The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1246, 24 June 1880, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of wlaa-tever- state or persuasion, religious or political. Here sha'l the Press the People's right maintain, Unawcd by influence and unbribed by gain.

THURSDAY, JUNE U, 1880.

If there exist one question possessing more interest than another to the farmers of this district it is assuredly the labor question. Ever since the inauguration of the Cambridge Farmers' Club the alleged disproportion between the prices of farm produce and the rates of wages demanded by laborers has been the subject of frequent discussion among the members. , If we remember rightly, the first pronounced debate on the subject took place sometime in the year 1876, and the opinions elicited thereat bear a very close resemblance to those ventilated at the Club's last meeting on Monday, with, however, this important difference : that while on both occasions the rate of wages was spoken of as being much too high, the tone of the discussion at the last meeting would seem to infer that there exists at present, for obvious reasons, a more pressing necessity for reduction. The subject, as Mr Maclean ingeniously puts it, is a very ticklish one, and we shall not attempt to accord it anything more than an impartial examination. The conditions upon which the harmonious co-operation of employer and employed rest are primarily two : first, the employer must obtain a reasonable profit ; and, secondly, the laborer must receive a wage sufficient for his and his family's support. When either of these conditions is broken — when the farmer receives too little prqfit, or the laborer a wage insufficient for his maintenance — a collision ensues, the nature of which and the evil consequences arising therefrom have been all too painfully apparent during the last decade in England. It is as obviously reasonable that the wages should be lowered during times of depression as it is that they should be increased in seasons of unwonted prosperity. But in order to arrive at a just appreciation of thisprinciple it is first necessary that the difference between good and bad times, as we call them, should be clearly defined ; and this is just the rock upon which the farmer and laborer constantly split. Farmers as a class are proverbial for bewailing the times, and like the fabled boy and the wolf, when hard times really do come, little heed is taken of their outcry. | But unless we are afflicted with utter blindness we cannot fail to see that the New Zealand farmer of today is vastly different in many respects from the farmer of ten, or even five years ago. An increased supply with no correspondingly enlarged demand has almost paralysed the markets for certain commodities; land has suffered a depreciation in value ; taxes, direct and indirect, have been enormously increased ; and yet, notwithstanding this conglomeration of ills, the rate of wages remains just the same. We need not be surprised then, to hear men like the president of the Cambridge Farmers' Club and Mr Hicks saying that, ho we ver desirable, it is almost impossible to carry on high class farming at a profit. It is a generally accepted axiom that a country in which wages are low is not prosperous ; but it is mere folly to keep up a show of prosperity and pay the penalty in high wages. The same cause which lowers the profit of the agriculturist, namely, the depreciation in the value of produce makes the cost of living less, and consequently a proportionate reduction in wages cannot press very heavily upon the shoulders of the employed. We should be sorry to be found opposing the interests of the working classes, and in writing thus much we have striven only to give prominence to a question which at present is agitating, and will continue to agitate the minds of that portion of the community directly engaged in the cultivation of the soil ; and to this class we for the present leave the further consideration of it.

i In our last issue we published a letter from Mr Henry Buttle, a member of the South Auckland Cattle Board, to which, in the hurry of going to press we could not devote that amount of attention which upon a more careful study it would seem to merit. Mr Buttle, in his capacity as special pleader, certainly does, his best to make out a good case for the Board. For this he is certainly deserving of credit, albeit his good intentions are to a great extent marred by an exhibition of too much zeal. In a footnote which we appended to his letter we admitted that our reporter had always been present at the actual meetings, but subsequent inquiries lead us to the conclusion that we were conceding too much, and that meetings of the Board have been held at which no reporters were present, and of which they were never notified. Of course occasions may have arisen, and we do not doubt that they did ari^,

when, time would not have admitted of the Board notifying the Press. Nor have we any fault to find with thq Board specially on that account. But we object to be told by Mr Buttle in the face of this fact that a reporter from this paper has always been present at the meetings of the Board. The meeting to which our remarks of the 15th inst. had reference was called, Mr Buttle admits, by telegram in contravention of a resolution of the previous meeting, and we only jieard that it was to take place on the Friday night preceding, and then quite by accident and from an outside source. If this does not amount to exclusion of the press, then we are, unable to understand the meaning of the term. Of the actual exclusion, Mr Buttle says he knows nothing but as we happen to know something such a negation can hardly count. We have the authority of Mr Fantham for stating that certain members of the Board desired the meeting to be private, and until we have before us some* better evidence than that afforded by Mr Buttle, to the contrary, we must beg to be allowed to adhere to our present opinion on the matter.

