The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1874.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 369, 24 September 1874, Page 2

The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1874.

'The following letter has been addressed to our con--Umi.oiary, the Thames Adveitiscr: — "Shoitland, ;>Septe.ml er 21, 1874.— T0 the Editor of the Newspaper, — O friend, salutatious ! This is a word from tUs to you. The way of the steamer which sails to "Piako has been closed. The reason it has been closed is because of a wrong of the Europeans who jlive in those districts of the Piako. This is the wrong — listen : The hardness (or niggardliness) of £heir regulations for that steamer to us — to the ■Maoris. Great is our love to them — to the Europeans. This river of Piako was not opened for--jinerly,. Fi;om this year it has been open, as a matte* pf grace from us, to the Europeans. That is th" -reason of its being open. Now it is compl tely .shut. This is the last sailing of that steamer in tlu'a rivor of Pia-ko. It is for you to show this forth i o the Europeans. That is all. — From Tarapipipi, fiom Wiictuiti, from Hone Enngaumi, from Pineha £j Wharckohai." It is probable that the natives concerned in this latest impediment to settlement and in' Ogress have been struck ofl* the Government free list as regards flour, sugar, ploughs, &c. It is jiot long since ihat these same natives demanded a Mini of money to allow a cutter, consigned to Capt. Peacock, to proceed up the river. It is simply an attempt to extort money for the right to use tho river. There is now a considerable number of settlors interested in the free navigation of the Piako river, and we are clear that the proper course for the Government is to inform the natives that ■£ho steamers and }<±.sr>elswill come np the river, and tiud to attempt to stop thorn will bring punishment their heads,. We urc confident that if tho {jJoveminent lcsistwl attempts at extortion that our {/rouble with the natives would -very soon bo considerably reduced. It appears to us that wlienevor xi tribe wants money or food it is only necessary to hint at becoming troublesome juul the things required >iro foithcoming. The policy of th« Government is little less than offering a premium for petty annoyances. Until tho giving of presents entirely ceases, periodical trouble may be looked for. If they are given as bribes tho sj «tern is highly demoralising, jind in very few instances is it even hinted that £hoy arc given in satisfaction of just demands.

Wo < all attention to a notification by the Supcrincendcnt jU i^fereuce to the engagement of lnnii^rants. It appears J,o us that if an agent were appointed for the WaiKato t,. receive tlio applications of tettli-is and find oinployment jjor n^v ai rivals that the business would b e much facilitated. It i 3 purposed to eioct cottages in the dilfciciit ip^'jiships ; the immiyanlh coiild ho fed ;is cheaply hero as dji Auckland. An active agent couM fivni a vcrygond ns to what number of im<Ji Bhipmcut would Ijc jjikely to find employ ni.-uit ; they should bo forwarded on |m requisition. Wu ;iru confuioiit ih il ilic in.ijority of yinploycih of 1. 1 our wmild \>n fei to wait t ill uruuiiblanceb hronght tbo i, • n they t «.mj • ii<: uitu tlie ili ti t ili,m Bpend :mcl . < > j i,n pioeecdiny to JuJJand undcrthe chance .j)f |.ioen: q vh.it 1 bey want. U vill be seen by advertisement that tendfi& arc called 'ft 1 / wuviy.uice of mails in lliis district. ~~~

