THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1897.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10900, 6 September 1897, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1897.

The Undesirable Immigrants Bill contemplated among other things the j prevention of importing labour under contract, but the Premier has shown that the proposed legislation was undesirj able, as he has, we are assured, engaged a police expert in London, and also two detectives for the purpose of reorganising the police force of the colony. The appointment of a commissioner may be ■ a very good one for anything we know to the contrary. Ex-inspector Tusbridge has had a lengthened and successful career at Scotland Yard, but the policy of appointing a man who has retired.on a pension is open to question, andj indeed, going outside the colony at all for such an officer is a glaring contradiction between the professions of the Government and their supporters and their performances in the matter of'supporting local industries and encouraging local talent. There ■is probably no department of the public service in which the public have a keener interest than in. the Police department, and there is no department which has been subjected to more scathing criticism of late years. Much of this criticism has been unfair, for it has proceeded from quarters where dissatisfaction has been felt because the police declined to become active abettors of the advanced prohibitionists. Much has also been made of alleged discontent, and disorganisation in the force itself, but this has been greatly exaggerated. It is true that the scheme of promotion has been uncertain and unintelligible in its operation and that political influence has added to the confusion from this, source, but on the whole the police of the colony have been fairly well treated, and their internal discontent has never on any occasion menaced discipline or impeded the efficient discharge of duty. A great deal is expected of a policeman nowadays, and especially in outlying districts where men are called upon to fill multifarious positions. It is on record that one policeman has been gazetted to no fewer than 15 public positions, and under such circumstances the local constable becomes ! a person of some consideration, and not | unfrequently acquires property and eventually a moderate competency. It , is, therefore, obvious that the recruit- j ing of the force is a matter of serious ! consideration, and a number of methods ) have been tried in the colony. The , latest—that of employing men who : have passed through the defence ; force—has not been found so successful as was anticipated, because the i fountain head was polluted by political ' influence. The system had everything \ to recommend it if it had been simply let alone. Young, active, intelligent, and well set up men were filtered into j the police, and had all the qualifi- j cations necessary for good police j ofScers ; but it was unfortunately found : that friends and relatives of persons in ■ power had been enlißted, and that their ; character was not always such as to ' justify their removal to the police force. ; Hence the recent necessity for going outside for recruits, and hence no t doubt a new source of dissatisfac- , tion. Everything in the new appoint- : ment depends on the personal character of the new commissioner. If he is able to resist the influence of poli- ; ticians he may make the police efficient ! and' contented even in the eyes of; captious critics almost without an j effort; if he is a weak man and is con-!

tent to remain under the influence that has apparently procured for him his appointment he need expect no bed of rcses. The appointment is very much of an experiment. An officer trained for all a long life in Home methods may seek to enforce them in the colony, where they would probably be found extremely unsuitable, or he may have a theory of his own which might end disastrously. Hence it would hare been more reasonable to expect that the .desired object would have been gained by sending Home a smart officer to observe the conditions and systems there with carte hlcnclie to modify them on his return. Mr SedbojST has thought otherwise, and in the exercise of that plenary power which he has assumed, apparently without dispute, has committed the colony to a fixed appointment for a term of years, and at a large salary. As to tho engagement of two detectives in 'London, who will probably have to unlearn alniosb all they knowbefore they become the slightest bit of use in the colony, very little can be said in approval. There are probably hundreds. of men now in the public service who are as well qualified for the position as the most astute graduate of Scotland Yard. The greatest drawback that the police service has is that it is not a sufficiently desirable one to enter. The uncomplaining and inobtrusive man may pass his whole life in the obscurity of a third-class coiistableship, while his more^energetic and talkative comrade 1 who Icnows a Minister or a member of Parliament quickly finds himself in charge of a lucrative country station. To go outside the force for men to fill the positions given to the two men at Home by Mr Seddox is not only a reflection on the force, but an addition to the difficulty which the Premier himself has recognised in the blocking of promotion. The.same dif- " faculty does not exist with respect to the new commifesioner, who will have an opportunity, if he has the requisite force of character, of effecting real reforms which have been recognised as necessary. 'A-better classification scheme is indispensable, and this was promised in 1895 by Mr Seddos" when the Estimates were being considered. It must contain provision for superannuation and retirement and for promotions, it is probable that under the new arrangement- the force will lose something of that quasi-milit3.vj character imparted to it by Lieutenantcolonel Hume, who, it must be confessed, has been' more successful in administering, the prisons than in controlling the police. Such a result in perhaps not undesir-" able. A police officer is necessarily more concerned with civil than with military matters, and has to lose the habit o£ thinking as a soldier. The new commissioner' should haye an exceedingly agreeable task before him. Notwithstanding adverse influences the police of New Zealand are a fine body of men, animated with v a high sense of.duty, and physically and mentally qualified to carry it out. The position is now made one to command respect, and it goes without saying that it is necessary that it should be so seeing that the lives and property, and sometimes the character? of the public are committed to their?; custody. Therefore, we ..hope, though-with- some fore-r boding, that the new;' appointment of a head will bring about that stability ; and uniformity which will attract and retain the best men.

