The Daily Telegraph. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3007, 14 February 1881, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1881.

The Waiktto Mail under its new pro--3 prietors has slightly changed its politics, and on the subject of " land for tbe ) poeple" speaks boldly and honestly. Our contemporary says:—The millions of acres of waßte lands now lying idle and unutilised in the hands of the natives must soon or late be applied to the sustenance and use of man. There is room * enough for both races in this broad land. The dog-in-the-manger policy which the Maoris have so long pursued to the injury of themselves and their European neighbours must come to an end. We i are no advocates for spoliation. Let the £ native lands be acquired in fair barter. Let the natural laws of supply and demand follow their course. We have no sympathy with those who de«ire to impose artificial checks to settlement. Let those who raise the land cry shew that they are in earnest. There is land enough to satisfy their demand if they j mean work, and not mere empty words. We know that the Government Land Purchase Byetem was an extravagant and wasteful fiasco. Seven hundred thousand ' pounds voted for the purchase of waste lands in the North Island was squandered, and the Government—as Governments invariably do when they go outside their legitimate functions and meddle with commercial transactions—muddled the business. If anyone desires proof, let him read Mr Bryce's statement during the session of 1879, reported in Hansard, when he shewed that the Land Purchase ) Department was virtually bankrupt, and that the Government was not only unable to proceed with the further acquisition of , native lands, but even to complete the mll vestments upon which it bad made advances. The Government rightly abandoned the field. They who drew fanciful ■ pictures of 400 happy families in the Piako morasses, were dreamy visionaries p or political schemers. Four hundred J families in a watery waste would have been compelled to drag out a wretched I existence, like the overcrowded population of some Chinese cities, on rafts. , There are extensive areas of waste land in New Zeaknd which can only be opened and prepared for settlement by a combination of capitalists. It is idle to argue that this is the function of , the Government when it is not a capi- . talist. The condition of native title is such that much of the land can only be acquired in large blocks. There is . protection against monopoly, that bete \ noir of the stump orators—in the crushing taxation with which property is burdened. Why should the scHmp orator have a grievance against the man who voluntarily incurs that burden, and continues those functions of colonization which the Government has abandoned ? If the people who inveigh so senselessly against land buyers, and so lightly and so glibly stigmatise them as "land sharks" w£:.t land for homesteads, let them cease calling names and enter the market. The large landowners are breaking up their properties, and would joyfully satisfy all demands if they could recoup the enormous outlay on their investments. It is because we have the real interests of the colony at heart that we advocate, and shall continue strenuously to advocate, these views, regardless of consequences and hard words. It is senseless to rail against capital, the agent of production, the accumulated savings of industry and self-denial. Every man who is not a drone in the social hive aspires to be a capitalist. We are no friends of injurious monopoly, but we believe in the saying " that whoever can make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, will deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country" than mere designing and prating politicians.

St. Valentine's Day caused about 2000 extra letters to be passed through the Napier Post Office. Garden robbing has now taken the place of tops and marbles. The best way to preserve fruit ia with a horsewhip. At the Harbor Board election to-day there were only 250 voters polled by 2.30 p.m., representing 100 votes. No apparent interest has been taken in the election whatever. The poll will be declared at a quarter-past seven this evening. Mr Rees passed through Napier on Saturday, but was unable to remain to play in tho Australian match. His absence'will be greatly felt, as he was the one man chosen to play in the looal team who has the knowledge and ability to captain a twentytwo. We hear that the Clive school is now crowded to excess. There is an average attendance of about, 130, and about 30 or 40 desiring admittance if there was room. A requisition is being forwarded to the Education Board for assistance to enable the local committee to largly iuorease the accommodation. Owing to an omission, or an oversight, the Tamumw Hoad Board neglected to ; strike a rate for this current year, and it seems that tbe trouble cannot be overcome unless tho whole of the ratepayers agree. Some want road expenditure, but others do not, so there will be no local tax in that district for this year beyond the County rate.

