NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1160, 21 February 1874, Page 2

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(From the Daily Times, Feb. 11 to 17 J

Everyone will rejoice that the woman Powell, whose nefarious doings have lately attained such notoriety, has been sent to Gaol for three months for having no lawful means of subsistence. At the same time regret will be generally felt that the law has been unable to punish her more severely, or in fact to punish at all the frightful crimes of which she has been proved guilty. If a foolish, young man in an hour of temptation forges a cheque for five pounds, he is sure to be sent to prison for a year at least — possibly for two years, or even more. Yet tnis wretch, who has been shown to have effected the ruin of both body and soul of women and young girls, gets off with the light sentence we have mentioned. The law under which such a state of things is possible must be grievously at fault, and calls loudly for amendment. It may be found dimcult to frame a law to punish the tempter when her victims are adults, but with girls of tender years the case is entirely different. They, at least, should receive the full protection of the law in this matter, as they do in others. It is a scandal to think that any depraved woman may deliberately entrap and ruin young girls* without the law being able to interfere. And as the settlement^ grows older, and girls grow up in our midst in greater numbers, the evil is likely to grow too, unless checked. Our legislative philanthropists could have no better cause in which to display their energies. Is it too much to expect that Mr Beadshaw will again come forward as the champion of the weak, especially when the need of a reform is so indisputable as it is in the matter under notice ?

One of the few drawbacks to a scheme of immigration is the liability of infectious diseases being introduced by the vessels which convey the immigrants to our ports. If, however, there is a careful inspection of the various vessels by Her Majesty's Emigration Commissioners before leaving Great Britain — if the passenger accommodation is ample, if every provision is made for cleanliness, and if a sufficient supply of wholesome food is placed at the disposal of the _ passengers, the risk of introducing disease may be reduced to a minimum. Yesterday the Mongol arrived at Port Chalmers, and although, her passengers are upon the whole in a healthy state, the report of her surgeon shows that there has been a great deal of sickness on board, no less than sixteen deaths having occurred on the passage. The statement of the Mongol's surgeon, moreover, makes it apparent that there was gross neglect _of duty on the part of those in authority who allowed the Mongol to leave Plymouth with scarlet fever on board. It is true that there were no persons actually lying ill with the fever on the day when she sailed ; but who can doubt, after what the surgeon has said on the matter, but that the disease was present, and that the authorities were in full knowledge of that fact when they allowed the steamer to leave. We certainly do not believe that the Agent-General was aware that there was fever on board before the Mongol sailed. Indeed, we feel quite satisfied that had he known what Dr Davidson told the Board of Health yesterday, the Mongol would not have got away from Plymouth until greater precautions had been taken to prevent the outbreak of disease on board. In the interest of our Immigration Scheme, it will be the duty of the General Government to forward Dr Davidson's statement to the proper quarter. Fortunately, the mortality en board the Mongol was not very heavy— but there is no predicting how many deaths might occur in an emigrant vessel leaving Great Britain with the germs of a virulent disease on board,

The report of the reoent meeting of the subscribers of the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum, if perused by the managers of our local institution, may be found to furnish some useful hints. The circumstances of the two institutions however are somewhat different, so that comparisons upon every point would not he appropriate. In the tirst instance we notice that the Melbourne Asylum receives an annual grant of £7000 from the Government, the subscriptions from the public amounting to only £1761. An additional source of revenue is derived from the sale of articles made and work done by the inmates. Upwards of £1000 was obtained in this way during the past year. The ability of the Melbourne Asylum to raise this fund arises from the fact that there is a considerable number of adults in the Institution. In the Dunedin Asylum, on the other hand, the inmates are for the most part children of tender years, and employment is found for the few adults who are fit for work of any kind in the garden and about the building. One question wqb discussed at th©

meeting in Melbourne, which it would be worth the while of the Dunedin Committee to take into their serious consideration. That was the advisability of allowing all legacies, bequests, and special gifts to accumulate until a handsome endowment fund had been established. A proposal that this should be done until a sum of £10,000 had been realised met with the unanimous approval of the meeting, the Chairman, Sir Redmond Barry, strongly advocating that Buch a course should be taken. It appears to us that one undoubted advantage which would arise from the adoption of this plan would be that a knowledge of the existence of such a fund would induce persons to bequeath money or hand over donations, for the permanent benefit of the institution, who would not take such action if they thought that their money would simply be absorbed in the revenue for the year during which the gift was made. The recollection, moreover, that the donor to an endowment fund would have his name permanently associated with that fund would probably lead some wealthy persons to devote a portion of their means in aid of our principal charity. We strongly urge upon the Committee of the Dunedin Benevolent Institution the desirability of endeavouring to establish suoh a fund ; and in considering the question, we would ask them not to look merely at what would have been the amount actually accumulated at the present time had all past special gifts been paid into a fund, but to consider whether considerable sums will not in all probability be obtained from the charitable which will not be given under the present system.

We gather from our Sydney exchanges that the " Earth Closet System" does not seem likely to be adopted by the Corporate authorities of that City, although it had for a time many earnest supporters. From the Herald of the 2nd inst. we learn that on the previous Tuesday a report on the subject was presented to the Municipal Council, that seems to have been decidedly adverse to the adoption of the system by large and populous towns. " This document (sajs the Herald) is the joint production of the City Engineer, the City Surveyor, and the City Health Officer, and the conclusion at which they have arrived will disappoint many of our readers who have not sufficiently distinguished between theory and practice." As far as we can gather, it would seem that the main objections urged by the Corporation Officers are three. The first and second we may summarise as follows :—lst.: — Ist. The difficulty of obtaining a constant and ready supply of suitable earth for the general use of the citizens. 2nd. The difficulty of securing the periodical removal of the contents of closet pans, and their ready disposal without inconvenience to, or objection from, the occupants of houses in which the system might be in foroe. The third objection is thus put and commented upon by the Herald :—": — " It is truly stated that the successful working of the dryearth system depends very largely on the cleanliness and co-operation of the occupants of the premises where it may be used ; and, speaking from observation, the, framers of the report say that in some places where the system is in operation ' by far the greatest majority of the people either neglect the rules laid down for their guidance or act in opposition to them.' This is very much to be regretted, but even in those cases it amounts to little else than allowing things to remain in their normal condition. " The ob j ections as stated will apply with nearly equal force to Dunedin as to Sydney, and we therefore think our City Councillors would do well to possess themselves of a copy of the entire report, and well digest its contents. It would doubtless be of much service at the present time. In respect to the second difficulty (removal of contents of pans) the Herald offers the following amusing comments, which may also point a local moral and adorn a local tale :—": — " The Corporation have already had large experience in the removal of offensive matter from the streets. It seems that a record is kept of every single load of street sweepings, and that the dead cats and dogs are counted to a unit. Thus we are informed that there were removed from the streets and alleys of the city last year 12,711 fowls, 1042 dogs, 3349 cats, 385 goats, and 6652 rats. Perhaps it would be considered irrelevant to inquire where these, defuncts animals were deposited, but a Corporation that could find a suitable plaoe for thorn would not bo likely to be at its wit's end to provide a locality for the contents of dry-earth closets, if upon a full view of t^e case the adoption of that system were considered to be desirable,"

It seems to be possible for water drinkers to bo intemperate as well as those who drink alcoholic liquors. From a Greymouth paper we. learn that a miner has recently be on admitted into the Keefton Hospital '• Buffering from debility caused by excessive drinking of cold water, and exposure,"