The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 218, 22 July 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1879.

[ We lately referred to the Public Works Policy im terms that must not be misunderstood. That policy would have been a good policy if carried on hand in hand with fostering external lines of ■ communication to get rid of the production which internal communication would increase. But no such thought crossed the mind of that brilliant statesman, Sir Julius Vogel. Enough for him were the millions to spend. The true welfare of the country was a secondary consideration. How little that legislator understood the science of trade is shown in that wretched piece of absurdity the San Ftancisco Mail Service—a service the whole benefit of which we might have had by paying next to nothing for it. The Sydney merchants, jealous of Melbourne, were bent upon having it, and the steamers must have passed near to New Zealand. This, however, is not to the point, What we complain of is the mistake made in paying £30,000 a year for opening up a line of communication which could not take a package of merchandise from us. Had the subsidy been paid to steamers going via Brisbane and Torres Straits, we could then have exchanged our temporate zone productions with tropical Queensland, But the sale of our productions—the true basis of prosperity—was the last thought in the mind of our able Agent-General. The glitter of the millions dazzled him and many others, until now we are compelled to face the difficulty of disposing of our : productions as best we can. Moreover, ; this very San Francisco line utterly > destroyed the growing trade with Fiji l -another industrial centre, and the ' Government of the day positively de- ] clined to assist energetically the local j steam line between Auckland and Le- c

[ vuka, It that time Fiji imported about £IOO,OOO per annum. Now it imports nearly twice as much, principally flour, meat, and other temperate zone productions, giving in. exchange tropical produce, sugar and the like. The Government contracts in New Caledonia, comprising products similai to Fijian wants, amounted to £600,000 per annum. These contracts were once offered to New Zealand merchants; hut where was the line of communication ? The answer is easy. The Government were evolving their great Public Works -

Policy, Yet this Govornmeiit,considered itself (and its members still consider themselves) tho wisest l Now Zoaland ever possessed. Eronv Sir Julius Vogelto the 'Hon. Daniel Pollen they were great in their own estimation, yet not one of them ever had the true interests of the. colony at heart. Now we must do what ought to have been done years ago, viz,, push our commerce abroad and open up communication with Queensland, 'New Caledonia, and "Fiji, subsidizing steam lines for the purpose. With these countries we could exchange threc-cpiavters of a million of our produce annually supposing proper lines of communication were established, and no writer upon political economy has yet ventured to say that subsidizing such means of communication partook of the fallacy of. Protection. Bather the-' opposite. Quick' communication opens up the world's markets, and tends to untrammel labor and render it free,

The Masterton Borough Council meets this evening, '•. Mr J. H. .Wallace sells on Wednesday, J uJy yotJi, _a valuable acre at Taratahi, with a.six roomed dwelling,, nqw in the occupation of Mr Alfred Booth. The: general meeting of the parishioners of Ist. Matthew; takes place tomorrow even mgat 7.30. p.m. As the business to be brought befoie the meeting is of exceptional importance we may expect to see a large attendance. understand that there is a prospect of an amended auctioneers bill being introduced this session, which will permit sales to bo carried on after sunset. Mr Bcetham, M.H.R, has expressed his willingness to move in the matter, and we see no reason why the inconvenient restriction now imposed upon auctioneers should be continued. It smacks too much of the old Curfew ordinance. We understand that the contractor for the Hurunui-o-rangi bridge, Mr Thompson, is preparing material and cutting piles lor ilie structure which he lias mi" dertaken to erect and that no time will be lost in pushing on the work. Messrs Corbett, Bish, Donald Donald, and C. Wilton have been spoken as probable candidates for the vacant seat at the Masterton Borough Council, but it is

very uncertain whether at least two on the list will come forward.

We were shown yesterday, writes the inangahua Herald, a beautiful, specimen of virgin gold in the shape of a nugget weighing 33 ounces, recently obtained by Carton and party at the new alluvial diggings, Devil's Creek. It would not be safe to show a specimen of this kind in the Wairarapa. We are happy to state that a public meeting is likely to be convened to consider the .question of returning a suitable candidate' for this vacant seat in the Masterton Hiding bf Wairarapa County West. It is always a healthy sign to liml some care and trouble taken in Idling an important oitice. The meeting will probably be held next Saturday afternoon. If, says the Otago Daily Times, wo can believe a statement contained in a telegram received from Christ-church last night, the good people .of Koiapoi have been cruelly treated. Our correspondent says:—" Un .Saturday a gentleman was seen at Kaiapoi with two £SO notes in his possession. . He was an object of geneial admiration by the townspeople all day, but general distress prevailed amongst the storekeepers when he was seen leaving for the South by the evening train."

