BY THE WAY.

Evening Star, Issue 9355, 31 March 1894, Page 1

BY THE WAY.

—Let your sense be clear, > r with a weight of words fatigue the ear. Horace. 'ji * cricket match between Otago and Ha e's Bay was only remarkable for an exl ion of inordinate vanity and unsportsmanlike behaviour on the part of an Otago cricketer (save the mark !) who failed to turn up at Carisbroofcon Monday because he wasn't put on to Bowl on Saturday. That is the long and short of the whole matter. The offender takfeitobjectfon to the word ■'( childish," applied io bis precious apology by the Stab reporter, and I agree with the objection. The epithet should have been not "childish" but "impudent." The delinquent has not, bettered his case by publishing a part of his letter to the Otago captain. "He did not feel called on to sacrifice a day when hi* se'm're* were net required, especially as he had business to attend to." Quite so: Fisher was (quite properly) put on as the first change ui Saturday, and the other left-hand bowkr discovered that he had "business to attend to" —Fisher's marked success presumably helping on the discovery. The wording of the letter makes it quite clear that the business was not imperative: he " did not feel called on to sacrifice a day.'' Yet he undertook to "sacrifice" the two days when he accepted the invitation to play. When a man consents to play in a match he receives no guarantee that he will be put on to bowl, and his "services aie required ' in the field whether he bowls or not. The explanation is "too thin." lam writing strongly, but disgust often calls ft v strong expression, and such conduct would be intolerable in a Grace or a Stoddart. It is a blot on the fair fame of Otago cricket, and I take it for granted that the Associi'tion will lose no time in intimating i;s opinion on the matter. That the delinquer.t will not play for Otago next season goes, I imagine, without saying; but, further, I:e ought not to be allowed to play Li a Cup match until a full expression of contrition is forthcoming. Cricket in Otago will soon Ic at a low ebb if ill-conditioned sulkiness c I this kind is easily palliated.

The City Councillors have seut their old colleague, Mr Barron, to smell out nuisances —a mutation of employment which suggesi s Hamlet's reflection anent the uses to which all of us may come. 2fon cuievmque datum est habere nasum, runs the old Latin proverb ; not to every man is it given to possess a nose; but I doubt not that Mr Barron is suitably provided in that respect, and it maybe that he will make a capital assistant inspector. And yet the matter likes me not; I am far from sure that the appointment itself does not want "smelling out." There is acut-and-dried aspect about it which emits anything but a sweet savor. Mr Barron resigned his councillorship in order .o become a candidate :. did he take that step before absolutely assuring himself of the certainty of success ? And if the position was practically assured to him by his fellow councillors previous to his resignation, what a farce was there in advertising for applicants ! " The situation is vacant; nobody need apply" that is .what the advertisement practically amounted to. True, it is just possible that Mr Barron got no such assurance as I have suggested ; he may have just risked the affair, trusting to the kindly feeling of his old colleagues. Well, even this does not mend matters to any great extent: the element of kindly feeling and comradeship ought not to enter into such appointments. He would be a bold man who should maintain that Mr Barron was the one obviously suitable applicant for the position, and I am bound to say that a bad principle is represented in this appointment, to say nothing of doubtful taste and yet more doubtful policy.

I had a bit of chaff with the Reverend Mr Saunders last week, but I quite agree with the gist of his letter in Thursday's Star. An attempt ought certainly to be made to get to the bottom of that suspicions business, and it is not sufficient to say that the present exposure will effectually prevent a repetition of the " errors." It is the enormous number of the unaccountably disfranchised voters that makes the matter look so ugly and throws doubt upon the notion that the removal of the names should be attributed to a clerical mistake during the flurry of the election. Mr Saunders, knowing as lie did what was reported to be going on, erred from over-confidence, but he is quite justified in declaring that "it is absurd to demand that every elector shall test the accuracy of the roll before an election," and " Nemo " begs to associate himself with the reverend complainant in demanding "a full explanation." Whether we shall get any satisfaction is another matter : blessed is he that expectetb nothing, for he shall not be disappointed. It might be worth while to form, so far as possible, a complete list of those electors who found that they had been unwarrantably struck off' the roll. Is it true that nearly all of them belong to one way of thinking on the licensing question ? If so, there is the more •ground for suspicion, while, on the other hand, if the gratuitous favors of the deleters have been pretty evenly divided between the two camps, the matter would, no doubt, assume a less serious aspect. Per« haps His Worship the Mayor will help us to get an inquiry. Unbiased as he is—having fallen, not to put too fine a point upon it, between two stools—he would be just the man to lead a crusade in the interests of electoral purity. I fear H:s Worship has not yet taken my advice and joined the Social Reform Association, but I live in hope of experiencing a new intellectual sensation by seeing him preside at. some meeting or other at which Messrs Gibb and Saunders shall be the chief speakers.

