ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1992, 14 April 1885, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Dfspitj. the occiiuenee uf one or two httk unto Maid incidents, the Master encampment at I'.ip.itoi too was a great sue cet>3, though it is g'-nei.illy conceded l>y all qualified to foi m an opinion tint the tuiß that tlie volunteers were in camp Mai too shoit. Major Shepherd said that it should liaxe been at least ten days, and it id to lie hoped that it will be extended to that time next ye.ir In order to do tln->, atti ii'laiice must be made eompnlfioij, and the men mnsl be paid foi their bei v ices, instead of ha\ m^ to pay for theii o\mi me.ils as they hid to do on tln^oci.i sum. Tne charge ni.ide for meals was veiy modeiate (two shillings and sixpence per diem), but still it amounted to 10s foi eit,h man, and a-, some of them left then as oik, at which they cjuld h.i\ o earned 10s per diy, that meant that they j;.ive £2 loi' t!)' 1 pmile^p of lenderiiifj them hehfs ellicient foi tic seiMce of tlu'ii rountiy, L'l>iB is, I think, lev>iiij» .1 two licuy tpfenl t.ix on our volunteeis. In New South Wales and Victoria, pcttnancnt foiui are maintnined, but we in Nt \\ Zoahnd cannot affoid to follow the <>\uii|)It. of tho-,e colonies. Sydney and .M liiounif aie practically their only poiN, wli read heiewe ha\eat least four impoi tant seapoit towns, m each of which a pcunauent foice would bo required. The maintenance of those forces would pio\e too costly for the colony, so we mast look to our volunteers for protection. That being so, it is absolutely necessary that the volunteers should become thoroughly efficient, and this end can be attained without any great expense to the colony. *• *

One of the most pleasing incidents of the Easter encampment was the enthusiasm displayed when it was announced tli.it Col. Lyon had been appointed to the command of the district. He is so well known for his efficiency and btaveiy that tiic men naturally looked upon Ins appointment as a compliment to them selves However good the raw material, it li impossible to get good soldicis unless tiny .-vie commanded by tjood officer^ and t'»o fjeneial feeling is that the Cio\ eminent ha\e taken a wise step in ap pointing Col. Ljon to the coinm md of thu Auckland \ olunteers, and it is confidtntly believed that the lesult will be greater efficiency than ther« has been hithcito. ♦ *

An election was held on Friday of .i Governor of the Auckland College ,i'id Giammar school, the electors being tlie members of the Legislative Council and the General Assembly for this provincial district. A more absurd constituency could hardly lie imagined The nuttings of the boaid beinjr held here, it nee s^anly follows that the Governors miiat be Auckland icsidcnts, and how can gi-itle-nui llwng at Oisbornc, for inb'liifp, he expected to know who are best <|iiililiid to a-.»i«t in the control f)t the (ii.Lmmer School? The man who in\ented such a cun^titneiity displayed much more niijeniMty than di'-cietion. ilowevir, tht* c uid.d itt> elected, Mi J. H. Upton, i>» .1 shrewd business man, who has always tar.on a keen mti'iest in educational matters, and who has an additional iiueutivu to cndei\our to place the alTairs of tli«' Oraminer School on a lietter footing in the fact that he has tl.ice sons .imonj? the pupils. The sad stoiy of the defalcations of the late .si cietai v points most conclushely to the mci"-nty of hd\ ing more business men and fewer fosbild among the Governors. A put from this, it seems to herjuite certain that the (hammer School is not domj,' the woik it should do. It has \uy luge endowments, but I have ne limitation in snying that the i exults obtained ate notliuii; like those shown by th' 1 late head master, Mr Fanjuhar jMacrae, while he conducted the High School, which had no endowment or other external aid.

