The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 581, 10 February 1876, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal md extct justice to all men. Of whattver ttateoi persuasion, lehgiousor political # # # # * Here shall the Pre3s the Peoplk's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbnbed by gain.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10. 1870.

As our readers are aware, His Excellency the Governor may be expected in Auckland about the middle oi the present month, and we learn on very good authority that the Marquis accompanied by the Native Minister, Sir Donald McLean, intends paying the Waikiito a visit. The occasion will be one that, if availed of, may tend largely towards bringing toa happy solution such feelings of suspicion as still linger in the miuds of the King natives and may do much towards lifting the clone! of isolation which, as the result of such feeling, hides the better qualities of either people from the other, and perpetuates the barrier of race which, in the interests of both, ought long since to have been throwndown. That there is a decided wish on the part of the more intelligent of the natives to come to a more cordial relationship with their white neighbours there is good reason to helieve. They *re settling down permanently to peaceful pursuits, are cultivating large tracts of land, and it is no insignificant fact that the Kihikihi storekeeper are continually receiving ordeis from -natives for the supply of agricultural implements. They are, too, more and uiore adopting our habits and fashions, becoming consumers ofluxuries, such as potted meats, preserves, tinned fish and other delicacies, and it is no uncoinon occurrence in the nearest European settlement, Kihikihi, to see on the Sunday a number of well-dressed Maori men and women walking about and amusing themselves. They mix freely with the settlers, take part in our public sports, and in fact give practical evidence that the aukati of a boundury hue is not altogether so congenial to their feelings as Forue would have it believed to be. The coming occasion will be one on which much misunderstanding and misconception may be cleared up. It is not for the Governor, the representative of Royalty, to visit the King at Te Kuiti, neither will the latter rink the loss oi taste or mana which such an act would entail in coming down to one of the Waikato settlements to meet His Excellency and the JNative Minister. There is no reason, howevex', why a course should not be decided upon which will meet the wishes of tfc& repretrent^ira of either raoe "'ith-

out compromising the dignity of the one or the other. A meeting aright be arranged upon the border lino, and, it such could be dor e, with we believe the happiest results for both Maories and Europeans, and the general progress* of the iSToith. Ft was no uncommon occurence in the eaiiy histoi\ ot the American colonies for the then Governors. lcfiresent ili\es as tho.se of t] 1P present day here, of British JVlajosty q meet in some forest glade the great Indian chiefs with whom they had been at iwie, and theie in solemn conclave smoke the pipe of peaoe, and ratify new treaties of friendship and alliance, And why with a more intelligent race, with one which, with as favouring circumstances, might run side by side with our own in arts war and science, in mental culture and moral and social development, we should h sitate to take the same course it is hard to see. Our own position is such, that we co.ild well afford, if we v»<mv .sine of being aa generously met, to take t-hc first step forward with out-held hand. Be this, however, as it may, it is to be hoped that out of the projected visit to Waikato of the Governor and Defence Minister, some such meeting as we have referred to may be arranged which will le.id to more mutually cordial relations between the two laces than at present prerail.

The murder of Packer and the escape of the murderer, the utter want of intelligence shown by the Auckland detectives and police — a matter which the Auckland press does not appear to be independent enough to speak oat about — and the inducement to the commission of crime which such immunity Irom punishment, (on the part of the murderer, not the detectives,) all-points to the desirability of employing a surer and more reliable agency for detection in such cases than " our active and intelligent detectives,.Jeffreys and Grace," we mean the bioodliound. We know, of course, that iv making such a suggestion, we shall be met with horror by a class of persons, wbo, even if they had Winiata caught and in gaol tomorrow, would treat him better than they do the honest poor, and if he had only the cunning to play the hypocrite sufficiently with the gaol Chaplain, woeld petition the Governor for a reprieve, and trot him out as a converted sinner, and a brand plucked from the burning. But we .cannot see that there is anything very shocking in tracking down tli9 steps of a bloodthirsty murderer like Winiata with a sleuth-hound, properly muzzled and used simply in leash as a guide to tho track taken by the criminal. It is within the writers recollection that bloodhounds wer« kept and used by the country police ati home in England for the purpose of tracking sheop-Ltealers ; and it was not due so much to the morbid sentiment, held by some persons, that m-.r.. under certain circum•tancei, should not be tracked by the h.-lp of do^s that the practice was discontinu d as tothefact, that in a thickly populated country, serried with lines of railway such means -had become neither necessary nor practicable. Jnn new country such as tln'3, no surer j>lan could be adopted, and the ver}' character oV the country and sparsity of population point to its desirability. Had a bloodhound been placed upon the trail of Winiata within an hour of the discovery of the murder, he would have been lodged in gaol before noon that day. And why should we not avail ourselves of canine sagacity in such a case. Can the maudlin suntimentalisu who would howl at such a suggestion not see the difference between u e mg and abusing the instincts of even so ferocious an animal s» a bloodhound on the trail, between hunting a criminal or d supposed criminal down, as the owners of fugitive «lavi>s did their unhappy negroes in tho Southern States of America, luaving tho hunted fugitives to the mercy of the dogs when overtdken, and tl>e careful And discriminate use by the po'ice of the peculiar and valuable instinct of this tir.imalwhen muzzled and held in by leash ? Guilty or not guilty, ihe object is to take the suspected man ; and even if not guilty, whet harm that a dog has been tho instrument of his capture, so long as poisonally tho suspected criminal receives no hurt from his captu-or. As we havo said, the distinction lies between the use and the abuse of tlv» means employed, and moreover, we would even go so far as to restrict tho employment of such means to extreme crimes and peculiar cases, such ao the one that has proved so discreditable iv iU attempted detection to the Auckland police, as has the late .Epsom murder.

