The Ashburton Guardian. COUNTY AGRICULTURAL & SPORTING RECORDER. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1879. FIRST NOTICE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume I, Issue 29, 2 December 1879, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. COUNTY AGRICULTURAL & SPORTING RECORDER. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1879. FIRST NOTICE.

Thk ff Yic/fQß rst JfeyiEty,fhe above is the title of a periodical of a mwp pfptentious character than h a 3 yef bepu issued in any of the colonies. It is published in Melbourne, edited by Mr. H. Mortimer Franklyn, and is in every way a credit to him and the printers. In a brief prefatory note the editor sets forth the want felt in the colonies of a first-class magazine, for dealing with questions beyond the scope of ordinary newspapers, and informs his readers that arrangements have been made with men of eminence in Europe and America to write original articles on topics of interest. The wqrk is a bjidky one, of 107 pages of closely pointed ipattpr, and has bpsid es some thirty pages'i?f advertising patter. It is published in a similar form to Epg-

Ijgij ■ and the subjects tqijchad upon arp afyy written tlu-oUgfiput, ip.idarp. in most cases interesting to' us, although published for Victorian readers. , One article written by Mr. W. Jardino Smith on “Berryism ; its Rise and Progress ” we take first in order as the similarity of the so called Liberal movement in Victoria bears a striking family resemblance to the same political] creed in our own Colony, and is indeed Only another of those social earthquakes-which are or have been during the last four: years setting labor and capital by the ears. Mr. Smith gives tho political history of Mr. Graham Berry which is also that of tho party now in power in Victoria, but which is on the decline ; and he thus describes the manner in which the Liberal leader obtained access to power : “ Before going further, it is necessary to take a brief retrospect, in older that we may see how Mr. Berry attained his commanding position. This is all the more necessary, because the conduct of the lion, gentleman in office has been in some measure a necessary consequence of the expedients he adopted to force himself into prominence. When Sir Charles Gavan Duffy was ‘ sent for ’ in 1871, he met with some .unexpected difficulties in providing himself with colleagues. After seeking in vain to allyhimself with men of then acknowledged standing in Parliament, Sir Charles, rather than lose an opportunity, determined to construct a Cabinet out of the most likely materials available. In the somewhat curious specimen of political mosaic thus produced Mr. Berry had a place, and during the time it was on exhibition he was conspicuous amongst the component parts. IV Idle the leader of the then Government contented himself with the delivery of carefully prepared addresses, which were as vague as they were charming, his Treasurer busied himself over more substantial matters. Finding that he had to meet a deficit, he adopted the delightfully simple expedient of doubling all the protective duties, and of increasing the number of articles to which they should apply. By so doing, he not only supplied his pecuniary wants, but also acquired that leading position in the estimation of the protectionist party which he at present holds. Although the hon. gentleman had to retire from the position he occupied under circumstances which did not add to his reputation, his appearaiice before the public as a Minister, if only for a brief period, was of great service to him. He succeeded in placing an active and enterprising party under obligations, and went some ’ way in accustoming the public to forget the stump orator of the Eastern Market in the responsible adviser of the Crown. From “that time forward the' hon. gentleman was regarded as a possible leac er. After discoursing on the struggles between the M'Culloch party and the Berryitea the writer goes on to describe how they obtained the reins of Government by adopting the “ Stonewall ” tactics, which so closely resemble similar ones adopted during the short session in Wellington this year ; and the portrait, drawn of the Victorian demagogue so much resembles his New Zealand double that we give tho writer’s estimate of him. “ But the special peculiarities which go to constitute an effective popular orator are fatal defects in a statesman. The oratorical temperament is impulsive, sanguine, too eager to make points and grasp present advantages to consider anything beyond the immediate present, or to forego a point out of consideration for secondary effects or wide reaching consequences. The principal charaotistifcs of a good ruler, on the other hand, are deliberate judgment, cool caution, unwavering perseverance, with just that soupijon of dash and daring which is necessary to give flavor to solid qualities. The result of placing men of the ‘ gushing ’ sort in positions of supreme authority has never yet been found satisfactory. They arouse expectation, beget enthusiasm, and throw everything into disorder; then come reaction and disgust. Given an ambitious gentleman constituted like the Chief Secretary, surrounded by colleagues equally aspiring, who are ready to flatter his vanity, second his views, and supply all his deficiencies in the way of force and determination, and that sort of organised confusion, which, for want of a more descriptive name, I have called ‘ Berryism,’ may be looked for as a necessary consequence. ” This our readers will admit is applicable, to our late Proconsul. The manner in which capital has been taxed to the extent of driving its holders to seek investments in other colonies has been the main cause of the distress in Victoria, and the land tax was one of the most impolitic of these. Mr Smith’s exposition of the folly of taxing the largo land holders is a good lesson to our own Parliament, now discussing the same question with reference to this colony : “ One of the first things to be dona upon nieeting Parliament was to impose the long-promised land tax. If the Government bad desired to consult the real interests of the country, this operation, and a good many other proceedings, would have been postponed to a more convenient, season. Already there were symptoms of a coming depression in commercial affairs. True statesmanship would have avoided any action calculated to agitate the publ|c mind, or to assist passing events in impairing tnat oonfitlcncc which essential to industry and enterprise, Either Mr. Berry and Ida cpU leagues could not rend the signs of the times, or they wore afraid, after the pledges they had given, to propose delqy, There can be little doubt, I imagine, that had they, foreseen the disastrous effects of their land tax in the creation of distrust and the depreciation of every sort of holding, and suggested tho advisability of waiting until the country was in abetter position to bear the inevitable consequences of class legislation, 'they would have had to submit to many unnlpftsant rpfjectjong oi}_ their condqgti, Bid with an eqo r ftl f W nipjftfify, Hack —a majority which, as we shall presently see, they were g'dng tq attach to thpjp by something stronger than ideas in commeh election pledges'" they gould have afforded to face any storm that might aria®- H Qw ever > P r 9* crastinatiqn was furthest fimu , ■ them thoughts, , . , , .» , s : s Home people who could not property up* preciate the requirements of party politics in a pure democracy, suggested that, with a view to save expense, municipal ratings might be taken in assessing estates, and that appeals against the valuation affixed aiight*bp piUSCr-ated hpfpfP the County Court judges. Such ft proposal, howpypf.

