1897.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 3321, 31 December 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

1897.

A- RETROSPECT. ATT, THE world over. THE ANOLO-AMEBIOAH TRBATT.- - Eighteen Hchdbed and Ninety-seven dawned auspioiotlsly for the world, but more especially fob the race, as the negotiations for the conclusion of an Arbitration Treaty between Britain and the United States*-yore on the point of being arranged. Indeed, the treaty itself Was signed in Washington on January 11 by Sir Julian Pauncofote, British Ambassador. and the Hon. Richard Olney, American Secretary of State. Many men believed they saw in this Anglo-American Treaty the binding together of two great nations in peace and concord—never to appeal to the arbitrament of the sword, no matter what the point in dispute. Its signing seemed to presage that time of which Tennyson sang When the war drum throbe no longer And the battle flags are furled, In th" Parliament of Man, _ The Federation of the World. But it was not to be. Though the British people welcomed the message of peace and strove to make it binding, and though a very large body* of the American people were anxious that the ties of kindred should he ■'supreme and the world be shown an-example,. which, if followed, would bring about the disarmament of the nations, there was - a vicious element in the United States Congress which prevented the'ratification of the originallysigned treaty. The opposing.party in the

nate succeeded in passing an amendment

hioh practically declared that nothing conld he referred to arbitration excepting by special agreement of the United States Congress. This, of course, virtually meant that the Americans were to regard the treaty as just so much waste paper. Thus n great opportunity was missed altogether. Yet, no j not altogether. The idea is not dead. It but rests; to be roused into activity again at some future time when federation of the British Empire will mean a compelling force towards’ controlling the other Powers and thus help on the great work of international arbitration. In connection with this question of international peace, it may not bo but of place to note the gift to the world by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish millionaire. The name will be familiar to all users of dynamite. 1 Mr Nobel bequeathed a sum of 'nearly- £2,000.000, the interest annually accruing from which will be something like .£60,000, and this will bo divided into five portions, to be awarded in prizes for the most important discoveries in (1) physios, (2) chemistry, (3) physiology or medicine respectively, (4), for the most distinguished-literary contribution in physiology or medicine, and (5) for achieving the most or doing the best to promote the cause of peace. ■ ITAT.T*g TTLBiTT TfITH KING MENELIK. As the result of negotiations with the Emperor of Abyssinia—after the crushing defeat of the Italian troops by the dusky warriors of the latter —the Italian Government decided to retire from Erythreaand to hold, only' Massowah. A number of prisoners taken by Menelik’s army were released, and these arrived at the beginning of the year at Naples. Britain was thanked. by the ..-Italians for the part she played in inducing the Abyssinian Emperor to act in a generous manner. towards_a defeated enemy tint it mayas well be said at once that it- was the relief from the dread at one time experienced of a conquest of his country by the Italians which so mollified Menelik that he took a lenient view of the whole-position. THE EASTERN QUESTION. At a very early stage of the year the Powers were found to all the resources of diplomacy so as to arrive at an understanding on the Eastern Question, which should have a semblance of decency so far as the Christian nations were concerned. But one bugs blunder was made by Lord Salisbury, and for that initial mistake we have suffered and the world has suffered in a manner never even contemplated at the outset. The British Foreign-Minister neglected or refused to take the tide at the flood, with the result that it ebbed, and lett him- and the nation, badly stranded. Had Britain paid no heed to the German Kaiser, but declared herself opposed to any Concert programme which did not include the partitioning of Turkey, protection of Armenia by the Powers, the. autonomy of Crete and the aggrandisement of Greece, some of the scenes of cottage which have disgraced Christendom would never hare occurred, nor would -there have been a combination of the Powers of. Europe against Great Britain. Once within the toils, however, Britain had to march with the - other Powers, and all stepped to the ‘ftune” piped by Germany. .That "tune" .included the glorification of the Great Assassin, the- desertion of the Armenians, the isolation of Greeo and the punishment of Crete for daring to even think of throwing off the yoke" of Abd-ul the Damned. Greece, encouraged thereto by what she believed to be the sympathetic assurance of the British and French, went to war with" Turkey with a light heart; but from - the - outset ' it' was only too apparent that the Greek army .was neither - equipped, officered nor vie l tnalled. Instead of a disciplined host, it became a rabble, and defeat was followed by rout.’ When’the 1 last of their natural defences had been carried by the Turks, the Powers intervened to prevent the annihilation of - the Hellenes. The Turk had fasted the sweets of success and disputed the right of the Powers to come between him and. his Christian prey. Germany sided with the Turk, but for very shame’s, -sake Russia, 'France and England could not allow the Crois be be crushed by the, Crescent, and so what seemed an interminable conference of the Powers began. A treaty of peace, very much in favour of the Turk, very much < opposed to all that was either just or. righteous—after ; the joint declaration by the Powers that neither party to the war should be allowed to benefit, as a result of the hostilities—wae forced upon Greece | strategic positions on the frontier were Aded to Turkey, and the payment of an indemnity, secured, .to the sublime porfe by the Great Powers acting in Greece in the character of the "Man in possession.” The whole story is a sorry one and'a disgrace to the name of Christendom. That any snoh result should have come about is traceable to the timidity of Britain in the first place, and the brutality of the German Emperor towards Greece in the second, . .", t-,.-,-.; ■: The Cretan question can hardly he said to have been solved, for only a day or two since the Turks committed an outrage by massacring . a number of . the Christian residents. Autonomy has certainly been granted and a Christian Governor -agreed upon, hut that by no means disposes of the Cretan difficulty, as what the people—or the gmat majority at all events—aim at is either absolute independence or annexation to Greece. south AvaiCA. The “ washing-up,” os the diggers term it, over the South African business was commenced in London soon after the arrival of Cecil Bhodes. There were those who believed be wonld shirk the ‘ duty of appearing before a Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry— Including, as it did, Mr Labouohere—but tfee Uoq Cecil Rhodes is mqde of sterner

nluif. The man vho could" go, unarmed, into the midst of’the rebellious tribesmen in the Matoppo Hills and there make an agreement binding upon the British j Government and upon himself as to the future policy to be pursued, so that the Matabele campaign might be brought to an honourable close, was not the one to " funk ” the South African Enquiry. One satisfactory feature of the business was the clearing of the name of the Eight Honourable Joseph Chamberlain from any suspicion of having actively engaged in the arrangements for the Raid, or of having been cognisant of any of the preliminaries. An unwarrantable use was made of his name, certainly, especially by I Miss Flora Shaw, the London Times special, but; this ' was quite cleared up at the enquiry. One of the features of the examination of Mr Rhodes was the cool, cynical and blighting manner in which he answered the queries put to him by Mr Labonchore. Little did the South African Colossus dream that but a few months would elapse ere Henry Labouehere would stand, stripped of his boasted purity of dealing in mines and other shares. Whatever else may be said of Mr Rhodes—and a good deal was said by the “Little England” class both at Home and in tho colonies —he ie tho one man who stands a policy of " let-alone” and loss in Africa and that of pushing, on the work of increasing Britain’s supremacy from one end of the great continent to the other. The Jubilee celebration afforded the Cape Government the opportunity of showing its loyalty, and this took the shape of a gift of a first-class warship to be added to the Queen’s Navy, The idea was received with great rejoicings and warm approval i bnt there is a prospect of the first plan being somewhat varied. The Capo Government now prefers to make a yearly payment of the interest on the expenditure of the sum required in the up-keep of a line-of-battle ship, while the Afrikander Bund, or Dutch party, iu tho Cape Parliament, desires to vote a sum to enable an "all red ” cable to bo maintained.

| The appointment of Sir Alfred Milner, K.C.B, as Governor of Cape Colony in place of Lord Hosmead was well received, and nothing but good has.resulted from his firm and wise handling of the subjects which have come before him as Her Majesty's High Commissioner in that region. In his dealings with the Boer Republic he has been neither supercilious nor harsh. He has faced the position and has succeeded in getting a large number of the Boers and CitJanders to look at matters a little more hopefully. The position in the Transvaal continues to be little other than hopeless, and it is said it will continue so until Oom Paul pays the debt of nature. The doctors have discovered that he is suffering from an acute form of Bright’s disease, and that ha cannot hope to live more than a year. “It is ill waiting for dead men’s shoes,” but the Boers themselves will not be.sorry to see the last of Paul Kruger. They are anxious for a better understanding with the Uitlanders, and the prosecution with vigour of mining operations ou the Hand, THE QUEEN'S JUBII.EE. No summary of the year’s doings .would be complete without a reference to the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria; but so much has been said and written that to enter into particulars now would bo superfluous. Suflice it, that nothing ever happened in the history of the British nation which has done more to strengthen the unity of the Empire than the gathering of the nation’s children in London and the review of the fleet at Spithead. As was said by a foreign writer, after viewing this demonstration of Britain’s naval strength Here was an invincible navy, but not a station the world 'over had had a single ship withdrawn from it. Impregnable at Home, she was prepared to bite in any part of her widereaching Empire.”

