The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1896. AT HOME AND ABROAD.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 7738, 18 April 1896, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1896. AT HOME AND ABROAD.

The Marqnis of Queensberry—he of the " Rules," and a prime cause of the incarceration of the ogre called Wilde— has been breaking out in a new place. He has ju9t ridden a ten mile bicycle Laws, and won it by two minutes Tfi-tte fair time/for a man of fifty-two , riding oh" 71— 35 minutes 41 seconds. V.

The question of contract supplies £o charitable institutions seems a peculiar one. The authorities trying to cope with the unemployed difficulty in Wellington, have arranged with the contractor for supplying the Benevolent Institution there to supply those in receipt of relief pay at the same rates. The following "ration" is therefore supplied by him to any person showing a certificate that he is employed by the relief committee, for the low price of twopence and three-eighths of a penny :— Boz bread, 2oz rice, 2oz oatmeal, Boz potatoes, Boz meat without bone, sugar, tea Now this either leaves a margin of profit or it does not. If it does not, who has to suffer to make good the loss ? If there is a margin of profit, why should it be necessary for a man to get a certificate ?

The conduct of the Adelaide Premier with regard to the Adelaide hospital may be estimated from the fact that his bullying of the medical staff, and his interference generally, have ied to all the patients who could walk leaving the institution. This Browbeater is one of the clasa of men who think themselves as woll able to run a hospital as to act as Bremisr. This ia a great mistake. To do the former requires skill. To be the latter demands little more than impudence and to " love the people dearly." The profession of loving the people dearly is getting to be quite a popular one, It needs so little stock-in-trade.

The difference between a Democratic Premier and an Emperor in the matter of loving seems to indicate that both are built much alike. The cable, for instance, tell us that fclio German Emperor boasted at Vienna of " remaining faithful ti> tho tradition of love for the Austrian army.'* Now it is on record that the German Emperor's father aud old Bismarck together tried all they knew to destroy' thti Austrian army, sifter P'wsia had stolen SchleswigHolstein from penmark. So a premier who cares naught but for office will boast of his intense love for (l the great masses of the people," and nt the same time be quito willing to sacrifice them in a bunch if by so doing ho can retain his salary and pickings.

Depend upon it St. Paul must havo been right when ho said "And the greatest of these three is love." Love must bo the great and primal virtue, seeing how prone rascals of all kinds are to iirofsss it as a cloak, from Emperors down to the pitiful dodger who is trying to spoil Sammy's chance at the next election by professing to be on the same side, only more 30.

Thosocorrespondents who arc drawing attention to the condition of the lagoon are doing good service. The Wollesley road channel ought to be thoroughly dredged out, if for no other reason than

that a strong stream of water must be led up to and past the sewer outlet unless the town is to be decimated by sickness. It must not be forgotten that the drainage system is now allowed to be used for carrying off excreta as well as surface water, and that already a number of water closet connections have been made. Unless the sewer outlei find its vicinity are flushed with a good flow of water, we may expect to find the lagoon become a source of disease.

This business of the resumption of land for settlement purpose is an awful farce. Let us consider an instance at our own doors, where the facts cannot be disputed. The Government, purely from a desire to promote the welfare of the country (love for the masses again) purchased irom Messrs J. N. and J. H. Williams a certain property known as Southland Farm, of about four hundred acres (including a large slice, some seventy acres or so, of river bed) for in round numbers thirteen thousand pounds. This resulted in the occupier and cultivator of the land, Mr Wellwood, being turned out of his home and farm. The transaction has been defended on the ground that it was necessary for the welfare of the country that thi3 land should be " more closely settled."

The reason is a farce, or the Government would have bought the Messrs Williams's sheep run instead of this four hundred acre farm.

