Evening Post. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31,1898. 1898.

Evening Post, Volume LVI, Issue 157, 31 December 1898, Page 4

Evening Post. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1898. 18 9 8.

"While the year still lives, it is almost impossible to allot its rightful place in history. The events it has brought in its train are too near; time alone can find their true level, and more distance is needed for a properly proportioned Bketch. Hence the annual retrospects which it is customary to publish at a season like this are necessarily of ephemeral value. They generally sink down to the mere soulless chronicles of passing events, and if the attempt is made to give them shape or colour, they are apt to become disproportionate in form and unnatural in colouring. In spite, however, of these considerations, it is always well at such a time as the close of a year to try aud form some idea of what we ourselves and the world at large have gained or lost during the preceding 12 months. To do this best we must not look so much at the recital of isolated occurrences as at their grouping and the broad tendencies they display. Ifc is not our purpose, therefore, to compile a dictionary of the year's events, but rather to point out a few of the most striking inferences to be drawn from the work done in the different spheres of activity. Naturally our thoughts turn first to our own country and to the colonies in these seas most closely connected with our life and interests. What, we may ask, then, has 1898 brought to us iv New Zealand, and to be even more particular, to the people of Wellington ? So far as our civic life is concerned it may be safely asserted that the past year has brought with it a marked increase of municipal activity. Large schemes of reform which were formerly somewhat inchoate, and, to tell the truth, had scarcely emerged from the study stage, have during the last few months taken definite shape, and there is hope that the general body of our citizens has now thrown off the numbing apathy that nipped former movements iv tbe bud. The idea of a Greater Wellington has begun to strike root, and the appreciation of collective municipal ownership lias made great strides. Not only has there been an advance in the principles of municipal government commonly professed, but progress has also been made in more material ways. Efforts are being made to carry out city improvements and other public works that arb urgently needed. The Harbour Board is keeping up its wellearned reputation as one of the most progressive local bodies in the colony, and has undertaken reclamation and other improvements along the shores of the harbour. The spirit of activity has also found expression iv Petone, which has now in train a plan for municipal lighting of its own and the Hut't Borough. The year has also been marked in this district by the work? of the Victoria College Council in establishing, a teaching University College in our midst. Although we cannot but regret that the Government has caused such a delay in fixing the site of the College, we cau 3'et hope to find that the efforts of the Council will in the course of the next three months result in the College being actually at work. The College serves to remind us that our Technical School still holds it own among such institutions in the colony, and that a helpful report, drawn up by its energetic director, Mr. ltiley, as the result of a journey to the Old Country, has given a considerable impetus to popular interest in technical education. Another point of considerable interest to Wellington was the retirement of Sir Robert Stout from politics and the important by-election in the city that followed upon it.- The return of Mr, Jolm Duthie in the teeth of strong Ministerial opposition was the severest blow Mr. Seddon lus yet received, and Wellington can congratulate itself upon the fact that the decisive verdict it gave at the polls has already led to a marked change in the Premier's views upon many matters of administration. The year has brought the city its trials as well as its triumphs. The abandonment of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society's annual show, and the series of alarming fires which have marked the close of tha year, are prominent amongst these trials. On the whole, however, we may congratulate ourselves upon au improved civic spirit, and a comparatively prosperous year. The municipal activity we have felt in Wellington has not been confined to this city, but iv all the large centres of the colony there has been an awakening to the value of reforms in city government. A Greater Christohuroh and a Greater Dunedin have become something more than vague dreams in those oities. Probably in time to come the present year will be noted for the distinct revival of interest in local government that has begun to take phce. As soon as people begin to awake from the lethargy that has characterised their past treatment of this important subject they will demand a complete reform of the haphazard system of local institutions now prevailing in the colony. The aotivityof the past year will help to force Parliament into recognising the imperative necessity of grappling with the work of municipal and local authorities' reform. Although 1898 has not seen the systematisation of our looal

