TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1886.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2159, 11 May 1886, Page 2

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1886.

'*- 1H our railways, as in many other things, we suffer largely from applying partly or in whole to new countries the doctrines that have .proved more or less true in older countries. In the latter, railways, like all improvements, were carried out by private, individuals for their own individual gain with scant encouragement from Governments. "Water- works, gas-works, and numerous other improvements tell the same tale of the incapacity shown as governors by men who in their private capacity were alive to every improvement. No doubt the less Government interferes with the ordinary coui^se of trade the better, but carrying is not in the ordinary course of trade, on land at least, ' since the discovery of the powers of steam. Railways are, in the nature of a monopoly, like water-works or gas-works, and ought therefore to be in the hands of citizens in and not create a profit for a favoured few. Wo are in thijs happy state theoretically in New Zealand. Our railways have been , .. constructed by the State as a rule, and no one would grumble at the ■••>'■ increased cost and inferior work as '" 'compared with private enterprise if .they were managed, as private companies' lines are, in the interest . of • tlio proprietors. For the sole ration iFetre of Government lines is that in them the proprietors are the popu- " lafcioin of the country and nob a few private individuals. * That railways have hitherto been constructed and worked mainly by private persons has, however, given our lines a sort of mongrel origin. Constructed at first as a means to the settlement of the country they have gradually been degraded into - au interest-beariug machine. We do not intend to touch upon the political or even the commercial „ dangers Mr Vaile so ably points out ; we wish to call attention only • to the social aspect of our present railway mismanagement. It is jnot long since, greatly to our surprise and triumph in this provincial district, we obtained authority to borrow a million for the construction of the Trunk Railway, which we, justly enough, considered our due. We are afraid that our present rail- , way rates have converted a great 1 'number of people to the belief that this railway must be indefinitely postponed unless we wish to saddle ourselves with the interest on an additional million or million and a half, plus working charges. When it does not pay to send farm prov cluce to Auckland from Hamilton, not to speak of Te Awamutu, it will certainly not pay to send it from fifty to one hundred miles further. The great curse of the world at present, as in all civilised ages, is the great contrast between enormous riches and immeasurable poverty, As far as our reading of history goes this has always been due to the abandonment of the land by the massofthepopulationofacountryaud their crowding into cities. Ancient Rome, as Modern England, shows that lotifinirlio or big estates with the decay of the yeoman class and resulting from t\\\% overcrowded cities, bring pauperism in theii train. We often read in the papers articles, perfectly true sc far as they go, enlarging on the