The people of Dunedin—oi 1 , at all event', Dunedin note-writers—are sorely in need < i a new sensation. The by-law business is ; a dead as Queen Anne ; the licensing eleotioi 3 are over for three years ; the session (thaui* the Powers !) is afar off; and we bid fair !o be like Wordsworth's " party in a parlor—all silent and all d—<l. : ' Suffering a n.. covery—that is what we are doing—Prohibitionists as well as moderate (to say nothii g of immoderate) drinkers; and the process, as all the world knows, is not an enjoyable one. "Come down and redeem us from virtue,"' cries that not very proper poet, iir Swinburne, addressing some yet more improper deity of his acquaintance. Far be it from me to implore redemption from virtue : the commodity is none too plentiful; but it is high time something or other turned rp to redeem us from dulness. Perhaps yen will say that I am suggesting my own task. Ahem ! the children of Israel drew the lin-; at making bricks without straw, and how can I write lively Notes without suitable subjects ?

Who can be alone elate, While the world lies forlorn r True, there is the Knox Church imbroglio —I think that is the correct word—but you will hardly insinuate that liveliness is to I c found (here. Nay, it is a sad subject, and mine is not the pen to make light of Not in that direction must we look for 01 r new sensation if the sensation is to l;e enjoyable. The fact is we are demoralised ; we have had so much excitement of one kind or another lately that a spejl of flatneta finds us unprepared and takes us unawarej We feel aggrieved and are impiously in* cliued to murmur against Providence. Bit stay ! anyhow I have got through that note^

There is something very touching in the confidence reposed in the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce by that "young man of indußtrioua habits and without capital" who sends a list of questions from California. And—auoh is ever' the fate of trusting humanity—the confidence has been misE laced. The Chamber—scared, I suppose, y the young man's lack of capital—fights shy of answering the interrogations, and hands over the inquirer to the tender mercies of the Press. It iB not quite clear what the Press is expected to do with him, but as a humble unit of that great estate I feel that the obligations of hospitality enforce me to say somewhat. I cannot answer the young man's questions • the mere attempt would be a presumption in face of the Chambers confessed inability ; but I can shake hands with him, in spirit, over the wide waters, and some philanthropic person can cut out this Note and post it to the duly furnished address. My heart goes forth to thee, 0 young man ! even as it goes forth to Mr Toots whenever I take up my ' Dombey and Son.' Your passion for information is stimulating, aid it is sincerely to be trusted that your mother knows you are out. But perchance you never had a mother, for I observe that you write from "Man Island." Strange as it will appear to you, we inhabit a Man and Woman Island—especially Woman. Believe me that a Man and Woman Island is preferable as a place of abode to a mere Man Island: "The garden was a wild"—you know the tag. Come over and see us. We have au " unemployed" difficulty and a Charitable Aid Board, to say nothing of a Benevolent Institution. Future changes of taxation I cannot explain to you, as 1 am r.cither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; they are in the lap of the gods—Messrs Seddon and Ward being the present deities of the New Zealand democracy. Anyhow, whether you come or not, I salute you. Accept my blessing, though (unlike little Miss Flite) I cannot " confer estates " along with the blessing; but you will take the will for the deed. Accept also my thanks, for (as noted above) it has been a dull week, and subjects, like buck-cakes at the Autocrat's breakfast table, are " skerce and high."

