The Waikato Times. Equal arid -exact justice to all men, Of -whatever state or persuasion, religious or political lere shall the Prefli the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence aftd unbribed by gain. SATURDAY JANUARY 27. 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 720, 27 January 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times. Equal arid -exact justice to all men, Of -whatever state or persuasion, religious or political lere shall the Prefli the People's right maintain, Una wed by influence aftd unbribed by gain. SATURDAY JANUARY 27. 1877.

Thb,, Native' Question }-^-the greAfc jet and hindrance to the_ pro-gress-and advancement, the .curse and bane of the Northern Island of the Golony- — what a host of. sad ejections it conjures up I What waste of blood and treasure, what j cares and Anxieties, what hideous massacres have followed in its train I Looking back over the years since it first forced itself upon us as a < stern reality, the results almost appall us. The Colonial mind, accustomed to push restlessly forward, forgetful of the past, and looking only to grasp the advantages presenting themselves in the future, : apt to bury in the grave of oblivion all mistakes and calamities committed, is scarcely able to realize what this " question " has cost us. The massacre at the White Cliffs-r---almost the name of poor . Whitely is forgotten; Poverty Bay and Volkner already seem almost like a bad dream ; even such recent events as the murder of poor Todd on Pirongia, and Sullivan near Mangatautari have almost failed to produce any real effect upon the mind. The hurry and bustle of to-day, and the eager anticipations of to-morrow have almost eradicated any real impressions they may have created at the time, and have ceased to influence our action, yet there they remain, and will remain, the hideous results of a disease which may at any time break forth with fresh virulence, the certain signs of a sleeping volcano which at any moment may again burst forth,. and again shower death and destruction into ouV midst. The " question " has cost us at least seven millions of treasure, and the graves scattered through the country tell us only too plainly what we have spent iu precious lives. Yet in downright sober earnestness, there the danger still is, staring us right in the face, and none seem strong enough to grapple with and destroy it. We have tiled coercive measures, we have tried war and confiscation, we have had years of a policy of bribery and peace at any price, and here we are, not exactly as far off as ever, but with so little gained as to be scarcely appreciable when compared with the vast means employed Within the last fourteen days we have had two fresh instances of the spirit ot the natives and their feeling towards us. The stoppage of the survey at Pirongia, and of the road party at Waipa, may be, and probably are, of comparatively small consequence in themselves, but are certainly of importance as showing us how far we still are from a satisfactory settlement between ourselves and the natives. Bnt let it be at once understood that our remarks, although of necessity refeiring to gloomy subjects, are not intended to convey auy feeling of despondency. We only aim at creating in the public mind a desire to have the whole matter thoroughly investigated, and once for all definitely settled. We seek to call into existence that force of public opinion which in a democratici community compels the attention of those in power; We • -regardthe present moment as very djipo^tune. We have, as we before stated, tried' force and failed;. >We;Med^ 'because the enemy we have to com- ! bat is brave and skilful in war and wonderfully tenacious of purpose. We mistook and underrated the character of the natives. They probably have no parallel in any barbarous or semi-barbarous race in the world. We tried to treat them by precedent of other so-called savages, and the precedent was found not to apply. By dint of superior numbers ■■ and costly appliances we forced them back into the interior and confiscated their land, but did we conquer them ? Did we subdue and break theif spirit, and force them to admit to themselves that we were in every way superior, and that a future struggle with us was worse than hopeless ; which, as applied to a people like the MaorieS, ii the only meaning of "conquest." The defiant bearing, the overt outrages we have experienced since the close of the war answer the question for us at once. "Vy© have also tried — not conciliation,, that were a mis-nomer — but bribery, what is commonly called the flour and sugar policy. The author

of the more recent development of this system has recently gone from us, and we mast sum up the results. In. common honesty to ourselves, we cannot but strike a debit balance against ourselves. Let us look at what we have gained, and what we have lost. The subject, however, is one which we have only been able to glance at in a single article, and shall return to.

