The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1808.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 33

The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1808.)

THE WEEK.

" Kunquam aliud nature, aiiuii sapientia dixit." —Juvenal. "Good nature and good sense must ever join." —Pop*. : This issue ot tbe Ocago Witness will reach ; the haods of: our readers i Our ProTincial while the Jabiiee celebraKetrospect. tions are in lull swing. That the occasion is one fairly worthy of celebration no one in Otago or ! out of it will be disposed to dsny. It ia true ; that a pariod of 50 years ia an arbitrary period to cboose for celebrating the birfcn of ! a cation, or, indeed, any important event, j bub it is approved by the custom • of all | nations in public and private life throughout ! the Christian world. As an individual likes to pause fcr a moment at particular periods of his life to look back upon his career, no „ does a cation ; and a young nation especially 1 may find food for reflection in casting a backward eye on its existence at some period which all will regard as a well-marked stage ion the national road. And in the case of > Otago, as indeed of all the chief provincsH, j the retrospect ought to be in every sense a I satisfactory one. Fifty years is but an inI ngDificarjt period in the life of a nation, but i tbe first 50 years is a momentous period, for it embraces all tbe helplessness and the dangers of national infancy. It determines whather a nation is to exist or not. New Zealand has safely passed all infantine dangers, and | has fairly entered on the stage of vigorous j adolesceace. No part of if, it is safe to say, betrays more indications of vigorous bealthii ness than Otago. It requires a considerable exercise of the imagination, as the senior ; member for Danedin truly said a day or two ' ago, to conceive that 50 years ago anyone j landing on the spot where the city of I Dunedin now stands would find himself lon a forlorn and savage island; j that his first iastinct would be to i work his way with toilsome steps to the top j ai tbe familiar Flagstaff with the hope of seej i^g what the country might be like beyond. > We seem to be able to see now that nothirjg | could prevent the province from rapidly going ahead, for climate, soil, and other natural features appear to provide all ths material for rapid growth and expansion. It is proverbially easy to judge after the fact however. Anew country is apt to display the most repellent features to its pioneer colonists. Faith must always be a large element in successful colonisation; it removes not only mountains, but forests and swamps, and all forms of what appear to be hopeless* barriers to civilisation. The "old identities," as we now call th»m —and it is but a just as well t s a graseful tribute to'pufc them in the forefront oi these ce^brations — must have had a large share of that faith which is essential to nation-making, and from which we of a younger generation, with perhaps much less of it, have reaped so many advantages. The most sanguine among them could hardly havo foreseen the msgnificent first stride the province was destined to take in 50 years. The discoveries of science, or the perfecting of such discoveries as then existed in' a rudimentary condition — inventions which enable U3 to hold daily intercourse with the remotest corners oi the civilised world, to reach the old world in a comfortable voyage of a few weeks, to talk to our frieeds 100 miles off as wo can talk to them in a room, to send our moal perishable products to the remotest markets of the world — all thess triumphs were undreamt of by the men of 50 years ago. But great nations have been made without them all, and that even without them the esrly pioneers of Otago were destined to lay the foundations of a great nation there can be no doubt at all. Avast deal remains to be done, but much has been accomplished, as anyone who loots around him may see. If we who are now carryiHg on the great work of nation-making, and those who are destined to inherit that work from our hands, do but carry it on in the same spirit the early settlers did, the next Jabiiee period, tbe centenary of the aation's birth, will see New Zaalaad rccupying no contemptible placs among tho nations,

