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Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2606, 26 March 1889, Page 2

We are pleased to learn that Mr Oakes, of Hamilton, is making satisfactory progress toward* recovery* It is rumoured in Wellington that there is a split in the Cabinet owing to the recent seizures by the Customs and prosecutions of some firms for defrauding the revenue. We are asked to remind the parishioners of S. Andrew s Church, Cambridge, that the week night service and choir practice will this week be on Wednesd ty instead of on Thursday. Geo. Coyie,who was recently lined for assault by the R.M. at Ngaruawahia, 10s and costs' £5 11, elected to take it out in goal, and was taken to Mount Eden on Saturday in charge of Constable Murray. In reply to " Subscriber," we refer iiiui to our issue of tlr; 2lst inst., where it is announced that tho open season for shooting native and imported game begins on the Ist May and ends on the 31st Jnly. Copious and showers of rain have fallen in the Waikato at intervals since Friday night. The weather has also taken a cold, wintry turn, of a refreshing nature, and putting a check ou much of the sickness that has prevailed lately. At the annual meeting of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company a dividend of seven per cent, was declared, and i!ISS carried forward to the new account. Messrs John Grigg, <T. T. Ford, and John JJuan were elected directors. Mr A. F- Chamberlain, of Auckland, is in Cambridge making arrangements with settlers in the neighbourhood to sell their fruit on commission. Mr Chamberlain thinks he will do a big business next season. Mr Donald McKinnon, of Rangiriri, passed through Hamilton yesterday, with a mob of 2,000 sheep which he has lately purchased from Messrs Murray, Roberts and Co., and driven from Napier. The animals all looked stroug and in excellent condition. Mr E. Ward, chemist of Cambridge, who had his establishment destroyed by the late tire, has departed for pastures new, and we learn that Dr. Ciuhney has taken the offices lately occupied by the Piako County Council in Yictoria-street, where he intends opening a chemist's shop and dispensary. We wish the doctor every success. Mr R- W. Sargent, of Cambridge, went to Auckland last week and purchased a quantity of furniture to supply the place of what he had lost in the fire at Cambridge. Yesterday he received information that thoie had been a fire at the establishment where he had purchased and a portion of his furniture had been destroyed, so he will have had enough of tires. A delicate operation was performed at Dunedin on Friday week by tour surgeons with two student assistants. A youth, totally blind and deaf and almost wholly paralysed from the presence of hydatids ou the brain, was operated on and relieved from the objectionable parasites, so successfully that within two ov throe hours he was able to seo and hear, and presently after to sit up. According to to the Argus, there appears every likelihood of the Government of Victoria agreeing to the proposals made by Messrs Hunter and Trude, of Queensland. The offer of the firm is to pay tho Government £10,000 fc.r the first year, €12,000 for the second year, and £10,000 for the third year for the right to use the backs of postage stamps as an advertising medium. In all cases the printing is to be done prior to the gumming process being carried out. To the Editor: Sir,—By a peculiar coincidence, Mr Giles Keeley's letter appeared in the same issue as the one in which I refuted other charges of misrepresentation that had been made against me. The case of Keeley v. llall and others still being sub judicc, I will not attempt to reply to Mr Keeley's letter until it has been deeided, when I shall be pleased to defend my contention re " neighbour's quarrels," --'waste of time," etc.—Yours faithfully, Tim Camuhuige tinroiU'KK. One cf the issues before the country electors of Victoria is the repeal of the land tax. It is urged that the tax bears heavily and unduly ou a very small section of the community j aud that, even among those subject to thn tax, its incidence is unequal and unjust, and tho method of ascertaining values is bad and unfair. It is also urged that the tax has seriously affected the income derived from all lands subject to it, having lessened the wage fund of the country districts, and increased the concentration of the working classes in towns. The adjourned Pieeting re the forming of a volunteer corps at Cambridge, was held m the Oddfellow's IJaJI on Saturday evening, when a goodly number rolled up. The required number of names, 60, of those willing to join were obtained, and Sir W. Wasteneys and Mr Gleuny were deputed to make the necessary arrangements with the Government as to capitation grant, etc. It is intended if possible to have a mounted infantry contingent of 25 members, as many of the country settlers would prefer being mounted. We trust the movement will be a success, as our young men would all be tho better {uv a iittje military training. The New Zealand farmers' Cooperative