LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 1278, 23 March 1881, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

» A case came before the Resident Magistrate yesterday, that served to show in no untneP'Sured degree the amount of fraud that can be perpetrateJ under the sham that exists in this district known as the Native Committees. It would appear that that there is on the other side of the Turanganui River a self-constituted body of Natives rejoicing in the title of the Kaiti Committee, consisting of a half-a-dozen or so of persons, most of whom we believe, are not owners in the block of land at all. Delegates of this committee some time back in virtue of technical right, exchanged a valuable woolpress that was erected at the woolshed opposite Adair s wharf for a threshing machine. Ihe

woolpress was br>uc;ht and placed in the shed by the late Captaiu head. By some means the threshing machine came into the possession of Pctera te Honotapn, and iv the case of Kobjohns, Teat & Co. v. Petor.i, the bailiff proceeded to seize the threshing machine under and by virtue of a distress warrant. In order that there should be no misapprehension as to the ownership, the bailiff, Mr. Gruuer, took the precaution of asking Mr. Paora Parau, Native Assessor, chief of the Kaiti Committee, to whom did the machine belong. Paora Pa-ran anticipating the cause of the enquiry with charming self-disinterested-ness assured the bailiff that the machine belonged to him (Paora) and no other person. The next step then for Mr. Griiner was to seize the machine under a distress warrant in the case of Brownlow v. Paora Parau. Paora Parau came off the Bench where he was sitting with the Resident Magistrate and with the utmost coolness informed the Court on oath that he spoke falsely when he told Mr. Gruner the machine was his (Paora's), and he said that he made the first statement 4to shield his friend Petera. It was shown clearly enough that all of the owners in the Kaiti Block were the persons to whom the threshing machine belonged, and that Paora Parau and others of the Committee were not owners. Nevertheless we find that these men take upon themselves to dispose of the property of other persons, and assume other powers and privileges, totally unwarranted by law. If these committees have control of the land of other persons, and their great endeavor is to get into their possession the property of their weaker brethren, they would dispose of it with just as little concern for the laws of nwuiii and tuiim as they would a threshing machine. Their committeemen are by no means conspicuous for their sincere love of truth, and the remarks that fell from His Worship yesterday censuring Paora Parau's couduct were well merited. These Committees are a species of trustees. The article wo reprinted in last night's issue on the subject of public trusts shows that the greatest possible care is requisite in relegating such important functions as those that devolve upon persons who assume the management of large estates. It is a matter of paramount importance that such persons should be mentally and morally eligible for such duties. Our candid opinion of the Maori Committees is that they are not. It would be felt a great public convenience if the Judges, presiding at the Native Land Court, would indicate from day to day the order they propose to take cases which are to come before them. Europeans are interested in most of these cases. In many instances decisions have been arrived at without the parties most concerned knowing anything about them having been brought on. This is more especially so in the matter of succession orders and in sub-divisions. In all other Courts of judicature the names of parties concerned with the nature of their cases are published and in the order they are likely to be taken. It is more often by accident than anything else Kuropeans know when applications come on for adjudication. While on the subject may we enquire if the Judges, now sitting, would not be better able to discharge their duties and with much greater comfort to themselves and all concerned if some matting were laid down from the door of the hall to where the Judges sit, in order to deaden the sound of the tramp of many feet. Maories rush in and and out, and to and fro — heavily shod. Having no nerves of their own they appear to be utterly ignorant that others are so afflicted. We cannot make any suggestion for the riddance of fleas which really fill the hall and appear to feed with an appetite almost appalling upon the flesh of those who happen to be in the Court, either ou business or as onlookers. Dogs are also permitted free entrance and exit without let or hindrance. Fleas prefer the human epidennia to that of clogs, and so soon as a canine enters the room the fleas leave him or her, as the case may be, to take nourishment from that which is afforded by Europeans. It is all very bad, and if a remedy could be invented the inventor ought to have very extended patent rights granted him. Mr. Brooke Taylor, solicitor for Mr. W. L. Rees, Wi Pere, and Riperata, has, we understand issued a writ against Percival Barker, Esq. The action is for Mr. Barker's "use with the plaintiffs' permission all messuages, arable lands and pasture lands known as Whataupoko and the depasturing of the plaintiffs sheep and cattle on such pasture lands from the 2:2 nd June, 1878 to the ll>th March, 18S1, at £2,200 per annum, and the plaintiff's claim £2,713 18s." The entertainment to be given to-night in M'Farlane's Hall in aid of the widow of the hit-: Mr. W. H. Robinson, is certain to attract a large house. A number of lady aud gentleman amateurs have engaged in the good cause, and besides these the talented Thornton Dot Troupe have tendered their services. The entertainment will be of a musical, dramatic, and literary character. We trust that iv addition to the amounts subscribed that a handsome sum will be realized to-niyht. A question was raised at a late meeting of the Mai'ton School Committee whether a committee has the power to allow a school teacher to hold Bible reading in the school room in other than school hours, it being optional with the parents to allow their children to attend. It was declared that school committees have no power whatever conferred on them as regards what may or may not he taught in the public schools, either in or out of school hours. The functions of school committees are outside of internal control and management. They may report, suggest, and recommend to the Board, and the recommendation invariably receives attention where they do not interfere with existing rules and regulations. Mr. Scrivener, of tho Matawhero Hotel, has sent us one potato — only one, but it is big enough to serve for dinner to a large family, the members of which hold this esculent in high esteem. It would take a good sized pot iv which to boil it, or if roasted, a full sized No. 6 colonial oven to roast it. The potato before us appears to have grown down into the earth as far as the earth would allow it to grow, when it must have commenced and continued to grow upwards, turning in this direction at a sharp angle. It is an exquisite specimen of a "murphy " to gaze upon and gladden the sense of seeing. We have known nothing like it before, and taking it for all in all it is very improbable we shall ever look upon its like again. It turns the scale at three pounds, and mii acre of the same kind would supply all Poverty Bay through the winter and well into the summer, until the young ones were ready for the pot. Heini and Pahu Wi Paku were charged beforo the Resident Magistrate this morning with stealing one sheep, the property of W. >S. Greene. The defendants denied the charge, and as usual in the case of Maori offenders, the evidence had to be taken down in both languages, which occupied the Court interpreter and witnesses the greater part of the day. Tho charge was dismissed. We would draw attention to Messrs. Pitt and Bennets sale of furnituro, &c, to be held at their mart at 2.30 to-morrow.

