THE Bay of Plenty Times.

I • "THE SPIRIT. OF THE TIMES SHAH TEACH ME SPEED." KING JOHN, ACT lv SATURDAY/OCTOBER 12, 1878. We >are glad to see that there seems at last some chance of the Deceased Wifes Sister Marriage Bill becoming law.. It may not be a measure that intimately affects many people, but the act which it. practically repeals is a barbarous relic of the middle ages, discreditable to a civilized nation. That the Imperial Parliament should have thrown out this Bill, so constantly is one of those anomalies which nobody can pretend to understand. There are .absolutely no reasonable arguments against it. The Scriptural difficulties which at first prevented many members from voting on the question, have long ago been proved by the very highest . authorities never, to have existed, .and even the liberal Roman Catholics admit that it is a wise and progressive measure. Parliament is not, however, to be persuaded out of ja prejudice ; which it has once conceived, and consequently some time is likely to elapse; before the Bill passes at home. \ This makes things very awkward in Australia, ahd may make things' very awkward in New Zealand, fotf poople who wish to take adv&htage of it. 3y bur own '. laws such marriages w&_ of course be legal^and the issue legitimate, but by the law of England they will be illegal, and tha ohildren bastards. Hence awkward contretemps moat arise. Take for instanoe t__e case of a man married

under the Deceased Wife's Sister Act whose legitimate issue are left mohey by a relation in England. What a. nice position he would be in,., bis children legitimate, yet deprived of 'a fortune simply because the, testator resided in England. The worst difficulty to many couples would, however, be the, necessity of being obliged to live always in New Zealand. Come what might, neither they nor their children after them could safely go home, for were the circumstances to leak out they would be tabooed. On such points English society is prudish to a degree, though much more important matters of the law are broken nnnoticed. We trust, however, that should the measure pass, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach will see the necessity of bringing in a short Bill to meet the said difficulties. Something of the kind was we believe talked of last session, but somehow came to nothing, Whilst on this topic it may not be amiss to refer to the question of afeed marriages, which has formed the Bviby ject of constant debate in the English papers of late. If reliable statistics on the subject were produced it would, some say, be proved that 9 out of every 12 marriages between Catholics and Prbtestants turn out, unhappily, the reason ©f course being differences of opinion about the religious education of the children. When the father belongs to the Protestant, and the mother to Catholic Church, the usual arrangement is that the boys shall be brought up in the former and the girls in the latter faith. At first sight this sounds a, fair and equitable understanding, but it very seldom answers. As a rule the father keeps bis share of the arrangement fairly enough, . and as lon<* as the family consists wholly of girls harmony prevaileth. Should the first-born, however, turn out a boy, troubles begin early. The. father of course, insists on having the child christened in the Protestent faith, but this . does' nt suit the mother. Her heart is wrung at the idea of allowing her darling son to belong to the damned, and no sooner is she strong than, casting all scruples about the agreement to the winds, she smuggles baby off to a priest, and gets him re-baptized a Catholic. Should her husband find this out there is a storm, and from that moment this couple's married life becomes sultry to a degree. As the boy reaches years of comprehension matters grow worse. Urged on by h< r father confessor, the .mother us s | every manoeuvre she can think of to induce him to take to the true faith. When his father's back is turned he is carried to chapel, andimpressed with the beautiful music and pretty pictures Lollies can be earned by learning to repeat "Aye Maria's," &c, and a Catholio nurse is engaged on the sly, and. ordered to influence his mind all she can towards Romanism. By degrees the master of the house finds out his wife's breaches of faith, and there are terrible scenes, which end ih the little lad being sent to a strictly Protestant school prematurely, and carefully watched during holidays. I It must not be supposed that the wife whom we have pictured is a bad woman. Believing in the Catholic faith she could hardly act otherwise. To stand by and see one of whom we are very fond walking a path which we believe will lead him to destruction, is not human nature. The mother only deceives the father because she believes he is wrong, and thinks a time will come when he will thank her for doing so. Unfortunately, however, he usually discovers the deception "before that halcyon period arrives, and mutual recriminations ensue. Where there is a large mixed family of boys and girls things are of course much /worse. As the children grow up they quarrel amongst themselves, just 1 ke their elders. Occasionally the Divorce Court closes the strange eventful history, but as a__^e people prefer to rub on in misery. Unless the children are brought up Catholics, a mixed marriage must end unhappily. " A house divided against itself cannot stand."