. J. B. Whyte, Esq., M.H.8., arrived in Hamilton, on urgent private ' matters, on Tuesday evening. We re- ; gret to hear that the honorable gentleman is suffering from indisposition.

: Mr W. dimming, of Hamilton East, has in course of erection a large new bone mill, lately imported into the 1 district |by him, to take the place of the < mill formerly in use. The new mill is • capable of executing a much larger , quantity of work than the old mill, and in a more efficient manner. We shall take occasion to give a description of the new machinery as soon as it is in working order.

The road leading from the Hamilton Railway station gate to the goods shed is just now in a very bad state, and forms the subject of much complaint with those whose business leads them in thafe direction. A few loads of gravol , would render the road fairly passable, and it is a work which requires urgent attention.

MrH. Logic, the postmaster at , Hamilton, has received official notice of the changes to he made in the postal time-table consequent upon the alteration in the running of trains which will take place in July. Un and after the first of next month mails will close for Ngaruawahia, Huntley, Mercer and Auckland at 9.45 a.m., for Kivikitiroa, Hautapu and Cambridge at 2.40 p.m., for Ngahinepouri (Saturday's) at 2.30 p.m. and for Morrinsville (Wednesdays and Saturdays) at 7.45 a.m. The mails from Auckland will arrive in Hamilton at 2.40 p.m.

The position of the bridge approach on the west side of the river Is becoming very serious. The large mass of earth forming the embankment has become so thoroughly saturated by the recent rains" as to threaten its subsidence at any moment. Already the lowering of the fence discovers a considerable depression, and no time phoulci be lost in Jittending to it, or some morning w.e may wake up and find the traffic stopped. While on this subject we must once more take occasion to remark on the necessity for sweeping and keeping the water off the bridge. The Mayor drew attention to this at the last Council meeting, and we should like to see something done regarding it.

We are glad to note that there are signs of an increased interest in volunteering in Hamilton. The members of the Hamilton Light Infantry have been presented with a large number of prizes which will be fired foron the Saturday next at 9 a.m. The prizes include a hunting crop presented by Mr. Carson ; a side of mutton by Messrs. Coleman Bros. ; a keg of beer by Mr. Cumming ; a bag of oats by Mr. Pascoe, 5 cwt of coal by Mr. McDonald ; a volume of "Bow Bells " by Mr. Dickenson ; and various other prizes offered by storekeepers and by the officers of the volunteer company. We hope to see this practice perpetuated, as few things are more calculated than this to conduce t© good shooting and to the building up of a healthy spirit of emulation.

In our last issue we drew the attention of the foreman of works to the existence of a very disagreeable pool of water just outside our office, caused by the gutter being filled lip with earth by the contractor for raising Mr Vialou's footpath. On reading our remarks, Mr Peacock, the foreman of works referred to, called at our office and explained that the nuisance in question had not escaped his notice, and that he had given orders to the contractor's men to remove the obstruction to the free flow of the water. Mr Vialou, however, interfered, and told the man to allow the earth to remain, as it would be useful for the purpose of allowing drays to pass over the footpath with gravel. While we have no desire to impede anyone in gravelling their back yards, we have a decided objection to having the gutters on the public street stopped for such a purpose, and trust that the Council will see to the matter.

We understand that on and after the first July, and until further notice, there will be but one train between Auckland and "Waikato, and Waikato and Auckland. This has been rendered necessary in carrying out the present scheme of retrenchment inaugurated in a wise spirit by the present Government.

