AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2212, 11 September 1886, Page 2

AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Oi whatsoever sUte or persuasion, religious «w political.

SATURDAY, SEPT, 11, 1886.

From a report in our last issue itwill have been seen that at a special general meeting on Wednesday the Chamber of Commerce had before it for discussion the advisability of widening the basis of the Chamber so as to include in it representatives iVom country districts. The council had fiated the p -opos-itim by reacmmeuding ; firstly, " That county councils throughout the provincial district be eligible through accredited representatives for membership of the Chamber on payment of an annual fee of one guinea ; secondly, that a , further additional membership be i]

established and designated country members, Who shall subscribe ten shillings annually, subject to the existing rules of the ballot ; thirdly, that a portion of the country subscriptions be 'expended in furnishing the nevrs-rpoms with agricultural journals, wsrks of reference, &c." In a~ circular drawn up for the chairmen of county councils the following - advantages are -claimed for tht hew move. We are told it will result iti "a dissemination of knowledge of the requirements of various districts re transit to and from markets, capabilities of cultivation and state of markets ; in concerted action on main roads and railways ; in the adoption of methods for promoting the growth | of suitable crops and the establishment of new industries ; in the legitimate fusion of political strength by which railway construction and management, roadmaking, agricultural schools, forest conservation,sub-tropical products, etc., should receive due attention." That these objects are highly desirable, and in fact absolutely necessary if we are not to retrograde in both town aiid country, goes without saying ; that the proposed extension of membership of the Chamber of Commerce will promote them is at least disputable. One of the first things that strike a new comer into the Province is the contrast between the size, business and wealth of Auckland as compared with the scattered population, absence of business — in many places sinking to stagnation — and poverty of the country at its back. He is puzzled by this contrast at first, till he learns that the prosperity of Auckland depends first on its shipping, secondly on such industries as mining, timber and gum, and to an almost inappreciable extent on farming. Auckland merchants make no secret of the fact that it pays , them better to flood the Waikato with agricultural produce from the South than to encourage local farm- ■ ers. We are far from blaming them ; it is their business to make the largest profits they can, and if in their double capacity of shipowners and merchants, they can make a double profit, first by freight, secondly on Canterbury wheat or potatoes, we are not so Utopian as to ask them to content themselves with one profit. For all practical purposes, the country south of Auckland is as yet the only agricultural district in the Province, and we in Waikato, the most important portion of it, know from painful experience how far we and the town share the benefits of our mutual transactions. Combined action of town and country has been tried in the instances of the Freezing Company and the Co-operative Association. If farmers are to be believed, the advantages to them of the former have been, to say the least, problematical, while the sole benefit we have heard derived from the latter is a certain reduction in the cost of agricultural requisites. The larger and more important portion of the business for which it was started, the abolition of the middleman and the securing to the producer of some small portion of the profits on which the middleman has hitherto waxen fat at his expense, is a dream of bygone days. At the initiation of the Co-operative Association voices were not wanted of warning that under the system inaugurated it would inevitably gravitate into Auckland hands, but, Cassandra-like, these were pooh-poohed. Where are now the pooh-poohers ? No, if we want, and we certainly need, to stimulate the country, we must put our shoulders to the wheel ; we must combine ourselves and help ourselves, not look to the Allah of Auckland as a deus ex machiua to help us out of the Slough of Despond. We have, though whether it be dead or only sleeping we wot not, a farmers' club here at Tamahere; but why should not every district have a club ? and why should not all combine in. a central society for the Waikato ? We start growing fruit or tobacco, we talk of growing sugar-beet ; we have dairy factories and a jam factory, each and all working upon their own hook, and dependent on the energy and expenditure of a fow self-sacrificing individuals. Need we wonder that they don't pay ? The same blunders in expensive construction and management, the same groping in the dark for markets, the same blind reliance on that "shadow of Egypt," the middleman, characterise them all. Let us then combine in the country first, and then -we shall not only be most happy to act with the city for the promotion of our joint interests, but we shall also be in a position to defy it when its interests and ours conflict.

The number of cattla in the truck to which the accident happened at Frankton the other day was eight, not nine, as mentioned in last issue.

Miss Amy Johns' Company gave their second entertainment at the Odd fellows' Hall, Hamilton, on Thursday night. There was only a moderate attendance, but the entertainment passed off very successfully.

