ROUND THE CORNERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 858, 10 August 1888, Page 17

ROUND THE CORNERS.

Circumstances occasionally arise when an editor would be culpable in the extreme if he did not speak right out on the strength of substantial prima facie evidence* Any large question intimately affecting tlx.- public welfaremay be thus and fairly dealt with, the onus of disproof resting with the accused. Wheredirect and collateral evidence is urgent and to .hand, there is sufficient, and to spare, to warrant aa editor dealing promptly with his subject, especially if it is such a one that only th.e public administration of the day can investigate with any hope of an ultimate disentanglement of its intricacies. Such for instance, as the question of the condition of State schools* which others aud myself have been recentlycalled upon to raise. We should have triftedE -with the best interests of society if we had npfc atatedburpropositions plainly, and so discharged a most thankless and disagreeable chjty certain to excite the antagonism of sclE-interesteda, carping, and envious critics.

I regret having to dig up the Evening F*tnmp a*ain, but the necessity is.inexorable ’through the foul and false abuse it has heaped ou tha Mail about this school and youthful immorality business. I was sure when that business wasmifciated that the Stump would just do that same because it knew it would be on th® stronger side, and be quite safe in its position, for it is not worth th© trouble and reputation of the Times andhiAUi to keep up a 11 nagging v: * controversy with tho Stump. I should like-to know when the Stump ever put its hand to d.Ssi’ in » broad and liberal spirit with any ! gveat public question affecting the welfare of; ! the masses, but could only be approached! through an avenue bristling with difficulties and paved with a deal of popular disfavour.;. When the Stump does for ones depart from, ifcs “ nimhlesixpence” traditionsinsuchadriection, by thunder I’ll help it. ’Tis a proper*- railing Stomp in mere senses than one, ready to drop-, from the top of the rail to either side that; suits it best, and ever ready- to rail at. the: Times and Mail,

One gets out of heart with New Zealand politics ; there seams to be no- hope for them in auy direction but the narrowest and most, selfish of local grooves. Broad, high-principled; statesmanship appear to utterly out of the: , question, No,hope- of that; for years past the* hqpe has beia dead and buried. And the: !House.now- has more than ever degenerated; ipto.the position of a debating club. Tiresomeis. not the word to apply to the debates—they ' are becoming nauseating. Tiua country has* run along bravely upon borrowed money, butnow that the pinch of self-sustenance has to befaced legislation is boggling and halting- sadly-i. Members seem to be wandering about im despair on plaja® of defunct vegetation.. Theconditions,are so changed ; nothing, to grab atnow, -nothing to scramble for. The legend! ] 4 -‘yoot hog or die ” meets, them at every turn.. (' And thi3 excites fractlouaness and fretfulness ? there is much contusion and reviling. Never was the need c£ two. or three master minds,. s two or three real leading spirits,, so urgent i»

Parliament as during this session. Demoralisation is rampant.

The Wellington City Council appears to be affected by the disorganisation of the big house between Hill and Sydney streets. Having by a substantial majority decided to do a certain thing and made the necessary preparations to do it, the members suddenly, at the eleventh hour, got to loggerheads about the business, and are now at sixes and sevens as to what to do with the unfortunate “ Destructor plant ’’ which was d-livered the other day by the Coptic. Pie, Councillors, fie; don’t be vacillating, flhat Destructor proposition was one of the best ever brought before the Council, and its acceptance did the Council infinite credit. Find a place for the thing at once ; there are plenty of sites •within three miles of the Post Office,

The Education Board has had another meeting re the Time 3 and Mail, and has again distinguished itself in the deliverance of sound and fury. The Chairman was particularly emphatic, and at once seemed disposed to go 5n to sackcloth and ashes over the depravity of the Times, but recovered himself in time, and relieved his mind by declaring he did not know what term to apply to the article in the paper of that morning. I can supply him with one 5n one second or less —Irrefutable. And In the same period I can provide one for the general tenor of his observations at that eventful meeting—“ Twaddle.” And the majority of the speakers (not all) seemed beside themselves. The highbearing and delicacy of Mr A. W. Brown were delightful to contemplate, so characteristic of the man. That one who has occupied the Mayor’s chair, and is a member of the Education Board, cultivates a high standard in everything, does him infinite credit. I hear he is going to undertake another candidature for the Mayoralty, and other ambitions besides. Bet us hope nothing will occur to prevent him. B/ the way, in response to Mr Brown’s suave Remarks about “ Two old womon,” another gentlemanly dog interjected “divided skirts.” I have a shrewd suspicion who the interjector was, and am under the impression he would be m uch the better for a pair of divided skirts with some one in ’em to take care of him. He wants looking after badly ; and Dr Newman, too. Ah ! doctor, you needn’t have besmirched the cl’.air you or.ce sat in.

