The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1519, 30 March 1882, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Ot whatsoever st.ite or pci suasion, religious or pclUical. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Uruiwed by influence and unbnbed by gam.

THURSDAY, MARCH SO, 1882.

We make no excuse for referring in tliis place to tlie report of tlie Wesleyan Valedictory Soiree, which will be found in another column. Our reason for so doing is because the satisfactory condition of affairs it discovers is in some degree an index of the real progress of the district, material as "well as spiritual. It is not in the nature of things that a district could make such advances in church work as have been noticeable in Waikato, unless its temporal condition were sound and healthy. We have no special object in selecting the Wesleyau Church as an illustration other than that afforded by tlie recont division of the Waikato circuit into three parts. A dozen years ago the church, just planted in tlie district, was engaged in a manful strugglo against the most formidable obstructions, with a revenue of some £20 or £30 per annum ; a church building subscription list many of the sums on which were conti'ibuted in kind; with little organisation, few members, and scarcely a place of worship. To-day we find three well defined circuits, a well organised body of church members, ample church accomodation, and provision for the appointment of three ministers. The best proof that this jwogress is a reflection o£ the general advancement of the district is to be found in the circumstance that it has been gradual, built up .step by step, and not subject to sudden flashes of prosperity, or corresponding periods of decline. This, of course, can only be taken in a general way : It cannot be contended that the material growth of a community must of necessity involve the enhancement of its spiritual well-being. There muet be many other causes at work. Reference was made by Mr Bull, and by Mr Buttle to the harmony that has existed between ministers and people, and a close observer will also discover in the work of the church tb.at, on the utmost energy of its ministers has been superimposed the earnest effort of the congregations. It is only by the agency of hearty work and co-operation that any great work in the religious, no less than in the work-a-day world can be successful, and it requires no more than ordinarily acute vision to discern that this principle has been put into practice by our Wesleyan friends in Waikato. In a greater or less degree, what has been said is equally applicable to the other religious communities in this district. The past year will be a memorable one in the records of all. We are honestly glad to have to record the fact, more because it gives assurance of the steady continuance, if not growth, of the Christian religion, than because it indicates the steady improvement of the district. Whatever fanciful forms our own individual beliefs may assume, however great our aversion to the arbitrary dogmas of the ecclesiastic institutions may be, we are bound to confess that, regarding mankind in the mass, we cannot hope for either social or business morality without Christianity ; and in proportion as we desire the one, so ought we to be thankful for the presence of the other.

" Demochacy" is by no means a synonym for "purity." The attainment of the highest form of Government which the mind of man can conceive and carry out, is not, so far as past experience teaches, incompatible with the grossest corruption and fraud. On the Western shores of the Atlantic there wore planted, towards the close of the last century, institutions which were the admiration, while they were the envy, and the terror too, of the rest of the civilised world. "We need not pause to enquire why the unsullied purity of the grand system has been dulled. It is a sufficient answer to say that after all we are but human, and are impelled and controlled by human passions and by human interests. The conditions of life have undergone such a vast change in America since the days of Bunker's Hill, that our wonder should be, not that corruptions have crept into the system of government, but that it has retained so much of its original soundness. We are not doing our American kinsmen any wrong in saying that their most prominent characteristic is the love of money, perhaps for its own sake, perhaps for the mere pleasures of the pursuit after wealth. Money-making ought not to be the be-all and end-all of existence, but within certain limits it is by no means objectionable. In the ordinary avocations of life a desire for riches is a very necessary factor. Without such an impetus as this affords, commerce would languish, and we should gradually return to a state of bar-, barous communism. When, how-

