PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

IT would : fre sheer hypocrisy for us to pretend that we are amongst the newspapers that regret the retirement of Mr Justice Conolly from the Supreme Court, bench. For reasons we have stated over and over again, we think it would have been in 'the public interest if he had resigned years a^'O, though probably this step would not have been agreeable to himself or satisfactory to his circumstances. Neither do we think the puulia will regret his retirement. It is an incontestable fact that the public has never placed the degree <jf confidence in Mr Justice Conolly that our judiciary should command, and, without venturing upon any criticism of his career on the bench, it is a fact that his attitude in fcbe memorable skin-grafting case, the prosecution of Dr Wilkins,. and the notorious Richardson trial, placed a strain on what public confidence had existed. ■•• -•■ ••- The elevation of Mr Conolly to the judiciary was the consequence of the objectionable system under which an Attorney General is considered to ha"c the Hrst right to any vacant judgeship. In the present instance, the Government have departed from that custom by appointing Mr Chapman as the new judge, instead of the Hon. Colonel Pitt, a decision that will be welcomed throughout the colony. So far as Mr Conolly was concerned, his brilliance as«a lawyer would never have obtained for him the distinction that he gained through adventitious political circumstances. At the same time, his faults as a judge, such as they were, did not arise from want, of conscientiousness. He was ;i faithful public servant, placing duty above personal . considerations, and we believe his- desire was invariably to approach a case with his mind free from bias or prejudice. ••• -•■ ••- Mr Justice Edwards has been appointed to the Auckland district, in the place of Mr Conolly, and this choice is one that will general satisfaction. He is a sound lawyer, is patient and conscientious on the bench, and has the reputation of being free from bias or prejudice in the cases

th^co»ii(^:bfejtf^^^i^;.,lt was Judge JSdwatfdW, lr our^ea^Safl remem ber, who* •s& ':Jfo:,smtes&t& b y the Go verfij»^ ; ■ In! Joffis3ti<iji: -with a former , eeftnp&r^ ;mso\*isiip%t, and who \vafs -;'<^i^l||af ,vW;'%ietition I 'arliamerit again an^ri^aih -btjfjrre lie secured even a measure «f, jnstice. Though the. resignation of Mr. Justice Con oily, the .transfer of Mr Justice Edwards to Auc Is land, and the appointment of .Mr Chaprjwv to the vacant ju'dge.s,hip. were ou(y ai>rio v unced by the daily papers several days ago, they'w.ejre anticipated by the OnsrcitVKii three or four issues, back. When Miss Ada Crossley was liolding a concert in Cleveland, Ohio, during her recent tour of the United States, she found a little girl of seven engaged in an excited argument with the man in the box office just before the opening of the show. '• What is it, little girl?" asked the vocalist. "I want to see Miss Crossley," replied the child, " but this feller won't sell me a ticket for lesser'n half-adollar, so I guess I'll have to quit hearing her sing." The Australian's ey< j s watered at the pathos of the poor little fjirl denied the musical treat to which she had been looking forward, and, taking her by the hand, she led her into the theatre, and gave her a front seat. .»• ••■ ' .©• "Then, you have been saving up all your money to come and hear me sing," she said, when she had explained her identity to the child. "No, miss, not exactly that ; but, you see, mum's a W.C.T. U., and I -have -got to save up all the cents I get for the Chinese mission. But, as you came along just wheu I'd got about 43 cents, I thought it was up to me to have a good time, anil let the Chinks wait for salvation. They have done along while without it, and it won't hurt 'em to wait a little longer." •c- ••• •«' Waikato is losing a brace or settlers whose qualities are very well expressed by their surname, which is (.ioodfellow Hugh ar.d John of that ilk have been residents of the Te Awamntii district ever since anybody can reiii-.-inber, and they have outstayed halt a-d >zen generations of settlers that have come and i;;oiie. Few people have worked harder, and fewer have such good satisfactory results to point to. It is not surprising that they should have parted with their magnificent property, because they have for many years l>een besieged with otters for it, but what surprises most of their old friends is that they should have made up their minds to take a holiday. They are going to see the world, and all who know them will hope they may have a jolly good time.

