OPEN COLUMN.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4317, 28 March 1901, Page 7

OPEN COLUMN.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HATUMA. ' The English mail,;just received (writes Mr C. Pliarazyn), has brought me a letter from my friend Mr Purvis Russell. He complains bitterly of the' fact that none of the-heavy- costs to him of the-sibtings of Comnensatidh Courts, at winch no award was made, -havq.bccn paid. . So far as I am able to ascertain, These, costs amount to about £3OOO. Surely is grossly unfair that- Mr Russell should’ be saddled With: this, in. addition to the larger loss, which he fixed :at £60,000, by his'offer to’“ransom” Hatuma for that amount. , I notipe .that the property is to be Open for .selection on,April 25th, and ean only say that,‘if there were any sense of justice in the country, no application would he made for property so unjustly)-obtained-,.! I- still-say it is ‘‘not the last" of Hatuma..” Till justice is dope, the disgrace will rest on all, of us, and Will have to be'paid for, as, all.prior or crime always; bps -be, .in-the /end. This;payment may yet be honestly made, by a vote, of Parliament, of the necessary amount, as compensation, which would be the best and .cheapest way. Failing this, we shall certainly; pay for it in a variety of ways in' consequence of the severe blow which such an act inflicts on the credit of-the colony. Mr Russell has done a great;service by taking stefps which have admittedly • killed tjie-parti-cular form of land stealing, of "which ho has been the victim. It is hard that ho should lose so heavily before the gross injustice of the machinetry of the Act, under which his property was taken, could be recognised.

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AND! WELLINGTON.

| Mr Amelins 1 M... Smith, writing with reference to the 1 statement that “thd Duke of Edinburgh visited Wellington once, in 1869,”says:' H© was'here twice in H.M.S. Galatea, the second time being 27th August, 1870. His ship put in here for.' a few' days and. then proceeded'.to Sydney to bo docked for repairs to her stern-post. Th© Glib, with the new commodore ■ (Captain Stirling) arrived in Wellington Harbour bn the same day as ‘the ■ Galatea. 1 ‘As this second visit has often been disputed, and 1 as your answer [ to.your correspondent may possibly mislead ethers, I have taken the opportunity to point out the error. If you look at page 30 Appendix to Journals 1871, vol. 1 (Despatches from the Governor to Secretary; of State) you will see a despatch notifying the second visit ; but, at any rate, I'know lam correct, as I was A.D.C. at Government House during both visits. , . ' HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE- ■ Mr John, Plimmer, ’ ‘‘Father of Wellington,” writesln the Royal visitors whpm we are. expecting to honour New Zealand, the colonists should not forget* that the Duke of Cornwall is tho son of the King of Great Britain, and Heir Apparent to the throne of the greatest Empire under the sun, .If only for the sake of the great Queen whom all the world hondgred, we ought to give hint the best welcome we can afford. When the Premier of New Zealand, as repre-: sentatiye of 1 tho colony, went to England, did not the Ministers and people do all they could to welcome him P Did not her Majesty herself bestow honours on him? Then I think it will be very ungrateful and unwise on his part, both for himself and New Zealand, if he and the colonists do not respond to the best of their power. and give the best wel-; come they can to the Royal visitors. There ought to be no niggardliness over tho matter on the part of the Premier,: as I am sure there is none on the part: of the people, for 1 feel sure the repre* sentatives of the people will make it all right when Parliament meets. If this is not done, what will the King and the people of Great Britain think of, hsP It is better to look forward and be wise; in time than to be foolish and repent when it is too late. ;

