A SYDNEY LETTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16808, 18 March 1915, Page 5

A SYDNEY LETTER.

[FrtoiM Otm Cokrespoxtuin-i.] March 10. A MINISTER'S RESIGNATION. The domestic surprise of the week has, of course, been the. resignation of Mr Carmichael, the Minister for Public Instruction, or what you New Zealonders call Education. You may remember perhaps that in previous communications it has been suggested' that the Ministry was not altogether a happy family—that, it was riven by intriguo, bewildered by the pressure of curreut circumstance, embarrassed by discon-

tent amongst its followers. This sudden bolt of a colleague has been a hard blow, but really Ministers have received so many, bumps during the last six months that the latest noise on the roof has probably had not much more effect than to make them wonder what may be coming next- To write the whole story or inner history of this resignation would merely be to recount a dull record of wire-pulling. The authorised version of the reasons for Mr Carmichael retiring i&, of course, scarcely worth consideration, aud is not meant to be. Ministers don't resign from Cabinets for euch a trifling reason a* is alleged in this case—that Mr Carmichael considered he should be acting Premier during Mr Holmnn's absence. As a matter of fact, Mr Carmichael had no claim to this, anyhow. The real reasons for the resignation are that the relations between Mr Carmichael and his colleagues had been severely strained by that gentleman's extraordinary loquacity: that Mr Carmichael fondly cher-' ished' two ambitions, one being the Agency-General, and in the event of Mr Holman seizing on that, then the Premiership; that the grapes have been looking pretty aour latch'; that the ; Government was manifestly getting un- | comfortably close to disaster. These reasons, combined with a singularly large endowment of that form of vanity —common to minor politicians and actor*—which loves as nothing else the evanescent pleasures of the limelight, operated with Mr Carmichael and caiißroil him to lose his head. He most likely reckons oh having got from under the smash, on having on account of the cleavage in the party made friends with the irreconcilable*, and on-having done a spectacular thing which will give him a strong pull when the question of leadership comes to be considered' —as it inevitably must on present appearances.

A DOUBTFUL MOVE. Mr Carmicliael is a pretty calculating individual, as a ride, whore his own interests are concerned, and nearly everybody who knows him feols fairly certain that be reckoned the thing out with very great care. But while he may have taken everything into calculation the chances are more that} even . that a man of his egotistical} unstable temperament has failod to accurately weigh the effect of his action on the public mind and on his political associates. The Premier, Mr Holman. has undoubtedly got himself badly bunkered. Still he exercises a powerful influence on the democracy of tin's State. He .stands head and shoulder* above every other man on that side, in point of ability and personality, and it must be conceded that much of the odium now surrounding him is due less to him than to the- failure of the Labour system as it is worked here aud of Labour politics to stand the test of later critioi3m. Labour has to a. great extent won its battle. That ■ is, all the big things it fought for have; been achieved. Most of its cnergv nowadays is devoted to furbishing up the old armour and furtively hunting j round for fresh battle-cries. The san« Labour men know this and feel that the parting of the ways is near at bond. They also know that Mr Holman is blamed for much he is 'not responsible for. Viewed from this aspect Mr OormSchael's le:ip overboard; seems to many observers an act of gross disloyalty. He stu:; i r-ide by side with Mr Holmau for ..aany years, fought with him and for him and at all times professed the stauncliest friendship. To run away now whon his former chief is compassed about by his enemies and soroly in need of aid scarcely seems a fair thing. . In fact some charity of judgment would be required to concede, the possibility of reconciling it with honour. Even Mr Holmnn's opponents while not anxious that he should be spared the last dregs agree that the late Minister has behaved in a rather scurvy manner. Mr Carmicliael is not likely to have thought that his hankering after notoriety would cause him to be looked upon with a great suspicion all roundIf he had this resignation would not have occurred, for there's nothing your politician of the hustling, advertising type fears more than a reputation for shiftiness,■ even though it.be the oao he most deserves. Such n. reputation would bo fatal to the most garrulous public man in the Commonwealth, and that man's name is Carmicliael. SUCCESSOR ELECTED.

A party caucus was held yesterday to *iect a. successor to Mr Carmichael. The proceedings were warm to the point of boiling and again, more forcibly though than before, it was shown to Ministers how definite is tho cleavage in the party, ranks. Thev.nominated Mr J. Grahame, the chief whip, for the vacant portfolio. Mr Burgess who had the Rupport of the "rebels" ran him very close in the voting. Ministers only got their man in by a single vote. So it will be seen how slender is the majority on which Ministers hold office. Mr Gruharno is u politically colourless gentleman from Newcastle,'who can accommodate himself without great mental anguish to almost any condition of affairs. He's an industrious wire-puller, rather jovial and was once a bookmaker. In the reconstruction Mr Griffith goes from the Works Department (where his administration has been generally unfortunate) to the Education Office, Mr Oami takes Works and Mr Clark becomes Chief Secretary. An effort was made at the caucus meeting to get Mr Carmicliael to withdraw his resignation and advanced so far that be and Mr Holman retired to "confer." But nothing came of it. Mr Holman wasn't having any of that.

