AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1969, 19 February 1885, Page 2

AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal ,md exact justice to all men, Of ttlntioi \cr st.itc or persuasion, religious or politir.il. Here kli.ill tho Ires* the People's ripfht maintain, Lin iwcd by influence .md unbribrd bj K ain>

THURSDAY, FEU Jo, 188 'J

On taking up tin; report of Sir Julius Yokel's speech at Auckland on Tuesday iiii;lit, country vendors would naturally dim t their attento that portion -which professes to deal with local government. However interesting the other subjects touched upon m.iy lie, this question of loc <il government is of pai.miount concern. Jt will lie, a disappointment to most to find that Sir Julius Vogel has very little to say upon tins matter, and th.it that little, is put in \oiy cautious, not to say ambiguous, language. Tt is true that the Treasurer professes in earnest tones to see, the urgent necessity for some icforin in the piesent system, mid no one will doubt his sincerity. Jiut it is not the sympathy, it is the assistance of Sir Julius Vogol that we require. Ho much hiis ljoon heard of 1 cal government in connection with the names of Mr Stout and Sir Julius Vogel, that we were fairly wan anted in believing the anticipated scheme had advanced somewhat beyond the, embryotic stage. The reference in the Piemiei's Dunedin .speech w.is unsatisfactory enough, and Sir Julius Vogel's statement is not a bit more reassuring. Keform in local goveii'inent, we were told, was one of the chief planks of the jWinist'-i mI policy, but after a 1 ipse of months, after weeks of anxious thought to the Treasurer, all that we have to lepiesent a policy is a suggest i !■ fiom Sir Julius Vogel, •\vhich hi-, colleagues may or m.i^ not pprivo. The pl.ni of holding a conference of the eh.'iirmon of the county coun cils and the mayors of boroughs may be a f;ood one, but it is open to one or two objections. It may be

expedient sometimes to to take the country into tins co.n'idenei' of the dbinet, lmt the determination of thepioper channel through which the counsel and advic™ of the pcoplo should come is always a ma f tor of (liihculty. We do not think it is so c isy a nutter to collect and collate puhhe opinion upon this question of loc.il government. It must not be toi gotten tli<it the men ■« lio compose the various local bodies are place 1 in their present position not to nuke, but to administer the laws. It is piobible that the general body of ratepaveis would be as loth to accept the present members of their local bodies m the capacity of legislators, as the members of the said bodies would bo to delegate all their newly acquired power to tho.se who, for a \ariety of reason^, good or b.ul, have been seleHed to till the post of presiding om\ er. If tlic Government really desire to obtain the ad\ ice ot the ratep.i\eis upon this subject, and it is a very right and proper thing to do, we would remind the Treasurer that there is a much better way of setting to woik than that which he has shadowed forth in his speech. Let the Go\ ernment, in the first place, sketch out its proposals, setting forth the alterations which it proposes to make in our present system, and let this sketch be submitted to the local bodies, in order that they may make such comments upon it as may seem necessary in the circumstances. 13y this means, and by this means only it seems to us possible to obtain the deliberate, 'unbiassed opinions of the local bodies. To invest a convention of county chairmen and mayors with the powers contemplated by the Treasurer, would simply mean the transference of so much authority from those .who were elected by the v oice of the country to wield it. In saying this we do not forget that no scheme can become law without the sanction of Parliament, but if the Government takes its ideas from a convention of representatives of local bodies, it means pi attic-ally the importation of an irresponsible element into our system of representative (Joveminent.

