CITY GOSSIP.
JBy Cambria.
And all alone To-night we'll wander through the streets, and note The qualities o£ people. Shakespeare. It is quite evident that larrikinism in this cicy will not be thoroughly eradicated unless j the punishment is of the severest description. The only way to strike terror into the hood- ! lum is through his skin. As a rule they are | the veriest cowards when bailed up, as, for I instance, the rough Dooley, who wept like a j babe svhen Constable Herbert pinned him. A week or two back I urged that the con- | stables should be provided with substantial ; batons, and should use them freely when ' occasion called for it. But in addition to that ' it would be advisable to endeavor to -have an Act passed this session' empowering the Magistrates to sentence larrikins to flogging as well as imprisonment. Ido not think anything short of that will be sufficient to check the rapid growth of this evil in the colony. There is one other class of offence that should be punished with the ' cat,' and that is indecency. There are distinct evidences that this crime is on the increase in Auckland, and it would be well to adopt, without loss of time , measures sufficiently stringent to inspire indecent blackguards with a wholesome fear of the consequences of indulgence in their depraved inclinations. One of my youngsters was much perplexed the other day by an advertisement stating that the Auckland Timber Company wanted a circular man. I promptly explained to him that such a man was required to square baulk timber. He had often heard the expression 'squaring a circle ;' this was his first knowledge of circling a square. So far as my acquaintance with the said Company goes, they have not many circular men in it, if we except the chairman of directors and the senior auditor. They are both pretty rotund, but I think, massive as the chairman undoubtedly is, it would be fouud that the auditor weighed the heavier. Should there be no response to the advertisement, arrangements might be made with the N.Z. Company for the loan of Mr E. Carr. A considerable number of gentlemen have recently left Auckland in a hurr\;. They have forgotten to square up their liabilities, and, in some cases, their desire to start fair in another clime has impelled them to borrow a little capital from their late employers. , There are other cases where money has had nothing to do with the abrupt departure. Some little scandal in which one of the fair sex is implicated, has forced the local Don Juan to leave the home of his childhood, and make his re-appearance in some distant scene, where he can cither repeat the same operation or start anew as a respectable man, a role in which he will feel for some time sadly awkwaid. Some of these boys, for they are but mere boys, have plenty of good qualities, and are more to be pitied than censured. But thei*e are some of them who are most despicable young blackguards, without one redeeming quality ; whose presence Avas a disgrace to the locality in which they lived as well as 'the family to which they belonged ; young curs, possessing not one single virtue and fit only to be shot or poisoned like a mad dog. Such vermin we are well rid of, and for the moral health of the city and the peaceful rest of many a home, may it be long before we again see some of these levanters frequenting our streets and mixing with our young people. 10" — —^— — The charges against the Town Clerk, tabled by Councillors Goldie and Garratt, may be boiled down into two— namely, first, that he has failed in business, and second, that he has at odd times had a little private work done by Council employes. If this is all that can be urged against a man who has occupied his present position for so many years, it would be Avorse than useless to take the slightest notice of the statements. If Councillor Goldie could show that Mr Phillips had ever been a fraudulent bankrupt, or that there had been anything- but misfortune j attached to his failure then there would be , something in the allegation to answer. But j what has his failure got to do with the discharge of his present duties ? Councillor G-arratt's charge is still less pertinent. ! There is no great harm in the Town Clerk saving a few shillings by availing himself of the spare time of the Council labourers. What on earth has that to do with the proper discharge of his official duties ? The one objection that I see to the Town Clerk is simply that he is not a member of the legal profession. I believe he does his office routine work admirably, but there is such a vast amount of ratepayers' money •yasted— absolutely wasted in unnecessary solicitors' fees, that one feels bound to support a change that would save this wanton expenditure. The present system of piling up costs in connection Avith petty offences against the city bye-laws is scandalous, and should not be continued a clay longer. That is the only objection I hold to Mr Phillips' occupancy of the Town Clerkship. " I've a heye like a heagle " has tickled ; the fancy of 1 he larrikins.
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Bibliographic details
Observer, Volume 7, Issue 348, 8 August 1885, Page 9
Word Count
895CITY GOSSIP. Observer, Volume 7, Issue 348, 8 August 1885, Page 9
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