THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 1886.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7723, 18 November 1886, Page 2

THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER IS, 1886.

Tue two last months of the year are nearly always the dullest politically. After the session ther? is generally a little simmer of interest in politics at int rvals during October, but from fie

CJiristchureh races till well into the New Year all parties agrre to a truce. Last year that truce was broken by the famous Tuapeka manifesto, which if it did harm outside the Colony by giving the impression that we were on the eve of another era of folly and extravagance, had the good effect of arousing the Colony itself to tlie real nature of Vogelism, and producing a strong reaction against it which promises to be lasting. In compensation this year the silence on public affairs has remained unbroken. Municipal extravagance, the squabble with the Cable Company, and suchlike minor matters have been discussed at large during the spring, but of the policy of the approaching year or the steps that are to be taken to meet ,an unusually critical position not a word has been heard. ,We all know that th re is going to be a large deficit, and the persistence with which the Government seize evcy opportunity of doing a little bit of Protection in tKeir administration points the direction in which their inclination lies for the reorganisation of the finance, b*t in spite of frequent Cabinet meetings nothing has been said which can give the. country any inkling of the •mind of their rulers.

Certainly Mr Ballance outlined a policy after dinner, at Masterton, in October. But it was essentially an after-dinner policy, devoid of serious intention. It would be absurd to suppose that the Premier and the Treasurer are likely to be converted to Mr Ballance's road-making policy, more especially since such a policy would no:- have the slightest chance of public acceptance. Inde d we hope that feeling will soon run so strongly in the opposite as to put *n absolute stop to the making of r ''ads out of loan. And wore than that, the ■work ot the summer and autumn must be to make up our minds to stop borrowing a'together. Actually to stop short at the present moment would neither be prudent nor practicable, but we can at least define the limits and see our way to finality. We have it on good authority that a sum of about L6OO 000 in addition to the loans authorised would suffice to bring all the railways in course of construction to a point at which they could be indefinitely suspended. As regards the Otago Central, this would mean the Taieri lake. This should be the limit of our borrowing for many a year to come. Already we see that the Premier's promise of "t'pering off" has been noted hopefully by the Standard. It would strength p. our position immensely if he would fix the point at which he proposes to bring the public works policy to an end.

To bring about this, finality must be one object to work- for during the coming year. Almost equally important is that of effect ng retrenchment in the public expenditure. We have recently had an examp'e in municipal affairs of the extent to which expenditue can be redu' ed if the task of letrenchment is undertaken in earnest. This year the Government managed cleverly to frustrate all efforts at economical reform. 2fext year the country must bring far stronger and steadier pressure to bear upon its representatives, and there is at least one reason, if an unfortunate one, to hope for a better result. The large defisit which the Government will have to meet w llmako an increase of taxation the only alternative to serious retrenchment, and we all know in what state the country is to bear an increase of taxation. A few months ago it was generally suppoed that next session would be almost entiiely devoted to the representa ion question, leaving all matters of policy over to the general election. But with the financial situation pressing so urgently, we do not see how this can be now. There is no time to be lost about cutting down our expenditure, and the best recommendation that the Government can find for nest session will be. to

have set about this during tho r«ce«i. As yet we have Been no aign of the saving 0fL40,000 upm tho Civil Service' estimates promised by the Premier; and it is evident that a considerably larger reduction than this will be requiied if there is to be any hope of making both ends meet.

