News of the Dominion.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 1, 6 July 1910, Page 4

News of the Dominion.

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

July 1. J The Opening of Parliament. THE only outstanding feature of the opening of Parliament this week was the presence of the new Governor. Lord Islington read the Speech from the Throne as it has never been read for many a year. Previous Governors —at any rate, those of the last couple of decades or so—have not been orators, and one or 'two of them would have been the better of a little instruction in the art of public speaking and reading. But Lord Islington is an “old hand” at the delivering of speeches, and his reading of the Parliament’s opening address was a pleasure to listen to. His voice is a cultured, easy confident one, with plenty of power in it, and he made the inevitably platitudinous Speech quite an interesting one. Previous Governors have boggled over expressions here and there, and at least one, I hear, in his flurry, turned over two leaves at once, and started reading on, omitting two whole pages. The general public did not notice the difference, of course. But Ministers did, and there was much worry on the Premier’s face—it wasn’t our present Prime Minister—until the Personage on 'the Throne discovered his little mistake, and nervously read his lesson again and aright. But Lord Islington didn’t do anything of that Bort. Parliament has settled to work quickly. On Thursday night—its first business sitting—the Lower House * it till after midnight. There is a very o’g programme before it, and a season ot full five months is predicted. Civil Service Changes. The recently-announced changes of reads of Departments in the Civil Service are regarded with general approval. Mr. George Campbell, manager of the Government Fire Insurance Office, who takes Mr. Peter Keyes’ place as Commissioner of Taxes, is a very able and very popular Government official, with about thirty-six years’ experience in the Civil Service. He is, too. a man of note in the volunteering world. Ilejs the senior Garrison Artillery volunteer officer in Wellington, and holds the rank of Lieu-tenant-Colonel. There is no doubt that Mr. Campbell will make an excellent head of the important department just vacated by Mr. Heyes. Mr. F. W. Flanagan, who becomes Valuer-General, is not. perhaps, well known in Auckland, but he has many friends in Wellington, where he has resided and worked for many years. He is a quiet, reserved, but pleasant man, is a surveyor by profession, and for a long time Chief Draughtsman in the head office of the Survey Department. Mr. Flanagan is just now head of the Lands and Survey Office in Christchurch. The Tourist Department, or, rather. Division—for it is now nominally, and curiously, a. division of the Department of Agriculture—has once more changed heads. Air. Charles Bobieson, who lias been in control of the Department, under the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, since Air. Donne went to England, has been transferred to the managership of the State Fire Office, taking Mr. Campbell’s place. Mr. Ben Wilson, known all over New Zealand as Sir Joseph Ward’s private secretary for many years, and more recently Registrar of the Court of Arbitration, takes over the direction of the Tourist Office. Air. Wilson’s appointment is a very popular one, and it, is considered that he will make an excellent chief of the tourist and health resorts work. 4 ‘ The New Zealand Times.” Yet once more a change in the editorship of tin* “New Zealand Times.” Air Pierce C. Freeth, who has been editor for the last two years or so. vacates the. position, and I hear Air Fred. Kirby takes his place, from to-day, I believe. This will Is* the fourth editor the “Times” has had within half-a-dozen years. Air John L. Kelly, the one-time sub editor of the “Auckland Star,” and editor of the "Observer,” was succeeded by Mr. Wilson, of Dunedin, who, although a very Dice old gentleman and an M.A., to boot,