ever, self-seeking becomes the object of the politician or the administrator, it becomes an active agent in opposing the good government of the State. It is not sought to deny that the evil arising fr<fm this source is to be found under all systems of government, but it is capable of more ample development under the democratic form, for the simple reason that under this the number of politicians is greatly in excess of that under any other. France, we know, has always looked with satisfaction upon the American Republic, and at last the people of this versatile nation, after innumerable shifts and changes have apparently settled down to the permanent enj'o3'ment of their democratic privileges. But, alas, the spirit of political corruption has already crept in. From our contemporaries we learn that the elect of the people are daily betraying an increasing aversion to serving their country without a substantial recompense. The Paris Municipal Council has just made itself a modest little present of £10,000, as some acknowledgment of its own labors "during the past year. There are about 400,000 Municipal Councillors in France, so that if all these gentlemen should take upon them to follow the example of their Paris colleagues, the prospects of the ratepayers will be far from brilliant. Meanwhile, some one has considerately proposed that the Deputies, who are now paid 9000f. per annum for their legislative work, shall have their salaries raised to II.OOOf. or even 18,00f. The question is rapidly developing into one of the burning topics of the day, though no one exactly knows with whom it really originated. It seems to have sprung up spontaneously. Now we have drawn attention to this subject, not because wo feol any consuming interest iv the internal affairs of France, but because it is likely to have some bearing upon our own country. In New Zealand the tendency towards a limited form of democracy (at any i*ate) has steadily set in. In the matter of education, and in other ways, some preparation has been made, but what we chiefly require arc safeguards against those evils which we have endeavoured to point out. The bane carries with it its own antidote in the will of the great body of an enlightened people. They have the ability, if they have the will, to build up barriers against the encroachments of the horse-leech politician, and the grasping aspirant for local government honors. Let a system be inaugurated of serving the country free; let a race of politicians be reared who shall, from their associations, regard the office of legislatin9 for the country as a boon and a privilege, rather than as a rich prize to be won at all hazards, and by all means justifiable or not. The Paris Figaro, puts the matter very clearly in these words : — "True democracy consists in serving the people gratis, and the least that one has a right to ask of a servant of the people is that he shall not need a constituency to eke out a livelihood. If he can only exist at this price let him put his name down at a relieving office and yield his place to another. The people have servants enough without him. Parliamentary mendicity ou»ht to be forbidden."

It will be seen by a telegram in another column that Laurence Heyes, convicted of rape at the October session of the Auckland Supreme Court, has been pardoned.

At the Police Court, Hamilton, on Tuesday, an inebriate was brought up, cautioned, and discharged.

Tawhiao's wife (Parehauraki) was a passenger to Auckland, on Tuesday, for the purpose of interviewing Mr Bryce.

An information has been laid against Mr Ivess. of Ashburton, for alleged illegal practices under the Corrupt Practices Act.

The attention of contractors is called to the alteration of the date for receiving tenders for Tamahere contract, viz., Bth April, instead of 7th (Good Friday.)

Mr J. S. Buckland held a very successful sale of cattle, sheep, &c, at Ohaupo on Tuesday. It is satisfactory to hear that the prices obtained for fat cattle denote an upward tendency in beef.

The members of the Hamilton Lawn Tennis Club will play a tournament on their courts, commencing on Saturday next.

Reports reach us from the Taupo district that the natives in that locality are bitterly opposed to Mr Bryce, whom they revile in unmeasured terms. That they are prompted by some unseen agency seems patent, from the circumstance that they assert that the present Native Minister has been driven from office, a piece of information which has been supplied by those whose wish is father to the thought.

The seventeenth annual general meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company, held in London, on February 3, was presided over by Mr T. Russell, C.M.Gr. The report the directors stated that the net profit of the year, inclusive of £6154 10s 5d brought forward, after deduction of expenses, and making ample provisions for bad and doubtful debts, amounted to £80,143, out of which the directors recommend the payment of a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum, the payment of a bonus at S per cent., that £30,000 be carried to the reserve fund, and that the balance £3129 13s 6d be carried forward.

At a special meeting of the Cambridge Highway Board, held on Monday evening, the following tenders were received for works on the Narrows road, "cutting, &c. :—Thomas Norris, £130 ; Moore and Pergusson, JE7S ; Hughes and Moori, £75 ; J' O. Booth, informal; L. B. Bwen, £70. The tender of Mr Ewen, being the lowest, was>accepted. At, a meeting of the Wesleyan^ ' Church trustees, held on Monday morning last, tenders were received for the

erection of a new Wesleyan Church at Kihikihi. The tender of Thomas and Allen, £146, was accepted. It was decided to open the church to the free use of the Presbyterians,,, th**y having no church in the neighbourhood.

