PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2456, 10 April 1901, Page 3

PASSING NOTES.

(From Saturday's Daily Times.)

Of Chinese news tho drift and sum is that Russia is not to have ,Manchuria. The jEmperor refuses to sign the convention. Now this is the kind of information that might be communicated to Judaeus Apella, or "to the marines. Russia has already got Manchuria. The convention is neither here nor there — -,a thing to 'be^ signed or not signed as expediency and the hoodwinking of the other Allies may seem to require. If the other Allies will depart the sooner for believing that Russia is not to have Manchuria, then the Emperor will refuse to sign. But, whether he sign or not, Russia already holds Manchuria and assuredly means to keep it. Will any one of tha Western Allies venture to say hsr nay? Not the French, certainly, since in this matter the French and the Russians are thick as thieves, and France counts on equivalent gains in the south. Not the Germans, who have no visible motive to obstruct Russian development in the Far East; nor the British, whose hands are tolerably full elsewhere, and who fondly imagine that, in any event, they 'will be able to dominate the Yang-tse Valley ; nor, least of all, the Americans, who, whatever is proposed, content themselves with offering academical objection?. There remains Japan, and if Rus&ia has to fight for Manchuria it will be with Japan. There keems every reason to believe that the Japanese have made up their minds, and certainly they are talking big. They are quits able", they say. to '" turn Russia out of Manchuria." That's as may be. Personally I doubt whether they are. But there is little doubt of their being able to drive the Russian fleet from the seas — from the seas of the Far East, at any rate. It will be Heaven's own mercy if the Chinese imbroglio is resolved peaceably, and the chances grow more and more against it. If war there must bs, let it ■be war between Russia and Japan, and let the others keep the ring.

Our jubilating over the acquisition of the city trams was evidently premature. ,True, we have acquired the trams : but we have also acquired, it seems, a liability, contingent and imminent, of £10,000 a year. •At that modest sum the drivers, conductor?, and other employees estimate the difference ■between the value of their services as rendered to ?, private company and as rendered to the public. £10,000 a year !— it means double fares at the least, and possibly a swingeing increase in the rates as well. We had better make the claimants s, present of the trams, to run them for their own sole profit. These be the blessings of Socialism! Mr Scddon dcurps to nationalise our coal mines that he may be able to retail coal at reduced price. Inasmuch, however, as he would rminediatcly have to concede hipher wapres, there feems an irrcM-stible inference thpt the j^rice of coal would go rip. Mr Chisholm foresees — ga millennial dreams— a time when the

municipality will own all house property within its bounds. Then nobody will pay any rent. Or at least nobody will pay any more rent than he chooses to pay. Why should he? Rents will be fixed by the Municipal Council ; and who elects the council? Who but the tenants! So there you are — you elect your own council and you fix your own rent. As respects the tram employees, it may be that they will back down somewhat. We are not going to pay that extra £10,000 a year— not just yet"' Our education in the principles of Socialism has hardly been carried far enough. Recognising this, the sturdy claimants will more or less gracefully retreat. Let us bear them no resentment. The lesson they have taught us is worth more than the £10,000 a year — if only we had it to give ! — jnd at the least we owe them gratitude.

Lawrence March 28, 1901. Dear " Civis," — Actmg on your advice to ask Rudyard Kipling himself what he meant m his recent poem, " The Young Queen," by the '' Five Free Nations," before he had time to fcx|cet, I addressed a note to him, '' Rudyard Killing, England," enclosing yotlr enhehtenmg rote on the subject, together with a straightforward question, What did it mean 9 Perhaps at this point I had better interrupt to recall the phrase in its context. This is it : So it was done in the presence, in the hall of our thousand years, In the hall of the Five Free Nations, that have

no peer but their peers. Or, as in another verse, "that are peeis among their -peers." On which I remarked that the last words in each case were " frankly nonsense— a playful affectation of >Mr Kipling's exuberant muse." As respects the " Five Free Nations," my remarks — which I didn't suppose were going to be forwarded to the person most concerned — were these: "It may <be presumed that ?\lr Ivipling hid a meaning, and that at the moment he knew what it was ; if askpd he would probably be able to remember it. But he rjught to be asked quickly, lest he forget, lest he forget 1 ' — like Browning, who. when taxed with an obscurity and asked what he meant by it, would reply, " I've clean forgotten ; better refer to a Browning Society." Mv correspondent, it se2nT3, acted on my advice, and now reports :

By last mail I received the following reply, ■which settles the question, and may interest yourself and your readers, id est, everybody — " 46 Warwick Gardens. ■>» '" Kensington, London, " January 17, 1901.

