CURRENT TOPICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1160, 25 May 1894, Page 28

CURRENT TOPICS.

ATTEMPTED MURDER.

The sentence of death passed on the two men convicted of maltreating 1 some of the Sydney constables, who were trying to arrest them for burglary of tho Union Company’s premises in that city, would not have been possible in New Zealand. Here, unless tho victim is killed, thoro is no capital punishment. There the attempt to kill is a capital offence. Now, tht*o vary many ways in which a person may bo wounded intentionally. How many of these aro evidenco of design to caanmlt murdor ? Where is the line to bo drawn ? Take the caso of theso unhappy barglars of Sydney. They were seon to come out of the Union Company’s premises under suspicious circumstances. Thoy were followed by the police ; thero was a chase; the mon wero overtaken and when the police closed with them they struck them with iron bars and other doadly things. Tho injuries wore desperato, Ipit the wounded police recovered. At tho trial in the Supreme Court it was held that the fact of striking tho polico so hard was proof of a deliberate intention to murder. The charge was for attempting to murder one specified policeman. But the fact is that the escaping burglars struck at every policeman who came near them. Therefore, according to the theory of the prosecution, they deliberately intended to murder every policeman who came near them. An equally reasonable explanation of tho wounding is that the men simply desired to disablo tho constables so that they might escape. In the Court of Appeal the only contention was about a point of law, as to whether the prosecution had any right to mention the burglary in evidence. But the question of factas to whether the convicted men really did or did not mean to kill was not raised. Naturally it was decided that tho prosecution had every right to mention the burglary. Consequently the mon aro to bo hanged, the Executive having refused to commute. The result is that these men will die in spite of the doubt, whose benefit ought to have been given them, and was not, in consequence of the action of a jury easily played upon by crafty lawyers. It shows that to make attempted murder a capital offence is worthy only of tho barbarous ages (not 100 years gone) when many things besides life were judged of equal value to life.'lD New Zealand we are ahead of that barbarity which is the Australian legacy from the bad old days of bushranging and convict life. Another thing strikes us. The opponents of a Court of Criminal Appeal often declaro that tho Executive is the best Court of Criminal Appeal in tho world. Tho execution of theso b urglars will be tho death blow of that sophistry. THE TASMANIAN GOLDFIELD. When the wild statement of a gentleman unknown to fame is cabled everywhere as solemn truth, it only shows how terribly anxious our Australian neighbours are for something to turn up. They want a goldfield; and they are right, for gold has pulled them out of all their difficulties for tho last forty years. Why should one not do so again? Coolgardie was depended upon, and Wyalong had a placo in tho world of prophetic dreams, but tho bright swarming does not come. Some <£lo,ooo have, it is true, been spent on putting men on usedup goldfields, and theso have done so well that they have returned £'looo of tho money to the Government at Sydney. Herein is a hint for tho authorities of this Colony. The Australian hopes are at this juncture ready to be revived by anything. There comes a Tasmanian gentleman who offers to bet that ho knows where thero are 20,000,000 tons of stuff which will give a prospect in every dishful that may be washed. We have heard this kind of thing before. If, for example, anyone consults Hochstetter’s splendid work on New Zealand he will learn that there are some 200 millions of gold lying behind the town of Nelson waiting for tho return of the enterprising miners who thirty years ago left 10s a day to seek bubbles at Gabriel’s, the Dunstan and Hokitika. We fear for tho sanguine betting gentleman. Still if wo aro to have a goldfield, lot us have one in the temperate wellwatered tountry of Tasmania. There is no reaton why there should not be enormous mineral wealth in Tasmania. Gold has been found on the island, and has paid some dividends. A new Bendigo is not impossible at all. If it came about, what a boom for Australasia. TENDERS. The Otago Education Board has, by insisting on the payment of fair wages as a condition of tender, given our City Council and several other good people a good lesson. It has taken a line of its own, boldly adopting a principle. The Council has shown neither opinion nor courage. It has taken refuge in a dishonest “not at present.” Why not at present? If the principle is good it is good now ; it is in fact wrong not to adopt a good principle instead of the bad one which is at present in use. If the principle is bad it will bo bad to apply it at any time, for the “sweet by-and-by” will not smell as sweet if it is to be the reaping time for a harvest of bad principles. If the Council ever accepts tho principle, its action of the other day will be condemned as a deliberate avoidance of good; if, on the other hand, it ever condemns J the principle, it will convict itself of the j want of courage to speak its mind now. The j man who never gets beyond “ Not at pre- j sent, thank you,” will never be saved— j out upon him! We suppose the Council j has been terrified by some parade of the j laws of supply and demand. Has it ever J heard the story of tho Silesian mines ? There all labour contracts used not long j ago to be let by tender. But that was j done away with, and the lowest tender is j now not accepted, unless it complies with ' certain conditions. Here was an interference with tho natural law of competition. But the owners of Silesia still make profits, their employees are prosperous,

