South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1883.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3110, 21 March 1883, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1883.

Atkinson treated the public of Christchurch last night to a dissertation on pauperism, and set forth a remedial theory of his own. If this be a specimen of the hon. gentleman’s performances on the stump, we are bound to say we think very little of them. His statement of the causes of pauperism, and the comparative extent of its development in England and New Zealand, was simply a succession of truisms which everybody knows. It sorely was not worth while to come down from Wellington, in order to set these things before the public. At least half the speech had “ nothing in it.” But, from the point at which Major Atkinson said it was our duty to grapple with pauperism—in which sentiment we cordially agree - with him—there is a great deal that calls for remark. He propounds a theory for the eradication of pauperism, which is as follows ; The State is to step in and compel every man to lay by so much per week as a provision for old age ; those who cannot pay their weekly premium shall have it paid for them by the State ; those who will not pay shall be forced to do so, their employers being authorised to deduct it from their wages. As for the " widows and orphans he would devote the rent of Crown lands to their support. This is the Major’s scheme for the extinction of pauperism. Well the programme does credit to the theorizing ability of the hon, gentleman, but we venture to predict that it will never emerge from the embryonic state of theory into active life, in this colony. Major Atkinson’s elevation to power has intoxicated him. He stands on bis Ministerial pedestal and looks round upon the people,and wild ideas career through his mind of the powers of the State. He has all but reached the point at which Louis XIV. had arrived when he exclaimed, “ L’etat c’est moi /” With this crude theory he would pose like the magician waving his wand, presto 1 one, two, three, and lo! pauperism lias vanised I Does the Minister, like Carlyle, consider the people “ mostly fools ”? Does he for a moment suppose the workmen of this country will ever consent to be mere puppets in the hands of a Government, that they will consent to have their liberties abridged, their moral and intellectual growth strangled by State interference? He sadly mistakes if he does entertain such a notion. The future prosperity, and freedom from pauperism of this colony, and of any civilised community will be obtained by fostering the growth of healthy public opinion, educating the people, and allowing the virtue of charity to have full play, by Act of Parliament. Such a theory as the Major’s, if reduced to ; practice, would dry up every spring of \ charity and petrify society. And when ; the Ministerial mountebank goes the length of compelling employers of ’ labour to assist in carrying out his scheme, he goes to a length of absurdity altogether hopeless ; and he is guilty of an unwarrantable and pernicious interference with the relative position of employer and employed. The consequences of any such arrangement would be to import another element into the relationship to which no employee of spirit would for a moment submit. Hands off this relationship, Major! The less the , State interferes with it the better for the State. Really, if the Major has nothing better to say than we find in these speeches, we shall begin to be alarmed about mental condition. His words are “ like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh.”

Sharps prey upon the flats, all the world over. We are constantly wondering at the gullibility of our neighbors ; it seems almost as though the public estimated people at their own figure—that the louder a man blows his own trumpet, the bigger the .crowds that follow him. It is not difficult to explain this, in the case of persons who pretend to heal diseases ; we do not wonder at the success of quacks. For suffering humanity gladly seizes any hope of recovery. In their dejected, despairing state, any means seems worth trying,.and when the charlatan claims to possess supernatural power, divine gifts and the like, it is still less natural that he should be eagerly sought after. We have no hesitation in pronouncing Mr Milner Stephen, not perhaps a quack, but at least an impudent pretender. He may be self-deluded, but his

trading upon the delusion rather weakens the possibility, and we are inclined to think his mind is quite free from delusion. A gentleman of his years and education can hardly be the victim of a delusion; he must know qnite well that his assumption is groundless. We do not desire to be too hard on those who trade on the public ; for the public have themselves to blame and they ought to have learned by experience. But those who trade upon suffering humanity are not to be lightly dealt with. We do not think Mr Stephen can do no good. If be professed to do certain specified performances by a certain specified means, we should have confidence in him and people would be able to judge for themselves whether it was worth while going to him. But when he claims to be the possessor of a divine gift, to be able to make the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, we are bound to say we regard his pretensions very unfavorably.

The “Herald” is always running a-muck at somebody or something connected with the port. It has a habit of taking infinite pains to discover mare’s nests The case of the barque Rewa is in point. Our contemporary finds out by some mysterious agency, or by the exceptional acuteness of its staff (1) that the Rewa drew 16ft of water when she came into port, (2) that she is lying inside the Breakwater occupying the berth which the Margaret Galbraith ought to be occupying, and (3) that no cargo is yet ready for the Rewa. No wonder the captain of the Rewa is puzzled to find how well other people know his business. As matters of fact, the Rewa drew 15ft Sin when she came in, the Margaret Galbraith could not possibly, owing to her draught, occupy the same berth as the Rewa now does, and her cargo is now all ready for shipment. The subject of the article on Monday I against which the master of the Rewa protests, is a stalking-horse for getting at the Harbormaster. It is hardly fair to spoil an officer’s usefulness, by I comments on his action unless the I critic knows what he is talking about I and states facts. We greatly doubt I the maritime science of our contemporary ; of his truthfulness what are we to think after his mis-statements Must referred to ?