The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 599, 23 March 1876, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Ot whatever smteor persuasion, religious or political # # * • * Here shall the preei the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbnbed by gain.

THURSDAY, MAHCH 23, 1876.

" It is too bad to add insult to injury," as the parrot is said to have remarked \rhen they not only took him from his native country bnt made him learn to speak the English language. The case of the Auckland settler is a8 hard a on 9 as that lof the parrot. The South, like an elder j son, takes possession of the patrimony, and then coolly cuffs his younger brother —the North — for a thriftless, povertystricken, ne'er-do-well. For years past wo have had to bear this treatment from our Southern neighbours, but it has reached its climax in the insulting reproaches cast upon the Province of Auckland as a Province, and on her settlers individually as such, by one of the leading Southern journals, the " Otago Guardian." "No province in. the colony," we are told, " equals that of Auckland in " the germs of wealth, but until that " deadening spirit of dependence which " hangs like a blight upon its people shall " bo made to give place to enterprise of " ' pith and moment, 1 the poverty of " which it go bitterly complains and " delights in parading musb continue to " clog its advance." . . . *' If our " Auckland friends would but endeavour " to imbibe some of the opirit of enter- " prise and industry which, in spite of the " numerous difficulties, and in the absence " of many advantages they enjoy, has " elevated Otago to the premier position " among the pi'ovinces, we should scon " caase to hear the jdaintive wailings of " discontent which are ever being poured " forth, ami they would speedily assume " that position which Sir George Grey " assures them Nature intended they " should." And yet the only instance of such " deadening s]>irit of dependence," on the part of the province, which the writer can adduce against Amkland, is the demand made to and conceded by the General (jovornment for assistance in the establishment of pumpiug machinery at the Thames ; but he conveniently forgets that in connection v/ith the public works scheme a sum of £ 300,000 whs voted for supply of water to the gold fields, the proportion of which, had it not been I absorbed by the South,' woald have given ! to Auckland a sum equal to double that 1 planted for the erection of pumping uuchiuery at the Thames. And this is of l d. piece with the whole treatment wefcave received at the hands of the rest of" the colony. If the Province of Auckland has had an exhausted treasury, while those of Otago and Canterbury have been overflowing, what 'LatJ been the reason, but that, »vhile Auckland settlers have had to tax themselves "for every improvement they effected and every blessing .they enjoyed, the wants of Canterbury and Otago have been lupplied from what should have been common property, the money received from the sale of the public estate known as the land fund. This is absolutely so. Our conntry settlers have had to rate themselves almost for every chain of road they needed to .get in or out of their farms, while in the provinces mentioned the land revenue has rendered highway rates in many cases xmnccessaiy. Take, for instance, as shown by tbe btatistics for 1874, such cases as those of Ashburton, Geraldme, Lake Coleridge, Levels, Malvern East and Malvern South, Mount ' Cook, Mount Peel, Port Levy, Rakaia, Waipara and Waimate, all in the Province of Canterbury. Not one of these highway districts found it necessary to striko even the trifling rate other Can. terbury districts appear for form's sake to have done ; yet the incomes of these local road boards were respectively, omitting shillings and pence— L2s,7sB"; L 19,683; L42fi ; L 25.272 ; L 3,076 ; L.1,060 ; L 13,222; L 14.439; L 1,164; L 10,051 ; L 2,943 ; and, last of all, Waimate, with no less a sum than L 48,351. The largest sum l'eceived by a Canterbury highway district from Government, and other sources 'than rates, Was that received by Waimate ; the lowest that of Lake Colendga, L 426, and neither of those districts levied a iato. The highest assistance received by an Auckland district wai that of Poverty Bay £1997, the lowest that of Panmure £5 ss, and in She one case the rate amounted to £687, in the other to £29. In the list of Auckland districts there are none but have levied rales on themselves, and there are thirty districts the Government aisistance to which in the year 1874 was in each ease under £50. In Canterbury many stiuck no -rates at all, and in only one case was the extraneous aasistanco under £1000. It is nil very well to tax us rrith bloth in the race, but some allowance must be made for the handicapping. Again in numbers of county districts in this Province children of settlers have not a decent Bchool house in which to assemble, in some they have none at all, while saeh as there are are mostly built by private subscription obtained from the settlers — but in Christchurch the other day £30,000 could be found for the building of three school houses. And why 1 Because the money comes, not from thft pockets of the ratepayer, bur from the land fund. In Otago no Education Bate is levied, and Government in 1874 supplt-