We must own to a feeling of some dissatisfaction with tho oaae of Justices' Archibald Cargili, which came Justice. before Justices Mallard and M'Nee at the Police Court the other day. The National Insurance Company wero prosecuting Cargill for a series of petty thefts, bat elected in the first instance to deal with &n information chaiglcg the accused with stealing 40 shillings. Thai was the case before the court", and, &n Ira* Chapman, who was prosecuting, contended, that was tha csse that should have been dealt with by the bench. It waa fcr the prosecutor then to bring forward such other charges as he chose. Mr Mallard, however, who was every whit as garrulous and self-satisfied on the bench as he wa« as a witness before the Police Commsssio», insisted npon all the informations being brought forward and dealt with before he proceeded to give judgment upon any one. This was done, and tbe accused pleaded guilty to stealing some £10 in all. Assuming thac Mr Mallard was justified in the course he adopted — and it is not for us to say whether be was or was not — the j unsatisfactory part of the business comes in here. The informations appear to have been j laid under "The Indictable Offences Sum- ! mary Jurisdiction Act 1894," which enacts j that for the theft by a clerk or servant of i anything which belongs to or is in possession : of hia employer the culprit is " liable to ! three months' imprisonment with or with- j out hard labour, or. to a penalty not ex- ] ceschng £20 over and above the value ■ of the object stolen,' if such object does not exceed 40 shillings in value." Now, if tho beach had been dealing solely with a case of | theft not exce?uii>g 40 shillings it is clear ib has the option oi: imposing a fine as an alternative to a sentence of imprisonment. Ths ' act would appear to mercifully keep in view the case of someone who should be found guilty of a solitary lapse of a not very serious character. But by the insistence of Mr Mallard himself the accused was found guilty of, or rather pleaded guilty to, the stealing cf some £10 in all, and it is not easy to see how the bench could arrive at a punishment — and the easiest form of it — prescribed for thefts not exceeding 40 shillings. Mr Mallard too was curiously inconsistent in first of all insisting upon forcing the hand of tha prosecutor to reveal a number of dsfa'cationp, and thexj of bis own motion suggesting probatf on, which, as the counsel for the sccuaed himself had to point out, only applies to tbe case of a first offender. Then, again, Mr Mallard's demand for tho evidence of the prosecutor and the nature of the questions hs put to him as to tbe previous position and character of the accused looked uncommonly as if he were casting about for palliations which the counsel for the accused did not see hia way properly to urge. The case, ac we have said* is highly unsatisfactory. It may ba that Mr Mallard's conduct is ascribable to mere thoughtlessness — his garrulity and selfsufficiency forbid the idea that he is in the habit of reasoning any subjaot out very carefully. But anything which favours the idea that there ia one law for the poor and friendless and another for the well-to-do, or for those connected with the well-to-do, is* to bo sternly discouraged. Justice should be neither harbh nor lenient, but unflexibly impartial. Mr Mallard evidently thinks that because he was once a police ioepsctor ha knows law better than the lawyers, and everything- else rather better than everybody else. The sooner he gets the unhappy idea out of his head the better. It is not many months since the eyes of the whole civilised world were An turned towards Crete, where Astpnishijig appsared to be hatching a Sequel. perfect devil's brood of warfiends bent upon settiag all Europe in a blaze. But things move fast nowadays, and Crete is nearly forgotten. There is the Soudan, the Indian frontier, the Niger, Cuba, ths Transvaal, and lastly China — tbe world cannot attend to a dozen firstclass complications at once, and Constantinople itself is for the present merely a city in Turkey, instead of the centre of gravity about which the European balance of power is ! kept in " unstable equilibrium." Neverthe- ! isas there is sotnethingabout the latest Cretan proposition so grote-qaely unexpected as to Almost compel attention. The Russian nomination of Prince George of Greece as Governor of Crete at first read like a joke. It seemed incredible that an insult so cynical, | so brutal in its uncompromising directness, could have been offered even to <% that wretched Sultan" (as Mr Gladstone calls him) by a European Power which had shared the unanimous condemnation pronounced by Europe upon the Hellenic pretensions and the" methods by which they were supported. Ths King ot Greece, with almost criminal recklessness as to the consequences to the cause of European peace, had sought to lay violent hands upon the unhappy island. This very Prince, vshose name now comes oace more to the front with Russia aa his sponsor, undertook an utterly foolish and, indeed, ridiculou3 naval expedition to promote the paternal cupidity. War between the Power which owns Crete and the invader was the natural consequence; and tbe invader, as we all know, came to