The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 582, 12 February 1876, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact' justice to all men, Ot whatever atate 01 persuasion, religious or political * # # • # Here ihall tbe'Presi the Phori.K'F: right maintain, TJnawed by lnlluence and unbribcd by gain.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 12, 1876.

Since the ]>ul>hcation in our issue of Tuesday last of the report of our special correspondent's interview with the occupants of the immigrant cottages at Cambridge, we havo receired Bereral comniuuicatio'js, both verbally and by letter, corroborating the justice of the eomplaiutH iuade of the inadequacy of room provided for famtlieu, and of the sufferings eveu to death of the immigrants through the want of mesdioal attention and comforts which they were unable themselves to provide. It may be suM that these people have already special advantages which even the early settlers never enjoyed, but it must be remembered that they emigrated under far different circumstances. Indirectly the 'Government, m running the Public Works and Immigr ition. Schemes together, has pledged itself, to a certain extent, to the care of and- to the responsibility of providing for the newly-arrived immigrants fora season — indeed as much has been openly admitted by ministers individually in their places in Parhuinent,— and therefore tho immigrant has a claim upon the volony which the passenger colonist has not How the Government have fulfilled their d«tyoanbe but too plainly seen in the report which we have already published, above referred to, 'It is contrary to all rules of health* or decency to crowd so many occupant! of both sexes and all ages into bo small a -space. (Each house contains four small rooms. 'One of these is -used as & kitchen, common to all, >-while a family is located in each of the other three rooms. A short time since there were no fewer than nineteen* persons packed into one of these small cottages, which at night must hare been a perfect " black hole of Calcutta " ; nor can we wonder that typhoid and colonial fever broke out among tUe inmates, and that of those attacked, the weaker, in the absence of all medical assistance, died. And this has been going on for months and months, and none were found in the interest! of humanity,

»nd of the poorcreaturessodeult with.toaiake known a state of things which no official, no Government dare allow to coutinue when public attention has oiico been c.illed to the matter! Were there bo local magnates, no clergy usitiug these poor jcople, wlio saw and might have called attention to the ueglret fioui which which they were suffering, t Kut the duty should be left to an obscure correspondent— one of themselves in fact — willing to the local paper. The publicity now given to the matter will, we trust, be hudicient to cnuse a thorough examination bv the authorities into the abuses exposed, and lead to their speedy removal.

Thk late revelations of tlie sufferings and privations of tbo Cambridge immigrants, barely able to keep body and soul together with their scanty earnings, and the di»cu»sion on labour which took place at the Cambridge Farmers Club, reported elsewhere, r.ad strangely side by side, and present on anomoly m our social condmoo which demands the most serious attention of our political economists. On the one hand we have agriculture languishing because the piice of labour is toohijh to admit a margin of profit on the side of the employer, ou the other we have the fact that *Btrong at'lebodied men 'have been unable to earn sufficient to mainain tWeir kiniliea in ordinary necessaries and comfort. 'The question is no new one. It has been agitated •tor yeti'-s past iv this province, and needs to <be fairly grapped with in the -interests of both employer and employpd. One great eau>e hoi in the quality of imported labour, another in tho unwillingness of the laborer to accept a rate of •wnges -which his employer could afford to give, preferring to work for high wages even though'in doing -so he is only casually employed, losing a largo amount of broken time. Nor is the fault all on one side. There is much that the former might do to reconcile a laborer to a lower money wage, than the statutory rate, whatever it TOay be, of five or mx shillings per day. 'Conanes ought form, as they do on many farms and estates in Kngland, part of the ordinary buildings of the propertyj to be let at a nominal, or, at any rate, a reasonable relit to laborers ; whrat for bread, meat, milk and other necessaries might bo supplied to them by the employer at wholesale rates. On the other hand it is absurd for farm labourers to suppose that in farming, the eight hour system can be rigidly carried out. that farmers can produce with a profit under such a system, or even that, in many oases, farming can be carried ou at all under it. The chief obstacle to the settlement of the -country, to profitable farming, a d the progress ot agriculture properly so 'called, as du.tiuguishe.l from •mrr© cat tie breeding and fattening i« 'the high price of labour and the d fficul'y even then of getting intel lgent skilled labour of the ekes required. 'If fanning is to flourish, a->d the iarm 1 laborer to become settled m permanent, work and comfort, tobecomennythinurmoreilwin themfre "swagman on the wallaby" tnere mi-st be corrcos-sion-i on both sides, and a reform -altogether in the 93 stem of immigration undertaken at the costof the • country. The ••übject is one which needs full and exhaustive discussion at tho hands of political economists.

