WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2674, 14 June 1905, Page 36

WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

(From Otjb Own Corkesepndent.) WELLINGTON, June 8. The new Custom House, a large building On the water front, very substantial and nicely finished inside, but not very beautiful from an architectural point of view, ■was opened this afternoon by the Gover- - nor. A large number of invitations had been issued by the Commissioner of Customs (the Hon. Mr Mills), and, notwithstanding the unpleasant weather, the main room of the ground floor wae crowded with guests. These, though they would probably rather have' assisted at the closing than at - the opening of a custom house, .•listened patiently to some speeches of a ' statistical nature, and then went on a tour of inspection of the building. The Govern- - jment supplied refreshments in the shape of afternoon tea, beer, whisky, and cigars. The men employed by the jßailway ■Department at ballasting and earthwork are •in future to receive payment at the rate of Is an hour, or 8a for eight hours' work. Hitherto they have received only 7s. The Union Steam Ship Company has received £500 for towing the barque Helen out of danger in Hicks Bay, on the East Coast, and taking her on to Auckland. "Referring to the Land Commission fiasco S,t Feilding, the Post says:— "lnstead of travelling" as slowly as a funeral and adjourning ;to the afternoon if there are not .witnesses enough to kill time in the morning, it has -)oo\y resolved itself, with what legal power we do not know, into two subcommissions, each of which hurries from place to place, sits with its hand on its •watch, and if its accelerated time-table does not allow time to hear the witnesses in attendance leaves them with their stories ' untold, and flies elsewhere at express ppeed." The Post thinks the settlers in the Feilding district have a real grievance, yhich will not tend to promote a judicial frame of mind on the part of those who toiust presently discuss and act upon the oommission's report. * An old resident of the Manakau district (Mr Bevan, sen.), giving evidence before the Native Trusts Commission, said Hhat tohungaism was still strongly established ■an the district, and that it was most pitiful ■ *o see how the sick were treated. They will laiot call in a doctor, there is no one to twait upon them, they are treated unskilfully by ignorant tohungas. and they (languish and eventually die in a pitiful 'condition. This witness remembered the 'home-coming of Te Rauparaha after his Rehabilitation in the eyes of the Governjanent. Sir George Grey had him brought 'across from Nelson in H.M.S. Calliope. In Wellington Te Rauparaha was decked up in an admiral's uniform, and in this he descended upon his old home at Otaki, j-wherej -where 1000 Maoris proclaimed a feast, and [.■welcomed him in true Maori fashion until fine last kumera was cooked and the last jeide of pig dispensed. To the best of ■witness's recollection this took place Ifoetweon 1846 and 18*8. . w,- ■ June 9. 1 The Attorney-general states that when v "we' initiated the penny post y e stood to flose £80,000. We have now recovered [that, there is no loss, and there is a surplus. With a population of under one •million we did" that, and the Commoff.wealth, with five times the population, was '^afraid to make the same experiment. . There-is, however, he stated, a strong agi.tation in Australia to copy our State Fire 'Insurance. Apropos of the unemployed difficulty, th© '!Labour Department states that there are jonly 50 names registered here, and 30 of 'ithese refuse to go into the country. They 'want to be in the town. The department ihad a letter from a man who wanted men Jfor scrub-cutting on the East Coast at Is fier hour, with a charge of 14s a week for '*"' tucker," but several have refused to go. £The Assistant-secretary for Labour says he can understand married men objecting to 'going to the country on account of the expense of two homes, but, as regards ths -eingle men, it seems that they are 'different from what they used to be. Mr iMackay further stated that men were J -wanted for felling 1000 acres of bush at jiTokomaru, above Gisborne. Ths majority lof the men applying for work were men [ifrom other parts — harvesters from the Vsouth, who would mostly get into jibush-felling, and a good many Australians. uSvery boat brought a large number ',*o Wellington and Auckland; still, he anticipated no trouble. The same temporary Blackness always occurred in the towns in and many men seemed satisfied to ■exist on a couple of days' work a week, and ;to remain in town till summer returned, in 'preference to going into the country. ; Tho looal Liberal and Labour Federation is beginning to express dissatisfaction with the present Government. At a semipolhucal gathering, at which the Attorneygeneral was one of the speakers; Mr Hogg, 2H.H.R., one of the Government Whips m said the Government was lacking in backbone. Other Liberal and Labour luminaries agreed with Mr Hogg, and one feaid it was the intention of some of tne fljiberals to "give the Government a shake Sup before long." The Attorney-general, in /reply to these criticisms, admitted that Icandidateship was a good thing, and manly, 'and that he would mention it to the Pre-onie-r, wKo is president of the federation Judging from the Hon. Colonel Pitt's remarks at the before-mentioned function, the Tesult of the naval battle iv the Straits of Korea may induce the Government to rei<duce the land foroes in New Zealand. Colonel Pitt said our military expenditure could be reduced, and still a force could be maintained equal to all necessities on shore. The colony could then pay an addijtional contribution to the upkeep of the - *Australasian squadron, which was the best .defence wo could have. Some dissatisfaction is being expressed 3iere at the expenditure of public moneys an connection with Government funotions at the opening o£ 'buildings. The fact that whisky, beer, and cigai*s were provided at !*hs opening of the new Customs House Vyesterday afternoon has not escaped attention. The whole question was discussed at «ome length by the Trades Council last (evening, and delegates contended that such tnoneya would be better expended in tarrying' on public works, thus giving work *o some of the surplus unemlpoyed. It kvas resolved— " That this council enters its Wotest against tha expenditure of publio pmoneys in connection with the opening of the new Customs House." i Ministers who spoke at the opening of ,|Jhc Customs Building yesterday referred (in a pleased kind of way to the growth <cl the Customs revenue, ancl some of those

present applauded as if it gave them much pleasure to contribute to this increase. The Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop), however, sounded a different note, and made an interesting little speech in support of the proposition which he put forward as being at least arguable —that a more fitting circumstance for felicitation than an increase in Customs duties would be a free breakfast -table. Compliments being in order, however, he complimented the Customs Department on " being at least in a position to carry out the robbery of the citizens" in decent circumstances. Reference to a supposed "colour line" distinction was made at Otaki yesterday (says the Post reporter), when Mr J. B. Smith, headmaster of the Government Public School, was being examined. There are 35 Maori children attending the Otaki Public School, and mixing freely with the white children, so the master has ample opportunities for observation. Mr Smith scouted an idea of the " colour line " being drawn. He had never seen a single case of troublo on this head between pakeha and Maori children. They mixed very freely, and if there was any bias, it was in favour of the Maori children, who were full of good spirits, lively, good at games, and generous to a fault. As pupils they were attentive and good natured, but they had not the staying powers of the European in respect to study.

The Scenery Preservation Royal Commission, unlike the Land Commission, is in no hurry to complete its labours. It has been "on the road " for a very long time, and is now sitting in Wellington considering the reports of some of the commissioners who have in the interim visited various places in Otago, Southland, and Canterbury which have been suggested to the. commission for recommendation as reserves. Consideration of the matters will probably take 10 days or a fortnight. Owing to the loss of time and expense in•volved in carrying on its work during the winter, the commission intends to adjourn after this sitting till next spring-, so that its final report cannot possibly be ready for this session of Parliament. The commission has very nearly finished its work in Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Wellington, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, and Auckland, but Westland, Nelson, and Maryborough are untouched.