The Waikato Times..

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1206, 20 March 1880, 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 unbribed by gain.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1880.

We referred some time since to the proposal brought forward more than once by Mr Murray, the member for Bruce, to make the subject of land drainage a matter of Government concern, and pointed out that for nearly half a century past the Imperial Government at Home has hacl in working order a department which undertook, by loan, to assist land owners in the drainage of their lands, the work being carried on by direction, and under the supervision, of duly appointed Government engineers. That which Mr Murray proposes should be done in New Zealand has been for some time before us in the shape of a bill ; and, though it was shelved in the last session of the Assembly, the subject will crop up again session after session until it receives the attention it deserves at the hands of the Legislature. And truly the work, though directly undertaken for the advantage of the individual land owner, is a matter of colonial concern. Whatever tends to increase the productiveness of the Colony, to give stability to, and enhance the value of the lands, and — as drainage on a large scale must do in many cases — to improve the climate and healthfulness of a particular district, becomes a legitimate function of the Legislature. Objection was taken at the time to the proposal of Mr Vogel to initiate a Life Insurance Department as a part of the working administration of the State, on the ground that it was trenching on matters which should be more properly undertaken by capital, and that in the hands of the Government it would only be worked at a loss and result in inevitable failure. Experience, however, has shown that the very opposite has been the case, and what is more — a very prominent argument insisted on at the time by the then Premier in favor of the scheme — it has given an impetusto life insurance amongst the colonists which is as marvellous as it is salutory. Now, doubtless, the same results would follow the institution of a Land Drainage Department as proposed by Mr Murray. Land owners would find the raising of money for this particular purpose cheapened and simplified, and works would be rendered less costly to individuals by being carried out on a systematic! Xt-ale, iiiid one of general comprehensiveness. For instance, if ti man borrow say £5000 to drain his estate, aud go in the ordinary course

of business to a capitalist, he will have to pay from 7 to 10 per cent., even with the best security, according to the state of the money market, and the capital sum will still be a debt upon the estate. In the case of the establishment of a Government department he would pay 8-i per cent., which would meet interest and sinking fund, and liability would die out at the end of twenty-two years — just the same indeed as organised companies for the purchase of land and building of houses afford facilities in the one direction would the Government assist the struggling settler or wealthier land owner in another. Mr Murray's bill, the provisions contained in which have evidently been very carefully considered, proposes to appoint commissioners to carry out the working of the Act, armed with considerable powers, who, under the rules and regulations made from time to time by the Governor-in-Council may make loans for the drainage of lands, or for improving the drains, streams, or watercourses of any land, all such loans, before completion, being submitted to and sanctioned by the Commissioners of audit. Loans must not be of less amount than j£loo or exceed £5000 in the case of any one land owner, or exceed half the net value of the land. Advances, too, for the sake of the security of the public money lent will only be made on land registered under the Land Transfer Act, the title in all such cases being indisputable. Applications from individuals having been received, it is proposed that the commissioners, through their authorised assistant commissioners and surveyors, and having taken such evidence on oath as to value, character of land, &c. as they may deem necessary, shall make an inspection of the lands and the nature of the proposed improvements, and, if they think fit, cause the plans, estimates, and specifications, which it is provided shall accompany all applications for loans, to be exxmined by a competent person, and then, the mortgagees consent,if there be such a person, having been obtained, the loan may be advanced. The cost of this preliminary examination must l)e borne by the applicant, but it may be included in the amount of the loan. The bill contains a schedule giving the form of application above referred to, and generally speaking we may say that the applicant is expected to give the names and the descriptive particulars of the land proposed to be improved, the estate or interest he has in such lands, the amount of rates, burdens, and mortgages chargeable on them ; the present value of the land, and the estimated increase in the annual value expected to arise to the land from the proposed improvements. A plan and estimate and specification in detail of the proposed works must accompany the application. If the loan is granted it becomes a first charge on the estate, taking precedence of all existing charges, and hence the necessity for the consent of a mortgagee. The fourteenth clause is a very necessary and im- [ portant one, providing that the works under progress shall be inspected and carried out to the satisfaction of duly qualified persons in accordance with the plans and specifications furnished by the borrower, nor will monies be advanced for payment of such work unless certified, as the work goes on and the payments required, are given by the inspecting assistant Commissioner Surveyor, or agent so employed. A wise provision is made, that an owner after the rent charge has been fixed on his land, and who may have sold a portion of it, can have the rent charge apportioned to the distinct and separate interests created, provided .that no rent charge shall be less than twenty shillings, and itisalso proposed to give the borrower the right at any time before the expiration of twenty years after the commencement of the rent charge to reduce the loan. The provisions as to outfall drains opens up a question which has been a source of annoyance to and a sore point with those more enterprising land owners who have entered largely on draining works. They can scarcely do so without largely improving the value of adjoining lands, yet they cannot in drainage, as they can in the matter of fencing, compel those interested persons to pay for their share of the benefits received. A case in point has lately come under our notice. Captain James Runciman, has largely reclaimed and improved a valuable estate in the Kirikiriroa district by extensive drainage works, and in doing so has laid dry the greater part of the section of an adjoining land owner, besides cutting the outfall drains which this person may, and will doubtless, some day use to complete the drainage of his land — but Captain Runciman has to bear the full expense of this outlay, which benefits another almost as much as it does himself. As the law stands, he can make no claim, but with such a measure in force as that proposed by Mr Murray, the case would be altered, for adjoining lands, affected by the drainage of the land of any applicants, can not only be cut through to afford an outlet for water, but their owner can claim compensation for daimge done by such drainngi', or, if it appear that i the benefit exceeds the damage, then ] owners of adjoining lauds .so beue/itted will ha\e the amount of such j improvement assessed, and made a ! rent clurge upon their land to the ;

