COMMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1682, 17 April 1883, Page 2

COMMENTS.

Wj; livt in a beautiful land, there is no mistake about that ; but are we not just a trifle fond of gushing about it, not exactly lying, but elongating the truth as it were ? Everybody who visits our shores is ready and eager to acknowledge that we possess undoubted advantages as a colony, that our pastures are green, our crops plenteous, our scenery grand in tho"e\treine, and our climate unexceptionable. But this by no means satisfies us. These strangers do not, it seems, blow the trumpet avc hang at our doors loudly enough, ami bo we take to blowing blasts on it ourselves in the intervals. This little peculiarity of some of our number has been parodied with much neatness by a correspondent of the Sydney Echo in an article on this colony. This is how he concludes :— " Already there strikes upon the tympanum of the prophotic ear the son nil of the footsteps of that marching phalanx which in the near future i* going to precipitate the country into a nation (to use the phrase of one of its public men.) The evidences of its future groatnesa are becoming more and more conclusive every day, and I hope I shall not be charged with upending m the language of exaggeration when I my that this remarkable country, peopled by thrifty, energetic, intelligent colomsts, ruled by able, patriots public men, influenced by a free awl high - toned Press, unsurpassed for Its commercial position, unrivalled in its* natural beauties, rich in ita varied treasures of wealth, must become - rich in all the truest and highest elements of national greatness ; and when the protest dynasties of to-day shall have crumbled to the dust : when the vigorous life and splendvj refinement of thU Nineteenth century shall have given place to ft higher culture and a purer morality, the student of history poring over its pages will fliul it there recorded in letters of living fire, how that, under the peerles glory of the Southern Cross, i\w muse of. New Zealand .sprang from its eittJumambient seas, like Minerva' full panoplied from the brain of Jove, to listen to fclio bursting clarion of an exalted community, aud to gaze with rapture on the sweeping chivalry of an ennobW nation." This is severe, but it is just. , Wa don't want to hear our fellow colonists oryi»g "stinknw fish" but they might, lievfijrtljalow. moderate their voices, a little ad; vejrfcisiug the fresh article', • ■' *

America is the homfe of the free. HeY widely-opene4 arms' are ever ready to receive the outewt', the -wanderer and the exile, and thortgh nhe does, in follow-, ing this philanthropic welcome vagabonds, without numbeV, ,&U honour to her generous nature. The PfH^d States, Government v offer an, asylum, to the people of,, every, nation,, and for this we say they are to be honoured, but surely the object i» view is the settlement , of -their, pwn, gfeat country and the increase of their natldtmf weal^i ? It is not probable that Uncle Sam's purpose was to establish a society of auarchists, >vith the ultimate , purpose of upsetting' law and order 1 on the other siqe of the herring pondjaud^yet it seenio

very niud^lik^it^t^^^^jias long been the home of tliWcniajis, mftl seated uomtortnhlv in their HVtti- chAira pi New ■JYork^Mr Hibssa and hWcommltriots have fj^asures fqiphe apieM of the Jgosftfll of uyhntiiitejwi|fsre3u{|ponly too apparent. UlTh^y lfyv&ppt rn^cjn secret, oh JA'denr' /no ; ?t}\tiyshaM\ employed evebvtlioyjjnblic promulgate their schemes. The Government, moanwhile, perfectly satisfied thafc no danger threatens the American constitution, are utterly earclejjs ot -thp fate )( of the European g|ates.' I'jui there 'is nt^ present on American soil a gentleinani w'fyoip it will pay the authorities to watch carefully for their own sakes. Hia name, Heir Most, is familiar to English readers ;h the editor of the FtrVirit, ii pnpor publiaheil in London for the advocacy of inurdei^ • IFfi'd', JJritiih pjilflic .didn't i'«ip-' piecia'tie"him or his work, and he spent a portion of his valuable time in an English prfaonT T3ut" the* "American "air suitd him. Breathing that he is free to say what he likes, and he avails himself of the privilege, as witness the following remarks which he addressed to 1 a public meeting at Chicago lately :- - "The entire world was conducted on false doctrines, and in detriment to the interests ,of the great mass of the people. Therefore, everything now 'in governmental existence must be destroyed. The people were now ready, and when they did begin the good work there must be no lukewarmness, no hesitation or backwardness or ( t faltering., ( They ,must kill. They must kill every one now ruling over the people in this country (America) as well as in Europe. It was a question simply of who was to get killed, and the people must provide against the contingency. The necessity of money should not be overlooked. That m ould be easy to get. Every bank in Europe, and America should be gutted, There must b'c no forgiveness, nothing but'cold, implacable, inexorable ' and certain de.ith." What will our cousina do with him ? Will they hang him, or will they give him a seat in Conyres.i ?