absurdity of sending out here emigrants of what we may call a city aptitude. We are told that what we want is farmers with a small capital and a large family to develop our waste lands. So we do, our advisers are perfectly correct so far ; but what on earth is the good of asking for settlers on the land when the settler who is fool enough to come can not only not make a profit but loses his all in not making a living? The present rate of freights renders ifc impossible for a large farmer to make a profit on his crops in this district. He thinks himself in fact rather lucky" if he escapes a direct loss. And if the large settler is in this predicament what of the small farmer ? The former can get his goods conveyed at a far cheaper rate by chartering carriage by the truck ; if he fancy himself overcharged, as he naturally may in the present, we believe intentionally, muddled tariff it may pay him to dispute an extremely probable overcharge. The latter, besides being charged 'enormously more for his smaller consignments, never knows what the charge is till he is called to pay it. Let him waste time, which to him is everything, in inquiries from station-masters as to the mtes he must pay; one station-master contradicts 'another, and the bill exceeds the highest estimate of any. Not only this, but this week he may send goods at one rate and next week iie is charged trom 25 to 50 per cent, higher for the same article in the same quantities. And he, the small settler, cannot afford the loss of time and money, even if he possessed the commercial aptitude, required to ferret out these iniquities. Till we have a cheap and easily understood' freight tariff, it is idle bunkum to talk of settling the country. The present tariff in fact, whether so designed or not, tends to reproduce in these new countries the overcrowded cities and consequent pauperism of the old. With the in : creased capacity for what we may call Artificial enjoyments there is a natural tendency to town life, but wha,fc shall we say of the statesmen who, professing to people New Zealand, make country life practically an impossibility to the multitude? Prohibitive rates debar the workman from leaving the centre of employment, the large fanner from employment of labour, the small settler from simple sustenance, and yet no land ever yet throve where the country was neglected. Large towns ,are largely the product of policy similar to that of our railway managers and only in large towns do we see the abyss between Dives and Lazarus which is the ulcer of modern society. By the concentration of population in towns, as owing to railway rates non-capitalists cannot afford to go afield in search of labour and small capitalists cannot live beyond a few miles from town, the value of town property is artificially enhanced, big corporation works are started, a temporary boom is created until the bubble bursts amid the cry of "unemployed." And from a deeper point of view than even the financial and material does the nation suffer. Overcrowded cities mean overcrowded houses ; overcrowded houses mean physical decrepitude, moral degradation ; infants old in the knowledge of sin, 'greybeards steeped in crime ; struggling honesty despised by prosperous fraud and hardkept purity in rags taunted by flaunting vice in satin. Because we have in New Zealand no great capital like Melbourne people :nay ignore this overcrowding of our | cities, but if we add up the populations of our provincial capitals it is to be, feared that we should find at least an equal percentage of our population divorced from country life. That this can ever be otherwise under our present system of railway management is the dream of a, maniac. It remains to call upon all electors to insist at next general elections on pledging candidates to railway reform. That a commission should have been refused to so numerously and influential ly signed a petition can be explained only by a consciousness of weakness on the part of the railway administration. Voters, and country voters especially, will have only themselves to thank if they be led astray by such itjnea fettni as a land tax, the abolition of plural voting or of public houses, the Eight Hours' Bill, &c, instead of throttling once and for ever the real Old Man of the Sea, namely, the use of their own property as an engine to drive them off the land into the back slums of big towns.

That the railway authorities at Wellington do not lay themselves out to supply the needs of those having' stock to send to the Auckland market becomes more W* n ', fully apparent every day. The padded trucks episode is already known to our readers, and recently there have been several complaints about the way stock are knocked about in the trucks and left at this place and that to spend the night in such confined spaces on account of the deficiency of engine power. The idea of reverting to the old ine'thod of driving stock is again taking a strong hold of the minds of the settlers, some of whom have indeed adopted it. Yesterday a mob of 130 head of cattle passed through Hamilton en route for Auckland, J to which placo they will be driven the whole way. I>y follQwing this course the owners will not only save money, but, as the boasts will not be jostled ab >afc and bruised, they ' will secure a bettor price per head. It is quite timo tho agitation for reform in our railway policy was taken up again.

Reports of road board meetings, find a number of letters to fie Editor are crowded out, but will appear in our next. The death is announced at Wliangarci, of n- very <ld Waikato resident, Mr W. Sloane, formerly of

Alcxandia and Te Awamutu. Death is supppwl to havo re»ulted from an overdose of chloral.

The Premier of Tonga, the Rev. I Shirley W. Baker, was » pnsucngpr by ye<I terd»y'H train to Auckland, from the I Lakes.

A meeting of the committee of the Cambridge Choral Society will bo held in the Public Hall this evening at 8.30. There will bo no practice on this ocension. We understand that Mr BalUnce has agreed to hold the next fcative Land Court at Otorohonga, and that a oourthou«e will bo erected forthwith. Commander Edrin wired at 1226 p.m. yenterdty :— Expect bad" wt»ther between north and cart and lonth-ejwt. Glmui fall again toon, and heary »in within 13 hours.

Wo are desired to intimat* that the police authorities of Hamilton will strictly enforce the by-law which require* that vehicles shall carry lamps after nightfall.

Mr R. Kerry, wool-scourer, who for some yeats past lias resided at Hamilton East, left yesterday for Australia. It is hi-, intention, wo believe, to proceed to the Kimberley tfold field.

