Various Views.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume X, Issue 490, 14 December 1899, Page 20

Various Views.

[By our Captious Obitio.]

“ When the hurley hurley’s done, 'When the battle’s fought and -won.” So quoted Mr Napier in building up a peroration in one of hie speeches, and he has fought pluckily, well, and successfully. George Fowlds’ watchword has always been “ Trust in God and do the right,” and from what I know of Mr Fowlds he will certainly do it. It is piteous to see the attitude taken up by some of our would-make believe puritanical councillors when the social evil invites their attention. Vice, I assert, does not parade itself on the streets of Auckland, and if men like Mr Hannan finds it out it is because of their ability to call goo d evil and evil good. To the pure all things are pure, but the blood hound sense is developed so strongly in some that they would hound to the very earth our poor fallen sisters. Fallen sisters 1 Why not fallen men ?

Go any where on the face of God’s earth and cow pare the state of the streets at say 11 o clock at night to fair Auckland. Has this Mr Hannan ever visited London and witnessed the scenes outside the Criterion Theatre at half past eleven any uight in the week. Has he visited Portsmouth •r Plymout and seen the evil there. Has he ever heen in sanctimonious Edinburgh and visited the grotts there ? The evil has been well tackled by the Auckland police, and handled with care and discretion. They deserve every credit.

It is not possible now to overturn Mr Seddon, and indeed his dominating individuality is beooming rather dangerous. “The Eleciive Ixtoutive ” is the only thing to keep him in check, and should he consent to rub out the “ old man’s home” and adopt that measure his future as a Colonial Premier is assured. He is at present the hero of the hour, and should he wipe out the effete institution and give us the referendum he may become the hero of the century, that is so far as New Zealand is concerned.

Who are the idiots who have endangered the seats of our City members by voting twice ? Are they knaves or fools ? That any man or a woman should do such a thing passes my comprehension and goes to show that Carlyle was right after all, “there are so many people born in the world •very day, mostly fools.”

The recent elections have been rather a sur prise to people throughout the colony. It was anticipated that Seddon would go back to power, but hardly with such an overwhelming majority. Daring the session previous to last he had a very strong majority, and acted the dictator to perfection. He would have no half measures, and ruled his party with a rod of iron. Last session

he was not so strong, and he adopted a much more placating manner to gain his ends. Now . wa may be sure he will come out in his true colors as “ King Dick ” again, and woe betide the follower who dares set up his opinion against

the Government, for he is sure to be speedily

banished to the realms of outer darkness and opposition. But there is a drawback to this big majority which may cause trouble to the Premier in the near future. It is too unwieldy. He has a very difficult crowd to handle and keep in order. Every man jack of them will be wanting something, and, as there will not be enough good things to go around, there is sure to be discontentment and a very great probability of a powerful third party being formed that will hold the balance. Richard is not so much to be congratulated as some people imagine He has got his work cut out for him.

Things appear to be in a ferment down Tonga way, and the disturbing element at the present time is the irrepressible Shirley Baker. This gentleman is one of those bothersome kind of individuals who, with the sole idea of personal aggrandisement, is continually setting everybody by the ears. Some years ago he made Buch a mess of matters that they fired him out of the Islands and told him he mustn’t come back for two years. This is where they made a mistake. They should have exiled him for ever. The people in Tonga labored under the mistaken impression that he might reform, but Shirley is not of the reforming kind; and on his return has proved himself just as bad, if not worse, than ever. After severing his connection with the church down there, he first starts as a doctor, and then attempts to set himself up as a Church of England clergyman. His mischief making proclivities are proved by the fact that he has virtually declared himself a partisan of the princess whom the Kirg declined to marry, and there is already some ill-Lelu g over the King’s choice. This simply means fanning into a flame the discontent referred to Men like Baker deserve stern suppression, and it is a pity that, the law can’t deal with him in such a manner as to make him harmless.

Councillor J. H. Hannan seems to be in a terrible state over the alleged immorality of Auck land, and the heart of that great man appears to be bursting with sympathetic pain when he contemplates the wickedness and sin th it surrounds him as he walks the streets and even at times Bur.es up to the very door* of his drapery shop. He has held forth at length in the Council, he has rushed into print, and has achieved the questionable notoriety of being warmly praised for his endeavours by Mr Richardson. Now Mr Hannan may be sincere, but I am strongly of opinion that he is playing to the gallery. Auckland is bad enough in all conscience, but not so bad as Mr Hannan would have us believe. There has been a marked improvement during the last few years, thanks to the energy of the pol ce, and if we are to believe their evidence we must discredit Mr Hannan’s, who inferred befoie he was elected to the Council, that if he did get returned he would make the city fathers sit up, and in endeavouring to forward the “ sitting up ” process he has grasped at the first thing he could find to use as

a weapon. His position could very well be described by a couple of verses a la duet in the “ Trip to Chinatown ” as follows : — Reuben, Reuben, is it really True that Auckland is so bad ? Tt at the wickedness is driving' Mr Hannan nearly mad. Cynthia, Cynthia, Auckland always Was the very purest town And the councillor is playing For a little cheap renown. I share in the universal regret that our arms have met with another reverse in the Transvaal, but I fear that it is in a way due to our habit of under-estimating our enemies. It has been a common thing to decry the Boers as a parcel of Dutch farmers, who only wanted one good beating to be sent scampering home to their farms. This is a great mistake. They have proved themselves to be brave men, sturdy fighters and excellently drilled. Besides in their army there are continental and Irish officers who are skilled military tacticians. A large party of desperate men controlled by able leaders is by no means to be despised, and we must not lose one point in the game or our final victory will be a very costly one. Every defeat whether large or small intensifies the disaffection of the Cape Colony Dutch and the Africanders of. English descent who are at heart disloyal. A general rising against England in South Africa would be a very serious matter, and mean an indefinite prolongation of hostilities.