MR MONTGOMERY AT AKAROA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1837, 15 April 1884, Page 3

MR MONTGOMERY AT AKAROA.

»- Mr MovMiOMMiY addiessed the constituency of Akaioa on Ihuisday night ; the M.ijoi in tlicclian. Mi Moutgoineiy .sai.l : Idonot intend totil cupjoiu timcto night liy going into details ot the measuics In ought l-efoie railiament last session. \! 1 1! istci s liad a commanding majouty which iff i«i ned fiom "peaking, and voted in a solid body when called on. The Opposition membeis made some impoitant motions. They spoke on the \aiiou<* iiieasuics befoie tlie House, hut tlie^ ue\er ieso*ted to factious ohstiuctnc tactics. Ministcis h.id their own way, and aie entitled to all the ciedit they cm justly claim, and aie also until ely icsponsible foi the financial dilheulty. depression everjwheio e\ists, tlieie is dissatisfaction in the pieicnt and absence of liope in the futuie ;in shoit, theic X pi ofound discontent. E\ ei> one is as>Uing his ncighbouihood how long is tins state of tilings to last. The main causes of the depression in the Middle Island, and of the piesent financial difficulty aie these : (1) the immense annual diain foi piyment of inteiest on the public debt ; (2nd) the excessive departmental expendituie of the Go\ eminent ; (3ul) the laige tiaots of fieehold land lying in a state of natnic, whieli the owneis will neithei cultivate noi sell at a puce to pay faimeis ; and (kli) the lents diaun by absentee piopiietois. If the money recei\ed fiom loans had been wisely expended on lennineiative works, we would not have had to lesoit to a eiushing taxation to find money to pay the inteiest, but from the inauguration of the Public Woiks policy the money was spent impropeily to secure a majority in the House No matter bow seveiely we may feel the tax-ation, we must pay the interest of our debt, but I hope that there will be an overwhelming expicssion of opinion that colonial borrowing shall cease. While the colony continues to bonow the Ministry svill keep their suppoiters by granting money to certa'n distiicts. Our safety can only be assuied by ceasing to bonow. The enoimous depaitmentai expenditure is pi essing heavily on the resources. The Civil Servants should be placed on a footing similar to those employed in the office of a prosperous merchant, or in the working staff of a manufacturer are placed — fair pay and sufficient work. The public offices in Wellington are like a labbit warren. If the Government seized every opportunity of lessening the number of officials by not filling up vacancies, by amalgamating offices and generally by simplifying the work to be done, an immense saving would have been affected and the service placed on a footing more satisfactory to the Civil Servants themselves. Thudly, there are immense tracts of good agiicultural lands ljmg in a state of nature, held by individuals and companies, which the owners either will not sell or lot at the price people could afford to pay and piohtaMy occupy. We must have a tax on holders with hrge tiacts of agricultural land, which will make them either cultivate or sell. A laige amount of rent is drawn every year from this colony by absentee propiietors. which are spent iv England. Of all the curses with which a country can bp permanently iifflcted nothing en b. \> tirs • than absentee proprietors. ■ We reauiio &

heavy tax on them. The colony, in my opinion, can never be governed with satisfaction to the people \\ hile everything is centialiserl in Wellington. And tins brings me to the question of decentralisation You are all aware of the indignation expt eased by speakers of every shade of politics against the recent unjust nicicase ot i ail way rates, and you have seen that they weie unanimous) in their opinion that theie should be a separate boaid, non-political, in each island for mamging the railways. I look upon tli.it expiesMu.i of opinion a-> an ew deuce of healthy public thought. Why should the t.ulways in the Middle Island pay thiec or toni per cent when the Wellington and Taianaki laihvays do not pay one per cent. They aie beginning to be alive lo the fact that Canterbury and Otago aie milch cows diained diy annually, for the benefit of some places ill the Noith 1-liind, and his awakening of the people i» evidence of a change. I look on the establishment of nonpolitical Boaids of Management for the mil ways as a veiy important step in the dneetion of decentialisation. Perhaps thcie never was any question so full of danger as that of fedei.ition. With respect to annexation of the islands in the Pacific it is a dieam or delusion, and if persisted in would assuicdly be a snare. We would requite a foice to be kept there at great expense to the colony. But even weie A\e determined to disiegaid our expense and go for annexation, this colony could not annex any of these islands Gieat Biitam might —for she is a nation— and has a flag and a fleet to suppoit her action. But even Gieat Btitain would not be allowed, peacefully, by France ami Geimany, to take pos s-essioii of the islands, in question. It is tluMcfoic a delusion to suppose this colony could annex. But the question is one which may aitfully be dwelt upon h) thobo who uisii to diatiact public attention fiom our own pi essing concerns. Foi tuuatcly, nothiu n can u>ine ot nnncxa tion ; but in fcdciation Ik > a ical dangei of stupendous riuujintiid that, in my opinion, the people ot Nc« Zealand should have nothing to do with whatever ; they would <:i\e up the contiol ot our external aflans, which would me\ itably alFect piejudicially our internal administration to a council siltincat Hobai t. Mr Montgomeiy then piocceded to uitieise Ma]oi Atkinson's speech delneied at Hawera, but bejonda genet al dissent from that acutleman's conclusions, lie gave utter a nee to nothing of a \eiy staitling chaiactcr. In conclusion he eonsideied membois should ha\c been called to gothu eaily m this month that the icpieaentativca of the people might confeidet w hat was best to be done to cret the colony out of its dilhculties. Inbtead of doing tlu^ plain duty they allow tilings to diift till the .">tli of .June, that the lnes>of the Ministiy maj be ptolonged for a couple of months, and with the hope that something may tnin up to their ad\ antage. The Opposition was anvious to have an eailj' meeting ot l'ailiainent, to get an oppoituiutv to unseat the Government, for the session to be held caily that an appeal might be made to the electuis. that the \oicc of the count) y might bo effectively heaid, feeling assnied that whoever may sucLe<'d the Ministiy now occupying the Tieasni> l)cnchcs the piesent men must go. A Ministiy w Inch has used the means to retain a place which tins Minis tiy have lesoitod to, which would ne^ci leticnch, but on the contiaiy lesist all cnleavoius of othois to teduce expenses, a M'lnistiy winch lias got thu colonj' into a iiiiancial mess and date not call the membcis togcthei at the close of the linancial yeai — the d.ijs of that Ministiy aie nuiubeipd, and they know it, and the sooner they go the better for the count) y.

