The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1803, 26 January 1884, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

SATURDAY, JAX. 26, 1884.

Between the Government and the local bodies tho Victoria road, which forms part of the line of communication between Cambridge and the r lhamss Valley, stands a fair chance of being wiped out, The former^

will and the latter cannot ox. pend thtt amount of money necessary to keep it in repair, and what will eventually become of it we hardly know. The road, as our readers know, traverses a swampfor many inilo.M, and for this swamp there is no e'licient outlet, the consequence being th it in winter-timo, or during the continuance of such wea'her as we havrt been having of late, the road is flooded, and almost impassable. The natural outlet is through what is known as thp Tauwhare Block, which is the property of the Government. This land has been surveyed with a view to its disposal by public auction. The Waikato County Council, having before them the necessity for draining the Vic toria road, submitted to the Native Minister, in whose charge the land then was, that it should either be sold subject to a provision compelling the purchaser or purchasers to drain it, or that the Government should cut the drain before the land is put in the market. It was pointed out that the cost of making the drain would be more than recouped by the amount which would be given for the land over and above what it would fetch in its present state. But to the recommendation of the county, the Native office and subsequently the Lands Dep irtment have been alike deaf. Now, apart from the question as to whether or not other lands would be benefited by the proposed drain, a circumstance which Mr Bryce, at any rate, did not lose sight of, the Government ought to do something towards rendering the Victoria road lit for traffic It is the main thoroughfare between the important districts of Cambridge, Pukekura and the other upper Wai pa and Waikato districts, and the Piako and Thames country. It is true the Government says it has made provision for works of the kind in the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, airl that advantage should be taken of that measure ; but the Victoria road i>. not an ordinary road, it is in fact sui generis. In the Tamahere Road District, it is not of it ■ for the vast majority of ratepayers in that district have no interest in the road whatever, and it would be most unfair to saddle them with its maintenance. Nor would it be just to throw the responsibility upon the county, for the same reasons. We do not find fault with the resolution of the Government to put a period to the system of giving grants for county and district works ; we believe the new policy to be sound ; but in the case under notice the State is noc asked to give money, but simply to adopt a plan whereby the necessary assistance can be given without loss to the Government, the local bodies, or the purchasers of the Tauwhare Crown lands. If Mr llolleston can do a good turn to the people of Cambridge and the other districts affected at so small a cost, he ought not to hesitate. He is not likely ever to get such an excellent chance of being generous again. The people of the districts referred to deserve some consideration. They subscribed about £1000 to make the Victoria road in the first instance ; and even now they do not come as beggars, but prepared with a scheme which, if carried out, will not only effect their purpose, but put money into the Colonial Treasury as well. We are glad to see that, notwithstanding the decided tone adopted by the Lands Department, the members of the Waikato County Council have not abandoned all hope. They are determined to make one more effort to obtain what they conceive to be fair treatment. Let us hope they will, with the aid of the member for the district, triumph over departmental red tapeism.

The Cambridge West School will re-open on Wednesday next, the 30th iust.

Carter for the latter. The flourishing «hhdit ton of this society will doubtless command considerable support.

The comet has been distinctly visible during the last two nights.

Mr James McDonald, M.H.R. for Bruce, has been prosecuted for neglecting to furnish any statement of his property under the Property Tax: Act.

The electoral rolls for Waipa and Waikdlo are now open for inspection. An adveitisement m another column contains the necessary information in regard thereto.

We are informed that portions of the Waikato-Thames road, between Eureka and the end of the company's property, are in a very bad .state, and require immediate attention.

At the meeting of the Waikato County Council yesterday, Cr. Primrose withdrew his motion to levy a county rate, giving its his reason that circumstances had changed since the date on which he ga\ c notice of his intention to move in the matter.

We direct attention to the amended time-table issued by the Railway Department for Tuesday's holiday. From this it will be seen that no provision has been made for Waikato people visiting Auckland on that day, but the arrangements in regard to the Te Awamutu Races appear to be ample and complete.

The annual meetings of householders for the purpose of electing school committees will be held on Monday next, at the times and places specified in an | advertisement in another part of this issue. | Secretaries of committees in outlying districts will confer a favour by forwarding notices of the meetings to this office as soon as convenient.

The head teacher of the Cambridge District High School, in his report for the year, states that on an average one in every three children is absent on each occasion the school is opened. This is a very striking fact, and shows too plainly the palpable negligence of parents in school matters.

