The Waikato Times. AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1888, 12 August 1884, Page 2

The Waikato Times. AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. Herte shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 188 J^

It will be seen from our special correspondents' telegram last night that very considerable progress has been made in the formation of a nSw Government. When the House meets on Thursday, Sir Julius Vogel will?' be" in a position to announce tha£ he has formed a Cabinet, and |w$L forthwith assume the reins of Government. Notwithstanding that it has for some days been rumoured fcbj&.JMLss Stout would take the Fremief ship, 'his appointment to that tfd^b ej c6tiie9 afc i a mild surprise, a,adit filf Mnfci§?§siog to watch h^lhe '^ntecbury .sVpporters will* &ot in ifcS^jjp'gumstances. It seiems that t^^^Mr4^ rea^y received ~s ' sjoek :Wm^o%ii ;Mr Mong^nier^ , fa'qBii!NsS£ wliich neoessit&Jed

the rejection of an old and tried Minister, Mr Richardson, and involves the transference of the Public Works portfolio from Canterbury to Otago. We shall be surprised if this act does not form tho prelude t& the defection of some at least of the moderate Canterbury party. But risky as the proceeding undoubtedly is, it seems to have been necessary since Mr Macandrew made it a sine qua non to his joining tho Ministry, just as both afterwards stipulated that Mr Stout should be Premier. Sir Julius, indeed, seems (o have "built up his Government on a sub-structure of concessions. These concessions have involved blunders. The crowning blunder was the asking Sir George Grey, at the eleventh, hour, to throw in his lot with the new Cabinet. How it could have been supposed that Sir George would consent to play the part of a mere makeweight, passes all understanding, and it does not at all astonish us to learn that Sir George has since been making overtures with a view to a coalition with Major Atkinson. Meanwhile, the retiring Premier and his compact body of followers are calmly regarding the position, not apparently altogether dissatisfied with the turn which events have taken. That a Ministry embodying such elements as that evolved by Sir Julius Vogel and Mr Stout can count upon a long period of existence is, to say the least, doubtful ; that the country will for any length of time be satisfied with it is not a matter for doubt at all. Sir Julius Voxel's necessity will be Major Atkinson's opportunity. Of the policy of Sir Julius Vogel, hinted at by our correspondent, the time has not yet arrived to speak. We are prepared to hear all sorts of wild projects coupled with his name, but this is a point upon which he may fairly claim to be heard before he is judged.

We have now fair grounds for assuming that the proposed change in the railway tinio-table is approved by the majority of the Waikato settlers, and we trust the authorities will carry out their programme. On Thursday last we laid a simple statement of fact before our readers, leaving it to them to judge of the propriety of the alteration in the running of the south train. To that appeal we have not received a single response. The people of this district do not bear the reputation of being blind to their own interests, and their silence in the present instanco must be accepted as an indication of their approval of the proposed new arrangement. We have been at some pains to ascertain ths state of public feeling in other ways, and the result of our enquiry shows us that in the estimation of business people, who are the largest patrons of the railway, the delay of about an hour in the receipt of their mails will be amply compensated for by the advantage of being able to make the trip to Auckland in two days. As for the general body of the settlors, who are not business people, the change so far as it concerns the delivery of the mails cannot effect them prejudically at all. A farmer does not usually read his newspaper and his correspondence in the afternoon. At that period of the day he is more usually to be found at work in the fields, ploughing, sowing, reaping or mowing, as the case may be. It is when the labours of the day are over, and the evening meal has been discussed, that the farmer turns to the perusal of the diurnal literature. An hour later or sooner in the delivery of the mails will not, therefore, interfere with the enjoyment of the country settler, whose greatest grievance in connection with posts and telegraphs has always been that the office closes at five, a most inconvenient hour for him who has to detail one of his family, perhaps a helpful member of it, to ride to the nearest post town in the busiest time of the day. But the farmer is interested in any plan which would serve to render a journey to the Provincial capital more expeditious, and therefore less costly. Half-a-dozen people living miles outside the district, think tlic railway time-table should be framed so as to suit their convenience, but the Department must act in the interest of those who support the lines, and this at the present time it will do by adhering to the terms of the alteration proposed by the District Manager. Mr Hudson has given a large amount of consideration to the subject, and his proposal is the result of his deliberate conviction that in the interests of all classes of the community he is doing the best that lies in his power. For this he deserves the hearty thanks of the settlers, and this reward will, we feel sure, be forthcoming before the new time-table has been in operation a month.

Mr James Forrest used some strong arguments in favour of the establishment of a cheese factoiy for the Cambridge district at Saturday's meeting. These arguments will carry all the more weight from the fact that to some extent Mr Forrest adopted them unwittingly. An idea seemed to prevail at the meeting that a factory would not pay unless a better price could be got for the cheese, or what comes to the same thing, that 4d per gallon for milk would not pay the producer. Mr Forrest seems to have accepted this view, and very seSisibly urged that a change in the method of selling the cheese must be adopted before its real value can be obtained. It does not appear to have occurred to Mr Forrest that this change could best be brought about by a large addition to the number of Waikato factories. We discussed this very question a few days ago/ and pointed out that until we are in a'positi&ntosend respebjh the Jjondpn niarkefc, we eanapfc ex-

pect our clieese to take up a recognised- position. Only the erection of more factories and cooperation between them will bring about this desirablt- result, and we sincerely hope that tho promoters of the C.inibridge company, having put their hand to the plough, will not think of looking back.

