ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1461, 12 November 1881, Page 3

ECH OES FROM THE CAFE.

There was great excitement throughout the oity last Saturday morning, to learn the result of the march on Parihaka, and when that result was known there was a general feeling of relief and satisfaction. The only people who were disappointed wore those \qjio had prognosticated evil, and, because they had done so, wished to see their prophecies fulfilled, and some of the more virulent Greyites, who hoped that there would be a disturbance, so that they might havo good grounds for attacking the Government. The bptter class of Greyites, knowing the disastious effects of a war with the Maoris, were glad that the majesty of the l.uv had ueea'upheld and that no resort to arms had been rendered necessary. That was a splendid idea, to read the Biot Act, a* it took away the slightest semblance of illegality in ' the action of the Native Minister, and secures for him the support of the best newspapers thioughout the empire, which he would not havo gained so surely had he merely ordered the natives to disperse. That Ids silenced many who would have raised a terrific howl about interfering with the liberty of the subject, as effectually as the masking of so large a body of Armed Constabulary and Voluneers over-awe/i the Maoris and proved to them the futility of any attempt at resistance. Some blatant ass in ChtiHtehurch has been writing to one of the ioc^il newspapers, Hiiggesting that a fund should be raised to defray the cost of the defence of To Whiti and those who have been arrested with him. The theory has been taken up here by a young uiau named Napier, a clerk in Mr Toles office, and a leading litrht of St. James's Mutual Admiration Society. In a letter to the Star, be advocated the formation of such a fund here, and hap the cool effronterj to make a comparison between Te Whiti and Mich men as Humpden and Pym. He eeems to be in earnest in what he says, for c encloses two pounds in his letter, as his contribution towards thin very laudable (!) object, so I am afraid that too much Gieyism has made him mad. It is a pity that there is so little room in the Lunatic Asylum at the Whau, an Mr N.ipier is, undoubtedly, a vory eligible candidate for admif-sion. I will not contribute to the Te Whiti Defence Fund, but, if anyone will initiate a subscription to make a suitable presentation to the Honorablo John Bryce, in recognition of his successful efforts to put down the Te Whiti nuisance, I will be most happy to bubscribe to that. Many people, especially in commercial circle^, aie veiy anxious to oec Mr Jam s McCo'-h Clark, our present Mayor, contest City East with the champion ot the down-tioddcu serfs, and I fully agree with them. It would be no disgrace to Mr Claik to be beaten by Sn Geoige Grey — .in orator of no me.m aldlity, and the leader of what was foimerly a powerful party — whereas, if he were successful, as he probably would be if his friends and supporters worked properly, hia success would be the iiist toll ot the deathknell of Greyism. Of course, the future President of New Zealand would secure a seat in the new Pu'liament, as one of his followeia would have to make room for him, but, having been defeated by the unsuccessful opponent of Rees and Speight, he would speedily discover that the state of his health compelled his retirement from politics, t-eek the letireinent of K.twan, and wiite the wotd " Ichabod' on the leuord of his political life. Yea ? considering how little ho has to 10-o .aid how much to gain, I think Mr Olaik should make one moio attempt to represent Auckland City East in ParlLuueut. Wednesday, being the fortieth anniveib.iry of the buthday of the future King of England and Empeun of India, was obseived as a general holiday. The fortieth annhcrsaiy ! How time flies! It seems only the other day that he was a schoolboy, and now he his two sons v, ho have left school and have begun to learn the Jp's&on of lite. How much has been done in those forty years ! No ! this will not do. I must not spend my time in moralising. Besides which, if I once got fairly started, one column would not be sufficient for all I would like to write, nor even one issue of The WaiKato 'Times, so I must put the break on, and defer the pleasure of boring my readers till some more convenient season, ana, at present, tell them something about the holiday and what we did on it. To begin with, thp weather was grand, the sun shining biilliantly in a sky which would not suffer by comparison with the much- vaunted Italian sky, of which travelleis have told and poets sung (no remaiks about travellers' tales and poets' license, if you please). The heat was not oppressive, however, as there was a pretty stiff breeze blowing from the south-west. Altogether, it was exactly the right soit of a day for a holiday, and the people turned out in thousands to enjoy it. The two great centres of attraction were the North Shore, near to which a regatta was held, and Ellerslie, where the Cattle Show took place. At the former resort there were about 10,000 people, the reduction in the price of return tickets from ninepence to sixpence, proving a great attiaction to many. The boats, which ran to and fro as quickly as possible throughout the day, were crowded with men, women and children. The only drawback was that theie were not sufficient steamers, the consequence being that some people were kept standing on the wharf at the North Shore for two hours, before they were able to start for town. In spite of this drawback, most of those who spent he day at the northern suburb seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. t '.The Cattle Show at Ellerslie, and the athletic sports held in connection therewith, attracted about 5,000 people. However, I will not attempt to give an account of the show, as the readers of the Waikato Times have already seen a description of it. Suffice it to say that, though there were not so many people to convey as on former occasions, the railway accomodation was decidedly inadequate. So the writs for the Parliamentary elections have been issued, and the ninth Sroximo has been fixed for the polling ay. Now the battle will begiu in earnest, and another month will show whether the electors mean to be represented by good men or bad. On them rests the responsibility of the decision, and it is to be hoped that they will " quit themselves like men," and return those who will support the Ministry which has brought the colony out of its miserable state of bankruptcy, and successfully grappled with the Panhaka difficulty. St. Mungo.