Colonial Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 50, 18 September 1891, Page 2

Colonial Notes.

We are glad to find that the Legislative Council have made good their claim to a grain of common sense. They have rejected the Female Suffrage Bill. The debate seems to have been somewhat facetious, and it is difficult in some instances to see how conclusions were arrived at. The Hod. J. N. Wilson, for example, argued from the Buccess recently gained in rifle Bhooting by a lady at Bisley, not only that the sex were capable of distinguishing themselves as elector! but that their administration of the law would pat a stop to pigeon shooting and cock-fighting. The hon. gentleman evidently saw reason to suppose that the lady at Bisley required time to take exact aim. As to cock-fighting, we have had personal experience of one match, or series of matches, only. It took place more than forty years ago in a paddock at the rear of a deserted mansion in what was then 8 remote part of Ireland. It was held in secret, although the whole country-side, police and all, knew everything about It, and crowds were gathered to it from many miles around. But the most sporting character there was a woman, and the whole assembly was in admiration of her spirited betting. If therefore, wt do not receive it as proved tbat female administration— let us say that of a batch of sheconstables—and why ( not ? we should like to know, must put an end to cock-fighting, we may prefer a reasonable right to be excused. Experiential docet. The Hon. Mr Walker apologised for what he called his presumption in voting against the Bill, because, said he, he was a bachelor. But is it presumption for a man to provide for his future needs, and the peace of his fireside in coming years I We were all bachelors once,— even the poor fox that lost his tail had once a luxurious brush, but we did not all by any means remain bo. We shall leave Mr Walker to add, perhaps, by-and-bye— " More's the pity,'» However, he has done his best to provide against an evil hour. Are there no shoe-blacks in Wellington 1 The Hon. Dr. Grace declared that women, like all earthly divinities, had clay feat, and wore long dresses to hide them. Sure it was a pair of muddy boots the Doctor had caught a glimpse of ; and that caused his mistake. The Hon. Mr. Buckley expressed a gallant fear for the susceptibility of the Chamber, and the Hon. Mr Barnicoat, rather paradoxically pronounced it a relic of barbarism to keep women from gossiping. On the whole there was a good dead of nonsense talked in the Oouncil concerning the matter, but since, notwithstanding that, common sense obtained a small majority, there is ciuse for congratulation.

" Quid commune est monaehis cum/eminis ? " But to turn from the ladies to the lawyers seems bathos indeed. The Council has done another good job, as the slang goes, in making short work of the Law Practitioners Bill. What, meantime, has given rise to the bloodthirst of the Hon. Mr Reynolds ? "If he had his way," he said, "he would hang half the existing lawyers, and quarter the othar moieity." We shall waste no labour on vain inquiries. What, we should like to know is, is there not something libellous in this reported utterance. If the lawyers cinnot sea a fair prospect of six* and-eightpencea here, they do not deserve the sentence Mr Reynolds has passed on them. Let ua propose a riddle to the profession. What is the difference between the Jack Ketch of the Devil's Own and the devil's own Jack Kstch 1 Is it a matter of capital letters only ?

The sad tali continues to ba told. "The arrivals in the colony during August numbered 989 and the departures 1146. Of the latter, 622 were to New South Wales." We can readily believe what Yiaitori to Sydney tell ua, that tht street* then Mem fllltd with

A?d vafT^ ?, eaaod ' familiar£aCeß to be Beeno * side. Workfr^m yy iIIBOOti 1 18OOt g °° d ieUOn for thiß continued exodus. Working-men especially, who go to seek their fortune or the means 1! ir ' lßaving a certain " a * to comfort behind «*dLj^ ri J f en tOld> f ° r eXam P le ' on u^eationable evidence, that of a settler, in fact, who related hi 8 own personal experience, that there is abundance of good land to be had on mining leases, that is permaneut leaiei taken out by the holders of minersrights, m the country lying in the neighbourhood of the Central Oiago hoe.h oe . Materials for buildup huts, stones or sods, are od the ■pert, and trapping rabbits affords a substantial help to the struggling Battler until crops and cattle yield subsistence All that is wanted ie the enterprise that no independent man should fail in, and a small Bum of money, not more, perhaps, than sufficient to pay for the passage of a family to Australia. Surely with such an opening at their doors, people flying from New Zealand are greatly to blame. To blame also are those who prefer the from-hand-to-mouth life of the towns, with all ita chances and dangers.

