DUNEDIN.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 1, 9 July 1874, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

fet^^^Proin Our Ojnn Correspondent ), of/ establishing a Sailor's the Port of Otago has been taken '-"f up m. % /spirit' which augurs well for its :js: success. . jSI short time since a deputation ff waitcd r upbh f the Superintendent in" ret§r Terence to thY matter. They met -with a fc cordial reception and were glad to find s| that their wishes bad to a certain extent j^/peep. anticipated, as they were informed ( that the subject had already been under f the consideration of the Government, and ./ a sum placed on the estimates with the view of subsidising any funds collected by the public for the purpose of establishing, the Home. .The Government offered at .the same time to place at thedisposal of the -deputation a building in Princes-street, formerly used as an immigration bar acks, /. -and suggested to them that they should wait upon the City Council for the purpose of inducing * that body to grant the use of the4and on which tbe building stands. The matter remained in this position for a few -days, bnt on Friday a public meeting was . called to consider the matter ; though the attendance was not large, yet several influential'persons belonging to the legal, clerical, and mercantile professions were present. - Mr. R. B. Martin gave a tketch j of what he considered should be the con-fititu-ion of tbe Home. Major Richardson and Bishop Neville w-re prtsent" and expressed themselves confidently that success would a- fend the establishment of the Institution,-and the-latter intimated his intention of forwarding its interest in t very way which lay in his power. rAn influential committee was appointed for the purpose of raising subscription* and reporting to a future mee'ing. The City C -u»-cil of Don* din are never very liberally disposed in regard to parting with the to* n sections -committed to their care, and it did not, therefore, excite any'furpiiee when his Won-hip the Mayor informed the meeting that tbe Corporation could Lot, under any ■consideration part with the flection in Princes* street. In way of funds, a considerable sura has already been raised. Three ships in Port belonging to Messrs. Henderson and Co., contributed about Ll3O, and the Scimitar L 55. I also hear that the Press Dramatic Club, whose perv./ormaDces always realise a considerable amount, will shortly give an entertainment in -aid of the funds of the Siibr's Home. New Negotiations were opened some time ago betwten Mr. Gillies, on b hall of the Directors of the Dunedin Water Works -Company snd the Corporation, and it eeems that both parties thought it would be fo their mutual advantage to -come to an amicable arrangement. The result was that after two or three special meetings of the City Council, at Borne of which Mr •Gillies was present, the offer of the Company was accepted. The price to be paid •by tbe Corporation may be fairly stated at I- 17 10s. per LlO ptr share. So the total amount which the Corporation will have to pay has been estimated at something over L 100,000 in all. Tbe sale is to be complete^, and the purchase money, or de"bent^ifes, bearing six per cent, for fifty years to be handed over before January 1, 1875. The Scott Scholarship in cornection with the Otagp University, still comes in for a i-mall share of public attention. But hitherto the amount rased for this purpose has comparatively speaking been misera'ly small, the total amount at present to the credit of the fund being only L 224 10s., and even of this sum the greater part has ■been raised by dramatic performances. Yon wfll co doubt remember that the idea of establishing this Scholarship, originated on the occasion of the celebration of the •Centenary of Scott, held in Dunedin some time ago. To judge by the speed c*» then ' made, it was thought there would be no •difficulty in the matter. But from some unexplained cause the establishment of the scholarship has remained in a semi-dorn.ant «tate until lately. It is now very probable that the matter will be taken up wi h more enthusiasm, and carried to a successful t rmination. The Secretary for the furd, Mr. D. R. Hay, put himself in communi- , cation with the Council ol the University -at its. last sitting. He informed them of the amount paid to the credit of the fund, -which, as I have stated, now amounts to L 224 10s., and that the money could be invested, so that it would yield eight per cent.; and he suggested that a scholarship should there ore be open for competition at -the next Session of tbe University. The Chancellor, the Hon. Major Richardson, replied, thanking there through whose exertions the funds so far had been raised, bnt he expressed himself to the effect tbat •he did not consider the amount worthy of the memory in which Scott ought to be •held by the people cf Otago. He made a suggestion tbat if every reader of the poems ana novels of Scott were to contribute half-a-crown each, a sum truly worthy of the object would be obtained. The Otago University I notice has cons' ferred its first degree of B.A. The happy | possessor of this honor is Mr. A. William- | -son, of Wanganui. He has been a student | -since the foundation of the University up | to the commencement of the present Ses- ~ sion. He passed in all the prescribed subjects, with tbe exception