PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1886.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 7167, 10 September 1886, Page 2

PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1886.

TnE Railway management must bo defective or thero would not bo such a steady failing off in the revenno as appears to be the case. The returns for tho first sixteen weeks of tho present finnacial yoar bliow a falling off of nearly £19,000 in tho receipts as compared with the corresponding period of last year, although in the interval, no less than 165 additional miles of railway have been opened, which, of course, has necessitated an increase of, expanse, tho additional amount being about £10,000. Tho figures stand thus for tho portion o£ the present year referred to: — Receipts, £311,143; Expenditure, £225,413. For tho corresponding period of last year: litceipts, £330,094; Expenditure, £215,025. Last year the proportion of expenditure to revenue was 65.32 per cent.; this year it is 72,45. Tho" total number oE miles of railway now open is 1652; this time last year it was 1487; an increase of 71 miles in the North, and 94 tho South Island. Tbe worst paying line in the colony — beating even Picton in that respect — is the Wanganui, 196 miles, the proportion of expenditure to revenue being 97.05, Picton comes next with 96.66. Auckland expenses absorb 90.21 of the revenue, Wellington 78.98', and Nelson 71-08. We are aot surprised at our lino not paying ? for no attempt is Made to meet tho wants of those who use it. Tho trains aro mado to run to suit tho officials; or for political motiveß tho termini aro fixed at tho wrong places. Until some change is made in their management, it is hopeless to expect to hear o£ tho railways yielding a profit.

(< Hk . was a bold mna that *to tbe firbt oyster," eayß Dean Smith ; but since hJB time the bold men have increased to a very largo extent, for tho bivulvo ia becoming scurce. Thiß year tbe aupply bus been smaller and inferior to previous oeasons, owing to a large number of oyster beds in Agoklund having been closed by the Government. According to a repprt on the fisheries, published by the Government, it appears that owinig to the reckless way in which rook oyster fisheries had been worked it waß found necosßury, in OFdef 1 to prevent their absolute destruction, to close the beda at Whungaroi, tho Hnuraki Gulf, und the coast and harbors botwei-n Bream Head and v point just north of tho Bay of laluftds for a period of three years,

It is hopod that by tho end ot that time the beda will have recovered. It wjis reported that ono of the main'ciiuses of tl'e hods having been so nearly destroyed was that tho. oysters werO "frehadhtly strippedfrom tho rocks with spades',' Vliich ' reckless operation- cteaTed awayHhe-amaH-with-tho marketable oysters. In order to prevent this an_ Ordeir-iu-Cquncil. was made providing that no' spado or other apparatus ! -f or—taUin* -rook • -oyflters-shnl Wj© weed -06which the edgo or blado shall exceed 2i". iv width. An Order-in-Council was albo mado under tho provisions of the Fisheries Encouragement Act, 18"8j5',.-pr()hibitiriu: the exportation of roofcoysjtrora f rojm the colony. To show what fecklesß wVinn^ of oven the most prolific beds may effect, it is Siatod that- in .. Tasmania; years "ago, 22,600,000 s of oysto'rs'were clredged'and exported of the value of £93,000, i sum. more then the equivalent of the value of the exports of grajnyhay, flo,ur, and bran from Tasmania for three years; . By over-fishing the yield, of the beds has been reduced to 100.000 a.yearj.and-a-productive^ource ofwealth almost entirely ruined. This would happen in New, Zealand if. a stop, had -not been put to tho .wholesale destruction of them as has heen,the case in the past.

WnAT a pity it is peopla write Home such, ridiculous statements aY Borne of them 1 do ; and whai a" r Want' of judgment ' tHe Editors of newepapers-ehow-in—inaerting-the letters. Someone by the pame of George Kimbef, t who says he, has been eleven., years' in the Colony, and -writes from Timaru, sends to two of the London papers a letter that contains a tissue of misleading statements. He is evidently one of a loafjng claBS, too lazy 1,0 w.ork, and who certainly, should never hav.e come to the Colony. :I This man 1 asserts that the people here are. in ,ahopelosa state of destitution, po very, and suffering. He soya there is no work for any of them to do, and that very little hope is left in them. ' He goes onLto write,-" Outf poverty increased every ."year, until' ills now'coniplete, and, baffles" description, 'All our.- workingmen - are .disgusted* with New Zealand.' -Those who can are .-clearing out, and make groat sacrifices to do so. If those who live by labour could only find the means to leave 1 the colony, very few- would remain. The ;JNew Zealand Government isMhe greatest fraud ever imposed oa a ; people. They havo smuggled the land, except the mountain tops and swamps, and divided the spoil ; they have borrowed thirty, millions of money and spent it to improve ( their lands by railways and emigration, by which ten families. alone_ have .profited,, by the, ■ale of land to no lesa , an ' amount than twenty millions. We have a landed aristocracy of 250, who arotho lords of all in New Zealand, and those who come, like those, .wild are here, will'b'e dependent on ,their;tender, mercy for" the tight to live on tho soil. h Who ever read such stuff as this ? The early settlers had both hardships and privation to encounter, but had they been such miserable beings as George Kionber" appears to bo, the Colony of: New Zealand would never have become what it now is.

