ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1714, 30 June 1883, Page 2

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

It is to be hoped that Mr Montgomery is satisfied Avith the result of his attempt to persuade the House to pass a vote of censiue on the Government. It has taught him two things — that a large majority of the members of thepiesent Parliament are satisfied with the Ministry, and that, if they were not, ho is not the man who would be chosen to lead the Opposition if there were any probability of their being sufficiently stiong to turn out the Whitaker Cabinet. In his eagerne&s to assert his position as leader of the Opposition, he seized on what was in reality merely a difference of opinion between the Colonial Treasurer and the Comptroller General, and moved what was tantamount to a vote of no-confi-dence. As the result of his rashness he found himself in the position of a hen which lud set itself to hatch a very fine egg, and when the time of inclination had expired, discovered that it had been expending its energies on a china nestegg. How Sir George Grey must have chuckled when he saw the lesult of the division ! I have no doubt that he said to his friends, " This will teach Mr Montgomery not to try to jump my claim." However, much good will result from this unexpectedly early trial of strength, if the Government use their power wisely, as I believe they will. Seeing how strong they are they will push on their measures and carry them through, so that this present session will be productive of more valuable and useful legislation than that of any other session since New Zealand obtained a constitution. * * The Ministry cannot be congratulated on the new roll of justices of the peace w hicli has just been issued. It contains a number of sins of omission and commission. They have dove that which they ought not to have done, and. have . lef b undone that which they ought to have done. Looking over the list I see the name of one man who does not' live with his own wife, but with a unstress, of another who " has not a sixpence to jiugle