The ordinary monthly meetings of the Cambridge Town and Domain Boards were held yesterday evening 1. Reports of the proceedings ais held over. At the Hamilton Police Court, yesterday morning, a first offender charged with drunkenness, was let off with a caution on his undertaking to leave the place. Commander Edwin telegraphed at 12.10 p.m. yesterday :—Expect bad weather within 10 hours from now, between northeast, and north and west, and very heavy ram- Rivers flooded after 1G hours. We have been give to understand that a very large and daily increasing business is being done by the co-operative store, under the management of Mr Geo. Neal, at Cambridge. We are glad to hear that the Rukuhia Cheese Factory Company has disposed of all its cheese at fairly remunerative prices. The most of it has been sold at Gd per pound. The accounts of this company showed at the end of the year a debit balance of about £GO. But it must be borne in mind that, amongst other items of preliminary expenditure, £30 was paid for legal assistance in forming the company. Moreover, the operations of the factory extended a comparatively short period. Mr Vaile, with his persistent advocacy of railway reform, must be doing some g<«d. We have heard of quite a number of cases since *.he commencement of the agitation in which appreciable reductions in the amount usually charged for freight have been made. One of the cheese companies in this district a few days ago paid 3s 3d freight on some returned empties, as against (is S)d and Gs, which had formerly been charged for a similar seivice. Bee culture is beginning to attract the attention of several settlers in the Cambridge district at present. The success which has attended the opeiations of several of the api.iries in Waikato hat. induced many to " give the bees a show." Mr Jas. Forrest, of Hautapu, has now commenced bee culture on an extensive scale. It is an industry, or branch of farming, which requires little labour, and where there aie number of childien it can be aarried on with great success, little cost and considerable profit. Our Harapepe correspondent writes on Satuiday :—": —" On Sunday List we had a visit fiom the Rev. Mr Hutson, who hold divine .sen ice in the school-house. There was a large congregation, although not so many as thei c would have been if the morning had been fine. It is so long since we had a service that we weie beginning to think that the existence of this place was quite forgotten by the clergy of all denominations. We are in hopes now to get a service fortnightly. The weather in this district for the past week has been very fine indeed, frosty mornings and warm sunny days, but pre\ ious to that we have had some very rough and cold weather with snow on the top of Pirongia two mornings.

The following special messages to the Press Association, dated London, Augusl-- 10th, have been published :—The Australian Meat Preserving Company has been registered, with a capital of £100,000. —The applications received from Great Britain for shares in the new Oriental Bank Company amount to less than half a million.—lnfoimation received from Tiinidad states that Mr Frederick Palgrave Barlee, C.M.G., died there on Friday last, aged 57. Mr Barlee was formerly Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, which position he resigned, and in 1877 was appointed to the Goveinership of British Honduras.—The frozen meat gk the ship Wellington is averaging s}d per pound. — The Tory party are delaying the passage of the Australasian Federation Enabling Bill. Sir Stafford Northcote has intimated that he will waimly .support the measure if it is introduced in October.—The harvest is proceeding rapidly both in England und on tlio Continent.—The Australian wheat cargoes are selling at an average of 395.

The committee of the proposed Cambridge Cheese, Butter and Bacon Factory met on Saturday last, and discussed the mospects of the undeitaking. The leault of the week's canvass was that 570 shares had been disposed of, and the milk of 2(53 cows had been promised. The canvass, as regards the milk supply, was consideied satisfactory, but the number of sharesagieed to be taken up did not come up to expectation, and double the amount named would have to be taken up before the project could be seriously enteitained. Mr T. Wells, who was present, told the meeting that the milk-supplying shareholders must not look to the commercial community to stait the concern, but as they were the people who received the direct benofit, and derived a profit, whether a dividend was declaied or not, they must, if they wish to see the project successfully floated, give the matter more practical support than they seemed inclined to. A cheese factory will benefit the district generally, but the milk suppliers particularly, and we agiee with Mr Wells thau it is from this quarter, principally, the suoport must come. A letter was read from Mr J. C. Firth, offering his unused plant, recently imported for use at Matamata, for £585, on reasonable terms. This is said to be one of the most valuable plants in the colony, and is specially adapted for the making of Cheddar cheese. The site of the factory is spoken of as within three-quarters of a mile of the Hautapu lailway station, or in the vicinity of Allwill's corner. A further camassisto be made duiing the ensuing week, and another public meeting will be held on Satmday evening ne\t at 7 o'clock, when the matter will be fully and definitely discussed. The Gazette, of the 31st July, contains the following notification concerning the Hamilton Bridge : —I, George Marsden Waterhouse, in the name and on behalf of His Excellency the Governor, and as his duly-appointed Deputy, in» exercise and pursuance of the powers and authorities conferred by the said Act, and of every other power and authority in anywise enabling him in that behalf, do hereby appoint the Hamilton Borough Council as the local body to have control of the Hamilton Traffic Biidge as from the twenty-fifth day of June, one thousand eight hundied and eighty-four; and I do hereby apportion the cost of maintaining the said bridge as from the date last aforesaid between the Borough Council of Hamilton and the County Council of Waipa and the County Council of Waikato respectively. One-half of such cost is to be paid by the Hamilton Borough Council, and one-quarter of such cost is to be paid to the said Borough Council by each of the County Councils of Waipa and Waikato respectively.