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Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 802, 7 August 1877, Page 2

The War m Sebvia.— In Miother column we publish, from the pen of a special conbril utor to the Waikato Trass, himself an actor m the terrible scenes tliereiu enacted, the first of a series of papers on the late war m Servia, that, horrible prelude to the simple which now threatens to convulse all Eim.pe. Phafc these papers will be read with interest by our readers we mike little doubt. Irrespective) of their original character, and that they are the reminiscences of an active participator m the .-triigijle, they are writton with a freedom from verbosity and a crispness of diction that tender them both intelligible and acceptable to the general reader, while for graphic description and well sustained narrative tre have reason to believe those which have yet to come will be m no w»y unworthy of the opening cknpter. 1 On Saturday at the Polioe Court, Hamilton, John Curr&n was finsd 10s aud costs for being drunk the night before. Tiik D strict Cotist to have been held on the 9nh is adjonrned until the 2ta»; inst. A handicap Walking Match come 3 off to-day betweem a number of amateurs. The space to bo walked is from Hamilton East to Cambridge and back. Four gentle mon start at scntch, one at start of one hour,- another of 48 minutes, another of .30 minute-, and a third of ten minutes. La Ckosse. — Wo hive rrc ived from i he Secretary ef the Frontier La Cross« Club ii copy of U'e principal laws of the i;aine \vh eh we shall en.leavour to publish m our nest, ana for which we beg to thank the secretary, Mr Lacon. i Tns AVaitoa Highway Districb Board ■iivts n tico of intention to meet at the tfottingham Castle Hotel, Piako, on the 25 U mst., for the purpose of striking a latflol'one shilling m the £. The ratebook will be open for inspe.'tijn on and ufter tho 10th inst. Pbofessok Henseckt- and Madame Stella left Ilamil ton on Monday morning for Cambridge, whire the y were'to perform List night and again this evening, appearing at Alexandra on Wednesday, and at Te Awainulu on the following night, Thursday. On Friday they will probably return to Hamilton and give an entertainment that night and ngain ou Saturday night atLe Quesne's Hall, due notice of which will appear m our advertisement columns of Thursday. Footb ixkrs should take the following hint givea m a letter sent to a Melbourne puper : — Sir,--Las>t Saturday I went to see the football match Carlton v Meloourne, »nd waa surprised to see so much slipping, especially when a remedy is easJy obfcaiued. The remedy I mean is having three strips of leather, about half an inch broai and a quarter of an inch thick, tacked obliquely on the sole. I have had my boos so for two or three seasons, and always found it most nsel'ul even on very s ippery ground. — I am, &c, Eugby Union. The HotLvke Country. —lt is mater for public congrutu'atioti that the New Zealand Pubiij Riceatioii.GrounJs nn«l Keserves J3il], introduced by MrShechan, ha? for its object the guarding of the ltotouiah=>na, i>otorua, ano other bot spring districts agaiust alienation byf>ale, lease, ot mortgage, to private peraont. Ib provides that no p rtions of these lands, comprising any of the wonders now celebrated throughout the worldj should be parted with by the native owners, except to the Crown. These lands shall then bee >me public recreation grounds for all the people of New Zealand. The bill gives powers to impose penalties for mutilating the various springs,, aud preventing the. removal therefrom of specimens without authority. at the Resident Magistrate's Coukt Ngaruawahia, there was one civil and one criminal case. The former was of no public interest, a claim, for £2 balance of the prioe of a house, Crawfor W. Sloane, m which Mr Whi taker ■ uppeared for defendant ; plain; iff was non-uite.l. On the criminal side John O llnm was charged by Detective Doolan with Silling two hen pheasants to Mr. L B Hams, of Ngarua'wahia, on the 26. h uit. The offence was proved, aud ia sentencing. ieftndant, the Resident Magistrate, Mr dearaheke, spoke strongly oa the nec^sity of putting i