New .South Wales 13 verily a belated land —otherwise it would never tolerate a Premier like Sir George Dibbs. Fancy a New Zealand Premier attending a licensed victuallers' picnic ! 'Twere pity of his life. Our emancipated sisters are not without their doubts concerning the bona fides of Mr Seddon's services to bhe great cause; but ihey give him the benefit of the doubt on the principle that all's well that ends well. But let King Richard attend a licensed victuallers' picnic; let him talk about the Cana miracle; let him quote that Übooed tr.xt about a little for the stomach's sake ; hi him run down Prohibition and run up the accursed thing, moderation; let him sa,y that men who drink enjoy the best health ; let him declare that many good men have gone down to the grave for lack of whisky ; and—let him order his political cotrhi. Yet Sir George Dibbs has done all these things, barring the order to the undertaker; he has even described whisky as a * : gift of Providence"—flat blasphemy to Prohibitionist cars ; and yet lie lives, and apparently fiourishes. Sir George, it seems, spent five unhallowed years " in a spirit merchant's office," but this fact alone does not explain his misguided audacity. Was not our«own Richard a Boniface in his time ? N T o, the explanation lies in the fact that 1 n-ely woman has not yet stooped to vote in New South Wales, and that there is no immediate prospect of her assuming such an attitude. Sir George can speak his mind : otu Richard can't.

The master of the State school at Waitahuna evidently believes in the practical side of education. He encourages his pupils to study horticulture, and has induced the townspeople to take a lively interest in the children's efforts. I read with much satisfaction in the Tuapeka paper the other day an account of the first exhibition of the scholars. The girls exhibited bouquets of flowere grown and arranged by themselves, and the boys, not to be outdone, showed button holes ; one boy was the proud posS3ssor of a healthy tomato plot; and another gained a prize for a well-kept miniature garden. I learn from the report in question that the School Committee have, at considerable trouble and expense, fenced in a piece of ground at the back of the school, and have run wire netting around to protect i f from the rabbits. The ground is laid out in fourteen plots, and is allotted to an equal number of girls attending the school to plant and cultivate any flowers their ideas and tastes might suggest; and certainly the youngsters deserve great credit, both for their taste in the selection of flowers and for the care and patience they have shown in cultivating them. The plots are well kept and clean, and not a weed is to be seen. The Rev. Mr Skinner, who presided at the prize distribution, pertinently remarked that the teacher was doing good work in cultivating in the children a taste for flowers, as it had a tendency to develop the good traits of their characters. A person who was fond of flowers very seldom showed an evil disposition. He* complimented Waitahuna on having one of the best-kept flower gardens attached to any school he had seen in Otago. Possibly Mesdeurs les Inspectors will remember the subject of this ' Note' when next making their rounds.

Do the Executive of the Otago Central Railway League or the Committee of that energetic body, the Chamber of Commerce, ever° trouble themselves about consulting the pages of the 'Labor Journal/ which is published " by authority," and not unfreijiiently contains very interesting information ? Have they read the March number of that publication, which has some figures that, if subjected to analysis by Mr E;irashaw or Mr Barron, may help to solve the riddle ,of the unexpended balance of the Otago Central vote? We have been told that since the General Election—the co-operative voter is rather at a discount just now—there has been a gradual weeding out of the men who, if report speaks truly, played a potential part in the memorable Waihemo contest; and it is said that the number has been reduced by something like 100 during the 1 ist three months. (Mayhap Mr Ward is finding that the Treasury is getting rather low, and has given a hint to his Chief that public works expenditure must taper off to a vanishing point if the promised surplus is to be forthcoming. I make Mr Hutchison, M.H.R., a present of this suggestion for use when he next defends Mr Seddon.) Turning ivain to the ' Labor Journal,' I find that during February 2,062 men were employed oi co-operative works throughout the colony. Of that number Wellington Province absorbed 685, as under : Survey Department ... •■• ... 420 Pemberton (State farm improvement) ... lo Levin (State farm, including three families) 29 Public Works Department-Eketahuna-VVoodville Railway 221

Total 685 This Eketahuna-Woodville section is a very important link of the North Island Trunk Railway, and its completion is greatly d isired" by the people on the south-eastern coist of the North Island. The work is proceeding at both ends, and it may be svfely presumed that so thorough-going a Ministerialist as the member for Masterton •-•ill take precious good care that the interests of his district are not imperilled by any " taperiDg off" process. lam not a prophet nor the son of one, but I venture to assert that there are fully 100 men employed to-day on the Eketahuna section alone. If my surmise be correct, there must be quite 570 " co-operators" employed in the Wellington provincial district, to say nothing of the°men who have of late been engaged in and about Parliament Houses and the biggest wooden building in the world.

