The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1578, 15 August 1882, Page 2

The Waikato Times AN D THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equ.il .md c\.ict justice to .ill men, Ot whatsoever st.ite or persuasion, religious or politic al. Hcie shall the Press the People's right maintain, (Jnawcd by influence and unbnbcd by gain.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1882. +

In our issue of last Tuesday, in reviewing the Local Govornment TUlls before the Assembly, we referred more especially to the new Rating Bill. On the present occasion we propose to discuss another and quite as important a measure, namely, the now Koad Boards Bill. Thif, when it comes into force, will sweep away all existing provincial and general government acts and highway board ordinances, some forty in number, and provide one uniform law for the regulation of road boards. What is very important also is that many Auckland Highway Districts, which have no locus standl in court through the destruction of Provincial Government Gazettes will become validated under Clause 3 of the bill, which declares all existing road and highway districts, notwithstanding any defect in their constitution, to be legally constituted under the new act, while the members of boards for the time being will be still members of the boards under the new act. Sub-section 8 of this clause contains a provision that where road districts extend over the boundaries of a county, as in the case of the Taotaoroa Highway District, the boundaries of the road district or of the counties according to agreement between the local bodies concerned, may bo altered by the Governor-in-Oouncil, so that the road district shall be complete in one county. Road boards will become bodies corporate under theact, having a common seal and being capable of holding real and personal property and doing and suffering all tilings which bodies corporate may do and suffer, and one of these priveleges will be the raising of an overdraft to the extent of one year's rates. New districts may be constituted by special order of the county council, provided that it is done on petition from two-thirds of the ratepayers interested, setting forth the proposed boundaries; and under the same conditions the county councils may alter the boundaries of highway districts- 1 . The question of the sub-divi-sion of road districts into what may be termed wards, will be made by special order of tho road board without reference to the county, but only on the request of twothirds of the ratepayers, and such sub-divisions will elect their own members to the highway, board. Touching the , number of members of the board we find that in road districts, -whether divided, or undivided, there must not be less than four, nor more than nine members. This provision is made so* as- to meet the case of both Northern, and,

Southern road boards, the former having- almost invariably five members, and the latter from seven to nine. When, a district is subdivided the members of any subdivision may vary from one to three, according to the special order of the board made on the petition of two thirds of the ratepayers, but so that the whole board shall consist of not less than four nor more than nine members. The first general election under the new act is to take place on the last Monday in June, 1883, and afterwards in every third year upon that day. Provision is made for the infusion of now blood, boards being allowed by special order to determine how and by what manner the members, or any portion of them, shall go out of office between one general election and another; but if no such special order is made then the act provides hy clause 33, that "the one half of the members of the board who have been longest in office shall go out of office, and elections to fill the vacancies shall take place on the last Monday in each month of June, intervening between each general election, and if the board consists of an odd number of members then the proportion to go out of office every year under this section shall be the even number which being less than such half shall be nearest to the exact half of the number of the whole board." If however, we would ask, there is of necessity a general election every third year, how at the first intermediate last Monday of the intervening month of June can ono member have been longer in office than another? The flaw in this clause is as obvious as its remedy — the members who polled the smallest number of votes must be those to retire. The clause as it exists is unworkable. And one word as to the clay of election. This fixed date for all highway district elections will be found inconvenient. A person may have property in a number of highway districts, say in Waikato or elsewhere, but if the elections are to be all on the same day, his chances of being able to take part in more than one or two of them at most would be very remote, except, indeed, by proxy, and where elections are conducted under the Regulation of Local Elections Act, and it is left to ratepayers to decide between this and open voting, that chance would be cut off altogether. Again, as is frequently the case, one clerk performs the work of several highway districts, and, manifestly, he must be present at such elections, and could not possibly be so if all took place on one day. It would be better to say some clay in the latter half of June, to be publicly notified and the anuual meeting of ratepayers which by clause 63 is fixed for the second Monday in June, could be made to necessarily take place on the clay fortnight previous to the date fixed for the election, and thus both events could be made to take place in the month of June. In the voting power of ratepayers at elections a considerable change is made. A s the rating is fixed on the capital value of pi'operty, so also is the number of votes which one ratepayer shall exercise If rated on not more than £1000, ones, vote ; more than £1000, but less than £2000, two votes ; more than £2000 but less than £'3000, three votes; more than £3000, but less than £7500, four votes ; at £7500 or upwaids, five votes. There again is a flaw in the provision. How many votes will the man have who is rated on property worth exactly £2000 and £3000. Want of .space prevents our more than merely glancing afc the proposed rating powers of boards. As we have said, the limit is three farthings in the £on the capital value. In addition to the general rate boards may, when the district is sub-di-vided, make separate rates for the separate sub-divisions, bu f . no .such separate rate may together with the general rate aforesaid, exceed the amount of three farthings in the £. One-twentieth of each such .separate rate becomes part of the revennc of the whole road district, but the remaining nineteen-twenticthsmust be expended in the particular division of the district from which it is raised. A special rate of the same amount as the general late may be made on the whole district, or on a sub-division of it to meet cases of emergency, but only on petition of two-thirds of the ratepayers in either case. Eespecting the audit, section 99, and others relating thereto, are merely a transcript of the corresponding clauses of the Counties Act, and could, we think, with advantage be eliminated from the bill, and in lieu thereof the ratepayers bo allowed to elect their own auditors as now. By the provisions for auditing in the new bill, the ratepayers will have to send their accounts to to the county auditor in Auckland, on the 30th April, and that gentleman is permitted to retain them until the 30th May. One good provision in the new moasure we had almost forgotten, the financial year of road boards to to be made to correspond with this of the colony from the Ist April at 31st March.

