THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1904

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IV, Issue 1112, 6 October 1904, Page 2

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1904

Tim qnestion of land tonnre in Waihi has been a vexed ono locally cor so ninny years that it is to find an effort is being mado to improve tlio system, Tho necessity for improvement was urgod as ono of the reasons why this part oiths county should bo formed into » borough, tho contention being that tho defects complained could more easily and speedily be removed by tho agency of tho borough limn by any other source, In accorlanco with this contention the matter Ims boon tnkon up by tho Borough Council, and at tho last mooting the sub-coramittoo appointed to consider tho matter brought up its recommendations, Theso will bo discussed at a meoting of the Council to bo called (or the purpose, and the outcomo will probably bo that certain recommendation will bo made lo tho Government wilh a view to an amendment of the law, Taken as a whole, tho proposals of the committee may bo said to bo a fairly good attempt lo give better titles to sections than at present is the case. Wo shall toko them one by one, The first is aa follows: " That the owner of a residential site holds it by payment of ront, and that minors rights in connection thennvith bo abolished." This is a very good method, especially in pooplo of weak memories. At prosent a section may be held under a minors' right or by the payment of rent, both fees being tho same, five shl lings per year, But there is thb difference between them, that if tho holder of a section undor a minoia' right forgets or neglects to renow his ri*.; bfc at tho propor time annually, ho is finod; but under the rent Byetem be can go for ous, two, or e ven three years without paying, and no

Dno is imposed. In view of this it is bettor for holders of sections to hold them by tlio payment of rent, It saves the trouble of keeping in mind the 'time for renewal, The holdor, unlike tho ratepayer in regard to rates, is never notified when the time will be up. The responsibility ol knowing the exnet day is thrown on hiuv self, aud his forgelfulness costs him something. Tho proposal of tho cotumil/oo is not to adopt a new method, but to give preference to the bettor of the two mothods now in force. Another reuson why tho rental is tho better plan is that if tho holder of a section under n minors' right loavos hero he cm renew his right in any part of tho colony, If ho goes to Reofton he can ronow it there m many limes as he like?, and as no word is 3ont that ha is doing sd, the result is the Waihi office places him in arroar, and in tho event of an application (or nban-

donmcnt trcublo may arise in connection with a section on which nothing is owing. This caso is not imaginary. Not long since an event of the kind happened in Waihi, The holder of a local section had renewed for a year ov two at Faeron, but the ollico horo had not been advised of Iho'paymonts tnd Iho amount whb debited against him, Abandonment was applied'for, and aftir all tho prcceduro liad been gone through, at a deal of oxpenio to tho applicant, proof oame to hand at tho eloventh hour that tho holder was clear... on tho books, and tho application failed 1 There aro none of theso contingencies when payment of rent is the method, as tho rent can only be paid into tho locil office, or fowardod if tho holder is nbsont. All things considered, thoro seems to bo no question that tho rent paying system is tho ono that ought to bo udop'rd uniformly. Section-holders under miners' rights hnow the difficulty of nuruiberinjj the day for reuowal, and a

good many know to their cost the necessity ol paying to time. Tho second proposal roads:" Tliat.it bo made porfootly cloar that personal rosideaoo on tho site is not absoluldy necessary." This is a vory important question, and one that no lime should bo loßt in settling, According to the, lotter o( the law,, any house unoccupied for six months if liable to abandonment, This acorns arbitrary indeed. There is scarcely a holder of a section in Waihi who knows tho day that something may happen to causo him to leave the town, It might happen ho would leavo it in slack times, and unless ho was piuhed for money ho would not be desirous of sacrificing his residence, but would rather wait till a salo was offected that would return him a reasonable part of his outlay. Blunder tho law ai it standß, if Btrictly' oarriod out, ho would Imvo practically ncr* option but to sell, porhaps at any price available, Under the same law ho would not bo allowed to sell to tho owner of any other section. Ho would tborefore have to fall baok on pooplo with no sections, thns limiting tho market and nocosBarily improving tho prico of his property, It is well known that in many cases persons own houses in which they do not live and which thoy let to others, That, of courso, is n:t porsonal occupation, but if all houses wcro occupied by tho ownere only, what would becomo of the familios who do not own houses and have not tho money to build them ? In ovoty population khero is always ajper centage of tenant!. Thoy iro tenants for tho simplo reason that thoy cannot build, If thero was only personal occupation thoso folk would foro badly, There would be no houses to live in except tho hotels m\ restaurants, Inanycaso, Waihi .vonld bo no plaoo to como to for familios who had not from a hundred to three hundred pounds to build a house, If tho holding of more than ono house and section by one person is an evil, it seems to us to bo a necessary one. From every point of vhjw oxcept tho selfish ono tho law in this respect i'b defective, It is a curious fact that tho conditions of tonuro arc practically the same now as etistert in the old days of tho alluvial goldfields, when miners in many cases came to a field for a month or two and thon pacltod up their tents to seek fresh ground, leaving their holdings (or other persons. Under such circumstances it was only natural to frame laws that would meet tho circumstances then existing; but in thecace of n goldfields township auoh as Waihi, with every prospect of becoming the largest inland town in the colony, the land tenure of the alluvial goldfield of tho past is unreasonable. In to-morrow's isßno wo purpose remarking on tho rest of the clauses.

