"'OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1874.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 358, 29 August 1874, Page 2

"'OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1874.

We pmpo-je commenting upon tlio Auckland Waste Lauds .Bill introduced by Mr >Sheelmn, and laid beforo tlic Assembly, a digest of whicli we gave in our last i\s -no. We will treat of its principal enactments in the order they appear in the bill. It is provided that all land shall be c]a&siiied ; this, of course, is neccssury to facilitate, selection under the pio\ i.sions. The regulations for the salo • of LiucJ,not sjjeoiully reserved, a^e much thejsamo a$ piovail at present. We wish tiliat there was a probability of getting a bill through Parliament in which this was not the case, in every instance comp^tlHovy occupation and- improvement ftHquld be necqssary befpxe Cro^i (U'ants Khould 4l ii>auer £ foi 1 any ' lai^d solfl.by jilip Q.ovomment. It 1^ iuipQ^sible, of course, to make any legislation on this matter rei;ro:;i>octi\e, but we ai# clear iii thje opinion^ Ijhtitjioj man should be allowed;. & m-pciu-e land dii'^ct, from th.^ aojvernment; .except ;fb^ immg^iate use. The land in tho propeifty-of the colony, and any beileili ■ from'iiicreas6 i£ value ffgrn^lapso of trme"£hoiild be of the colcn#,~4nd' ii.yt of the upeculutoi*. It! .tf^bo itj-gifßtlth4trBuell''£ri%ctVoifld stop sheep.

farming; this difficulty could be niut by giving a. right of occupation, subject to application to purchase, by those who are prepared to fulfil the conditions compelling occupation and improvement. The advantages that would accrue from the adoption of the system we suggest arc so apparent that argument) is useless. All the material weaitK of a young colony must be extracted from the ear^h either in the shape of grain, minerals, oi 1 grass. Any act> therefore, which permits a man to own more land than he can use to the best advantage of the commonwealth, is pregnant with evil consequences. All the advantage the colony gains from the alienation of land to non-occupiers i« the^tl-ifimg price paid for it. Legitimate settlers naturally feel the hardbhip of impixn ing another man's property by their exertions, if, however, the profit from such improvements reverted to the colony, the evil would not be nearly so grievous; as that which adds to the wealth of the colony all participate in; but, in many cases, the money mado by land speculation is spent in Europe, and the country is directly poorer by the amount of profit realised by the speculator. For the reasons we have gi\en we object to the clause which reserves, in each block set apart for special settlement, onohalf of the land to be sold without restriction ; we feel confident that this provision would be the cause of many of the blocks being deserted. It is quite open to any jobber to purchase 'the whole of the land in each block and let it remain iv a state of nature till the settlers had increased its value. What hardship could it possibly be, to make the purchaser improve in the .same ratio as the free or deferred payment selector? The terms are not hard; onehalf or one-quarter of the whole, according to the class of laud, to be biou^hl u 'dor cultivation within five yeais, and the legisUtuie has only a light to assume that he is purchasing for the purpose of occupation. We are spending large sums of money in the introduction of population; unfortunately, the majority of those we are bringing out to the colony are penniless ; ,they are of -value, of course, when industrious and respectable, which in many cases they unfortunately are not. It is well-known that one of the principal inducements to emigrate is the possibility of becoming si landowner, and the greater the facilities offered, the greater is the influx of population likely to be. The bill is framed to promote this object, by enabling settlers to procure land without the necessity for immediate payment or no payment at all. There are many men, who would make the best of settlers, who cannot afford to pay for land and have suflicicnt fuuds remaining to work it. The giving away of land is no loss to the colony, as during the five years of compulsory occupation each settler would contribute a portion of the purchase money in the shape of taxes, and by bringing the land allotted to him under cultivation would add to the material wealth of the colony and consequently to its power to bear taxation — a consider, it ion that cannot be overlooked at this stage of its existence, or in f)\ct at an) other. The bill will very likely not pass the Assembly ; it is too liberal for the landed aristocracy who sit there to legislate for themselves. The influx of population, however, will f.oon change their ideas or substitute othois of a littlo less selfish disposition.

