PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1890.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8790, 28 May 1890, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1890.

Thk Hon. Mr Fergus, when addressing his constituents at Queenstown last week, in referring to tho indebtedness of local bodies, said " the question had been brought home with considerable force in view of the fact that the New Plymouth Harbour Board had been unable to meet its intorost on the Home market, and that there was a. further danger of the Gisborne Harbour Board making default. It was certain that if one and another of the local bodies made default the fact would operate on colonial stocks also, and would restrain people at Home from having anything to do with our investments, and prevent that stream of desirable immigration that was needed. If thoy could do anything at all to ease the mind of people at Home or to ease the municipal taxpayers of the colony, under the burden of payment of interest, it would be a wise and statesmanlike action." It is t v a little more than three years ago that the Oamaru Harbour Board found itself in much the same position as thu New Plymouth and Gisborne Harbour Boards are at the present time, its income being insufficient to meet the interest on its loans. There was a great howl then, because one of the papers in that "stone built city" dared to hint that a reduction in the rate of interest would relieve the ratepayers. Some of our contemporaries assumed a very virtuous attitude, and referred to the matter as a " disgraceful and scandalous suggestion." In commenting on the matter, we said that if the local loans were consolidated much in the same way as the provincial loans were in 1867, when seven millions of debt bearing interest, averaging £7 3s per cent., was reduced to 5 per cent., thus effecting a saving of £500,000 a year, that other places besides Oaraaru would be benefited. Our Hawera contemporary at the time said this would be " repudiation," and was very angry with us for suggesting such a course. What we wrote in 1886 we again repeat : " Tlie question of tho consolidating of the loans contracted by local bodies wil) have to be dealt with shortly, for there are other places in tlie colony besides Oamaru which, owing to the depreciation in the value of land, will not be able to meet the coupons as they fall due. We see no other remedy than the one we have suggested: the consolidation of the loans raised by local bodies. It will be a very delicate piece of financing; bat not more difficult to accomplish, we should imagine, than the consolidation of the provincial loans in 1867." We can only add that if the interest on the local loans was reduced, say, to 4 per cent., the saving per annum to the colony would be immense.

Captain Edwin telegraphed at 12.57 p.m. to-day :—": — " North to west and south-west gale, after 16 hours from now, with considerable sea; glass falling again soon."

The annual meeting of the Taranaki Jockey Club will be held on Friday next at the White Hart Hotel, at 7.30 p.m.

In the four principal boroughs of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, the deaths in April amounted to 110, against I} 2in March. There wore 16 deaths of persona of 65 years and upwards: 3 males of 88, 71, and 68, and 2femalesof 76 and 67, died at Auckland ; 2 males of 76 and 73 at Wellington ; 2 males of 66 and 65 at Chrietchurch ; 4 males of 81, 79, 74, and 65, and 3 females of 98, 74, and 68 at Dunedin.

For the four weeks ending May 24 there was exported from the breakwater 42 tons 10c wt. 3qrs 141 bof butter.

Harold Crawford, tho lad who received such severe injuries to his arm on Monday last, is getting on satisfactorily in the hospital.

In a recent issue of the English C7iur- k News the following advertisement appeared : — "Live fish direct from Grimsby, the largest fishing port in the world, dressed » cad yfor cooking." Of course the words were not in italics as we have placed them.

Tho need of a road between Ngatimaru and Tikorangi has been recognised by the Government, as Mr R. H. Davies, surveyor, of Inglewood, proceeds at once to survey a road through the bush between the two districts. This road will open up some good land in the Mokara Valley, and also at the head waters of the Onairo.

We were not far wrong when we referred tho other day to the insanitary state of Wellington, although we were taken to task by one of the local papers for doing so. The New Zealand Times commenting on the vital statistics for April says :—": — " In the first place, say with regard to the infectious typhoid, the private sanitary arrangements of our homes are in many cases far from being what they should be. Months ago in a special article we called attention to the filthy condition in which our represensative found the back yards of many vacant houses he in spected in Wellington. The accumulation of foul debris, the habit of throwing household slops in the yard instead of pouring them direct into the drains, the absence of wholesome whitewash in fowlhouses and back offices, and the almost total absence of even the crudest form of ventilation in water-closets, sculleries, dwelling and bedrooms, are bo many preventable reasons which tend to increase our death-rate."

Just to hand, a choice assortment of plush jacket, bordered dress goods, now millinery, flowers, ribbons, &c. Direct imported ex Tainui and Kaikoura, at F. A Ford's, Cheapside House. — Advt. Ginger Snaps. One pint of molasses (treacle) one teaepoonful of butter and lard, mixed, two teaspoonf uls of Renshaws' Perfected Baking Powder, two thirds of a teacupf ul of boiling water, two tablespoonfuls of ginger. Mix as quickly as possible with enough flour to roll out thin, and. fc*Jw <julslsiy f to a light fe«Wfl. Advt,