Grey River Argus and Blackball News. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1910

A great Christmas drink i;i TJiom■,on's Ging-er Wine and the demand for it increases every year tec\u.se" tnert ■> nothing- to equal it as>c; cnipcianpe drink. .Thomson's. Smg-er \Virc.-s "^ a cheap cordial, but a thorough 1 v matured wine— guaranteed rr.a a-ed for at least 18 months 'r. ■•^.k '»■'**, and then re-racked, and h..M1».1. Guaranteed free from all chenMvil :prt>ervatives and colouring matter. The only real . ginger on the market. See that the outside- wrapper, label, and capsule bear the name THOMSON and the 'trademark"'' "Purity." Otherwise it is not the genuine Thomson's.

Looking at ail the circumstances that surround >thY origiin and production of: the Greymouth l^ative Reserves BiU, we are under the" dmpression .'lhai there is a little mystery it. There was no reason to doubt that the Gerymouth lessees had the undoubted ■_ sympathy of the members of . tbe Government as well as yf all 'm h-

ber, of Parliament who loo:.".; ■ into the case of the Greymouth li-ssi.es Eve* the former Public Trustee ital#sed a t, Jast the. juV,ness of what the lessees contended for. Sir Joseph 'Ward, according- to his promise, prepared a Bill, which we take. the liberty of assuming- would, have done something- -tangible towards meeting: the views of the lessees.. But the moment it was notified to be tfeady .to Jaid before. Parliament* it 'was at once whisKed back into obscurity, and a month -followed before the Bill was heard of ag-ain. Some hostile significance was attached to the suspiciouslooking- fact' at ; the time. We felt -hea that some sinister influence was at work against th c interests of the European lessees. We are now morally certain of it. Whatever may have ■beea the nature of the Government Bill, as originally drafted, the Bill we have laid before our readers is most unquestionably one drafted to mcc: the views of the Native owners. Stricty speaking, at -is not the Native owners; the Bill re ally represents <he grasping propensities of the Uru, family, who hold a controlling interest ii the block. Besides their pecuniary interest in the revenue of the reserve that of all • the other owners counts for very little, and. not at all ifrom an administrative point 'of*" view.' The Bill is not only a vehicle for the aggrandisement of the Uru family, but gives expression, to a' feeling of a very- different kind, as is evidenced to a very marked degree by .the .treatment meted out to the churches and schools. There 'the mercenary side of the Maori nature stands out clearly in. its antagonism to European sympathy. No- white .man of any European nation could have dreamt of penalising -the cause of religion and education. "Only a Native owner eager to gather in the spoil when he had the opportunity could have included the churches and. schools as fair objects on which to levy toll. This of itsel- is Maori through and through, and we are -inclined to believe that the whole thing is a makebelieve that is not likely to be- given- effect to. It is a little singular-looking, to say 'the lease of it, that a Bill of. such importance, not only to Greymouth but to other parts of this Island as well, should be allowed to be read a second Time .and go through committee in a few hours. Long before penning these lines Sir JosepTi Ward will have been informed that the Greymouth lessees are deeply disappointed with the Bill and the way thai Government has failed to realise die hopes that were raised in the mind of the residents. The Bill can only be regarded as, a mistake, a'misfit-an aborhon in fact. The Government laid down a principle' in the Native Townships Act for the North Island to which the Greymouth Naive Re serves Bill i s diametrically opposed It is also equally opposed to all the principles that" the Greymouth Na-ive lessees have been battling against for years, and wnich it is quite evident that .they must- still go on fighting. It js a little too trying to their patience, perhaps, to discover, just as they were beginning to think the battle was won, that the real' fight ds only about to commence. The question has now assumed a far more serious aspect than it ever did before' Ir is no longer a question of race sentiment; at does not .resolve itself onto a question in regard -to which a coterie of the dominant' race is endeavouring to despoil a whole hapu of Na-tovßs of their rights i*. a certain reserve of 500 acres occupied .; and made valuable by European effort and enterprise.. It i s none nor all of these things together. The logic of the position is just this: that one- Na, nve family which by the accident of circumstance holds a controlling interest an the value of the Reserve, has \t in its power to. mar or' make, to accelerate or, retard, the natural, the healthy, an d prosperous development of Greymouth. Two or three Maori owners are ' by a so-catted Govern! mem Bill enabled to 7 regulate and control the destiny^Greymouvh with the same easy facility with which the dnver of 'a locomotive or a steamer .regulates itr, speed. That is the sting of .the case. . It is unconceivable to think that the people of a town *«&■ a future before it like .that Ixreymouth undoubtedly has, can'Sresignedly sit with folded arms as dmpassave as an Eastern idol and calmly accept the situation. If Government imagine for ari instant that the people of this town are going W accept the position that has been created for then), then they have far less nous ■than we give them credit for.- They must feel, that -such a- Bill is merely an aggravation of a situation that had already been found' to be sufficiently trying and unbearable; Some'thmg will have to Be done,, and it must be of a .nature ■ to convince '- Sir Joseph and his* colleagues ' thatf the lessees are thoroughly ■• in earnest in this matter, and that it will be of advantage to Government- to assist an importamt' communify to obtain fair and equitable treatment rather than to allow themselves to become the mere instruments ; . of a- mercenary handful of Native owners. :