was not eut out for an editor, and soon got tired of the strange and strenuous life of directing a newspaper. He was a schoolmaster by profession. Then came Air Freeth, fresh from a European trip, after very successfully editing and managing a newspaper in Palmerston North. Mr Freeth was “the white-haired boy” of the “Times” directorate for a while, and it was thought that at last the owners had got an editor they would hang on to for at least half-a-dozen years. But now Freeth goes, and Fred. Kirby reigns in his stead. Mr Kirby has really been the backbone of the “Times” staff for years, and has put in good, solid, unobtrusive work all through. He was subeditor for two years, and latterly leaderwriter and assistant editor. He has thoroughly earned the position, and will without doubt make a very capable managing editor of Wellington’s leading daily. The “Times” hasn’t been damaged much by the opposition of the “Dominion,” the anti-Government daily, and it has greatly improved during the last year or so. The Prophet of the Winds. Here it comes, just as I am writing—that gale of the Bev. Bates’, To-day was so sunny and fine that I heard more than one say in town: “Bates is wrong for once.” Two days ago the weatherprophet warned us that "storm centres” were approaching across the Tasman Sea from the direction of Australia. When last night and to-day passed without any appearance of the gale, some people scoffed at the weather-man, just as the naughty people in Genesis scoffed at Noah when he was building the Ark, and said unto him: “Go to!” and other ribald things. But Mr. Bates is right after all, for the tempest is upon us. It is raining and blowing, with promise of more weight in it, and our week-end will be a wet, cold, uncomfortable one. But we are used to that now in Wellington. I wonder whether Mr. Bates stays up late at night praying for these gales to come along and verify his predictions! But whether or not, he is an uncommonly accurate meteorological observer; a forecast of his very seldom goes wrong. A Schooner, a Skipper, a Lady. The last of the Countess of Ranfurly, announced in a newspaper cable from Sydney the other day, brought up in my mind some reminiscences. The cablegram did not refer to the pretty wife of our one-time Governor, but to a one-time New Zealand Government sailing craft. It was the schooner Countess that sailed the tropic seas, from Auckland to the Summer Isles of Eden, for several years, carrying passengers and copra and pearlshell and native hats and cockroaches, and what not, backwards and forwards. A handsome, white-painted, three-masted topsail schooner, with an auxiliary screw, she made the round cruise of New Zealand’s South Sea Island dependencies three or four times each year. Captain F. A. Worsley, at one time an officer on the Ilinemoa and Tutanekai, was master of the Countess, and he made a name for himself as a rather smart, daring, young navigator. The risks he took knocking around the coral reefs of Rarotonga and Penrhyn and Manihiki and Niue would have made the scanty hair of the Marine Department stand on end if it had only known. But it didn’t, and Worsley was too good a sailorman to be caught napping. He knew just within how many inches he could shave the edge of a reef and save his schooner’s skin. The Countess of Ranfurly figured conspicuously in a book of very readable but not always accurate South Sea travels, written about four years ago by Miss Beatrice Grimshaw, a large and imposing English lady journalist, who was globe-cruising in search of "copy.” She went the round of New Zealand’s South Sea Island possessions in the Government schooner, and had, according to her account!!, some moving adventures. She thinly disguised the name of the vessel under the title of "Duchess,” but a photo, which she printed of the schooner "gave the show away” to New Zealanders interested in these matters. She airily spoke of Worsley here and there as “the pirate captain,” which was certainly injudicious of her, seeing that she had been very well treated on board. When Worsley road the lady’s playful description of him he used language that was painful and frequent and free. Captain Worsley went to England a few years