A most singular accident occurred to .a child seven mouths old «it Qtaki a few days ago. By some means it placed a two shilling piece, which had been converted into a brooch, into its mouth. It eventually passed into the child's throat to remove it from which all efforts were unsuccessful. After some time (ways the Manawatu Herald) a quick-witted matron devised a fishing lioo on a small scale, which on being lowered into the little sufferer's throat, fortunately hooked on to the obstruction, and it was then easily withdrawn. A bush tire at Tutu, Wairarapa Lower Valley, recently destroyed the well-known glass house containing the bodies of a noted Maori chief and family, which were laid side by side in showy coffins inside, but which have been burnt up, leaving only a heap of unrecognisable bones, which have been carefully gathered up by the few Maoris left now in the Valley, as nearly all are at Te Ore Ore, and covered with mats till their return. At the Duuedin Licensing Court Mr. Weldon expressed the opinion that the most effective way of puttiug a stop to sly grogselling was to establish a suflicient number of legitimate houses. As instancing this, he said he had two men — sharp ones, tooengaged for some time past in searching for sly-grog cases in the city. They had returned to him empty-handed, and said there were so many hotels now that sly grog-selling did not pay. The Bruce Herald says that the manufacture of white ware at the Milton pottery, although not long commmenced, already shows a finish which elicits the admiration of skilled Staffordshire hands. Thirty-seven hands and seven apprentices arc employed at the works. The Hon. Colonel Brett, in responding to the toast of " The Army " at the Christchurch banquet on .Saturday, made one of his eccentric and characteristic speeches. He said: — "It was true that the British arms had recently met with three serious disasters, but the cause of these was the rotten system existing in Great Britain and Ireland. The Parliament elected civilians to rule the army and nary. It would be ridiculous to appoint to the Bench a lawyer who had never had a brief ; to make a bishop of a man who had never preached a sermon ; or to employ a doctor who had no diploma, permitting him to physic you to death. (Laughter.) The cause of the disasters was to be traced to the appointment of officers who had never commanded a regiment. (Applause.) A Mr. Smith, a bookseller of trashy railway novels, had been made High Admiral of England and Ireland. ( Laughter, ) Look at that vile play 'Pinafore.' (Laughter.) In the Horse Guards, interest alone led to preferment, ami merit was nowhere. The blame of the disasters should not be cast upon the officers and men, but upon the commanders who had disgraced the British flag, which had waved a thousand years." Colonel Brett evidently regards " 11. M.5. Pinafore " as a strictly accurate representation of the present condition of the lioyal navy. Milk refrigerators arc coming into use in the Taieri. One farmer, who sends milk to town by rail twice a day, has a machine of this nature, and his production, after being subjected to the cooling process, is said to keep well for three or four days, even in the summer season. Another farmer in the same line of business is having a refrigerator made by a local firm. The principle of cooling consists in keeping up a constant stream of cold water through a series of pipes, over which the milk flows gently into cans.