The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1672, 24 March 1883, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and evict justirc to .ill men, Ot \vuritMjo\or st.ito or persuasion, religious or i i politic al. , FTi-ic sli.Ul tlu 1 l'i css the People's ritfh*- maintain, Umuvud by nilluciiLC and unbribud by gain.

SA TURD AY, 21 A RCH li t, 1883.

Nativjj obstruction to the Govei'nment exploration party in the King country has ouce more been successfully and- satisfactorily overcome ] and again Mr Ilursthousp's party has beqn allowed to proceed on their mission, this time, we learn, well guarded against further obstruction or molestation. It is a noticeable fact that their protectdrs are the only paities from whom obstruction in any formrnight be considered serious, Wahanui, Wetere, and Rewi, who have taken such a favourable stand in the matter, particularly Wahanui, being the the principal owners of the land through which, Mr Hursthouse, is about to pass. .Had the obstruction, to which Mr Hm-sthouse and party have been subjected^ originated with the chiefs we have just named, or any of their ' im'tuediate followers, th'o occurrence of' Wednesday last hiighfc be 'regarded Wth no small amoirnt of apprehension by ' the colony as' a whole." ' That we are not exaggerating may be inferred I from the attitude ' assumed J>y -Mr ' Bryce on receipt of the intelligence regarding', thb ,s,ecqnd , abstraction when he threatened if a settlement; yas nbfc/>a^l^4' \&? jf 1 )) 1 ? 6 ? I "^ tyj he wpulcT proceed ""not k only ''to; ati;je"stf«lfe lobstiruiJlji^ijfsts, but would i "take 'steps* to' prevent' a r^buVrencV 'Of , their ,conduct. , ,It j§ .yeny questioii&bie-, however, i whether such) high 11 ' laugiidjje" would' have Ween 1 used in cake" b\\&' ii l opp 1 6sitiori I"had!1 "had ! cort j c ■ f r6m Wahahurfef|J¥r^/)an;d Jw'ej a're"sui;pris^cl, ! Considering I'_1 '_ tMh |ori mer , aftifcu'ffe , 'of ' ,thafc ,^'n'fl'uentialj chief, that he> has,, now, token, ,',#l6 side pi the Government against qapstiftp* WAy,% w^ptfbfc |sked ; Who gave Mr Bryce perjj)wsion,,ijp send an exploration party-rrr-an exj j •pddition bf^'OWvernhierit'ise^vSant^- ' ihto'the r ihferiorof th'O'^kihgj' c^un T try to carry out ' work f '!'\vhicH % " f we 'assume to, bfiiin rio^mall' ),elegree>qbj ■■ i-, , a"' 1 , •>'•:- \i'<" '">.', i - l -\ >,' 'A yci&^A j s?4' v ,

Ti w jiao's oig lire ffiH^m?rara|| last, wiiH not the combi i«b«%OT|tessi.pu oi in November last tantamount to a desire on the part of the natives to continue pin--a««jstftfcepof- -isolation | Certainly ifi jwasj: an& thjslbeihg soy trom whom Woe&Mr.33iyce*cl'aim-lns authority in his present proceeding. Beyond the absolute authority which lie arrogates to himself in native, jinft,ttpi[», r \jl'*e nSjghjj.answqr,. the ' expedition ' ' was| ' ' prior W Wahanui's and Rcwi's written consentj wholly' unauthorised \ and'coTrisoquontly it was but reason'ablo to expect obstruction. It has been stated by the New Zealand flerald thatvvthe'< exploration was started under auspices which were thought strong 1 -enough to carry it through" ;' but- wo Ynust atltnit 1 we fail to see wherein those auspices existed. As the obstruction has taken place on Ngatimaniapoto land, an.4,as the chief § of, t\\e i timaniapoto are favourable to the (government, the action of Mrßryee in leaving the settlement of the dispute, and the expulsion of the almost landless obstructionists in the hands of Ngati mania poto, cannot be chai'acterised as otherwise than judicious ; buij, nevertheless, we caniiot loose &ght' of the fact thai' by hastening matters in connection >vith the exploration and survey of the proposed railway — and the pro ceedings of the past few days show such a thing not at all unlikely — we might be the means of clLvidingthe natives amoii", themselves, and creating intertribal quarrels, a result which must be deprecated by every right-thinking mind, whatever the success in regard to our railway scheme. In dealing with the obstructionists, Wahanui exemplified a sense of honour which we cannot allow to pass unrecognised; and it will bo seen Mr Bryce 'was not unmindful of Wahanui's integrity and honesty of purpose when he throAV tho responsibility of further obstruction on his shoulders. Te Kooti, true to his pledge, that ho would continue a law-abiding and peaceful member of society, lias not only fulfilled his promise to the very letter, but has exceeded it inasmuch as he has exerted himself to make obstreperous natives law-abiding and peaceful members of society also. When the fact that Mr Hursthouse had been obstructed for the second time was made known, many were not backward in asserting that the Government, rather than come in conflict with the natives, would 5 abandon the idea 1 of carrying the railway through the "king" country,/ and would instead carry it round % Taupo, and thus enhance the value of private holding's in the interior, but this conclusion could not have been formed on mature — we might say unbiassed — consideration. ' Any obstruction which the Grovernmentmay experience must, of necessity be very ephemeral. The time is not far distant when the main portion of the, land will find its way into the Land Court, when the titles of owners will be individualised, and it is well known that the rcjal owners of tho land, Eewi, Wahanui, Wetere, Hauhauru and Taonui, are not averse to the opening up ■of the country. ' ; ' •

