THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1886.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7720, 15 November 1886, Page 2

THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1886.

Wk do not think the Protection Ltague which was inaugurated on the -tth of this month' is likely to develop as much vitality as might be expected, but Avhile it does exist it may be Avell to give it due and respectful notice as the authorised mouthpiece of the Protectionists. It is fair, Aye suppose, to assume that Avhatever the advocates of Protection had to say for themselves they said on that occasion; nor is it altogether their fauli that the material was somewhat slender, stereotyped, and unconvincing. We have already dealt Avith the main arguments of some of the speakers, and Avith a feAV cursory remarks on some of the others Aye can afford placidly to leave the League alone until it again challenges public attention.

Mr Bracken was of course well to the front and had lo justify the position he occupies as a Protectionist repre- , sentative. He was good enough to admit that Freetraders Avere as anxious to " lift the depression" as th"ir ' opponents, but their methods, he added with gr.-at truth, Avere different. "They believed in a standstill policy and said, ' Oh, the country is here and will take caro of itself if Aye are economical and pull in our horns.' But the Protectionist believed that Avhile the grass Avas growing the horse would starve, and maintained that Aye must pursue a live and vigorous policy. Freetraders believed that if our wool and Avheat Avere fetching a good price, so that the pastoral and agricultural seltlera Avere fairly prosperous, it did not matter that the flower of our manhood — the artizans and toilers—Avere leaving our shores." The contempt which Mr Bracken here professes for the old; fashioned virtues of prudence and economy is curiously characteristic of the thoroughgoing Protectionist, as may be judged by the reiteration of lhe same sentiment by Mr M. Sinclair, avlio folloAved Mr Bracken at the meeting. That gentleman scornfully remarked that "for a long time they had been told by a number of people that if they only cut down their expenses and were prudent and economical, in good time the country would arrive at a healthy condition." According to these gentlemen, prudence and economy are not only bad qualities in themselves, but the exercise of them is quite incompatible Avith progress—a fact of which Aye Avere wholly unaware until Aye heard it from the lips of Messrs Bracken and Dickson, and Avhich will, avo suspect, be as new to our readers as it is to oiu'selves. But if prudence and economy are but synonymous terms for standing still, it logically follows that imprudence and extravagance must be convertible terms with "progress"; in which case, of course, Aye are not disposed to quarrel with the Protectionist Avhen he claims that his is a " progressive " policy. It is all that, and something more. We can afford lightly to dismiss the subject by remarking that it is certainly odd that prudence and economy should as necessary elements enter so largely into the progress of the individual, the company, and the corporation, Avhile at the same time exercising so baneful an influence upon that union of all three which we call the State! Possibly Messrs Bracken and Dick*on may be disposed to give us a Protectionist explanation of the conundrum. Returning to Mr Bracken himself, he would probably be offended if Aye were to leave him without, any reference to his grandiloquent remark about the " flower of our manhood—the artizans and toilers leaving our shores." It seems to us that Mr Bracken has the happy double knack of occasionally giving us prose for poetry, and poetry for prose. Like a still greater man alluded to by Byron, he—

Both by precept and example shows That prose is verse, while verse is merely prose. What we may call the exodus of the " toilers" is purely a poetical flight which Mr Bracken, like Silas Wegg, is on all occasions somewhat prone to take. Aa a dull matter of fact, in New Zealand the excess of immigration over emigration has been unbroken for the last 25 years. Taking last year, which we suppose was one of tho worst ever experienced, the male adults arriving in New Zealand numbered 10,711, while the departures were 7818, showing a balance of nearly 3000 in favour of the Colony. Taking even the present year as far as the returns I are published, the nine months from January to September show that, notwithstanding the rush to Kimberley, there is only a balance against the Colony of 94G adult males. That the disturbance was mainly due to the rush may be judged

by tlio fact that of the period tlie first and last few months wero in favour of tlio Colony. During August and September, for instant c, vereceived 1555 adult males, while only 1196 left us. There is really not much in the trgumeiit, because there always will be a considerable floating population here as in overy other colony, and influx to and exodus from a country will be found on examination to have no necessary connection with either Freetrade or Protection. The expenditure of public money, for instance, lias within recent years enabled New South Wales to gain on Victoria by some 200,000 people; while tho same lavish expenditure has left New South Wales in tlie same depressed condition in which New Zealand from the same cause is now.

