THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1886.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2136, 18 March 1886, Page 2

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1886.

Two circumstances have occurred within the past few days which strikingly recall to our mind the changes wrought in the colony in , less than a generation. One is the announcement by Mr Ballance of the intention to relax the sti ingent provisions of the Amis Act, nnd the other is the de.ith of General Chute. Less than twenty years ago Sir Trevor commanded the Imperial and Colonial forces against a race of people, implacable and unyielding foes and to-day the Native Minister possesses such confidence in the loyalty and peaceful instincts of the people that he contemplates gi\ ing them full liberty to arm themseh es in whatsoever manner they may think proper. Uut the change in our attidude towards the Maoris, and in theirs towaids us, has not been brought about solely by the upgrowth of mtitu.il esteem and admiration. The real hard fact i* that we no longer fear the native race, and because they know that to oppose us now were useless, if not suicidal. It is quite true that avc understand one another better, but the necessity of aequiiing this increased knowledge has bceu forced on our dusky brethren by the logic of the rules of subtraction and multiplication. Sir Trevor Chute's death and Mr Ballauce's openhanded declaration force upon the mind the fact that as surely as the ■white population of the colony is increasing, so suiely are the Maoris d) ing off. The reflection may not be a pleasant one, for the race is a grand one in many respects, but the

fact is patent ne\ei theless. Before the \\.ir we have simple evidence t li.it this v:ist ])!.iiu was prett\ tliukly peopled, .iiid nt the close of tint uiih.ippy struggle we kno'\ tint th" refugees who found samtuny in the country over the ImiilcT could be numbered by thou sinds. Theowneis of the soil b•\o!id the a/i/t'tfi line were numerous IUO .uih.it time, .uid \ear>>aftei \\ard-. then' were populous wllage-. 'inrdeiing on the upper w.iters ot (he W.up.i and thioughout the length .uid bie.idth of wh.it is cilled the " lvni'4 Countiy. Jf ue ask, what h.is become of this teeming popul.ition, echo will lepeat " wh.it ' ' Everywhere one goes one may stumble over the ruins ot kaiangas once evidently the homes of hundreds, nay thousands oi native men, women, and children, now utterly desolate and deserted. Within the last two or three years the foot of the Pakeha has invaded the most ancient solitudes of this long locked-up country and each day's journey lias but served to increase the wonder of the European The moaning of the wind is the only sound now heard in settlements where but few years ago the declamation of the orator, the noisy conversation of men and women, and, the merry laughter of childien were common. We need not pause to inquire into the why and the wherefore of this. The causes are not tar to seek. The mixture of civilization and sa\ agery, the union of the worst vices of both races in one will account for e\ery tiling. The worst of the business is there .seems to be no help for it. The disappearance of the aboriginal race seems to be ineutable, the result of the action of natuial laws, which decree that the white tnau shall oust his coloured brethcrn. The New Zealand colonist is not callous ; we shall not be stretching the truth if we say he is humane. If philanthropic efforts could save the remnant of the Maoris from destruction we may take it for granted that they would never die out ; but philanthropy can do nothing of the kind. The natives are of their own motion fast settling the " difficulty " which we should never ha\c been able to settle by our own efforts, though we have spent huge sums of money and wasted hundreds of gallant lives in the attempt. Vice and disease have accomplished what Sir Trevor and his red-coated followers failed to do, and Mr Ballanco's rifles have fallen into hands which formerly needed them not, but are now too weak to use them.

The Cambridge Football Club are requested to meet at Kiik wood's Hotel on the 27th inst.

A meeting of the Tamahere Farmers Club will be held on Friday at the Tamahere store.

The Criterion Hotel, Cambridge, has been painted and p.ipered both internally and externally, and presents a thoroughly renovated appearance.

The annual race meeting in connection with the Rotonu Jockey Club will be held on the Ist April. The programme, which appears in another column, include iMffht event-.. 3 .mil should be the mean> of aiioiding a good day's pleasure.

We have to correct an error in our \\%t issue, stating thiit the Cambridge Library had received a subsidy of £ for £'. It should have been mentioned as a proportion of tho piant in aid voted by Parliament, winch i>. not distributed pro rata.

The usual fortnightly sitting of tho Hamilton it.M. Court w.is held on Tuesday, in consequence of yesterday being 1 S. l\itnc.k\ Day. Only a, few civ il cases wei c sot down for heating, and the money wn*- either paid mto couit, or judgment wa-> coiifobt-ed.

Mr John Segar Buckland will be enteitained at a banquet by Ins numerous W.nkato friends at the Public Hall, Cambridge, on the 31bt inst., on the eve of his leaving the colony. A strong and representative committee has been formed, and it is anticipated that there will be a large gathering.

