RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 102, 30 April 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

RANDOM SHOTS

i Samuel

Pome write, a neighbour 8 name to lash Some write—vain thought! furneodful cash, Some write to ;>leaso the country clash, And raise a div, I'or me, an aim I never fash — 1 write for fun.

Fifteen udnured of fcho principal natives of the various New Zealand tribes have been assembled at tho Bay of Islands, discussing tho famous Treaty of Waitaugi. Tho du3ky inhabitants of Maoridom aro wroth becauso tho provisions of the Treaty of Waifcangi havo not been observed in respect; of thei 1 ' alleged claima to tho foreshore and oyster jQshorio?, and they now ask that tho treaty fhall be carried out in its entirety. must not be overlooked, however, that the Maoris themselves havo bo a certain ex ten b abrogated tho treaty. Ono of its mo3b important provisions was tho pre-emptive right of the Grown to acquire native lands. Tho natives agitated continually for the repeal of that law, and ib was repealed ab their request. Moreover, native legislation in Parliament, in which the native representatives of the Maori poople havo acquiesced, has had the ofiect of rendering null aud void many of tho provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi, and for tho natives who have obtained all sorts of concessions in this way bo turn round and ask to have the treaty observed in its entirety, «o far as ib concerns their claim to tho foreshore and oyster fisheries, is asking a groat deal. Ab all events, thoru is a good deal to bo said ou both eidee of tho quostion.

' Who shall decido whon doctors dieagroe ?' ie a question that is constantly kopb in memory. A peculiar instance of tho varied opinion of medical men occurred quite recently. A woman was awaitintr trial for somo petty offenco, and as doubts woro entertained whether sho was entirely responsible for her conduct, it was decided to have the opinion of a medical man upon tho subject. This was given, and stated that the woman was sano. Strango though it may appear, two other medical men certified later on that tho woman was not of sound mind, with tho result thab she was ultimately committed to tho Asylum. Tho question might naturally be asked, what is the value of oxpert testimony'? Tho Sydney * Bullotin, , referring recently to the question of liars, stated there were threo classes — liars, adjective liars, and mining exports. Boforo long people will ba inclined to strike out the° word ' mining,' and leave tho third class open to all competitors who claim to rank as experts.

• Our Gilded Gambling TTella ' would do for tho title of an interesting volume that could be written regarding life after hours in Auckland. This may sound strange with regard to a city that boasts so many Churches and is constantly visited by ■wandering evangelists. It has become customary to refer to gambling by machinery on the racecourse as the curse of the colony, but recent developments would seem to point to the bits of ' Devil's pastoboards 'ns a still moro fruitful, source of evil. The curse of card-playing is that it can bo done in comparative secrecy, and thoro exist in this city places where eelecb coteries of eminently rospectable men can assemble and play for heavy stakes till tho small hours of the morning. Somo time since a Chinese house was raided by the police, and a number of Celestials paid the penalty for indulging in their favourite pastime of playing fan tan. Yet all tho amounts they staked would be considered a pitiful sum at ono of the gilded places. It might be asked, ' Why do not tho police visit those places also ?' The answer is apparent :it would not pay. Just fancy the result if they made the attempt. The gentlemen who frequent those establishments are of such undoubted respectability that the police officer's character would be gone if such men testified that no gambling was ever permitted in that establishment. Still it exists, and widows and orphans suffer for the selfish gratification of those who make haste to get rich without counting the cost to others. Pope in his Moral Essays writes :

•Blest paper credit! last and beet supply. That lands corruption lighter wings Jα fly.

