BATES ON NATIVE LANDS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6782, 14 February 1884, Page 2

BATES ON NATIVE LANDS.

When Mr Smith on Tuesday evening denounced the delay in paying the rates on Crownandnativelands he estimated the money required at £40,000. He adopted the official estimate, but as matters have turned out the amount to be paid will probably not exceed half that sum. This is due to a most glaring breach of faith on the part of the Government. In the first place the Crown lands hare been notoriously undervalued, but that is nothing to what has been done in the case of native lands. A clause in the Crown and Native Lands Bating Act gives the Governor power to exempt certain '.native lands from rating. This clause has been taken advantage of in order to exempt all the most valuable native lands in this province. Here are the exempted districts as given in the Gazette: — In Hawke's Bay county, all the lands included within the boundaries of the Havelock, Okawa, Heretaunga, Puketapu, Meanee, and Clive Road Districts, and that portion of the Petano Road District, situated within the Provincial District of Hawke's Bay; in Waipawa County, all the lands within the Woodville, Kumeroa, Porangahau, Wallingford, Tamumu, Oero, Euataniwha, Takapau, and Waipukurau Road Districts. This means that all the most valuable lands in the provincial district— the only native lands which would have contributed any material assistance in rates — have been placed beyond the operation of the Act. The history of the dealings of the Atkinson Administration with the local bodies is one long record of unfulfilled promises, but never before has there been such a bare-faced and unwarranted breach of faith. The local bodies throughout the colony, but more especially in the North Island, will find themselves in no enviable position during the next two or three years. Deluded by the promises contained in Acts of Parliament, they have contracted heavy liabilities. They fretted at the delay in the payment of the moneys due to them, but they believed that there was nothing worse than delay, and in the expectancy of getting their dues they undertook needful works, and in manyinstancesborrowedthemoney. They were then told, .to their dismay, that the engagements the Government had entered into under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act could not be carried out, ODly about one-fifth of the expected funds being available. They ] still believed that they would receive considerable sums under the Crown and Native Lands Eating Act, but this belief received a rude shock when the shameless undervaluation of Crown lands became i known. The finishing touch is now put } to the list of broken engagements by the exemption from rates of all the most valuable native lands— those which have received the largest benefit "ona the i expenditure of the rates levied on Europeans. The natives of JEawkes Bay < number about 4000, and possess land ;.. valued at about a million million sterling, '.

They are thus a wealthy people, and would be better off, man for man, than the Europeans, were they not so incorrigibly lazy. Yet they are allowed to escape property tax, local rates, and, in fact, direct taxation of any kind. The Europeans are beginning to feel this an intolerable injustice, and the recent action of the Government in perpetuating the inequality between the races will increase this feeling.

