TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 736, 6 March 1877, Page 2

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1877.

At the meeting of the "Waipa County Council, held at Ohaupo on Friday last, considerable discussion took place as to the respective merits of the several ridings to be more or less fully represented than at present m the County Council. This question arose on the discussion of the motion of Mr Mandeno, claiming a second member for Rangiaohia. The other Members of Council admitted the claim of Rangiaohia to more consideration than it has re ceived, but it was thought that m so important a matter, and one affording a precedent for future occasions, that the Councillor for Rangiaohia should have come to the Council prepared to support his motion with statistical proof. The motion was passed conditionally, on his showing to the satisfaction of, the Council at its next meeting that the claim was well founded, — one councillor remarking that the course pursued was the right one, as it was most important that the representation of the ridings should be fixed upon some clearly defined and recognisable basis. It is a matter of regret that the New Zealand Government cannot furnish the public with statistical information at more frequent intervals, and to a later date than it does. Why the statistics up to the 31st December, 1875, for instance, should only be forthcoming early m 1877 is a thing that we never could understand, Wo mast, therefore, content ourselves with the basis furnished by the returns for that j ear, and probably the relative position of one district to another m the County of Waipa, though all will have advanced, will not have much changed since then. Taking the Highway districts as the basis, we should be able to give the area m acres, the estimated population, number of dwellings, number of ratepayers, number of rateable properties, and the estimated total value of rateable property of each. From these, it would be easy to collate the claims to representation of the several ridings, as agglomerations of Highway districts. In more than one instance, however, the return under one or other heading is a blank ; but such as they are we give them. We find then, m the Waipa County, that Rangiaohia, m which is included Te Awamutu and Kihikilii, has an acreage of 31.700 acres. Its population m the Statistics for 1875 is not given, but the number of dwellings is given as 200, and the number of ratepayers as 250. Theie are 300 rateable properties of the estimated total value of £33,240. Though, no population is given for 1875, m the previous year it was estimated at 586 and as Hamilton, which m 1874* only numbered, for west township j and county district, 497, and m 1875 reached to 620, so we may set d«*wn Hangioabia as numbering now prbably some 650 souls Mangapiko shows the largest area of any district; m the county — 49,411 acres } or, with Alexandra township, a gross total of 50,451 acres — and taking township and district toether, has a population of 525 ; dwellings, 123; ra-iepayers, 512 ; with an estimated value of saleable property to the extent of £140,000. Pukekura contains 37,000 acres, with a population of 213 souls, and only 28 dwellings. There are 83 ratepayers aud 84 rateable properties, but tbe estimated value 'is not given. Coming to Hamilton, we hud the West Township and Hamilton Highway districts together contain 31,031 acpes flrith, a population ot 620 ; that there are 16,5, dwellings aud 228 ratepayers for the same number of properties, the latter of the estimated value of £69,579. In th.c case of Newcastle and Ngaruawahia tpwn districts, again we are uuablp to do more than giye an approximate return, as the number of acres, of population, and of dwellings for tbe town of Ngaruawahia are blauks m the Government statistics for 1875. The total rateable vaiue of both districts, however, amounts to £73,533, having 433 ratepayers, representing 490 rateable properties, m nearly equal numbers between the two districts. The area given for the Newcastle district is 22,087 acres, with a population of 104. It is extremely unsatisfactory to turn to the Government statistics of the cploay on a matter of this kind and to 6 nd, as yfp dp, headings under which no yetum appears. jspiU #?py are the nearest we can get, anid ( jossibly the most recent. We have , given the estimated value of the pro-

perty m each district rather than the amount raised, as affording, the more reliable information of the wealth of a district, but we shoald be sorry to guarantee the value of the statistics themselves. For instance, take the townships of Alexandra and Hamilton West; the former is given as of the value of £25,000, the latter of £20,000 - the 31,700 acres m Rangiaohia, the garden of Waikato — is given at the value of £33,240, and Hamilton's 30,531 acres at a value of £49,579. It seems clear to us that if Mr. Mandeno is to provide correct statistics, be must go elsewhere than to the Government blue books to obtain them. There is, however, upon the face of even these returns sufficient to show that m population Raugiaohia is equal to, if it does not exceed, any other riding m population \ and that its area of 31,700 acres, second only to that of Mangapiko and Pukekura, when we remember the richness of its lands, entitles it to similar consideration.

Our evening telegrams of yesterdaycontain a far more than usual amount of interesting news. First and foremost is the announcement that the agitation of the people ofTe Awamutu and the persistent representations of this journal m advocacy ot the extension of the Auckland and Puniu railway, have met their reward,, and that tenders for the extension of the line will be almost immediately called for. Tbe bridge at I Laniilton, connecting the two townships, will be also at once co umenced. The news from Europe is likewise of an interesting character. Terms of peace have been arranged with Servia, and despite the heavy armaments of Russia, the war cloud which has long hovered over the old world is lifting.