" Dear Sir, — Mr Rudyard Kipling, to whom T art as secretary, is at present abroad, and I am desired not to forward letter»-4ir him.

'"In answer to the questions raised in the chpmng you enclosed I am able,to inform you that the 'Hall of a hundred (? thousand) years ' is Westminster Abbey, and the Five Free Nations are England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Cape. — Sincerely yaurs, "G. AndersOiT." I enclose my card, " lest you fcrget," and remain, etc., etc.

This secretary is clearly a careless scribe, or he would never have made the slip about Westminster Abbey — " our Hall of a hundred ( !) years. ' But on the other pblnt we may accept his testimony ; he doubtless knows the mind of the Master. And so, as it seems, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Cape are all psers togethei — the daughters peers with their mother' — and, what is more, they " have no peers but their peers." When I said that these words were " frankly nonsense I was evidently -well within the mark. All tbe Fame, I respect ]Mr Kipling. Ths writer of " M' Andrews' Hymn " and the " Recessional " has earned the' right to talk nonsense when he pleases and where he pleases. I admire Mr Kipling for many things, not the least for his being out of town to autograph-hunters : "Mr K. is at present abroad and I am desired not to forward letters." Of course my Lawience correspondent was no mere autographhunter ; but there are such people. And by this time Mr Kipling knows the value of his signature. Witness the following story fro^j an English paper : —

Budyard Kipling's high-walled garden at Rottmgdean contains some of the best of the few trees that grace the -wind-swept village. One of these trees, branching over the road, threatened daily injury to the driver of the locfcl omnibus. Therefore he and his conductor waged destructive war on all the vulnerable twigs within reach from the 'bus roof. Result — a vigorous letter of complaint from Mr Kipling to the 'bus owner, who is also the landlord of one of the local inns. That evening me landlord laid the letter before the select rernpany of the bar pailour. They advised an attitude of calm indifference. A Croesus among them offered 10s for the letter. Both advice and cash were accepted. The nuisance continuing, m due course a second letter arrived from Mr Kipling, even more vigoious m tone than the first. The landlord convened another bar parliament, and " calm indifference " was again the attitude determined upon. As befitted the increased violence m the letter it sold for £1. The landloid meanwhile tittered not a vord. The ncr.t dpv iv walks Mi Kipling, very wrathful "Why didn't you answer my letici, sir 9 "' "Why, I wps hoping you'd send mo a fresh ono every day. Ihey pay a deal better ikan 'jHis-tirivißg."

Dear Civis, — On Saturday I read your pungent ' Note " on our dredging stocks, which is much to the point. Here seme lines suggested by yotn- subject — I am, etc., H. C. Gold! Gold 1 ! Gold '!! Its Power is Untold ! There was a sound that ceased not day nor night, Of dredging specs. Dunedin gathered then Unwonted ciowds, and, moved by promise blight, To 'Change Court hurried women, boys, and inert, All seeking mining shares and scrip , and when The market rose, how many a fpee could tell, With joyous glance, and tyes that spake again, 'Twas c'en more lucrative than marrying well , — When, hark l what warning voice strikes like a rising knell 9 Nay, it is nothing, empty as the wind, But a " bear " whisper down our Princes stiect ;

Let speculation still be unconfined ; No rest for us, when rising premiums greet The morn, to pour their treasures ft our feet; But haik' that solemn sound is heard once

The gathering " bears " its echoes yet repeat — " "Ti<3 but too true," is now thp general roar, The bvxiks have raised their rate, as they have done before' And then and there were hurrymgs to and fro, And anxious thoughts, and cries of sad distress ; Faces all pale, that but an hour ago Smiled at the thought of their own craftiness. And there were sudden " partings " — such as press The coin frora hungry pockets — mutual sighs Of brokeis and their clients. Who can guess Hoy/ many a " sing " already p"nting flies, When upon hopes so bright such awful panics rise?

