The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2700, 12 October 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1871.

Jfo one who is much in the habit of walking about the streets of Dunedin can have failed to observe, that an unusually large portion of its inhabitants are engaged in occupations which permit them to dress constantly in what would be considered by fashionable persons, qualified to give an opinion on matters of this kind, as “morning “ dress. This fact, of course, shows, that while producers, manufaetur-' era, mechanics, and laborers, are comparatively few and far between, distributors, viz.: merchants, tradesmen, and clerks, together with professional persons, as lawyers, doctors, <fcc., are in too great abundance. We mention this fact, because it goes very far towards helping us satisfactorily to answer a question which has been very often asked, and which will, as time goes on, be asked more frequently still, —“What are we to do with our boys?” To this, it is very easy indeed to give tfh answer in the flippant tone assumed by the Australasian some time ago, when it gave as a reply to the question,

“ Flog them.” But we have here a real practical difficulty, and any one that gives any help tow ards the solution of it will be conferring a real benefit on parents in this Province, who aye the persons really interested in it. And we must confess that the difficulty is insurmountable, if the Indian institution of caste is to reign here. We are told that in India evexy one feels bound to pursue exactly the same occupation as his father before him has followed, and that a person who deviates from this custom is considered a pariah, or outcast, whom a person of pure caste will not talk with or eat with, much less touch. If, we say, this institution of caste is to be naturalised here, then indeed there is no hope that the difficulty will be solved. It is very evident that if there are 1 already too many distributors here, in proportion to the producers, and all the children of both continue to fallow the occupations of their fathers, the evil, instead of growing less, is likely to grow greater, and that year by year, this question will become less and less susceptible of being satisfactorily answered. Of course we do not imagine that this system of caste to which we allude is being carried out here in its utmost strictness, to the extent for instance that the son of a lawyer is expected to become a lawyer also ; but to a certain extent it has a very firm footing amongst us ; for a person who is engaged in business as a clerk—say in a merchant’s office—is most unwilling that his son should be appi’enticed to a mechanical occupation. If this clerk can get his son “ perched on a high “ stool at a pound a week,” all, he think?, is well j should he have to let his son go to blow the bellows for a blacksmith, he would consider all his earthly prospects blighted. Now we do think that this feeling, if a natural one, is still an excessively foolish one. Without intending the slightest disrespect to a very worthy class of persons, we must say that we utterly fail to see the advantage that a clerk has over a mechanic. We cannot see that it is better to get one’s living with a pen than with a hammer, or that a man is more nobly employed as a lawyer’s clerk in assisting with his pen to forward the quarrels of his fellow-townsmen, than in ploughing the soil to help to provide them with bread. It may be that there is something essentially more “ respect- “ able ” in the former occupation than in the latter; but we altogether fail to perceive that it is so. We can only believe that this opinion referred to about the comparative “ respect- “ ability ” of the two kinds of work is a mere “ popular fallacy ” of the silliest description. The remedy, then, that we propose for the difficulty alluded to is, that pai’ents should put boys to such work as they can get for them, as soon as they have given them the full amount of mental culture which they are capable of receiving. That they should, as far as possible, obey the natural laws of supply and demand, and not act in direct opposition to those laws, foolishly expecting that the result of such a procedure will be satisfactory. It must be surely plain to every one of our readers that the effect of the present system of crowding all our young men into offices of various kinds, lawyers’ offices, merchants’ offices, or what not, must be most disastrous ; the effect of this must certainly be either a gradual diminution in the salaries paid to clerks, till they reach the level to which they have long since fallen at Home, or such a sudden fall as will drive numbers of individuals out of the profession at once, and thus re-establish the equilibrium; at all events, we believe that the prospects of those now entering into any of the professions or into “ business,” is anything but bright, for our faith in the law of supply and demand prevents us from imagining for a moment that this law can be long disregarded without its most surely avenging itself on those who contemn its provisions. We, for our part, should much prefer to see any young friend of ours commencing life in this Colony off a carpenter, a. mason, a blacksmith, ay even as an agricultural labourer, thp. as a clerk or business man of any kjud whatever. It is time that great prices are .owsionally drawn in the professional lottery, but it is equally true that the blanks; are very numerous. In the legal pro-! fession, for instance, a young man of first-class abilities is nearly sure to succeed, and eventually make his fortune; : but, on the other hand, genius is a very race endowment, and those who do not possess it ai’e nearly sure to fail There -is .one thing, too, to be said in favor of setting boys to some mechanical or laborious .occupation—viz,, that the ability to get one’s as an artisan, or even as a mere laborer, by no means involves his inability to distinguish himself in another walk of life, should it turn out that he has genius. We are not aware that Hugh Miller made a bad bank manager, a poor geologist, or a feeble newspaper editor, because he bad woi'ked j for many years as a journeyman stonemason j that Burns was a bad poet

