LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 810, 16 June 1879, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The football match, Colonials v. English, played on the Waikanae on Saturday afternoon, was a victory for the Colonials, by a touch-down and 3 goals to the Engliahers' disputed touch-down. The Colonials had more players on the'r side than their opponents, aud according to the defeated'? account, all good men and true, and the usual saving clause if they had been playing, the English would not have suffered defeat. From the kick-off it was evident the English were overmatched. For the Colonials, Balneavis, Te Kani, Carroll, Bloomfield, Wylie, and Dunlop played ex- . ceedingly well. Kor the English, Messrs. Arthur and Major, did the lion's shares, and proved themselves Englishmen by playiug hard to the end. . Humphries did not play so well as he generally does, appearing completely out of form. We understand that a return match is to be arranged for Saturday next. Mr Meredith, proprietor of the Central Butchery, Peel Street, advertises, m our columns of this afternoon, the retail prices of his meat for cash. Mr Meredith is a young begiuner and is desirous of creating a trade by selling the best meat at the lowest possible remunerative prices. They fancied themselves sportsmen, and proceeded on the seventh day to indulge m shooting with all the ardour of Dickon's celebrated Mr. Winkle. On their return, the game-bag showed the following results : — Two sheep, oue tame duck, one sparrow, and a kingfisher. This, of course, is leaving out pipia and other shellfish. We are careful to suppress names, but "when they next do go abroad, may we be there to sec." The Royal Illusionists, now playing to crowded houses m Napier, will appear at the Masonic Hall, on Monday next, for a short season. The Native Lands Court closed on Saturday last. The sittings will be resumed probably towards the latter end of September. It will then extend over a period of six months. Only a very small portion of the business before the Court was disposed of. A meeting of ratepayers iii the Patutahi district will be held on Saturday, 21st inst., at the store, for the purpose of considering whether it be advisable to form a separate highway district. Bourke & Smith Will hold a sale to-mor-row, at 2 p.m., of clothing, &c., also a quantity of cigars, and other miscellaneous articles. Many old servants who know the nativesbest (says the Post, m a strong article on the native question) have never hesitated to declare that the Waimate difficulty would not h^ve ariseu at all had the Government shown firmness at the outset, - aud aware as they must have been of the strong feeling which prevailed among ,Te Whiti's followers m regard to the Waimate Plains Jaud their confiscation,, had abstained from attempting to survey the land • nutil backed np by a strong-force of Armed. Constabulary, sufficient toT^orercome any resistance which might be offered. The time is come when the colony has a right to demand and expect that thdre shall bend more temporising and shilly-shallying m native affairs, but that the Government Bhall show a firm and decided front, a. resolute determination to enforce the law. at all hazards and to compel the Maoris to* respect it by meeting out rigid justice to bothi'aces. The Agents-General for the Australiau and New Zealand colonies, and the other agents of the several colonies m the Empire, aro sending out to their several Governments detailed plans, with estimate of cost, for the proposed Colonial Museum, to bo erected on the opera site on the Thames Embankment. The Dominion ofCanada is put down for the largest share of the cost— i.e., £41,066 for 13,500 square feet floor space ; New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand come next, at £20,320 each for 6400 square feet spaco ; Queensland is put down for £13,970 for 4400 feet ; Western Australia for £5230 for 1650 feet j Tasmania, ditto ditto ; and Fiji. £2003 for 650 feet of space. The other colonies m the Empire rank m proportion. The plans and cost has been very carefully compiled ; and it only remains for colonies to decide by the cud of June next whether they will let this splendid opportunity of securing a museum m perpetuity sli_> cr.ib of their hands. The stoppage of the train on tho NapierKopua railways (says the Post) a few days ago, and the seqn.l of that affair, speak volumes as to tho mod;, of treatment adopted by the authoiiticv towards our Maori fellow-subjects, who are practically taught that they arc irresponsible to the ■ law of the land, so long as they pretend that they aro acting from " political" motives. Under shelter of this excuse they aro allowed to do just what they please, even if their pleasure be to commit nmrder, either by shooting or tomahawking single settlers or by upsetting a railway train, and so destroying them wholesale. The native mind is being rapidly educated _to believe that any outrages against Europeans will be winked at by the Government. It is 'stated, with much jubilation, that "the matter about the natives stopping the Napier -Kopua train turns out to have no political significance whatever, and to • have originated m a squabble between a Maori chief named Hiraka Tohuia and a railway guard named Reese Watkins." We do not see that thia materially improves the aspect of affairs. Certainly "political" demonstrations which take the form of wrecking railway trains are exceedingly objectionable ; but a system under which Maoris or.auy other persons can capsize railway trains with impunity, whether for political, or fanatical, or commercial, or personal motives, seems to us a very bad one. The New Zealand Agricultural Company, who hold large stations m Southland and Otago, have recently issued a prospectus on "Cadet Service," under which they propose to make it a regular part of their .management to offer facilities to young men anxious to be initiated m the mysteries of farming and stock raising m this colony. Tho terms are these : — The cadet is to pay three hundred guineas premium, for which he is to receive a first class passage from England to the colony, and is then to go on to the Company's estate, beiug paid for the first year £30, for the second £40, and for the third year £50 as salary, and getting also, we presume, ordinary station lodgment and fare. At the end of the three years pf | apprenticeship the Company will offer every .'opportunity to. these cadets to settle ! on their farms.

It is not, perhaps, generally known, says the New Zcalander, that a large number of horses are to be found m the most out-of-the-way parts of the Seventymile Bush, Wairarapa, Mauawatu, and Napier. Maoris, who know the run of the ropes, make occasional raids on them, and often secure valuable animals.. The plan pursued is simple enough. A stout pole fence ia erected m a thick part of the bush, so as to enclose several chains of a track on which the horses are m the habit of travelling. They are them driven towards the spot so prepared, the yard being completed as soon as they have entered it. The best animals are then roped, and after a little handling led away to the settlements, where the process of breaking m is completed. The remainder are allowed to return to .their old feeding grounds. We are informed that most of these horses are extremely hard and plucky, but it is a matter of great difficulty to overcome their spirit of independence, which often shows itself for a long time after their capture. They are not so big as an average horse of ordinary breed, aud the shaggiuess of their coat tends to show that nature was beginning to furnish them for a life which seems but little suited to their usual habits. Eight or ten generations would probably produce a new race of ponies. The Post says .• — " It is generally understood that the new loan, about to be proposed by the Government, will be for £3,000,000, unless a very strong opinion is expressed by the House that the sum should be larger. It is thought that recent experience of other Australian colonies and that of New Zealand, m regard to the last loan, tends to show that a £3,000,000 loan is quite enough to place on the London Money Market with a fair prospect of being successfully floated. The rumour to which the Northern Advocate gives publicity that the Government intend to propose a £10,000,000 loan to be floated m one sum is merely a caiiard."