wages are fair, and tho trade of the country is not ruined. Nono of tho terrible consequences predicted by the alarmist doctrinaires have come about. The Council will perhaps think the matter out presently. If that is all it meant by its plea of “ not at present,” there will bo no harm done. THE ANTARCTIC. ! In spite of the detailed report of the intention of her commander to go to Auckland for coal, the Antarctic went to the Auckland Islands direct. There sho was met by tho Hinemoa just after her arrival. The result is described in tho full account of the Hinemoa’a doings which wo publish this morning. Tho Hineinoa’s cruise, it will be seen, was anything but a wild goose chase. Tho hardy Norseman, with a reprehensible want of consideration for prophecy, made no opposition at all. He heard Captain Fairchild’s plain exposition of tho law, and showed his hand by declaring that the close season would be over in June, and when met by the announcement that tho season would be extended asked if ho could arrange by the payment of a royalty or fine for a free hand. Clearly he was after seal, and found ho must give up tho game. It is suggestive that lie did not sail off until he ran against tho Ilinemoa in another harbour of the Auckland Islands. As tho Hinemoa cruised about for some time without seeing him again, it is plain that lie has somo respect for international law. After all, the despatch of tho Hinemoa turns out to have been a good move. Wo wish our Norway friend every luck further South, but think lie wants looking after occasionally. DIRTY ONEHUNGA. This dirty little borough is dirty not only ou account of the bad manners of its people, but by reason of their insanitary habits. What these aro is told in an able report on tho water supply of Onehunga, written in the Herald by a representative of that journal. The water supply of tho borough is obtained, it appears, from some springs within the boundaries or close to them. The surface of these is covered with slime and weeds, and the water is described as far from clean and full of animalcule visible to the naked eye. This is one end of the wator supply question. The other is in the medical reports of the place, which a fortnight ago, when this report was drawn up, showed that one per cent, of tho population was down with typhoid fever. In Wellington we may say that in 1892 the proportion was J per cent., and that in 1893 it had fallen to per cent. That establishes a standard of comparison. Between these two extremes lies the site of the borough. It consists of light, porous open soil, resting on a thick layer of scoria rent in all directions by fissures, tho whole resting on a substratum of impervious clay. This clay forms the basin from which tho springs of the water supply aro fed. Now on the surfaco throughout tho borough there is no provision for removing the sewage and refuse. Thero arc no sewage drains and no night soil contracts, and backyards and gardens are left to the wicked will of the inhabitants. That being tho caso it is unnecessary to surmise that tho soil receives everything objectionable, either on tho surface or below it in tho cesspits. The filtration is remarkably rapid, the soil being very porous, and the scoria bed as open as a pile of largo cinders, besides being crossed by open fissures. So complete is the filtration that there are cesspits which have never been cleared since they were put down a quarter of a century ago. Now, where does tho slime come from on the surfaco of the springs which aro feci from the clay reservoir lying immediately under that remarkably rapid and active filter known as the Onehunga Borough ? Can anyone be surprised at the proportion of typhoid in tho place ? To answer these questions would be a waste of j time. The fact is that the borough deserves the soubriquet of dirty. Wo had thought such a state of things was impossible in Now Zealand. We regret that thero is absolutely no hope of improvement, for even the enterprising lady Mayor has declared to an interviewer that tho borough is too financially weak to stand the expenditure required for sanitary reform. Perhaps time and the increasing death-rate may teach the burgesses that dirt and death aro the same thing, though not quite spelt the same way. Then Onehunga will be able to boast that though it possesses a Maori name its habits are no longer aboriginal. At present that boast is out of the power of its burgesses. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR MOVEMENT. The annual international Miners’ Congress is the most solid as well as tho most regular of all the movements for the combination of labour on a basis independent of nationality. Whether th:» workers amongst the subsoil are made me;-: e.>> u >- politan than their fellow-men by la-, dark- \ ness in which their working days are passed, or whether the common dangers, discomforts and griefs of their common profession make the special binding force, certain it is that internationalism, if we may use the term, i has more attractions for the miners than for all other workers. It is noteworthy as one of the signs of the times. As Lord Rosebery said the other day in expressing his approval of the Miners’ Eight Hours Bill, and replying to tho argument that the passing of the measure must play into the hands of manufacturing rivals of Great Britain, the time is not far off when the eight hours day will be an accomplished fact throughout Europe. He referred, we presume, chiefly to the mining trade, which is more remarkable for international action than any other. Be that as it may, when the international effect of international action has been demonstrated by the success of the Miners’ Congresses, a great stimulus will be given to the combination of labour all the world over, for uniformity of conditions, and wages whose