A cricket match was played at Petane on Saturday between the Union and the Civil Service Clubs, and a victory was scored by the Civil Servants. Scores:— Cml Service 50 ; Union Club, 40.

Tub iM\v oiiurch at Porangahau was consecrated by tho Right Rev. tho Bishop of Wiiiapu on Friday last, who, on the completion of the ceremony, at which ho was assisted by tho Revs. De Bordfc Kovell, Shearman, and Simcox, preached a sermon to an overflowing congregation. The collection amounted to £25.

The Wairoa cricketers who are at present in Napier play at Petane to-day against a Petane eleven, and to-morrow against tho Napier Club at Hastings. The following are the elevens in the match Wairoa v. Napier:— Napier: Edwards, Gilberd, Mayo, Camel!, H. Martin, J. Martin, iitherton, Cotterill, Monteith, Gilpin and Brathwaite. Wairoa : Rev. Mr Goodyear, G-. B. Flint, T. Carroll, Strickland, A. Gethin, J. Sim, M'Mahon, Strachan, R. Sim, Balfour, Thatcher, Parker, F. Davis, and H. Flint.

The Australian eleven have at last suffered a defeat, and we are glad it has fallen to the lot of Wanganui to beat the redoubtable eleven. A number of our local cricketers had the pleasure of visiting Wanganui last year on a cricketing tour, and they have always spoken of the Wanganui men as good cricketers, and jolly good fellows into the bargain. We believe they will wear the laurel with more humility than did the Canterbury team on tho occasion of their victory over the Australian eleven of 1878.

The landed proprietors in the Waipawa County know how to estimate the value of their estates for taxation almost as well as they do when they want to sell. One owner at the Board of Reviewers objected strongly to his land being assessed at £9 per acre, although he admitted to having refused £13 per acre for it, and acknowledged to a neighboring estate having been sold at £15 an acre by auction. He wanted tho valuation lowered to £G, but the little matter had to be postponed for want of a quorum on the Board of Reviewers.

At the Resident Magistrate's'Courfc this morning N. Olsen was charged with drunkenness, and find 5s and costs or 48 hours imprisonment with hard labor.—T. Connolly and M. Kiloy, charged with forgery and uttering, werejremanded until Wednesday next.—The following civil cases were heard : —Allardico v. Fagar and Gustavensen ; Mr Lasoelles for the plaintiff, and Mr Cornford for Gustavensen, for whom he claimed a non-suit; this: was granted, with costs and counsel's fee; judgment against Fagar for £30, with costs and counsel's fee. Dinwiddie, Walker and Co. v. Jones; judgment for plaintiffs by default. The case of the Napier Grammar School v. J. Harding was proceeding when our report left.

Mr S. Y. Collins returned on Saturday from Gisborne, where he had been in attendance upon the Court of the Board of Reviewers under the Property Tax Act. The Reviewers were Captain Porter, and Messrs G. Scott and J. W. Johnson. There were forty objections to the assessment. A local paper says that some of these objections were frivolous, but others arose through the objectors not understanding how the schedules should have been filled up. These might be classed as merely technical objections. As, for instance, one man would give the value of his property, but omitted to claim exemption on the ground that Le had given a mortgage over it, which ho only discovered upon receiving notice of the amount he had been assessed at. Most of the objections were disallowed, and some few only were sustained.

Some little time back it was reported that a sum of £200 had been stolen from the Porangahau pa.. The money had been collected by the natives for the purpose of forwarding to the Maori prophet Paora. A deputation of devotees consequently had to travel to Wairarapa to inform the holy man that the contributions of the pious had been lost. The prophet was equal to the distressing occasion, and told his visitors that if they dug up the floor of a certain ■whare at Porangahau they would find the money, which had better be sent to him without further delay. Carrying out these instructions, the missing treasure was found, and duly forwarded to its destination. The prophet now stands higher than ever in Maori estimation. But the wicked do think that the money was stowed away intentionally, and that some one of the conspirators proved false.