Before leaving the Protection League it may bo well to allude to a remark made by Mr 0. S. Reeves to the effect that " one strong argument in favour of Protection was that there was no Freetrade country in the world with the exception of England." Roughly speaking, this may be true: but it does not seem to have occurred to Mr Reeves how very noble an exception that is—what stupendous manufacturing progress England has made from the day she became a Freetrade country, what unquestioned supremacy over her Protectionist neighbours she has achieved ! Would Sir Reeves, in his admiration for Continental countries, have England borrow from France the censorship of the Press; or copy the militarism of Germany, or the despotism of Russia 1 Wo hear a great deal of the increase of wages that Protection is to give us. Will the Protection League explain how it is that tho wages of artizans and others in England have steadily increased since the era of Freetrade, and that they now stand, and during all these years have stood, much higher than those of the Protectionist Continental countries it is now so much the fashion to admire? Is Mr Reeves aware that it was the decay of her manufactures and the poverty of her artizans that compelled England to open her ports to the Protectionist world, and that by so doing she increased her own exports from L' 17,000,00 which value they stood in 1842-—to the L 250,000,000 at which they stand now 1 It will surely suggest itself as a very odd circumstance even to the Protection League that the only exception to their great doctrine of Protection should be a nation which stands unrivalled in its commercial progress and alone in its commercial supremacy. The Protection League has a great deal of work before it, and its members will not be offended if

avc suggest that not the least important part Avill be the acquisition of such knowledge of the origin, progress, and laAvs of commerce as will enable them to speak Avith some authority in carrying on their crusade. Mr William Hutchison Avas good enough to say that Adam Smith, Ricardo, Mill, and Cairns Averenot altogether devoid of intelligence. We agree Avith him so far; nor are Aye ashamed to OAvn that, as authorities, Aye still prefer them to Mcesrs Beeves, Bracken, Sinclair, and Hutchison.

During the last session we commented on the memorandum prepared by the Attorney-general, Sir Robert Stout, on the conduct of Chief Judge .Fenton and Judge Rogan in conneclion with the Owhaoko and KaimanaAva Native land block. The charges brought against these Judges were apparently of a grave character indeed. The Chief Avas accused of having favoured certain land speculations and of having abused his position by preventing a rehearing Avhich had been granted on the application of ceitain Natives Avhose rights had been overlook! d. Judge Rogan Avas suppos. dto have been guilty of either ignorance or great laxity in tho administration of the Native Lands Act; Avhilst very nasty insinuations Avere made against Dr (now S r AY.) Buller, Avho had acted as counsel for s mie of the Natives. Judge Fenton petitioned the House to have the charge made against him inquired into, and a Select Committee was appointed by the House to take evidence and report upon the Attorney-general's charges. We have before us the report of that Committee, and the evidence on Avhich it was founded. It would be difficult to summarise the leading features of the CA'idence, which Avas bulky and in many respects not' very relevant. The result of the Committee's deliberations, hoAvever, was to exonerate Judges Fenton and Rogan entirely. The report states that in the opinion of the Committee there Avasjnothing in the evidenco to shoAv any partiality or favoritism on the part of either of these gentlemen. It appears from the eA'idence that the Chief Judge had various executive duties to perform in addition to his judicial Avork. It was his duty to correspond Avith persons, and his position altogether was analogous to that of a Avarden for goldiields. It Avas in his executive capacity that he sent the letters and telegrams in connection with this block of Native land which seemed so extraordinary. Indeed, he states in ansAver to one of the questions put: " Through the whole of this paper, Avith the exception of that application of Dr Buller to make an order,. there is no single judicial act that I performed." The charge against the Judge appears to have been almost abandoned at an early stage of the inquiry, as the Attorney-general when pressed by Mr Bell (Avho acted as counsel for Mr Fenton) stated that " he (the Chief Judge) had not acted properly or legally, but that he had not charged him Avith having ac'ed corruptly." At a later stage of (he proceedings, indeed, the Attorney-general appears to have retired from the position Avhich he had taken up in making this charge. A perusal of Mr Fenton's evidence satisfies us that the Committee's report is entirely justified. His answers are clear and show that he not only knew what his duties were, but that he Avas anxious to fulfil them. The mistake which was made in the memorandum was in not appreciating the distinction between Mr Fenton's administrative and his judical duties, and in attempting to apply a system suitable enough for Courts in Avhich the rights of Europeans are determined to Native Courts. The Committee state that it would not bo right to judge a Native Land Court by the same standard which Avould be applied to ordinary Courts. Their business is more complicated, and the functions of the officials different. Sir Robert Stout's memorandum may have the good effect of introducing a stricter practice into these Courts, but it is clear that he was guilty of a gross impropriety in the attack Avhich he made upon the Judges. If every time the Attorney-general finds some transaction Avhich is not quite clear to him he is to Avrite a public memorandum giving the general impression that the Court is corrupt, no decent man would care to take a seat on the bench. Whilst the report vindicates completely tho

actions of Judges Fenton and Rogan, tho Committee a 1 stain from expressing any opinion on the conduct of Dr Buller, who was not present and who was not represented by counsel. On his return from England it is not improbable that he wil petition for another inquiry on his own behalf.