Cabmen are usually discreet as far as their fares are concerned, and it ie only when they retire that their tongues wag freely. Said one such the other day: 'You can always tell when they nro playing high up the street, by the number of cabs that •wait on the stand till early in the morning. The gentlemen come down with soft hats pulled over their eyes and coacs buttoned up to their throats. They think we don't know thorn, and often do not get down tit their own houses. Of course we never call them by their names, and they always pay handsomely. But we know them right, enough, and so will tho people thoy act fbr by and-by, and you would be surprised if you knew the names of some of them.' iSo doubt wo would, for wo havo already been astonished more than once. A man dies or goes off suddenly to Honolulu, and soon afterwards tho old story leaks out, of trusts betrayed and homes ruined. ISTor are all tho gamblers in these establishments young bloods, for thero are hawks as well as pigeons. Money cannot; bo loan in thousands by one milesa it is pocketed by another, and as it is only the failures we hear about, it would bo extremely interesting to learn the names of the successful playors. Id is to bo feared that in some cases the words ' A youth of frolic, an old ago of cards ' would be applicable.

There is also another sad side to bhi3 gambling with cards; ib usually takes place during tho night, Of the gamester, ib tuny fairly be said, 'Met: lore darkness rather than light, tor their doings are evil.

The most utter selfishness is shown where the gamester is a married man. I have | heard in thin ciby of a bride of a few moniiis sitting up till two o'clock in the morning waiting for her husband to return from his arduous labours at ' the office.' One can imagine tho despicable creature as he listens to the sympathy of his young wife. Poor girl, she wits undeceived at last, and now the gamoeboi , lias flitted off bo other shores, and she remains to bear the shame. Yet ho was considered a jolly good fellow, I *so steady, you know,' because he was I' never seen on a racecourse. We have had [/ crusades of various kinds, but the time has come fo" ladies to start an Anti Gambling Society. Unfortunately, however, the dear creatures aro a little inclined to the vico themselves. See how their faces flu?h wir'i eagerness ns they wander round at a clv. ;ii bazaar with the lucky bag or Belling l' :kets for some Art Union, by which v: ins lads aro first initiated to tho perilous pleasures of gambling.

It affords some entertainment in these tranquil climes to hear or read of fcho intermittent; periods of political turmoil and civil strife in the smaller republics of America, and it occurs to mo that the Hfo of a newspaper man in thoso countries must be a particularly lively one. Even with the drawback of the risk of being shot by ono aide or the other for treason or something of that sort, and the chanco of getting a bullet through his head while employed in reporting the periodical 'revolution,' he still is not compelled to lament, like many a brother editor, the lack of • copy' or of good newspaper ' sensations.' A South American editor should novor be at a loss for good readable matter wherewith to fill his waiting columns. If there does nob happen to be a rebellion or a revolution proceeding ab the time, and the cities filled with mobs of armed men, shooting each other down one moment) and fraternising with each other the next, it is bhe easiest thing in the world to fomenb a good healthy - looking insurrection that will provide ample food for the enterprising paper for weeks to come. And then when the ardenb republican or loyalist, a3 the case may be, lays aside his gun and squats down under his fig-tree, with none bo make him afraid, the chances are that a big financial scandal or swindle looms up ahead, and satiatoe bhe public thirst for exciting intelligence until the citizen gets tired of his Presidenb again. Then moro revolutions, and so on ad inlinitum.

But South America is not alone in its penchant for revolutions and incipient rebellions. The litfclo kingdom of Hawaii, —whose peoplo have, by fcho way, indignantly discarded tho old title of the ' Sandwich Islands'—aro developing quito an Amorican tasto for tho swoefcs of an occasional revolution against existing government, and as things in Hawaii are on a very small scalo all round, the 'rebellions' are usually very amusing episodes, and cauao quite an agreeable ripple in the nominally placid wnfcora of life ab Honolulu. Newe by tho last mail includos intelligence of the very latest revolution at Honolulu, and, according to the satirical reports in tho local papers, tho evont aflordod intonno amusement to the pooplo of the ' Paradise of the Pacific. , Ithapponedprotty wollasthus: Tho night was dark and stormy; there was a spirit of unrest in tho atmosphere itsolf, and sonic one thought, some ono olse was going to 'rovolute.' Thero wa.s nothing to rovolt against ; there was no one to revolt for, and hardly anyono to revolt oven, but still , from information roceived,' alα our own police, tho powers that were had vague suspicions that thero was going to bo a revolution. So tho entiro army of tho Kingdom of Hawaii—sixty-three strong, mostly captains—set to work in the dead of night to fortify tho local Palaco.

