The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1217, 17 April 1880, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persua&ion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1880.

A succession of bad seasons, and the consequent poor harvests, depression in trade generally, along with the pressure of American competition, have seriously affected the condition of the British fanner. In England and Scotland the low prices of grain, and in Ireland the depreciation in the value of the products of the dairy, have produced equally disastrous results. A few good harvests will go far to mitigate these evils ; but, with the danger of outside competition increasing, it cannot be wondered that English agriculturists are looking around them with a view to discover a wider field for their enterprise. The Times, in a thoughtful and pregnant article reviewing the whole question, says the English and Scotch farmers have sent delegates to Canada and the United States of America "to enquire and report to them on the prospects open to emigrant farmers betaking themselves thither," and goes on to say, "it is evident that some of the men of the present generation, and many more of their sons, who would in ordinary course have grown up to take their places at home, will transfer their energies and their resources to the unsettled lands of Canada, and perhaps of the United States." As opposed to tliis wise determination on the part of the farmers of Great Britain, The Times says the lessons inculcated in Ireland by the friends and advisers of the Irish farmer are to resist all suggestions of emigration ; to stand fast by the soil on which they were born ; and to endeavour to buy out their landlords. The conditions of the depression affecting both classes are nearly identical ; but the remedies proposed are, as we have seen, diametrically opposed to one another. Both cannot be just. "If (says The Times), emigration be a fit remedy for the agriculturists of Great Britain, can it be fitting that men should remain struggling to make a living out of an acre of- land, or a few acres of mountain-side, as they are in Ireland ? , . . There can be no doubt that the English and Scotch farmers have taken a sound view of their situation." The article then proceeds to deal with the subject of the delegates' visit across the Atlantic, and to criticise their reports upon the adaptability of the New World to share the burden of the Old, pointing out that there are vicissitudes no less surely attending farming' in America than in England, and that they might not have experienced in its intensity the dreariness of a long northern winter and the disagreeableness of the isolation of a pioneer settler. The treatment the delegates received at the hands of the people was munificent. They were feted and caressed everywhere, and saw and admired everything. They went over in the early months of autumn, and were back again home before the severe Canadian winter had set in. Their reports are consequently abounding in expressions of praise and admiration. Nevertheless, they must be generally accepted as authoritative. The delegates were long-headed men, and many of them took the opportunity of visiting the lands of Minnesota and Dakota, countries with more genial climates than the Dominion, and of which they speak in no measurod terms of praise,

This remedy, it is suggested, may be uusuited to the Irish farmer, who, from his circumstances, may in many cases be supposed to land in the new country destitute of capital md unfitted for most of the occupations which he finds at hand. But where there are homes for farmers there are homes for industrious laborers too, and these latter would, under conditions of profitable occupation, soon ameliorate their condition and attain the level of employers. " But neither farmer nor laborer can prosper ,without strenuous industry, directed with intelligence, and married with thrift and foresight." We shall not pursue further an article which we hope will receive the most careful consideration, not only from the class it more directly deals with, but also from those in our own Colony who have the matter of immigration at heart. It is somewhat strange that no reference is made to the visit of the Lincolnshire delegates to New Zealand, but the omission may be accounted for by the consideration that the writer confined his remarks to published remarks, and does not attempt to deal with probabilities. It is to such men as those referred to that the claims of this Colony as a desirable field for the investment of their capital should be urged, and the knowledge that they and large numbers of their class — practical men with moderate capital — are only waiting for a favorable breeze to cut the painter, should awaken us to the necessity for so doing. The immigration policy of the past has resulted in swamping the country with unskilled and unsuitable labor, and very few of the right stamp of colonist have been selected. What the Colony requires is accession to its ranks of agricultural capitalists; and no more favorable time than the present could be selected for their acquisition. Nor is there anywhere a land so suited to the requirements of the English farmer. No " wearisome winter " and none of the "drawbacks incident to comparative isolation " are to be met with here as in Canada and the North-western States of America, and the immigrant would retain what in the last-named place would be lost — all his old associations. He would find himself under the same Government and surrounded by many of the conditions obtaining in English society. Not that these arguments can be expected to weigh of themselves in the scale against good land and a ready market, but the first is to his hand and the latter has only to be developed. We are, of course, not unaware that New Zealand has attracted, and is attracting, much attention at Home. Our agents have not been idle: books, pamphlets, letters, tfcc., have been sent forth, happily for the most part free from the silly exaggeration which formerly characterised all references to this Colony. As a consequence we have lately had occasion to welcome two intelligent farmers from one of the most productive counties in England. They have carefully inspected all parts of the Colony, and upon the reports which they will furnish their friends and constituents in the old country will depend our chances of gaining a most valuable addition to our population. We naturally, then, await this report with great interest, having, notwithstanding, little doubt of its favorable nature.