Owing to there not being a quorum present, the meeting of the creditors of John McCann, butcher, Cambridge, called fur yesterday, was adjourned until this morning at the office of the Deputy Assignee, Hamilton.

The Rev. E. OC BiKgs ia now, we are fflad to report, quite convalescent, and expecti to be about again in the course of a fevr daya. The Rev. William Caldor will take the services at S. Peter's tomorrow, having made arranpemanta to stay owing to the illnesa of Mr Biggs.

A petition has been forwarded to tho Colonial Secretary, praying for an Ordtr-in-Council to be issued to extend th« date for the Cambridge Borough election. The petition has been readily signed by a. large number of influential ratepayers, and though hurriedly got up will doubtless tend to strengthen the effect of the resolution passed by the borough council at their last meeting.

In our last issue reference was made to the price to be paid for the milk at the Pukekura factory was a little ambiguous. The price is really 3d per gallon, the supplier paying \A per gallon for the return skim milk, or, to put it into other words, the proprietors

of the factory pay the supplier 2£d for the privilege of abstracting the cream from each gallon of milk.

Mr John Parr writes :— Sir,— l crave a few lines in your valuable medium to contradict a statement made in regard to my .candidature for a position as a borough councillor? for Hamilton on Thursday last. A report was put in circulation Vjy some person to injure me with the burges&ei, to the effect, that if I got returned I was going to support Mr O'Dea's claim for a sum of money in connection with the public buildings. This was entirely a fabrication,— in fact I wa« in total ignorance of <ny ouch claim until I 'was accused by a -buigW, and I challenge the person who made it to produce a particle of evidence to prove it. However, it may have accompliwhod its purpose for the time being, but I doubt not that it will recoil sooner or later upon it« author. ' If ever I have the honour of entering your council chambers as one of its members, it shall I only be by fair and honourable means. I would scorn t» enter by any other method.

A correspondent writes to the St. James's Gazette :— " May I ask a corner m your paper to protest Against one incident in Mr Gladstone's journey to Scotland which happens to affect me Homewhat seriously ? The train .stopped seven minutes at Hawick, during which tune the right hon. gentleman said that he 'regarded Hawick an the birthplace of hia tatnily.' For the last month I har<3 been bu sy compiling a little booklet of views, with illustrative letter-press, of the chief places where Mr Gtadstone was born. This includes front and aide yews of his birthplace in Wales, a bird's eye view of Leith, where he first saw the light in Lancashire, and one of the Norway birthplaces. By springing Hawick upon me after the volume had gone to press the right hon. gentleman detracts from the completeness of my book, l.may add that it will be out in a fortnight, nnder ihe title ' The More Famous Birthplaces of Gladstone.'"

There died at Glapham, on the 1 5th June, Color-Sergeant Walker, late of the 55th Regiment, »nd a Yeoman of the Guard and an old Crimean hero, one who had seen much Rervino in China, India and the j Crimea. Kinglake, in his " Invasions of the Crimea," vol. vi., speaks of his extraordinary valour of the battle of Inkerman as follows :— " Colonel Daubeney's singular charge— ln the earlier moments of this audacious attack the color-sergeant, Charles Walker, »• man of great size and groat strength— had wielded the butt of his rifle with prodigious effect ; and now, when English and Russians became so jammed together that nono could make use of their weapons, the huge color- sergeant was ntill fiercely driving a rent through part of the close compressed crowd, doing this more or less by the power of his mighty shoulders and arms, but also by dint of the blows he laid in right and left with his fists, and the war he maintained with his feet against the enemies' ankles and shins." He also distinguished himself on several other occasions. Not only was he a splendid specitnan of a soldier, but he endeared himself to everybody with whom he came in contact by his remarkable gentleness of disposition.

