THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8869, 29 July 1890, Page 2

THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES

TUESDAY, JULY 29, 1890. The annual meetings of Chambers of Commerce are excellent opportunities for the leading representatives of what we may call the commercial mind to express themselves, and the President's address often contains a good deal of important and suggestive matter. The Presidential address of Mr Bitchie, on. Friday last, is certainly quite up to the average standard of such utterances, and is remarkable for its extremely hopeful tone, all the more so that the usual tendency of the speaker's mind is towards pessimistic views, or, at the least, to extreme caution. The key note of his remarks on the general position of the colony is contained in the sentence — "As to the " general improvement of affairs, " both public and private, in the " colony and city, I think I can " speak with greater confidence than "haß been possible for some years." And he sustains this view with facts and figures. The bankruptcy returns show a considerable reduction, both in the number of bankruptcies and in the amount of paid debts; and, on the . other hand, a considerable increase in dividends paid. The exodus of population, he says, has ceased, and we are now holding our own. Our exports have increased in one year by a million and three-quarters, though the president thinks there may have been some little over valuation. There has been a large increase in the number

of depositors, and in the amount of deposits in our savings banks. Two thousand settlers have taken up 400,000 acres o£ land. Mortgages and other debts have decreased by five millions, and the excess of L 3,000,000 in exports over imports indicates a continuous paying off of old debts. The export of frozen mutton has reached the immense total of a million and a-half of carcases in one year, and yet our flocks do not decrease, and Mr Ritchie considers there is still room at a standard price of 4d per lb at Home with reduced charges for further indefinite increase. And lastly, our export of manufactured goods shows an increase of L 286.000. All these are undoubted facts, and though our public indebtedness has increased ■within the last three years it is no longer increasing. The gold returns are not quite up to expectations, but the number of dredges which will be shortly at work may fairly be expected to increase production greatly; and although Nenthorn has been, so far, a disappointment to sanguine investors, Mr Ritchie is perhaps a little premature in describing it as a "duffer" field, as we hear there are already better prospects in several of the claims. In everything there are signs of life and vigour, and whatever there may be of local dulness in trade may be partly accounted for by the competition of other ports such as Oamaru and Timaru, which have their record of progress too. The President might also have referred to the improved prospects in the Home market for both wheat and oats, and to the possible future development of the dairy industry, which only needs proper organisation to render it a most important adjunct to the profits of the farm. As Mr Fergus very well put it the other day, the cessation of borrowing finds a parallel in the self-reliant policy which we adopted many years ago with respect to the Native difficulty. We dispensed with Imperial aid, and we succeeded, after great ' sacrifices, in overcoming the difficulty. We are adopting a similar policy of selfreliance in regard to finance, and we shall similarly overcome our difficulties. And though our burdens are heavy, we' have 1800 miles of railways, thousands of miles of roads, telegraphs everywhere, and large areas of land being opened up for settlement and taken up as soon as opened, while production and manufactures are going on apace. And one dark shadow which hung over us, the difficulties of the Bank of New Zealand, is now passing away by the satisfactory arrangements which have been made to relieve the Bank of incubus which hung upon it in the shape of the globo assets. These must be realised by the new Company, and in realisation no doubt a large area of land will fall into private hands and be put to better use. We have not space to enter on Mr Ritchie's remarks respecting trade unions, which were very sensible. The proposals of the Harbour Board to increase the dues on goods and decrease the dues on shipping were not formally raised by the President or the Chamber, though Mr Donald Reid defended them with some force. The real reason of the fear of a change was that behind the proposal there lurked a desire to raise more revenue, and that could only be dealt with by putting further burdens on commerce, unless the suggestion which has often been made and which has much to commend it—viz., the creation of a rating district and the raising of a moderate rate on real property within the district—could be carried into effect. The Chamber was unprepared to discuss so large a question as Mr Vaile's system of railway fares or the proposals of the Sydney Oh amber for a universal scale of charges in all the colonies. We endorse the President's remarks as to the importance of Chambers of Commerce, and trust the abolition of the entrance fee will have the desired effect of largely increasing the membership of our local Chamber. Our position may be very well summed up in the one brief sentence of the President's address, "We have " every reason to be sanguine and " cheerful as to the future if we only " remember and take warning by the " past." This valuable testimonial in favour of the colony should, when printed, be circulated as widely as possible in