Their preparations for a revolution took tho form of husre aand-bags pilod up three high around the walls of tho Palace. This tone, they polished up thoir profcty littlo swords and sat down inside tho barricade to await tho revolution. But it didn't como. Tho day dawned, and tho sun rose high and sank again, and sfcill no revolution. Tho rudo little boys passing made sarcastic remarks and threw sar.d at tho army, but _ they heroically kept thoir posts, waiting for tho cloud of war that never appeared. Ac last they got tired of waiting for bactlo, and went home very much disgusted and had tea. There was not any enemy, or any revolution, and tho ' robellion ' had simply originated in the busy brains of tha Government. Tho army had boon iho victims of a gross docoption, and a correspondent to a Honolulu paper, after this eventful night watch, suggests that they should sue tho Govern merit for damages for undue anxiety and bodily and mental worry caused by the revolution. A Honolulu paper thus moralises on the incident :—' Nothing can be conceived moro amusing than the sudden appoaranco of these sandbags, except their equally sudden disappearance Why wore they there, and why are they not there? \\ hat has induced them to hide with such haste their diminished heads ? Was it Ka Loo a suggestion of their strategic uselessness, or the " Advertiser's " gentle hint that the man who put them there was a fool?' It was most probably Hie latter. It is hardly surprising after this to find the ' Hawaii Gazette' advocating ihafe the first business of tho Legislature should be the transfer o the ' army ' to the control of the local r.oad Board ! f

Tho fishing seaeon is still here, and fish, according to enthusiastic anglers, are as sea-weed. If you go out and don't hook any, thoy say it shows a want of skill thatdeserves to bo punished by failure. If they go out and don't hook any—but this never happens. It is passing wonderful tho hauls theso worthies publicly assert thoy havo made. A man betakes himself and his boat to some chosen spot, remains out for a couplo of hours, then returns. \ou ne&r next day that that man caught ninety-nvo =chnappor, averaging seven or eight pounds apiece. You may have followed him, you may have anchored at a short distanco and cesn him haul up a fow miserable kohawai, yellowtails and sprats ; yot if you mention his name some twenby-four hours later at the other end of the town you will hear, .]y[ r b , oh yes; ho is so good at fishing; ho caught ninety schnapper yesterday.' Through a painful experience, tho resu.t of catching six fish and saying ho had caught six fish, ' Zamiel' has learned tho custom of tho times, and become a wiser man. He never goes a-fishing now but ho multiplies oach fish ho catches by ten. if ha catches none, the fish ho doosn t catch still counts ten. If he catches two it means twenty, throe thirty, and when ho eucceods in hooking ten he feels as much at peace with himself and tho world at large as the catcher and possessor of a hundred noble fish ought to be.

When such names as Cook and Grey have faded from tho pages of Now Zealand history, tho illustrious cognomen of ' /imiel will still stand out on tho historic parchment in as brilliant colours as fchoso in tho print dross of a Maori wahine. Cook discovered New Zealand, Grey did much for the handful of peoplo therein settled, but ' Zamiel, it will be s»id, like Liberty or a Southern Sperm candle, onlightened the world. Bub I am raodost, and the knowledge of my fufcuro greatness dno* not bring Che comfort that ib ivorijd to some mon. The saddening thought of tho dense ignornnco which prevails among the people of England with regard in the geographical position of Now Zenland has many times driven sleep from my wire-wove mattress and made mo Ion" Fnr -w ' blush of Aurora on the distant, hi:'- ' nn-l the round of tlio milk-boy at hlio <- r. If New Zealand were a floating coni)try, liko tho islands of the greab rivera of South America, greater uncertainty in the minds of persons 'at Home' as to its position on the blue Pacific could not exist. Some imagine that our colony is part of the mainland of Australia, and firmly believe that if our letters are addressed to the General Post, Office at Sydney they will be called for in duo course. Others are willing to bet a hat upon it being a portion of the Antarctic Continent, and instance the export of frozen mutton ineuppoitof their statement. When ono has just finished reading the report of a youthful orator's speech on the 'Future of Now Zealand,' with perhaps the impressions of a celebrated journalist and the local paper thrown in, ib ia positively disgusting to receive such a letter as a friend of mine gob laeb week. Ib was sent by a