inopk'd f,he country school ie&s with a sum of £42,236 11«. lid. It is so from beginning to end. There is not a public institution in Otago but is liberally enendowed with land by the thousands of acrea. Such as vre have owe their origin to the pluck and enterprise and private liberality of our settlers. Does Otago need a public museum ? t.he money comes straightway from the surplus land revenue. But in Auckland the same want is met by the munificent donations of j£6oo each from two of her private citizens and a general subscription. Aud yet Otago taunts ua with " a want of spirit and enterprise," with giving way to " plaintive wailings of discontent." Out upon tuch injustice ! Auckland should rather receive praise that she has mado bricks without straw, and mfty fairly put the question how is it, that the great Southern Provinces with' all their advantages are comparatively so really little ahead of her ? And that they are so, the farther discussion of the question will show. It is not, however, alone as a province, but as individuals that "we are twitted with poverty 6i 3pirit and enterprise. The article in question goes on to Bay :—: — " There is truth in the statements that " the advance of the province has been " retarded by native wars, and that it has " not enjoyed the benefits of a land fund " equally in proportion to that of some of " its neighbours ; but the absence of one " and the existence of the other would " have been no adequate compensation for " that lack of energy and enterprise, that " laissez faire spirit so characteristic of '• the people of Auckland. Even Sir " George Grey would scarcely make bold "to assert that it is the native difficulty " which makes Auckland dependent upon " Canterbury for its flour, although its ■ u own farmers oan grow wheat of a far " superior description ; upon Wanganui '• for its beef ; and Napier for its mutton ; ** upon Canterbury and Otago for its cup- " ply of cheese and potatoes, aud upon " HobartTown for jams and fruits, though " there is scarcely a finer climate south of " the' Line than that with which Auckland « is blessed for thegrowth of every descnp- " tion of fruit, and the prosecution -of " dairy farming. As illustrating the sloth- " ful nature of the Aucklmders, we may " refer to the recently published com- " munication of a gentleman visiting a " farm in the north of that island, where, " during 1 his stay, he asserts, condensed " milk was substituted for the lacteal pro- " duct of the cow, the bread placed upon " the table was made from Otago fiour, " the butter was from a Canterbury dairy, "and the potatoes had been imported from " Australia, while even his horse was fed " upon laieri oats, all of which were sun- " plied through an Auckland merchant. 11 There may possibly be a slight amount 1 " of exaggeration in this description, but " the fact that the Northern province is " the best consumer Olngo aud Canter- " bury have for wheat, flour, oats, and dairy " produco in some dogree substantiates " the charge of ulothfulness made against " the -farmers of Auckland." Now if Auckland is tire best customer "Canterbury and Otago have, and we presume she pays for what she buys, how is it that uhe manages to do so if her people are the slothful race they are accused of being 1 The answer is -plain. We have as much enterprise and industry as our southern fellow colonists, but from natural onuses, which it is easy to show, they develop themselves in different directions If we turn to the latest statistics ye shall find that the number of sailing vessels owned by Auckland is nearly equal to that of those owned by the rest of the colony put together, or as 195 against 205. And if the truth were known the most of those owned down south are Auckland built. If we are not the producer! we are the carriers of New Zealand — but nothing is said of our large timber trade. Timber to the total value of £'44,342 was exported in 1874, and of this £38,860 worth was exported from the Province of Auckland ; the remainder from Napier and Westland, And so on we might enumerate a multitiplicity of industries which have become established amongst us, leaving the South far behind, were it not that to do so would be to unduly extend these remarks. Somehow or another with a population as large as Canterbury we manage, though we do purchase much of our agricultural produce from that province, to enjoy as large an individual share of prosperity as does its grain and cheese producing people. If we do not produce one tiling we do another and are able to pay for as large an importation of luxuries, if not in malt at least in meal. The simple fact of the case is that if, as in Canterbury and Otago, we had rich open lands ready for the plough, and the money their sale realised to ex- j pen/l again in public improvements, we should have long since left the middle island far behind in the march of progress. But with Waikato and the Bast Coast but comparatively speaking recently opened, and those districts circumscribed in area by native owned lands and native aukatis, the Wonder is that Auckland produces as much as it does, to say nothing of the handicapping it has to contend against, as alluded to above. And even on the score of production we must be excused if, in concluding these remarks, we take a Parthian shot at the South. While Canterbury aud Otago according to the Government statistics for 1875, chow respectively 299,263 and 241,466 acres of permanent artificial pasture, Auckland shows a return of 256,870 aores thus laid down. If either Canterbury or Otigo ha» to find us in beef or mutton it must be from grass land the gift ot nature not the result of the industry of their settlers.

