Passing NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1355, 17 November 1877, Page 14

Passing NOTES.

, The honourable the Ministers for Lands and Justice have recovered their wonted health— the one from diphtheria and the other from quinzey. No one can have a doubt of the sources of the morbid affections, or suppose that they arose from any other cause . than the . disturbance caused by these intruders in .the Government departmenta. For eight long years, in silence and quietness, corruption has' been- accumulating in the dank and 'dreary cells into! which daylight 1 shone" not, and where the fetid atmosphere, has been unstirred'jby j the.,fresh, > air.of ..heaven. To rush _ from -,the ( pure, atmosphere of the Provinces into the midst of such noxious exhalations, without the ' precaution of disinfectants, was madness ; to stir up the smothered mass of reeking putridity "was next door, to death- It isjpleasant to learn that the mucous lining of the honourable gentlemen's throats has been cleared of the poison germs, and as they are now acclimatised they will in future be enabled with impunity to pursue their investigations amid unwholesome Hawke's Bay records, and the unsavoury- transactions of the Native Department.

Mr Traters in the Assembly cannot dissever." himself from Mr Travers in the Police .Court. The facility with which he can identify himself, with a cause is the result of the training of years; and as whether to prosecute or defend is with a lawyer entirely a matter of feeing, so whether to support or oppose a policy or Government is made dependent on the prospective results to his own individual interests. He is the veritable Jim Crow of the Assembly, and his " wheel about and turn about" have been a' source of amazement and amusement to members. They had never seen anything like this before, and by general consent he is regarded as one who, if by his cleverness he ever gets on the Treasury benches, Kill not be forced from them because of any stupid adherence to policy of principle which may happen to be out. of favour with the House. There- is but one thing that bothers Mr Traviers, : in the Police" Court he could appear to prosecute -to-day and defend tbmerroir^ nhd.nobody would call' in question the,,,prpc6eding. ; . , But. in .Parliament, members,, by , some kind of foolish tradition,,.'are,influenced to look for what is known/ as consistency ; and to 'make the act^ yesterday fit' in with ifchte act of today, <ia Anew sensation u f6r Mr Travers, and appears to tax hiij powers to the utmost, fie has attempted it . though^ like' a man and a lawyer, and even though the result-be not oon^radng, it' shdws him to be entirely capable of being a member of anyi'Miniatry: with any policy, of i any party, .and in any circumstances ;/Snd if at r any .; future time Mr ,:Ti»T^f»: is . found ia . conflict with pruidples,, or' poUcy," , or party once r.^.his,' own, it iq ' circumstances that ' have cha^edjnot'My TraVers.' Indeed there* is butone thing with which theinembflr for, Wellington': City, believes, ittatbeihis^ bounden ; duty, toj^agree, jthatnia Travers. „ .There is; only one person ,that is capable of understanding the true position df affairs, .that ia' ' Traven. There ik only, 'one Capable of framing a public policy, that- is Travers. There is only one able to form a stable Government that is Traters. There is only one able to expound its measures, that is Trayers. Only o^ne capable of .administering the Government, that is Travers. Can we wonder therefore that in sublime indifference to what is passing around, he is satisfied •with his' own consistency, seeing that itis ! Travers to-day, and it was Travers yesterday, i and.; all besides are nothing. , Mr' Travers says he is consistent, and from his standpoint and by his standard he certainly is. " The Canterbury runholders believe in making hay while the sun shines. The exceptional treatment of their interests was generally understood to be part of the bargain which secured their loyalty to Sir Julius Vogel and his successors, and to this unholy compact the Colony is indebted for the abolition of the Provinces. Many have been the efforts made to effect a completion of. the job, and the other sight by a majority. they succeeded in fixing the terms in the Land Bill . They were undeterred by the ominous warning of the Minister of Justice and others, who, though powerless to preveut now, significantly pointed to the House that will come out of the general' election, and to the unlikelihood of the people of the Colony sanctioning a bargain which gives a preference to the Canterbury squatter over all others of the profession in every other part of the Colony. An offer was made for a final adjustment of the question as between Canterbury and the Colony, but the representatives of Canterbury wool were determined to secure what they can while they can, and leave the future to its chances. They may rest assured, however, that the trouble has not attained finality, and that exceptional favours for political services will pass through another ordeal, at the hands of men fresh from the hustings, ( and inspired with desires to review the doings of the past. Never was there such a prospect as is now presented of ending the sullen isolation of the hostile Maoris, and cementing the friendship of the races for ever. Tawhiao, who disdained to condescend to meet men of humbler degree, recognises in the present -Premier a rangatira with ■whom he can confer, and accordingly has invited him to" meet him in the King