On Fudiy eu-mng tho Const abulnj st.itioned at C.imbrul o i.'Hu> h ball !o the settl-is nnd their fwiuls, pun urns tolluir <le|mtturc lor tlieir old lieud-quurtcrs— Hamilton. Ti o -chool-room whs beautifully (let-united \uHi K-ius nud <li -14' & (oiiij o-iml ol uiin». Finjjs weio graeehilly ie*lomu-d .ib.mi t ; 'i room, and added mueii to its fesine appearance About 50 eoiipli.* Lt tended Amongst the ofliiors present our teno.t i liiitiL-L-d Col Ljon, Inspector doling, Sub-Inspector No \ell. It is gratifying that the Armed Con-tabuiary lias, by the nnifoim good conduct of the men composing it,' commanded tl.e good-will and respect of (he selfclo,-. Mr Wulker, of the DuLe of Cambridge Hotel, supplied the refreshments in a highly satisfactory manner. A monger hotel company is being formed in Dunedin. Mr E. B. Cargill occupied the chair nt the preliminary meeting It is intended that tho hoi el 'ehnll have 200 bedrooms, and the cost is estimated at £35,000. We observe that our representative, Mr O'Neill, accompanied Mr Vogel to Auckland in the Luna. Wo have no idea whether Mr O'Neill has pressing engagements which fully occupy Ins time, but we can scarcely expect that he will ihis time put himself to the trouble of addi easing hia constituents, seeing (bat he 11113 not done so since his election, four years ago. Mr O'Xoill has solely bimself to blame for (ho fact that his constituents are quite out of humour with bun. Ho had an opponent whom ir, was very easy to beat, but notwithstanding he wm in a minority at the Thames, and if none but true votes had been recorded he would have been in a minority in the constituency. This all know, but nevertheless tho Thames people, being exceedingly goodnsitured, might have been got to respect their member, perhaps re-elect him, if he had shown them conrte«y — even the cheap couitcsy of coming among thorn once a year, and addressing them on public affiirs. But the breach i* now past mending, and for nny Rood he can do now, Mr O'Noill may ns well stay away. — Advertiser. We hear on good authority (says our Thames morning contemporary) that Mr James Mackay is negotiating the purchase of a large block of land comprising 300,000 acres, nnd extending beyond the Aroha to the Waikato. Tueso purchases are of great im| ortance to the Thames, because Mr Vogel has promised to endow the local boards with a large share of the land revenue raised within their respective limitsSome vrry fine horses have just been imported by Mr 0. G-. Quick from Sydney. The stud comprises fifteen handsome light harness horsey which have been'landed in excellent condition. It is intended to place thiiteen of them upon the Waikato roads, and the other two will run (he Kaipara coach. Other shipments of horses are to bo made to the same consignee, and twenty aro expected to arrive by the next steamer, and theu there will remain seventeen to come to complete the consignment. — Herald. A proclamation has been made that a District Court will be held in Hamilton, Waikato, — Jndge Beckham to preside. The following is tho extract from the Gazette, September 3 : — " Now, therefore, I, Sir James Tergusson, Baronet, tho Governor of the Colony of Now Zealand, do hereby, in pursuance and oxercise of tho said power and authority, fix that srfisions of the District Court of Auckland shall be held at Hamilton, in the Province of Auckland, at intervals of not less than fifty days, nor more thnn seventy days, between (he first day of each sitting of such Court." The first sitting ii not fixed, but we learn that it will take place so soon ns preliminaries can be orranged. Mr Montgomery, Clerk to the Cout at Wanganui, is appointed Clerk to the District Court, he will also act in the same capacity in tho Resident Magistrate's Court. The heaviest gale tha* has been experienced in the Waikato for some years was blowing during Tuesday night and yesterday. Wo have not yet heard of much damage having been done up country. Two chimneys were, however, blown down in Ngaruawahia,— one, that of the Central Hotel ; and the other, that attached to the house in the occupation of Mr Lamb. The former fortunately fell inward, had it fallen the other way it would have bioken through the roof of a lean-to in which is the kitchen, and in all probability would have killed the cook, who was standing therein at the time the chimney fell. The gale had much moderated at midnight. We are glad to be able to repoit that the man mlio fell from the verandah of the Delta Hotel on Sunday last is very much better and likely to survive, although in all probability he will be a ciipple. A school is veiy much wanted in Te Awamutn ; there are about 20 or 30 children in that township who would attend if one were established. We tnwt tbatthio matter will have the early atteniion of the inhabitants and the School Board. The astounding feature presented itself yesterday of forty tons of potatoes grown at Lancefield, nenr Ballurot, Victoria, being sold on oui wharf at (he high figure of £9 2s 6d per ton, the purchaser to take delivery hiinsolf. Is it not possible for our local growers to compete ngainst such prices as these? Labour is no higher, nor land more diffioult to cult \\ ate in Auckland thnn in Victoria, yet wo provide ourselves so scantily with (his esculent that we are compelled lo send to a sisler colony a thousand miles distant for nn article we ought perhaps to class as among our exports. Tho reason for such nn apparent anomaly is that our farmers will go in for speculative crop?. If potatoes ore abundant one season, and scarcely pny tho grower, they are neglected the next for some otheY eiop which did fetch high market figures. Tt U either all liny, or wheat, or oats, or barley, or potatoes, with our farmers. What the soil will best carry, or what proportion of one kind of crop against another should go in the ground is never safficiontly considered. Men may gamble at farming ns they may at a horse-race, and many ol our formers do so gamble. Here we have excellent potato-growing land, with a steady and well-ascertained demand, and we have not had 0 potato of our own cultivating in the morket for months. The retail price of potatoes is over (hrto holf-penco per pound. And, again, for several wceki there bin not been a locally -grown onion obtainable, the few ' for sale being imported, and fetching in the shops one shilling per pound. Moie judgment, the exercise of still and studying the average demand for the different articles of farm produce, would bring more satisfactory results than going m for speeulafivo crops. — Herald. On Monday hat the Eight Key the Bi3kop of Auckland held an ordination service in St Paul's Church, Auckland. The following were ordnined Priests : — Tha Beys Thomas Scott, 8.A.. of Coromandel ; E. E. Otway, of Mauku ; L. Brady, of Waikato 5 and W. Taylor, of Mount Albert. The Auckland Licensed VitnjlJcr's Association have rseencd a lonsignment of copper coinage on board tho ship Oxford, from London. These tokens, to tho value of one hundred nnd sixty odd pounds, have been struck off at Birmingham, specially for tho society. On the face of the coin is a portrait, of Her Majesty the Queen, round which aro the words, " Victoria, born May 24, 1819." On the opposite side is inscribed tho nnmo of the Association, (o which is added, "Established in New Zealand, April 4th, 1871." Owing to the scarcity of copper coinage the publicans, soino time ago, determined to procure tokens of their own, and which will be isMied as small change in due course The present shipment, divided amongst the members of the Association, will amount to three pounds worth to each. These, together with Mr S. Coombes' medallions, will give " corn in Egppt" in fclio small change line, and barmaids will not bo ennblpd to push the cigar business so effectively as heretofore by giving cigars in lieu of change. — Herald A correspondent writes us (hat the last batch of immi- J grants sent np from Auckland aie crammed into a small] bouse quito inadequate for their accommodation. It will never do to forward any nioro immigrants, says our correspondent, on "spec." Wo (Cross) underhand (hat Mr Joseph May, has sold sixty splendid Leiee«lor eweß to Major Jnekson, for tho handsome price of £10 each. This shows that our Auckland bred sheep of the long wool variety command good prices.