THE NATIVE MINISTER AT ALEXANDRA.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 722, 1 February 1877, Page 2

THE NATIVE MINISTER AT ALEXANDRA.

The lengthy telegrams received late last night, containing the interviewbetween the Native Minister and the leading Kingite Chiefs at Alexandra, will be read wibh general satisfaction. The tone adopted by Dr Pollen m dealing with the natives, is one which will be appreciated by the thinking men of ,either race. Plain, straightfoi ward, and to the point, it treats a matter of business m a business manner, a method of procedure which will not only satisfy our own people, but meet with due appreciation at the hands of the natives themselves. As we have said m recent remarks on the Native Question, the time has arrived when, m our dealings with the natives, we must treat them no longer as spoiled children, to be petted and humoured, but, with firmness and resolution, not merely showing all justness and fairness towards them, but, exacting the same from them m return. . The Native Minister arrived m Hamilton from Alexandra last night, and proceeds to Cambridge this morning, when he will interview the .Xgatirakauas.

Over the space of more than the last twelve months correspondents have advocated m letters, and this journal has urged upon those interested, the desirability of taking measures for opening up the Tuhikaramea district, one of the finest agricultural portions of the Wuikato. Practioal steps have been, we are glad to see, taken at last, with the object of putting m hand this muchneeded and important work. A deputation of Tuhikaramea settlers, consisting of Messrs Hatfield, Frew, and Vieers, waited on the Hamilton Highway District Board at their meeting on Tuesday, and a deputation from the Board has been appointed to proceed to Mr Maunders' house shortly, and there confer with some of the residents m the district with reference to taking joint action m the matter. Owing to its isolated position, this portion of the Mangapiko Highway District has been kept greatly m the background, notwithst inding fts line natural advantages. It has been useless to orop land where there was no road to uonvey produce from .the district j and it is only within the last few months tint the inhabitants have had the advantage of even a weekly postal communication with the outer world. Yet the area of this district is more than half that of the large Mangapiko district, of which it forms a part, and it consequently furnishes a large proportion of the general rates. We are not aware the line of road which it may be proposed to operate upon, but apprehend there will be no difficulty on that score. Possibly that round the western edge of Williamson and Gox'a swamp may be chosen, as there is already a fair track leading into the Tuhikaramea district from that direction, which might with little difficulty be made into a passable road. Be this, however, as it may, it will little matter where the road is taken so long as it is made.

Sale of Racecottrsb Gates. — Mr Kennedy Hill, will sell at Hamilton, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, the right of collect* ing gate fees, and selling cards of the races. Tatthbre Swimp. — Tenders are invited for making a crossing through the above mentioned swamp, and will <>c received up to the 2nd mat. at Mr Harris' store, Hamilton. CaxTRCH Mketinq-, Ngarttawahia. — The Annual Churoh Meeting for ttie appointment of Wardens and other business connected with the Church will be held this evening, at half-past seven o'clock. Thr roab to the Race ».— Our enterprising friend Mr Carter has, it may be seen by advertisement, determined to put the large coach oa for the racecoarse, leaving Hamilton each day at 10 a.m. The Reduction op the A.C. Force.— The "Lyttleton Times" has he fallowing : — lt is said that, 'as compensation for dilatoriness m reduction of the Sivil Service, the Government are about to make a sudden and extensive reduction of the Armed Constabulary Force. We should be sorry to discourage any proper reduction that; oan be made anywhere, but we do trust that the Government will carefllly weigh what they do m that direction. We have a lively recollection of the economical experiments made on that force by Mr Stafford m 1865 and 1866, and of the consequences thereof. For every pound then so saved we have since had, directly and indirectly, to p«y a thousand m oar want of preparatit n when the Native disturbance arose. A great sacrafice of life and property was also entailed. Adi ciplined force cannot be re created m a moments notice Those disturbances, though m a mitigated form, may again ariae, and the Govern-