It is a matter of much surprise that no attempt lias been made to resuscitate the Cambridge Bra^s nnd Reed Band, an institution which in its time was considered our of the foremost in the province. When the band entered upon the second term of its existence, about twelve months ayo, it seemed to promise success. The Cambridge public gave practical proof of their sympathy by agreeing to subscribe annually ; and in return for this consideration the members of the band during the succeeding winter entertained the public to a cheap musical entertainment once a-week, and otherwise assisting nt public gatherings by rendering their services, which, we arc all agreed, were very acceptable. The winter had baiely died out, however, before a lagging spirit began to betray itself among the members ; and before long it pervaded the entire institution, resulting in a general dissolution. Since then no attempt whatever has been made at resuscitation, though we believe the members for the most part retain their instruments. Surely the musical spirit at one time characteristic of the town has not died out altogether ; if so, it ' is a matter of much regret. Doubtless some of the old members will see their way to take the question up, and by encouraging the young men of the place to join them, succsed in re-organising one of the best institutions which Cambridge ever had.

The plant for the Waikato Cheese and Bacon Factory arrived at Hamilton on Saturday, and will be taken out to the factory to-day.

At a special meeting of the Hamilton Road Bo.ud on Saturday, the tender of Mr J. C. Booth for works 011 DeQuincey's road, was accepted.

Our Alexandra correspondent telegraphs lastnight:—The township is generally at fttr, celebrating the marriage of the third daughter of onr most respected chairman of thedistrict board, Mr Thomas Finch, toMr.J. 0. Grieraon, another popular favourite.

It was mentioned in the " Herald," yesterday, that the Governor would probably \isit Waikato this week. It wili be seen from the report of the Hamiiion Borough Council, that no official intimation has been made to this effect.

The Auckland daily papers are rendering valuable assistance to the Salvation Army by the insertion of cheap advertisements. No wonder such men as '' Captain" Ted Wright and " Lieutenant " Johnny Bowerman flourish.

Mr John Blackett, Engineer-in-Charge North Island, and Mr Hales, District Engineer, wore in Hamilton pn Saturday. Accompanied by Mr D. M, Beere, Resident Engineer, they inspected the railway bridge and other works in connection therewith, returning to Auckland by the ordinary train.

A meeting of parishioners will be held in the schoolroom of S. Andrew's Church, Cambridge, this evening, to consider Messrs Vickor and Co.'s letter re the bells, and the matter of ordering a new peal of larger bells. As the matter is one of much interest to all concerned, we have no doubt there will be a large attendance.

A correspondent informs us that the correspondence on the matter of the Cambridge town drainage and the Education Board forwarded by that body to the local school committee, is of a very interesting nature, and reveals the secret agency from which the board was inspired in their contemplated action at law against the town board.

At the inquest held at Alexandra on the fifth ultimo, the jury requested the coroner to convey to the Minister of Justice a request that the services of Henry Turuer, in recovering the bodies of drowned persons from the river, might meet with some recognition from the Government. Mr Gresbam informs us that he- has received from the Undev-Sooretary .of, the Department of Justice an intimation that the Treasury has been requested to forward to Henry Turner a'chequc for five pound* in recognition of such services.

The chairman of the Kirikiriroa Road Board has received a letter from the Public "Works Department to the effect that the money borrowed for' main roads cannot be spent on repairing bridges, though in the event of a bridge being destroyed by floods the money could be applied to the purpose of rebuilding. . It is probable, therefore, that the money applied to repairs will have to/ hg treated as a loan for district roads upon which the charges are much heavier,

A runaway, fortunately on a, somewhat moderate scale, created a little momentary excitement in Duke-street, Cambridge, yesterday morning. A waggon with two horses.,was receiving its load from Messrs "Wells and Soutter's warehouse, when the' horses, f taking fright, bolted , off clown, the. street. , f A youth named' Butler succeeded'in catching hold of the reins ' as the* horses l started, and holding on iq tf)em was able to retard^ their speed until the driver' succeeded anf getting into the waggon, and.pat qn fcfoe brake, A constable named Barry in en^ tfeavouring to stop the runaway' was knocked down, an(l narrowly 'escaped kejqg ru& ovpr by the wheel.

