The Globe. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1879.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1645, 29 May 1879, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1879.

The mooting of the unemployed at the Oddfellows’ Hall last night was extremely well attended. This of itself should assure those that are out of work that the greatest interest in their case is token by their follow citizens. There is of course no question but that the stagnation in trade and the dullness of the times have resulted in bringing much distress home to the doors of many deserving people and that a number of hard working piep cannpt obtain employment. That this is the case is now well established by reliable statistics. Accepting the situation, therefore, as proved, it will be right to consider it in its true bearings. In the first place the unemployed may set their minds at ease on one respect. They possess the entire sympathy of the public. The public are very anxious to do their duty in the existing crisis. The City Council, although its finances aro not in the most brilliant condition, are doing its best to relievo the distress; a private individual from up country has offered to supply work for a few men, and no doubt other private individuals will follow his example; the Eoad Boards aod other public bodies in the country districts will doubtless, yphen called upon, rise to the occasion; and finally the Government will, we should imagine, to the best of its ability, assist the local bodies. It is evident, indeed, that the main body of the unemployed recognise that the evils resulting from the hard times aro not intensified by any hard heartedness on the part of their fellow countrymen. All sections of the community are eager to do their best for those on whom the present commercial crisis most heavily presses, apd of this tlm unemployed are apparently aware, fpr their meetings have been conducted, on the whole, in a very temperate spirit. We say “ on tho whole,” for there is one exception, Mr John Loo has on more than one occasion presumed to use language which cannot bo too strongly condemned. He has endeavoured to raise what in Franee is called “ the red spectre.” He has hinted that there aro depths into which ho is prepared to descend if his appeals for aid are not attended to; that he is quite ready to use force if necessary. Now this language is a gross insult to the community in which he lives, and to the audience which fie addresss. The idea is utterly depraved, and. Its expression completely uncalled for. We will over the fact that any high minded man would prefer death to dishonor; would rather see himself and family perigh than descend to the role of a common robber; we will pass over this fact because tho necessity of such a sacrifice to virtue being demanded is not at all on tho cards, and w r o will confine ourselves to pointing out that Mr Lee’s language is directly insulting of tho people of Canterbury. Any possibility of a family dying from want if tho case is brought before the public or the authorities is completely out of tho question. Mr Loo, oven after the thirtysix years of drinking to which he confesses, should surely bo aware of this fact. He is painting an impossible picture apparently for the sole object of giving vent to a depraved sentiment. Such conduct must bo decried in tho strongest terms. Wo have, however, every confidence ju the

good sense and good fooling of the main body of the unemployed. Patience and self-respect are qualities not unknown to Englishmen. The present distress is only a passing cloud, and brighter days will come. Mr. John Loo is, wo feel sure, held at his true value by those whom he presumptuously attempts to load.

“My nephew ” does not appear to bo in such favour in Hokitika as might be expected, considering the exalted personage under whoso protection ho obtained the suffrages of .West Coast electors. On the first arrival of that brilliant y®uth the open-mouthed admirers of “my uncle ” were prepared to drop with gratitude. They were quite ready to believe that Mr. Seymour George’s somewhat hazy views on political economy were but a defect that throw into brighter relief the remainder of his accomplishments — that, as the flaw in an opal increases the value of the gem, so those peculiar views enhanced Mr. George’s political value. Visions of all the benefits to accrue to the West Coast from such a desirable connection were constantly flitting before the imaginations of his constituents. Railways, water-races, and hundreds of other schemes would be carried out, and a new ora would dawn on a district that was amazingly in want of one. But alas for the vanity of human expectations! The new era is as far {off as over, and th* West Coast people are now engaged in considering which is the greatest fraud, the nephew or the uncle. The former steadily refuses to visit his moist and depressed constituency. It does not now seem worth his while to run over and give an account of his stewardship, and his quondam friends are cruel enough to suggest that perhaps he has no account to give. The wrongs under which the residents on the Coast considered they had previously existed have not been done away with, and the promises of economy have been thrown to the winds. The West Coasters are consequently reluctantly coming to the conclusion that Mr. Seymour George may bo a very nice young man, but that his valuable qualifitions are such as rather to fit him for an ornamental private life than for an important public post. “ The uncle” is often a useful institution, but it is seldom that the depositor obtains a fair value for the article deposited. The Hokitika constituency have given Sir G. Grey a vote, but are beginning to think that the bargain is rather a one-sided one.

The “ South Canterbury Times” was not only great but immense on the occasion of the Queen’s Birthday; Like a lark it soared into the empyrean, and like that festive bird its whole body shook with the violence of its song. “We have again to record,” ’said our contemporary, “ the anniversary of the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen, and to congratulate every one who claims British allegiance on the fact that our noble Queen has achieved her sixtieth birthday in full health and strength.” Presuming that the people who “ claim British allegiance” are the 285,250,000 individuals, who, according to the latest calculations for the population of the British Empire, it would appear somewhat ambitious for the “ South Canterbury Times” to expect that its congratulations would in every case reach their destination. Should it endeavour practically to forward its good wishes on the auspicious occasion in question to all parties concerned, the postal revenue for the present year would be much the gainer. It is a thousand pities, however, that the process should be so expensive, because the effect would bo charming. Is is easy to imagine the delight of the uncultured Hottentot, or the Canadian backwoodsman, at receiving a copy of our contemporary convoying the assurance of its sympathetic feelings on the eventful day. But, perhaps after all, any process having in view the conveyance of congratulations would bo superfluous, because our contemporary appears to have discovered, by some occult process that a mystic bond already connects it with the two hundred and eighty-five million individuals above alluded to. For it closes its brief article thus:—“ We feel sure that we carry with us the hearts of the whplo population of the Kingdom, Empire, and Dependencies when we say —God save the Queen,” We sincerely trust that the “ South Canterbury Times” does indeed possess the power on which it plumes itself. Such power, if used with discretion, w.ould be invaluable. But we cannot help thinking that the greatness of the occasion has had rather a disastrous effect on the reason of our contemporary, It is ordinarily a humdrum sort of journal, confining its remarks to the doings of Road Boards and County Councils, apparently unmoved by imperial questions. But evidently groat thoughts were dormant in the journalistic brain, and a slight touch of lunacy was only required to bring them into the light of day. It reminds one of the case hinted at in “ Baracolsus” :—•

Qne man ohafi crawi Thro’ life, surrounded with all stirring things, Unmoved, and he goes mad ; —and from the

wreck Of what he was, by his wild talk alone, You first collect how great a spirit he had."