OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 21, 23 November 1910, Page 4

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

WELLINGTON, November 19. Hearing the End. THE end of the session is in sight. 'Die Premier yesterday afternoon made the customary annual announcement regarding the “slaughter of the innocents.’’ The list of abandoned bills is a pretty long one. All private members’ bills, and eight Government measures, were dropped; it may be for years and it may be for ever. Thirtyfive* Government bills were retained.: a number of these were passed during the evening’s sitting. The most important measure which lias to stand over till next year is the Land Laws Amendment Bill. This is such a highly debatable topic that it would have been useless to have retained it, unless the House intends to sit until after Christmas. Another bill which has to stand over is the Public Service Classification and Superannuation; it is deferred till next session, in order that an actuarial report can be obtained, and the proper alterations in the superannuation funds carefully considered. The Licensing Bill and the Gaming Bill, the two most momentous measures dealt with this session, were before the Upper House at the time of writing. They will both shortly become law’. Then it will remain to be seen how far they will go to make New Zealand a teetotal and nongambling community. The Upper House has been considerably exercised over the Gaming Bill, and some of the more Conservative M.L.C.’s have given indication of their dislike of its very sweeping character. Some have incidentally championed the cause of racehorse owners. Hon. J. D. Ormond and Sir George McLean, both well-known owners, declared that there’s nothing in the game of horseracing. at any rate not any profit for the men who own the horses. They challenge their fellow-members to point to any big racehorse owner who paid his W'ay with the stakes. “We do it for the love of sport and the pleasure we get out of it,’’ they said. That’s all right, but it prompts a non-racehorse owner to ask a pertinent question: “If you owners only race for the fun of the thing, why do you want big money prizes? Why not do away with money stakes altogether, and race as pure amateurs?” But that's where the rub comes in. The Hine Charges. The now famous Hine charges are still tinder investigation by a special Committee of the House of Representatives. There are a lot of curious points in the evidence so far published, but as the inquiry is sub-judiee, comment would be a breach of privilege—and the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Hanan, has a keen nose for breaches of privilege. Wherefore, I will refrain from saying some things I was tempted to say. There is no harm in saying, however, that there are some humorous touches in the evidence, as, for example, Mr. llerries’ statement that a Maori from the Waikato tried to bribe him in a quiet way by stuffing a roll of notes into his (Mr. Herriee’) pocket up in the Parliament Buildings. Members laughed, for the idea of brown brudder bribing Mr. Herries was distinctly funny. The inquiry is now nearing its end, and the Committee’s report may be expected to come before Parliament sometime next week. Our Champion Sculler. Looking fine and big and very well, with a big grey felt hat crowning his smiling yet determined looking face, Dick Arnst, champion sculler of the world, walked down the Ruapehu’s gangway yesterday afternoon with his brother Jack. Arnst came back from Capetown by the Ruapehu, after what he describes as a “grand time” in Rhodesia. After he won his great match on the Zambesi, he went up country with his brother and Mcesr’. George Sutherland and Harry Floyd, under 'the guidance of i’ ’ noted South African hunter, Mr. A. Dr;, - They had a five weeks’ hunting four, and shcl ail sorts of game, from lions down. As to his treatment in Routh Africa, nothing, he said, could have exceeded the hospitality of the offieials and residents of Rhodesia.

Concerning his intentions for the future, Arnst says that he hears that Durnau, the Canadian, is anxious for a match; eo if a match is arranged with Barry on the Thames, he will “take both on” during the English summer; this will give him a chanee of seeing the King’s Coronation next year. Barrysaid he would like another race, if possible, and Arnst is willing to give him one. providing 'the terms are complied with—£soo for expenses and £5OO stake, and half the gate-money—the same as In the previous match on the Zambesi. After landing from the Ruapehu, Arnst went up to Parliament House, at the invitation of his member, Mr. R. H. Rhodes, and there was a little gathering in Bellamy’s, at which Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Massey and others made “welcome-home” and congratulatory speeches. Then last night the big sculler boarded the Maori for Lyttelton, to see his relatives, who live at Tai Tapu, near Christchurch. He will be back this way shortly, for he is going to Rotorua for a soak in hot water to cure a slight attack of rheumatism which he contracted on the voyage from the Cape. David and Other Saints. The question of publie holidays is worrying the Government some. The Hon. David Buddo, who is in charge of the Public Holidays Bill, was lately deputationised by some patriotic Welshmen, who wanted to know “why the ditlie St. David hass been left out,” and not added to the othei’ Saints whom New Zealand honours by giving bank clerks a day off—to wit, St. George, St. Andrew, or St. Patrick. Isn’t St. David as good as any of them? This prompted some M.P. to ask why New Zealand should not also have its patron saint in the list, but so far no name has been suggested. If I may venture a guess, I should say that St. Hippo would about fill the bill for this country. The New Zealand Employers’ Federation does not approve of these Saints’ days, however, and its secretary has written to Mr. Buddo to tell him so. The secretary points out, under instructions from the Federation’s Parliamentary committee, that the observance by the banks of Saints’ days, which are not observed by other portions of the community as a holiday, is unnecessary, and is frequently the cause of considerable inconvenience to business people. The committee therefore hopes that Mr. Buddo and Parliament will strike out the days devoted to Sts. George, Patrick and Andrew from the list of authorised bank holidays. And so say a'U of us —except the bank clerks. Archbishop Redwood. The head of the New Zealand Roman Catholic Clergy, Archbishop Redwood, is just back from the big Eucharistic Conference in Montreal. He looks well and hearty, and as genial as ever —he by no means looks his seventy-two years. He told the large audience that gathered in the Town Hall last evening to hear him lecture, that some of the clergy to the Congress assured him that he didn’t look more than fifty. (They had kissed the Blarney Stone to some purpose). "That’s the New Zealand CH i mate,” his Grace told the reverend ones in reply; “if von live in New Zealand you’d look the same at my age.” The ‘ Biff ” Pictures. After all the noise and fury over those Johnson-Jeffries fight kinematograph pictures, and all the parsonical talk of the “demoralising exhibition,” with Mood and hail- flying all over the shop, and the deputations to ministers to stop the show coming here, and all that sort of thing, the actual pictures fall harmlessly flat. They have just arrived here, and are now showing in the Opera House. Some of ns went to see them last night, expecting no end of thrill and gore, but when it was all over we had to confess that we had had more excitement watching a “willing go” at amateur boxing matches. The pictures wore disappointingly tamo; the big plnggers seemed to spend most of their time clinching and side-stepping about the arena in each other’s arms. The hits seemed to bo mere taps. No doubt this is the result of the kinematograph machines “taking” the fight at too fast a rate; you could hardly see the blows. One of the most interesting features of the picture-show

was the huge crowd; another was the great orderliness of the crowd, as far as it was visualised. The fight was a great display of nerve, no doubt. But I fancy a lot of those who went to see the pictures must have felt inclined to echo the comment of one hard-faced youth, who came out of the stalls: “Bli-me, blokes, if that’s a prize-fight give me a dorg-firght,” and as for the alleged demoralising effects of the fight-pictures, I don’t believe the show would shock or bring the blush of shame to the fair cheeks of the good ladies of the W.C.T.U.