The Otago Daily Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1833.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6740, 21 September 1883, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1833.

The chiefs of the commercial world throughout the Colony have been doing their' best to account for the hard times. The operation is not one which, aB a rule, commends itself to our common sense. "When ban vivants meet after a function, and discuss among themselves the exact cause of the inevitable headache, it is at least an unprofitable question whother it was the lobster or the wino that was in fault. That there must inevitably bo good aud bad times— cycles of trade—may bo regarded as an ultimate fact, the admission of which is nob synonymous with fatalism. The question better worth considering seems to be, whether there is any cause peculiar to ourselves in this Colony producing or intensifying the bad times. Looking back into the past, and contrasting it with the present, it is difficult not to suppose that the method and form of the government, or rather of the administration, in this Colony has something to do with.local depression. We are not among those who desire to see Provincialism restored in all its glory (than which Solomon was not more beautifully arrayed). Nor have we any faith in Mr Montgomery's disguised Provincialism. There is a middle road between this and that—between the ultra-Centralism of the present, and the duplication of functions of the. past; and on that road we should be glad to see the Colony treading. It is, we believe, in part owing to the abnormal development of a Central Government in this'country" that,our troubles turn into disasters. England grew great among nations owing to the extreme liberty of individual action among her people ; while we are deliberately, rejecting the teaching of experience, and the lessons of our own race.

We do not propose to weary our readers with a lengthened dissertation on the State —mere Herbert Spencer and water. Major Atkinson told us, in. a certain celebrated speech, that the functions of the State were what the people chose to entrust to it. The statement is a large one, but would mean little in the mouths of most men. Tho worst of it is that the Colonial Treasurer has had the opportunity, and used it, of acting up to his words. Did anyone expect some few years ainco that the year of grace 1883 would see a centralists ayuteni so penetrating and thorough as wo havo at the presont moment ? The functions of the State, it" we may parody the words, arc to allow no spontanoity of action in the provinces, but to centre and control everything in tho wooden buildings in Wellington. "' We were promised economy; we have got a costliness of apparatus which it will take years to get rid of. As Mr Reynolds has happily put it, Major Atkinson does not take his own advice. He counsels economy while the Civil Ssrviee is ever growing, and advises that "we live within our means" while he raises .an additional property tax. We need not remind our readers how entirely the control of local affairs has-been removed from our midst. It is not that it has been relegated to couaty councils, aad similar local bodies; it has been removed to Wellington, and each mimite trifle is duly considered there, and allowed or 'refused there only. A notiou oxiyly in the minda of

many people that it ia possible to get more out of a Government than we put in. This- ia correct juat iv so far as it is easier to pay interest on borrowed capital than to make improvements out of savings. It is not merely uutrue directly wo go one inch beyond this statement, but the reverse is so universally and admittedly the case that the truism seems hardly worth repeating. Wo not merely do not get back more than we put in, but just so iauch'4eßß as Government work is less successful, than private in all its branches. In saying this, we certainly do not mean to blame the present Government." Ou the contrary, from the time when the Hon. Mr Oliver remodelled the Railway Department until now, we believe that the Ministry in power have done moro to make Government work effective than any Ministry hare—or anywhere elso. Tho principle, however, remains the same— that in every department, and so iv all, there must be a steady, continual, habitual waste of power, and no ingenuity or talent can avoid it. Everyone in business admits it: the wonder v that they go on without redressing the evil. Wo do not refer particularly to tb.e question of Kesident Magistrates' travelling expense?, or the disclosures iv tho Lift! Assurance Department: iheso avo only tho last happening signs of what must be going on everywhere. The waste in so gigantic a business concern as the government of tho Colony just now is one great item to bo considered in accounting for the hard times. Tl\e number of men taken from reproductive undertakings on purpose to spend our oarnings is positively frightful. In private life they would have really to work hard—a most surprising novelty to many of them. And yet we certainly do not wish to enroll ourselves in the number of those who put down all Civil servants as idlers. Far from it: there ara plenty of men who give honest service to tho public to the best of their ability. The system is, however, such that a great deal of their labour is wasted, and many of them hi\j among the first to admit this. 'What we want is a..much greater Idealisation of departments, the central couirs;l being only of I he moat general kind ; a reduction not so much in the salarie.-i of Civil servants as in" their number; v system which will give better opportunities of," promotion to the meritorious, and ensure" that every member of the, Service is earning.his salary. The statesman who will boldly handle this question will deserve well of the Colony, and hurry on the happy day when roads and bridges will no losger bs named in the.Assembly.