Reports of the meotiugs of tho Tuapeka County Council, aud Mosgiel School Committee, togetherjwith correspondence and other matter, appear on our fourth page.

Ellen Ross, the young woman who foil over tho wharf on Friday night, was charged at the City Police Court on Saturday morniDg with having no visible lawful means of support, but as she was not well enough to answer to the charge she was remanded until to-day. John Roy, who was charged with neglecting to keep lights on his cab on the night of the 9th inst. was fined 5s and costs. Messrs J. Robin and R Chisholm, J.P's., occupied the bench.

A lad named Miliar Anderson, residing at Mornington, had a narrow escape from a serious accident on Saturday ovening. His hat blow on to the roof of the Mornington tramway shed, and while he was trying to get it he tumbled through a skylight into the cngiuchouse Though he fell a distance of 14 ft he only sustained a few bruises.

A brilliant match was played by tho Dunediii Lacrosse Club at Tahuna Park on Saturdaj afternoon between sides captained'by T. W. Orr and E. Trythall, jun., whic^i resulted after a most evenly contested game iv W. Howio securing a goal for Orr's side.

A British soldier tells a story of tbe Fiji settlements in the early days, which sounds peculiarly familiar. A white man who was taken prisoner by an irland tribe had a cork leg. Noticing that his captors were fixing up an oven, he became nervous, and to conceal his fear called for something to eat. Food being given him, he used a large jackknife to cut it up. Every mouthful or two he stuck the jackknife into his leg with Buch force that it stood erect. The nativ.s looked on with great astonishment and with evident alarm. After the meal was over he began to unscrew his leg. That was too much for the poor savages They hadn't the slightest ouriosii y to see what he would do next, but opened a passage for him and let him walk away unmolested. When he reached his horse the natives began to gather round, but after mounting he made a motion as if to unscrew his head, and the spectators fled in dismay.

Mr L. 0. Smith, a well-known worker among the English poor says:—" Take mankind as a whole you will find that of the expenditure of a working man 15 per cent, only goes in house rent,while 60 percent, goesiu food. Therefore, if you provide every working man with a Tree house for ever the effect is only equal to saving him 15 per cent, of his wages. But if you can make a radical reformation in his food you have a much greater margin to play upon. If you w.ll provide him with food twice as nourishing as that which he gets now, so that he only needs to buy half as much of it, or if you give him as much food as ho gets at present at half-price, you save him at one stroke 30 per cent, of his wages, or twice as much as his house rent. And it can be done. For the proof of that, I hive done it; and thero is no reason why what I have done should not be done in every town and village in the whole world. Believe me, that is tho source whence a great increase is to be made to the wealth of our labouring poor. That is where the waste is—a waste which is not only felt in actual expenditure of money ou food, but in insufficient nourishment, causing physical degeneracy and a craving for stimulants, which lies at the root of much of the drunkenness of the present day."

Much excitement was caused at Lismore, Ireland, by the arrest of Alice Sheehan, a ward maid at Lismore workhouse, on a charge of having caused the death by strangulation of a man named Magnier, who was an inmate in an infirm ward. The matter was brought under the notice of the guardians by a man named Dwyer, who stated to the board that he was an inmate in the ward, and that he 6aw tbe prisoner strangle Robert Magnier in bed, and put a bolster over his face after doing so. Dwyer added that he was so terrified that for fear she would do the same to himself he gave her money. The prisoner protests her innocence.

The village of Broadoak, in the Forest of Dean, has been the scene of an extraordinary conflict. A man named George Morgan was driving a trap into the yard of his master, Mr Mayo, timber merchant, when a large mastiff sprang at the horse and caused it to bolt. A young man named Payne was knocked down by the animal and sustained a fracture of tha shoulder. The dog dashed after the horse, and seizing it by the collar, dragged it to the ground. Shaking the dog off, the affrighted animal ran against a bank, throwing Morgan into the road; ho was much cut about the head and face. The horse was again attacked by the mastiff, which made desperate efforts to fasten on to the animal. Eventually a number of persons armed with sticks went to the assistance of the horse and managed to drive the dog off. The horse was considerably injured about the legs, and the vehicle was smashed.

Of all the persons whom the newspapers have interviewed over the kidnapping of Prince Alexander, Captain Kavaloff, of the Bulgarian army, who has just been giving the world his experiences through an Odessa paper, seems to be one of the most cynical. Not even the famous No. I, or " Stepniak" himself, could speak more coolly-of contemplated murder than this Bulgarian captain. He had to conduct the Prince to the frontier, and on two separate occasions he remarks that he made up his mind to kill the Prince. For instance, before coming to Lorn Palanka, he says: "We were afraid of a surprise, and made a stoppage in a forest. Here we made up our minds to kill the Prince if we were attacked." AVhat an ugly picture it is (remarks a Home paper) this episode, in which the methods of the middle ages suddenly reappear in tho midst of the civilisation of the nineteenth century! Human nature remains the 6ame, aud murder seems to be one of the most inveterate vices of our race.

