The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1707, 14 June 1883, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

liqu.il and exact juslire to all men, Ot whatsoever st.ite or persuasion, religious or politic <tl. Here shall the Press the People's riffle maintain, Unawed by influent c and unbnbcd by gain.

THURSDAY, JUNE U h 1888.

Tun approach of the session lias not so far aroused any of the excitement usual at such times. There is an almost entire absence of those " rumours of war " which wo have been accustomed to regard as inseparable from the occasion of the annual gathering of representatives at Wellington. We must not seek for the cause of this phenomenon in any change in the constitution of the people, who, so far from having lapsed into apathy, are just as ready as at any time heretofore to run \vild after political chimeras. Rather should we look for it in the absence of any " great " questions in the respective programmes of the Government and the Opposition. The great mass of the people may be — nay, are wanting in political education, but not by any means in political energy, more or less badly directed. But they look in vain in the speeches of the Treasurer and the self-constituted leader of the Opposition for any indications of a coming policy of a bloodcurdling tendency. From the idle .barking of Mr Montgomery, indeed, the only thing to be gleaned is that, in the opinion of the Opposition, Ministers are a bad lot, and ought to be oubted at the earliest possible moment. As this patriotic sentiment is unsupported by even the semblance of argument, it is not difficult to conclude that, save and except those whose prejudices run in the same groove with Mr Mont- 1 gomery'a, no one in the happy possession of all his faculties is likely to be impressed with it. If Major Atkinson's Hawera, address contained, a large proportion of practical common sense, it i£ at

least equally certain that it had in it none of the elements calculated to render it a fitiinstr Jtnent for blowing up the Mansion House or setting the Thames a-fire 1 . He tells us that the Government intend to g« ou with the work of last s ssion, consolidating measures, and perfecting the machinery of local government ; and for our part we know of no better task to which thoy can apply themselves. A quiet, respectably con.lucted session, devoted to cleaning up the colonial household, so to speak, would tend more to our advantage just now than any project for shooting off fireworks from the top storey, and burning blue lights in all the windows. But we very much fear such pleasant anticipations as these will fail of being realised. The Parliamentary ship may weigh, anchor under cloudless skies, but none know what vicissitudes she may experience before she touches land again. Little importance need be attached to the threats of Mr Montgomery, or to the oracular hints about Sir Of. Grey, who is understood to have a number of " surprise bills" in his pockets ready to " confound Ministers" at every turn. The former may make ponderous attacks, and the latter may introduce more of his favourite panaceas for securing the happiness of the whole human race, but these will not by any means constitute the bones over which rival parties will contend. But there are other matters which are not likely to be peacefully solved. In the first place there is likely to be a battle royal over the notorious West Coast (South Island) Railway, which is claimed by Cxni-erbury on the ground that that long suffering provincial district has not received its fair share of the public expenditure. This is a good and excellent reason to put forth, and Canterbury people may wonder that anybody should oppose them ; but thoy must not expect to have a monopoly of selfishness. Tho question of how best to deal in the future with the native lands of the colony, is one .likely to occupy much of the time oi Parliament. Apart from the interests involved, this question is one full of knotty points, which cannot be settled satisfactorily but by expenditure of much time and labour. Tho native land question has puzzled the brains of the best men in the country. It is obvious that a system that would donudo the Maoris of their land cannot be countenanced ; it would pauperise tho natives and ro-act uujustly on the general body of taxpayers. This difficulty it is proposed to moot by making- large reserves inalienable, and this, after all, is the principle that is most likely to bo adopted, for, although there are those who advocate the retention of all the landed estate of the natives in tho hands of tho latter, with reversion to tlie Crown, providing at the same time facilities for leaking on long- terms, the scheme will not find general favour. Tho notion of creating in this colony a hereditary landed aristocracy of any kind must be repugnant to us, and our dislike is not likely to bo lessened by tho prospect of this casto coinprising' for the greater part members of the aboriginal race. One other subject we may briefly touch on in virtue of its counting with those over which some fighting must be done. Once again the opponents of the giand educational system of New Zealand will make an attack on its provisions. No one need feel anxious about the result. The insidious enemy will be defeated, as he has been beaten before, and as he will be repulsed again. Notwithstanding this, the friends of secularism should be on the alert, not so much to cheek the fo« as to give an assurance by an overwhelming majority that nothing in the shape of education can be supported by the State that is not thoroughly national in its scope and character.

Ix another punt of this issue we publish a telegraphic report of a portion of the business transacted at 3'estertlay's meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. The subjects touched upon are of great importance to us in Waikato, and cannot receivo too much attention at our hands. The llotorua railway, more particularly, is a work which has an important bearing upon the welfare and future prospects of this portion of the colony, and we cannot too strongly deprecate the action which the GJ-bveiuimunt lias seen fit to take in this regard, If, as stated by tho Minister of Lands, there is a legal difficulty in tho way of making the concessions necessary to the prosecution of this line, it is to be hoped the Government will lend their countenance to any effort put foi'tfr fpr jts removal during the ensuing session...

District Judge Seth Smith has accepted the office of Law Lecturer to the Auckland University College.

On Sunday last, at Dunedin, Bishop Neville admitted the Rev. T. Caljaghan a priest of Church Qf England. He formerly belonged to tho Qhurgh of JJonie,

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Hamilton, yesterday, before Mr Northcroft, R.M., only one civil case was heard, viz., A. Back^ v. Thomas Moore, claim £14 11s 4d, amount "o^a dish&ucurp4 cheque, in which judgment was given for plaintiff w£jh posts.

