THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1885.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1996, 23 April 1885, Page 2

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1885.

It is not right, perhaps, to laui^li at patriotism in whatsoever shape it may be manifested. But we are only poor fallible n -eat tires, aiul often do wroiiir, and tli.'H'trnf we oicisionplly sniiic f\<Mi :i< pitiiotism We

ue not going t° define the trim, tii.it which foi all piaetical pui poses sulliws for Hie pui poses of .irgumeiit it the ardent desire to take part in the w, us of the Empire which has cli.ii aeteriscd the people .and Government of New South Wales, and wlnili, li\ .1 species of inoculation, h.ii ltccii ( oimnunieated to the inhabitants of this country. Now South Wales got the start of her younger sisters, but not on that account is it for a moment to be supposed that her affection for England is deeper or stronger than that of the others. In order the better to demonstrate this to the world at large, the Government of this country contemplates sending a contingent, not to the Soudan, whore its services would only be required to aid in butchering the Irilf-armed Arabs of the desert, but to Cential Asia, where it will (possibly) meet t'x- fully equipped Muscovite il deadly conflict. This in effect is what we believe the Native Minister has suggested. It may be unpatriotic, it may be unpopular, and it may be impolitic to say so, but the whole business seems to us to savour very strongh of bosh. Itis ridiculous to suppose that we can, and England cannot expect us to, send a force to Afghanistan which would be strong enough to aH'ord any material assistance to the British Army operating there, in the event of an outbreak of war. If anything could increase the absurdity of the proposal, it would be the suggestion that the auxiliary foice should consist partly of Maoris ! Could anything well be more grotesque? And yet we find journals of the calibre of the L^ttelton Tunes gravely discussing the scheme, and actually extending appioval to it. "Of the Maori offers of service" snys our contemporary "no one will speak but in the highest terms. The loyalty and spirit of these, our fellow subjects deserve no less. It is pleasing to learn, on the authority of the Defence Minister, that at the cill of the (io\ eminent no less than 1000 Maori soldiers would volunteer tor foieign sei v ice.'' And this on the strengh of our friend Hote Thompson's offer ! The ignorance of eveiv thing pertaining to the natives displayed by our brethren in the South is truly v ery sad to think upon. But even supposing this offer of Thompson's were a genuine, bona Jidc affair, would it be light and proper to ask a handful of ignorant natives, unversed in the history of .Britain's relations, not only with India and Russia, but even with New Zealand itself, to go out to be "shot at for sixpence a day?" We shall not insult the intelligence of colonists by any further reference to the matter. Respecting the despatch of a force of European colonists to Afghanistan, all we need say is to repeat that, if war should unfortunately ensue, we shall want all our bone and sinew and all the money we can seiape together at home.

The police in Waikato were en_',i^c(l y -ft ,d,iv onioHinc,' members of the first ela -i lnilitin. We understand that Professor H igo, of "lleids .md Fiws" fame, will -iidit'v \i iy i\i-ittoUio Waikato.

Messrs Craig and Cutler have lira igvl to inn auothei m itch ,it Auck- ) nil hortlj. Ctitliu is not -atis led with his defeat, .mil thinks ltd will stuui.i bettui show on hi > own giouud

Archdeacon Wil'is will hold service at Licliheld on Sunday. 'J lie Rev. J. C. M. Wilson, of Tasmania, will offcuate at S. Atidiew'u, Catubiidge, add Tamiliere.

Now that the rents of the Cambridge dom.nn lands have been leduced 50 per cot. the b •Aid will not have such ft handsome re\ enue with which to carry on unpio\cmentH. Before the reduction the revonue was something over £300, now it .< ill be about £150. This will ju»t about pay uage.s to a. tiist-class man.