Thk next OnTOOiNG Mail.— Maili for Amerioat, United Kingdom, and the Continent of Europe will clo»e at Hamilton offica oa S*turd»y moroing, April Btli at 6.30 a. m.

Pokehohb ha» been the scene of another aeoident. Scarcely wa» the inqueat orer on Mr Afadill'i little girl, drowned io a woli, thin the son of oue of lht3 wetLlei'B vrn« thrown from a donkey. His foot lieldtin the stirrup and he was dragged tome distance orer broken timber. He it T«rj ■•riomly injured.

Fever stbicKbn TJCKrORANTs.— Another plague ihip has arrived at Wellington. The Terplioore has brought 390 immigrants. Eight died of typhoid ferer daring the voyage, and there are eleven patients now under treatment for the tame diseaie.

Tbottikg Match. — The trotting match on the Hamilton and Cambridge road, from one town to the other, between tlie two pairs of ponies belonging respectiTely to Major George and Mr Hammond, irhick hai been some time •poken about, will, weather permitting, come off to-morrow.

Cattlb fob AuoKi-iND.— Yeiterdty a mok of about tO head of cattle ptossd through Hamilton from up country for Auckland, belonging— some of thorn to Mr Calcy, of Pukerimu, and tome to Mr Boianko, of Te Awamutn. They are intended for Thursday next'i market, that of the 30th instant.

Winiata AT Katiiati !— The followiag tel-a-cram appeari in Tuesday's " Star" :— " Tauf»nga, tins day, Wynyard was at Katikati )ait Wednesday. He "seems ttftj nervoui , alway» looking about him. He had only half-a-crown in hit pocket. He has ch&Dgefl his trouiers. He came into Tauranga by Brown'i boat, and was treated to supper by a natire constable at Robinson's boarding bouse on Thursday night. He cleared out the same night, and *it is supposed he has gone towards Haireni settlement, and then down the coast. Wynyard has a traTelling mate."

Titxo Postai Sißvlci.— -The weekly postal service which has been for gome time agitatod for, to be undertaken between 'Piako and Hamilton, will soon be classed amongst accomplished facti, for the first performance of it will take place duribg the present week. The contract has been taken at an exceedingly low rate, £30 per annum, but will doubtless pay the contractor, as there are many commissions he miiy execute both wayi that will considerably increale bit pay ; amongst these the carnage of telegrams waiting at the Hamilton office for Piako settlers, many of whom would donbtlew be willing to arrange to have them brought on.

Thb weithbb. — Although from our exchanges there appear* to have been a considerable fall oE i-ain during the last and the present week in Auckland and other parts of the Province, Wai kato has experienced nothing of it. The wind has blown freshly and steadily during the day from the weitward, dropping towards erening ; and though scarcely a day has passed for the lust week or ten days that the iky has not clouded over as though threatening rain, yet after sun down it has cleared, and the rain has passed orer. We are toid that up country the grass lands are beginning to suffer from want of rain and the continued dry windi, and that a change of weather ie being anxiously looked for by itock owners. Yesterday the wind shifted round somewhat to the north and late in the afternoon a steady rain began to fall which has continued at intervals up to the hour of our going to press.

Suddkb Dbath.— -The Bluenose mired in Hamilton from Ngaruawahia yesterday afterDoon, and after a few minutes stay went on to Cambridge, haying on board the body of Mrs Robinson of that place. It appears that M« Kobinion, whose husband's death at Cambridge we only reported about & fortnight ago, afte r the fuueral, not feeling yery well, went up t thi Hot Spring* at Waiwera for a change, and returned to Waikato on Tuesday. She came up in the Alert, which resiel broke down near Rangiriri and bsr passengers were transferred to the Bluonose, Mrs Robinson among»t the rest. Tbe .Bluenose then started, having aereral barges in tow. Mrs Kobinson became seriously ill on board and the Bluenose at once cast off the barges and came on at full speed, but Mrs Robm»on died before reaching Hamilton and medical assistance. The deceased, though quite a young woman, had been suffering, we are informod,'frooi ho.»rt di^ane.

