The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 8, 18 May 1872, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SA'ITKDAY, MAY 18, 1872. Tiik ('nmmnti'e of the Waikato A t i»-riciilt.ur:»l >S>eiety have evinced their appreciation ot {.ho advantage of stirring up a spirit of in our farmers, by offer-ing prizes for the best crops of wheat, hurley, oats, ,stiL; - ar-beet, ur.tl linseed g'lown in the Waiknto district, in tlio ensuing season. '1 lie amount of the prizes ollered is small; nut , farmers must remember, Imwovor, that the honour attached to the gaining of a prize is riot to bo estimated by the intrinsic value of the prize itself. (.Ireat generals ami statesmen are proud to wear the insignia of different orders, not because they place any value on the bauble with which they are presented. They are proud of the decoration because they lmve received it for some services, either real or imaginary, they have perlonned for the vSiaie ; it's not thecTccoration itself that confers honor, it only does so as making- the wearer of it a marked man among- his fellows. A farmer who in his own business stands first o: his class is equally to be honored by his countrymen. The head of a farming community is not, perhaps, so exalted a position as that of the leader of armies, or that of the statesman who holds in his hands the destinies of million* of the human race, the farmer, nevertheless, has the advantage uf knowing that by his labours he has conienvd undoubted benetit on humanity. Yew lire the statesmen or generals who at the end oi their career can say with the tillers of the soil, " my life has beou spent in benefiting , mankind, and during my eaieer I have in•jured no man." Wheat and oats have already been extensively grown in the Waikato, and the growing ot these crops can no longer be looked upon us more of a speculation than is the ease in all grain-producing , countries. Experiments on a small scale have proved cmschiMvely that the sugatsbeot can be sucivssfully grown in this district and there is ou'-y required to be a regular supply of a suffi? ciout quantity of the root guaranteed, for capitalists soon to be found to build a mill and enter into the usually profitable industry of sugar manufacture. The .'same - remark may bo equally-applied to the introduction of the necessary uiachiuery for extmeting' the oil from linseed. "We are now importing , from other countries largo quantities of sugar and linseed oil j the colony of course, is impoverished to the full extent of the cost of those articles, All young countries are .held back for want of Capital to carry out the works necessary to devclope their resources. So long as a (•on.ntry imports largely those things that, can

j Ij« grown within its boundaries, aud there i is at the sumo time.land lying , idle, ifc is only in * ii very priinitive stag-y of'oivilization ; statcs- ; men are aware oftlii> fact, but even in th-is j nineteenth century, with its diffusion of educu- [ tion, by thu Behoolmastur, books, awd npws- ! paper*, the settlers in New Zealand, if they; are J coo-nisant of lifcUe.trp.ub|oin. ; the matter; and it i.s not lon£ sirice.'.fchat She (r»;ntJeniuii who holil.s the purse strings of the colony expressed himself in terms which we may fairly state to be those ot-rugvet ."that i the manufacture ofapiritn in-thy. colony had caused a frreat failing off in tlio roVenue of : fclie oonutt*y" We wish to impress the faet that every • ton of sugar, every gallon of linseed oil produced iiriNew Zealand, adds to the wealt:i of die colony to the extent of their cost in other countries. Wβ trust vvJien the time arrives we fcimll bo able to report thnt a considerable number of aotvs are under cultiviifc on with the ; raw mate rial from which bofca these articles of coiisuraptiori avo made, ■Soiitli'.s Coiupany perforrned last night at Jtiimilton to a very good liouse, considering the eoiiuter-aht-ractiori of the Tea-meeting. The Charybdis sehoiuier, consigned to the Waikato Steam (,'oinpany, with a cargo of wheat, sailed from Lylteli'on yestonlay. A meeting wuh hel<[ «n Thursday evening for the purpose of to: u)ing a Clicks Club in Ngaruawahia. 'I'hero wa.-i ;- very good attendance, and fourteen jiairiCHJ we:<; [n'aec-d upuij tlje list. It was agreed that the to the Club aliould bo 2a. 6d. perquarfer; this was thought sufficient, as tjjere ar<s enough boards and men belonging to the jnem.lkjis for present rei[uirements. Alessrs.