, THE SOUDAN. The work of the Sirdar of the forces engaged in the advance into the territory of the Khalifa has been conducted in the masterly fashion, which has characterised every effort of this notable officer. A railway' • has been constructed across a desert stretch at a speed which strikes one as little short of marvellousno less than a mile a day—while out on* the sandy waste, where water was not, it bad been found by the digging of wells and the pumping of the precious element to the surface. So far there has been no real resistance to the onward march of the Anglo-Egyptiau forces, but trouble is anticipated oro many weeks are over, iia the Mahdists are likely to make a determined stand to prevent the taking of Khartoum. . Surrounding this advance there are some very serious complications, and these have not Jbeen lessened owing to the plottings of certain Frenchmen who are anxious to ,dp anything to prevent the growing power of Britain on the. Nile. All sorts of offers have been made to the Negus of Abyssinia in the hope that he may be tempted to assist a French expeditionary force to get in at Khartoum before the arrival of General Kitchener’s forces at that point. The Mahdists, it is said, would even welcome the striking of such a blow against the relentless advance of the AngioEgyptian expedition. Bat although nothing has yet been made public concerning the result of the British mission to the Emperor Menelik, enough is known to lead to the conclusion that the Abyssinian ruler is not altogether disposed to join his forces to those of a man whose religious fanaticism makes it incumbent upon him .to .declare death to ail Christians as the only way in which to' please God. King Menelik, like all the Kings of Abyssinia who have gone before, has fought off any attempt to introduce Islamuan within hia borders. Though the Christianity of Menelik and his people is of a rather peculiar kind, it is nevertheless Christian; imjts. origin, and has been maintained as the faith, of .thb people from time immemorial. The .fact that their faith might be disturbed or that they would incur the displeasure of Britain -j-which would mean Joss of territory and revenue—will, taken together, more than probably secure -the adhesion of Menelik and his people. •

INDIA. - : ■ Opponents of the “ forward policy” in India' have' been crying out against the advance of the British, and native troops into the mountain fastnesses of the northwestern frontier. But it must have been apparent to any hut the paltry 11 Little Englander" that the turbulent tribesmen could not be permitted to commit all sorts of depredations without being punished. Besides, there was the 'danger that the' .crusade preached by the mollahs, or priests, against the Christian rulers of the country, might have waxed strong enough to have given the advocates of a jehad a very great chance of creating a difficulty in the interior of British India. There has been a certain amount of activity amongst the Moslems'of .India, consequent upon the publication of seditious writings concerning'. the .work of the .authorities in dealing y-,with the filth-plague and the famine, but the people as. a whole refused to listen to the ravings of a lot of idiots who were encouraged—we regret to say by so-called Englishmen—to rail against Britain’s selfishness in India and over all things Indian, and the i result of a few sharp and salutary lessons has bean to settle for some time the attempts of sedition mongers to. rouse tho native population into a semblance.-pf The enormous ■ amount of .money, raided’for relief purposes by the promoters, of the famine fund, the practical sympathy shown for the suffering.-peasants, and above all' the efforts put forth to permanently deal with the causes which lead to the recurrence of those periods of Scarcity afford an object lesson which' is not lost upon a people who— under their own rulers in the

, p&ot— V7GI6 IiSIC to pGiioil iu tcU3 01 tlibu- | after tho last coin or its value in ; produce had been wrung out of them by a : ruthless tax-gatherer. • The conduct of the troops—British and native alike—has been truly magnificent. . The charge of the Gordon Highlanders at : Dargai, the efforts of the Ghoorkas, and the | behaviour of the whole of- the columns under the most trying circumstances, prove how true it is that there remains to us yet, os a nation, the glory of tho military spirit and the bravery which has ever been a distinguishing characteristic of our people. The conflict may now be said to be {almost over, the tribesmen have nearly all [made I submission, the passes have been reoccupied by British forces, -the forts are being rebuilt, fines have been inflicted and in some cases paid, arms have been surrendered, and the people of the frontier have come to realise that it is no use kicking against the rule of the British, even though it is sought to extend it beyond the boundaries where the fanatical Moslem priests would have it stop. One feature worthy of note here was the loyalty of the Ameer of Afghanistan. He remained true to his salt, even though pressure was brought to bear from most “ sublime ” directions. THE PAR EAST, As the year is closing we are brought face to face with a condition of things which may be attended—so far as these colonies are concerned—with considerable difficuly, not to say danger. We refer, of course, to Germany's swoop down on China in apparent agreement with Russia. The whole point of the business will turn upon Britain's course of action; but whatever that may be, it cannot rid us in these colonies of the unpleasant feeling that two great Western Powers have decided to provide themselves with naval bases in dangerous proximity to the British possessions m the Pacific. The issue will, be watched with deep interest and not a little foreboding in Australasia, and if Japan is forced into open conflict with Russia the sympathies of the British will go with the plucky, progressive Power of the Par East. One outcome of the trouble will be that it will be “nuts u for the United States—as the people of that "Great Country would put it. Japan's attention will be called off Hawaii, and what at one time seemed a risky thing for America attempt will cow be quite a safe and sure deal. TWO GREAT ELECTIONS. The election of President of the United States and of the Mayor of Greater "New. York have both tended to enlighten the world as to any tope of success the progressive voters of that great coun- 1 try may have. Iu the election of Major McKinley we saw the triumph, not so much cf the solid "gold" party as opposed to that of the " Free Silyeritos," as the victory of vested interests over the progressionists. But Mr Bryan has gained ; immensely in popularity since his defeat, ] and may be counted on as a certainty when President McKinley’s term of ofiice expires. The death of Henry George, the apostle of Single Tax and Free Trade, rendered it an easy task for the Tammany I Hall ring to secure the election of their • candidate, and Greater Hew. York is now j under the yoke of the same vile tyranny < and corruption as the city itself has suf- ] fered from through so many years, , NEW ZEALAND. ]

In New Zealand the year has been uneventful. In the political world the visit of the Premior'to the Jubilee celebrations, and his return with the honours of Privy Conuoillorship thick upon him, were notable. Two sessions of Parliament were held this year in the first, that prior to the Premier’s departure for England, the House gave him_ a blank cheque for his expenses; in the second, immediately after his return, the Opposition employed itself largely in haggling over the aforesaid expanses, and when not doing Ibis, in obstructing Government legislation. In this task of obstruction the Opposition found able assistance from the' Legislative Council, which acquired for itself additional fame of a particular kind by the slaughter of the Old Age Pension Bill, one of the most important measures yet carried through any single branch of a Legislature in any part of the world. .- The banking and other returns prove the solid prosperity of the people, and the Colonial Treasurer was able last session to announce a surplus' of -6380,000. All the monetary institutions, including the Bank of New Zealand, show signs of vigour and prosperity and a sound development of ibusiness. The industries of the colony are on a substahtialijbasis, and though it is to be regretted that crops are light, owing to the prolonged dry weather, there is promise that prices will rule high inthe coming season. One of the most regrettable features of trade is the present position of the frozen meat industry. Owing to the want of cohesion amongst thb various companies, the trade is threatened with danger, and if some effective means can be devised early in the year to place it upon a more satisfactory footing, the eyent will be welcomed throughout New Zealand. The dairy industry has made remarkable strides daring the year, while the progress of land settlement has been one of the most gratifying indica-, tions of the advance of the colony. Tfie announcement that the Govsrnment intends to acquire three important estates in Marlborough Fiaxbourne, Starborough, dud Ugbrooke— shows how' keen has become the demand for land for close settlement.

; Lord Eanfnrly, who was appointed Governor of New Zealand, to succeed Lord", Glasgow, arrived in the oolony'during the' year, and was given an , enthusiastic reception. Further proof has been given daring .the twelve months now closing -of the wisdom of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. 1 This measure has’ been employed with success in the settlement of trade disputes which, but for its existence, must have reached a stage involving the loss’ of employment to many, and consequent suffering in numbers of homes. ■ Happily, there is no great loss of life to look back upon. The ; wreck of the Tasmania, with the drowning of nine persons j the loss of the Zuleika by which 12 men were drowned, and the accident hoar the Auckland Eailway Station, when a train collided with a ’bus and killed three passengers, have been the chief events of this kind. The flodds in Hawke’s Bay caused serious loss of property," and also did the disastrous fires on the Auckland Wharf, and at Gore. Unfortunately, the Hawke’s Bay floods were accompanied also with loss of life", AUSTRALIA, Australian federation would now seem to bo within reasonable reach of fulfilment, notwithstanding that there are still a great many subjects awaiting final determination by the Convention to be held in Melbourne in January next, before the whole question is ; submitted to the three' millions of electors from north to south and east to west of ' the- vast. Australian continent, What the , result of this referendum—for that is-what it practically amounts to—will be, is, of course, ja matter for conjecture. If the result .depended on the leaders public thought in the Australian provinces federation would be speedily assured.. There is a chance now that the weaknesses,-which must naturally disfigure any 1 measure having so wide a scope as the Federation Bill must have, .will alienate the sympathy of a large section of the Federal community, and have the effect of putting off confederal unity for years. The fiscal question is, of course, a stumbling-block, •It may bo assumed, however, that if by mutual concession and agreement a Bill be framed meeting with the hearty concurrence of the majority of the representatives

‘ I at*the Melbourne Convention, the loaders l of-public opinion in the various colonies i j interested will be able to secure for it the j votes of the majority of the electors. We ( trust that when we touch on this subject - I in our next New Year's number it will be to place on record that Australian Federation is an accomplished fact, and that the joining of Maoriland as a Federal State is in immediate contemplation. The drought in Australia is, of course, a matter of immense significance, for these periodical visitations mean the loss of many thousands of pounds. A drought quickly takes the gilt edge off the profits of the Australian squatter, and brings proportionate consequences to the rest of the community. On the other hand, there are not wanting unfailing signs in tb© chief cities of New South Wales and Victoria of a recovery from the effects of the collapses of a few years ago. Sydney is especially well circumstanced, whilst Melbourne is also rapidly improving, though its upward career received a set-back a few weeks ago in the disastrous fire which occurred in one of the chief business blocks of the town and caused damage to the extent of .£1.500,000. In banking circles the sensation of the- year was the report of the Queensland National Bank Committee and the political crisis which it caused. A gratifying feature of Australian affairs is the absence Of* labour troubles during the year. ' CANADA. No British dependency—if so it can appropriately be called—is showing greater development than Canada. Not only is she making material progress, not only is her productiveness increasing and her population expanding—the Klondyke goldfield is helping her not a little in this—but she has brod on her soil a statesman of widq Imperial instincts, in the person of Sir Wilfred Laurier, who, if spared, will finish the lever to lift her beyond the sphere of petty provincialism, into national prominence. Daughter am I in my mother's house, Bat mistress of my own, t Rudyard Kipling's characteristic conception, fitly describes the position of Canada, as it does that of all of England’s eelfcroverniug colonies. Perhaps it is the comparative proximity of Canada, and the fact of continual replenishment of the Canadian stock by tho best English blood, however, which renders her people so demonstratively loyal to the Mother land, but certpin it is, that that colony has been the first to announce the possession of a wide federal spirit,' and the foremost to evince an inclination to self-sacrifice even, to reality to Imperial Federation. One cannot help thinking tftat the example of Canada might well convey a lesson in tone to our Australasian rulers and statesmen, and stir them to such emulation that they will occasionally obliviate petty local- 1 ism, and permit to their aspirations wider range. ;

