AUCKLAND THIRTY YEARS HENCE.

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 18, 15 January 1881, Page 173

AUCKLAND THIRTY YEARS HENCE.

It was a fine summer morning when I landed •on Queen-street Wharf, after an absence from Auckland of some years' duration. I had returned in one of those splendid large vessels propelled by electricity, which had entirely •supplanted steamers, being very much quicker, •and^ free from the noise and 6ily smell of the and the vibration of the screw. The voyage from London had occupied only twenty -days, one of which had been spent at the Cape ■of Good Hope. As soon as the vessel came alongside the wharf I was warmly welcomed by an old friend of mine who had come down to meet me. I had been struck by the improved appearance of the wharf, the old wooden structure having been replaced with a substantial stone one, witli large arches at regular : intervals to allow the sea to flow underneath. Both above and below the wharf the .shores of the harbour were lined with immense docks, at which were numberless vessels from all parts of the world. As soon as I landed a polite, ■well-educated cabman asked me if I wanted a •cab, telling me that the fare to any part of the •city was only three pence. The cabs were most luxurious, and were propelled by electricity, the cost of which Avas so small that even the very moderate charge left the cabman .a handsome profit. Preferring to walk and have a chat with my friend, 1 asked the cabman to take my luggage to my friend's house. I immediately asked my companion the reason -of the improved appearance of the harbour, when he told me that the Government had .abolished all customs duties, and the Harbour .Board — finding that the stone wharf cost nothing to keep it in order, and that the revenues from "their endowments were amply sufficient to meet the ever-increasing demands for wharfage accommodation and for dredging the harbour to a depth of thirty feet— had remitted all

harbour dues. Auckland was thus, in every respect, a free port, and had rapidly increased in commerce and prosperity. As my friend and I were Avalking up the wharf we met Sir George ■Grey and the Hon. John Hall, walking along ;arm in arm. I expressed my surprise, when my friend gave the following explanation : — "After you left New Zealand our Parliaments became worse and worse. Scenes of disorder were of daily occurrence. Words frequently led to blows. The sessions were prolonged, but no good resulted from them, the whole time being spent in either party or personal • strife. Matters reached the climax when Mr. W— , the member for G , shot Mr. .'S , the member for C — E — , for having -.called liim a liar. Fortunately, the wound did not prove fatal, but Mr. W- is still in Wellington gaol serving ten years' penal servitude. This act of violence caused the best men •on both sides of the House to unite in an effort •4o put a stop to the unsatisfactory state of They held a meeting, at which the . general belief was expressed that the system of payment of members was the real root of the trouble, as it had brought into the House a large number of professional politicians, who • cared for nothing but the honorarium, which had been increased to five hundred guineas, and the fees which they received for promoting or opposing bills brought before them. It was decided to abolish the honorarium so as to take awayj the main inducement the professional politicians had to enter the House, and to have .Parliament dissolved at once, so that a purer i> class of politicians might be elected. The plan - worked like a charm. The honorarium being ..abolished, the professional politicans did not '■offer themselves as candidates, and, as there • was no reward but the honour, men of the best «• stamp came forward and were elected. Of <• course there were a few good men who could iitot afford to give their tune to the country,

and to pay their own expenses, but. in those cases the constituents subscribed sufficient to defray all actual expenses. The effects of the change were soon manifest. The sessions did not last for more than a month or six weeks, but in that time a great deal of useful work was done. Expenses were cut down, and the customs' duties were gradually abolished. Sir George Grey, who had been in ill-health, but seemed to take a new lease of life when he found there was good work to do, and the Hon. John Hall worked together in carrying through the changes, and have been ever since the closest friends." My friend's narration had occupied so long a time, though we had sauntered alongvery slowly, that, by the time it was finished, we had reached the place where the sewer used to empty itself on the sea-beach. I involuntarily drew out my handkerchief, when my friend, noticing the action, said to me, "You need not trouble yourself, as the old j>erfume has gone. When Mr. J. M. Clark was Mayor he drew the attention of the City Council to the fever-breeding place, and to the fact that the sewage, if properly utilised would tend to fertilise the land. Of course the councillors objected to making any change, but the Mayor was resolved that there should be an alteration, and, at last, he gained his point. The sewage is now taken away to the western side »f the town by means of properly constructed sewers, and there disposed of to the fanners, who fertilise the land with it. ' Thus, what was formerly a great expense to the city, is now a source of revenue, and instead of the harbour being polluted, the land is enriched." " I noticed as we were walking up the wharf," I said, " that a new St. Paul's Church had taken the place of the old one. When was that change made?" "About ten years ago," replied my friend. " The city clergy, headed by Mr. Nelson, of St. Paul's, seemed suddenly to awake to a sense of the fact that they worked