Tiik most interesting, if not also the most important, part of the business be fore the" Education Ijjoard yesterday was that which related to tho s'rife between the Board and the Uun^din School Committee. As wiy bo.remembered, the Committee wrote some time ago to the Board stating that they could not do the work expectai of them on the allowance they received. The Board treated this communication in a rather high-handed, we might almost cay, contemptuous manner. At tho next meeting of the Committee a good deal of indignation was, in conaequtnoa, txpres'.eil by some of tho members, especially by Mr Robin, who denounced the meanness and iucompetsncy, the selfconceit and tyranny of the Board, and perorated in a style that would have taken away the broath, if not the conceit, of Measra Shaxd, Bego, and Co. if they had only happened to be present. Fur the moment the Committeeman seemed, to be victorious, as the war correspondents phrase it, along the whole lino; in other and humbler wbrds, tho Board jioemed to be snuffed out, and it was even Whispered that they intended to resign in a body, the soul having been frightened out of them by Mr Robin's eloquence. x Those, however, who knew Messrs Beog and Elder denied the possibility of such an intention, assarting at the same time that these gentlemen would live to fight another day. Which they have done. 'At the meeting yesterday, after tho Committee's statement of their receipts and expenditure had Been read, Mr Eluku got up and delivered a counterblast of figures with a good deal of sound and fury ; but whother it signified much or little wo cannot yet tell. Moat certainly his statementdoes not agree with tho Cuinra'ittee'B. In regard, indeed, to the amount received from tho Board, there is not a great discrepancy; but while the Committee claim to have raised some £880 themselves in two aud a-half years, Mr Elder contonds that they have raised only about £490 in four and a-half years. Which is right, Mr Romx or Mr Elder, of course remains to bo seen. Mr Ramsay said, that he could see nothing wrong with tho Committee's balancesheet ;Mr Becig declarod, if Mr Robin's Ggurea were wgh1;,. that their accounts must have been cooked. But we aro anticipating. , Before Mr Elder finished, his counterblast he not only abused Mr Robin in good round set terms, but he administered a severe castigation to Mr Stuart, a young member of Cornmutee, who, led a3tray by Mr Robin, had spoken unadvisedly with his lips, having actually proposed to enlighten the heathen daiknesa of the Board, and even gone the length of speaking irreverently of their Chairman, his old teacher, which, according to Mr Elder, is much the same thing as the unpardonable sin. " If," saidthe worthy Board-man, and in theao words ho perorated—" if the result of the highereducational teaching given at our High School and University is exemplified by the want of reverence aud respect for his late teacher exhibited in the speech delivered by that gentleman at the meeting of Committee referred to, the sooner Mr Fisu, and those who support hia views on. seoondary education, are allowed to. obtain possession. of the endowments set apirt for the support of these institutions, the better for all concerned." If Dominie Sampson had been privileged to read this sentence, he would doubtloss have exclaimed " Prodigious !" in hia most bmphatic manner. Mr Eldke, having thus done his duty, moved that the Committee's letter be received, and then gave place to Mr Begg, who seconded the motion, and forthwith proceeded to aßsail Mr Hobin with a storm of irony, sarcasm, Batire, wut, and abus&» The whole secret of the Committee's discontent was Mr Robin's ambition. That gentleman wanted ".to climb into the Board on the back of the Dunedin School Committee"—actually aspired to sit in the same chamber, at the Eame table with Messrs Begg, Elder, and the other Olympians. As surely as the election time comes round "wa have an outbreak from Mr Robin." He has tried throe several times to get in—one time as the champion of the oppressed teachers, another- time as the friend of the overworked children, next as the champion of the School CJommitteos, and now to impart hia vigour to the Board. But "I recommend Mr Kobin to study the fabla of tho ass and lion's skin, with a view to porsonal application of tho moral, which I take to be"—and tho exposition of such a recondite fable by a member of the Otago Education Board ought surely to be accepted with all rospect aud deference by a humble Oommittoeman —" that however an aa3 may try to come out in tho character of a lion, hi 3 bray inevitably betrays the species to which he belongs." Mr Begg was also rather ssvere . upon. " the young member of tho School Committee," ! accusing him, among other things, of using " dictionary Billingsgato," whatovar that may bo. Mr Elder would probably say that it was something he had picked up at the University, which would be another argument in favour of Mr Fisu's views. The only member who stood up in behalf of the Committee was Mr Kamsay, though Mr Fergus seconded au amendment moved by that gentleman, and Mr M'Kexzie doprecated the manner in which whit we may call the "Lower Houh9 " had been Bpoken of. But it was of no use; Messrs Elder and Begg carried, the day; aud it will now be the Oommitteo's turn to exhibit their gifts of iiloijuoiice a"d vituperation for tho nmueo-