influential circles at Home, as, coming from such a source, it is calculated to do us much good. Op the cases brought before Mr Carew by the vendors of the " Picturesque Atlas," those which have been decided have been given in favour of the plaintiff practically all along the line, and it now seems probable that the unsuspecting persons who have been beguiled into committing their signatures to paper will be compelled to implement the bargains—not those which they had in their minds when they gave the order, but those which the wily canvassers had in theirs. The "book fiend" is the same all the world over, but the specimen which appears in this instance is an unusually intrepid member o£ the class, and in his method showed, as Mr Carew said, a keen knowledge o£ human nature. In many of the cases the patriotism o£ the victim was the stop which was played upon. It was stated that the book was to take up the running abandoned by Sir Julius Vogel, and was to contain such flowery descriptions of New Zealand as would infallibly induce a flood of immigration. The victim enjoyed a mental picture of a return to the good old days of 1870-75; saw property rising in value, and himself, by the addition of the "unearned increment," raised to a condition of affluence. He did not too closely scrutinise the nature of the document he was asked to sign, nor does it appear that |he was permitted lengthened opportunities for doing so, and he awoke from his Alnaschar-liko dream to Cod that he had committed himself to the purchase of a vast book about Australasia, in which the part referring to New Zealand bears about the same proportion to the whole as Falstafi's bread to his sack. Whenjthe books were delivered, it was usual for the agent to produce a few loose numbers, and he would then suggest that as he had a bound volume it would be more economical to purchase it. Part of the money only was demanded, and the balance allowed to remain on promissory note. The introduction of the promissory note was the most acute of all the moves. The making of the note by the buyer on the delivery of the book was a legal admission that he was satisfied with his bargain, and almost completely debarred him from afterwards raising the question of fraudulent representation. It is noteworthy that the " Picturesque Atlas " Company has been compelled to seek the assistance of the law in the other colonies also, thus clearly proving that the methods pursued were the same everywhere. It would probably have been hopeless to attempt to sell the book as a whole in sufficient numbers to be profitable, so this method has been adopted, and, as has been seen, with complete success. So great has been the trouble in New South Wales, brought to a head by this very book, that it has been proposed to introduce a law there

naking the purchase of a book by installments a special contract, on a special form, md hedged about with severe conditions. Chis has been designated grandmotherly egislation, and probably the action of the jook agents themselves has made it superfluous, for it cannot be supposed that all this publicity will be without fruit; butit would be easy to enact, as has been suggested by a legal paper, that a contract to purchase a book by instalments should at least be signed in the presence of an independent witness, and become void after a reasonable specified time. If the bargain be an honest one, the opportunity of purchasing valuable books by instalments is of great advantage to many. There are hundreds of cases where persons in poor circumstances have so obtained standard works of literature which they could never dream of buying entire. We do not therefore wish the "book fiend" exorcised, but we should very much like to see him restrained from doing injury. Making every allowance for the infection of resistance, there can be no doubt that the "Picturesque Atlas" transactions are of the order termed sharp, and it is, we think, to be regretted that the sharpness was not just a little more keen so that the law would have enabled the victims to cancel them. The tender of Messrs J. Whittaker and Co., Dunedin, for £3006, for the Pohangina to Woodville permanent way contract, on the Napier-Palmerston railway, has been accepted. Messrs A. Bain and Co., Dunedin, were also among tfcose who tendered, their amount being £4845. We understand that it is intended to bave extra police supervision in tho principal streets on Saturday nights between the hours of 7 and 10 o'clock. The two sailors—Revlech and Bright—whose arrest was the cause of such a disturbance in George street on Saturday night, were brought up at the City Police Court yesterday morniDgi and were each fined £5, with the alternative of 14 days' imprisonment. Bright, who managed to get away while the police were arresting his companion, but was subsequently arrested for fightingwith another man in Rattray street, was also fined an additional sum of £5 for the latte c offence. The thirteenth annual meeting of the Educational Institute of Otago will be opened this morning, when the annual report will be considered and office-bearers elected. In the evening Mr A. Wilson, M.A., will deliver tho opening address, which is expected to be more than usually interesting. Mr J. Reid, of Milton, will then lead off with a discussion on the merits of individual v. class examinations. It has been decided that these discussions shall take the place of the system of reading long papers. Tourists are likely to have every facility next season for paying a visit to tho Lake Te Auau district, and the Clinton Valley, and the Sutherland Falls. Mr John H'Kenzie is at present in Dunedin making arrangements for establishing communication