: ♦ Captain- Gilbert Mair, for the last three years District Officer for the Ebtorua District, was a passenger to Wellington yesterday per s.s. Taupo,. whither he has gone to endeavour to elicit the raison d'etre of his abrupt dismissal from the Government service. We are perfectly aware that Captain Mair has 'enemies' in. the- district, a natural consequence, of his having at all times zealously and conscientiously performed . his .duty without fear or favour. We' are not speaking without a personal and most intimate knowledge of the energetic way in w/hich. OaptainMair has carried. on the duties, pertaining to this office, and are quite. at a loss to account for his dismissal. . We.believe that Captain Mair has frequently, since receiving notice that his services were to be dispensed' with, applied to the Native Minister for a reason, and has not even received. a reply; tbis. to say the least of it, is

not courteous. These instances of sudden dismissal, without the assignment of any reason, are not calculated to encourage, public servants to cany out their duties thoroughly, and savour extremely of the American system, from which it is the duty of every right thinking colonist to guard the public service of New Zealand. We trust that the Native Minister ■will accord his reasons to Captain "Mair, in an English spirit of fairness, and if the reasons be sound and for the public good, of course what at present appears a just grievance on Capt. Mair's part will cease to be. We understand that it is Captain Mair's intention to start business in the Bay of Plenty as Land Agent and Negotiator and Native Interpreter, and from his perfect acquaintance with the iiatives of the district, and with, we may say, every acre of land in it, and with the good wishes of many friends, there is little doubt that he will find Sjapig^nd remunerative employment. - ■■ ♦ Tr ; is amusing to watch the different ways in which the new-Comers belonging to Mr Stewart's second party are commencing to carry out the responsibilities which they have assumed: After observing them for some time, we have divided the party into two Jots : the settlers useful, and the settlers ornamental. Of the former no one knows much. They left for Katikati almost immediately, and are only occasionally seen in Tauranga, when they astonish the natives by the extravagant eccentricity of their costumes. Terribly in earnest, and anxious to become full-blown bushmen all at once, these young gentlemen commence by assuming the dress which they consider best befitting the life. Collars are forsworn, jacket and waistcoat exchanged for a blue jersey, light boots for hobnails, and easy caps for preternaturally large white felt "billycocks." As they stroll down the Strand with careless swagger, and hideous black " cutty" in mouth, they fondly imagine that they are au fait with the customs of the colony, and will be taken for " old chums." By-and-bye, however, when these boys from Ballygawley have ceased to be " new-comers" they will learn that it is not customary for even bushmen to disguise themselves as coal heavers when they come into town, and that at such times the very poorest settlers try to look respectable. The ornamental divison of the party has lived hitherto a good deal in Tauranga, and excited much comment. The men are nearly all good looking, and with their fashionably-cut clothes and pleasant insouciance impart to our streets a whiff of Hyde Park. Occasionally we see figures faultlessly arrayed in'the neatest of riding breeches, apparently about to setoff on an expedition, but whether they ever do get on horseback is a. dark mystery which only the livery stable keepers can solve. Living in Te Papa does not seem as healthy for the temper as Katikati. At that rural r.treat peace and loving kindness overflow, but here the settlers become dissatisfied from very idleness, and small grievances grow into serious wrongs. They do not see this themselves, and -would not believe it if told so,' but for all that it is true. At the meeting the other day every manhadsome personal grievance to bring up, but it was with difficulty the whole lot could put a real genuine public one into words. ' Take for instance the . second complaint : " (2)- That this meeting feels much' dissatisfied that nearly 2000 acres should have been disposed of to three selectors before the arrival of the Lady Jocelyn Party," ami that one of these selectors