MATRIMONIAL "SWEEPS."

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 57, 9 March 1886, Page 4

MATRIMONIAL " SWEEPS."

DRILL-ANT AND ORIGINAL IDEA.

Eureka ! The problem is solved ; the colony is saved ; human happiness is scoured ; and peace and plenty guaranteed. To an Auckland gentleman is due the credit of having evolved an original scheme, which, while providing a healthy outlet for the gambling spirit in young New Zealanders, will at one stroke settle the vexed question of assisted immigration, place the people on the land, and provide small settlers with capital. The proposal was broached for the first time a few days ago in a letter from Mr T. B. Hannaford to the Hon. P. Buckley, Colonial Secretary, in the shape of his application under the Gaming and Lotteries Act, for permission to hold an Art Union, the prizes in whicb should be the lily-white hands and undying affections of an indefinite number of young women of irreproachable character. The details of the scheme are somewhat elaborate, but the leading idea seemed to be the offering of one blooming bride to every hundred of £1 tickets — the proceeds from the sale of tickets to be bestowed upon the lady as dowry. The Hon. Mr Buckley does not appear to have exactly " tumbled" to the proposal. His reply is a commendable exception to the rule in official correspondence — a delightful oasis in the usual arid waste of verbiage which characterises such communications. Among the merits of " official utterances " no one has ever dreamt of enumerating wit and humour, proves our Colonial Secretary, or his Under-Secretary, to be possessed of a genuine sense of humour, and of the rarer power of expressing it through a most unpromising medium. The letter is as follows :— Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, February 15tb, 1886. Sir, — I have the honour, by direction of the Colonial Seoretary, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant, in which you request his permission to dispose by raffle of the person of a highly-respectable young woman on the Art Union principle. The Colonial Secretary has given your application his very careful consideration, and is advised that the " Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1881," while it contains provisions for legalising Art Unions, has not been framed with the object of promoting heart unions; moreover, it seems that while the estimable young lady in question is to bind herself to accept the winner as her husband, there is no obligation on the fortunate gentleman to accept the damsel, or to marry her; and ifc is extremely doubtful if he could claim her as his property, and dispose of her again in the manner contemplated. For these reasons— and possibly for others which might suggest themselves— Mr Buckley regrets that he does not feel himself at liberty to comply with the request contained in your letter. — I have, &c, G. S. Cooper. T. B. Hannaford, Esq., Matrimonial Agent. 296, Queen street Auckland.