Now let us see what might have been done with the money so as to bring about better results. The Government own millions of acres of bu3h land. To fell the bush, burn it, sow the land and fence it, will cost from £3 10 to £4 an acre. We will take the higher figure. Then the thirteen thousand pounds paid to the Messrs Williams would have defrayed the cost of clearing, sowing, and fencing three thousand two hundred and fifty acres of land, and so have prepared over three hundred farms of a hundred acres each for occupation. This would have added to the productiveness of the country. By buying out the Messrs Williams nothing is done beyond adding to the national indebtedness and changing the persons who cultivate the land. There is no addition to the wealth of the country.

On the other hand, spending the money in improving the land which the State already owns would have furnished three hundred and twenty-five men with work for twenty weeks at two pounds per week. This would have been common sense. What actually took place was Seddonism. The electors will not fail to take note.

At the last meeting of the Wanganui Education Board a Mr Edgecumbe wrote complaining that the teacher of a school in the district had lately had the school photographed, and had compelled the writer's son to hold a slate over his head with the word "Dunce" written upon it; and that the photographs were sold to the public at one shilling each. The Board decided to ask the teacher for an explanation. Mr Edgecumbe might do worse, we should say, than see what a jury thinks of the question, if he has correctly stated it.

The British Budget and its surplus ought to be considered satisfactory by those interested, for the surplus is not made up of odd remnants of borrowed money, and does not involve increased taxation. The so-called New Zealand surpluses are subject to both defects. The latest instance was last cession, when the announcement of a bogus surplus was followed by the imposition of fresh taxation through the Customs calculated to produce sixty thousand pounds.

If the cable man is to be trusted, the Australians of the Rand (Johannesburg and its vicinity), are showing up well. Their offer to provide a thousand men for service against the Matabeles shows that there must be a large proportion of Australians there, and that they are prepared to fight for what they consider their rights. By the time the Matabele rising is over there will be a fine body of trained men under arms to talk to the Boers and their German allies—if the time for talk is then ripe.

That will be especially the case if Mr Chamberlain sends a few more regiments of British troops to South Africa while the rising remains unre-r pressed. The Empire can trust "Pushful Joseph," the Man of the Age, who may be regarded as embodying old Stephen Decatur's toast :—" Our country ! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she be always in the right; but our country, right or wrong."

So the Government are going to introduce a big scheme of boy labor for the telegraph offices of the colony. We question the wisdom and justice of this. The Government have already helped to reduce the marriage rate and accentuate the unemployed difficulty by replacing men witlr women in the post offices and telephone exchanges, and now they propose to bribe the public to agree to boy labor in the telegraph offices by jproffering sixpenny telegrams.

of sixpenny telegrams will be an adt'flptage. It should have been in exi9teneeleng"ag%but as it has been left to Mr Ward to inaugurate it we congratulate him upon his busiiiess energy. But at that point we stop, for if the sixpenny telegram is to involve running the telegraphic offices with boys instead of men, wo had better remain content with the shilling "• ordiv nary " telegram and the sixpenny *' delayed " telegram, as at present.

Mr Ward is the declared enemy of the sixpenny delayed telegram, because, as he alleges, it is not profitable. ' In proposing to make all telegrams up to twelve words only sixpence he faces a bigger loss. To meet it he plans his little scheme of boy labor What is this but the " sweating" which the Government profess to dislike ?

It is remarkable how daring the Ministry are in presenting contrasts between their professions and their practice. The solution of the puzzle (for it is a puzzle) can only be that the Ministry look with contempt upon the reasoning powers of their followers, and conclude that any transparent subterfuge is good enough to. throw to thera.

Here is an instance from the events of this week to point the moral. On Wednesday a deputation representing a number of trades unions waited upon the Premier at Wellington to lay before him grievances connected with labor. Ono was the problem of boy labor. The Premier on this question said that the Government had long considered that it was humiliating for men to be driven from trades by boy labor, and considered that some adjustment of the question was necessary. It was on this very day that the Government announced an " adjustment" of the question, so far as they could manage it, by employing boys instead Of viGIl in t' lo telegraphic oflices.j in order to b<) ab!,o t<> supply the public with'a cheaper avfcicio,