How stands the record as affecting Otago ? The figures are : Survey Department ... ... 70 Public Works Department— Otago Central ... ... ... 206 CatfinKiver 32

308 The difference in favor of Wellington in the matter of " co-operators " alone is—again I hazard a guess—at least 230. Will those who affect to be interested in the welfare of Central Otago take these figures into

avizandum and tell me what they portend t Otago Central newspapers might "please copy" them. James Macandrew never ceased to declare that Otago was the milch cow for the colony ; it would appear that Bhe will bo so till the end of the chapter. I sigh for a United Otago that shall see justice done to this provincial district.

Dr 0. J. Fowter, the well-known lawyer of Christohuroh, was one of those who, with Paßtor Birch and Father Bell, was brought forward by the Moderates of Christohurch for the licensing bench of that'city; but, unlike his clerioal colleagues, he decided to go to the poll, despite the threats of the female wing of the Extreme party. And the Worthy dootor was eleoted, though he resolutely refused to do anything to advance his own candidature. He has since resigned his seat on the Committee, and thus explains his reasons for taking that course:—

Father Bell's enforced resignation having made it impossible to obtain a majority on the Committee, our means of influencing it depended on the moral weight which oui position on the poll might give us. That position, through the marked abstention of the Prohibitionists~if, indeed, the strange disparity of numbers on the two polls does not mark, as is thought, something more than abstention—amounts simply to this*. I am the only one elected ; I am more than 1.000 below the lowest votes polled by the trade, and it is only the accident of Mr Waymouth's withdrawal that leaves me in at all. What our moral weight must be under such a condition of things I leave the people to judge.

Dr Forster, in making hi 3 bow of farewell, gives some weighty advice which both sides will do well to seriously take to heart. To the " trade " he says that the lessons of the elections throughout the country ought to teach them how to act in the future, and he sternly warns them against attempting to trifle with the patience of the public any longer. He point 3 out to them that but for the intervention of the true Moderates, the Prohibitionists (as he reads the Act, and he ought to understand it) came within 120 votes of being able to shut up every licensed house in Christchurch, and he says to them : If the " trade " have the good sense to accept the situation, and will honestly set themselves to reduce the number of houses, it not quite, to something very nearly approaching the 25. per cent, reduction, and will for the next three years show themselves to be rigid enforcers of the law, 1 for one will gladly give them credit in a practical shape for their good faith with the public. Should we, unfortunately, find it to be otherwise, we shall have had time to organise, and as to our future vote we are absolutely unpledged.

The methods of the Prohibitionists as a party do not find favor with the Doctor, who tells them some home truths in these words:—

You will be disposed to ridicule me if I tell you in plain terms that you are unwisely led. But before you laugh, listen. I, too, know something of political action. Some forty years ago at Home, when vou also were moving, a few of us set ourselves "to win and use the political confidence of our Nonconformist brethren. 'N c found them unorganised and distrustful, and we faced an indifferent if not hostile public. Our object was no small one, for it involved a vast constitutional change, and we shrank no more than you do from the avowal of our ultimate design. Contrast our brilliant achievements with your miserable result. How have we gained them? We were content to take from the time what the time was prepared to give us, and we silently educated the public mind up to giving us more. Surely it is the very madness of fanaticism for you to throw yourselves into the arms of the "trade" just because you cannot annihilate them at a blow. JJut this is precisely what you have done. Here, at this moment, if the "trade" laughs at us and refuses all amendment, it is to you they owe the power to do so. Nbmo.