The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1882.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6307, 29 April 1882, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1882.

The , statement put v beforo the Harbour Board by Mr JFjsn'is plain and businesslike. It effects two objects which we have more than once contended were of the utmost importance in contemplation of the proposed application to the Legislature for fresh borrowing powers. It minimises the scheme so as to bring it within reasonable limits, and it shows how'revenue can be raised during the next few years to meet the outgoings. We have at present no sufficient means of testing the accuracy, of either Mr Fisra's or the engineer's figures. That, we presume, will be done by the other members-of the Board before any action is taken in the matter. We confess to having, an uncomfortable feeling that the engineer has understated the cost of dredging and depositing, as we think we are right in atating that no such favourable result as reducing the cost to 9d or lOd per yard has yet been actually obtained in the past. It will, of course, make a',-great difference if the distance, to which the material has to be carried by the punts i 3 greatly reduced, as is proposed; but as Mr Fish himself pointed out, mora punts will probably be required in order to keep the dredges constantly at work, and that means an increased cost of maintenance, aa well as a considerable expenditure for the fresh plant. The engineer has ■ already within a week increased his e3timata by £3000 on one item alone—that of the reclamation frorri the Maitland street works; Oan we then have any confidence that even now he has taken - everything into account ? We believe if it can be satisfactorily, shown that a 150-feet channel can be com-: pleted, with all other needful accessories in the way of training-walls, wharves, sheds, &c, for £150,000, the public will be prepared, to support the Board in carrying the work so far, especially aa it seems we may calculate on no further burdens being* imposed on the mercantile community in effecting this than the increase of the export dues by 6d per ton, and the equalising of-the Port Chalmers rate with that in force iin Dunedin. The resistance to an ad valorem rate is chiefly on the part of the softgoods houses, who feel that if such.a rate were'imposod at a fixed rate in the pound all round, they would have to pay more than their fair share. It is not impossible, however, to meet this difficulty by having differential rates- on different classes of goods, though possibly that would lead to a great deal of extra office work. Wo have no doubt the Chamber of Commerce will take thi3 matter into consideration, and we defer discussing it .at presont. The most important question for the mercantile community is whether the Board as at present constituted, and the engineer at present in charge of the _works, can be trusted to carry them out for the estimated amount.- We own we are in favour of a new departure, and believe if three commissioners were appointed, and another engineer placed in charge who would pay more close attention to detail*;, there would be much better security than wo have at pre" sent for effective woric and economic results. We differ strongly with Mr Fish on ono point. We do not think it would_ bo wise to entrust the present Board with borrowing powera to the extent of £300,000 when only £160,000 is really required, according to the estimates now before the public. The more easy their financial position,*' the less chance will there be of strict economy being practised in carrying out the work, and we think the mercantile community should set their faces against borrowing power being.asked for more than £200,000 at the outside, which should leave an ample margin for contingencies. We shall recur to the subject.

We regard the movement to legalise the eight-hours system as oue based on a misapprehension of what the law can and cannot do. Mr Stout did a good deal to placo the matter in a right light, _ unpopular as ivaa the task. The initiators of the movement either do not know what 'they want, or are afraid plainly to atato their objects If they dosire absolutely to prohibit a man from voluntarily working for more than eight hours per diom when so inclined, they will certainly meet with no sympathy from the majority of working men themselves., If they only want to define eight hours as the legal working day when there is no stipulation to the contrary, they will do little moro than custom has done already. There may be' -sqmething in the contention that the Government should sot a good oxample by adhering strictly to the eight-houra system, but that can hardly be made the Bubject of legislative enactment without introducing a deal of complication into the arrangements of. bucli dopartments as the Eailways, the Telegraph, and the Post-office. If men who have been hitherto willing to work for nine or ten hours at a certain rate of pay are prohibited from working more than eight, wo Buppoae it will hardly be con.tended that .they should still receive the same pay. We daresay some working mon's friends are quite capable of ■ desiring to confer on their constituents nine hours' pay for eight houra' work, ignoring altogether tho laivs '

