The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, AUGUST ll, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 235, 11 August 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1879.

The dissolution is coming at last, ami 1 it lias no precedent in history unless Cromwell's "Remove this bauble," be cited. It might be easy to find a parallel between the great Puritan and the Picmier, but it would serve no good purpose to do so. The singularity of the present dissolution is that it is in opposition to the wishes of the Governor, the Legislative Council, the House of Representatives, and of the peopleit is forced upon us by the stubborn

will of one man only, who, in Lis way, is as much of a fanatic as To Whiti! Both the Premier and the Native prophet have great ideas and-mean to accomplish great ends, but neither recognise the utter impracticability of their visionary schemes. To Whiti has the advantage of followers who believe in him and blindly obey. The Premier is less fortunate, and can only secure a limited amount of support by a rather unscrupulous exercise of tiie power placed in his hands, as shown in the construction of railways in favored districts which have not been authorised by the-Legislature. It is said that tho

Premier's colleagues urged him long ago to save his party by. sacrificing himself, and that on one occasion he gave way so far as to place himself in the hands of his party, and that his own party very properly decided upon his resignation. The Premier, however, when he learnt his fate, withdrew the pledge he had given and determined to hold out to the last. Of course, his colleagues could have resigned themselves, and thus forced their chief into a very awkward position; but such a step would have been fatal to the Liberal party, as that section of it which hails from Auckland would have separated with Sir George, and the larger section which would have followed Sic

| other members of the Ministry would have been unable to constitute a majority in the Assembly, Such a course would have biokcn up the Liberal party. So the Ministers have, nolens vokns, stuck to their chief, and very sick and sorry (hey must be of their position. He rides them like the" Old Man of the Sea," and however weary they may be of their load they must bear it and travel onwards till some lucky accident enables them to eat rid

of their burthen. It cannot be too strongly impressed on the minds of electors that Sir George Grey is personally and individually responsible for the present dissolution, and that the real.question for the electors is whether he is to have their confidence and sup-

port. I! the electors say Yes! the' condemn not only the Opposition parfcj but Sir George Grey's own colleagues who have evidently as little, faith ii tlieir leader as any body of men in tin colony. Their " aye" will proclaim Sii George Grey King 0 f New Zealand and a precious monarch we would wet The meeting on Saturday night last did not taee the question of confidence 01 no-confidence in Sir George Grey. The Premier had strong persona! friends present among the audience, but they evidently felt that if they defended him on the ground of his; successful administration, they would have gone dead against the conviction of the public and to suspect a little bit against their own. So tlieir programme was measures not men, and the Captain of the vessel was put under the hatches and kept out of sight as much as possible. But, may wc ask, can we, throughout this election, do as the meeting did—ignore Sir George Grey, and keep him in the background?

r _We have to congratulate the Masterton 3 riding of County West upon returning Mr D. McGregor as its representative by a large majority, and thus securing the service of an able public man. Wckvc also to congratulate Mr 'D. McGregor in securing a step in the political liulder, , which his public services have fairly 1 carnccl The full returns are not yet in, but it is certain there will be an overwhelming majority for Mr McGregor. At the Masterton Booth the votes wereMcGregor, III; Holmes, 26; Rhodes Donald 14. Mr 0. It. Carter denies, we understand, the statement made by some of his friendis that he is coming forward with Mr Emmy as a Gray candidate. We believe he has pledged himself to no party as yet, and that Mr Bunny, whose address appears in another column, binds himself only by the sentiments he there expresses, and not by certain pledges which have been made on his behalf without due authority. The Wanganui Agricultural Society seem disposed to amalgamate with the Rangitikeiaud Waverley districts. Mr. W. T. Oiven, in speaking on the subject, said he believed that if Rangitikei and Waverley would join Wanganui, the society would become in a few days one of the most important in the colony. Mr. R. J. Pharazyn was chosen president, at the annual meeting on Wednesday. A London paper says:-Mv Spurgeon has been presented by his congregation with a splendid testimonial to commemorate the completion of the 25th year of his : ministry—the silver weddmg of'pastor and ' church. The ceremony took place in the ' Metropolitan Tabernacle' and was prefaced I by reading of a paper reviewing at i length Mr Spurgeon's connection witlAhe i Ministry, The total sum of the coutri- c

tuitions to tlic testimonial fund mis £0,243, of which £5,000 had been invested in Consols, the balanca remaining in the haulier's hands, The Concert given at the Foresters Hall, Groytown, on Friday last, in aid of the Wcsloyan Church, was very well attended. Mr F. 11. Wood who presided over the meeting in his usual happy and genial manner, stated briefly the cause of the Concert, the programme was then "one through with only very slight alteration. The choir charmed thoir hcarcis by several anthems and from the manner in which they were delivered showed cavefill preparations. There were several readingssonicliumerousantlsomcofamore solid nature, and several quartettes were nmg willi much taste. But what greatly ulded to the enjoyment was some'cornet lucls, and a voilin and cornet duet and a jornct waltz with organ accompaniment vhicli were well received as in fact was every peice which was presented. It would bo ■ invidious to mention names as every member who assisted had evidently taken great pains with their practice. We understand that the same Concert will be repeated botli at Carterton and Featherston We hope they will have good attendance! at both places. The following very amusing little story is told by /Egles in the Australasian :- "After an athetic evening spent in the friendly development of skill and muscle, four friends just after midnight turned into Stephen-street. The first round the corner is a little man, and upon liiir spring about a dozen larrikins—but the little man is Hicken, and the friendly followers are Messrs Mace, Ghristic, anc Thompson. Your larrikins are gregarcoiu and wolf-like he hunts in packs, but this time he miscalculated his victim- Before the first assailant could poise his arm he fell before a blow, swift, unseen, but potent as the thunderbolt of Jove, Close cropped heads rattled together like motion inspired castanents. The gladiators were not idle, and soon half the attacking force lay prone upon the pavement, the rest betaking themselves to ignominious flight, venting curious he wis. Nov/, would it not bo worth something handsome to se-1

cure the services of this competent I quartette named to occasionally pastrol the streets in disturbed neighborhoods. Their instructions should be " take no prisoners." I think the larrikin would understand that. The police cannot be everywhere, and this suggestion if adopted, would give some sense of security to the aged the feeble and woman. The larrikin I isa coward, and as such cruel.

We are glad to see that the House lias passed a vote- for tho Greytown Branch Railway- and presume a tender will bo at once accc'epted.

Wo understand that tho Rev J. 0. Andrew is considering the expediency of coming forward as a candidate in tho present election, . The Masterton'Highway Board met on Saturday last; our report will appear in . our next issue. Tho settling night of tho Masterton Ploughing Match Committee has been postponed through a non-attendance of members, The sitting of the Land Tax Court for the Borough of Masterton has been postponed for a fortnight. On Saturday last the adjourned impounding ease against tho Taueru Maories washcurdattheß.M. Court, Masterton. Mr Stafford appeared for the executors of the late J. Gilligan, and Mr Beard for the defendants, judgment was given for the plaintiffs, Mr Beard giving notice of appeal,

At the sitting of the Objection Court for the land tax valuation on Saturday last, for County East, there were 15 objections, but the greater number of the valuations were confirmed. Mr J, Tully obtained a reduction on his property at Hautotara. The Hon. J. Martin, Mr Walter Johnston, and The Rev. J. 0. Andrew also were succsssful in their appeals.. Mr Crosbie appeared for the Crown. The Rev. J. 0. Andrew claimed that the increase of grass on his run should fairly be counted as an improvement, as it was not only due to natural causes, but al&l) to a judicious expenditure of care, attention and labor.