Poverty Ray Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1895. DRAWING THE LONG BOW.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIL, Issue 7302, 10 June 1895, Page 2

Poverty Ray Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1895. DRAWING THE LONG BOW.

In the British Workman for March there is an article on the subject, of emigration, which is so tinged with falsehood, that any of the respectable portion of the better class workmen who take the paper would be entirely misled as to the actual condition of things in this colony. The article, we are informed, is one of the British Workman's prize essays, and was written by a Mr Frank y Holt, who claims to have "been eight years in the Australasian colonies (most of the time being spent in New Zealand)," and he kindly adds, " I will endeavor to give a little practical information as to how things are out there, and some of the best ways of getting there." This veracious chronicler proceeds as follows : —

From what I have seen and experienced during my stay there, and from what I have read, I believe the Australian colonies and New Zealand especially have as bright a future before them as any of the other colonies belonging to Great Britain. The land is extremely fertile, the climate is all that is to be desired, there is any amount of land for intending settlers, and, with one or two exceptions, work is plentiful all over the colonies.

It is cheering to find an English writer taking such a covleur de rose view of the future of the Australian colonies, especially at a time when the continued fall in the prices of their staple products is causing general uneasiness, and it is singular that it should have been considered necessary to pass the Lands for Settlement Act in New Zealand, with plenty of land available already! Last year the unemployed difficulty became so serious that the Hon. the Minister of Labor considered special legislation necessary, and introduced the Undesirable Emigrants Bill, which was, however, dropped. We may also inform the Workman that quite recently a soup kitchen has been started in Dunedin, which does not fit in well with the assertion that work is plentiful, ia New Zealand at any rate, and the Government proposal to reduce the number of working days on co-operative works to four per week, in order to enable them to employ a greater number of the unemployed, is a decidedly strong proof that the supply of labor is greatly in excess of the demand. In the early part of the year the Premier of New South Wales, was driven to his wits' end to know how to cope with the unemployed difficulcy, and the recent loan in that colony had to be raised in order to construct railway lines. To lead the readers of the British Workman to -believe that work is plentiful in the colonies, is a most reprehensible act, as it might induce some of those who had saved money, to emigrate to thesecolonies, under the belief that they would be certain of improving their position. The article continues : —

The New Zealand Budget for last year shows a surplus of over half a million, and the agricultural and other trade returns are very satisfactory. The death rate at present is 11 per 1,000, which will show that it is a healthy country. The wages of skilled labor range from £2 10s Od to £3 10s, the hours being eight per day throughout the colony. Up country there is a good demand for labor on the large sheep stations, which abound in every district. The wages for single men run from 20s to 35s per week and keep, and £3 for married couples.

The above contains bight statements, all of which, when not utterly false, are grossly misleading. Instead of the '94 Budget showing a surplus of half a million, it showed one of £290,238. The agricultural returns, so far from being satisfactory, were decidedly disheartening, and it is within the last few weeks only that an improvement in the wheat market has induced a more hopeful view to be taken of the future. Wool and frozen moat are as low as they can be, and any further drop in prices would mean loss to exporters of these articles. There is nothing of a hopeful character disclosed in the general trade returns. Competition is fieroe, and profits infinitesimal. The colony may be said to be a healthy one, but the death rate has not reached 11 per 1000 since 1884, the percentage being 10 76 as the highest in 1885 and 9 f 43 in 1888. With regard to wages, the average rate for carpenters, wheelwrights, shipwrights, plumbers, smiths, and painters is 8s , per day in Auckland, and varies from 7s to 10s in other provincial districts, thus showing a minimum of L 2 2s, a mean of L 2 Bs, and .a maximum of L 3. Saddlers, shoemakers, and coopers were paid from 5s to 10s per day, and watchmakers, masons, plasterers, and bricklayers 10s in Auckland, 7s and 8s in Taranaki, and a little higher in Wellington. There is not a "good demand for labor on the large sheep stations," and neither is it correct to say "they abound in every district." The wages of shepherds, so far from being '• from 20s to 35s per week and keep," were L4O per annum in Auckland (or a fraction over 15s per week), from L4O to LBO in Wellington, and L 45 to L 65 in Otago. Married couples in no case received more than L9O with board, and the average was L 65. But to continue the article : —

There is nearly always work to be got on these stations, and the station hands live very comfortably. The single men live in a large house by theniselves, with a married couple to do their cooking and cleaning. A cottage and small section is allotted to every married man, making him quite independent. If the intending settler has a little capital, and would like to invepl it in land, there are many opportunities for 80 doing, as land is being opened up in all parts just now. Some of it is cleared and ready for use, while some of it is bush (forest) land. The price runs from £1 per acre_ up. New Zealand is well watered, and if it is intended to go in for sheep-breeding, you can depend on the land being watered, as there is generally a creek pr river m tjie vicinity,

No wonder the average British workman regards New Zealand as a sort of Utopia, when he reads such glowing accounts of the colony as that we have quoted, and we need not be surprised that the direct steamers should bring hundreds of emigrants, who have left the white cliffs of Albion behind them, in the hope of luxuriating in a land flowing with milk and honey, when they arrived in the colony. We only regret that the statements in the British Workman are not true, for, under such a favorable condition of things as therein depicted, there would be no need for the Hon. W. P. Reeves to be continually racking his brains to find some new measure for ameliorating the condition of the working man, and as for Mr Edward Tregear, the Secretary of the Labor Depnrtment, his occupation, like Othello's, would be gone.