Public Holiday. — In consequence of Monday nuxt being the anniversary of the settlement of the Colony, the Banks and Government offices will be closed. Committee School Elections for the district of Harapipi, Hautapu, Ngaruawahia, and Te Awamutu take place today. Mb P Leslie, it will be seen, is offering by private sale pure bred four, tooth Linoon rams, and 15.16th bred Lincoln rams, two-tooth and four-tootb. Uniox Bawk,— Amongst the pasaengers irom Auokland to Hamilton by la»t night's coach was Mr Maude, who oomes to take charge of the Hamilton branch of the Union Bank about to open in that township on the Ist proximo. Mr A Buckland's Cattlb Sale at Cambridge on Tuesday, promises to be an attractive one, both on account of the quantity and quality of the stock to be offered, which iuoludes pure, bred imported Linaoln sheep, the stallion Northern Here, and a large herd of mixed cattle. a Salb of Government Stores.— Mr Kennedy Hill will bold a clearing ont sale of Government stores at the Sarraoks, Hamilton, on Wednesday next, at 11 a.m previous to tbe Bale of the late Mr Robert Waitt's hous hold effects.

■ Hamilton West and Hamilton East will be ooth in the throse of a School Coinuntt.ee Election to day. That for Hamilton East takes place in tbe afternoon, but the Hamilton West election will be held in tbe evening at 7 p.m. in the newly built School Honse on the top of toeiange.-

Thb Kirikiriroa and Hautapu Mails.— The local Postmaster, writes to inform, us that owing to the recent ohange made in the mail service, the hours of arrival and departure of. the mails to these places will differ with those set down in our almanac. The mails now close, Tuesday's, Thursday's and Saturday's, at 6 a.m., and arrive Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's at 6.45. p.m. •

.At the Resident Magistrates Court, Hamilton, ,vn .Tuesday, there were no' cases of general' interest, Potter v Kelly, claim, £4 7b lid; judgment for plaintiff, and costs 9a, Potter v Forwood, claim 17a 2d ; judgment Jor plaiutiff, amount, and coats 9a. Potter v* Brocklesby, olaim, £2 4s ; judgment for plaintiff for amount, and costs 16a. Cox v Murphy,' (claim, £1 18* 2J; joudgment for amount, and costs 9.

Thb Tb Awamutu Christy; Minstrels will give an entertainment at an early date, in their native township. The performance will consist of songs, speeches, lecitations, lootl hits and conundrums. A dramatic farce, specially written for the occasion by Jack FitzDoodle, £»q , will be performed, and the whole affair will conclude with a danoe.

A Curious Accidbnt occurred to a man named Mear, -formerly manager of thi Waugapooa goldmiae, uow in the employ* caeut of Mr Hindle, of Whatawhata. It appears that Mear was holding a colt by the halter, while Mr Hindle was dressing its shoulder. The eolt suddenly broke back,, and, a single bight of the rope getting round the top of the third finger of Muar's left hand, the sharp tauxluening of the rope amputated tne top joint, uucting through the bone below toe uail, as if it bad been done by a tomahawk. Mr Mear came in to Hamilton yesterday, and ha*i his finger dressed by Dr Beale.

Departure of thb Waiuku Native 8 for the Kino Coustby.— A iarge nun" her of natives are leaving Waiuku for the Kinu c nntry. They are a section of tbe Ngatibaua, and are closely related to the leading adherents of Tawuiao. For some yearn paat the idea of removing to the King country has been discussed, an t a fe* famili-s have gone thither, but it was not nntil lately that any general movement in that direction was decided upon. The departing natives leave boLiud * oonsiderab e area of lands, which have been passed through the Natives Land Court, aud for wiiioh Crown Grants have been issued.

The Mobdbrbr Curtin, it will be seen by our telegrams, is to be hung. There will be no difficulty, says the 1 Herald,' in getting plenty of men to hang him. On the receipt of the warrant, which, says that journal, is now on its way from Wellington, the sheriff (Major Green) will fix the diy when the execution shall taka place. There need be no apprehension in the public mind that there will be any difficulty in carrying out the sentence through the absence of a hangman, as several individuals hare alreudy intimated their willingness to perform the disagreeable operation should the matter be entrusted to them. Amongst the applicants ia a parson who has satisfactorily performed similar dutiee on previous occneLns. The hangman's fee is £10.

Thb Intbbpbovincial Piaßoy Match. — A Caloutta sweep on the Handicap Pigeon Match to take place at Hamilton under the auspicies of the Waikato* gun club, on the 9th February, will be drawn a* vtihe Volunteer Hall on the- evening of Bth' February at half past 8 o'clock. In this. case their will be five prizes from £2 lOsup to £20 in amount!. As will be seen by Capt Dawson's advertisement, the prizes, should all the tickets not be sold, will, as in the case of the Waikato Handicap Art Union, be paid pro rata. When the names of the uhootists are drawn they will be put up by auction, as in Calcutta sweeps, and sold for the benefit of the drawer, who of course may buy in if he likes, the purchaser of the draw taking the chance of what shooting the man drawn may make.