leading agricultural journal in England, and the envelope boro the addross : ' Wellknown citizen, Esq., Auckland, near Zealand, Australia.'

The School Committee elections have come and gone, and everything has settled down again into the old grooves for another twelve months. At most of tho householders' meetings, especially fcho suburban onos, a very noticeable feature, and one calculated to strike an observant eye, was bhe apathy and indifference shown by fcho majority of parents over tho whole all'air. It is a greab pity that this was the caso, a» the question of education is one that should command tho attention of every intelligent porson, whether he be bhe parent of a scholar or not. Ib would seem as though tho average householder placed tho utmost contidorico io the principles and good judgment of those or their moro active and thoughtful brethren who do take an infcoresb in such affairs, and although this may be very gratifying to that energetic portion, it reveals a stato of things very much to bo doplored. In sovoral of fcho Committees' and headmasters' reports attention was drawn to tho facb that many children are very irregular in their attendance ab school, which interferes very seriously with their chances afc the standard examinations and impedes general progress, thus lowering the percentage of passes and standard of excellenco, and casting unfair ieflectiona upon tho proficioncy of tho teaching stall. What is moro probable than that those who manifegb so libtlo interest in the work of electing an oflicient and competent Coinmibtooto look af tor the welfareof their childron should show just as little care and watchfulness in tho far more important work of seeing that thoir children tako the fullest possibloadviintago of the incalculable boneOts which that inostimablo boon, free education, has so liberally placed within fchoir reach '.' If such apathetic parents would only consider for a moment tho vast significance and importance of the question, wo should perhaps soo a ltirgor amount of vitality in tho Committees.

Somobody blundered over that inquiry hold by tho Hoard of Education into charges proforrod against ono of our city teachers. After tho Board had sat for three days hearing evidence, whon they had called upon Mr Harrison for his dofonco and had hoard tho addros.s by his solicitor, it dawned upon them that tho City Schools Committee ought to have been consulted, and tho Hoard, instead of going 0:1 with tho inquiry to a satisfactory conclusion, camo to n standstill. They could not act without first referring the matter to the District School Ooromittoo, and thoy eventually did so. Tho Committee moot this evening to consider the evidence forwarded by tho Boaid, but it is evident that unless they go into tho matter dc now thoy are not likely to coino to any resolution, unless it be referring tho iHibjoct back to tho Hoard without any recommendation whatever. Tho City Schools Committee men feel that at last their true position as advisers of tho Board must be rocogni-od, and that thoy havo a higher duty to perform than to grant aiekloavo and improve tha sanitary arrangements of the schools under their control.