- Bell, ilijul., and jN'ielioli were appointed a (Joruiuitfcee of Management, the last gontleinau to be Secretary and Treasurer. Tuesday evening in every week was fixed upon as that of meeting. Ladies are to be admitted to membership free of cost ; we hope that their sense of propriety will allow of their availing themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them. The rules of the Aucicland Chess Club are to be adopted subject to such alterations as it may be found necessary to make, to suit the special requirements of the Ngaruawahia Club. We understand that it is the iutentipn of the Club to challenge the rest of the VVaikato at an' early date ; if they take our advice tUey will try one place at a time. The Cambridge Cavalry Volunteer Corps completed their six days' drill, including one day last month, on Wednesday, the loth hist., when they were inspected by Colonel Lyon, and Captain AJacphersoii, Adjutant of Militia and Volunteers. As the day was unfortunately showery the men were only put through a few movements, which j considering the short time wincq the corps has commenced to drill were very creditably executed. Colonel Lyon stated that from what he had seen aud from the report' he had received from the Captain he would have much pleasure in forward-' ing a favorable report of the corps to the Government. During the entire fivo days the men mustered well • there not being more than two absent on any one day, and every man seemed determined to do his best to make himself thoroughly aiimiaintecl . with his d.i 1, The heartiness with which every one connected with the corps entered into the spirit of the matter was quite cheering. At iirst some of the members of the corps exhibited a little awkwardness, but every day showed a groat improvement in this respect. On tho last day both men aud horses worked very much more ""steadily, The corps is greatly indebted to Sergeant Frasor, their Drill Instructor, for the progress they have. made. His clear and lucid explanations of the various orders given and movements to be executed rendered everything so easily understood that no one who paid attention could do otherwise than make rapid progress, The corps may consider itself extremely fortunate in having such an able drjll-instructor, one who is so thoroughly au fait at his biiginess, and withal so painstaking and impartial, The corps is also fortunate in having for its captain a gentleman who h;>,s for many years held a commission as a Volunteer Cavalry Officer, and who by his daring manner when at the head of his troop, as well as by his urbanity in private, has endeared himself to every member qf his corps. The weather with the exception of the last day was vary fine, in fact better weather could not be desired ; and no accident of any kind occurred to throw a damper on , the proceedings. On Tuesday the revolvers were served out, and the men had some" practice with them on Wednesday, the average of the shooting being very good, something over 10 points out of a possible '20. Each man tired 5 shots at 20 yards, Captain Jiunciman heading the list with 20, he having scored 5 bull's eyes. Speaking about the remarks on extra-judicial subjects usually made by judges in their charges to Grand Juries, Mr. Justice Richmond said lately : Ignorant critics of the Bench have sometimes supposed that in making such observations, as it has sometimes fallen to myself to do, a judge is trespassing beyond his, functions. This is a mis- : take. Vet such reranvks, as they often affect large numbers of poisons, havo a political character. The abolition of the U' - and Jury would deprive the judicial Bench qf all opportunity of entering upon :'this wide field. For my own part, [ should by no ■ means regret the change, as I quite beligve that ! under civil institutions like ours, it is on the whole \ better that the iudges should confine themselves to their purely judicial duties, without entering on \ subjects connected with administration. , ' The 1 Colonist apparently is nettled by this, and takes pains to show that the "ignorant critics " referred to are not on its staff, We call the attention of our settlers to the following, wliieh we extract from the Richmond River Express : —" I have received, on reliable authority, the assurance that a floating steam sugar mill is to be at work on the Richmond River by September next. This is a step Tn" the; right ' direction. Rumor states it has been brought about by the distress a gentleman has witnessed : in his travels from one en.d cjf the river to. the ; other among the selectors, who", he considers, are : harder worked, and wsrse off than many slaves in ; slave States ; and this s,tate of distress arising from no fault of their own, but for want of the means oT converting tlieir crops of. cane-into, a marketable commodity. This want, it appears, the gentleman above referred to intends shall at once be grappled with, by immediately securing, the. necessary floating plant, to be ready as before state 4 ' It ie also stated that he will advance £6 per growing cane crops, iu rations,, a.trifle over cost price." j Having two navigable-rivers, the above is worthy of consideration. .We hope to- sf£ ere long a considerable quantity of sugar-beet grown in the Waikato, and it appears-*tip us that in the end the.cheapest form of inill would be on this principle.