COMMERCE AND TRADE. As regards commerce and trade the year 1897 has, no doubt, been the best that New Zealand has seen since the.boom period of ,1889-90-91. The volume of our chief productions has increased considerably, and our exports show a substantial improvement' upon recent years as regards total values. In the latest statistics available, namely, those to the 30th September, it has been shown that the total value of, our exports of domestic produce exceeded that of the previous year by about .£300,000. Wo are taking the figures for a twelvemonth because no reliable comparisons can be drawn from the statistics for a period of nine; months beginning with the Ist of January. The December quarter, which covers the opening of the wool season, is largely affected by the conditions that happen to prevail at the time as regards both the weather and the supply of tonnage to take away the wool. According as these two factors are favourable or unfavourable, largo quantities of wool may be either successfully despatched before the end of December or delayed till after the first of January and thus carried over into another quarter. The March quarter is, of course, affected equally with the December quarter, and any wool statistics short of a complete twelvemonth are not obly-nnreliable, but positively misleading. To return, however, to our theme, wo find that the money value of our exports is tar from being a correct raea ; ure of the volume 'of production, as it depends so largely upon the-valuation per pouncL which is_ placed upon the pioduot.. dims, in the year under review, we find that the increase ip quantity is much larger than tho increase in value, ns regards both of our most important produota, namely, wool and meat. Thus the declared values and Weights of our wool exports for the; past two years compare as follows :

. Weight.* Value, , lbs. £ ' ' 1897... ... 13118,955 4,412,593 : 1898. i.. Xz8,3'9,*)73 J 4,335,318 1 Increase .. - 0,101,233 47,275 The inoreaso in weight is nearly 5 per cent; while that in value is but a fraction over 1 per cent. -. Then, os regards frozen meat, we find pomewhat similar conditions, the .respective weights and values for the two years comparing'as follows: — ' Weight. Value, r /'■■■ o-vt. ■ .6 1897 . .. ... 1,387,250 .1,484,653 1898 ... ... 1,087,229 -1,279,180. . fhoreaao' .... 300,021 205,491 Hero the inoreaso in value is only 16 per, cent, while that in quantity is between 27, aud.2B per cent. In these two items alone -the difference in the value, if we reckon .at the valuations of the year before, would bo fully .£300,000. Of course the valuations placed upon the goods when passing, the export entries does not necessarily indicate the-result obtained in the foreign market, thfcugk of course supposed to be based upon that market at the time of shipment. As regards wool it is by no means improbable that the returns for the exports of 1897 Were on the whole as good as those for the preceding year, and that thus the full benefit of the increase in quantity was secured to the colony. As to frozen meat, there have been great lamentations during the bulk of the year, now nearly closed, in respect of the lowness of the prices ruling in Home markets. Of course the lowness of price is an undeniable fact; still we are entitled to conclude that to the producer the trade, is not nnprofitable. There was a time when it was an article of faith that anything below 5d per lb in the London market, ineant a loss to the shipper.;Since that day the charges all round have been greatly reduced, and quotations of 2|d to 8d per lb do not stop Shipments. Thenagain we have been recently told that in many cases the ship buys the meat in the colony, and that the risk of the result pertains to the shipowner. In, this connection" it is interesting to potioe the declaration of the chairman of the Canterbury' Meat Company at the annual meeting of 'the Company, held in Christchurch last week. On that occasion the chairman stated that' the year -just concluded was the best that the Company had had, and that the directors had determined to abandon the bacon-coring branch of their business "in order to devote the space which had been occupied by that to the extension of their facilities for the frozen-meat trade. : Gold is the next moat important item in our list of exports. In this line we are met with ’a falling-off of over 20130,000, but it is well known that this decrease is the result of the cessation of gold-winning operations at certain mines, where extensive and important development works are in course of prosecution. With the resumption of mining by these companies, and in view, of the improved prospects in other directions, we may well look for an increased output in the year 1898. TJ»9 most interesting industry after those

1 wa have named is undoubtedly the dairy 1 trade,and iu this 1807 has been a "record” ‘ year. The shipments of butter and cheese for the twelve months reached a total value of £528.905, against a total of £377,788 in the preceding twelve months. This industry has been of slow growth in New Zealand, but seems now to have indeed "caught on.” and there is every prospect of more rapid increase in the future. The quota which this colony furnishes to the world’s consumption is at present very small in comparison with the total, and there is room for enormous expansion. The competition with the butters which have hitherto held the market will, no doubt, be keen, but with the tremendous advantages for tho trade which we possess, it is only requisite that we should use the utmost care in the production to ensure our triumph over all our rivals. Our export of grain and grain products has not reached the dimensions of former years, but it has been at all events better than daring the last two or three years. We cannot refrain from expressing regret as to the absence of the starting of now industries, or the expansion, of minor ones already existing. Our present consideration is a review of the year , that is passed, but we may be pardoned for saying that both in this respect, and in the opening of new markets, we trust that the coming year may be productive of some improvement. The Agricultural Department is doing its best in various directions to educate and assist settlers in the starting of industries that are capable of profitable rosnlts, but we seem to be slow at getting out of old grooves and trying new lines of production. ( Turning to the import branch of our trade, we are pleased to be able to call attention to most satisfactory indications of an improved condition of the Colony. An increased volume of imports would not . necessarily prove increased purchasing power, bnt when wo find that not only have we in- t creased onr imports by. more than a million sterling in a year, but that in every line in the table larger amounts have been paid in custom duties (without any change in the tariff) we are entitled to conclude that the condition of the colony is prosperous. Whether we look to spirits, wine, beer or tobacco, to tea and sugar, to goods by weight, or to ad valorem goods, we find expansion in every line. We contend that this fact affords unquestionable evidence that daring tho year 1807 tho people of New Zealand have been thriving and prosperous.

Tho wool market for 1897 has been marked by more than the usual number of fluctuations. The first series of sales in London opened in January when' prices were irregular and from a growers point .of view. In March sales the Americans operated freely and all wools of good stylo and brood and deep growth benefittpd to the extent of 10 per cent. The next series of sales, held m May, saw prices for' good crossbreds again recede to January level owing to the lack of American support. Medium and inferior crossbreds, however, took an upward turn at this sale. July sales again saw a drop all round with the exception of good-, merinos which improved about Id per lb. There was a alight revival duiirig September and October sales, but unfortunately Ibis was lost in November sales, and at the present time values of wool are on a low basis. The present unsatisfactory position can be attributed to a variety of causes, one . of which undoubtedly is the disorganisation of trade following on the groat engineers’ strike in England. As regards New; Zealand, our attention is now occupied with the now clip. It is too early to ' this- '.seasons figures,., but 'it is anticipated that the North Island clip will be the largest we have shorn j and, judging from arrivals up to date, it bids fair to equal any previous clip in both quality and condition. COMMERCIAL MEN AND COMMER- . CIAL AFFAIRS. , A REVIEW OF TRADE.

It is always of interest to learn the views, on subjects in which they speak with the authority of men au, intimate acquaintance with affairs, of those who occupy leading positions in various Walks 1 of life, and the abundant evidence which has been app'arent during the past month or two of a general revivification of trade and general buoyancy in business made a conversation with one of Wellington’s best known and influential commercial magnates, one of particular value. ; Speaking of the conditions prevailing locally, this gentleman discoursed as follows the first portion of the. year trade was' rather dull and compared anything but favourably with that of the corresponding period of the , preceding year. The latter half, however, exhibited a marked improvement, with the result that the 12 months’ aggregate was distinctly better than that of 1800—or, as a matter of fact, than any other similar period l oan remember. There have been fewer complaints from retail traders, who are ever given to growl during the Christmas season, than have been beard since my residence in the city. Another gratifying feature during the past three or four months has ,been the activity in country trading. Owing to the keen competition, which increases year by year, profits have been excessively small, but in spite of this it is gratifying to report that the financial position of traders, both wholesale and retail, is remarkably sound; in fact I do not recall a year in which there have been fewer bankruptcies or private compositions in comparison with the volume of transactions recorded;. • ; “ Then, again, to the mild winter must be attributed the great increase in the weight and the improved quality of the wool produced in the district, which will be more than a set-off against the decline in value that recently occurred in this staple. The decrease in the wool clips in Australia, amounting to 150,000 bales—this representing a million and a half sterling—will perhaps, have an effect on prices and be a factor towards causing the mnoh-looked-for appreciation in prices. The butter and cheese industry is steadily on the up-grade, and is likely .to prove one: of the most important in.the colony at no distant date. During the year, owing to drought in the neighbouring colonies, very large shipments’of: both articles found their way thither.” The existing arrangeiuents'foritHe transport of dairy produce evidently give rise to discontent in many quarters.' ' " It is to be deplored,” said our informant, " that better freight arrangements cannot be. made for the carriage, chiefly of butter, to the -London market. ; Under existing circumstances producers will, in all probability, miss ■ the most favourable time of year for the sale of their shipments through inability to obtain space daring part of January and February. The question of course here arises : * Are the shipping companies, by failing ; to provide adequate faculties at the right period of the season/attemptihg to force the hand of the Government—that is, in obtaining from the Government a subsidy for the Carriage of these articles ?’ However, the prospects for.the coming year are quite as good; if not slightly better, than those Of the one just closing.” The frozen mutton trade was next touched hh, and although low rates have ruled at Homs lately, and are likely to rule for Sonic time, yet, from the manner in which the leading companies in New Zealand . are conducting their business, they ard still lir a position to pay what may be’ regarded as fairly satisfactory prices to farmers. ■ Most of the latter have found that by selling outright in the colony to the • companies they can do decidedly better than by sending on their own account to London houses. Just at this part of'the conversation another prominent merchant called in, and further discussion ensued, the dairy industry forming the chief topic, during which many interesting details hearing on tho queston were spoken of. "Thepresont arrangements for shipment are of an almost disastrous character/’ said the new-comer, a gentleman exceptionally well qualified to speak on the subject. "There is one steamer going on January 10th, but the next one does not leave until February 17th, thus sending about six weeks’ supply on one passage. This will mean that exporters will lose the most favourable part of the' year, as their produce will not

