THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 29

THE WEEK.

" Nunquam aliud natura, »Hud lapieutia dlxlt." — Juvxkm. " Good nature and good sense must ever join." — Fun,

I We said last week that few of the politicalspeeches cow falling thick Coinwon'Sense open u3 were worthy the in Politics, labour of criticisoa. That was quite true, but the few still remain, and among them is undoubtedly j that of Mr J. G. Wilson, the member for Ofaki, Mf Wilson is one of the quiet men of the House. Ho has continuously held a seat for some 15 or 18 years. His voice is not often heard, and it is never heard in wrangles of any soit; but when ho does speak he speaks eou/id common sense, and the very moderation which is the habit of bis mental composition gives weight to what he has to say. In a recent speech at Sandon he travelled ovtr a wide expanse of political ground, and invested every topio with an ! interest that belongs cot so much to originality or turn of phrase as to honest thought and plain common sense Mr Wilaon travelled lightly ever tbe past life of the Government, and reminded his hearers of what is now so completely for- [ gotten, that one by one schemes have bean brought forwurd which credulous people were led to believe were going to work wonders, bat the silent failure of which for the particular purpose in view has passed nnuotitjed. Five years ago it was tho change to a land I arjd iacome tax that w£s to produce the beneficent results. Mr Wilson does not condemn the change ; he merely points out that tbe expectations founded en it were delusive and absurd. "Mr Ballance," he sayp, "was r very sanguine maso, and he fully believed that the chaDge would work wonders. It was to make such a difference that employment would be got with ease by everyone. Had he lived to see the result he would have ncted the fact that at the present time, notwithstanding the great change he supposed he had made, it had not been a factor in causing more employment, but rather the reverse, and that after it had been amended a few times by bis successor it was very like the old act, saving that improvements were not taxed " — an amendment, we may here add, which was renlly the work of tho Opposition, then a tolerably strong, body. Very sensibly and pertinently Mr Wilson asks: "Are people not realising that-, however taking a policy may be, the main factor after all is success in man himseK— that for all the- charges in taxation, for all the cooperative work and labour lnwa, we have the same old x difficulties to contend with, and , probably a greater number of men out of work than ever before, with wages, if anything, lower 1 " We agree with Mr Wilson that these truths are being recognised, but the recognition is far from complete yet. Of MrMKeczioV lacd administration Mr Wilson speaks in fair, and even appreciative terms. But it ia evident he has small faith in

the industrious research of tbe Minister, and •ome of hie predecessors in office to discover new and fancy forma of settlement. " I have always been," he says,^" a believer in the freehold form of tenure, which I am sure Ib the only abidirg form of tenure we are likely to have; but while believing this, I haven't the smallest objection to any tenure which will in the meantime tempt people to occupy our lands, as sooner or later they will have their freehold, and the more leaseholders there are tbe sooner that time will come." As Mr Wilaon, besides tuirjg one of the most moderate men in the House, is al*o one of the few who really understand fiaance, hio opinion of the banking question ia worth noting. Mr Ward's action in throwing away the firfct two millions is condemned in the most unsparing terms : - " Had he not been Treasurer," Mr Wilson says, " we should not have had the Bank of New Zealand on oar shoulders at thu present time, finding money for it to replace that squandered by the previous mismanagement." Bat even after Mr Ward had committed hiß first gigantic .blander, Mr Wilson thinks the banking legislation should have gone no further. "Had we not come to the rescue there would have been great losses uc question ably, and that we should have had bad times for a while is certain. But we should have touched bottom, and sound banking would have been the result." This was the heroic course, bat we cannot wonder that the House was not prepared for it. The establishment of the loc^l bodies' sinking fund and the ultimate seizure of it are explained by Mr Wilaon with great cU-arr.ess. No one, after reading tbe his'r-rj- of rhe fund at bis bauds, could by. led away by the skilful attempts of Miuiaterd to mix tbis fund up with the general &inkir<g f ands of the colony.