TWENTIETH CENTURY MIRACLES. Writing with regard to a recent exh'bition of photographs of alleged , materalised spirits in this city, “Investigator” says i; —It is not a question of. credulity or incredulity, but of scientific facts; foi*, surely all the eminent men of every branch of science, besides leading divines named by our worthy citizen Mr McLean, who gave the lecture. would not lend their names to fraud. Nor can I for a moment think that Mir McLean would : diverge from the . truth. , All those wonderful and extraordinary pictures have been and are now- being produced under scientific' test conditions. As one deeply interested in .the discovery of truth at any price, I should like to see those wonderful pictures exhibited in a much larger place, and to a packed house, and a fuller ex-

planation given about how those spirit pictures/'are obtained;-because,! if -op-ly one of those, many exhibited bo a fact, then we; as-a jpoople,- are in abject ignorance living in a fool’s paradise, and the - sooner aye discover, bur? ttue. .being by means,of actual attained knowledge the bettor. " If spirit materialisation bo fact, in. nature)(and.'l. at. present sec no escape therefrom), the possession of such.knowledge,--if used -and not abuseu, is mpre ; precious than a world o. material wealth.

THE DEARTH .OF CLERKS. I notice in. the ‘'Tillies’ (writes ■‘Wharf Labourer”) the opinions of leading :Wellington merchants: and bankets as to tho dearth, of- hoy labour. The general opinion appears to be that- trie rising generation is extremely chary of undertaking clerical "tUljploynic'ut, and to a man' of average .intelligence tiiis plate of affairs, is not to; be wondered at. As a clerk with ten years’ experience. I should, like -to- gave publicity to my views ou -this subject; 'Undoubtedly, in the average case, a lad entering -a bank or an office gets a very fair salary ; but the great question is, what is to become of him when his apprenticeship is over? The answer, as a rule, is. “ho is cast adrift.” He then has to look about for another situation, and must be very thankful indeed if ho gets one with £IOO per annum as remuneration, and a prospect of rising to the munificent sum of £l2O per annum. Is it. then, any wonder that, thinking parents prefer to put their sons to a trade where there, is a good prospect of their making from £3, to £5 per week ? The following two examples, which I cite, one ofnvhioh happened to my-Solf and one to a young-friend, are only , samples of what happens daily. A few weeks age an advertisement was published in the local papers for a clerk, salary £l5O per annum. I applied personally for the, billet, and after my references, etc., had been examined, was informed that my services wottld bo accepted provided that I was willing to accept a. salary of £l2O per annum. Was this fair treat? ment when the billet- had been advertised with a salary of £l5O per annum ? Again, an advertisement appeared .or a junior clerk. A young friend of mine of good ability applioa, but was unable to procure the job owing to tho fact that ho was able to write shorthand at tho rate of only eighty words per minute; The salary in this case was £1 per week. Does this offer any inducement to boys to go- in for clerical work f Tho only way to overcome the difficulty is for employers to pay wages in accordance with the value of work done:, which is not at present the case. In my own case, although I claim to be a. thorough, ly competent clerk, I have come to the conclusion that I can do bettor for myr self as a wharf labourer.