j arrive till April. Batter which arrived in . March has only lately been sold, having been in store ail that time, the consc- " qnonce being that the campaign for this * y-v.r was -darted with 100.000 boxes of E stevo butter.” . Turning to the local ocndili'ojs provailt ing, it was pointed out that while one Government deportment was spending a large sum annually in the eifort to foster dairying by means of instruction to farmers i and affording concessions of various kinds, the methods pursued by tho railway authorities were decidedly opposed to the best interests of those connected with the trade. The carrying of cream to the factories was done in a most improper manner, the care exercised being lax to an incredible degree. A letter from , a gentleman who has long been connected with a leading dairy factory, threw light on this subject, certain complaints as to bad quality being met by the response that the railway authorities were entirely to blame. Both gentlemen agreed that in the fostering of this important industry it was most essential that proper provision should be made for carriage by land as well as by sea. The history of Canada showed how important it was that efforts should be made in the direction of placing the trade on . a firim basis, by affording every facility to the producers. ' Hand-in-hand with dairying went the raising of pork. Both gentlemen expressed surprise at the apathy shown by farmers in this direction. "At the present moment it is really impossible to get a thousand really good hams in the colony,” said one, and drew attention to the fact that there were plenty of people ready to go to the expense of erecting factories if the raw material was forthcoming, and when one thinks of what has been done for Chicago and several of the Western States it is a surprising thing that the matter is not taken up and pursued with vigor. I The cheapening of money, it was pointed cut, had been of great advantage to traders and farmers, besides greatly stimulating tho building industry. The banking institutions in the colony now hold on deposit over five and a half millions of money on which they are not paying interest, and though this emphasises the present general prosperity, “ yet,” said one gentleman, “ there are plenty of inducements for the ' investment of capital, and if people only had a little more reliance in themselves and confidence in tho colony these investments, instead of showing the increase they have done, would decrease, and the funds be absorbed into legitimate and payable business concerns.” The general appreciation in value of all the leading securities was a pleasing feature and an assurance of general confidence. The harvest prospects in the South , Island are not of so favourable a nature as . was anticipated; owing to the continued , drought, but it is expected that the im- , proved prices which will be realised for’ j wheat will produce a satisfactory return to. growers, though the varying conditions ; will make some districts gamers and others j losers. j

Then the mining industry was passed under review and the anticipated increase of the gold output from the Auckland mines when the’ English .companies now prosecuting development work get , their machinery properly to work. "On the West Coast of the South Island—a district whose interests are closely connected with : Wel-lington—-there., has'.'been considerable disappointment at the development whioli'haa taken place since tho advent of Mr Ziman and other speculators. There iß,.howevor, strong hope of there being a considerably , larger output next year from several mines which have been in.-prooess of development, the indications at'present';.being more than favourable." Ah extract from the Banking Record was ‘quoted, showing what a great factor mining was to a country’s material prosperity, and indicating that much depression had been removed by the increase of the gold returns, those for 1896 being in advance of the previous' year by some 122,000.000. ' , Reverting again to the outlook for. the future, both reiterated their unbounded confidence r— next year having in their vision a decidedly roseate: hue,, This, it is to be sincerely hoped, will prove ah accurate forecast, for although opinions may be divided, or a remark let drop during the dlsoussion that wo' have been' too prosperous in the past,” no one could by any stretch of imagination conceive a condition of affairs in which too much prosperity was looming ahead; that is what we are all striving for day by day, hoping in the meantime for an ora which will bear in its train sufficient wealth to enable all classes to participate to that extent which" their industry deserves. PROGRESS OP WELLINGTON. INTERESTING SUMMARY OP A - YEAR’S WORK.

The concluding day of each succeeding year serves the purpose in most minds of a mental mile-post whereby they may measure the progress or retrogression made in, the preceding twelve months; And such a method ' of marking the stages of ‘ : rapid growth shown by. the. expansion of. our city area and its many inward tokens of vigour is admirably adapted to the purpose. iFor Wellington; ■ by its favoured geographical situation, making it par excellence the distributing centre of the colony, has gone along the path of prosperity at a rate unequalled in New Zealand, and hardly paralleled in Australia. In the latter continent, although the almost magic growth of two cities has been - on a scale sufficient to inspire the wonder of travellers—almost rivalling that of Chicago, "Queer, and gutter-snipe of cities as . she has been aptly termed—yet in at least One case that marvellous expansion. was based on a foundation, utterly; inadequate to carry its huge superstructure, and. finally crumbled away, involving-all classes of mercantile institutions in the ruin which followed. Here, however, nothing of the sort . has occurred, the process of centralisation proceeding on a perfectly sound' commercial basis. Business' 'houses which formerly - conducted their affairs from other portions of the two islands are removing the base of operations to our midst, and the majority of the remainder who have not yet done so either contemplate such a course in the near future or have established branches, which, in the extent of their dealings, rival or eclipse "the business transacted elsewhere. The steady increase in the volume of business shows conclusively that the confidence of even the most sanguine has not up to the present been shaken, and indeed the future looks hopeful to the highest, degree. : To anyone and more especially a stranger a walk around ' the loehlity lying within A quarter-mile; radius; of the PostOflice is .full of. instruction. The reclaimed land, which but a’ short time ago" was a comparative waste; is. now almost covered with substantially built and commodious warohouses, tho value of whose contents, must reach to figures of enormous signifiwhile the' activity displayed in every branch shows that the turn-over of each firm. can only be of a satisfactory description. None of the hnildings have been erected for speculative purposes;'; the increased . accommodation they afford being necessary for the growing requirements, of the proprietors. The fine fonr-story’ promises of Messrs; Myers and . Go. is one of those which’ have been completed dqring. the past year, and is a fitting monument to that firm’s enterprise and the solid nature of the city’s'progress. One of the most substantial bill] dings in Wellington is the. fine four-storied warehouse of. Messrs W. M. Bannatyne and Co., which .holds a commanding position on Customhouse quay, and is at once a solid proof of the extend sive character of the ; company’s '.business andanotable addition to the architecture of Wellington. .Daring the year also another enterprising firm, Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, took occupation of the handsome building in which their business is now carried on on Lambton quay. The Australian Mutual- Provident Society’s building, now nearly completed, is another fine work, while that of - the Colonial Mutual Insurance Company, at the foot of Willis street—with its highlyornate frontage and so favourably situated—has all the attributes which will make' it serve as a conspicuous landmark. Along Lambton quay, the music warehouse of Messrs Keichardt and Co. is another decided city improvement, and the substantial construction . that is feeing added by Mr T. Turnbull to Messrs Kircaldie and Stains! already large premises will, when completed, he a truly splendid specimen of solid architecture. In other parts of the city bnilding operations have been carried on with, corresponding vigour, the. new block at the corner of Cuba, street and Dixon' street being one of the moct striking, while in Courtenay place and Ingestre street spacious rows of shops are now almost out of the buildere’ hands. Then again there have been erected within the city area during tiro period under review new '/premises, for Mesu’s.llowc and Sou, Goo ■ IVmder, i:.]i and Allan, Barnett and the Woollen Company and Glass Factory. . Messrs Penty and Forde, from whose designs these

I latter wero constructed, have also let a ( contract running into £IOOO for the new | hotel to take the place of the present Duke loi Edinburgh Hotel. This is a record of progress which must be decidedly gratifying to all classes of the community. It an inspection of the town area shows ruou a record, a visit to the residential portions of the city gives still more surprise. localities which almost a few months ago were hardly thought of as building sites have been covered! with houses large and small. In the direction of Newtown, “the city growing like a trailing plant ” may be seen covering the hills iu every direction, while the difficulty experienced by new arrivals iu procuring suitable residences shows how inadequate the supply is to the demand. Already some 15,000 persons live on the southern side of the Basin Reserve, and mention of this fact alone is sufficient, without the quotatatlou of census returns, to show how steadily the population is increasing. The presence of so many people, although perhaps negative evidence of business prosperity, is in our case confirmatory of sound industrial progress, employment being readily obtainable by people in almost every walk of life. The records of two leading firms of architects will give an excellent indication of the volume of building operations carried out daring the year.' Mr W. C. Chatfieldreportsthetotalvalue of buildings erected or in course of erection under his supervision to be over £54,500, 1 inclusive of the warehouses of Messrs W. M. Bannatyne and Co., merchants, four floors; Messrs J. Myers and Co., china importers, four floors ; Messrs :P. Hayman and Co., importers, four floors; Colonial Mutual Life Assurance offices and buildings; additions to Royal Oak Hotel ; additions Messrs Briscoe, Mao Neil and Co., hardware merchants and importers; addi-. lions Messrs E. W. Mills and Co., hardware merchants and importers; pavilion at Day’s Bay for Mr J. 11. Williams, many private residences and other buildings. For 1898 plans, etc., are being prepared for some extensive works, and also sketch plans for now business of considerable importance.