down euch offences. FJe pointed out to defendant that he was liable to a p nalfcy of £20 for each pheasant, and said that, had he been a man of strong health, the full pen|J|y wou'd have been inflicted. Tn ooQ^dj^dttou o| this, and of defenofi motherless children,' he Iwpuld inflfcb onT|pa peirtliy of'<'£s for pachbi?3?i He pished, however, to give ftJ)e publio hotioft^at, i&future, he would c< , ,tj|s ' fulUf^enalty 'of £>0 for this offdnce;^ A^'.' ; . *<I£' • . • ''■■' Waikato Turf Clvb — The Annnal Meeting of the Waikato Turf Club was held last night, at Walker's Commercial .Hotel. Mr Claude occupied the chair, and the Secretary, Mr Jienhedy Hill, read 'the' accounts for the past year, as examined and endorse 1 by the auditors, winch were adopted by tha meeting. Votes of thanks to the Secretary, for his m lefatigible exertions on tehalf of the institution, and to Mr S. Steele, for his special exertions iv making tue last race meeting tha,suc^BS it Was, were severally proposed, carrietMinanimousJy, and replied, to. The old committee, consisting of M.-s-rs Hammj>nd, Kunciman, Kutherford, W. Steele, Byron and Mr K. Hill m place of Air Clarke, who had left the district, were re-appoiuted. Mr A. Cox was appointed President, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the Chairman. • Masonic Ball.— lt has been decided to bold the forthomiug Masonic Bull, m commemoration of the ' opening of the new Masonic' Hall it Hamilton, on the 23rd iast. and at AValker'a Commercial Hotel. Tais will undoubtedly be a far better plan than holding it m the large barrack room as aflfcnt contemplated. The ball-room at the Commercial is not only a good one, but the house will afford every convenience for ladies m the shipe of dressing.rooms, &c, while for gentlemen, m addition to the attraction of the dance Iherj are those other ones of the billiard room and private rooms, and for flirtation, the staircase and landing will supply the plnco ot the odiiventio.ial conservatory. The price of the tickets has been fixed at half a guinea for muried men and ladies, and, on the principle, we suppose, that luxuries should be taxoJ, at a guinea for bachelors. The PtrKEKURA Highway District Board. — A rate of one shilling m the £ hi 3 been levied for the ourrent year, payßble m one installment on the 3Ut inst. The rate-book is open for inspection at the house of tUe secretary, from whom dog collras may be provided. The Board also gives noticj of its intention to enforce the provisions of Clause 98 of the Publio Works Act whioh is as follows : — lf any tree or hedge overhangs a road so as to injure it, or any gone bo allowed to spread from any hedge into any road so aa to injure the same, the board may, upon the certificate of a competent surveyor, or of any two me nbers «f the Board after tosjfth-r viawiufc the place, that such injury is being done, Order the part of sucli tree so overhanging to be removed or such hedge to hi fjwered or trimmed or each gorae to be grubbed up and removed as they direct ; and any occupier of the land m whicW suca tree or hedge is trha doe* mt within one month after the receipt of such order obey the same, ehul! be liable to a penilty not exceeding £5 for every dny during which such order U not obeyed and n further aum equ il to the cast incurred by the Biurd m removing such tree or lowering or trimming such hedge or grubbing up or removing sucli gorse. Tub Land Fund.— lt ia not alone m the Bums received for the sale of the waste lands m Middle Island districts that the North Inland is despoiled. There ia alstT mV rbbbe'ry whicH takes place m the annual letting ot the unsold pastoral landis. The annual rent of the public estate, it would seem by tho following table laid before the Assembly, amounts to a sum of £118,318 8i Id derived from the leasim; of 1,099 runs embracing an area of 14,266,292 acres. The animal proceeds are distributed as follows : —

FOKESTS AND TRKE PLA.NTIN9. — The bill dow before Mm House for encouraging the planting of forest trees gives lower lo Lnnd Boards to grant licensee to poisons to occupy 320 acres, provided they plant land with forest trees. On doing ao they arc to receive a free grant of the land. A person with freehold who lants ten acres wit', forest trees is to rt-ciire m respect for every acre ao planted a land order Dot exceeding the value of £4. Many people, it is said, oppose this bill, as miking a present to large and wealthy land owners, but this objection may be easily renoved by making the Act apply to land ao planted subsequent o-ly to the coming of the Act into force. When a colony seeks to encourage immigration by grouts of land it mikes such grants, not to those already m the colony, but to those about to immigrate ; so, if it is desired to en-coui-a^e tree planting, iha grants should be made, not tc those who havn already planted, but to those who huve not but may be thereby induced to do 60. The Liquor Traffic— The ' Putea Mail- touching the liquor traffic carried on m the colony^ uses the following strong language :— We are members of the B-iti>h nation— a people that assume to be highlj civilised and enlightened— * people abhorring slavery and persecution. Yet we apathetically stand by and gee thousands of our women and children yearly driveu to destitution, starvUion, and crimf, because their husbands and fathers have become slaves to drinking habits. We are a charitable nation. If wo hear of famine and starvation m India, China, or elsewhere, our Government and public aru over ready to relieve tbeir suffering*. Yet, s rauge to say, though ever ready lo assist foreigners, our (> veminant take no steps to check thesu drinking customs that yoarly bring starvation on thousands of our race. We have a swarm of clergymen of various denominations. The inajmty of these Bhepherds of the people seem to consider their duties only are to collect money lrom the people, by getting up concerts, baza l-fl, raffles, &c ; to preach on Sundays iv the churches, und vidt the well-to-do members of their congregation during the week. The lost cheep of their flooks may remain lost, may starve, or be driven to prostitutun and vice. So long as their churches are filled with gaudily-dressed congregations, and their owu salaries subscribed, they appear satisfied to let the lost sheep perish. The apathy shown by the majority of these gond shepherds i*, considering their calling, reprehensible. Not only are many of them apathetic on (his question, but some >ew oppose and denounce temperance societies as mis* cluevoue, secret societies. Instead of being foremost m- suppressing the cause >f crime and vice, they actually uphold and encouraga it, • A MOVEMENT TO TURN OUT THE Go-VEKNjiENT.--The special correspondent at Wellington, of the 'Jtierald,' telegraphing on Friday last, ia responsible for the I