Doctor Parker, of thejOtago Univem'y, has ju»t re-printed a short article Master h e contributed to Natural And Pupil. Science on the lato Professor Huxley. The article is written from the " point of view of a disciple " — for Dr Parker held for some years the important position of demonstratorto Professor Huxley. Dr Parker's tribute to bis old ruasttr is perfeot in its way ; he neither adulates nor depreciates, nor even pretends to adjust the balaoce nicely, but writes in a spirit of profound respect and admiration for one who was at once a great scientist and had a remarkably strong individuality of his own. The pupil admits that the master was not a great biological investigator — that is to say, be made no great original discoveries of his own ; he was by no means a biologist in the sense in which Darwin was a naturalist. Modern biology, he thinks, owes a much larger debt to Huxloy as a teacher than as an investigator. That is no doubt very true, but, as Dr Parker fully admits, there have been very few teachers like hire. Speaking of Huxley's ordinary lectures, Dr Parker says : — " They were like his writings, luminously clear, without the faintest disposition to descend to the level of his audience ; eloquent, but with no trace of the empty rhetoric which often does duty for that quality ; full of a high seriousness, bat with no suspicion of pedantry ; lightened by occasional epigrams or flashes of caustic humour, but with none of tbe small jocularity in which it is such a temptation to a lecturer to indulge. He was an admirable draughtsman, and bis blackboard illustrations were always a great feature in his lectures, especially when, to show the relation between two animal types, he would, by a few rapid strokes and smudges, evolve the one into the other before our eyes." This is the description of a born teacher of students. But Huxley was something more: he was a born teacher of men. He could make science interesting to those who were not scientifically inclined, ano this by means of a literary style which was itself sufficient to render him eminent in any age. It is indeed rare for a scientist of such attainments to be at the same time gifted with so many other qualities — stylp, humour, imagination, severe simplicity, logic, and keen appreciation of all that was beautiful ia domains far outside his own particular calling. The crushing common sense which was so distinguishing a feature in Huxley's mental composition is very rarely associated with so much poetic elevation and fine discrimination as he constantly revealed. Dr P«rker gives us some amusing aud characteristics instances of the style and manner of the man. "He seemed to have a real affection for certain of the specimens illustrating his lectures, and would handle them in a peculiarly loving manner. When he was lecturing on man, for instauce, he would sometimes throw his arm over the skeleton baside him and take its band, as if its silent companionship W6io an inspiration." This story, which Dr Pftrke-r tells, is new to us, and very characteristic of Haxley : — " On one occasion he was describing the heart, and in due course came to tbe mitral valve. 'Tbis valve,' said he, 'is so ceiled from a supposed resemblance to a bishop's mit.re. You know the thirjg I mean — a sort of cross between a fool's cap and a crown.' " On another occasion, at a meeting of examiners, &oma one mentioned that students experienced a difficulty in remembering on which side of the heart the mitral valve lay. Huxley remarked that when " ha was a student he always remembered by saying to himself ' a bishop is never in ths right.'" The human element in Huxley was very strong, but the eesential humour of the man often led him to exaggerations after the faahion of Mr Boythorn in " Bleak House." Oa one occasion he said to Dr Parker's father : " You're a Christian ; I'm a pagan. You say, € Love your enemies'; I say, • Love your friends and bate your enemies,' and Ido hate them." There was little in all this beyond the fact that he was impatient with bores, prigp, and stupid persons. Let us say that it is no small advantage to the Otago University that among its professors it should number the friend and pupil of so great a leacher.

The report of Judge Ward (as Royal Commissioner) on the ABhburo Ashbura Hall case is pretty much what Hall. it was expected to be — what indeed we some time sgo haearded a prediction it would be. The licensees of the asylum are found blameworthy, insofar as the unfortunate patient Macalister was on the night of his arrival locked up in a room where he had tho means of doing himself an injury and didn't. He

