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New Zealand Mail, Issue 769, 26 November 1886, Page 22

Fhom the Registrar-General’s vital statistics of New Zealand for October, 1886, we learn that the births during that month numbered 93 for Auckland, 71 for Wellington, 46 for Dunedin, and 37 for Christchurch. The deaths or death-rate were as follow :—Christchurch, 17, or 1 - 11 per 1000 of population; Dunedin, 22, oi; 0'95 per 1000 ; Wellington, 23, _ or or 0 89 ; Auckland, 23, or 0.69. Christ

church, therefore, had the heaviest death- - rate, Auckland the lightest, and Wellington the lightest but one. One octogenarian and 4 septuagenarians died during the month. The Registrar remarks that the deaths from zymotic •• diseases were 15 in October against 16 in September. These deaths last month ■ were less numerous than in the same month in either of the previous four years, when they were as follow : October, 1885, 17; 1884, 20; 1883,, 30 ; 1882, 23. The number may be expected to be not greater during this • month, as the mortality from infantile diarrhoea does not generally assume any magnitude until December. Measles caused 2 deaths in October against 5 in September, and whooping cough 3 deaths against 6 in the previous month. Typhoid fever caused 3 deaths in October, 2 in Dunedin and 1 in Christchurch, nc ■ death from this cause having occurred in September. Of the 23 deaths from constitutional diseases, 11 occurred from .= phthisis and 4 from cancer. During the past six months 59 deaths have occurred in the four boroughs from - phthisis, of which 16 were in Auckland, 12 in Wellington, 16 in Christchurch, and 15 in Dunedin. The mortality from local diseases was not only considerably less in October than in September (35 - against 58), but exceptionally low as com--’ pared with, that in previous months. There were only 3 deaths from diseases of the nervous system against 13 in September, and 11 from diseases of the respiratory system against 24 in SeptembeivThe number of deaths from bronchitis and pneumonia respectively fell from 11 to 2 and 5. There were only 2 “ violent ” deaths registered in October, 1 accidental case from asphixia, and 1 suicidal death from hanging.

That the Coroner’s jury at yesterdays week’s inquest on the body of the JateCapt. Cain should have returned a verdict of “ Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown ” will surprise nobody. It was, indeed, the only verdict that could with propriety be brought in. There was a mass of circumstantial evidence to show that Captain Cain met his death by antimonial poisoning, and that the poison was. wilfully and skilfully administered with that object. There was also quite enough to cast grave suspicion iu a certain direction, but that was all. The evidence as at present disclosed was not strong enough to point so decisively at any individual as to j ustify a verdict against such person. But the verdict of wilful murder has been placed on record, and it now rests with the police authorities to procure the evidence necessary to place the responsibility for this shocking crime oh the right shoulders. There - is little doubt that the requisite testimony/ can be obtained if the police go the right way to work about it, and no effort ought to be spared to bring so heinous a criminal to justice.

The total railway revenue for the four weeks, ending October 16, was ii 65,144 against L 71,916 for the corresponding period of last year. For the North Island the sum was L 23,469 against L 23.367 ; and for the South Island, L 41,675 against L 48,549. In the principal North Island sections the figures are :—Auckland, L 8037 against JL8270 ; Napier, L 4674 against L 4222 ; Wellington, L 5134 against L 5008: Wanganui, L 4850 against L 5079. In the South Island, Hurunui Bluff, L 37.322 against L 43,976; Grey mouth, LIBOO against LIBB4 ; Westport, L 1526 against L 1428. Nelson and Picton sections show a large falling off in proportion to their size., The expenditure was L 53.203 against L 51,703 last year. For the North Island the figures are L 17,669 2s 10d against L 17,699 10s 2d, a curious approach to exact agreement; and for the South Island L 35,534 against L 34,003. The figures for 1886 and 1885 respectively are —for the Auckland section, L 5989, L 6275 ; Napier, L 2258, L 2676 ; Wellington, L 3833, Xi 3415 ; Wanganui, |L5077. L 4452; Hurunui-Bluff, L 32,651, L 31,336.

