The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, MAY 24 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1079, 24 May 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, MAY 24 1879.

TO-D \Y'S HOLIDAY.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or politioal. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, . Unawed by infltuencfl and unbribed by gain.

The owners and occupiers of land, at the Thames are, it would seem, again throwing. difficulties in the way of the construction of the railway at thst end of the line. It is seldom, or never, that the Government refuse to give a fair price for lands required for public purposes, and it is notorious that in the case of some owners at the Thames very exorbitant terms are being strenuously stood out for. It is quite fair that in such oases the owners of property should receive a full measure of compensation, and more especially the owners of small lots who have little land left to be directly benefitted by the construc- ! tion of the line, but the Government as the trustees of the public estate are equally warranted, on the other hand, in making a fair stand against anything approaching , extortion. Now, doubtless they will do so in the preseut instance, and all the more readily since they can easily by commencing work at this end of the line be going on with its construction quite as rapidly as the vote will permit, while the Thames landowners take time to re-consider their exorbitant demands. The truth is that the commencement of the line at the Grahamstown end was a mistake. The same money that will be expended in taking the first portion of the line bat a short distance from Grahamstown would have opened up the country from the Waikato Biver at East Hamilton to the Thames River and given to the whole Piako country a direct communication with Hamilton by railway, or, by mixed rail and water communication with. Grahamstown itself. Moreover, ttie difficulties which now surround the Public Works Department at the Thames do not exist at this end of the line. The land is either in the hands of the Govemj ment,or readily procurable; and on a large portion of the distance the line is already formed, so that, as we have said, the money available for the present construction of the railway would have opened a large stretch of country, and in a comparatively short space of time. We would therefore urge the Government not to allow the action of cer-

tain persous. at the Thames to delay and obstruct this most woi'k,. and that instead of stopping contracts, they should call nt once for^tenders for the construction of a sectiou of work at the Waikato end of the line. Thus, delay would be avoided, and the best of all arguments be -brought to bear upon those at the Thames y who, are thus selfishly standing in tie Ugh* of the public ofc large.

The Queen's Birthday is always the occasion of festival and in Waikato, and, whatever, tile weather, religiously kept up as. a general holiday by one of the most; loyal and orderly populations in the colony. It is the occasion of one of our most enjoyable race meetings of the year, the Te Awamutu races, a trial of skill between local horses, and this year, we notice, promising to afford sport, second to none -of tho-kind yet enjoyed in Waikato. For Hamilton a long and varied programme of sports and races is advertised and in other parts of the districts in a variety of ways the public will give themselves up to out-door enjoyment. Of all the holidays we are called upon in this colony to commemorate that of the Queen's Birthday comes at the most convenient season, at a time when the loss of a day's labor is less felt by employers than during the summer holidays when. great loss and inconvenience.is experienced in'country districts. The Christmas and New Year's holidays are a serious loss and detriment to the. prosperity of the colony, lasting as they do over a space of fully ten days. They repzesent the loss of a thirtieth portion of the annual productiveness of labor ia the colony —a sum which if reduced to its value in pounds shillings and pence would somewhat astonish those who affect to take the matter lightly. , At home and in other countries the loss is less felt coming it does at the period of the year when work is the most slack, but here the reverse is the case. To-day's holiday, however, no one grudges. It is the national expression of a loyalty which ; animates all breasts even to the remotest part of the vast empire over' which our beloved Sovereign rules, and throughout which the right law justice and protection which are the inalienable birthright of a British subject make themselves felt and respected. Queen Victoria, whose birthday we now commemorate, has this day completed her sixtieth year, and on the 24th June last, she celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her coronation. She succeeded to the Crown on the 20th June, but was not crowned for a year and a week afterwards. It was exactly 1,010 years beforeJQueen Victoria's ascension that Egbert, the first King of all England, was crowned, namely, in the year 837 a d., and though during all that time some few, and but few monarchs have reigned so long in England, none have reigned so wisely or so well, none suceeedod in gaining more surely and devotedly the affection of their subjects, or left their mark, as Victoria will have done, not merely in the increased greatness of the Empire, but [in the improved morality and social advancement of the nation. Of all the sovereigns of England, George 111. reigned longest,' nearly sixty years, from 1760 to 1820, but the latter portion of that time he was merely nominally sovereign. Henry 111. reigned fifty-six years, from 1216 to 1272, and Edward 111. fifty years, from 1.327 to 1378. The reign, of Queen Elizabeth comes next, forty-five years, from 1558 to 1603, and next in duration come 3 the reign of our beloved Queen, the anniversary of whose birthday we are now again called upon to commemorate.