A fellow in the far south who takes unbounded interest in pastoral pursuits writes ; “I am not much inclinsd to be statistical, but it is usefnl sometimes to be historical, and my subject is sheep—the Golden Fleece being atill the best string of New Zealand. In 1820 there were not more than 10,000 sheep of a good sort in New South Wales, and in the same year wool from the parent colony was sold in London at an average of 3s 7d per pound ! Think of thet, ye unfortunate graziers of the year of grace! But it is not so very long ago when greasy wool fetched an excellent price in the London market. In 1567 the price was Is 6Jd per pound. Are we never to see a return of ■uch prices 1 Who can say 1 One penny per pousd of a rise means a difference to the Colony of something like £350,000. What would a shilling give ? Upwards of four millions sterling 11! "

A southern correspondent sends ua the following:—"Like other parts of the Colony, we are suffering from the exodus to Melbourne. For a time the breadwinner was the first to go away. Now the families are being sent for, and sales of furniture are an almost daily occurrence. The consequence is that the number of empty houses is increasing at an alarming rate and rents are falling rapidly, all this is having a very serious effect on the value of property. INot only that, but those of us who have no -thought of leaving the Colony are wondering when this drain upon onr best resources is going to end. We look in vain to Parliament for any solution of the difficulty. Men of reflection are coming to the conclusion that responsible government is a little farce, and many do not hf sitate to say that the end of it all will be that New Zealand will have to be taken in hand by the Imperial Government and treated as a Crown Colony- It has been truly _ obseryed that “ human beings cling to their delicious tyrannies and to the exquisite nonsense like a drunkard to his bottle, and go on till death stares them in the face.” We are, in fact, travelling the road which has only one ending. The fact is, the Colony has grown too big for its bonts. We have too much dignity. “ All establishments,” ft is said, ° ie of dignity. They a-.e too proud to think themselves ill and & take a little physie.” We must do with our FvrHoment as the Scythians did with their g-, andfathers. They ate them ! They behaved aery respectfully to them for along time, but sc on as their grandfathers became old and troublesome, and began to tell long stories, the jc-ytbeans immediately ate them ! If our 3 'ft rhaccent were swallowed up I don’t think it v-r.uld be half a bad thing for New Zealand. According to the science of moral philosophy there should be only one principle of public c oidnet, and that is, namely, to do what you f.nir.k is’right, and iake place and power as an {apcklent, for upon any other plan office is F.ialiWmess, labour and sorrow. How many of * ur New Zealand legislators ate burthened with this principle of moral conduct? I pause J..r a reply.

There is a sarcastic writer in the musaeal LneVn one of the English society journals tak--5 ~»4«£aslc an American paper for glaring inaccuracies in connection with commentaries on T.he deatSi of Edward Alexandre. He goes on So say : Bnt among :Qie absurdities one is amusing. It is that “ his wife, Charlotte Dreyfus,"war a celebrated harmonium-player. The readers of this paper will without great difficulty, believe me when I say that the wife of M. Alexandre was Madame Alexandre „a lady who. beyond the qualities of beauty and ® mi ability has the rare distinction of playing no instrument and of not being musical at all. I hope my leaders will even believe that Madame Dreyfus (a very poor performer indeed-1 think IknowsomeTthffig about it) was the wife of Mr Preyfus, and so Vmg as polygamy is not a recognised institution, a

man is not usually the husband of another men 3 One might well paraphrase Madame llolaiid s woras: “ O printing press, what rubbish is committed to your patronage 1”

An attempt to bring out another Infant Sappho—l w onder if any of my readers remember that little prodigy the Infant Sappho of the “ Forties ?”—has proved a miserable failure, and a short nine days’wonder. She was the daughter of the well-known tenor, Nandin. She made her ddbut at one of the De Lara concerts in May last, in . London. The critic who describes the scene thus writes of the child :

Charming to look at, a sweet little face, divinely dishevelled hair, as Murillo used to P» int *» s ““J® saints, tastefully dressed, and gracefully bowing, every body was on the tiptoe of expectation what would come a prodigy or a mere curiosity ? Vf ell. I am so ) say nothing came of it. I know fifty, an children with better voices. She has had a few notes forced down to a throating emission, and the few reatlv childlike soprano notes she has aro so feeblo that it does not seem desirable to encourage this exhibition, which is even somewhat painful. Whilst the correct development of correct musical taste among the people is most desirable, it is also no less desirable that music should not be torn to tatters. Nothing could tend to sooner bring it into contempt. Perhaps it is being a little bit overdone.

