The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1851, 17 May 1884, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Lqu.il md ( \ncr nistirc to .ill men, Oi \\li.itsoc\ci st.uo or persuasion, religious or political. He re sh.ill the I'icss the Vcoplo'"- right maintain, Unawod by lnlluonco ,mil unljnbod by sairw

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 188 J h

Tj[]:j:i: can be no doubfc that, as Captain liuncj.ru fin. expressed it, the prices the grazier now receives for his beef and mutton, arc " iniquitous." It is not alone the low prices that the farmer has to dread — the uncertainty of the markets continually involves him in misfortunes. To find that a bullock which cost £o as a store only fetches JCi 10s after it has been kept a couple of months and fed on the fat of the land, is about as discouraging and perplexing a discovery as anyone need wish for. Such things will always happen so lono as markets iluctuate, though the evil may be mitigated by the adoption of the system of selling by real -weight. Under such a system the farmer will be in a much better position to watch the markets than he is at present ; lie \\ ill know that in a falling market, or even in a steady one, it would not be safe to give -d a-pound for stores when beef is selling at Ud. At present he is, practically, working in the dark ; he has no means of getting at the ■weight of the store beast, and he is haunted with a suspicion that the butcher gets lOOlbs or so of beef more than lie pays for. But while a change in the mode of selling cattle will bo of undoubted benefit to the farmer, ib will not enhance the price of meat. There must be a large 1 increase in the industrial population of the colony, or an expansion of the frozen meat export trade : before the farmer can hope to realise anything more than a bare living from p tock-raising. Unfortunately affair sin connection with the frozen mutton trade in the North have fallen into hands not particularly friendly to the farmers. Of course the promoters of the freezing company are not to be blamed for looking after their own interests, firyt. and so long as they can buy meat at 1 £cl a-pound to sell it at Gd or 7d, the necessity for sending it to London and getting no more for it .after paying freight charges, commission, insurance (to say nothing of '.the risk incurred), is not very appare/it from their point of view as retail butchers. The farmer looks at th c matter in quite a different light, b.ut his opinions do not count for much . The time is however coming, ancl is not far off, when the producer >v ill have a voice in such matters. This question is one that calls for outspoken criticism, U'he prosperity

of the rural population of this district depends in a very large measure upon the success of the meat export trade. Wo say this, well knowing that the grain growing cnpacity of Waikato has been fairly proved, that its adaptability as a home for the dairy has been demonstrated. We believe that, to be remunerative, the production of meat must go hand-in-hand with that of wheat and cheese and butter. But. the fanner cannot adbrd to grow mutton for the purpose of enriching the city butcher, and the sooner he awakes to a sense of his position — to the knowledge that help to him must come from within, not from without — the better.

In conseaueuce of Saturday, 24th May, bring the Queen's Biithd.ay, Mr J. S. Huckl.ind will hold Ins uvular Cambridge home sale on Thui sday, 22nd inst.

The Cambridge Skating Rink has Jiow been successfully started and will commence operations shortly. A number of new members have joined, and the ensuing season promises to bo a very successful one.

The cricket match, Australians v. Loid Sheffield's Eleven, to concluded on Tuesday, the \iwtors winning by one innings and hi\ inns. The highest scorers on Thuisday were Bannemian, c, !)4, «md Bkckham b 31.

A destructive fire occurred at Newmaiket on Thursday night, just before midnight. The tire in-okc out in the old .Royal CJeorge Hotfl, and spread to the b.ikeiy of Sir Hamilton .and the police station, all of which were completely destroyed. The origin of the fire is unknown.

The enlarged premises of the Bank of New Zealand at Cambridge are now all but finished, and will be open for business in a few weeks time. The impiovementi have been very extensive, and the building no«- presents a very attractive appeal ance.

The ladies employed in obtaining sigu.itmes to the petition to the House of Kepie*.entativi>->, in f.iwmr of ''The L-kml Option Evtension Act "—which will give all women of mature ago the power to vote on the licensing que-tion— have been very svicee^ful in West Hamilton, Ng.iru.uv.ihu, "Wh.it.iwhata, A\oiulale and Tuhikaraniea.

An extraordinary meeting of the sh.ueholdeis of tho Thames Valley and Rotoiiu ll.iihv.ay Company, was held on Thuniay afteinoon, at winch a ieM>lution passed last month i educing tho capital of tho Company fiom £400,000 to £300,000 was confirmed.

A large amount of interest appears to be taken in the scheme for i .using a loan to liquidate tlie debt on the Hamilton Public Hall, and bunging it undoi the contiol of the borough council. Tlh« committee appointed at last Wednesday night's meeting have been working eneigetically, and have .so fai met with \eiy few opponents of the piopovil.

• Telegrams from Wellington state th.it Mr (-icc)igo Thorne s conuoction with the (joveumu'nfc Life Insuiance .Department has been -,eveied. Mr Thorne j^ going to &uo tln j (4o\ornment for bicach of nKieement, and also to conte-it the Kgniont oeat with the Pieniicr at the next cK'ction. Mr Thornc's dismissal is said to bo the result of the disclosures made by Mak.iy legai ding the m.inner in which the business of the Department was conducted.

A very decided chcinge in the u cither took place on Thursday lnorning. Il.un commenced to f.ill copiously befoie daybiealc, and continued all da>. Yesterday nioinmg the clouds broke, and the afternoon was conipaiatively fine, but toward-* e\ening the wet set m again. On Thuwlay Commander Edwin warned u.s to piepaie for ,\ haul fio-,t that night, but, it is needles to say, his piediction was not \enhed. li.un'w.is badly wanted, ab the AVdtor sujiply m many cases was i mining shoi t.

