ACROSS THE STRAIT.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 115, 13 May 1912, Page 2

ACROSS THE STRAIT.

GOSSIP FROM THE EMPIRE CITY.

(By "Marlburian.") WELLINGTON, Friday. jj'OLR YEAES' "HARD." "Four years with hard labor' 1 is a severe saufcence at firsx sight, especially lor an attempted criminal assault, hut thero is no doubt . that Archui Wiuks, who received this sentence, richly deserved it. One is sorry foi the man's wife and children; but society must bo protected against a peculiarly horrible- hind oi crime. ' Wicks wiis , a music teacher of no small ability; but he was one of those men who simply can't go straight. Ho was at one time local secretary for the Trinity College of Music, but embezzled the foes-and skipped to ' Sydney, whence lie was brought back and given a year's imprisonment. When ho came out some of nis old fiiends helped him towards making a frpsh start. Ho "found religion," I Tieliovt-, and became prominent in temperance work. He was getting on ouite nicely, !;aving a decent number of pupils, when on© fine day hii frl-j'nds were shocked to hear tliat he Jharl been arrested for indecently assaulting a young giri whom he was teaching the piano. When out on hail h© again did the skipping trick, i.ut was brought back from the South, ?.r«d the- final scene was played out^ in +-he Supreme Court on Wednesday last, when Judge Chapman refused to hoar of leniency and gave him the sentence to which I have alluded. . THE BAILLIE PICTURES. The National Art Gallery fund is -lowly—rather too slowiy—climbing iip to £3')00. If £5000 can be secur cl by public subscription the City -Council will supolement it by £1000; fcut I air. afraid that the fund is not likely to exceed £3500. I may be mistaken, but that is my persons* 1 opinion. Tlw question is being asked at, to rt-hefcl-.er the Council will give a pro rata subsidy if only £3500 i&> subscribed instead of £5000. I think it • is fairly safe to assume that the City " leather* would not too iip^Uy iji&isfc upon tho £o=JOO condition being, com-. plied with. Meanwhile the public is taking considerable .interest in the votiag which is going on for the most popular a\£ pictures, tmso which ttavu already been pui^hiscd being oxoluded. Curiously enough, n picture ''The Gresn Gown/ by Mr J. Young Hunter, which at present -3i©ads the poll, is far from bomg > tho most attractive picture in tlwi exhibition. Bat it is a very striking picture, and it hangs in tho first gallery v.'hi.'h tho visitor passes -through ivhfii entering the exn:biii'!ns. . I have a theory of my own t'lat the visitor's eye is at once cd.v.ght by this picture)—the portrait of a young and graceful woman, the artist's wife, attired ,in a blue and green shot silk go^n, and thai later on when the visitor gets into the-onain gallery, he js thero confronted by such a bewildering choice of large canvasses that he maintains that first and strong . impression 'created by i>u& most sti iking picture which fir-it ftt -tracted his attention and so i-iinsurs faithful to his first selection. Tnr, exhibition will remain open until the of the mouth. 1 mention this ;?.< a icminder that any art lovers ever yo^r way wht» may want to see the ■collection must come over to "Wellington within the next three w«.ek&. iiEGISLATFVE . COUNCIL APPOINTMENT 3. So far nothing appears t.i have leaked out as to any now appointments to the Legislative Council; but I * believe-quito tv number ol gentlemen i» different parts of tlw })ominion have not been backward, in making representations to t-hs p.nverA . *hat be that they are specially well fitted for seats in the Ne>v Zimljh v House'of Lords. The position" »f ct^r-, ±am Liberal ex-members who did r.ot stand at tho last election, On xlio mi-, derstandix-sc —so the story goes—that ■they were "to be "elevated" alter the? elections were over, is ";}ther cuv;»»us', "Will the present Ministry ""mase good" the protrai.es or compacts made oi entered into by th.' AdmiiiMr,.tii«:i .headed by Sir Joseph "Ward? Or ■will Mr Mackenzie and his colleagues giv* what good things are going to their own particular irWds? I -cc The Express holds the opinion that xiic Council should be reformed on siHPe elective basis. I am afraid that, whatever Government remains iri power after next session, you will not" see much change mad© in the existing nominative system. THE LATE MR McGOWAN. A good, honest, ■ decent main in. «very sense of the expression was tho late Mr James MoGowan, the news .w whose very sudden death came :.s a grent shook to his raa,ny friends here in Wellington. A brilliant politician lMr McGowan was certainly not; b<:r. although no crntor he . had a v;»st fund of natural shrewdness, and) I know that his opinion on any carrent political question was highly valued! and carefully ascertained by ■ both tho lato Mr Seddon and, dir Joseph "Ward. Ho wns a-n industrious «nd capable Minister of Mines, r*;s long experienoo of the Thames gold Holds being of considerable value io him in this positiop. As Minister i'orJustico he wus less successful; «;- "dced, on moat points connected with the }wlxninistr:ition of the Poli<;© i>> pai*tm«nt he merely echoed th'Topinions- of the Under-Seorotary, Mr! "Waldegrave, who, by the way, is now «n route for Eing3a.nd, having retirod from the Civil Service. Mr M------dowpii Vac a good, styurich Liberal: but he made no secret of his distrust and dislike of extremes in Labor and ! JinmnnitariMi legislation. JTe. was j ?iever in tho least tainted with I fjiddwm, and had, I fancy, got nob a little out of touch with the more ad vanced members of the party. Personally he was a. good-natured m:}.n. with a. plea&-int word for all with r whom lie came into private or official i , contact. His sturdy, short iigm-e, a ! cigar always in his mouth, xvus j familiar to many. We]lins;toniti.ns. fie j liked nothino: bettor than a quie: game of "oiib" at the Centra.] ClnL, an institution of which he, Mr Vlilluv, sai<[ Sir James Carroll were all three jnembers, or in the little ca.rd-rooi'i wiiich is alonpsido Bellamy's the j Honso. Ho will be much missed when j Pjirlia.mont meete. "KIS EX." Visits :from Ilford Tslinjrton are like "those, of tb*> proyorbi;:! ::imols; but i ho mfinjj-ged to give ir- :•.• look-in v.>- \ dfjy,,-*tfriving from.Nsju'er on T'hnix- j iiatf night and " leuvn^ ::c;;iin lor j ..-Aiwkliindi by to-day's M.-rin Trmkox- j pressi. He spent an hour or so ;:t tlj.> j Bi'illie picture exhibition this ?nom- ; ing, ■ f<nd W«», ' I^hovo, Kroflllv \ plejiwsd "witH". the- shov/. tTa;) Lady ; Ritnfuriy been .h^re, J-iw shp woul'J.j linvQ- delighted' in 1 fh<i' exhibition, j- j- ; ■ tlinfe good-naturod womaj) was Jierscf j ,& vciy clever artist, far above mowly j r '