uniformity can be only relative of course to their purchasing power in various countries, and hours of work. At present the argument most frequently employed against reform of all kinds is the advantage it must givo to the rivalry of tho international competitor. The argument, which virtually means that the workers of one country must starve because the workers of another country are starving, is pitiful, but it is still strong enough to govern the conduct of mankind.

Experiment is gradually showing its fallacy, as, for instance, in the successful adoption by certain manufacturers of the eight hourssystcm.whohavc discovered,and boldly proclaimed their discovery, that their men actually do more and better work in eighthours than they did in ten and twelve. If left to themselves, facts will undoubtedly work out the eight hours problem all the world over, as well as all tho other problems which are represented by the demand of labour for improvement of various kinds. The leading fact in this connection is rather more than fifty years old. It is the fact which followed the much resisted, much decried factory legislation with which tho name of Lord Shaftesbury was so honourably connected. Before the passing of those measures miners lived like savages, their wives wero beasts of burdens, and their children only of more account than little pigs inasmuch as they could bo put to work; and the condition of factory hands, though a degree or two better, as, not being covered up by" the subsoil darkness it was bound to be, was a scandal to a civilised country. It was contended that if these things wero mended, the rival over the sea, who would go on in his wickedness, would sweep tho trade away. The measures passed nevertheless in spite of the determined opposition of John Bright, who raised his powerful voice for leaving things to their natural remedies—preaching the doctrine of laisses faire , in fact. After the passing, tho work of the emancipated operatives—it was nearly as great a revolution as tho abolition of serfdom in Russia by Alexandra II. —proved better in quality, and larger in quantity, the condition of tho workers improved greatly, and the trado was certainly not swept away by tho rival who went on in his wicked ways. Since .then tho rivals hare of course improved tho condition of thoir work people too. Had they been wise they would have done moro in that direction, and dono it more quickly, because i that course would have brought them on even terms with the British workman. Why men who understand that their horses and cattle give better work in proportion as they aro bettor fed, better housed, and better cared, cannot understand that the same principle applies to thoir fellow-men is a marvel. But tho principle is one of the keys to tho solution of the labour problem throughout the world. Another fact is tho excellent result of tho eight hours system in these colonies. Tho facts as we have said, if left alone, would gradually bring universal conviction and universal reform. But as tho pace of tho facts is not sufficient, it is well for mankind that it is to be assisted by international Congresses. Hence the importance of the Congress now being held by the miners of tho world at Berlin.

It is the fifth of tho annual series, and it has passed the same resolution which the fourth Congress, which sat at Brussels last year—May 22nd to 26th —passed affirming the principle of an eight hours day. On that occasion the Northumberland and Durham men wero in the opposing majority just as they aro now. But the movement is moving towards success nevertheless. Last year the Brussels Congress represented a little over a million of miners in various parts of Europe, Britain accounting for no less than 310,000. Tho discussions covered considerably more ground than the eight hours question. We notice that great prominence was given to the discussion of the systems of rents, royalties and way-leaves. There was an evident desire for uniformity, and the first step was felt to be the collection of information. The Congress found that in Belgium thero are no royalties, the subsoil belonging to the State, and that in France, when the rents are not paid to property owners (the smaller proportion) they are paid to the State, ranging between l* and 5 per cent, of the profits. The British miner was in great glory at the news. Seeing the principle admitted by the Legislatures of both Belgium and France, the British delegates easily accepted the advice of their foreign colleagues to “go in ” for tho nationalisation of the subsoil. No doubt the present Congress at Berlin will take up the subject again. For us in Now Zealand the position is simplified by the fact that the subsoil is for the most part nationalised already. Some of the subsoil right was parted with to the Midland Railway Company, but is on tho way back again; which is an argument for the resumption of that Company’s lands. For the rest of the world the subsoil question has still a vast interest. For every country the prospect opened out by these Congresses is reassuring. It is the prospect of improved gains and comfort for the labourers, with the disappearance of the competition which makes their present condition not unlike a state of war.