utter grief, and ran away in battalions whenever tbe cry of " The Turks I " : was raised. The King of Greece, already presiding over an avowedly bankrupt Treasury, had to affix his royal signature to a bill ; assenting to tbe victorious Sultan's terms — | or euch of them a3 the European concert | paased aa admissible — including a claim for several millions to defray the costs cf the fight. Greece shrank [up to nothing before the withering anper &ud contempt of Europe, and tbe j concert set itself to work out a Government for the distressful island. And the result is a proposal that Prince Gsorge of Greece t-hould govern it after all ! More than that, it is said that at least three of the Great Powers have signified their support of the Russian choice. Italy does not like it, and ] Germany will havo nothing to do with it — and no wonder. The latest news is to the effect that 60,000 Mussulmans ia Cvete have petitioned against the selection. Of course this is due to the Sultan's agents, and very likely the Rus&ian answer will be another demand for tbe arrears of the TurkJsh indemnity of 20 years ago — cash down; or Constantinople. But, the world will sympathise with these 60,000 Mussulmans, and will wonder

v'by, if the policy o? ulter exasperation of j the Snltan is justifiable in the interests of j C.'iste, it was held to b8 out of the question for such a purpose as arresting tbe organised extermination by fire and sword of an eut'.re section of the Suit&n's dub;,cct3. The utility of a public inquiry bus rarely bsesi mora conspicuously The YTfci&Kte vindi'veted than in the ca&e I'aUUiy. cf ■ Captain Anderson, of ILa B.s. Waikare, who was disabled-- as it turned out fatally — by an accident which occurred during the steamer's pleasure trip to the Sounds. For some reason or other a whisper was passed round that the unfortunate officer had fallen a victim to a selfish devotion to pleasure on the part of the holiday-makers on board, abetted by a director of the Union Company who happened to be among them. It is an open secret that persons hostile on principle to that company were concerned in originat- j ing the story, but it gained a certain amount ; of provisional credenog in circles where no i such bias was to be looked for. The unj easir cis seems to have , culminated ■ when, 1 after the lamented death of the captain from ■ unexpected complications supervening on ! the injuries, his burial took place without jan inquest bsicg first held. Very properly, '■ however, an inquiry was almost immediately ! thereafter ordered to be hsld. This has now been concluded, and the result is to set at rest all possible doubt as to the considera- : tion shown to Captain Anderson after the accident occurred, as well as to show that the J accident itself was due to causes over which j neither tbe owners of the ship nor anyone belonging to her could be reasonably supposed to have any control. The gear which broke down with such regrettable consequences was sustaining at the time no greater strain than it had often borne safely before, and the ship herself is so recently out of tha builder's hands that wear and tear in go ponderous an apparatus a3 this derrick can hardly be said to have yet bsgun, much less reached a point suggestive of possible danger. The insinuation that the captain's safety was sacrificed I to the exigencies of a picnic party proves to j be wholly unfounded. Too much stress need I mot, perhaps, be laid on the fact that the cap- | fain himself insisted en the ship proceeding 1 on her voyage; he was evidently a fice I fsllow, and might have taken that line had , hia injuries been muca more obviously ; serious. But the sufferer, and those who had i to decide between returning and going on, j had the benefit of excellent medical advice ) independently of the captain's wishes, and i that advice was to the effect that the ! hurts wer-a not of an alarming kind, and that ! the capiaia might safely ba attended to in ; his bunk. Of course, in the light of subsequent events, the question arises as to the sufficiency oO the medical examination and the effect of the decision to which its conclusions pointed. Here, however, the cvi- ; dence of, Dr Colquhonn was such as to '■ dissipa'e all uneasiness. He thinks that the ( captain's position, wedged in in his bunk, ; was the best that could have been chosen had the real nature of the injuries been f ally known ; and further, that a return to Dunedin by train would, have been a grave matter for the sufferer. As to the mistake | made by th* surgeons on board in diagnosing | the injury, it suffices to fay that even durirg i the hospital treatment its obscure nature was not fully understood, and that it was not until the past-mortem examination had been held that the actual