was also placed in charge of an inexperienced attendant (oontrary to the understanding with his relatives), who, however, is admitted to have been kind and attentive to him. The said attendant, Gillespie, was guilty of " gross carelessness " in leaving a knife in his pocket where the garment would be for a few minutes within reach of a suicidal patient. Tbe head attendant, Campbell, was to blame for not looking sharper after Gillespie. There should have been a telephone attached to tha establishment (in the absence of a resident medical officei) and also a night attendant. ■ The only approach to unkind treatment of the patient consisted in the proposal to include him in a photographio group, and obviously this may at once be distuieied as a very small matter, in which no harm whatever was either intended or committed. The indictment, it will be seen, \b by no means a heavy one, By far the most serious part of it— the only really serious part of it, indeed — is the oarole3sness of the attendant Id the matter of the knife, and that of course reflects with equal seriousness upon Mr Hume for employing an inexperienced man, the more especially as be was being paid for an experienced one. It is questionable, how* ever, whether any amount of experience would have averted the .catastrophe. It is by no meaos the inexperienced ship captains who wreck- their vessels, and it very frequently is quite the other way about. Experiecce couuts for a great deal, but it is by no means a safeguard against a momentary lapse into carelessness. The fact that bo fcuch accident has before occurred aY Ashbarn H?ll goes to show that the patients are generally looked after with tolerable vigilanca. We should say^that the chief fault to be found with the conduct of this asylum as revealed by the inquiry is that there was a tendency to parsimony in the management. This was to be expected, and of comae guarded against, in an establishment carried on for profit, and in that view the recent inquiry was timely enough. The licensees will no doabt be on tboir guard in this matter in future. We really cannot see much in Mr Commissioner Ward's contention that the license for Ashburn Hall baa all along been invalid in consequence of both the licensees not residing in the establishment, and Inspector MacGregor seems to us to have pointed out the weak spot in Mr Ward's reasoning, or perhaps we should say iv his citations from tbe act itself. Section 80 requires that the keeper of the asylum shall r«side in tbe house, or that the medical offioer shall visit it three times a week. Mr Ward turns the " or " into " and," which of course gives the section a different meaning. For all we know to the contrary, " or " may in law mean " and," but whether or no the breach of the law is a mare technicality. There were twq keepers— namely, Mr Hume and Dr Alexander. Mr Hume resided in the building and Dr Alexander visited it. That may not have been technical, bat it certainly was reasonable and practical compliance with the law. As we have said, there is enongh in the inquiry to impel the licensees to alter their methods a little and the inspector to sharpen somewhat bis observation. But there is nothing whatE ver to destroy general confidence iv the institution itself.

Therie is just one other point that may be worthy of notice in connection with the report on Ashburn Hall. Mr Ward seems to think that an establishment of the kind might be run by the Government. " The profits of the liconsees of Ash bum Hall," he says,' " appear to be considerable, and it is difficult to see why an establishment of this class should not exist under Government control for the benefit of mentally dlseasod persons whose relations desire greater privacy and more comfort for them than the present public asylums afford, and who are able and" willing to pay accordingly." There is no reason why the Government should not have such an establishment, and as a matter of fact a public and private asylum is combined at Morningaide, near Edinburgh. The matter is one purely of expediency. But it would be a mistake to suppose that all the evils and dangers of a private asylum would be removed once it was owned and managed by the Government The great danger to a private asylum ia that it is run for profit, and that the inmates can neither leave nor effectually complain when the profit to the owners inns counter to the comfort and happiness of their lives. But under Government management a new danger would arise in the temptation to overcrowd. It is notorious that the public asylum.3 are now, and have been for many years, overcrowded. What more natural than that congestion should at acute periods be relieved by drawing off patients to the roomier private establishment? It is well to remember, too, that inquiries are not unkaowu in public establishments, and that they do not always stand tbe ordeal as well as Ashburn Hall has dove.

It is rather curious thafc while the Government is talkirjg vaguely, through the Hon. Mr Larnach and others, of initiating a scheme of water conservation for the goldtields,works which have already been established at great cost should b« either suffered to fall into neglect or allowed to operate in a very tentative and unsatisfactory way. The Mount; Ida water race is a case in point. It was constructed, if we remember, more than 20 years ago, and the management has been a source of dissatisfaction to the miners ever eince. Formerly the race was under a trust composed for the most part of Government and local officials, but the spirit of redtapeism was naturally strong in a body so constituted, and the niggardliness of successive Governments in dealing with the race prevented fall benefit from being obtained from it. The trust was then dissolved, and the management entrusted to a Government nominee selected from Mr Seddon's own • neighbourhood, but the complaints are now louder than ever. A meeting of the Mount Ida Mining Association was held the other day, at which it was resolved to request the Government to appoint a commission of local miners to report upon the condition of the race and to make suggestions for its f afcure management. The resolution partook^somewhat of the nature of a want of confidence in the Miniog department and .its inspectors, but a good deal may be said in favour of it for all that. We should Bay that the proper body to manage