Yesterday morning's train from Cambudge consisted nf 'A~> velu<le->, and took two engines to ch.iw it from Hamilton southwaidi. It will be seen from Sir Julius Vogel's speech tli.it .it Ins instance the Minister fur Public Woiks li is consented to make a laigo 1 eduction in the fi eight charged on cheese from W.uk.ito to Auckland. At the usual sitting of the R, M. Couil .it Hamilton yestudaj, only .1 few mmnpoitant civil case-, wi'ie disposed of. A defended case, J. Smith \. W. Buck, w.is •idjom nod till nu\t couit d.iy. The Public Works Department invitcrt tender-) for the I'emianent way contiact of the Moriinsvdle-To Aioha sjction, Thames- Waikato railway. Tenders must bo in by the 27th March. Plans and Mii-uhcations may be been at the Public Woi ks office, Hamilton. The Land Court sat at Cambridge again on Tuesday, and continued through out the day. A coniulei.ible aiuount of business was deposed of. On the applies* tion of M.ijoi Jackson, who lepie-ented ciitain native-, the court was adjourned till this morning. The proceedings will be found fully lepoitcd ehewhoie. The following is the return of quait/. delivcied at the company's battery, Waioiongoniai, by the county tramway for the week ending Febiuaiy 14th :— New Find, 181; Euieka, 8; Premier,?; Waioiongomai, 27; Diamond Gully, (>, total, L' 32 tiucks. The levenue of the tiamway for the week is tT>3 los (id. On the application r of Mr Bull, postmaster, Cambridge, on behalf of the Telegiaph Dcpaitment, the Cambiidge Town Boaid has consented to hand over allotments (>O7, <>OS, (509 and 010 for the use of that depaitmi nt The boaid hns agieed to iiiak<* application to the Mmistei foi Land-, foi allotment No. 1201 in lieu thoieof. At a meeting of the Hamilton Domain Baiivd on Tuesday evening, the Kecieation Committee w.is authoiwed to see what the cost would bo for filling up tho Unco laige holes in Sydney Square, w Inch at pie«.ent inteifere with vehicles di iv ing l ight lound the -kju ue, .uul tendeis wen; oidi ml to b. cillid foi the woik by the in \t hi dm, u\ mi * ting of tlie boaid. A happy idea has commended itselt to tlic i'lako County Count il in view of the election of tho new Telegiaph line between Cambiidgo and Taupo. Tho lino will follow the toad almost tluoughoiit, and the clerk of the comu.il, desiious of tinning cvciyUiniK to advantage, haswiitten to Di. Lemon of the Telegiaph Department asking him to have eveiy mile post maiked as a milestone for the edification of travellers. It having been reported that damage has been done to the Hamilton Cemeteries by person* plucking flowois, pulling up young trees, &c\, Mr C. K. Johnson has given notice of the trustees, — '■ That a vigilance committee be appointed for tho cenictenos at each side of the river, who shall bo authoiised to evoicise a general MilXH'viMoii over the management of the bin ml grounds), and communicate with tho police all cases coming to then notice of any depredations committed within tho giound-'." We have no further news of iinpoitanco from the Soudan. Theie is only too much leason to conclude that (ienei.il Gordon has been killed. The offeis of assistance by the colonies have been commented on very favomably by the Knglish pi ess, and General Wolsoley has telegiaphed to the Governor of New South Wales that ho looks foiwaid with pndo to commanding Austialian troops in tho hold. The Bight Rev. Dr. Luck, Roman Catholic Biuhop of Auckland, will airivo in Hamilton on Satuiday. On Sunday morning his lordship will poi form the ceremony of blessing the Convent of S. Maiy, carrying in piocession the Blessed Sacrament, accompanied by tho members of the Hibernian Society, the Children of Maiy and the whole congieg.ition. Ho will also confirm Mich sin have been prepared for the occasion. On account of the, ceieniony there will be no hcivico at Cambiidgo on Sunday. Mr A. Ward, jun., writes:— "A gentleman who has just letuined to Waikato fiom the Lake count iv pu-mised to show mo a wondeiful specimen fimn those wondeiful regions. Aftii exciting my cnnosity to its highest pitch, he pioduccd fiom Ins havei.-<ack, tolled louud with many pieces of papei, a— -h.uidwiih ! 'This,' said he, ' I hud to take, as it wan usual for tomiststo take lunch, and for which \oiy gioat favour I was charged tho modest sum of three shilling*. I Khali got a glass case for its preservation, m memory of the tup.'" The following special messages to the Pifss Association, dated London, Fel'iuaiy Kith and 17th, have been pub lislu d : -An Oueutal Bank call, amounting to L'L'oo,ooo, wan received on Saturday.— The Now South Wales Government have Accepted tho terms offered by the liquidator in the Onental Bank ontatu in settlement of then claims against that bank. — Tho health of Sir W. Y. StawHl, Chief .Tiwtice of Victoi in, is improving. — Colonel Fletcher Owen, tho new military commnndaut at Adelaide, will sail on March 2(Jtli. A meeting of the local branch of the Blue Ribbon Army was hold in the Piesbyterian Church, Cambiidge, on Monday evening, when there wa« a fair attendance of membei.H. Mr Morns presided. The Rev H. R. Dewnbury deliveied a veiy inteicsting addioss, Mi Brooks also spoko

