ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1443, 1 October 1881, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

It is some weeks since last I wrote my "Echoes." Since then I ha\ e been ill, and for some time I had the pleasure (?) of seeing two doctors daily, and several times a day. Aa a rule, doctors are pleasant, well-educated men, and I have a number of friends in the profession whom I am always glad to see (provided lam well) ; but when 1 see doctors daily, and many times daily, I do not feel the same amount of affectionate regard for them. However, lam now quite well, and hope that it will be a very long time before I see another doctor, except as a friend. So the session of Parliament has come to an end. Not much good work seems to have been done, but, unfortunately, that is the rule, not the exception, and so it will continue to be so long as we have such men in Parliament as Grey, Tole, Moss, Speight, ct hoc omnc {/cnia>, which, being interpreted in plain English, means the rest of that gang. One good thing has been done this session, and that is that members have been taught that the minority are not to be allowed to rule the majority — that stonewalling will be put down with an iron hand. If no other good had resulted from the session of 1881 it would still be of value on this account. The Auckland, or rather Wade, Kelly gang, have reappeared at the Police Court, and in all probability they will have the pleasure of an interview with Mr Justice Gillies at the Supreme Court. Their last appearance was as witnesses against Emnle and Polkinghorne, who were charged with smuggling, and, in spite of the evidence of the Kelly gang, acquitted. Their present appearance is on a charge of conspiracy arising out of the foimer case. They were remanded till to-morrow (Friday), and in all probability a further remand will be applied for, so it will be some time before we see what the result will be. The Star \ Wellington correspondent says that it is rumored that Mr Hurst is to be called to the Upper House. I do not think there can be any tiuth in the statement, as I believe that Huist intends to stand for Waitemata .against Reader Wood and the candidate put forward by the Cential Committee, as in all probability that self-elected collection of busybodies, which has the impeitinence to select members, not representatives, for country constituencies, will consider Reader Wood too uncertain to merit their suppoit, and avill bring out someone of the Speight type for W-Mtemata. Apropos of Speight, I see that he is a candidate for one of the Thames seats. This is as it should be, for, though he has done very little good for anyone while he has been in Parliament, what little he has done has been for the Thames. No ! I think lam wrong. He has done more good for Mr W(agging) J(aw) Speight than anyone else, as he has obtained two hundred guineas (more or less) per annum for linn, and he has done nothing for the money except make long windy npeeches, which have had no effect except to drive members out of the House. j Now that the session of Parliament is finished, the daily newspapers experience considerable difficulty in finding sufficient reading matter with which to till theii columns. The editor of the Star had a happy mspiiation the other day, and sent a lunatic (I beg nib pardon, I mean a rcpoitcr) out to the Lunatic Asylum, and, as the result of his visit, published a column and a-quarter of rather dry re.irling matter. Another of the staff paid a visit on a recent occasion to the police cells, but as he went at the request and with the assistance of one or two membeis of the Armed Constabulary, and not at the request of the editor, he did not supply the readers of the Stai with an account of his visit. We will soon have plenty ©f excitement in consequence of the general election, and already the address of some of the candidates for legislative honours have appeared in the newspapers, but none have, as yet, been issued by candidates for either of the City constituences. It is, however, stated that the saviour of the country is going to honour City East by representing it. Of course, if he announces himself as a candidate, he will not be opposed, as he is, without doubt, an eloquent speaker, and so panders to the lower classes, who form the majority of the electors, that no-one will have any chance of beating him. Little Ben, or as he delights to be called, "Major" Harris stands a very poor chance of being elected for North Franklin, as another Greyite, Mr Luke, has announced himself as a candidate, and if both the Greyites go to the poll, as I believe they will, William Frank Buckland, who is not a Greyite, will probably be the successful man. Well, lutle Ben has received £600 of public money and a clock, so he may well make room for a better man. The Grammar School Governors have made another muddle. They appointed some of their number a committee to arrange the terms on which the masters of the school would accept re-engage-ment. The committee drew up a report, fearfully and wonderfully made, dividing the masters into different grades, not according to their talents, but according to their salaries. The terms were submitted to the masters for their approval, but, wonderful to relate, they objected to them, actually expressing their opinion that they ought to be judged by their knowledge and ability and not by their salaries. Foolish masters ! to set up their opinions against those of the Governors. The majority of the latter are certainly wiseacres, and the sooner they are allowed to devote the whole of their time and attention to their own private affairs the better for the Auckland College and Grammar School. I was sorry to hear that one of the best of the Governors, Mr Edwin Hesketh, bad seen it his duty to resign his seat on the Board, in consequence of the way in which the Purchas enquiry, otherwise known as the Macrae persecution, had been conducted. It is a public loss, as Mr Hesketh was eminently w>ell~qualified for the position, and it will be very difficult to find a worthy successor for him. M What is to be the upsb«t of the West Cowfc native trouble ?" is a question very frequently aaked just now. Almost everypne seema to tbijik that the Maoris do

not mean to fight, and that, if the Government act with firmness, as they doubtless will, the trouble will soon be at at end. A gentlemen at the Cafe the other day suggested that all the disaffected Maoris should be shipped off to the Kawau and that that philo-Maon, Sir Georga Groy, should be held responsible for their safe custody. In the interests of the heavily-burdened taxpayer*, heavily-burdened through the maladministration of the Grey Government, I protested against the proposal, as I know that Sir George Grey would eend in such a very heavy bill for board and lodging that a telegram would have to be sent to the Agent-General, telling him to raise another loan, in order to give the colony the funds necessary to pay it. No ! let us have any number of Armed Constabulary, let us fill our prisons with Maoris, but let us not fall into the hands of Sir George Grey. We have been indulging in amateur threatricals on a large scale this week. On Monday evening there was a performance in the Choral Hall, for the benefit of the Onehunga Ladies' Benevolent Society and the Domain Cricket Ground (rather a strange combination), whioh was very successful. This evening there is to be another performance, for the benefit of the persecuted Jews of Southern Russia. There will certainly be a bumper house, as every seat in the dress circle was taken in the beginning of the week, ai.d I believe that the performance will be good, but of that more next week. St. Munqo.

[For continuatitn of reading matter see fourth page.]