LEISURE LUCUBRATIONS. NO. V.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 89, 25 July 1871, Page 3

LEISURE LUCUBRATIONS. NO. V.

DE OMNIBUS REBUS.

It is wonderful what a deal of valuable time and money is spent upon objects which are totally worthless. Go where you will, throughout New Zealand, and you will hear the universal complaint of " dull times, and scarcity of money." Yet, by some mysterious process, people do find cash to'squander upon tjiings which are not only unnecessary,but <£kiich are positively hurtful, morally and pV,'sically. The evil exists in Cromwell, ClydeAg ; and is observable in every cViitre of population. A Ballarat paper recently made the following truthful remarks on the subject:— "It is pretty generally known that despite the dulness of the times th» city of Ballarat can support about a score or so of gambling houses, and Ballarat East also a very fair share of these 'hells.' It is understood that of these city gambling licensed houses some six are reputed first-class hotels ; added to this we may mention that among the gamblers are young gentlemen holding positions involving trust and responsibility, and that the subject has lately been given some amount of consideration, the result of which is a determination on the part of the powers that be to take—in the event of other steps failing— such action as will acquaint the community at large with the names and positions of men who nightly waste energy and respectability, to say nothing of money not all their own, in some cases, over the green cloth of the accursed gambling hells. Hotel-keepers may lose little by the exposure, but office gentlemen will lose all—their situations."

I am glad to observe that Mr J. Hazlett lias again been elected Mayor of Clyde. He is a first-rate business man ; and his private and social character is such as to command the respect of all. A worthy Mayor cannot, however, save Clyde from its inevitable decadence. It may be said with truth of that moribund township that "The light of other days has faded." One by one its earlier inhabitants are departing,—verifying the old adage about rats leaving a sinking ship. A new version of "The Deserted Village" will soon be required, which may appropriately be printed at the Dunxtan Times office. The present condition of Clyde may be described in two lines, by thus paraphrasing a passage in the prologue to " Cato " : " A township struggling with the storms of fate, And gently falling with a fallen state."

That which Shakspere in some sort prophesied is rapidly bjing accomplished. The electric "girdle round the globe" is nearly complete ; and by the end of this year the continent of Australia will b3 in direct telegraphic communication with Englaud,—and, therefore, practically, with the whole civillised world ! What a stupendous fact! What a grand achievement! The Ancient World hid its Seven Wonders, and was content. The Moderns are not content with less than seven thousand, —this one of universal Electric Telegraphy being, perhaps, the greatest of all. The Australasian speaks thus :

" One of the greatest benefits which we anticipate will arise from this intimate union with the mother country, will be the breaking down of that feeling of provincialism which manifests itself in all outlying and isolated communities. The small men, small interests, small strife, and small ideas which obtain exaggerated proportions in a colony, simply because they are measured by a local standard of magnitude and importance, will shrink back into their natural and proper dimensions. We shall feel a daily interest in the larger concerns of larger communities, governed by greater men ; and as in New York the debates in the British Parliament seem to excite quite as much attention and discussion as the proceedings of Congress, so we do not doubt that a similar condition of public feeling will arise here. The Imperial sentiment will gain in strength, the provincial sentiment will undergo a corresponding decline. There will be a more acute perception and a more abiding consciousness of the fact that we are citizens of a great empire, from which we have been hitherto to some extent, severed, but with which we shall henceforth be as closely associated as is the remotest portion of the nervous system of each of us with the brain and spinal cord."

I am glad to observe that the Daily Times lias given Mr J. C. Brown and his followers a severe castigation for their "shameful job" in the matter of the honorarium, to he paid in future to members of the Provincial Council. I am not an admirer of the Times, as at present conducted ; but enjoyed the leading article on the 14th inst. immensely. Brown and the active agents in "this disgraceful job" are fearlessly exposed :—" We denounce them (says the Times) and their hypocrisy as a scandal and a disgrace to the Province." I am sorry to see that Messrs Hickey, Shepherd, and Bastings are among the "black sheep." It is quite refreshing to learn that Mr Julius Vogel has been " presented" at a levee to the Prince of Wales. Wonder how Julius felt during the process ! Mr Vogel is expected in Wellington on or about the 17th August. His return suggests many curious reflections. There can be no doubt that he . en en gaged upon a most important missM; 1 !, —(of his success or non-success I am u ,t going to speak,—nor is it the provinio"of your Lucubrator to enter into questions of politics or general policy.) You may depend upon it, however, that the Colony will have to pay a very nice little bill for the extensive and pleasant trip round the globe which the hon. Mr and Mrs Vogel (and the hon. Treasurer's Secretary, Mr Fox) have enjoyed. Vogel is not a man to underrate his own importance; and being Treasurer, Commissioner of Customs, and PostmasterGeneral, all in one, ho has, doubtless, throughout his progrM.i fully maintained the