at some, length on the tempeunce movement of the present d iv. Mr Cln]ini.in gave an appmpiute reading. Tho foithcnming election of tlu* Infill licensing com iiiiN-oniieii was dis'ii-sed, » If n it \\ is cleuded to t.»ki> st'p(t') r.tinn five total abst.uneis, ;iiul ,\ co n'irttee w i. i|i|n anted to give effect to tlic s imc. Mes».s Snicidon, Olnrk, Walker, Won, _ \llmd, .Johnson, Young, H.iundt'is .mil Iteynolds weie n.vned .is suil\h!c candidates. The bacon curing industry is at piesent exciting eonsidei able iittontion in tin; pi >vincj and b"foie long, it is not ton much to expect, cm ing f.ictniies will have hjcniiiu as popular and as numerous .is cheese factones, Mr A shinny, of Blight >n, England, who passed thiough this distuct a few diys ago, on unite to Whatiwhatihoe is turning his attention to tins inattci. Ho is in tio.ity for a block of 17,000 acres at Whakatano, where he intends starting an extensive bacon cuijng concern. He will ciect refiigeiating machinery in order that the bacon m.iy be cm ed at an oven tempuratuie. The bacon produce of the old country is s.ud to be anything but good at the presont time, and it is the intention of Mi Ashlnuy to improve the quality by raising in and exporting from New Zealand. An adjourned meeting of the Hamilton Borough Council was held on Tuesday night. Present : His Worship tho Mayor, Crs. Phillip, Bach, Tucker, Tippen, L)ey, Johnson and Stea<.hn.in. Tenders were received for the Hood-.street drainage works .ih follows : — Andrews and Wall, £27 7s (id; K. Wilson, £23 8s 2d (accepted.) Tho estimate of the engineer (Mi Napper) was £23. — The Mayor reported to the council that he had waited on the hon. Mr Bnllance and pointed out the necessity which existed for a High School endowment in Waikato, and had nlso requested tho Government to select tho portion of tho railway reserve requited for r.ulwny workshops, and to hand over the remainder to the domain boards. Tho town cleik was instructed to communicate with the Government on these matters, supplying full information. This was all the business. The Rotorua correspondent of the Hei.ild telegiajihs on Tuesday :—: — " Although the Native Miuistei h.ici appointed to meet the Ng.vtitmua this morning, ho was unable to do so, the Ng.itiwhakatane having engiossed all his time and attention fioni the multiplicity of subjects brought on by that tribe. It is impossible to wiie them. The pnncipil, however, were the Native Luid Couit grievances, commenting generally on the excessive charges made ; the Hating Act. the dog taxes, leasing of native res«>i\es, and many minor subjects were spoken about. The Minister gave a patient hearing to all, and acquiesced in nearly everything that was said and asked for. v At a later hour he wires :— " The Ngatiturua interview is just finished, and may be consideied «o fai .satisfactory. This is the only tribe tint has asked for the Government restrictions to be taken off, as being heavily in debt, they intend to sell privately at a higher price than the Government are willing to give. Tht Native Miuistei iv leplving, said that that the very fact of then being in debt was a stiong aigunient in favour of the lcstrictions remaining over their lands, as no one under the circumstances could touch either their lands or their persons. It will now' rest with the Government ofliceis to fix a piice for the block, but unless it is a very much higher pi ice than wii.it was previously offeied, they will not p irt with it." At the ordinary meeting of the Wai pa- County Council mi Tuesday, a m ittor impoi t.xnt to butchers vv.it> dealt with. Tho police have withheld prosecutions to allow the c unity council to make pioviMon for tho woiLinjr of the Slaughtering Act in the county, consideiing that the butchers have not been so much to blame as the council, which made tho mistake of supposing th.it the act did not opeiate unless formally brought in foice. Mi Lake stated that he had consulted Mi Tole, who had gn en it as his opinion that butchers and slaughtermen onl\, and not f.uniers killing me.it foi their own f innlie-j, or for sale to th (< ir own woi kitten, were liable. It was decided to fix the amount of the fee for tho year at t!3 ',U, and the cletk was appointed inspector under tlip act. Tho engineei reported that, in company with Cr. Corboy, ho had inspected the Whatdwliata-Hamilton road. He found a w ell defined cieek at the edge of Foxall's bush with a rapid current, snowing plenty of fall for 13 chains down. This has been fixed on a* the staiting point, and it has been found that the contio of tho Wliatawhatn road at the forty-chain swamp was 12!) feut above tho bed of this creek. The total length of the proposed outfall drain is one uulc and four chains, giving ample fall thmughout, being in tho worst point 1 in 770. This outfall would drain the 40-chain swamp. Tho drain from thn fourteenchain swamp would join the above drain about twenty ti\e chains above the point of dischaige into the outfall creek. He estimated the cost of cutting the diams, &c., at £720.