Association (Canterbury) state that they received by the San Ji'rancispo mail advices from the London office of sales of butter shipped per Aorangi, as follows : Ui) account of Mr I J . O'Boyle, Leeston, 100s per PWt. s jVIr P. O Callaghan. Lincoln, 112s; while Mr 1). Mefortens, of Rangiora, realised 11.0s per cwfc., or as l}jgl) as the current price for the bast Dutoh ii) Loudon. All the parcels referred to above were very favourably commented on, and it was remarked that if New Zealand shipments wprfi inaiptained at a similar standard they would soon rsnlf lyith t,ie best imported kinds. . . ... Mr G. G. Stead, In writing tg tlje Lyttelton Times says that at the risk of having his motives misconstrued ho refuses t<> accept the implication of recent telegrams iy.om New South Wales. He says thn statist isau Jeff ont of his calculations last year's surplus hold ir, reserve in Victoria and Adelaide and the enormous reserves of Hour held in Sydney on .'llst DeGei.ibfii? last. As to Californian wheat ho says fiw fapt js that No. 1 standard California;) v/hpafc is o;)jy lyofth to day 38s per 5001b., e.i.f., to Incited Jimgdoip, or rather under 4s rid per b!(s|)el fif (jt/ll}. Now as wheat by sailers can bo lauded U) Sydney at rather less than it can be landed iii England, it must be manifest that whilst j'Airopeaii, values do not exceed 3Ss, the Californians are a}?le t.O sell to Australia at rather less than 4s 7|d V o '' .V 1 ? 5 *? 6 .! °' "01b,

It is reported that the British Government will propose next year to apply fifty million pounds in extending Lord Ashbourne's Act in Ireland, The Fisk Jubilee Singers are announced to appear in Hamilton on Friday next. Those who have not heard this remarkable choir of voices should not fail to came and do so on this occasion, for they will not have an opportunity again. The quaint melodies are such as were sung by the slaves in the days of their bondage in America, and most of them are of a religious character. Their part singing is remarkable, especially the easy way in which they pass from piano to fortissimo, the chorus sustaining most perfect melody, and without the aid of any score in the hands of either of the performers, They have delighted the hearts of all classes in Europe, from crowned heads downwards, who received them warmly. To hear such melodies as "Sing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Steal Away to Jesus," "The Lord's Prayer," etc., is worth a long journey. A short time since a paragraph appeared in our columns, stating that a telegraph line was to be erected from a point about 2 miles beyond Waito.i to Lichfield. A telegraph office would doubtless be an advantage to the inhabitants of Lichfield j but it would be of considerably more service if the line was run from a point near the Paoroa station on the Cambridge- Waitoa road to Oxford, which would be about eight miles. Oxford is the terminus for the tourist traffic to Rotorua. There are two lines of coaches which run from there, and we cannot help thinking that a telegraph station w«uld be of more service there than at Lichfield. Then again Lichfield is only 12 miles from Wantu, where there is already a telegraph office; while Oxford is 24 miles distant, and tourists or others wishing to wire, have to wait until the train reaches Morrinsville or Hamilton before they can do so. Mr E- W. Blackett, M.P. for Whitby, recently made a tour of the southern colonies, studying more particularly their legislative systems. Of the results of democracy in this colony Mr Blackett thus speaks:—"New Zealand, one of the fairest countries on the earth, a land flowing with milk and honey, teeming with natural wealth of all kinds, blessed with a climate of unequalled salubrity, one of the brightest gems in the British Crown, has gone near to be ruined by her Parliament!" and ho quotes the words of an old resident, who said to linn with great energy: "But for the curse of those dishonest and unscrupulous politicians who represent us, we should have been one of the happiest and most prosperous countries in the world instead of being weighed down, as we are, by a heavy burden of debt, incurred, much of it, for purposes uttorly foolish and worse," The Oamaru Mail thinks "it ia clear that California!! wheat cannot be placed upon the Sydney market in sufficient quantities to seriously affect the market. To us it seems tolerably certain that New Zealand wheat will command at least os per bushel in the Sydney market and that price would mean 4s to the grower for wheat delivered at ports of shipment. It i- quite possible that higher prices may rule for wheat, and our advice to tanners is to hold for a timo the major portion of their grain. Any attempt to force the whole upon the market would inevitably result in lowering the price. By holding in part, farmers will maintain a fair average throughout, and they may rest assured of one thing, and that is that the price cannot well fall below -Is per bushel. The only tiling that could produce a decline would bo an effort to push the whole of the new crop upon the