The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1883.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2814, 29 September 1883, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1883.

The removal and destruction of the beacons plac< d by tlio Government m Kawhia harbor, is rather a serious business; iind all the more so if, as is reported, it was done by the orders oi Tawhiao and m accordance with a deliberate design of breaking the law. If some ignorant natives, seeing unfamiliar objects m the water, had taken them away and damaged them out of mere mischief, there would have been no occasion to make much fuss about it. Bnt even according to the tnosl favorable accounts, the outrage was of :i very differentcharacter from that. Th< beacons appear to have been removec and destroyed for the express purpose of defying the law, and disputing tin authority of the Government over th( harbor of Kawhia. Tawhiao ia said tf have given instructions to two wel known chiefs to have this done, and ii is reported that the name of the pcrsor who suggested this course to Tawbiae has been communicated to the Go vernment. There is, m fact, no attempl to conceal the real state of the case, oi to give it :iny other aspect than that oi a wilful an! audacious breach of the law. It is not cisy to see how the Go vernment c;\n overlook such a pro cooding as this, or indeed, why tliej should overlook it it" they could If Europeans committed such an offence as the removal and destruction ol beacons, they would be prosecuted without hesitation, and, if convicted would be scviiily punished. So ought these natives to be ; and if Tawhiao is implicated m Ihe affair, he ought to be prosecuted and punished with the others. We cannot for the life of us understand what there is about this drunken, troublesome, impracticable barbarian, that should shield him from the consequences of law-breaking, ot entitle him to pursue a line of conduct which would not be tolerated for a moment m the most deserving European colonist. We trust that Mr Bryce will not shrink from the responsibility of fully investigating this affair, and bringing the offenders, whoever they may be, to justice. We imagine the most bigoted champions of Maori misrule will scarcely go the length of justifying an act which is a gross violation of a necessary law, and which might easily have cost the life of a number of unoffending people. Things must have come to a pretty pass, if Tawhiao and his turbulent followers are to be permitted to exclude the authority of the Crown from the only harbor of refuge on the West Coast of the North Island, south of Manukau. We seem to have hit the nail on the head with extraordinary accuracy m our article m yesterday's issue on the Ministerial change. We gave our ideas of what the feeling m Auckland would be on the retirement of Mr Whitaker from the Ministry, and what concessions the North would expect m compensation for that loss. We now learn by telegraph that on the morning before our article appeared, the New Zealand Herald published the following expression of opinion as to the Ministerial arrangements and as to the expectations of the North m connection with them : — Ministers nre, as a matter of eourso, qnito awaro that Auckland expects that the present arrangement is only a provisional one, nnd that, aa soon as possible, steps will bo taken to secure) an adequate ropresontation of this Provincial district. Tho understanding thut the Cabinet shall contain gentlemen from tho different districts may bo subject to many objeotions, but at all ovonts it oxists, and cannot bp sot aside. At present thero ia not, howcvor, any burning hasto about tho matter, as there are- three altornativo courses proposed — (1) That an Auckland Legislative Councillor shonld bo appointed as Minister without portfolio ; (2) that a now Auckland member should bo callod to tho Legislative Council with tho object of hi* boinfr appointed a Minister ; (3) that tho Hon. Walter Johnston'B place should bo filled, upon his rotiring, by an Auckland member. Wo think Auckland ia entitled to expect that two of theao courses should be takou, if none of the presout mombers of tho Legislative Conncil from Auckland aro eonsidored suitablo to mako Ministers of, or if those who aro suitablo declino to take ofiico, then some public man hero who has the confidonco of tho poopls, ! who knows tho Provinco, and who has shown public spirit and an interest m public affairs, should bo callod to tho Legislative Council and made a Ministor. Bnt it has always been mado a subject of complaint during tho existouco of tho 'VYhitaker Ministry that Auckland had no mombor on tho Ministerial benches m the Honso of Representatives, and that gronnd of complaint should as soon as possiblo bo removod. ludoed, vro think that tho tirno has fully como when tho privilcgo hitherto onjoyed by Otago might m turn bo conferred upon Auckland, and that m addition to a Cabinot Minister m tho Houso of Representatives, this district might fairly claim to bo represented m tho Cabiuot by a member of tho Upper House, if uoed be without portfolio. If it has worked satisfactorily, it would bo equally fair for Auckland, whoao interests and progress at the present hour fully warrant the claim to the privilege. It will be seen that this article coincides with ours almost word for word. The only difference, m fact, is that we ventured to mention the name of two gentlemen whom we deemed best qualified to represent Auckland m the Ministry, with a seat m the Legislative Council and House of Representatives respectively ; whereas the New Zealand Herald indicated no particular persons, but only required that they should be such as have the confidence of the people m the North,- and aro well verged m public affairs. Our contem*

porary touched, just as we did, on tbe absurdity of tbe representation of localities m tbe Cabinet ; but, just as we bad anticipated, insisted that since tbat mistaken system exists, Auckland must have Tier full shave of representation. What is even more remarkable, our suggestion that for one Wbitaker the North would probably demand two ordinary Ministers, is literally fulfilled by tbe New Zealand Herald's assertion that "m addition to a Cabinet Minister m tbe House of Representatives, this district might fairly claim to be represented m the Cabinet by a Member of tbe Upper House." We knew very well bow it would be ; and we shall be interested to obsers - e bow Major Atkinson will get out of the complication into which tbe vicious and stupid system of " provincial equilibrium " has brought him.

The report of the Mataura-'s cargo of frozen meat having arrived at Home m a putrid state, is the worst news we have yet received concerning this important trade. One other cargo went bad on the voyage, and had to be thrown overboard ; but m that case the machinery was notoriously defective, and the temperature of the freezing chamber was actually allowed to rise above the freezing point for a consider' able time. The process itself, if w< remember rightly, was an antiquated one, and on the whole it would hay( beeu a wonder if the cargo had reached its destination m anything like good order. The caee of th< Msitanra is altogether different This is the first shipment of frozen i meat despatched from Auckland and it is to be presumed that all tb< latest and most improved appliancei were employed by the Company there The Mtitam-a, however, had previouelj taken Home a cargo from Dunedii with complete success ; so that it is fail ■ to suppose that there was notbinj i wrong on board the ship. Where then was the cause of the cargo going bad i That is just what Las not. yet been ci . plained, but what we hope will be mos [ carefully enquired into and fully madi . known for the benefit of future shipper! . and the trade m general. That thi . arrival m England of a cargo of Ncv , Zealand meat m a putrid state is calculated | culated to damage the trade, is certain -, but that damage may be reduce* [ to a minimum if it can be clearl; > shown that the mischief arose throngl . some accident or oversight, and nol • through any defect m the principle • We may be quite wrong, but we have i ■ strong impression that the evil wa . done, or at least begun, before the shee] ever left Auckland. If they wer . properly killed, cooled, frozen an( . shipped ; and if the apparatus workei . well and uninterruptedly on the voyage it is next to impossible that the mea . could go bad. Bnt if due care was no ; taken m each one of the preliminary | processes, then it is quite possible tba the meat might have been bad whei put into the freezing chamber ; and af tei i that, all the ice at the Poles would no • make it good again. We shall look fo further particulars with some anxiety.