The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume IX, Issue 517, 11 September 1875, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Oi whatever state or persuasion, religious or political, ##* # . # Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by in&uence and unbribed by gain.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1875.

Foe a long time after his election to the House of Representatives, Mr Sheehan was the general pet of Honorable members. Being the first New Zealand-born European representative his advent to politics was the signal for a good deal of congratulation, and the.text for those p'latitude9 in which hon. members usually induige on such occasions. Great expectations were indulged in, and wonderful results predicted from the creditable debut which Mr Sheeban made in his first speech. It was acknowledged on all hands to be clever, and those who found fault with the slightly conceited tone of some of his utterances, and his inclination to give gratuitous advice to members whose political career had commenced long before Mr Sheehan was born, overlooked nis faults on account of his youth, and their anxiety to encourage him. Had the member for .Rodney been gifted with even a modicum of common sense, he would haye known that it was dangerous to presume too much upon this indulgence. There is no place in the world where a bore is sooner distinguished and shunned than large deliberative assemblies. People can tolerate a good deal even from a man of medium ability, when they are disposed to be indulgent, and cleverness may go somewhat further. Genius, of course, has practically no limits, provided it is commonly recognised as such. But a man must have genius indeed, if he hope to escape the consequences of habitual dictation, to his i social superiors and seniors. Mr Sheehan's advent to the House resembled the early years of those infant prodigies which fond ' mothers so often exhibit in the drawing-room to the eyes of admiring guests. Bat oven infant prodigies become bores in time. Mr Sheehan shared the same fate. For a few ! weeks he was constantly trotted out upon the floor of the House to be metaphorically patted and flattered by his political seniors, and his utterances, like the first infantile lispings of sucking genius, were rewarded with a profuse shower of sacehrine compliments. But the political prodigy soon began to take unwarrantable liberties with his admirers, to interrupt the deliberations of potent, grave, and reverend seigniors, with his infantile l ;.-«;*, nr O O nrl immatnrft ideas. The grey-

draw himself to the playground, and at fir*t endeavoured to coax him into compliance, but as the boisterous clamour and rompish behaviour of the prodigy increased, they grew incensed and insisted upon inflicting ■some vholei-ome chastisement. Since then Mr Sin emu has como to be regardivl as * mere l-ore. We regret to say, however, that this is not his only failing.. Amongst others, he liiis occasionally manifested an. obliquity of vision as to sheer facts. In kis speech on " the Abolition Bill he instanced a certain telegram published in these columns, sent by Sir Donald McLean, upon which Mr Sheehan commented as follows i — "And while! am on this Bubjoct, let mo remark that I read in an evening paper published in this ci'y a telegram purporting to have been sent by the Native Minister to a person in the Waikato. Now, Sir, ttj»t telegram furnishes abundant proof of the fact that the charges made in regard to G-overnment vrire-palimg nre well j founded, bocauae there you have $. Minister tending a most insinuating request to the people of the Waikato, aaking, ' liVhat is your opinion ot this Bill? I bliouLl like jou to speik out.' In I other words, this was a plain invitation to the [ people of the Waikato to hold a meeting for the purpose of paesing resolutions ia favour of those Bills." .Now Mr Sheehan must have been aware, not only that he was deliberately misquoting the telegram in question, but that he was intentionally misrepresenting the facts, The telegram was sent some days after the people of Hamilton had held a public meeting and pronounced in favour of immediate Abolition, and it was a reply to a message forwarded by ono of the gentlemen who telegraphed the resolutiou adopted at that meeting to the Government. The telegram merely stated that the Government "v.euldHko to have a ' genuine expression of opinion' from the people of Waikato." There was no "insinuating" request to passresolutionsin favor of the measure," as Mr Sheehan alleges, and the hon member must havo kuown that ho was guilty of misrepresentation in tho remarks published above. In order that there may be no mistake about the matter we republish the telegram of Sir Donald McLean : — " Government Buildings, "Wellington, August 17. The aim of the Government is to do their utmost for the outlying districts, and they woijld like to havo a genuine expression of opinion from the Waikato people in referenoe to the rating clause, which does not appear to haee been objected to elsewhere." We should be the last to discourage the native-born Europeans from entering the arena of politics. We hope that the .nest Parliament will include many who have already distinguished themselves by their attainments and their aptitude for politics. But we Nfctst they will eschew the flippancy and con^it that have already proved fatal to the future career of tae first of their number, and will be modest enough to wait until some -study and.experience have .qualified them, before they assume the 'role' of mentors in the House, to men who havo been engaged in Colonial politics from tho commencement of the Constitution.