the race would be the county council, which is fairly representative of the miniDg interest, Under present oiroumstaaceß thafc body would probably object to being hardened with ths race, for it in not a profitable pro« perty. Bat if the Government ia prepared to spend money oa other works which can soarcoly be expeoted to bo directly profitable, it might easily devote something to working tha Mount Ida race to its full capaoity, and placing its management on a footing satisfactory to the mining community.

This roocnt cabled news from the Transvaal reads rather portentously, bat we oannot sea that the pnblic eslim&te of tho position need be very much altered. The exact nature of the revelations made by the ciphers found in the note books of the accused we do not know, but it seems to be all covered by the already known fact that a conspiracy was bfloat, and that some of the officers of the Chartered Company were privy to ifcT^That Mr Rhodes had private ambitions to serveapart from such as could be gratified by the Crown— we do got believe. ' There ia no evi< decce to support it except such as cornea from a very suspicions quarter — from President Krnger ; and the whole previous career of Mr Rbodes, his actions and his expressed opinions, aro powerful arguments on th« other Bids. Had tbe conspiracy been »uc« cessful, the- probability is that the promoter* would have handed the territory over to th« Chartered Company, so that the two States might be welded into one, with Johannesbarg as the capital. There was nothing in the world to prevent this consummation, for successful revolutionists can settle tbe affairs of a country as they choose. And of course the consummation would have been by ao means a bad one for British interests and for South African tiff Airs generally. We are here assuming that the revolution bad been initiated and cairied out by ths Oatlanders themselves. What constitutes the evil feature is that officers of the Chartered Company should have meddled with the affair at all. Their part should only haves commenced when the uprising was over.

It is a somewhat curious fact that the very newest and wildsnt territory taken under ths protection of the British Crown — Matabele« land— should have an antiquarian interest as great as, if not greater than, any portion oi her Majesty's dominions. Tradition hat long pointed to this portion of South Africa (there are claims for Arabia and India as well) as tha Biblical land of Ophir, whence Solomon procured his gold, sandal wood, and* precious stones. To what extent tradition is right no one can nay with any degree of certainly, though it is not impossible that even on this obscure subject light may in the course, of time be thrown. AMr F. G. Shaw recently delivered a lecture before the Institute /of Mining Engineers at ShtrtUld, in which he gave some interesting particulars of some workings which had beon discovered in that country. One excavation was 1000 ft in length, 500 ft wide, and 200 ft deep, and in the bottom a shaft had been sunk which cut four auriferous reefs, said to bo of a payablt nature. The implements used appear te have been of the rudest character, the qutrta having been chipped off with hard pointed stones. Too workings appeared to Me Shaw to have been deserted when the .water began to come 'in. The quantity of gold in the reefs is estimated by Mr Shaw to be about 7dwt to the ton only, which would induce one to think that the ancient srorkere were disappointed with the poverty of the atoae rather than daunted with, the difficulties of the woik Mr Shaw believes the gold-bear-ing area to be about half the size of England. After sinking 62ft he believes that the gold would average about loz to the ton. Before the recent outbreak 1800 miles of reefs had been pegged out. Clearly this is not a country to be abandoned because some of the officers of the Chartered Company have recently committed a grievous mistake.

