The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1880.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 410, 10 March 1880, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1880.

The public meeting held in the Town Hall, Mastcrton, on Monday last, consisted of two parts, a." Comedy of Errors," and a somewhat sensational after-piece. The result of the.main' piece on the programme was not altogether unsatisfactory. It relegated to 'arbitration the differences between Masterton and Grey town, The only regret was that if this method of settling the dispute were resorted to it should have been adopted in December last, The Masterton Trustees, through the " free lance" character of their Chairman, were practically unable to fulfil an implied arrangement which they entered into with the Greytown Trustees, Consequently a curtain amount of disappointment was expressed by the latter at the delay, and inconvenience caused by the nonobservance of the terms of the provisional agreement, It is quite unnecessary for us to further censure Mr Renall's course of action in this matter. Itis quite sufficient justification for what we have previously said and which he has publicly challenged, that his own colleagues publicly expressed their disapproval of the action which he had taken. The afterpiece of the meeting consisted of a personal explanation between Mr J, V, Smith and Mr Eenall. The latter, at a meeting held two months ago, accused the former of imbecility, for losing to the Borough Ward's 40-acre .section. This section is the property of an absentee, who is never likely to return and claim it. ! Mr Eenall, to use an expression of his own, smuggled it into a schedule of an Act of Parliament, with a view to giving Masterton some title to it if the real owner never turned up. It is a question whether this pious fraud could ever have been consummated so far as to give Masterton a legal title to the land, but it is unquestionable that the action of smuggling a piece of land, the property of a Mr Ward, into the schedule of the Masterton Town Lands Act was wrong, True, it might never injure Ward, who may be dead and buried twenty years ago, but nevertheless no amount of special pleading, no degree ot unselfishness, or a-desire to benefit the town, can make a wrong action right. Mr Eenall will probably be forgiven for the somewhat unscrupulous but well-meaning manner in which he tried to benefit Masterton. We ourselves do not desire to reproach him for his pious fraud in this particular, but we must protest against his accusing Mr J. y. Smith of imbecility merely because he had a finer sense of right and wrong than himself, and refused to be a party to a deception which reflected very little credit on the township it was intended to benefit, Truth and honor may be weaknesses occasionally, but they are ones that will always command respect, The unspoken verdict of the public meeting on Monday last went clearly for Mr J. Y. Smith, and against Mr Eenall.

The Ministry have paid Mr 0. Pharazyn 1 * business capacity a high compliment' by inviting him to act as one of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service of the Colony. This Commission was promised during the late session to the House. Its object is to enquire and report on any means of retrenchment, either by amalgamation of offices or otherwise. Its sittings commenced on Monday last, and it is not too much to say that no Commission which has ever been appointed has had a more arduous or a more necessary work to accomplish. The scope of the Commission extends to all services and to all parts of the Colony.

We understand that tho. Oliairman of County .Westvis.urging, the- Government to open 'up land 'for sale : on;-de'ferred- payments in the settlement maygo on ;haud .iiliiandtwith: the public works: about to be^ra6nced ! in that locality,' ''■ss&!}. \-i\