Our Saturday's Sufflkmbvt Sheet has hitherto been puntpd in Auckland and the master contained in it h>is neither baeu local no* of our own selection. Tlio increasing domand upon our space for matters of local interest and the special character of esiract matter mutable for an i^ncultunU district have dciulod in upon issuing a supplement more agreeable to tiie taste of the majority cf our readers from our own ouijf, cren though it contain only half tNo «mount of reading matter hitherto' given. We shall thua be üble to devote more space to iubja' i ts of loi al intovost such as t ho reports of the Cambiidge rarmer's Cl-üb, sporting msttfra letters and other subpcH. \Vo shall clear vi) the netks arrears I heref ire in our next.

Arhital of Mr Bibb at Xg^ucawahia — " Our own" at Ngaruaualu i, vii ( ng under date ot tast lglit, saye, "Mr Bibbumvpd heieyestordaj, in charge of Cont-table Moore (who iv/ns bo severely assaulted in the execution of liis duty about 3 moiithd i-ince) and li.xs been invalided uilil recently. Mr Bibb looks very well, bu ( spems rather humiliated by his present poaiti.m It is thought by s mie that he was the victim of circuinstancei in the first, instance, which nfterwards drove him to desperation ; let us charitably hope he was."

WINIATA. and THB WiIKATO PoMCB. — Notwithstanding tho numerous rumours t'mt h«ve come to Lund regarding the supposed where abouts of tlic murderer Wyny.ird our local .police authoriiit'B are undei tho unpres-ion 'hit he hng Hot yot passed the district, of Humnton on hie way fownrdb (he King country, buh jb hamming about afraid to push forward and making ouly a few miles dailv, or ruther nightly. \V> uro quito suroof thu : tb.it if theL'end.vrmeso' thi Waikat) don't ferret out the murilorer it will n t bc from lai'k of enprtiy and p raeverunce.

Ki\a Cobb. — Our readers will beg! id to learn that Quick's Mml Coach from Me cer lo Hamilton is a^iiin "doing tlia runnina " TlO ar \vi\ of Mr CaiW, the well known Jehu last niglit with four bonnie horses ami a coach load of passengers was luiled with sat isf tot ion wh^n lie pulled up at the doors of Host G^ynno'a. Cou'he-i wil now run tegularlji ajam from lit. cit on Momiiys, We Ines'lays, and Fridays, returning from Hamilton on Tuesday, Thursday, und Saturday in >rning.

THy Hamii, on Wtvr UiGHWiT Board are doing their little sta c some service m mulling 88-eral useful cuttings and fillinc; in a larjre number of uglj holes between Oiptnin Be're'^ Mill and Mr Utini'iiond's faiMi on the Oliaupo road. Mr-Kenneily is the non'raftor for t»nB very neces«iry work Burl from the way in which be is pushing the j>b uheact it is evident he mean* bu->inefß. We porootve tbut Mr £!eineij u utilizing Maori labour.

Hi toby 01 Good Tehplaiky in Wa.ika.to. — Our Saturday's supplement being »n entirely loo*] one we have reserved, umoni*t other . QjiUei, the ooqo udiag oUapter of the Insrcy of Oocrd T«fßG,pl»ir^ in Waik»to tot publication u jr.

