Our Wellington Letter

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 17, 26 July 1890, Page 3

Our Wellington Letter

[FROM OTJR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Wellington, July 24. There are two sides to every question, and the dispute which has arisen between the Marine Officers Association and the Union Steamship Company has brought to light the unwholesome facts that whilst it has been shown on one Bide that the Union Company's officers receive better pay than those of several Australian companics, tbe other side has been just as quick to Bhow that when a man comes from before the mast to become an officer, he receives 10s a month less than an able seamen. He loses the privilege of making overtime, and has to pay for a uniform and bear the expense of examinations. As a fourth officer he receives 10s & mpnth less than an able seaman, 15s less than a quartermaster, £2 10s less than a fireman, £3 10s less than a donheyman, and £5 10s less than a fourth engineer. This state of things presents quite a different aspect, and since it has •come to. light pubhc opinion has worked over to the Officers' side. It is not considered probable that a strike will take place, as negotiations for a settlement of the difficulty are now proceeding satisfactorily. A short time hack Mr Menteath, the member for Te Aro, gave notice in the Hpuse that he intended asking the Goyernment about extending the railway to Te Aro. No sooner was the notice given than Mr Fisher, tbe combative member for Wellington East, set his brain in motion to see how he could go " one better " than his " friend " of Te Aro, and at last "George" asked the Government to place a certain Bum on the Supplementary Estimates for this work, but his late bosom friend and colleague, the Minister for Public Works, quietly told the aspiring Mr Fisher that he would reply when Mr Menteath's question came on. Having been out-generalled in that quarter, the member for Wellington Eas. saved himself for the fray, which took nlace over the question a few afternoons ago, when he tried to show, according to Mr Samuel, bf New Plymouth, that " He -was the man who got the work done." -" That he is the man they should elect .as their representative " ; but it was all in vain, and the member for Te Aro came off the conqueror so far as the debate is •concerned; but the practical part is looked ■upon as a luxury and is to be slaughtered. If a " policeman's lot is not a happy one " he has the consolation of knowing that others are in the same box. Mr Gordon, the chief bailift, recently had a warrant to distrain upon a certain Maori's goods and chattels tb satisfy a judgment .giyen against him for goods supplied. The official of the Court having received the important information that his man nad in his possession a cheque for a good round sum, determined to " He low" until the delinquent made his appearance in the Empire City, which he did shortly afterwards, and made his way to the Bank to convert his cheque into shining gold, utterly oblivious ofthe fact that he was being ■**■ shadowed," but hewas soon roused from his reverie by an unseen foe snatching from his grasp the valuable piece of paper. With a yell the native turned upon his antagonist, and grasped him by the throat, when a struggle ensued, which resulted in the Maori being handcuffed, who then had the chagrin of seeing the cheque cashed, and the valuable yellow metal transferred to the pocket of his adversary, after which the .native was released, and went his way a sadder and, it is to be hoped, a wiser man. Two youngsters, named respectively Johnston and Crooks, received a birching, despite the tearful entreaties of their mamas, for having placed a boulder the size ©f a man's head on the railway line near Petone. The young scamps had jambed it in between the rails where two lines meet, and had it not been seen and removed by another boy named Smith, the consequences might have been very serious. Mrs Johnson pleaded very hard for her "Bobby," who she averred was innocent ; but His Worship considered it , was six ot one «.nd half a dozen of the other, so he handed them over to the tender mercies of a Constable who administered the necessary corrective which, it is thought, will have the effect of deterring them and other lads from any similar t dangerous pranks.