of classics, before tbe commencement of this Session. That 'he did not pass in these subjects was, I 'believe, no fault of his, but was owing either to the illness or absence of Froft ssor Sale. So he had to pay another visit to Otago this year at a cost of something like (L2O. I congratulate him on his well earned honqara, and hope that they may amply -repay bim for the outlay of time ana money spent in Acquiring them. It would appear from the number of immigrants who at present remain unengaged an the barracks at Cavereham, that this branch of Mr. VogePs great cblon9ing •scheme, is at present being extended to its ' -extremest limits.' The last time 1 made "inquiry about the number in the barracks, I was told that there were about sixty or -seventy families, representing in the aggre- , -gate about three hundred persons bedded -and housed there at the expense of our paternal Government; and I may say I nave no reason to believe that this number has to any appreciable extend been reduced of late. On Tuesday last it Was known tbat the married men had struck — that is had refused to work four 'hours a day, which is the time prescribed by the regula- . tione. ' The authorities, hbjvever, administered a gentle persuader in the shape of an intimation tbat if the rule in regard , to working were broken, a new /one would forthwith be introduced, the short titfe. of •which wouldbe "no workup food." Tfiis

had the desired effect, and the recusants here at once conformed to the regulations. Now it is said' that the reason why these people do not get employment is due to two causes, namely, the scarcity of house accommodation and the' unsuitability of some of them to the requirements of of the place. Well; all this may be true enough, and if they are unsuitable we cannot remedy it. /but I have been told that many men who may fairly be. referred to the suitable class are in the barracks, and that they display considerable eagerness in getting work. If plenty work is to be had by single men, I would like to know why married men are kept in the barracks.* Are they to remain there, until by doing so they will provide homes for themeelves and families. If tbi* be tbe policy, I have grave doubts that they will, remainthere a long time. A large number of immigrants were sent to Southland, but rumor has it that very many of them are returning to Dunedin. This I believe to be a fact, as I was lately present at an interview which took place between three of them who had returned from Riverton and the immigration agent in Dunedin. They came to him and asked for information where they could obtain work ? Their case was desperate; they had come overland from Riverton without being able fo rind anything at which they could ear n an honest penny. A somewhat smart dialogue then ensued. The agent asked why they had left their work at Riverton. They replied that they, as well as a number of old bands had been discharged by the contractor. "Ah " ! says Mr. Allan, casting on them a scrutinising glance, " the contractor couM see you were no good." " How do you know that? " echoed tbey with all the air of insulted manhood. -• Why,"" replied tbe agent, " I can tell it by your looks. I myself would not give such fellows half-a--crown a-day." " Well," was the reply, "we never had to starve at home." w Now," said the agent, " the best thing ye can do is to go down to the Port and see some of the captains and try if ye cannot cet them to take ye back in the capacity of " Jimmy Ducks," to the place where ye come from. They became a lrtle unruly and the agent ordered them out of the office. They left murmuring something about the country being bye- and- by turned into a den of thieves. Rather good that is it not to pay a large sum to bring out immigrants to this country and when they arrive here to find them of pnch a class that the local immigration officer asked them to return in the capacity of " Jimmy Ducks " to the place from whence they came. They ought to act upon his advice if they are fond of travelling, as they could then enjoy another cheap trip back to New Zealand at the expense of the colonial exchequer. Well would it be for the Colony if the ag< nts in Great Britain and Ireland possessed the same deree of discernment which characterised the Dunedin agent in the instance alluded to, provided also that they were disinterested enough to point out to a certain class of applicants for free passages to New Zealand, their unsuitableness to the requirements of the Colony in language as plain as that used by him. The arrival of two more ships may he shortly expected. The first is the' Hindo. stan from London with 344 soul?, equal to 275 atatu'e adults. This yes-tel left London on March 28. The other, the Cartshorn, from Glasgow, on April 8, with a large number of immigrants also. A strike has taken place among the Dunedin carpenters whom it appears have in moat ioetances up to the present t me been in the nceipt of thirteen shillings per day. > They, however, were during last week, informed by their employers that these rates would be reduced by a shilling per day. The men have objected to this rednction, and a large number have struck work in the meantime. At a meeting held on Monday night a resolution, authoring a levy of one shilling a bead per day on those employed on those in work was passed, to maintain the men on strike.