The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3703, 29 May 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1883.

In adding two members to the list of Legislative Councillors the Ministry have increased the cost of Government by £400 a year. It is extremely doubtful whether tho services of Messrs Richmond and Barnicoat will represent the honorarium they will receive. The Council now numbers forty-nine members. In the face of Major Atkinson's expression of opinion on the subject of the re-constitution of the Upper House, it is somewhat inconsistent for the Cabinet to have made the recent appointments. It may be urged, however, that the Colonial Treasurer at the outset of Ins lecturing tour disclaimed any party intentions, and that his addresses were given with the mere object of directing public attention to the graver political questions of the day. Be this as it may, it is difficult to disassociate tho lecturer from his subject; and Major Atkinson made it impossible for us to suppose that ho did not regard an alteration in the constitution of the Legislative Council as undesirable. Iv turning back to the report of the Colonial Treasurer's address at Christchurch we find that he said:—" I know pretty well what the Legislative Council has done, and I venture to say this, that never once has the Legislative Council stood between legislation and tho will of the people. It has acted as a salutary check, it lias occasionally delayed questions which wore desirable, and which ultimately became law; but, as a rule, it has been of great service to the country, aud has simply acted as a check upon hasty legislation. But, gentlemen, I think that the time is coming when its constitution must be altered. The time is fast coming when we will havo to alter the constitution of the Legislative Council. And now conies the question, have the electors thought the question out as to how it is to be altered 'f'' Then Major Atkinson proceeded to point out how he had thought the question out. Ho said, " there is a great danger iv having two elective Houses, unless their functions are very clearly marked and defined ; aud even when that is done, there is this further danger : that most certainly the best men will gravitate to one House or the other. One House or the other will obtain tho mastery, and your best men will go into that. A great difficulty which meets us on every side in a colony like this is to obtain a sufficient number of competent men, who will submit to election, to fill both Houses, but I have no doubt that we must soon apply the elective principle to the Upper House, in one form or another. And now wo have to consider how, when we shall determine to do it, it should be done, and it seems to me that there arc two courses open to us. We may either make each island into a separate constituency, 'riving an equal number of members to each fsland, and electing the Upper House upon that basis, with the present franchise,—for I confess that I do not myself think it would be at all advisable to create a different set of electors for the purpose; or wo might elect them, instead of the present way, by trying the Hare system, as an experiment, upon the Upper House of each island. Or we might determine that the House of Representatives should make the selection of the Upper House, but to my mind the former proposal would be tar the better. This being Major Atkinson's oprmon-un opinion expressed only the other day—ho returns to the seat of government, and tho next thing that we hear of is the appointment of two Nelson gentlemen to seats in the Upper House. So far from those two o-cntlemen having been selected for this honor by the finger of public opinion, Mr Richmond, in quite recent times, has been twice rejocted by the electors when he aimed at a seat in the House of Representatives, and Mr Barnicoat is comparatively speaking an absolute stranger to public life. We adhere to what we said on a former occasion concerning Mr Richmond: we believe that tho Legislature should not lose the services of one who iv tho past has proved himself so able to take a leading- part in the government of the colony. Wo place Mr Richmond m the same category with Messrs Ormond, Richardson, Reader Wood, Reeves, Wakefield, Russell, and others, who, either by their own bad tactics or by tho votes of unthinking electors, have been kept out of Parliament. But with the exception of Mr

Richmond we have not heard that tho Ministry have offered those gentlemen scats in the Legislative Council. It may be that these ex-legislators and administrators of the higher order would refuse to be buried . in a chamber of State pensioners. Major T

Atkinson's fear is that, with an elective Upper House, there would be a difficulty in getting a sufficientnumberof competent men to submit to election. The only objection that Aye have ever heard made to the constitution of the Legislative Council has been that, with a nominee chamber, the competent men in the colony havo preferred to submit to election. This feeling is likely to gain strength when Ministry after Ministry, apparently, ignore the qualifications that would make men useful in the Upper House, and nominate to the chamber gentlemen who could never hope to make their bow to the Speaker if such an honor depended upon the votes of the people.