Eugene Hulse told several very good stories during the course of his recent lecture on musical criticism, and this one will bear repetition. The music committee of a certain narrow church sent for the organist for the purpose of admonishing him concerning the light and frivolous character of the music at the previous Sunday service. "We don't doubt you know your business and can handle the organ," said the spokesman, " but, to tell the truth, we think, and have thought for some time past, that your pieces are too much like the opery. It seems to us that the house of the Lord ain't exactly the place for opery music." "Do you mean that my selections are too operatic ?" asked the aniaz -d organist. "Well, yes, that's abont it. Now, for example, that solo that Miss Brown sang last Sunday morning —way up, then way down. That's the kind of music we object to in the house of the Lord." " But, my dear sirs," expostulated the astonished organist, "the solo Miss Brown sang' was * I Know that My 1 Redeemer Liveth ' !" <« Well,"rejoinec[ the earnest

eoiiiniitieeitian, "we don't know anything about that, but what we should like are some good hymn tunes, or we <Un't object to a rousing opening chorus like ' Hold the Fort,' but th« opery music, as we said before, we don't hold with." ••• .' ••• ••> The Earl of Lonsdale, who passed through Auckland last week on his way from Australia to America, is a notable personage. His tastes ascend from racehorses to Emperors. He is a particular friend of the Kaiser, who generally stays at bis place whenever he visits England, but he was just as much at home at Wellington Park on Friday last as he would be in the 'Emperor's palace at Charlottenburg; Despite his penchant for blue blood, human and equine, Lord Lonsdale comes of a family famous for its patronage of literature. His grandfather was the good friend of the poet Wordaworth, and the world owes him no small debt on that score. The sinecure granted to the author of "The Excursion," enabled him. to devote to belles lettttz » genius, that might have rusted in .uncongenial mir* roundings. - - ...

. The charge frequently made against the police, that they dp not give cprjvicted persons a proper chance to reform, has been refuted in the case of the somewhat notorious William Knox. This man bAR had more chances than most honest folk, but he let them go one after another in sheer wantonness. A few years ago he was running a fairly prosperous. Ksh business at Hamilton, which he sacrificed along with his liberty for the sake of a paltry watch (a Waterbury or some other cheap make) which he stole. Afterwards he was convicted af housebreaking. .He was sent; with- other prisoners to Fort Cautiey, whence lie escaped and -underwent memorable adventurer at Hqntly and elsewhere, .is ex-Con-stable White knows. He. was released a couple of years ago v and since ilien, up to a few days ago he led an houest life, according to both his own testimony and that of the police Tlien the virtuous effort apparently grew too tense, and he stole a bag of whitebait, for which he is back in Mount Eden for two months. Cases like Knox's constitute a curious psychological problem. ••• ••• .«. A lurid nay is thrown on the circumstances of the death of a Dunedin girl, a couple of months ago, by the discovery of the drowned body "of her lover, who has been the object of assiduous search on the part of the police. The girl, Agnes Campbell, was found dead on a hill-side, and though little was allowed to transpire at the inquest, it was generally assumed that her death had been caused by someone acting with her consent, and suspicion pointed to a young fellow named Osmond, with whom she had been keeping company. The adi.itional inference warranted by the discovery of the latter's body is, that horrified at the death of the girl, he committed suicide. The young people were said to have been on the eve of marriage. It is a pitiful story.

, John King has swallowed a large quantity of bitter gourd of late years at the instance of the prohibitionists and others, and the purse of sovereigns presented to him the other day must have come as a veritable bonne botiche. The value of the gift (which was handsome enough in the. avoirdupois sense) is enhanced by the fact that it was subscribed by those who have known John longest, and who should therefore be in a position to know him best. Now that he is oiit of office, it is quite likely that his opponents even will be sorry that they made sneli nasty remarks in their haste. To do the prohibitionists justice, they hate measures more than iiien. " ' " ■■' :••»•■'■ ■■■-■•#*•;"■■■■■■' ',|U, ■'■■ Dr Neligan has been blowing up his Hock with such wholesale energy that one . is- not at nil surprised to learn from one newspaper that the Bishop, at Wellington, described religion as a " dynamite force." Possibly, it was dynamite that cracked the sacerdotal crockery. •♦• ••• •«• There is no foolish intellectual modesty about the President of the self -elected "National Council of Women." Mrs Sievwright • brushes aside all the doubts and difficulties which have hampered the mere male metaphysicians and philosophers of all the ages, and boldly declares, with the confidence that belongs to a certain school of theology, that the Council has for its aim "not only rescue and relief, but by probing to the root of matters, to remove, if possible, the remote causes of failure, and the establishment of the radical principle of success in the now conscious evolution of a humanity travelling heavenward." The italics are ours, but it is hardly necessary to emphasise the phrase. A Council that lays down a doctrine of this sort will not be checked by trifles, but it is doubtful if it really understands its own doctrine, or will accomplish any good.

