ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1893, 23 August 1884, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

. + \ I see that our old fnend, Sir George Grey, is at his old tticks acain, ha\ing given notice of his intention to brine; in a bill for abolishing plurality of voting in the election of members of the House of Representatives. He might just as fairly add city councils and other local bodies, as the same principle is involved in both cases. Any man who has property in an electorate should have a \ote in it —a right to select the man who shall lepie sent the electorate in the governing body. In a municipal election each ratepayer has one, two, three, four or five \otes, according to the amount of Kites lie pays, and if a man with a man with a laigc amount of pioperty has a moio potential voice than he who has only a small amount in deciding who shall be entrusted with the niising and spending of the city rates, I think that he has as much right to have a more potential voice m selecting those who shall have the authority to levy and spend the colonial revenue. The objection that is raised against this aigumcnt is that our members of l\uliament have more momentous issues enttusted to them than the raising and spending of money. I fully admit this, but a icference to Hansard will show that more time and - attention is devoted to the estimates than to the statutes, and certainly the man who owns property in the countiy is more interested in its good government than the mere '* carpet bagger," who can put all bis earthly possessions into his carpet bag and clear out at twenty-four horns' notice. I must give .Sir George Grey the credit of acting in the inteie&ts of the people who elected him, for, as I have mentioned before, lie was elected by the " carpet baggers " and would have been defeated by Mr Clark three years ago had it'not been for the disfranchisement of the leaseholders in City East. * *

There has recently been published in England a book called "Property and Progress " by W. H. Mallock, the talented writer of the "New Republic" and other works. It is intended to be more especially an answer to Henry George's ♦'Progress and Poverty," which advocates the theory that the land should all belong the state and that the present proprietors of it should be robbed of it by iqeans of taxation, a theory the most able advocate of which we have have here in Sir George Grey. Mr Mallock does not cdntent himself with combatting the arguments of Mr George with arguments, but he gives facts also, mentioning in- / stances where some such plan as he recommends has been actually tried and ' proved a lamentable failure. Here is one. \*\jSighty years ago a gentleman left an ;- estate of £4,000 a year to the inhabitants iaktbvee villages in Herefordshire. He *? did, that is to say, just what Mr George J recojnmends. He nationalised (a3 it were) tf SUpcwgst the tenants what was once the |?reVtoue' of the squire. Before mauy j^yjjarS-'Jbad elapsed, these three villages Si^l^jb.ecome three warrens of paupers. Ifsifai^Jflisery was,produced by this ill Jlp^ji^ generosity than could have been caused by the most merciless ioKfik-reniirig, and so wretched and llici'ndalous did the state of things become IlKiit U £ special act had to be passed lijpragh Parliament to'revoke the gift igfcHatihad caused so much misery." H^jtetbttecl.tlx? information I have given Btfpufabout Mr Mallock's book, from the mm^Ctd ftTff'World^-m most useful BHiffl^s»nttaining a vast amount of most ES6PilstoK fading > raatterpwhich >you>