Mr James Stewart, C.iC , urn vert at; Ngaiuawahia last evening We understand thnt liis visit is for I lie purpose of pushing on llio construction oi" the railway' between Nguruawuliin nncl ITnmiltou. We observe by advertiicnipnt that the Mango piko Sawmill lins started ; it is bailt nt the edge of the bush from which it takes its name. The bush eonlmns about 500 aeius of timber, the majority of which is Iflfc 'for the mill. It is expected that the mill will turn oilt! '20,000 feet of sawn timber per week. Timber is very much lequired in the Cambridge district, and we prophecy that the undertaking will pi o\ c a financial success. The electors of Onebungn hove for sonic day? past been talking with warm admiration oi the honorable conduct of their repicsontative, Mr C'Rnrke, and have mooted several ways of showing to him their upi>rpcmtion of his faithful services. At a meeting held on "Wed neoday evening, niter varioin propositions had been biouchcd, including a public reception or dinner, &c, it »vas at last decided to present Mr O'Rorko with a testimonial in the shape of a piece of plate, with a suitable inscription, and the following gentlemen wcie appointed a committee to receive subscriptions, &c, viz. :— Messrs Armstrong, lioylnn, Codlin, Eastwood, Hardington, Jackson, -Sullivan, «nd Waller. Amongst this constituency there ia little dsileience ol opinion with regard to the resolutions, and that opinion a that the provinces ought to go, and that the timo has come when tlipy must go, bnt that they should go altogether. For Mr O'Rorlre himself — with the exception of a few .mister carper*, who cannot bclievo in a man having purely disinterested motives — there is but one feeling ot udmtratiun ol his conduct, and it. is hoped a handsome testimonial may be given him, to remain u« an heirloom in his family. — (Con espondent) Herald. From the lepsrt of thenatne meeting at Whakatiwai, it will be Been that the Native Lands Court is to be adjourned until November next, and will probably be held at Ohinemuri. As some of tlid blocks in that* diatiict aiethen to be put thjonuli. the sitting of the Court will be an important one. We hear on good authority that if the Governor and Mr McLean recommend Te Hira aud Te Moananui to contieiit to the opening of Ohinemuii, they aic likely to accept the advice, to aave the balance of their lands, and in that cabe the country will probably be opened at once. It is also said that Mr Puckey urged this course some time ay).— Advertiser. • The Koyal George Hotel at Newmarket under the hands of Mr John Sceats (late of the lintisb Hotel), has been modernised, enlarged, andimi.imed ; the house being now extended out level with the- JS'cwjnaiket, Road. The improvements having been completed, host Sceats eutertviucil last evening sevoral ot his friends to a housewarming. After full justice had been done to an excellent supper, sencd up under the dncutiuns of the hostess, toast » applicable to the occasion weie given, and several well rcndeied songs helped to make the evcuiug enjoyable. — lit raid. Tlie hiot but one of the Government expeditions for oblenmf; the I riiimitpf Venus jailed from Plymouth for Christchurch. New Zealand, in the clipper ship Meropo. on Saturday, Miy» fcho London Times of the 30tb June. 'The party consist of Mnjor U. S. Palm, r, i\ IS, duel Astronomer 111 charge; Lieutenant L. Daium, It J<] , u»disliuit->i s |i- O O | lO nicr and photographer; Lieutenant Jl. Ciawfoid, RJf,, assis-tant-astronomer, and three non-commissioned officers' of the Royal Engineers, trained in the use of photo-heliograph. They take with them a large and complete equipment of huts, instruments, and stores, of the kinds described at length lv an article in the Times of April A. The absolute longitude of Major Palmer's station, at or near Ohristchurch, will be accurately determined by a long scries of observations of the moon, The station w'lll be connected telegraphicalh, for difference of longitude, with tho Wellington and Hutt Observatories, with the American station at Port .Bluff aud possibly with those of sonic resident private observers' ChronQinetric exposition! will also bo arranged between the Ohnsf church station and thoso of Amciica on Chatham Island and of Germany on Auckland Island. Thus, the whole group of transit 'of Venus stations in tint region will bo brought into connection with ono another, and their relative longitudes' be-accurately newrtairied. Tho Lytlelton Times, in a hading mtule on Mr Voxel's speech, says:— "lf, with the -cat of Government at Wclhiiston, or whatever other placu might bo iked upon, the -heads of deportments could triud rapidly ovar tho wholo of 'the North Island -when they found it nucrssary to do so ; if, in short, there were not four distinct colonies— for thai is what tho word provinces moans- Mr Vogcl's pioposul vvoul 1 bo judicious and statesmanlike. But as matters stand, it is premature. The colony ou»hl to devoto nil its oneigies to "the ptosoeution of thu public works policy ; and wo do not see that, with careful mnnii C eni'f nt, piovimial jeu|ou«cs slioujd prove sucii u grenthmilianee as iipparently they ha.ye 'been found- VVfaeu all the tiinik nud oilier milwa^s have been constructed, when it is possible to tmvnl liom tiieß|uh' to Auekjand, \vi(,h Ordinary comlort, between brnaklnst and> djnnqj^tnne, 1 ttjo piovmces will div h nntui'dl und pqaceiui death. This is the abolition ohiqh Mr Vo^el.ihould tr^ to achieve." ' - • ' ' l ' • '