The lion, secretary of the Taradale Ploughing Match Society requests us to state that the competition will take place in a paddock of Mr John Hcslop, Puketapu, instead of the one of Mr Newbold as first decided upon. Tbe change is made through the latter paddeck being an unsuitable ono in which to hold the competition.

There was a " great run " upon hunting this morning for decorative purposes, but with every exertion the loyal feelings of tho townspeople could not possibly find expression in banners. As it was there was a very poor display, but it was the best that could be made under the circumstances.

Professor Hugo, whose recent lectures in Napier and the surrounding country towns have created no small degree of interest, delivered his farewell address on physiognomy in St. John's schdolroom last evening, the subject chosen being "Hands." Tho lecture was both instructive and comprehensive, and concluded with the usual platform examination, which, as usual, created a good doal of amusement.

Tho usual weekly meeting of the Clivo Square Mutual Improvement Association will be held in Trinity Church schoolroom this evening, when tho programme of tho entertainment proposed to be given on 31st instant will be rehearsed. Some important bnsiness will also be brought before the/ members and a full attendance is requested.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning the civil cases J Andrews v. C. Prin, and J. Andrews v. Henry Ncal, wore adjourned until to-morrow (Wednesday), at 10.30 o'clock. The remainder of the cases set down for hearing to-day wore, iv the absence of tho Resident Magistrate on circuit at Wairoa, adjourned to Tuesday, the oth day of June, at 10.30 a.m.

All tho immigrants by the Westmoath and Rangitikei who''arrived here on Sunday from Auckland fround engagements before noon yesterday. As showing how needed were tho services of these new-comers wo may mention that, though many of the siuglo girls had had no experience in domestic service, the wages offered were in no case less than 10s. a week, and in some instances went as high as los. We are informed that if one hundred single girls wei'e to arrive here to-morrow they could all find employment within twenty-four hours.

Unless there is some radical alteration made in the state of the roads, tho description of accommodation, and the cost of travelling, only the very rich will dare to undertake a tour through the lake districts of the North Island. The condition of tho road between Tauranga and Ohincmutu beggars description ; the. coach gets invariably stuck up in the mud; the passengers have to get out, and, in a sea of an upper stratum of slush, assist the horses. The tourist wet through—it is sure to bo raining—aud thickly coated with mud to his waist, reaches Ohincmutu, a hotel where he hopes to find a fire to dry himself by ; instead, he discovers a house in which tho architect has curiously omitted fire places and chimneys. A gentleman who has just " come through " states that from leaving Tauranga he has seen, aud much less tasted neither cow's milk nor an egg; that ho }ms*{ been wretchedly fed, and that it has cost him from Auckland to Napier—a tour lasting a fortnight—over one hundred pounds !

An adjourned meeting of the Waipawa Bond Board was held in tho Rechabite Hall, Waipawa, last evening. Present—Messrs McGreevjr (chairman), Coo, Shunly, and Cowper. " Tenders were opened for tho position of clerk and rate collector to tho Board. It was decided to accept tho tender of Mr Ben B. Johnson at a remuneration of £20 per annum. It was resolved to form a footpath in Collins-street, near the Imperial Hotel, the street to be closed for horso and cattle traffic, and access to bo gained by footpassengers by a turnstile. After discussing several motions, which were afterwards withdrawn, the meeting adjourned to June 12th, at six p.m.