We shall take a subsequent opportunity of dealing at length with tbe proceedings o? the Intercolonial Fruit Conference which was opened at Wellington on Monday, but we desire to associate onrseives at once with the Premier in welcoming the Visiting delegates and recognising the practical benefit which the deliberations of theconferenca arc calculated to bestow upon tbe colony. There can be no question that New Zealand is deplorably backward in respect to th'o fruit industry, though it is doubtless true, as the Premier observed in his opening address, that our fruit-growers have had exceptional -difficulties to contend against — "principally owing to the con figuration of the country causing considerable difficulties 'in obtaining a market for their prodnct*. The Government ' had practically adopted the Zone system for the carriage of fruit, and it had proved very beneficial to the fruit-growers. 1 ' As the other colonies are, for the moat part, more advanced than New Zealand in the matter of fiuit growing, tbe information and counsel of the visiting delegates ought to bg of no small service to growers in tbis coloay, and we are glad to see that the Agricultural department is manifesting an active interest n the conference.

A six-rooraed house at Wingatui, belonging to Joseph Brown, wa3 totally destroyed by Bre at 215 o'clock on Tuesd*y morning. The pro« perty was insured in the National office for" £200, which loss to the owner will be about £100 over and above the insurance. The fire was accidentally caused by a fire in the bedroom. ' The number of applications for sections it tbe Ardgovran estate is likely to constitute i record for the colony, as during the last day oi two the Lands Office at o»maru has been be* sieged by applicants. Over. 1500 application fonus have been issued. The ballot tikes place at o*uwu On Thursday, and will probably extend otcu fc-*o dajs. The Oamaru Mail saya it is stated that several of tbe Teaneraki selectors whote sections are being forfeited by tbo Land Board because they have failed, to pay their rent are applying for .sections on Ardgowan. It is understood • their applications will be rejected. The Right Rev. Dr Verdon, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Dunedio, returned from tha north on Tuesday. He was.met and welcomed at the railway station by the Very Rev. Father Lynch and the Rev. Father Marphy and tha prefect irnd members of the Confraternity W

the Holy Family. Bishop Verdon had a very enthn'siastio aßd cordial welcome at Oamaru, where quite a number of addresses uero presented to him, and it was there he preached his ■first sermon as^ishop of the diocese. The Very • Rev. Father M*ck^y accompanied the tisbop to PonfidJD, , Mr James AUen, M.H.R. for Bruce, addrf»Bed übont 200 of his constituents in the Good Templars' Ball, Waitalruna, on Monday >«veßiug, Mr W. Livingston, a member ti the County CooncS, being in the Tihair. Mr Allen, who was very -cordially received, Bpoke for about an hour, touching upon party government (which he upheld), the finances of the country, .laud legislation And land settlement, &c. His -address -was lhteeed ••• to moot attentively and the applause at times was most hearty and prolonged. On the >rootion of Mr Robert Craig, seconded by Mr R. Ford, a hearty vote of l hanks to and continued confidence in "Mr Allen was carried by acclamation. At the Intercolonial Fruit Conference held Iwt week, Mr Carrie, an orchard'stin the Auckland diitrict, said he had obtained better .net prices in London for apples than he had received for the Bame kind of fruit sold in Auckland and Wellington. The returns from London, besides being better Chan tho«e from ' Wellington and Auckland, had also reached him tooner th*n those from North Island

jnarkets. Tbe Brunner News reports the discovery by ' Xx George Dy«r of 'two hot sprmga in the ■ 1 ptifa Gorge, about a mile up tbe tHira river. Tha Oasoata Mail states th*t it is i»tenaefi ' -to erect a brass -memorial tablet to the Rev. J, .Botfaam, in St. Auguitioe's Church. Tbß neceFSwy funds will be railed by » shilling subscription' list. . The Oamaru Mail 3ias reason to believe that" Ihe report of the L*nd Purcbaie Board will be in favour of the acquisition under the Land for Settlements Act of fche Tokorahi estate. The Timaru Herald is informed that a I mysterious staok fire hns just occurred at' 1 Bourndale (Makikihi), the property of the Otago and Southland Investment Company, j The police, the insurance company's manager, I and the farm manager have made every effort , to trace it without result. The ground, which I is 'quite sodden owing to tbe late rains aDcl jhowed the tracks of a dog, discloses no foot- I jsark of a human being. A possible solution j of tbe mystt i •■ that stackers must have I dropped cow <> hf»« in stacking and th*t rats have lgmied thuiu. The clucks were insured with tbe Alliance Assurance Company.