Wellington Items.

Hastings Standard, Issue 18, 16 May 1896, Page 3

Wellington Items.

"Wellington, May 14. OOVKEXJIKNT FEINTING OFFICE. tow Wellington is subject to i.; v surprises, not the least of these i week's notice given to the three prin tors with records for long service in the Government Printing Onice. The dismissal seems haish, more especially when it is remembered that these- three men were merely the mouthpieces for the rest ot the employees. It is to be hoped that the petition presented to the Cabinet for a reconsideration of the matter will be favourably received. The report of Royal Commission exonerated the Government Printer, which came as a surprise to the " man in the street,'' who had made up his mind for a contrary verdict ; but the astonishment was greater when it was known that the printer resigned, and that his resignation was accepted. An advertisement inviting applications for the vacant post quickly appeared in the local papers. This of course was liece-sary in view of the early asS"iubling of Parlianvnt, when the. work of the Government Printing Ollice is heaviest. Speculation is now rife as to who will succeed Mr Costall. and public opinion here has fixed upon George Either —Our George—exM.11.i;., a- the future Government Printer. It is well-known that George is to stand again for the City, and if I may c-xpre.-s an opinion his chances of >uece;s are fairly good, lie will it he goes t (1 the p ; .)Il be against the Government, another fact which is widely known. George has a particular set on Sir Robert Stout, and by a stroke of luck he received a whole column iii the New Zealand Times. He had an interview with a reporter, and in that interview he said some nasty things about the Knight, winch tlu- reporter was glad to hear, and which the reporter recorded for public information. Because of this little favour shown to " our George people have jumped to th" conclusion that ho is 'to be made Government Printer so as to be got out of the way for the generel election. If I-'isher retires from the field it will be a gain not to the Liberals but to the other side, as he is against the Liberal Party. However, I am one who believes that Fi.-hor would fit the printing ofiice very nicely, and for his own sake I hope he may be appointed Government Printer.

ANII-I'IIIXHSE. The Anti-Chinese League has been revived. The near approach of the general election is a sufficient rea-on for the resurrection of this party. The League held a meeting la-t night, when Mr Moore of Johnsonville tillered them the u-e of a piece of land 27 acres in extent, rent free for two years, for the purposes of a market garden. The secretary and two lady members of the League inspected the land and came to the conclusion that it was unfit for gardening, yet according to Mr Moore, some C'liinamen have offered to lea-e the land for vegetable growing. There is thus n c-onliict of opinion as to the suitability of the soil; but I fancy the verdict of the Chinamen may be accepted as against the decision of inexperienced women.

Mr Moore, however, is in earnest, lie irf anxious to see what can lie done to cope with Chinese competition in market gardening. and he is prepared to risk a considerable sum if any persons would co-operate with him. In the face of this oiler the League could not do less than set up a committee to confer with Mr Moore on the matter. There h too much froth about the League, and too little earnestness, and the meeting last night was more of a political demonstration than otherwise. Opportunity was taken of administering a rebuke to Lady Stout for expressing her opinion of the Chinaman at the Women's Convention in Christchurch. This action was no doubt inspired for the purpose of flouting Sir 11. Stout and weakening his chances at the general election. One man alone made good use of the Anti-Chinese League to advertise himself, and that man was the irrepressible Haggen, erstwhile of the Woodviile Lxaminer. Ilag'jxn will '• put up" for Parliament. He is well primed with the most outlandish fads on monetary subjects, and these he hopes will float him into the House. Haggen was at the Anti - Chinese League meeting and plumped into the assembly a magazine article describing the co-operative system under which land in .Detroit has been worked with much success. Magazine articles like magazine rifles are warranted to kill at a thousand yards, and the common faddist always succumbs to the magazine article. However, the Chinese question is becoming a serious matter in Wellington. They are here and have throttled the greengrocers and fruit business. They have a perfectly mouoply of this trade and piratically control the wholesale and retail markets. According to Ouieial figure there are no less than 1-V2 of the pig-tails in the business, and their number will increase under the stimulus of extended patronage. It seems strange but it- is nevertheless true that Wellington people have a fancy for Chinese-grown vegetables. You will see ladies and gentlemen moving in the upper circles of society as well a.s workingmen and women pass by a white man's .shop and spend their money with the Chinese. It is this encouragement that is prolonging the stay of the Mongolian in our midst, and the diffusion of a healthy public sentiment against the Ching-C'hongs is much needed. The Anti - Chinese League has plenty of scope for good useful work, but the members must begin the work of reformation with themselves. It will be a surprise to many if they are able to accomplish that. NEWS OF THE DAY. There is some talk of an additional distributor of the new- of the day in the shape of a morning paper. I know for a fact that cn-piirk i are being

made for suitable premises, and T > r that an attempt was made to pnr..-:>:> ,r» one of the two new printing machines recently imported into the city. Thero is -aid to be moncv at the buck of th'.so proposing to launch cut, and, if rumour may be relied on the money is comiug from Auckland. There has been so much talk of another p-'p'-r hi Wellington wil!;':-': any re-alts that I y];Li iviase to believe this latent story, and will only accept it as a fact when the paper makes its appearance. Perhaps those who are gushing about the new morning paper have made a mistake and really mean the proposed enlargement of your evening contemporary the Evening Post. This journal is to popear in eight pages on the 20th i-ist. by which time it will be safely boused in its handsome new premises i i the centre of Willis street. The c dp ..unent of the paper comes none t ) soon, as the Evening Post can l i tot having no room for its advert semeriis and none whatever for ordinary news. Not to appear onesided in in this matter, I must say a word or two for the New Zealand Time-. The morning piper has done excellent work in directing attention to the bands of spieliers and bookers that have been in the habit of blocking up the foot-paths. These wretches are about as bad as the Chinamen, and it is time they were shifted. The Times has also given the police a much-nee ded shake up and the order of the Bobby is now i; move on." The paper lias overlooked the 'tecs who are primarily to blame for permitting the '• bookies " and " spielers" to carry on their lai-a-iies-;. But fi-i Rudyard Kipling says " that's another story " which 1 will tell you on another occasion. In the meantime, I am Tom Tiiilpy.