Piako Land purcS asks. —The Thames correspondent ol the ' (JroßS 1 writing to that jourof )esterday contains the following, the reliability of winch, from information published elsewhere, we are mchn» i to question :—" Arrivals from the Thame* Valley report that Mr Mackay has completed the purchase of about 286,000 aores in the Pmko district. They report most highly of the Thames Valley There is a large quantity of the laud, fertile soil, utid the Pnko is available forßinnll steamers for ahout eighty miles. For richneas of laud and beauty of scenery, the Thames greatly excels'tho Waikato, and the nrer is sn excellent highway for the whole country. Mr Mackey is engaged in arranging for the purchase of a whole black. It re a splendid block, and contain* some of. the flne-t land in New Zealand It is reported that some claim* to a large proportion of this land, eluim* resting on transactions prior to the prohibitory proclainationi, hare been made by penona in Auckland."

Donbdin Baoes,— This important race meeting couiei off to-day, the anmvera-iry of the ProTinea of Otago. The following u "the litest betting:—loo to 25 against Amohia; 100 to 20 agamit Tatler ; 100 to 15 agawrt Kir.ff Phillip; 100 to 12 agaimt, Rorari ; 100 to 12 against Duniel O Rourke ; 100 to 12 againtt Fishhook ; 100 to 12 against Gamecock; 100 to 10 again«t Guy Fawkes ; 100 to 10 againtt Templeton ; 100 to 10 agaiait Right Ibwer j 100 to 8 against Pungawerewere ; 100 to 8 against Tadmore ; 10b to 6 against Oloth of Gold ; '100 to 6 *gamst Merry Monarch ; 100 to 5 against Seabird ; and 100 to 4 against Sip William. A rumour ras circulated the other day that Amohia hadtroken down, but it turned out to be baselets. Tattler, a thrw year old, belonging to Mr Campbell, the owner of Daniel O'Korke, is now nearly equally a faTounte with Mr Redwood's mare, The latter gentlemau'i team arrived »t Dunedin in the T^upo on Saturday week last. They are looatsd at Forbury, and are reported delng well. Punga* werewero is coming to the front in the bettiug, and will itarl a good favorite.

Imposing Annocnokmknt.— We find the following in our English contemporaries :— " LaTallin-Puxley and Hutcbinson — Deoenober 9, at St James's Pieadilly, by the Rev Edward La»allin-Puiley, brother of the bridegroom, Harry Lav*llin-Puxley, of Dunboy Castle, County Cork, and Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park, London, to Adelaide, widow of Colonel Wm. Harrison Hutchimon, Aeiustant-Commißsary-General, Madras Army, youngest daughter of Colonel Charlei Wedekind Nepein, Madras Army, granddaughter of General Nicholas Nepean, Duke of York* Own, Governor of Cape Brereton, and grandniece of Ihe late Sir Bran Nepean, GoTornor of Bombay, and Under Seoretary of State for Ireland." Befleot upon the complex nature of thu matrimonial act — whi»h reads like a chapter of Hebrew pedigraei. The happy bridgegroom espousei a widow, a youngeit daughter, a granddaughter, and a grandnieee— nay, he marries a commisiary'i widow, a colonel's daughter, * general's granddaughter, and a governor's grandnieee. And he is only one man ! Query, how many mothers-in-law has he ?

Visitors TO THE DISTfiIOT. — There has soarcely been a day lately but that visitors, either to the Lake Country or to make the tour of the Waikato have arrived either by couch or boat \in Hamilton. Many of theae are Auckland tneu, but the majority are strangers arriving from outside the province. Some faw of those Tiiiting the Hot Springs return to Auckland by way of Tanranga, but the majority prefer the safer and eaiier travelling via Wwkat > t and express them•elves not only exceedingly gratified with the beauties of the Lake Country, but "with the richness and capabilities for settlement which oharaoterise the lands of the Waikato district generally. Our advertising columns of to-day bear evidence of the favor with which the Waikato is regarded by persons visiting the colony in search of an eligible locality for settlement. Mr Bosankp calls for tenders for ploughing 59 acres ol furn land. This is a portion of the land purchased lately by two gentlemen (brothers) who recently arrived from Bomer<ethire, and who on Tisiting Waikato were so satisfied with the appearance of the rich pastures about Te Awamutu that they determined to fettle down in that disiricr, and put chased land on tho Puniu Kiver. Much of the grans land there they aokpowledgod to be fully equal in character to that of the rich, grazing oouoty at homo from which tbt-y oamt t