Noav that nearly the whole of the Waikato has beencleclaredan affected district, that there is but too much reason to fear the general spread of the disease, that new regulations are being from time to time issued by Order-in-Council, and that the local Cattle Board acting under extensive powers, is almost daily engaged in framing regulations for the public safety, it is well that our readers should be made more conversant than they are with the powers and provisions of the Diseased Cattle Act of 1871, under which they are being so immediately brought. The larger portion of the Waikato County has been declared an infected district, and now the same injunction has been laid on the county of Waipa, while at the meeting of settlers at Ohaupo on Tnesday, so urgent appeared to be the necessity for prompt and decided action that the meeting passed a resolution, calling on the Cattle Board to see that all cattle at present and that have been in the habit of running upon roads and waste lands within the South Auckland Cattle District be immediately enclosed. We are evidently brought face to face with a great danger, and it is important that the measures that can be taken for the public safety, and the penalties that attach to the hindrance or neglect of them should be known. Great discretionary power is vested in the Governor by Order-in-Couneil, meaning of course the Government, to provide regulations in detail as circunstances of the case may demand, specially for prohibiting the removal of cattle from place to place, whether from an infected to a clean district, or from one part of an infected district to another part of the same district, and for the slaughtering of cattle affected with disease and the disposal of the same. And here we may remark that hitherto, in the Waikato, such cattle as have been killed have been buried as they were shot down, but in Australia the practise has always been to save the hides, and where the cattle were in good condition, the fat also, We have it on the authority of Mr Naclen himself

that tfiere would be no danger resulting from the saving of the skins, especially if a portion of carbolic acid were . added in with the salt and water in which the skins were soaked. The compensation allowed by the Government for every animal killed is small enough without adding further to the loss by waste. And touching this matter of compensation while on the subject, we may state that the 35th clause of the Act provides that upon the application of any owner of cattle .which shall have been destroyed under the authority of the Act, provided the application be made within three calendar months thereafter, any Resident Magistrate or Court of Petty Sessions shall consider such, application in open court. The certificate of an inspector that the cattle were destroyed and killed under authority will be considered sufficient evidence, and the court will give the applicant an order on the Treasury • for compensation at the rate of thirty shillings per head for every beast except for calves under six months of age, and imported cattle which have not been depastured in the Colony for twelve months preceeding the date of their destruction. The money given in compensation is to be raised from a special rate to be levied upon the owners of cattle within the district in which such compensation shall have become payable. The rate will be struck by the Government, and is limited to one shilling per head on every herd of cattle, and not more than two such rates can be levied in the same year. When the amount to be raised exceeds what a shilling rate would supply, then the rate is to be extended to the next adjoining district or districts till the rate equals the amount required. Provisions with, of course, penalties attached, are made to ensure correct returns. We cannot but think that this portion of the Act needs amendment, and, if possible, this should be done by the large powers given to the Governor-in-Council to issue and amend regulations instead of waiting till the next session of Parliament. The sum given in compensation is ridiculously small, especially when it is considered that so much expense in the shape of fees, inspection is entailed on the owner of infected cattle. The principle, too, that the compensation should come out of the pockets of cattle owners of the unfortunate district is also most unfair and absurd. It is heaping wrong upon injury. Have they not already suffered enough that their live cattle should be taxed to pay for the dead 1 Is it, indeed, compensation at all, or rather is it not taking the money out of one pocket to put it into another ? Nor is it alone for the protection of the cattle owner thatthese precautionary measures are taken. The whole general public is directly interested in the suppression of the disease. Let our country district be half ruined and what becomes of the trade and commerce of our large towns and centres of population? Let our cattle be swept away by disease and what is the direct certain consequences but dear meat, as those who recollect 1863-4 know full well. The matter is one in which all are more or less concerned, not the cattle owner merely, and it is, therefore, a manifest injustice to let the cost of compensation fall wholly on him. So, too, in the case of fees. Inspectors, sub-inspectors and veterinary surgeons should be wholly paid by the Government, for, as it is, it is stated that the whole of the compensation now allowed is swallowed up in the fees exacted from the unfortunate owner of the diseased cattle. The powers given to inspectors and their assistants are large. They may enter any lands or premises within their district, and, having reason to believe that disease exists serve the owner with a notice that his premises are an infected place within the meaning of the Act. To refuse admittance will subject the owner to a penalty of not less than £10 or more than £100. The inspector may even, if he thinks fit, ] give a similiar notice to the owners of adjoining farms or premises, any part of which lies within three miles of the premises on which the disease exists. The Cattle Board must then be notified of this, and will, after taking evidence, either ratify or revoke the inspector's action. An impression exists that cattle, however clean, cannot be removed from an infected district under any circumstances. Both infected cattle and cattle not infected may be move;!, but only on the written authority of the inspector. Sheds, cow-houses, and places used by infected cattle may be ordered by the inspector to be cleansed and disinfected by the owner, and at the owner's expense, and any person refusing or neglecting to comply with the order is liable to a fine not exceeding £50, nor less than £10. All police constables are also invested with certain powers under the Act. They may apprehend all persons found committing an offence against the Act, as for instance driving cattle along a public road within the district without a written permit to do so ; and may require that any cattle, animal, or thing removed out of an infected place in contravention of the Act be taken back within the limits of that place, and may enforce such requisition. It will be well for our readers to bear in mind that the proclamation referring to the South Auckland District refers to