ama-teur rank. The Governor is l>> return to Wellington at the end wf tho month for •& week or two, after which he goes to take up his l-esi-denoo for a few-weeks at Highden, Mr Walter Johnston's beautiful country house near Palmerston North. One can hardly blame "His Ex." for giving Wellington the cold shoulder os he does, for really we haven't htx-i iiny decent weather —for more than <i couple of d!ays at a time—for soni»> tnontlis past. THE P. AND 0. ANP COLORED LABOR. I oee that some of the white firemen .and uailors on one of the P. v.ni O. boats have been insisting1 upon a oertairi number of "white sailors bemsr. avwiiUble..for each lifeboat. This, of course,-isi n result oi: the disgraceful scenes which took place recently when ia P. r,,nd O. liner, the Oce-ma, w«« in collision in the British Ch::.nnei, and when the boats were rushed by the Lasca- section of the crew. I sliould not be surprised were passengers to look askance sit the P. and ' > boats; I know that I should not tliink of travelling by a P. a.ndi ,«). boat so long as an Orient st.e<wncr wus r-vailnbl©. The P. and O. directors' say they can't run the boats miless^they emplqy Lasoars; but how is it that the Orient 'Company can li-nd do employ all Europeans, and yet manage to pay gcod substantial dividends? It is to be hoped that nothing may come of the rumored combine between the P. and 0. "and the L Tnio-u Company. The .U.S.S. Comprmy no very we'll—far too well—out of New Ze-alf.nders; l>ut -at least they dont employ Lascars and Chinese, r.nd if the P". suul O. once got a good hold on our New Zealand! coastal :.:.nt: intei-colonial trade, I am afraid >vo should be del aged with Asiatics.. The XJ.S-.S-. art? often1 called a ■'greedy-crowd,-with, their increased fares .iuulthe vastly d'poi"eased quality of the "teble" kept in most of the bo fits now-ndsys; but after gil they're oeLter -than the V. ,md O. lot. THE BETTING NUISANCE. i A more striking proof o: the wide I 'spread evil which is the- result oi the betting nuisance .could not phrobablv' be found than in the report or n c.\o before tiie Supreme Court hero tins week, when two men were charged with inducing telegraph mes^eng^v boys to tamper-'with .telegrams committed to them for'dislivery. There is little doubt that all over the Domini>n bookmakers of the baser .sort ixnl tui f hamger,s-on' generally make <-,i----temptsi to seduce telegraph clerks iiv.l measengers from an honest discharge of their duty. When Parliament., meets something should cei-tainly be done to prevent the sending of. any telegrams about betting- transactions.' At present, so it seams, you can send as many messages about bets- «« yon like, so long ts you don't sisnd them to some person on a' raoeoourse. 'Wcl- ; lington simply 'reeks- with bookmakers, and I fear the majority jf their clients are yoitng clerks ar! young men generally. It would bo interesting to have a return mswV showing the number of oases of em bezzlement y/hich come before live courts in which the crime is a direct or indirect result of gambling. I belieye the result would startle the 'public; and 3et for every su-eh case that comes into court, there «a*e,..l expect, about ten in which the culprit is simply dismissed from his employment and not criminally prosecuted. But the i bookmaker, the scoundrel who tempts these young men to bet. by letting them bet on credit —goes scot free J^ '