AUCKLAND. (From Our Own Correspondent.) January 21.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 23

AUCKLAND. (From Our Own Correspondent.) January 21.

! The Hon. A. J. Cadman, Minister for Mines, has been busily eß gaged during the past fortnight in traveraiug the various gold- j fields districts, seeing tho members of the | various local bodies so as to ascertain local j requirements and redress local grievances, j His painstaking and conciliatory methods does j muoh to acoount for Mr Cadman's popularity . with the miners, who prefer his dealing with , matters personally on the ground to correspondence with the Mines department and the ' I inevitable delay and circumlooation involved. ] ! It is anticipated that Mr Cadman will shortly i proceed to Wellington having cleared up all '■ arrears in his department. A question which mutt shortly engage his attention is the enforcement or partial enforcement of the law relating { |to manning ground pegged out. Quite ( » j i number of raining areas have been accorded > [ protection 'in order to give the holders time to ; i place them on the London market or to enter J | into negotiations with capitalists for working the ground. In some canes flotation has not come off, and tho ground, if the law is strictly enforced, will either have to be worked or | surrendered. With regard to tha case of the offiofirs of police who were dismissed, or whose resignations w«re enforced over "the South incident," a large section of the public are of opinion thst the Minister fcr Justice has been unduly severe, snd that it is in great contrast to his leniency hi reinstating in other oases equally as reprehensible, and iv which the plea, of an error of judgment could not be so e*aily made. For the offending constable, who was primarily the source of all the trouble, there is not the hli&hteit sympathy, but there is a good deal for the men who were betrayed into a grave error through his official neglect of duty. So far h»s the reaction of feeling set in, that there is a strong desire to see thu case of Sergeant M'Mahon at teasfc reconsidered. The charge ' against him is that he did nothing — that his J inactivity w*s not masterly — whereas the griev»nce against his comrades is thab they did too . much, lhe sergeant has attained an ase when be is un»ble to battle wiih the world again, and : it is understood that bis life's savings were invested in shares in the Bank of New Zealand and the Loan And Merocntile as a provision when retirement became a necessity. It is urged that in this case the Minister for Justice should temper justice with mercy and recou- i aider Sergeant M'Mahop's case with a view to his reinstatement, if at a reduced grade. Indeed, a section of the public hold that with the exception of the original offender the equity of the case would have boen met and a punishment severe enough inflicted by reducing e»ch officer a grade and transferring him, instead of dismissal or enforced resignation. Sergeant Gamble, like Sergeant M'Mahon, after 31 years' service, is unable to battJa with the world again, and is practically ruined for a single, but grave, error of judgment. ! The water famine is still imminent. Only a third of an inch of rain has fallen during the present month, and the Western Springs reservoir is being steadily emptied. The present is the driest season we have had for years, and according to the law of averages we have over ' three months' dry weather yet in front of us. Some of the suburban districts are endeavouring to form a water trust in order to get their supply from the Onehunga Springs, and other suburban districts will be forced to join the city in order to share in the city water supply, ! Newton, Arohhill, Eden terrace, and Mount | Eden districts will ultimately be compelled to I adopt this course, r.s the Mayor of Auckland ■ has plainly stated that he will consider the citizens first, as self-preservation is the first law of Nature, and out off the suburban supply if ouch a step becomes necessary. It is believed that the clearing away of so much bush without 'taking steps for replanting tbe timber is causing climatic changes in the lessening of the rainfall. Increased oultivatiou and drainage in certain uuburban districts have, it is understood, affected the volume of the outflow at tbe | Western Springs, our present source of supply, i Owing to the dry eeason bush flees have been | very prevalent, and country settlers have bui- L tamed serious loss in the destruction of feed T aud fencing. Many cf these fires are due to j carclessnsss, but there dooms to be no effectual way of punishing the offenders. On tins gold- I fields especially the fires havo been numerous i and