Whon tho baker, tho butcher and even ; tho publican begin to agitato for ;i riso in I the prico of bread, meat and boor, it would i really appenr that things arc looking up. A movement in tho direction of 'outline;' down tho prico of a, ' long sleever' to '.)■{, was promptly eat upon recently by publi- j cans in solemn mooting gathered together. The bnkora protect loudly that, thoy cannot m.'iko certain kinds of bread up to full weight;,and piy fchoirway;aud t'icbutehoivi, to cap all, have actually raided the prico ot meat all round. We luivo been pi-'ii^iri -_r sip our frozen meat trade to tho skies, straining; every ncrvo to rv\ of our beef and mutton in the Eugli-h inarkot, and wo have ! done so rather inora ellijctively than inosi people imagine. The demand for beef and mutton tor export i y puch t.lmi | tho butchers cannot buy at the prices i formerly ruling, and the result is (hat; we are to bo made pay per pound for our beet and mutton at an increased rate, to bo | regnlatod by the export of this most important food supply. If this yort; of thing j continues we shall probably havo a cry (or | • every man to bo hia own mutton-grower.' j

Trial by coroner's jury under the existing system is proverbially unsatisfactory. The tendency i.- , ofton rather to defeat tho ouds of justice than to arrive at a true version of tho cause of dentli, and if, perad venture, a magisterial inquiry follows, tho case is prejudged by tho incomplete elucidation of facto. I have every rospect for our most estimable coroner, bub I muat s-ay that I cannot approve of some of his methods in conducting post mor/em investigations. In a recent euso tho jury were asked to sit in the room in which lay tho body of tho deceased, with tho coffin lid partly open, although another and much ruoro comfortable room h:id boon prepared tor them. O.i ■ y..; :,; woman eat with her back iiiiiiu.-b touching the coflin, and facing the jury, while she gave her evidence. Two medical men followed. They offered no objection, probably because they are accustomed to that kind of thing , , but when tho wifo of the deceased was asked to come in sho positively refused, and quilo right too. Dr. I'hilson then consented to an adjournment to tho other room. Tho some lady was then asked to go and view tho body formally, and she again positively declined, asking ' Why should E V She had sow. the body a very short time previously, but not 1 this day.' The usual formula is, ' 1 havo seen tho body of deceased this day,' and tho coroner is a stickler for formality. Probably tor the lirst time in his life ho omitted that sentence. Three doctors gave evidence, and tho fact that the police laid considerable weight on the mo.Heal testimony should, I think, have made the coroner unusually careful. Tho correct course would have been not to have had the doctors in tho jusy room all at a time, but tho coroner thought otherwise. Ho actually sent for Dr. Mackellar, in ordor that he might hoar the evidence to be given by Dr. Dawson and Dr. Rowley, and so that each doctor, by saying ' 1 have heard the evidence of so find so, and agreo as to its correctness,' might save a good deal of trouble. Again, I think the coroner was injudicious in the expression of his own ooinions — notably when he said that no chemist in town could toll them any more than they knew Already, the content-* of the stomach having boon lost. As a matter of fact, the police thought otherwise, and they carried the inquiry to the liovcrnment analyst.

I have on more than ono previous ocoaMon deprecated fclto creation of a strong milir.arj sentiment in a free country !iko Now Zetland, sis a menace f.o the liberty of tliecommonwoalth, such as ifc has p.ovcd in older, lands, bub I do not wish to be understood as holding any objection whatever to tho spirit of volunteering and citizen soldiery. Unhappily, nations still go to bubble, and until the millennium is consummated wo must, 1 suppose, endure wars and rumours oi wars to tho end of the chapber. Wherefore ib behoves us bo be on our guard against ' tho Queen's enemies, , as tho bills of lading pub ib, and to that end we have our volunteers and our permanent force. A standing army is an incubus to any country, yoiwig or old, and even on tho small scale of New Zealand's permanent artillery, it is a burden upon the State. There are various reasons which may be urged againab the retention of tho permanent force, as there are on the other hand reasons in its favour, bub ib

would be hard to find a logical argument in favour of the abolition of the system of volunteering under existing circumstances. Tho volunteers are the real safeguard of Now Zealand in the event— however improbable- it may appoar just now—of a hostile invasion by an armed force. Our shores are peculiarly vulnerable to attack, and it is hardly within the bounds of possibility that our new ' auxiliary cruisers ' would be able to afford tho colony much protection in such a contingency—even if they did not happen to be in dock when they were wanted.

