The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, NARCH 28, 1881

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 728, 28 March 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, NARCH 28, 1881

We are not at all sure that honest John Bryce, as some call him, or obstinate John Bryce, as others speak of him, was not the right man in the right place as Native Minister. It has been said by his opponents that he is densely ignorant of the Maories and Maori questions, and that of " ways that are dark and tricks that are vaiu" ho is altogether inexperienced. Still, if he is to be judged by results, he has been the best Native- Minister New Zealand has ever had, He has eliminated bribery and corruption from the Native Office and reduced the heavy expenditure which year'after year has been a disgraceful feature of the Native Department. Not satisfied with this he wanted to go straight to Te Whiti and put him down, with a gentle hand if the prophet were in a submissive mood, or with a firm, strong hand if he proved to be intractable. In a word, Mr Bryce wished to take a position which we have always considered to be the only solution of. Maori difficulties, viz,, to say to anyone who oppqsed theatuhority of the Crown:—"The British power is paramount in New Zealand. You must submit to it or you must be made to do so." Had Mr Bryce had his own way, Parihaka would not now be a den of thieves, murderers, and outlaws, We do not mean to say that the general character or the Parihaka residents is" of such a description, but we do say that the settlement is a refuge for men of this charaoter. Te Whiti, and not Her Majesty Queen Victoria, is supreme in that.neighborhood, We would have been pleased if Mr Bryce's colleagues had permitted him to put down Te Whiti. There can be but little doubt that he could .. have accomplished the work which;he had set himself to do, and this work once done, and .well done, would have been a permanent guarantee , of the r future. relations.ef the Europeansand Maories. j

! of a ; character ;' Maories may : jiave grievances,;anci /%e' do not say that all: jiist" compiaihta slionld not lie heard do not hold that justiceishbuldjb'e denied; or delayed t'o ; them,'ill;that we claim is that, without prejudicei to -their, grievances, they should" he tompelled •to recognise the.-Briti.sli rule, "and io obey the laws of New Zealand! -Let them .be compensated -they; morit compensation,. But whether they are •• compensated or', no let them be made obedient subjects of Queen Victoria, We want a man like John Bryco at the head of native affairs—not to haggle and conciliate, not to bribe and baiter, but to order, and to maintain unquestioned the supremacy of the British rule. The position of the.Ministry is that it intends eventually to assert the authority of the Queen, but'that it has not the courage as. yet to declare itself. It prefers, as it were, being henpecked to having a row.

Tho Education Board meets on Wednesday next. Mr John Hessey invites tenders for catting 100 cords of firewood. Messrs J, lorns & Co, announce a stock and produce sale for Saturday next. The Masterlon Rifle Volunteers and Cadets porade this evening. After parade the badges will be given to the marksmen of the Volunteer Corps. . We are glad to notice that Mr King, the. engineer for County West, invites lenders for the construction of an embankment on the Waipoua river, and for reforming and metalling 16 clmins of the main road.

The usual extra trains on Saturday last were patronised to a much greater extent than on former occasions, The afternoon train up from Featheraton was crowded on its arrival at Maaterton, and on its return, so many passengers presented themselves (hat a truck had to be attached to convey them all, Yesterday St Matthew's Church was elaborately decorated with corn, fruit, flowers, &c, in connection with harvest thanksgiving services. There was a large congregation both morning and evening, and special sermons appropriate to the occasion were preached by the Rev W, E, Paige, Last week Mr Wardell very properly refused to send a man to gaol simply because he was ill and poor. We are glad to learn that Mr Dreyer has taken this case up by collecting some small subscriptions, which he will hand over to the Benevolent Society, for the benefit of the man in question, ■ A quiet wedding, but one of special interest to old settlers in this district, was celebrated by the Rev Mr Paige at St Matthew's, .Masterton, on Saturday last, when Mr John 0, Bidwell, eldest son of the Laird of Pihautea, was married to Miss Marchant, of Masterton. We understand that Messrs Bunny and Beelham will probably address their constituents about the middlo of April, We trust they will adopt the course of one district meeting, rather than a series of local meetings, An unusually busy scene was witnessed at the Masterton railway station on the arrival of the last train on Saturnay evening. Seven or eight Maori conveyances were in attendance to convey to Te Ore Ore some 50 Maoris who had been on a visit to Wellington. When the train came in, a very energetic contest took place between the various Maori drivers to secure passengers. Luggage was seized, and the owners dragged to the different vehicles in the most orthodox manner, the rushing, shouting, and crowding causing a very exciting five minutes.

We learn from our Featherston correspondent that the fire which broke out it the Royal Hotel on Friday last, originated in a defective chimney, If it had not been promptly arrested nothing would have saved the hotel, the adjoining store and shop of MrW. Oundy.the Oddfellows' hall, and the court house, There was a strong wind blowing at the time, and half the township might have been destroyed. Mr Williams, when the alarm was given, ran to the kitchen which was full of smoke, and had a hard battle to beat down the flames with the water available, The Insurance Companies have to thank his promptitude for saving them from a very heavy loss..

