ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1699, 26 May 1883, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

By the arrival of the " Westmeath " the direct steam service between Great Britain and the Britain of the South w.is inaugurated, and it must be admitted thnt it was rather a dirty inauguration. If it bo true that "cleanliness is ne\t to godliness," I nm ratlicr sorry for the passengers and crew of the " Westmeath," as her appearance differed sadly fiom that of the clipper ships which we have been accustomed to see coming into Auckland harbour. "Yes." said one gentleman who had been down inspecting her, "I have seen lots of vessels in the London docks just like the " Wcst-mc-ath. They were Sunderland collii rs " I' think that he desciibcd the vessel pretty accurately. Certainly, no one ■would be disposed to comu to the colony by her, when he found that ho could como out to Sydney by one of the splendid ships of tlie P. and 0. orOiient line, and complete his journey by one of the Union Company's vessels, almost any one of which is immensely superior in comfort and accommodation to the " We&tmeath." On Tuesday, when she was lying at the end of the Quocn-strect wharf at the same time as the " Manapouri," the difference between the two vessels was very maikcd, the stranger losing altogether by the comparison. Unless a wondrous improvement is made in tli9 class of steamers employed in the direct trade, they certainly will not bring us the class of immigrants which we were told they would pour into the colony — the moneyed class. Proof of this is found in the fact that the " Westmeath " brought out only one saloon passenger. Of course, it may be said that the colony is too young to suppoit a line of fiist class steamers. I doubt not that it is. In that case, people who can afford to pay for saloon passages will come out by the Orient and P. and 0. Company's stramcis to Sydney or Melbourne, and thence to New Zealand by the Union Company's boats, as thus they ■will have greater comfort, come out moie quickly, and will actually pay less for their pissages than by the direct steamers. %* Despite the fact that the weather was not very fine there was a large asseinbinge in the Choral Hall on Monday evening to listen to the speeches made in connection with the opening of the Aueklan^flftivcr.«ity College. Those speeches V^^Kvell woith going to hear and well wortny of being read by those who had not the opportunity of hearing them. That of Sir William Jervois, who presided, was most masterly, going into the whole question of Univeisity education, while the three professors referred more in detail to the \ aliens branclns of Study which they will teach, and Sir Maurice O'Rorkc told very forcibly and graphically the story of his persistent efforts to have Auckland placed on the same level with other portions of the colony in the mattei of University education. In the course of his speech, Sir M.uuice gave well deserved piaise to the Premier, the Hou P. Whitaker, ay horn we have, most to thank for the fact that We have now a Univ ersity College actually established in our city. The Governor rcfei Icd to what is really a dis-grace-a dUgiacc, however, which I hope will soon be blotted out — the fact that we have not a piopor building for a college. Considenng the large and increasing amount that Auckland contiibutes to the revenue of the colony, surely a few thousands might be returned to her for the purpose of erecting a University College woi thy of the name, instead of condemning the Ptofessors to deliver their lectuies in a wretched shanty like the old distiict comt-house. Our members of Parliament should bestir themselves in this duection. during the next session of Pailiament. jf By-the-byc, we shall soon have Pailiamcut in scsaiou again, and we begin to a&k oui selves what is to be done. The paramount question to us Aucklandcts (I mean us residents of the pun mcial district, not merely the citizens) is, what is to be done in the wav of foi w aiding the railway between "Waikato and Tamuaki ? Aie the (iov eminent going to do all that lies in then power to piibh on the woik, and if they do, aie all th<' Auckland mombets going to suppoit them, oi aie wo to have a repetition of the exhibition of List session — the nnjoiity of om membcis voting against them for endeavouring to m ike special piovUion for Auckland's benefit? Mr Dirgavillc told liis constituents that he would go down to Wellington unpledged to any paity or any leader and the " silly fools" gave him a vote of confidence without exacting fiom him a pledge that he v.ould suppoit any Ministry w hich Avould pledge itself to push on the Waikato-Taninaki railway. 'J he electois of City West deserve to be disfranchised for losing their opportunity. What has become of the member for City East? He has not deigned to address his constituents, and to tell them why it was that he was absent fiom his seat in the House, away at a tea-fuddle, when Auckland's interests were at stake. The groat Liberal leader has not been heaid of lately, and many people had forgotten his existence until they weie reminded of it by the Governors visit to K.iwau, Poor old man ! hr seems never to have recovered from his disappointment when lii& friend, Sir Aithur Goidon, summoned him to Wellington on a fool's en and. * * The Blue Ribbon Ai my seems to be making good progress heie, and when I Bee- its unpi (.'tending little badge oh the breast of some w ho, I know , sadly needed to " put in the peg," I cannot help wishing it success. The other day I heard a rathei good stoiy in connection with the aforesaid badge, which I may as well state at once was not told by a soldier in tho"ainiy." i^omc time ago one of our well known citizens went down South for a trip. While doing the " lions "' of Christchurch he put on his "bebt store clothes," and woie his New Zealand war medal ribbon on his breast. Ho was Aval king along one of the sticcts of the 11 City of the Plains " when a seedy-look-ing individual held out a lather diity hand, and accosted him with "How are you, bi other?' "I am vciy well, thank yon," replied the Aucklauder, " but I do not think I have the pleasure of knoAving you.' 1 " No," said his new friend, " and I do not knoAV you, but I know that badge, and I am glad to Avelcomc a soldier of the Blue Ribbon Army." " Oh ! that's it," said our fellow citizen. "How are you, bi other. Come and have a drink. 1 ' The seedy-looking individual withdrew his dirty hand, and Avent away muttering something about in sheep's clothing. ? Avas glad to see a letter in the Herald on Tuesday from Mr J. C. Firth, protesting against the proposed sale of the freehold of the properties of the late Mr Costley. Most of those properties have been let on long leases at loav rates, so that if the freehold is disposed of now they will bring much less than the present market v alue of the land, Avhereas if they were handed OA r er to trustees for the benefit of the public auel charitable institutions to Avhich Mr Costley bequeathed his Atealth they Avould bring in a constantly increasing revenue. I know of one property Avhich is bringing in only fifty shillings per Aveek, but which is uoav worth ten pounds per week. The lease has nearly tAventy years to run, so that no one would give anything near the present value of the property, to say nothing of the prospective value at the expiration of the lease. In the interest of the benefited institutions I hope that Mr Firth's protest Avill have the effect of inducing Mr Costley's executors to withdraw the properties from ssle, and hand them over to trustees, so that as large an income as possible may be derived from them in the future, when funds Avill be required by the institutions even more than at present. St. Muxgo.

The increase of bankiug advauces during 1882 in Victoria, New South Wales, and New Zealand, amounted, to ten millions sterling.