A " stag '' — my Stock Exchange familiar informs me — is " a person who applies for the allotment of shares in a joint-stock compony, not because he wishes to ho]d the shares, but because he hopes to sell the allotment at, a premium." If that is so. I am afraid I must occasionally have been a, " stag "' myself — all unwitting. My cp'je is that of M. Jourdnin in the play when he discovered that he had talked prose for 40 years without knowing it. But there is no harm that I can 'see in being a "stag;.'' An allotment of shares is like any other property ; you sell or you hold as may seem 'expedient. Theie can be nothing intrinsically wrong in subscribing for shares that you don't mean to keep, nothing inconsistent with the higher equities — nothing that a kirk session, say, could take notice of. Yet it must be admitted that the "stag" and his tribe have been the bane of our mining boom. The vendor of unprospected claims, the promoter of bogus companies, has thriven because any capital he cho&e to name was instantly subscribed by people who meant to pay no single penny of it ; what they did mean vas to get an allotment of shares wl ich should be saleable at a premium. Disappointed in the latter particular anumber of these hardy booms>ters, haled to the Magistiate's Court, are being ordered by the worthy beak to pay up calls plus costs. Evidently, far as they are concerned, the boom lias bust. It has bust also for the companies that their greed ard reckless temerity helped into being. In all this is there anything to justify surprise? Didn't I predict it months and month"? ago? A««uredly I did : but I take no credit for that. Anybody with eyes in his head could i^ee what was coming. What remains is that all piper-companies perform the only decent act of their exi'tpnee by going out of it Let them demit by way of "voluntary liquidation" — happy term! Not until they do tills will the legitimate mining boom — somewhat sickly at present — be restored to health and hajipi-ne'-s. C'ivis.

A deputation, consisting of Mr Sinclair Thomson (chairman of directors of the New Zealand Coal and Oil Company), together with Messrs A Burt, G. L. Dennislon. and W P. "Watson, vaited upon the Hon. Mr M'Gowan at the Grand Hotel on the 2nd inst. in reference to the present charges for carriage on the railway They also introduced other important matters in connection with the shale works at Orepuki, which have just commenced operations. After listening to the requirements of the deputation, the lion, gentleman paid he would gh c the matters brought under hia notice his best consideration and bring them before the department. It is satisfactory to note that the time within which the company can claim the Go\emment bonus has been extended to enable them to turn out the requisite quantity of oil.

We ar6 informed that the tramway employees have written to the City Council stating the conditions of employment, under which they desire to woik and the idle <>1 wage 1 ? they wish to rcceue. The wages asked for aro — Dn\ei«, Ss pei cay; griprcicn and jaoto/aaenj 9«£ conductor*^ 8s linemen, 9»;

'engine-drivers, 10s; firemen, Ss-; grooms and car cleaners, Cs ; and boys, 30s a week. The