"dignity of tho Colony" in his own very astute and Bolf-po3sessed person. Our old friend Fox, too, must have had a " rosy time " of it. No doubt, occasionally lie had to work pretty hard ; for Julius has a knack of suggesting, in five minutes,- literary work which may take five hours, or five days, or five weeks to accomplish. But Mr Fox has an immense power of work in him,-and when Julius selected him as his "Secretary" he knew perfectly well what he was about. I am not sure whether it is the case now, but it was so some months ago, that the only member of the present Ministry who had not provided himself with a Private Secretary at the public expense was the Colonial Secretary (Mr Gisborne,) who has the reputation of being the most hard-work-ing member of the Cabinet, —a "cabinet of curiosites," truly ! As pressmen, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Mr Vogel owes his present position as a public man very much to his connection with the press of this Colony. The journalist's Pen has served him, as it has served manv others, as a step-ping-stone to Place and Power. He arrived in Otago a mere adventurer, —a literary freelance. An opportunity offered itself to him in connection with the Daily Times, —and he soon made himself felt. The 'vantage ground which he then won he has never lost; and I, for one, hope he never will. It is remarkable how close, especially in these colonies, is the latent connexion between Parliament and the Press. Members, "in their place in the House," sometimes affect to ignore the power of the Fourth Estate ; but those who have had long experience and special opportunities for observation, know that in no country, probably, so much as New Zealand has the Press a more powerful influence on Parliamentary representatives and the acts of the Legislature. I could point nut several of the leadin? men, both on the j Ministerial side of the House, and in tlie i ranks of the Opposition, who mainly owe! their position to their connection, in some| way or other, with the newspaper press of the colony. The Premier himself would not: now hold that high office of State but for' certain writings which have appeared, from time to time, in the columns of the WelUnyton Independent and other North Island journals. But Mr Vogel is the most striking example of the combination of literary ability, political knowledge, debating power, and financing sagacity, which we have yet met with in the colonies. Mr George Higinbotham, (late Attorney-General for Victoria,) was formerly Editor of the Melbourne Argus ; and he has shown himself to be a man of extraordinary- ability as a politician, as a party leader, .and as a debater; but his qualities are of a totallv different stamp to those which distinguish Mr Vogel. The latter is a master of tongue-fence, has a "convenient deafness," is a consummate tactician, ever ready in resource, and will condescend to coax, or decnv, a sturdy opponent to vote with him. Not so George Higinbotham. Nothing but sound logic, close reasoning, forensic eloquence, and the "inexorable logic of facts," will do for that lion, gentleman. No trimming, nor yielding to secure doubtful votes. So, you see, every man lias his peculiar idiosyncrasy : every workman his special way of using his tools. It must be added that Mr Vogel has used his with a considerable amount of advantage to himself, and, let us hope, to the colony at large.

Has it never occurred to you that it is about time the Protestants of Cromwell and the surrounding districts bestirred themselves to erect a place of worship for themselves ? Our friends the Roman Catholics have set us a good example in this matter. Witnesss their neat Chapel on the Flat. But members of the Church of England, Presbyterians, &c., seem to be content to meet in an unconsecrated and inconvenient building; and have, so far as I can learn, never made an attempt to erect in our midst a suitable Sanctuary for the Worship of God. This should not be. There is much talk of erecting a new Athenteum, a new Gaol, a new Court House, &c. ; vet, in this community of people "calling themselves Christians," no proposal is made to build a Protestant Church or Chapel. Perhaps I shall be forgiven for calling attention to the fact. Even at Levuka, Fiji, thev are ahead of us, having erected a Church of England, at a cost of £350. It is very certain that if religion be neglected, even in its outward forms and ceremonies, a new and commodious Gaol will probably become all the more necessary. Gulielmus.