because he was a particularly good ploughman. But not to multiply examples of what may perhaps be fairly considered exceptional cases, we may mention that many of our most useful and able citizens have themselves served their time as apprentices to some mechanical trade. On the whole, then, we think that we may fairly say that the remedy for the present difficulty in finding employment for the rising generation is to extend our horizon, so to speak—to hold larger and more liberal views about eligible and ineligible employments; for the difficulty is entirely subjective, and its removal rests with ourselves. There is surely plenty of work to be done in this young Province, but we are too fastidious in our choice of it.

Ball. — The anniversary ball of the Loyal Alexandra Lodge, A.1.0.0.F., was held at the Masonic Hall last night. There were about forty couples present, and dancing was kept up until an early hour this morning. The orchestra was filled by Mr Anderson’s quadrille band, and the refreshment department was under the superintendency of Messrs Donaldson and Galloway. Princess Theatre. The comic drama “Checkmate” was played at the Theatre last night to a very indifferent audience, which did not appear to have any bad effect upon the performers, who went through their respective parts with very commendable attention. The programme will be repeated this evening, viz—“ Checkmate,” “the Wilful Ward,” and “Done Brown.” Arms for Cadets. —A correspondent of the Hawke’s Bag Herald says : —“ During his residence in London Mr Vogel secured, for the use of our cadets, ,3000 stand of lateimproved arms, at a cost of LI per rifle, including accoutrements. A well-to-do gunmaker tells me this was a great bargain. It is said that double the amount agreed to be paid by Mr Vogel was offered for the same arms an hour alter the bargain was struck.” Copper Ore. —lt would appear that the prospecting now going on iu the Palmerston district is likely to languish for want of funds. A shaft has been sunk to a depth of 60 feet, and at 35 feet something like 14 per cent, of copper to the ton was obtained, and the deeper the shaft is sunk the richer the ore becomes. It will be a great pity if the enterprise is allowed to fall through for the want of the little capital which would enable the prospectors to turn it to some account.

The Late Fire at Waihemo.-—An inquest touching the origin of this fire was held at Luk’s Waihcmo Hotel on the 27th ult., before Mr Warden Robinson. A number of witnesses were examined, and the evidence of Mr Luk himself set the doubt at rest as to the fire having originated from spontaneous combustion, as the stack was stated to be quite dry, and he expresses the opinion that the fire could not have taken place unless done wilfully. The verdict of the jury was that there was no evidence as to the origin of the fire, and the matter is still clouded in mystery. The loss, however, is a very heavy one, and it is estimated at LSOO by Mr Luk, and was uninsured. Art Unions. —In the Assembly, a few days ago, Mr Swanson asked the Government if it was their intention to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to lotteries, with a view to allowing artists to dispose of their pictures. &c. The meaning of the law at present was a matter of doubt among members of the legal profession. It was a common practice to have raffles or lotteries for the purpose of raising funds for churches and schools, and other excellent institutions The law took no notice of these, but he understood that artists who wanted by this means to dispore of their pictures, in Auckland at least, could not do so legally. The Premier replied that he had overlooked the matter, but would get an opinjo.n .on jjb. Daughters of Temperance,—The ceremony of constituting the First Division of the Daughters of Temperance took place last night, at the Congregational Hall, Moray Place. Bro. T. Eoscby, D.M.W.P., was the installing officer, assisted by Bro. G. L. Asher, D.G. W.P. Thirty-three ladies presented themselves for initiation, and af er being addressed by the D.M.W, P., were duly constituted, and initiated into full membership of the Order. The officers were then elected and installed into their respective offices. As was expected, a good muster of the sons of th« Order attended, as also a few visitors from the Hope of Otago Division, Port Chalmers. After a vote of thanks being passed to the officiating officers, and responded to, the meeting closed. Their •next night of meeting is fixed for Friday, the 20th instant. Ocean View Keep,—The prospects of this reef continue encouraging. The Bruce Herald of Wednesday says :—“That a block of good stone has been struck there is no disputing; hut the limited extent to which it has yet been worked, docs not afford any reliable ground for forming any opinion as to its extent or permanence. It is encouraging to find that the payable stone covers a greater extent of ground than the old reef, as the stone in another claim that has been taken up shows equally well with the Ocean View.” A telegram from Tokomairiro to-day states that a fortnight’s steady crushing of stone has yielded the satisfactory return of 125 ouneep ( pf gold, A Trumped-up Case.— The Eesident Magistrate at Ralclutha was engaged for four or five days last week, and also on Monday and Tuesday, in bearing the case of Brayshaw v. M'Neil, which waa a claim for money compensation for injuries alleged i to have been received by the plaintiff’s wife at the hands of the defendant. The case excited considerable interest in thcjjjlocality, on account of the seriousness of the charge involved, it being nothing less than one of attempted indecent assault, and the position of the defendant, who is mayor of Balclutba. Even that portion of the evidence which is {published in the Bruce Herald , ip, in the words of our contemporary, sufficient to justify an opinion that the whole charge was tiumped-up for mercenary purpose's.' The magistrate, in dismissing the case, stated that Mi-jVl‘Nejil left the Court without a stain upon his character. Colonial Malt. Probably th,ere are few men in the Colonics better able to