destructive, owing to the miners labouring ia & timbered country. The proprietors of the ' limber mills have not escaped loss, some of the fallen bush and also standing timber being injured by fire. The great northern forests have fortunately wic&ped any serious dam»g«. Considerable attention has been again directed to Theoaopby through the arrival of i tho Tneoffophical crits-idera. Thpy are principally Americans hailing from the Eastern States, the only English representatives being : the Rev. Mr Williams and Mrs Cleafeher. They I held a public meeting in the City Hall, which j was very largely attended, and the president j of the Theosophical societies of America, Europe, and Australasia — Mr Hargrove — delivered an addreas which was excellent in spirit but disolosed nothing new. being simply an injunction to brotherhood, which is as old as the hills. Mr Hargrove ia a very able man and a good speaker. Mrs Tingley, the leader of the Theosophical movement, is also a lady of considerable force of character. They are giving a aupper to the poor of the city, co they at least will have reason to thank Theosophy < for one break in the monotony of their cheer- ! less lives. It was the intention of the \ crusaders to go south as far as DunGdin, but { pressing work at home has caused them to defer that pleasure for a year or two, and they « go oh with the outward 'Frisco mail steamer, j In Sydney they claim to have been very j successful; but in Melbourne, where thft citizens are still suffering from the effects of the land boom, the Theosophiota confess that the people wtre more concerned as to how they were to get along in this world than as to their condition iv the next. The crusaders repudiate Mrs Beeanfc and all her works, aud claim that they are, so to speak, in the apostolic succession of Theosophy, bo that they are not exempt from the dissensions aud divisions attributed to a so-called effete Christianity. Mr Hargrove 1 even scoffs at the Mahatmas, and considers . that these mysterious personages roaming 1 about as a sorb of " spooks " on the tons of the ' •

] mountains of Thibet are too funny for anything. " I dislike," s»ys Mr Hargrove, " the term Mnhatma in any oitse. There is no need to employ Sanscrit when we have Anglo-Saxon to frill back upon. I do believe in the existence of wise men — great; souls, as the word , Mahatum rn^aui, it you choose, who everybody • knows existed in the past, and who in all ; probability will always exist here and fchere in the world, — but this means men who are in | every way natural, who differ from the rest of ; mankind only in so far as they are somewhat ' wiser and far-seeing than their fellows." | The crusaders deny their mission has 1 anything of Socialistic, Communistio, or j political oharacter about it;. They believe that before any political movement can bring about permanent or beneficial results, the idea of brotherhood must have taken possession of the minds and hearts of men. Without that inner feeling all outer improvement can only be temporary and palliative. Says Mr Hargrove, "We do nob believe ia attempting to present to the public or to ouc members a dogmatic ) system under tho label of Theosophy. We do not care what our members believe or disbelieve, • so long as they will work for Brotherhood." j The crusade oan scarcely be a money-making > business, as those of the party able to bear their ' own charges do so, and none of the members 1 receiva any salary. The expenses of those i members unable to pay are defrayed by rioher , membecs of the society in America. All the , expenses of travelling, rsntiug halls, ad- ] vertising, &c , are borne by themselves, and ! there are no collections taken up at their meetl ing*, and admission is free. It is 'said the "little bill" for the Crusade will foot up to £7000, so that from a financial point of view it i is a loss to the party from start to finish. i At last the Charitable Aid Board have taken ! f teps to deal with the question, which is a burnj ing one, of wife desertion and neglect of raaiutenance of ohildron. During the period of depression a number of men cleared out to Australia and left their wives and families as a charge.to the Charitable Aid Board. In some ; caws there is reason to bnlieve that this has been done by aollas'on with tbe wife, who thus had a standby till tbe husband could rejoin her in happier times. '.Che bourd finding out that dome of the ltvanters wtre doing fairly well on the other Hide, got a Hot prepared and determined to 89D d over to Australia their inspector, Mr Stratbera (an ex -constable and detective) who knows the men, armed with tio necessary warrant to effect their arrest. Tv« Coraraiscioner of Foliua