government, it has at least seen the growth of a spirit that will make that systematisation before long a matter of urgent public policy. During the past 12 months His Excellency the Governor has made journeys over various parts of the colony, and has done much to bring himself into touch with the life of the people among whom he is called upon to represent the Imperial unity symbolised by the Crown. As far as our local politics are concerned, the past year has not materially changed the position of political parties, although the growing disaffection in the "Liberal" ranks, aa evidenced iv the Wellington by-election, and on some occasions iv the House itself, has undoubtedly caused the Premier to adopt a more 'constitutional policy and to show less signs of devotion to the " spoils-to-the-victor" principle. Outside actual legislation, the most important political event of the year has been the publication of the Police Commission's report, and the avowed intention of the Government to carry into effect reforms suggested in that document, as well as in the Departmental report of Mr. Commissioner Tunbridge. The latter genUemau has already eviuced his determination to enforce the law as it stands, and to exercise a wise control over the force under his command. Whatever the political opinions men may profess, there are few who can honestly deny that the efforts of Mr. T. E. Taylor and a little band of his colleagues, powerfully aided by the administrative work done by Mr. Tunbridge, have resulted in a marked amendment of our Police Force. Besides the Wellington city vacancy two other constituencies were called upon to elect representatives during the year. The retirement of the Hon. G. P. Richardson led to the return of Mr. M'Nab — a supporter of the Government — for Mataura, and the sad death of the Hon. W. J. M. Larnach created at Tuapeka a vacancy that has been filled by Mr. Rawlings— an Oppositionist. The resignation of Sir Robert Stout removed from Parliament one of the most lucid and telling critics of the Government, and the year is closing amid sundry rumours of Cabinet reconstruction. The Hon. John M'Kenzie, Minister for Lands and Agriculture, has been in bad health most of the year, aud he is now contemplating a trip to the Old Country without laying down the seals of office. In legislation the past session was not prolific, the two most notable Acts being the Old Age Pensions Act and the Act to reconstruct the Directorate of the Bank of New Zealand. There was the usual jettisoning of Government measures towards the end of the session, aud the real progress of the colony during 1898 is to be sought elsewhere thau in the Statute-book. Turning from New Zealand itself to the Pacific Islands and to Australia, we find that there have been occurrences of some importance in the Polynesian Isles, showing the constant difficulty of adjusting European systems of government to native customs, and the evil results upon weak uncivilised races of the perpetual rivalries of civilised Powers. Disputes in the Cook Islands led to the retirement of the late Resident (Mr. F. J. Moss), and the subsequent appointment of Lieut. -Colonei Gudgeon, whose rule has so far proved acceptable to the native " arikis." Norfolk Island, which is subject to the control of New South Wales, has been the scene ot scandals that necessitated the recall of the Administrator, while the death of King Malietoa of Samoa has opened the doov for the rivalries of native chiefs and the intrigues of Western Governments. In New Guinea there has been considerable excitement over the concessions granted to a British syndicate, ana the controlling colonies have protested loudly against the monopoly, although there is reason to be lieve that the New Guinea residents pre ferred the syndicate to the risk of having their native population exploited for the benefit of the Queensland labour market. Outrages have been perpetrated m the Solomons and the New Hebrides by the savage natives, and the extension of missionary enterprise has been marked by the consecration of the first Anglican Bishop of New Guinea. The British have occupied the Vera Cruz Islands, while the United States has during the year seized Wake Island, annexed Hawaii, and taken over the Philippines from Spain. In facb, the past twelve months have seen a characteristic spread of English-speaking! influence in the Southern Pacific. The! Anglo-American friendship and the Impe- : rial instincts of the Anglo-Saxon race have helped to make both nations — British and American — desire to knit closer their commercial and other bonds of union. The centripetal forces at work among us have brought into prominence the long-dis-cussed schemes for a Pacifio cable, and there are now dawning hopes that a great system of submarine communication will at no distant date join Canada, the Australasian Colonies, the States, and the Cape in yet closer ties with one another, and with the great trading emporiums of the future now beiftg developed in Eastern Asia. Australia has passed through a critical period during the past twelve months. The prolonged labours of the Federal Convention promised for a short while to result in the immediate creation of a United Australia, but New South Wales, undef the doubtful guidance of its able, but half-hearted Premier, whose name is likely to be handed down to posterity as "Yes-No" Reid, spoilt the fair promise. The silent force of public opinion in Australia has, however, to be reckoned with, and the democracy that earnestly desires to create a nation will not brook any treachery to the cause of Federation. The •cause, in spite of the New South Wales reverse, has made appreciable progress ,and the Commonwealth must soon become a living entity. Our chief regret is that New Zealand, with sorry provincialism, has studiously remained aloof from this great movement. Other events in Aastnilia that have characterised the year are the premature death of Mr Byrnes, the promising young Premier of Queensland ; the keenly-fought general elections in New South Wales ; and the trial of the Queens land National Bank directors. The death of v tbe typical Australian millionaire, Mr. Tyson, is quite fresh in the minds of our readers, as well as the extensive mining strikes in New South Wales. The dominant note in Australian life during the year has been the desire for national unity and the spread of that democratic Imperialism that promises so much for the future of the British Empire and the free but interdependent growths of its several parts. From our neighbours across the Tasman Sea. our thoughts naturally pass to the Old Country and to the other great colonies at the Cape and in America. The Imperial Parliament has not passed any startling legislation during the year, but a great step has been taken towards the recognition of Irish rights in the. Local Government Bill. The London County Council elections proved q. victory for the Progressives and there are already signs of a still larger municipal policy, as, for instance, in the municipalisation of miles of tramways, at a cost of over £800,000. The Coalition Government of Tories, Whigs, and Radicals, banded together at first in opposition to Home Rule, has entered upon a course of social reform that marks the formation of a new parly. The bankruptcy of E. T. Hooley led to disclosures that should go • some way towards clearing the financial atmosphere of the London money market. Never before, except immediately preceding the outbreak of hostilities, has Great Britain showed such an ultra-patriotic spirit and taken such energetic measures for putting her army and navy in order. Foreign relations have been strained at times with Russia in the East and with France on the Niger and the Nile. The foothold Great Britain had gained in Egypt has been strengthened by the brilliant carppaign of the Sirdar, Sir Herbert (now Lord) Kitchener, on the Nile, by the destruction of

