The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1054, 27 March 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1879.

Equal and exact justice to all men, _ Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. * * ♦ * * Here shall the Press the People’s right maintain, Uhawed by influence and unbribed by

The ‘ Herald' publishes in its issue of yesterday a statement furnished to that journal of the position of! the alleged Waikato scab case by a gentleman who has considerably interested himself in the subject. The * Herald' introduces that statement with the remark that “The settlers of Waikato appear determined to have the scab case reexamined, so that a definite rule may be laid down on the subject.” The “ Herald ” is perfectly correct in this matter. The alleged Waikato scab case is no nine days wonder to be taken op and discussed by the Waikato public, and then to be thrust aside for some new thing. Neither the Government, nor Mr Lewis and his abettors have heard the last of the matter. There may be influence enough inside the Cambridge Farmers’ Club to allow the question to be quietly burked within the four walls of the Clubroom, but outside the feeling is as strong as ever, and there is a fixed determination, which only grows the stronger that the attempts to get rid of the case by a side wind become more apparent, to have the question sifted to the bottom and settled upon its merits. A great wrong has been done to an individual settler—an undeserved stigma has been thrown on the flock of every sheepowner in Waikato. What was the misfortune of one man the other day may at any time become the misfortune of any other individual flockowner to-morrow, at the caprice of official ignorance or wounded dignity. It is this that tends so largely to make the Waikato settlers feel thus strongly in the matter. The next outcome of popular feeling in this case will be a public meeting at Ohaupp, which we learn is to be convened for a certain sale day early in the coming month.

The article to which we allude as published in yesterday's i Herald' is as follows, and is a very fair and lucid epitome of the case as it now stands:—

When the evidence on which Mr Jolly was' fined for having scab in his flock became known in the Waikato, the strongest feeling was expressed by the settlers that a grave miscarriage of justice had taken place. Mr Lewis stated that he did not see the acaries; that it was not necessary to do so; and that the case was too plain to make any mistake about it. But the whole facts of the case prove that he was mistaken. He said he would expect to find scab in the flock. Not only the "Waikato Inspector, but the best judges of scab in the district pronounced them entirely free from scab. The sheep have never been dressed since [or or any time.—Ed. "W.T.] Mr Lewis and his witnesses not only admit that judges of scab are sometimes mistaken, but completely contradicted each other. Mr Lewis said the insect would die in the cold skin after the death of the animal. Mr Howard said it was possible to find insects in the skin twelve months after. Mr Lewis said scab wounds had a greenish look, unlike scars. Mr Trotter said this was " pale red;" Mr Howard, " reddish brown." Mr Lewis once mistook a slight discoloration of the skin for incipient scab. MrFergusson had known judges make mistakes. Mr Howard had known good judges make mistakes. A petition signed by nearly every settler in the district who had an opportunity of doing so —from two to three hundred in all—was sent to the Assembly last session, praying that the case might" be enquired into. It was understood that a commission was to be appointed, but after waiting some months, with nothing being done, a deputation was appointed by the Cambridge Farmers' Club to wait on the Minister of Justice, to ascertain if anything had been done in the matter. Mr Sheehan said nothing had been done, and that he feared there were no grounds for a commission. It was pointed out to him that the fact of no scab being found in the flock at Hamilton clearly showed the danger to settlers of having sheep condemned on such as in Mr Jolly's case; that iVir Lewis still maintains the sheep were scabby, and of course will fee) himself bound to condemn sheep in a Bimilar state. The case has cost Mr Jolly about £7O, to say nothing of the loss of keeping the balance of his flock, not knowing what to do with them. The question, then, is this : Believing, as the great body of 'the Bottlers do, that Mr Jolly has been wronged, and that they must expect similar treatment under similar circumstances, is it right that he should remain in the position in which he is placed ? Is it unreasonable to ask, «eeing that not only Mr Jolly, but a large body of his fellow-settlers feel that they have not that security for their flocks to which they are entitled, that the matter may be placed in the hands of a Commission ? There is one other matter to be attended to, viz., that part of Mr Fergusson's evidence where he says " I saw a living insect moving." Mr Lewis, when he met the Cambridge Farmers' Club, took a copy of the evidence with him, and read it to the Clnb. No member present heard a word of it, yet oae would have thought if it had been read it would have attracted more attention than all the rest of the evidence put together. No one In their senses could havj heard each a thing as that whithout fe?lin# that a Bench of Magistrates who would admit such evidence unquestioned were totally ignorant of what they wera about, or they were unworthy of the yo3i'tion in which they wore placed.