The right of presi-mnjj anonymity Jin writing to the public press appear* to bo liitlo understood by many of our correspondent* »and others. Amongst these we'find two extreme claises, the one, that of those who think limt they have the light to niake comment* on the conduct of and indiscriminate charge* against any man, tho o tor, ofthotewho think that there U lomo peculiar sanctity about their own proper persons winch renders it iomethtng little less than sacrilege for anyone to call their public acts in question under a non de plume. These baviug 'had their fling, retire within thsir «anctuary of *elf, and decline to come forth and combat with an> thing •o muoh beneath thorn, §o cowardly -and uuengat an anonyinou* letter writer. Now this • pure buukum, '"If a man -ttopj forward from the domestic circle and place* himself in a public potition,eTea if it bo no moreio than the member of a H'ghwny Board or Farmer 1 * Club, iu*so far as he assumes the role of a pabhc nan in •uch degree are hu *aying* and -doings *übjeot for fair criticism. Nor necessarily thould hat criticism be open arid acknowledged. 'If it i* fair and reasonable he ha* nothing to complain of, and if not such, it doe* not merit pnfclication eveH though the name of tho writer be attached. To exclude anonymou* cntietam of the acts and •aying* of public men 'in their public capacity would be to destroy one of the chief K>uree» of usefulness of the press —to tnflo tho ventilation of many useful topic*, to leave ignorance unchecked, and to fo*ter score* of abuse* which only need tho Lght of day thrown on them to render them no longer possible. The correspondence columns of a paper ure by no means the least important part of it. It is there generally, that attention is first drawu to subjoct*, which an tditor, unless he were indeed argus-eyed could not possibly bo expected to be oognuant of. Freo discussion is thus orokod, the truth elicited, and the public interest* are aerved. We have a noticeable instance of thw in the ca»e of the Cambnjge immigrants. Doe* any one suppose that the poor sufferer, who first drew our attention to this publui *candal under the anonymous *igniture of " Victim," would har« dared to have done so- in hia own name ? „ Not half the useful letters, letter* cren which contain no personal allu(■ions in them whatever, would reach this office if tho names 6f tho writers mu»t necessarily be ail.achod to them ; and what is more, were men rule enforced, one half their effect and value would be lost The fact is, that those who are too thin skined to meet the attack* which they themselves have called forth, should think twice beforo they provoke the assault, and not ute their small ttnnd-poiut of public position for indiscriminate attack upon their neighbour*. i Of the other clas*, those who think they have the right to use the anonymity of corre*pondenco to the press to attaok whom they please, wo have an instance in our present is*ue. A correspondent to-divy " Pi o bono publico," amongst other questions unpublished, attacks a public official of thi» district. It may bo that the charge is a true one, it may bi» not j but in the case of -a cha-ge laid agamst-a public officer, the writer of tho letter may fairly be required to append hi* name to the communication. /The party attacked has no oppjrtunity hv reply. The rulo* of the civil service forbid him to do so, and tho anonymous letter writer, in »uoh cat*, is simply potting hi* man from behind <a hedge.

HIMtLTOK WKBT fIcHOOL OojfMITTB«.--A. report of the proceeding* at last niguti meeting is unaroidablj held oror until Tuo*daj. Ckickkt Match.— A mutch betwoen tb» fir»t and wcond httlvos of tho alphabot, plnyew bring in and around Hamilton, willooms off thi* afternoon, weather permitting, on the Hamilton triaket grouud.