The Union Company's s.s. Mararoa is advertised to proceed to Napier, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin on Wednesday at sp. m. Fares by this fine passenger ship are at the lowest current rates.

At the Police Court this morning a first offender, charged with drunkenness, was admonished and discharged. Alfred John Thomas was charged with stealing a saw valued at 9s 6d the property of Fred Steele, boo.t-builder, and pleaded guilty. There beiog previous convictions against accused, he was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment.

The Woodville Examiner says :— " From a conversation we had with a Cabinet Minister, it is pretty certain that the present county councils will be abolished, and that there will be a return to provincialism — that is, large local governing bodies, with the road boards and borough councils retained as distributing bodies."

Messrs Phillips and Pike, New Zealand agents for Messrs Frossard and Co., the wellknown cigar manufacturers, have sent us samples of a new cigar called the " Oavour," which has just; been placed on the market. The " Oavour " is a straight cigar of excellent aroma, and is sold in neat packets of eight at a low price.

Lovers of billiards will find an announcement of interest to them in this issue. Mr H. Roberts, champion hand -player, is visiting Gisborne, and will give an exhibition of first-clnss play in the Masonic Hotel tomorrow evening. Mr Roberts will be remembered by old identities having visited Gisborne some 18 years ago. He has lately been touring districts in the South with much success.

The Diocese of Waiapu contributed £172 2s lid to the special effort for missions, in which £868 Os 8d was raised by Auckland, Christchurch, Waiapu, and Nelson bishoprics. The money has been allocated as follows :— Melanesian Mission, £371 4s 6d ; Maori Misbion (North Island), £255 12s 9d ; New Guinea Mission, £211 '8s Id ; expenses, £23 15s 4d; Auckland Home Mission (an earmarked donation), £6 ; total, £868 Os Bd.

News from the Mackenzie Country states that the late snowstorm was very heavy in the region near the Pukaki River, Rhoboro Downs and Simon's Pass runs being heavily covered, up to two feet in the worst places. The runholders.had an anxious and trying time looking after their sheep, the difficulty of their task being iocreased by the prevalence of thick fogs.

Apples which have been subjected to the process of evaporation have been exhibited in Wanganui, and it is stated that in their cured state they are equal to the best American article. A meeting of fruitgrowers is to be called shortly, with the object of establishing a fruit evaporating and cannsng factory-

On Friday night Miss Rose Blaney and Miss Laura Fisher assisted by the leading local amateurs, will give a concert in the Academy of Music, when the Grisborne public will be afforded an opportunity of hearing a musical treat of a very high order. Miss Blaney and Miss Fisher have given concerts in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Napier, and on every occasion they have been greeted with crowded houses, and on several occasions the theatres have not been large enough to hold the crowd that attended to hear the concerts.

The question whether unauthorised kissing comes within the definition of indecent behaviour was settled in the negative at Sydney recently at the City Police Court by Mr Smithers, S.M. A' laborer named Thomas Jackson suddenly surprised a lady who was walking along the street by clasping her round the neck in the most friendly way and implanting a fervid kiss on her cheek. Constable Meenaghan saw the act, and declared in the witness box that it was a shame that a respectable woman conld not walk along the street at night without being insulted. The Magistrate concurred, but declined to consider kissing in the street indecent behaviour, and so dismissed the case.

THe Hawke's Bay Herald relates that a Mrs Codd, accompanied by a lady friend and her child, was driving over the Redclyffe bridge, when the horse shied, and the child was thrown from its mother's arms over the rails into the Tutaekuri River, a distance of fully 30ft. The little one, strange to say, floated down the river for about fifty yards, being probably held up by its clothes, and waa eventually rescued by a Mr Waterhouse (who had to wade into the water waist deep) apparently none the worse for the accident, although it was several minutes in the chilly water.

The late war will coat China some £170,000,000. This huge sum will, as an external debt, borrowed at 6 per cent., involve China in an annual payment of £10,200,000. Now the balance of trade is decidedly, against China. In 1893 the imports were some £7,100,000 in excess of the exports. How, then, is the interest to be paid? Many believe the markets will have to be flooded with Chinese productions.

