The Taranaki Herald

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8240, 13 August 1888, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald

PUSt SKEI DAILY.

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 1888.

Wellington, as everyone knows, is the seat of GovernrnenS j bat we are sorry to say it is becoming the « Seat of Log-rolling Corruption " also. A Ministry may go into power with the best of intentions, determining to carry out reforms of all kinds in the nios't drastic manner, bat let them be one year in ' office, and they become as venal as any of those who have preoeded them. This change is almost unaoooantable ; but we suppose the fact of the large number of civil servants with their families being in Wellington, together with the tradesmen who supply them with provisions and goods, so overpower the Ministry for the time being, that they are influenced and prevented from doing tbeir duty, to the oountry and the heavily burdened taxpayer. Last session, when the Ministry went into office, they were going to retrench in all t directions ; but they have met the i House this session, and have become i quite converted. Inßtead of retrenchment they were ready to impose fresh .taxation, and were not ashamed to use any artifice to secure the result they aimed at. Retrenchment, according to the Colonial Treasurer's statement, is now an impossibility, and the only thing he can recommend is to clap on extra taxes, so as to raise additional revenue. The members of the House are quite as bad. They cry out for retrenchment, bat when an opportunity is given them to out down large amounts, such as the raising of the school age would -do, then these "pseudo-retrenchment" members are found voting for the oontinued expenditure. Amongst the reforms to be carried out last session was the oreating of a Railway Board of Commissioners. From the first we had onr doubts about the genuineness of the project, and suspected it was only a soheme for giving a pension to some of the impeounions members of the House. What^the public wanted was a thorough change in the railway management — a reform by which the lines would be made to pay, like they do in other countries. We wanted less red tape officialism, suoh as is exhibited every daj on our lines. The Aot last session was passed, and the Premier writes Home to the Agent-General to get the kind of man the Government wants — not the kind of man the oountry requires, as there would be no difficulty about that. Mail after mail information is said to come to the colony from the AgentGeneral that no 1 suitable men were to be obtained. The amount of remuneration offered: is raised, still no one applies. Eifches.the. Government or the Agent-General has been prevaricating, for a very.exoellent man might have been secured, had it been so desired. According to the London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, an experienced Railway Commissioner coold have been obtained, but that New South Wales have secured him. Mr. E. M. G. Eddy has had twenty years' experience in railway management. In 1865 he entered the service of the London and North Western Railway Company ; ten years later, he was aoting as travelling assistant to the General Superintendent of that Company ; and subsequently was appointed Superintendent, in whioh capacity he exercised a general supervision over the passenger traffic of the whole system, and also performed the duties of outdoor superintendent of the goods trains. The oapital of the London and North Western Railway Company is £100,000,000, bufc Mr. Eddy had since April of last year been Assistant General-Manager of the Caledonian Railway, the oapital of whioh Company is £40,000,000. It is very evident from this that he has had plenty of experience in dealing with costly rolling stock and valuable concerns. Sir F. Dillon Bell; the correspondent says, was very anxious to seoure him for the New Zealand I Railway Commissioner, and wo aid I have been able to hate done so could | he have offered him £500 a year more. But no ; our Government did not want a good man, and therefore whilst the negotiations were proceeding between Mr. Eddy and the Agent-General for New Zealand, Sir Daniel Cooper stepped in and engaged him, greatly to Sir Dillon BelHfl annoyanoe, no doubt, but to the . satisfaction of the Government, the political pensioners in prospective, and the present heads of the Railway Department. Sir Harry Atkinson, tbe other day in the House, stated they were unable to get a competent Railway Commission in England, and that the positions would be filled up from amongst those in New Zealand. Rumour says that the Commissioners are to consist of the Hon. E. Miohelson, (present Minister ; for Public Works), the Hon. B. Riohardson (late Minister for Public Works), and Mr Hannay (Assistant General Manager of Railways). Mr Maxwell is to aot aB engineer-in-ohief to this triumvirate. If the rumour is oorreot, and those gentleman who are named are appointed as Commissioners, it will be one of the greatest pieces of political jobbery ever perpetrated by a Ministry. Our railways, whioh might have been made to pay under competent management, have proved a loss, owing to tnose who have charge of them lacking experience, and when an opportunity occurs of getting an experienced man, private influence is brought to bear, and politioal fossils and inoompetent persons are placed in positions they were never intended by nature to fill. The result is that the public money is wasted, and the colony drifts to the bad.

