STRAIGHT TALK

Fair Play, Volume I, Issue 8, 23 December 1893, Page 1

STRAIGHT TALK

Christmastide is again with us and, as usual, the happy-go-lucky New Zealander is preparing to enjoy himself next week. We have no intention of becoming sentimental over the matter, but we must say that we all ought to he thankful that this colony is. free from the awful depression with its accompanying poverty and misery, which at present reigns in Melbourne and, to a lesser extent, also in Sydney. New Zealand isn’t booming and no sane person wants it to boom, but at the same time there is enough and a little to spare for all who choose to work, and for the loafer we have no pity.

On Monday next we shall all, no doubt, do as we have done so often before, sit down on a blazing hot day and gorge a big feed, more suited for a clime where ice and snow are over the land than for' this sunny southern country of ours. The gorge over, we ought all then to join in a prayer that it may be long ere New Zealand sees the bitter days of depression which have recently been known on the other side, after whiCh we can devote our attention to our digestion, the powers of which we shall have terribly strained. This is Fair Play’s first Christmas amongst the people of New Zealand but it will not be the last, and we trust we shall have many opportunities of repeating our present wish, namely, that every reader [of our paper may enjoy

A VERY JOLLY CHRISTMAS, and that 1894 may be for her or him—ladies first, nowadays, if you please—more than ever A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

The retirement of Dr. Lemon from the position of Superintendent of Telegraphs has resulted in the perpetration of an act of political patronage that hardly redounds to the credit of Mr. Ward. First it was announced that Mr. Gray, who is in charge of the Post Office Department, would be appointed to succeed Dr. Lemon, while still retaining his position in the Post Office. This arrangement, it was explained, had been made on an economical basis, with a view of retrenching expenses., ‘lt was at once understood,. however, that Mr: Gray would be chief merely in name, as it would be: absolutely impossible for him .to give sufficient time to the practical management of both departments

properly.- The appointment of an aoting superintendent was looked forward to with almost a certainty that the ehoiioe would fall upon Mr. E. H. Bold, and great surprise wasoreated when it was given to Mr. J. K. Logan.

Mr. Bold is probably next to Dr. Lemon the ablest man in the Telegraph Department. He is a civil engineer and a practical electrician of the highest olass. In his professional' capacity as an engineer he has done service for the colony in superintending the construction of roads. The work at that time was most dangerous, and the men who took part in it may be said to have literally carried their lives in their hands. Mr. Bold received the thanks of the colony for his work through Mr. Ormond. In addition to this ho has rendered able service to the colony while in the Telegraphic Department. This record- alone should have entitled him to promotion in the event of a vacancy, but he still has further claims on tho Government.

Mr. Bold is the senior Inspector of Telegraphs, and his first appointment dates from October Ist, 1868, while Mr. .Logan, who has been promoted over his head, entered the service on October 26th, 1866, over two years later. There is certainly something radically wrong in this appointment, for by all the rules and customs of the .Civil service Mr. Bold was entitled to it by virtue of his seniority, and the able services he has rendered to the colony. Mr. Logan may be a good and efficient officor in his way, nobody denies that, but what has he done that he should be pitchforked into a position for which, however fit he may be, another man is much better qualified? As a Democratic paper, from its inception, Fair Play has supported the Liberal Party and rejoiced over its return to Parliament in such an overwhelming majority, but if this .is to be taken as a specimen of what use it intends to make of its power the sooner we have a reconstruction of the Ministry the better; Mr. Ward's action can be described as nothing else but a flagrant abuse of his post* tion, for if ever a reprehensible political job were, perpetrate surely we have it here. The only ascertainable reason fordtfr. Logan’s promotion is that he comes front the same district in the south that returned Mr. Ward, who hdCetddehtly doiM lthis i thing to curay favour with his constithehcy an action vwhicfi - may in the near future costhinideiar.P

There is scarce one of our "Wellington readers who will not at once recognise the features depicted above. Mr. John Plirnmer, or as he is more familiarly known “ The Father of Wellington,” has been a resident of this city for over fifty years, and there is hardly a man, woman, or child in town who is not at least acquainted with him by sight. He was born on the Severn, near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, and came to Wellington in 1841. He was a builder by trade and found plenty of work for him here on his arrival. Mr. Plimmer was one of the first promoters of the Chamber of Commerce, in 1856, and has been a member ever since. In 1850 he commenced to reclaim the first land from the harbour and was instrumental in forming Lambton Quay into a street. He was a member of the Board of “Works from its foundation to its finish, and afterwards of the Town Board while it lasted. He then succeeded in getting a Bill passed for the formation of the Municipality. He was for two years a member of the Provincial Council and resigned as he could not spare the time to devote to politics. During his term of membership he brought in a Bill to build the first Parliament House. He was made a member of the committee to choose the site and with the others pitched upon the place where the present building stands. The ground was bought from the wife of Sir William Fox, who at that time had not been knighted. After retiring from the Council Mr. Plimmer got Sir John Hall to pass a bill authorising the construction of the Wellington and Manawatu Railroad, of which institution he has been a director ever since. Although well on in years, Mr. Plimmer is still active, and engaged in business. He is at present building a hotel at Plimmerton which, when finished, will contain 35 rooms, and he is as interested in current events as his juniors by many years.