Mr J. R. Cox, M.P., was welcomed on his arrival in Auckl .n " as a representative of Liberalism in the United Xi ,gdom, by tin- iocal Liberal Association. Mr Cox, in r. turning thanks, explained it waa hardly correct to class him as belonging to the Liberal party, aa the policy of the Irish members was to identify themselves with no English party. They were, however, honourable allies of the Liberil party, B , D ce they had declared themselves in favour of extending justice to Ireland. He did not believe in coming to New Zealand to wash the dirty political linen of the Irish party. He and others with him had given up a leader whom they loved for the sake of the cause they adored ; not that they loved Mr Parnell less, but that they loved Ireland more. He would have great pleasure in conveying to Mr Gladstone the expressions of high esteem towards him which were used by the deputation. He regretted the absence of his friend Sir George Grey, whom he had met at Adelaide and Sydney a few months ago, and whom be hoped to meet again in Wellington. In conclusion, he expressed his highest confiienoe that Mr Gladstone would live to finish the great work upon which he had set his heart —the granting ot Home Knle to Ireland. Mr Cox lectured on Saturday night to a crowded audience in St. James' Hall, in aid of the Irish evicted tenants' fund, illustrating by lime light viewa of evictions and riots, the Mitchelstown riots, etc. Some £60 was realised and it was resolved to form a branch of the National Federation League.

The Zeehan Herald gives a glowing, though hardly a very attractive picture of his .ownship, at least to those who, as he says '• value health and life more than capital." According to our contemporary the locality consists of a kind of festering bo». If the present state of things continues uvil summer, the Inhabitants, he says, will be " swept away by the score with typrnid, diphtheria aid malarial fevers, for the whole area of the town is at the present moment a recking bed of filth thit is highly charged with decaying animal and vegetable matter, only waiting the advent of the summer's sun to rise into pestilential vapours that will decicna c oar tjwa wuh sickness and death." Digging for silver, therefore, may have its advantages but, as it would appear, it is als j not without ita drawbacks.

Ontbe whole Lord Bandolph Churchill does not appear to have won goMen opinions only in South Africa. We lately quoted a paragraph as to his contemptuous demeanour in the Txansvaal We take the following from a mora recent paper :— " Toe cook of the mail steamer Graatull? Castle, on board of which he came to South Africa, is not the only person to whom he made himself hateful. He was a nuisance to all the ship's officers and passengers, except just his own set. He was too lordly to aiti t at the geneial table, and demandei a separate table in the saloon for himself and his set. He sent the steward to bid ladies to move from the positions they had taken up co that his card-table might be placed where it suited his capricious fancy. His Sundays he spent m a manner most offensive to right-miadeJ passengers. He made himself a nuisance all round, and when the ship reached Natal, some of the officers, crew, and passengers relieved their pent-up indignation by burning the snobbish lord's effigy."

It was announced by cable a few daya ago that the el J.^t so i of Sir Samuel Wilson, the young ge itleman who a few years ago w >uli have saved her Majesty tte Queen from assassination if he°had only been in time, and to the memory of whose umbrella a window has consequently been placed in Hugh-ndeu parish church, is abjut to be married to a daughter of the late Duke of Marlborough. On the importance oE the announcement, m-iking it a fit item for u.nsmissioa by cable, we ehall not comment, though it is, perha,. , *' nh of note that wealth should purchase aristocratic wives, as ii h * l o u since purchased aristocratic husbands, for u^t trts' from . wrJr evils. We shall only venture to hope th.it the la r lady i (] , ,tion

does not share in th, fejlings towards colonials, generally, that appear to characterise her distinguished brother.

The Hon Mr Wilson, as we have seen, argned in the Legislative Council that because a womau could hit the mark with a rifle bullet she ought to have the right of voting. Here is just as good, if not a better argument on the other side. The Lancet explains as follows why a girl cannot throw like a boy :-" The girl throws with her whole arm rigid, the boy with his whole arm relaxed. Why this marked unmistakable difference exits any be explained by the fact that the clavicle or collar bone m the feminiae anatomy is some inches longer and set som* degree lower than in the masculine frame. The long, crooked, awkward bone interferes with the full and free use of the arm. This is the reason why a girl cannot throw." A woman, then, should not vote. Her collar bone is too long.

