LIQUOR IN THE KING COUNTRY.

Evening Post, Volume LXVI, Issue 8, 9 July 1903, Page 6

LIQUOR IN THE KING COUNTRY.

«. MAHUTA SIGNS THE PLEDGE. [BT TELEGBAPH —PBESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, This Day. Mahuta has signed the pledge, at the instance of the Rev. Mr. Gittos, as an example to natives recognising his authority, subscribing himself "Mahuta Tawhiao." He states that if the Government gives the Maori Councils power, the Councils will stop the liquor traffic in the whole of the King Country. What is required is to prevent liquor being brought into the district. The chiefs in each district will follow Mahuta's lead in -signing the pledge. Every native will bo required to conform to the will of the majority, or be disgraced and be liable to be thrown out of the community. Henare Kaihau, M.H.R., states that when Mahuta goes to Parliament he will make a statement that he is one with King Edward, and expects the Government and the Premier to fulfil the promises made to Maoris in the past. Mahuta will do his utmost to see that these pledges are carried out.

The wandering cattle nuisance is one that residents of Karori suffer from considerably, and in a case at the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when George Bell was charged with permitting six cows and six calves to roam at large, counsel for the prosecution asked that a heavy fine should be inflicted as a warning. Defendant admitted the charge, but claimed that the cattle had broken their bounds through the fault of the Borough Council in not fencing a certain quarry which was its property. The Bench inflicted a fine of 10s and 14s costs. A supplement to the Gazette has been issued containing the names of teachers who hold certificates or licenses under the Education Act, 1877. The total number of teachers is 5215, of whom 2729 (1303 males and 1426 females) are employed in public instruction. Amongst the 2486 certificated teachers, who are set out as not being so employed, are 793 married women, and a large number of teachers who have gone into business, retired from active service, or left the colony. Mr. Hogg, M.H.R.; paid a visit with one of the visiting Justices, Mr. Edwin Arnold, to the Porirua Asylum yesterday. Owing to the size of the establishment and. the many departments \o be visited, the inspection was necessarily hurried, but Mr. Hogg states that the assistance and facilities afforded him by the superintendent, Dr. Hassell and his assistant, Dr. Barraclough, enabled him to cover a great deal of highly instructive and interesting ground. His visit, he assures us, removed a good many preconceived impressions. With one thing he was particularly struck —namely, the excellent understanding that seemed to exist between the inmates and their caretakers. There appeared to be a total absence of anything like unreasonable or unnecessary restraint, and the visitors took the opportunity of chatting freely with the victims of mental infirmity. A considerable proportion appear to be perfectly harmless, many being men and women a long way beyond middle-age. Old people in their second childhood, suffering really from physical and mental decay, can hardly be fairly denominated lunatics, said Mr. Hogg, but what is to be done with them; they must be provided for, and it is to be feared that most of them are absolutely friendless. The asylum, Mr. Hogg thinks both wellarranged and well-managed. It is healthily situated, and the superintendent sees that as many of the patients as are able and adapted for w-ork are regularly employed improving the grounds or cultivating the farm, the orchard, and the market garden. The electric plant, workshops, the workrooms, etc., appear to be thoroughly up to date, and the -way in which the dormitories and living rooms are ventilated, heated, and lighted, should be conducive to the comfort, health, and, if practicable, the recovery of the inmates. The visit to the Auckland Asylum by Mr. George Fowl-ds, M.H.R., accompanied by a press reporter, disclosed the fact that in the men's side a dormitory which should only hold twelve inmates contains sixteen, and that an .undesirable state of things prevails. Dr. Beattie has been obliged to turn a lavatory into a dormitoryj and to use a corridor for the same purpose, these steps giving accommodation to some 23 patients. The hospital on the men's side is supposed to have accommodation for seventeen patients, yet there are now twenty-four beds in it. One room is being used a dormitory for patients with suicidal tendencies, which is ireally not suitable for the purpose. A few patients are obliged to sleep on "shake down" in the passage. The men's dining-room has also insufficient accommodation. On the women's side one dormitory was overcrowded to the extent of no less than ten patients, including those who slept on beds on the floor. Dr. Beattie explained that this placing of patients on the floor between the beds was unsatisfactory and led to complaints. Another dormitory was overcrowded to the extent of six patients, and in this room the ventilation was faulty. Another had four beds and another three beds too many. The women's hospital is supposed to have room for twentytwo beds, but there are now twenty-three beds in it, and as in the case of the men's hospital, tho estimate of the pioper aocomiuiidation available is based on the 600 «'ubic feet allow ant-e for each patient, •vboi«aa_tho uiouer hosiutdl allowance