HEAT AND FRUIT. The lost week or so has been most abominably hot—tin? hottest early March on record. There wore one or two days of unendurable woe, during which the coastal districts lay stifling under heavy clouds of dust oil the way from tho Riverina. A shower <>r two banished thi-: horror. Then fame temperatures of i>r>. »8 and 101. This last day was n corker. A slow hot wind droned in from the wesr over the gasping city and in the middle of tho night— temperature 95 in an open bedroom—the air currents turned a

complete somersault urnl camo ill* from .south bringing diy. fine penetrating .dust in horrid abundance, it was very dreadful and thn Sydney which ivcnt to work next 'morning' felt if it had .spent, a week with the man who had .1 (io>i to..sell. Tbt» only redeeming feature about the whole direful period of grill hn< been the amazing abundance and cheapness of fruit. The normal price of fruit is of t:nurse alarming. but lately piue-appJcs. peaches, apples, pears. persimmons (pdioub rubbish) and jjrapes have been available at reasonable tost. With lirst-rate fresh pines at fourpence trach, gv.pes at twopence and threepence, pears at eighteen for the democratic bob, the- community has been able to adjust its dietary to the atmospheric conditions. Hut it bus only been because of the man with the "harrer" that this lyis been possible. This hard-faced person has appeared in droves, and though his voice is de-'

cidedly unmusical and his raiment de-

plorable, has been hailed as is man and a. brother and a benefactor of his kind. Tho shopkeepers, rent-ridden slaves for the most part, continue the old piratical tariff, but their only customers are millionaires and reckless New Zealanders here on a visit. Nearly all the fruit sold in Sydney comes from other Statos in steamers. New South Wales produces fruit in abundance, but most, of it seems to cither rot on the trains during transit citywards or fall out of the cases in some mysterious Wiy. Ask a New South Wales orchardist what he thinks of the State railways, and immediately the air is split with a noise like falling tombstones or land values. « .-." \ i

DEFENCE MATTERS. Rifle clubs htiive sprung into existence like mushrooms ail over the land during the last few weeks. District corps have been formed in the suburbs, littie sectional professional clubs have made appearance and many business houses, particularly drapers, have formed clubs of their own employees. It was a stirring sight the other morning to see tho young gentlemen who work in a very large and fashionable softgoods emporium marching to work behind a brass band " in order to give tho public an opportunity of seeing the boneficial results of training." Sweet are the uses of advt.! Seriously, however, the movement has gone ahead with a bang. From some quarters it receives great applause, from others coming growling condemnation. Senator M'DongalJ, for instance, the other night snorted with Gaelic scorn. " The place men who want to serve the Empire now is in the ranks," he said, adding, in effect, that if the formation of rifle clubs was going to make men think they were doing any good ■ for their country—or be an excuse for not going to the front—then these organisations were dangerous-futilities. There's xome truth in this—and some nonsense. Everybody cannot go to the war: but anyone can learn to shoot, and can show an example of desire to do his best: but where the Senator was right and where, he was wrong is just one of those points on which much difference of opinion may exist in spite of argument. Meanwhile the Defence Department is going busily on with recruiting. It is in point of fact training and ! equipping the maximum of men for whom provision can be made. The Department's worries are. innumerable,': :md n )w, to add to them all, it is being deluged with angry letters of remonstrance from rejected bantams. The minimum height for enlistment is sft

fin. Thousands of yoiing fellows under that height bare hern refused and sent away nursing their rage, for between martial ardour and inches no connecting link can be found. They are all very angry indeed, and' are writing to know how much longer "we of the Napoleon. Roberts*'and Jellicoe typ.''' are to be denied access to the flinty couch of war. Special regiments of" featherweights are", suggested, but so far without result. On that side of the head the commandant i« stone deaf. OTHER MATTERS.

Mr Fred. Niblo. the clever American comedian, and Mr* -Niblo'(Josephine Od'jvn) are returning to the United Suite* sftor a short swison in Melbourne. They may come back—when times improve. The glamour of the prize ring! Harold. Hardwick, tho well-known swimmer, mad'e his debut as a professional boxer at the Stadium on Saturday, and accounted for a hard, experienced heavy-weight fLes O'Donnell) in good style- Hard wick is an accountant by profession. As he entered the ring lie looked, like a glorified shop-walker. But there's money waiting horea.bouts for anyone with a forceful punch, so good hick to hi/n. By the way, has there ever been an altogether satisfactory pug named ;: Harold "■?

Apropos of the foregoing, there arrived, this vrer l .!: from 'Frisco Jim Corbett, one-time heavy-weight champion of the world—the man Boh Fiteshnmons showed* where Ins solar plexus is. He comes as .- •< entertainer in the Tirol! circuit. ~>aid to be quite a good monologuist. fncideii tally, he brings along a ' : white hope,'' one Gowler. Between this person and Hardwick a disturbance is certain. There have been rather serious, bush and .scrub fires, on the outskirts of the suburbtu ares, this week. Yesterday the charred remains of a human body were found near Ls Porouse, and positively identified as of one Guthrie, who lived in n comfortably furnished cave in the neighbourhood. Tliis morning Guthrie rend about his remains in one of the papers, and summoned the police to.see thftt his bones were still in good serviceable condition. Having satisfied himself on that point, the policeman m charge of the case returned to his elm* and nwa.its developments.