Inspector Pender takes with him to London information, with the depositions of witnesses, in eight charges which are to be preferred against L. Harper. The charges are for having fraudulently appropriated to his own use the following sums entrusted to him:— ln the estate of Win. Miles, £1151 ; Rev. Mr Gillet (Kngland), £5000; William Hotham (England), £3000; Mary Louisa Webber (England), £750; Rev. W. N. Oarnes (England), £1000; T. A.- Hope (England), £230 ;*F. Passmore (England), £1000 ; and J. H. Oobin (England), £1500;

The action of the Auckland ooroner, Dr Philson, at the recent inquest on the remains of Mr (xrubb, ia severely commented upon in Auckland. A post mortem examination having been made, the coroner ordered the heart of the deceased to be brought into the jury room, as ib " would be iuterestiDg to see." Some of the papers denounce this proceeding as an. outrage, and demand Dr Philson's retirement.

It is pleasing in the extreme (says the Otago Daily Times) to be enabled to chronicle the fact of a rise in mutton in the Home market, and the more so that it appears probable it is not regarded as merely temporary, as will be seen from the following cable message received on Monday morning by tbe New Zealand and Australian Land Company from their head office in Edinburgh :— " Mutton market is advancing. Ought to obtain very increased prices in London during autumn, commencing about end of August. Should there be no increase in tho prices in the colonies, ship on consignment." The Dunedin office of the company states that a long time has elapsed since it was instructed to ship on consignment.

A case is to be heard in. tho Supreme Court at Auckland on the 17th inst., in which the " Sauitas " Company, of England, are suing a firm called the New Zealand Sanitas Company to restrain them from selling any goods under the trade mark " Sanitas," and to restrain them from carrying on business under the name "Sanitas." Mr Jellicoe will appear for the English Company, and Mr Hesketh for the New Zealand Company.

According to the Prohibitionist no iewer than thirty cases are down for hearing in connection with the informations laid by the Christchurch young men. First comes their 12 informations against 11 publioans. As many indictments are laid, against them for " procuring an offence,", and five more for conspiracy. Mr G. J. Bruce has issued a writ against the Lyttelton Times, for a libel contained, as he asserts, in a letter of Mr Corley's, which appeared in their columns, charging the young men with lying and trickery. His comrades will follow suit with other libel, actions ; and how many charges of perjury may grow out of the Pfigina} informations, no mm fcnpweth.

A well-known Melbourne solicitor lately insured his life for £50,000.

Tennyson, though he could write noble poetry, had no ear for music.

The diamond for the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club's bracelet has arrived from Messrs Streeter and Co., of London."

Three Scotch Grey fowls, the first of their kind in New Zealand, have been imported by a Christchurch breeder.

The Masterton Fire Brigade saved £442 for the insurance companies during the year. The companies do not appear to have started to save anything for the brigade yet.

The Palmerston Sash and Door Factory expects to turn out 70,000 butter boxes during the present season, another indication of the rapid growth of the butter producing industry.

A Dunedin miller is said to have netted £16,000 by his wheat speculations —that is, he will net that amount if the present price holds till he has milled and sold his present stocks.

In Denmark there are 2400 dairy factories, 1400 of which are on the co-operative principle and 1000 private. The milk for these factories is supplied by 600,000 cows, an average, it will be observed, of 250 cows per factory.

Late cable advices announce that Joshua Bros. , proprietors of the Boomerang brand of Australian brandy, have been successful in obtaining the coutract for brandy to the British War Office. This speaks well for Australian enterprise, and for this particular brand of spirits.

The youth Frank Smith, who recently escaped from New Plymouth gaol, while waiting to be sent to the Industrial School for theft, eluded all efforts to recapture him for several days, and then sent word to the police to come to his brother's place and take him, which they did. ■ .

Some idea of the extent of the butter tradeon the West Coast may bs gained from the fact that one firm alone turned out no less than 35,600 boxes last season. Next season they expect to double this.

In Wanganui avenue one of the Corporation laborers named Humphrey O'Leary, who was working in a drain between 12 and 14 feet deep, was buried by a fall of earth. He was quickly released and restored to consciousness, but had a narrow escape.

We (Otago Daily Times) observe in the New Zealand Times a local about a meeting held to give the Hon. Mr Ward a reception on his return. The names mentioned as those forming the committee are Messrs Warburton, Plimmer, Samuel, Harris, Young, Deacon, Masters, Stevens (M.H.R.), Harbroe, and Saunders. The five first names are directors of the Ministerial journal. Mr Deacon is, we believe, the auditor of the company. There is no Wellington merchant or manufacturer on the list.

An ardent admirer of our Colonial Treasurer, says the Southland Times,'was grievously shocked iv Invercargill the other day. An irreverent one, who does not worship at the same financial shrine, propounded to him the following conundrum: — "Why is the Hon. J. G. Ward's finance like a waxworks exhibition ?" He pondered, eventually gave it up, and then, .to his inexpressible disgust came the reply : " Because, although you are expected to admire the gorgeous display, you must not touch the figures."