ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1800, 19 January 1884, Page 3

EC HOES FROM THE CAFE.

- The success that has attended the float- * ing of our million loan is something * ' phenomenal. Ifc senna ouly the other day that oui' first large loan was floated, and we .had to pay pretty dcaily for it, although the late of interest was six per cent, (a high rate in England), for the aimple reason that few people knew anything about New Zealand, except that it was ai> .island somewhere inhabited by cauibalistic savages and a few missionaries'; 1 Even in Australia very little was known about this colony ten years ago. I Went over there about a do/en years ago, and was frequently asked by people who were toll that I came from New Zealand if I knew friends of theiis who had come over here. When I asked to w hat part of New Zealand they had gone, they did not seem very certain on the subject, but would,. 'perhaps, say to Wellington or Dnnedin, and then naively ask, "Is it not all oue place." When I told them Zealand was all one colony, -l>ut that it was nearly a thousand miles from Auckland to Dnncdin, and more than five hundred miles from Auckland to Wellington, they opened their eyes with astonishment. Considering the ignorance about this colony that pie\ ailed in Australia, it is not suipiismg that so little was known about it in England. However, when English capitalists had invested their money in our bonds, they would naturally wish to learn more about us and our resources, and the more they 'earned the better they Mere satisfied, the consequence being that each successive loan has been floated on better terms th.m that which preceded it. In a leading article referring to the successful floating of the million loan, the Star says :—": — " We do not belie\ c foi one moment that they (the people who subscribed the loan) have made a mistake ; the transaction is a much safei thing for them than this unlimited and itnpro\ing credit is for the ■ colonists, who will pay the intciest to "the uttermost farthing, however much . the effort may tax their industry. The 1 high price realised for our latest financial venture will not be an unmixed good, if it should encourage politicians in the belief that they can go on pui chasing sup port, and maintaining themselves in ollicc by the power of a continuous expend i tureof public money, sustained thiousrh drafts ou the English inaiketand orlomal credit." Yes, that is the leal question— the question of supreme impoitanee to US. How is the money to be expended ! Is it to be spent on making political railways, which a\ ill be a slight bench" t to a few individuals ami to ceitain localities, while they aie a heavy loss to the colony at laige. or Mill it be expended on the constuiotion of lines which will readily open up the country It is a matter of secondary impoitanco whether the railway constmetcd with the borrowed millions pay interest on their cost, in addition to woikmg expense, provided they open up the countiy and afford increased facilities to pioduceis and are the means ot augmenting the amount of products. The crying want of the co'ony is more pioduction and less importing. We would not fivl the present drain on the lesouroes of the colony caused by having to pay such a heavy annual charge for interest if we could pay that interest m kind instead of in cash, and that we cannot do until we have more conntiy opened up, moie | producers and moio products. In view of the elections of the vniious licensing committees which me to take place next month, it is stated that the good templars and otheis of their way of thinking are goiny to make auothei attempt to elect commissioneis w ho until be in favour of clos.nq the hotels at ten o'clock. I thing they might as well "save their breath toeool their poiudge," as by attempting too much they will gain nothing. It'tliey would endeavour to get the hotels closed at eleven o'clock they would get the support of almost all the respectable people in the community and most of the respectable hot lkeepers, but to at t«mpt to change the hour for closing from midnight to ten o'clock is to coutt defeat. The change is too radical, and the teetotallers ate not sufficiently pouei ful to effect it. I must admit that I ha\e rather a poor opinion of the Auckland teetotallers. With few exceptions they are much better at talking than at doing. "What did they do to wards building a Coffee Palace here? Nothing. A few of them put their hands in their pockets and took up shares m the company to the full extent of then means, but the vast majority of thorn did not take up a single shaie. Asked the reason of their apathy many of them now say that the euterpuse was too klarge for them. This is their nonsense "or°worse, because the original pioposal was on a very modeiate scale and had each teetotaller in Auckland taken up one £1 share, we would have had a Coffee Palace long ago. Theie is plenty of work for the teetotallers to do, but they are not fond of work. Talking is bo much easier and pleasanter, and so they content themselves with talking. Apropos of teetotalers I have no doubt many of the readers of The Waikato Times will lcmembei the visit of Father Henneberry, who came heie pi caching religion and teetotalism combined to the members of the Roman Catholic Church He was the means of reclaiming a number of drunkards in this city and neigh bourhood, some of whom have i elapsed to their former e\ il habits, w hile otheis remain true to their pledge. Among the latter are an old pensioner and his wife, Ywho bring vegetables in their cart to town, and have done so for many years It was their invariable custom to_ get drunk before leaving town. Homctimes the old man would be able to du\e home, while the old woman was lying hopelessly drunk at the bottom of the catfc, at other times the positions would be reversed, while it not infrequently happened that neither was able to drive, so the old horse had to go home on his own account. Before the present police station was built the land on which it now stands used to be a vacant plot, which was used fc by people who brought vegetables to Ptown. They used to unyoke their horses and tether them to the carts in which their feed was placed, and then go away and do their marketing. One day the old couple to whom I have refer led returned to their cart after doing the'r marketing and partaking of sundry "nobblers," yoked up their horse, T&nd got into their cart for the purpose of driving home. The old man took the reins and struck the hoise, as a mild hint to him to start, but he did not move. Neither words nor blows had any offect, so the man got out of the cart and examined the harness to see that the old dobbin had been properly yoked up. Satisfied with his scrutiny he got into the cart again, but still he was unable to persuade the horse to start. The woman then got out and made a most careful examination of every strap and buckle, but could find nothing wrong, so she got into the cart again. Still the horse would not move, so the old man got out again and made a still more careful in--^r^atigation, which was crowned with success, for he discovered that he had yoked up the horse with his head to the r cart, as he had been standing after he L had finished his feed. For the last fortnight Miss Louise |{y?omeroy and a good company have been Hbloying legitimate drama at the Opera to large audiences. This is as it t should be, for it is infinitely preferable 1 for theatre-goers that they should see 'such plays as Shakespeare's rather than I 1;I 1 ; the sensational dramas, which consist of S* murder or two, possibly a suicide, a t house on. fire, a shipwreck and the explosion of au infernal machine, accom-inanied-by & dialogue either silly or vulgar Jor both". -Miss Porneroy is undoubtedly a Mooi actress, and has the advantage of a Ippidjohft foae *°d. CQramjmdtng figure.

She made a great hit in a most extraordinary character — extraordinary for a lady to appear in — that of Hamlet, and I believe that, on the occasion of her benefit, she is to appear as Romeo, a local lady amvtenr talcing the T-ait of Juliet. Now significance will be given to the line— "Romeo! Romeo! wherefore art tliou Romeo ?"' on th.it occasion.

Br. Mu>go.