A fyolharrJy, practical joke recently attempted to be played" ttp'ou the firing |>arty of the No. 1 B3fctery of Volunteer Artillery, which happened- to bedetected in time, otherwise ic could hardly have fa|l(t<l to cause ths loss ot's<sy : «ral Ijves and serious injury to other,,. When the firing party got Jojyn to the battery in the Queen'sf 7 Park, to tire the on the Governor's proceeding to open Parliament they took tho precaution to *' prove " the gana before load.mg. four of them, .were founil -to. have .been loaded Of bliuUrfug" pciwder setyn up in calico bags ; on one of the charges had been rammed a pair of old trousers, on another a bag of sand, on a third a " sugee " bag, and on tho fourth a bundle of old ragF, The touch-holes of all the guns so loaded had been stopped-up, apparently to prevent any wet from getting to the powder. The guu3 iipe very old ones; having been cast in 1J97 or 179S,'and if they "had been doui.le-loaded they would in all probability have burst, Besides which, 'calico is a" most "dangerdus wrapper fur powder, as it bursts up and leaves small fragments of ignited material in the gun, which, would have fired a secorfd charge whi!st the loading was going on, and could scarcely have failed in maiming, if it had not killed, some of the -men engaged in that work. — Brisbane Courier. Discussing the Verdon diuiier, the Spectator sav3 : " The general tone of the speeches was exceedingly satisfactory, sho.vying a very different and much more cordial relation between the Colonial Ofiiees, indeed, the Briish Government generally, than has pro-vailed for mmy. years. Lord Kimberley made a sensible and very amusing speech, with which we only find one fault. Why must he, and not he only, but colonial seoretar-ies in general, always be suggesting and harping up-m the possible separation between England and her colonies, which the Government professes to dread so much, and which we have no doubt L,ord Kimberly does really dread? It is the very way to bring it about, thus to accustom the public mind to think of it as inevitably forcing itself on the most reluctant imaginations, For the rest, .Lord Kimbarly was very wise as well as entertaining, and told a capital story of the attem.pt of a h'dgetty colonial governor to consult him, from the other end of the world by telegaph on the minutiae of colonial business, Lord ICimberley promptly telegraphed back, '• Matter much too difficult to decide by telegraph ; Avrite by post." It would have been better still, to say, M Either decide for. yourself or write by post ;"* but the notion of governing the antipodes by telegraph is positively alarming. -These great discoveries may break up empires, after all, if we are not sober-minded enough to know the limits within which to use them. The Otago Daily Times learns that the shipments during March of preserved meats from the three establishments of'the New Zealand Meat Preserving Company reached the very high figure of 1,037,000 lbs. The daily production of those establishments during the last four months, and at the " present time, "exceeds 40,000 lbs, and this rate is expected to be maintained for two months, to gome. : , « rr* ♦-γ-s ■ PUBL.IC MEETING. A public meeting was held in the Delta Hotel, xNgaruawahia, on Thursday evening, for the purpose of considering the advisability of presenting His Excellency the Governor and .the Hon. Donald Maclean with addresses on their approaching visit to the Waikatn. Mr. Innes was voted to the chair, and in opening the proceedings said, that as it was understood His Excellency the Governor would not visit the district for some time it would be unnecessary on that occasion to consider the drawing up of an address to him. He understood, however, th.at Mr. Maclean, would arrive next week. He was confident that the meeting would be unanimous in the opinion that the thanks of ihe Colony are due to the Dqfence Minister for to able manner iu which he has conducted the department of Government entrusted to him. He then called upon somebody to move the fi.st resolution. Mr. Charles Bell said he rose with much pleasure to move'the resolution placed in his hands. He considered that to the ■Hon, Mr. Maclean's ability we are'indebted for the peace and" quietness which has prevailed for some tim.e. Not being a public speaker he would jtroceed at once to move " That in the opinion of this. meeting the thanks of this Colony are due to the