The first of a regular succession of Sunday services will be held at the chief camp of the Armed Constabulary, Rotorua Road, on Sunday next, by the Rev. Mr Willis. "With a view towards making the services more hearty and congregational, a parcel of service books has been forwarded for the use of the men. This contains 40 copies of the prayer book, bound with hymns A. and M., contributed by the incumbent of S. Andrew's, and six copies of hymns A. and M. with music, contributed by the ministers of the other religious bodies who have arranged to visit the camp.

At S- Andrew's, Cambridge on Sunday next the services (at 11 and 6.30) will be conducted by one of the Auckland clergy, and the half-yearly collections will be made for the Home Mission Fund. The object of the mission is the furtherance of church extension in the diocese, and the extent of its operation depends altogether upon the support accorded by the membeis of the church from year to year. It has been pointed out to us (as a specimen of the kind of work done through this agency) that the mission has been asked to guarantee the expenses attendant upon the supply of services to the A.C. camp on the Rotorua Rod. As often as these are held one of the Auckland clergy will have to come to Cambridge.

It will be remembered that at the last meeting of the Waikato County Council, Mr Wells said he had the authority of the Premier for stating that the elaborate plans prepared by the Government engineer for a new bridge over the Karapiro would be at the disposal of the council. The clerk accordingly wrote to Mr Hales, and received a reply on Tuesday, to the effect he had not done anything in the matter of the biidge except to take quantities and draw out a rough estimate of the cost. This work will therefore have to be undertaken by the county.

The poll of ratepayers in the Licensing District of Waitoa, to determine whether the number of publicans, New Zealand wine, or accomodation licenses should be increased or not, was taken at Morrinsville on Monday, with the following result :—For the increase, [23 ; against, 12. The day was very wet, otherwise a larger number of votes would have been polled, going, according to the general opinion, to swell the number in the affirmative.

11l the last number of the " New Zealand Country Journal," Mr Robt. Wilkin recommends the adoption of polled cattle in this country, alleging with perfect justice that the horns are often inconvenient and dangerous excrescenses. The revolution proposed can be effected by the importation of any of the Home breeds of polled cattle, the Gulloway, the polled Angus, or the polled Suffolk and Norfolk, or by the judicious crossing of shorthorns with the polled cattle at present in this country, until a bull is produced capable of perpetuating a hornless breed with shorthorn characterestics.

The V.R.C. has decided to charge all bookmakers who ply their vocation in the saddling-paddock an annual fee of £25. Every bookmaker is to be licensed by the V.R.C, and will have to wear a small badge, with his name and number upon his coat. It is high time something was done, for notorious welshers ai'e to be found in the paddock at every meeting ; and this step will if properly carried out, effectually put an end to their career so far as the grand stand enclosure is concerned.

Before Robert Hales left Tasmania the lion. T. Reiby presented him with a gold pencil case, which was accompanied hy the following letter :—" Mr dear MiHales,—Let me ask you to accept the enclosed as a token of my respect for your ehaiacter, and admiration of youi riding. It has been a pleasure to me to bring out a horse worth your riding. If loveis of the horse could always find honest men like yourself to ride for them, the turf would soon cease to be despised, even by the unco gmd.—l am, faithfully yours, Thomas Reiby."

Some big dividends have been paid over recent race meetings, Louie's victory in the Napier Handicap presenting her two backers on the course with £259 each, while the Dunedin totalisator paid £68 to the solitary investor on Mr M' Lean's filly. The latter totalisator paid £5 10s on Luna in the Napier Tradesmen's Handicap, £3 12s on Tasman in the Oamaru Handicap, and £3 7s on Redcliffe in the St. Patrick's Handicap.

" ThePhysicaland Social Capabilities of New Zealand for Tea and feilk Culture" was the title of a paper read before the foreign and colonial section of the Society of Arts, on January 31 by Mr. William Cochran. He pointed out that the climate in many parts of the Middle Island closely resembled that of the tea and silk districts of China, and he believed that but for the apparent apathy of the New Zealand Goverment chasericulture might at the present moment have been of great importance to the colony. It was his opinion that the high grades of silk and the better class of teas could be successfully cultivated in New Zealand.