The work of constructing the Hamilton Branch Railway, between the station and the town, will be commenced on Monday next. Mr John Briton, the contractor, is advertising in our columns for labourers to carry out the work. The road from Rotorua to Cambridge, by way of Ohinemutu, is not as our Tauranga contemporary would fain have us believe, relegated to the limbo of oblivion, on account of the refusal of the natives to allow of the line being surveyed. A Wellington telegram states that the surveyor's road from Rotorua by way of Ohinemutu to Cambridge will be commenced at once. The necessary negotiations have been completed with the natives.

We are requested to state that the report which has gone the round of the Auckland Press, that Mr Edwards had actually leased Mr LeQuesnes new hotel, at Hamilton, is incorrect. Mr Edwards did make overtures which might have led to that result, but his later proposals, we are requested to state, could not be entertained. Lock-up for Tb Awamutu.—A building of this kind has been, for some little time needed in Te Awamutu, and tenders are now called for the erection of suoh a building, oh the Court-house reserve at that township, in accordance with plan and specification to be seen at the Police Station, Hamilton. Tenders must be addressed to the Superintendent of Police at Auckland, Inspector T. B. Thomson, and sent in by Monday, the 7th of April next.

We understand that when in Auckland, the Mayor, Mr Whyte, made enquiries respecting the iron bridge ordered for the Kaipara line, but which will not now be required that the inland route has bfien chosen. Mr Whyte's enquiries resulted in fading that the bridge would not be suitable for the Waikat® river, at the crossing of the Thames-Waikato Railway. The bridge is too low to begin with, but even if the cylenders were lengthened, there would be the fatal objection that it was designed with four piers, which would seriously affect the navigation. The plans of the intended bridge are now being prepared, in readiness for sending home the order for it. The Sportsman-Loafer Rivalry.—The following correspondence has taken place in the 'Star':—"ln your telegraphic report of the Ngaruawahia races, in Monday's ' Star,' you say great disappointment was expressed at Loafer going to Piako, and that Mr Rutherford would have sent Sportsman to meet him, had he known. I am surprised at this, as it is only a fortnight ago I considered a match arranged for £SO a side between Loafer and Sportsman, over the Ohaupo course, through the agency of Mr Kennedy Hill. As my challenge was not accepted, I will now run Loafer against Sportsman for £IOO aside, half forfeit, on the Ellerslie course (with permission, of the Stewards), on Saturday, the 12th April; distance, two miles, over eight flights of hurdles, 3ft. Gin. high ; the same handicap as the horses ran the second day at the late Ohaupo meeting, where Loafer was beaten. Tours obediently, William Walker." To this, the following reply has been sent:—" In reference to Mr Walker's challenge which appeared in yonr issue of Friday last, allow us to state in reply that we offered about three weeks since to run him on the 26th inst., (as the then owner of Loafer appeared so anxious to make a match) on the Ohaupo course, welter weight for age, for £IOO a side, and are quite ready to do so at any reasonable time after the Auckland Autumn meeting steeplechase, with tho promise of £SO to go to tho ~Kaitangat& Relief Fund.—Yours, &c, J. & W. Rutherford." A Compensation Court under the Public Works Act, 1876, was held at Auckland on Monday before Mr Justice Gillies and Messrs A. Buckland and G. Von der Hyde, Assessors, when the claim of Mr W. Baker for injury done to his property, situated at the corner of the Mount Roskill and New North Roads, was heard and determined. Mr Baker's witnesses gave evidence to the fact that the property was depreciated to the extent of £6OO. Witnesses for the Government gave evidence that the depreciation did not exceed £2OO. The Court, after a short deliberation, awarded to the claimant £4OO and £25 costs.

It has not yet been decided by the Cabinet who is to succeed Mr Smith the late Assistant Under-Secretary in the Colonial Secretary's Department. Mr Hugh Pollen, son of the Hon. D. Pollen, the chief clerk of -the Department, has so far undertaken the duty, and, if promotion is to follow in the order of seniority in this branch of the public service, in all probability Mr Pollen will be gazetted, and permanently attached to this particular office. There is no hope whatever of Mr Smith being reinstated in his position. It is understood that His Excellency Governor Robinson will;only make a very short stay at "Wellington, but will proooed almost immediately after his arrival to Auckland in a man-o'-war, and from thence make a tour of the whole colony. Sheep Inspectors.—The following appointments have been gazetted:—F. C. Lewis has been appointed a Chief inspector of Sheep. Henry Dacre, Auckland; David Edwards, Grahamstown; G. Howard, Onehunga; J. Mason, Whangarei; Matthew Mawer, Bay of Islands; J. Meldrum, Gisborne; C. K. Roskruge, Tau- I ranga; John Runciman, Cambridge,] "Waikato; Thos. Campbell, Opotiki, have been appointed Inspectors of Sheep.