The “ sweating system ” is again on its trial in the Old Country, and is again being found lamentably wanting. A shocking state of things is disclosed. No wonder people who visit the colonies aver they are the working man’s paradise. This is what “ the World ” says of the system : As described by Mr Burnett in the Keport to the Board of Trade on which Lord Dunraven founded his motion in the House of Lords, the condition of the Kast End under the sweating system is no doubt deplorable. It recalls the evil days in which Hood sang the “ pong of the Shirt ” and Kingsley penned ‘ Alton LoclJe,” as protests against the state of things which wo nil fondly imagined had passed away. We are told of men and women who work—at tailoring, for instance—on an average fourteen often sixteen or eighteen, and sometimes thirty-three or thirty-six hours without intermission. Any number of hours from twelve to twenty-four count for only one day, eight hours for half a day, and four hours for a quarter of a day, in the computation of their wages. And this labour is mostly performed “ under circumstances which are in the highest degree filthy and unsanitary; frequently "in small rooms not more than nine or ten feet square, heated by a coke fire for the pressers irons, and at night lighted by flaring gas jets, in which six, eight, ten, and even a dozen workers may be crowded.” According to some of the witnesses who came before the Committee the wares earned by this excessive and distressing toil is, for men about eighteen shillings,and for women about eight shillings, a week. Mr Arnold White stated, for example, that the pay for making a pair of trousers is twopence, and for making a child’s suit fourpence-halfpenny. In shoemaking the workers are as badly off as in tailoring Two shillings a dozen pairs is the usual price which they rece ve for “ finishing,” and four shillings represent the labour of sixteen or eighteen hours. Mr Adamson, the Vicar of Old Ford, raid that mantles which were sold in tli© "W est Knd shops for about seventeen shillings were maie at the East End for sev-enpence-halfpenny throughout;" while, accordmg to Mr Arnold White, shirts which are sold in the first for seven shillings and sixpence, rre made at the second for one shilling.

An observant familiar writes —“ It is quite refreshing in these dull times to meet anyone with a beaming countenance, who tells you he is doing well. Such was my experience the other day. The happy possessor of the smiling face was a canvasser for the sale of an American publication. He told me that he has been earning from L 3 to L 4 per week lately, as his commission for the sale of a universal history which costs LI. The thirst for knowledge is 1 evidently superior to the alleged depression of the times.”

Another of political leanings observes —“ Englishmen throughout the world would rejoice to hear that sturdy John Bright (thanks to the nursing of his four married daughters) has recovered from his recent severe illness. Next to Gladstone there is no living statesman who has made such an impress on British politics during the nineteenth century. This reminds me of John Bright’s similitude on the subject of Protection. It is too good to be lost sight of just now, when the question is engaging so much attention in the Colony. Said honest John:—‘A country can as soon expect to get rich on a protective policy as a dog can expect to get fat by eating his own tail.’ Verily, there is not much besides a wag to be got out of a dog’s tail! But there are some animals whose tails are the best part of them. Doubtless my readers have often heard of the native African sheep, whose tail weighs from 301 b to 401 b, all splendid eating, just as good as butter. Let us hope that John Bright’s comparison will be falsified in New Zealand, and that we may wax fat under our mild dose of Protection, and so get rid of the lean years that have almost stopped our progress.”

An old friend who loves a bon. mot discourses thusly—“l heard a very good jeu, d'esprit the other day, and as it has to be credited to a young lady, it is entitled to a place in this column. A colonial youth had been at Home for some years, studying for the learned profession, and since his return to the Colony he has been chiefly remarkable-for an elaborate display of shirt cuff. Two young ladies, one of them being a stranger in the town, met the gentleman in question, when the lady who had not the pleasure of the gentleman’s acquaintance asked her friendlwho the gentleman was. ‘ Oh!’ replied the other, ‘ that is the agent for the British Linen Company !’ ”

A country correspondent thus moralises—“That was some very interesting information about emigration to America published the other day in the New Zealand Times. Can it be wondered at that the cry in the Old Countries of Europe is still ‘To the West 1 to the West! to the land of the free 1’ when we find such terms as the following offered to immigrants. In this case the magnet of cheap land is drawing towards Canada. I copy this advertisement from the Edinburgh Scotsman : —‘The Commercial Colonisation Company of Manitoba, N.W. Canada. This Company puts colonists on free homesteads granted by the Canadian Government, builds suitable houses, and prepares the land previous to the arrival of the settlers, and advances stock and implements to enable operations to be began at oncei the outlay thus incurred being repaid by easy instalments spread over fifteen years. ’ ” ABMODEUS.