Messrs lorns and Fergussou sell at noon on .Saturday next the goodwill of the lease of the valuable section opposite the Club Hotel, Mastcrton, lately occupied by Messrs Williams Cameron and Co. On the same afternoon the same auctioneers sell by instructions from Mr'M'Oardle the balance of his Stock of fruit trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, without the slightest reserve.The sub-committee of the Mastcrton Ploughing Match met on Saturday last Present; Messrs Kcnall (in the chair)' Baumber, Vile, Gapper, Gray, Watson ano Jackson. A programme was subnutted andadopted, which willbepublished m another .column. Mr Gapper and the secretary woro appointed to canvass the town for special prizes. It was decided to invite to Mr Blade of Brancepeth, Mr A. Burnett, and W. Morrison, to act as judges of ploughing Messrs W. Brown, Hume andT.H. Hill of horses and harness. The arrangements for a dinner was left to the Chairman and Secretary. The meeting adjourned till Wednesday evening next. The Auckland Star says:—People generally expect rainy weather on St. Swithen s Day, which- was formeily kept religiously on the 15th July; but this morning St. Swithen's spirit was in a more «enial humor and sunshine followed after a long ram. St. Swithen is supposed to have died at Hamham Castle on the 2nd July and to have been interred in Winchester Cathedral. St. Swithen was remarkable according to tradition, for two things • lie was the tutor of King Alfred, ami the accredited sponsor of apnle trees, and gave the names to, several of them. He was mil Bishop of Winchester, and was born at the commencement of the 9th century. He was supposed to have originated the church 'tithe system and : rigidly enforced its payment. The old , tradition that if the ,15th July be wet , there will be rain for forty successive"] days, hence the olden rhyme- . '•■] If on St. Swithen's down should fall the i ram,

For forty days, sharp. showers will wet the plain; He named the apples, one ho called "Queen Mab" And one, in memory of his wife, the "Crab," The Patea Mail thus humorously alludes to the opening of Parliament: Business has been looking up at Bellamy's this last week or so, and some patriotic members of the Legislature who were s little thin-skinned, have settled their last year's accounts per post, so that on their arrival they might look people in the face. Snme others, however, happily for the country, are sufficiently experienced politicians not to make any such exhibition of weakness. They have opened a fresh account with a patronising air that outdid the waiter himself. Mr Barff lias taken his old room, which has been scrubbed and aired. The well-worn Bible and the Prayer-book he forgot in his hurry to catch the steamer last year, were dusted and put within easy reach, but as he had brought a fresh supply, he was going to pack the old ones away carefully, when he thought of his fellow-members. He spent all Friday morning seeing them, but found they had all provided for themselves except Dr Wallis, who accepted the gift with tears in his eyes. This, is all the news there is to hand at the time we write, except that oatmeal is a little firmer ' in the market since the Otago members ' began to arrive. 1

The. Masterton Park arid Cemetery Trustees will meet at the Institute on Thursday next. The annual meeting of members of tho Masterton Hospital takes place this afternoon. By an error in our last issue a wrong day was stated. _We learn that Mr G.Philips has sold his well-known thorough -bred mare ," Helen'Svitlr afoal a foot, to Mr Thompson of Te Ore Ore for the sum of £IOO. 'Tho live lions of Wellington are the Maori prisoners, Distinguished visitors are constantly calling at the apartments m which they are detained, . A dividend of 5s in the pound will be payable in the estate of John Disher, store keeper, Masterton, on and after Wednesday the 30til hist, _ During the past four weeks the declarations of insolvency were in number as follows:-Masterton, 2, 'Carterton, 1, Greytpwn, 2, and-Wellington, 15. This is a lighter calendar than the corresponding preceeding period.

Owing to a brealdn telegraph communication somewhere near Kaitoki, we are unable to present our readers with our customary late telegrams, The meeting convened last evening by Mr W. Kibblewhite for the purpose of forming a Masterton Cadet Corps was attended by nearly forty youths, who gave in their names as members. The list will be kept open for a day or two by Mr Pilkingtpu the head master of the Borough School in order to enable those who were precluded from attending last evening to add' their names to it. The services of the corps will then be formally offered to the Government.

On Saturday night (writes the Times) the hrstwssional Press dinner took place at the Occidental Hotel. About twentyfive gentleman sat down, Mr Gillon occupying the chair, and Mr Crombie-Brown the vice-chair. To this latter gentleman is due the credit of first bringing forward the idea of a Press dinner, and to Mr Gillon the credit of having worked it up and brought it into a successful issue. Among the company, which numbered Pressmen from every part of the colony, were the Hon J. Sheehan, and Messrs Feldwick, Reus, Manders, Reeves, and Moss, M.H.R.'s The dinner reflected great credit upon Mr Inglis, and was one of the best spreads eve? got up in thio city The toast list was by no means a formal one, as the object of the gathering was that it should be as much as possible a social reunion, such as would tend to make those present bettor acquainted with each other. Among the other suggestions thrown out was one by the Hon.'j. Sheehan, that a New Zealand Press Society should be formed, for the purpose of improving the tone of the Press, and for assisting Press men. Another suggestion thrown out was that hon. members should not rise to speak after midnight, if they wished to see their speeches in print—and the observation seemed to meet with

general approbation, The proceedings terminated shortly after eleven o'clock. It is proposed to hold a similar dinner at the end of the session, and to make these reunions an annual occurrence. The Wellington Monthly Price Current speaking of the money market, says :- There is no perceptible movement toreport in our money market, but we fancy in from two to three months time we should see matters somewhat easier. Our lisUf insolvencies for the four weeks, again shows a diminution in numbers as compared with the recent returns, and in character they are all insignificant. There is still, however, considerable pressure, and many- who are undoubtedly solvent have to obtain temporary accomodation. The supply of money for investment continues far short of the demand, and from ten to twelve per cent, is paid on mortgage of real estate with excellent security. Comprehensive.-A company of settlers, in naming their new town, railed it Dictionary, because, as they said, " that's the only place where peace, prosperity, and happiness are always found."