of supply and demand, which are usually supposed^ to regulate'the rate of wages.. That, however, is a feat not easy of accomplishment,. We entirely sympathise .with every movement designed to limit the overtasking of men's powerp s biit we have not the smallest sympathy with any attempt to limit freedom of contract between employer aud employed, or to reduce all classes of men, the industrious and the indolent alike, to one dead level. If one class cf men have the physical power and the industry which will enable them to work beyond the ordinary hours, and elect to do so for a consideration, there is no reason in the world why they should be : prevented from working. We very much doubt the prudence of State interference even with the employment of females, and .are inclined to think the State should only interfere in the cases of children of tender years, who may fairly be"''assumed to be unable to protect themselves. There is a strong tendency nowadays to over - legislation, which will yet bear bad fruit in various directions, .as Mr Stout very properly pointed out, statute law is of little avail unless the feelings of the people are with it. If the working classes generally determine not to work for more than eight hours a day, they can gain their object without legisla tion; r aud if they do not, they cannot be forced into it by any amount of legislation. We believe the unfortunate bank clerks and insurance dorks and the tramway men are as much overworked as any class of men in the community, and if they 'do not protect themselves by combination we presume-it is because there are too many who would be glad to accept tho hard conditions of their lot at the same rate of pay. - At the aame time, the force o£ public opinion should be.brought to bear upon employers, and the practice of overwork should be generally discountenanced. In this way, and in thia alone, ' will abuses be prevented. An eight-hours association, actiug on the lines of the"-Early Closing Association, might -effect some good in directing the current of public opinion ; but we cannot conceive of any law being passed on the subject which could not be easily evaded, both by employers and employed.

The Lyttelton Tims 3 beats a very ignominious . retreat from the position it recently took up as champion and defender of Governor Gordon. It adopts that wretched practice/ which ia usually abandoned to the lower class of papers, of confusing the is3ue in an unmeaning' mixture of misrepresentation ' and forced jocularity. What we took exception to was the charge made against the papers which had condemned the Governor's conduct, of having so condemned him out of spite against his hereditary and instinctive Whiggism. That charge was quite specific and perfectly clear ; and ■in our comments upon it we adhered closely, to it, without wastiug a single word on any side issues. The Lyttelton Times in replying to us, however, begins by stating that the subject in.dispute waß "the Press Association account of the Ministerial crisis, which a certain journal —not'published in'Otago—had attributed to the Governor. "^ What have we to do with-that 1 It is not the question in ever so remote a degree. We neither know nor care anything about the Press Association account of the Ministerial crisis The Lyttelton Tim 93 says : "The Otago Daily Times hss, by some wonderful process of reasoning, taken our comments as applying to itself/ Nothing could bo more untrue. We never took the slightest notice of its comments on that subject. What we took notice of, and what several other papers also took notice of, • "was the impudenkand libellous assertiun of the Lyttelton Times that we and they, in condemning the Governor's misconduct, were actuated by hatred against him as an English Whig. In Its reply the Lyttelton Times makes no allusion to that subject, but sticks to this fiddlefaddle about the Press Association. We pointed out that tho blundering championship of the Lyttelton Times was calculated to do tho Governor a great deal of harm, by representing him aa a partisan ; audwesuggested that his Excellency should take some means of disclaiming any responsibility for the preposterous stuff which has appeared.. in_._.that._paper in connection with his name. To this the Lyfctelton Times replies: "Our Southern friend calls upon the Governor to contradict our remarks in some indirect way. which he has to discover, suited to his dignity. In other words, the Governor is invited to state publicly that he told a falsehood to the Press Association." Now what sense is there in that? It might just as well be stated that we invited the Governor to stand on his head in Cathedral square. We never made any reference to the Press Association, and we do not take the smallest interest in its doings. But it is of no use to reason with an opponent like the Lyttelton Times, which, having given up the real position without defence, only make 3 a pretence of defending some other position which we have never attacked, and have no intention of attacking. The Lyttelton Times urges a further plea, moreover, which we give in to at once. It assures us that its remarks were not meaut.to apply to-us, but only to the Press. We paid the Lyttelton Times too high a compliment, in fact, in taking any. notice of its article, though that article was certainly couched in general terms. In future, when any remarks in .that paper attract .our attention, we shall be careful to sco whether they really refer to Colonial politics, or are only bo much printing ink devoted" to befouling a local business rival..