The tender "ofr, M Arthur Russell

has 'been accepted for the erection of the new building- of the Dispatch Foundry Coy., Ltd.

Tenders for the erection of the Methodist Church close on Monday, sth December, not the 15th as already advertised.

The Government Audif Inspector, Mr 3. H. Fowler, who has completed h:s work at Greymouth, is at present visiting- Hokitika.

Further discoveries of coal outcrops have been made- in "the country .be-

tween Northern Wairoa xiver and ■Hbkrang-a-, which appear to indicate th' ait an extensive area of coal 'measures exists en that locality.

At the Magistrate's Court on Tuesday before Mr Hewitt, S.M., a young-: •man from- Stafford district was charg--e'd by 'the police with aittemptiing to commit, suicide on -the 19th ahst. The accused' pleaded guilty, and was con-, victed, and ordered to come up for i sentence when called • upon. !

Everyone dn Greymouth will - be. pleased to learn that the West Coast {Native Reserves Bill ha s been withdrawn. Let us hope for more satisfactory results next session.

The "Wairarapa Age" sstatse s that it is not improbable that Mr J. McClug-ga-ge, of Whang-amomona, will oppose Mr Hine for the Stratford seat at the next election. - ■ ■■'■'■

Now that, the tarring of. Mackay~ Street has begun, it may be of interest to learn that "At the Paris Academy of Science a professor denounced the -use of tar on the high roads, because of its injurious effects on the eyes. He said that the dust caused by the -tar caused inflammations and catarrhs and other dangerous affections."

A recent arrival from England tells rather a good story. A young - lady purchasing frozen meat, asked the butcher how long it had been killed. The butcher regretted ~ that he could not tell her. Just then the lady caught sight of a label on the meat on which wa s inscribed, "8.C., 596." "Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, "no more New Zealand meat for me !"

■On Monday evening the death took place at the Kumaora Hospital of a very_pld .resident of Westbrook in the Derson off. iChaodes Mclntree. "Charlie/ as he was familiarly known arived in New Zealand 52 years ago, and he resided in Wes^tbrook for about forty y&rs, following- the occupatr.on of a mineir. He wa s 70 years of age and a native of Dublin, Ireland. Manyold friends will regret to hear of his demise.

In a public addresg at Wellington Sir Robert Stout quoted approvaj; a saying of Aristole: "One man is no man." That meant, Sir Robert said, that a man could not develop as a man outside society. A man must

live- amongst people to be developed

as a man. This involved a regard for the rights and feelings of others, a recognition of duties to others, and not

to oneself. A man without feeling for other people was a monster,. and not a man at all. ■ .., .

Preparations are being made by the South Australian Parliament to pass legislation increasing the salaries of members from ,£2OO to £300. One of the principal reasons v put forward for the increase -is that members are bled in every direction by (importunate constituents. "In effect," the Argus suggests, "The local football club or the local tea-meeting" is to became a mendicant from Government funds, with the members of Parliament as a bountiful distributing agent."

A Bealey Flat correspondent states that the settlement is enjoying perfect summer weather, . waim and fine, which has had the effect of making the surrounding country a paradise.. Mountain Jilies, violets and primroses are blooming in profusion, and : the air i s beautifully, .scented with the various (flowering mosses and shrubs. The work at the Bealey end of the Arthiir's Pass tunnel is proceeding steadily and smoothly, and the outside operation s are being pushed ahead vigorously.