The Adulteration of Food and Duinks Act has practically been a dead letter from the time it was passed. The machinery of the Act is altogether too cumbrous to be easily workable, and the fact that the expense of initiating proceedings against manufacturers and vendors of spurious articles is thrown upon the public, is sufficient of itself to render the Act inoperative. Moreover, there are so many loopholes for the escape of the guilty, no matter how clearly the offence may have been proved, that few have cared to risk the expense and trouble of a prosecution. These faults are not confined to the Colonial Act, but are equally noticatle in the Imperhl Act, upon which ours is based. Thi " Saturday Review", some time ago, stiud that tbe English Act was ij full of provisos, that a conviction under it was practically impossible, The difficulties encountered by Inspector Brohara in Auckland, will be fresh in the minds of our readers. In one ca«e the prosecution broke down because the residence of the -Provincial Analyst was • not correctly Gazetted, as required under the Act In several other cases there has been a miscarriage of Justice upon the most frivolous pretexts. The Act should be 80 amended as to throw the onus of initiating prosecutions upon the Police, to lessen the cost of proceedings, and prevent the escape of offenders by takieg advantage of the ambiguity and shortcomings of the Act. Probably few of our readers have any adequate conception of the onbrraous extent to which adulteration and fraud are carried in the manufacture and retailing of articles intcoinmonuse. A work entitled " Hawaii's Adulterations Detected" makes many startling revelations as to the deleterious ingredients used in articles of ordinary die:. To such an c-xtent has adulteration been carried, that it has become exceedingly difficult to determine the genuineness ot a great quantity of goods. The shoddy imitations are so numerous and cunningly contrived that only the practised professional eye or palate can detect them, and there are mon in England highly paid for their skill in this branch of business. It may interest our readers if we mention a few df the adulterations iv articles of common diet. Thus arrowroot is adulterated with potatoe flour, sago, and starch ; sugar is mixed with sand, flour, gum, and starch ; peppep with linseed, mustard seed, wheat-flour ; cayenne pepper with red-lead, vermillion, red ochre, brickdust, common salt, tumeric ; and mustard with pea-flour, linseed meal, tumeric, andchromateof lead, Thengingerisadulterated with ground rice, fiour, cayenne pepper, &c. ; curry powder with red lead ; tea with colouring mixture, and various chemicals ; coffee with chicory, beans, roots, saw dust, tan, burnt sugar, burnt bread, and baked horses and bullock's livers. As to the chalk and water in milk, the common lard and saffron in butter, the poisonous acidj and other chemicals used in wines, spirits, and beers, they are too well known to need mention here, nor need we remark at length upon the disease and constitutional injuries caused by the use of excessively adulterated artie'es. Vitriol prussic acid, arsenic, and coculns inducua, are only a few of the deleterious mixtures with which food and drink are adulterated. We trust the Government will introduce an amended Act making the machinery more simple, and the penalties more severe than under the present Act.

Gkowded out — An interesting report ef the Cambridge Literary Society and other important matters are crowded out of this issue. Supplement. — We publish with the present issue s supplement containing 14 columns of interesting selections " from giave to gay, from lively to severe." The late Me SCAiNWARiNGt, B. AT. — "We understand that this gentleman was married to Misa Caroline Jane Good, eldest daughter of E. Good Esq., of Auckland. Ball at Alexandra.. — We would remind the devotees of Terpsichore that a public ball in aid of the building fund of the Alexandra Public Hall, takes place at that township on Tuesday evening. We understand that the committee have made excelleut arrangements.

Lecture. — The E«v. J. Smith delivered a masterljr and eloquent lecture in the Court-hou3e, last evening, on " The Life and Labors of Father Mathew, the Apostle of Temperance." At the close, Mr C. 0. Montrose, who occupied She chair, called for a vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was accorded with acclamation. We shall

■A irbc T bottpb.— "V7e would remin<i our readers that the Airec Combination Troup* will give their farewell poiformance in Hamilton oa Monilay next, when an entirely new programme will be preaentert.