At the Agricultural Sooiety meeting on Saturday, Mr A. Kyngdon gavo an instance of some prolific breeding from Leicester owes on hie farm at Omatn .bis season. From 13 ewes he haß got 23 lambs. One ewe had triplets, 8 doubles, nod 4 bad singles,

In case of an Autumn Show being held by the Agricultural Society, Mr Cliff's offer of a prize somo time ago of £1 2s 6d for bantams will be taken advantage of. The Moa, with 130 tons of coal for Messrs. Shuttleworth Bros., from Westport, arrived on Saturday at the Breakwater. She leaves for Wanganui to- | aight. We have been requested to state that the furniture advertised for 6ale by Mr Newton King on Wednesday next at the cottage adjoining the Freemasons' Hall, can be viewed by intending purchißers any time to-morrow and on the morning of the Bale. It is the intention of Mr A. Bayly, Chairman of the County Council, to resign his seat in that body at the next meeting, as he finds that bis private business will not permit him to oontinue public duties. This (Monday) morning Mr Baylv's flax mill at Warea was started, there being 30 hsnds employed. It is expected to turn out one ton of flux a da}', thus making six tons a week. All the hands will live near the mill in an accommodation house specially erected for them, and a cook is to be employed to look after the food for tho men. Between 7 and 8 o'clock this (Monday) morning a bolt happened in the west end of the town, but fortunately was followed by nothing serious, although Constable Hendry had a miraculous escape from receiving severe injury. A milk cart was standing in front of Mr Okey's in Vivianstreet, when the horse apparently bolted without any particular reason along the ■treet, and then up Dawson-street towards the hospital. Constable Heudrr, who was walking along intercepted the horse and caught hold of the reins near the animal's head, and was just in the ace of fetohing the runaway to a standstill, when his foot tripped in a int in the road, and down he went on his face, the cart coming over the small of his back, and capsizing with the force of the jolt. Mr Marfell, who had followed up, then arrived, and between him and the constable, who escaped any serious injury, the cart and horse were righted. A good portion of the milk was spilt, and the cart was considerably smashed about. Constable Hendry bad the skin removed from one side of his faoe j through coming in contact with the metal, \ and also a few minutes afterwards experienoed great stiffness ia the back where tho wheel went over, Tho milk cart resamed its rounds, Mr Olson has been re-elected VicePresident of the Agricultural Sooiety by the Committee. It is said that at the next vestry meeting at Christ Church, Wanganui, the question is to be raised as to whether a ohurohwarden can consistently be a member of a Jockey Club committee. The betting just now is in favor of the Jockey Club meetin?. To this the Napier Telegraph says:— 11 Wby, that is nothing. When Malua won a big race in Victoria, there was always some addition to the local ohnroh attended by the owner." A return giving a statement of all the tbe local bodies in the colony acting under authority of Parliament, their several designations, with the total amount expended for any purpose by each body, for tbe year ending tbe 31st March, 1888, and showing, separately, the amount raised by local taxation by subsidies, and by advances of loans to local bodies, is to be moved for by Mr Monk. The death of Mr Thomas Hall, late Cobb and Co.'s agent in Wellington, and formerly of Viotoria, aged 38 years, is chronicled as having occurred ia Nelson oa August 4th. Referring to the post mortem on the late Emperor of Germany, an English paper says :—": — " It is not a fact as stated in the papers that tbe laws of Prussia necessitated aa inqaest on the late Emperor, and that that was why his wishes were disregarded and the Empress's feelings outraged. The whole mischief arose through Von Bergmann wishing to prove that there were canoeroos spots on the lungs, and to confound the English doctors. Asa matter of fact there were no cancerous spots on the lungs, and Von Bergmann's prognosis has been proved entirely wrong." Some time ago there was considerable talk 08 to whether a profitable market could not be found for New Zealand produce at Rio de Janeiro. The Waikato Dairy Factory made a trial shipment of cheese, only, alas, to find when they got the account sales, that a loss of £40 had been made on the two tons of oheeso shipped. __ m _ m^___ m __ t _ m __^