i The earthwork approaches to the new Karapiro bridge are' now 'under way, and will :be ready contemporaneously with the bridge. It is announced that the members of the Co mus Dramatic > Club will give a .private xlraniatio performance '-in the Oddfellow's Hall, Hamilton, on Monday, { the 2'3nd hist., to honorary members and.

friends only. Those who desire to become honorary members are requested to communicate with the honuiary secretary, MrS. K. G. Smith, Hamilton. Divine service in the Presbytorian Church, Hamilton, on Sunday was conducted by tho Rev. Mr McNicol. On Sunday nevt the Rev. MrC.mipk is expected to officiate. The Alexandra Football Club is once mine in existence, and i^ open to reeeivu chalk nges from any ot!u;r clnb, providing the game be pla\ed on their own ground, whcie ample refreshments will be provided for the visiting team. The A.O. are making great improvements in Ak-\a \dra, The swamp in Queen-street will f-o mi bo a thing of the past. A p.irty of gentlemen are expected from Auckland shortly. They intend to make a mid ois the rabbits which are unusually numerous this season. It is a •wonder that now pheasaut shooting is over sportsmen do not take advantage of the leaser game. Business people are beginning to appreciate the new bridge, as it renders Alexandra more accessible to the natives who are anxiously looking forward to the formal opening of the bridge. Mr A. Bach, so long and favourably known in Cambridge in connection with the Criterion Hotel there, is to be the future host of the Royal Hotel, Hamilton, having secured that hostelry from Mr Gumming. The Royal has always been a favourite house of call in the past, and we hope it will be none the less so under the proprietary of Mr Bach. We are in receipt of the current number of the Illustrated New Zvahtutl Herald. In addition to numerous other well executed engravings, the number contains a spirited likeness of f \\\\\ hiao and his queen, Paiihauraki, together with a seiies of views taken at tho late meeting at Whatiwhatihoc. Altogcth t the present issue is an improvenvnt upon many of its predecessors. The Pakuranga harriers arrived in Waikato yesterday, in chaigo oi Mr T. Brown The meet takes place at the Ciiterion Hotel, Cambridge, at 11 o'clock to-day, at which hour a iiee luncheon will be given by Mr E. Hewitt. The hounds will then be taken to Mr J. S. Buckland's place, where they avill throw off. It is expected that there will be a large gathering of spoitsmcn. On Thursday the meet will be at Hautapii. The remains of the Lord Abbot Alcock, 0.5.8., were interred in their temporary resting-place, near the Church of S. Francis de Sales, Auckland, on Sunday. The ceremony at S. Benedict's Church, Newton, was a most impressive one, a large number of the clergy of the diocese, including Fathers Luck and O'Gara, of Waikato, a&sisting. The large church was crowded on the occasion, and many were unable to obtain admission. A petition to have the site of the railway station, Caambridge line, near the propei ty of Mia Hannon, Victoria Road, altered, is being largely signed in the T«imaliere district. The petitioners pray that it may be placed on the Tamahera bide of the Mangouc creek,, near the junction of the properties of the Auckland Agricultural Company and Messrs Douglas, where it will convenience a much larger number of settlers than would be the case were the presently contemplated site adopted. Mr J. S. Buckland will hold a special sale of shorthorn stock, the property of Mr A. Ramsay, on tho fai in, Uangiaohia, about the first wck in September. The stock will include u'v) choice cows and heifers by the pure