The following Auckland residents have pissed tliu law examinations :— Ab barrister, Mr John Houghton ; as solicitor, Messrs G. M. Bjwley, K. Corbett, and Henderson.

Two unoccupied houses (one unfinished) at PniiHonby, Auckland, were destroyed by fire on Sunday mornhiff. The dainaßO is estimated at £1000. N<> clue to the (triffin of the fire has been obtained.

W. L- Malcolmson, land agent, of Auckland, has filed a declaration of insolvency. The liabilities aro net down at £1438 18s 8d unsecured, and £'6580 (>s 8d seciirrd. The assets are put down, at «12,321 13s 4d.

We remind our readers of the annual social gathering to be h.-ld tomorrow, in connection with S. Andrew s Church, Cambridge. A largo number of tickets has been disposed of, and the affair promises to be a great success.

An error was made in the transmission of the paragraph in our Jast issue referring to Mr A. Isaacs' action against the Government, The amount of Mr Isaacs' claim is £3000, not AJ3IO as was printed.

The programme of the athletic sports to be held at Cambiidjje, on the ( juaeu'fl Birthday, 24th May, will be found in another part of thin issue. Entries for the handicaps must be in by the 15th, and the handicaps will appear, in Tug W.mkato Timks on the 20th. '

Messrs W. P. Chepmell. H. Burnett, John Horreil, J. H. Rowe and S. Seddon have been elected member* of the Waitoa Road Board. Mr Seddon tied yrith Mr D. Murphy, but gut the casting vote of the returning officer.

Mr Samuel Vaile, in compliance with tho request of the Waikato dmnty Council, will addres* a pnblic meeting nt Le<Juesne*s H.-vll, H.untlton Kant, on Friday noxt nt H o'clock-, on the subject of Railway Reform. The chair will be taken by Air Primrose, chairman of the county.

The Shaw, Saville and Albion C»'s H.B. Tdinui arrived nt Auckland on Sunday, from London. She left Plymouth on Murcli 27th. Amongst the passengers , was the Hon. John Bryce, who returns to the colony after his trip to England to prosecute Mr Rusden for libel.

The Union Company's s.s. Mararoa with the English and, American mails, via San Francisoo, arrived at Auckland nt a little after 4 o'clock on Sunday mottling. She left San FrancNcn on the 17th April, and but for a break-down of her machinery would ha,ve reached Auckland on Friday last. She brought 151 passengers, 15 of whom were for Auckland.

A little excitement was caused at Auckland's horse sale at Oambiiclgo on Saturday. Tlio rough-rider' was nlinwiug off * buckinp horse that wai beliiß put under the hammer, when it reared 'and fell backwards upon his rider. Fortunately no harm was done, and the horae, which righted itself and continued cavorting around, was caught and remounted, finally finding a purchaser.

The following tenders were received by Mr Bandoa on behalf ' of Mr Osmond for clearing at Claudelands,>on the proposal racecourse i— G. Reed,' ltfi per acre ; (*. Goodwin, 22-» <kl ; 11. Dellicar, 32-* Od ; Krußnian and Co., 2Ha ; (i. Browne, 27s <»d ; .T. Hall, 30* ; 13. Dillon, 3"n ; Jones and Waite, ."»2s Gd ; and J. Coombes, 535. We understand that Mr Reed's tender will be accepted, and the woik started at once.

We (Wellington Post) learn that the statement winch has appeared in several of the Now Zealand papers to the effect that Mr CJ. Y. Shannon has actually resigned his seat as a nominated member of the Board of Directors of the Govmmnent Insurance Association ta incorrect. _Mr Shannon has not yet resigned, or. officially intimated his intention of doing so, and he is still drawing tin; salary attached to the office.

Mr Edwards, the hon. secretary of t!)e Hamilton Hand, received the, fallowing music from Messrd Wnght and Round, Liverpool, by yesterday* mail :— tjuick march "Attention," quick inarch "Kreq and Easy," quadrille "Cynthia," quick march " Sly only Joe and Dearie," original Inncers quadrille, quadrille " Paul and Virginia," quick march "Hitella,"' waltz " Britannia," quick march • " Rank and ' File," glee " The Ked Cross Knight," quick march " Loving and Hoping," quick m.iroh ■ "LsTounoi," fantasia on Welsh ain, "The Challenge.''

