THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1661, 27 February 1883, Page 2

THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to alt men, Ot whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawcd by influence and uubribed by gain.

TUESDA T, FEB. 27, 1883.

A shout time ago, it will be remembered, the Cambridge West School Committee thought it incumbent upon them to meet together to consider whether or not it was advisable to bring the compulsory clause of the Education Act into force in the district. This step was taken for the reason that there were known to be a number of children in the neighbourhood, between the ages of eight and twelve, who wore no further advanced than the 2nd •Standard. The committee, after duly discussing tlu't question, decided in the first place to adopt the milder cour&e of writing to the parents, with the understanding that should the latter still persist in keeping their children away from the school, the compulsory clause should be adopted. Now the fact of such a proceeding being warranted in the case of the Cambridge West Committee, if it indicates anything, points to the conclusion that the advantages offered by our educational system are wantonly rejected, more or less, in other places. There is no reason for believing thai Cambridge West is singular, but, on the contrary, ample grounds for concluding- it is not. The benefits derivable from education are so manifold and so apparent that we wonder a parent who gives any thought at all to the future well-being of those who have been placed under his care, should be found to neglect his duty in this respect. It may be that there are those who care nothing for the worldly prospects of their children ; who think they are redeeming their obligations by clothing and feeding their offspring until they are strong enough to go out to work. With such as these it is hard to deal. They are clearly not amenable to reason. It is somewhat paradoxical, it is certainly not a little amusing to note, that men of this character are generally heard decanting on the wrongs of the working classes, and denouncing institutions which have served to widen the gulf that yawns between the rich and the poor. It is amusing,' we say, to notice that men who cry out against those in higher stations should deprive their offspring of the surest means of bridging over the chasm which lies between what they are and what they desire to .be, and might become. But men of- this stamp cave little what becomes of the next generation, They will let that take care of itself, jlave not they had to take care of themselves? This is how they would ai'o-ue. They wanfc the fleshpots themselves ; it would profit them little to know whether those who came . after rosa or fell in the social and intellectual scale, and so they make the best use of tb<t opportunities by making the children. wmk> In too many cases, we fear, the money go earned finds its way behind hotel across which the socialreformer fcaans, until closing-up.time finds :liinv rctoctantly; gqing home, with bleary eyes* m-d somewhat unsteady gait? * }^ith .j^ltTofthte stamp there is ' ob'viousty wiljy^one way of dealing^ » In .whate^i? $gfc,t,| tlie Stafcc ; may 'regard ; their 5 own manner of living, prpbal^ly. a. manner voluntarily 1 adopted ft is clearly its dtx'fcy as : 'faf ias 'possible 0 f&o that justice is 'done to 1 ihe'ywi'rig, I t , There are,' doubtless,; toiaiiy Mm] AHtU^okl'tfe.chlldren'frbm-.schoot wore foojn. jgnor^cpe. pr^K^ughtless-, ness than-any thing; j'eUe^. 'a*uL jthese it is possible to approach in ft much -shpwi tksim7>ss>9mhWs>h Z their childrea to gi^t^e^JAx^hesP education "the : «|^©^P^9}^??>'*;|| U^ sthat"'it5 that" 'it i^^M^*^^!^P°l^j^<^!?i^

that tho'g& gro\vitfg <v i!ip^aVouucl us, and to whom j*ojiis» day wo shall jiuiv^, to relinquish I*'tli61 *' tli6 direction of fa'ffairb, ar,o "endjowed with, all that jgocjfjs to rencU'r ihe.wv capable of initelHgpnbly exercising the functions 'of^Citizensliip, -they- will, wo trust, bo convinced of the" folly of thnir present course. Let UvS hope so, at any rate. '-I.here is something very distasteful r i§ '.'tile ' r tjislc of" compelling tnen to do Avliat ought tp be a .sacred duty, and if they can be guidod into the right way it is better than to drug them thither. But in any case they niusi go.

