The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTH.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1549, 8 June 1882, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTH.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Or whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here sliall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1882.

There may be questions requiring the oxercise of more statecraft from our representatives at "Wellington, but none of more general importance and interest to the colony than the proposals in reference to local self-government which it is intended to embody in bills for the consideration of Parliament during the present session. An opitonie of these measures with a series of questions to elicit suggestions has been furnished by the Government to all county councils and road boards, and was published in our columns on May 16th. Valuable suggestions will no doubt be offered by the several local bodies, for it is only in practically working out an act that its faults and shortcomings are disclosed and proper remedies suggested. One of the principal hindrances, to the working of local bodies hitherto has been that of getting at absentees for the recovery of rates. True, the Eating Act provides that, after judgment has been obtained, steps may bo taken by the highway board for the leasing or sale of the land, but it is hardly fair to saddle boards with a considerable outlay in proceedings which are only completed after a tedious delay, nor is it right to expect individual members of a board to incur odium of selling any man's land, with the possible risk of legal penalties, if in doing so they inadvertently omitted to conform to some formality in their mode of procedure. The simplest way out of the difficulty would be to place the matter in the hands of a paid officer of the Government, who, on receipt of a declaration ,from the chairman of the local body that such rates'" had been due for, say, six or twelve months, as may be decided on, should forthwith issue an- order to the board to receive the arrears of rates from the Public Treasury, and himself undertake 'all further dutjp., and cost of advertising, selling, etc. The proceeds of. the land when sold would, of course, bo applied to re-iniburseall outlay, .with a percentage to provide a fund for the salaries of such officials. This plan, would cost the Government nothing," would relieve highway ! trustee^ of n^uch , responsibility an,d trpuble^'and eimbl^^em^|^^*wiffi'acOTMMgr the funds available for each yearfs expenditure, » Ofcher.<£uestion& ! havje been raised/ in the \ Govfernirj&nt ( cirpular, ! 'to .'Vhi^^'V^e.^^lia!] (briefly .allude,! as lalso,; .ts>j. bothers which v fiug^est themselves. Amongst thj? niore important „ of these^it^has < beerilprtoposed; ithati^|jv^tii^fe|pf t f& 1 0'Pr.opfef't5r r; TaX odmunsliiiier|i tfie local|6verning Ug^^^ithu^

•save^tlie' cost of separate valuations* by both counties and road boards. Some wo believe would go further, and say that the counties ishpul'd nYalce the ratesf-for the'highway- boarcls, * -leaving/ it" to the latter to levy and expend the money. This would prevent the unfairness of one board making a full, rate arid' providing excellent roads, while in another district, adjoining perhaps, the thoroughfares are almost impassible, because the ratepayers shirk, a fair share of local taxation. Counties certainly, if they are to be of any use at all, must have extended powers, and not be mere duplicates of the road boards. It has been urged that 1 they should have the control and management of waste lands. There are obvious objections to this, but there is no doubt that in the case of main roads taken over by the Government the duty of maintaining these reads (not the cost, but the carrying out of the work) could be more efficiently and economically done by the counties than by the Public Works Department.- In the Waikato the proposed main roads to be taken over are understood to be : (1). That from Mercer, through Huntly, Taupiri, Hokonui, Hamilton, and Cambridge to Rotorua, (2) that from Raglan, through Whatawhata and Hamilton to Te Aroha and the Thames, and (3), possibly, the direct road from Waikato to Tauranga. If these were so constituted there, would then be some chance of getting our district roads properly maintained. The Cambridge Highway District, for instance, expends nearly all its rates in the maintenance of the main South Road, having little left for purely district works. Among the matters not alluded to in the circular is the need for alterations in the constitution of road boards. The election of trustees should take place in April not July, so that the financial year should be conterminus with that of counties and the Colonial Government, on the 31st day of March. At present road boards have to render an account to the Government which, is not shewn in their books, as the books are not closed till the 30th June, the end of their present financial year. This mistake appears to have been perpetuated in the Town Districts Act, which provides that the day of election of the first five commissioners shall be the day in future years of fresh eloctions. Thus the town of Cambridge will be found to make its annual election in June, instead of April, of each year, and its financial year will consequently close on the 31st May. In the tenure of office, too, in both road boards and counties, a change is desirable. All the members should not retire at tlie same time, but in rotation, thus always leaving a majority of those acquainted with the details of business in office. In the case of road boards the two having the least number of votes should retire at the end of the first year. In county councils, where the numbers are seven or nine, members could retire according to the plan adopted in borough councils. The present mode of election both as respects members and the permanent chairmen, is the simplest and least expensive, and seems to give general satisfaction ; nor should there be any cast iron rule laid down that road districts should necessarily form the ridings of a county. The Tamahere riding furnishes an example in point. Again, in the case of counties desiring to split or amalgamate, there may be doubts as to whether Parliament or the ratepayers should settle the question, but there need be none in the case of road boards desiring to amend their boundaries ; that should be left to the ratepayers affected by the change, and the power to alter should be vested in the County Council acting on the expressed determination of a majority of such ratepayers. It is exceedingly desirable that the legislature should repeal the various provincial Government Acts affecting highway districts and pass one Highways Act for the entire colony. In this, too, the schedules containing the boundaries of existing districts should be found and thus do away with the disability which prevents many highway boards,, -in this provincial district from going ' into Court, namely the impossibility of putting in -.evidence, provincial gazettes setting forth r their creation which were one time destroyed by fire and are not now procurable. ;