The adjourned meeting of the Hamilton Borough Council wa» held last night. Pressnt : His Worship the Mayor, Crs. Kimx, Tippen, Dey, Scott; Jiarton, Batch, Sandes and Phi|ip. Cm. £andea, . Tippon and Scott were appointed a comin it tee to arrange for repairing No 1 bridge and the school-house bridge. On t.ho motion of Cr Kn»x, it was resolved to -write to the Kirikiriroa Road ltoard asking them to co-operate with tb« coiuicil in lowering the grade of the main road 'leadmi? to to the Hamilton E*at Cemetery. Some other business of a routine nature wa and the cotincil rose. 5 % J ( , ' *

Mr Adams, the battery manager at Waiorongomai, has effected a great improvement to the drag in the baflduns at the battery, which will otfect a considerable saving in the cost of working. Hitherto/ when the shoe of tho. drag win worn, tho whole drag had to be taken out and a new one pnt nj. Mr Adams. howo\ er, has made a detached shoe which exactly tits _ into a grove cut round the centre of the' drag. • Thorefore, when this shoo become* worn, it 11 taken off tho drag; atad w replaced by a new one without the drag itself being changed. Mr Adam* has., taken out a patent for his very useful invention.

The Onehunga Racing dab's Autumn Meeting took plnco on Saturday. There was a very good attendance, and the racing was very succebsfut. The following ti*e the result* of the meeting Hurdles : Tinman, 1 ; Gazelle, 2 ; Rowdy ,'3. • Madcn Plate: Tupaki, 1; Brazela, 2; Prestorca, 3. Novel Jiacc: Qt>in;i, 1; Otnra, 2 ; Countess : 3. Steoi>l«t'»ase : Gazelle, 1 ; Hawthorn, 2; 'Maccjironi, 3. Winter Outs: Victory, 1: Clojpi, + ; Cinderella, f . Selling Steeplechase : Julia Ann, 1 Iz.iak Walton, 2 ; KvAitin^ Bar, 3. In the Winter O.vts Dressmaker fell, throwing hep rider, l^urhton, heavily to the ground, and seriously injuring him.

The police department has a peculiar way of managing ita nff*ir» f ycry difficult to understand, apart from its incoiiHi^tency. A largo district liktTe Arolia and Waiorongamai, with a nujsierou* mining population is placed in charge of one officer, a full sergeant,, who is in' command of no other force bnt himself. Paoxo*; a much lets important itation, \w»xc^n9n a cou pi o of police constables. This may be flattering to tho Te Aroha people, or libellous on the character of Faeroa, but does hot help an old nervant like t .Sergt. Emerson, who is decidndly over-forked, and should have assistance allowed him. We ask the Inspector of tho district to give this matter his consideration.

The Christclmrch Press states that the guarantors of the expenses of the delegation to London re the East and West Coast Railway have formally discouraged any public demonstration at prewnt. The Press, in the course of a leader thinks the railway i« not yet out of difficulty, mid concludes as follows : — IC Why are the guarantors themselves so apprehensive of disappointment that they deem it advisable to postpone any demonstration for the present? There must be something in the background of which the public havq not yet been informed. It may n»t be nnying serious. We sincerely hope it in not ; but, whatever it is, we cannot think it a

wise policy to conceal it. Hiving toM mi much, the Government would do well to tell all without reservation.' 1

The following special messages to the Ire-is Association, dated London, •tth May, have been published : — The Kew Zealand Midland Railway Company are allotting ntiares. — Few companies arc tendering for the conveyance of the Auitralian mails under the federal scheme. — Wheat in firmer. English is a ithillng dearer, but foreign and colonial are unchanged. Importations are small, and for one shipment just arrived thirty-six shilling* is asked. Thirty-four ajid sixpence is suited for * parcel on passage.— A serious split has taken place between the leaden of the Salvation Army. — The mails which left Auckland in March were delivered yesterday, ria San Francisco. — The wool market continues quiet. 300,000 bales have arrived to date for the cominjr colonial auction*. — The total quantity of wheat afloat for the United Kingdom is 1,870,000 quarters.—New Zealand frozen mutton has fallen to 5d per lb.