relief, so far, of the original applicant. This is only fair and equittuble between one land owner and another, that the cost as well as the benefit should be shared. The question of a Government drainage measure is one which has been taken up already by the memuers of the Cambridge Farmers' Club, and will again shortly come before them for discussion, and-, naturally so, for it will be a most useful and beneficial provision for settlers in a young country, where the capital of most men finds ample employment in providing for more imperative, though scarcely less practically useful work than that of drainage, which is really on many soils the foundation of all good and profitable farming. What the Land and Building Society is to the struggling mechanic or professional man, the Government Drainage Department would be to the settler, enabling him to work and utilise his property to an extent which, unaided, or left to the tender mercies of the professional money-lender, he might never have been able to effect.

We are not aware who the Hamilton " Own Correspondent " of the Herald is, but submit that he is not a very reliable one if the telegram re the late Mayoral J election here, appearing in Thursday's Herald be a specimen of his communications. We refer to the following :—: — Hamilton, Wednesday. The election for the Mayoralty vacancy took place to-day. Owing to Mr Jackson, proprietor of the Alabama coach, who was the favourite, not being sufficiently qualified, Mr Beale had a walk-over. Such a telegram as this simply has a tendency to bring the Hamilton Borough into contempt. We have reason to fear the borough, as it is, does not hold a very exalted position in the opinion of most people, and really with the internal dissensions one witnesses, and hears of, every day, this is hardly to be wondered at. However estimable a citizen Mr Jackson, " proprietor of the Alabama coach " may be, — and unquestionably is — he is not calculated to adorn the office of Chief Magistrate, and we happen to know that he has too much good sense to think otherwise himself. We believe he would not have suffered himself to be nominated. Indeed, we understand that Mr Jackson is much annoyed — and very naturally so we think — at the liberty taken with his name in connection with the Mayoral election. The telegram was very evidently worded with the intention of making light of the election of Dr. Beale to the honourable position of Chief Magistrate ; but we fail to see that because there was no contest, that therefore the burgesses took no interest in who was to fill the Civic Chair. It must have been, as is suggested by ••Burgess" in his letter, appearing to-day in our correspondence columns, that the burgesses were so satisfied in their own minds that no fitter man was available, that they tacitly and quietly acquiesced in his return ; indeed, everything points to such a conclusion as being the just one ; for we would much rather not think that the burgesses are so lost to all sense of what is good for the district, and due to their own dignity, as to let an unfit person be returned for Mayor, by reason of their want of interest and exertion. After a lengthy experience in matters of this nature, we have come to the conclusion that Dr. Beale has been elected Maj*or of Hamilton, because Public Opinion -willed it. Whether he is the right man in the i-ight place — to use a dreadfully hackneyed phrase — it is not for us to determine ; time will show ; but one thing is certain, that he would not have been returned had he not been the people's choice. This conclusion is based on the broadest platform of political economy, and we maintain, quite irrespective of this election, that no man can possibly attain a high position in a free community, and under the ballot system, who is not the people's choice ; and, as before remarked, we would rather not think that the burgesses were simply too lazy to bring- a second candidate to the poll, which is implied, if it is contested, that Dr. Bealo in not the favorite of the burgeases.

