ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1572, 1 August 1882, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

The Egyptian'trouble seems to beget- ■ ting worse instead of '-better. The other day I wtU3,piking tp an ardent believer of the Anglo-Israel theory, and he said that there was no doubt that!' England must take possession of Egypt and, ultimately of Palestine and Turkey. His opinion was that the English (the desk cendants of the Israelites) would now take vengeance on the Egyptians for the fourhundred years of bondage, from which they, were led by Moses and Aaron. It may be so,' but it seems to me that, seeing that it is three or four thousand years since that time of bandage, the vengeance has tarried rather long, and that most of the original offenders must be dead. Even if any of them are still living they must be considerably more than three thousand years old, so I think they mighj; fairly be pardoned on account 'of their old age. There is one matter in connection with this Egyptian affair which is worthy of more. -than ordinary attention, and that is the fact that the Americans have landed men, to take part in the pacification of Alexandria, and that General Grant lias written, approving of the action of England. This appears like a reversal of the policy of the United States, which has hitherto been to hold aloof from all interference with the Old World politics. It is the mOre satisfactory from the fact that it will probably operate as a check on Russia and prevent her interfering as the protector of Egypt, a role she would be only too ready to adopt, if she thought that by any means she could extend her already-too-large territory. Dear little Weston—dapper little Wes-ton—nice-looking little Weston—just-come-out-of-a-band-bex little Weslton—-knows-how-to-draw-a-bill of costsj*littlo Weston— has " seceshed" from the ranks of the supporters of the Government and joined the Opposition. A choice thing is that same Opposition—a party without cohesion and without a leader. I beg its pardon. It lias many leaders, such as they are. The difficulty is that they are merely leaders of divisions and that there is no commander-in-chief. Probably Mr Weston thought he would become the commander-in-chief when he " seceshed," but up to the present time he has been disappointed. Never mind !my little man, the time may come. Whether or not he would shine as Premier of New Zealand, Mr Weston certainly does Bhine when he draws a bill of costs. When he was practising as solicitor in Auckland a gentleman instructed hiin to bring in an an action to recover £75. He did bring in an action, and he won it, much to his client's delight. He also sent his client a bill of costs for £l2O. The latter was so much pleased with the moderateness of the charges that he decided to give Mr Weston the benefit of a cheap advertisement, so he advertised the bill of costs in extenso in the Auckland newspapers at his own expense. Talk about the lawyers eating the oyster and giving their clients the shells 1 I should say that in his case the lawyer ate the oyster and made his client buy the shell at a pretty high price. In connection with matters, Parliamentary, there was a very absurd mistake in the Herald's account of Tuesday's proceedings, which appeared in yesterday's issue. The lion. Henry Lahmann asked a question in the Legislative Assembly with regard to the alleged Longhurst conspiracy case, and the lion. P. Whitaker, in replying is represented by the Herald as having spoken of "the convict Lahmann." By the way, that is a most extraordinary case. I know Dr. Collins, and cannot believe it possible that he could have given evidence of importance, but refrained from doing so, as he seemed to me to be a manly, outspoken Englishman, who would be the last man to allow a miscarriage of justice to take place if it was in his power to prevent it, and I will believe him innocent of the charge brought against him until he is proved guilty. An application M>as made to the Harbour Board to sell or lease a portion of the foreshore on the northern side of the harbour to the company which has purchased land there for the purpose of establishing a sugar refinery. The members of the board all seemed to be in favour of leasing the foreshore to the company for fifty years, but, recollecting that they are the conservators of an immense public estate, they wisely decided not to come to a conclusion without further consideration, and referred the matter to the Works Committee. At the first blush it might seem as if tlie Harbour Board should have decided the matter at once, as there can be no doubt about the desirability of affording every facility to those who wish to establish a large and important industry here, but a fortnight's delay cannot possibly do any harm, and it is much better to err on the side of overcaution than to find that they have been over-hasty in disposing of the rights of the public. I expect that Mr Macandrew will move a vote of no-confidence in the Agent General, as a consequence of his despatch with regard to a direct steam service. The latter evidently does not think that steamers fit to carry on the service can safely enter Port Chalmers, and Mr Macandrew certainly does not consider any-one who has no faith in Port Chalmers fit to hold the office of Agent-General. Every unprejudiced person must admit that we cannot afford the luxury of a direct mail service until the Panama Canal is completed and opened for traffic, and, until that event takes place, we should continue the present excellent San Francisco service. However, when the question of renewing the contract for the conveyance of our mails via Frisco is under consideration, Parliament ought to insist on faster boats than the present ones being used. A few weeks ago the Austral, a new: steamer built for the Orient Company, arrived in Melbourne after having made the trip from Southampton in thirty-five days, or thirty-two days' and six hours' actual steaming. If such boats as the used the time occupied in the trip from here to San Francisco might, I believe, be reduced from twentythree days to eighteen or nineteen. Our mail route, must ultimately • be through the Panama Canal. I have been informed that- when the canal is opened, a fast steamer will be able to make the trip from Southampton to Auckland in twenty-one days. If this, or anything like it, is practicable it will make a wonderful difference to us in New Zealand. It will revolutionise business. A man will be »ble\tq go to London, transact a' large amount of business, and be, back here in two months. It will also have the effect of enabling business people to do the same .amount of trade with 4 very much smaller stocks, as no one will require to bold a large stock if he can replace'anything which he may sell in three we£ksl > On thel 31st inst. the addition of Ponsonby to the city is to be gazetted. This is the beginning of the end, The addi-tion-off Earangahape and Grafton Will follow almost immediately, and I hope thatMParnell at ior-very distant' date. - ' /*Thfcn|w?e will-have a city, ~w,orthy of r the .ft%Wi£§&ncl i° ur Mayor, may well feel siypm#bt having been largely', instrumhffinm'to attaining this result. V v