G. W. Goodson has come back from his combined business and pleasure trip to the Far East filled with admiration for the clever people of the land of the Chrysanthemum, but more than ever convinced that New Zealand is the gem of the eartl He travelled over the length and bi Ith of Japan, and now knows exactly .vhere to <>o for those articles of " virtue and bigotry" that are pleasing to the : colonial taste, and for the supply of which he has always enjoyed an enviable renown. The closing weeks of His holiday were sadly clouded by the news that reached him of the accidental death of his youngest son, and the congratulations which his many friends were ready to offer him on his return were tempered by sincere condolences. Mr Goodson returns in excellent health. ••••••••• Miss Lilian Edger, who is back onne more in Auckland, is probably little • more than a name to many of the present generation. She might liave been a great deal more had she pursued the scholastic career she had marked out for herself, and in which she would undoubtedly have distinguished herself, and found a double fame in her own achievements and those of her pupils. But Theosophy came in the way, and whatever may be the special merits of the cult, it certainly fascinates where it touches. ••• ••• ••• Miss Ed<?er has been in India for some years studying the occult philosophy under the celebrated Annie Besant, who was a pupil of the mysterious Blavatsky. Miss Edger is the daughter of the late Samuel Edger, who was the first Unitarian Minister in Auckland many years ago, and she inherited his scholarly aptitude and took a University course with brilliant results, graduating as M.A. A brother of Miss Edger is the wellknown Judge of the Native Land Court, whose talents outside their application to Maori lore incline to nr.;sic. Fred Baume, who has been in Auckland for the week end, declares that the Premier's statement that the young members are responsible for the late sittings of the House, is a wicked slander. The fact is, according to the middle Member, King Richard likes late hour*, because M R tand the strain much better ttraHlpHrangsterß, whom he Jsus has aj^ ? ip|Sd vantage. Frederick jeema none (foci -worse For his legislative dissipation, however. It is to his credit that he made a strong ' fight against the return to single electorates, a retrograde step from the point of view of Liberalism, which John Ballanee and Richard Seddon would and did oppose eleven years

The Opposition has done a wise thing in setting aside Sir William Russell, Messrs Allen and Duthie, and choosing Mr W. F. Massey as leader of the party. Besides being a logical speaker and a good debater, Mr Mas* sey is a man of pleasing personal qualities, as well as being tactful and shrewd. If he does not succeed in welding together the almost irreconcilable elements of the Opposition, and making a compact party, then it is not in the power of any man to do it. With our knowledge of Mr Massej as a guide, we are satisfied also that his party warfare will be confined to honourable methods, and that with him there will be no hitting below the belt. ••••••••• Colonel Craddock, one time of the Carbineers, and who commanded the Second New Zealand Contingent, is named as the commanding officer of the King's Colonials, the new -English mounted corps. Colonel Craddock was probably the most daring of the colonial leaders, and possessed a fund of quiet but stinging satire that made him anything but welcome where "bullet-shy" men and sufferers from " Mauserites " did most congregate. He did not return to the Army after leaving the colonial service, and was engaged in travelling for an engineering firm. Mr J. H. Witheford was in town this week, bland and smiling, but looking as if late nights in the legislative halls of the country were telling on him. He does not appear too sanguine of the prospects of reforming the Lands Department, though his energies are still being devoted to that object, probably in the confidence that constant dropping wears away the stone. Though the proceedings of Parliament are dull just now, Mr Witheford is satisfied that there will be stormy times before the session closes. •+• •#. ••• Percy Isaac, the enterprising host of the rejuvenated Royal Hotel, had a real good time with his motor at St. Heller's on Sunday. Percy made a record run to the favourite watering place, but on arrival something went wrong with the works. It is astonishing how much everybody seems to know about the anatomy and the general internal economy of motor cars, considering their modernity. A dozen amateur engineers quickly gathered, and every one offered different advice, the chorus of y^iftes keeping r&ine wifcfc a perfect forest of fingers. h P#tiy danced round and shouted '" hands oft;" and made other remarks of a cursory nature, but it was a considerable time before he could free himself from the encumbrance and get space to pull the crank that started the machine off again;