ESTABLISHED 1875. The Oldest Manawatu Journal. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, SEPT. 26, 1903. Joseph Chamberlain.

Manawatu Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7825, 26 September 1903, Page 2

ESTABLISHED 1875. The Oldest Manawatu Journal. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, SEPT. 26, 1903. Joseph Chamberlain.

The name of Chamberlain is in all men's mouths, yet though everybody has been brought to realise how high this great political genius has flown, few know his real history, or how humfele were his beginnings. There was a time }yben "nobody knew him in Birmingham." Now everybody knows him all oyer the world, His feej; were not placed on the smooth pafch opened fojc Balfour. His father was a London shoemaker, who made some money out of soles and uppers. He made good shoes and the boy was designed to succeed him at the altar of St. Crispin. He showed no unwillingness to do so until fate led him at 18 to Birmingham and placed him with a firm of wood screw makers, in which he was eventually to become the principal factor. He came out of University College School in 1854 to make his home in Birmingham, and in the letter of introduction which he earned with him there to friends was the sentence: " Please be" kind and see as much as you can of poor Joe, for he knows nobody in Birmingham."

Time was not required for his piasters to know him through, He

was taciturn but brutally in earnest. He went to the business of making screws just as he has undertaken everything else in his long career. >His first dive into the world of trade was in an effort to make screws cheaper and better than any one else on the market did. He succeeded. Literally he reorganised the world's market for wood screws. Where there had been cut prices, trade depression, no profits, he created unity, profitable sales, active demand. He concerned himself with the minutiae of his shops, studied the conditions surrounding his men, uncovered coal mines for his own supply, became the owner of the raw material he needed, entered into partnership with his employers, rose to the head of an establishment employing 2000 men, and found wealth producing an income of £5000 annually at his disposal.

All this he did in 20 years, for it was in 1874 when he first really entered the political field of the British Empire. Understanding this much of the man it is not difficult to appreciate why, as a statesman, his utterances are taken to represent the sentiments of commercial England, and the foundation of the throne of England is not to be found in warships, but her commerce.

Mr Chamberlain was not content, while a tradesman, to be-merely that. He could not make a public speech, so he taught himself oratory. He joined Birmingham debating societies and spoke till a freedom of manner came to him which was attractive. He kept.himself loaded with facts. Possibly realising that his voice and his-personality might always, be against him as .a. popular orator he built his strength as a popular speaker upon his knowledge of the details of every subject under the sun.

Once a speaker with a reputation, Mr Chamberlain launched into the field of municipal reform. He found Birmingham a squalid, dirty, unhealthy city. He was elected Mayor over and over again. He rebuilt the streets, tore down the rookeries, and sewered the bad places. What was healthy, wholesome, and best for the people of the city he not only advocated, but got. He entered on his first canvass for a seat in Parliament in 1874, a rounded man, having the confidence of those who knew him. He was defeated, but stood again and was returned in 1876.

. Since then his career has been steadily upwards. He was in Gladstone's Cabinet in 1880, and became the author of the Bankruptcy Act, now the law of England. He remained with Gladstone until 1886, when in a division of sentiment with the Grand Old Man over Home iiule, he resigned, and opposed him politically for ever after. He was a. member of the Fishery Commission : sent to the United States in Isßß,^ and; Secretary of State under Salisbury. He became leader of the Liberal Unionist party after the retirement of Lord Hartington. In 1888 he married Miss Mary Endicott, daughter of Grover Cleveland's first Secretary of War. She is his third wife^ and he has a son by his first wife older than her. On the formation of the Coalition Ministry, in 1895, Mr Chamberlain took office under Lord Salisbury as Colonial Secretary.' With his subsequent history all are familiar.

The High School broke up yesterday for a week's holiday. A meeting of the Band Contest Committee will beheld on Thursday evening next. The band parts for the "Messiah" iave now arrived and may be obtained by instrumentalists taking part. The total expenditure at the Palrnerston Hospital last year was £2267.': Patients contributed j-550 in return; Amongst the. latest and best of table novelties are Aulsebrqok an a Co.'s iced wafers, a fairy sandwich highly appreciated when served with afternoon tea. At a meeting of Terrace End ex-pupils held last night, it was decided to promote a social in aid of the piano fund, on the 14th October, in the Lyceum Theatre. ■ Owing to the increase of business and to meet the requirements of their country visitors,- the Empress NeedleCompany has decided to extend their season in Paltnerston. Jeremiah Leahy was before the Court yesterday for inebriety and was fined 10s, or in default three days imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay 2s cab hire. Messrs John Mowlem and Montgomery presided. A charge of wife desertion against A. Bahout was dismissed. : At the Supreme Court Wanganui yesterday the jury again disagreed jn the charge against Birchfey of causing bodily harm, and the Crown abandoned the case. In this case the accused/ while on horseback, came in collision with a cyclist who had a leg broken. Bishop Neligan was given a public reception on the occasion of his first visit to Wbangarei. Bplying to addresses of welcome his Lordship said he thought while the tendence of Europeans was to relapse to paganism, there was little little hope of evangelising the natives. During his visit a record num4 ber of candidates was, confirmed. At the Waihi Company's mill at Wair kino yesterday, a man named Lloyd got his right hand caught in the cog wheels of the machinery. It was about a quarter of an hour before the hand could be released, and it was practically crushed to a pulp. The hand was amputated at the wrist. The Sydney Telegraph, in contradicting Mr Seddon's tarradiddle in the London Times that the arbitration laws of New Zealand have Caused " thousands of Australians to come to New Zealand," declares that if New Zealand has gained in population from Australia it is evident that the latter has lost it; but the New South Wales returns from January Ist, 1902, tp June of this year, show' that 17,800 persons haye loft that State I for New Zealand, while 20,1341 have arrived there from this colony. At the Christchurch Police Court yesterday, Apnie Diffen was charged with inflicting grievpus bodily harm on her son, aged 17 years, and was committed for. trial this morning. The boy w'aV'seriously injured in August last.by a knife which she was waving in the air while asking. him to hurry up and go a mes age, when the boy gave back an answer. It was alleged that the knife slipped put of her hand and inflicted a wound in the side, which was so serious that the boy's depositions were taken, but the boy has since recovered.