Thb Hippocampus.— Considerable curi- < s ty and some little di putation hiser Hre i occasioned during the lust few days as to the meaning of the above word, which is the name of a horse entered to run at the forthcoming Waikato races. As the word denotes, the hippocampus is a sea horse. A. species of marine monster with the head neck and chest of a horse terminating in a suarian like tail, just as -a mermaid with which every one is familiar has the head and breast of a woman with the tail of a fish. Anxious that our readers should have the opportunity of seeing a speoimen of this freak of nature, and knowing that a perfect speoiman was. to be obtained in Auckland we tele* graphed on Thursday and last night received per steamers specimen of the flippocampus, which will be on view at this office to-day to those curious in tbe matter, and if we can spare room for it till then, on Monday also. We need soarcely say that the specimen is not a live one but in a remarkably good state of preservation.

Firb at Rangibiri.—A fire . occurred at three o'c'o -k on Thursday at Rangiriri, by whfoh the building formerly licensed as the Travellers' Rest Hotel was destroyed. The main purt of the building which had fallen into the hands of Mr Monaghan orPapikura, as mortgagee has been for some time unoccupied, but two rooms attached to one end of it were occupied by constable Coyle and his family. As far back as the 6th insfc, Monagban came up to Rangiriri and tried hard to induce Mr Coyle to leara the house, but he persisted in claiming a quarter's notice. Afonaghan was up at Ran* giriri again last Sunday and again endeavoured but vainly to gat Coyle to leave. Whilst there, Mouaghun and another man removed a bedsteid and mattrass, the only furniture left in the old building. It appears that about 3 a.m. on Thursday, a woman living oloce by heard the crao'kling of fire and wakened her husband np, who at once started to aronße the Coy lea. ' Mr and Mrs Coyle and their two children barely esdaped with thtir lives, unable to save any other than the clothing they had on. Tbe fire, it was seen, broke out on the far bide of the unoccupied building, and as the house had been built a considerable time, the flames spread i apidly. The building wsb insured to* '&2sO in, we believe, the Imperial Office. Great sympathy is felt for Constable Ooyle and his family, who are severe losers by (he fire. • ■ ■ ' •■•■•'

Thk Wakato Handicap.— We are glad to see that roma little interest is to be infused into the coming, race meeting by getting up an art union on the Waiknto Handicap, as is done in tbe oaee of the Melbourne Cup. We doubt very much if the Melbourne Cup race would ..' be one half as much thought of or talked . about but lor the thousands who -are thus made personally interested in the matter. Of course in our own case, tbe race coming off on the , 7«h of February, - and jjthe entries only being now just declared, there -is not time to make a really big affair of it, but we hive no doubt that Captain Dawaon'a enterprise will meet with ready response from all quarters, and that the who e of the tickets will be di-poaed of. For particulars of distribution, &o, we refer out readers to our advertising columns. THB COTTAGE O* OONTBifI fiOTKL, Victoria and Uobson Streets, Auckland, W. B. Langbridqb, Proprietor, having been Enlarged and Improved, affords unequalled Accommodation, and will be found a Beally, Weil-appointed, First* class. Hotel. — [Advt.] Our f ellow-gtsttlers will soon be visiting' Auckland and we advise them, before making any purchases, to walk into the City Hall trcade. This is an establish* nient conducted after the London style* By buying there you can procure all you require in the way of Clothing add Furniture.- The goods are carefully packed and despatched without trouble to the purchaser. We see there the greatest display of goads in Auokland. Furniture for tbe Drawing, Dining, Bedroom, and Kitchen ; Carpet a, in immense variety, from Bd-to 7s 6d per yard ; Floor Cloths, all widths ; Bedding of every description, * and Upholstery work. Holloway anlGarlick. have secured the services of Mr R Cranwell to superintend the furnishing department; and his long experience is a guarantee for good work, A nicelj»aaanrted stock of Men'* and Boys'* Clothing, the latent- fashions in Drapery and Millinery Goods, Baby. Ware and Underclothing. The prdprie* tors sell at low* prices to command a Cash Teadh. Go to llolloway and Garli;k's City Hall Drapery and Furniture Arcade (show rooms 166 feet long), ■Queen-street, Auckland.— [Advt.]