The weather for the xsutf ggw days has been colder than at any corresponding season for years past. Int^nne frosts have been so closely accompanied by rajij. fts $o produce a state of matters in the higl^e/jft degree unpleasant.

Tke London "Standard" of the sth inst., discussing the existing relations between the Vatican and the Roman Catholic clergy, states that the Pope has forwarded an official summons to the Roman Catholic Archbishops of America commanding them to « r ait upon, Hia Holiness in connection with the wjcenjk policy of Irish agitators. , , j

A quadrille assembly (by invitation) took place in the Public - Hall, Hamilton West, on Tutvday evening,., at which 50 were present. „ Th» Music, which' was snpplied by Mr R. J ,HolloM;ay f , gave great satisfaction. , Dancing Commenced shortly ( after ■ eight,^ *nd WtftjtUed t|»til tfte "wee bov^rs

An ample supply of refreshments was provided, and everything passed off satisfactorily.

A public meeting will be held at Lewis' Hotel, Te -Awaniutu, at T p.m., on Saturday next, for the purpose of forming a Jockey Club. The success which has hitherto attended the annual meetings at Te Awamutu warrants the sporting community of that district in placing racing matters on a more satisfactory basis.

A poll of the ratepayers of the Kirikinroa Riding, Waikato County, was taken on the 11th hist., to decide on a proposal to levy a special rate of one-thirty-sixth of a penny in the £ on the rateable value of the riding, to meet j^yinents of loan of £321 borrowed fur main road purposes under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act. The votes recorded for the proposal were 32, ngaiust nil. The proposal was therefore canied. The adjourned meeting of the creditors in the bankrupt estate of Messrs Bean champ Bros., Hamilton, was called for yesterday at the District Courthouse, but there was not a quorum present. The trustee adjourned the meeting sine die. The trustee has called a general meeting of the creditors for Wednesday next, at which lie will present liis report.

The New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer lonic arrived in Wellington on Monday niqbt, from Plymouth, after a remarkably successful voyage. The lonic is the largest vessel ever entered at the Wellington Customs. Her dimensions are : Length, 440 feet ; breadth, 44 feet ; depth, 32 feet ; gross tonnage, 43(58 tona ; net register, 3070 tons. The lonic left London on the 26th of April, and Plymouth at 2 p.m. on the 28th, and arrived in Wellington harbour at 11. 30 on Monday evening ; thus making the passage from Plymouth, including all delays, in 43 days 22 hours. Very fine weather was experienced throughout. The lonic brings 400 passengers of all descriptions.

The mission services conducted by the Rev. Mr Hill wero continued at tho Oddfellows' Hull on Tuesday night. There was a fair attendance, ami all present took the greatest inteieat in the proceedings. Prayer was offered by the Rev. W. Kaeburn, and several of Sankey's hymns were sung by the meeting, under the leadership of Mr Meachem. The Rev. Mr Hill delivered an interesting address on the subject of the value of Christ, illustrating the subject by a lcfercncc to the life of Judas Iscauot. Last night service was held in the fame place. Owing to the inclemency of the weather there was only a moderate attendance. Mr Hill preached an able sermon from the text Luke vii., v 50 : "Thy faith hath saved thee." To-night and tomorrow night the services will be held in the Public Hall, Hamilton West.

We learn that Mr 0. Day, of Whalawhata, is making arrangements to establish a private cheese factory at his farm. He hopes to commence opeiations about the Ist of October next, when he will be prepared to receive the nnlk of 100 cows in addition to that from about 50 of his own. For the milk he will pay the price ruling at the other factories. Mr Day's cheese, batter, and bacon has acquired a high reputation for quality in the Auckland market, and always commands the best price. This result he lias attained by a careful attention to the working of his daiiy, and to the curing of his pork, combined with thorough practical knowledge. That a private individual of Mr D.iy's stamp should deem it profitable to enter upon such an undertaking, is an aigument in favour of the immediate establishment of a factory company by the other settlers in the district, the centre of operations to be fixed so as to suit the convenience of those unable to avail themselves by reason of the distance of the inaiket provided by Mr Day.

At the Phoenix Park trials a sensation was created in Com t when Patrick Delany and Thomas Caffrey weairaigned on May 3rd. They pleaded guilty to the charges against them, and both were sentenced to be hanged on June 2. Before Caffery pleaded he was informed that the Crown gave no hope for a mitigation of the sentence of the death w ould be passed upon him. When Dclany pleaded, he added, "I was brought into this at first foolishly, not knowing wh.it it was ; and-I was forced fiom my woik to go to the Park. We hail to obey the orders of the Society or take the consequenceß. When I got into the Park I could not get away. I saw the murder« committed by Joe Brady and Timothy Kelly, and by nobody eke." Whoii Caftrey was placed in the dock his fie" wore a smile. The consequence of pit ad ing guilty was for a second time explained to him in open Com t, but lie persisted in his ploa, and upon beinj,' asked if he had anything t/J *ay why sentence should not 1 c pa^sal upon him, he replied, " All I havo got to say, standing on the brink of the grave, is that I did not know what w.is going to happen until ten minutes before the murders were committed. I w.is bound to go to the Park under pain of death." These, confessions have strengthened the hands of the Government and carried dismay to the agitators. The sympathisers in the United States are wholly dispirited.