Bt F TOA AUCKLAND. — Th# p\ft res of Te A-vMimuuare the coivce wl ence much of the beef eaten in Auck and it deiived Ano'her mob of so ne fifty head of ftf t oitile, t >n timo belonging to V[r U 0 (iib on of To Awamutu, will leave for Auckland on or about the 25th inst. Thk Swamp Railway Bmd»<\— With reference to the ditHuulLy »f finding foundation, aceo' ding to specification*, for tlie pile* used in f wining one of t!.er*il*uy bridges in the swamp between Ngaruartahia and Hamilton, we are informed thai tho diftioulty was reijort-od by the (ontciotor to tho proper person in authority »nd piles sufil'iiently loug wore ordered t » be u«fcd, ihe contractor inun^ allowed to ohar,;e accord- ' m^lj. Tho oa*e in question is, we understand, I i> i) oxjeptionil one, a npnijj} having tinea the wnrKivvas let (ievelopoi itself und altered tho character ot the giound, KftfIDENX AIAOISIEATK'a CoUUT HAMILTON. — fhoie weio some iwelve cases hoard on Thursday but uone of tutia of any punlic interest. 'Xhi only one appnxienmg this was a breaoh of the Impounding Act, in which Chirles Mullion>,, P.iundiicepei 1 , Hunullou, was churned by Captain Owen of Cmond^e, with c« broach of the Impounding Act in not releasing a hvifer th>t property ot ibe Ute William Buekland whenthe ices were tendeied in due course Mr Hay appeared for lnijruiiut, and Mr WhiUker for tiio delendiiit. "The cage *at ddjouruod until tht 9 h pioxiino. Ihk h-LhtirioN to Hamit/toh Wbbt Town BOAKD. — Aa v\e haa eipeoted, coming as it did Iroin tue ehairiuau, Mr Longb >ttom, the fixing of -Thurtday the 24th inst, one of the W*iknto turf cluD race da^a, fo- theolectim of a member to the Hamilton lowu Bjard van purely nn auoideut d at! Air, tnjUJfi many vro know, for wo yeitcrduy mid on Thursday received uioro thin one coin. iiui>ic:iu>n on the »übji'Ct, thouglit't lit the duv uadb. en tixei with *u < bject. After the aflitir ot the I tie suliool election mooting such suspicion -was of tour-© only natural, though it might, have been recollected tint tho worthy oluirtnan of the To an B »ard wa* on thit ocu-taion a victim ol not a par lcipitor in that discredits. c " irmve." It will be Been that tin diy has been altareJ to f ue«d*v fortnight the 29t>ii inst, go as tj iuit tho more general court uience. Shocking DbaTß — Adeath under very tb<rk- I mg oircumioance-*, u tepinel in tio "Sydney Munung Her,»l,i," of 5 h January :: — •♦ A correspondent/ 'hxt a mi i name t Kenneth Suodgrasi was ouveyed to rUrmo'td Terrace on Jlo day fivemog, December, sulfrring from * al JUJhing wound on his left cieelc 4 inches lou^ und -3 inches broid, wheh waa covere I hroug'ioui with thou-ands n\ tnigjots (many "f whioh we>e three-quart ra of an mch to iff) To all a p ■arances t<ie man was alinosr dt-a I from BtaiTatiou, and no food was lound lv hia ho us . He was q ntj m^eusib c. It is not, known how long he had been in t'i»t stite. Thn whole of his cheek had bee i eaten away, and thore waa »u opening into the, mouth ; hia left ear, eye, mid uo3 ril->, iveiM uttackel No hope waa en teit.ioed th t he cou d recover, >iud all efforts t > r uly h m p on i» lueftj tual ho die 1 on We Inesday mor <\ag lie hil lor m.mv yoirs livmg the ute of a hei-mi', hiTMg no appirent meaud ot support. The de "ea-ed was wel conuoeced, being the to i of' the ' 1 ite Uoic el Suodgrass, who was at one time Acting Governor. Tffß KIbBURM AN© MfiKCBK 0 >AL MINB4 — Wti some tune since drew attention to the w >rklu^s ot ihjde iuiii--*, winch we are gh>d 10 fi id are beuig svatem^t. Gaily work«d *nd develop.} I. T ioug-h vn'y in ei-ttrtuce some <"4;ht mouths the coflapiiii which 'hit them in hand Iras . pushed furwird its woik. in a 'Vij^rtnis *»d wiftyetoc manner, die seam of otl opened up is a Urge ooe and his -been already out into a deotli of forty-sit fi-et coining to the oilier side wall. There are sum i sixteen miner* employed upon it mid as so m at the 66 un la out through blocking out will be commenced, and a large »U|jplj ne at once obtained The mmo'is tome eight milei distant fioin Mercer, and tuoh. coal at has beenyrt Won hue been sent by barge to the railway station there, the company owning a tteameran i two bar^a. -Icu fipectcd that the Thames-will talfe -arge quant iii-s of (hi cial whii-h is «f a rerj »upe ior quality, and it, is 'also calcuUie I that with a vailroal or tramway f om Mercer to the Mirania the coil cou.d be delivered at Hie rate of 14a or 15< per ton, In additio i to lhn there is iho up riTer or Waika>c trad- and m coal from tho Pauuiri ramei it tola at 27t per ton there is plenty of room fjr oompeiiti hi. Th« Horrsi-fpißKoir KutsAKCi. —As yet tparr >\rd are not plcatiful in Wmka'o, though th.