NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 7754, 27 October 1888, Page 1

NOTES.

At the University capping ceremony last year Dr Coughtrey delivered Psychology an exceedingly able address, a Again. considerable portion of which was devoted to a trenchant philippic against charlatanry. The "lady doctor" had just been reaping a golden harvest among the foolish of Dunedui, and the medical fraternity, as represented by Dr Coughtrey, entered an emphatic protest against the encouragement of such con" temptible empiricism. But it was not merely to medical science that the doctor's observations applied; the key-note of this part of his speech was that, without special training, a man's work and opinion were of small value. He spoke of the desirability of having one's " lamps of knowledge filled by that prolonged mental effort which is the seoret of true genius and a lasting reputation." Now, here another question presents itself for Dr Salmond's learned elucidation. Why is it that, when a man carefully lays down a maxim in matters of opinion or conduct, it is at least even betting that he .will by-and-bye give a practical exhibition of how not to carry it out ? It is simply the old inward fight so well known to Ovid and the Apostle to the Gentiles— Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor! Is it some strange but inevitable law of our complex nature? is it owing to what Mr Gladstone happily calls "the shifting faculty of the human mind ?" or is it sheer "cussedness"—the work of that "imp of the perverse" of whom Edgar Allan Poe writes so weirdly ? Be the answer what it may, Dr Coughtrey is obviously a victim to the subtle tendency. Ne suior ultra crepidam, he said in effect last year. This year, like Professor Black and his miners, he bursts his bonds, and, together with the occupation for which he has a diploma, runs a quack engineering concern for which he is without one. Confident and bellicose, he is ready to do battle with all comers on the hobby he has mounted. His opinion of en* gineering experts is exactly on a par with that held by a Yankee empiric concerning tha legitimate faculty; and he has, moreover, developed into one of the most prolific letter-writers of the age. His latest plan is, a la Junius, to address public men in person through the columns of the newspaper. It will be a new terror to bo reckoned with in political life, this literary button-holing of a Minister as he passes through a place. Let us hope it will not have the effect of causing Mr Mitchelson to forswear New Zealand and stay with the boom on the other side. Possibly, if Dr Coughtrey had taken to his new avocation when young—if in this direction he had "his lamps of knowledge filled by that prolonged mental effort which is the secret of true genius and a lasting reputation " he might have made a very passable engineering authority; just as we know another local luminary might, under similar circumstances, have beaten Tennyson and LoDfrfjllow on their own ground. But as tie matter stands, we would venture to pn scribe for the energetic doctor "a small dose of his last year's speech on charlatanry three times a day, until the Purakanni business is finally settled." A Mr Henry K. Aibd writes to 'TLo Times,' as an Australian colonist; John of twenty, years' standing, in Chinaman, support of Mr. Edward Wake, field's defence of the Chinaman, Afcer a good deal of indiscriminate abuse the Celestial is evidently going to have a taste of the sweets of indiscriminate adulation. Some of Mr Aird's remarks would raise "a smile that is child-like and bland " on John's own guileless face. We are told that in the colonies the European laborer "is, as a rule, indolent, asking the highest possible wages and giving but little in return." They beg, and demand food as a right, on pain of burning the squatter'B fences. "Their immorality and abuse of the weaker sex is only two well known." On the other hand the Chinese are patterns of all the virtues. " They are a law-abiding race . . . most industrious, trustworthy 'and reliable, giving honest labor for a fair wage, and require no looking after. . . . They do not work for less than the Europeans. Indeed, they are frequently given higher wages. . . . Their morals are infinitely superior to the Europeans', and their liberality towards the poor and deserving is unbounded." Finally, Mr Aird thinks that if the Colonial Governments would try to get rid of the ' Germans instead of such desirable neighbors as the Celestials, they would be acting more wisely. We should much like to examine Mr Aird's " phrenological development." This is what comes of running to extremes; the rival extremist is sure to have his time. Sir Henry Parkes has indeed much to answer for. The London 'Daily Telegraph' has been discussing the possibility of icCkean ducing mankind to eat whale. Tucker. Somebody, greatly daring, has, it appears, dined on whale's flesh and reports it good. One average whale, it has been calculated, would yield 50,000 pints of soup—somewhatoleaginous possibly, but nutritious and beat-producing. "An entire child's school," says the editor of the ' Telegraph,' " might be fed out of a single whale for the whole winter." That would depend, possibly, on the number in the school, and the size of the whale. It may be admitted, however, that what Mark Twain calls a " good ordinary moderate sized whale," would comprise a good deal of solid eating. It may also be presumed that a little of it would go a long way. Moreover, the cetaceans are a longlived race; the 'Telegraph' has heard of specimens from "300 to 700 years old"! There is a strong antecedent probability that even a middle-aged whale —say rising his third century would be tough. All things considered, therefore, the calculation is not unreasonable that one whale would last a boarding school a whole winter. The ' Telegraph' supposes that this would mean a great saving to the boarding-school keeper. That depends on the price of whale. Is it expected that whale meat would be cheaper than colonial mutton? Joking apart, an old Greenland whaler, who, with the crew of his ship, feasted off a fresh whale steak, used to pronounce it as juicy and wellflavored as a beefsteak. Mb Laexach is a much-banqueted and banqueting man. If eating, "•SfcSSd* tebin S B °' kindne8 8» and follow?' congratulatory speechifying have a beneficial influence upon the welfare of communities and individuals, ' then New Zealand and the late Minister for Mines may. look forward to a bright and prosperous future. One is reminded of Mr Pickwick's Christmas expertences at old Wardle's, where the prevailing conversational formula was " Will you take a glass of wine with me, sir?" It is no paradox to affirm that a more faultless public man than Mr Larnach would not have received equal valedictory attention, It is felt that there is something peculiarly colonial ~about tha ex-Minister's cha*a<( teristios; > his merits are of the honest, ope>» 'hearted colonial order; andasforhi*f*n)te—. well, he has the qualities of his shortcoming, He'is not exactly' the wholly admirable geniuß of Professor Black's' lusty adulatldr, but' he 'is regarded'\by''.th6 winnjnqiiy tt)to:,whft;. whiledone Mk, jb>stwvthe co)ony,.andrwhose., been on the