effects of the blow became apparent. Caprain Anderson's death, coming as tho sequel to a pleasant excursion of which | he was in charge, was an event of peculiar i sadness. Ik is fortunate that there exists so ! dear a proof that the misfortune was a misfortune purely. , If tbe New Zealand Times is any index of the mind of the Government—and Danger ib is generally accepted as Ahead. their mouthpiece — its utterances on the day £>fter the Wellington election are well worthy the careful attention of the people of Naw Zealand. That journal commences an article that ought to be regarded as a danger signal by declaring in so many words that ths G >vernHient lost ths election for lack of a " policy." We may here remark that up to the present moment the Government have based their claim to general support upon the fact that thef not only had a definite policy — while their opponsats had not — but that it was a quite UEusualiy " progressive " one ; but this is an aspect of the matter on which we do not propose to say anyj thirg more at present. - The New . Zealand Timas thinks they have no policy, j or if thej have one it is of the old-fashionecs unprogressiva kind that will do longer suis ths circumstances o£ the colony. Tne Government, it Bays, " have overlooked that we cannot stacd in perpetuity where we are." Keformicg legislation " must go ahead." The Pjemier, it goes on to say, " has hinted that > he xeeognises this, and that if occasion arose ■ L» would be prepared with a large policy of reform and progress. The occasion has arisen." (The italics in this last sentence are our 3.) If we ask what the occasion is that demands fcbis *' large policy of reform and ' progress " we find that it is nothing more nor i Ifcss than the defeat of tha Government can- | didate at the polls. And if wa go farther 1 and inquire what 5s to be the nature of this | grand new policy of progress wa discover it i to be a big splash of borrowing and spending lon public workg. Here is 'the language ia i which Lhe avowal is made :—: — If; will be objected perhaps that for auch a purpose [the prooecution of a "vigorous lorward policy "] borrowed money musb be obtaiced. Why cob ? Works are required that; cannot be mads on the barter system. Lands are waiting to be opened up and settled, and in many other respects there is good cause why money should be obtained and repto- ' ductively spent. j And than the Govern ment organ goes on to recommend Mr Seddoa to " make a frank, avowal oC such a policy " instead of meraly i " hiatirig" at ifc as he has been doing in the past. This is lettiag the cat out of the bag with a veug3ar.ee. When the Ballanc»3-ci»M-I Seddon Govern mint took office tho public works expenditure had been reduced to a little over £300,000 a year. Since then it has averaged about a million a year, and the public debt has been increased by that amount. As for SfiutleriionJ-, the colony has been led to believe that it ccv-sr before proceeded at such a rate 1 — an allegation, however, which official

1 £gurcs will th'iw to be quite a raistkj^ j Mow v?* »?d K'l-i t.'mfc tue co'wsy baa beeS waily standing st : .i3, and tl^l a big loan i$ wanted to drivn it ahead. For has not th£ [ occasion arisen ? Has not Mr Seddon losi| the Wellington election? A more naked? avowal of the necesßity for party purpoßes, acorrupt policy of all-round bribery, was never made by a public journal. The marvel is that the New Zealand Times should have the effrontery to put the proposal so unblushingly before the people. Let us hope that a greater marvel still would be to see the peeple of New Zealand caught with suub a bait ia the face of the revelations that are ersry day being made of the rssrhO'is of ias NsW Zsaland Tammany. The newa from tbe izx East; and from other disturbed quarters seems to CaMo be very disquieting, but from >'evr*. out the general appearance of unrest there are indica- | tions that seem to us to point to peace. Ther9 can be no doubt that the dread of war is greater' at this moment among the nations than it has ever been before in the world's history. The armies' are larger, the weapons are more deadly, and the inevitable destruction of property on sea and land is rendered greater by the very progress , attained in the arts and processes of civilisation. The material appears to be inflammable enough, but the fiery spirit is apt to be cooled dowD, if not by the cold drops of reason, at least by the nervous dread of coneequeccas. The terrible disaster to the American cruiser Maine in Havana harbour, coming as ■ it did at a time when the relations between Spain and America were already *much strained, seemed as if .it would be the spark which would , set the inflammable material ablaze. Yet the latest cables show clearly