Sir John Hall and his family were passengers to England by the Lady Jocelyu, which sailed from Wellington on Satin day. A cable message informs us that the Kngtish Waterloo Cup has been won by Mr Alexander's (log Wildment, beat, ing Mr Deighton's Snowflight. Professor Bickerton, at a lecture at Christchurch on Friday night, tested the supposed diamonds found by Mr Jacobsen, and declared them not to be diamonds. Since the resumption of the nominated immigration system, 3116 nominations, representing 4515^ statute adults, have been despatched for the cntiie colony, the amount received being £13,G57 los. The last of the series of cases prefened by the Ntf.itikawhata natives, against Mr R. B. Walker an<l party, will come on for healing at the KM. Court, Cambridge, to-morrow. It is expected that these will be withdrawn by Mr ,Hay. The American goods lately opened up by Mr A. Campbell, Hamilton East, are well worthy of inspection, comprising, as they do, so many neat household requisites, lightly and cleverly designed, and a great improvement upon the old-fashioned articles. The copious rain which fell during Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, has had a wonderful effect on the pastures throughout Waikato. The clistrict, which at the beginning of last week was as, brown as a beny, now presents a blight emerald appearance. We have not heard of any serious damage occasioned by the rain in Waikato proper. The delay in the arrival of the tiain from Auckland yesterday was caused by damage to the embankment near Pukekohe. About two chains of the road had been washed away at this place, stopping the traffic and necesbitatmg the transfer of the different passengers and luggage from one train to the other. We are sorry to have to report that Mr Firth has snffered considerable loss through the interruptions to his harvest operations caused by the late wet weather. Theic are still some 700 acres of wheat standing which cannot now be saved, while much of that already cut was greatly damaged. Mr Firth's loss will amount to several thousand pounds, as the crop was an exceptionally good one. The Premier is expected to return to Wellington some time next week. Immediately after Mr Whitaker's return, Major Atkinson will go South on a lengthened tour through the interior. The Colonial Secretaiy (Hon. T. Dick) will leave Wellington to-morrow, by the s.s. Wairarapa, for Lyttelton, on his way to Dunedin. A culvert on the Hamilton-Piako road near Morrin's> boundary was broken through on Friday night by a threshing machine, which, luckily, was not injuied. Fortunately, the engineer to the Waitoa Road Board was in the disti ict, and the following morning he despatched a party of men with timber &c. and at once executed the necessary repairs. The traffic, therefore, was not impeded in the least. It will be seen by our report of the proceedings of the Native Lands Court, Cambridge, for the past two days, that the long pending "Waotu case has again come to a dead-lock, in consequence of the Judge and the Assessor not being able to arrive at an unanimous decision. A good deal of disappointment was expressed by the public generally when it became known that Chief Judge Macdonald would not arrive in Cambridge yesterday afternoon, as was expected, as it was generally believed he would be instrumental in effecting au immediate settlement of the difficulty. The income tax returns from Ireland have been published, and show that the taxes have been paid most punctually :in fact, that there are practically no arrears. The Statesman wonders at this, and surmises that payment to Government is regarded by the Irish as more of a duty than payment to Individuals. We are sure that Paddy would .reply, no doubt it is. If he pays Goverment sharp, the tax, won't be increased ; but if he pays the landlord, when rent is due, his rent will be raised. This is simply a case of faelf-dcfence. The blame of such a state of things' 'must fall on the unscrupulous extortioners. A native chief named Hopa, accompanied by several others, waited on the Hon. Mr Bryce at Auckland on Saturday \ to request permission to have a large block of land south of Kihikihi surveyed, with a view to having the title determined by the Native Lands- Court. Mr Bryce said that the desire to have the title to land determined by the Court was a very proper one. As to the survey, that was a proper thing also, but it was desirable that the survey should be a correct oue, and to secure that, it was highly dosirable that a Government trig survey should be made fii'st, A trig survey had nothing to do with the buying aud selling of land, or even wiih the ascertainment of title, except that it would help towards an accurate survey. A survey of that description would immediately be undertaken, and after that there would be no objection to ordinary surveys proceeding, The deputation acquiesced, and appeared pleased with the result of the interview.— Herald, The Hon. Mr Rolleston informed deputations from the Thames and Coromandel, on Saturday, that, with a view to pnepurage thorough prospecting of reefd in go}4bparjng districts, the Government was progarerftq n^e atrangemenjts for the introduotfon' Of diamond drills, through the county councils' or otherwise. The principle upon which this is to be done will be, that rhe Government will find, say, half the <Jost of the drills, that the Government 1 will then subsidise within certain' fixed limits the work done by the drills ; the work to be/Jonp 00 some systematic plan, to be appiw* $ by the Mines Department. Ifc w co»i£i»plM VW& Bn&B n & .9* '*]» CD ?4 i ' tiom Wil}- fa *h# l se cores obtoed jn the (Merest §fcra& s}?oii}d\,be/ ope;* Jo public inspection. l , Hi j§ 1 PWPQsed, . also, to establish in the disfcriofc JojW offices, 'specimen museums, iri which these cores, together J with . specimens' of gold, -and Other mineral products of- the district, '$# be'on r view., These collections' will proiba&ly foe supervised by 'some Go'vem-f men,t officer, who will place. any persons who de'sire'it, ' andTwUb' feriog specimens t or- examination^, jtf .fconEfectioii^iili |hej t central museuro,\HV order /that^the speck ' mens may -fee, analysed .oKidentified. We ( (ibvaM) I understand- -that^ !Nlr J Gordon'; shortly visit tWWQrLfiMlQbld&elds. Mr .ThdniaV! vMnnft»s£ tl«&tsion JJanfe of Australia, who? it ,wul~te i»'membert|i,'« {met' * with «! ■"severg {m^ilis^agoz/wbilefejouv^eylngi^peweeu.'; !B)amUt(^tja)id ; j|N^&rtt^^|u^^|riJ^ttsJ^n(

skill of Dr Philson, win was avoided, and although at present tl& ankle is weak and Mr Witlliititt; has, to j go about with a crutch,, hra-^j-y sHortitim^ he ,jvill be able to dispeii's'o ( withi'^his,' 1 and he thinWi that in i&jfe\v the afFected part will be ;tw strong as ever.' ?Mii Knight, who hasffijled Mr \Vallnntt'spla(!e"\lumig liis illitesh-; 1 leaves by train^for the i^ubk*land office to-"dny, and his departure will be very generally regretted by all who have had the pleasure of his acquaintance. • , - *~ «