The New Zealand railway revenue for the first 28 weeks of the current financial year was L 501,493, as compared with L 540.675 for the corresponding period of last year ; a decrease of over L 39,000. Of this the working expenses absorbed 75 per cent., or L 380.446, as against 68 per cent., or L 372,931 last year, an increase of nearly LBOQO. The net profit is therefore less by L 47,000, although the mileage is 1654 as against 1496. There was an increase of 77,235 in the number (1,640,075) of passengers carried; and there were increases of 11,235 in the number of parcels, &c., and 54,391 in the number (471,218) of live stock conveyed. But the goods traffic (947,506tons) shows a decrease of 67,701 tons, notwithstanding an increase of 32,109 tons in minerals. The deficiency was in grain, merchandise, tipaber, and firewood.

“ Fabthisu bids ” at wool sales may not seem at first sight a matter of very serious public importance. Superficial thinkers may wonder why the Chamber of Commerce spent so much time over such a question. But when it is recollected a halfpenny bid on the New Zealand woolexport for a single year would represent a sum of L 175,000, it assumes very different proportions. For it must be remembered that a pound of wool does not bring a large number of pence, and in some instances a halfpenny bid would really mean a rise of 12J per cent. It is believed that ihe rule against accepting any smaller bid, as an ad vance, than one halfpenny has operated very disadvant-

; to woolgrowers, because buyers often will not rise so much as 12| per cent, on the last bid, while they would readily bid a farthing higher. The case was very clearly put at the Chamber of ' Commerce meeting by the President, Mr Travers, and by Mr Harris, and ultimately a resolution'in favor of halfi farthing bids was adopted. Even a half- • farthing bid represents a sum of L 40,000 or L 50,000, and that is a sum not to be despised. It is to be hoped that the proposed reform will find acceptance, and that the requisite change will be speedily brought into operation.

Hopeless as the endeavour may appear, -it is the boanden duty of every public bodv in Wellington to persist m the effort to obtain for the Wellington Har- , bour an adequate endowment We were . <dad to find the Chamber Commerce speaking out so boldly at their last meeting. Mr Plimmer and Mr Mae-, . donald called attention very forcibly, and with justice, to the strange inconsistency between the action of the Premier and that of the Colonial Treasurer in respect „ 0 f this question. How those two Ministers can pretend to reconcile their different utterances we do not pretend to guess, but that is a matter they will have to settle among ‘ themselves. The real question that has to be answered is, Why Wellington should be so shabbily treated with regard to harbour endowments while other ports are so liberally dealt with ? Other ports have received lavish endowments. "To the Wellington Harbour Board is orudoingly doled out a grant of foreshore frontage which conveys little more than a liability to keep the sea-wall in repair, and a nominal grant of certain sections which -are taken away again directly ; afterward. The Harbour Board will not . <rcow very fat on this mode of endowment. There is no good reason why the reclaimed land south of the present terminus of the Masterfcon line should not be granted .-•to the Harbour Board, as we suggested before. It is not wanted for railwaystation purposes, and bhould more -space be required m the future lor railway purposes it could easily be gained by a slight reclamation of shallow water at Pipitea. We hope that neither the Harbour Board nor the Chamber of Commerce will let the matter sleep. Endowments for this port are absolutely necessary if it is to maintain the position that its colonial importance entities it to hold. While the port is virtually unendowed a dock is a mere idle dream.

The “ Imperial Institute. already threatens to become as serious a telegraphic nuisance as the Colonial Exhibition and the doings ,of “ leading colonists ” have been for months past, and as federation was previously. If the good people at Home could only be made to understand how little, such matters interest colonists at this side of the world we might be spared the infliction of much severe boredom, which at times almost transcends the limits of human endurance.

