IN THE CABINET ROOM.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9520, 12 September 1896, Page 8

IN THE CABINET ROOM.

By Oim Own Mahatma. It was with mixed feelings that the . C—t met. On the one hand there wtf * feeling of joy that the latter half of theEstimates had been galloped through ?rith% out awkward questions, but thia by the action of the Upper House in b*nifcfji ing up the Million Aid Bill for a the cold unfeeling conduct of the Palmerm**',.; North Exhibition people in receirine »*. Nibs in a distinctly Arctic manner,«« **•')• giving little Pirani a prolonged round m applause. The Pr thus referred to tne>; snow:— .' p r: "It was a slow affair; none *» the old enthusiasm. I was sorry I went, although it gave mc a good excuse to pu* the Bank enquiry off for another day. Any* how I had arranged my return with W Manawatu Railway Company for a spaoui train at 10 p.m., and they hung on a »w goods trucks so as not to make it wok ac » it waa altogether for myself. One »"*/ concede a httle to appearances even » ",* don't economise," ._. * M'K o : "Did you mak' a quid eeiee*. tion o' a candidate to pit yon cantankero» crater oot ?" .#_ " Pr: " I regret to say I did not. -~7 confidential adviser thero told mc ,JJS not safe to even talk.politics, so I o» ve ' o PJ?. all I said in a cloud of generalities and p» • in lots of 'huts' and 'ifs.' No one cw say that I gave anyone anything to »J hold of." . ..,_*,, C r: "That may be so, a. far utna Palmerston show is concerned, but toerew ,- a deuce of a lot to lay hold ©'■'**'*'?£?. '" to my, two departments. Now, k»lfj ««*'- are you going back on the .glorioiw IWjWW-';. given to the holder of a Miner's RigM w '-_. stick his pick wherever he chooieir . * - p j* : «< Aa the friend of the digger* •***,••

-. ],_ recognises the claims of the hardy °? JZoi the West Coast, I say that- a 1)1 S Sice of that £200.000 will be dis■'TfiLted amongst tho patriotic sluicers and &ersofVVc.Uand.-' *°7? _~!• "That's no answer. Do you teWtohclp mc with my Bill to retain i nrivileges of the miners, which have * " iw>.n nuestioned anywhere in tho Ses sinee 1 the fight at the Eureka k«le- or a,e - you fc' 01,, « 1o SDII - VOln ' fl ..' , ".,nd your immortal soul to syndiS and promoter. ? 1 want a straight ana - "* 1 "- f . «<j t riw t that in my long MinisJLI career it can never be said of mc that statement 1 nave mauo nas been *?h as S lead to a belief that I would aland • v own li«dit. Look all he pressn re that peojile are bringing to bear to Vnvnuv Mining Bill. One man alone says it SK him -&° ut 1 " 400 ° t0 tl ' y aud V '' M " , ter - there has been no inspection of "ddmines for some month:-, anc! I'm expect- „ every day to hear of another Brunner *V*__l'r': "Well, what of it? There are , couple of dozen applications in, but not one of tho applie-nis who has the nece. ..i.-y SufictionV i* of the right colour, an<i ban. mc, if I* P" 1 "* »"J' 01Ki cis ,n ' -en" "-old mine in the colony caves in ami Mothers the minei-s." , \j<]_——e : "ldmnaken what ye want to.ash aboot qualifications for. Do as I ,k. and pit in good electioneering agents. Man I've made inspectors o' fit-ends o mine that 1 wouldna trust to feed pigs on mvain farm."' tf__J—s : " Our electoral department reMrirdjsasirously of our pro-pe.}-?. No Sieerin'"' news from anywb'-i-.. I think lin life c o far, and so might two or three more ' tern"thi. room, but our rank and file will disappear like thai doctor's certificate did. Do tell mc what be. ame of it," p r: "I ate it; if you must know And don't you go crying stinking firth about the elections. Do you mean to tell mc that asin-'le one of my followers will be beaten when I have that million to spend. Eli '. What for instance. Jil.otit W«rig_tiui ?" g. j S : "My confidential report BRVB as follows:— 'Working men haven't forgotten removal of Marcus who was their 'selection ; and the understanding that he was to be the Government candidate and to stand down at the lost moment if ordered to, anil then you shunted him to Timaru to get rid of him" q n. " There was more than that behind it. It was another instance of interferin" with my department. Shifting Marcus was only'an excuse to punish the Lyttelton station master to please a couple of mischief-makers who acted as .spies to His Nibs there. I enquired into the complaints Mid'found the station-master a credit to the Department ; but a tale-bearer is more thought of than a proved man now. Anyhow, that little episode will go a long way towards putting an Oppositionist in for Lyttelton." p r:" My good St. Jerome, I have often told you that your conscience would be your ruin as a politicinn. It's a foolish weakness, and demoralises you." \\r r: " There arc a lot like him in my Bhop. It makes mc envious when I see how tamo your pack ia compared with mine. They won't pass your million without knowing what you mean to do with the money, nnd I must say they have some justification, although it's a money Bill. They have a very cogent argument in the fact that the 'will.of the people' in 1893 was against borrowing." p r: "That's played out. There is only one will now—Mine." W-—-r: "Or as Horace has it, Aliusque ! el idem." . T n: " Hang your Horace. I want to know where I am. Hero's the Police are in the Justice Department —that's mc. The Artillery is in the Defence—that's you, Dick. Arid for the life of mc I don't know which is which; the Artillery are doing sentry--go on the footpaths, and if we don't have a 'reform soon, I won't answer for the conseJuence3. Good Lord, the cost of those [okitika prisoners is awful. Three notes a week each is about the figure." -~.. 0 n: "It costs £10 a year each to doctor 'em, and another pound a head for soap. They must be a dirty lot ou the Coast."

, P—--r : "It isn't the dirt. They have to fill up their time somehow, so they blow soap-bubbles for drinks."

W r : "Do you expect mc to get that Juvenile Depravity Act through for youf Pr: " Why not ? The police are just ravenous for it, and my Women's League all expect to' be appointed inspectors under it.