We think it will turn out that Mr Robert Gillies has done a very ill service to the Benevolent Institution by inducing the meeting of subscribers yesterday, by a majority of: one, to decline further inquiry. It is absurd to say either that Mr Quitf has been entirely acquitted by the verdict of the Jury, or that the Committee would be placed on their trial if further inquiry wore made. A jury has made, a recommendation, which has been endorsed by the presiding Judge, that an inquiry should be held, and we venture to say that is the opinion of three out of four persona, who have taken any interest in the. matter. The subscribers having decided to burke further- investigation,- it will, as it appears to us, bo now the duty of his Honor Mr Justice Williams to forward. the ridor of the Jm-y to the Government, for them to consider what further action they will take. Various statements have been made to us which it is impossible for 113 to investigate. .Among others, s,Mr Hudson has made such statements as in our judgment ought strictly to be inquired' into ; and =if a Royal Commission were appointed he" could, we apprehend, be compelled to give evidence, and the value' of that evidonco could be carefully sifted. The public will certainly not be satisfied to let the matter rest where it does, simply at the dictation of Mr Robert Gillies and on tho .vote of'a bare majority of the subscribers. The Jury deliberately declared that "on public grounds an inquiry should bo made into the working of ihe institution." Is that declaration to be set at naught because some persons choose to take a perverted view of tho whole matter, and treat it as if such an inquirysmust necessarily bo hostile to the present Committee ? There has been- too much partisanship on tho part of members of the Committee all through, and on tho part of Mr R. B. Maktin in particular. It is time 'now that the matter was taken up by other hands, and we have no doubt that his Honor the Jud^e will ccc it to be his duty to take action in the manner we have indicated.

We.publish a supplement this morning containing much interesting matter, including a report of the Supreme Court proceedings on Thursday; "The Coming Session," by "Juyenis;" a Shakespearean essay by Mr Wilson ; the report of a meeting at Alexandra, concerning the opening of a road to the Wai ■kaia Bush; the account of a trip from Queens town to Glenorchy; our Australian letter; Passing Notes, by ".Civis;" an extract from a lecture by Mr Denny, on " The Steamer of the' Future ;" letters to the editor, sporting news, and other articles. We print no reading matter upon our fourth page this morning.

By cable this morning wo have news of the death of the well-known Aniericatiphilosopher and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was bora in ISQ3, and was ordained a Unitarian

minister on leaving, college; but he soon afterwards abandoned the ministry and devoted himself to philosophical study and writing. In 1848 he travelled through England, delivering lectures on the "Mind and Manners of the Nineteenth Century." His best-known works are his voluminous Essays, published at various intervals; and his " Rspresentative Men," m which he pourtrays Plato, Swedenborg, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Napoleon, and Goethe, each as the representative of a class. His loss will be deeply deplored, particularly in America.

. The special train for Christchurch which left last night carried only some 35 or 40 passengers to that destination. This number must be regarded as surprisingly small, seeing that cheap excursion fares are charged in consideration of the Exhibition.

A meeting of the subscribers to the Benevolent Institution was held yesterday afternoon to consider the question of further investigation into the charges against the management ; Bishop Nevill occupied the chair. A very lengthy discussion took place, the Yen. Archdeacon Edwards, Mr M. W. Green, M.H.R., and others advocating the appoint.ment of a Royal Commission; whilst Mr Robert Gillies, with about an equal following, deprecated any such course, and urged that the matter should be left in the hands of the Committee. Eventually the latter section carried an amendment, by a majority of one, expressing confidence in the Committee, and relegating the question entirely to them.

The adjourned meeting of gentlemen desirous of joining a Volunteer cavalry corps was held at the Criterion Hotel last evening. Mr T. Fergus, M.H.R., occupied the chair. About 20 persons were present, and Lieut. Bree and Sergeant-major Thompson, of the Southland Hussars, attended. A telegram was received from the Hon. J. Bryce stating that the Government could not accept the services of any company which might be formed until after the meeting of the Volunteer Commission. After some discussion it was agreed to join the Southland Hussars, it being understood that the name of the united body of men would be the Southern Husaara. It was also decided to complete the present uniform of the Southland men by the addition of breeches_ and boots. Lieut. Bree stated that his superior officer, Major Burwell, had reliable information that the Government intended to form all cavalry corps in the Colony into regiments. Finally those present were sworn in, and arrangements were made for receiving into the force any new members to-night. Mr J. Branigan was appointed interim treasurer, and the meeting adjourned till next Thursday night, when the election of" officers mil take place. Votes of thanks were accorded to Lieut. Bree and Sergeant-major Thompson, and also to the Chairman. -

A correspondent at Alexandra South sends us a telegram containing the following extract from yesterday's Dunstan Times:—"Nothing is yet decided on respecting the opening of the' Alexandra bridge. Prom what we understand, the whole affair rests entirely on the convenience of Mr Pyke, but that gentleman has not yet made a sign, and until he does, nothing definite will be known."