declined to accede to tho requaab of tho board that Mr Strathwn ehoald by svorn in for temporary police duty on the ground tb*t that officer couid not be a police constable and at the same time under the orders and id the pay of a local board. The board has been obliged to adopt other methods, and a man fias just been arrested at Adelaide jon a oharge uf dosertiug his family. The i accused it being brought buck here by Constable Hintoa of the AucklcDd jiolica. '. During the Christmas holidays, Mr W. ! Gordon Kelly, of Cambridge, spent his time in ! the King Country, inquiring into the spiritual condition ot the M%ori people. He states that he has it direct from the Natives that they h*ve hud quite enough of the Missionaries and the trade, and folk with whom the Maori has | had to do by no meant helped them to have faith iv Christianity. Mr Kellj says that a great deal has betm said and preached in the direction of Keif-sacrificing faith and heart worship ever since IG4O, and yet the Maoris and pakehas have failed to see much of the real article. These statements have given preat offence to tbe missionaries of the Anglican, Roman Catholio, and V/esley»n bodies, who have given so man- mm to the mission work and so much time and money to thy elevation of the Mtori people. Mr Kelly 6tates | that he is ready to be sacrificed for the rescue of the Maoris, and that "by grace " he will ! work from Te Awamutu, around Otorohangs, in the King Country. The most practical portion of his appe&l is that referring to donations, and the general opinion is that Mr Kelly'? i " sacrifice " wil> not rescue the Maori people, ' and that in attempting the latter task he has undertaken a big contract. [ A good deal of dissatisfaction is manifested , at tbe ia action of the Government an to open- , ing up and settling the country acquired from the Natives by purchase on the line of the I North Inland Trunk railway, south of Te Awa- | mutu. A portion of it is said to be good land | fit for settlement, and the occupation of wbieh would create a traffic which would feed the railway to some extent. As it i«, nothing is , being done, and this territory is an far from ' being beneficially settled as it was 10 j yaars ago. Even the Nativrs are puzzled j at the motives which are actuating the Govern- . ment to *ct ia this fashion. j | The Auckland Industrial Exhibition has i ' closed after a succeisful run of three weeks, j I and although under private management has - ! given a considerable stimulus to local industry. ' I Mr J. Morton has been the manager and super- < r-visor, who, from his connection with the Christ- i I church' Exhibition of 1881-82 and the Tasmanian < i Exhibition of 1892-3, h»d the necessary experi- j unco for the position. The exhibition showed j | that of late ynars great strides have beeiv mads : in certain local industries, some of the articles ' being in design and finish quite equal to those imported. There seems to be a lull again in the matter of building operations. Some of the large con- j tracts are approaching completion, and the i increase in the price of labour and in building j materials equal to an advance of 20 per cent. ' on the total cost has acted ns a damper on the ' spirit* of the speculator and investor. It was j , predicted at the time that some parties would j j kill the goose that was laying the golden egg, ! and the propheoy is in a fair way of being realised. Building will only be carried on when the investor can see a remunerative return on tho capital invested, and of that he is now beginning to have his doubts. Mining affairs are a little brisker since tbe New Year and the general resumption of work at the mines. The share mfirknt especially j shown an improved tendency, and a spirit of speculation has set in without awaiting the expected revival in the London market, which, it is said, will take place in March. Several fresh min'3R have been placed on the London market, i or underwritten, showing that capitalists are | still willing to invest if they see a reasonable i prospect of enterprise being rewarded, and a I fair return on capital invested.

Since 1878 there have been nine epidemics of drsentery in different parts of the country in which Chamberlain's Colic, Caolera and Diarrhcoa* Remedy was used with perfect success. Dysentery, when epidemic, is almost as severe and dangerous as Asiatic cholera. Heretofore the best efforts of the moat skilled physicians htve failed to check its ravages, this remedy, however; has cured tbe moat malignant cases, both of children and adults, and under the most trying conditions, whioh proves it to be the best medicine in the world for bowe complaints. For sale by all leading ch.em.iatn,