Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 34, 29 May 1891, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD,

The worm, it seems, will turn *t las^, and, in fact, if those against whom the worm turns come occasionally to regard it as being of something of the nature of a snake, their conclusion may, perhaps, be understood. The long suffering civil servants have found a voice at last to protest against the manner in which they have been treated, and, unless, in the particular case to which we allude, proof can be adduced to show that false motives have been attributed, a very serioui charge will remain uncontradicted. Ihe cafe is that of Mr John Spence, late Commissioner of Grown Lands for Southland, who has been dismissed from bis situation and who. in replying to a farewell address presented to him by certain citizens of Invercargill, has made a very strong impeachment of the Government in general and of the Hon. John McKenzie, Minister of Lands, in particular. We mnst, no doubt, make some allowance for the exasperation of a man dismissed suddenly from a position which be had long o»cupied, and in which he at least believed himself 10 have done his duty faithfully and well. " After 25 years faithful service," said Mr Spence. "it ig •omewhat har.t that the Minister 1 , action should compel me, at an Advanced period of life, to have a large family and seek my Jiving in the wild? of a tew and far distant country." — Most of us will be disposed to agree that nothing but the clearest necessity and the certainty of acting for the public good could justify anything of the kind. If, therefore, Mr Spencs feels aggrieved it is not difficult for us to understand bis fee'ingp. We do not know that we can accept as quite genuine the protestations he makes of forgiveness. We fear that, notwithstanding his rcsignel recognition that Mr McKenzie, as, he cays, was but an instrument in the bacda of a Divine Providence, he still felt a certain degree of satisfaction in the thought that, as he expressed it " Nemesis will sooner or later overtake the men who have shown such a wanton disregard of the piinciples of justice and of the ordinary decencies of life."— But making every allowance that can be made, a specific accusation still remains to the effect that the Minister was actuated in <be dismissals and removals made by him, not by the necessity of the case or by the need of advancing the public good, but by the de«ire to serve a private friend of bis own. And if we are to jjdge from the details given by the Invercarg 11 correspoadeat of the Otago Daily Times, the gentleman in question, who has been appointed ranger, is a very unfit person to hold any office on ihe fulfilment of whose duties public interests depend. The correspondent, in short, givi s us the details of a case in which ihis gentleman, a year or two ag<->, attempted to take possession of some sections of land which were owned by two orphan boys — Of course it is possible that he was himself deceived and had acted in good faith— but, if so» his good name requires that the facts be made known. It ia also very necessary for the reputation of the Minister of Lands that the charge so openly brought against him by Mr. Spence should be disprovedAs to the ideas expressed by Mr. Bp«rce with regard to the government of a country generally, we fancy that few of us will be inclined to differ from him. Undoubtedly, it is most unwise, as he sajs, to admit as the members of a Ministry men who have no political training and no qualifications as statesmen. Mr. Spence speaks very Btrongly of Mr. McKenzie's action relative to these dismissals. That of Mr. Royds, for instance, he stigmatises as "an act of purei nnadulterated madness and brutality," and, again, he says, a certain telegram pent by the Minister " shows all the cruelty of the Eastern despot." Charges like theee it would be rash to second, particularly coming, as they do, from the mouth of an angry man, without very accurate and certain information, which, iadeed, we do not possess. The dealing of the Ministry, however, with the civil ■ervants seemß to have been generally arbi'rary, and, in many cises, anything rather than judicious. It is certainly a defective statesmanship thot acts in such a manner as to risk making the civil servant* distrustful, careless of the manner in which their duties are performed, and bent only oa making the best of the opportunity to

PLAIN SPBAKIHa.

serve their own interests da Tin? an uncertain tenure of office. If the worm, then, by turning, or even sbowioj s^^^thing of the sharpness of t ho " serpent* tooth," brings abotT J/^ferent itate of things and puts an end to what certainly seem£. -~»— ; a prematuro and insufficiently considered course of proceedings*) ne good most be the result.

CONTRADICTIONS.