Au ex-inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary writes: —" Sir Redvers Buller's scheme for trauquilising that portion of Ireland over which he presides possesses no features of originality. The one insuperable difficulty which will confront him is the reluctance of the people to give him or his subordinates any information, or to afford him any clue which will enable him to trace the gailty. In the west and south of Ireland policemen are identified in the minds of the people with their hereditary oppressors the landlords. If a writ has to be served, it is done under the protection of the rifles and sword bayonets of the constabulary. When the goods and chattels of the impoverished farmer are seized, the same hateful agency is called iuto requisition. When, finally, himself and his wretched family are evicted, and flung upon the roadside houseless and homeless, the bailiffs execute their unpopular task, ancl are preserved from annihilation owing to the presence of armed police. In Ireland—and, unfortunately, not without full and sufficient cause—the policeman, so far from being regarded as a friend and protector, is looked upon as an instrument of tyranny and oppression—as one who acts solely in the interests of the landlord class. Until Sir Redvers Buller contrives to banish this feeling from the minds of the people of Clare, Limerick, and Kerry, his arraugemeuts for the suppression of Moonlighting j will not be attended with any marked success."

Concerning the Port Lazareff question, the Pall Mall Gazette says:—" Attempts have been made in this country to show that a difference oxists between the occupation of Port Hamilton by Great Britain and that of Port Lazareff by Russia, but these are based on a total misapprehension of the mode in which the former was effected. Port Hamilton, it is true, is formed by islands, while Lazareff is on the mainland; but our occupation of the former was effected, iv the first instance, without the consent either .of China or of Corea. AYe did, indeed, succeed in obtaining a reluctant acquiescence from China, by arguing that we only occupied the place to prevent the Russians seizing it, but Corea has not consented to this day, and evidently looks forward to the time when we shall restore it. Assuming, therefore, that Russia has seized Port Lazareff, she is in precisely the same position that we were after the seizure of Port Hamilton. Neither had the consent of the true owner, Corea, nor what is of more importance, of the suzerain, China. AYe succeeded in securing the benevolent neutrality of the Chinese; will the Russians succeedlikewise? It is believednot. It is clear, from the sudden departure of the Chinese fleet under Admiral Lang from Chefoo for Port Lazareff, that China intends to have a voice iv the question at the outset. This fleet is more powerful than the Russian Pacific fleet; it was never brought into action during tho war with France, being kept in the north to guard the approaches to the capital as well as the arsenal at Port Arthur, and is on the whole quite able to look after Chinese iutereits in the present aJTalr.''

The Otago Art Society's Exhibition on Saturday attracted a large number of visitors during the afternoon and evening. It will remain open to-day and during the week.

Tho attention of volunteers and shootiug men is directed to an advertisement with reforenco to the coming issuo of the Otago Witufst, in which will appear a special article on riflo shooting.

The Presbyterian Church bazaar at Port Chalmers was brought to a close on Saturday, and although it has not been so successful as the ladies committee had a right to expect, a considerable amount of money bas been taken, the result of the week's 6ales beiug £625. Thero still remains a large quantity of material to bo disposed of, and when this is done it is expected the total receipts w;ll exceed £700.

News has been received from Zanzibar of a sorely beleaguered Soudan garrison. It seems that a certain Edwin Bey, a German by birth, whoso real name is Schnitzler, is still holding out for the Egyptian Oovernmont in the Equatorial provinces at a place called Wndy Ly, somo 40 miles south of Gondokoro. He has with him about 3000 Egyptians, survivors of the garrisons of the Fashada and Dashoor neighbourhoods. Being unable to mako his way to the coast, as a hostile chief stronger than ho holds tho passes between him and Uganda, he asks urgently for provisions, which will be sent if possible.

"Caste" was repeated by Mr Mallaby's Comedy Company at tho Princess Theatre on Saturday evening. There was aD increasad attendance, and the comedy was played.with more spirit than on tho previous evening. The improvement was particularly noticeable in the first act, but was perceptible throughout, and the performance was on tho whole very creditable. To-night a new farcical comedy, " The Bigamist," by Mr Fur-jus Hume (late of Dunedin) is to be played for the first time.

The entertainment given ou Friday by the Juvenile Minstrels in the Lyceum Hall was re- [ eated on Saturday evening. Thero was again a good attendance, and the entertainment passed off very successfully.