Hawke's Bay Herald FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1878.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5006, 1 February 1878, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1878.

"We publish in another column particulars kindly furnished to us by Mr A. Macclonald with, reference to the native land in the neighborhood of Feilding, which it is proposed shortly to bring into the market in 100 acre sections. The land is not, as we supposed, open, like the reserve already disposed of, but busk clad. The block also is not so large as our first information ]ed us to believe ; however, the land is level and of the very best quality. It is situated also within an easy distance of a railway station and in a highly progressive distiict, one that is being rapidly opened up and settled in all directions. The terms, we should say, are well adapted to suit the requirements of laboring men, artizans, and small farmers, who have saved a few hundred pounds, and contemplate making homes for themselves in the bush. The rental of £15 per annum for 100 acres will not be a heavy drain on. the capital required for improvements and for living until the land begins to bring in something, and the chances are that the purchase money of £300 will be a mere flea-bite to them at the end of 21 years. We observe that the alternative is likely to bo offered of taking up the sections for cash at £2. We presume, however, that some guarantee will be taken that the land shall not bo left idle when taken up. The alternate sections retained by the natives would derive no improvement in value, from the fact of those beside them being in the hands of sj^eculators, but rather the reverse. Had this land, we may remark, been on the Hawke's Bay side of the Manawatu Gorge, its intended sale would long ago have been one of the chief topics of interest in thus district. It is really only an hour or two's ride from the Gorge, and the fact that so little has been said or known about it, up to the present time, is a striking illustration of the effect that may be produced by nominal lines of demarcation, long after they have ceasGd to possess any corresponding reality. We shall watch with the utmost interest the issue of Mr Macdonald's exertions in this matter. He is contributing his share in a most effective, because in a practical manner, towards the solution of the very greatest question that is before the country at present, — the disposal of the native lands in such a manner as to give the industrious and thrifty laboring men of the colony a chance of settling upon them, and of thus becoming, eventually, landed proprietors and men of substance themselves. We have had in the past abundance of frothy theory, but very little practical exertion, to guide us as to the course of native land legislation that ought to be adopted.

We are not, of course, sufficiently acquainted with, the antecedent circumstances to form an opinion one way or another upon, several of the points referred to in Mr Macdonald's communication^ but we may remark that it is \ theopinion of almost all who are in a position to form a sound judgment- on the matter, that the Native Lands Court, and Native Department generally, stand in need of a very sweeping reform. The Chief Judge, indoctrinated as he is with the abominable Act of 1865, is himself an obstacle in the way of all reform that should be got rid of without longer delay. No harm would be clone if most of the other Lands Court judges were sent after him, and gentlemen possessed of some slight vestige of legal knowledge appointed in their places. Even the present occupants of these vitally important posts, however, will probably act in a very different manner when conscious that their masters are men sincerely and ardently desirous of seeing settlement promoted from that in which they would have acted when under the Whitaker regime.

A Wellington correspondent, who is in the confidence of the Government, informs us that one part of their policy next session will be to try to concentrate as many of the many public bodies into one as possible. Of course they do not propose to force the -wishes of localities, or over-rule them by legislation, but they would like to make, for instance, the municipalities of maritime towns the harbor boards, and to entrust all municipalities with the care of hospitals, &c. At present the constitution of these various local bodies differs everywhere, and if, in some places, the Municipal Council is composed of men who might be improved upon, the , tendency of a policy which placed more responsibility upon them, would be to make the office of councillors more considered, and to bring better men to the front. Moreover, the principle of yearly election enables the population to express their opinions on the mode in which the work of each year has been done ; and it will be found in practice that good men will soon be found to be valuable, and their services retained generally by the wards for several years. He adds — I think it will turn out that no violent measures will be proposed by Government. Probably, even the Manhood Suffrage Bill will be so carefully framed that few will dissent from the proposal. There will be no movement for Separation ; on the contrary i think there will prove to be an effort to strengthen the local bodies. When the Hinemoa returns to Wellington she is to go round the South Island to enable the Jackson's Bay and other fancy Settlements to be inspected, and possibly some of them stopped if there is no prospect of their succeeding. Sir G. Grey, Messrs Macandrew and Fisher are to go on that trip. Pearce is pretty sure of election here, but gives himself out a free lance, no longer a partisan. Till the Government hear of the floating or prospect of floating the loan they cannot actually authorise expenditure to come out of it, but if the cable was not broken they would hear of this any day now. Things are too nervous in Europe to justify them in incurring liabilities which they cannot meet, and the banks, in case of war, would soon cease to help them."

