ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1753, 29 September 1883, Page 2

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

A large amount of disgust and indignation has been expressed by people of all classes and of every shado of political opinion at the way in which Auckland has been treated in the re-construction of the Ministry. It is pretty generally admitted that the retirement of Mr Whitaker from the Premiership is a severe loss to this provincial district, but that, on his retirement, the Ministry should be so re-constructed that Auckland should be entirely unrepresented in the Cabinet, is a grievance too serious to be borne. We citizens would have been very well satisfied to have seen Mr Peacock, the M.M.R. for Auckland North, in the Ministry, but, if objection should be taken to him on account of the brevity of his political career, we would not have objected to either of the AVaikato members, to whom the same objection would not apply, representing Auckland interests in the Ministry, but we aro, find I think most naturally, incensed that this provincial district should be totally ignored. It is most outrageous that, while Wellington has two members, Taranaki one, and even Marlborough (a place of the very existence of which many people are ignorant) has a member in the Cabinet, Auckland, the premier provincial district in th 9 North Island, containing somewhere about a fourth of the population of the whole colony, and four times the population of Taranaki and Marlborough combined, is wholly unrepresented. The reason of this is not difficult to ascertain. It ia dus to the jealousy of Wellington and Otago. The representatives or the latter district se3 that, unless she is checked, Auckland will wrost from Otago the position of being tho most important provincial district in the colony, while the Wellington people want to be Wore-hand with us in gaining tho trade of Taranaki. However, wo are not going to sit still and suffer ourselves to be deprived of our rights. Auckland is stronger now than she has ever bjen, and shs will show her strength unless she receives justice. There has been a great outcry about the way in which tho burrey Hills estate has been cut up for sale. Tho estate was the propsrty of tho Hon. James Williamson, who, offered to soil it to the city council, to be reserved as a public park, for £100,000. He did not wish the purchase money paid, but merely iuterest on it, at the rate of one per cent, for the first year, two per cent, for the second, three per cent, for the third, four per cent, for the fourth, and five per cent, till the principal should be paid off. The council declined the offer, which, I think, was a pity, as I feel sure that arrangements couid have been made whereby frontages to the main roads and to a drive within the park could have been let at such rentals as to recoup thj interest. Tho negotiations with the city council having failed, Mr Williamson sold the property absolutely to a syndicate of capitalists, who decided to cut it up and selfc/ifc in .small allotments. They dalled for com* petitive plans for cutting up the estate^ and if that which was adopted was i&m best, the others mu 4 have been a truly wretched lot. In acaoi dance with the plan selected, upwards of two thousand allotments were pegged off, each having a frontage of 33 feut to a wide sheet and to a narrow lane sixteen feet wide, with a depth of 113 feet or thereabout.*. Of course, it was evident that, with so little froutage and so much depth, homos would be built frontrig both the wide streets and the narrow Lines. Both the d.uly papers condemned the hclieav), and the Nowvmßoad District, in which the Surrey Hill's Estate w situated, after having taken legal advice, iev)lved that the cla-u-iJ of the Road Board Act, which piovide-t thvtno road shall be of a le.is width than 0113 c'a lin, should be unforced. The co isj nonce is that the propjity has bjen withdiawn from sale. j It is t > buhopjd that, bjt'oie it is offered again, provision will b3 made for reserves j for locrciti.m, tree-plaiting &c, nothing of tho sort being contemplated in the condemned plan. *** It is stated that, during tho recess a thorough re-organ s ition of tli ! Ci\ il Service is to take plaoe. Tins is a muchneeded reform, but will it Ik! carried out? 1, for one, do no believe that it will. It is a notorious fact that, in the Government Buildings in Wellington, there aie a nunibjr of men, whose most difficult task is t) draw their salaues, while in the variinii Post and Telegraph offices and Cuhtoin Houoo > of the colony, there are many officials who are ovei worked and undeipaid. Will thUhtite of affair-, ha remedied? I am afraid not. Political influence is too stioug, and the majority, if not all, of the Tito Barnacle-, in Wellington retain their position^ on account of political influence. I think it was Mr Swanson who told a good story illustrative of this fact. A member of the Ministry determined to cut down the expen ie.s of his department, so he told the Chief Secretary to bring him the list of officers undur him with their salaries. Looking at the list he read out, "Mr A. £500 a year. Can you do without Mr A ? "Oh yes ! He does, nothing, but he is a nephew of Mr A., the mem bur for , and if you dismiss him, you will lose his uncle's \.)te." " Well ! we cannot aff old tj do that, so we must let him alone. Mi B. get* £100 a year. Can you do without him?"' " Ye, ! .said the secretary. "He does nothing, but his father-in-law, Mr , lias a lot of political influence, and you must not offend him." So it w»mt on until it came to the last name on fie list, when the minister said, " Here is Mr C, who gets £100 a year. Has he got any political influence. '"No," was the reply, " but I cannot spare him, as he does all the work of tho othce."' The story is probably somewhat exaggerated, but there is .so much truth in it that I fear that there is not much probability of a real re-oigani-sation of the Civil Service. * * The case of tho barque Gazelle has been ovciting a good deal of attention lately, especially in commercial circles. She belonged to a Mr Ellis, one of the wealthiest ship owneis in New South Wales, and anived in Auckland Harbour about two months ago. A Customs officer, who went on board, found that theie was a considerable quantity of loose tobacco — moie than is permitted by our Customs regulations. The captain was charged at the Police Court with a breach of the law. He said that he had committed the offence through, ignorance, pleaded guilty, was fined £100, and paid the fine. Any sane man would have thought that that was sufficient punishment for an offence committed in ignorance. Not so the Customs authorities. The vessel was declared forfeited and was seized, and is still held by them. Messrs Stone Bros., the Auckland agents, began an action for her recovery, but up to tho present time they have been unsuccessful. The owner is determined not to be deprived of his vessel for an act of the master committed in ignorance, and for which he has already been punished, so Messrs Hesketh and Speed, of this city, and Mr R. Stout, of Dunedin, have been retained to conduct further proceedings for the recovery of th,e barque, and I sincerely hope that they maybe successful. ""*■ * * Mr Seymour Thorne George, M.H.R. ft»g Rodney, has been addressing his constituents at Warkworth, and has received the usual vote of confidence. In the olden days, when the late Messrs A. Clark and W. T. Bnckland were the representatives of Franklyn, they always voted on opposite sides, thus practically disfranchising their constituents. Yet both of them used to reC3ive votes of confidence and to be reelected. Votes of confidence are a swindle, a delusion, and a snare. People vote foe men, not for measures, despite all that is said to the coutrary. Mr George's speech contained nothing new, but it seemed to satisfy such of his constituents as heard it, and he received a vote of confidence. I fancy that he would not have had such a. pleasant time of it had hin former opponent, Mr Moat, been at Mahurangi on Tuesday evening instead of in England. He managed to convince' the meeting that he had succeeded in .getting more money for the district from the Colonial Exchequer than it would have received but for naving so able a representative, and so those present oanoupred in Mr' George's opinion— that he is a remarkably fine fellow,', and a .worthy nephew of bis worthy nnoJe. Well ! if they are satisfied and he is satisfied, I suppose no om also need, comply J ' /