ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1229, 15 May 1880, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Mr Reaier Wood, M.H.R. for Waimate, met his constituents last Friday evening 1 , and gave a plain, straightforward account of his action at the last session in Parliament, and secured a vote of confidence, which is a proof that the scales of Greyism are falßny from the eyes of the people, and that they are again enabled to look at the actions of their representatives fairly and dispassionately. Evading the payment of Custom's duties does not appear to be so simple a matter as some people are disposed to think, ami those who have attempted it and have failed in the attempt find that the penalty is very severe. Amongst, Hie latter class is Mrs Bostock, who was fined £100 for landing jewcllry without payingduty on it, besides ha\ ing the jewellery forfeited. A number of people in Auckland and. its suburbs v employ Fijians as servants, , some of whom do their work very satisfactorily while others are not worth their salt. A gentleman, who employed one of these Fijian "boys," was surprised to notice that the " boy" always v.ore a black suit when he went, out iv the evening during the week, but woiv his working clothes on Sunday's. He uiade up his mind to watch the "boy," and made the interesting discovery that, when he [was going out he always put on his <fh*i master's) black biiit, w hich he could v7i)t put on on Sundays, as then the thaster wore it himself. "Which is why I remark, ami my langinj c is plain. That for ways that are dark and for tricks that are vuin, That Fijian " boy is peculiar, And the same l am free to maintain." Mem. — The above lines are taken from the original Greek, and slightly altered. Bret Hart also alteied them slightly, but, like the Herald, omitted to acknowledge the source from which he derived them. That was a novel defence set up by a milkman, summoned for selling 1 adulterated milk last week. . Mr Tunny's certificate that the miik continued 11 per cent, of water was put in evidence, but the milkman declared that he had not put water in the milk and could not afford to do bo, as it was more scarce than milk. This is a somewhat different aspect of the. case from that shown by the milkmen of "Wellington, who advertised that, on account of scarcity of water, the price of milk would be raised fiom five pence to six pence per pint. It seems that the Borough Council of Parnell w^nt to follow in the steps of almost all the other Boroughs in the Colony, and borrow money. They are very modest in the amount they ask, only £4,000, and, as money is plentiful, and the security is good, they should have no difficulty in floating their baby loan. The Great Pro-consul has been giving the " down- trodden serfs " another free entertainment. There was little or nothing in his address which had not been said by him before, and very little which would no,fe< have been bettor left unsaid. He told the same old tale about the advantages of communism, a general division of the land in the Colony, and a Governor elected by the people. Sir George Grey knows perfectly wel what would be the result ot a division of the, land (why does he not divide Kawau, to show how the system would work) that the majority ot the people would sell their share, as soon as they got the Crown grant. "What would be the use of, say, fifty acres of land to a storekeeper, a clerk, or an artisan ? None whatever, except to turn it into cash as soon as possible. With regard to electing our own Governor, that is another attempt at self -aggrandisement on the part of Sir George Grey, for who but he would the people's elect ? No doubt lam not fit to judge a'question which has been decided by Sir George Giey, X.C.8., formerly Governor of Gape Colony, and twice Governor of N,ew Zealand, but it does seem to me that it is a higher honor to be appointed Governor by the Queen of England than to be elected by the votes of the people, many of whom can be led in any way by any man (a Rpes, a Speight, or a Grey) who has " the gift of the gab most galloping 1 ," as the late lamented Mr Walter called it. Then again who would be clectid Governor? Probably Sir Gjeorge Grey would be the first, to be followed by Staincs, the People's Champion, or Dick Feltn", elected by the sons of old colonists. No thank you Sir George. Theie was one thing connected with the addn-ss which diew Forth many expressions of sui'prise, that there was nothing said about the politics of Sir George Grey and his party. However, we must just pi ay — Confound their politics, X'Vubtratc their kna\u>h tiicks, God save the Queen !

The Evening Twiukler and Sunday correspondents have been raising a howl of sympathy for Mi's Bobtock, who was sent to Mount Eden Gaol, in default or payment of a fine of £100 for smuggling a quantity of watches. Her defence wa^ a very lame one — that she had not the money Avith which to pay the duty. Nothing could be mo^'c easy than to borrow the money, especially as the goods were of such a nature that they could be easily realised. It is sickening to see this maudlin sympathy with crime. My sympathies are with the respectable shopkeeper who pays the duty (fixed by the representatives we send to Parliament), and then has to pay city rates aud other taxes, not with the person who smuggles goods ashore and then hawks them clandestinely, and, if I get a chance, I will help the Customs authorities to get a conviction against any man or woman who is guilty of smuggling. Mr Robert Little filed his schedule some time ago, and he intended to apply to the Registrar of the Supreme Court for his discharge on "Wednesday last, but he was pj«3vented doing so by another engagement. He was summoned to appear at the Police Court, at half -past 10, to answer to a charge of concealing somo of his property from the creditors' trustee. The case was adjourned until Monday, when we will have an opportunity of judging whether there is good grounds for the charge. ' top of the Post-office in Dublin there are three figures representing Faith, Hope and Charity. A gentleman who had just arrived in the city asked a cardriver what the figures were. "The twelve Apostles, yer honor," was the reply. " Ybu stupid fellow, how can they be the twelve Apostles when there are only three of them ?" "Stupid yerself," replied Pat ; "shure the other nine are inside sorting the letters, and those three have come out to get the fresh air." Mr A. Y. Macdonald, General Manager of the Railway, supplied the City Council with a schedule of charges for taking funerals to the new cemetery at Waikomiti. The rates are simply prohibitory, as far as the working classes are concerned, being £1 for the corpse of an adult, 10s for that of a child, and 4s 2d first class, or 2s 9d second class for everyone going to a funeral from Auckland. Haslem's Creek, the principal cemetery of Sydney, is 13 miles from the city, whereas Waikomiti is only 11 miles from Auckland, yet all persons attending funerals are conveyed to and fro at an uniform charge of la each. What can be done in New South Wales is surely not wholly impracticable in New Zealand ? £t. Mtogq.