houi-s stipulated for aro 48 ; overtime oi week days to be paid at tho rate of tim< and a-quarter, and on Sunday at the rate o time and a-half. A similar notification oi behalf of the recently formed Tramwai j Employees' Union is undci Aood to ha-\ i j been forwarded to the directors of the Morn ' ington, Roslyn, and E.aikorai Tramwaj Companies. A meeting of subscribers to the Mrs Ed t wards fund, held at Kaitangala on Saturda3 evening, was fairly attended. The list: ! which were gone through showed that some j thing like £135 was in hand, with still a few I pounds to come in. The two representativeof the miners, who at a former meeting offered to collect subscriptions, were nof. pre=ent, nor was any list furnished, so that the amount subscribed by the fellow employees of the unfortunate man Edwards could not be stated. After the manner ir which the fund had been administered had been fully explained, a vote of thanks tc the chairman (Mr Poole) brought the meeting to a clo^e The treasurer of the Shetland relief fund (Mr J. J. Ramsay) intends to send away the first remittance by the next outward San Francisco mail. He has now between £70 and £S0 in hand, but is anxous to have at least £100 for his first instalment, and requests that those who purpose giving should forward their donations as early as possible. Our Auckland correspondent telegraphs that in order to enable the Rev. R. F. Macnicol, who is in a fair way to recovery from an attack of paralysis, to recuperate, the authorities of St. James's Presbyterian Church have arranged with the Rev. J. J. Cairney, of Otago, to fill the pulxiit for some months. A local pressman was placed in a somewhat embarrassing position on Friday (says the Wellington, Post). A prisoner was to be identified by fhe different person's (two men and three women) from among a row of persons at the police station, and two pressmen (contemporaries) were called on to make the row complecc. The second identifier looked at a man in spectacles, evidently aspumed that the spectacles were a disguise, and thereupon " identified " him. The man in spectacles happened to bo one of the pressmen. Other identifiers did not, however, repeat the error, and serious consequences were thus averted. The friends of Mrs E. ff. Ward, sen , will learn with regret of her death, which took plpee at Honolulu on March 13, after a severe illness. She was one of the oldest residents of the colonies, and wife of Mr E. ff. Ward, a former registrar of the Supreme Court, Dunedin. hand of Death has rapidly thinned the ranks of the pioneer settlers of Otago within recent years, and another of those who shared the hardships incident to eaily colonisation has passed awj}' in the person of Mr William Heckler, of Mount Pleasant, Waikouaiti, v, ho died on the 2nd at the ago of 71 years. Mr Heckler was bom at Play Park, near Knatborough, in Yorkshiie, on March 1, 1830, md \, as brought up to farming pursuits. He sailed from St. Catherine's docks m the «hip Rajah on June 11, 1853, and arrived at Duuedin on October 2 of tho sani 1 year. The \esse] receded a severe knocking about m a storm off Tasmania dining the i,a c »age, which necscsitated extensive repairs at Dunedin before she could proceed to Wellington, for which port Mr Heckler had taken his patsago While waiting m Dunedin Mr Heckler was offered employment at Cheriy farm, Wpikouaiti, by the late Mr John Jones, which he accepted. A year O or two later he vat promoted to the management, which he retained for seven years. After his retirement from Mr Jones's Fervics Mr Heckler took up land for himself The deceased geutleman took more interest in agricultural ir.atteis than in public affairs, and was one of tha founders of the Palmerston and Waikouaiti Agricultural and Pastoral Society, of which he has been president. He has also officiated a3 judge at various shows in the South Inland, his particular lines being bhorlhoin cattle and Leicester sheep. Mr Heckler leaves a widow and grown-up famd} r , one of his sons being at piesent in South Africa with the fourth contingent. The Goie Standard ttatcs that whci Dr Ward returned to Rnersdale, where ho Ikis given up I'l^ practice to go <o Feilclmg, it was noticed that he was far from well, and wa^ 'Oij despondent. On. Wednesday morning hi-, liousekco^ei h.^cl occasion to go into hn Mttni" room, and j\w_ as she entered Dr Waid wao m the ai.i of attempting to cut hi^. tlnoit Tho housekeeper wc-ted the Lmie hora liim, and shortly afterwards

' communicated with Dr G. A. Copland, of Gore, who proceeded to Riversdale with all

