NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1687, 29 June 1904, Page 65

NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY, June 18. A GOVERNOR'S NEW FRIENDS

! “Im gettin’ a lot of nice noo friends, ; Anna,” Mr Brough used to remark, in the character of the jealous red-head-ed policeman, Noah Claypole, to that i much-tried constable’s agitated part- | ner, when he found her with companions for whom he could not account. One can imagine Sir Harry Rawson speaking the same lines now, in similar perplexity, to Mr Waddell, the new Premier of New South Wales. Sir Harry has, indeed, acquired “a lot of nice noo friends” among his reconstructed group of Ministerial advisers. Mr Wise, the ex-Attomey-General, has resigned because he considered that he had better claims to the Premiership than Mr Waddell, who was Treasurer under Sir John See. Mr W. P. Crick, the ex-Minister of Lands, refused to serve under Mr Waddell for the same reason. Mr Wise has been replaced by Mr J. C. Gannon, a barrister who has had no political experience whatever, but who is said to possess that indefinable and nebulous qualification known as ‘‘personal popularity” in a very marked degree. Mr Bent, -the present Premier of Victoria, was once declared by a local bard to have climbed to eminence by “His -personal pop—• His personal pop— His personal pop-u-larity.”

j But it cannot truthfully be said that he has preserved that proud distinction untarnished to the present day, for it is only this week that he has refused to find all the unemployed printers in Melbourne work at forest-thin-ning on a regular wage of 6s 6d per day and personal popularity cannot be cultivated by a man who is capable of saying “No” in such tones as Mr Thomas Bent. Mr Gannon’s “personal popularity’ 7 may enable him to hold office until the general elections, which are due in six but it can hardly be anticipated that he will adorn the office for very much longer. The reconstructed Ministry is a mere stop-gap. Mr Waddell had hard work to find a suitable man to replace Mr Wise. It was whispered about that Mr “Reggie” Bromfield. a young barrister, who is a very sound lawyer and who enjoys just as much “personal popularity ” as Mx Gannon, might have had the job if he wanted it. But, apparently, he didn't. He is a New South Wales native who was adorning Oxford in the eighties, when Mr Wise was there, and, although he moved in a particularly lively set, he took a brilliant degree, and has done, well ever since. His specialty lies in the Marine Court, and he seems to have developed the same lynx eye for an uncharted rock, and the same marvellous intuition for hitherto unknown currents that his learned friend, Mr W. H. Croker, in Melbourne, is famous for.

THE DISAPPOINTED MR CRICK. But the most curious feature in this Very curious reconstruction was certainly the delay that attended the selection of the new Premier. Three days elapsed between the announcement of Sir John See’*' retirement and that- of Mr Waddell’s appointment. And now the reason of this peculiar delay has leaked out, and certain devotees are much flattered in consequence. It is

said that Sir John See “advised’’ Sir Harry Rawson in the first instance to send for Mr Crick, and that Sir Harry Rawson, to the intense chagrin and disappointment of his adviser, refused f point blank to endorse the nomination. Consequently, Mr Waddell had to bo nominated. The confidence off Mr Crick’s supporters before the event wasquite astonishing, and looking bactc". now over the circumstances, it. is easy to understand ® that they had assured themselves of Sir' John See's influence on behalf of Mr Crick. A prominent ecclesiastic told me, on the same evening’'that Sir John See’s retirement was announced, that Mr Crick would certainly succeed to the Premiership. But neither my informant nor Sir John See seem to have been at all sound in their knowledge of constitutional practice. Everybody ought to know at this time of day that a retiring Premier may tender advice to a Governor as to the appointment of the new Premier, ‘ but that the .Governor is by no means bound to accept it and act upon it. Sir Harry Rawson did not regard Mr Crick as the most suitable Minister available for the position of Premier, and he practically vetoed the appointment. That, at least, is what is inferred by Mr Crick, but Sir John See refuses to discuss thef matter. MR REID’S INDECISION. “ Mark time” is the order in-Federal politics. . Members of the disorganised and faction-ridden House of Representatives are still endeavouring to hammer the Arbitration Bill into a shape m which it will command a majority vote, but their progresses slow. The eyes of the country are fixed on Mr Reid, who has announced his intention to’ “do something.” But as there is a little difficulty about the numbers, Mr Reid’s' proposals for restoring constitutionality to the Federal Parliament are hanging fire, and Mr Reid himself spends all his tim9 in attending to his legal practice in Sydney. Meanwhile, the Government of the Commonwealth is being carried on, as iu has been for the last two month#* by a minority in the House. GATHERING IN THE SHEKELS.

. “tA little flutter ” is a diversion wlilcli is not without attractions even for the ecclesiastical world. From time to time an cratery is raised in the press against laffles and lotteries at church bazaars, but the outcry dies down, and the raffles and lotteries go on. The Anglican Bishop of Grafton and Armidale has .lust intimated to his Synod that “he could not see his way to state that he deprecated raising money by such means,” and a motion discountenancing raffles was quietly shelved. But the Anglicans’ raffles and lotteries fade into insignificance when compared with the efforts of their Roman Catholic fellowcitizens in this direction.

The biggest lottery for church purroses ever organised in Australia is now being engineered by the Rev Father Robinson, of Camberwell, Victoria, who was over in Sydney during the week on business connected with the gigantic undertaking. The first prize in this lottery is a t mansion valued at £BOOO, standing in its own grounds at Coogee* together with £lls in cash for a firstclass passenger fare to Europe and back. And the tickets are only 5$ fid ! each. The marvel is how Father Robinson obtained the consent of the legal authorities for his lottery. In the Act against lotteries —in defiance of which Tattersall’s sw r eeps are now being carried on Jn Hobart'—there is no provision, exempting church lotteries from the disabilities attached to mere secular gambles. But the fact that Mr Georgs Adams has been able to drive a coach and four through the Commonwealth Act has evidently not been lost sight of bv Father Robinson, whose “sweep” will be drawn by the welL-known 'Tattersail” system, on July 9th. Father Robinson is rapidly becoming quite a public character. His name stands out in the fierce light that beats upon the advertisement columns of the daily and weekly press; and his well-cut features and silver grey hair are reproduced extensively* in photographs in the illustrated papers. Cultured, and highly intellectual, tactful, and gifted with 14 savoir faire ” to a degree that almost amounts to genius, Father Robinson represents a type of churchman that seems to be rarer now than formerly. He it was who piloted Amy Castles on her meteoric voyage from obscurity in Bendigo to the safe offing in Paris from which she is about tc enter the longed-for haven of grand opera. As an amateur impresario he succeeded in holding his own against the seasoned veterans, and the vigilance with w*hich he looked after the interests of his charge w r as phenomenal. Father Robinson has every prospect of being as successful with his lottery as he was with Amy Castles. He told me the other day that he has made arrangements to have the lottery drawn by an expert, kindly lent by Mr George Adams from his Hobart staff, so that the undertaking will have the additional guarantee r f the magic name of Tattersall’s.” Father Robinson has received applications for tickets from all parts of the world, including Warsaw and the West Indies! One constituent from the West Indies, in forwarding the necessary os fid for the ticket, made a characteristic little request. “She asked me in her letter,” said Father Robinson, with a tuinkle in his eye, “to.bless a ticket for her before putting it in the bar’ll”