RACK RENTS IN WELLINGTON. : As a new arrival hi Now Zealand, I am very much surprised (writes “F.E. ’) to find house rents so outrageously high l , a decent house not being obtainable for less than £1 per week. 1 The workers of England are victims to landlordism; but,’ after all, they are much better eff as regards rentals than their New- Zealand'brethren who live , in the cities. It seems to: me that a system of legalised- robberyoh tains' hero, and ' the '' Government—a iV.ory. good. one to working men in ' other -respects.-MS apparently doing nothing to ■, abolish it, What is urgently needed i|* an - Act of Parliament, empowering municipal authorities to acquire ■ land' and erect suitable and commodious >_ dwellings, iof the workers, charging a fair rerdal, ’Vay,10s; per week.,h Money derived ftthotenants would in time cover the ■ cost, of building;' etc., after,' which,the rehtals could be used for the benefit of the whole community., forking;- andu should take this question.' to heairt, -and make ; ij> their dftty 'when their .Parliamentary representatives ! next. address political meetings, to approach them upon this subject with .a view of introducing i(; in Parliament —If it * has hot already been d'ohe—at.f as ' early 'a ■ date ; aj possible.. In the Old Country New Zo;h land is often pointed to >'as .the beat country in the world for the working man. Whilst this may be- true, as red sards country districts, it is not so cf the cities, for if Dick, Tom and Harry migrate from England to our cities tligy are no better off, house rent being thrice as much as it is at Home, ciothf ing dearer, and cost of living generally higher. Recentlythere, -has. bean -a good deal of. c6ntjoyers,V aboht •' the decrease in pbphiation. Now,'' sir, has a working man any inducement to ;niaryy whilst: landlords persist in whole! isale:. plunder if L Notie. whatever'. Oven dwellings at a fair and reasonable rental, I have no doubt but that many, young men who have long,,ago ticad, of .“‘diggings would-'- marry and, ‘ settle down. I hope this letter will stimulate; the workers to ; endeavour to., prayida ri remedy:''' ",i ’A NEW ZEAIAND V; SPORT.” ■’'] Reading the “Times” Supplement (writes’' “ New , ZeAlahder ”j,,L was, surl prised and annoyed. to- find .Otto Grip spoken of As an. Australian. =, Surely, it is bird' enough to,/ 'hear our cha.mpion| New Zealand born and bred, spoken of as an Australian by our: Australian brethren, who are ever, foremost in sm-i nexing .promising; stars! to. themselves :i but what must it bo when a New Zealander makes suoh-I a statement, and hr! stead of ', declaiming our 1 . Australian friends’ assertions,^assist' them in. hehH ing themselves,, to the. plums. Leeds; havo/at least credit for, producing.some; men who can' shtr.v outsiders what our little isle contains. I piust say, for my-, self/andpueuy!.others,, that great pleasure was r evinced at your publishing ah article relative to the “manly sport.'! i

STATE SCHOOLS AND GAZETTED HOLIDAYS, ' \ ' The storm pros school .holidays when Government offices are closed would appear' (writes “Thorndon”) to ' be the; outcome of 'resentment bn the part ofi one or two ,of thOso connected directly j or remotely with our State school sys-i tem. Eor-mahy years;Thorndon School! has ■ been -a,little exceptional in the! matter of holidays. ’For. instance, it has been found impossible to have other than a limited attendance on the occasion, say, of a now Governor opening Parliament,- or other vice-regal - function j at Thorndou end, where; the military; and 'music ' figure ' as important factors. Exception has been taken to the holidays- ■ politely requested ’.(they might*’ have been, ordered), on the occasion' cf the-relief of Ladysmith hud . ; of Mafeknig. Telegrams _were sent to school committees as/a matter : of 'exigency, propably.,aqd were acted,on.. The,committees'got “oiie” for .that,’ and took it gracefully. , -,Then there, was,--another flutter over the issue of peace medals; ■ another;yjyer ;ihp-, dag u business; .end last, but not least, the move of pub'fishing ;fhe.'proposed scale of-teachers' salaries. “Majs revenons si nos , moutbns.’l ;> Mr' Robertsdnv if reported . cof-' rectly, is somewhat iii- error .as to, the I iobcupationa Of the 'nicmhers v 'df ‘ ttiej Thorndou' School Committee. - Accord-' ing to,J(<Rirljofii3ial''o£rth© 24th of April! last-, there : is not a majority of Oivii Servants, Unless two builders, a butcher, an ex-iherc©r, an accountant in a private company. a' bootmaker and a dergyman -cap' - so designated. Pos.;'

sibly for “members” Mr Robertson meant “parents of children.” It will be found on inquiry that the chairman, [rightly or wrongly ,_ gave St. Patricks Hay as a Holiday in pursuance of a resolution passed at the instance of dej legates from the School Committees’ Association, such resolution having special reference to Arbor Day, Demonstration Day, and the Agricultural Show day. So far as regards holidays “playing havoc with the intelligence” of children, the inspectoFs examination reports show the fallacy of this assertion ;. and with regard. to the indulgence being resented by" the teachers, and leading to “something like a vendetta,” the mildest answer to that is that the statement ps not warranted by facts. ■