The residents of Waitoa, near Te Aroha, havo a very just grievance, against the G(»>ernmcnt, which should recei\e attention, \yiien the township was formed, it was then in contemplation to bring the Thames Hue of railway to that poiut and erect the station there. A large area of land wan held an a railway rciervation, and in view of the.se possibilities, which were then regarded «s certainties a number of people took up sites and built business placet and dwellings. The present line, from tho Waikato, terminating atTe Aroha has, however, changed all that, and Waihnn W no longer in the s.une position, yet the Government still hold tho larger quantity of land for railway purposps. The complaint is that thin land should bo thrown open, and people be given the opportunity of procurring farni3 or sections varying from five acres to a hundred acres in order to settlo down and make hou-sea in a part of the district favourable for settlement.

The Piako County Council hare vrry lately Riven some formation to Whitaker-street, To Arnlin, but as the work has been ]>orfonned at a late season of the year, the earth has not had time to harden down before tho rain came. The street it in ft dreadful state of uiud and slu«h after every shower. Our representative «a\v a lady making b>ld attempts to cross the street, which she failed to accomplish, and turned in despair in another direction. The most serious point about the street, however, is the crock crossing it near the Hot Springs Hotsl. ThU has only a very narrow open bridge thrown over tho centre for wheeled traffic. The creek on each side of this bridge and between the two foot-bridges is quite ox posed, and is a yawning mantrap. It would not be at all surprising to hear of i n catastrophe occurring here oh s,>ine dark night when an unwary travnllor on hofsebjok{ or driving will plunge headlong into 'the chasm. This if a Wttor that should have received the attention of the council long ere this. They should give it that attention now without further delay. The creek iliould bo taken across the street \i\ a straight line, and should bo either conducted through a concrete culvert or covered in the whole width of tho street and securely planked. The fstitnited cost of doing this, and thereby entirely remo\ - ing this highly dangerous spot from the imam thoroughfare, is about £150, a •mm the council should not hesitate to expend.

Amongst the questions asked Mr Whyto at Friday's meeting, at Hamilton, was the following, by .Mr \V. A (Jraham : —"Will you ask the Government to authorisp a correct survey and estimate of the cost of constructing a crtnal to doniject the j waters of *tho M.vnnkau at Wainku with the AVaikato at the Awaroa, also to connect Waikato at Maungnwara with the Piako at Manßakaumia.'and from the Piako across to the Thames liver at or near Ohincmnri ?' ,In explanation of his question, Mr « Jraham Said tnc project, which was one of much public hn|>orta»Q9, had been advocated as far back as the year 1847 or 1848, and was, he understood quite practicable. He thought the proposed waterway wa*. a work of colonial importance, and should be undertaken by the Oovermuent. It would bo" a means of cheap transit for minerals, such as liino and coal, from Waikato to the Thamos, where they were requited by the various batteries furnaces, etc. Further than this, the canal \vo\\Ul drain and open np for settlement an enoririous area of land, equal in'quality to the be«<t in the colony, much of which was in the handu of the Government. He did not think the canal would exercise a prejudicial influence on the railway aliesuly constructed, but rather, by pr<jmotin<r iutercourso between the Waikato and Thames, prove ft valuable auxiliary. AIL ho ;i a>kcd for at present was that the Government should obtain a correct survey. Mr Wliyte said he would ask the (lovernment to have the survey made with a view to test the practicability of the proposal.