Tho Auckland Herald's Christchurch correspondent, writing to that paper concerning tho purchase of the Christchurch Telegraph by the proprietor of the Globe, . says:—"The moral of this affair is plain enough, and may be interesting to some of your readers. It is, that no newspaper, however enterprising, well conducted, and powerfully backed, can be made to pay unless there is room for it, and business to support it in the place in which it is started. The Telegraph owned amongst its shareholders some of the soundest and strongest capitalists in Christchurch ; it was lavishly fed with money, was well printed and well written for, and well edited by Mr Twopenny (late of the International Exhibition); yet, the only result of the year's struggling, pushing, and fighting is that its shareholders have lost their money (between £5000 and, £6000 iv one year), and Mr"*Twopenny returns to.'Adelaide, a sadder and poorer man. " There was not the business to bo got quite requisite to feed tho Telegraph, so it was simply starved to death. Any of your citizens who may at any time contemplate speculating iv fresh newspapers might do worse than remember this."

Franco appears to have obtained full information as to Madagascar, aud before proceeding to extremities has ascertained that agression is likely to pay in that favoured island. It is true that she may havo to fight for supremacy; that the Malagasys mean resistance, and that every inch of territory will have to be won with cold steel. What matter ? The game is worth the candle. According to the most recent accounts Madagascar is likely to prove a rich acquisition, so rich, indeed, that it may be doubted whether other European Powers will allow France to monopolise it and exclude everyone else. So far the island is almost undeveloped. It is essentially a cattle-raising country, with abundant grass and never affected by droughts. Thoso avlio know calculate that enterprising exporters put their meat on the English market cheaper than Australia could, aud Madagascar is moreover a fortnight nearer. This competition might soon bring about a changt in the Australian meat trade, and the chaneo of it will not be exactly good news to our Colonial cousins, but it would probably JL stimulate the exportation, and iv this way really benefit tho originators of tho refrigerating process. Besides this, the soil of Madagascar is remarkably fortilo and very favourable to tho growth of crops, spices, coffee, and more especially of sugar. There is abundant labour on the spot, though not of tho highest class, but nothing i.s really needed but intelligent enterprise and the introduction of capital. If Franco pushes her aggression to the extremity of annexation she will gain a great Colonial acquisition.—Home News.

While at Cannes Mr Gladstone received an extraordinary communication from Canon Weldon, who wrote :—" If thero is an understanding — I must not call it treaty—between you and Bradlaugh, as there was between you and Parnell, then his throats and his action are clear. But I warn yon that if you dp not speak gut as Premier of England and that immediately, and with no faltering, equivocal voice, telling Northampton that every constituency has duties to its country, to the House of Commons, and to itself, which override its rights, then upon you must fall the terrible responsibility of what may occur in tho opening of Parliament; for, rest assured, however Radical Great Britain and Ireland may havo become through the effects"of your teaching, she will not allow a true Liberalism to be polluted and degraded by an atheistic communism."

The recent story about the Fenians sending \ clothes infected with small-pox to their En "•- / lish enemies of high degree now turns out to be a shameless hoax played by Mr O'Raftcrtj'-, of Dublin, on the Premier and several other high Government officials. Mr OR. sent little notes, worded somewhat as follows, to Mr Gladstone and others:—"[Private and confidential]. Dear Sir,—Tlife "clean under-

clothing which you put on last Sunday morning wero all infected with malignant small-pox. Your washerwoman is a Fenian. Take them off at once is the advice of A Friend." Mr Gladstone immediately rushed up stairs, took a hot bath, fifteen grains of blue mass, sent for all the family physicians, and had Mrs Gladstone and all the household vaccinated. The other Government officials all took similar precautions, and were equally frightened, with the exception of tho Prince of Wales, who, when his secretary rushed to him with O'Rafferty's missive, merely smiled, shut one eye, and remarked: "Too thin! They can't play _ U c—l haven't changed my underclothes for three weeks!"

