COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9149, 3 September 1888, Page 6

COUNTRY NEWS.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS. J Hamilton, Saturday. When the borough erected the present public saleyards tor the free use of the auctioneers, the Council conferred the benefit upon settlers sending their cattle to them for sale of allowing no vard fees to be charged. This was a condition made to the auctioneers. It is possible, however, to drive a coach and four through other enactments than Acts of Parliament, and while the auctioneers have kept the letter of their agreement by not charging yard fees of 6d per head, as is done at Ohaupo and elsewhere, they nevertheless charge 5 per cent, commission on sales at the Hamilton yards where per cent, is charged elsewhere. This was bitterly complained of by sellers at Thursday last's sale, and the fact only then came to the knowledge of members of the Council. Auctioneers, of course, have a claim to sharge yard fees, where, as at Ohaupo, they have gone to great expense in erecting cattle sale yards; but it is quite different in the case of the Hamilton yards, erected by the borough, and for the use of which a mere nominal charge is made to the auctioneers of a half per cent, upon their sales to cover wear and tear. Of course, if yard fees are to be charged, they must find their way into the borough treasury, and not into the pockets of the auctioneer. The matter will be brought up for discussion at the next meeting of the Council, on the 11th instant. Tk Awamutu, Saturday. It is understood that shortly after the close of the session the work of erecting the much-needed telephone line between Te Kuiti and this place will be proceeded with. Whatawhata, Saturday. My recent protest against the high freight charges for carrying potatoes from Waipa farms to the Auckland markets has elicited the fact from' Mr. James Black, the local manager of the Waikato Coal and Shipping Company, that the river freight from Whatawhata to Ngaruawahia is only 5s per ton ; but none the less the Waipa settlers find that the cost of sending their potatoes to Auckland, amounting, with the commission, to about 20s per ton, is a great hindrance to growing them on a large scale. The policy of the company has been like that of the Railway Department, and has produced very similar results. While districts in the South Island were sending thousands of tons of potatoes into Auckland, the company's steamers were steaming empty past large tracts of fertile land, as good as any in the South, capable of producing from 10 to 15 tons of potatoes to the acre without manure, simply because they would not lower the freight tariff, so that the Waipa could compete with the South. Had a different and more liberal policy been adopted, the "Waipa potatoes would have been better known in Auckland than those of Oamaru and Canterbury; the settlers would have been more numerous and better off, and the company probably would not to-day be offering their steamers for sale. No doubt Mr. Black, who is well known and respected, will do his best for us, but he is comparatively a new man, and the mischief is done. I can produce an account showing that the river freight from one river station to another, Te Rore to Whatawhata, is 7s (id per ton. VVaitoa, Saturday. Mr. Nicholas Hunt has been elected to the Beat in the Piako County Council rendered vacant by the resignation of Mr. Dibble. _ At the monthly meeting of the Waitoa Highway District Board, there were present Messrs. Chepmell (chairman), JBarnett, Horrell, and Turnbull. The engineer was Instructed to inspect the drain between the saleyard and the hotel, with a view to obtaining a better outfall; also to inspect the road between Taylor's bridge and the main Wai- . Jiou-Te Aroua road, with a view to effecting improvements thereon. The payment of £31 5s to the Board's account, beiug balance of .Government subsidy, was announced.