We referred lately to the success which has attended co-operation whed cartfed out. by the settlers in. the South, farmers' Ob-operatiVe Associations are there made the machinery \, 'for, performing certain beneficial functions to assist agricultural interests, and in doing so are made to paY handsome dividends to the promoteis into the bargain. And if in the South, why not in Waikato 1 ..Settlers arc beginning to see that if ».'the' scheme of erecting , granaries for the storage of wheat could have been carried out as proposed by Mr W'. ; A. Graham, so that they might have threshed and stored it in, se,curi Ly, waiting for an eligible market, in the meantime if they chose, obtaining an advance of; say 60 or 80 per cent, upon it. "They would' by this hieails have saved that margin of profit *in itself which would frequently decide whether the 1 crop was a payable one or not. , "With flour at its present price in Auckland, the farmer should receive from 5s -to 5s Gd per bushel for his wheat., As it is he obtains only 4s to 4s 6d at the utmost. ', ( „ , , ' So again in the, case of beef aud J mutton. ' The difficulties "which were paraded when the "Waikatd scheme was set afoot, at once disappear ivnen a 1 few Auckland capitalists take the matter in hand, as tho Mataura's cargo is, we .hear, already r filled up,. But why .can the Waikatb" settlers not r ,sp "by association wliat^a few- capitalists can so easily "bring about? It is true the Mataura's cargo is shipped for and' on account of the,, several consignors, butliow long can this be expected to continue, the, system would only 1 suit occasionally, ,and then could only be taken advantage > of by the larger stoekow r ners, Be* fore long!- we shall find the. ! Fisher' Conrpany or! some kindred in^tituv- ', tion extending \ their > operations, ' providing! 1 refrigerating 1 ' depots',' '#!c., j and .preparing 1 as ' in, the M past ! to tako the lion's share -ofi the profits, using tlie' t , kejitJers' . as a ' .means ' tp i that end: the raw materialion' which they wort,, tKe la^t'eviheing.s^t^lft'e'dl with the mere picking of the bones, [ In the ■ f iSoiith I ' 'these ' matters ares work'edbyaßiHg-) it'is'tru'e, 'huVaHrig-j so ex^eh ! de r d'-a's >ii 'to^ceh,ye' f t 6 be a iiu|ijibj|Q^J a co-parfoidrsliipl r of ' v A* 60-operaj;ive| meat freezing ' company ° i^oVked byi the'setflers'thoraselvcs ivbuld ibring the wh'6le; T or^aflyJthi& l whole of the) <po"c v ke^s ,011't^q^e, >yho it raised^ |he( 'befef' and- mutiEoni *andf h&dsi the^.bestj right to look fop $hem. A/f«f tjeeziiig ,schemei,,w>r f^a^y. ( a I mo49pol|^i«ai -to''?af cerjiain^ ejft^nt ?\ ben.Q^|'l |tl?Q'

go to the compttiij|* The fanner will be in much th« fame position, ah ever. J^iJ^tl^irßS^lth^fejjlfl^ he will smiplyihupj chnjnged iig/Lo^ for King ?sto|j& Tjsp fail ie\ has a\ ways bjih Jm aifjt excel tioMl ly I false posiKon^Jl(i?P^s to buy, and if he will not give the storekeeper's price the latter just keeps his ctQods-xilljr-thiV-faupier co|ueaj to tern^s; but wjien |th'e^ Mtarnier goes to sell, l f and t-the 'iiafcurj' of his stock is such that will not permit of being held over as in the storekeeper's case, it is not ho that fty^Hhe, pi^iee; 'ljut j,ho, [middleman Hvhcf says'" we 'are' 'only giving *so and so (irrespective of whether the fafriier can profitably 'pro- 1 d uce, i., at such . a price or not),' and if that price won't suit I oan't buy." Now fchis is the state of things the -> settlers here must put their heads together to subvert. The middle-man ;has the game in his~ hands, 'simply because ho is easily able to combine with dthers of his class, but the' farmers rire isolated arid require' some groat pressure upon, t-hem ,io, bring about dohosion. The Soutli has proved the remedy co-ojieration affords: "\Vailfato must, follow the example. Nay, "Waikato herself lias proved it. I'Ji'e" To Awamutu cheese factory lias shown what the farmers ca"nMo' in the manufacture and 'sale of one product ; 'and if 0116, why not in' others ? Tho individual farmer if lie had taken his. eheose to the middlo-maiV would have had fro have taken tho middle-man's price, and, besides that, to have taken out more or les^ of it in goods, \yhich, probably, he could have bought much cheaper for cash. Now, by co-operation, ho gets ' the full market valuo for his cheese — it is stated that that manufactured at Te Awamutu realised 7d. per pound by the ton — and what is more, he gots hard cash in exchange. These are matters which our readers will do well to, think over. For the present we shall content ourselves with having again raised the qucstiou of co-operation. On an oarly occasioii we shall push the matter closer home.