WELLINGTON NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 86, 13 April 1896, Page 3

WELLINGTON NOTES.

THE HON. CABMAN'S SPEECH.

(BY TELKGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Wellington, thi3 day. Both papers here are highly laudatory ia their tone in commenting on the Hod. Cad man's recent speech at To Aroha. Says she "Times": "Tha Minister made a epeech full of thab common sense and shrewdness which he possesses in such a remarkable degree. The beat point in it was hie statement to the Liberal party to remember that they are Liberal. Liberals have forgotten that of late, and, in their forgetfulness, thoy have actually promoted the return of a Conservative candidate. On the railways question he spoke hopefully. That) certain concessions have been marie with the object of encouraging production and traffic, we are awaro, anrl we hope, with the Minister, that the policy will bear fruit. So far tho management of the railways may be called ' enlightened,' but when we Bay thab there is much room for more enlightenment, we know we shall have the whole colony wifch us. Mr Cadinan has a magnificent opportunity if he woultl only avail himself of it. Tha whole system of railway management .requires reform, radical and substantial, and we trust that Mr Cadman will bear &he fact in mind." The " Post" last night dalivered itself in the following v«iin : —" Without question, the best epeech of the Uiuißteralista since the rising of Parliament! was that of the Hon. Mr Cadman bo his constituents on Wednesday la&t. Clear, temperate, wide i» its scope, and yeb well balanced, it is *'the strongest platform utterance of the year upon the side of the Government) of the day. Coming from a Minister it was full of reasonableness, and, excepting as to the finance of the Government, which is iadefenaible, ho said almost as much upon the side of the Ministry ac there is to say. His defenco of bho mining legislation was unquestionably strong, aud-ib was quite a legitimate anewer bo the charge ot capital being driven out of the colony by ultra radical enactments, to point to the great and daily increasing volume ot money that is coming into the country for mining investment. We commend to all Liberals careful consideration of the concluding passage of Mr Cadman'a speech, "if," says he, ' the Liberal* wero dissatisfied with ttie Government, they should not waste their robes by voting Conservative, but thoy should replace the present Ministry by other Liberal raeu in whom they hud more confidence,' " The electors will do well to remember these words.

THE WELLINGTON UNEMPLOYED.

In discussing the question of voting £1,000 bo 6ho Wellington Benevolent Institution, in order to find werk for Che unemployed, the City Council here were t routed to some plain-speaking from the Mayor. " Tho People's George," one of the councillors, had intimated tbata married man working on the relief work could earn 4s in a day, and, if he were a very Rood tnan, ho would be able bo gob s ßf when the Mayor said he wished there was such a man in Now Zealand as Sir George Dibbs, who would put his heel on the neck of provisional depufcationifts, who, under the guise of assisting the working man, were i trying to elevate themselves, and were perpetually fetching and carrying tor the Government or Bomeone else. Cr. Harris : The National Asa 1 The Mayor (warmly): No, they were not the National Association, they wore asses, if Cr. Harris liked to so pub ife. The men he referrod to were, be said, a cura© bo the working men, and ought to be, aa Sir Geo. Dibbn euid, "handed out on tho edge oi a pitchfork." In connection with th» unemployed difficulty here, the Public Work* DeparbiHfliib is sending ten of the raocb necessitous [ caseff to tho railway works on r.he North Island Main Trunk line. Tbe work has now been carried on as tar as Mungaweka, on the Ekotahuna-Woodville line. There will be plenty of work to be done an soon a3 the Mangatainoka Bridge is completed > vvbich should be about three months hence.

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

Apropos of the JSfetionul Association, tho "Times" has the following:—"A little bird whispers tuafc the meetings of too local branch of the National Association aro nob always characterised by that harmony which one might expecb from euch good and politically •virbuous paople. Rumour says indeed thab the meetings aro sometimes very noisy. Well, what can you expect ? An ass muefc bray."

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Tho Lybtelton "Times," referring fc° the Premier's receub utterances respect" ing the necessity of reforming the Legislative Council, saya: — "We believe the Premier's plan includes a proposal for terminating the life appoirit;mence, limiting the number of councillors and providing for the annual retirement and appointment of a certain proportion." With reference to tho system in vogue in Victoria, where Legislative Councillor's are elected by voters who muste have a certain property qualification, the same article points out that the resulb has been a worse atate of aiiairs than holds in this colony. Nothing bub manhood suifraga should be the basis, ib considers, if the Council is to be aughb else than a Conservative Chamber.

THE TIMBER TRADE

Mr Amelias Smith, the well-known Civil Servant, who has jußfc resumed from a trip to England, expresses the opinion thab there is shortly bo be very keen competition bebween the different colonies for the timber trade of the Mother Country. Ho is quite certain thab bhsre is nob the slightest use in Bending home any bus the very bosb classes of timber: unless the timber is good and well cut local merchants will have .nothing to do with it. Regarding a recent cablegram stating thab St. James Vestry intends spending £1,000 in paving Piccadilly with kauri, he is of opinion that kharri, ft West Australian timber, in meant. In the coarse of a convsrsabion with a very large contractor, faa hoard come mention of ihe proposal and took advantage of tha occasion fco put in a word for our New Zealand timber, pointing out fcbab the West Australian khurri was too hard a wood and too metallic for paving purposes.