A volunteer organisation thus being necessary for national defence, it is of importance that tho force should bo placed on a looting of tho utmost efficiency, and tho volunteering spirit encouraged and fostered within reasonable bounds by the Government of the country. New Zealand has boon justly designated tho ' home of volunteering,' and old colonists will vividly remember the enthusiasm with which the movement was taken up in tho early days of the Maori War. For many years the volunteer forces in New Zealand were second to none, but now ? What of tho volunteers of toda> 1 Tlioro is no denying tho fact that the present voluntoor system in the colonyis grossly ineflicient and scandalously mismanaged, and the inevitable effect is that tho forces are becoming demoralised and disheartened, and companies are disbanding, and thinking of disbanding, in disgust. Drills and parades are poorly attended, shooting interest is lukewarm, 'growling' ia incessant amongst oilicers and men, and tho attendance rolls of more than one riflo company are notoriously ' cooked ' in order to obtain the niggardly capitation allowance. Tho citizen soldier is fast becoming an object of contumoly instead of being respected as ho should by those whoso lives and proporty ho has voluntoored to protect, and as a consequonco of the unhandsome treatment meted out to him on all sides ho is naturally very much inclined to relinquish tho vvliolo concern.

From what I have been ablo to gather, and from tho complaints which hava rotichorl my oar from all quarters, 1 am convinced that i.lio Govorumont arc guilty of culpablo neglect and breaches of faith in connoction wit h tho volunteer forces all over colony. The regulations at present in force for the New Zealand corps aro most unsuitablo for tho exigencies of tho organisation

--tho roasonablo convonienco of tho men forming tho companies is not consulted, the corps are hampered by red-tapeism, which seems to bo the Alpha and Omega of tho Dofonco Office, and finally tho capitation allowance is utterly inadequate. Tho obnoxious condition withholding all capitation from a company unless fully two-thirds of tho members muster at drill, oven if only one man be short, is doing more to un Jermine the volunteering spirit than anything else, and tho unfulfilled promise of the Honourable tho Minister for Defence regarding extra capitation per head for daylight parades is another matter which rankled in tho minds of volunteers. I certainly do not believe in tho pat/wad ut volunteers for attendance on parado, but I do holt! that some inducement should bo offered to diligent volunteers to attain proficiency at drill and in tho marksman's art. Efficient shooting is really the soul of volunteering, and unless the authorities sco their way to ofler more reasonable encouragement and assistance to a volunteer acquiring a practical knowledge of musketry, which may be of the utmost national use in an emergency, Hie volunteering Hpirib will die a cure though gradual death. It is in apparently trilling matters that tlia unsympathetic policy of the Government is most felt, but it id these same littlo things—if loft unremoclicd — that will break up tho force.

In connection with volunteering matters, though not boaring directly on existing regulations, a lifctlo incident which 1 heard tho other Hay and which has not until now soon itself in print, may bo told here. Tho late Major Burnn, who was tho original founder of tho Volunteer Artillery rciriiiionb in tho colony, was on his death several year.- ago, as many Aucklanders will recollect, accorded n big military funeral ah the Waikotnici Cemetery. Hundreds of volunteers followed tho gallant Major's remains to tho grave, ;: ppcci i! train was provided to (ako volunteers and spectators out to Waikoniiti, and there was infinito pomp and ceremony and pageantry of war. Tho major was an old and valuablo volunteer, ami his services to tho Government had been long and faithful, bub when all was over the widow of tho buried officer >'. ? a« prescntod with a little Government account for ten shillings, being amount duo by her for use of tho Government railway carriage which had convoyed her husband's remains to tho buryingground ! And she was the only one chargod for the sad journey. It is with 'doleful pleasure' that I have to add that the imposition was indignantly and promptly paid by a well-known Auckland gentleman oub of liia own pockot.. 130 much for our mlers and our volunteers.