A, correspondent, writing to the : "North Otago Times," says:— On Saturday night, in Thames-street, there was quite a crowd assembled round a locnl orator, who was holding forth, in a vehement speech, on the merits of the aims of the New Zealand Land Leuerup. The tevt of his speech was this : " Fellowmen, I have :i plan by which all the land in Now Zealand nny bp equally divided among the i inhabitants. The land is the people's ; the land is yours, gentlemen. Why, then, should one man (here he mentioned the name of a large landed proprietor) have so much when we— us— the unemployedhave none? That's what's the matter." (Hear, hear.) A voice: "Why, you're greater than Sir George Grey." He continued : "Sir George Grey! .Sir George Grey is a fool to me. I'm— l'm— l'm ■." A voice: ''Yes you are; you're drunk, and that's what's the matter with you." Just here the crowd rushed the orator, and, above the din, he was understoo i to say he was an advocate of the people* rights and a supporter of the Land League.^ If this body is asleep or dead, a series of Saturday night orations of the above style, should soon resuscitate it, and send it on to victory with as great a boom as that which prematurely precipitated its apostle on Saturday night from the height of its burning eloquence.

An Ayrshire paper is rather rough on the Burns-loving Scots in Otago. It says :—" The members of the Ayrshire Association of Otago are patriotic but poor. They feel the reflected priory from the fame of Burns and they like to be constantly reminded of the Ayrshire bard. The most fitting and the favourite mode of accomplishing this object was to raise a statue to the poet, and a site was fixed for it in Dunedin. An order was sent to Scotland for a replica of the famous Steele statue in bronze. Meantime the hat went round amongst the sturdy Scots, but it circulation was not so successful as could have been wished. Entertainments were organised with a view to provide the wherewithal, but notwithstanding that Scotsmen are flourishing and plentiful in these regions, the concerts were not well | patronised, and they resulted in a loss of revenue. The amount required ia some £310 more than the promoter* have in hand, nnd it has taken so long to raise the balance that the statue which was ordered from Sir John Steelo lias in the interval found another purchaser, and is now keeping company with Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames embankment. Sir John, however, has made another replica, and offers to ship it to Dunedin on receipt of a cheque for £250. He, however, claims the balance due to him in addition, and threatens that if it is not sent he will institute legal proceedings. To avert such a slur on their proud patriotism the sons of Ayr in Otago are making a fresh attempt to raise the money. But when the statue is erected, if it ever sroes so far, it will be like tho Calton Hill structure, a monument of Scottish patriotism and poverty, and as such an appropriate enough tribute to tho ploughman poet."

The Napier Telegraph is not a very warm admirer of Mr Ballance. In a recent issue oar contemporary writes :— lt is generally understood that the Honorable Mr Ballance is giving the question of the resumption of large landed estates by the Crown serious consideration. He is dissntisKed, it is said, with the provisions of Sir George Grey's Land Settlements Bill, and he will probably during the recess distribute a Bill dealing with the matter according to his own views. The object of such a measure is of course the settlement of lands, and the limitation of holdings. We shall find no fault with a Bill of that •hnracter provided it is consistent with the Act for the pauperisation of Maoris that is euphoniously termed the Native Land Administration Act. We have written so much about that Act that our leadors must by this time be well aware that when the Maori owners of a block of country desire to sell their land they part with all future control of it. They are to elect a committee of seven to instruct the Crown Commissioner to soil or lease their property, and he is to deal with it as it may seem best to him under the provisions of the Land Act, 1885. The Maoris selling the land are to be charged 5 per cent, on the proceeds, and further charged for the survey and road ing of the estate. We desire to see in Mr Ballance's Bill for the resumption of the estates of colonists similar provisions— that is to say, when the Crown covets a settler's property either because the owner is a Government opponent, or because the estate is lying in the way of settlement, that the owner should be charged 5 percent, for the honour of being robbed, and further mulct in the cost of survey and roading. If Mr Ballance's Bill should contain such provisions however practically burglarious we might regard him, we should at least credit him with consistency. But we defy him to introduce any such provisions in any measure proponing to deal with the estate* of colonists. The whole House would rise up as one man to denounce the Bill and its originator, and in two minutes the measure would not be worth the paper it was written on. But this pretended friend of the Maoris did not hesitate to charge the native owners of land with these unjust costs ; and as more than half the members of Parliament scarcely understood, and carod less for the wholo question, the Crown has been permitted to accept an auctioneer's fee for doing auctioneer's work. When we have got rid of the sentimental humbug that seems to cast a glamour over everything connected with native lands and their owners, we shall probably arrive at a time when there will be one law for the two races.

Mr Lewis O'Neill, solicitor, Hamilton, is authorised to collect all accounts owing to Wm. Black. Mr A. Bell invites tenders for ploughing and .sowing.