haste. After dressing the wound — which is not a very serious one — he communicated with the police. Sergeant Fleming proceeded to Riversdalc, and took charge of the unfortunate man. He was brought beforo Messrs J Bcattie and A. Martin, J.P.s, at Gore, on a charge of attempted suicide, and was remanded for seven days for treatment. An extraordinary discovery was (says the Egmont Post) mado at the Commercial Hotel at Stratford on Saturday, when a box: and two bags in the room formerly occupied by O'Brien, the defaulting postal official, were found to be full of letters and paper? Mr Pollock at once communicated with the postmaster, who, with the police, took possession of the find. It is understod that the letters, cte , will be sent to Wellington and dealt with there. A young man named Moore left Head of Lake Wanaka (says the Lake County Pros:-) on a raft for Pembroke. A heavysea parted the raft, but ho gamely stuck to> a few logs, and was washed ashore on Pigeon Island. He was 34- hours on Pigeon Island without food before being rescued. Thp Colonial Treasurer invites tenders for the purchase of £500,000 New Zealand Government 4- per cent, debentures, of the value of £1000, £500, £200, and £100 respectively, as may be required. The debentures aro secured on the public revenue* of the colony, arxl are issued repayable on April 1, 1904. Particulars relating to the loan will be found in our ach erbisin,; colum::*. Ir giving M-. decision in tV case brought by tl.e Taieii County Council ago,a-t t'.iß inspector of +he city abattoir of pol'rting: the Kaikor.ii Stream, Mr C.-luni, S M.° was not distinctly he? id, wid t!ic re alt t! as In-, remarks were not repor.~d q»ite ac-u-lately. WLd the mng^'rai.o <=tai d w;\b l\ifc the ccu.joration having ctatccl ih.\t s:to. .- wr v in progress to effectually u\ao^ fie rau-a of the nuisance, a reaaonablo tim ; &':< aid now be given to give effect to C. c s?nie: but if Mr Bain found that after a r.M'onabia time no such steps were taken, i'ovn ha would have to take further proceed.!^-. The tramway employees o5 the ciiy jncl suburbs aro requesting fiom their ei^pioversi an increase of pay and improved c .a-htiont* of work. His Worship the Maj.,r I'.frnicd. the City Council en Wednesday l_h:.r, in t'm case of the city, to accede to the derr.ancl of the men would imolve an extia expend.ture of £10,055. A nice little farm of 66 acres on the TcLomairiro Plain was sold in Milton on Wedns - clay by auction for £1355, or £20 10s per pcre. The form \va? sold to the Older of the Public Trusicr* in the estate of Robert Mrl\illo (deceased), and was bought by Mr W. Salmond, of Milton, who holds land adjoining it. A meeting of ladies willing to assist in the work cl He Qaeen's Memor'al S'.itue Commit* se was held in the Borrcl Eooir>, Agricultural Hal!, on Wednesday at 4 p.m.. but «as p"oiiy attended, on account of a mimbmer of pr'vato functions being fixed for the s a mahour. Only eight ladies presented themselves, and was decided that their narnej should be pclded to t K e Gereral Ccnvn.ttce. Another meting of ladie o will be held latrr in the week. Tile weekly me n t.ng of the Benevolent Institution Trustees was held on Wedne a cUy, there being present Messrs Hoynes (ehaum?n), Clark, "WikiOii, Tre-seder, Burnett, (iourley, Green; and Hazlett. The account- pa-^rt for payment amounted to £23* i 15= 5c 1 Ti eoutdoor. rehef book shewed t'-at for the month of March there were 504 c.ises, icpiescr.hng 99 men, 259 women and 970 children. The weekly cost was £91- 8= 6d. For the coirespond'ng month of last year tl>s ca^es numbered 313, including 117 men, 234 women, and 599 childien, the weekly co^t being £101 1«. The Cba'rman mentioned that this showed that there «a; a dccrci=a in cost last month of £6 12^ 6d per week. This wao \eiy satisfactory, and no doubt the times were better. Ihe Chairman placed before the tiustecs a sample of the water fiom the septic tank, ami mentioned that it was proposed to mvite representatives fiom tha local bodies to inspect the woiking of the system It was the first tiling of the kird in the colony, and was of consickiable importance to public bodies. ' Foiutcen relief c.vs were deait wit I.1 '. Ibe AuALivd U.u,c: .ty Colics; r 1 tho Giihes scho'.aiship, of .£7O a ye^u, tfiit'blc io:.*-t'-:iee \ear=;, lor competition about the cud ci Oclc'jci lUe ccj.fiitions at f acbcl t!;;ic o mll| bs Icx.-id m fc.-.'-iirday's D\J.y Times,