WiiTErutf.v Bridge — Tender* for the erection of the WaitPtunj. bridge on the- Raglan road are cilled for by tin District Engineer. The pry is sitll thbt comk. — A small bitch of German immigrants arrived at Hamil•o>i by the steamer 1 mt night Masonic Lough Ueta.—A meeting of _ the members of tlna Lodge is conreaed for to-night, at the usual hour and pliice. R M Oouur, H\mii-tO'-.— Several civil cas°s ir? on the e>m'o list for adjudication by Mr iSeaffti okfi tr> <liy Po-.rp)VEMi:Nf op 'Jambridgd R M Court — We learn that the sitting of the R if (Jouit winch shml i cven'ua'e to-morrow at Cambridge, uudjjifni-d for a week. Dunedisite wntes asking when wub the new Post Office Building at Duneiin commenced ? and in what month and year w-n the New Z aland Exhibition held in Dunedin ? Not being ourselves a walking Knoycl<>pi» Ha, some of our readers perhaps will ■intwer the<« questions. Thb Waikato Tkam elected to shoot a pigem mutch on the 23rd inst, ogninst the Humley Gun Club, consists of the following g*ntlemen : — Mr Anderson, Mr J Steel, Mr W At Hay, Ctipt \torri-wn, Mr X Kill, Mr A E Cox, Mr 1 amg -md Mr R Gwynne. CAAiß'truG : Fibmer's Cure.— The monthly me-ting of this Club took place at the National Hotel, Cumbridg.', on Tuesday nisrht Tnere wa* u large attendance of members, and the proceedings wore of tha mu-il interesting nature. We hold over a full report together vpith Essays no '-Labmr" and " Thistles," delivered by Mr Reynold-", until next li'ue. WArK.VTO Tukf Uertiitg.— lt will bo seen from the race adv<-i tisement which npp^ired in our issue of tlie2sih Jtnuary, that all eiitri^n for the Hurdle ruce, Turf Club hindicip, and Trotting race mu^t bo sent in to the Secretary in Hamilton, before Bpm to-day. Entries for other race* will be received up to 8 p m of Saturday the 19 h inst. True Railway Bridge ik thi Swamp— ln passing the railway works in progress through tlm swa-np this side of Ngaruawahia, our attention was drawn to a circumstance which ne-da the attention of the Engineer. It seems that the precaution of boring the ground before making the specifications for laying the foundations of the bridges wus not undertaken, and the consequence now is, tint though the contractor has gone down some four feet below spec fication in tho case of certain of the bridges he has not ojtne to solid ground. Of course if the bridge* are buiH according to specification by the contiactor the Engineer cannot but pass the work bat the question is whether the em me will be able to piss tho bridges. This is a matter which need 3 seeing too at once as it afiVcti not only the expenditure of public money but in the future may flvct cren the lives of the public. St. Valkntijtb'B Dat.— Thef >urteenthofthe month wi 1 soon be here, affording the usual opportunity for bashful swains to hint at an dff.-ction'tliey haye not courage to tell, an 1 for less bmhful young laites to give an encouraging hint, to such male imbeciles thtt the sooner they put a lit 1* more spa it into their courting tlie better it will prosper. St Valentine's day, however, has coma to be more uned au presentmp a medium for mild amatory chuff, and for having a bit of fun at the exoense of mutual acquaintances, and when 111-na'ure is avoided this is perhaps the best way of aelebratmg it f> for w<> have no syinp ithy'wit'i a muff win can't let his arm slip round hit Rweetheart's waut at the right moment, wb.nper all he ha* to «iy in about a m. nute and a-hulf, taking iilenoe even for consent, and put his soil to the bargain at once ii lie sees her lips p->u lig into the shape of a "no," for " noes" m such case unless very deside 1 one?, usually msan "yes." A contempjniry enquiring who St Valentine wa«, »ny 3 : — 'He seems as great a, myth ai Ki-ig Arthur, or Bishop Pontopp dan's sea-serpent, or tho seign of Troy. The only individual whose name in any manner approximates to that of the sa'nted votary of love arid pilron of lovers, is one Valentinus, who, old documents tell us, lived between the seeoid and third century of the Christian era, and who sought to «r.graft certain heathen doctrines on the pur- cod* of moraitf of fie Chrintnn rohgioji. This ca.n ha:dly be the man. St Valentine mu^t be a myth, and a development f'om (in arrow bend shot, from Cupid's bnv. Th* only thing certain nbout the matter at pie^ent is that tins-is a leip y iir. There will be a 291h day of February io this jear. B tcheloM bo«ar; ! w.doweis look out ! Ou that cTentful day any lady in »earch of a huiband may cluim miv unengngtHl man 03 a husband, and if he fail to meet, her news, may take tuuh other proo eiing as a ceitnin imie|Wiled law directs. The remedy lies in heron n haude. (A myiogynist eiys "haiida and uaib. ')