bulls Alarmist and British King, and in calf to the pure bull Lord Stevenson, four young bulls by Lord Stevenson, and the bull Lord Stevenson himself. This sale will provide an excellent opportunity to breeders for improving their herds. The cricket match, Australians v. Players of England concluded on Saturday, thn 12th inst., and resulted in an easy victory for the Englishmen. The Players in their first innings scored 322, Read being the top scoter with 130. The Australians put together 150 in their first innings, and being 172 behind had to follow on, but only succeeded in adding 130 to the total score, thus leaving the Englishmen victors by one innings and 35 runs. The bowling and fielding of the Players were splendid, and the visitors could not take any liberties with them. At the Police Court, Hamilton, yesterday, before Mr Northcroft, R.M., Mam ice Kioley was charged with having been drunk while in charge of a horse the previous day in Hamilton East. Sergt. McGovcrn who piosecuted, said the defendant, who was dead drunk, had been thrown from his horse and had remained insensible for over three hours, and the services of Dr. Beale were necessary. The defendant was fined 20s and costs, including 10s 6d doctor's fee, or 14 days imprisonment. The money was paid. Some very fine specimens of long red mangolds, grown on the farm of Mr S. T. Seddon, Knighton, Hamilton, are at present on view at the Hamilton Hotel. One of the roots weighed 48lbs and the other 341bs, after being taken out of the ground and topped. They are part of the produce of an acre of mangolds, the total yield of which has been variously estimated at from 30 to 40 tons. The result would have been even more satisfactory but for the ravages committed by slugs, which thinned out the plants pretty considerably. As jit is, however, it affords additional testimony to the peculiar adaptability of the Waikato to the growth of root crop 3. A man named Samuel Rose was brought before the Court, at Cambridge, yesterday morning, and charged by Constable Brennau with a breach of the 152 nd section of the Licensing Act, by having refused to leave the licensed premises of Mr R. Kirkwood, on Sunday morning last. Also, under the Vagrant Act, 1869, with using threatening and abusive language towards Mr R. Kirkwood on the same day. The evidence went to show that accused was found iv the Duke of Cambridge Hotel on the morning in question, and when requested to leave refused, and used the language complained of. His Worship thought both charges proved, and imposed a fine of £4, or in default, one months' imprisonment on the first charge, and on the second charge a fine of £8 was imposed, or in default, two months' imprisonment, both sentences to run concurrently. His Lordship the Bishop of Auckland,«accompanied by Mrs Cowie, arrived in Hamilton on Saturday. In the afternoon the churchwardens and vestrymen of S. Peter's church, Hamilton, waited on the bishop at Gwynne's Cottage to confer with him on matters affecting the welfare of the parish, the appointment of an incumbent, &c. Nothing definite was done and the vestry agreed to meet again in a fortnight to further consider tho position. On Sunday morning His Lordship took the , service at S. Peter's, preaching from the text, I Cor., 12th chap,,' 7th y.,< "But I the manifestation of the spirit is given to every -man • to" j profit withal." -In, the '• afternoon, j as,? reported, dsew-here,^ the bishop >" dedicated the, 'bells, of f ,S. • Andrew's Church',- Cambridge, the evening preached, in. the same, .church ,from i tne\text, Romans, yi.? 22nd v., , " But now being made' free from sin, aril

