WAIRARAPA.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3182, 25 April 1871, Page 2

WAIRARAPA.

«, (From our own Correspondent.) concealment of birth. A case of this kind, and wearing, as is usual in such cases, a more serious aspect, is about to be brought before the Bench, in which not the mother but the mother's father is implicated. It is a strange story, and would never be credited if the violent temper, sudden passion, and other eccentricities of the party accnsed did not give some color of truth to it. Au illegitimate child, said to have been born alive, is said to have died and been illegally interred, and the cause is abput to be judicially investigated. An inquest was being held on the body of the infant, and was not concluded when this letter was posted. THTS LATE ELECTION. No vote was recorded at any of the polling-booths in the Wairarapa and East Coast for Mr Anderson. No vote was recorded at Featherston or Warehama for Mr Finnimore, and only twelve altogether at Greytown, Carterton, and Masterton. g There were 111 electors voted for "Mr Fitzhevbert. Except at Carterton, no one appeared to take any interest in the matter; but

this was owing to the widespread conviction that the result was certain. LARGE STORE. A very largo building is erected by Baillie and "Wlijbrow for Mr Hirschberg, his present extensive premises not being sufficiently commodious for his business. "' TOE LOWER VALLKY. It would appear from the recent assessment that the purchased land in the Lower Valley, proper, comprises, -.in round numbers, 60,000 acres held by twenty-nine persons ; six of whom hold 4637 acres, and the remaining twentythree ratepayers holding only 14,453 acres amongst them. Included in the road district, and in addition to the above, there are some 18,000 acres at Cape Palliser held by Messrs E. and C. Pliarazyn, whose rate, as I mentioned in my last letter, amounts to £88 11s 3d. The objections to the assessment will be heard by the board on the 24th inst. But as a uniform rate has been assessed of a half-penny an acre, the board may consider itself precluded from noticing objections which do not dispute the accuracy of the amount assessed. Sir O. Pharazyn, a J.P., and one of the late candidates for a seat in the House of Representatives, has publicly , announced that he intends to protest against the amount of his rate on the ground " that the property will not derive anything more than the most trifling advantage from the roads, it is tended to expend the funds upon." I quote his own words, expressing his ground of protest, because the same gentleman not only disputed the accuracy of a former statement of mine, which could have been, and which subsequently were, similarly supported, but went so far as' to accuse me of falsehood, when he had no evidence, except what was furnished by his imagination or emotions, for the accusation. The above, then, is his ground of objecting to the payment of the rate. Had he protested against the assessment of a uniform rate on land of such unequal natural value, he might have been supported by public opinion ; but clearly his objection to pay so trifling a sum " because the property will not deri\e more than the most trifling advantages from the roads" will not hold water. Mr Pharazyn considers that the board" clearly infringed a most important principle, and, rather than submit to a most gross case of injustice, he will carry it before the higher tribunal, in order to show that the rights of property are not thus to be trampled on with impunity. But he not only accuses the board in question, consisting, by the way, of three magistrates, one of whom is a member of the Legislative Council, of a gross act of injustice, but he also intimates, in effect, that the board has used " the occasion for the gratification of some personal ill feeling or petty jealousy." I am not supposed to know what course the board will adopt inder these circumstances, but I understand that it is not probable that it will sue for the rate in the Magistrate's Court, but instead exercise the right of distraint. SELECT BALL. A select ball, under the management of Mr E. Marriott, took place at the Town Hall, Greytown, on Tuesday evening, the 18th instant. There was a large attendance, the arrangements were in every respecj; satisfactory, and the evening was spent in the most agreeable manner. MONET LOST. Mr Alexander Gillies, on returning home late the other night from Greytown, accidentally lost his pocket book between the Bush Inn and the Waihenga Ferry. It contained nearly £29 in notes and gold, besides a number of papers of no value but to the owner. A reward of £5 has been offered for itsrecovery. It is thought probable that it may yet be found, as' a portion of the road was flooded directly after the los 3 was discovered, and where it is thought it might have happened. It is to be hoped that it may be, for it is a serious loss to a most deserving young man. POBLIO MEETING. It is announced that a public meeting will be held at the Town Hall, Grey-' town, on Wednesday evening next, when a testimonial will be presented to the Rev. J. Cawdell on his. leaving the ; district. Thirty bush men are required for the Seventy Mile Bush, to cut a line a chain wide. The wages offered are Is per. hour, or the work will be let per chain. Provisions are cheaper now than then ; but this is the case, not only as regards laborers' wages, but also as regards official salaries. It is the farmer who suffers from this depreciation in the price of the prime necessaries of life ; accountants, mortgagees, and officials being the parttes most benefited by this reduction in the price of farm produce. Merchants, storekeepers, and tradesmen generally may live more cheaply, but they have to do so out of reduced profits. A flock of scabby sheep belonging to some Maories at Long Bush, are a perfect nuisance to the fiook-owners in the neighborhood. If they belonged to Europeans they would have to be either cleaned or destroyed, and there is no good reason why this should not be the case in this instance.