country. "Whether it is thus a matter of rank, ■ or of friendship and confidence, the effect ia all the -same, and already orders have been, issued from Kopua to the tribes that own allegiance to the King, summoning them to a grand assembly, and stores of provender are in preparation, and everything that our dark-skinned fellow-countrymen can do will be done to give eclat to the auspicious event. And yet at Wellington intrigue is working to overthrow the only nian^ that can solve the question of, the .native difficulty, and restore » loyal understanding between the races. It ia probable that at the present hour there is not a more important question than this in the' arena of New Zealand politics. The system of bribing hostile tribes must soon cease through the exigencies of the public exchequer, and those familiar with native affairs have always admitted the almost certainty of this being followed by disturbed relations. If Sir George, Grey is, permitted to dissipate this threatening thunder cloud, he will have rendered a service to the Colony that will throw a lustre over his Premiership, and remove the greatest impediment that has hitherto retarded the progress ©f New Zealand,

What a pity it is that those more immediately interested in the growth of wool do not awake to the importance of the attempt now being made by Mr Monkton Synnot, of Melbourne, to open a market for the staple among the hundreds of millions of China. Statistics show the extraordinary rapidity in the increase of the -production of wool, and the, extension of this industry into countries either new to occupation, or in which woolgrowing was almost unknown. Doubtless every year is opening up extensions of the wool-market, but not at all in proportion to the increase of production, and it becomes a serious question what is to become of the enormous increase of the product which a very fewyears willshow. Already the market has the appearance of being glutted, and the withdrawal of 20,000 bales and the holding over for next series of 72,000 bales additional, which occurred at the October sales in London, have somewhat of an ominous aspect. China, , and probably even. .- moire promisingly Japan, present new fields for operation, but only to be entered after time and pains and expense have been bestowedYet Mr Synnot is left to push the experiment alone, and the great plutocracyof , wool stands doggedly by, and hardly re-;, cognises the fact that such an experiment, i« proceeding. < ' •

The mission of the. City Council -in, search . of the Silverstream tributaries, which arejto supply the .cj^ with an in£ creasedTsupplyof water was a curious i one." qm outside, of 'horses; "the QouncHlors' went hunting- for the streams, and:- ili rumour is correct, were only re-> warded, like Moses on Pis^h, with a dis- ' tant-visw-ofthepromißeaj^ndr.. Literally" ajid figuratively Oouncillbhr got 1 faggej, and- whether,by the injudicious mixture of Glenliyet with the watery the Scotch' mist : on the mountains, pr absolute want of knowledge^ to where tHe wateraare^hichi are soelbquentlypraised,andtheir facilities of access so' lucidly explained by Coun-' cillors/ certain it seems to "be .that the Councillors, with their posse of engineers, never founithe streams. And thu is thescheme .over .which there . has been- -so much empreMement, and for which it was urged that tenders should be called^be-. fore the survey was completed. Whether [ the work should be performed before sur- ! vejr may be a moot point;' but there can v I be; little question 'that the engineers i should- at -least know where' the water isC to be found, be able to guide the' Council, to iti before the work is, under-; .taken. This is surely jumping: in the, dark.

A student of the Otago University has moved the Council of that Institution to take steps to save him from being empati-' nelied on the jury. Be finds "that it interferes with his studies, andthis ! isa sufficient reason he thinks for bis exemption. The gods forbid that I should make little of learning, but there are a good many people whose duties are interfered with by service on the jury.Indeed, if all those who Buffer inconvenience, and even loss, were exempt*, there would be considerable difficulty 1 in making a panel. Learning 'is an important, thing, but Bo.is banking, so is business generally ; but if bankers must leave the "sweating-room," and auctioneers their hammers, and shopkeepers their goods and .their customers, I think a' student might for a day or two be separated from his Thucydides or Plato without the world being brought to an untimely end. There is nothing like leather, and the student naturally magnifies his office. The only wonder is that the grave and reverend seniors of the Unijversity Council had not "nous" to see the farce and folly of the. thing.

Mr Fitzgerald wishes to have a small model school, consisting of two rooms, built in connection with the Normal School. It is to be used as a model of a country school, and would doubtless prove of great value in the training of young teachers, but owing to want of funds the Education Board is not at present able to entertain the application.

The Evening Mail, New York, gives a list of 48 fire insurance companies that have suspended in the United Statea during the present year, up to August ; among them are 13 mutual companies,