to tha line and rule views of the different communities whom we for the time affect ; whilst to sum up the whole, we must either belong to one or other of the different cliques up here, to have the slightest chance of even living. Like our Roxburgh friends, j we are between the horns of a dilemma; we are in the position of the long; ear*d descendant of " Balaams Oracle " who, when placed between two bundles of hay, did not know which ' to bite first, and so got nearly starved. We dare not even travestie the the memorable words of the son of Phillip of Macedon s "if I were not Beighton, I'd be Mackay," because we do not care to be either of these gentlemen, inasmuch as they have been : taking the lead in public matters at the Teviot, and for their pains they have received the usual stipend accorded to the historical monkey • and all for hanging a man in effigy, when we should have done it in fact, and for which we are now being morally and politically " ICbu Kluxed.*' Our population, like the old lady at the Brick Lane tea meeting, after the sixteen cups she swallowed, is " wisibly swellI ing," as this season's crop of things of beauty and joys far ever is, I believe, the largest on record. There is no doubt but t\\e commu- ; nities dependent on each other in the i country districts generally, and ; Troglodyte Creek, Roxburgh, in par- ! ticular, are fully reaping the advani tages of the liberality with which the I Q-overnment are about to reward their consistent supporters — by the Government, I mean the squatting portion of it, The Superintendent is to have an addition to his salary, so that it may reach the respectable sum of one thousand pounds, stg., p.er annum. And on his retirement from office, I I suppose a neat little pension to re- ; imburse him for the arduous duties (?) he has had to perform, and been well I paid for during his tenure of office ; \ and all out of revenues that have beec i dragged from the pockets of the hard- ; working portion of the community. ; Mind you the money must come out \of the revenue, and. the people* must spay. However, we do, no.b think so much about that as we do of the stereotyped wail of our- quondam [ friends, who say that like the " daughters of the horse leech,"' our cry is constantly "• G-ive, give." I scarcely think they are justified in their conclusions ; but this I do know, with ; them it has always been " Take, take." till they have left us in such a position, that when there was nothing more [left them to prey upon, they must : needs vulture-like dart upon the salary of our Warden and 8.M., and I pre- ; flume this pitiful portion of aurs goes <XX swell the income of the head of the most rotten institution that was ever allowed to exist in a civilised country. Of course meetings have been held, , and petitions forwarded to the Council in D,unedin, and of course we can anticipate the issue — a negative reply. Now don't you think we are great. : asses to beg as a concession, for what we should demand as a right. . When Messrs. Macandrew and Bastings were at the Teviot some little time before the elections, there were many of us rubbing our hands and rejoicing in. the anticipation of at last being : thoroughly understood^ and ou.r few local wants supplied. Among other things promised us was a bridge, as a means of communication between the east and west sides of the river ; but so far the only thing of the kind, as far as I can make ooutt t we are likely to get is the bridge of old Pumpernjckel's nose, and that is not available for carriage traffic. White as for our roads,, why we were to. have the whole distance between Lawrence and Clyde a perfectly paved duplicate of Princes- ■ street ; but . all their promises are nullified, and we have stilLto risk our bodies on and in. the worn-out slough that does duty for a higJiway* and rejoice when .we once more are clasped to,- the buz^itns of ou«r lawful- spouses that we liave once more escaped the dangers of the " nasty deep.'' Aa the order of the day seems to be retrenchment with, a, foUj treasury,, w^hat may

May we not have our rural Magistracy curtailed of their J.P.s ? or what is more likely, may not the head of the department decide to cut down our police torce from six feet six to four feet two ? There are more unlikely things happening every day; and I believe that unless our member bestirs himself and votes on the winning side, we shall be like Mr. Weller's friends at the Swarry— smelling the leg of mutton and sighing for the trimmins. The fact is we had set up two wooden gods to worship ) one as the Immaculate, and the other as the Infallible. Each had its votaries, and manifold were the advantages that would be gained by their intercession ;' but we found, after a lenghtened and fruitless amount of trusting in their prophecies, that we were in a worse position than before we set them up, and that between the two blocks we fell to the ! ground, Our common sense at length began to assert itself, and the iconoclastic spirit prevailing, we have cast our idols into the flames, where they, like their prognostications, have ended in smoke, although there are even now some enthusiastics who continue to believe in their ashes. Such is a brief outline of our social position up here. Were we more selfreliant and stirring in matters that afffect our future position as a com- ; munity, and not allow the bickerings and party feeling that have been prevai lent amongst ua to interfere with matters that have been propounded for I the general weal, we should not be constantly whining like a pack of flogged puppies, and abusing eacb other i as the cause of our being overlooked | in the general measures for progress. ! But I am sadly afraid we are too late, for what with the curtailment of our | surroundings, the bad odour we are in at | head quarters, and the {i pull each his own way " we have been maundering iv from time immemorial, we for some time at least are likely to be in the position of a lot of little Mosses waiting for any quantity of Pharoah's daughters to pull ub out of the bullrushes. The necessity that exists for a Besidsnt Warden at the Teviot is becoming more apparent every day. The district is so scattered, and the climatic differences of portions of the country so great, that in many cases the miners from the outlying diggings cannot always attend the Warden's Court at the time specified in the notices without great personal risk ; and, moreover, there are many interests that sometimes clash between parties on adjoining claims that want settling at once, as until the differences are made up by the Warden, all hands and the ground may lie idle until the monthly Court is again held. Besides, there are certificates and miners* rights, and the thousand iind one other contingencies to be attended to, that render the actual residence of a Warden a matter of serious moment to the district, leaving out of question the many and urgent calls that are alwaya being made on the time and attention of the Resident Magistrate. The receipts derivable from the Warden's and Resident Ma^istrattSj Courts should leave a handsome margin after deducting the salary of a Warden, while the present system af monthly attendance by the Warden froxn Clyde will be found to create numberless losses and inconvenience to the general community ; and although we are aware that Mr. Simpson is quite willing to do the work of two* or even three, goldfields officials, yet he has not the. gift of obiquity, which he would require to carry out the duties of his numerous offices in all their ramifications. — Tours truly, ThEODOSJUS GrIiUNDEBB;UTZ,