AUCKLAND.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 4, 9 May 1872, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

[From our owx Correspondent.] Wednesday, Bth May. -1 am somewhat at a loss to know what news will interest you in the Waikato, but I will endeavour to convey to you all the scandai'that I can pick up. In the first place I must mention that the Hon. Julius Vogel took his departure in a most ignominious manner,, in the .Taranaki," yesterday morning. Some solicitations were made to him to meet his constituents according to promise, but to this he pleaded ill-health again. A banquet was tendered to him by the leading citizens, and this he declined for the same reason. However the illness he is unfortunately labouring under did not prevent him from perambulating the City, appeasing the pugnacious,, reassuring the wavering, congratulating the confiding, and instructing the newlyfledged birds in the mysteries of responsible Government. He has sneaked off, apparently frightened at iis own shadow in the City to which he owes so much., ;} , , r You have doubtless heard of the Norman romance case ere this. It has the appearance of meeting with some sort of -settlement, although: -why the widow should be imposed upon by coming to terms with one who apparently has not a leg to stand upon. 1 am at a loss to conceive. There is no doubt that thcPlate his day, -was a gay Lothario, no. reason why, in the hour of trouble, insult should b£ added to injury to poor Mrs. Norman : but this is the way of the world T 7 "" " 7. " 7 7 " t # The police say that cattle-stealing is very' rife in the country districts, and may-be it is; but I at the same time they ought- to be careful, Last ,

week a respectable young.jxiau jvaa with stealing a poley bull from >> settlor at - and the fact of his having.been soen driving" a similar bull a week before it was massed was relied on for a conviction. ;&3jeighbour I j&t>wdv«r» who wj«- <afled for the proaecutiou, pfovfed having, had a for the: very animal he ynu soon • driving, and-the coao fell jfchrough. TJie affair caused souie amusement in' Court by a, atpckinao; : swjprh stating tftjat! he did.not mow the nature of iSaa oabn nor Mid -jknow •what punishiiient he should meet witli if he spolce falsely, but all he did»w»nt to know was—who was going to pay himliis expenses. To use the hackneyed term, the defendant left the Court without a stain, upon his character. We have had two cases lately "of attempted suicide, but bftth, through medioal skill an<J. careful treatment, rocovered, >and ware charged at the' Police Court with having attempted to kill and murder themselves. Each had.their throats bound up with handkerchiefs to conceal the marks of tho self-inflicted ghastly gashes. The one had friends and the other hadn't. Need I say that- the friendless one was sent to Mount,"Eden for three months, to moralize, and the at the intervention of liis friend)?. The Caduceus hauled into the stream yesterday, preparatory to taking her departure for London. She takes sixty-seven passengers, thirty of whom are colonial-bom children; and a tine lot of youngsters they are—the majority of them arc girls, too. - Hei-e is the Government offering assisted passages to immigrants,. with free; passages to / females ; and yet we are allowing people to leavo the colony, taking vith them a wliole stock of the rising generation. There is something wrong somewhere ! All these people pay for their passages home, but, from /conversations i have had with them, they have evidently not. made their fortunes. I have in my possession a Government paper containing *'The Nominal Roll of the CivU,Establishment of New Zealand."; It contains thirty three pages. I have endeavoured ,to epitomise it, so as to give you the total number of ollicers, the various appointments they hold, and the total salaries they reccive. I have given up my spare time two evenings to the subject,, but have only got as far as letter E. [ therefore can only say at present that their name is legion, and their emoluments fabulous. Our papers have lately been inundate! with correspondence relating to liquor trathe, temperance, United Alliance, andintemperance, until all readers are thoroughly sick of the subject. The Star has threatened to charge correspondents for letters over 30 lines, advertisement prices, but that has not abated the nuisance and despite of challenges, wagers, &c., the teetotallers still write on. They evidently wish to deprive . their fellow-creatures of the pleasure of a glass of ale, because half a score of habitual drunkards infest the town, and because they themselves are beyond the power of enjoying the same " Compound for sins they aire inclined to, By damning those they have no mind to." The Licensed Victuallers' Association request, by public advertisement, all publicans to close their houses during divine service to-morrow, the same being set apart for a Day of Thanksgiving. The appeal, 1 believe, will be generally responded to. Some ill-natured member of our community has begrudged his fellow-townspeople the way in which . they have exposed their wares for sale, and spurred the police to an onslaught. Trade being dull with the Polioe Court, a house-to-house visitation lias been made, and all objectionable articles ordered down. The tradespeople are naturally and virtuously indignant, and, as a panacea of their wrongs, have called a public meeting for to-night to discuss their rights and wrongs. They say that if the obnoxious bye-law is not removed, they will call upon the City Council to resign in a body. I, for one, am against interfering with the libei-ty of the subject, as he is aptat times to get his back up. The Nebraska is now long overdue, and causes no little anxiety; it is forty-four days since she left Auckland last voyage. There is no doubt that a spare boat is required to guard against accidents and contingencies,, and until this is provided we must put up with annoyances, delays and disappointments. —