Messrs Penty. and Fordo have erected promises for Messrs Rowe and bens, costing .£1280,G. Winder, 41400; Harbroe, 41100; Witt, .£’1200; Vnitch and Allan, IE1050; Barnett, 41100; and for the Woollen Company for 43500, and Glass Factory, 41800. The City Council’s fecords show an approximate expenditure iu buildings during the year of fully a quarter of a million pounds, the number of permits issued amounting to about 400. The amounts expended during the 12 months by the City Council on city requirements has been approximately, as under-.'—Drainage, 445,000; repairs to streets, 416,000; street lighting, 43000 ; scavenging, 42000; collection of house refuse, 42600 -. total. 469,200. The Petone thorough Council has also initiated during the year a drainage scheme for . this thriving borough: whilst in Melrose, ICarori and Ohslow boroughs money has been usefully spent upon street making and other necessary works, This brief glance at the city’s growth during the past year is full of promise for" the future, and when a similar task has to be performed it. is to- be sincerely , hoped that the record will be as (good. ' ; Unfortunately at the time of writing, complete statistics of the shipping operations at the port have notyot been compiled, and it is therefore impossible to give anything like a comprehensive review of the year; showing in detail the increase of tonnage that has been accommodated at the wharves or the volume of Imports and exports.- When the figures are made public at tho end of the Harbour Board’s financial year the result will bo found decidedly gratifying, there being a steady increase in the volume of business to repppt. In.a seaport like this one of the/ best indexes to the condition of local trade is this sort of evidence. The reputation enjoyed iu Wellington for its facilities for giving prompt despatch to vessels by tho quick discharge of cargo and loading has long been a matter in which considerable pride has been taken, and these still exist to a greater degree than before. All of the ocean-going steamers regularly bring cargoes of a: general character and obtain year by t year a larger proportion' of their outward freight from meat freezing and mercantile companies. V A visit to the Queen’s wharf on an occasion when such vessels as the Delphic and Gothic are berthed shows to what perfection the arrangements have r been brought, the work being carried out with an expedition unrivalled in other parts of the colony. This is; of course, as it should be. Wellington’s position as the chief maritime centre of New Zealand demanding that such should be tho case, i THE FATHER OF WELLINGTON. A-CONTRAST BETWEEN THE OLD’ TIMES AND THE NEW. : Eighty-six years of age, yet still hale and hearty, Wellington city’s father; Mr JohnPlimmer, continues to reside at "The Ark ” at the top of Plimmer’a steps. When in a communicative humour, Mr Plimmer has much to tell the interviewer of pioneers and pioneering; of the adventures and ' vicissitudes; as well as tho hearty good.’ fellowship, and the simple pleasures of.the early days of the Colony j of floods, feasts, fasts, famines, and earthquakes; of deeds of heroism, as well as scenes of Woodshed ; of the. aboriginal iu the exercise; of his grand and noble qualities, and of his attributes for diplomacy, depravity, . or savagery. But moro particularly is he an authority on matters pertaining to the growth of Wellington city itself. .’ Arriving here in 1841, Mr Plimmer has closely identified himself with the growth of this city for over half a century, though of recent years ho has entered but little into public lifo. Forty years ago, when the harbour waters used to lap and lave the: beach within a, few yards of the front entrance of . Barrett’s . Hotel, , Lambtou quay, a few citizens met together at that hostlery ■ in ■ response ■■ to: the; invitation -of Mr Plimmer to form) a Tradesmen’s Club, .which grew and flourished, and served not only as a centre of hospitality 'and conviviality; but also a meeting: ground-where-political debates were carried ou'quito as vigorously; yet more decorously, than ' in' these degenerate days, and where lectures on more or less interesting subjects were delivered by more or less qualified persons. It was probably here—-the clash of minds in such instances, invariably indicating marked individuality—thattho subject of this sketch graduated for a seat on the Provincial Council, of which, representing. Wellington province, he was one of the 1 ' first members, and amongst other things introduced a Bill for the building of the first Parliament House in . New-.-Zealand. The Bill was passed, and that part of tho present building where the Legislative Council sits was erected. Mr Plimmer cannot remember any surviving member, except himself,: of the.first Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the first Road Board, and first Town Board in the Wellington district, . r . „ i It f was as one of: the founders of the Wellmgton-Manawatu Railway Company, however, that-Mr Plimmer rendered his most signal service to Wellington, and- the. progressiveness and breadth of vision he displayed at that time entitles him to lasting remembrance locally, i His attention was first called to tho subject.by. an interview which he bad with Mr Brogdon, a proim-*. nent: railway contractor • of that -day, 2 who was much incensed because of the way he was kept, dangling about by. the Government of the day. Consequently be (Mr' Plimmer) hadall tbe details' at his finger ends,, when- he was invited to a meeting convened by Mr Travers to consider the whole question. The latter brought down a number of proposals for the construction of the railway, and it was stated that £4OOO would be required for preliminary expenses. Mr Plimmer opposed such an expenditure as quite unnecessary; and wasteful, and in'this contention, was supported by Mr Brandon. Ira t by none of the other promoters. As the itV.mlt of a spirited debate Mr Plimiher eventually said: “ Grant me a committee, and I will place in your hands 41000. If I don’t carry ont the work I will lose the money. If I carry it out I will take the amount in shares.” The remainder of the; story is best given in Mr Flimmor’s own language:— “Sir John Hall was then at the head of the squatter, party in Parliament. He was in power, and bis Government had just previously appointed a Royal Commission, which had reported against the making of the railway. One day I heard that Sir John was giving a big party at thePremier's residence, and I. thought I would take him a bunch of some beautiful white camellias that I had growing in my garden. 1 So 1 took them along to his bouse and delivered them to a servant, who handed them to some ladies, .who were loud is their expressions of admiration. As I was going away Sir John Hall came [ running out after pie, and asked me to came back as he wanted to talk to me. Ho : j and 1 talked for about an hour - on the subject of the Manawatu railway. He said to me, ‘Yon cannot make it.' 1 said, ' 1

can, if you’ll, let me.’ X proposed to him ) to give a land grant to the railway company, and the making of tho line would enhance the value of the rest of the land. He said it would not pay- but after talking. it nil over he finally promised that he would help me. I asked if ho would introduce a Bill to carry out my ideas, and he promised to do it. The* squatters' of the Manawatu wanted to have all the land for sheep runs, but they were thwarted.by the Hall Government bringing in a miSiaure to have the railway made on the land grant system. Sir Julius Vogel was in London at the time, and I wanted him to negotiate the I money arrangements in London. Mr Joseph Nathanfopposed me taking this in hand, as he said X knew nothing* about business, and Mr Levin said he would have nothing to do with the railway unless I got 50,000 shares taken up in Wellington. Mr .Nathan tried unsuccessfully to get the railway financed in Sydney, and then they* took my advice, sent to Sir Julius Vogel, and got tho thing done iu London at once. The Wellington members of Parliament opposed the Bill, but the Hall Goverment put it through. If I had got a free hand in making, terms with,tho Government. I believe the railway would have paid 15 per cant from’ the first. * The Government railway tariff was arranged to suit tho wool-growers, and the Manawatu Company iron bound not to charge more than Government rates, so it; was powerless. In one day Mr James Wallace and I got 13.000 shares taken up iu Wellington, despite the depressed state of trade at the time. The company was formed, and Mr Nathan was made chairman.” As an indication of the part which Mr Plitumor took in pushing the line through, he is able to show visitors a memorandum iu the handwriting of Mr Wallace, the first secretary, the company giving a list in the following order of the names of those who became contributors to the share list for . not over 2000 shares each : John Plimmer, W. H. Levin, C. B. Izard, H. D. Bell, .!.- E. Nathan, Captain Williams, D. Anderson, J. Lookie, C. V. Shannon and several others.

To Mr Plimmer the growth of Wellington has been pronounced, yet so natural as to call for but little comment from hitii at this stage. When “the Father of Wellington” arrived here the population was small and the habitations few-and far between, and mostly of the character nowadays somewhat contemptuously designated “humpies.” Some were planted along the seashore, and followed its tortuous conformation so faithfully as to supply the mould for the erratic main streets of to-day. Others were perched on the hillsides in alarming situations, at any rate so thought the “new chums” who arrived on this earthquaky sod in the'early forties. Behind towered the hills, rendered more formidable in appearance by being forest-crowned. Now, what in those days were considered almost inaccessible heights, are covered with houses or with gorse as the fates direct. ? In 1842, a year ■ after Mr Plimmer’s arrival, a fire broke out, which was considered disastrous at the time, but which like many such things proved eventually a blessing in disguise, inasmuch as it led to many raupo v wharos and jerry-built tenements being replaced all in good time by brick or timber houses and. shops. An incident of the. tire was the narrow escape from a fiery tomb of the subject of this article,. Mr Plimmer just saving himself from being overtaken by the fire by leaping into the adjacent sea. On the development of the country the growth of the town of course depended, and the gradual opening up;of the Hutt, Wairarapa and Manawatu districts by our hardy pioneers, despite flood, famine, and constant fear of Maori depredations was naturally watched with the keenest interest by k our pre- ; decessors. here, and such an incident as -the Hutt flood in the fifties, which destroyed va large quantity of property ) (besides sweeping sixteen people to sea on the tops of their houses), of course had its influence on the people of the village clustering cn the rim of Port Nicholson. . The earthquakes played some queer pranks in those days, and the mild surprise of those who, on : the one day raced their more or less fleet steeds round the course i at ; Burnham water and on the next I assembled to vwitneas that erst convincing 1 ground covered' with a sheet of placid ) ocean water, may he left to the imagina- i tibn. In 1855 a more than usually violent earthquake occurred, which played havoo i ; with every chimney in Wellington, and ) .infeoted a large number of people with the microbe of unrest. Some of them hired a vessel to clear out to Sydney, but their tub rah ashore in the harbour itself, and they scrambled ashore and remained,'some for bettor, some for worse. This particular earthquake, or series of earthquakes, tilted the foreshore up 3ft Gin, and considerably increased the expanse of level ground upon which to' erect residences and business places. Eeclamation has done the rest; There is a slight difference between our wharfage accommodation to-day and half a; century ago, where four little jetties were stuck out. for the accommodation of such shipping as chanced to come along. [lt is worthy of that in 1843 a Scotch thistle was planted on Sb. Andrew's Day with much pomp and ceremony at Lyon's farm at Petone, amidst the skirl of bagpipes and patriotic' Jells, which rent the; welkin.' The <tune hak changed a little since then on-that particular.subject.. We ; get a glimpse >of the early settlers bf I Wellington from a quotation of a private | letter written by one of them in 1848: “ Notwithstanding our want of money, cbntrive to raise handsome brick buildings in the town, to build new schooners, to import more cattle and sheep, andv make fresh inroadsupon the i bush. it is done heaven knows. The i Maoris say'it is Atua—it is the’ will of i God. "But the Port Nicholson people have i got a character for a sort of savage perse- j verauce. And the thing goes on more 5«6.” Such wore the times and such' were the ! men ; .who pointed the destinies of. the : Empire City of to-day. They were of the ‘good old type; and Mr John Plimmer, the '“[Father of Wellington,” is a type of a good bid typo which, alas, has now almost ] vanished to make place for the now.