should have been permitted to take land on both sides of a river, thereby depriving settlers of a river frontage, to which they were justly entitled." If the whole party realty do feel this a grievance, why hsjPKthey waited so long to say so. The circumstances of the case were just the same when the lots were drawn and the farms allotted. Why was no dissatisfaction expressed then ? Harking back to it now looks as if the meeting rooted out grievances for the express purpose of being disagreeable. There can be no doubt that many of the settlers have real bona fide personal wrongs to complain of, but the introduction of a resolution like No. 2 will injure rather than benefit their cause. We sincerely hope that at the forthcoming meeting at Katikati a reasonable and practical tone will be taken. Even if Mr Stewart did. somewhat misrepresent things in Ireland, nothing can be gained by twitting him with it now. Let every man state what he personally requires, either by way of redress or alteration. K "the dux" listens to him his injuries will be gone, if not he oan fairly demand his money back. With regard to the alleged misstatements in the pamphlet, the best course will be to request that they be amended, and a "clean" copy printed m this and the Irish journals. No extreme alterations are, however, desir-

able. It would be shocking bad policy on the part of the new settlers to discourage immigration to their neighbourhood. The larger the population the greater the prosperity and wealth of the district. Bj'-and-bye, when all this little trouble has faded away, these gentlemen will feel sorry that they should have injured their own and their companions' prospects by abusing the settlement. #_ — Since writing the foregoing we have received the letter which appears in another column from Mr Purvis. As we commented rather strongly on his alleged repudiation, it is only fair to ' state that his explanation of the matter strikes us as entirely satisfactory. Moreover the advice which he offers his brother settlers is thoroughly sound ; in fact, they cannot do better than attend to it. Mr Purvis also, deserves credit for the practical manner in which he has taken up the question of the telegraph office. If the petition is numeiously signed we feel sure the Government will do what is required. ...» . The announcement made (sub rosa) by certain obstructionists in the Upper ' House to the effect that they will work heaven and earth to prevent the Electoral Bill passing has been received by the Government with complacent equanimity. The fact is, should there be any opposition either to this or the Land Tax Bill, the Ministry have wisely determined to resign, obtain a dissolution, and appeal to the country. Their conduct over the Beer Tax is not to be taken as a precedent. Either the two measures we have spoken of must pass or there will be a crisis in real earnest. When the Opposition thoroughly understand this, they will give way. It would not suit them to be sent back to their constituents just now. The j majority would lose their seats altogether, and even those who were returned would make up but a beggarly array to face the reinforced Ministerialists. Had tlie Government stuck to the Beer Tax a dissolution might have been rather an advantage than not to the Atkinson party. They would then have had the brewing and Licensed Victualling fraternity to back them up, whereas now this fickle brotherhood has once more sworn allegiance to the powers that be. By-the-way, we are pleased, to observe that Captain Morris has actually been doing something. A few days ago he asked a question about the Gisborne Railway, and later he positively requested the Government to place a sum on the estimates for the maintenance of a medical man at Rotorua. This last seems really a useful act, for which the honourable and gallant member deserves kudos. We could wish, however, that his name had not been conspicuous by absence in the division lists of the Beer and Land Tax Bills. Surely the representative of a large 'constituency like the East Coast Ought to have had an opinion one way or the other on such important questions. Even if, as some of his supporters with unconscious satire assert, it is better for him to keep quiet and let abler men speak, he can at least vote. We have no patience with "dunderheads," who go into Parliament to draw the honorarium, and 101 l idly on the benches. A learned pig could