ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1419, 6 August 1881, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

*Mfi. OfiMOito thought he would be tibia to «ay, «s Ctestir did, Vrni, ridi, vici, but! Mr Hall and the Government party have taught him that ho hud reckoned without his host. If he were asked -to tranpla^e ;tio"ftbWifi<ftatl6n;' he 'would havoho WtrftAMe^ft 'flJ^i&j %i t bull,, as my} Irish blood will show occasionally) thuB,j " I ca.mo down to, the Hou^eand moved, fiiy sf A6'-fcon6 I d(4nce '• zntitioh';' ' f ' l ' s'a w a majority, which tiirnpd out to be a minority, in favour of ifc ; I was conquered." Poor Mr O t rmoud ! No wonder ho left \Vj|llm^toitwdi%iisfci; pHad his 1 motion been earned, he would have cut i a sorry figure, in his attempt to form a ; Ministry with 'the 1 a89 i &tHn'6e''of his few' friends of the Corner -party, and the ; Grey-Macandrew faction. The .attempt , •fIKUSt' necessarily h'avfl/enileTlAin •iv'/t&W, , as certainly as oil , ami water will not mingle. Mr Reader Wood, also, hag left Wellington.' in disgust. I hofae he has taken a " tender, last farewell ' of his seat in Parliament, as bislohance of occupying it again ia of the most shadowy description. There can be very little doubt that his support was given to the Hall Ministry in the hope of obtaining a portfolio. That hope, no doubt, seemed, to luti/wali grounded, as', ifa the erent 6LA\ being deemed advisable to have another Auckland member in the Ministry, ' he was the most likely, pf the "Auckland four" to ,be; re-electjed.,, Mr,, Swauson would not accept office, if it were offered to him ; Captain C6lbedjc had not the neclSsary' «' political experience^ nor had Mr Hurst, if he 'were otherwise 1 'suitable ; bo Mr Wood was certainly the moat likely man to recelv^b,© portfolio. Unfortunately, he |uL^pe€ser known than trusted. The MjpisWfKnew that he was not likely to add to^eif strength, so he was,, left put.in tjhe, cold. ,Mr ( Ormond's motion neemed| i^if^nlioala be successful, to give him a chance of obtaining a seat in a Ministry, so this modern Vicar of Bray " seceshed," voced against the Government, and fell between two' stools. He has, politically, comih'itted suicide, anil tlie consequence is that his 1 place in Parliament will know him no more. If ' he should become a candidate for Waitemata or any other seat, he will receive no support fr6m the Greyites^ and certainly none from the 'Hall party. He has beeii in both camps and has desei*ted from 'both, 1 and, consequently,' neither party will trust him again. lam not at all surprised that MiReader Wood also left Wellington in disgust. 1 when lie found that he had sold himself again, and hadnofcgot the money. ' ■ So Sir George and Messrs Sheehan, Lnndon, Tawhai, (what on "earth does he know about it?) .Speight, Harris, Tole, and a number of other members of the House of Representatives, have been attending a meeting called to express sympathy with the Irish Land League. Is' this 1 not a nice exhibition? Grey especially is a very proper man to attend such a 1 meeting. ! 'He has| worn Her Majesty's qniform he has acted as Her Majesty's representative in this, and in other colonies;' he 'has takeii the oatli of allegiance time after time ; he has been elected to. repiesent loyal subjects of Her Majesty in the Colonial Parliament, and yet he can so far forget his duty to his Quesn and his country as to attend a trieeting called to sympathise with those Who are stirring up sedition in Ireland. Well ! he lias done good by his action, as I know of some good men and true, who believed inhirti, but were losing confidence in him, who have- been completely alieiiateo from him by his participation in that meeting. They very naturally think that if he approves of sedition in Ireland 'he will advocate it: in New Zealand also. Indeed, he took a step in that direction some time ago, when he advocated an elective Governorship, as that would be merely a prelude to the severance of our allegiance to our Sovereign. I would like to know whether Sir George Grey would leturn to Her Majesty his patent of knighthood, if he were to attain the height ,of his ambition and be elected the first President of the (Ninetynine, which would be about the number he would like), United States of New Zealand. By the bye, I expect he would alter the name of the country and call it Qrevland. "President of the UmtediStjites of Greyland," would sound \ery well, would it notP What grand names we would have on the roll of Presidents — George Grey, Richard Feltus, George Staines, F. J. Mosa, J. A. Tole, 'W. G. Garrard, and probably Grey's fellowsympathiser, Moses T.iwhiao ! On Monday there was a speci.il meeting of the City Council, called principally to open tho ' tenders for the construction 1 of tramways in the city and suburbs. Unfortunately, it was a case of "love's labour 10.5t," as there were no tenders to open. The reason why I cannot tell. After considering the matter, the Council decided' to call for fresh tenders, to be sent in within six mouths. It is a great pity that the Council cannot tee their way to construct the tramways themBelves, as there can be no tloubt but that tramways will par Very well, and it would be much better that the profit should be made by the Corporation than by private individual or a company. There is not only the question of profit, but if the tramways belonged to the city the citizens would bo able to exercise a proper control over their management, which they will not be able to do if the tramways aro constructed by private individuals or a company. 1 Some time ago I was reading a pamphlet giving an account of tho mode of construction and working of street tramways in .San Francibco,' a mode particularly well adapted for Auckland, as by it tram-cars cati be taken up and down streets steeper than any in this city. The mot? tin opemmh is very simple. A stationary en gine of largo horsepower is placed at each terminus of the tramway. An endless wire rope is attaqhed to each engine and carded underground between the rails. , Beneath the " dummy," to which the cars are attached, is a clamp which seizes, 1 the wire, rope, which affords the motive' power fj By thia system, there is no~''eng'iife passing along the street*, frightningv horses and puffing its smoke on the buildings it paises and in the faces of , passengers, and > the oars can ib& stopped * instantaneously ■ without i the slightest jar. > l • On Tuesday, Mr J.-C. Firth, on behalf of the subscribers, presented a purse oontaitring/£2l7t to Mr<iFarquhar> Maorae, \ tber/latP ihertdnnaßter? of.t he Auckland Grammar , School. In' making the presentation Mr /Firth! referred in! 1 the most feejirig terwfliitoi-theiiiway in! 'which Mr Macrae had discharged his' duties as a teacher during the eighteen years he has been in Auckland", /There ihust tie something wrong here, , ,styher. Mr Firth and the other subscribers to the testimonial formed in* ' exaggerated^ bpihon 1 of Mr Macraes abilities and exertions in the discharge okhWduty,' or else Mr Fenton and the other Governors of the Auckland t CQ3tegernn4i;Gjßitf*arf?Ssafil wh6 f Ai«ißJ.<: ted him spent £1000 of public money in getting rid of a /yaluable public sdrvaht.! A large number of 'people must haye 1 'con-* fideneejin. Mr l^acraej - as be/ £as eighty boys at his private school, most of whom haro h_een {wwovod^ $rpin> jtheliGcamniir School; ana,'oi, $h#se:, wlj"o, , remain afcstbac latter institution there are a number who would be taken away frqm jit and, placed under Mr Macrae'-s tutfan/ but that they hold scholarship/which they would lose u th,ey .left /the . Grammar j Softool* " 'Mafcjf peoplftiare iiorioMlto-'Soe'^ba^aorfcw* mantle new headmaster of theGrairimar/i

School will *>% r ffifk t i n K6K 6 doubtful if he will be as gooflrHlrwpreclecessor. We shall see. '