tnent incur a fearfnl responsibility if from rash and false economy, or from a wleh to court ephemeral popularity, they pave the way for a reoumnoe of public calamities. The Counties Act— The "Hawke's Bay Herald," of the 23rd January naya : — It may be looked upon as next thing:, to certain, we gather from various sonrce?,' that the Hawke's Bay* County Council will, at its next meeting, reverse its resolution not to take the full powers. It is coming to be seen that tbe best course, at any rate the least objectionable course, is to accept the whole Act, and to make arrangement with the road boards' to oarry on under olause ISB of the Counties Act. ■■ . ■• ,, ••--■'• ■• •-• ■ Tbosm hoebid fmes !— Will ; no ?Waikato business man visiting Auckland inspect and import some of theaeVtraps, and thus enable housewifes to abate the fly nuisance, which renders summer life m this part of the colony almost untndurable. The "Herald" says that two ingenious and vary effective fly-traps were to be seen m the windows 'of Mr C Burton, Queen-street, on Saturday night. They are a "Yankee notion," m appearance not unlike a •' dairy " lantern. An action for libel has bee*n raiesed agaiust a clergyman on Pleasfnt Creek (Victoria) for abusive language uttered m the pulpit against some person resident m the place.- We h;ive no.sympatby with the reverend delinquent. The clergy have m the orthodox lay figure provided for the purpose, whether be be as black as he is painted or not, a fair and legitimate subject fir the exercise of their powers of vituperation m the pulpit, without falling foul af their congregations, individually or collective 'y. Waikato Races : Bjduction of Railway Fakes.— lt will be seen that the railway authorities hare followed the suggestion of the Times m a recent issue, and have arranged to issue return tickets - between Auckland and Mercar for one fare, available be ween the 6th and 10i;h of February, so as to enable visitors from Auckland to take ad vintage of the opportunity of being present at the Waikato Turf Club meeting on the 7th and Bi.h instant, and the race ball on the evening of tne 9th. From all appearances the coming race meeting is likely to prove the most interesting affair of the season whioh has occurred m this province. Dressing Wheat.— Mr Wallace, of Flat Bush, a few days ago, wrote to Mr Firth, inquiring whether the impression on the fanners' minds had any foundation m truth— viz, " THat it was immaterial whether their grain was ill or well dressed, the price was all the same." Mr Firth, m his reply, says:—" Permit me to suy that, though I am ' very desirous of helping the farmers m every reasonable way, I shall not ttay the same price for a poor sample of wheat as for a <*ood one — or for a badlf-dressed sample' as for a well-dressed one. No reasonable man would expect me to do so. If he did, he would find himself mistaken." Noahinepouri. --The annual meeting of ratepayers of the above district was held on Satarday, 27th inst. at Mr Vickers residence. Mr Reid was oalled to the chair,and requested tbesecretary to read the report of the outgoing committee which showed that a teacher had been elected, and that the school furniture was ordered, on completion of which the school would be opened. Mr Hatfield, in. moving the report be adopted, said : he thought. the committee could not have ilone better. The following gent'emen were elected for the ensuing year, viz . Messrs Brabant (Chairman), Reid, Gl arson, Hatfield, and Norqian. A vote of thanks to the Chairman and the returning committee brought the meeting to a close. , Kihtkihi School Committee Election — The annual meeting of ratepayers was held m the schoolroom on Saturday evening last. Owing to the wet and winterly appearance of the night the meeting was but piorly attended. Mr H Moncrieff was called to the Chair. The Ch airman of the outgoing committee, Mr A. Eay read the report and financial statement which showed that during the past year the late teaoher, Mr R ithery r - signed his appointment, and of this the Committee lost no time m informing the Board of Education wbich resulted m the appointment of their present teacher, Mr Goertz. The Committee made arrangements to fence the school reserve, got promises of labour from sutlers, and a contribution of £10 from the Board of Education, but the title to the site was questioned and the work stopped pending decision of the authorities. A teachers' dwelling; has b^en erected at a cost of about £145. A well has been sunk, towards which the Board of Education has promised £5. The works completed during the ye*r, and m progress may be estimated at £170, but about £20 has yet to be contributed by tbe settlers ta complete the works. The report was formally put to the meeting, and adopted. The following residents were duly proposed and seconded as a School Committee