Onthefotirth page will be found a report of the proceedirga at the Ormondville Reddent Magistrate's Court yesterday and two articles, entitled respectively, "A Doctor's Ruse," and "The Eoonomy of the Hmnah Stomach." At the meeting of the Sapier Sohool Committee on Tuesday evening Mr Thomas Sidey wa3 appointed treasurer and Mr Frank W; Garner to countersign cheques. At the sitting of the Supreme Court in Bankruptcy yesterday morning, before the Begistrar, Mr P. A. F. Uirch, an order of discharge was grantel on the application of Mr Laseelles to S. G. Kadford, and a like order on the application of Mr Xogan to Wi E. Woods. Mr Carfcwright Brown, Greenraeadows, sen is us the following record of the rainfall at Taradale for 1883, suggesting that other correspondents in different parts of the province should seed similar information for the purpose or comparison:— January, 182 i iches 5 February, . 6'l4 ; March, 4*56 ; April, 4-40; May, 4*16; Tune, 1-40; July, 3-56; August, l - 22 ; September, 300 ; October, 414; November, 9 92; December, 3"82. Total, 48-14. The New Zealand Times, in the interests of the Government, takes us to taßk for asserting that no royalty has yet been received by Govc nment from the Westport Coal Company, and asserbs that royalty has been paid on 60,000 to 70,000 tons. That may be co, but we took our information from a return issued frem the Government print ing office a few dayo bafore we wrote. Under oir miserable system of administration Governmeat returns and statistics are generally almost old enough to form part ot an antiquary's collection before they are issued. Mr G. A. Brown delivered his third lecture in the Protestant Hall last evening. Ihere was a good attendance, and the lecturer waß listened to with profound attention. The subject, which was, "Ib Evil Eternal ? " waa dealt with very ably, and with considerable argumentative force. Mr Brown has evidently the power of interesting his audience, which was more especially noticeable last evening when illustrating the position he took that eternal punishment meant eternal destruction — utter destruction being the punishment. His illustrations of that view were exceedingly happy and apposite. At the conclusion of the lecture Mr Brown read some questions that had been handed to him, to which ho gave replies. He then announced that he would deliver his last lecture in Napier this evening, and that the subject would be of interest to Bible readers. A Mr Roberts writes as follows to the North Otago Times :— "About the 19th of September 1 bought a hive of bees, and had it placed in my garden at Marapua. On the 7fch of November it threw off its first swarm ; on the 13th its second. From these three my gardener, Mr Roberfeßon, has taken six swarms ; on the 10th, 19th, 23rd, and 26th December, one each day, and two on the 6th January ; making with the mother hive nine hives, ono of which shows siges of swarming again." A remarkable woman died recently. • Miss Anna Sutton was bom in the province of I lstor, Ireland, in 1791. At 20 years of Bge, having previously received only a rudimental education, she found a Latin grammar, and forthwith attempted to master it. She learned the language, and read all fcho chief classics. Next, she took up Greek, and read the New Testament, Homor, and such other Greek works as fell in her w<iy. French, Italian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldaic followed, and when pact 80 years of aga she astonished a learned descendant of A braham by conversing with him in Hebrew. After the age of 70 she lost her eyesight, and learned to read the books for the blind printed in raised letters. The following story of thinking aloud is told of the late Lord Dudley : — Ho was a frequent guest at the Pavilion. His knowlodge of good living led him easily to detect a groat failing- off in the Royal cuisine since the decease of George IV. Sitting next to King William, he exclaimed in his deep bass, " What a change, to be sure ; cold plates and hot champagne!" On another occasion the King and Queen, when Duke and Duchess of Clarence, dined with Lord Dudley, who handed her Royal Highness in to dinner. Scarcely seated, he began to solioquise aloud, tJ What bore 3 those royalists are ! Ought I to drink wine with her as I would with any other woman ?" and in the same tone continued, " May I have the honor of a glass of wine with your Royal Highness ?" Towards the end of dinner he asked her again. " With great pleasure, my lord," she replied, smiling : lt bub I have had one glass wibh you already." "The brute, and so she has," was the rejoinder. It is impossible to remain long sick or out of health where Hop Bitters are used. Sea i another . 138 ■ Good Words — Tirom Good Authority.— ... We confess that wo are perfectly amazed »t the run of your Hop Bitters. We never had anything like it, and never heard of the like. The writer (Benten) has been selling drugs here nearly thirty years, and has 1 seen the rise of Hostetter's Vinegar and all other bitters and patent medicines, but never did any of them, in their best days, begin to have the run that Hop Bitters have. . . . We can't get enough of them. We are out of them half the time. . . Extract from letter to Hop Bitters Co., August 22, '78, from Benton, Myera and Co., wholesale druggists, Cleveland, O. Be sure and see. 165 Dr Sinclair, the eminent Dentist, will arrive shortly.See— Advertisement. — [Advt.T 372 " German Syrup." — No other medicine in the world was ever given such a test of its curative qualities as Boschee's German Syrup. In three years two million four hundred thousand small bottles of this medicine were distributed free of charge by Druggists in the United States of America to those afflicted with Consumption, Asthma, Croup, severe Coughs, Pneumonia, and other diseases of the throat and lungs, giving undeniable proof that German Syrup will cure them. The result has been that Druggists in overy town and village in civilised countries are recommending it to their customers. Go to your Druggist and ask what they know about it. Sample Bottle 6d. Begular size, 3s 6d. Throe doses will relieve any case.