ago, and served for a time in the Royal Navy, being a Naval Reserve officer. He had some exciting experiences in one of the battleships of the Channel fleet during the annual manoeuvres, and passed his examination for lieutenant. The latest news his Wellington friends have of him is that he is an officer on an Atlantic liner. He is one of the best of fellows, and a good and plucky sailor, raised in that fine old practical school for seamen, the New Zealand Shipping Company, in whose now-vanished fleet of clipper sailing ships many a young New Zealander first learned to reef, hand, and! steer. Captain Worsley first went to sea in the ship Waimate. As for his old command, the Countess of Ranfurly. she has now gone the way of most Island schooners. She has left her bones on a coral reef near New Caledonia. The Bookmaker Must Go. So said a meeting of citizens this evening in the Chamber of Commerce; and these citizens’ dictum is only echoing the sentiments of a very large body of the general public. The recent remarks by Mr. Justice Chapman in the Supreme Court in Auckland have been very widely commented on and approved of. I fully expect to see a drastic anti-bookmaker bill drafted this session. Public feeling is certainly strong just now against the “bookie” brotherhood. At this evening's meeting the principal speakers were Mr. J. G. Aitken, the Rev. J. J. North, Mr. J. Hutchinson, Mr. E. Newman. M.P.. Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., the Hon. C. M. Luke, Mr. A. R. Atkinson. Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., and Mr. P. C. Freeth. With one accord they “slated” the bookie, bag, book and all. There was just one thing that troubled the even tenor of the meeting. A bold bookmaker actually had the courage to venture in amongst those righteous men —there were about forty of them. He gave his name as Mr. Davidson, and his occupation as bookmaker, and “got one back” on to the Rev. Mr. North, by saying that the first time he ever had a gamble was twenty-five years ago at Mr. North's Baptist Church in Dunedin. He left it to be inferred that it was the Rev. J. J. who had started him on the downward path that leadeth to the racecourse! Mr. Davidson suggested that if the “bookie” was to go it was only a fair thing that the totalisator should go too to keep him company, but the .meeting thought it would be better to tackle one thing at a time. Accordingly it resolved to record its protest against the legislation granting licenses to bookmakers, and to ask for the immediate suppression of these sporting gentlemen. The meeting also resolved to organise a big deputation, representative of the whole Dominion, to press upon the Prime Minister and Parliament the desirability of at once repealing clause 34 of the Gaming Act, with a view to revoking the licenses granted to bookmakers. So the “bookies” who haunt our street corners are anxiously wondering what will come next. WELLINGTON, July 2. This morning’s “Dominion” scolds Parliament for its bad manners. “Whether it is the spread of democracy or Radicalism,” it says, “or merely simple boorishness, may not be easy to determine, but the House of Representatives to-day is sadly lacking in those pleasing little exchanges of courtesy which at one timo characterised it, and which assisted so much to maintain the dignity of Parliament. When a member addresses the House nowadays he is liable to constant interruption iu the rudest manner imaginable—the more effective his speech the bigger the chorus of interrupters. It is not so much that an interjection is of itself objectionable, frequently it is a very proper means of correcting a speaker or of forcing him to elaborate a point. It is the tone adopted by so many of the interrupters —aggressive, sneering, blatant. Very few members trouble to address a brother member by his full title. .Sir William Steward —we mention him as the oldest member of the House —affords an example to the younger members of the courteous and dignified tone that at one time, and not so very long ago, prevailed in Parliament.”

But, after all, our Parliament has not yet deteriorated to the level of the New South Wales legislature, with its “You’re-a-liar” tone of debate, and its occasional pugilistic bouts.

Silver Mint for New Zealand* The Governor’s speech hinted at legislation during the coming session to deal with the question of silver coinage. It will be remembered that this was one of the subjects discussed at tha Premiers’ Conference in 1907. Mr. Asquith (then Chancellor of the Ex-» chequer) promised that the facilities extended to Australia would, if desired, be given to New Zealand; also, it is understood, that the Government of the Dominion will do nothing of an unfriendly nature to Australia, so far ast the acceptance of their coin in New Zealand is concerned, but it is intended to a<k Parliament to express its opinion on the establishment of a silver mint in the Dominion. Under No-license. Masterton Court returns for the first six months of the year 1909 (under license) and the first six months 1910 (No-license) show a marked decrease in the convictions for drunkenness, etc., under no-lieense. The figures for 1910 are as follows (the figures for the previous period being given in parentheses) Drunkenness 23 (137); common assault 3 (20); theft 0 (18); housebreaking 0 (6); resisting the police 0 (8); failing to support wives or relations 5 (9); no means of support 1 (9); obscene language 2 (8) ; sly-grog selling 6 (0); bringing liquor into a No-license area 14 (0). East Coast Railway. Cabinet last week authorised the issue of a proclamation defining the middle and first section of the East Coast railway between Tauranga and Ta Puke. The Hon. R. McKenzie, interviewed on Friday, said navvies will commence work on this section immediately. Fate of the Bookies. In the House of Representatives last week Mr. E. Newman, member for Manawatu, asked leave to introduce a bill to prohibit the licensing of bookmakers, and thus do away with their legal standing. There is the best authority for stating that this proposal will receive unanimous support from the Opposition. The policy of the Government, as outlined in the speech from the throne, gave no direct indication of any legislation in this direction, hut simply forecast amendments to the Gaming Act. The King’s Coronation. It is currently reported that Sir Joseph Ward will represent New Zealand at the Coronation early next year, at the Imperial Premiers’ Conference, and at the Lisbon Postal Conference, to be held about the same time; so his trip Home will serve three purposes. A Monster Petition. The executive of the Powelka Committee made preliminary arrangemeuta last week for the public meeting which it is proposed to hold on the evening of Sunday, July 10. It is computed that about 7000 persons in Wellington have signed the petition to t'he Minister for Justice for the. mitigation of Powelka’s sentence. Oversea Maisl. Reference was made in the course of the annual report of the Post and Telegraph Department, submitted to Parliament by Sir J. Ward last week, to the question of oversea mails. The report states that the greater portion of the mails to and from the L’nited Kingdom and Europe has been dispatched and received by way of Suez. The special connecting service, Wellington-to-Sydney, has been running with great regularity throughout the year, one connection only; having been missed, and that was due to bad weather. The inward connection is, however, not satisfactory. Until the 14th March, 1910, the inward mails from London conveyed by the P. and €>. steamers were timed to reach Sydney on alternate Mondays, while the mails conveyed by the Orient steamers were not due until the Wednesday from the date named. The Orient, as well as the P. and 0., mails are timed to reach Sydney on Monday, but the steamer for New Zealand continues to leave Sydney on Wednesday. Repeated efforts have been made to induce the Union S.S. Company; to alter the day of departure tn