the whole district, and not to the declared infected portions only.

From the earliest days of Provincial Councils down to the present day a Queen-street ring has been in existence ; men whose whole being is wrapped up in Queen-street ; men who regard Queen-street to be Auckland, Auckland the Provincial District, and the Provincial District the Colony of New Zealand. It is this phalanx who are now agitating — in view of the presence of the Minister for Public Works in Auckland — in the words of the Chairman at the Chamber of Commerce meeting held in Auckland on Thursday afternoon, "to devise some means to bring pressure to bear on the Government so as to make them complete the work in connection with the harbor reclamation and the railway station." As most of our readers are aware, Mr Dempsey's reclamation contract, over which there was so much trouble, and which in the end he had to throw up, was for forming the embankment from the neighborhood of the existing station to the foot of Queen-street. This work has been in abeyance for several months now, and it is its resumption that is so much desired. We do not propose entering into the details of the case, but merely to draw the attention of the Minister for Public Works to the great justice of the motion proposed by Dr. Logan Campbell, as an amendment to the proposition that the Government be called on at once to complete the works forthwith, and which was as follows : — That the extension of the railway station from Point Britomart to junction of Queen-street and the wharf, in view of the infinitely greater benefit the district of Auckland would derive if the money were expended in opening up country districts, is not justified ; that the proposed expenditure is not called for on public grounds, inasmuch as up-country settlers have made no representations that they are inconvenienced by the station being situated where it now is ; that the inconvenience to suburban residents being represented by a difference of four minutes — the time taken to walk from present station to proposed new one — is not of sufficient consequence to warrant changing the station ; that if the commei'ce of the port requires a goods traffic line to the shippiug at Queen-street wharf, such can be secured without the proposed large expenditure, which can be so much more beneficially applied in other pressing public works in the district ; that the most prudent course now to pursue is to limit the reclamation as much as possible consistent with the partial work which has already been done. We most thoroughly endorse every word of Dr. Campbells amendment : we say emphatically — the Herald and Star notwithstanding — that if a plebiscite of the settlers of the Provincial District was taken that a large majority would declare that they experience no sort of inconvenience because the railway station is where it is ; and the Auckland railway station is, after all said and done, no further from the banks and public offices than are the stations at Dunedin and Christchurch. The erection of large station buildings at the foot of Queen-street would doubtless enhance the value of adjoining property, and maybe prove in a degree more handy for Queen-street merchants and others : but, we ask, what is their convenience to do with the matter ? We ask why, in order to bring the railway to the very doors of their warehouses, should a vast sum of public money be expended, when the settlers of the outdistricts are even crying out for roads and bridges, and other vitally necessary matters ? If any further convenience is to be accorded Queenstreet people, lot it be to the running of a single light line of rails, for passenger traffic only, from the existing station to the foot of Queen-street. It is quite wonderful that acute business men, on most matters thoroughly alive to their own interests, should in this matter of the expenditure of this money be so shortsighted ; surely they know that it is the country which keeps j the doors of the business places in Queen-street open, and that no possible increase of prosperity can accrue from any money expended as they would desire; but which, if expended in the country districts, would open up communication to the several stations along the line. We observe that Mr Dargaville and other gentlemen, while seeming to agree with the justice of Dr Campbells amendment, went against it because they fear that the money if not spent in the completion of the reclamation works would pass from this Provincial District and go South. We do not fear this; and all our remarks are based on its being a sine qua non that the money shall be expended in reproductive works in this Provincial District. We trust Mr Oliver will contrast the real wants of the pioneer settlers with the imaginary wants of the Queenstreet faction.