the Dervish Empire in the Soudan, and by the firm stand taken by Lord Salisbury in face of French claims on Fadhoda. For a short while it seemed as though war between England and France were more than possible, but the tension relaxed, and although there are still subjects of dispute between the two countries in Egypt, in the East, and in Newfoundland, Great Britain is prepared to stand to her rights, and France is less likely to provoke her to ex tremities. There has been a marked rapprochement with Germany., as well as with the United States, and this has improved the Imperial position in South Africa. The Cape elections, although they resulted in the victory of the Afrikander Bond by a small majority, proved conclusively the influence still wielded at the Cape by Cecil Rhodes, whose Cape to Cairo scheme has during 1898 come into the sphere of practical politics. Africa promises in the neai future to become almost as British as India. Before leaving the colonies, it is well to mention the Prohibition plebiscite in Canada, and to point out that, although the poll does not show any burning desire for extreme legislative action, it is an eloquent tribute to the growth of the temperance movement. India has been the scene of plague, of riots, and of frontier wars, and although there is much reason for blaming the Vice-regal Government lor some of its acts, the value of British rule as a civilising powei 1 has been greatly illustrated during the year The Tsar's disarmament scheme, the struggle in China between the Conservative and Progressive sections of the native mandarinate and between the European Powers, eager to dismember an Empire they mistakenly consider dead or dying; the great Spanish- American war with its sudden forcing of the United States into the arena of international politics ; the Dreyfus case in France, and the revelation of army intrigues ; the racial troubles in Australia j the Kaiser's pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the various labour and social movements in the Old World, have come under the notice of our readers during the year, and need no fu»ther comment now. The shadow of death has fallen upon two royal houses during the year, the Queen of Denmark: the " aunt " of so many royalties, passed away at a ripe old age, while the hand of a ruthless assassin completed the cycle of Kaiser Francis Joseph's domestic griefs by bereaving him of his wife, the populav Empress Elizabeth. Two aged statesman, who in their spheres have done much fco make the Empire of the nineteenth century, Sir George Grey and his yet greater contemporary William Ewart Gladstone, have also departed from the scene of their long labours. In conclusion, we would point- to T-he increasing unity of our race, the progress of municipal activity, the awakening of tie United States,, and the weariness of armaments felt on the Continent of Europe and expressed in the Tsar's encyclical, as among the most striking characteristics of the dying year.

As we anticipated, Mr. J. R. Blair, N Mayor of the city, and one of the recentlyappointed Directors of the Bank of New Zealand, has been elected Chairman of the Board. Both the country that is the principal proprietor of the Bank, | and the original shareholders, are to be congratulated upon this selection. If there is any reason to doubt the wisdom of the Premier's selection of one or more of the representatives at the Board nominated under the Banking Act, the influence of the newly - elected Chairman, in whom the community will have the fullest confidence, will make for acceptable compensation. Our readers, or those of them who are interested in the subject, will not expect from us any further answer in detail to the ridiculous misrepresentation of the morning journal as to our attitude towards the Collins case. In the beginning we supposed that the matter would be argued on its merits, and certainly did not suppose that we would be met by repeated untruth and more than imputation of malignant motive. The public will, however, appraise these tactics at their proper value, and for tbe rest, we must decline to stoop to further notice of them. '