but, although the company has expressed its •willingness to make the alteration, if practicable, action has been delayed, as the company has not been able to see its •way to make the expensive changes in the intercolonial running -which the proposal would involve. Negotiations are still proceeding. The payments on account of the P. and O. and Orient lines during 1909-10 amounted to £28,203. The present position of this Dominion in regard to the Vancouver mail service is most unsatisfactory. Before the contract expired last year, strong efforts •were made to induce the Canadian and Commonwealth Government's to allow the steamers to call at Auckland, a subsidy of £20,000 a year being offered the Government of Canada. The contractors, for the service were quite willing to fall in •with the wishes of New Zealand, and this Government had every reason to suppose that the proposal would be accepted. The Commonwealth Government, however, decided merely to renew the contract for a year on the existing basis. The year’s extension expired in July, 1910, and negotiations have been going on for some months with a view of securing the desired alteration of route of the mail steamers to include Auckland, the same subsidy being offered by New Zealand as last year. Canada and the contractors have again expressed their willingness to make the call at Auckland, but the Commonwealth Government have declined to alter the running of the mail steamers. Tenders have just been called by Canada for a new service, commencing in August, 1911, 'Auckland being included in two of the alternate routes advertised. The Wellington-Papeete contract, (which expired in January, 1910, was extended to May, 1910, and a larger steamer than the Mokoia was employed in the service from the 11th March of this year. In April arrangements were made to further extend the service until the meeting of Parliament, and in May the July sailing was provided for. UnSortunately it has not been possible to arrange a more frequent service than one of ten voyages a year. To be of the best value the service should be at least four-weekly. The Union Company, which performs the WellingtonPapeete section of the through service, .would, it is understood, be willing to arrange a four-weekly running, but the contractors with the United States for the San Francisco-Papeete section have not been able to make the desired acceleration, which would involve the provision of a second steamer. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, the service has been a very useful one, as it has enabled a connection to be maintained between New Zealand and the United (States. The through time, Wellington to London, has been satisfactory, averaging 35.20 days. The time, London to .Wellington, is longer, owing to the mail having to wait at Papeete .until the Wellington steamer arrives. The timetable of the latter is fixed so that the connection from New Zealand will be a Close one. Against the Bookies. meeting was held on Friday to arrange for a protest against the clauses in Gaming Act which legalise bookmakers. 'About 50 representative citizens attended. Mr J. G. W. Aitken presided, and speeches were delivered by Messrs. R. A. Wright, T. E. Taylor, and E. Newman, M.P.’s, and A. R. Atkinson and John Hutchison, ex-M.P.’s, and others. It was resolved to organise a big deputation to wait on the Prime Minister [(Sir J. Ward) on the subject. Some diversion was caused by a bookmaker addressing the meeting. .He contended that men who opposed the bookmaker could not support the totalisator. The Coronation. It is currently reported that Sir Joseph Ward will represent New Zealand at the Coronation early next year, at the Imperial Premiers’ Conference, and at the Lisbon Postal Conference, to be held about the same time; so his trip Home .will serve three purposes. The Dominion's Revenue. The Minister of Finance informed the House of Representatives that there had been a gratifying increase for the three months’ revenue from April Ist to June fffth of bhis year, as compared with the orresponding three months of last year. This increase amounted to £133,716. The principal items were: Customs, £45,653 increase; stamps, Postal Department,