by coach between Lumsden and Lake Te Anau, a distance of 60 miles, and he has given an order to Messrs M. and J. Sinclair for a coach capable of comfortably carrying 17 passengers, which he hopes to have running by the Ist October. There are at present two hotels on the shores of the lake, where tourists will Cad accommodation. Mr M'Konzie is urging the Union Steamship Company to place a smart steam launch on the lake, and if this is done a visit to the highest falls in the world will probably be come a favourite method of spending a brief holiday by many in Dunedin. Two Dunedin football clubs have engagements in Christchurch in the ensuing three weeks. The Otago University team leave here by steamer to-morrow to fulfil their annual fixture with Canterbury College, which is to be played on Saturday, and arrangements have been made for a match on the 16th inst. between the Merivale, the champion of Canterbury for the season, and the Alhambra. An important discovery of kerosene has been made in South Australia at Mount Hogarth, in the far north-cast, near Kuntha, where lignite of good quality has been taken out for some time past. The outcrop of shale is from sft to 6ft wide, and considered superior to that of New South Wales by experts. Ten thousand acresin the vicinity have been taken up. William Alfred Cuaay, mi«oa C or of tho Ann. tralian Finance and Guarantee Company, was, arrested in Melbourne on a charge of larceny of a cheque for £4032, the property of the company. Cuddy has made a statement to the effect that a number of borrowers of the society were personal friends of his, and that instead of realising on their securities when the share market fell, as by the rules of the society he should have done, he held the stock thinking the market would be sure to rise. As his antici. pations were not realised, and balance day approached, he, in desperation, speculated with securities, but these speculations turned out disastrous. The total amount involved is over £9000. Two interesting political biographies (writes the London correspondent of the Argus) are rapidly approaching completion—Mr Froude's " Life of Lord Beaconsfield," and " The Life of Lord Houghton," from family materials. Both are intensely interesting as they stand in the proof sheets. Unfortunately, each has to be published subject to revision by family or friends, Mr Froude's work is to be subject to review by Lord Rothschild, who has told Mr Froude nearly all the anecdotes contained in it, and who will doubtless cut out the best of them. " What I won't cut out," says Mr Froude, "is my opinion of thefellow." The work is not written from a " sympathetic " point of view, as has been announced. It was assumed that Mr Froude, who had been as bitter an enemy of Lord Beaconsfield in his lifetime as he is now of Mr Gladstone! was in some sense " going to Oanozza " —in fact, about to recant and express contrition for the anti-Conservative opinions of his middle life, and confess that society could only be saved by such saviours of it as Lord Beaconsfield. But that is not the case at all. The biographer continues to regard his subject as a brilliant and amnsing adventurer, who, as ho now sees, perhaps on the whole did good without meaning it. A letter from Paris, giving details of the adventures of Dr Bayol, the Governor of Kotonou, who was imprisoned by the King of Dahomey, appears in the Vossische Zeitung (says the Daily News). Dr Bayol himself was not ill-treated, but was forced to witness the most horrible executions, and was closely watched night and day. He was forced to be present at the execution of his secretary and his interpreter, and was a spectator of the sacrifice of, at one time, 84 human beings and at another of 42. The victims were bound, mutilated in a horrible manner, and then, still alive, hung up by the heels. Then their bodies were opened with large round knives and the intestines taken out, after which the corpses were thrown into a " place of Bkulls," where in 48 hours they were reduced by birds of prey to skeletons. Dr Bayol was every time compelled to view each corpse, while the executioners carefully turned the heads of their victims towards him Every day his dusky majesty Ikneed before the doctor, executing steps and jumps which would have been highly entertaining under other circumstances. At these times six Amazons danced with him. The Amazons Dr Bayol describes as very fiends. One day the doctor witnessed a spectacle which he will never forget. At a sign from the king SOO amazons rushed upon a living ox, and tore it into pieces in a few seconds; then each, with a piece of raw flesh in her mouth marched off singing, while five of their number held the skin and the head of their victim aloft in triumph. In festal garments they witnessed from the roofs of the neighbouring huts the human sacrifices of the next day, and laughed heartily. They always appear perfectly resigned, and go quietly to death when their turn comes. On arriving at Kotonou, Dr Bayol heard of the death of the king, whom, had he been still at Dahomey, be would have probably been accused of poisoning. Since his return to the colonies about four months ago, the Rev, Charles Clark by his popular lecture entertainments has revived all the old enthusiasm. Although 12 years have passed since he was last in this part of the world, he is still in his prime; in fact some of the critics declare that he is better than ever. He has one or two new lectures, but the old ones seem to have lost none of their attractiveness. Both his Melbourne and Adelaide seasons were highly successful, and he is now drawing large houses in Sydney, whence it is his intention to sail for Auckland.