But the Government being Democratic, Liberal, and full of a desire to save the country, did not word it that way. They did not say " We ore going to put boys on instead of men." They simply stated that they Imd been giving the messenger boys lessons in telegraphy for a month, to fit them for undertaking the increased work that would result from reducing the price of telegrams, and that they expected to be ablo to fill all the extra vacancies created "from the ranks of the juniors," Wo now know the difference between ordinary iradera and true " Liberals " when both are utilising juveniles. Th« former "employ boy Jnbor.' , an ,j « aweat thoit wo£p oop i ci » T; he i atter " teach the messenger boys," and fill vacancies- that should be occupied by

men with lads " from the ranks of the juniors." According to n cable message we publish to-day, the miners of Great Britain are to face competition backed by the resources of the German Consolidated Fund. The cable message states that the new system of " rebate on freight " on the German railways will enable Westphalian coal to be landed in England at a sufficiently low rate to compete with English coal.

What this actually means is that the. German railways are to carry Westphalian coal at a loss, and that this loss will be made up to them by bonuses from the taxation levied upon the German people.

The most obvious aspect of this business is that it will tend to lower the wages of the English coal miner. On the other hand it can only have that result by making coal cheaper. In which case the German people will be taxing themselves to provide the people of Great Britain with cheap firing. And as the consumers of coal are much more numerous than the getters of coal, Germany's attempt at a commercial war will have the peculiar result of benefiting more Britishers than it injures. We have in these columns several

times praised Mr O'Regan, the talented young member for Inangahua. He is ranked among the followers of Mr Seddon, but he is a Liberal in the best sense of that much abused word. It is pleasant to learn that he has not been corrupted by his experience of the last two sessions, but that he still is, according to the Press Association's report of his address to his constituents, faithful to the principles upon which alone it is possible to base a true Democracy — Freetrade and direct taxation.

Mr Seddon seems eager to appoint himself, or to cause or allow himself to be appointed, to various billets. The other day he appointed himself to the Assets Board. To-day we learn that he is to have a lucrative billet in connection with the Wichmann goldmining venture, the author of which received such favorable consideration from the Government. Is all this billet-getting a preparation for the • loss of political emoluments as the result of the next elections 7

On the back page to-day will be found the concluding chapter of the serial, "Black Heart and White Heart." Next Monday will be commenced an exciting story entitled, " After the Faot," by E. W. Hornung. Our Supplement contains the continuing instalment of " The Myetery of the Inn by the Shore," and some interesting miscellaneous reading matter.

Members of the Pirates Football Olub are reminded that the annual general meeting of the olub will be held at the Masonic Hotel at eight o'clock this evening. Mr 0. L. Maokersey has been elected, president of the Waipawa Eugby Union. Mr 0 M. Whittington declined re-eleotion as secretary. The annual report, as preeented at the meeting, was very favorable, and the balance-sheet showed a credit balance of £3 16s Id The Makaretn and Makoiuku Clubs notified their iaability to put teams in the field this season. The collections taken up at both services in the Presbyterian Church on Sunday, 26th, will be devoted to the Brunner Belief I'und. Congregational services will be held in the Foresters' Hall, Dickens Btreet, tomorrow, at 11 and 7. The Bey. H. W. J. Miller will preach. Evening subject, " A Question of Friendships," being the monthly address to youDg men and women.* At a meeting of the Bush Fires Belief Fund, held at Waipawa yesterday, the following donations of rye grass seed were acknowledged by tha seoratary:—Messrs Nelson Bros, 250 bushels grass - seed ; Captain Kußsell, M.H.8., and Mr J. N. Williams, 60 bushels each ; Mr P. M'Hardy 20 bushels. A sub-committee was appointed to receive and distribute donations of produoe. The secretary reported that the cash subscriptions received to date amounted to £294. It was decided to close the fund on April 30th. Votes of thanks were passed to the donors and all who had assisted in relieving the distress of the settlers. Mr A. H. Heron, for many yeara messenger at the Napier branch of the Union Bank of Australia, has passed hid examination for the Church of England clergy. Mr Heron, we learn, proceeds shortly with his family to Bruanerton, to commence duties in his new sphere. Dal ton street, from Dickens street westward, is in a very bad condition. There is plenty of shingle on the beach, and a thin coating of it on the day quagmire whioh now has to do duty as a road would greatly improve rf. Gospel addresses will be delivered (0.V.) in the Oddfellows' Hall, Hastings, on Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock. A cordial invitation to attend is given.*