on a tombstone," of nnother who gat .on v the bench for the express, purpose ordia- * missing a charge brought against a iriend ' of his, of another who is now an inmate of the lunatic asylum, of another who uses the fact of his being a J.P. for the purpose of his own business, of another — no ! I will not give any more instances, as I think I have said enough to show that there hove been some very grave mistakes made. lam quite sure that the list of those in the Auckland Provincial District who it was proposed to place on tho. roll of justices, or, being aheady on the roll, to retain, was not submitted to the Premier for perusal, or there would not have been so many objectionable appointments made. The other day I was shown a very interesting document by Mr Fischer, a partner in the firm of H. Haege & Co., for whom the levanter, Simon Peter Harges, was the Auckland agent. It showed the expenses which that firm incurred in the attempt to bring Harges back here to answer for his offences. Of course, the law yers got the lion's share of the plunder, little bills footing up over XSO. Mr Superintpndant Thomson's trip to Adelaide cost £50. Telegrams, cab-hire and other unconsidered trifles brought the sum total £195, some odd shillings and pence— a very nice little Him to add to the C 247 which tho firm of H. Haeue & Co., lo«t through the defalcations of Harges. Mi Fischer called a meeting of Hinge's Auckland creditors, submitted the statement to them, and they {jeneioiT-ly contributed towards the expenses— noihimj, (Note for the compositor. For the ei edit of Auckland's merchant princes, please put that word " nothing" in your very smallest type.) They acknowledged that Hi eye aud Co., had done all that it was possible for them to do to bring back Haiges and his illgotten gains, IV y admitted that they would have expected to participate in the money taken aw ay by Harges had it been recoveied. They acknowledged that Haege and Co. would have been successful in recovering the money had it not been for the leg ll quibbles raised in Adelaide, but, inasmuch as they had not been successful, they refused to contribute to tho expenses incurred in the attempt. Oh Auckland ! I blush for your commercial moiality. I am glad to see that attention has been once more called to the necessity for immediately closincronrpicspnt cemeteries! on both bides ot' Symoiids-stivufc. TimA after time has this necessity been uiged^ on tiic city council, but they have not taken any decisive stop in that direction. They aoe probably waiting until a violent epidemic of fever breaks out in consequence of the present system of burying the. dead among the living, and in all likelihood they will nol have to woitniuch longer for that catastiophe to occur. For yeais> past the city has had a splendid site ioi a cemetery at \V.iil»omiti, on the Kaipaia railway, out beyond the Whau — I beg its pardon — out beyond the townsliip of Avondale I should s.ty. The city council appointed a committe to go out and inspect the site. They did so, and reported to the council, and so far as we outsiders are aware, nothing further has been done in the matter. It is much to be hoped that something will now be done, 08 our present crowded cemeteries in the midst of a large population must certainly have a prejudicial effect on the public health, and an epidemic of fever will take place sooner or later. Tho city council should immediately take steps to open the Waikomiti cemetery, lay it out aud plant it with trees, make arrangements with the railway authorities to inn moituary trains (one per diem would suffice at present,) and then close tho Symonds - street cemeteries. Of couise, some people who have relatives buiied in the picnent eemcteiies would naturally wish to be laid besi.le them. Exceptions could be mad*: to meet such ci'.cji, but the system of burying all our dead in the midst of a laige population )iiw>t be stopped \eiy speedily, and the sooner the better. Is The harbour board have come to a veiy sensible decision with regard to the construction of the dock at Calliope Point. They have tosolvcd to appoint as consulting engineer Mr W.irdell, under wliomj supi'i vision the Altied Gia\ing Dock at \Villumstown, near Melbourne, was constructed, and to telegiaph to him asking him to come over and see the site and the work that has already been done and what is now in progress. This is a >.oiy wise plan to adopt, at> 1 believe that the All red dock is the laigcst in the colonies, and thcrefoie the engineer who supei intended its construction ought to be the best to appoint as consulting engineer for the Calliope Point Dock, and, to get the full benefit of his advice, it is mcessaiy that he should come over here, inspect the sue, woik, &c, so that he may be thoioughly conversant with the matter in all its bearings, and so the better able to give his advice. For the sake of an extra £30 or £100 it would be a pity to lose the benefit which must accrue from his visit. It would be a lasting ditgiace if, after expending C 120 ,000 on it, it were discovered that some blunder had been made which destroyed, or even seriously impaired the value uf our big dock. -If Some rf the governors of the Auckland Giamm.u School scein detei mined at any uost to pi ( vent those wretched " common" schools boys from obtaining the benefit ot tuition at the Urammai School. They tely on a technicality in the Act, which piovidcs that free tuition can only be gi\en those who are pupils of the Giatnmar .School itself, and they are foitified by an opinion fioin the Attorney-General. But that it would defeat their o\\ n ends, I would suggest that they should telegraph to the Attorney-General asking him to diaft a shoit Amendment Act, giving them the power to giant fiee tuition to pupils at the " common" schools, but, of course, tliat is jus>t what they do not want. What they wish to do is to ictain the valuable endowments of the (.hammar School for the sole benefit of those boys whose patents cau well afford to pay for their education, to the exclusion of those boys whose parents cannot afford to pay. This is manifestly a malversation of trust, and it behoves tho public to look to their lights. As I have said before, I now repeat, that the interests of the public in this institution will not be properly looked after until the public have the right to elect the governors. The present " rotten borough" style of election must be swept away, and then the public will get the endowments administered for the purposes for which they were created. St. MuSta^

f A notice relative to the Ladies' Scl/001, Cambridge, appears in our advertising columns^ Mr J.imes Webber, blacksmith, Caap bridge, notifies to his customers that from t^p 2nd July shoeing' will be reduced one shilling per set. All persons owing money to Dr. W. A. Cushny are requested to pay the same forthwith. The district engineer, Mr W. H. Hales, invites tenders up to noon of Monday, 16th July, for station buildings on the Kawakawa railway. Mr J. S. Buckland advertises for private sale a choice lot of pure-bred Lincoln encs, The sale of Mr Wratts furniture, at Cambridge has been postponed. Mr J. Moses, Cambridge, advertises that he has just opened up, and will sell at wonderfully low prices, a choice selection of drapery, clothing, &c. A sale of town and rural laud 3 in the district of Auckland will take place on Tuesday, 17th Tuly next, at the Crown Lands Office, Auck* land. Mr A. Burgoyne's advertisement as fruiterer and greengrocer, Cambridge, appears in another column. THE.ice trade of New York is an important industry, giving employment tfi fceveral thousands in midwinter, and yielding a good return for the ' outlay. Last season about lo,ooo men were employed in cutting and storing tie ice of the arid ,more tluutwo millions and' a, half tons\ver« housed.