It is understood that the present Earl of Stamford (the Rev. Harry Grey) married himself to the Hottentot lady who at present enjoys his undivided affections, and, as she has presented him with a son and heir, the question whether a clergyman can marry himself is naturally causing considerable controversy in certain quarters. The reply of the witty Bishop (to a clergyman in his diocese who asked advice on this point)— "Yes, if you can bury yourself"—is, of course, only a clever evasion of a question he either could not or would not answer. It is highly probable that such a marriage would bo considered legal, and that, if appealed to, the courts would declare tho issue of such a marriage legitimate. A clergyman of tho Church of England is by law empowered to perform the marriage ceremony, and the occasions upon which his services may be dispensed with are distinctly specified—for instance, people may be married at a registry office or in a dissenting chapel—therefore, if a clergyman cannot marry himself, it ought to have btson ho stated in "tho list of exceptions. As the late Earl of Stamford settled £30,000 a year in strict entail upon the holder of the title, there is no doubt the matter will be fought out to the "bitter end." Should the j uvenilo Hottentot eventually obtain a seat iv the House of Lords, it is to bo hoped that he will adequately plead the cause iv the Upper Chamber, of " the 600,000 unprotected Jamaica blacks" so pathetically referred to by Lord Randolph Churchill in the House of Commons. —Truth.

The "grand old man," as irreverent Home journals style Mr Gladstone, has his humble but warm admirers in Invercargill. The local Times the other day had the following: —"In conversation with a friend the other day, Mr Fetor Dalrymplo stated that he was about to make an effort to got up an invitation to Mr W. E. Gladstone, Premier of Great Britain, to visit New Zealand. This, he thinks, would be a well - earned and beneficial respite from Mr Gladstone's legislative duties, and at tho same time a good advertisement of our Colony. Mr Dalrymple is sanguine that the Promicr will be hero before tho completion of the first section of the Seaward Bush railway. There is an ambiguity about that statement that Mr Dalrymple may or may not have intended—he is quite 'pawky' enough for the latter course Tho idea of a 'grand tour' by Mr Gladstone of the immense Empire of which lie lias so lon«' and acceptably held the reins of power is a most pleasing one, and would form a fitting closo to his public life."

An American paper in commenting on official villany says:—"Wo must confess that our public morality is shamefully low. Compared with what man once was, it may bo tolerated, but with what his condition is, iv the light of our present civilisation, it is simply disgraceful. The fact that there is one eastern city that owes 120,000,000 dollars, of which "it is safe to say that at least one half has been stolen by its municipal officers, may be regarded as a specimen page from a large history."

An apple in perfect preservation, although ninety-six years old, is in possession of a gentleman in Ulster county, N.Y. As it rounded up from the blossom of the parent stem in the early summer of 1787, a bottle was drawn over it and attached to tho branch, and after the apple had ripened tho stem was severed and the bottle sealed tightly. It looks as fresh as when first plucked.

A return of the shipping and tounago which has passed through the Suez Canal from its opening in 1869 to tho end of last year has just been issued as a Parliamentary paper. This shows that the amount for 1882 far exceeded that of any previous year. Of the total of 3198 ships (as against 2727 in. 1881) which passed through tho Canal in 1882, 2505 were English, their gross tonnage being 5,705,584, as against 1,326.541, the gross tonnage of tho foreign vessels.

Tho Lyttelton Times publishoa the following oxtract from a private letter just received from England:—"What a contrast your harvost weather has been to that on our side of the globe. We have had rain and flood day after day, week af tor week, and mouth after month. The farmers, many of thorn, could not get in three acres of wheat; and of that he put in, a great deal perished. The crops on the cold clay soils will be worth but little. Tho great Western railway pooplo havo been running over a mile through flood water for more than a month, and have been running a pilot-engine boforo each train."

Mr Redmond, M.P., is far too moderate for nomo of tho wild Irishmen in Queensland, (says the Weokly Argus) but this deficiency is made up for by his associates. Ouo other rabid opponent of anything in tho way of England's rule or England's Crown said the other evening, after young Redmond aud Walsh had been speaking at Ipswich, "Sure thim's the bhoys; bedad they're worth a dozen M.P., with his loyality to the Queen and his goodwill to all men preachin.' Shure what the devil's the good of a man that won't wake us up. Lyalty to tho Queen—bad scran to him for a'half -bred Sassenach.''