The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court began on Wednesday and aie not likely to la«t very long. Most of the tivs me of the ordinary character, the most important e\ception being the I'ukekolio wife ir.urdcr case, with the p,ii ticnlars of which ihe leaden of The \\ aikito Tnnc3 aro doubtless familiar. Of cotiiac, there can be no two opinions about it. The man murdered his wife while he was insane. Another serious case is the stabbing affray at Aratapu, which was the lesult of one of those diunkcn bran Is for which the Kaipara district is notoiious. 1 think tint the I'nblio Anylist should be called in to test the quality of the liquor sold m that distnut, for I bclipve that it is of a particularly vile nature. We hear of men getting drunk in other places, but there tli<* effects of too much liquor aeem to be to tian&form men into fiends, and my own opinion is that the "grog" is " doctoied " to such aa extent that the poor fools who drink it become mad, not ill nnk. While on tho liquor question I in ly mention that the other day one of the regular diners at the Cafe showed me a small card, on which were parallel lines, similar to the diagiams shown by IWr Vaile at his railway lectures. The longest line represented the annual amount spent on liquor in the United Jv.ngdoiii, which w.is seventy millions, while the amo mt spent on hi cad was tlnity Ihe millions, on meat thiity millions i ml on rent about the tame sum. ] <<vote the figures from memory, but I bi lie\e that they aie so nearly correct as to prove that the amelioration of the ji) isi(s is not to be attained by wholesale lobbery'.as advocated by Henry George, a'id'otiieisof that class, but by the people learning to cuib their appetites, onather, as the little boy said, their " drinkitites."

That it is not always an advantage to hive a friend in power, is illustrated by a little stoiy I iccently heard about one ot our (Jivil Servants, who, by the way, does not desme to ha\e the prefix nn placed before the word civil, he had tnteied the service here, and had been icToved down !-outh, where he had i reused well merited promotion, but lie was anxious to retnru here, to be cimong his own people. A change of Jlinistiy took pl.icc, and a relative of his rroa\i.d a poi tfolio in the new Cabinet, though he had not control of 1 lie dij) it tment in which Ins fiicnd was. Kouiut, tlic l,itt( r applied to him to use Ins influence to get him removed to Auckland. He did so, and the removal took place, but to his dis-ijust, the Ciml Su-».iiit found th.it his salary was milled by L'fx) ]ie r annum. This o( aiiied somi ji.tM.igo, and, though he lias woiked liaid c\lv since, it is only now tli it lie lias ;il,miii got the same nmount of silaiy as lie had before he ifcei\ed "IIUII pi (■motion."

It scums tint «c have not heard the ].t«t o> tli'" chaiges made against I)r Isoikl, I Ioiisl" Suigeon at thu Hospital, liy tlif p.itK nt, who accused him ot no <kut ami ciuelty, ai the latter has i^'icd a writ .ly-imsfc the torincr, claiming j,")00 d.u»a»es. \Vhate\er the merits of the t.ise, we shall have them freely ,iu(l openly diHouMsod in open court, and mo in.iy fan ly expect that an intelligent J >i iti-.li jury will give a verdict in aicoulai»cc with the evidence. Though In; is ewdontly somewhat of a " aealiw\ei " Smith docs not intend to follow tiie evanijilu of the celebrated W (i (i.ui.ud, and conduct his own i .I^l , lint h.is utfiiiicd Mr W. J. Najucr I Hiinposc he believes m the puneih \\ Intii uwi ti that a man v/ho ia his oun l.iwycr has a fool tor a client.

The Prcmi»r is in Auckland just now, awl is having a veiitable " iiy round," as lie has heen going hither and thither with pieat rapidity, inspecting the various (!o\ eminent establishments and the places ot in the city and suburbs. After paying a flying visit to Wlaigareiand one to Kaipara, lio ia to deliver an oddiebs on Monday evening under the nuspicc-, of the Auckland Liberal Association. Of course, he knows hia business lipst, but 1 think that if I were Premier of New Zealand I would piefer to deliver my ft'ldicss under the auspices of no

paiticular section of the community. Howevei, Mr Stout i^ Mite to h.ue a large audience, who will listen atten tuely to what he lias to siy, ami who w ill lio.u an addiesa uoith listening to. Ne\t week I notice he is to Msit Wai Lito, for tlio purpose of turning the liist sod of the Noi th Island Ti link Railway It. is to lie hoped that the ceremony will lie followed l>y the lupid con-its uction of the line, and not piove as hail on of results as the turning of the Hist sod " two tunes" of the Thatncs-Waikato R.ulv\ay lij Sii (feoiije lirey. Those extieniHy iuteiesting in-rforiiidncus tool; place some \<ais igo, but the line is not jet coin jih-te'l, and will not 1»« for a long time Perhaps if hir lieoige (iicy had contented himself with tuin.ng one fust sod we miiilit h.i\ c had a better lesnlt, but the tinning of two was evidently too gieatan CM'ition lor him. St Ml S(,o.