A new insurance company is about to be started at Cliristclmrch.

A society for the prevention of cruelty to animals has been established at Christchui;ch. , ■ " A ' (

A man was killed by the explosion of' a bjpijer at the^pollo Candle, Factory, Melbourne, on 'the \6fch inst. ' jGtyeat ; damage was also done to the 'Wilding'. * j

Tie usual meeting of the Hamilton Literary and Debating Club will he J held this evening., ; The programme will consist of impromptu speeches by mem-

»i Thacte^egrapn t line between Te Aroha and Paeroa is now finished^ and atelegraph I station' was. opened /at^ the f otmefi places yesterday i sTheinewLigold- i field is at last in comlnunication with the rest of, the .world; ?wn*?' j* '-VMf WR, '

A cable .message/ in;fano;fcher column states that ( a portibn/6f f the frozen % r eM#/tfhers}up. puuedini';#£fef?sold.,by' auctiohinLonao»for6id^lb'fc>riSiptpn; arid 7¥d#Otf;ialnk i *This&ihqs^M'c6liragxf

'p 5 ,*s's& < 45$ ' JK3" ! /^m? 5 7W •Hl^eu^.s&riSjis . proyoeatiouf^Md ihil IJencli, seeing tKat Dawkiiis liM.been tHe aggressor, dismissed the case, but confiscated the revolver.

The Waitoa.Licensmg Committee sa't'^yestenlay^ iof Tuesday fi^ notified. ' . " ' * ' , '"" \

The directors of the Union Bank have purchased an allotment from Mr J. in .Victoria-street; Cambridge..

It will bei seen "by a report of the meeting of the Pukekura Licensing Committee, held on Saturday last, that the' -application of Mr Madigan for a license ior an hotel at Cambridge West has again been refused.

A children's service and catechizing in connection with the sunday-school, will be held at S. Andrew's church, Cambridge, on Sunday next at 3 p.m. Parents are invited to attend and take part. ' ' ' l ' '

The weather during the past few days has been exceptionally Tiold, with intermittent showers, and winter has at length, fairly set in. Contrary to the general rule, June promises to be a severe month.

We are informed by an old resident that t-d ere Mas a heavier coat of snow on Pirongia on Tuesday morniug than he has seen for the last 12 years. At 10 o'clock the sight was a really pretty one. Snow was also seen on Maungatautari the same morning, a very unusual occurrence.

Mr H. S. Fish, M.H.R., for Dunedin, in reply to a deputation of licensed victuallers, said there was a feeling amongst members of the House that the Licensing Act of last session reqnired amendment. It appeared to be aimed solely at the licensed victuallers.

The natives in this part of the colony are not, it would appear, much a vet 36 to vacci tuition. Mr K. F. Samles, public vacciunator, lias up to the present operated on some two hundred, and a large addition ia expected to be made to this number.