The continued progress and uninterrupted success of tho Mos&iel Woollen Manufacturing Company during these bad times is a matter for general congratulation. To this Company fairly belongs the credit of being first among all the manufacturing industries of New Zealand. It works with material entirely produced in the Colony, and from the outset ithasalways set before itself a high standard of workmanship, and has been carried on in the most enterprising spirit, ever extending the sphere of its operations and availing itself if the most recent inventions. The success of tho Mosgiel Company has - led to tl c esta lisbment of several more woollen factories, one or two of which ac proving remunerative though none has attained the success of the parent institution. Kaiapoi and iloslyn have been followed by Oamaru, Timaru, Ashburton, Wellington, Auckland, and now Mataura. Up to a certain point this competition was highly desira le and an unmixed benefit, but we venture to think that there are more woollen mills established than the Colony can possibly support, and that the public interest will eventually suffer from tho excessive ' competition that lias set in. For the time no d<>ubt it is pleasant enough to be able to buy woollens under cost price, but it is not in the end to the advantage of the community for colonial capital to be employed in producing goods in excess of the demand, and to disappear in unprofitable enterprise. We doubt whether the shanholders in the newer factories hay« considered tee advantages which accrue from long experience and magnitude of operations, aud we fear that a good deal of money will be lost before the market is restored t> a healthy condition. The Mosgiel Company is fortunate in having a large reserve to fall back upon during the present crisis. It goes into special lines, where it meets with little or no competition, and has every advantage whicji experience and machinery, good management and capital, long establishment and wide reputo can give. In Victoria we have noticed that overproduction in several industries has led to the extension of inter olonial trade, and in this direction tlie Mosgiel Oomp .ny will probably find a market sufficient to prevent any of its looms standing idle. In South Australia, for instance, there is little or'no local competition for customs duties to protect, whilst the superiority of New Zejlaud woollens over those of Vie oria and New South Wales has been long estab lished.

On our fourth page will be founS a letter ad. dressed by Mr J. Roberts to the Taieri County Council on the subject of county finance, reports of yesterday's meeting of the Land Board, local courts, and other matter. The annual meeting of the National Fire and Marine Insurance Company was held yesterday and was very numerously attended. A considerable amount of discussion took place, which will be found reported elsewhere. The meeting adopted the directors' report aud re-elected the three retiring directors unanimously. A large number of master butchers of Dunedin aud suburbs met last night and resolved, in view of the high price at which cattle have been for some time, to raise the price, of beef. It was resolved on the motion of Mr Donaldson to form a butchers' association, and a committee consisting of Messrs Donaldson, Randall, Maun, Cole, Wright, Kae, and Pearce was appointed to take the preliminary steps.

At the annual meeting of the Otago Institute keld last evening Mr F. R. Chapman was elected president for the enßuing year. The retiring president (Professor Parker) gave an interesting address, in which he touched upon a variety of umbjects. He characterised as paltry the stun annually voted for the publication of the transactions of the New Zealand Institute, and spoke of several matters in which Government assistance is needed in the cause of science. One was the adequate protection of native birds. Some of the ferrets which had been rashly, introduced to keep down the rabbits had been liberated on the western side of Lake Manapouri, where, he said, there arc no rabbits, but large numbers of flightless birds. What waß wanted for developing our fisheries was a marine laboratory, presided over by a competent naturalist who had been trained for this particular work, and furnished with aquaria and breeding grounds, a small steamer for dredging, trawling, &c. Some locality in'the neighbourhood of Wellington would, he thought, be a most suitable place for such an institution;

A four-roamed house at North-Hast Valley, owned and occupied by Mr J. Jamison', was burned down at about 2.30 yesterday morning. The fire originatsd through the explosion of a lamp; and the flames spreading very rapidly Mr and Mrs Jamison and their child had to leave the house in their night-clothes. The building asd contents were insured for £170 in the Phcenix office.

Mr Hugh Gourley..was re-elected mayor of St. Kilda yesterday without opposition. His nominators were Messrs James Daly and William Allen. ' '.'. ' Mr G. 0. Taylor has been elected mayor of Lawrence unopposed, and Mr G. H. Swan has been re-elected mayor of Napier without opposition. The weekly meeting of the trustees of the Benevolent Institution, held yesterday afternoon, was attended by Messrs Rennie (chairman), Hutchison, Calder, Wilson (Caversham). Kirkpatrick, Solomon, Gourley, Carroll, and Hart. Accounts amounting to £113 10s 6d were passed for payment. It was resolved to take into consideration that day fortnight the rules for the conduct of the institution. A number of applications for relief were received and dealt with. The following applications for patents are gazetted:—E. H. Wilson, of Wellington, for improved doorknobs, spindles, and fastenings; R. Clark, of Dunedin, for a leaden nail-head; J. I. Adams, of Amberley, for an improved milkstrainer j J. Holmes, of Waitara, for collision apron to stop breaks or aperture in th* outside of ships' hulk; G. Dixson, of Masterton, for a wire strainer ; H. Hay, of Melbourne, for improvements in draughting-races for stock; J. J. B. Humes, of Cambcrwell, Surrey, for improvements in bidro-carbon engines; J. R. M'Neill, of Walhalla, Victoria, for improvements iv gold-saving mrchines ; J. Mitchell, of Auckland, for a milk and butter cooler; C. Redwood, of Riverland, Marlborough, for an invention for cure of blight on trees; R. D. S. Galbraith, of Auckland, for invention for roasting gold and silver ores; W. Andrews and A. W. Beaven, of Christchurch, for improvements in chaff baggers; J. Wood, of Christchurch, for improvements in collars and harness, and for invention for fastening traces to tugs; A. H. P. Noble, of Christchurch, for electric alarmbox; H. Hughes, of Wellington, for improvements in lubricators.