Some of thq yia&a** fa ,the Cambridge publid readlng'room hiive auMv^t ted the very.obj'ectlpnable' habit of 'taking the loan' '6f" papers 'almost irnmedii" ately after they are 1' put' on the' 'table,' to,the great in convenience and annoyance of ptjhers? Did they not .forget' to tft^rn than* occasionally, matter's Would not be quite, «o bad, ftu't we are Wry'to say'tHis is frequently the (map, Tji}B presents the caretaker.p/ the room, ,frow kipping files of the various paper*, and the consequence is that when a subscriber wishes fco refer to a,back.issue- or,,numpir of some-journal or periodical he is unable to do so. We hope that t those' ;who are }n the habit of'abusing thp pivjlofloa of ttio

room in this way w ill desist from their objectionable }>ractiojn| in fututc, and learn to consider Jaw conveniencti of otl»crsa^^U,Mtli!ffira|3t€3.i^^^ 1 An en|§rt|]Sme|§ in fid pf tM school fnifas win be (Pv 211 i lf||h%, school?| house, O»Mp°Mn <^"' l%fnex^ The enta|piu|pnt, jraiichjpill Mclndj| vocal and mstgumenTOrsdeojnonstlly w^Uv known amateurs, will conclude with a dance.

The " Thames Advertiser" learns that two full' sharcsiij thejjLucky" Hit olaitrt at Te Aroh.t changed hands a faiY days since at the satisfactory'figtire^of £400. Messis Cooks and Wilson wero the Hellers, and Messrs Abbott and Rnndorson, of Auckland, the buyers. It is quite evident that, notwithstanding ittii ill effect) pfr the Carr failure- (if on the; >Te* Arolta'' district, t there '-arc spirited^ people still quite willing to put money -into the mines there if a good thing^s shown in the shape of a genuine reef and honest, working of it, as appears to exist in the case" of the Lucky 1 Hit property; "The Times", defends-the great aggregations of land in single hands in England, by saying, on the authority of Mr West, British Minister at Washington, that greater aggregations', exist in the United .States, Olhere\it has been a custom to encourage long railway lines, by voting to the companies the propertyright in every alternate block of public land along the proposed route, just as it is now proposed to do in Australia. Many railroads thus own land on a colossal scale, the "estate" of the Atlantic and Pacific Railway, forj example, being nearly 50,000,000 acres, and the Northern Pacific 42,000,000, and the Union Pacific 12,600,000. The railroads, of course, stick out for prices ; and the settlers sometimes complain that with immense tracts of wild land left in wilderness, land is unprocurable. ' The system of grants, thinks the Spectator, may be bad,' though without it the railways could not have been built, but the Titnr* forgets entirely the most material fact. The English noble keeps his land, the American" sells.' He never attempts to cultivate or let, hit sells, being anxious , only to secure that increment of value which hi* own enterprise has conferred. The Tunes has only to support bills abolishing entail and settlement, and making l.md as sale-, able as consols, without long deeds or wearisome formalities, to remove the greatest objection to the aggregation of l.uid in England. The spendthrift heir will disperse his estate soon enough, if only he is allowed, and there will be fifty yeoman in place of the great landlord. They will not prosper. Possibly not; but they will have happy lives, dofF caps to no one, and enjoy, as citizens cannot, whatever personality they acquire. The Californian correspondent of the S.^l. Jltffittvr writes: —''The recent visit to this coast of the Duke of Sutherland, ostensibly a pleasure trip, turns out to have been made for business purposes, which may allect very considerably the existing transit communications between the United States and the Australian Colonies. It appears that he represented a syndicate of English capitalists having for its object the speedier communication between the States and colonies, and whose plan of operations, is as follows :—To acquire the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe" Railroad, and with it the Sonora railroad, which runs' from Benson, near Tucson, in Arizona Territory, to Guaymas, on the Gulf of California, thus establishing a direct all-iail line from Kansas City of Chicago to Guaymus, the finest port on the Pacific coast, and 000 miles nearer the Australian and Oriental steamship ports than San Francisco, the present centre of that trade. From Guaymas —M'here the largest steamships in the world can come right up to the docks to load and unload—a steamer line of the fastest iron vessels would run direct to the Sandwich Islands, Auckland, and the Australian ports, and also to the Oriental ports via the Sandwich Islands ; and as cheap and good labour is badly wanted both in Mexico and in the Kingdom of Hawaii, they wonld thus secure the coolie trade between China and those places. It is thought that such an arrangement would shorten the time between Sydney and Chicago, under the present conditions, by at least four days; and as the colonial subsidy to the Pacific Mail S.S. Company will shortly expire by cfttuxion of time you may expect to hear the matter ventilated before long in the Parliaments of New South Wales and New Zealaiid.