Thi Gotbbnor.— On Tuesday important despatches to His Exeellenoy were forwarded from Auckland to Hamilton, with previous telegraphic instruction to lend th«m on without a moment! loss of time by orderly to the Lake Country, Accordingly when the mail arrived on Wsday evening a mounted orderly wai told off and despatched to Cambridge with instructions to start at day break yesterday morning for Obmemutu, whore it was txpectod that his Excellency would be found. Tbi* act showf clearly enough the value placed by the authorities on the route via Waikato to the Lake country, oror that via Tauranjja, aa the more direct, safer, and more expeditious of the two. From yesterday 'a " Herald " we learn that " hit Excellency and retinue attended a huge baka on Monday evening, iv the groat carred home of Rotorua. The display must haVe appeared at least unique to the illustrious strangers. A large party of Europeaa ladies (Captain Steele's party in all probability) aUo graced the savage exhibition with their presenoe for a short interval. The vioerefal party left on Tuesday afternoon for Rotsmahana, Tia Wairoa, where another Maori reception hj the TuboaraDgi tribe awaits the Governor. He ww to ?i«t tbft Rotomahana terraces yesterday, and is txpected baok at Rotorua on Friday. The Hon. Dr. Pollen, with Lord H. Phippi, arrived at Rotorua, via Tauranga, last ni*ht, after a verj fatiguing journey, and have.joined Lord Normanby'i party. The weather is magnificent."

THB SOI-DISAWT W^IKATO SqIUITBB OlMt' bull— The 'Herald' of Tuesday last has the following with respect to the m*n Campbell, -who has on several oocaiiom appeared at the Police Court as » " Waikato squatter," and teference to whose 'last yillamy appeared in our Anoklant telegrams of Tuesday last:— "At the Poic» Court yesterday morning, a man named Campbell wm puniahod for two charges of Btealiug ducks and hens respectively, in conjunction mth two lads, named Collins, whom lie led astray. The same prisoner was alio charged with obtaining money under falie pretencei. It appeared that this individual wa» in the habit of frequenting the Domain, and whenever he observeft young persons leaving its precinct*, of following them, informing them he was a detective, and stating his intention of bringing them before the Police Court on a charge of baring committed an indecent offence. He always, however, ended his statement by saying that for a small gratuity he would bush the matter up an alternate which was g«nerally embraced by the accuse/1, who had a horror of being brought before the Court, and -seeing their names apptar in print in connection witn suoh a charge. The prisoner had been levying this species of black mail tor some months putt, »nd the police bad exparienoed the greatest difficulty in induoing any of bit dupes to come forward and giro evidence in relation to the case*, all of them expressing the greatest dislike towardi allowing their names to be mixed up with such a disreputable matter. Th» lad Collins deposed that Campbell hid informed him that he was a night policeman, stationed in the Domain in order to put a stop to immorality. He had 'frequently seen him accuse people of improper offences, and after receiving money from them go away. On asking why he did *o, prisoner laid that it wa» because h« was not paid regularly for his police duties. Campbell had onca followed a young girl home, and accmed her of immorality, stating at the same time that he had then four other young women in the 'lock-up for similar delinquencies. He, however, in compassion for his vit tim, would allow the matter to be passed over without notioe, though strongly against his (eelmgi and conscientious convictions, for a monetary consideration, at the same tim* impressing upon the young woman the necessity that existed tor the most mvi)Uble seoresy being preserved in regard to the transaction, as fift (Oumpbell) would receive three mjnths impruonment should Detective Jeffrey come to haar of the affair. -Detective Jeffrey deposed that the man was weli-known to the authorities as a thief, and aa one whs wai guilt; of almost every kint of misrepresentation m »rder to obtain money. He bad not long ago been connoted at th& Supreme Court for an offence of this oharacter. lit) was formerly in the habit of g<iing down to th^ immigrant ships when they arrived, and, informing the pisseogars that he was a wealthy i-quatter residing in the Waikato, engage » number of them at good wages to proceed to Biiuations in th*t district. He would then take them to lodging homes, and after telling them that he had become responsible for their board, would take his departure, taking care not to show hie lace again. -He had seduced a young woman in this manner after easing her of her spare cash. The oharges were proved, and the prisoner sentenced to twelve months imprisonni»nt with hard labor for each offence. "