-re are »ouie f polish peopln who woul 1 wish to make them »o. 'In tj>ite of bhe Aechmvttsvtion S 'Cietv nnd the ictof the assembly which makes game of »p»rr>wi mil the Colm.nU, at th>« sun* time, those who shoot an old tparrow tik^ their pe[gi, or destroy-a nest of the joun« vermin will be doing tho-cniutry serrioe. Hear what the " Melbourae Telegraph ' tays anent the houjo tparrow: — "Cherries, ipricots, plums, and grapet, are fruitt delicious to th* ta-t •« of most partont, and our subu b»n garment whether at taohed bo cottagr, Tilla. or mansion, «re teldom without tome of ihote troet ; but for years past the owner* hare been subject to great annoyance and vexation, after much time, fr mblo, and eipente, m rearing, trainini?, and trellismg, and bringing them to a fruit-bearing state, to tee all tlieir labour lost by the imported house-tparrow attacking and destroying each fruit as itiiuena Last year, in in»ny garden? in Colling«ood, on the Yarra, and at Clifton Hill, 'where ih -reused to be hundrel weighti of good sound fruir, there were not to many pouodt. Not a dull of cherries, or a bunch of grapes, or a plate of apricot could be gathered 11' for the table ; and many a poor cottager who h*d made a contiderable sum by the sale of grapet' trained orer his cottage w»deprived ■of tbu item -of income " We have not it it true lhe<amount of fruit in Waik»to that we ought to have in a place to long tettled, but in the intarestt 6f * more active 'gencra'ion that may come after us «nd of to few gardens and orchard* at we hare, it ought to be war to tho knife with the house-sparrow. Thi BiscATHOßeis Rim-«. — The "Louth-and North Lincolnshire Advertiser " tayt : — " Oncj a year at least Biscathorpe It th« centre of attraction to all concerned in the Lincolnshire ram trade. For many years the name of Kirkham has occupied a very prominent, if not the very first, position amongst thoM who have done to much for tne improvement of longwool sheep, and it is this celebrity that has l*d bo to great an interest being taken in the annual sale of the Biscathorpe tjhek. Tnis ev«nt took place on ThurtHay last, on which day Mr Kirkham was honored with the presenco ot a ve-y largfl gathering of the le.uliog ami most influential ram-breedors and agriculturists in the country Seventy splendid ahearlings were panned for tho inspc 'turn of buyers and cri ict, each animal being a live specimen of th* Biicathorpe type, as regards symmetry, siz», and wool. Although it waa generally admitted that they were as much alike at "peas in a pod," iliere were amongst them two classes— the comparative y and tho <uperlatively good No 6 was a really splendid broad-backed animal, with a beautiful fleece, he took the honours of the day in realizing the highest price, ISO guinea*, bought for expoitation by Mr Russell. In the opinion of certain judges, No 6 should have oc 'upied the i place of houour as he wat a mo c mastivo theep, with all the good qu ilitiet of No 5, if wo ex ept the advantage of a beautifully cured fleece in the one case being slightly uncurled in the other. But No G did not even take second honour, at No 12 wat preferre I by a gentleman of very sound judgment at 100 gumeat (Mr Paddiaon) to No C at £80 (aUo bought by Mr Rutiell). No 9 wat placed fourth by the judgei, being well up at 75 guineas, at which «uui he waa aocured by Mr Davy, Owertby. No u'6 waa bought by Mr Ruaseli. for 55 guinett ; No 34 by Mr Needhim, 52 guineatj Ho 44, by 'Mr Amtin (New Zealand), 45 guineas; No 11 by Mr W Newman, 42 giuneat. The »ev*nty r*mt realized £1,923 12s, being an areMge of about £27 12s 9d. It will battena tten at once how tpi rite Uy the colonial buyer* enter into the competition, when we state that these gentlemen purchaied as far aa we could gather 17 mmi at an average of 41 12* 6d each. It would al nott appear from thit aa though we *ere in danger of Allowing the bait of our ram* aa well M to* toit »f oar hones to go abroad."