Mr W. T. Sharp's organ reoital at the Cathedral, whioh was announced for Tuesday next, haa been unavoidably postponed till Thursday, the 23rd, at 8 o'clook- The instrumental pieces will be interspersed with vocal eeleotiona from the oratorio " Creation," and the programme will be an excellent one. ' To-morrow morning tlie subject of Mr Parerson's £jermoa will ba "Faithful in little, faithful in mnch," and in the evening , the subject of lecture will be " Did the sun and moon really etand still at the battle of Bethhoron, or what happened ?" All interested in this subject cordially invited,* At a committee meeting of the Napier Shorthand Writers' Association held lest evening, suitable arrangements w?ra s;ado for the tuition oi the junior' members during the ensuing sse'sion, Accordingly a atari will be made nezt Tuesday evening, when classes will be formed. All those who intend joining the Aesooi&tion for the pursuit of the study will greatly facilitate matters by enrolling themselves a3 members as early in the session as possible. The sum of £59 8s 3d, collected by the .employes at the Jtfapicc railways, was forwarded -..yesterday, through the National Bank, to .for Jthe Bruunei; rejjef fond. ' """--.. Some time ago a oiroular was issued by the Agricultural Department stating that the Government would pay the steamer and train fares of one delegate from enoh aasooiation to attend the forthcoming intercolonial fruit conference. TheUQvernment has deoided to allow evcsy ether accredited delegate, after the fleet one, a refund o* one half on the railway fare and 10 per C6 nt on steamer fare, and t>, okeU^ r to that effeot is being issued;

A Liberal titling has christened the National Association " The National Ass," and .Liberal organs never weary of grinding out this brilliant idea. Ihe friends of the Association have no very serious objection to the epithot, for the i'Jational Ass, if it i» to be written d&vn oa ass, is sure-footed. With one lack it has 'driven the Government patty out of the Ohrietchuroh stockyard, and it feels able, as De. Newmun remarked the other day, to kick the said Government into another world when the general election comes on. The JSational Ass is a hardy animal, and a: Wellington

J n nd Uaaier it haa secured triumphs with big and "enthusiastic meetings.— Wairarapa Daily Times.. Alex. Sobertson, aged 70, was found dead in a house in Wellesley street, Auofeland. He lived alone snd his antecedents aro unknown, Fred. Philpott, night porter, aged 38, widower, while going up in ii lift at the Wavorley Hotel, Auckland, last night, got his head jammed between the lift and the rollers of the third floor, and was instantaneously killed. Speaking oi what should be the aims of politicians fcir Eobert Stout, in his speech at Hawera, said it was entirely against the dignity of the Premier of the oobny that Mr tfeddon should take a small directorship worth £300 or £400 a year on the Assets Board. It was most contemptible —there was no other uame for it. If it was the case that there was no other paraoa in the oolony who know so oS saeep, or oattlo, or estates.or the of town sections aa Mr Seddoq crigat my, " "Well, it ie a peculiar poanfry fbat has only ouo man who bnows anything about these things, «nd he tho i'remier ; it is very unfortunate, but we suppose he must sacrifloo himself." (A laugh.) But hn ventured to suppose that not even bw greatest friond would say tbs.c Mr Heddoa'b life on thy Weat Coast as miner, Btorekoppij', aad itptbitceepp; hsd peculiarly iitted hiiij for deaiinfj vti\h ehoep und uud ustatofl {Laughter aud uppUusn). Why warn theso paltry things taken? It yea beneath ihe dignity of his" office, bat it was in keeping with his geasral conduot. It was exceedingly io bo regretted that Mr Seddon did not uphold the dignity of hit* qlSqh whioh ho wfts go fond of talking about.