The new Wesleyan Church at present in course of erection at Cambridge West is fast approaching completion, and promises to be a commodious and extensive building. When finished the church will accommodate about 200 people, which will bo sufficient for the requirements of the place for many years to come.

European cable messages dated sth inst., announce : — H.R.H. Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lome) arrived at Quebec to-day from England. — Very unfavourable accounts have been received of the season's crop from the Kentish hop districts. — The news of the death of Garibaldi has been received with great regret, and there is universal mourning today throughout Italy. It is announced that his will directs that his body shall be cremated.

Mr Joseph Cochrane, Kirikiriroa, has agreed to accept the offer of £11 an acre for 71 acres, made by the Waikato Cheese and Bacon Factory Company, for a site for tbe proposed factory, on condition that the company pay for the survey. Mr Cochranes original tender was £13 per acre. The other tenders were : —Mr Vialou, £16 an acre ; and Capt. McPherson, £15 an acre.

During the sitting of the licensing court at Cambridge, on Tuesday last, the cold inside the building was most intense, in fact almost unbearable. The chairman spoke strongly on the matter. It is hoped the clerk of the com t, in accordance with the wish expressed by the Licensing Bench, will take immediate steps to have the matter brought before the proper authorities?

The report of the Pukekura Licen. sing Committee sitting on; Saturday last was despatched from Cambridge on Monday morning, and should, in the ordinary course of events, have appeared in our last issue. Unfortunately, by some mistake of the postal authorities, the parcel was forwarded to Auckland, and did not reach this office until Tuesday afternoon.

The state of Victoria-street, Cambridge, in the vicinity of the post-office, is a strong evidence of the want of attention manifested by the Town Board to this much frequented quarter of the town. While carrying out their recent improvements, we are surprised that this part jbf Victoria-street did not receive more attention. However, we hope, as it is not yet too late, that the town surfaceman will be allowed to spend a few hours r in this quarter.

A meeting of the ratepayers of Waitoa Highway District was held at Piako, on Monday, to decide whether certain roads in the district should be closed or not. The particulars of the roads have been duly advertised. The meeting decided against stopping road No. 1, on the list, but agreed to close the remaining four. The following is the description of the road not closed : — A road containing lla 24p, bounded northeasterly by section 4 (E. P. Burbury), and south-westerly by section 15 (Rich and Williams).

The concert which was to have been held hi the Public Hall, Hamilton, on Tuesday night, under the auspices of the Cambridge Musical Union, was, on account of the threatening aspect of the weather, postponed by posters on the afternoon of that day till Tuesday evening next. As it happened, however Tuesday evening turned out fine, and some disappointment was expressed by people who had made arrangements to be present, but who were unaware of the postponement until late in the day.

We are in receipt of the first number of the Te Arohu Mail, a journal which has been started by Mr W. . Wilkinson, for many years proprietor and editor of the Thames Advertiser .This latest addition to the periodicaHiterature of the colony is an'exceedingly creditable one, arid cannot fail of .finding support among the, residents of the Upper Thames district. It contains a large amount of general, .agricultural ,and. mining news, and for .a first," number the advertising columns present a very satisfactory appearance. ,We, heartily wish our contemporary a "useful and ' prosperous career. l l '

An item of intelligence reaches us from Alexandra, ' which, though: not altogether what might*, be expected,' is indicative of the want of reverence which the i natives,' as ' a rule, have for the kingite personage, as.well as of . the low standard of dignity possessed by the king .himself. TavWiiao* and his favourite ' spouse T P<foae're 'came co" AlexaudraJin compauy f "wikh afew of tlieir devo|ed follow,e,re,on r the r sueen's, bu;thday,,to take part in ' tne' , great, festiyal. They adjourned 'to ' tKe ,^bav tf of '* 'host Finch'B .hostelry,, /where\ in/'^ithe T-ol T -ol the" initiated * tlley j',bicame' "jolly." Pohaere is a lady. very tasty- as regardsher external: appe^riince,^ and on ,state occasions ,wears,a belltpper,;and, carries a .Sarah ,Gainp,unjbrell|.vfTaw.hiao, perhaps through,an pverjndulgeuce, excite^ , the;^com^ative'nesg|qf/{ Lw^spouse,, ' wM - 4 --^ *'W