Mr Logic has kindly sent us the following weather forecast, received from Commander Edwin, R.N. : — "Wellington, April 16th. — Expect bad weather any direction between South-East and East and North ; glass fall soon, and much rain within twenty -four hours. — JR. A. Edwin. One of the results of the pleuro pneumonia outbreak in Waikato is that one of our local butchering firms, Messrs B. and J. Coleman, instead of purchasing their fat cattle in Waikato are importing them from Auckland. Yesterday they received a consignment of five bullocks by railway in excellent condition. A fine specimen of the late peach; Sharpes lates, may be seen in the garden of Mr George Edgecumbe, on the Frankton Road. It is being left to see how late in the season peaches of. this variety may be obtained,

Mr T. Y. Fitzpatrick of Ngaruawahia has been appointed Valuer for the Assessment of the Land Tax in the districts of Tuhikaramea, Hamilton, and Newcastle, and for the Rangiriri outdistrict. The road from Cambridge to Ohaupo, via Pukerimu, promises to be an excellent one during the approaching wet season. It has lately been gravelled (not sanded, as some of the roads in other parts of the district are), and will have time to become solid before winter actually stts in. A great change in the weather has eet in, the present aspect of nature being decidedly wintry. Yesterday morning a slight frost was experienced, which will, of course, check the growth of vegetation. All hopes of fresh feed have withered like the grass itself. The late showers came too late to have any effect on the herbage, and no advance can now be expected until spring. Farmers just now are busy lifting their potatoes, the crops of which are not very considerable. In most places, too, the quality is not of the best. The turnip crops are rapidly improving in appearance, and promise abundant feed in June. St. Peter's Church wall, Hamilton, about the payment of which there has been so much discussion in the Borough Council, will no longer be a bone of contention between the Council and the Vestry. The committee appointed by the Council to enquire into the merits of the case, whether the extra work should be paid for by the Church or the Borough, has come to the conclusion that it is a fair charge on the latter, and will recommend its payment on receipt of the necessary certificate from the Engineer. An incorrectness appeared in our report of the last Borough Council meeting in reference to this matter, where Cr. McGarrigle was made to say " That the Vestry had tried it on, which was in very bad taste of them to do. " It was another ' 'Cr. " who said that the Vestry had tried it on in asking for the larger sum, and having failed to get that, now came for what they were justly , entitled to. Cr. McGarrigle then said I "If" the Vestry tried it on they acted in very bad taste. j We have received' the first number ! of the Haicera and Normanby Star, a paper just started by Messrs. Patrick Galven and Joseph Braden Innes, and published at Hawera. The paper is well got up, and judging from the advertisement columns it api)ears to have the good will of the settlers. Mr Fallon's contract between j Ohaupo and Te Awamutu is being rapidly brought to a period ; and, although it is doubtful whether it will be completed by the 24th of May, it will be so far advanced that trains, for the convenience of those attending the races at the latter place, will be laid on. Some difficulty has arisen regarding the obtainmeut of a suitable course at Te Awamutu, but we are glad to learn that this has been satisfactorily overcome, and that a very good day's sport may be looked forward to.

The usual monthly meeting of the Sons of Ulster will be held in the Victoria Hall, next Tuesday, at 7.30 p.m. Mr TutWHhLLT vr advertises that he has on sale sporting ammunition of ever}- description, and blasting" powder. Thk members of the Hamilton Contingent Te Aw.unutu Cavalry Volunteers are requested to call at the .Secretary's office, Wmkvto Times Huilding, as soon as pobsibpc, to bign acquit t.ince-shects. Tut Cambridge Jockey Club autumn meeting will be held on the 28th proxtmo. All persons owning cattle depasturing on the roadb or waste lands within the limits of the Pukekura Distnct, are ordered by the Pukekura BoaJd of Trustees to remove them at once, under pain of the penalties pio\ided in the Diseased Cattle Act, 1871, and Amendments. Mr Kuvnkdy Him. w til sell, at the lesidencc of Mis Roberts, Cambridge, nc\t "Wednesday, the whole of her household effects. Mr Klnxi dy Hill, instructed by the District Engineer, will sell by auction, on Saturday next, sundry Go\ eminent stores. The Public "Works Office, at Aucland, is appointed the office <it which persons claiming compensation for land taken, or injuriously affected by the construction of the Hamilton branch seotion Waikato-T-hamcs Railway should apply. Tin- Clerk of the "Waipa County Council notifies that electoral rolls of the lidings of the AVaipa County aie open for public inspection. Tendois are invited for repairs to the "Whatawhatapunt — labor only. Tenders arc united for woiking the Hamilton branch railway by horses. Particulars obtainable from the station-master, Hamilton Junction, or at the manager's pilicc, Auckland.