The Bay of Plenty Times and Thames Valley Warden. The spiri of the Times shall te ch me speed.—King John. Ads IV. Wednesday, March 10, 1897.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 3521, 10 March 1897, Page 2

The Bay of Plenty Times and Thames Valley Warden. The spiri of the Times shall tech mc speed.— King John. Ads IV. Wednesday, March 10, 1897.

Some short time ago we referred to the petition being sent round in the Katikati Riding of this County praying the County Council to introduce the Rating on Unimproved Values Act and put it in operation in the County. The agitation, however, appears to have died out and as far as we are aware the other two Ridings have taken no action in the matter whatever, probably through the resident ratepayers not fully understanding the scope and effect of the measure. It is now of course too late to give effect to the Act as regards the financial year just about to begin on April Ist as there is not time to get through the necessary formalities and, as we have previously pointed out, it is just as well, that it should be so perhaps as the new Government valuation will not be available for the purpose in time for the coming year's rates and if the Act had been adopted by the Council prior to the 31st of this month it would have entailed the expense of a new valuation. However, there is no time like the present for drawing attention to the advantages of the Act and for the ratepayers to send in the necessary petitions upon which, and which only, the Council can act. To the resident, improving or industrious owner of property the Act must necessarily commend itself as it shifts a portion of the burden of rates from his shoulders to those of other owners who are doing less than himself. The Council is empowered by the Act to raise the same amount of rates in the County as can be done under the present system irrespective of how much in the pound it may be necessary to claim in order to do so. To take 1 ) a simple example, suppose a County to be at present valued at £? 00,000 and the rate for ordinary purposes to be £ d in the £ ; the revenue is therefore £312 10s., The rast figures constitute the amount which the Council require to raise and under she new Act thjey arp 'topowered to do so by rate of sufficient am«#nt on the improved-" value no matter how much it may amount to ; in other wotds supposing* the unimproved value of the whole of the same County to be only £50,000 then the Council would strike a rate of Hd in the £. In the case of two men each owning" property of which the unimproved value is, gay £100, A. improves his by fencing, building l and cultivating until it is worth £500 while B. does nothing. Under the present system A is now paying- on his improved farm £1 lis 3d a year and B. only 6s 3d. A. is really paying interest on the result of his own industry and on his own expended capital to maintain roads and bridges, etc., which go to enhance the value of B's property as much as his own. Under the new Act things would be changed somewhat. A. on his unimproved value of £100 would 12s 6d in place of £1 lis 3d while B. will find bis rate exactly doubled. Ring the changes as we will on tbe figures they must always come oat to the relief of the progressive and improving owner from the burden which be has so long unfairly borne in place of the mere holder-on to pieces of land who recVons to get all or most of his profit by unearned increment

A rather important discovery was made in Mnvf-ertoy. on a recent afternoon. A w.l) was sunk at the rear of Mr J. Williams shop in Queen street Whf»n n depth of six or seven feet was reached n deposit of black sand was encountered, which, on b"in£ Rn»lysed, was found to contain enld nnd other minerals in fairly large quantities.

Tenders are invited by the Board of Education for the erection of a school building at Opouriao, returnable up to noon on Tnesday, 23rd inst.

The Rifle Club members intend to revive their Thursday afternoon I meetings to-morrow and will commence operations with an alphabetical match for which the following teams are picked, subject of course to revision if required;—A Team, Messrs Burrows, Coutts, Clarkson, Gray, Jordan, Maxwell and Munro. Z Team, Messrs Smith, Teasy, Turner, Ward, Wayte, West and Westenra, Firing will commence at 2.30 p.m.

In response to a letter frcm the Mayor acting on behalf of the Indian Famine Fund Committee, the Band has resolved to give a concert of sacred music in the Domain on an early Sunday afternoon of which further particulars will be announced later.

Mr Hemes, M.H.R., has received from the Assets Realisation Board the following jeply to an enquiry made by him on the subject dealt with: —' Bangiuru Estate will be offered for sale as soon as we can, complete arrangements for a road which we require.'

Mr J. C. Galbraith, of Te Puke, notifies that he is a candidate for reelection to the Licensing Committee and solicits the votes of the electors.