Our contemporary the Australian reports the celebration at All Hallows Convent, Brisbane, of the golden jubilee of the Mother Mary Vincent, foundress of the Order of Sisters of Mercy in Queensland. 11 Mother Viacent," says our contemporary, " was born in (he county Wexford, Ireland, cm iho Ist March, 1819, and ente c I the Baggot street Convent, Dublin, on the 16th January, 1839. This institution waa under the charge of Mother Mary Catherine McAuh-y, who, we might here state, waa the actual froundrees of the Order of Sister's of Mercy. Two years later (19th August, 1841), the novice took her vows of humility, chastity, and obedience, and eventually became Superioress at Baggot-street. While officiating in the latter capacity, the Crimean War took place, and Mother Vincent was instru. mental in despatching a staff of Sisters to nurse the wounded on tbt battle-field during that disastrous campaign. The good work achieved by this self-Bacrincing band is well known. The late lamented Bishop of Brisbane took great interest in this matter. He was consecrated bishop on the 29th June, 1869, and lost no time in making preparations for removing to his See in the then comparalively unknown northern portion of Australia. He endeavoured to secure a staff of Sisters of Mercy to accompany him, but not until several unsuccessful attempts had been made did he sucoeed in his task. Mother Vincent, together with four other Sisters (sioco deceased), with characteriatic zeal in their cause, decided to brave all the perils that might ensue, and embarked at Liverpool with Dr. Quinn in the good ship Donald Mackay in December, 1860. The result was that on the 10th May, 1861, she founded the Order of Sisters of Mercy in Brisbane. Though now over 71 years of age Mother Vincent possesses a good deal of vigour and wears her years' remarkably well. It was only natural that the completion of her jubilee should have been marked in some way at All Hallows. A choral Mass was celebrated for her in the morning, and All Hallows school children gave an entertainment in her honour during the afternoon. His Grace the Archbishop wa* present at the latter, which waa of very enjoyable and appropriate character."

The Moat Rev Dr Grimes, Bishop of Christchurch, who returned to New Zealand last week by the i^an Francisco mail, arrived in Wellington from Auckland, at midnight, on Friday. His Lordship waa received at the wharf by the Archbishop, accompanied by* some members of the clergy, and was conducted by bis Grace to thearchiepiacopai palace. On Sunday morning the Bishop, who is apparently fully restored to health, preached at St Patrick's' college and in the evening delivered in St Mary's Cathedral a most eloquent sermon, which lasted an hour and was listened to with wrapt attention by an immense congregation. His Loidahip proceeds south to-<iay (Wednesday), and will receive at Chriatcharch the enthusiastic welcome prepared for him— as outlined in the letter of our correspoadent.

The meeting convened at the Exchange Hall last evening for the purpose of making arrangements for the reception here of Mr J. B. Cox, M.P., the Home Kule delegate (says the Wellington Post of the 12td inst), was largely attended, Dr Cahill occupying the chair. A strong committee was formed to arrange the necessary preliminaries for a meeting to be held on Saturday, 19th inst at which Mr Cox will be present, and will deliver an address After the meeting last night the committee met and decided upon a plan of reception. A meeting of the Wellington branch of the Irish National League was beld to release the funds deposited in the National Bank here for the evicted tenants. It waß unanimously decided that the funds be released by the trustees and applied to the evicted tenants, in whose interest Mr Cox is making a tour of the CO IGDVi

S)me of the most fragrant and beautiful lives (writes " Tapley " in the Advocate of September 5), are those the world sees the least of. Such a life was that of Broiher Bu-ler, whose death was announced by you last week. Brother Butler literally spent himself down to the last cent, in the service of God and the poor, From early morning to late night, week in and week oat, he wrought with

hand and brain in organising the great charity of St. Augustine's Orphanage in Geelong. It is a oplendid monument to his memory. Oh, what a vast sum of holy self-denial most this work represent I The weak body plodded on under its strong spirit, bearing all, and doing all for the love of Heaven. It is over. The day of toil is past. The burden is laid down, and the patient worker has heard the words—" Come ye blessed of my Father, etc." I loved the quiet good man in life. I shall love his memory as long as I love anything, aDd his name will smell sweet to me for aye.