FooTß\i<ti. — We are flad to learn th»t, «hould the weather prove favorable, there is every prospoot of a well contested game today, between a tea:n of the Hamilton Football Club and a team from the Cambridge Club. Play will osen at 2 o'clock, the Hamiltomans being, under their Captain, MrO. € Wood, and the Cambridge players under Mr Johnson. GkrN Club — A. meeting of the members of the Hamilton Q-uri Club, convened for Thursday evening for the selection of a team to shoot against the Auckland members fell through. We are aorry to «co our loral sportsmen so dilatory in a matter of so muoh importance as this. Even the inclemency of the weather is Dot a sufficient excuse for the apathy exhibited. Chitty 0* Coniuicts. There were aareral smart passages of arms in the R.M. Court festerday. In the oa«o Hunt and C bitty v. Potter, two strawberry cows were the subjects of a great deal of learned argument* ia the course of which several legal authorities were quoted. Arnon^rt others Mr Madden referred to •• Chitty on Contracts," and was good enough to inform the Bench that the author w*e not identical with the plaintiff of the sann name in the present case, whereupon Mr Hay cruelly retorted that Shitty, the author of the work on Contracts, would never hare bpon sofooNih as to join two persons as plaintiffs in a case like the present where thero was no partnershipScars. — Intelligence has reached «9 that »ome of Mr Walter's workmen received a fright yoste day. It appears that they had been employed upon a contract on the very ground upon which po.>r Timothy SulUvan was murdered. Thßir fears were cxci ed a few days ago by tho bounce of some native youths and old women, who warne i them not to continue working. The Europeans were going to resume work at eight o'clock yesterday morning, when they sw some Maoris' slttiug a'boufc a fire in the neighbourhood of the contract, whereupon they took to their heels, scarcely s f opping to take breath until tiny reached Rotoraagi. It ia but ri^ht xo say that the party includes some new chums. Ovxvk Saw Mti/ls. — In consequanca of the unusually large stook of sawn timber at Mr Gibbon's Qt&ua Saw Mills, he r <as considered it necessary to discharge the greater portion of his hands and stop the Mill for a time. This timber has been cut in expectation of a demand in the •Waikftto, hut in the absence of orders the above course has been determined upon. The proprietor has however retained his most expojtienead hands soaefobc in a position to execute orders for special sizes when required. In the meantime he has boon employing the remaining portion of the hands in fulling trees during the present season, as timber is found to be of much better quality when cut down in the winter months. By preparing s'liSlcicnt logs for the summer traio, and by retii 'ung his beat bands Mr Gitfbons will bo ready at any time to recommence work on a sc-ile equal to ail the possible requirements of the trade.

Ihimig**.nts. — Twenty-four immigrants, all single men, who arrived in Auckland by the Dover Castle, came up to Hamilton by steamer on Thursday night. Seven were despatched to Cambridge, and the remainder are awaiting employment in Hamilton. Two of the latter, we understand, have been engaged by Mr White, and tlie rest are likely to obtain employment in the course o£ a few days. We learn from Mr Bernard, the energetic and courteous Immigration Officer for the district, that the numerous immigrants who have arri ed in the Waikato during the season have rea'lily secured engagement*, and notwi lutauding the addition to our numbers there is likely to be a considerable demand for extra labor during the summer months. The married immigrants receive some slight temporary aid from the Government until they secure employment, iv the shape of r itions and house accommodation, but we believe it would be a wise step on the part of the authorities to institute road-making or other public work upon which the men could be tempoiarily employed at moderate wage, until they could secure regular employment. This would allow time for the immigrants t'» look about them, and would be the means of retaining them in the district. We understand that the batch of Dover Castle immigrants sent up consists of good agricultural laborers, who are likely te be a valuable accession to the industrial population of the Wftikato. Inland Ma^cs. — We published in our hsfc issue, a list of the tenders required for inland mail services in the Waikato District duriug the year 1876. We are surprised the Po3t Office authorities adopt the plan of advertising these tenders only in the Auckland newspapers, the circulation of which in this district is very limited The practice is uafair to the settlers of Waikato, many ef whom are likely te tender for the conveyance of mails in the district, and gives an .mfair advantage to Auckland contractors. We have had such a pressure upon our advertising o:>lumu3 that the value of the advertisement itself is uot the consideration which influences us in making these remarks, but the interests of the public, who have a light to the information through our columus, and would be kept in the dark in the matter, had wo tut consi lered it our duty to pubhs'i the information Whilst we are on this subject we may stato that the same remarks apply to many other departments of the public service. We oonstcintlv observe in the Auckland journals advertisements of tenders for work and material in the ' Waikato, which are not sent to the Times. Indeed we have seen such notices in a Vv'ellington journal. The Auckland newspapers rea-h only a very few of the settlers of Waikato, and as to tlie Wellington papers, it is questionable whether half-a-dozei of them circulate in this district, except those which come to this office as exchanges. In common fairness to the Waikato, advertisements regarding matters of a looal nature, should appaar in this journal, , which has an extansive circulation in every parb of the district-