Professor Rice, mind-reader, and physiognomist, having signified his willingness to give, or to a.s.si.st iv giving a perforni.ince in aid of some local objtct, the cnininittee of the Cambridge Public Library should Jose no tune in closing with his \eiy geneioua ofFer. The piofensor should e\peiience no difhculty in rinding qnit'J n number of deaen ing objects to choo.se finm. A large number of people assembled in the Gin eminent paddock, Cainbudge, on Tuesday afternoon, to witness the half-mile race, between J. Cntlci, the VucMaud ped., and D. Craig, the local champion, for i!-; 0 aside. The event took place at thicc o'clock and excited much mten^t. Two false htaits were made, Craig getting about half way round the couise each time. When .started the thud time both men got away well togethei. Craig fcoon took the lead and kept in fiont till the finish, beating his man by about four yaids. After the hntt tound Cntlci put on a spuit and camo up behind his opponent, who again crept away und came home without any fuither effort, time, 2mm. 12|sec. Not .i little money changed liiinds on the e\ent. Craig of com ho was the, favoiuite with the local men, who were gmii£ udds, and lie | was .ilho well backi d in Auckland. Cutler^ backer had good faith in thoir iii.'m, and wero not afraid to put their money on him.

i Professor Rice gave another very successful performance in the Cambridge Public Hall, on Monday evening when he was foAomed with a full house. The ptoU'ssor commenced his entertainment by a prelude about spiritualism and its exponent*, and gave a few interesting lllustiatioiio of how the public were duped by these performances. Tho mmd-roading t»>stb were on tho whole very successful. The fiiHt test was a particularly quick one. In the second part.tf hisenteitaimnont, the professor exposed aomo of the scciets of ch.ui \oyancy. The ling tuck in tho chamber, and tho hand tying are deserving of special mention. One of tho best itcma of the evening wan tho ghout scene, which was eminently Biicce»«ful. The Professor was kmdly assisted by Mis Cluthy and Mi". Wilson, who ga\e their sei vices at the piano, and by that o\cr popular vocaliet, \Ti Jl. W. Mooie. Ueforo dismissing his aiid ence, Pi.ifessor Rice announced his intention of lemming to the distiictat an eaily date, and wltd tho aasibtnnce of Airs Kice, Riv intr a peiformance in aid of some local charity, or duaervmg object.

The following special messages to tlu Picss Association, dated London, Apnl 21st, have been published :—Tho shipment of fro/en meat ex ship Mail lioioiigh in selling at Md per lb. —The Flench (Jovernmcnt will allow Nubar Pasha time to consult with the Porto in connection with the JJosphoie Efiryptien. Mr (ilidhtone admit*, in a measure, the responsibility ot the English Government in tegai d to it« suppression. —M. do Criers,] UnsHi.u) Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rtaten that tho lintish officers who wei'e predontat the, leccnt engagement encouraged tlis Alfghuus to pn;voko a KiiHsiaii attack, and that Oonorai Komaroff's despatches which hue been received in St. Petorsbuig amply jnwtify hix action; fi.nd that, under tlu- cucuiriHtiincps, it would havo been a neglect of duty if he had failed to attack the AfTghans. —Despatches havo boen received from Sir Peter Lumsden, in which ho reitoiates the Htatements contained in hiK former message, that the Affghann did not provoke tho attack. —The Russians are] compelling tho inhabitants of Saiukhs to (onsli net a milit.uy load towaids Herat. — The Htandaid's sjiecinl coriespondent tele-