enough that neither nation has tha least intention of being hurried into war. Ib would seem — and the omen ia a happy, if a tame one — that " demonstrations" nowadays take the place of what a quarter of a century ago would be declarations of war. The word " demonstration " 'has been called into existence to describe the transition. We are alluding, of course, to the disputes that would involve the Great Powers in war, and not the mere side issues that are still liable to break out into hostilities at any moment. There seemed to be great danger some little time ago by the seizure of Germany of a portion of a Chinese peninsula, bub it is a tolerably open secret that the step was not taken without : the knowledge of the Eoglish Foreign Office. 1 The danger from the action of Eussia in Northern " China does certainly seem to bs very great, but the probability is that she , knows how far to go without embroiling ! herself with European Powers of the fixat I class. Perhaps the real point of danger ia j in the relations between Russia and Japan, ' which latter Power has not been educated to the apprehensive point as the nations of the west have. The news that France was mobilising her navy seemed ominous enough, but it is now explained that she is doing ao merely as a- naval exercise, which is the more likely to be true because the process is well calculated to distract the attention* of the nation from that odd source of national disturbance — the Dreyfus-case. The story which comas from the Transvaal to the effect that the Volksraad had authorised tbe Government to throw off tbe British suzerainty as soon a 8 ever Great Britain had complications enough/ 6'n her hands to prevent her asserting her rights i* obviously not to be accepted as true in any official sense. The meeting of the Volk-<-r-*ad at which the resolution is said to have been passed was held " at President Kruger's house " — scarcely the place where the Volksraad transacts its serious business. The j statement has been made on the authority of The Times, but the probability is that whar, tgok place was little more than the gasconading of some mambersof the Volksraad afc a convivial meeting. Time and the grow'.n of British colonisation in South Africa w ; i! settle the Transvaal question in the only w?.v it can be settled — just as time settled tK Maori difficulty for New Zsalanders. The news from the Soudan is interests g from the fact that the opposing armies av^ coming to close quarters practisally for th>; first time since the campaign of reconquer commenced two years ago. Those who hay« readjbhe literature of the Soudan can hardly ' have any doubt as to the issue. The religious fanaticism which enabled first the Mabdi I and after him the Khalifa to overthrow the Egyptian Government and' take complete ' possession of a tract of country 10 times tbe feize of New Zealand has long since died out. T-be tyranny of the Khalifa has now existed for 13 years, and has -proved itself the mosr, odious the nineteenth century has known. . So far the deluded tribes have everywhere welcomed the return of the Egyptian troop?. , A rout of the Arabs in the impending battle i will mean" retirement upon Omdurman itself, ! the ■ way to which will be open to the ie- ■ vading troops with the rise of the Nile next J month, Gordon held Khartoum against bis j foe 3 for nearly a year. Kow long the Khalifa can hold Ooadurman— now a city of 40,000 inhabitants — remains to be seen. Th<) Mount Ida Chronicle says :— '■' The r&bbifc • industry is now in fall owing, huge piles of | departed bunny beiDg taken daily by train down to the coast from the terminus and the various stations along the route. Messrs Croft and Morgan both announce in this is%ue that they are receiving trapped rabbits, the former acting as agent ' for MAdam, Limited, the firm which ir erpcbing the large factory at Waipiata. Of this establisbmsnt Mr John Wiighb, of Dun- . edin, ia architect and overseer, and we nnder1 stand the work of erection is proceeding j vigorously. The New Zealand Refrigerating Company, Burnside and Oamaru, we understand, ia certain to be kept busy all the coming" season by the immense quantities of rabbits i entrusted to them. Sir William Turner shows that among civilised nations men have the advantage over 1 womer. in internal capacity of the cranium, and iin weight of the biain itself. While the j average brain weight of the European male ia from 490z to 50oa, in the female it is only from 4-Ocz to 40oz. The difference in size and weighb begins afc birth. Nor is the inequality confined to European races. It is observable among savages, though in a lesser degree. Man is not only the larger and stronger animal, but is fitted with, a larget and move powerful supply ! of brains.