The Cambridge Mutual Improvement Association, we legieb to say, ha-, nob commenced the thiid .session of its existence under \eiy f.ivom.ible circumstances. Two unsuccessful attempt- have now been made to hold an opening meeting, there having been only two or three member- present on each occasion. Thib is ceitainly \ery discouraging and docs not speak well for the coming spssion. The adiourncd meeting is fixed for next Tuesday, when wo tius>t the membeis will turn up in good numbei to dispose of the business on the programme.

The following special messages to the Press Association, dated London, May the 14th :uid l.")th, li.-ue boon published :— Loid Dei by\ despatches to the (4oveinoi.s of the Austialasian colonies is of a confidential natuio, but it is believed that he pi opuses a scheme for the control of the Pacific Islands, ponding federation by the Ciuwii —Mi M. Heaton has been selected as a Tory candidate to repiesent Canterbury.— The Ruapehu has ai rived at Plymouth aftei the fastest passage from New Z.Mland on iecord.— The nioiganatic marnageof the Duke of Hesse has been dissolved.—lt is repotted that in a revolt in Aiabia three hundred Turks have been inassacied.

The supposed drowning accident on the m.id between Lien field and Waotn has, wo aie glad to say, tinned out not so bad as was anticipated. The alleged unfoitunate, it appeal s, went from W.iotu to Liclifield in a diay for «.«inc supplies, and h.umg pui chafed' what he wanted, set out on the lettun journey. About half wav he broached the caigo, and made himself nieny on the contents of a bottle. Ho seems to have left the diay, and having walked about n couple of miles, lay down to sleep with the bottle in his embrace, in which condition he was discovered. Tho horse had walked on, and was brought to a ttandstill by tho dray upsetting. The man's name has not been ascertained.

The New Zealand Times thus lefeisto Sir George Grey's Chiistchmch speech :— Poor, indeed, when read in print, soems Sir tteoige Grey's Christchmch speech. Reduced to sober black and white it contains little of interest ; yet, as delivered in those wonderful tones of New Zealand's gieatest malor, doubtless it btiued the blood of every listener. People who but larely he.v Sir George Grey speak cannot help being carried away. As anoiator, he is in the front rank of the world's gi eat speakeis. Men long used to House of Commons oratory have declared that he would lank with its best. No one in this colony has e^er had such power of exciting his audience. A story is told of his electioneering campaign in England, that a hostile mob surrounded his caniage, hooting and yelling. He stood up, and in five minutes leduced his audience to complete silence, and then so enchained them and won their heaits that they took the horses out of his carriage and dragged it themselves. Then, for the first time, Sir George know that he had the power of swaying multitudes. Wo have ouiselves heard him speak with actual tears in his vo i ce _ one of the most difficult of all sounds to achieve, — yet the occasion was most paltry. A celebrated English iudge once leproved a bairister famous for his powers of elocution, who was declaiming in the highest style of art, by stopping him, and .saying quietly, " Mr , do you suppose you can influence what I am pleased to call my mind because you laise or lower your voice atone or two ?" We can quite picture the Christchurch audience carried away by Sir Geoige's eloquence ; yet, when we read it in cold-blooded type apart from his marvellous delivery, there really is very litrtie in it. And what little there is cannot commend itself to the judgment of right minded persons. He delivered a knockdown blow to Mr Montgomery, who has tried to make so much political capital out of the recent rise in the railway tariff, by showing the people of Christchurch that they did not suffer at all, as they had no produce to carry. We shall be curious to see what Mr Montgomery's reply will be. As for the rest of the speech, it w.is poor in the extreme. Ho iucited one class against another, and seemed to think that a change in the incidence of taxation would make the masses happy, and find work and high wages for all, and bring back much of our lost prosperity. When the dulcet tones of the speaker's voice have faded from, their memories the sensible men among the audience must realise how little of true and sound statesmanship there was in it.

Commenting upon the recent speeches by members of the Opposition, theChristcburch Press says .—The Opposition are not strong in numbers and they are not agreed upon any policy, They are cot, 9V were not last Session, wHjbu) WWQ OF

fourteon votei a majority of the House, oven counting Sir George Grey and his following as part of the Opposition. Then, as to policy, the only bond of union among them is the desire to turn out the present Ministry and get into power themselves ; and that, except at tho moment of a division, is actually a source of disunion and of wqakrifiss. There is absolutely nothing which tho party as a whole could place before a new member, and ask him to subscribe to before he should bo entitled to be regarded as one of themselves. The Opposition, in short consists solely of a disorganized and disunited body of men who are against tho Government. All they want, therefote, are votes. If they could get enough votes to convert their minority into a majority that would suffice Ito gain the only object they have at present — namely, to turn the Ministry (fat. What would follow after that no man can foresee ; but that is the thing to be gained just now, and the future, we suppose, must take care of itself. The Admiralty, it is said, used to maintain a number of immense sharks in the harbour of Port Royal at Jamaica to prevent the sailors from deserting from the ships of war. It really looks as if our Government had somehow conttived to get elected ab Opposition members certain men in order to render it impossible for any supporter to secede from their ranks and take refuge in Opposition. We are told that it is not the duty of an Opposition to propound a policy, and we go with those who say that to the extent of thinking that an Opposition had better have no policy than have a bad one. But what have the present Opposition done ? They have not left the field open for anyone and every one to come in under their banners. They have propounded a policy and a very stiikingone too. They have hoisted, the flag of separation, confiscation, and general smash ; and have nailed it to the mast ; and, however much they may wish to haul it down afterwards, there it will stick, till they and it go together.