on only one day of the week, whereas other people rested on one day and worked on the other six. They immediately set to work to alter this state of affairs. They spent every day of the week, except such time as was required for the preparation of their sermons, in going into the back-slums of the city and suburbs, rescuing the poor unfortunates living there from their poverty and from the causes of it — laziness and drink — urging them to work, to keep^ their houses clean, and to avoid the public-houses. So well have they performed their work, that poverty is a WG<rd almost unknown in Auckland now. They have not lost their reward, even as far as this world is concerned, for the people, seeing them practise what they preached, flocked to the churches, and- gave' such handsome contributions that their stipends have been largely increased. You miay remember that the Auckland clergy usedi to be very poorly paid, getting two> or three hundred or perhaps four hundred a-year, and yet they were expected to be woll-educated men, to dress themselves and their wives and families respectably, and' to go out into good society. Now, however, thejr receive thousands instead of hundreds, and the-.- people give the thousands more willingly than* they used to give the hundreds. The ' city churches were soon found to be too small for' the congregations that flocked to them every" Sunday, so most of them were pulled down, arid larger and better edifices were built in their places. Old St. Paul's was one of these, and^a splendid stone church, capable of seating threethousand people, which is full every Sunday;. now occupies its place. It cost fifty thousand 1 pounds, and the money was all subscribed before the foundation stone was laid." "Can Mr. Nelson make himself heard in so large a building," I asked ? " Oh, yes!" was the reply?; "the acoustic properties of the church are perfect, and since Mr. Nelson

has devoted himself so thoroughly to the welfare of others, he has got rid of his own little ailments, and is much stronger than he used to be."

By this time we were walking up Queenstreet, which had assumed an improved appearance. It was wider than I remembered it to have been, and all the "buildings were of a uniform height. They were built in blocks, six buildings in each block, and on the front of each building was its street, number, and the number of the block in which it was. The narrow intersecting streets, such as West Queen-street, Vulcan-lane, and Durham-street, had been widened, and at the corner of each street there was an electric lamp, on which 'appeared the names of the streets at the corner of which it stood, and the street number and the block number of the nearest house, so that people passing along the streets at night should have no difficulty in finding their way. All along the principle streets there was a double row of tramways, along which cars, moved by electricity, were constantly carrying people to and from the suburbs ait a merely nominal charge. My friend told me that the system had been introduced by Mr. Crowther, * who, though it was certain ruin to his own business, had given his fellow-councillors no rest until the tramways had been laid down. His patriotism brought its own reward, as he was appointed tramway inspector, with a handsome salary. The cars, propelled by electricity, were of the most luxurious character, and though they travelled at the rate of thirty miles an hour, they could be stopped almost instantaneously, without causing any unpleasant jar to those who were travelling in them. One of the cars stopped in front ot the Exchange, which had been very much improved when it was brought into uniformity with the other builolings in the same block, and Mr. Joseph Newman alighted. He expressed himself- as very much pleased to