The Syd/ney Bulletin , in congratulating New Zealand on it? Democratic victory at the general elections, speaks as fol-

lows: —“It is claimed that the female vote went almost solid for the teetotal, social purity, and aggravatingly pious element in the Liberal party, and that when the House meets it will at once proceed to abolish drink, tobacco, and sin generally, but until the House meets this is mere conjecture. Fully one-third of the Legislature consists of new members, and if these new members form a solid Cold Tea-party, there will presently be a a great thirst in Maoriland. Also, there are rumours and allegations to the effect that Premier Seddon will presently be deposed by his party to make room for Stout, who will be practically the representative of the women voters of Maoriland. But even allowing for all the possible internal dissensions which may arise in the Democratic ranks out of cold tea and sectarian troubles, and the desire to raise the age of.consent to 120 or thereabouts, there is still no prospect of another Tory Ministry during the present Parliament.” Our contemporary seems to have a pretty fair grasp of the subject, foi whoever may be called upon to form a Cabinet, whether it be Seddon or Stout, and whatever opposition may spring up against either, the fact remains that the vast majority of the House will remain Liberal, and even supposing that, as foreshadowed by Fair Play in a previous article, Stout’s obtaining the Premiership should result, in an Opposition being formed, consisting of discontents and Seddon Liberals; the Opposition and Government would then consist merely of branches of the Liberal party, differing merely in details and—division of the spoils.

The story of the barque Trafalgar which has just arrived at Melbourne from Batavia would rejoice the heart of a Clarke Russell or other writer of sea romances in search of a good motif. The Trafalgar has had a most eventful time of it lately. ’ When she was loading at Batavia, the capital of Java, and a place where the Native fair sex, though brown of skin, are fair to the eye and bien complcuisantes as the French say, a lot of the Trafalgar men gave up the wild sea life without saying as much as “ by your leave” to the skipper. The second mate was discharged, for what wickedeness we cannot say, but the local whisky—arrack they call it in Batavia —is very strong and very likely the second mate got so full of it as to assault the skipper. If he did, the latter, poor fellow, did not live long to remember it, for he panned out with fever, a very fine sample of which is kept in Java, as a set off against the attractious of the brown skinned little maids and the local tipple which is both potent and sharp.

After the skipper had passed in his checks, the chief officer took fright and decided to clear out of the post. This he did, but the confounded fever was “in the ship,” as the sailormen say, and five days after sailing, it broke out. The mate sickened and died, followed in turn by five “of the crew. Skipperless, mateless, it seemed long odds against the Trafalgar being navigated safely to port, but there was a lad on board who proved himself no ordinary lad but a regular brick. This was a young fellow called Sholton, an apprentice of 18 years of age, who had only just completed his indentures. This youngster succeeded in taking the fever-stricken ship with its little remnant of crew safely into port.

Young Sholton is the sort of follow who makes men proud of the name of Briton. So long as such as he are about in our mercantile shipping, there need be no fear that British pluck and British command of the sea will sensibly diminish. He deserves a handsome reward from the owners of the barque, and if there is any money left in Melbourne, the merchants o that place ought to make him some public presentation,

The more we read of the earlier scenes in the Matabele war, the more confirmed we are in the opinion expressed in Fair Play some two or three weeks ago, that the campaign against Lobengula was a deliberately got-up affair. A quarrel was picked with the Matabele chief, who had been a good, friend to the Chartered Company, and who, savage tyrant though he may be amongst his own people, had prided himself upon having kept faith with .Mr. Cecil Rhodes; and then a lot of loothunting scallawags, the “ froth and scum” of Johannesburg and the mining districts, were let loose in Matabeleland to shoot

down the natives with Maxim guns, and to murder as they chose—with a 6000 acre farm free sticking out at the end of the campaign. Here is a sample of the way in which the brown skins (savage and heathen) were treated by the white skins (civilised and Christian men). It is taken from a South African paper, and speaks for itself:—“ Durban, 15th. Special.—A private letter received in Durban from Victoria contains‘the following : —Last Tuesday Matabele came into camp. The alarm was sounded, and everyone was shut in the fort. Dr. Jameson held an induba, and gave them one hour to get out of Mashonaland (thirty miles). An hour and a half afterwards fifty of us mounted, and were sent to see if they, had cleared, when we came across about sixty of them about seven miles from camp. Captain Lendy gave us the order to charge and fire, which we did, killing between twenty-five and thirty ; the others got into a kopje among the rocks, so we had to leave them. It was like buck-shooting, for the poor devils took to then’heels, and we galloped up and almost shot them point-blank. I don’t suppose any of them got less than four or five bullets in him.”

Writing to one of the London.papers, Mr. Labouchare comments very pithily and pointedly as follows:—“ If the Matabeles had been given an hour to clear out of Mashonaland, the frontier of which was thirty miles distant, it is evident that they could not accomplish the feat. They were obeying the order, and had already covered seven miles, when they were shot down, although it would seem that they made no resistance. A greater outrage on civilization, humanity, and all the rules of war never was committed, and it is worth noting that the officer who gave the order to shoot was the Captain Lendy who, on account of a previous murderous assault upon a Mashona village, had been stigmatised by Mr. Buxton in the House of Commons as a murderer. That the Company retained such an officer in its service, and sent him out to pursue the Matabele, tells its own tale. ’ ’

It is openly asserted in the London.papers to hand by the mail, that the Chartered Company have found Mashonaland to be a complete frost as far as regards gold, and that the sole reason for the quarrel being picked with the Matabele, and the war forced on these latter is that Matabeland is supposed to be rich in gold, and that the Company wish to recoup themselves for the disappointment they have met with in Mashonaland.

Most of the Cape newspapers are under the thumb of Cecil Rhodes, who is nothing but a King of Stockjobbers, and who is bent upon making money at any cost and by any means, but there are two or three papers in the Transvaal, notably, the Johwnnetburg Standard, and Diggers' News, which do not hesitate to call them by their true names and to stigmatise the Matabele campaign as “ a cold-blooded outrage on the laws of civilization and a base and brutal piece of tyranny and oppression.” '