A collision occurred on the railway line at Burkes on Saturday morning, the train which left town at 7 5 and the train which left Eorb (Jjbalraers at the same time coming into blight contact on the aiding at the Burkes station. The train from Dunedin arrived first at the crossing place, and was shunting on to the siding. ! The man in charge had opened the points at ; the lower junction of the siding in order that, if ; necessary, the train might enter ota to the main j line and then back ou to the straight rails at i the upper (or town) end of the siding. The ! idea of opening the paints &nd back shunting is ; to giva accommodation should the train which takes the siding b8 too long to find room on tha , side line. What happened on Saturday was ; that these lower points were opened, and the j man in charge—ordinarily one of the most reliable officers in the service—forgot to close them again, wherefore the up-irain slid into the ; siding and ran into ths stationary train. The impact was comparatively slight, as the traiu from the Port had stopped at the semaphore and was merely crawling in to the station; but, light as the blow was, it sufficed to damage the cowcatcher and disfigure the frontispiece oE the , moving engine. No one, however, sustained the least injury. There happened to ba another engine handy, and this was used to take the train to Pore after a short detention. The uptrj.in passengers were delayed nearly, an hoar, causing a lo3s of time to the workmen who were on board. ■ At this week's meeting of the City Council, Cr Denniston will move—" That this council resolves that the necessary steps be taken to approach the Minister foe Railways for the purpose of urging upon the Government the pressing necessity there exists for the erection of the new railway station at Danedin, and the j danger, discomfort, and inconvenience entailed upon the public in the present condition of affairs." The following motion stands in'the name of Cr Solomon—" That it be an instruction to the Public Works Committee to take into consideration the question of urinal accommodation at the various placea of public enter- j tainment, and generally throughout the city, and report to nest meeting of the council—(l) As to tha localities in which the committee thinks urinals should be erected, and the size ; and capacity of same.; (2) the estimated cost." A branch of the Otago Central Railway League has, as the re3ult of a public meeting, been formed at Clyde. In support of & reso- ' lution urging the immediate prosecution of the line, Dr Hyde is reported by the local paper to • have said there were 21 dredging enterprises • within seven miles of Alexandra, the capital of which had been duly subscribed. The Moa, Moljnenx Hydraulic, Eureka No. 1, Eureka ] No. 2, Perseverance No. 1, Perseverance No. 2, j Clyde, Chicago, Earnscleugh, Ngapara, Vie- I toria, and Hanuherikia dredges were now at ■ work on the Moljiiens, and the Manorburu, ■ Turakina, acd Lion Rock dredges were either ; constructed or in course of construction on the Mstnuherikia, while the Golden Beach, Golden Point, Bonanza, and Chatto Creek Companies j had just baen iloated. Besides these there were ; 19 other claims taken up within a ten-mile ' radius of Alexandra. The annual rental paid by , the claims (40, averaging 40 acres each), at j 10s per acre, amounted to £800. The capital ■ of the 20 dredges actually subscribed amounted ' to £30,000. The number of men given employ- ' menfc to by each dredge (in working, supplying coal, &c.) was 10, making » total for tha 20 dredges of 200. Supposing each of these represented on an average four men, women, and children, it would appear that nearly 1000 per- , eons are depending on dredging tor a livelihood. The 21 dredges now in actual work, or about to work within seven miles of Alexandra, will coat at least £2000 each to run for one year. This made £40,000 per year spent by the dredges already constructed, quite apart from the cost of construction. Dc Hyde estimated that the dredges for a year paab had famished the people of Dunedin with £50,000 for the supply of dredge material. Me A. H. Burton haR retired from the contest for the representation of High Ward in the City Council.