In some parts of the North Island it is, we believe, no uncommon thing to have two crops of potatoes, but in the most salubrious part it is very unusual to raise two crops of fruit off one apple tree, yet this has been clone at 'Hautapu. The second crop was certainly not large, being the product of one tree, and consisting of a solitary apple about the size of a walnut. Nevertheless it shows what the district is capable of doing. After the first crop had been gathered the tree which bore this prodigy began to show signs of renewed animation, and, in common with some of its neighbors, came out again in blossom, one of the latter only escaping the wind and producing fruit. The apple can be seen at our office by those curious in such matters.

At the R.M. Court, on Tuesday. Hugh Lang was charged with lunacy, and on the testimony of Drs. Beale and Sandes, the Magistrate committed him to the Lunatic Asylum.

The General Manager, Railway Department, by advertisement, requests residents of Cambridge and Alexandra to be careful that parcels are addressed either via coach or via steamer. The caution refers only to parcels, not goods, as the latter go via steamer to Njgaruawahia. Unless some such direction be given on the face of the parcel consignors are often puzzled and the railway officials are uncertain whether to send to Ngaruawahia, Hamilton, or Ohaupo. Attention to this request will save much trouble and general inconvenience.

An instance of the value of advertising was brought under ouv notice '

o^l^xes^fty. Oni< r tke previous day a gjiwKsman residing" in the vicinity of B^ilton lost a vqry Valuable ring in the totfrri, and immediately proceeded to make his lost known •ihroutfh the, medium of our advertising columns, at ilie same. time offering- a reward for the recovery of the trinket. Before the next issue had been two. hours in the hands of our readers the ring, which had been found by a working man, was deposited in this office and the reward paid.

Mr James Stewart, District Engineer!, proceeded to Cambridge on Tuesday, for the purpose of paying over to the natives a portion of the money agreed to tie given to them in connection with the Rotorua-road, which work will now be pushed on -with all expedition. .

A short time ago we commented on the bad state to which the road leading towards the Peachgrove, and within the limits of the Borough, was usually reduced by bad weather, and during the past week our remarks have received amplfc verification. At present the road is ft perfect " sea of mud," and it is only with great difficulty that vehicles can be brought over it: This is a matter to which, we think, the Council might very reasonably be asked 60 direct their attention.

A sfkcial meeting ot the Cambridge Farmers' Club will be held on Saturday at 3 p.m. Tkndkrs are invited for the erection of a tworoomed house at Tamahere. Plans to be seen at Gwynne's Hotel. i Tenders are invited for about 120 chains ditch and wattle fencing. - Particulars from Mr T. W. Bridgman, Te Awamutu. Tenders for additions and improvements to the school teacher's dwelling at Te Awamutu arc invited by the Education Board. Captain Stkklk, valuer, will be at Missen's Hotel, Waihou, next Saturday, and will give all information required to enable people to fill up forms for the property tax. The annual meeting of ratepayers of the Kirikiriroa District is convened by Andrew Primrose, Esq. (chairman), to take place at the Royal Hotel, Hamilton East, on Wednesday, 7th proximo, at 2 p."n. The annual meeting of ratepayers of the Cambridge North Township Highway District is convened by J. Palmer Campbell, Esq. (chairman), to take place in the Town Board office, Cambridge, on Wednesday, the 7th proximo, at 2 p.m. The Hamilton Rifles will parade at the Oddfellows' Hall to-morrow at 7 p.m. Mr William Cummino, of Hamilton East, asks some pithy questions and gives some excellent advice in our advertising columns. We would call attention to an advertisement of T. Trcwheellar's, te direct importation of groceries. Having seen the stock and price-list, we can but advise all prudent housekeepers to accede to T. Trcwheellar's request, and give the new shop a trial. Mr Paddy, blacksmith, is a,bout to start business in Whatawhata as horscshocr and general blacksmith. Mr Paddy has been employed at Lamb's Mill, the smith's work of which has all been done by him. He has the reputation of being a first-class workman, and will, no doubt, meet with much support. Mr John Knox will hold a large sale of fruit and forest trees at Kellow's Hotel, Whatawhata, on Wednesday next, the 30th instant. t