graphs that the Affghnns aio studiously modeiato iv their manner towards the llllSSlfllls. The lad William Murphy, aricted on Mi nday on a charge of indecently exposing It mself to two little girls, the d inphters of a settlei in the Kiukniroa district, w.ii brought up at tho Hamilton I'olice Court on Taosday morning befoie Messrs W. X. Searancke and John Kno\, J.l'. Sei^t. M.ijoi MiGovetti prosecuted, and the piisoner was defended by Mr \V. M. H.iy. The. evidence of the mother of the childieu and tho elder of the latter, aged 12 yoais, was taken, but the younger child, ugtd eight, could not be induced to m ike a statement, and the evidence of the elder one was not corroborated. Mr Play for the defence, iat-ed an objection to the evidence, which he pointed out, had not been given on oath, and that the evidence of the elder gal was nnt supported by that of the other. The Bench adininisteied a suveiu caution to the ]<iisnnei, and discharged bun, but took occasion to intimato that similar offences would in future be visited with the full penalty of tho law, which was twelve months' imprisonment. At the beginning of the case the court was, as usual, partly filled wilh .1 nnmbei of peisons who an ovoi leady to listen to unclean lccitals, but the bi nch ordered the uh.uiibiM to bi denied, .vnd the older was promptly carried into etiect. A correspondent of the Bombay Gazette, who is said to have special np|>oituinties of ascei taming what in believed by natives m Atfghauistnn, writes. — "Merchants from Atfghani.stan, both Hindoos and Mahoinmedans, agree in saying that extensive nnlitaiy preparations continue theio on the ostensible plea of apptohenmoiis of Russian agrossion. But the popular conviction inclines to the belief that this is a uieie ruse, and that the Anm has neither the will nor the powei to ntem the tide of the Russian advance, which will oveiwhelm eveiythmg w lnch comes before it ; also that recent Russian swcces'cs and conquests have strongly impressed the people of Affghanistan with tho dread of her irresistible military powei and resources, and the wisdom of seeking her alliance and friendship. The common ba/aa<-talk gleefully alludes to the prospect of the Affghnns again enuching themselves with the rich plunder of India, as their foiefatheis used to do during the decline and fall of the Mogul Empire, and befoio the using power of tho Sikhs checked their pcnodical raids. Tho boundaiy commission, and its circuitous and stealthy route, is ndiculed ; and great doubts are expiessed in legard to its ultimata safe return to India." On Tuesday, the Commissioner of Ciown Lands (Mi 1). A. fole) offered by public auction, at the Ciown L-uuis Offic, Auckland, the Taupiri Coal Reserve, 700 acics, parish ofTaupni, at an upset puce of £2") per annum, and a royalty of sixpence per ton on all coil raised. The conditions wore: Lease of foui teen -\ ears, itnt paid >eaily in advance ; that, within throe months from date of lease, coal was to be evploied foi, and (if found) worked con tinuously during lease. The lessee was not to havo the ntfht to cut oricmove timbei for other than piuely domestic j)Ui))oses, or t<> assign his lease, without thewntten consent of the Minister of Lands first had and obtained. The land, it is stated, is adjacent to the Tuupui Coil Mining Co. '» pioperty. There was a goodly number of persons piesent at the Ciown Lands OMice when the sale began, but only a few bidders. Mr Tolu staited the salo at the ups-K pi ice, £25, .md the bidding went stiadily up to ItMOO, at which p tint the conteat was left to Mr Ralph, who, it was understood, was bidding in the interest of tho Taupiri Coal Company, and Mr H. Reei George (commission agent), who wjw acting us agent fora "dark hoise." The bids went up by bounds of from £20 to £30, till Mr Ralph stuck at £525, and Mr George, " springing " to £530, the block was knocked down to Mr George, who disclosed his principal as Mr William Hill Clarke. To enquiries made as to the identity of Mr Claikc, Mr George said he scarcely knew him himself, but he had a written authority to act, and the £530 was at the bank for the Ciown Lands Office official, and tint .should bo sufficient for him. The auction sale caused wild excitement. — Herald. The Vienna correspondent of the Daily Telegraph writes .—". — " Some sensation has been caused in political ciicles by tho publication in an inspued Russian ptiiiodical of aiiiiiticleon existing telations between Kussm and Germany, of which tho subjoined is an abstract: — 'Germany continues to elect foits on om ftnutieis which aie destmrd , is well for offensive as for defensive pm poses. Gei man subjects m lecoipt of Government pay aie beginning to settlo m the border district, lliey belong to the Luulwrhr, ami vrdl serve in the vanguard in case ot a Gei man invasion. A vast network of strategic railways lias been consti acted in view of war with Russia. Under the influence of Germany, Austria has likewise built l.irgc fortresses on her frontier*, and is laying down strategic railroads. Even Roumania, threatened by Prince yon BiMii.uck, lias pledged herself to eventual co-opeiatum against us. At Constantinople Germany is omnipotent. The German Ambassador wields a predominant influence in the councils of the Forte ; there is a large number of Germans in the Tuikish at my and financial administration. Germany has opened a legation at Teheran, and will thus, in case of need, cxeicise powei ful mttuenco in Poisia. Finally, China has been supplied with European ships and armaments by German contractors, while the Chineso troops are drilled by German officers. On the advice of Germany the vacant territory on her Chinese frontier has been peopled by Chinese, and forts have been erected within '203 miles of the Russian frontier. If we glanco at the map from the mouths of the Pieman, to those of the A moor, and from tho Baltic Sea to tho Pacific Ocean, with the exception of Afghanistan, we cannot put our finger on a single point whero the hand of Gei many is not to bo detected, and wheie wo aio not shut in by an won ring, which may eitht r reduce us to submission, oi, at a signal fiom Beilm, he brought to cnpplc any pait of the body of the Kmpne."