There is no doubt at all that the return moved for on Friday at the Chamber of Commerce by Mr T. K. Macdonald is a most desirable one, and we hope it will prove practicable to procure the requisite Information. Mr Macdonald seeks to obtain a comparative return of the respective fire losses in the four New Zealand cities, and the respective rates of fire insurance. If the prevalent idea mentioned by Mr Macdonald be a correct one—that the fire losses are smaller in Wellington than elsewhere, but that the fire premiums are higher, it is manifest that the people of Wellington have a reasonable claim on the insurance companies for some concessions, which would be very acceptable in these dull times. It seems a little Hard that in this city, where fire losses are so small, and where the water supply is so good, insurers should be charged higher rates than in other New Zealand ' cities, where fire 3 are believed to be more frequent and losses heavier. It is very desirable that the fall facts of the case should be made known now that attention has been publicly drawn to the matter. Possibly the insurance companies might themselves make public the information desired. - / ■

In another column we reprint an article from The Lancet, which deserves careful perusal. It is pointed out that while medical practitioners would not be permitted to act in certain special branches of their profession without having undergone specific training in those special subjects, they are nevertheless allowed to pose as experts in the most delicate and -obscure special subject of all- mental cjigease—and to th©ir followcitizens in lunatic asylums without any proof being adduced of competence to deal with the matter, or .of their having duly studied this im-portant-branch of medicine. It is admitted that in no branch is specialism of study so urgently requisite as in lunacy. Yefc any young doctor, who has never given more than the most cursory and superficial attention to the subject is entrusted with the formidab'e power and responsibility of signinglunacy certificates. Clearly this is an essentially wrong state of things, and it ns-eds to be remedied without a moment’s avoidable delay.. The present Minister of Justice has initiated some valuable legal reforms. We hope he will at once take into consideration this serious question, which so closely affects the public liberty and safety.

According to latest advices from Auckland it appears probable that Mr Monk, the Opposition candidate, will be returned for the Waitemata electorate, to fill the vacancy created by the death of MrW. J. Hurst. Wahanui’s return for the Western Maori District, in the room of the late member, Te Ao, is anticipated.

Mr Samuel Brown’s address to the Wellington ratepayers on Monday night was an entirely characteristic one. Ikwa3 plain, sensible, practical, and unpretentious. He can claim, with full justice, the credit of suggesting the plan by which the prosecution of the Te Aro reclamation was rendered feasible, and he pointed, with truth, to many other valuable public services rendered by him during his six years’ Councillorship. Services of this kind possess far more value to the ratepayers than mere oratorical flourishes, however pleasing and entertaining the latter may be at the time to listeners. Mr Brown’s remarks relative to drainage matters were very apposite, and, whether he be elected or not, we hope that some such plan as that which he indicated will be adopted. The desultory, fragmentary efforts at drainage which have been carried on for some years past are invariably the most costly in the long run, beside being inefficient and unsatisfactory in their results, and the sooner some systematic scheme is decided upon the better. We were glad to observe that Mr Brown the present method of removing refuse. That is a sanitary question . which cannot be ignored now that the warm season is approaching. If it be the fact that the second portion of the Te Aro reclamation has been entered upon without any complete agreement having been made with. the foreshore owners, a most disastrous blunder has been committed, which may coat the city more than the full value of the land reclaimed. We trust that this will prove capable of a more satisfactory explanation.

The Cricket Association has acted very wisely in increasing the number of the team for the Australian match from 18 to 22, as we advised from the first. Not a single valid argument has been offered against this course. The statement that there are only 18 Wellington cricketers fit to put into the field against our visitors is one which no capable critic of the game will endorse. As a matter of fact after the first eleven that can be picked there are at least a score of players whose claims to inclusion are about equal. The 24 selected to practice do not include several players who are as good in all respects as those chosen, and in some respects better. Several names could be mentioned off-hand by anyone who ha 3 intelligently watched this season’s cricket. One writer on this subject has amusingly missed the point of our remarks. He is intensely disgusted at our ironical suggestion that if the four extra men were not wanted in the field they could be placed in a group behind the long-stop ! He exclaims, “What a position to be in ! How ridiculous they would look !” Ridiculous indeed ! Most true ! But we fear our censor must be the identical person mentioned by Sydney smith as needing a “surgical operation” to get a joke into his head, if he really supposed we seriously recommended thi3 peculiar mode of placing the field. It ought to be a lesson to u3.not to cut jokes again on so solemn a subject. However, the Association has wisely adopted the larger number, and we do not doubt that places can be found in the field where the extra four pairs of hands may be very useful.