By a fire, some days ago, at Mr James Allan's Hope Hill farm, near Greytown, portion of a stack of wheat was burned and the patent elevators of the threshing-machine destroyed..

Mi- William C. Clifton, who was for many years agent for the P.- arid 0. Company at Albany, and now inspector of local agencies, is about to retire from tho service of the Company. He goes Home by an early vessel on full pay, and on arrival, it is understood, he will receive a handsome gratuity in recognition of his long service.

The adjourned special meeting of the West Harbour Borough Council for the purpose of signing the burgess roll took place on Thursday evening. There were no objections to the roll, and it was signed according to law. The ordinary meeting of the Council was afterwards held, but very little business was done. Several accounts were passed for payment, and a complaint, from Mr John Ban-, that the culvert near his property diverted water on to it, was referred to the Works Committee.

The proposed .tramways for Oamaru are likely to be successfully established.

The Invercargill papers have a new grievance against the railway authorities—namely, that for the carriage of goods from the Bluff a higher rate is^charged than dray carriage amounts to. The Times has a furious-article on the subject, complaining of the imposition, iniquity, tyranny, &c. practised by the infatuated railway management. The Kailvray-Departments—those,- namely, of Mr Hannay, traffic superintendent, and Mr Lowe, engineer—which have for some time past had their offices in Manse street, in the old City Council buildings, have now shifted their quarters. They are now located in the Zealandia Chambers, Dowling street, between Princes street and the Garrison Hall.

'*-The Chinese Immigrants Act," ISSI," is now in force, and the Customs officials have received .instructions to carry its provisions into force. Under the Act no vessels arriving in New Zealand ports may bring more than one Chinese passenger to every 10 tons of her register, and the sum of £10 must be paid for each Chinese landed in the Colony.

It was • announced at the Cathedral last night (says yesterday's Lyttelton Times)'-that tho expense of the choral services at the Cathedral is at the rate of £1000 a year, while the offertories in aid give promise of only £600 The debt on the organ, it was also stated is £1000:

v The Lyceum Hall is now all but completed, and ought to be in a thoroughly finished state by Monday, when the first entertainment-will be held Within its walls. On Sunday it will be used by the Freethought Association, the children's gathering being held in the afternoon, and Mr Stout delivering a lecture in the evening. The internal appearance of the hall is a very pleasing one, and the accommodation provided s greater than might have been expected. The acoustic properties of the building are likely to prove a great feature of this addition to our public places of amusement, and it is fitted up in an excellent manner.

At an adjourned meeting held in All Saints' Schoolroom, for the formation of a Mutual Improvement Society in connection with the parish, several resolutions were passed, and the following office-bearers were elected:—Re \v A. R. Eitchett, president; Mr Wilson, vice-" president; Mr T. A." White, hon. sec; Mr A. A. D. MacLaughlin, assistant secretary and treasurer. Committee: Messrs J. Howlison; W. C. M. Hawkins, and R. Brinsley.

The Timaru Herald thus jocosely refers to the Dunediii Harbour Board:—"lf our own Harbour Board were only half ■ awake they might hurry up and lend the Dunedinites a few thousand feet of wharfage inside our breakwater, until the next generation of smarter Dunedinites is. old enough to coriiplete the mud works how being carried on there. We have contributed very largely to swell the enormous trade returns of the Southern port, and if we are to get an equivalent for the next quarter of a century Dunedin will have to make shift as best she may without our trade. For the life of us, though, we caiinot understand how, if their funds are exhausted, the Dunedin harbour.authorities will be able to manage on even 'modified plans." They cannot raise much by way of advance on the ' largest steam dredge in the world,' because, like Barmnn's elephant, its reputation' consists entirely of what is said about it. If the truth were told the unwieldiy brute won't work properly, and altogether the Dunedin Harbour Board appear to have landed them, selves and their pet scheme hard and fast in the mud at the head of the Otago Harbour."