Mr Justice Denniston gave judgment yesterday in the case of the Ashburton Club, the charter of which was revoked .by the Colonial Secretary without notice. His Honor stated that he was satisfied that the power entrusted by statute to the Colonial Secretary was judicial in its nature, and must be executed judicially. The club whose franchise was threatened W^S* have notice of the grounds on which it was attacked,' and an opportunity of showing (iiuse egainst the proposed revocation. _ Agriculturists require a machine that* is easy to operate, for both team and driver—a machine that not only cuts all the grain, but also binds it into wellformed, evenly butted bundles—a machine that is correctly designed and substantially built of the best material— a machine that embodies all the modern improvements in binder construction — a machine that begets confidence alike in the minds of buyer and seller a machine that pecmirgs no other recommendation than' its name.—jifach a machine is the new McCornaickbinder for 1903, ; Arranged in an acquatlc outfit, and laden with nautical gear—diving suifc, measuring pole and divining rod—the versatile and resourceful Pastor Bies (Mayor), accompanied by Fidus Achates Hagensen, has been on a expedition, exploring the various creeks and rivers with a view of testing the same as to the suitability for illuminating Sawdust City by electricity. The Council' hare further considered the scheme which is afoot, and have decided to proceed with a Bill giving the Council power to acquire the Waihi Falls an^ land in the locality whenever it is In 'a position tp do so. The borrowing amount 4xed is and £25,000 for extensions that may be required.—Dannevirke corres pooient,

A meeting of the Orient Lodge was held last night, N/J. Bro. C. Pickering in the chair. One member was installed and two proposed. It was decided to start a euchre tournament amongst the members next lodge night.

The Old Boys Hockey Club entertained delegates from the other local clubs at a festive gathering last evening in Mr Dawick's Buffet. Presentations were made at an opportune moment to Messrs Adams, Tew, Fitt and Crump, and the Shield was tendered to the club. Mr Dawick was presented with a photo of the team.

The Borough Council last evening decided to hold a meeting of electors to obtain (or otherwise) the necessary vote in regard to the proposal of the Railway Department to close Pitt street. The time and place of the meeting was left for the Mayor to decide. Mr W. T. Wood, M.H.R., will be present at the meeting.

Speaking at a public meeting in Wellington on the proposal to municipalise the drink traffic, the Rev. C, G. Harper said he was not converted to hrohibition. He considered it was fundamentally wrong. If it was wrong to sell liquor it was wrong to drink it. The wrong was not in liquor, but in its abuse; they should therefore remove not the liquor but the abuse. They should regulate and control, not prevent, the sale. Prohibition would create a new sin, and would be against human nature; the public conscience would therefore not bo behind the law, but the only thing behind it would be fear of the consequencesi and if the consequences could be avoided the thing would continue to be done. Prohibition was class legislation, and had not been successful where tried. He agreed that a remedy of the present system was needed.

Beardless Boy Bedford got his advertisement out of the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, by moving on top of an Imprest" Supply Bill for which the Premier brought down, an amendment that the Bill be read a second time six months hence as an indication that the House has no confidence in the Ministry as at present constituted. The £500 an hour men at once got out hot on this trail. The " Prime Minister " said members who voted for the amendment would practically be saying that civil servants' salaries should not be paid for six months. Several members, while expressing dissatisfaction with the constitution of the Ministry, urged that the time was not opportune for such an amendment, and in any case it should not be brought forward by an irresponsible member of the House. Beardless Bedford's amendment was rejected by 45 to 19. The House occupied the whole evening discussing the Imprest Supply Bill in its various stages. Members of the Opposition urge the necessity for retrenchment in departmental expenditure. Mr Seddon said as far as the Government could it had been reducing its expenditure, but the growing demands of the colony had to be met, and it had not been shown where the estimates could bo cut down.