Three strange cases of hypochondria came into tho dispensary iv Thirty-fourth streot for treatment on one day. John Wilson wanted his brains taken out, washed, aud put in again. Another man, whose namo is Burk, was under the impression that he had no stomach. "Then where does the medicine go that I give you ?" asked the doctor. "I don't know, but not into my stomach. I think it must lodge in the spine." Dr Hammond, of the Post Graduate Medical School, treated a man who is haunted by a most singular delusion. For the past eight months this patient has imagined that his left ear is growing to an enormous size. He brought with him a diary of more than two hundred pages, in which he had recorded almost hourly, and sometimes every ten minutes, the state of his case. One paragraph runs:—"Monday morning, nine o'clock. Went upstairs to measure it again. My God, it is growing visibly ! I am not a man ;I am an elephant. To-morrow I shall have tho lug of Jumbo." Ten minutes after he made this entry : —Took another look at it. Very much larger. When somebody spoke outside I saw it prick up like that of a hound." A number of religious outbursts followed this discovery. Nearly a month later he recorded a fresh impression: "My powers of hearing increase Avith tho size. Last night I caught tho tones of several Chinamen talking on the Pacific Slope, and though a storm was raging in the Rocky Mountains I could tell what they said. When a man gets to the base of sounds ho can understand all languages. "—New York Herald.

Writing on the education of women, I (London correspondent of tho New Zealand Times) am reminded of some angry lectures lately delivered in New York by a certain Dr. Dix. Ho thinks, in America, at least, "real women" arc dying out; "tho ideal of an earnest, modest, simple, womanhood" is being superseded by a poor substitute made of "vulgarity, hcartlessuess, froth, and chaff." This unpleasant creature picks up tho slang of her brothers, jests at the world and fill therein, and cultivates a cynical indifference which is as offensive as it is ridiculous. These fast girls, says the doctor, hasten to become faster wives, but they take good caro to get rid of tho duties which maternity involves. Tho result is obvious. The daughter transcends the mother in all her invidious accomplishments; the father is disgusted, and homes become wrecked. "All about us," says the critic, "we see the wrecks of homes, the shadows of ghosts of homes, the parodies of homes. Slowly tircdyingoutthehomcof life, the home influence, the homo training, tho home religion." This is truly a lamentable picture, and thero is some truth in it, even hero, as we sec by the constant Divorce Courts; but in America one, I believe, of the chief causes of this state of things is due to the miserable system of boarding-houses

:md hotels. 'Whore half the population jives in this Avay, home is a mere name, and tho fanuly circle a thing unknown. I do not think there is much tendency here to this kind of life. The tastes of the neoplo,

happily, do not run that way, and the chief want which is required to be supplied, vi_., the higher education, is now rapidly vanishing, and it is to be hoped that in future generations, women may take theii-'place equally with men in the social scale, and following occupations suitable to their sex, may fiud" their reward iv becoming useful members of the body politic, and not, as iv the great majority of instances, mere figureheads of society, or playthings for the'amusement of the other sex.

" Never," said Theodore Hook, "let man aud wife play together at whist. There are always telegraphs ; and if they fancy their looks are watched, they can always communicate by words. I found out that I could never win of Smigsmag and his wife. I mentioned this one day, and was answered : ' No you can never win of them.' ' Why ?' said I. ' Because,' said my friend, ' they have established a code.' ' Dear me !' said'l, ' signals by looks ?' ' No,' said he, Iby words."' If Mrs Smigsmag is to lead, Smigsmag says, 'Dear begin.' Dear begins with 'd,' so does diamonds, and out comes one from the lady. If lie has to lead, and she says, ' S., my love,' she wants a spade. ' Harriet, my dear, how long you arc sorting your cards!' Mrs Smigsmag stumps down a heart; and a gentle ' Come, my love,' on either side, produces a club."