The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Saturday, April 27, 1889. NOTES. COLONIAL TOADYISM.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 291, 27 April 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Saturday, April 27, 1889. NOTES. COLONIAL TOADYISM.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God's, And truth's.

It is a mercy that Lord Onslow, our new Governor, has at last arrived and got fairly settled down, btcause the fuss that has been made over his arrival is sufficient to disgust anyone who has in him any of that independenes of spirit which characterised the old colonists, We prate about living in a democritic age, and all that sort of thing. But what do we find? A feeling of bitter jealousy has been rankling for months in Wallington and Auckland, as to which place Lord Onslow should visit first, and if that gentleman had only been made acquainted with what was going on his estimate of the people of whom he was to form the ornamental bead must have been a very poor one. The cringing servility of the modern colonial, when he has in bis mind the consideration of anything pertaining to royalty or its deputies, is enough to bring a blush of shame to those who have been taught to regard their fellowmen in a less contemptuous light, We have beard so much about Lord and Lady Onslow, and their poodle dogs and horses and carriages, and his Lordship’s opinion on the Imperial Institute and other sentimental frauds, that we wonder if there is any sensible ■ide to all the bumbug, Lord Onslow himself seems a well-meaning, earnest man, but the toadies who have been fighting for a place in the sunlight of his eye are beneath contempt, though many of them put forth strong claims to the good opinion of men of independent minds.

SCHOOL COMMITTEES. It is pleasing to note the general good feeling which has prevailed thia year in the election of School Committees throughout the district. The principle of cumulative voting has of course had its surprises io store for the householders by the figures which have been allotted to eaoh candidate; but all things considered, general satisfaction has been given, the cumulative voting system coming in for all the grumbling that was done. In every centre the householders seem to be thoroughly satisfied at the progress which is being made in the school, and this in itself is a most gratifying feature. The Gisborne people indeed seem so satisfied with the school, the Committee and everything else, that they did not think it worth their while to step round to the meeting—at least only thirty did and of that number seven had to be elected as a Committee for the ensuing year. So far as the township is concerned it is well represented, the district above Stanley road having three members on the Committee, though Mr Johnston is the only one below Derby street. But where were the householders of Whataupoko and Kaiti ? only one or two, if any, being at the meeting. Their absence must be regarded (making an allowance for the weather) either as the result of total indifference or complete satisfaction with the centralisation system, of which Mr DeLautour struck the keynote. There are, we know, a few dissentients, but why had they not the courage to attend the meeting and give their views on ths subject? The want of funds is a great obstaole in the consideration of the question of centralisation or ths erection of side schools, but |t is better that the dissintients should take thejr stand now, if they have any stand to make, than leave it until such a period that any outcry will be dangerous to our claims on the Board for assistance. A correspondent, in another column, gives publicity to his feelings, but ws may ask why had he not the public spirit to attend the meeting 1

PfiOSPBCIINO THE VBIWIBA COUNTRY. Ofiß telegrams inform ua that Messrs Kelly and Locke have been successful in obtaining the consent of the Urjwera natives to the prospecting of that country by Europeans. It is of course at the prison t lima impossible to estimate the importance of this concession until there is some satisfactory proof as to its value, but if there is anything in the reports as to the richness of this country grsat things may be expected from the pro■pecting of the place. Its richness has been dreamt of for many years, and specimens of alluvial gold have been produced which, it the genuineness of their discovery osn be relied on, are a sure indication of a payable goldfield, It has aven been said that it permission oould ha obtained to prospect the country, there are those who are in possession of knowledge that would at once enable them to strike a veritable bonanza. Now we are informed the desired permission has been obtained, with certain restrictions to protect the natives' rights. It will be interesting to know to whet results this will lead in the next twelve months; ws certainly think there is a bright prospect in store tor us in regard to this country.

NATIVES AND SHILLY-SHALLYINO. Ths natives pf th<s district have taken upon themselves a ooqrse which ought to serve as a lesson tq their white brethren, Whose apathy In all that concerns themselves generally is such that one cannot wonder that they qnly receive a small portion of their fair share in th? consideration of the State, Ths natives having bean informed that though there Is a Land Court Judge sitting here, the uncertainty of his position prevents him entering upon necessary work, they have had a petition drafted, and which is now in course of signature, to have the wrong remedied, and to have Judge Barton permanently appointed to this district. This is a practical way of trying to obtain some measure of justice, but it is a great deal Worse than that; while put in the shape of a supplication, it is an elegantly-worded exposure of the burlesque which the Government has being playing in Gisborne. It is too shallow even to deceive the simple-mjnded natives, and they know it puts them to eontlnuous expanse tor no purpose, If anything can shame the Government into the arranging of a more rational state of Ihingi ibii csnaiuly aught toda it., -awaaA