The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1496, 4 February 1882, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever btate or persuasion, religious or pclitic.il. Here bha.ll the Press, the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

The question of the unrighteous deductions made by the Government from the subsidies to local bodies for hospitals and charitable aid, has again ciopped up. Ostensibly the needy country districts have been in receipt of a handsome pension from the general Government, but virtually they have got only the most beggarly pittance, by far the larger portion of the amount voted them having been diverted to other channels. The grievance is one felt by every county council and road board in the colony, but it will be sufficient, by way of affording an illustration, to cite the case of the Waikato County. This year, the amount of bubsidy accruing to the county is £841 7s Bd, or, including the amount appropriated for the outlying district of Bangiriri, £912 2s Bd, There has been deducted from this, as the county's contribution towards hospitals and charitable aid, the trifling sum of £651, divided thus : Hospitals, £281 ; charitable aid, £370 ; leaving the magnificent balance of £261 2s 8d to be devoted to the construction and maintenance of works within the county ! Out of this balance a sum of £79 15s, being the amount of sbbsidy on rates collected in Rangiriri outlying district, has to be spent in that district, together with a proportion of the rest. There will then remain something like 4150 to be distributed amongst the highway districts of Kirikiriroa, Tamahere, Cambridge, and Cambridge town. The thing is perfectly ludicrous. It would be better far were no subsidies appropriated at all, than to place the local bodies thus in the position of a Tantalus. It is bad enough that the Governin ont should base the proportion of the subsidies upon the previous year's rates, but after so doing to appropriate the lion's share for objects over which the ratepayers have no sort of control seems to be in the highest degree unfair. Upon what plan the deductions are made is an inscrutable mystery. It cannot for a moment be admitted that one county in this district should be mulcted in the enormous amount of £281 in aid of the hospital in Auckland. There ought to be some fairer method of determining the liability of this particular county ; something based more firmly on common sense. Could not the local bodies, in the first instance, contribute, upon some ascertained basis, to the working expenses of the institution, leaving the patients, or such of them as were unable to pay for their own maintenance, to be chargeable upon their respective counties, or highway districts, as might be determined 1 Such a system would bear the impress of fairness, at any rate. Again, in the case of charitable aid, each district might fairly be called npon to support its own indigent, save in exceptional cases. Country districts have no desire to shirk their obligations, but it does, on the face of it, seem absurd to expect that they will consent without complaining to the seizure of moneys to which they are legally entitled, unless the purposes to which those moneys are devoted are clearly explained, and unless they have some assurance that they are properly expended. We are glad to see that the Piako County Council is also becoming alive to the necessity for prompt and vigorous action, and we trust that the local bodies will, by their united and earnest exertions secure that some radical change in the system shall be effected during the coming session of Parliament.

We are glad to hear that things are looking up at the Waihi. From a private letter received in Hamilton yesterday we learn that a reef two feet thick, and carrying gold, has been cut in the drive of the Rosemont claim.

SATURDAY, FEB. & 1882,

We understand that Messrs Whitaker and Sheehan have been instructed by Mr T. C. Hammond to enter an action in the Supreme Court against Mr Edward Wayte, for malicious prosecution. The damages are likely to be heavy, but the amount has not as yet transpired.

Mr Yon Stunner desires us to thauk those gentlemen who hastened to his assistance yesterday, although the distance and the rapidity with which the fire ran through his house rendered all aid of no avail. In particular he wishes to express his gratitude to Mr W. H. Kelly, who received some rather severe bruises in his gallant attempts to save property

At the R.M. Court, Hamilton, yesterday, before Mr Northcroft, R.M., Grove Vowless was committed for trial on a charge of stealing a heifer belonging to Mv W. Chitty. The case was heard some time ago and dismissed, and had been been brought up again on the strength of fresh evidence. It was contended' for the defence on the former occasion that the beast had been mistaken by accused for another oalf which he bac^ bought from Coleman. The heifer was' now produced and admitted by all the witnesses to be a two-year-old; Mr O'Neill \ applied forbail. ' The Application was gwtriited, bail*' to be in three, sureties ' J af '££00 each, and' ,in the accused's own reWnisancei, ' of £300. -. Up to, last night ,bail had not been' i'found.: /*'■ ' J '-• '; '" ;

, During thepastiyear many sheep - breeders t in ■". Waikato^ have - suffered. I severely from the ' incursioiis to'f , 'stray;

dogs, afiq rnqst^of . the retnediesjapplied have so far proved inefficient. 'The following from the live Stock Journal may therefore be of use :— " Having suffered severely from the depredations of dogs upon his sheep-fold a farmer built around a number of sheep that the dogs had killed an enclosure of rails twelve feet high and about ten feet square at the ground, the sides of the trap sloping inward until an opening was left about five feet square. Any dog could easily climb such a sloping fence and enter the pen, but not even a greyhound could jump out of it. In three nights the farmer captured forty-six dogs, including fifteen or twenty that had never been seen before in that neighborhood."