. i A VETERAN'S REMINISCENCES. MORE FACTS WHICH SHOW THE ■ : , PROGRESS OF WELLINGTON. ; '< To Mr T. W. ■ McKenzie the contemplation of the present progress of Wellington must be extremely interesting, since he was one of the first white men to sleep upon the site of the 7 now-flourishingxfity, when'it consisted 'only of a few raupb huts, with dense bush growing in Willis ’street, and a ■ big'potato garden in Molesworth street. Mr McKenzie,’ who arrived in the harbour of Port Nicholson in the ship Adelaide '.on :Mareh 7th, ; 1810, from London, after a protracted passage of six months, calls up many interesting reminisoenoes'bf'those early days. “We landed at Pipitea -Point, having beenrowed ashore in small boats, for there ware’then no wharves dr anything of that kind," said he to a representative of The Times . the other day. “ The Maori , potato garden covered, “about 2p acres, and - extended from, what is now Thbrndon quay up to Pipitea street. There was a Maori pah bn Thomdon quay, while a Maori house built for Dicky Barrett; the 1 whaler' (who piloted, the- New Zealand Company's first ship, the Tory, into harbour), stood on the right hand of the present’Charlotte street, and was one of tho first houses in Wellington. From Charlotte street ; up to Willis street, now the busiest part of Wellington, there was a 1 dense forest, running down to the water’s edge, every'settler.fmding it necessary to cub; down soveraPtrees before he could erect a house.” ; The majority of the emigrants of the five ships sent out by the New Zealand Company had landed at Petone, where the site of the city bad been determined upon. At the time spoken of by Mr MoKenzie, therefore, the surveys undertaken at PetbnO' hy the company had progressed ■well under the direction of the chief surveyor. Captain Smith,: and his staff, and there was already a considerable settlement ‘there. ;But the shallowness of the harbour atthat point, 1 and-the difficulty of landing goods, seriously .hampered the pioneers. A boat landing goods from the ship Hoke of Roxburgh, which had arrived from London, -was upset, and about £IOOO worth of goods was lost. That assisted very materially in deciding the settlers to shift the town from Petone to Wellington. ; Mr McKenzie, who at this time was an apprentice to a printer at Petone, moved soon afterwards to Wellington. It was then called “ Britannia,” having been successively styled “Cooktown" and “ Britannia," for the name " Wellington," chosen by the New Zealand Company in acknowledgment of the services rendered : by the Duke of Wellington to the company, was not decided upon until later. When Mr McKenzie settled here, the Basin Reserve was pact of a large swamp, which | extended along the present Adelaide road to the tram sheds,: so that to cross to tho other side one bad to go down to the beach I on the one hand, or on the other hand to I make bis way to a little bridge opposite

tho * house of Mr Sellars, near '.*licro tho tramway stables now stand. Tho barren-looting: hills now surrounding " clhcgton were then covered with timber and scrub. The lapse of years has deprived the city of this bush, for the settlers gradually but surely out the bush down for hrewood, notwithstanding Colonel WnkeÜBld a strong protest. Cooking operations had to be carried on, and the wants of tho inner man were of .far more importance tha “ an J’ thill S relating to soenio beauty. The bush extended from the beach all round tho hills. “ Willis street, Polhill Gully, .Vogeltown, and all those places'’ eaid Mr .McKenzie. “were then nothing but dense forest. The first settlers who took drays up Willis street had to cut the trees down before they got through." Mr McKenzie tells an interesting story of his first night in the future city.' Mr E. Tioehurst and he were the first two while men to sleep in Wellington. They went into a wiudowlesa and doorless house which had been built by the Maoris for Hifi vans, and piling a lot of grass iu one corner for bads, had just made themselves comfortable for the night, when in mm died about twenty Maoris, .including Porutu (the chief who had built the homo) and his •two wives.

.When the chief saw the strangers, ho threw off his mat and went .through a series of terrifying grimaces, dancing up and down, uttering horrible noises, and brandishing a tomahawk. Having worked himself up to the required pitch of fury, he was about to strike, when one of the women, taking off her mat, throw it over young McKenzie s head, thus creatine* a tavu, and at the same moment held out her own head to receive the blow. • Porutu spurned the offer, and letting his tomahawk fall, strode out of the house the embodiment of native dignity. "It was Harry Pitt’s mother who thus protected me," added Mr McKenzie, “aud whenever ho meets me he calls mo brother, for as he says, hia mother gave mo my life. Sho certainly saved mv life, without a doubt." This scene took place within a few yards ot the house iu which Mr McKenzie is now living in Ghuznee street, “About 20 yards from this spot," ho continued, u there stood a huge treo of red pme. Oft 6in in diameter, out of which two men, Mr London and Mr Southey, compiotely built and shingled a hotel. When I took up this piece of land afterwards, I had immense difficulty in getting the root of this big tree away, and eventually had to burn it out. To show you what tho forest was like, X may say that I was on one occasion lost for several hours near Ghuzneo street, and only found my way again by locating the stream running through Polhill’s Gully. , ‘ The sea, as is well known, came up to where Lambton quay is now, and met past Clay Point (where the shop of Mr FitzGerald, the chemist, stands) there was a bay into which the sea washed, while at the Crown and Anchor Hotel owned by Mr W. Bannister, sen., grandof Mr R. E. Bannister (on the ' site of the present Ranfurly Hotel), ' the sea came to within 4ffc of the doorway. At , the Boyal Hotel, near the present Koyal Hotel, a wharf was erected by Mr Brown, and a second one Was built a little nearer the centre of the town. Mr Jdin Piimmer also built another further on. The Queen’s Wharf was not built till 1863. This wharf, which was constructed by tho Provincial Government, I had the honour of naming. It had ’ been proposed to call it . ‘ tho Public Wharf, but I suggested ,to .Mr John Knowles, secretary to Dr Peatherston, and afterwards ITnder-Secretary for Public it should be called * Queen's gazetted aQ d fchat name was adopted and

".The first reclamation in Wellington." saxd Mr hlcKenzie, “was authorised by the then Governor. Sir George Grey, more , with the object of giving employment * than .with any other, view, as great depression prevailed at the time. The piece reclaimed was a little strip of land in front ■Of spot where Mr Robertson's foundry stands, and from; the back of Mr W, F. Shortt s building, down to the;present site ot the warehouse of Messrs Duthio and' Co., or perhaps a little further on. The reclamation was afterwards carried down Grey street by Dr Feathers ton, and then a piece was taken from the sea for the Oddtollows Hall. Afterwards the reclamation was extended from the site of Cable’s foundry down to Pipitea” _ln May, 1840, the new settlers felt their . first earthquake. They regarded it with ■ mixed feelings. The first thomlit that came to their minds was that the Maoris had , made an attack upon them, and so ; they rushed out to meet the foe, only to find it an invisible one. In the same month, Cornish row, at Petone. a range of houses constructed of raupo; was burned • down. Twoyeats later, Wellington's first fire occurred. It broke out at Mr Lloyd's, a baker, on Lambton quay, andaolean sweep ■ was made of raupo wharos and wooden " ■ houses, the value of the merchandise and other property destroyed being estimated 1 at -CIu.OOO. Sir William Fitzhorbert, who' was than plain Mr, wished to propose at the next meeting of, the Municipal Council -■ " That fires, candles, and all lights shall bo extinguished in raupo bouses immediately - after sunset, on pain of a heavy fine for neglecting to do so.” The proposal was not, however, received with favour., ‘ Young - New Zealand did not look kindly upon any - suggestion to return to the Curfew law. Mr McKenzie remembers of oourso the big earthquake in 1848 in which Sergeant Lovell and. his two children were killed. Me ought to, for he had himself a: narrow escape. Lovell and McKenzie, who were in P; M. Horvey’s store, in Parish street, when the quake occurred, hurried into, the street, Lbvell and the children leaving by ■ ■ One doorway and McKenzie by another. A:quantity, of falling- wall buried Lovell and the little ones, all three receiving fatal injuries. Mr McKenzie escaped, only to hear shortly afterwards, to his amazement, of his .friend’s death.* ’ln ISSSrthcre oo- ; edrred the earthquake which lifted Wei- fdington four and a half feet • and killed Baron Von Alzdorf. * Times change, and we change with them. The aforetime scene of the dense and lonely, bush baa been transformed into the ; prosperous and ’ rapidly growing city, the "f capital of the great colony of Hew Zealand; railway trains and steamers have anni--hilated space; Settlementlhas throwm out’ ,P its long arras until the whole country side has become a great hive of industry; all the arts of civilisation have combined to bring to these lands the best things which , that civilisation can yield'to any people/' The stout-hearted pioneers who came to this .unknown country to face the , Maoris of that day and to bear eagerly all kinds of hardship have reason for pride fin the glorious picture which unfolds to their gaze in the closing hours of 1897. The Maoris, then fierce and warlike,.are now the friends of the Europeans. enjoying equally with them the benefits of civilisation.; a great people have built a prosperous city upon the foundations so well and truly.laid in the “early forties."' ' . ■

THE DEATH-EOLL FOE THE TEAE' . On the obituary record of the year appears the name of Lord Eosmead (better known as Sir Hercules Robinson), who. after a long career as a colonial Governor (including a term of office in Now Zealand), resigned the High Coramissionership of the y Cape during theyear, and went to England ’ to die. .while his relative. Sir William - Robinson; at one time Governor of South' ■ Australia, and well known as the composer ;of “ Eemember Me No More " and other songs, likewise passed away ; during the twelve months under review. Another farmer Governor of New Zealaud, Sir William Jervois, died a few.monihs ago as the result of a carriage accident in Hampshire, and Sir John Thurston died at bis post as Governor of Fiji. f Amongst statesmen there was claimed by death. Mr A. J. Mundella, the wellknown President of the Board of Trade, Who resigned that office in Mr Gladstone’s Ministry in 1894, owing to his connection with commercial interests which at that bad become somewhat involved. Historians recorded not long since the assassination, of Seuor Canovas del Castillo. Premier "of Spain, by an anarchist named Golli, who was afterwards executed for the crime. Canovas entered public life in 1851, and' since that time had been almost continuously a member of the Cortes. He was an author as well as a politician, and by. His books gained admission into the Academy of Madrid. [ One of the most remarkable men of the age went to his grave in New York the other day, Henry George, the apostle of the single tax. who acquired world-wide feme from hia. books and lectures upon - economic questions. > George, - who was first a sailor before the mast, then a compositor, ! and afterwards a reporter and*--editor, died of overwork at the. comparatively early age 1 of 68, and in the very midst of his fight for the mayoralty of New York. i The English Bar lost an illustrious > member towards the close of the year by the death' of Sir Frank Lockwood,