A go jd deal of confusion seems to exist as to what the landing of oar democrat, j is ultimately to be. On the one band we find proposal! made for elevating the populace in the scale of gentility and turning them into what mast prove anything rather than a people suited to agricultural or the more humble industrial pursuits; On the other, we find schemes proposed which promise very well for a population of less exalted pretensions, but which bid fair to fix those who follow them amoag lowly surroundings for life.— On the one hand, in fact, we have proposals for a universal extension of secondary education— so that every child brought up in the colony may bave within its easy reach the means of entering a learned profession. On the other we have the plan for village settlement — such, for example, bs is now about to be offered to those who desire to avail themselves cf it at Catlin's Mver. This plan, we siy, is Tery well suited for people whose ambition is limited and who are content to settle down for life in the position of the small farmer, eking oat a meagre livelihood in the character of a bire<l labourer. The conditions, as we lenrn frum the satement made in Dunedin the other day by Mr March, the superintendent cf the system, are each as quite preclude all thoughts of a rise in the world — tbou?b, as we have snid, they offer eufnetent inducements to men who are content that the reward if their industry should be merely such as will suffice to give them a lusMng piece am 1 ng iha more prosperous labouring population. We do not know, howevtr, that the village settler will be quite secure cf never finding himself among the unemployed. A good deal will depend on the size of his holding, which in no ua^e can exceed 50 acres, and the work that men of larger means can give him in the neighbourhood. Unemployed, nevertheks«, in one sense the village settler can never be, for it will take him all his t me, whether he works for himeelf or for a richer neighbour, to make a living. Nor can he h^pe for any stroke of luck. He can never acquire the freehold of his land, and, however much his labour may improve it, he canrot hof c to sell it to advantage. He will not indeed be permitted to transfer it even as a leasehold unless he obtains the consent of the Commissioner of Crown Lands. As to any value arising from accidental causes,— the generally improved coudition of the district, for example, the growth of some larger centre in its vicinity, or the development of industries in the locality, or anything else tha', of course, will belong to the unearned increment, and the settler can claim vo share in it. It is no donbt with a view to something of this kind that the lease grantf d is not to be made perpetual but will first be given for a term of 30 ye rs, and afterwards for teuu-. of 21 yeats, so that, should justice to the public demand it, the rent m%y be raised. The settler accepts the position of soull farmer and labourer combined, and to that he and his successor in his holding are bound. The acceptance of the position, however, is praiseworthy, showing, as it does, the qualities of humility end contentment, which we certainly must all of us admire. Under the circumstances, r evertheless, pei haps a little more aid might be given the sett lrr to enable him to enter upon the occupation of his leasehold, than the advance offered of £10 to assist him in erecting a house. The village settler, in short, must be a man possessed of some little capital. Whether most men will prefer to risk their money in methods less sure, peihaps, but seeming to offjr grea'er possibilities the event must determine ; but, if it gives us such a proof, we shall recognise the more daring spirit —without which, in fact, the colonist as a rule would be but a feeble pioneer of civilisation. What, meantime, we would inquire is how this scheme of village settlement ana the creation of an inferior cla^s of settlers accords, for example, with the Bcheme of secondary education. Will it also enter into tbe praiseworthy humility of the village settler to be taxed without complaining for the higher education of tbe children of men occupying a better position than that to whicb. he himself or bis children can

ever aspire. The pretenoe, of course, is that the village settlers' own children would also have tbeir share in the advantages, but it needs little consideration to perceive that this is merely a pretence. The perpetuation of an inferior class of s ittlers, in a word, is glaringly itconsistant with a proposal for a general state of advanced gentility.

NOTHING NEW.

The Grand Duchess Serge of Russia, otherwise known as Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, a grand* dangbter of her Most Gracious Mb jest y the Queen, has abjured the Lutheranistn in which she was educated and embraced the tenets of the Basso-Greek Church. The event has made a tremendous fuss and all sorts of reasons are assigned for the illustrious lady's change. That a German Princess, nevertheless, should chaoge her religion to become a member of the Russian Imperial family is nothing so very wonderful or strange. Such, in fact, has been the rule among the Lutheran Princesses of the Fatherland—who have been fortunate enough to make the high alliance in question. What, nevertheless, in the present instance m»y seem strange is that her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, whose granddaughter the Prinoess Elizabeth is, his signified her Boyal approval of the matter. Are we, therefore, to conclude that Her Majesty conaiders the Rusao-Greek communion preferable to that of the Lutherana f The question is an important one, for the Queen, in her character of head of the Church of England, should be something of an authority. Has her Majesty, in fact, slighted the sect of the great German Reformer and acknowledged the superiority of the schism descending from more ancient days? But the Bishops of the Church of England a year or Wo ago, oa tne occasion of the celebration in Russia of an anniversary of the Greek Church, ■ent to its hierarchy an address of sympathy and congratulation— an address, which, we may add, was civilly received, but to which the expected and promised answer bas not yet L en returned — and, in fact, it was predicted at the time the address was forwarded that it would never be answered. Its civil recVion, which was by no means an acknowledgement of the truth of the statements it contained, was a foregou3 conclusion. To tell the truth, however, with regard to her Majesty the Queen, we do not really suppose that sbe meant in any way to signify her preference for the Busso-Greek Church. In all probability ehe esteems the Lutheran Church quite as highly if not more so. Indeed, the fact that when her Majesty is in Scotland, she attends the services of the Presbyterian Kirk, would teem conclusive as to this. An explanation is probably to ba found in the comparative indifference to religious observances of the sovereigns of the Reformation. Luther and his colleagues, as we know, allowed them the utmost latitude in this respect, only requiring that they should show a due abhorrence of all that belonged to the Catholic Church. An argument, therefore, in favour of the Catholicity of the Church of England is hardly to be derived from her Majesty's approval. Imtli tells us the accusation brought against the members of the Imperial family of teasing and worrying the Grand Duchess into joining the Greek Church is unfounded. He, for his part, gives also an explanation. •' The Grand Duchess," he says, " is a clever woman, and she wishes to take a leading place at the Russian Court, and in Russian life generally, and she knows that the only way to achieve this object is to change her religion." The Princess, in fact, as we hays already paid, has only done what many other ladies of her rank, and under like circumstances, had already done. Iruth puts it rather plainly, but such, on the whole, have been their motives. The testimony such habitual action bears to the nature of the Lutheran religion is manifest— as, indeed, one cf the Czars has himself reuaiked.