We are indebted to the Herald for the following biief bnt clear statement of the matter at insue between Greece and Turkey at the present time:—Thee :— The 24th article of the Treaty of Berlin recited " the rectifiction of fionticr. suggested in the* 13th -protocol of the Gtaigrcw* of Berlin," and may bo hold to approve, bec.iu-6 it pledge* the Powers to olfer their mediation t<» facilitate negotiations upon that Miggestion. In its widest scope the word "valles" in that 13th protocol, referring to the rivers Kalamm and Halainyriw, would have given to Groecoth*} whole of Epirus and of Thowaly. On May 4, lSSO^Loid Granvillo informed the Powers that the inability of Turkey and Greece to agree upon that rectification had been demon'htrnted, and accordingly the Conference of Berlin took place. The main work of the plenii«>tcntarieB at that conf6rchce wni to examine the course and diameter of those two rivers. They found that the only proper line on the ea.>t was upon the crest of the Olympus range, thus Riving to Greece the whole valley of the Salamyritv*. The Kalamas flown through arugged and very difficult country. Tho conference adopted the "thalweg," or centre of the waterway, as tho boundary on tho north of Jnuiliu, which they awarded to Greece, partly upon the report of C^pt. Sale, who, after making inquiries into the ethnology of Epirus, stated that while "in that piirtof Kpirus which lien to the south of the" KnlanijiK river, together with tho districts of Philiates and Zagori, the rtroportion of Christian to Mahometan* uihibitants ff as 5 to 1, in the town of danina itself there »Te in round numbers il,r>oo Christians, ."XXX) Mahometans, and 3000 Jews." Capt. Salo added that " mo*t of the property js in the hands of tho Christians, who are practically unanimous, in tfleir wish for annexation to (j recce." The territory thus adjudged to Cirerce by the Powers of Europe. including'2o,l)J)o stjuaru kiloMtetrcH, 1 has been oply i\k part mv* rendered by the Convention of 1881. Jnniua remains in the hands of tho Turks, The unfulfilled award of the conference was in these terms:— "The negotiations between Turkey and tyepct for the rectification of tlieir frontiers having been without result, the Plenipotentiaries of the Powers, called by provisions of the Act of 'l#thj of July, 1878£toj e^owji*' jnediation between the two States, assembled in conference at Berlin conformably to tho instructions of their (jovexninbhts, afid after ripe deliberation, acting it) the spit it of the terms of tho 13th protocol of thp Congress of Berlin, have adopted the following line." Then follows a description of tho line,' to which we have already referred, r Greece submitted to that reduction, but not without piotest and full reservation of her claims. For three years the\e wan trhnAnility in the Balkan peninsula. No qties- . turn was pressed concerning the Treaty of Berlin. Lust autumn there arose the claim df East Roiunelia to a virtual incorporation with Bulgaria. Greece seized the opportunity to again urge her claim 0 . She incited on the award 'of the •fipvlin Conlerence be}ng carried out. The Powers .replied tbftt the moment- for;gyriug_ effect; to 'them was inopportune.,* md counselled Greece to wait. But the Gieeks wero in po mind to listen to such advidc.' . They had caught the fovar/ The roserjes were called out, and war preparations made on an extensive t-cale. This bolligerftnt attitude was persisted in, in spite of the warnings and threats of the Powers, and lias 'finally resulted iv the Greek ports being blockaded by the combined squadrbn.

Mr E. L. Smith notifies that ho has taken over the Royal Hotel, Hamilton Evst. Yes !It is certainly trite. Ask any of your friends who have purchased there- Gar|ick and Cranwell have numerous unaskked for and very favourable commendations from country* customers on their excellent packing of Furniture, Crockery, and Glass, &c. Ladies and gentlemen about to furnish should remember that Garlick and Cranwell's is thb Cheap Furnisbjar Wharchousc of Auckland. Furniture to suit alt classes ; al*p Carpets, Floor Cloths and all House Nocessnnos. If your new bouse is I nearly finished, or, you are ffaing t^> get married, visit Garlick ani Cranwell, Quern-street I »nd Lornc-street Auckland. Intending pur* | chasers, can have a catalogue test free,