"OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1875.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 422, 30 January 1875, Page 2

"OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1875.

The Native and Defence Minister has travelled to the Wuikato to meet Tawhiao, and it i<* to be sincerely hoped that the interview will le.id to the tei urination of the anomalous position in which the Queen's Government has stood for a long time in this colony. In the colonists of this island, long contemplation of the state of affairs has deadened :pe sense of the ludicrous ; it is not so, however, -witli those who have lived in other colonies ; they wonder and speculate, and at last give up the attempt at solution of the enigma as hopeless, and ■ '-W confess to having very often done the same thing, i^he only definite conclusion we have ever been able to -arrive at is that there are only two ways of treating the rehejjia±ixes_u--(i^' To conquer them by force of arms. (2.) To leave them alone and prohibit the sale of their lands to Europeans, and 03 ft*r as possible stop all commercial intercourse %tween the two races, As regards the first means, th-it has long been given up as too expensive, and 'r-Ji it was cheaper to feed and feel than to fight. In words to pay an uncertain sum annually for \hs privilege of living in peace in the country over Queen Victoria has assumed authority. The Lape t >nal Sir Donald will succeed in bringing about lT settlement is only based upon the supposition that Sb would not sacrifice his own dignity and thafc of Jke. Government by dancing attendance on a rebel Subject, if he had not been assured hefore he started Noni Auckland that he would be received with res,aet 3 and the basis for an arrangem -nt having been 1-^reed upon ; preliminaries on no former occasion * r So'jglifc necessary. Jf his mission prove successful

well and good, if not. we can only hold^the opinion thar the fact of his deigning to travel a number of miles to visit Tawhiao, will iuslil fresh hopes into the breasts of the v followers of the " King," and that by holding out they will gain greater concessions than at present are likely to be made. Sir Donald -has assumed to himself the arbitrary management of the Native qrtsstjtdfo,, and by that means has rendered him self with jusfcjwvliable to be judged by results. No explanation. o&the state of affairs is condescended by hjm eitlierin or out of fche House, and he being the only man accurately and generally informed as to '.. &W relations with the Natives he can expect no consideration from the people of this colony \ supreme I power has its bitters as well as its swoets. If Sir Donald's mission fails we consider he will be justly blamed for having visited the " King " at all ; we would much sooner that Tawhiao had been informed that the Defence Minister was in Auckland and would see him there. > lthough the- Native Department is the peculiar forte of Sir Donald, he is always ready to give a patient hearing to any settlers who may wait upon him to represent the wants of their districts, and the present opportunity should be availel of to represent to him the wants of the Waikato, as regards roads, bridges and many other matters. We are glad to find that an interview has been asked by and grained to a number of influential settlers near Hamilton, on the return of the Minister to that township. We believe that it is their intention to represent to him the necessity of opening a road to the Thames to defray the expenses of which £300 has already been subscribed by the settlers, and more promised when the work shall be undertaken by the Government. The construction of abridge across the Waikato will also be urged, as regards this work we believe that a fair toll levied would pay the interest on the cost of the work, and in addition would add considerably to the revenue of the proposed railway by bringing a very large tract of fine country into unbroken communication with the station. The inability of the Road Boards* to keep the roads and bridges in the district in a proper state of repair, we believe will also be brought to his notice. The necessity for work to be done upon them by somebody, cannot fail to have been apparent to him during his tour through the district. "We have so recently written upon all these matters that it is unnecessary for us to further dilate upon them.