for the current year : —Messrs Andrew Kay, W A Cowan, A Ross, W Corby, and T Farrell A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the business. At a meeting of the Coramittefi, held immediately afterwards, Mr A Kay was re-elected Chairman. • Dipthebia at the present time is very prevalent m many parts of the North Is" and. Mr J L Sinclair, Taita, Weilington. has recently sent a letter to the •|N Z Times," recommending the physicians and surgeons of Wellington on the appearance of dipth a ria m any household where there is a young family, to examine carefully the tr\".heal respiration of the apparently healthy children, and observe if the air be gcing freely throunh an open passage, or over au obstruction. Parents, be s=»yg, can quietly do the same, especiall at night, when the children are slesping, by placing the naked ear near, the throat, and noticing if they hear a peculiar sound— click, click— as if the air from the windpipe were paaain? over a drop of water. This sound he regards as a preliminary symptom of the approaching disease, and may be heard from a week to a fortnight before the indications of diphtheria make their appearance m the throat or on the tongue. The Tichbourne Mystery. — Tbe London corespondent of the Auckland "Herald" says:-"Th-) friends of the 'Claimant' are once more jubilant; for, besides the fact that Mr Gilbert Onslow's Australian lawyer has found the veritable Arthur Ortoa languishing m an Australian asylum, Mr E R Karalake, of the Equity Bar, writes to the ''Daily Teregraph," "that a highly-respectable English gentleman," knew a Spaniard called Ramon, a few years ago at Bilbao, who sailed from Rio m the Balla, which vessel foundered off the Brazils ; and that he, with a young English count, were picked up and taken into Melbourne; and that a letter from him, announcing his rescue to his father, was forwarded by the latter to the "Diario," of Bilbao, m whioh paper it appeared m February, 1855. When Ramon, and the file of the "Diario" m whioh this letter appeared, arrive m Eng'.aud, our Lord Chief Justice may well quake, fcihould the "Claimant" only live long enough, he "'ill, no doubt, bj released from his confinement.

A MEETING- OF THE HAMILTON Dig. rbiot Boabd was held on Tuerday, when amongst other matter it was stated by one of the members, Captain Beere, that he had had a conversation with Messrs Knorpp and Stewart, who informed him that the G-overnment were not prepared to give any assistance towards making the road, m the direction of Ngnhinepouri. It was thereupon resolved by the Board that on the 10th of the present month (February), that a deputation from the Hamilton Highway District Board, consisting of the chairman, Mr W Steele, Captain Beei'e, and Mr Atkinson should proceed to the house of Mr Maunderß to meet some of the residents of Ngahinepouri , and _ confer with them m respect to the opening up of a road to connect that district with Hamilton. Several accounts were ordered to be paid, and a resolution was passed authorising the secretary to make a formal application to the chairman of the Central Board of Education, through the local Bo rd, for the use of one of the immigrant cottages for a country school- house. Starvjbd out. — People cannot get work m the Taranaki district, and are compelled to leave it. The "Budget" of the sth inst thus discourses on the topic : — 'Starved out' was the .answer feelingly given by an intelligent and willing, and able to turn his hand-to -any-th ing working man who left by t c steamer this morning. " I cannot keep my wife and family on two day's work a week, when the working places are so far apart— one day, perhaps m town, another at. Inglewood, with a race of another 20 miles ior a possible chance of getting a day's work. It's a case of starved out with me and others besides me. I am compelled to leave my wife and family bi hmd. to seek a living elsewhere." Alluding to the indiscriminate introduction of labour without capital, a writer m the ' Nelson Daily Timeß* very justly Bays : — " The cry is still they come ! Advices have been received during the week of threa ship* leaving the old country, laden with immigrants for this new land oi our. When id this expensive game to be played out ? Noting the present state of the labour market at this the busiest season of the year and the troops of children rapidly growing up around us, any rational person must arrive at the conclusion that 1 free, immigration might be stopped forth' with, and the money better employed m roling-out the hills of Dew Zealand to make room for ihe coming race." Napoleon Bonapaetb on the Eastern Question. — -At the present moment the following utterances of, the great Napoleon, wni h we quote from O'Meara's •• Voice from St