Whose rise in his profession was at once unique and brilliant. He was made Recorder of Sheffield in 1 SSI, entered the House of Commons as Liberal member for York in 1885, appeared, in company with other eminent countel, on behalf of the Irish Party beforo the famous ParnellCommission, and afterwards became Solicitor-General, This year there passed away Cardinal Newman’s younger brother. Professor F. W. Newman, the well-known classical scholar, who early in his career gave up the idea of taking orders, and long before his death rejected much of the doctrines of Christianity. It is interesting to note that Professor Newman, though a vegetarian and total abstainer, lived to the ago of 92. Professor Henry Drummond, the notable churchman of (Scotland, whose great work is " Natural Law in the Spiritual World,” was one of those whose names are included in the year’s deathroll. By this book, which has gone past ate 29th edition, and by his interesting accounts of his travels. Professor Drummond 'obtained thousands of readers. In the ecclesiastical world also there was recorded the death of Archbishop Plunket of Dublin. The English Bench lost during the year Lord Justice Kay, and the world of music lost Johannes Brahms, the celebrated composer. Of literary men and women there died Alphonse Daudet, the French author; Miss Jean Ingelow, poetess and prose-writer; Mrs Margaret Oliphant and JMadame Couvreur (" Tasma The Duchess of Teok, cousin of Her Majesty the Queen; Mrs Stevenson, mother of Robert Louis Stevenson; Mies Alice Lingard, popular for so many years with Now Zealand operatic audiences; Sir Isaac Pitman, of shorthand fame; Sir Spencer Weils, the surgeon ; Mr Alfred Nobel, the dynamite maker; Dr Spark, the Leeds organist; Baron Oscar Dickson, the friend of Arctic exploration; Sir John Gilbert, President of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-colours, and General Neal Dow, the American prohibitionist, are other notable men and women who have been gathered in the harvest of the Reaper called Death. It was during this year likewise that Barney Barnato, the South African millionaire, driven mad by the haunting fear that he would lose his fortune, threw himself over the side of an ocean-liner, and was drowned. Tho colonial obituary list of tho year contains many well known names: —Sir Charles Lilley, the able Queensland statesman who left the Supreme Court Bench to enter once again the troubled arena of polities; Sir Patrick Jennings, for a long time a prominent figure in the legislative halls of New South Wales; Sir Henry Ayers, several times Premier of South Australia ; Mr Eddy, who died at his post as Chief Commissioner of Railways in New South Wales, his dying words showing his devotion to duty. ” Como, get the stall; it is time to he away”; Sir William Ciarke, owner of tho magnificent Rupertswood estate; Mr David Lee, the city organist in Melbourne; Mr Minian Melville, Chairman of Committees in tho Parliament of New fcouth Wales; Dr Youl, tho genial coroner of Melbourne; Mr Gowen Evans, journalist, who died in England; Mr William Gay, the poet, who died this mouth in Bendigo from consumption; Sir Thomas Elder, of South Australia; Dr William Gardner, formerly lecturer in surgery to the Adelaide University; Mr Tullidge, tho distinguished chess-player. In flew Zealand the losses by death include Professor Parker, who held the Chair of Biology in Canterbury College; Major Ropatn, M.L.C.,_ notable for his valiant services to the British flag during the Maori war; Mr If. S. Fish, M.H.8.; Mr Thomas Denniston, Judge Dennistou’s father, formerly a member of Parliament, for many years editor of the Southland Timet, and one of the most ’ polished writers in tho colony; Mr J. C. Firth, of Auckland; Mr Walter Turnbull, of the firm of W. and G- Turnbull and Co., and one of the most estimable of Wellington’s citizens; beloved Thomas Tallis Trimuell; Dc Haraant, Resident Magistrate in the Waikato before the Maori war, in the days when Mr Gorst (now Sir John Gorst) was a magistrate in the colony; Mr J. D. Lance, ex-M.H.R. ; Messrs B. Y. Blaoklock and A. M. OUivier, well known in cricketing circles in this colony, and de-! servedly popular; old Wahanui,one of the most important of the Native chiefs; Lieutenant Bailey, a New Zealander who met his death in the Indian campaign; and, most recent of ali, Mr C, D. Barraud,, President of the local Society of Arts, and Captain Holliday, Harbourmaster at Wellington. SOME BOOKS OF THE YEAR. “Of the making of books there is no end,” and the output during the year has, we believe, been greater than ever. But quantity is not so satisfactory a feature as quality, and in quality the literature of tho year can hardly be said to have been remarkable. Fiction continues to be poured forth in a bulk positively bewildering, but few of the hundreds of novels now published each year will ever achieve more than an ephemeral popularity. The same may be said of poetry. There are dozens of minor poets, but we look in vain for another Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley or Tennyson. Many of the minor poets turn-out vary graceful verse, but the nobility of sboaght, expressed withjrffarm, whiotLodnatitotes real poetry, are too often wanting Su history and biography the record is , somewhat betttrf, and tbepr'ls as usual ,of late yeafa, an enemous crop of new books the social •and and ocouomir^quaations of the day. The stupendous expansion of the Empire has been reapdmsibleforthe great increase in works of travel, and in scientific, technical, theological works there has also been a great advance. It is pleasing to notice that many of the old favourites amongst British authors are reviving in popularity, if we may judge by the new editions of Scott, Carlyle, Ditkens, Byron and Burns, the publication &nd large sale of which have been a feature of the year. The cheapness and tasteful “ get up " of many of the flew editions of what we may call the British classics are, we believe, tempting many persons whose pockets are poorly planished to add to their small libraries, and this in time will do much, especially in in the Colonies, to raise the standard of literary taste. We have little space, however, to spare lor generalities, but must proceed without farther preface to refer to a few of the more important publications of the year. In travel, the place of honour must, of course, be given to Nansen’s account of his Arctic wanderings. Published in expensive form the work excited the widest interest, and the sale has been unprecedented for so costly a publication. Several works dealing with Western and South Africa have also enjoyed a large populaiily, and Mr Harper’s Pioneering in the Southern Alps ” has directed fresh attention to the glories of the great ranges in the South Island of New Zealand. A specially •entertaining book of travel, published early in the year, was Miss Kingley’s (Charles Kingsley’s daughter) “ Travels in Western Africa.” This will take rank as a classic along -with Winwood Rsade’s well-known work, and is written in a most entertaining style- In biography the palm must be given, to Captain Mahan’s "Life of Nelson,” a work which may bo

taken as saying the “ last word ” on the greatest of England’s naval heroes, and being, at the same time, most valuable in its purely historical aspect. The Rev Baring Gould’s “ T.ife of St. Paul attracted considerable attention in religious circles, and the same anther’s ' Life of Napoleon Buonaparte,” though not bo . monumental.a,W9tk.as Professor Sloane’s biography of the great Corsican, excels the latter work in the attention it gives to the private life and personal character of the man. “’Jhe Life of Professr-r Jowett,” by Dr Abbott, was a careful and interesting study of one of tho most striking personalities of the last generation, but Lord Tennyson’s biography of his famous father has dwarfed in interest all other purely literary biographies. Considerable attention lias been paid to the social life and surroundings of the Bronte family, three or four books dealing with the author of ” Jane Eyre ” and her lonely lifo at Haworth having been published, the best being “ Charlotte Bronte ” and “ Her Circle," by Mr C. K. Shorter, editor of the Illustrated London News. "The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning" and “ Tho Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton ” are also notable as throwing new light on interesting personalities. One of the brightest and wo.st generally interesting books of the earlier publishing season was Lord Roberts’ “Forty Years of My Life in India,” a book full of fine stories if tile stirring deeds done by British soldiers in India, and in quite another direction Mr Barrie made a gte.at hit by his “ Margaret Ogiivie,” a most charufips study, done with great restraint and delicacy, of the author’s mother. Copies of the "New Burns," edited by W. £. Henley, and published by Jack, of Edinburgh, have not yet, so we believe, reached the Colonies, but tho work is warmly praised by the English papers, ft is stated to hold, without fear of competition, tjjß honour of being the most complete edition eypr published, and itis likely to remain the standard edition. Mr Henley’s “ terminal essay ” does full justice to the poet's genius, but points out with nnaparjag detail how much Burns owed to the old t'pbto lullin']i~ti‘ Mrs Oliphant has-passed »way during tfip year, but fortunately for her many admirers, completed, or nearly complete!; a bpok upon which the had long been engaged, namely, her chronicles of the great publishing flap of " The Blackwoods.” The book is full of interesting gossip as to DeQuincey, Carlyle and the earlier ” Blackwoods” men. Mr Andrew Lang’s “ iifeand Letters of Lockhart ” also deserves attention as throwing much new and interesting light on the literary life and associations of Scott’s famous oen_-in-law and biographer. We have not space to spare to deal with tho many works on social, eeouogjic and political reform which have been published during tjja year, but we might direct attention to “ problems of Modern Democracy," by Mr G.odkin, a well-known American writer, which is a wpr jf wpjldesorving of careful study by New 7, 8a ‘ lauders. To bo noted, too, eu passant, is tho death of Henry George, an honest, sincere reformer, whose “ Progress and Poverty." a few years back sot the whole: English-speaking world at work pondering ov&v and discussing ono of our greatest social problems- Wo have alluded above to the revival of interast in British authors who have passed away. The popularity of Scott still holds good, if we may. judge by the fact that at the present time four new editions of the Waverley novels are being published. Dickens, too, still maintains his sway, the superb now “ Gadshill ” edition, edited by Mr Andrew Lang, and published by Chapman and Ball, enjoying, we hear, a large sale. A new edition, “The Centenary Edition,” of Carlyle, beautifully printed, is also being published by the ease firm; Mr Henley is editing a new edition of Byron for Mr Heinnemann, and the Earl of Lovelace, a descendant of the poet, is doing similar work for Byron’s old publisher, Mr Murray. Buskin has up to now been beyond the reach of all but t;).o welj,-to-da, but the new and cheap edition of " Modern Painters " (with reduced but very dear reproductions of the original plates) is having a largo sale. Amongst contemporary novelists, Jfr Thomas Hardy has given us his “pursuit pf the Well Beloved,” in which ha shows signs of going back to his earlier style. Mr Kipling baa published " Captains Courageous," a story (full of almost photographic realism) of life o» tho ijshing vessels on the banks of Newfoundland- Mr Crockett’s powers of rapid production have beep exhibited in “Lad’s Love," a pretty bntsarelosely written study of rustic life in his. favourite Galloway, and his " Lochinvar,” an historical romance, is well spoken of. His rival in | the “ Kailyard gchool,” Mr “ lan Maolaren” (tho Rev Jno, Watson), has been busy lecturing in the States, pud his “Kate Carnegie and those Ministers,•” p somewhat disappointing book, really betlongs to last year’s publications. Mr Stanley Weyman, who continues to be a great favourite with thousands of readers, has deserted his well-beloved Franco—the France of Dumas and the “Three Musketeers” —and has written a new English historical called “ Shrewsbury," which should b,e full of reliable local colour, for the author of •" A Gentleman of France " hails himself from tho historic country through which runs the lovely Wye. A much-boomed apd be r puffed novel was Mr Hall Caine's “ The Christian,” over which a storm of controversy —as to the good taste or otherwise of many of the leading incidents-has raged in the English papers. “The Christian" has been ope pf the successes of the year, at least, from a financial point of| view, but there is a dis.tinot falling off in literary merit »s compared with the same author’s “ Manxman” and “Deemster." Mr Du Maurier lived long enough to finish “Tie Martian,” •which, charming though it be in its Thaokerayan style of semi-autobiographic gossipping, is distinctly inferior in general interest to “Trilby," and as a work of art is a long way below what we personally consider the artist-author’s best work,“Peter Ibbetson.” Mr George Gissing, whose popularity continues to grow, is as pessimistic as ever in '’The Whirlpool,”and Mr Henry Seton Merriman, though falling short of the high standard he sot up by his “ Sowers,” will please lovers of a stirring, well-told story by his romance of the Carlist wars —"In Kedar’a Tents.” A young novelist who is rapidly coming to the front is Mr Max Pemberton, who, starting as an author of boy’s stories (the “ Iron Pirate ” will be remembered in this direction), is now a disciple of the Weyman school. Bis “Puritan’s Wife" is an excellent effort, and gives promise of a fine future for the writer. The late Robert Louis Stevenson’s “ St. Ives ” (completed by Mr Quiller Couch) was so recently and lengthily reviewed in these columns that further reference here is unnecessary. Mr Marion Crawford continues to work hifl Italian his "Taquisara ’’ was a very powerful, well-planned- story. In another vein, in which he is not quite so successful, his “Rose of Yesterday" deserves notice as a scathing indictment of the laxity of the American divorce law. Amongst the writers of short complete stories, Mr W. W. Jacobs (“Many Cargoes”) and Mr Cutolylfe Hyne have been very successful. Mr Hyne is a Kiplingite in style, and his stories of adventure in various parts of the world have attracted much favourable notice, Mrs Cronwright Schreiner’s South African novel, ‘•Peter Halkotl," was remarkable for Ihe daring