A satisfactory antidote to so pungent a beverage as spirits of salts seems hard to find. In Melbourne last week a man named John Darley, residing at Collingwood, who for some time had been drinking heavily, drank a quantity of spirits of salts, which he had mistaken for gin. Owing to his inebriated condition he took no notioe, but fell asleep. Some two hours subsequent to this he was in agonies of pain, and told his wife what he had done. She took him to a chemist, who administered chalk as an antidote. No improvement being observed, Dr Magibbon was called in, who prescribed alternate doses of magnesia and olive oil. He m subsequently visited again by the doctor, who found the vomiting was less violent than on the preceding night, and pronounced the case hopeless. The man lingered in agonies for some time, and died fifteen hours after having drunk the spirits. Mr A. J. Burns delivers a lecture in the North Dunedin Presbyterian Church this evening upon "Innovations." Music T»il! be contributed by tiMffofc,

The King of Portugal has very recently passed a week at Buckingham Palace. He has had uu" usual attentions, though tbe Court and the Prince of Wales are away in tho Highlands. A guard of honour attended at tho station on his •leparture, and a cavalry escort saw him through the streets. Of course tho Lord Mayor had him to luncheon, and the King spoke warmly of the ancient friendship of England and Portugal when they, fought together iv the PeninsularHe hoped that it might continue in ir. crease as it had donu throughout the intervening years.

In a small way (says a contemporary) the guests of the mayor of Sydney at the recent Municipal Jubilee have had a» much reason to be afraid of dyspepsia>s tbo banquetted colonials at Homo. The mayor of Auckland, being asked how he was treated whr-.n sojourning in the sister colony of New South Wales, said: "Oh ! very well; I have nothing to complain of. In fact, it is tho other way about. The civic authorities were over-anxious about us. They were always fearful wo did not get enough to eat. I thought otherwise. There was too much to cat. It mattered not what turn you" took, the everlasting chicken and ham always 6tared you in tho face."

A largo balloon, coustructyd in the Imperial manufactory at St. Petersburg for tho purpose of conductiug a series of experiments bearing on the use of balloons for military objects, was despatched recently from St. Petersburg for Croustadt. The upper currents of air were too strong to allow of the aeronauts effecting a descent at Cronstadt, and they were carried on towards Oranienbaum, but tho wind rising they were swept out to sea; and at last the balloon fell into tho sea 10 miles from Cape Karavaldnj in the mi. Ist of a violent storm of wind and rain. The three occupauts of the car would certainly nave been lost had the accident not been sighted by an English vessel. Tho captain at once put about and rescued them from their perilous position, and took them safely to Cronstadt.

It is said that there are at the present time, including the Carlist dynasty, no fewer than nine kings and queens of Spaiu. First, there is the infant King upon the throne, and his mother the Queen Regent; then comes tho ex-Queen Isabella and her husband, King Francis; thirdly, the ex-King Amadeo, brother of the King of Italy; and lastly, the four Carlists—Don Juan 111 and his Queen, Dona Beutrix of Este, the former of whom abdicated a few years ago in favour of his son, Don Carlos, who with his wife, Dona Margaret, makes up the total, An anecJote is told of the ex-King Amadeo, paying a visit to the ex-Queen Isabella in Paris, a few years ago, when Don Carlos was announced, whereupon Amadeo took his leave, observing with a smile: " I don't thinkthree sovereigns of Spain ought to be in one room."