, We notice' by tho Some New 1 ! .that Mr L G. Beelvhara, the hon of our ivspeotcd District Juilge, Tnoirms Becklmm, E*q , has received an appointment as tub-lieutenant of Engineers, but t3 at present unattached. It is pleasing to notice that our colonml youths are well able to hold their own ogalnst more pretentious scholars educated in other seals of learning, not only of the old country, but of the other Aus* trali»n colonies. We have before now had the pleanntduty to- discharge of recording the success of pr.pils yi (Auckland' schools, and have littlo doubt that under; the tuition of able masters our Auckland jouth wril continue to display their efficiency, and will hi the critical examinations jiowjn TOgijo in Eritwh colleges, compete favorably With thoao going tlirough a course of training in the vaunted collegiate institutions of Great Brit am.- 1 - Cross. It is purposed to hold the following rejiginus services in t e Waikato to-morrow : — Church of England— Cambridge, 11 n. in. ; Hnmilton, 6.30 j: in. ; Alexandra, 11a.m.; To Awamatu, »p.in ; Kihikihi, 630 p.m. ; Ngsrua-wahfa, 630 p.m. Catholic — Alesiimlrn, 11 a.m Weuleyan Methodittj— Cain bridge,. 11 a.m. ; PukenniU, 2.30 } .in. ; Hamilton, 630 p.m. United Presbyterian and Congregational — Te Awamutu, 11 a.m. John Mitchell, who was exiled for Feniauism, has been enthusiastically received on his return to the South of Ireland. He proposes to offer himself for a seat in the House of Commons, lie repndiatti the Home Rule movements as not going far enough, and maintains th.c right of Ireland's complete independence from Britain. He asserts his intention of resting his claim to the suffrage* of the people on these principles. By the Tartar, which arrived the other day from San Fr.inei«eo, intelligence was received by the Aucklind Acclimatisation 'Society that the seed merchants in tian Fruncisco vi ere unable to execute the order sent from Auckland for seeds of forest trees, in time to send by that vessol. , They expected, however, to be able to supply tho quantity required before the departure of the next bont. The Grand Lodge of Freemasons of ifcnly have issued & warrant expelling tho Pope irom the order for neglect to answer certuin charges of oftences against the order, preferred agaiDst him several years ago. The decree of expulsion refers to tho" Pope «3 having been initiated to the mysteries Of Masonry at Palermo, in 1814, and )•» signed by Victor Einanuol, Grand Master", Tho foundation of a tower m London to commemorate the emancipation of slaves )n the United States vras laid by the American Minister in London, and is dedicated to the late President Lincoln. Tho Ret Newman Hall took, part in the service of dedication. The tower is he decorated nith Hags of England and America. It is currently reported in Paris that the Pnpal Court has t iki'ii up Ibe JJi>nnpiirh->t d.iim to tl.e throne of France citn^cquvnl on lli«- refu-il by Comtc do Chambord of a suggestion by tho Pope to adopt the Prince Imperial as his successor.