" When you have a bad case, abuse the counsel on the other side." " When anything appears in the Herald unpalatable to the Telegraphs patrons, vilify Mr Carlile," that is our contemporary's motto. It is true that that gentleman was at one time a follower of Mr Ormond, as were a great many other people in Hawke's Bay, who, though, perhaps, still admirers of his abilities, are not his followers now. All that need be said on that point is that had such facts as have recently come to their knowledge been known to them earlier, they would never have been his followers at all. As to the particular question in hand, our contemporary confirms what we said yesterday about the private meeting of Provincial Councillors held to consider Mr Nairn's offer, and adds that they well knew " that the land, if put up to auction, would go at the upset price," 5s per acre. They knew this well, did they '? Why then did they take no steps to prevent the public being robbed at one sweep of about £20,000, at the lowest estimate. There was an obvious expedient open to them by which the robbery could have been prevented, viz. , the withdrawal of the land from sale. How are we to account for the fact that this was not adopted, apparently jnot even suggested. Some of the Councillors who were present may escape on the plea of ignorance, but certainly not all.

Mr Rees, we observe, drew attention to our remarks in yesterday's issue on Dr Dale's general unfitness for hia post, as calculated to prejudice his case before the Resident Magistrate. We should have much regretted such a result, as, in that particular matter, we think that the captain comes out of it the worst of the two. When cases are being heard by Judges and Magistrates, the same caution in referring to matters that may bear upon them is not usually held to be requisite, as when they are being heard before juries. If the weather prove propitious — it is raining at the time we write, 1 a.m. — there will no doubt be a large assemblage of spectators to witness the cricket match at Hastings between the Australian Eleven and Hawke's Bay Twenty-two. As the game does not commence until 2 p.m., passengers by the 1 o'clock train will be in ample time for it. The performance of the Hawke's Bay Dramatic Club in the evening will be a good wind-up of the holiday, and should attract a very full house. Mr F. D. Luckie sold yesterday Mr Andrew Murray's Shamrock Hotel, at Tareha's Bridge, to Mr E. L. Smith, builder, of Napier, for the sum of £]200. Mr Smith is well and favorably known, and no doubt will make a popular landlord. In the report in Wednesday's Hbrald of the -proceedings at the Harbor Board meeting, the resolution moved by MiKennedy respecting the timber used in the works was incorrectly printed. The resolution as moved was as follows, the words in italics having been omitted from our report : — " That this board expresses its full confidence in the efficiency of their i enrpineer'ti supervision of the quality of timber used in the works. " A curious invasion of European customs occui-red the other day at Urenui, Taranaki, where a Maori woman attempted suicide on account of a difference with her consort. They had been quarrelling about some cattle of the Europeans being allowed to run on some land, she persisting that they should be there, and her husband threatening to impound them. Suddenly she ran down to the river and threw herself into the water. It is not said that the husband attempted to prevent the accomplishment of her vengeance, but some neighbors did, and successfully. — Tim am Herald. The sum to be added to the Colonial ; Bank's reserve fund is of course £4000, not £400 as in our telegrams yesterday. j The following is the full account of what transpired in the House on the subject of interim grants to aided schools already in existence : — ' 'Mr Kennedy asked the Colonial Treasurer, If he will place on the Supplementary Estimates a sufficient sum of money to continue those public schools, established in various parts of the colony in conformity with provincial law, known as aided schools, and hitherto receiving aid from their respective Provincial Governments 1 He had placed this question on the Order Paper before the Native Minister had given him an answer