DEPLORABLE FIGURES.

Thebb appears to be somj alight discre pancy as to the results of the censu*. bom 3 of our contemporaries, who are inclined to take a more gloomy vitw of affairs, and more markedly to call attention to the misdoings of previous Government?, declare that within the last fire years the colony has lost fifty thousand of its inhabitants Others of them, more cheerful in their disposition, or less desirous of finding fault with past administrations, reduce the amount of the low by a very considerable figure, and even, in some instances, place it as low as ten thousand. The fact, however, remains that the colony, notwithstanding a very respectable birth-rate, has lost a portion cf its inhabitants, varionsly calculated as between fifty ani ten thousand, And, even taking the lowest calculation as most nearly approaching the trntb, this fact is a serious one. To explain the matter on any grounds connected with the nature of things is quite impossible. It is hardly necessary for U9 again to eing the praises of New Z?al*nd. Our unrivalled climate, our fertile soil, oar infinite resources are matteis of notoriety in every part of the world. Mismanagement and mismanagement alone is the cause of the misfortune. It is, however, vain to blame what is now past an 1 , as we any reasonably hope, finally done with. The days of the monopolist who is accountable for all the misohief we may believe are approaching their ciofc He may die bard, indeed, and possibly a tough struggle still lies before him — but at least so far as he is concerned the determination of the people. Jirs bega formed, a.04 ft is not likely

that it will give way. What, meantime, we bare to fear if lest the monopolist may be replaced by a system likely to prove hardly less mischievous than he. 111-digested and wild theories, for example, adopted by men who possibly act io good faith, bat who have not the guidance of experience to direct them, may play m mis" chievous a part among as as the monopolist daring bis ancient solitary reign bas played. We are not independent of the immigrant, and many years mast elapse before we become so. It is not now onr intention to enter upon any discussion as to the merit* or demerits of Socialism. In it, for all that at present concerns oar purpose, may lie the .future welfare of mankind. Socialism, however, although it commands a Urge body cf supporters in the cities and numbors among its adherents men of undoubted abilities, has as yet made little headway among the rural populations. But our need is not to swell the already over-abounding populations of our towns — too many in number, notwithstanding the general loss that has occurred. Witness, for example, the story told the other day at Wellington by unfortunate tradesmen who had tried to earn tbeir bread at the work provided for the unemployed — bat, owing to the softness of their bands, bad vainly subjected themselves to the bullying of the over-seers. We want a class of immigrants accustomed to country work, and who alone are qualified to torn our wilderness into a garden. Is legislation distinguished by a Socialistic strain likely to prove attractive to such a class of men 7 Immigrants from the European town?, it may bring as— men desirous of studying the prp^tisal working of the theories adopted by them— or ready to hail a Utopia wherever they ara put into practice. Bat we do not want such men. The handicrafts in which they would seek occupation are already over-supplied— and as to their character of propagators of advanced views, we are also in all probability folly supplied without their presence. At least it would be difficult to imagine that in this respect we could be much better off than we actually are. The immigrants we wane, in fact, if they come here at all, muat come burdened to some degree with what may be oldfashionad prejudices and, as we are to a great extent dependent on their coming, it may be to our advantage to humour them. The disposition, on the contrary, seems to be to enter upon a line of policy that will deter them. Tne census, then, whether the falling off shown be fully fifty thousand or only ten, tells us a lamentable tale. It protests against the effects of monopoly. What are the probabilities that at the end of the next five years there will be a different tale to tell? We confess they seem to us a little dubious.

DANGER IN ABSTINENCE

The babit of ether drinking (says the Pilot), is said to hare reached alarming proportions in the North of Ireland, especially in the Counties of Tyrone, Londonderry, Fermanagh, Armagh and Monaghan. According to a correspondent of the London Times , not, by the way, the most trustworthy authority on Irish matters |in general — tbe consumption of ether in those counties amounts to 17,000 gallons yearly. He siys that at Draperstown 6,200 out of a total population of 9,800 are ether drinkers ; at Cookstown, 7 300 out oE 13,500; at Maghera, 6,200 out of 13,900 ; at Moneymore, 5,100 out of 12,400. Tbe etber-druokard can get stupidly intoxicated for ten cents, and can recover and repeat the experience half a dozen times a day. Tbe effect is speedy, and the recorery equally so ; but tbe ultimate results are most disastrous, insanity being the final stage. The vice has not taken a foothold in the other parts of Ireland, and it is to be hoped that it will not. If the figures above given are even approximately correct, ether drinking is mnch more dangerous and wide-reaching than ordinary intemperance. Its growth, strange y enough, is ascribed to the prevalence of abstinence from liquor and the consequent craving for a substitute stimulant.