market within a short period, or a sudden and serious drop in values at Homo causing a diversion of the whole of California's remaining stock to Australia. The former of these contingencies can be averted by the growers themselves, and the latter is highly improbable in face of the condition of tho wheat yield throughout the world." Referring to the rise of the newspaper enterprise in New Zealand, a writer in a receut issue of the Colonies and India, says:—" About the same time (1838) some of the literary men of that day put a few pounds together and got a printing press and some type from Sydncy._ They also persuaded a compositor to emigrate to Ne.v Zealand. The paper was accordingly issued in 1839, and was called the Bay of Islands Observer. This was the first paper issued in New Zealand. In those days everyone knew each other, and local subscribers amused themselves with writing 'skits' on their friends. Later in the year strangers began to arrive, and at tho beginning of 1840 a man-of-war anchored in the Bay. The editor of the newspaper inserted anything sent to him, and amongst other items, published a notice of a sale of broken-down horses, which was to take place at Okaiato, the seat of Government at the Bay of Islands. Some of the Government officials imagined they were being lampooned by the notice, and sent threats of action for libel. These sent a thrill of horror into all concerned in the newly-founded newspaper, and the bantling in New Zealand ceased to exist. Thus the first newspaper was frightened to death. The London correspondent of the Auckland Herald says : —A very erroneous impression appears to prevail ir< New Zealand as to Mr Thomas Russell's present financial position. I received a letter from Auckland on Monday, in which the writer, after stating that Sir Frederick Whitaker and Mr Mitchelson had suffered heavy monetary losses, added : "I am sorry to learn that Tom Russell is all but penniless." My correspondent and Mr Russell's friends generally may console themselves. He can still keep the wolf from the door. Only the other day, for example, he took Lord Knutsfurd's country home for three months, at the insignificant rental of 100 guineas a month, He has, besides, a house in Eaton Square, for which he gave £0000, and on which he tells people he has expended £3000; and horses and carriages galore. Mr Russell's offices in the city give evidence of plentiful business, and he is known to be a heavy operator on the Stock Exchange, but whether successful or unsuccessful deponent sayeth not. To tell the truth, Mr Russell's prosperity is one of tho things which make unfortunate shareholders in the Bank of New Zealand bitter. Some little time ago it was given out that he had lost fabulous sums, and would have to retrench right and loft. Carriages and horses were to be sold, his town house let, and othur drastic domestic reforms carried out. The taking of a Secretary of State's family mansion at 300 guineas a quarter does not, however, look quite like starvation, does it'! Ia an article on Victorian prosperity, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, talcing as a the remarks qf Mr Robert Reid, of the Chamber of Cmnmproo, says There is nothiri? to be astonished at in his predicting that bad times are coming in Victoria. For months past every unbiassed observer of Victorian prosperity has been convinced that it rested upon unsubstantial foundations. It could only be a question of time when the flimsy fabric would fall to pieces. There has been no extraordinary development of the colony's enduring industries. Production, as we have shown, has oi))innusly diminished, not increased. Wl|at accounted for the good times was first an extraordinary and unprecedented influx of British capital, and secondly, the holding of the Centennial Exhibition. Millions of money were borrowed by the Government, and then even i(iore oauie to tl|o colony through private channels. Any country in the world would have boomed under similar conditions. Never before in the same space of time did so much foreign capital enter one of these Australian communities. Tho pace was a merry one while it lasted, but it was too merry to last long. The first thn?g to f?o was the land boom, the biggest and most ijnjustifjable inflation of its kind known in Australian history, That Victoria will carry her penalty bravely cannot be doubted, but it will be a heavy one, and cannot be avoided. All the probabilities point to this year contrasting remarkably with last year. The coming distress ji) Yictorja may not last as long as that whiph BarJ seasons), tl(e fijll in price of produce and misgovarnmeufc havs brought upon us in New South Wales, but it will be sharper while it does continue. All of us now see that the splendid prosperity which our Protectionists pointed to as a result of their beloved policy is disappearing from vip.w, favourite argument is withering away. Before ions; Victoria will be a shocking example of indiscretion in dealing with foreign capital and unwisdom in dealing with the development of its natural resources."