wp.s fo tm heart of the great Liberal party, provision was made fur thsmcmmnissioners to hear appeals;" with sdfHKqf £ISOO per annum, and for a whole classifiers. The as was 'wHpßi intended, were appoitiled grounds, and .their general iiioSßcivSLas been such as to keepdme employed. The whole affair has turned put a stupendous piece of bungling. Owing to incapacity —malice cannot be imputed in connection with details —the i incidence of the tax has been outrageously unequal, whileita productiveness, notwithstandiugthe expanse gone to in its collection, has not amounted to three-fourths of the estimate. ”

“ The characteristic features of Berryism may be seen in connection with this business. A Bill was sent to the Upper House which had nothing to recommend it but its .acceptability to those with whom land-owners are unpibpalair-^' s^R,^ffil^^ ra, even Mr. Beriy admitted was inequitable in some of its details—and no sooner, did a suspicion of resistance arise than bluster and menace' TWrißird

Newland’s Tea Meeting. —This meeting, which was: held last might; was} a great success, about 150 being present*' the visitors arriving from aU.paHs of the district. The whole thing passed off remarkably well, and we have 1 to hold over our special correspondent’s till next issue,; ~ i.

Broken Leos. —Yesterday, in Christchurch, no less than three persons suffered broken limbs from falls—a ‘ gentleman in the muff cricket match ; a collector of bottles,, who came to grief at the railway station ; and a butcher named Frank Croft, who also had a fall. The Edward Harvester.— -Mr. E. Reece has on hand two" new reaping and binding machines knowta as the Edward Harvester, -.for . sale. They • are highly spoken of in the American papers, and may find employment among Sotnb of our farmers.,

Masonic ft the cerernohy of ‘layihg the foundation* ,i stone of the. vtom performed, by the Masonic bodies The installation or’the officers of -thd Somerset Lodge will take place the ssme evening, and. a.banqyet willbe r held-latet, on. If is intended to aik the?MSyor to : proclaim the day a half holiday; Winslow Sports. —ln .another?column oUr readers will find the programme of those popular sports which’ ,'haye new . identified themselves as tieing'‘thebdrfeicfc‘ : 4 thjng for everybody to attdiid on New Year’s Day. • ; Although, a number of the, , events have hot as yet the Ambunt of the’ ' prizes set against them, wo are assured by the Committee that with trie funds at their disposal they will be able to offer more liberal prizes than they did last year. lt ; would be as well, however,- if the Committee would .ease ;the mindspf a number j of our athletes who are lookingiorward to §, make a harvest at Winslow or elsewhere/ and tell them at once what the-money on each event is to be, apd. the sporting element could then ’a^onbe 1 open-their■ • books on the various IWmls.

