UNKNOWN TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1873.

Waikato Times, 14 January 1873, Page 2

UNKNOWN TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1873.

We are very yl;»d to observo that a meeting is c I led for this evening at Hamilton ior the purpose of bringing prcs■nro on the Or ive: ument to construct a line of railway from the Thames Rivor to a poiuf on the W.ukatu. The cause they ad vocnta is a good one, as, if the work bu earned out immense good to thUdistrict mutt acci ue That, how ever, 13 nut the vi im point ; we have got to cjnvmci the Goveruuieut that the woik will be a profitable one. There should bu little difficulty m donig so. It n Bulf-apparent that * largo rraut of good rouutry would bo opened for settlement ; < his itself should be sufficient inducement, uioto particularly fti land op^a for ,tlectiou 16 very luuiled in qiuutitv 'xn thn province \ grrnr deal of mnnry h»s been exponiod on tlio road »!o«g tlio cist bink of the Waikato rivor botween llunnllon and laupin, but m cotnequenco of the work not having been eomp'Wi', tho money already exhaiHtcd is practically thrown «na\- A correspoudont reports that before he was ablo to get two heal of cattle alon^, he had to expend a considerable a uui n oi labjur in making two of the swamps passable*. We are not awaio whose duty it is to complete tho roid, but presume that the R^ad Board who expanded tho monoy of tho ratepayer a-e the reiponsiblo partie*. T!m " city of fmollii" — Cologne — seonu to have, oil the authority of the Lyttelton Ti'ncs t % rival iv Christchurch.

Doiiug Lin* last nesawu -of tlie Aisombly au act to amend 'The Hyufcaj Board* Empowering Act, 1871," was passed. Ti.o object of the act was to amend elauje 6 of the " Highway Boards Euipowermg Act, 1«7~' " Tlic clause u amended by "the- addition : "Provided lurther that when it appears to the govorniujj body that ;uiv work or improvement is for tho special benefit of any particular portion of the Highway District, the governing body may, for dolraying the expenses incurred in doing or evecut.ng mic'i work, by Bpocial order distinctly denning sue'i poiUon and approved by tlie Superintendent, mule and levy a rate or rates, to be culled a " separate " rate, equally on all rateable piopcity s.tiuted within such portion ; and no such rate or rates made in any ono year shall exceed in the aggregate the amount of ono -.lulling in tho pound of the annual value of such, property, or one penny m the pound of the value to sell : Provided always that public notice in some newspaper usually circulated m tho district shall be given ot the intention to levy duc'i a rate at least one month, before tlie same is levied, and if w tihm such tune a protest be left at the offico of tho governing body, signed by tit loast one-half of the ratepayers withinsuc'a portion, reckoning according to their votes, then such rate shall not ba levied ; and buch separate rate, when e\ied, shall be expended only for tlie purpose for which the ,arne has been made, anything herein contained to the cjnrary notwithstanding." Another blow to shake tlie confidence of speculators in crip appears to have been given m tho conduct of the .'uco Gold Mining Company, who, from some unexplained •ause, have closed the mine against the inspection of the lOprcsentatncs of tne Press and others, and the conscience nis been a decline of fully fifty per cent in the price of the .hares This step, sj close on thp step of the Green Jlaip •scandal, would argue some strong incentive If it is to hide the true state of the mine to enable the directors to do a little rtock-jobbmg ou their own account they are playing a bold game, uno in which justice may not miscarry, as iv tho case of the Green Harp couspirators. It will be seen by advertisement in another column that vlr J. Wilhanuott has signified, Ins intention of standing for •lection as Superintendent Wo refrain from expressing any opinion on this matter till all the candidates are in the 'ield. Thi3 much we may say :we feel confident that if Mr Gillies asks re-election he will poll very few votes m this district, and, we should think, in nny other The butc.iers' assistants in Ai<:nl ao vii .ig an out cry against tho long liourj of lab iir tj .vuoi t icy aw m ccasantly subjected, and they have daring tlio past week com inunicotcd their troubles to the Press in the hope of securing a measure of practical sympathy. This oppressed class, according to their own statement, work upon an average diiteen hours a day, which are certainly too many for any hum-in being. to work in a climate like New Zealand; or> indeed, m any climate. These men ju-th complain, and say thoy h*ve no time for either " <-oc.il, moral, or educative improvement or enjoyment." Butchers, as a class we not übovo the general order of intelligence, and it is very rare that they perform a nobler part than knocking down an ox, still they should have their hours of inspiriting recreation a< well as others, and their hours of labour should certainly be reduce I if possible. On Saturday a not ou a small scale took place at Cambridge-. It appears that the constables stationed in tlia township arrested a native on tho charge of stealing a blanket. A number of Maoris wero in the township, who mobbed the officials, and succeeded m rccuing their counterman ; they took him away, however, with a pair of handcuffs on. Tho cooled pa tof tlie whole affair was, that a native rode back to ask the c )nstable« for the key to unlock tie usetul though ratner un.-om orlable apj enJngei Thisort of thing is very disgrajeful, and «c trust that more t'.ai two policemen will m future be stationed m, Cambridge; being the nearest towm.up to the boun lary, it is liable Iv lavu its peace dmtuibed at any time tlie natives may take it into their heads to get drink. We are at a lo« to n^ign a reason for not receiving our Usual files of the Cnss by tho la->t two -nails fom Auek laud. We feel c>n ideat, however, t'mt the cause i« no* intentional neglect on tho part of the publishers of that journal, from whom we have alwav* e\jjcr enecd the greatt»>»t courtesy and consideration. We notice that Mr Knox will hold a *heep sab at Ea <' Hamilton on the 22nd mst We understand that tlic above gentleman intends to establish an annual sheep fair. If he is sufficiently supported, this atcp cannot fad to prove of advantage to tho settlers, marc particularly those who desiro to make small purchases. It will obviato tho necessity they are now under of going to town 111 1 attend sales. The prisoner Moffat, remanded from Tauranga on a charge of obtaining goods undor fcdse protences, was sentenced at the Supremo Court on Friday to three years' hard labour. We aic informed that the W.'.V Company are prepared to give six shillings per bushel lor all wheat secured w ithoiit damage. The company will fetch the gram from any point on either river The farmers in the Waikato can thu* secure a higher price by Is Gd per bushel than those in any otlier part of the colony. Wheat in other places being only quoted at4<6d