MAGISTRATES AND PUBLICANS. Tiie Lyttelton case is the talk of the country, because the Stipendiary Magist ate, Mr Beet-ham, refused to certify that a certain applicant for a license was a

fit and proper person to hold a license. It is said freely on one side that this proves that the Act lias given despotic power to the Magistrates. To that view v e object in toto. Magistrates are mon accustomed to act judicially, according to evidence. When they are called upon to give a character to an intending licensed victualler, they have before them all the evidence procurable, and it becomes to them a guide to justice. That is not despotism exactly; it is rather the entrusting

to competent hands of the power to take ft very salutary and very necessary precaution. That is in the interest of temperance. It is also just to the trade, because it prevents the refusal of .a license to a house on account of the bad character of the applicant. When applicants of bad character are warned off, the question of granting licenses conies before the Committees to be decided on its merits. The provision, being both just and expedient, is not one of the worst in the Alcohol Act. SAMOA. A glance at the map is quite sufficient to convince any impartial man that the Premier is perfectly right in his objection to the German proposal for a partition. The ruling fact is that Samoa is on the direct ] line of sea travel and cable communication, I while Tonga is not. Tonga, besides, is autonomous like Samoa, but practically under the protectorate of Great Britain already, as appeared when the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific deported Mr Shirley Baker, the high-handed Prime Minister of King George. Samoa, outlie other hand, wants to come under British protectorate, the present triple arrangement has proved a failure, and—most important of all —the United States have offered through the mouth of their official representative to withdraw. This narrows the issue so that it lies between Great Britain and Germany. Thus one half of the problem has been solved. The remainder ought not to prove too much for Great Britain and Germany. They settled the partition of Africa, they ought to be able to deal with the smaller question of Samoa. It is a mere question of dollars. OBSTRUCTION. It has come to be generally admitted that there is too much obstruction in the House of Representatives. Outside the House that was admitted many years ago, but obstruction has continued to diminish the percentage of useful time session after session. During the last nineteen years the stonewall has become a recognised institution as well as a nightmare. We remember the first stonewall of any consequence in the annals of our Parliament. It was the stonewall —the name was not invented until some years later—organised by the Provincial Party towards the end of the i session of 1875. The country was taken greatly by surprise, and was disgusted as well as shocked. The question of the right and wrong was much discussed at the time in the newspapers and the streets. The doctrino was set up, wo remember, in justification that the importance of the action contemplated by a Parliament on the eve of a general election justified the minority in resisting by every means in their power. The other side insisted that after the ample latitude allowed by the forms of the House has been exhausted, it is the duty of every honest minority to acknowledge defeat and go to division. If minorities were to arrogate to themselves the right to stop all business, simply because the intentions of the majorities i displease them, where, it was asked, would chaos end ? On that occasion the plea of tho minority practically prevailed, for the majority agreed to fix the date for the coming into operation of the Abolition Act on a day after tho next general election. That gave tho Provincialists all they wanted, viz., the remission to the constituencies of an important constitutional change determined upon by a moribund Parliament, which had been elected at a time when there was no thought of constitutional change of any kind. The result was that the stonewall ended. Since then there has been no such grave constitutional question before Parliament. But stonewalls have frequently obstructed the business of the House of Representatives, nevertheless. They have not only come to stay, but they have increased and multiplied and developed into ail sorts and conditions of obstruction. It now positively requires an expert to give their several names to the various degrees of the obstruction which is regularly and openly carried on by parties, by sections, and by individual members. The list of these degrees is long. It lies between its two extremes, of the party stonewall at the top with its blankets, its organised plan, its relays of talkers on one side who never say anything, and of sleepers on the other side who never sleep, and with the angry man at the bottom of the list who sets himself on the smallest pretext to “go on for ever.” The condition of things has long been unen- \ durable, and has been endured only on ac- | count of the impossibility of getting to- » gather the majority required by the I standing ordcis before the standing orders J cm be amended. Obstruction has been! endured in spite of the needless weariness 1 of protracted debates, in spite of the I strangulation of public businesss, in spite | of the scandalous waste of the public time, and the glaring stultification of the 1 Parliamentary machinery. The cause of j the trouble lies in the standing orders, j Formed on a plan devised to protect free- j dom of speech and freedom of action 1 against the coercion and tyranny first of • the Crown, and then of an unscrupulous ! Oligarchy, the standing orders have be- J come the instrument for tho exercise of j coercion and tyranny by minorities and j individual members. We notice that the j question of reform has been mooted in : Ministerial speeches during the recess, and we are glad because reform is necessary. A new House comes to such a question without the prejudices born of political combat. We trust the first act of the new House of 1891 will be to save the public business from unlimited obstruction by limiting tho license now permitted by the standing orders to protect true liberty from oppression.