Masonic Hall. —The contract for the new Masonic Hall has' ’bepn V;’ let—r Mr. George Parkin being the successful ten* derer. The site is the section at the corner of ;William , and Tanpred streets, and the ground, will be brokejqjje-dayr to start operations. - • ■;

'CoNSBtacATtoN, *.- All Saints’ Church,, Sherwood,; .-.yillitytkf 7 ' place on Wednesday next, Srdiatist.,.: There ; • will be Choral Service, with;'celebration ■*> of Holy Communion, at .11 a. m. ,; punctually. A special train will leave Rakaia immediately after the departure; of the express for the south. Refreshments will be provided at 1 p.m. • > > ' Masonic.—On Friday, .evening next, the annual installation of officers of the Thistle Lodge will take place in . the lodge ‘ . room, after which a banquet will be. held at Bro. Quill’s Hptel. A Sapient — Our lata •. magistrate, Mr. A. Le Grand Campbell, does not appear to find Gollingwood a bed of rose?. He was- transported- to, that desolate region for his', sins, and has 'suqceeded even there in getting intq d water. During the election for a member of Parliament ho could not ©venreturn the candidate w#h ;t in<»t votes, .ah elected, without a reference to legal- authority putside his ; owrfciperson ; and laat . Wedtl. w* read of another and still morehqmUtetffig . case af inability -to-decide hpon a wmple Warden’s Court case, After having heard - the evidence he acknowledged hiS incompetence to give ajudgment. in the caao,- and wrote to the I ,-M A in Nelson, enclosing the evidence, and- repeating the brother * magistrate to decide At tor him.’ | qqeat was very naturally refused, and A. v LeGrand Campbell, was-.driven to the disagreeable.. necessity of deciding ' it himself. After a deal of delibqrfr tion he gave a Thf'-httW incapacity qf thf RURI jfl *0 well known.to Ashburton people fthav’ itseemed'likeacharitable action on the part of the Go- *■ vornment to send him.to so unimportant a district as Golden Bay where qaaes ase few and in most instances ghSffite; but hU weak mind does not seem op able to .. grqsp the hearings, ftf a simple application fqr a prospecting claim, We only recollect one instance equal to the above—also iq a Warden’s Court ease—where evidence $ lasting for some hours was taken ip a room ; about 14 feet by 12, and the parties .concerned, together with the audience, spent the day in listening to : the, evidence lota time, and then adjourning; to the.pnV opposite, .The Warden .was fairly bo- : thered by the evidence,; and summed up t as follows :—“ Um—er—this is a difficult case ; or—the evidence is very contradictory ; —er—l think the fairest thing to do between both parties is to call for a showofhands^of'rthosein "oqu#fW®' - those for nlaintjij hold OR tjiehv hands! ¥w has iif | JP“ Cpurp gtftnqs adjournqd. JfJ

Tip; WAB?Ap?f ah iwfljr 1 fitting of the B,M< Court, the magistrate will he called upon to decide the cases of twenty ratepayers whose contributions to the Borough funds have not yet been made.

VpAfcrjY OF N«W Feiww,—A peculiarity observable in the leaves of several varieties of New Zealand ferns It that they will grow for many years after being mounted and pressed in an album. This remarkable growth in s leaf .rtakliiml dry. and apparently dead, is worthy of «»'?' amiqaticm, being unique, we believe* ill the hiatoty of plants. •• v. ; ‘ ;, r ?

Primitive Methodist Church. —The congregation worshipping in Wilis/ have been, for a long time, deprived .of', the ministrations of a settled pastor, and have had to rely for their Sunday services on the assistance of the , local preachers and others who volunteered their aid. ‘We understand, however, that the 1 Rev. A. J. Smith, recently arrived fromu .England, has taken the pastorate of ithe .above church, and the Primitive Methodists are to bo congratulated in securing a minister of such evident ability and earnestness. On Thursday evening last, Mr. Smith held an outdoor service, the first of its kind we believe ever held in Ashburton, and a goodly crowd assembled around the preachers stand. The pulpit of the Wesley an Church was occupied on Sunday by the Ame gentleman, and. from the apparefttdixterest manifested by his hearers, and the enconiums passed, we conclude that beforedong Mr. Smith, will be very pemdar : among the religious bodies in AaMiurton. ■ ■