Hitherto we have not deemed it necessary to take any notice of a notorious article which appeared in a London financial paper, mis-uamed “Fair Play,” with reference to the New Zealand Shipping Company. A copy was forwarded to us by the last mail, and we learn that one was received by every shareholder in the Company. The gross unfairness and misrepresentation contained in the article were so manifest to everyone who had any acquaintance with the facts of the case, that it did not appear worth while to advertise the precious production. But now that we find a contemporary has been completely taken in by the specious tone of the article, and has been misled into publishing it as inspired by friendly feeling and containing sound advice, it becomes a duty to expose its true character. Under a very thin disguise on the part of the “candid friend,” the real animus ?of the article peeps out in every direction. The utmost care has been taken to twist facts into falsehood, and to mix up truth and untruth, so as to create an opinion unfavourable to the Shipping Company, in order to carry out the private views of those who inspired the article. It may be said plainly that it is perfectly wellknown who these are, and what are their motives. And with this knowledge it may frankly b@ admitted that the trick is cleverly, if unscrupulously, played. A misconception seems to exist as to the nature of Mr Murray-Aynsley’s remarks at the Christchurch meeting of shareholders relative to the previous misstatements in the paper “Fair Play. The gravamen of his charge was not that the information was “ surreptitiously obtained,” but that it was false in fact, and was founded on certain supposed information which was procured in an indirect manner, but which, for want of full knowledge of the circumstances, had been entirely misleading. The precise point, was that “Fair Play” had overstated the Company’s indebtedness by about

a quarter of a million sterling—a- tolerably liberal and whole-souled exaggeration. We do not propose to analyse in detail the misrepresentation of the later article now under notice, but we may take one point as a specimen. “ Fair Play ” compares the results of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s year with those attained by another shipping company engaged in a similar trade. In this case the “ net earnings ” are made to include the sums paid in interest, &c., whereas in the case of the Shipping Company “ Fair Play ” carefully deducts all these and then exhibits the remaining balance as the “ net earnings,” and comments strongly on the disproportionately poor results thus arrived at ! This is an illustration of the sort of “fair play” accorded to the great New Zealand enterprise, of which all colonists are so justly proud, and which has been so vast a boon to the Colony. It is quite sufficient to stamp the article with its true character —that of a most disingenuous and malicious attack inspired by motives which are perfectly well known and fully appreciated.

A considerable timß ago we suggested the formation of an Agricultural and Pastoral Association to hold annual shows, in or near Wellington. We pointed out, what of course was obvious to everyone, that the position of Wellington in regard to the country districts was about to be entirely changed by the completion of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, that it was to become for the first time the true capital of its own provincial district, and the meeting place for the settlers in the Eastern and Western portions, which nature has divided by high mountains. We also pointed out that from the central position of this city, apd the facility of access to it, stockowners in other parts of the Colony would probably be glad to exhibit at Bhows here. The subject has been taken up with considerable ardour, and a contemporary has also advocated the scheme. It is high time, however, that something more than mere talking or writing were done. To form an Association, to raise the necessary funds, to find a show ground, and to make all the arrangements for a show, cannot be done in a month or two. It is most desirable that there should be an exhibition of stock next spring. The settlers of the Wairarapa and Manawatu districts ought as soon as possible to have the opportunity of comparing their respective flocks and herds, and of competing against these from North and South. A show ought to be held before shearing time, and it is likely that toward the end of October will be the beat time. This is a matter in which the interests of town and country are one and the same. A meeting should b 8 held as soon as possible, and the leading breeders on both sides of the country, together with the principal business men in°Wel)ington, ought for their own sake to attend. Itis a matter which deeply concerns the shareholders of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, whose interest it is to show the settlers the advantages offered by their line for the conveyance of stock. There will be many difficulties, of course ; but there are difficulties in the way of everything that is worth doing. To get a suitable permanent site for a show ground near Wellington will not be easy, but for the first year or two there will be no trouble in borrowing a ground, and one at least can be procured without difficulty. Even if the first start should be somewhat humble, it will be a start ; and few will doubt that the shows will grow every year in importance till they become the principal displays of the kind in the Colony.