Mr 0. D. Kennedy, who was engaged in the survey of the Mangamane block, (Messrs Donnelly and Hiraka's run), returned to town on Saturday night to report the seizure of his instruments ard field books, and the ransacking of his camp, by a party of Maoris belonging to Renata's hapu. Mr Kennedy was surveying for the Government, and on learning the extent of the mischief despatched a Maori messenger to convey the news to Hiraka. This lad was, however, captured by the marauding natives, stripped, and sent back. Mr Kennedy therefore came into town, bringing the report himself. In the meantime the spoils secured by the robbers are safely stowed away in Renata's pa at Omahu. Now, this outrage serves the Government perfectly right. Some weeks ago a similar attack was made on Mr Lessong and his party when engaged on a survey, and, instead of the guilty parties being properly pursued and severely punished, Dr. Buller was employed to square matters. Now, of course, the natives think that they can do just what they like. Dr. Buller had better be sent up again at ten guineas a day, and wo should strongly recommend that the Omahu natives be given £1000 as a reward for harboring robbers and holding stolen property. We are getting back to sugar and blankets, and we had better begin by paying cash.

The New Zealand Times, referring to a recent police prosecution of two hotelkeepers under a Wellington Licensing Ordinance says :—" What ia really wanted is an act of the General Assembly, dealing with the licensing question of the whole colony. It is absurd that there should be one Licensing Act in Auckland, another in Taranaki, a third in Hawke's Bay, a fourth in Wellington, a fifth in Nelson, a sixth in Canterbury, a seventh in Otago, and so on in other provincial districts. The question is one in which one law should apply to every provincial district throughout the colony. Already in Wellington the Sunday police crusade against the hotels has resulted in some of these slygrog shops being established, and more of them will follow. There are few greater evils in a community than that of' sly-grog shops.' Those who carry on such a nefarious traffic pay no license fees. Their stock can. be bought on a Saturday night for a very few pounds; they have no extensive premises or furnituie, and as they conduct the trade with the greatest secrecy, their detection by the police is a work of almost insuperable difficulty."

A Canadian correspondent of Vick's Magazine says that wheat bran sprinkled on the heads of cabbage where the worms are at work, in the morning when the dew is on, or after a shower of rain, will clean out tho marauders. He explains its efficacy as follows:—"The worms eat the bran so voraciously that they burst. One dose is generally sufficient for a complete riddance of the little pest. I learned this from an old and experienced gardener. It has proved a success in every case where it has been tried, and I want no better remedy."

A Queensland paper says:—" "We have on several occasions lately drawn attention to the advisability of opening up a traue between Central Queensland and New Zealand. The latter would gladly take from us our sugar, instead of importing it from the Mauritius, while we on our part could obtain in return very much or that produce we now procure second-hand from the south. The matter is worthy of consideration, and if our merchants and shippers were a little more energetic and pushing, we are of opinion that an active and lucrative trade might be set on foot and. flourish."

Madame Lottie Wilmotfc will lecture at tho Theatre Eoyal on Sunday nest. The cricket match Wairoa v. Napier will be played to-morrow at Hastings. Players will leave by the first train. Tenders are invite-!! *<:r cleaning drains on Pakowhai and Little Bush estates. Special trains for Hastings aro advertised for Wednesdaj and Thursday. Mr Johnson will supply luncheon in the grand stand at tho Australian cricket match. Election of ono member of the Hospital Committee by subscribers will take place on the 28th inst. Messrs Blytho and Co. advertise a stocktaking sale. Mr E. Lyndon will sell at his auction rooms the remainder of Mr Grant's stock on the 18th insf Messrs Leonard and Co are now giving away tho balance of their drapery and clothing. ( Holders of subscription lists for the Hos« pital are requested to send them in on or before the Ist of March. Mr H. E. Ghmn has for sale a largo quantity of drain pipes. All outstanding accounts due from the Napier Hospital up to 31st December, 1880, are to be sent in. Hoadley and Lyon will sell, at Hastings, on the ISth instant, 65 pure Lincoln rams. A number of new advertisements appear in our "Wanted" column.