A serious accident happened at the Raglan races ye^teiday. Mr Y. Ferguson, who was riding in one of the events, was tin own, and sustained either a dislocation orafiacluie of the thigh bone. ])r. Mmch, who w.w at Cunlindsfo, was telegraphed for, and proceeded to Raglan la*t night. No further particulars of the accident are to hand.

The death is announced of Sir Trever Chute. The deceased General succeeded to the command of the British Forces iv New Zealand on the retirement nf (ienenl (J.uneion, and his nimeis indi>snlubly connected with the native wars. (4enoral Chute married a daughter of Mr Samuel Bi owning of Auckland, and at the lime of his death was 71 years of age.

The team to represent Waipa in tlis foithcouiing countyi'inatcli on Saturday week at Hamilton, \\ ill be chosen from the following : — Messrs B.uton, A. H. Brown, Bishop, Ctse, J. H. Edgecumbe, Edney, Greenwood, Hinton, Higginson, T. Kirk, Laner, McTntosh, Osborne, Rathborne, J. .Steele, Hwanson, Soper. Those gentlemen who can play are requested to communicate with Mr Barton, at Hamilton.

Our Harapepe correspondent writer : — The crops in this district this year has c not been good, in fact I may say in many c.ises very bad. The oaten hay crop w.is a very light one, and the potato crop I think will follow suit, as there are only one or two ciops that look as if they would turn out well. The long sppll of dry w either spoilt most of them, and the raia came too late. Our Road Board have acted wisely this year, and have had all the eaithwork, such as cutting-!, formations, etc., done eaily, thus giving the roads time to harden before the (vet weather comes. The trips of the steamer up the Waipa ha\e been \ery irregular of late.

A correspondent write? as follows to tho '• Field :" — " New Zealand, a countiy entiiely goserned by the working class, tm a debt which on March 31st last amounted to £80,040,00!) (since increased). The population at the end of 1884 is icckoneilat(ioo,ooo, so that tho indobtedne-<>, per he.vi is something over £01. Still, in the f.ice of the depiction which is hanging mor the colony like a cloud, the (4o\ eminent show no signs of lepent.ince for the past or amendment for the fntuie. It is proposed to expend this year £230,000 on defence works, \\hich|P,ire unneces-saiy, and e\en if theie wore any real gtounds forfeais of imasioii the defences would not prove \ery formidable to au invader. JJut tome good contracts can be made, so that the log i oiler* arc pleased, and also the ignorant, to whose folly the defences are ostensibly a tribute."

A Hamilton visitor to the Horticultural Show uiites :— The Cambridge Domain Board is to bf congratulated on the impiovement which lias cum fi'ted that eyeMiie of .1 bMranip known .is L tko To Koutu into the extremely attractive oxpanse of water and ground which it now is, and we have no doubt th.it almtlar judicious management will \ cry shortly make the Lake the prettie.st park for its sue in the province. Surely Hamilton, with the advantage of a much larger sheet of water, could do something of a similar nature. Money, or rather the want of it, we presume, stands in the way, but surely both Cambridge and Hamilton possess enough mon with a few pounds or shillings at their disposal to, in the one ca*e carry further, and in the other inaugurate, the improvements urgently called for by the natural beauty of each lake.

The following special messages to the Pros- Association, d.iti-d J,ond>n, M.uch l"»th and 10th, have been published . Thore .u<> "il.ooo mon out <tn strike in V'nu'iic i. -Tho Oun.ud .steamer On-u'un, 7.">0 ton-., has lu'cn sunk through collision. - Sn Aiulifw Clarke will assuino tlu- Agont-wLMit'r.il-liii) i»f Victoria ponding the ai n\.ilf>f -Mi (ii.iluin Ben y. -Tin 1 (>\foi.) clew are f iMiinite-t fm the L T ni\ ci >ity bo.it r.ice agnnst C.iinbndge at '2 to 1. — Tin Itnyil Ciloniil Institute luxu s.inctionci tlic pinch f-e of tlie site of their new buihl infj. — Thu following additional m.itcln's i.ue been ai ranged for the Auuti.ili.iii hum :— Atf.iinst the Noifch of flngland, .\t Hi.vdford, on the Oth September, and i^'ain-t tho Sontli of En^hind, at Brighton, on tii ')Lh .Sf|(trnil) i -Applications foi lie jio-itioii of Pmfi-^or of Clicinistry .it lie \ ict'ii i in I'uiwr-ity will be iccened ■i|> to2!)tli .M.nth.