1/4 BUX IXISSL —An act of larrikinism for which ir. it moro than likely the perpetrators will have to pay pretty smartly wib o mmittfd la-«t night, or rather early yesterday morning by the removal of the flight of cteps le.td ng down to the Hamilton Fernr landing on the East side of the river. It was done af'er one o'clock became nt thnt hoar Mr Land the punt keeper Bnw the i<)(»p8 in their u»uul p'ai-e, and in thf nnrniiu they were found removed and dragged down nearly t> the rivers edsic More than dub were concerned in the mischief and overtures h»ve we believe boen madebv one of them to divulge fie foot* If by such confession his otvu frre'lom from punißhment uiar h« a -cured. C!UUTOMB RKTUR*9 *OR (JIUKTBR KXDIVO 31 st Decembkr, 1875. — We are indebted to the oourtesr of the Corami-s oner of Customs (the Honombl* W. H. Reynolds), for the fol owing telegraphic returns of revenue received by the Custotni department for the quarter ended December 8l»t, 1875: — Auckland, £,".3,22^ 8s 7'l ; Tlnm-s, £1,514 \U lid; Russeil, I £212 12s 8d ; Hoki»n e a, fi423 18t 6d ; tottl AucltUnd prurinc^, £sti,4i)>> 6s 8d NcwPlvrmuth, £1,031 lfti s«f ; Wel'm^tou, £39/2f?l 17s 2d; Wanqnmit, £6 326 18s 101; total Wellington, £45.588 16a : Nelson. £9,0 7 U ; Wairau, £1.542 10^ 41, total Nelson £10,609 IU4J. Pioton, «i27vJlls 7d ; Hiveloult, £320 lfig lOd ; totil Mar boroa^'h p-ovinoe, £39.} 8a 61 ; l[okitika, £-5,893 fin ; Lvtte>toa. £t3 430 16a 6d; Tunarn, £6,101 14s 0.1 : to-al Cm'erburt, £49,532:1 la { Duuodia, £91,730 Sfl 61. Inrercargil, £9/tSO 10s 3d ; Kiveron. £1 808 17* 21; total for Otaizo province, £102 989 15s lid Total quarterly customs rerenue of the whole colony. £270 445 14a lid. From theto returns it will be seeu that while Auckland stands second ou (h« list; as a contributor to the Custom's revenue, f Ha:o ontribuitsa nearly double the amount, considerably more than one third the amount contributed by the whole colony. The Woukito or the Law op Infinct. — The following idanaccouut ofjomo uovr rajanes Co the part of the youn^ gentleman, a -ward in ehanoery, >and prospective ov»ner of a large f*t ate, who was recently prosecuted at Ipswioli oor badger baiting, and elsewhere for various oSVnces including the kissing of a roamed woman in the itreet, Iv order to win a bet, lie •hot the other week nineteen hounds. He bought, a bor-organ and a monkey with -which he piraded the village of Great Eeeleston, Lately he drove awny some women from the hall in processional order in front of a boiy of workmen armed with javelins, Mi»s Valiant, 6f the Back Bull Inn, Great K'-cleston, sued him for £23 for accommodation for hinnelf and friends, but Cka edit tost dimmed, at hi was an infant, not attaining 21 until the betjinnins of next yuar. The pl«int\ff, as she left the Court, eicliimed, " He't 13 stone, and 6 feet high— * nice infant, certainly 1 " 0n Thursday week, after coverm^an old windnnll with p<ir.iffin, thwho|)eful nmi some companions set it on tire, and on being remonstrated with by the barrister whom he had brought from London to defend him in the above ome — a Mr Mugleston — and who waa waiting to defend him in another, he and hut companion! seized the unfortunate representative of t/he' law and dipped him in a <w*ter tault.