introduction of Christ as a character in the story, and also for its vicious though indirect attack on Mr Cecil Rhodes. “Ouida,” who must be getting quite an old lady now-a-days, pleases her devoted admirers with “ The Maasarenes,” in which, however, she displays all her old extravagance and exaggeration, and Mrs nynn Linton and Miss Braddon have filso added to their "already long ligt of -novels. Amongst lady writers, however, the most prominent to-day is Mrs F. A. Steel, whose “On the Face of the Waters "has been described as the beat novel ever written having the Indian Mutiny for its motif. Mr Louis Bocke has published some more of his stories of life in the Pacific, and the usual number of morbid, so-called “ sex problem ” novels have made their appearance. It is satisfactory, however, to know that the vogue of this class of fiction is steadily decreasing. In poetry the output has been, as we have said above, remarkable more for quantity than for quality. Mr William Watson has published very little, but Mr Kipling's “ Seven Seas" contained some very fine work, notably “The Song of the British Born," and “ Maoandrow’s Hymn,” the latter a poetic tribute to the matyel of steam and marine engineering. The further additions to “ Barrack Boom Ballads,” which formed pait of the volume, ware remarkable more for their defiance of Mrs Grundy than for iany other characteristic. Messrs Francis Thompson, E. Le Gallienne and W. M Yeats and others ef the “minor poets” 1 have elso been busy, and Mr Alfred Austin, the Poet Laureate, duly turned out the requisite Jubilee Ode, a miracle of bathos. We must not forget Kip/ips's “Recessional,” a really noble 'poem, which proves the author to be as prudent and farseeing as he is patriotic. " The reproof' of John Bull’s pride in the now famous “Lest We Forget” was not uncalled for, Messrs Angus and Robertson have added to their ggrjosdf Australian poets by publishing Mr Edward Dyson’s “Rhymes from the Mines" and tho late JJaporoft Boake’s • Where the Dead Men Lie," and Messrs Ward, Lock and Co. have further shown tjjejr gneouragement of colonial talent by pqhliahjng quite a number of stories by Miss gthel Turner aiid ptheis. THINGS THEATRICAL IN 1897. The theatrical year in Wellington was opened by the Pollard Operatic Company, who revived old favourites like “ Paul Jones,” “Tho Gondoliers,” and gave as \ a 1 new and additional treat in Von Suppes i tuneful and delightful opera “ Bopcaack,,' which had not boon played hero for some years. The opera was superbly mounted, and Miss Maud Beatty in thp title role, and Miss Marion Mitchell as Fiametta, each achieved a decided success. Prom comic opera to the " legitimate ’’—varied with French comedy-drama —was our first change, afforded us by t);p yisit of Mrs Brown-Potter and Mr Kyrlo B.oJJew, supported by a fairly strong company under the fuanagomopt pf “ The Firm.” In rapid succession wore presented Sardou’a gloomy bat painfully powerful drama, “La Tosca” a special feature of which was Mr Bellow's fine performance of Scarpia ; Franoillon, in which Mrs Potter gjione to special advantage, and which has recently played by her in London; Obnet’s “The Ironmaster"; “Forget-me-not," in which Mrs Potter compared very unfavourably with Mis ß Genevieve Ward and Miss J a net Aoimrch j Sheridan’s ever - delightful “School 'for Sj.canfipl.” Dumas fils’ “Camille," Goldsmith’s f’ Slip Stoops to Conquer," and Shakespeare’s “ A c You Like and “Romeo and Juliet." The season was an immense success financially. In February Mr Alfred 'Woods gave us well- ! moynted melodramas, such as “ Hands Across tho £-pa,” and was followed by the Australian ae&r - author - manager, Mr George Darrell, who press nteci “Prom Scotland Yard," a highly sensational play; “The Double Event, a sporting drama founded on Nab Gould s novel 8f that name; “The Sorrows of Satan," a ridiculous’ travesty of Marie i Corelli’s novel, and other pieces. In the i same month some clever Wellington actors | gave some highly successful performances of “The Guv’nor." March was a slack I month, the only attraction, if attraction it i could feegallod, being the visit of Mr D’Orsay ■ Ogden, who with a palpably “scratch company gave some roalfftl end wonderful productions of u The Green jJushfis,** &njci other plays, the season being a financial and not undeserved failure. In April the Bollards paid a short return visit, the most noteworthy production being Chassaigne s “ Falka," knd Fflto followed by Mr George Eignold, who had not QoUmy for some years, and who received a very Realty welcome. Mr Eignold introduced us to a London success in the shape of the patriotic military dyama “ Tommy Atkins, and revived tbro.o .old favourites in “ Called Back," Sims’ “ Lights "qf London,” and Shakespeare’s fine historical play ' ileery V.” The latter play was magnificently mounted, but failed to draw such large audiences as Mr Eignold had a right to anticipate. The Opera House was not tenanted by a theatrical company of standing in May, and the attractions at this house in the following month were of no great importance, consisting of Miss Gladys Leigh’s “ijew W omani’Comi>apy,a very vypajf combination in an even yet weaker piooe, 'and Mess? 3 r iliiems°-ti" and Musgroves < Matsa ” Company, jvHio/f included some very clever variety performers, Mr John Coleman and Mr Alf, Lawton, buf. which failed to secure a superabundance of public patronage. July commenced with a yfsif; f?ojn the St John-Hayman Compapy, fo tho peyaeppel of which and to the pieces presented the expression “fair to medium " cap only b,e applied, frat k gteaf treat followed wjjen (he Brough Copjedy Company took possession pf tfia theatre and gave us Pinero’s latest projjlep} play “Tho Notorious Mrs Ebhsmith,” Oscar Wilde’s “ Woman of No Importance,” the farcical comedy “Nancy and C 0.,” and revived several old favourites such as "The Second Mrs TaßffHefky;" “Niobe," “Fedora," “Dandy Diok" and fdkf gjost pathetically charming play, a veritable masterpiece, Mr Sydney Grundy’s “ Village Priest.” There were several faces missing in the company, and the loss of Mr Bonoicajjlt, Miss Grace Noble and Mrs Homer was severely felt. Nevertheless the plays received much moro tbcn metely adequate presentation, and the season wag an artistic as well as a financial success. A long period of “slump" followed, the visit of the Brough Company, a period in duping which no company of importance honoured Jhe city with its presence. In October, however, Mr Robert Inman came to the rescue with a compact little company, and played several pieces, notably “ A Yorkshire Lass,” in a very creditable style. In November tho Paulton-Stanley Company played My Friend from India,” “A Night Opt” and “Niobe,” of which latter piece Mr Paqltof? is part author, and in which he created in Lpndon the highly humorous character of the tailor, whose possession of a statue leads up to such a comical series of situations. The visit of the company was under the auspices of Messrs Williamson and Musgrove, without whose enterprise theatregoers in New Zealand would face, wo are afraid, very poorly. The two latest; and certainly not the least noteworthy theatrL cal events of the year have been the Bland Holt season and the remarkably successful' production by the Pollard Operatic Com-'

pany of Messrs Williamson and Moagrove’s brilliant spectacle “ Djiu-Jjin." Mr and Mrs Bland Holt received a very hearty welcome, and the season was moat successful. As usual, the pieces were splendidly mounted, and although one cannot say m nch for their literary merit, it is certain that they hit the popular taste. With reference to the Pollard Season,' we only re-echo the popular opinion throughout the city that in “Djin-Djin" local play-goers have an opportunity of witnessing the most superb spectacle ever placed on the boards of the Opera House. The limits of space will only allow of a very brief mention of what may be called the “Variety” record of the year. We have had visits from Mr Frank Lincoln, the American monologuist, whose season was a comparative failure; from Mr Carl Hertz, who, on tho other hand, simply coined money; from the Flying Jordans, a Clever acrobatic company ; and from the Ada Delroy Company, who did remarkably wcl l . At the ire ent time Mr Hud* son’s clever Surprise Party occupies the Exchange Hall, and is drawing large audiences to witness a very amusing and well varied entertainment. We may conclude by mentioning that Messrs "William, son and Musgrove’s Royal Dramatic Company visits us shortly, when the London successes “ The Sign of the Cross " and “ The Royal Divorce ” will be presented, and that several other attractions are booked for the New Year.