see me, and asked me to go into an hotel -with him and take a glass of wine. I was hot and thirsty, so I gladly accepted his invitation, as did ray friend, who was included in it. We went into an hotel, which was very different from anything of the sort I had seen in Auckland before. Indeed, hotel was a misnomer, for I found that it was nothing more nor less than a wine-shop. There was a. large room in which were numbers of small marble tables, on which the wine was placed by active Avaiters and waitresses. There was no bar, and Mr. Newman informed me neither beer nor spirits were kept, for the simple reason that no one drank them. I asked him what had caused the change, when he told me that, when the Government abolished the customs duties, the City Council abolished the hotel licenses, allowing free trade in intoxicating liquors. The immediate result was a terrible carouse, which lasted for more than a week. During that time the police arrested a large number of people, who were taken before the magistrates, who sent them, not to gaol, but to an inebriate asylum, where they were cured of their craving for drink. The removal of the customs' duties was immediately followed by the importation of large quantities of light Australian wines, and after a while, by the manufacture of similar wines in all parts of the suburbs and country districts, the people finding that light wines were much more suitable for this warm climate than beer and spirits, or tea and coffee. The consequence was -that as every one drank the light wines of the country, drunkenness disappeared, and with it every other crime. The police force Were disbanded, being no longer required, and the members sought other employment. Mr. Thompson, the inspector, had taken holy orders, and was the able curate of St. Paul's, assisting Mr. Nelson in his arduous duties, while Mr. Pardy was rapidly making a fortune in the milk trade.

After leaving Mr. Newman, my friend and I continued our walk up Queen-street, when I was very much astonished at some of the couples and trios I saw together. Messrs. Eathbone, Abbott, and Hopkins were walking along, chatting pleasantly together. My friend told me that the Observer had become a great sixccess, that Mr. Abbott had lost all his money, and so Mr. Rathbone had given him the position of sub-editor, and that Mr. Hopkins was one of the principal contributors.. I asked my friend what had become of the bull-dog, when he told me that lie had choked himself cue day, endeavouring to swallow a portion of the Sydney Bulletin, and that his body had been stuffed, and now ornamented a side-board in the editor's room of the Observer Office. Then we met Messrs. Brett and Wickham walking arm in arm. My friend told me that Mr. Wickham had started an evening paper in, opposition to the Star, which then contained nothing but serial tales and favourable criticisms of the singing of the great A. A., anjd though the opposition paper was no great improvement, Mr. Brett thought it "better to amalgamate the two, and so took Mr. Wickham into partnership. We afterwards saw Messrs. Lamb and Garrard chatting pleasantly in front of a wineshop, which, my friend informed m& r was kept by them. The former had been ruined by the landslips at the place in Fort-street, where he had intended to build his mill, so he and his friend had gone into the wine-trade together. Then we met Archbishop Steins and Dr. Maunsell, who were arranging plans for theamalgamation of the churches to wliich they belonged. Judge Fenton and Mr. Macrae, Avho seemed qtiite of one mind as to the way in which the Grammar School should be managed, ! and Councillors Goldie and Oner and Mr. Philips, the Town Clerk. The former were telling the latter that they would support him.

in his endeavours to ride roughshod over the Mayor and councillors, and in anything else he might wish to do. Mr. Goldie then asked his companions to go into a wine-shop they were passing and take a glass of wine with him. Just as they had done so a child fell down on. the pavement in front of me. When he fell he cried out. The cry awoke me, and I discovered that it came from my own little boy, and that I had lain down on the sofa after I had finished my Christmas dinner to read "The Coming Race," had fallen asleep, and had dreamed what I have just described. Vril.

How is it that the female of the Hebrew species has such a tendency to obesity ? As I was sitting in a Ponsonby 'bus the other day, myself and the other occupants were appalled by the spectacle of a woman of middle age, and of the Palestinian type, who was taking what little advantage there was to be gained by turning sideways in order to enter the vehicle. She turned, it is true, but there she stopped and it was plain that she had reached the limits of her power. But she was not to be baffled. Maria, she shouted, m hoarse tones "lift my foot on to the step." Maria, after a wrestle and with some little straining, obeyed the order! Now the other," screamed the portly one, and again Maria bent to her task, finally accomplishing the feat, and placing her mistress upon the floor of the 'bus. There was a preceptible tilt as the new comer deposited herself upon the space lately occupied by two average-size men. with a sigh of satisfaction. Imagination follows this fraiLcreature into the bosom of her family and dwells delightedly up{m the picture she presents when engaged in lier domestic duties She woiild be trufy a fireside companion, if W the most perfect of mitners i& a* waltz