A correspondent of the ''Bay of Plenty Times," speaking of Opotiki, says :—" As an instance of the progressing energy of the place, I may mention that there is a sorghum sugar refinery in course of erection by local builders, Messrs Abbot and White, under the auspices of the Farmer's Club, the energetic secretary of which Mr Duinergue, is actively superintending the work, and hasimported the machinery for the extraction of the syrup from the sorghum."

. Concerning "remittance" men the Rangiteiki paper has the following : — "On passing a hut the other clay where a young gentleman lived, we saw nailed on the door an envelope addressed to the owner of the dwelling marked " registered " and bearing an English postmark. On enquiry we learned that this young fellow receives his allowance of £50 per quarter from home, and, in order to inform his friends that he has gone to town to ' blue ' his money, he covers the remittance. After a couple of weeks he returns to his work and is ready to receive callers, when the sign is taken down. If the remitters of the • money from home ' only knew the life of misery these poor fellows lead, they would allow them to earn their own living rather than contribute to their miserable periodical debauchery."

The French police have put an end to the career of a chevalier (V Industrie named Sebapolis, one of the most clever men of his profession, His early life was one series of adventures. He has been a student of the Greek and Latin philosophers, and according to the Paris correspondent of the London Globe he astonished with bis learning the doctors who were sent to examine his state of mind when he was in prison. He was a poet and a writer, but he was not honest, and the talent' which might have been applied iv earning a respectable living, was concentrated on certain schemes , for the duping of his fellow creatures.. His plan vt§s to worm himself into the rconfi-' dence of women,* lead. them" to imagine that he was some eminent medical antho-

rity, and then to prescribe for them. Of course he ended by administering a narcotic, and by robbing his sleeping victim. The jury has remarked its appreciation of his talent by rewarding him with ten yeara' hard labor, and a corresponding period of police surveillance.

A disease known as "pink eye." is doing much damage amongst horses at St. Louis and and other western cities af America.

In a recent telegram it was stated that the Bishop of Melbourne had hesitated on being asked to issue a prayer for rain. We learn from the Argus that his Lordship, in response to this request, said it was in the power of all clei'gymen to use the " prayer for rain " iv the Book of Common Prayer when they pleased j but that he hesitated to comply with the request. He went on to say that he had warned the people that God indicated by His providential arrangements that it was His will that we should conserve the water sent to us in the winter ; but that nobody heeded, and that it seemed to the Bishop absolutely impious to cry to God and to neglect His own providential indications of His will. The Bishop added that if he did issue a prayer it would be as follows :—" Forgive us, 0 Lord, that we have so indolently and irreligiously broken Thy natural laws, and despised the indications of Thy will in the time past; and give us grace, we beseech Thee, so to lay to heart Thy present grievous and most just chastisement, that we may bestir ourselves to conserve and employ Thy precious gift of water to the fertilising of our fields, the relief of our necessity, the replenishing of our land with prosperous and happy people, and the glorifying of Thy holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord." If anybody likes to use this prayer he has the Bishop's full leave, and he believes that then his prayer will not be a mockery of God, and may do good to himself and those that join in it.

The Princess of Wales was the cause of an unwitting scai'e recently at Sandringham. It appears that witli the view to keep up the festivities of the season, "snapdi agon" was introduced as one of the entertainments of the evening. The Royal children and the guests entered into this flaming game with a zest worthy of true enjoyment. The Princess of Wales, always on the alert to contribute to the pleasure of those around her, sought to lead the fun j in doing so, the di&h containing the fruit and flaming spirit was upset; and the sleeve of her Royal Highness' light evening dress wa& instantly enveloped in flames. Some of the more cool and collected persons present rushed forward with woollen wraps, and the fire was happily extinguished; this, however, was not done until the Princess had sustained a nasty burn on the arm and her eyebrows had been singed. In addition to the sleeve catching tire, the tablier of the dress also became ignited, but this, thanks to her presence of mind, Her Royal Highness' herself extinguished, by tearing it away with the arm that was disengaged. The consternation m the saloon for the moment was painfully alarming.