whole salutary. To say that among the ■members of the last Ministry he had the Ibest account to give of his stewardship is no very high praise; but, such as it is, we think it may be awarded. If he has never taken to heart the Psalmist's resolution to *' keep his mmth with a bridle," that fact is no daubt i-'t by many to bo the measure ■of his straj • find perhaps something rn;.y be said for the view. It would at least commend itself to Professor Black, in whose sight self-restraint is evidently not one of the cardinal virtues. The worthy Professor agrees with our forefathers i>\ thinking that a periodic "drunk" is advisable in order to clear away unpleasant "•humors." It is by a natural and benefia;i\t instinct that the miner, alter much surdy toil and irksome confinement, bursts ilia bor.ilj in sunder for a season, and concentrates his whole soul upon the congenial tetik of imbibing whisky and knocking down h's cheque. Oue would like to have the opinion of the Professor of Moral Philosophy upon the theory. No doubt it is by an analogous instinct, "deep-seated in our mystic frame," that a Professor feels absolutely impelled to take unto himself sable wings and seek a fairer region, "faraway, far away," in the middle of the University session. But we are getting into psychology and trespassing upon Professor Salmond's preserves. It la not very easy to understand what the dispute between the Seamen's I $\ ttootl Union arid shipping companies | jfrbing. was about, but it is nevertheless exceedingly satisfactory I that it has been settled. Had the men been cilled out from the Union S.S. Company's boats, for instance, great temporary inconvenience would have been occasioned to the pubiic, whilst a number of laborers on and about the wharves would have been thrown out of employment. There must certainly be a screw loose somewhere when the Seamen's Union could have even contemplated taking such action in regard to a company who have always treated their seamen and other employes well, and against whom there are no grounds of complaint whatever. All's well that ends well, however. The danger is over for the present, and it is to be hoped that in the future moderation will guide the counsels of the Seamen's Union. Trade unions have their proper and valuable functions, which require considerable discretion in their discharge, otherwise the union 3 may be found to be double-pointed weapons which wound the hand that wields them. The police en Thursday succeeded in sheeting home a charge of sly grogMuch Needed selling in one of those flagrant Iteform. cases which, unfortunately too common, generally elude conviction. In houses of a certain character liquor is notoriously supplied on payment, and the profits thereupon form no insignificant part of the income of the proprietor, or rather the proprietress—the party running the establishment being in most instances a female. It may easily be understood that it is by no means easy to get evidence of the sale of drink in such places, since the inmute3 are well posted as to visitors who may be dangerous, and those who drink and pay are not by any means likely to come forward as witnesses. The good, smart fine inflicted—Llo and costs—should have some deterrent effect, but the real mischief lies much deeper than mere sly grogselling. A Bill was introduced at the eleventh hour of last session for the suppression of disorderly houses, and it is to some legislation in this direction that we have to look. Such houses, when manifest scandals and nuisances, should be closed, and much, benefit would thereby result to society generally. As the colossal statue of Liberty in the harbor of New York, holding Where arc with outstretched arm her flunThey? j n g torch "enlightening tho world," so was the Lyceum, in days gone by, to the benighted inhabitants of this City. The Lyceum, in the palpable form of bricks and mortar, still rears its front in Dowling street; but where arc the bright lights which used,to gleam therein? Have they forsaken the hall desecrated _by the uncultured rinkers and taken their brilliancy elsewhere? or has their philosophy burst up by the evolution of spontaneous combustion ? Perhaps, afterall, it is a ease of eclipse—not of annihilation—and they will shine again with intensified brightness ! President Cleveland, in his letter of acceptance of nomination for re-election by the Democratic Home Troths. Q onven *j oni enunciates some very plain opinions in relation to the extreme Protective policy advocated bv the Republican party. They propose in their platform, he says, to support the interests of the country by removing the internal revenue tax from tobacco, and from spirits used in tho arts and for mechanical purposes. They declare, also, that there should be such a revision of the Tariff as " shall tend to check the importation of such articles as are produced here. . Thus, in proposing to increase the duties on such articles to nearly or quite a prohibitory point, they confess themselves willing to travel backward in the road of civilisation, and to deprive our people of the markets for their goods, which can only be gained and kept by the semblance at least of an interchange of business; while they abandon our consumers to the unrestrained oppression of the domestic trusts and combinations which are in the same platform perfunctoiily condemned." Our people, Mr Clovoland. further says, ask relief from the undue and unnecessary burden of tariff taxation. "They are offered free tobacco and free whisky. They ask for bread; they are given a Btone!"