"Ofpl t!rinkr"&bout"Bs'per-aiinmn;™l do not subscribe to.it mysejf but get it as a member of a magazine club. As it is a matter of much importance to country settlers to get good reading matter at a small cost, it would not, pel haps, be amiss to describe the modus opeiaii'li of our magazine club.. It consists of ten members, each of whom pays one guinea per annnin and has the right to nominate one magazine, which he reads and then passes on to the member next on the list. After a magazine has been the round of all the membets it refui ns to him who nominated it and becomes his property. By this means I have an oppottunity of loading ten of the best magazines at a cost of one guinea per anuuin. llic system adopted in our club is to forward the magazines on Monday mot mugs and Thutsday evenings, and any m ember" who has not had tune to read a magazine, puts hU name at the foot of the printed list attached to that magazine and it is sent hack to him by the nominator. In case anyone who reads tins paragraph would wish to start a magazine club and requires any fuitluv infoimation on the subject I will be mobt happy to supply it if he will wute to me, to the caw of the Editor of The Waikato Times. * Last Monday evening I went to the Auc land Institute to hear Mr E A Mickechme lectuto on '"Hoyaith," in connection with the Ait Students' Association. 1 think that the fact that the small hnll of the Institute was not ciowiled miust have been owing to the jiicum&tance that \eiy few people know auything about Hogatth, painter, humouiist and satuist, and had no idea that the lecture would have been anything like so interesting as it proved to bu. Mr Maekeclinie is little known as a lectuier, but he pioved himself well qualified to fill the iolc, despite a few pecuhaiities of manner and pronunciation. The foimer part of his lecture, in which he deseiibecl the life of Hogaith, was most interesting and often amubiug, while the latter pait, in which he deduced curtain lessons fiom that life was quite poetical. He concluded by advising the ait students to endeavour to follow Hogaith's example and found a new school of painting, and showul them how they could blond sonic of the giaccful Maon le«em\s with the beautiful sceneiy of Maouland. Taken altogether, it was a most interesting and useful lecture, well worthy of a much laiger audience than that which listened to it. The continuous lain we have had lately has had tlie effect of causinga large landslip at what used to be Btitomait Hill, some thousands of tons of eaith having fallen on Friday afternoon. It is mostfottunate that the slip occurred at the precise time that -t did, for had it happened a few moments sooner or later, loss of life would have endued. As it is the landslip is a pei feet w indfall for Mr MeGuhe, the contiactoi for cutting down the hill and making the Frozen Meat Company's leclamation theicwith. All that he has now to do is to shovel the eaith into caits and icmovc it, being iclie\cd of the cost of cutting down. It seems> to me that the City Council made a very pool baigain when it agieod to beai a shaie of the cost of cutting down that hill, for the purpose of getting an easy giade fiom the railway station, as lam quite sine that, when the woik is finished, the grade will be so steep as to be almost useless. However, the Fi ceding Company wanted the eaith for then leclamation, so I suppose they will be satisfied, and the latepaycis will have the consolation of knowing that, if the mone\ had not been fooled away theie, it might have been wasted in some other place. How' often it happens that just as we aie putting the cup of happiness to our lips it is mdely dabbed fiom out giasp. On Monday last the ti am- cars began to ply legulmly on the finished poition of the train way— fiom the whaif to the reset voir at the junction of Katangahape and Ponsonby roads — and the public weie enjojmg to the full comioitihle tiavelling at a \ciy small cost, when the edict went foith that the cats must stop plying for hue. The piopcr amount of ltd tape had not been used, and the Chcumloeution Office issued its fiat, stopping the tiallic. The line has been in working Older for some considerable time, but could not be opened, pending the official nispectioi. of Mr Blackett, Engineer - in - Chief. After a gieab deal of unnecessaiy delay, it was discoveied that the line could be in spected and passed by Mr Hales, District Engineer. This was done, and that gentleman being satisfied it was opened foi tiafbc on Monday last, and continued open until Thin sday, when a fresh discos cry was made — that Mr Hales was authorised only to inspect and report to Mr Blackett, and that he alone could sanction the working of the tiamway. As between five and six hundred people used the cais on each day that they weie running, you may have a pretty good idea of the number of people who are inconvenienced by this latest sample of redtapehm. %n% n To-day I heaid another little story about Sit Arthur Goidon, some time " by the Giaceof God Governor of New Zealand," &c, which I think will be new to the readers of The Waikato Times. When he was coming to this colony there was one night that was very rough. A regular gale blew, the steamer 1 oiled and pitched, the destiuction of crocket y was something serious, and almost every peison on board the ship sea-sick. The gale blew itself out dining the night, and in the morning a considetable swell and the debris of bioken ciokery were the only evidences of its \iolence. Sir Arthur left his cabin, seated himself in the saloon, and began reading. Presently one of the stewards, in passing, said, " Good morning, Sir Arthur. I hope you were not inconvenienced by the rough weather last nieht." Receiving no answer to his remark, he repeatad it, whereupon his Excellency rose from his seat, and went away to seek his aide-de-camp When he found that official he oidered him to go to the steward, and tell him that Sir Aithur Gordon was not in the habit of being addressed by, or ot addi essing, menials.

The elopement of a " captain" of the Salvation Army with a female " lieutenant will do much harm to the movement, which was none too popular with a good many people before this scandal was heard of. The sensational style of religion never seems to be of a permanent character, or, at any rate, so seldom that when it is, it is the exception which proves the rule. There are a good many people who strongly objeot to the style of " worship" practised by the Salvationists. There ceitaiuly ia a good deal of it which borders on, if it does not actually reach, profanity. Such, for instance, is what is called by the army "groping for Jesus." The use of such an expression certainly does not tend to maintain proper reverence for the name at which we are told that " every kneo shall bow." The wretched scandal to which I have alluded favours the belief that when people lose their reverence for sacred things they are not likely to maintain a proper respect for themselves and for each other, and this will piotoably do more harm than can be undone for some considerable time. Of course, it is most unfair to condemn the whole flock because of one scabby sheep, but men will be inclined to look upon the flock as tainted, and it tt'ill involve a great doal of trouble to get them to believe that the taint has been altogether removed. St. Mungo.

A Wise Dkacon.— " Deacon Wilder, I want you to tell me Low you kept' yourself and- family so well the past season, when all the rest of t vs have been sick so much, and have had the doctors running-to us so often." "Brother Taylor, the answer is very easy. , I used Hop Bitters in time, and kept ray family well, and saved large doctor* bills. Eour shillings* worth of it keptus, all^well and able to, work all the' time/and I, jvill warrant jthas cos* you knd'tnosVof thVn«fgbbour§'siO Jto jglOO.apiecft to keep kjck $h"ot s*ofer4ime.'ll?