We notice that no less than three Inspectors of slaughter-houses and animals intended for slaughtering for food have been gazetted for the County of Waikato at the instance of its Council. When is Tauranga going to follow suit ? •

Threshing arid winnowing operations are in progress at HoriNgatai's settlement at Otumoetai where several large stacks of wheat and oats are being dealt with. The natives are working the thresher with a horsepower and six horses while the winnowing machine is operated by-man-power, a proceeding which is almost patriarchal in its antiquity.

The 8.8. Katikati left the harbour yesterday morning at 4 o'clock for Motiti, and arrived again at the Town Wharf ut 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, bringing with her 100 sacks .of maize consigned to Mr M. Spence, the last held by the Maoris there. The Katikati is to go back to Motiti at once for another load, this time Mr Lawford being the shipper.

For some time efforts have been made by the Te Puke School Committee to induce the Board of Education to erect a decent school building in place of the wretched shed in. which the children are now taught. It is merely a shed, used in former days by Mr Douglas as a workshop and is not. nearly large enough, to say nothing about its sanitary condition, its situation being close to a piggery. How the teacher, Mr Keaney, or the children attending, keep their health is a mystery. The Board promised long ago to erect a proper schoolhouse, but the work has not yet been started.

Mr Chas E. Maclrie's Fortunatus Company arrived by the Chelmsford last evening and commence their season at the Theatre Royal to-night. The Cinematograph and Rontgen X Rays are said to be the lateßt wonders of the world- and the Company include the following ladies and gentlemen :—Misses Beatrice Hermann and Edith Earle, Messrs Morton Prior. James Edwards, Fred Will and Chas. E. Mackie. At Opotiki and Whakatane the Company played to packed houses and we hope to seeji bumper house tonight. A faw seats may be reserved at Mr. T. E. Wayte's.

The Hon. Mr Cadman left about 11.30 this morning for Te Puke with the intention of visiting the mines. A telegram was despatched ordering lunch at Pilling's hotel at 2 p.m., and horses to be ready for the ministerial party shortly afterwards.

Yesterday morning broke cool and bright with every appearance of improved weather but during the day the aspect again changed and rain set in during last night continuing till nearly noon to-day.

A rather serious accident occurred on the wharf yesterday to a lad named George Gear; He and some other children were playing with the trucks one of which was run over the lad's feet lacerating and orushing them. This is not the first accident of the kind and it appears that unless the Council formulate a byelaw to deal with the matter it is impossible to prevent children and even older people making the trucks into playthings to the annoyance and danger of others. • <

On Saturday night the house built some three years ago on Mr Jenkins's farm at Ohauiti, Welcome Bay, was destroyed by fire. At present nothing .can be ascertained in connection with the affairas.no one is believed to nave been living there, neither is the amount of insurance, if any, known as the agent of the property, Mr Lundonis outot town.

Amongst the changes to take place in the location of Magistrates and Wardens in the. South Island will be the reduction of the number on the West Coast from three to two.

Potatoes are exceptionally dear and scarce at Napier and Hastings. In the latter district all the crops in the low-lying distrcts have rotted.

Mr Tregear, secretary of the Labour Department, has selected properties near Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin for the purpose of establishing workmen's villages under the Government scheme. He has left for Auckland on a similar mission.

A defendant in Dunedin would not let his lawyer do the talking for him although Judge "Williams told him to bold his tongue. As he would not do so the judge adjourned th" Court for five minutes and ordered him to pay £o 5s as the cost of doing so.

In a claim of £14 for goods supplied, heard in Invercargill, the plea of infancy was put forward and admitted. His Worship said he would go carefully through the account and eliiniDftte such articles as he did not deem were necessaries. He did not consider cigarettes, lollies, sauce, etc., to be Mich, any more than beer or spirits.

The Christchurch Prohibition Leagrue has passed, a resolution that the League will .work with unabated visrour for the absolute prohibition of the liquor traffic by popular vote, but will decline to nominate a Committee to administer a system to which they are entirely " opposed, Jeaving it to individual tneiubersto exercise their own discretion a* to supporting men of good reputation nominated.