Three boys, named respectively Arthur Davitt, aged 14, John Qumliven, aged 9, and Willie Riley 12, were brought up at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Cambridge, on Thursday last, before Mr Thos. Wells, J.P., for stealing a hive of bees from the garden of the Rev. Wm, Evans. It seems that Davitt obtained the assistance of the two other juveniles, and carried away the bees in the night, but they were obliged to abandon their design on the honey owing to the unfriendly nature of the bees. It appears, however, that they returned again and succeeded m their enterprise, The Rev. Mr Evans complained to the police, who had the boys arrested. They have now been remanded until this morning. Davitt is detained in custody, but the others have been let out x on bail. ,

We have been desired to clear up a little misapprehension which appears to exist in regard to the efforts made to secure a Government grant towards the repairs at Ewen's Hill. In Tuesday's issue it was stated that Crs. Wells and Graham waited on Mr J. B. Whyte, M.H.R., whereas Cr. Wells alone formed the despatch. The mistake arose in this wise : At the meeting of the County Council the application of the Cambridge Highway Board for a graut was withdrawn, on the understanding that Crs. Wells and Graham should proceed the same afternoon to Mr Whyte's residence in reference to the matter, and the meeting broke up with the full understanding that this programme would be carried out. Is now appears that owing to some cause or other Mr Graham was unable to accompany his colleague. It has been further assumed that we blamed Mr Wells for suggesting an appeal to the Government. Now nothing could have been further from our intention. In making that suggestion Mr Wells gave evidence of the possession of that aptitude for fulfilling the duties of his office, for which we gave him the fullest credit. We found fault with him solely on account of his neglecting to make provision for repairs in the event of the Government refusing assistance.

A number of deputations waited upon the Premier (in his capacity of Minister of Public Works) and the At-torney-General at Auckland on Thursday. Replying to a question regarding the pioposed Taranaki railway, Mr Hall said the Government fully recognised its importance, but there were difficulties in the way which required to be carefully dealt with. In reference to the Rotorua road, Mr Hall said he proposed going over it and would give his atteution to difficulties at present existing with regard to the Maori labor. Several of the directors of the Thames Valley and Rotorua railway waited on the Minister on questions connected with that undertaking. Is was proposed to construct the railway under the Railways Construction and District Railways Acts. Now, according to the letter of the former, it was required that a line made under its provisions should connect with a Government railway, while as a matter of fact this would so connect over a line built under the District Railways Act. The spirit of the Act would be fully observed, and they wished to know whether the law officers of the Crown were likely to take the same view as the directors. The Premier said the Government would be quite willing to promote an amendment of the Act to meet the case. The directors further urged the Government to prevent the sale by the Land Board of the Crown lands which ought to accrue to the Company under the provisions of the Railways Construction Act. The Premier said he would consult with Mr Rolleston on the latter's arrival in Auckland, and in the meantime it was promised that nothing to prevent the Government acceding to the request of the deputation would be done. One of the directors remarked that there seemed to be an amount of undue haste exhibited in wishing to part with the land, in reply to which Mr Whitaker said that at the time the land was acquired from the natives, there was no talk of the railway, and he had wished to see the land settled as speedily as possible.

On Thursday morning Mr Barwell, step-brother of Mr Beauchamp, Woodstock, Piako road, complained to the Hamilton police that a tramp had been 1 on Mr Beauchamp's premises the previous night, and had stolen a leg of mutton. The informant had discovered footprints on the gravelled walk, which he had carefully covered with a plank for the purpose of identification. Shortly after this a tramp, carrying a swag, arrived in the town, whose footprints corresponded with the description given by Mr Barwell. Constable Wild immediately arrested him on suspicion, and having taken off the man's boots, took them to Woodstock, when he found that they corresponded exactly with the marks on the gravelled path. When arrested the accused remarked, "I see you've got me," and added something to the effect that he had other people's property about him. It also transpired subsequently that he had asked a person whom he met on the road if there was a pawn-shop in Hamilton. His swag was examined, and was found to contain two pairs of newI under pants, a large pilot coat, a concertina, and other articles, all smelling strongly of camphor. The prisoner, who gave the name of -&eorge Hawkins, was brought up at the Police Court yesterday morning, before Mr Northcroft, ami, on the application of the police, remanded, till Monday. Later in the day, Sergt. McGovern received a note from the Piako, stating that a number of carpenter's tools had been stolen, and giving a description of the suspected thief, which answered exactly to that of Hawkins. Mr Henry Steele also arrived in town in the afternoon, and informed the police that he had found a number of carpenter's tools, Borne eggs, the remains of a leg of mutton, a lady's brown ulster, and other articles in an unoccupied cottage on the farm. The eggs had all been marked by Mrs | Beauchamp. In tbe same cottage was a I trunk, there by a new arrival named .Nicholson. This had apparently been broken open, but the police, on going to" the spot, found that it still contained a number' of articles 1 of clothing, ' including ' : pairs of pants similar those' found on the prisoner. 'Mil the articles in the box also smelt ( strongl)r /6i< -'camphor. The case' against; prisoner seems • therefore 1 to be''pretty clear.'- jln-' connection with' 1 itnis^casej* we learn- 'that'll named /Statable, working' afthe Piako; i! has^eeh'l arrested and lodged atrtheAroha lock-up onia ( 'cKarge il bf^av%a'fatbM?clo6kHn: his'possessionV yrtditftlaie' „ habitfbf* frequentine'Baatable'a tept/'if |is * (< uiore'-tliari prbbable -'thafr(he T! is the reals, '•culprit. . ' " ' ' Lf T.>