Tue Chatham Islands have ceased to have its attractions." Those who used to farm havo ceased to cultivate, and consequently the whole working" population of the islands are_out of employ meat. A correspondent writing to a Canterbury paper gives a deplorable account of the condition of the people. Re says, — "Times have indeed changed since the supply of potatoes for Canteiburywaa mostly drawn from Chatham Islands. Now only sufficient for the settlera own use is grown there, and, with a very little grain and a few vegetables, this is all the cultivation now practised. Fruit trees, especially appleß, have been planted, and yield plentifully without further care. The land in the districts mentioned as being capable of cultivation is rich and black, resembling volcanic soil, but is, to all appearance, of vegetable formation. The cattle havo deteriorated in breeding through there being no market for them, and their being allowed to run wild, and the same may bo said of the horses, of which hundreds run wild in the bush. Some excellent ponies or cobs were, however, seen among them. The Bheep conßißt principally of crosses between the Romney marah and merino breeds, and wool-growing is the only industry to which any attention is now given. Most of the sheep are carefully bred, and were in good condition, notwithstanding the severity of tbe winter," This is a very doleful account of a place which once was prosperous if quiet. The only hope the settlers now have is that the Government will inaugurate regular steam communication with the island. If it was known at what time a steamer would call, cattle, sheep, and even horses could be mustered and drafted for shipment to market. This might be the means of instilling fresh life into the inhabitants of the island, who would again take heart and cultivate the land.

The Inspector of Schools will commence his annual district examination of schools next week. Inglewood will be the first school taken, and will be examined on Thursday. Tho work of the district examination will fully occupy tho Inspector from now up to the summer holidays. Captain. Edwin telegraphed at 2 p.m. to-day ; " Expect bad -weather between north-east and north and west after 1G hours from now'; glaps fall again soon." Tho lad who died so suddenly last week at tho Dunedin High School haß boon suffering from hydatuh in the lungs, nttd it h supposed that this had affected the heart. Tho hydatid is a parasite which is bred on flogs, and can bo communicated to tho syßtom by drinking water th it dogs have been in or- • near. It was but tho other week in Auckland that a young man underwent an operation, thoeyo bejng romo' ed, hydal'uh being discovered in that organ. ■ • I la tho course of a leading articlo on outeducational system, tho Auckland Bull says :— " Wo oannot help fearing that tho much vaunted Ntw Zealand educational system will turn out a race of prigp, possessed of a great deal of book-learning, but wanting in moral charactor, in physical strength, and in the knowledge of tho world, which supplies tact, and that wonderfully useful quality" which' can only be expressed by tho two French words suvoh fuire." Yet tho majority of tho people still advocate the system as unequalled, and cunnot see tho logaoy thoy are preparing for the next generation. Tb, o bush of tho Chatham Islands consists principally of Akeake, which makes good posts for fencing, and Karaka (a species o£ laurel, said to bo identical with the lord of Chili), which is useful for linings ami other indoor work. The green and dry leaves of tho Kaiaka are eaten with relish by the slock. The richness of tho bush lands is well known, and in suveral place outcrops of a capital limestone for building purposes are found. Benefactors. — " When a board of eminent physicians and cuoinisteaunounced tho discovery that by combining some wellknown valuable remedies a most wonderful medicine was produced, which would cure such a wide ran-re of diseases that most all other remedies could be dispensed with, many were skeptical, but proof of its merits by actual trial has dispelled all doubt, and to-day the discoverers of that gn tit tncdiciuc, l)i\ Soule's American Hop Bitters, are h'juur.id and blessed by all as buioiuoioia." Head