This Peter Bowling, whom the New Zealand of Labour i s goli'ng- to. let loose here, is evidently a nice, quiet, refined sort of chap! On his release from goal, .the pathetic Peter remarked in public that "considering- Wade's point of view, he did not biamejhim for putting h;m in gaol. If the speaker had the power and Wade stood in the way and threaten-' ed his plans in the class-conscious fight, he would clap Wade in the deepest gaol he could ifind." He went on to say: u They kicked me into gaol. As sure as there is a God on heaven I'll kick them into gaol if the position ever arises, when I can do so." Mr Peter Bowling is evidently 'mossing Ms vocation. His real role should be that of hero in. a third-rate blood-and-thunder melodrama. He ought to shine there. — Free Lance. ~

It saiid 'in some quarter s that Canon McMurray is looked upon as a possible— if not probable—succesor to Bishop Nelig-an. There nray^be something; in the rumour, and there may be nothing-; but it ceria.'nly does seem, absurd to bring- from Home a cleric who necessarily knows nothingwhatever about local conditions, and who may be sing-ularly "unfitted to . adapt himself to them: That was undoubtedly the case 'with Bishop -Neli-.g-an, who was continually arid •unin'ten■tionally rubbing- -the c'olondals ■ the wrong- way, thereby producing- electric sparks of indignation and keeping- the Angilican atmosphere' in a permanently heated condirtion. If, in the opinion of the .Synod, there is" no local cleric that is capable of discharging- the duties of /Bishop of Auckland— well," it doesn't: say much for the local shepherds. . : ' : '■■■'■ : ' ;

Another pioneer of the West Coast passed quietly away on Monday evenmg last -in -the ,pefson of Mrs Margaret' Quinn, an old and respected Rimu 'resident^ The deceased lady, who wa s pre-deceased^ by her husband, was- 72; years of age, and a native of - of Ireland. She came to che West Coast in the very early days, and ■had resided here ever since, throug-hr out' which period she was held in' i t he b'ig-liefet .reg-ard by all who made her acquaintanGe. The: late Mrs Quinn had a family of f otir, ; three sons and one daug-hte^>the former being- Messrs J. W. Quinn Vnd 'A/Quinii, of Blackwater ih r 'thelidrfhern;'Grw and Mr Samuel Quinhv who was ' w. : th his nibtheer a't\}ier' death/ Avhile-.tHe daughter "is maAied in * Sydney. Sincere sympathy Av%be % extended to -the ••' bereaved Telation's^y a Svide orcle of friends. The funera^ ( takes.' : r»lace this after flopn-at S.3^d^ck;- t h;e cortege leaving^ th^: Hotel.'-^West' Coast Times." ' ; '-' \: '■■'- ■'- ■ ■•' ■

The death occurred at Westport yesterday of Mr. John Munro, who at on* time represented the Buller electorate in Parliament, having once defeated the famous "Buller Lion," Mr Eugene O'Connor. The late Mr Munro was -one of the pioneers of the place, and by • trade was a grocer and provision merchant as well as an auctioneer. For the ilast two. years he was retired from "actixe service," his shoes hav~ ing been fitted by hi s son Mr ,Fergus F. Munro, who. unsuccessfully contested the Buller seat against Mr Colvin last year, and whose famous Cape Foulwind speech was applauded in the leading columns of the A-rgiis. Old Mr Munro died a calm death •ter an energetic, career, both in bu^ness and in politics. The end was not unekpected for his friends .could easily perceive the gradual /parsing; away and for the past fortnight he was confined to his room. He leaves four sons (John Munro, Patea; G. Munro, Liverpool; Joe Munro, Adelaide, and F. , Munro, Westport) and four daughters v (Mrs Dr -MacDonell, Ha stings ; Mrs Gillis, Tiimani, and the Misses Munro, Westport) to mourn the loss ofa, kind- and loving father. The late Mr Munro' wife'.pre-deceased him some twelve months ago. R.1. 1P.

Bridge, the winner of the New Zealand €up, is one of the Idalia family, that produced Sir Modred and other good horses. Bridge was got by The Possible .(son of Nordenfeldt) from Scotia, by St. George (brother to Chester) from Fair Nell,. , by Apremont ' — Idalia.