WELLINGTON NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 12875, 26 July 1906, Page 3

WELLINGTON NOTES.

[Sraaui to Trot Stlul]

T , , July 26. I observe thiu. the l?renuer stated at Timoru that tho Government have not been approached about the Federal mail contract, which, no doubt, is perfectly true. It is also true that the Cabinet has never had the matter before iL It is likewise true, I will add, that there are persons in this country, in Australia, anq in London who have had something to say to each other about this mail contract, and that this something will one day be made public. In New Zealand there are no papers, as I mentioned yesterday, but there have been negotiations. The indeterminate sentence is having a field day, chiefly through the case of tire man with sixteen convictions, who seems to have puzzled Judge Edwards, But the chief point of the case is missed by all the writers. It is that this unhappy criminal was convicted of theft when a Tittle child of eleven, and sent to gaol for three months, and that before he was twentyone he was confined several times in gaols. He owes the fact that be is incurable to the bungling of society, which now thinks it a scientific tiring to keep him ia grol for evermore. It is better, as a prominent citizen said to me after reading the report of tire case, to turn to the Premier’s declaration that the gunboat Sparrow is to be kept entirely for boys who are iu no sense criminal. 'The declaration shows, at all events, a true sense of the right tack in these delicate matters. In insurance circles the gibe of the chairman of tho New Zealand Insurance Company at the Government Department is much enjoyed; in other circles it is treated with the ridicule it deserves. The expansion of tho city is shown by the growth of its various business establishments. The latest determination to expand is that of Messrs Kirkcaldie and Stains, - who have thrown their business into a limited liability concern, which has bought out most of the interest of ,'<ir John Kirkcaldie, and has bought, ami is pulling down, the house so long occupied by Drs Henry and Diver in Johnstone street, with the view of erecting a feurstorey building connecting with their new building in Brandon street, which will complete .the new premises right through from Johnstone street to Brandon street. In the coarse of the plan now decided on the Occidental Hotel is to disappear, making room for a further extension of the monster temple of fashion.