Messrs. Graxt and Foster, the representatives of the Lincolnshire fanners, arrived in Auckland on Wednesday from the South, and had a conference with the Hon. Mr Eolleston previous to his leaving for the Thames. It appears that after going over a large portion of the best agricultural land in South Island, they have arrived at the conclusion that the Auckland Provincial District is the best adapted to their requirements, and they have applied to the Waste Lands Board for ten thousand acres of the Te Aroha Block to be held for their disposal for six months, in order that they may be enabled to proceed to England, and communicate with their friends there. This decision on the part of the Lincolnshire delegates, will be hailed with pleasure generally, and by no one more so than by Waikato settlers. Doubtless, on their return to England, the opinions of the delegates on the ndvanfages offered by New Zealand will be made known far outside the boundaries of the County of Lincolnshire, and thus a stimulus to voluntary immigration of the right class will be given. The Herald writing on this subject,makosa very valuable suggestion, namely, thatprovided the delegates are willing to write a report before the departure of the mail steamer, it might be printed at the G-overnment Printing Office, receive their revision, and copies be forwarded to the Agent-Gene-ral, with instructions to give it the utmost publicity. No one in England coulddoso more judiciously and with more success than our indefatigable AgentGeneral, and we trust that the delegates j nviy see their way to write an account of their \isifc to thi.s Colour, and that the Government will adopt the valuable Mig- \ geition made by our contemporary. Messrs Grant and Foster leave for England by the next San Francisco mail steamer.

A concert is projected to take place at Grahamstown, on the night of Easter Monday, in honor of the Waikato Cavalry Volunteers. We regret to learn that Mr Stuart vSuch. the obliging and courteous guard, had the little finger of his right hand broken on Wednesday while attending to some couplings, owing to the train moving on. We have been shown some very fine specimen of black Hamburgh grapes, grown at the Kotorangi Station, near Cambridge. One of the bunches weighed l^lbs, and the fruit had ripened thoroughly. The gardener, Mr Jones, also showed us some very large specimens of peaches grown at the station. A men gnmfield hns been discovered at the baok of the Aroha Mountain within the last few weeks, and thither nearly all the natives of the vicinity hava gone. The field is said to be of a highly payable nature, the gum not only being plentiful and easily obtained, but of excellent quality as well. We understand that the scene of operations is on Maori land, and if so we suppose it is only accessible to natives. We are glad to learn that the young lad Hall, who wan so seriously injured by falling from the horse Emu, at the Fiako Races, is getting on favorably. After tbe accident Mr Ticklepenny, with commend* able promptitude, at once procured a four-wheeled vehicle and oonveyed the sufferer to Cambridge, where he was attended by Dr Waddington. It was found that the right leg had been fractured just above the knee. After tho injured limb had been attended to Mr Ticklepenny drove him to Mr Garland's farm at Hautapu, where he at present remain* doing well. A Maori lad named Tewhakarina had a very narrow escape from drawing, at Cambridge, a few days ago. It appears that the ooy, accompanied by several of his schoolfellows, was bathing in the Karapera Creek when he got out of his depth, and being unable to swim, would certainly have been drowed had not a young lad, a son of Mr McVeigh, pluckily gone to his rescue. Swimming out to him young McVeigh held him above water until another boy, a son of Mr. W. K. Carter, came to his assistance, when the two succeeded in safely conveying the other to land. The grass in various parts of the district, but more especially in the Waitoa, where the dry weather almost caused the plants to disappear, has greatly improved in appearance, and may be safely relied on to carry the stock well into the winter. The turnip crops have also improved considerably, and in many places where their success was despaired of the roots are growing splendidly. If everything goes well there will be plenty of winter food in the district this year. The Victoria road connecting Cambridge with the Fiako is now in first-rate order, though some of the bridge approaches require a little attention to prevent unpleasant jolts. The swamp roads throughout the district are all in good repair, and may be looked upon to stand the winter more thau ordinarily well. Mb William Coiejtan has brought to our office a bottle of Nelson wine, called Cherade, manufactured— as the name implies — from the juice of cherries, by Mr James Smith, of Nelson, who has been most successful in his vintage, having secured medals at the Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876, Christchurch Exhibition, 1872, and Nelson Exhibition, 1873. The wine is exceedingly palatable, and with age will be of a very valuable character. We understand that the Nottingham Castle Hotel, built by Mr John Wood, at Waitoa, and so ably carried on by himself and Mrs Wood since it was opened, is about to change hands, and that the new proprietor will be a widow lady from tbe Thames. Messrs Campbell Brothers, of Waihou, Waitoa, havo generously offered to afford all the assistance in their power in the way of providing shelter for the Waikato Cavalry Volunteers proceeding to the Thames when en route through their property. The managing" committee of the Waihou Public Hall have also kindly placed that building at tho disposal of the commanding officer, Major Jackson. Fob some considerable time past the residents of the Waitoa district have been endeavoring to get the Board of Education to grant them a half-time school. Several families have now settled in the district, and a number of children are debarred from participating in the advantages of a school. Mr H. Campbell, acting on behalf of the residents, has been corresponding with the Board, with the result that the necessary desks, &c, have been forwarded and are now deposited in the Public Hall, which has been offered by tho settlers for the purpose. A visit from the inspector may be expected shortly, when no doubt final arrangements will be made. The opening of the Orakei Parliament, under the chief Paul, which was to have sat on Wednesday, is postponed for a few I days owing to the non -arrival of the Kaipara natives, and the absence of an interpreter. The Herald says the Government has "ignored" the meeting. We are very glad to hear it. Last night's telegrams announce the assembly of natives. The Waikato representative, at the colonial prize firing, at Nelson, trooper W. Coleman, of the Hamilton, Contingent, gave some interesting experience of his life in camp at the meeting of the corps, on Thursday evening, reported elsewhere. He said the affair was a very tame one this year, owing partly to many of the representatives living out of camp in private lodgings in Nelson. They were kept at the target* from half past six in the morning, till generally the same hour in the evening. Last year, the camp life was far more enjoyable. The shooting tournament, he considers was a failure, the head and post practise was very good, but neither the sword practise nor dressing was worthy of commendation. Many of the men delivered the one and two on the loft before delivering the one and two on the right. This was notably the case with the Wanganui nqad, which, however, took second prize. Certified copies of trooper Coleman' s scores in the several matches, with the exception of two mislaid, were then, at the request of the officer presiding, placed on the table for general information, and showed as follows: — Ist match, 200,' yds., 400 yds., and 500 yds.— 22, 26 and 23 points respectively, total, 7\. 3rd match, 200 yas.— 2o points. sth match, 200 yds., 400 yds., 500 yds.— 22, 25, and 20 points respectively, total, 60. Bth match, 200 yds., 300 yds., 400 yds., and 500 yds.— 22, 20, 23, and 21 points respectively, total, 86. q th match, 300 yds., 400 ydn., and 500 yds.— 2l, 23, and 20 points respectively, total, 64. 10th match, 200 and j 400 yds. — 34, and 28 points respectively, total, 62. The non-commissioned and petty officers of the local Volunteers will shortly hold a meeting 1 to organise an entertainmnut for thoir comrades-in-arms of the Waikato who arc decorated vith t'»e chevrous. Wo believe, indeed, that tho Thames men arp determined not to be outdone in hospitality by their fellow «*ttM % * of tho Upper Country. "Wo .-ire informed that Quarter Master Servant T. Rawdon is looked upon «■» the best man to carry out * an y arrangement* in rlii* direction, his i ability in Mich in fitters having been proved ( on previous occasions- -Tltt'itm A'trcyl'tirr Tun Uovernutont haw sent to Eiiglfial