The existing bankruptcy law remarks the Wangamih Herald receives new developments e^ery day, and its elasticity and adaptability to the wants of every impecunious person, trader or otherwise, need not be doubted for a moment. For example, one Kenneth McGregor, rubbittn, has just filed his schedule, returning his debts at £31 7s and his assets at nil. One would have certainly thought that rabbits were still plentiful enough in the South Island to pioduce £31 7s in a reasonable time.

It is rumoured that a piece of exceptional good fortune has fallen to the lot of Mr Butler-Johnstone, formerly M.P. for Canterbury, and well-known for the active sympathy which lie exhibited for the Ottoman's cause during the last raid of " Holy Russia" upon the dominions of the Sultan. Mi ButlerJoluistone made laige pecuniary advances to the Porte for the purchase of arms and ammunition, but the heroic resistance of the Turks at Plevna and elsewheic weie of no avail. When Mr Bourke went to Constantinople to urge the case of the English bond-holders, opportunity was taken to put forward the claim of Mr Butler-Johustone, which the Porte has not only consented to entertain, but has directed to be discharged in full, contemporaneously with the first payment of dividend to the English bondholders. The sum due to Mr Butler - Johnstone, including interest, amounts to £230,000— a prodigious sum for a private individual to lose.

In a paper read at the Medical Society of. Victoria, Australia, Dr. Day stated that having for many years regarded diphtheria, in its early stages, as a purely local affection, characterised by a marked tendency to take on putrefactive decomposition, lie has trusted most to the free and constant application of antiseptics, and, when their employment has been adopted from the first, and been combined with judicious alimentation, he has seldom seen blood poisoning ensue. In consequence of the great power which salt possesses in preventing the putrefactive decomposition of meat and other organic matter, Dr. Day lias often prescribed for diptheritic patients living far away from medical aid the frequent use of a gargle composed of a tablcspoonful or more of salt dissolved in a tumbler of water, giving children who cannot gargle a teaspoonful or two to drink occasionally. Adults to use gargle as a prophylactic or preventive, three or four times a day.

The Waitoa School Committee invite tenders for the erection of two chimneys. Tenders to be in by the 15th proximo. Attention of farmers is drawn to the admtisenienfc of Messrs B. Tonics and Co., in another column, concerning- the Champion grain drill, which has earned such a high reputation. Messrs Tonks have also for sale farm waggons, buggips, barbed wire, and all descriptions of American goods. Messrs W. J. Hunter and Co. have for private sale, 600 is-i6th bred Lincoln ewes, in lamb to pure Lincoln rams. Nominations for the election of commissioners for tke Alexandra Town District must be made on the Bth April, and the polling will take place on the 14th April. Messrs W. J. Hunter and Co. will sell by auction at the Cambridge yards on Saturday next, horses, etc., and at the Ohaupo yards on Thursday, April 6th, 600 store sheep, lambs, and a large number of cattle. The date of the Cambridge Musical Union's concert is, as will be seen by advertisement, the 10th April (Easter Monday), and not the 17th as previously stated in error. The new pure cash system now being initiated by G. and C. will certainly prove a benefit to the public. It has been a great success in Sydney and Melbourne, and when strictly carried out the customer who buys at an establishment where the goods are marked low to ensure a rapid sale must be a groat gainer. G. and C. sell their drapery, millinery, and clothing at such prices for Cash as gives the buyer the advantages of a shareholder in a co-operative society, without the risk of being called upon to bear a portion of the loss should the j ear's business prove unsatisfactory. Garlick and Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hitherto shown them, and are determined to give the pure cash system a fair trial; whether theygainorlo.se the first year Country buyers on remitting cash witbordej will be supplied with goods at co-operatve prices ; just the same as though they made a personal selection. Furnishing goods, such as carpets, floor cloths, bedsteads, beading and general house furniture, the largest portion of which is turned out at our own factory, willbe marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a discbunt of five pet cent, will be allowed to those who pay at the time of purchase. G. and C. having realised the entire value of their stock during their 'late cash sale, the present stock is new and^ cheaply bought.— An inspection invited.— Garlick and Cranwell, City Hall Furnishing Arcade Queen street, Auckland.