£40,384, and Post and Telegraph cash (£9061; land and income tax, £8794; railways, £31,834. Four items, including marine, registration and fees, and beer duty showed decreases amounting to £6218, but as the other Departments showed increases amounting to £ 139,934, there was a net increase of £133,716. He drew attention to the fact that the Customs revenue was looking up, and as this gave an idea of our external trade it was particularly gratifying. In Parliament. Parliament was opened on Tuesday afternon by his Excellency the Governor, Lord Islington. The Governor’s Speech contained very lit'tle that had not been anticipated by Ministers in recent speeches, but afforded many satisfactory indications that the Government' is prepared to pursue its established policy of developing our natural resources and opening up the country with all the energy which our financial limitations will permit. The new Native Land Act is reported to be working well, and expediting the long-delayed process of opening up the Maori lands. The demand for land is to be met by exploiting our native land resources, and by employing the' facilities offered 'by the State Guaranteed Advances Act, the Land Settlement Finance Act, and the Lands for Settlement Act in the best interests of intending settlers. The perennial Land Tenure question is to come up this year again, and the proposed Land Bill is to reproduce the main features of the measure dropped last year. But without’ internal means of communication the problem of settlement is insoluble, and we are promised that roads and railways shall be pushed on vigorously into all the unsettled areas of the country. We may remark in passing that the claims of the North Island for a fair share of the Public Works grants are likely to be pressed with some force this session; for the proposed “League of the North” has already begun to materialise. The Governor’s Speech having been duly delivered, members of the House of Representatives assembled, and resolutions having been passed bearing upon the death of Edward VII., the succession of George V., and the decease of several members of the Legislature during the recess, the House adjourned until Thursday, when an Imprest Supply Bill was passed after a lengthy debate upon the question of the North Auckland railway deviation. Mr. Mander proposed that the House disapprove of the deviation of the Helensville line northwards unless the deviation is inquired into by a Commission and an Authorisation Bill passed by Parliament. The motion was defeated by 40 votes to 24. Politics and Justice. A rather unsavoury matter is at present the subject of comment in the lobbies, and is likely to be brought upon the floor of the House during the next few days. Newspapers reported a little while back that a Christchurch citizen of some" prominence—a justice of the peace and municipal representative —grossly misconducted himself, and fell into the hands of the police on a charge of drunkenness, that he prevailed on a member of Parliament to use his influence and have the matter hushed up by altering the name on the charge sheet; and that this deceptive arrangement was worked with, it is alleged, the connivance of a prominent police official. The affair reached the ears of the Minister of Justice, and it is stated that a Christchurch member renowned for his antagonism to the liquor traffic is to bring the matter before Parliament. The “Dunedin Star,” commenting on the matter in a leading article, says: “The member of Parliament who made the false step intends to make a clean breast of the business in the House of Representatives, and solicit the clemency of his fellow legislators. He will explain that his ill-advised action was solely due to a feeling of pity for an acquaintance. To such a plea, offered in a manly and unreserved way, the House may be expected to pay sympathetic heed, and it is probable that the incident will not injuriously affect the member’s prospect of being appointed to an important Parliamentary office. At the same time, we have no wish to minimise the seriousness of the error committed, especially seeing that less than a year has elapsed since Mr. Bishop, in liis memorable report on the police force, commented so pointedly on the mischievous effects of political interference with the administration of justiMr”