for an Inspector of Gaols, who is to be a man with experience of the system now adopted in England. The gaol system throughout the colony is most defective and this is a move in the right direction. Thi? iViw Zealand Times, referring to the absence of Ministers from Wellington, flaya: — We aro pleased to note the earnestness of purpose by which Ministers are evidently influenced. They are not "on the stump," but bent on hard work in the interests of the colony generally.

A mekiino of the Waikato Cattle Board is convened for Monday ncit, at 2 p.m., at the Cambridge Farmers' Club, Cambridge. A n\7\AR and gift auction, in aid of the funds of the Wesleyan Church, will be held in the Public Hall, Te Awamutu, on Wednesday next. The Board of Education notify that the Easter holidays for schools in and near Yuckland and the Thames, arc Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wcdn9sday, 26th, 29th, }oth, and 31st instant. Schools reopen on Thursday, Ist April. NoricK is given that the Collector of the Kirikiriro.i Highway District will attend at the Royal Hotel, Hamilton East, on Tuesday and Thursday next, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to receive payment of nites due to the 31st March. Mr Hugh Fitzgerald, Collector of the Cambridge Highway District, will attend at the National Hotel, Cambridge, on Wednesday and Saturday next, from 1 o'clock to 4 o'clock p.m.. to receive payment of rates due to 31st March. A bCHKUULi: of rural lands, on the deferred payment system, appears in our advertising columns under the hand of D. A. Tole, Esq., Commissioner of Crown Lands. Tuesday, the 13th April, is the day on which these lands will be open for application at the Crown Lands Office, Auckland. Tub returning officer, William Searancke, Esq., J.I 1 ., notifies that an election to fill the extraordinary vacancy caused in the Borough Council by the election oi Councillor C. i\. Beale to the office of Mapor, will be held on Fribay, 9th proximo. Nominations must be sent in by noon on Thursday, Ist April.