The report in Tuesday's issue of the Telkhrai'h of the general meeting of tho Waihi Grand Junction Company was I ikon from the Financiul News, London. Tho "Marriage of Kitty" Dramatic Company had to disponse with their usual mode of advertising tho play iu Dunorlin. It appears that tho ontorpriaing- agent prepared a largo numbor of boxes of cako for distribution throughout tho city, but noxt morning on going to his office ho found they had all boeu stolon. A £!> reward failed io discovor the culprit,

The second round of the shooting match amongst tho members of the No, 3 O.R.Y, Corps will take place on tho local range on Satuiday, The ranges of COO and 600 yards, with 10 shots at each, This match was to have been held last Saturday, but was postponed on account of the weather, In tho A class tho srophy prosontad by Mr F. B. Marriott will bo a silver mounted walking stick. Last evoning, at tho ¥11.1.0., an intei* csfing debato took place on tho question "Is novel rending bonelicia|." Missrs, Morrin and Foster took tho leading parts, tho former in the aflirroaiivo and the latter in tho negative, The voting at tho conclusion was in favour of tho negntivo side, After the dobato, at a special moot'ing, it was decided to form a cricket club, and a subscription list to provido for the purchaßO of tho neccsjarj gear, etc, was started.

The Waihi 100-ra-roornl casn is going tlio rounds. Some of our oxohanges linvo copied tho roport in full, while others have condensed it. This is how tho Wellington Post has it:—" At Waihi recently a man was arrested for drunkennoss, Tho accused called a doctor to testify on his behalf in tho local Court. Tho medico deposed that ho examined tho man an hour and a.half after tho nrrest, and that he had been able to distinctly articulate the remark " toorarooral." Tho presiding .lußtices wero quite sallied, Case dismissed, Toorarooral!"

Mr Georgo Jauica Lawlor, thn gonial representative of tho A.M.P. Life Assurance Society, is paying his usual periodical visit to Waihi, and is staying at the Waihi Holdl. 0«r Tliamos cori'osponilont writes that an installation of oloctrical apparatus for surgical purposes is being erected at the Thames Hospital, Tho appliances, which woro purchased in England, arrived in Auckland by tho Waiwcfa last Friday, and sinco were transhipped to the 'flumes. The lceil Hibernians held their lir.« social in the Acidnniy of Music las! night. Thcro WiiK a very large al tendance, and the function was most successful. The ladies o( Ht, Joseph's Church provided refreshmonts. The dance musics was supplied by Miss Fori Mr (pia r 6), Messrs Gardner (violin) and Von R.il'cr (piccolo). Messrs T. Ryan, R, and J. (iraham gave over; satisfaction as floor committee

Tho Westralian Commissioner of Polic-j evidently has had similar trouble to that of the polico in this country with the Sunday traveller, In his last anninl report be urges that tho existing law willi regard to the supply of liquor to travellers on Sui rlay should be rescinded, and ho advocuros thui ho'cls should either bo closed altogether on that day or opened only during crrtain hours. An intcrosiing ceremony took place at tho Napier Cathedral, when the Rev. Canon Jordan was formaiy admitted by 'tho Bishop to tho cononry to which ho was appointed last year. Cnuon .lonian made a declaration essoining to the rules of the Chaptor, tho Bishop read the formal appointment, and tho I)oan thou conilnctod tho now Canon to his stall in tho Cathedral.

Preparations for tho instillation of electric light at the Waihi School of Mines is in an advanced sttito. The power house is ero n tod, and the concrete bods for the reception of tho oil engine and dynamo have deon laii. The olootrieal apparatus has been ordered Irom Messrs Stewart aiid Fenn, of Auckland, and it is oxpecled it will .bo to hand within a few days It h gratifying to learn that tho attendance at tho classes is being maintained, In connection with die electircal clases of tho Th mies wo learn from Mr E, G, Wright, that a dynamo reobtitly purchased tram Messrs Garrett and Sons, was dosigned and tho drawings propared by tho stitdonta of the Thames School. The dynamo, we imdoAtwid, is working most satisfactorily.

An English correspondent, who has returned to London, wroio in August; "A fow months ago tho Chinese brigands, splendidly led and tutored, simply paralysed Kuropatkin's efforts in the lield. Had ho bocn a weakling, tho eternal smashing of his railways, both in tho front and rear, would have brought about a panic. So well have tho Japaneso played this e;auie that it is oven now impossible for Kuropatkin to move his troops except on masso for fear of having one section cut front an othjr, And how difficult it is to move hi) army at ono tiuio by railway auyone can imagine I like tho manly way tho Bussian officers speak of tho Chinoso "freolonco;" they neyor belittle thorn, neversnoorat them. 'They aro the devil,' said tho Leon-heed Cossack oiVicor to me, talking of them, and ho aided, with a grim smile, 'We'll send them ' homo' as fast as wo catch them, but they tako a lot of catching.'" Tho New Zealand Dairy Association, Limited, shows a'striking example of the maxim that " Nothing succeeds like sue* cosa,' 1 The association has proved to be one of the most conspicuous successes the province has witnessed during recent j can. It not only can claim to be tho pioneer dairying business, but it can claim alsu to bo the largest and most prosperous, It is at present running 81 creameries and two coutral factories, which lust year turned out nearly three million pounds weight of butter, and in tho ono year it circulated upwards ol £IOO,OOO in tho districts between Auckland and tho Thames. The company's butter is packed under tho "Now Zealand Dairy Association" and " Anchor ■' brands and is sold all over tho British Empire It is also sold in nearly every store in this province, Whorover the butter is used it is acknowledged to bo of cxcellont quality, and it is duo to this that the foundation of the company's sunceis has beon built, Although competition has been keen tho local demand for it has increased. For tho year ending 110 th June last tho association sold oyer 80 tons moro butter on the local market than for tho preceding year, but oven this success is eclipsed by tho subsequent August business, which is tho record sinco tho inception of tho company. Somo interesting particulars of this enterprising business appear in tho advertising columns of this issue, Other particulars will be published in succooding issues.