Helena," have a peculiar interest :— 'ln the course of a few years .Russia will have Constantinople, the greatest part of Turkey, and all Gr.ece. This I hold to be as certain as if it had already taken place. Almost all the cajoling and flattering which Alexander practised towards me was to gain my consent to effect •his object. I would not consent, foreseeing that the equilibriu n of Europe would be destroyed. In the natural course of things, m a few years, Turkey must fall to Russia. The greatest parr of her population are Greek, who you may say are Russians. The Powers it would injure, and who could oppose it, are England, France, Prussia and Austria. It will be verj easy for Russia to engage Austria's assistance by giving her Servia and other province?, bordering upon the Austrian dominions, reaching near to Constantinople. The only hypothesis that France and England may eve>* be allied with sincerity will be m order to prevent it. Russia and Austria can at any time effect it. Once mistress of. Constantinople, Russia gets all the commerce of the Mediterranean, becomes a great naval Power, and Gfod knows what may happen. She quarrels with you, marches off to India an army of seventy thousand good soldiers, which to Russia is nothing, anil a hundred Lhous.md canaille^ Cossacks and others, and England loses India. Above ail the other Powers, Russia is the most to be feared, especially by you. Her soldiers are braver than the Austrmns, and she has the means of raising as many as she pleases. In bravery the French and English soldiers are the oniy ones to be compared to them. All this 1 foresaw. 1 see into futurity fur her than others, and I wanted to establish a barrier against those barbarians by re-establishing the Kingdom of Poland, and putiing Pomatowski at the head of it as King ; but your imbeciles of Ministers would not consent. A hundred years hence' I shall be praised (ecense), and Europv especially England, will lament thafe I did not succeed. When they see the finest countries m Europe overrun, and a prey to those northern barbarians, they will say, 'Napoleon was right.' " A Toast of the Ladies.— The following was de ivered by Mr Mark Twain at the correspondents Club Dinner, Washington : Mr President, I love the sex — i love all women irrespective of age or colour. (Laughter.) Mean iutelligence cannot estimate what we owe to women, sir. She sewd on our buttons, mends oui clothes, she ropes us mat the ohurch fairs, she oontidea m us, she tells us what ever s!m pan find out about the little private affairs of the neighbours. (Laughtar.) She gives us advice and plenty of it ; she gives us a piece of her mind sometimes, and sometimes all of it. (Laughter.) Wherever you place women, sir, she is an ornament to that place whioh she occupies, and a treasure to the world. (Here the apeakes paused, looking around upon his audience iuquiriugly. ) Thejapplause ought to come at this point (Great laughter.) Look at Cleopatra, look at Desdemona, look at Florence Nightingale, look at Lecratia Borgia. (Voices,; 'No, no,.*) Well, suppose you let Lucretia Blide. (Laughter. ) Look at Mother Eve (Cries of ' Oh, oh,' laughter.) You need not look at her unless you want to ; but Eve was an ornament, Bir, particularly before the fashion changed. (Laughter.) I repeat, sir, look at the illustrious Widow Machree, look at Lucy Stone, look at Elizabeth Stanton, look at George Francis Train — (great laughter and, sir, 1 cay it with bowed head and deep veneration, look at the mother of Washington — she ' dragged up' a boy that could not lie- Could not lie! Irepeat, sir, that m whatever position you place a woman, she- is an ornamant to society and a treasure to the world. As a sweetheart she has few equals and no superiors, (Laughter.) As a cousin she is convenient j as a wealthy grandmother with an incu 'able distemper she is unspeakably piecioua. W^hat would the people of the earth beCjrithpub women? Th«y would be scarcW^Lle-. newed laughter.) Then let us cherish her, let us protect her, let us give her our support, our encouragement;, our sympathy, ourselves if we can get the chanca. (Laughter ) But, jest n^ aside, Mr President, woman is lovable, kiud of hear'i gracious, beautiful, worthy of all respect, of all deference. Not any here will refuse to drink her health right cordially m thi3 goblet of wine, for each and every one of us has known, loved, and honored the best of them all — his own mother. (Great aplause). An Instance of neighbourly conduct ocoared lately, says the*' Herald" wbich deserves recording. A settler m the neighbourhood of Papakura had baen allowed to place his rams, which were en route for the sheep fair, fn his neighbour's paddock, where there was o:>e ram belonging to the paddock ownei.

