ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1580, 19 August 1882, Page 2

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Gkeat satisfaction was felt here last Saturday when it became known that Mr Montgomery's "no-confidence" motion had been negatived. The majority of the Auckland members have behaved nobly m this matter. They sank all considera tion for the district they represented ; they ignored the claims of their constituents ; they meanly turned against the Government which had, at their request, made separate provision for the Auckland and Taranaki railway, in such a manner that the money to be borrowed to carry it out could be used for no other purpose ; and all this they did for the sole purpose of turning out the Ministry. It was the old, old atory of the "ins" and the " outs." I am sorry for poor Mr Dargaville. He said in the House on Monday evening that he honoured the Government for the provision they proposed for Auckland, and that it grieved him to have, for party purposes, to vote agailist the bill. Yes ! lam sorry for Mr Dargaville, but I am more sorry for the Government, for I consider it an insult to them to be honoured by such a man. What right had Mr Dargaville to be connected with a party which would try to oust the Government from office, for attempting to make proper provision for the construction of the Auckland and Taranaki railway,? None whatever. No man ever entered the House more free from party ties than Mr Dargaville. He was supported by friends and foes of the Ministry, because it was believed that he was a man of considerable ability, who would be independent and vote for any measure Avhich would be for the benefit of Auckland. He has proved how little ground there was for the belief, by his great financial speech, which was a very " sick" attempt, and by allying himself with Mr Montgomery in his attempt to defeat the Government on the North Island Loan Bill. Sir George Grey acted nobly in supporting the. bill. History informs us that Nero was playing 1 the fiddle while Rome was burning. Sir George Grey was away at a tea-fuddle while Auckland's interests were at stake, but he had done his best to conserve those interests by pairing against them. There is something grand, though simple, in his telegram to Mr J. M. Shera, who- telegraphed to him, "The, railway to Taranaki is our creed." His reply was, railway our object, and desire concur, in your views." Well did hetryto^fnrther the object— by pairing, which is'virtually voting against it. I musts express my admiration of. the way in which this'great and good man saved a penny by omitting ting little word "to," which should have been inserted between "desire" and "concur.'^ However, I hope that the, day of vengeance is not far distant. If, at the next elections, the "free and independent" return a single man of Sir George Grey's band of traitors, allsLhave to sayjisfthat tjiejr ,are traitors themselves and\4eserye to be represented by traitors. '* If I "bad my way those who z voted, against our railway should^ t have a , fitting, reception on ,tK|ejr return, t and, aa a consequence of tliap fitting reception, ! there would be a considerable advance in I tlieiprices 6itoib&d e£gs andfiajpind feathers. • p JilPil^ ."! '>'•' » Tlie returns of tHe) tacljnftßraUabili 1 'tie's ; of «the Several banks* doTngejilfusmesa ''in the c'dlony forsthequarter ending 30th" June last, have just been published; and « | ttfey reveal the fact? that *t there's' some-' 1 ' thing rotten' hfthcH state of Denmark^ Itiappearsythat/^the < variou& )banks have ; deposits, not Rearing " intere«jp.^ tor tne bearing interest, (about 4, per centpnly) At appears that T there' arej. as^nearly^aij poSsMe^eight;, MftJwifainqfltopQ sterling lyiog inthebanka, 1-*1 -* waiting for per-

marie^PJand profitable investments. I tsj^uu/iinftgine that, in view of thii fact, it ought not to be necessary to go to London for the four millions which are shortly to be borrowed, but that the whole amount could be raiaed in the colony, which would be a great boon, as the interest to be paid would not require to be sent away— a continual drain on our resources. There should be no difficulty iv borupwingTfpurt*miUions out of the deposits which' are nofrbWing interest. That would' leave a balance of <no return. I know a^verv respectable man (basbfu)nesa_forbids me iq mention his name,, but it will be found at the foot this*"coinmn) wha^wouleFbe very^willing to borrow that littler sum, on excellent personal security, at a reasonable rate .of interest, and to, guarantee the present 'owners of the money '"that it would be put to very good use. ' Our Cafe* was gorgeously' decollated last Friday evening, the occasion being a farewell banquet given to Mr Griffin, who has been for some r years past United States Consul here, and who took his departure for his native land by theS.S, Australia op Tuesday. , I need not say that tlie banquet was all that ' £ould Ibe desired in the way ; of- ; eatables "and drinkables, as that goes without Ssasyig. The main feature was the speeches^Bplivered ( on the occasion. Though none of the principal' speakers— our (Mayor, Mr Griffin and Mr J. C. Firth— are orators, their speeches are well worth reading. ' \ perhaps Mr Griffin may be accusad of having " piled on the agony" a little tqo much when speaking of the glorious future ; , in, store for Auckland, nut I believe he was sincere in all 'he said, and I, as firmly believe that his prognostications will, sooner or later be fulfilled. He made one slight mistake in supposing that he was jbhe originator of the idea that , Auckland would Ultimately extend from the, Waitemate to the Manukau and ! from 1 the Tamaki to the Whau. * "-To giye' the devil his due," I must admit my belief that that idea originated with f Sir^ Geprge Grey, but, of course, that was'years ago, before he became a leader of radicals and. a champion of down-trodden serfs, andf before he prophesied, with an evident' ardent hope that his piophecy would be fulfilled, that he' would live to see the grass growing in the streets of Auckland. I was considerably' amused at a remark made to a friend of mine by Mr Griffin some time ago. Talking about the Auckland people, 'he' said, '" There is ] one thing that strikes me, and that is that the Auckland people are just about the most dismal-looking people I have ever seen. " Well ! ,if anyone had asked me last week to point out the most dismallooking, man in Auckland, ;I should have had no hesitation in^pointiiig out Mr G. XV. Griffin. However/ he was an excellent man for the" position- he held, as he furnished' the Government of his own country with most Valuable reports on the resources and productions of New Zealand, and I heartily wish him bon voyage 1 . .(Metn'i No extra charge for the French j) . , , , „ Apropos of voyage, I heard a rather good story about a yoiing man who recently came out' to. Auckland from the "old country." He was particularly fond of boasting about the splendid ap* pointment he was to get when he arrived here 5 (he got a minor clerkship, in one of the banks) and particularly careful to spend very little money, and .that little on his noble self. 'He was anxious to get an albatross, so he told some of the sailors that if they would get him one, he would give them a bottle of brandy. After a considerable amount of trouble, the sailors succeeded in -catching one of those " eagles of the sea,"; and, of course, expected to receive the promised reward. TUe generous youth had a bottle, which had been full of brandy, but he had drunk three-fourths of its contents. ,He filled up the bottle with water and gave it to the sailors. They soon discovered the fraud, but said nothing about it. However, for the rest of the voyage, whenever they were hauling ropes, &c, they introduced the story of the bottle of brandy into their "hilly hauly '.' song. By-the-bye, to return to that "no. confidence " debate, I notice that the Herald* special correspondent says that Sir George Grey was asked to pair against the North Island Loan Bill, and refused to do so. That may be so, but he certainly did not speak in favor of the bill, his followers all, voted against it, and the Press Association telegraphed that he had paired with Mr. AUwright at/ain&t it. To put the,thing very mildly, either the Herald's special or the representative of the Press Association must have been misinformed, or Sir George Grey paired after having said he would not do so, or the Opposition Whip, knowing his wishes, paired him without receiving authority from him to do so. St. Mongo,