become servants to God, ye liave your' fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." The following are the names of the men who are to represent Waikato in^the football match against Auckland at Hamilton, on Saturday next : — Full book 3 :'Uvierson aiidßkzeSl ; half-bacVs, Wood and Dalziel ; quarter-backs, Ring and Lang ; forwards, MoNicol, Halls, N. Hunt, K. Pilling, Sheath, Cussen, Cotton, Grey and Barton ; with Graham and Coleman as emergencies. It will be aeen that the team has been w ell-chosen, ! all the best niim in the district, including several of the Armed Constabulary team who distinguished themselves in the last contest, having been selected. Mr Collins, of the Armed Constabulary, has consented to act as umpire. We understand some changes have been made in the Auckland team, and that it will comprise the following : — Henderson, Y. Bindon, Carter, F. White, Orchard, Biggs, Yon Stunner, Ansley (2), Sims, T.'tiibbin, Newell, Braund, R. Whiteside and Davy. The Argus contains a long sketch of SkobelofF, the celebrated Russian general who has just come to an untimely end, from the pen of Archibald Forbes, of all Englishmen undoubtedly the best qualified to depict the dead soldier's career. In this obituary article there occurs the following passage : "His Turkoman campaign was toilsome thankless work, and I know that he pitied his mission to exterminate. He had little happiness in the last few years of his life. His father died suddenly when he was in Asia, and the cruel assassination of his mother, whom he fondly loved, was a blow w hich I fancy he never recovered. He had no married life, although lie was mariic<l before I knew him. flis marriage was one of the strangest episodes in his> c\ciitful career. He loved a lady, I think of the Kropotkin family, and she flouted him ; ht> persevered, and he h'lully won her affection. Then he mar- | licdhei. As they left the church after the ceremony. SkobelofF quitted her with a low )>o\v, ,uid nover spoke to her again, lie took in this fashion a not quite chivalrous \ evenge foi the despite with which his first advances had been met He was not of noble f.nnily ; his grandfather began lite as a private soldier, but his sister, since the war, married one of the Leuchtenborgs, first cousins of the present Empeior." ,

11. Cashol, surveyor assistant, Cambridge, has filed a declaration of insolvency. Mr W. Macgregor Hay has been appointed solicitor to the Alexandra Town Hoard. The Borough Council of Hamilton in\itc_ tenders from competent engineers for a drainage scheme for Hamilton. Owners and occupiers of land in the town of Alexandra, having 1 fnize extending on the road are notified to clear the same within one month. Mr J. S. Bucldand will sell at the National Hotel, Cambridge, on Saturday, 2(ith August, draught colts and fillies, hacks, ponies, farm waggons, &c. We direct special attention to the prospectus of St. Heliers and Northcote Land Company (Limited). Applications for shares will be received in Hamilton by Mr George Edgecumbc. A large number of the improved skimcoulters made by Mr T. Gemmoll, implement m.ikei of Cambridge, have h.id an extensive trial on the Matamata estate this year, a-id ha\e proved the* most successful of their kind ever used on the estate. So pleased has the proprietor, Mr Firth, been with this new addition to his single and double-furrow ploughing implements, that Ik* has gi\en an extensive order to the maker for i fui thcr supply. (Advt.) The new pure cash system now being niti.ited by G. and C. will crtamly pro\e i benefit to the public. It has been a •jioit success in Sydney and Melbourne, and whi*n strictly carried out the customer who bins at an establishment where the goods arc marked low to ensure a rapid sale must be a srrfat gainer. G. and C. sell their drapery, millinery, and clothing at such prices for cash as gives the buyer the advantages of .1 shareholder in a co-operati\c society, without the risk of being called upon to bear a portion of the loss should the j car'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 they gam or lose the first year Country buyers on remitting cash withordei will bo supplied with goods at co-opcrat\e 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 t'.rned out at our own factory, willbe marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a discount of jhc per cent, will be allowed to those who pay :it the time of purchase. G.'and C. having reali&ed the entire value of theirstock during their late cash s.ilc, the present stock is new \xd chi-api.y noudii. — An inspection invited. — Garmck and Ckavwkll, City Hal) Furnishing: Arcade Queen trcet, Auckland