Hon. Donald Maclean for the able manner in which he has fulfilled the onerous duties which have devolved upon hini in his position as Native Minister." The resolution was seconded by Mr. Bradley in a brief speech, and, on being put to the meeting, was carried by acclamation. • ■ Mr. Butcher then moved the second resolution, "That an address be presented to the Hon. Donald Maclean on his visit to the Waikato, congratulating him upon the gatisfactory result of his Native policy." The,resolution was seconded by. Mr, !Ha.rria. Mr. Newell wanted to know what Mr. Maclean had done. Mr. Holloway said that when he came to the meeting he had no intention of taking any but a. passive part in the proceedings, but as* there seemed to be some diffidence on the part of the gentlemen present to explain to the meeting what Mr. Maclean had done for the colony, he would take the duty upon himself. Until the question was put by the gentleman opposite, he thought that those services were well known and appreciated by the settlers in the Waikato. When Mr. Maclean took office, distiirbances were proceeding in the North, South, East and West of the -Jslaml, There was necessarily in ithe early days of his administration some fighting and trouble, but at the present time there is peace and quietness throughout'the whole Island. Mr. Maclean has had tire ability to understand that diplomacy is cheaper-than fighting, and, in the end, much more effective, fn place of righting he h*s employed the forces at his disposal in the making of roads into the interior of Ihe Island, and every mile of road made may "be looked upon as a much greater triumph than many of the victories which we have heard so much,. Our great difficulty has-' jilways been that- 4he natives occupied the centre of the Island and we the coast line. ; At any time, therefore, they could move dawn on ofir scattered settlements, commit a few murders, perhaps on.the East Coasts and before a force could arrive they were repeating the process on the West: This is all altered now. We have good roads into the interior, and if we can only succeed in keeping quiet for a few months longer, our means of comniunication, will be suchy that any attempt at disturbance on the part of the natives will be speedily frustrated. .Mr. Maclean"has brought this about, and it is .diffi.cult,t.ounderstand how anybody who has had '• an opportunity of watching the progress of events can doubt that he has thereby cohieired a great and; lasting benefit on the colonists of New Zealand. Mr. R. R. Hunt moved the third reesolution : "That the following gentlemen be appointed a committee f or npjutaddress embodying the sentiments ""expressed in- the two. former resolutions, such address to be submitted to a future meeting :—Mesara> Jiume, Bradley, Bell, Eansome, Holloway." The meeting then concluded,

TJSA .MEETING AT HAMILTON. Tiik sfvfiuU anniversary of the Hamilton Congregational Church was held on Thiut-duy evening, and proved si ceinpjutu success. Abo it 100 "people sat down, j tu teu, which, was. Pr vicud-on u-liberal j»cule by the. 'ladies of u-u the tables wept. ' c cueri iitt ay, ai)d tlip proceedings coiiiineijctd by j Rev. Mr Law, of Cambrtdgt, ia prayer. I Ttie" oliuirman, Cijit. Steele, jhfcu delivered a short I address, which iv as, fallowed Lj« a Itynuy sung by tue : eboir, ably cipiiliict id by>Mr. fausiiefd:' Members o : tlii'"u6s)^r'pitiou then Rddresspii'-the liucting I Litiny tlu; Church and S lioul ma»iii;ein<ut, impressing ! upon nil the nei-«.<Mty of svorUiu in unity, giving freely i to thi- Church according to the means at their di>posul, I and of be ijj co toiwci with tlu ir pr.seut position in life. i-Duritjg die- ey<*nittj»-the -choir iitvoured the company j with some choice njusie, "The Echo" and '" 1] >at i >Si>ii#'' being particularly well rendered. Tue K-'V. Mr. ! Davis came forward and thttnked tlie Company lor the' ! re-iiemhraiKu <»f two of the late members of tliu Church J —the AJessrs, Pavi.s, why Ijtye duparted i'ur the Suuth j Seas. He then dwelt briefly on the pa,st and pre.-ent j state of the Cimrcb, and concluded by according a vote i of than.k.4 to. the worthy chairman, who replied ia a lew I t'.-rse rcinurks, The evening was ■ctujciuded Iγ a vote I of r hanks to the Indium, and the-perf<irinaucL» of a parting J liyinu by the choir, when the company depurated well pleased w.itli thpir evening's entertainment, —Communicated. I .- ■ .'