A New Licensing Bill.— The Government, it is stated, amongst the measures which they intend bringing under the consideration of Parliament, will include a Colonial Licensing BUI, repealing all Provincial Acts now in force, and having general application to all Licensing Courts and districts. Stringent clauses will be inserted with reference to the granting of licenses in native districts.

Hamilton Branch Extension Contract. —The following tenders for the branch railway to Hamilton have been received: —Johnßriton, £2,978 (accepted); Martin, 453,116; Amely & Nicholson, £3,264; D. Fallon, £3,333; Coates, £4,399. Twelve out of twenty head of blac game, shipped for Dunedin, have arrived safely. Native Meeting.—An important native meeting will be held at Tokono, south of Taupo, on the 27th, under the auspices of Topia Turoa, in order to consider f®ur points: First, the giving effect to Morrin's lease; second, to concede Government sites for townships, and the settlement at Tokono ; third, to arrange for the survey of all lands on that side of the lake; and, fourth, to provide means for making a road from Taupo into Wanganui. "We understand that Mrs Major Croker, who was committed to gaol some time since for obtaining goods under false pretences, and who has now served her term of imprisanment, is abuut to bring actions for damages against the Auckland papers. It will be remembered that these journals, not content with publishing the facts of the case for which Mrs Cromer was tried, American-like, went into the private and domestic history of the early life of that lady, with which the public interests were not concerned utterly regardless of the feelings of her innocent children, amongst whom is a married daughter in England-j

Oats.—Mr Johu Knox Avill sell, without resorve, on Saturday next, at 2 p ra., next the Wharf Store, 50 sacks of prime oats. Messbs Hunteb & Nolaw's sale, at Te Awamutu, of the stock and household effects of Mrs Scholfield, -will take place on Saturday next.

Tendbbs for the Mongahoi bridge must be sent in by noon of to-morrow.

Messbs J. D. & K. Hill will hold their fortnightly sale at Cambridge, on Saturday next. A clever capture has been made by Detective Doolan, who is now stationed at Cambridge, and, as will be seen, the culprit met his deserts at the Alexandra Police Court. A native named Ropia, stole a valuable silver-mounted saddle and bridle belonging to Mr W. H. Grace, and Detective Doolan was telegraphed to at once, and almost immediately spotted his man, though hitherto unsuspected, and arrested him just as he was leaving the Criterion Hotel. Eopia seems to have gone the entire animal, in the way of theft, having also stolen a silver watch from a half-drunken pakeha, while the horse he was riding at the time he was taken was a stolen one. He had also stolen another horse, and sold it to Mr Seccombe, of Alexandra. Ropia, though a wholesale thief, does not despise small things, and amongst the thefts which, if necessary, could have been brought home to him by the police was, that of a double bit belonging to Government, and a blanket belonging to the half-caste Turner. Eopia is a native of Maketu, on the East Coast. Snob or Fossil ? ob both ? A Southern paper, referring to Col. Brett, M.L.C., who has. just had an A.C. man, a policeman, fined £l, at a semi-military tribunal, held with closed doors, for not saluting him as a J.P., says:—" We had occasion to refer to Colonel Brett, M.L.C., in our Saturday evening's issue. Here is something which proves that if his understanding is weak, his faith is remarkably strong. The honorable gentleman publicly told a number of people, whilst travelling with him in a railway carriage, that he had presented a fifty guinea watch to his daughter, as a birthday gift. One day Miss Brett was going across the fields to a neighbour's house. She lost the watch in some way. The poor young lady was very much grieved. She got all the servants of her father and the surrounding settlers to turn out and search diligently for the watch, but in vain. The children of the village school were then called into requisition, but they too were unsuccessful. The young lady then wrote to her mother, who was absent at Christchurch. Mrs Brett replied, telling her daughter not to be distressed. She said she would not be going home for three days, and meanwhile she would make the watch ' a subject of prayer,' and she had not tho slightest fear but that she would discover the missing present when she returned. The old lady did make the watch a subject of prayer. As soon as she went home, before entering the hcuse, she asked her daughter to point out where she had lost the watch. Having learned this, she proceeded alone to search for it, and returned holding it up in triumph in less than five minutes. The old lady said she had been guided straight to where the watch lay hidden in a large tussock of grass, and had never once swerved, but had taken a bee line as she advanced. The Colonel told this story with the most devout reverence, and believed in it as implicitly as he did in the Gospel. Just after giving this proof of his piety, the Colonel informed a Jew who happened to be in the carriage that all people of his persuasion were doomed to perdition." Hamilton Contingent, Te Awamutu Cavalry Volunteebs.—There will bo Church Parade on Sunday. On Saturday, the sth proximo, the Contingent will meet for sword drill, instead of on the 29ch instant. Members are cautioned that absence from church parades and sword drills will disqualify for competition for officers' prizes. The Eev. W. CVder will conduot Divine Service at Piako on Sunday morning next.