The statement as to spark-arresters having been affiixed to all the engines on the Wellington-Masterton line .is not correct, as far as the Greytown branoh engine is concerned, which engine performs the extra services on Saturday, and still scatters large pieces of fire in all directions. On Saturday last a piece of ignited wood dropped on to a sack of potatoes in a truck attached to the engine, and set fire to the sack; and some passengers who wero in the truck had to draw their overcoats over their heads to keep the sparks from falling on to their necks, those standing on the platform of the carriage also coming into their share of the spitfire's favors,

Eastgate's grocery and Lindermann's engine and smith's Bhops in Revell-street, Hokitika, were burnt down at 3 o'clock on Friday morning. The insurance on Eastgate's property is £250 in the New Zealand. Lindermann waß uninsured, The damage is estimated at £9OO.

The Fielding Guardian says that on Wednesday morning another horse came to grief on the railway line. It appears that the driver on the 7.30 train from Halcombe on turning the corner near Campden-streefc, noticed a horse galloping along the line in front of the engine. The driver found he was gaining on the horse comingdown the incline, and immediately shut off steam and put on the brake. The horse still kept on his course in the centre of the line until he came to the bridge opposite the residence of the Rev. J, Jones. Instead of turning off as was expected, the frightened animal endeavored to jump the bridge, but as the distance was too much for him, he fell between the sbepers. The engine was close behind him, and it was a matter of impossibility to pull up in time to save the animal from being run : over. The consequenco was that the horse was partly picked up by the cow-catcher and dragged a distance of about four chains from the bridge before the engine could be stopped. On examination i\ was found that the horse was cut td pieces, portions of his carcase having become entangled in the driving gear underneath the engine. Those in charge of the train immediately set to work to clear the remains of the animal out of the machinery, and jitter a delay of about twenty minutes 'the train came on to the Feilding station. The horse, which was a valuable animal,, was the property of Mr D. R. Lewers. There is no doubt that the train narrowly escaped destruction as the sleepers have actually been shifted out of their place: had they not done so there is every probability that the traiii would have been wrecked.. It is now .time that the line through the township m fenced in,: and we think that pressure should be brought to bear.upon the railway-authorities to compel- them' to, attend to the matter without further delay.'i. ' : ,;( '■

1 -''Messrs; Parkea and Peterson call;; the attention of ladies to a large assortment of all kinds of kid, prunella, andmprooco. boots, which thby have just opened upV: The regular half-yearly; meeting, of the: Wairarapa Jockey Club was. held at the .White Hart Hotel, Carterton', on' Safe day. Mr J. P Russell, the President, was in the chair, and there was a good attendance of members. Tho Stewards'report, which has already, appeared in. our columns," was -receivod and discussed. It was resolved to have the course ploughed, and laid down j to. fence the inside of the. course all round with a single rail; to "plant the river bank with willows; and to plant ornamental trees in different parts of the ground, It was also decided to reduce the charge at the gates' at the next race-meeting to one shilling, and as the privilege extended to owners,' trainers, and jockeys of being admitted free at the sates had been considerably abused at the last meeting, it was resolved that for the future they should have to pay;for admission to the grounds, and only have free admission to the saddling paddock. The advisability of having a one day's spring.meeting on the 9th November, caused considerable discussion 1 , the majority Seemed to think that' shearing time would interfere' with its success. It was left with the Stewards, if they could see their way towards a meeting being a success, to call the members together, and submits programme, A committee was appointed to revise the present programme and report at the September meeting on !)lie best way of altering it, Five new members were elected and four others proposed, The Secretary reported that the had received 21 entries for the District Produce race of 1884, and 17 for the Champagne Stakes of 1882. At the beginning of this century from observations made in England and Florence during a period of 50 years, the following law respecting the weather had proved to hold true :—Eleven times out of twelve the weather remained the same during the whole moon as it is on the fifth day if it continues unchanged over the sixth day, and nine times out of twelve like the fourth lay; if the sixth resembles the fourth, in continuing the fourth and sixth days be particular in beginning from the exact time of new moon and adding 45 to 47 minutes for each day for the greater length of the lunar as compared with the solar day, We hear, says the |Ohristcliurch Press' that our old'friend Mr Montgomery has again been playing heavy father to the parly, with Mr Hutchison, the" working men's memberfor Wellington,"as asort of Sairey Gamp, to help them through their troubles, These worthies, it seems, journeyed together to Dunedin some months ago, to settle the plans of the approaching campaign with their friends down there, that is to say, with Mr Macandrew, Mr J. 0. Brown, and, we suppose, Mr Stout; and the conclusion they came to was that, failing Mr Stout getting a seat, Mr Macandrew should once more occupy the proud post of leader of tho Opposition, We bear from reliable authority that it is the intention of Messrs Schroder, Hooper & Co. to make their first grand display of Autumn and Winter Millinery, Drapery,'and Clothing at the Hall of Commerce, on Saturday, March 19th, consisting of 71 packages and bales, As the bulk of their magnificient stock has been imported direct from the manufacturers, tho public call rely upon obtaining all the latest fashions and designs of the season at extremely low prices. We would advise all purchasers and lovers of fashion to make an early call at the Hall of Commerce and inspect their stock. Their advertisement will be found on the front page of this paper,—[Advil.