give an opinion on the subject of Colonial malt than Mr M. M ‘Caw, of Melbourne, and in a letter to the Argus, in reply to the statements of aMr Fawns, he says : —“ I may mention, for the encouragement of doubters, that I am in a position at present to show Colonial malt, in quantity, equal to any imported, and made, too, in a malthouse, where, less than 12 months back, malting (under different management) proved a perfect failure, and caused serious loss to those concerned. 1 know more of the cans' s operating against the reputation of Colonial malt than it would (in my position) be prudent to mention. However, this much 1 may say without any breach of confidence, that there arc those amongst both raalstcrs and brewers, who, from want of skill in some instances, and from trickery, if not dishonesty, in others, have done a thousand times more to damage the character of Colonial malt than all the bad barley ever grown in the Colonies. ” Lecture. — A lecture on “ Earthquakes,’' under the auspices of the First Church Young Men’s Christian Association, was delivered in the class-room beneath the church last evening, by the Rev. Mr llyley, of Otepopo. Mr Wales presided. The lecturer gave a rapid sketch of the great earthquakes that had taken place during the last two or three centuries, and refer.-ed to the investigations of scientific men as to the cause of them. He thought it was clear that they were caused by the disturbance of that molten mass which existed beneath the earth’s crust The cause of that disturbance was governed by some law, the character of which had not yet been discovered. Neither the hypothesis of Mallet nor that of Rogers was satisfactory to his (the le turer’s) mind ; hut there could be no doubt that earthquakes coupled with volcanoes were the most destructive agents the world had yet seen. They showed conclusively how great and magnificent were the works of the Almighty, and ■were illustrative of His power. A vote of thanks to the lecture;- was voted on the motion of Mr Black ; and in acknowledging it, Mr Ryley intimated that on a future occasion he would be prepared to deliver a lecture on the cognate subject of volcanoes. A Disgraceful Case.—The Havelock correspondent of the Marlborough Mews writes :—“A young man, who was recently been appointed assistant in the Telegraph and Postal Department here, Las been convicted of opening the letters posted, more especially those addressed in ladies’ handwriting, reading them, and then inserting some of the lowest, disgusting, and most filthy expressions ever heard. Of course before the mystery was solved, incalculable mischief had been caused, and even at present it cannot be ascertained to what extent his depravity may have been carried, as fresh instances are coming to light daily. One case in particular is most heart-rending. A poor lady residing with her family in the Pelorus Sound, received a letter from her husband, who is now a blind cripple, and has been in the Nelson hospital nearly twelve months, which, on being opened, was found to contain one of these execrable compositions so beastly insulting, that the poor woman was quite astounded and horrified to think anyone could be so base as to add insult to her misery ; but concluding it must have been one of the inmates of the hospital, she immediately wrote to the surgeon, and from his reply it appears that her letter to him must have been subjected to the same flagrant breach of trust. Such wanton villany, without any motive, can only be attributed to base instincts.' On Mr Whitehorn reporting him, he was immediately suspended,” It is to be hoped his punishment will not end there.