The Southland Times says that it is now in a positrOQ to state authoritatively that Mr Cowan and his supporters will nob contest the validity of his opponsnt'B return before the Election Petition Court. After due conaideration it has been deemed preferable to leave the question to the decision of Parliament. Among preventable diseases typhoid fever still has an undesirable prominence in this country. In Wanganni, at present, there is aome excitement because of the prevalencs of this disease, and there has been some newspaper correspondence on the subject. The Herald states editorially that the number of cases of typhoid fever admitted to the hospitals oE the colony during 1896 was s£o, and the deaths resulting therefrom nurobersd 48. .At the Auckland Hospital there were 164- cases and 16 deaths ; Wellington, 85 cases and 1 death ; Christchurch, 62 cases and 6 deaths ; Dunedic, 5 ca3es and 2 deaths. Of the towns next in order, Napier had 33 cases and 5 deaths ; Gisborne, 43 cases aurt,s deaths; Thames, 29 cases and 5 deaths; Waipukurau, 14 cases and 1 death; Coromandel, 14 oases and 2 deaths ; Timaru, 12 cases ; Now Plymouth, 11 cases; Hamilton, 11 cases and 1 death ; Waimate, 11 cases ; Palmerston North, 9 casesand 3 deaths; Asaburton; 6 casea and 1 death; Nelson, 5 cases; Masterton, 4 cases; Wanganui, 2 cases ; Greytowa, 2 cases ; Invorcargill, 2 cases ; Clyde, 2 cases ; Oamaru, 1 case and 1 deat!i>; Queanstown, 1 c»se and 1 death; Arrowtown, 1 case. A "temple" near Chatham that has just been put up to auction and bought in because nobody would give more than £5500 for it (saya the Daily News) is a very curious monument of craz}' fanaticism. 16 was bagun many years ago by the " Jezreelites," the followers of a man named White, who called himself Jezreel, and proposed to bring together up there on the (op of Chatham Hill the 144,000 of the lost tribes of Israel. This temple was intended to take in 144 families-of them, and it stands there to this day a vast brick arid mortar shell of 124 ft square. It is said to have cost £40,000, but never came -within £30,000 of completion. It is generally believed that the money was found by-a Mrs Cans, who was at one time part owner of Tufcel Park, &nd who sold out her interest in the estate and threw herself into "JezreelV movement. His followers were taught tbat he wouldn't die, or at any rate till the tribes had been got together. He did die, however, and nine or ten years ago his wife, "Queen Esther," died too. l for many years the basement of the unfinished temple was used as a printing office, from which enormous quantities of Jezreelitish literature have been poured out. . ' ; There was a large attendance at.the Princess Theatre on Saturday afternoon.on the occasion of a kinem&tojrapbic exhibition being given for the benefit of children. In the evening the theatre was also well patronised, and the miscellaneous views, as wall as those of the Record Reign procession, were very greatly appreciated, a number of the pictures having to he ohown a second time in order to satisfy the demands of the audience. The various vocal selections which were gi7ea during (he eveuiug were likewise much enjoyed. Miss Essie Jacobs give a pleasing randaring of "Mannelita"(Trotere), and wai also heard to advantage in "The Swallows" (Cowea). Mro J." H. Coombs sang "Kate O'Shane" very nicely, and her subsequent contribution, " What am I, love, ■without theft" (Adams), was even more eDJoyable. Mr James Jago gave with, good effect " Tha death of ,Neison " and " The gallants of Boglaud," the la.tar song being warmly encored. Mr W. F. Yolu;g contributed " Bill, the bosun " (Jade), "The soldiers, of the Queen" (St. Quentin), and ".Out on the deep." The lastmeEtioned selection, which was capitally sung, being given in response to an encore. To-night the kinematographic views are to be exhibited at Oamsru. — — & .