In an article which appeared recently in the Scientific American it was 6tated that while much was being accomplished in long-distance telephony at various parts of the country in America, it had not yet reached a point as to efficiency which might be regarded as wholly satisfactory, nor had it yet proved itself formidable in competition with the telegraph. The article then went on to say that 100 miles or thereabouts seemed to be the paying limit with regard to telephones at present, notwithstanding the fact that a line had -been successfully operated upon between New York and Chicago, a distance'of nearly 1000 miles,-aud several others had been experimented with, each giving more or less satisfaction, according as the conditions under \fhich it was operated were favourable or unfavourable.

The Victorian defence expenditure for the year 1885-6 amounted to £108,318 for maintenance, besides £60,684 for works and buildings.

From the last report of the council of the Woolgrowers' Association of Australasia we learn that strong efforts had been made to open up trade with China, and inquiries were being made with the view of starting a blanket factory in Shanghai. Informatien obtained indicated that there was a good opening for starting factorieiin China in the immediate future. The cost of erecting a blanket factory and providing machinery was estimated at £5000, and it was expected that a portion of the capital required would be got in China. As showing the trade done, it is stated that 35,000 pairs of blankets were imported into Hongkong and 4369 into Shanghai in the year, while miscellaneous goods amounted to £785,631. Inquiries had .also been made respecting the prospects of starting woollen factories in Japan. The result had been of such a nature that the council drafted a circular of a proposed company with a nominal capital of £100,000 in £1 shares, the sum of £15,000 being all that wai required to make a start. The Japanese are prepared to take 30 per cent, on the whole capital, and otherwise showed their firm belief in the proposed company as a commercial success. The scheme of the council, however, had not met with a very hearty response, as only 2100 shares had been applied for, and the council express a strong hope " that this grand opportunity will not be allowed to lapse for want of a few thousand pounds being subscribed, as they consider that this is the first practical step for opening up trade with the teeming millions in China in the future."

Wo have received a copy of the "Daphne" waltz, by C. W. Hawthorne, of Wellington. Though there is little originality about it, the composer is entitled to the credit of producing a very tuneful waltz, which will always be acceptable to dancers. The main theme is not unlike the favourite " Venetia" waltz, and the second movement is especially pretty.

" The Bigamist" was repeated at the Princess Theatre last night, the clever acting of Miss Wade, Mr Alleyne, and Mr Rodney being, as before, the most enjoyable features, of the performance. To-night Mr Mallaby's benefit takes' place, when an attractive special programme will be presented. In addition to the items previously mentioned, Miss Wade will recite a piece presented to her prior to her departure from England by that veteran actress Mrs Sterling. '

About 1800. people, including the Governor and suite, were present at the opening of the now theatre in Wellington last night. "The Silver King " was played by Messrs MacMahon and Leitch's company, and both of the managers were called before the curtain to deliver ad dresses. The architect also received a small ovation, and the proceedings altogether passed off most successfully. The new theatre is pronounced to be one of the most handsome in the colonies. !

Preparations for the V.M.C.A. conversazione in the Choral Hall next week are progressing. An address will be delivered at the opening on Tuesday next by the Rev. Dr Stuart.

The service of song " Given in Charge was presented in St. Matthew's schoolroom last evening, when about 100 voices formed the chorus. Misses Dallas, Flanagan, Austin, Lilly, and Twiname, and Mr Wathen and Mr D. Low were the soloists; and the readings were ably given by Mr A. Barrett. Miss Bruster presided at the pianoforte and Mr Clulee at the organ, Mr T. West officiating as conductor. The room was tastefully decorated, and the entertainment was in aid of the school picnic fund. A .hearty vote of thanks was passed to the performers.

MrJ. W. Dodge has arrived in Dunedin to prepare for the opening of Mr Wybert Reeve's Comedy Company at the Princess Theatre on Wednesday next. The first piece presented will be an adaptation, by Mr Comyns Carr, of the late HughConway's novel "Dark Days." The season will extend over a month.