do as much. But even the faintest sign of reformation is welcome jn Captain Morris, so we will say no more, but content ourselves with living in hope that the day may not be far off when an energetic business man with a fluent tongue and ready wit takes the affairs of the East Coast in hand. . _, — ' . Thb meeting of the Taupo and Hawea yesterday morning is a sufficiently rare coincidence to deserve a few words of notice. Since the large steamers adopted this route it has not happened once, and the novelty of the occurrence was increased by the fact that both boats steamed up the harbour, and patronised the wharves. The Taupo had a large cargo on board, besides 200 tons coals, and was drawing 12 feet 10 inches forward, and 13 feet aft.. Yet sh_ came alongside two hours before high water, and remained there a considerable time. This proves most decisively that there is absolutely no necessity for the Southern-bound boats to lie down at the heads so frequently. It must be i often merely laziness which induces the capi tains to stay there. The agent of the Union Company should moot the subjeot at head quarters. Besides the inconvenience which j the system causes passengers for this port, it J prevents those who are going through coming ashore, and thereby deprives the hotels and ' storekeepers of a certain amount of custom. i . i ->' i. i ..— > Mr Bodell will hold a sale at 12 o'clock, on Monday next, of saddlery, &c, at the Tau- . ranga Auotion Mart. The corrugated iron damaged by the late fire on the Town Wharf, was yesterday sold by auotion by Mr Bodell. ' We observe that the work of ploughing and harrowing the side of Cameron Road has been commenced. A great inprovement is being made to one portion of Hamilton Street by planting the i otherwise unsightly cutting with green sods. Judge Wilson was a passenger by the s.s. Taupo to Wellington yesterday morning, where he proceeds to hold a sitting of the Native Lands Court.

The distribution of prizes in connection with the late ploughing match will take place at the Commercial Hotel this eveniug, at eight o'clock. We remind members that the annual meeting of the members of the Tauranga Choral Society will be held in the Tempoiwieo Hall, on Tuesday evening next, at half -past seven o'clock. Judge Symonds arrived here yesterday per Taupo, and will conduct the business of the Native Lands Court here during tho temporary absence in Wellington of Judge Wilson. Dr. Reid, of Opotiki, has proceeded to Gisborne, for the purpose of acting as locum tencno for Dr. Henry Pollen, during that gentleman's absence at the Wellington ' Assizes. The Tauranga Lands Commission Court adjourned on Tuesday last, after a month's sittings, during which about 24,000 acres in sub-divisions of the Otawa Block, were individualized. Owing to the prolonged absence of Mr George Vesey Stewart in Wellington, the I meeting called for next Tuesday, at the I Uretara Store, has been postponed until Wed- I uesday, the 23rd instant. Notice has been given by the Opotiki District Highway, tha. the road leading from th 6 Waioeka Road to the river, and running through the centre of Mr Rogers farm will henceforth cease to be a public highway. The election for Councillors for the County of Tauranga will take place on the 13th of November next. An advertisement in another Column notifies where the Electoral Roll can be inspected for the several Ridings from the 15th to the 22nd instant. The Gazette, dated October 3rd, announced that John Mcintosh Roberts, Esq., J.P., has been appointed Resident Magistrate for the District of Tauranga, with jurisdiction up to £100, and David Scannel, Esq., Resident •Magistrate for the District of Taupo. By a private telegram, courteously shown us by a resident, we gather that Mr Vesey Stewart is pushing forward the immediate issue of the Crown Grants for the No. 1 Party of the Katikati Special Settlers, whose three years of occupation was completed last month, An interesting presentation was made to Mrßattley, of the Bank of New Zealand, Auckland, on Tuesday last, by his brother officers. It consisted of a silver tea and coffee service, and a gold watch and chain. The presentation, which was accompanied with a suitable address, was made by Mr D. L. Murdoch, the General Manager of the Bank. The articles presented were procured from Mr Khon, of Auckland. Mr Battley has been appointed Secretary of the New Zealand Loan Mercantile Compahy.