ment of the public It is not only in the House o! Representatives that the public men of Dunediii distinguish themselvos.

Reports of the local Courts, letters to the editor, and Melbourne sporting news appear on our fourth page.

A long discussion took place at tbo Education Board mooting yesterday with reference to tho iinanoial condition of the Dunedin School Committee, and its relations with the Board. From the report which appoars elsewhere it will be Been that somo members of the Board indulged in very strong language, but no action was taken beyond formally receiving from the Committee the statement of their receipts and expenditure for the*laat two and a-half years.

His Honor the Chief Justice, in Wellington, has decided with Judge Johnston that games of cards may bo played in licensed houses.

The case of Shaw v. Gawn, a claim for compensation for damage alleged to have been done to plaintiff's land in the East Taieri by the act of the defendant, was brought to a close, so far as the taking of ovidence is concerned, in the Supreme Court yesterday. His Honor reserved judgment. The case of Archibald v. Tho Chairman, Councillors, aud Inhabitants of the County of Bruce will betaken today.

Mr James Brown has resigned his position as visiting Justice to the Dunedin Gaol.

Some interesting information relative to the Macetown reefs is supplied by our Arrow correspondent, and will be found in our mining column. Most pooplo will loam with astonishment with what satisfactory rosults quartzminiug in that field is followed. Last crushing season tho quantity of stone treated was 3200 tons, and the yield of gold was -1300oz, or on an average loz 7dwt to the ton. It is' perfectly evident that the field only wants further development, and that cheaper modes of treatment require to bo put "in operation to render Macetown avdryimportant portion of our goldfields.

Wo give in our shipping columns a report of the trial trip of the Union Company's express boat, the Takapuna, which ia to run up aud down our coasts at the rate of 15 miles an hour. The Hon. George M'Lean, chairman of the Union Company, was on board the Tatapuna during this trial, and responded at the luncheon to the toast of the Company's sue-, cess,

The foundation-stone of the new bridge over the Clutha River at Teviot was" laid yesterday afternoon by Mr Pyko, M.H.K., and to-day ho' will perform a similar ollice for the vow bridge at Beaumont, about 28 miles farther down the river. Amongst the important records placed beneath the Jioxburgh stove was a copy of Mr I'yko's speech on Centralisation. ■

The pedasfcrian Edwards, « ho arrived by the Waihora from Melbourne, is at once going into work for his 2-1 hours' walk with Joseph Scott. The contest will come off iv the Garrison Hall on sth and 6th October. A week afterwards a 48 hours' walk will take place, Kd wards iv this meeting Scott or any other man whom Mr" Alfred Austin (with whom tho match has been arranged) may choose. Young Scott is also in active training, so that au interesting match may be looked for. :