As will be seen from a report which appears in another column, Whatuaio and his party at Waotu have forcibly obstructed Mr Don Stubbing in proceeding with the laying off of the sub-divisions of the Waotu South Block. They took his theodolite, and are now in possession of it. We expect that legal proceedings will be immediately instituted against them.

The steeplechase between Mr Douglas's QuUp and Mr Rutherford's Sportsman, comes off on the Cambridge racecourse at three o'clock to-day, when a large attendance is expected to witness the contest. Among the majority of the Cambridge public, Quilp is the favourite, but the betting is pretty fairly divided.

Mr W. K. Carter will start running his coach to Rotorua on Tuesday, January 29th, and will continue running it on every Tuesday and Thursday following, returning from Eofcorua every Wednesday anJ Friday. The single fare is fixed at £115s; but return tickets Available for one week will be granted for £3.

We observe that the Mutual Assurance Society of Victoria, a society that has made very rapid progress since its, establishment, has opened agencies at Cambridge and Hamilton, the agents being Mr Pi9kQUSOQ for tbo former, *fld. Mr $, H,

At yesterday's meeting of the Waikato County Council, the clerk reported that he had received a letter from Mr Coleman Phillips, a property owner in the county, giving as his reason for not paying hia rates that lie did not know rates were levied in this part of the country. Mr Phillips lives in the Wairarapa, and as the collector could not discover Iris place of residence, his rate were demanded by advertisement, followed by an action in the R.M. Court.

In another part of this issue a correspondent, " Old Road," endeavour* ti» controvert the statements m.ide in Tnes day's paper concerning the Hamilton Whatawhata road. The need for replying to " Old Road" is obviated by the fact that the Waipa County Council does not, after all, contemplate making the exchange of road referred to. We have the assurance of the engineer to this effect. How, in the face of this, the report that the swamp road was to be abandoned should ha\e acquiied such an extensive circulation we are at a loss to conjecture. We can only bay that we are gratified to find the councillors are not so stupid as we unwittingly took then 1 to be.

The following special telegrams to the Press Association, dated London, January 23rd and 14th, have appeared in the N.Z. Herald :—Messrs Young and Lark, Australian merchants, have sequestrated their estate with tune liabilities amounting to £250,000, and repoited assets in the colonies representing 30s in the pound.—The couucil of the London Chamber of Commerce has discussed the scheme for the federation of the colonies as being one for the establishment of a gieat trade union. —The trial of the Victorian gunboats has been postponed.—lt is rumoured that Lord Augustus Loftus will succeed the Mai quits of Normanby as Governor of Victoria.—A large quantity of salmon and trout ova is to be shipped by the lonic to New Zealand.—The estate of Messrs Alexander and Henry Brogden has been liquidated privately.

A number of ladies and gentlemen, including members of the school committee, attended at the Hamilton West School at 3 o'clock on Thuisday afternoon to witness the presentation of the scholarship ceitificate to Master Robert J. (iwynne. The presentation was made by Mr James Hume, chairman of the committee, who, in the courao of his remarks, said lie felt gratified that the fii.it scholarship awaided to a Hamilton pupil should have been gained by a Hamilton West boy. He counselled the other pupils to apply themselves to their studies, and endeavour to follow the example of their schoolmate. Mr Robeit Biadley, in referiing to the occasion which had brought them together, said he took a gi eater interest in the question of education than in almost any other. He considered that the system they m New Zealand enjoyed was eminently adapted to fit them to fill the 1 i/nest stations in life. He uiged upon the children the necessity for obedience to their teacher*, as without this it was not possible to attain to such honour as that involved in the success achieved by the pupil who had that day received a scholarship certificate. Cheers given by the childten brought the proceedings to a close.

Messrs Mercer and Marshall are at present making good progress with their railw ay formation contract between Mori insville and Oxford. They have already reached the Matamata estate, where a large number of men are at work. Another batch of men aie at work about five miles from Oxfoid. Several alterations have taken place in the contract, which has entailed considerable delay. The contract time terminates in about five months, but owing to the number of extras and minute deviations fiom the original plan?, this time is expected to be gieatly exceeded. The contractors have had no occasion to complain of a scarcity of labour, thin being very plentiful, and at a reasonable figure, until the commencement of harvest operations in the district, when a number of the navvies behving that harvest work was much easier, and much better paid than digging and excavating, gave up woik and went in seaich of the more pieferable occupation.