At a meeting at Invercargill of representatives of dairy faotories, convened by Mr Sawers, it was decided to form a dairy association and co-operate in every way with the New Zealand Dairying Association. The Premier of Victoria has promised a deputation from the Presbyterian Assembly that opium is in future to be placed under the Poisons Act and only sold by chemists under the usual restrictions. The Duke of Edinburgh, who is a noted collector of postage stamps, opened the London Philatelic Exhibition. The exhibition contains a most complete representation of the postage stamps of the world during the last 50 years. Mr Tapling, M.P., alone displays a collection which is estimated to be worth £50,000. Several of ' the colonies are officially represented, notably New South Wales and Tasmania. Some of: the earlier varieties of.Australian stamps appear to be valued at from £43 to £87 apiece. A sheet of 12 Bavarian stamps was appraised at £400. The Tasmanian collection was much admired. One Mauritian stamp was valued at £200. Some New South Wales stamped envelopes, issued 30 years ago ( were valued at £20 each, and indeed realised that price. A concert by Mr William Millar's pupils was given in the City Hall last evening, in the presence of a very large and very appreciative audience that extended to the performers the amount of indulgence that is usually tendered to beginners. With the exception of a piano solo by Master G. Moore, the programme w»s composed of vocal items—many of which were operatic selections. Mr Millar himself contributed a couple of songs in a capital fashion, and his daughter, Miss A. May Millar, whois quite a young girl, sang two pieces of an ambitious nature—"The bird that came in spring" and " Dear bird of winter,"—which afforded her an opportunity of proving her possession of a voice of considerable range for her years and of great power in the middle register. She is hardly as yet sufficiently trained to accomplish successfully the vocal gymnastics which the singing c.i such songs as were chosen for her entails; but her voice should, if carefully nursed, develop into an exceedingly good one, Tho other vocalists were Misses Mouat and E. Meyer, Messrs Black and A. Walker—all of whom, though much troubled with nervousness, acquitted themselves well in their respective efforts. Mr | F. Bayley efficiently accompanied the various { items. » Messrs Lorle and Roy Bell rabbit and sheepskins and wool to-day at the Chamber of Commerce. Messrs Donald Reid and Co. sell dairy csws and young cattle at Eurnside to morrow. ...Messrs E. O. Eeynolds and Co. sell 115 tons European sugar (all faults) at the Universal Bond on Thursday. • lie annual meeting of the shareholders of the Roalyn Tramway Company will be held at the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, August 5. Mrs Clark's laundry. North-Bast Valley. Laundry work of every description well and cheaply done. Washing called for and punctually returned, all weathers.—[ADVT.] Much of the disappointment and failure that occurß in the growing of vegetable and flower seeds will be avoided by carefully noting the instructions clearly given in the descriptive seed catalogue iasued and circulated free of charge to Intending purchasers by Hlmmo and Blair.- [ ■• DVT.] John Hhlop. Watchmaker and Jeweller, 74 Princes street. The oldest established houselu town. Repairs of nil kinds. Good assortment WatcliCß, Clocltß. and Jewellery. Spectacles to suit all sights.—[Advt.] Bakby's Tbioophhroot fob thb Hair.—The oldest and tbe best. For restoring the hair to its original growth, or pieventing it from falling out, this compound has been pronounced by all medical men to be a sure remedy. For eradicating sourf, dandruff, and curing diseases of the scalp, the Tricopherous will always be found a safe, speedy, and unfailing cura. 24 After ft comparative analysis made by the most competent scientific authorities, it has been proved that the most excellent of all Cigarettes is the Purity.—[Advt.]