0\ J H KLU HIM! H\^ GI'.MKAL, —TI) following stoiy ib going tlio lounds in Fieneh military cnoles : —An oihcet mined Yeuliei «as cclc-bi itod m his gai i isi/ii ior w inning c\ ciy bet. None of his coiniades ould b Wat of hau'ng been \utoiious, aiid .it List no one caied to bet witlihim. One day Vudier was trans fened to .uiotliei Raiment, but the fame of his pfculiai luck had aheady spiead befoi clam Attei a supper tendeied by Ins new conn .ides on the evening of Ins nnival, and when champagne made its appealance, (lenei.il B called out, " Is it icallv tiuo, Vculler, th.it you win c\eiybet v' "So it is, geneinl " "But how the deuce do jou do it.'" "Oh, \eiy simply, I am a physiognomist, and bet only when lam quite sine" "You aic a physiognomist. Well, then, what can you lead in my face ': ' " J can see," said A eulier, piomptly, "that your old wound on your back ii bioUen out a f'aui " "Nonsense,' thundeied the geneial, "but —" "No 'but 1 at \Il I assuic you, sir. Perhaps jou do not like to speak of it ; peilmps a duel —-'* "Le Diablo! you won't b''lie\e me, Wli.it will jou be !'' "Anything you please, geueial. ' ".lOOfiancs !' •'All light, .100 fiance." "The gentlemen picbcnt ate witnesses." With these woidstlicgcneial.it once pi<>< ceded to divest him-elf of 1 11^ <oit «a.istcoat, and shitt, and a scmtin\ bi all picsent ic\ealed the fact th.it then u i« no tiaee of wound by swoul 01 kill " Yo»i have lost jour bet, Vudier ' ' shouted the geii'-ial, packing himself up again. "I have lost, indeed, tins once. Men may en sometimes. Heie aie your .100 fiancs." The geneial put the money with a chuckle into his pocket, and, aftei he aimed home, he at on< c wiotc to his old chum, the geneial in command of Veuliei's ioimer legnnent, "Dear fiiend —The stoiy about Yeidiei a luck is all humbug. He just made me a bet that I had a wound on my back for 300 fiancs, and of com so lost it."' The answer came back . " Your nan etc is ttuly ehainnng. Your winning the 500 fiancs cost me 2000, which Verdier bet hip on the day of his leaving that he would make you, on the fiist evening of meeting, tike off youi shiit in the piesence of yonrofficeis, and that you yoniself would inform me ol it." —Fiom "Howard Paul's Funny Stones."

AYkicut ok OmuuiKX. —Two illustrations may be given of changes worth noting in illness. A boy, ten yeais old, after scailet fever, bad lost 41bs in weight; this he legaiued in one month after con\alescence, and added 51bs in the next three months. A weakly bo3 r, eight years old, 3 feet 10 inches high, or 46 inches, weighs only 401bs, and gains no weight, and only 1 inch in height dining six ironths' cue in London ; he then goes into the countiy for tlnee months — August, September and October—gains Slba and grows another inch; at nine years old lie gets to the propoitions of 50lbs and oO inches, the aveiage height but not the average weight, until after another year of caie he became strong and well. Another boy of this age, the same weight, but an inch shorter, made no ad\ance, and then, with slight febrile action, began to lose flesh, till his weight in pounds became less than his height in inches. He did not recover. It may be noted in the table that till the seventh year the height in inches exceeds the weight in pounds, and that, fiom eight to twelve years, the height in feet and the weight in stones correspond. As growth is nearer completion a still fuither increase of weight over height should occur. A child in the fourth year should be 3 feet high, and w eigh more than 2 stone ; in the sixth year 3t feet high, and weigh 3 stone; in the eighth year, 4 feet high, and 4 stone in weight; at 12 years old, 5 feet in height, and 5 stone in weight is a fair average. At the term of adolescence 2 stone should be added for 3 or 4 inches of height; S stone for o feet 6 inches ; 9 stone for 5 feet 8 inches ; 10 stone for 5 feet 11 inches ; and 12 stone for 6 feet of height is good weight. Giow this very irregular in children and young people generally; peihaps 2 inches may bts gained in tw o months, and for the next ten months not another inch, even up to the ages of ten ov twelve years. ,While growth is thus rapid fatigue is pasily induced; dnring the pause weight ia gained, iud week oi* training pan go on,