The Waikato Times

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1088, 14 June 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times

Equal and exact justice to all men*, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or -political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and tmbribed by gain. SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1379. The active preparations of the Government, and the vigorous determined spirit manifested by the settlers of New Plymouth to make the occasion of outrage on the part of Maoris a settlers war that shall crush out of possibility Maori aggression m the future, have evidently had good effect on t c minds of Te Whiti and the turbulent spirits acting with him. From the first we stated our opinion that the game was one of brag betwoen the natives and the colony, that fanaticism pure and simple had little to do with the matter, and that when Te Whiti saw that violence would be met with superior force the matter m dispute would be relegated to the arena of negotiation. Already there are strong symptoms of such a change m affairs. The rarii was lo have taken place yesterday, but the Ides of March havepassed harmlessly by, aud Te Whiti has changed front, "and is calling a council of his followers for Wednesday next, to consider the situation. The fanatic element can scarcoly be a strong one which admits of the postponement of a supernatural event, such as that predicted for yesterday, and as we have said before that is the chief element of danger m the whole difficulty. The fact is that the war spirit which Maori insolence has raised m the breasts of th« settlers — the enrollment of Volunteers m the threatened districts, the offers of active service made even by Volnnteer Corps of the Middle Island, . must show plainly enough to the disaffected section of the i native race the character and conse. quence of the struggle which they have been provoking. But the Colony having gone so for, mnst go farther. Having, at large cost of money and individual los-i put the West Coast' districts m a state of defence, that position must be main- ■ twined nntil material gurantees ar« taken, m tbe shape of roads, rail ways, telegraphs and other concessions, which shall render it im. possible that the industry and settlement of the colonists can receive another s»ch check at tho hands of the native race. For ou»' sake, and for their own this is necessary, and nothing short of snch a course will satisfy the country.

11 i.=^ — j^^^^gaEß The Census Returns which bave just been issued from Wellington, containing parts 1, 2 aud 3, refer to the population and houses of the colony, the ages of the people, and their oducational ormditidu. Tne population of the colony, on the night of the 3rd of March last, amounted, exclusive of Maoria and Chinese, to 409,970 persons, of whom 226,574 are males, and 183,405 are females. Of Chinese, there were m the colony 4,432,* of whom nine only were females. The total number of dwellings m the colony was 88,381, of which the greater portion, or 73,366, were built of wood, iron or lath and plaster, while of , brick, stone or concrete, there were 3,223 buildings. Of dwellings of one room only, there were 9,703 ; of two rooms, 14,331 ; of three and four rooms, 29,223 ', of five and six rooms, 15,258, and of more than six rooms, 12,358. As regards population, the disproportion between the sexes is slowly being removed since 1864, when the number of females to 100 males was 61*53. In 1867 it rose to 65-75, m 1871 to 70-52, m 1874 to 75-17 and now, m 1879, to 79.40. The average number of persons living on a square miJe is only 3.95. The* increase of the population, from 1874 to 1878, has been 114,898 persons. Taking the population of the several Provincial districts, we find Otago taking the lead, with 114,469 inhabitants ; next, Canterbury, with 91,922, and Auckland third, with 82,661. Wellington follows after Auokland with 51,069, and then Nelson, with 25,128 j Westland, 16,932; Hawkes Bay, 15,015; Taranaki with 9,463, Marlborough with 7,557, and the Chatham Islands with 196 inhabitants. Coming to more local statistics, we find the population of the Four Counties as follows : —Piako, 447 persons, of whom 329 are males and 118 females • Waipa, 2,538 persons, of whom 1,440 are males, and 1098 females; Waikato, 1,938 persons, of whom 1,159 are males, and 779 females; Raglan, 797 persons, of whom 47.5 are males, and 322 females. To these must be added the population of the borough of Hamilton, 1,243 persons, of whom 675 are males and 568 females, and we shall have a total population for : the Four Counties of Waikato of 6,963 souls.