The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, JAN 7, 1893.

Waikato Times, Issue 3204, 7 January 1893, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, JAN 7, 1893.

Equal and eiact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious 01 political.

About it fortnight since we received the following cablegram through the Agency ot the Press Association:-" lii the course of an interview to-day, the Agent-General of New Zealand, said the sale of Australian and River Plate frozen mutton as a New Zealand production was largely injuring the latter and New Zeulande.rs were much annoyed at the substitution of New Zealand tor Southdown mutton. The merits of the New Zealand article were, he declared, sufficient to secure for it a ready sale." Our contemporary the Lyttelton Times, which is one of the Ministerial organs, in writing on the subject points out that dealers in River Plate and Australian mutton add to their own profits by false represenatives, and proceeds to remark: Surely there is some law in the English Statute Book, which if put into operation would protect the colonial supplier and the Home consumer from the repetition of these impositions. It may be quite possible that a large section of the English people feel disinclined to allbrcl any protection to the foreign competitor. The great landholders, in fact everyone, who is interested in the maintenance of high prices would like to see the reputation of New Zealand meat; destroyed, but there are other large classes who are directly interested in the continuance and extension of our trade, As a preventive of the existing abuses our contemporary urges the appointment of an Inspector, as Mr Percival had done before, whose first duty should be to exaiiiine,the, colonial-produce as it is discharged 'from the vessels, and follow the mutton and butter from the time it leaves the docks till they reach the consumer through the medium of the retailers. It is pointed out that even if there were no law to prevent the fraud the publication of the facts would have a salutary effect upon the dishonest dealer, We fear that our contemporary has set his proposed Inspector a task which under existing conditions lie would be quite unable to fulfil. In the first place the tracing of the mutton would be exceedingly difficult, and if traced to his own satisfaction, in the present state of the law any attempt at exposure would lead to'a libel action, and the onus of proof would rest with tho Inspector. It appears to us that if an Inspector wero appointed he would be powerless for good in the absence of special legislation both" in the colony and England The first step should be for the New Zealand Government to register a trade mark in England, and secure by legislation that tho mark should be placed upon each carcase before shipment. If the nature of the mark were thoroughly advertiled the public would be in a position to protect themselves against fraudulent representations. Any person imitating the registered mark would of course be liable to punishment by legal process in the shape of having to pay tho costs of procuring an injunction, but the process is a tedious one, so much so that the game would not be worth the candle. The case would be met, however, if it were compulsory, as it is with all imported goods, to mark distinctly on each carcase its country of origin. To deface the mark would of course be a penal offence. There should be no difficulty in setting legislation in this direction, English growers are interested that New Zealand mutton should not be palmed off on the public as Welsh or Southdown, the effect of which is of course to lesson the demand for the genuine article and keep down prices, It may be argued that this step would lessen the price of the New Zealand product, as it is those who disguise or misrepresent its origin who pay the highest price. It is possible that this might be the case until the public became fully aware of the excellent quality of our mutton and were able to procure it under its own name for 2d or 3d per lb less than they had been in the habit of paying for it when represented as being prime Welsh or Southdown. We quite appreciate the zeal which the AgentGeneral exhibits for the promotion of New Zealand interests but are distinctly of opinion that to appoint an Inspector,before some such legislation as we have pointed out is enacted, would be to put the cart before the horse, He would he as incapable of effecting good as tho cart to draw the horse.

Sir Saul Samuel, Agent-General for New South Wales, h .taking further steps to secure medals for colonial wluuteers, v,i' v .-,

During the coming sepsion of Parliament Lord O'oshiw [intends, to introduce a Bill providing for the branding of imported meat with a mark showing tho country whence it came.

' Our Whatawhata correspondent wired yesterday ;—The Waipa river is in high flood. Many »f tho lower terraces are tinder water, Potatoes and other crops will almost be a total loss, Tho river is still rising slowly, The Hon, Mr Larnach is mentioned as a probable candidate for tho Wakatipn seat at tho next election. It is said that if he. enters the lield it will boas a strong opponent of the present Govern-mcnt,-rnapeka Times, Horse owners are again reminded that nominations for tho Handicap Hurdles, Ngamawahia Cup, Ngarnuwaliia Plato, and Irving Plate close with tho Secretary)MrT. W. Simpson) at Ngaruawahia before ft p.m. ti-night (Saturday). Our readers will be glad to know that as Madame Borrcssnn is returning to Hamilton to keep several appointments, they will thus havo another opportunity of consulting her j we would advise thorn to take this chance as wo believe it will be the lady's final visit.