following : — Once mure the air is full of old rumours, and the story is again .current about Sir W Fttzherberfc being pressed to take the lead : tojreaign the the chair and permit himself to be made Prime Minister on the turning out of the present Government. This ,ast they say is a certainty, if Sir William, will only consent. Meanwhile he is shy and coy, 'if sucli attributes dan lie applicable to such a, judicious and astute old stager. He was to give his decision to-day, but it appears to be p;Btponed. There are sou's (sordid and calculating it may be but tbere they are), who calculate the chance s in a pound?, shillings, and pence way, and they work the sum out. Sir William is not robust ; indeed, " Your are old, father William, the younj man said," applies very much to him, and the few locks he has left are quite grey. Yet be thinks about leoviug that soft Speaker's seat. '• Now, tell me the reason, I pray." Well, th^re are reasons aay these sordei calculators; about a thousand golden reasons, not to mention the exigencies and anxieties of party and the promoting of honourable ambition. The Speaker's salary is £BUO, that of the Premier £1750, with an allowance for a Ministerial residence or one already nicely fur ,i*hed, m round numbers tne total ia about £2000 a year gain. Sir William has said that he canuoo possibly hold the position of Speaker beyond the pT.sent Parliament, for long hours, would speedily tell on his health. Three years further, at the most, would be the endurance of this Pparliament. These are 24, equal to 2400, ■• hile ere a m a year and a half, or say two years, or perhaps . three, of the Premership would produce a very much larger sum. This ib how I have heard the matter put — not that it was so pub to Sir William by the deputation which has again and again waited upoo him but I am aware theae thiugs have been weighed. What has kept the matter so long m objyanoe is the faot that the movers m this uuaiueaa, and those they represented, pretended to be afraid that Sir George Grey would prove an obstacle m the way of forming a Ministry, and the difficulty was who was to bell the tat aud endeavour to ascertain Sir Ueorge's seutim-nts without wound ing M 9 delicacy. This was done toother day, and it was learut that Sir George had not thought of entering a Ministry, that he did not wish it, that he was coruialy desirous of securing thai positiou for Sir W Fitzaerbert, aud if Sir VV Pitzuerbert agreed, the ihiug woula certainly be done, aud a cleau sweep made of all the paesent occupauts of the Ministerial benches. The division list of Thursday morning was no criterion of the state of parties. The estimated 41 of Opposition rank and file and " doubtfuls" mentioned m those notes last week, have gradually gathered strength. It is on the cards that ministers may be out iv little more than a week's time, and it is not improbible that early next week a direct vote of no confidence will bo tabled. All depends on Sir William Fitzherbert. Theie will be no amalgamation or coalition if this arrangemeac is effected. It will, as already mentioned, be a clear sweep, and a new set of Ministers, selected from the moderate men of the House, and representing a large number, will take their places. Tuat is the pregramme, dependent at present on the answer of Sir W Fitzherbei c. If he consents, that consent, of course, meaus that the oppo3ition me certain to beat the Ministry It this happens, then the n-.!w Ministry will probably drop the principal measures before Parliament, and piss only absolutely necessary business, and thus end the session perhaps within a month. The matter is trembling m the balance. If 6ir W Fitzaerbert consents all will be r»ay wi'h the Opposition, if hq declines " chaos has come again for a time.

Ejnt paid. A RPa £ a d Auckland . 103,040 0 0 162 10 0 Uuwke'sßay 121,765 2 0 325 11 1 Kelson - 643,400 0 0 4,587 9 II Maalborouih 1,968,378 0 0 4*385 3 11 Canterbury - 4 676,400 0 0 41,876 16 0 Weatiand - 452,370 0 0 1,005 14 7 Oinco - -6,472,718 0 0 59,734 8 5 Southland - 726,820 0 0 0,181 3 8