A correspondent lias called our attention to the fact thj,t of late the men of the Armed Constabulary have done no work, and that there are many roads in the district which require making. We agree with our correspondent that our small army might be profitably employed in this work. It need not be withdrawn from the frontier sufficiently far to prevent its being moved to any scene of threatened danger in sufficient time to act'efficiently. Idleness is bad for the men, and doing' next to. nothing for a number of months would, to a great extent, incapacitate them for work in the field — when called upon. One of the ai'gutnents in favor of maintnining the force has been that by its labor it would defray a considerable portion of the cost of maintenance. We commend this matter to the earnest consideration of the authorities. The country is not so flourishing that it can afford to keep cats which catch no mice,

We are not aware who is responsible for the erection of ten immigrants cottages at Raglan, — evidently nobody in the least degree conversant with the requirements o^ tho place. At the present time not more than ten immigrants at the very outside could find employment in the neighbourhood. Is it possible that some wooden-headed official has confused the agitation for a road from Raglan to the Waipa with a demand for immigrants '} Many absurd official acts have been perpetrated in the colony, but we believe everything that has previously t.tkenplaceisfarout vied by the building of immigrants cottages at Raglan. The money that has been thrown away in useless cottages would have constructed the road to the Waipn, which is much wanted. The outlines of the picture are sufficient, we leave the public and the ministers to fill it in. We may add that we hope the official who has been guilty oi* such a gross absurdity as the above, wil have his name published, if only as a curiosity.

The meeting of the ratepayers in the Ngaruawahia School District, will be held in the schoolroom at eight o'clock this evening. A Woman's Rights Society, together with a newspaper entirely conducted by females, are about to be established in Melbourne, by Mrs ColcloiHi. Tiie latest accounts from Poverty Bay states that the oil is filtering up as plentifully as evei through the bottom and sides of the shaft which is being sunk. Rain has lately impeded the operations. It will be seen by advertisement that a number of half-bred ewes and wethers will be sold at Cambridge on Tuesday next. It is proposed to hold the following religious services in the tWaikato to-morrow. Church of England, Ngaruawaliia, 11 a.m. and 6*30 p.m., Alexandra, 11 a.m. Te Awamutu, 3 p.m. Kihikihi 7 p.m. Hamilton, 11 a.m. Catholic — Hamilton, 8-30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Presbyterian — Olmupo, 11 a.m. Alexandra, 7 p.m. Wesleyan Methodist — Cambridge, 11 a.m. and 6-30 p.m/ Pukerimu, 2-30 p.m. Hamilton, 6.&0 p.m. United Presbyterian and Congregational— Te Awamutu, 11 a.m. There is says the Guardian but one history for all the gold-fields. The prospector returns from his travels, and banks a quantity of gold, which rumour magnifies into gigantic. Pleased by the reputation of millionaire which he finds he has acquired, and afraid of energetic competition in the place he has marked out for his own successful pursuit of wealth, the hero of the houivdoes not contradict the rumour about his wealth, and keeps equally silent as to the exact locality where it was amassed. Each of the possessors of the many tongues that between them constitute '• Rumour " imagines himself well posted up in these two important points, and t,»ke& action to make his knowledge productive. The result is a "rush," which, if it includes the locality where the prospector laboured, extends certainly to many both unvisited by him and innocent of the precious metal. The "rush," is scornful of prudence; hardships are as nothing in its eyes, roads and bridges things of no moment, and high prices and low returns never over the fall enter its head. The miners swarm of the country, the mercantile interest establishes itself rudely, and victuallers licensed-anj^ unlicensed, abound. The newspapers of the countries adjacent are crowded with marvellous accounts. Circumstantial stories are every where current, which not only specify the exact sums obtained by fortunate finders, but recount their individual histories, and relate the various conversations, invariably carried on in the forcible mining vernacular, of which their luck lias been the occasion. As a consequence of these things, a tide of immigration sets towards the happy country of Eldorado, <md flows for a time with a strength which nothing can resist. At last-things find their level. Storekeepers begin to grumble that they cannot gain their living, disappointed miners abound — everywhere there are complaints of the clearness of necessaries. It lias at last been discovered that the new gold-field is a very ordinary affair. There may possibly have been a few rich finds, but the bulk of the new arrivals have got very little. There is great distress ; all that have the means leave for other fields, and in some quarters there is a de&ire to lynch the prospector. Such is the history of most « rushes.'.' The failures are the,rule, the succes&es the exception.