It is stated that Mr Syms is about to take proceedings against tho Press Association for heavy damages for alleged transmission by its agent at Wondville of garbled accounts of evidence given at Woodville in the Davenport-Syms case Hawke's Bay Herald. The old musicians and members of the Armed Constabulary of Waikato will be pleased to know that Mr C. D. Mackintosh, an old friend of theirs, is paying Cambridge a visit, He was the originator of the Cambridge band, and is now the chief musician in the city of Wellington. Mr Mackintosh will remain in Waikato about a fortnight, taking a rest from his labour,

The London Graphic says the Government has decided not to build any more guns weighing over five tons, It has also been decided that every gun must be mounted in such a manner that it can be loaded, trained and run in and out by hand power, The guns will havo a degree of elevation now unattainable, and the crews can'be better protected. The sequel is announced to a strange experiment lately tried at Perignan, in the South of France, Two or three years ago that little town elected a Socialist Town Council, who were pledged to create public workshops and to make all sorts of other innovations for the amelioration of the conditions of tho poor, Now a new council of more moderate views has had to ea elected to raise a loan of £5.50,000. As might be expected after the very heavy rainfall of this week, tho mads generally are in a bad state, The Wliatnwhato roarl is almost impassable, That part of it known as the 15 chains swamp is nearly three feot under water, A traveller coining in yesterday morning. informed us that it was up to the girths of his saddle all the way across this part of the road, and in many places mi the long swamp tho water was almost as deep. The Mangahowhai creek on the Raglan road was also up to the planking of the bridge yesterday. From parliamentary papers just to hand a return showing the public debt of the colony supplies the following figures :—Gross debt at March 81st, 181)2, fi38.713.0G8; accrued sinking .fund, £1,037,862; net public debt, £37,1175,200, Amongst the same batch of papers, too, we find one dealing with the increase or decrease of the public dobt of the colony, From 1879 to 1891 the successive administrators had added to the debt; it remained for tho present Government to be the first during that period to be able to 'point to a decrease', J8117.282 being the amount by which the public debt of this colony has been reduced up to March 31st, 1892. The Government has at last realised its responsibility and the importance of rapidly completing the railway line between Eketahuna and Woodville, for there are now r.o less than six times the number of men engaged in c instructing the Eketahuna end than there were a month ago. Then there was one lonely son of tail struggling bravely on impossible and .eiierkstrtijMas!:; Siw he has five companions to help him in his miserable moil,, and each man has a little shovel, and with each shovel he fills a little barrow. Thus the work goes steadily on, awl these labourers worthy of their hire grnw gray in the service of their country,—Waivarapa Daily Times, Among the big things which are to be shown at tho big fair at Chicago will he the biggest gun on earth -the latest child of the ordnance factory at Essen. This Krnpp gun is to bo about eighty-seven feet long ; the largest American guns at present being made being about half that length. A railway track will have to be constructed to carry it to tho exhibition grounds, and a special foundation laid there to bear its enormous weight, It is calculated that if fired when placed in that position, Hie immediate result would bo tho breaking of every pane of glass in Chicago, while tho tirojoctilo thrown would travel a distance of from fifteen to eighteon miles.

Our Cambridge friends will be pleased to know that Mr Edgar Ward, who formerly kept a chemist's simp in Duke-street, Cambridge, and was a severe sufferer by tho great fire that destroyed nearly all the buildings on the south side of the street, some years ago, is now doing a flourishing business in tho town of Riverton, in the South Island. Mr Ward was greatly respected when in Cambridge, and he is evidently equally well respected in his new home, for the burgesses nf the Borough have unanimously elected him to the highest honour it is in their power to bostow, viz., Mayor of the Borough, We heartily wish Mr Ward every success during his term of office, and congratulate the inhabitants nf Riverton upon the choice they have made, for in Mr Ward they have a just and upright man, and a gentleman, Since leaving Cambridge Mr Ward joined the legal profession, but lie is now following his former occupation, Most of our readers have doubtleli received through the post pamphlets referring to Dr, Barnardo's homes for destitute children, It is now about twentyeeven years since this philanthropic gentleman first commenced the good work, and from that time till the present he has been the means nf rescuing over 21,128 little waifs and strays from the gutters of Great Britain; he has fed, cl ithed, and trained them, and placed them out in vaiious situations, equipped for life's future struggles. At the present time the doctor's " family" consists nf-1675 orphan and waif children, m»ny of whom are deaf and dumb, blind and crippled, and otherwiso grievously and incurably afflicted, For some years Archducon Willis, of Cambridge, has collected and forwarded subscriptions to assist Dr, Barnardo's work, and with considerable success; but now he has a co-worker, for Mr P. J. Brooks, of the Cambridge Bank, is also collecting fund* for the cause, Any amounts, however small, will be thankfully received and duly acknowledged by either of the above gentlemen,