We regret ."to. hear .-that another fire occurred on the Opaki on Monday even■ng, this time destroying about 40 acres of:ropsbelonging to Luckily, the stacks'were iuburedfbv £2oo;' out we believe,' Mr McLa'chlan is still a loser to the extent of £300. : Asparkfrom"' a bushfire which has been raging in that direction for some few. days-past is Supposed to bethe cause of the conflagration. A meeting of the Wairarapa members of the Licensed Victuallers Association was held at the Royal Oak. Hotel," Carterton, on Monday, with closed doors. Present—MeasTa J." Harvey (Camp), T. Lowes and A. Elkins (Masterton), W. H. Swain and fi. Giles (Carterton), R, V, Smith and G. Jones (Greytown), being in attendance. .' We believe the. general business related to the arrest of Mr Swain under the.verdict lately obtained in the civil action, Swain v Vickeiy. The following are the names of the prize-takers at the late competition by the Wairarapa Volunteers for the Government prizes, which were fired for on Saturday last:—First Class; 400, BOO; and 600yds-Vol. Hebberly (Greytown), Ist; Corp." Webster (Greytown), 2nd ; Cant. Snodgrass (Carterton), 3rd. Second Glass; 300,' 400, and 500yds—Vol. Trotman (Greytown), Ist; Vol. Udy (Greytown), 2nd; Vol. Wenham (Greytown), 3rd. Third Class; 200,300, and 400 yds —Sergt. Avery (Greytown), Ist; Vol. Burns (Greytown), 2nd; Vol. Parker 1 (Carterton), 3rd. The following tenders were decided yesday by Messrs Moore and McGregor, the Works Committee of County West;— Mauriceville West: H, M. Petersen, L 93, (accepted);'! Hansen and N Albrechsen, L 99.; N.: Neilsen, P. Roi«aarda, and others, L 105; N. Andersen, L 145.' No. 1 contract, North Road: J, Harvey, jun., L 3 18s 6d~per chain (accepted); H. Burgess, L3l9s 6d; H. Aulin (withdrawn), L3lßs. No. 2 contract, North Road : R. McKenzie, L2lßs per chain (accepted); M. 0. Wilder, L 3 9s 6d;S. Hart and J. S. Reid, L2 19s; W. Hercock and others, L 4; H. Burgess, L 3 4s; J. Hourigan, L 4 9s. .

The Royal Railway Commission, which consists of Mr' 0. Curtis, of Nelson, (Chairman); Colonel Pearce (Wellington!, Mr J. M. Clarke (Auckland, Mr E. G. Wright, M.H.R, (Canterbury), and Mr J. Reid (Otago), leave Featherston by a special coach this msrning, and may be expected to arrive at Masterton early this afternoon. The Commissioners will remain here till to-morrow, when thoy will proceed to Palmerston. No doubt they will be able to obtain from Mr King, the County Eugiueer and other local authorities, all the information they may require respecting the country through which the line is to be taken. It is understood that the Commission has to decide between the extension of the railway to Woodville and the Wellington and Foxton railway. No doubt the result of their enquiries will be to confirm the statement of the Premier that more good land can be opened, up in the neighborhood of Bunnythorpe than on tho West Coast route.

The entertainment given in the Town Hall, Greytown, as a compliment to the Rev A. Knell, on Monday evening, was fairly attended, and passed off satisfactorily, although the attendance was not so large as we anticipated considering the object, and the paot valuable services of Mr Knell to the whole of the Wairarapa, and the length of timo he has unfortunately been prevented through his serious illness (brought on no doubt by the amount of exertion ho has subjected himself to in the work of the Church) from enjoying the fruits of that labor he should now enjoy. Mr Knell's name will continue to resound, as it should, in many a home, and it gives us much pleasure to be able to report that his health is improving, and that he can.occasionally bear a drive out for a short distance. We hope soon to be ablo to report that ho is again able to return to work. The high charge for admission possibly prevented many from attending the concert, but, on the whole, the returns may net £ls, A report will be found in another column.

A meeting of the Mastertoh Hospital committee was held yesterday at the Institute. Present—Messrs Feist (chairman),'J. V. Smith, Vile, Moore, Girdlestone, and Payton. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The Treasurer reported a balance on hand of £3lB 18s 4d. An.application from Mr Philpot for his niece to remain a longer time in the Hospital was agreed to. ' A communication was received from the Under-Secretary, requesting the Committee to give the newly-appointed Inspector facilities for inspecting the Hospital, and enclosing a copy of the proposed bill for the management of Hospitals, and inviting suggestions. The following accounts were passed for payment: Fencing £4 4s; Stores, £l2 9s Id: The visiting member was authorised to procure a tank for the use of the Hospital, It was resolved that £SO be placed at the disposal of the ground committee, for fencing arid laying off the grounds.-That the name of Mr Moore be added to the Committee.