the other night. He hoped he would also give him a favorable reply on this occasion. He had only to say that in the Westland Ordinance of 1874 there was a provision which enabled any fifty householders requiring a school to petition the board for the establishment of such a school. Under this regulation, there had been a school established at Greymouth, and another at Hokitika ; and he believed there were several schools established in the Province of Nelson under a similar provision. He was aware that in regard to these schools established in Westland, considerable obligations had been incurred in providing an educational staff ; and to suddenly cut them off from aid would be considerable hardship upon the management. He trusted the Government would be induced to make some provision on the Supplementary Estimates in aid of these public schools. Mr Sheehan replied that, Parliament having affirmed the principle of secular education, he might say it was not the intention of the Government to make any provision for non-secular schools. So far as the remainder of the present financial year was concerned, the Government would place on the Supplementary Estimates a sum equal to that which these schools would have received if the present Education Bill had not been passed ; but, after that, all aid would cease, and the education of the colony would only be controlled by the new law." It will be observed that Mr Sheehan's promise applies to all ; the aided schools and thus, just as much to the Trust schools as to Denominational schools proper. It is on the strength of Mr Sheehan's promise solely, not of anything in the Act, or of any sum on the estimates, that the interim grants are being given. Mr Campbell's and Miss Gascoigne's schools, therefore, if they consent to carry on, on the same terms as they were carrying on last quarter, will, we conceive, be entitled to the grant up to the 30tli June next. The trustees appear to have been erroneously advised that there was no chance of their getting it in any circumstances. The Timaru Resident Magistrate has a knotty point to decide, viz., the amount of material it takes to make a modern " pull-back " dress. Isabella R. Dick is charged with stealing several yards of cloth. The case has reached a very complicated stage, and the Timaru Herald supplies the following epitome : — " Two dresses were produced in Court, to make which it was alleged that the accused, while in the employment of Mr Sutter, had received twenty yards of cloth, but had kept and converted to her own use between five and seven yards of it. Experts were called in to measure the dresses, for the purpose of ascertaining tbe quantity of the material in them, but they differed so widely that the Bench made an order to have the dresses taken to pieces for the purpose of having them properly measured. Since then dresses of the same size and shape have been made by the prosecution, presumedly with less material than the twenty yards which the accused is alleged to have received to make the first dresses. That this had j been done came to the ears of the defence, and yesterday a further adjournment until next Wednesday was granted to Mr Hamersley, and the dresses were ordered to be given up. This was done to give the defence an opportunity of employing independent dressmakers to make similar dresses, so as to test the quantity of material that it would take to make them. Thus the case stands at present. — Post. The Government of New South Wales intend to obtain from England an engineer accustomed to the management of the railway department, at a salary of £1000 per annum. They are also making arrangements for the sale of railway tickets at most of the suburban postoffices, to obviate any crushing at railway stations. At Dunedin, the other night, a little girl, aged two years, was attacked and bitten on both cheeks by a large rat. The child's screams brought her parents to the rescue, when they found her pillow covered with blood. Divine services will by held on Sunday next as follows : — Church of England, at St. Luke's, Havelock, at 11 a.m., at St. Matthew's, Hastings, at halfpast 3 p.m., and at St. Mark's, Clive, at 7 p.m. ; Church of England, by the Rev. J. O. Eccles, at St. Peter's, Waipawa, at 11 a.m., at Patangata at 3 p.m. j by the Rev. J. White, at Hampden at 11a.m., at Onga Onga at 3 p.m., and at Waipawa at 7 p.m. ; by the Rev. A. Shepherd, at Havelock at 11 a.m., and at Maraekakaho at 3 p.m.