Unfortunately, this was found next day t» have been killed by the strange ramg. Compensation was at onoe tendered, but stead ly refused, as the event was looked upon as an unforeseen one, for which nobody wa.3 responsible. The owner of the rams, finding that his friend was prasistent m his refusal, a few days later caused six oho : ce ewe lambs to be placed m the pvdilook where the unfortunate ram had been killed. •W 0- Gbaoe at thb Wicket —A. oor respondent writing us yesterday says :— Under the above heading jou give m your issue of to-day on account of W Gc Graoe's batting from the 'Saturday Review.' I forward you an account fcdm notes takenat the time of a match I was myself present at where Mr Grace played 22 of Wapshot and Beeswing. Mr Grace (who, it should be mentioned, flayed singleharided against the 22) won the toss/and went m, to the bowling of Sniffkins and Jobaon. Thermometer, 92 m the shade. In the firat over he made four skyers, eight each, and continued to score rapidly. Sniffkinß having a slight attack of sunstroke, retired at the and of half a hour m favour of Jollyboy. Score 106, thermometer 97. W G now cut Johson for 26 (the ball was sent clean over the villago, and lodged m the rector's ououmber frames — this is vouched for), and afterwards collared . Jolly boy'a slows— 2oo, and the thermometer 100. Jobson feeling faint, Popgee took Mis pUo«, but with no difference m the srate of affairs— 2s4. and the thermometer still rising. Jol^boy now collapsed, and the heat was so intense that it was decided to serve out iced claret,, a cup every ten minmes. W G, however, refused all refreshment, and looked quiie cool and collected. By mid-day the score stood at 724. W G had been at the wiokets air hours (play had commenced at six, as it was desired to have a good logg day), and had never g.vn a ehauc. At one the score had risen to 965, and W G ccmp aioed of being a little warm, but offered to play throughout the luncheon time, if the otber side liked, it was thought I « ter to adjourn, as the thermometer was 150 m the shade.JW G'b ate but litole. oontentiug himself with a spooufull of Worcester sauce and a few peppermint drops. At two play waa resumed, the twenty -two being six men short (all suffering from sunstroke). W G's first was a • hot 'un off Garboyle— a clean square hit to leg for 34. At three, two more men were down with sunstroke, and Jwhite umberellas were supplied to those remaining. Soores 1142. At haltpast three W G ate an Abernethy biscut and an anchovy, but declined drinks of all kinds. Thermometer 98. It was now thought advisable to change the bowlers every five minutes, as six men had been seized with suoßtroke. The Wapshots were now reduced to eight men — the scores at 1366. W G be^on to hit lin earnest, and the numbeis rapidly rose to 1600. In the mean time two of the other side had been carried off m a faintiug condition, but the others, though s rely distressed, manfully struggled on until it was six o'clock, when it was declared useless to play any more. W G carried his bat for 2001 by as fine an exhibition of fcood all round cricket as we would wish to sac. He had been at the wicket exactly twelve hours, and declared himself m readiness to go m the next day, but the Wapshots declined. I forgot to add that eleven bats were broken during the match. "