At the meeting of tho Ojmmittce of the Chamber o£ Commerce yesterday afternoon, letters were read from the Chamber "ol Commerce of Sydney and tho Underwriters' Association of Melbourne, drawing attention to the special clauses introduced into tho bills of lading of tho steamship' companies engaged in the Australian trade, and nnw adopted by the New Zealand companion It was resolved to cooperate with the other Chambers of the Colonies, and the Chamber of Commerce, London, in devising means to pecure the adoption of an equitable form of bill of lading, and that copies of the resolution, passed be forwarded to Sir ¥. D. Bell and Mr John Rose, asking thorn to co-operate with the representatives of other Chambers for that purpose. The bird's-eye view of the proposed ship canal between Lawyer's Head' was submitted to the Committee.

Sir Dillon Bell does not appear to have the most pleasant' quarters in the world just now. According to "'Anglo-Australian" in the European Mail, a policeman does " sentry jußt opposite the offices of the Agent-general for New Zealand. lam told that this man has boen especially appointed to keep a watch on tho entrance ta the vault and basement, and that rumours have gone abroad that a very unpleasant quantity of dynamite has been secreted in such a position as to threaten to blow up the Colonial Offices in the neighbourhood at some period to be determined by one of the mysterious interior .'centres' o£ our dynamite conspirators. I cannot, of course, say how much of this is fact or how much merely fancy. The policeman is there, and other precautions, which, of course, I Bhall not specify, have boon taken." .

Another attempt is to be made to swim the Niagara rapids by a man named Bebril, who was present at the attempt made by the late Captain Webb. Bebrjl, who js a professional swimmer, and known in the swimming world as "Marquis Bebril," proposes having a dummy figure constructed about his own" weight and his size, and to cast the dummy into the rapids before making the attempt. By this means he hopes to ascertain the strength and

tendency of the whirlpool.'- Bebril haa arrived

in .England, where the dummy is to be made; and, peuding the completion,, he will practise daily in the Thames and tho noa, swimming against the strongest tides. r

In reference to the proposal to destroy rabbitß by inoculation, the Age remarks :—

" Would it be wise, or would it be prudent*

even, to inoculate hundreds of thousands of rabbits with tuberculosis, aud leave their dead bodies to be decomposed and scattered in the form of dust by the four winds of heaven, without something approaching to an absolute certainty that they would not carry tion along with them ? We all know enough of the way iv which disease Rpreadß in some forms from the lower animals to man, and are careful to avoid it; and we Bhould be no less careful to guard against infection by the germs of disease floating around us in the atmosphere, if that theory is to be considered as established. Phthisia or consumption is one of the most dreaded forms of human disease, and to run the risk of increasing it, either by contact with infected rabbits, or by using their dead bodie3 aa an article of food, by exposing ourselves to the germs of the disease in the atmosphere, appears to us to be little short of madness."

A large audience assembled in St. Paul'g Schoolroom last evening to witness the exhibition of some very pretty and artistio views, exhibited by means of a magic lantern, of alpine scenery, statuary,' cathedrals, hot springs, lakes, cities, &c. The proceeds were for the benefit of St. Martin's Churoh, North-East Valley.

Messrs Wright, Stephenson, awl Co. will sell horses on Saturday at Provincial Yardi, and will sell grain to-day. Mr 11. Pym will sell furniture on Monday. The Plxsnix Cricket Club will hold tnoir annual meeting at Wain's on Saturday. <s Mesaru Bartings, Leary, and Co. will Bell the Isabella wreck at Catiin's River as their rooms on Monday. "Tho Wilderness" is the anthem selected for the choral service in St. Matthew's Church ttaU evening. In cCTiseouence of the very large amount of doubtlul and bad debts on my books, I have decided to make a reduction in prices for cash aud short credit, customers will bo pleased to loam that every article is prime, and that 1 shall maintain the proud position of bcinir the cheapest and most cU il butuhor in town. For prices, see new price-lists, aud compare them with what ia charged by others. This day 15 very large Oxen and above 100 Sheop will be cold, at the new pr.ces, both at George, and High streets.—A. DorkI well.—[Advt.]