TOPICS OF TALK.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 245, 14 November 1873, Page 6

TOPICS OF TALK.

One hundred and twenty thousand pounds has been expended by the New York Legislature upon an Asylum for inebriates, besides £B,OOO which was spent in the first instance by the originator. Independently of this, estab- > ' jishment, there are eight other Asylums in the States, and one in Canada; these were created by private enterprise, but are now partially supported by the State. A weekly charge of twenty dollars to voluntary inmates is said to render the Asylums self-supporting, and the labor of the committed patients more than defrays the cost of their detention. Since their foundation, we learn that 5,959 persons have been admitted, of whom 5,515 entered voluntarily, 144 by the intervention, of friends, and 214 were committed by the Justices. There appears to be a special Act in force in America, which enables any relative of an habitual drunkard to present his ' case to che resident Judge of Common Pleas, who appoints a Commissioner to investigate the case, by a jury of six men, in the presence of the drunkard. The Judge gives effect to the verdict of the jury, if the case is proved, by committing the inebriate to the Asylum for a specified time. Seeing this large expenditure of money, it naturally occurs to ask, What are the results ? A writer in a late ' Ed iaburgh Review' states that " of this number 2,018 have been cured, or about thirty-four per cent." It is laid down as an axiom, that " the proportion of cures is conditional on the I length of the residence." An eminent i American doctor says that " nothing but the power of detention, and that for a period long enough to restore the tissues of the body, the development of which has been arrested or altered by the use of alcohol, will suffice; that the very craving for stimulus depends" on the patient's depraved or disordered condition," arid that while it lasts no promise of abstinence is worth a cent." There is an establishment in Edinburgh for ladies only—mostly admitted at , the instigation of friends-rcontaining 149 patients, of whom thirty-seven are reported cured. This Asylum is selfsupporting, as is also another containing 300 inmates in Derbyshire. In Australia, for some time back, a similar movement has been on foot, which has obtained, we believe, a fair share of support. In Otago we. suffer severely from the ravages of intemperance, which insinuates itself in our midst, in its first stages, in the form of good-fellowship— to disregard which is a breach of a mild but inexorable social law, followed, not by punishment of body, but of mind, through the tongue. To remedy this, Anti-shouting Societies and other enthusiastic bodies have been formed with little or no 'success. The establishment of an Inebriate Asylum would probably be more bene-, ficial, because it would apply an actual remedy to those diseased, while, by its very existence, it might tend to modify and reduce the social customs—so far, at least, as they deal with the consumption of alcoholic stimulants. In Victoria, the Minister of Mines has introduced a Bill to provide for the inspection and regulation' of' mines, with the avowed object of reducing, if possible, the number of accidents which now are so frequent. The measure is v framed to throw the onus, in case of '' accident, upon the owners or in aria- ] gers of the claim. An accident hav- ! ing occurred is to be prima, facie evidence ' of carelessness, which, if not ■ will entail the payment of heavy \ damages to the injured nian or, incase " of death, to his representatives. It has ' often occurred in Otago, even in sluic j ing claims, that wages men hare been '\ placed in positions of danger through a 1 carelessueßß and want of thought, that * very well deserved retributive punish- ' men! ■ . • ?

« Early in' the session • J&r. speaking on the proposed initiation of Mr. Mining on Private Property Bill, said thai be preferred rather to watch the course of contemporary agitation in Victoria than to adopt at present any measure as a Government one. We learn now that the Victorian Upper House, after playing with the Bill for some time, have

at last thrown it out. . -The Bill, as passed by the Lower House, enabled retrospective action to be taken in dealing with private land. The New Zealand Act, it will be remembered, ■only deals with land sold after the passing of the said Act. Till this difficult question of conflicting interests and rights is finally placed upon a firm and unalterable;.base r there will be no security to gold-mining as an industry, and the holders of land will always be in dread of excessive democratic agitation leading at any time to unjust legislation.

Op: good' result arising from the establishment of Miners' Associations has been the facility afforded for the circulation and discussion of any question vital to the mining interest. We observe that the Cromwell Association were to .meet last week, one of the principal items of business being the consideration of a letter from the° Secretary of the Miners' Association at Maerewhenua. The ' Argus ' says, in announcing the meeting—" It is to be hoped no., uncertain : sound will, be given on the. above important subject."

The enquiry at Tokomairiro into the alleged charge of child-beating for nonattendance at prayers—the child's parents being Roman Catholics has ended. Although the official report is not yet-made public, Mr. J. L..Gillies and others have made full statsments of the facts elucidated.- According to Mr. Gillies, Mrs. M'Farlane, the Roman Catholic schoolmistress, reported to Father Coleman that a girl told her that her brother was thrashed or punished for not attending Protestant prayers. The boy—who should know —himself denied being beaten by Mr. Koss for anything, he Wing in the class of another schoolmaster. The parents also denied all knowledge of such a thing, and Father Coleman—Mr. G-il-lies said —had not inquired of any of those parties chiefly interested of the | truth or otherwise of the story before ihe gave currency to it.. So it winds up ! We can give body to the report easily enough without seeing it—a general whitewash of everybody concerned, and a few mild regrets. But who is to pay for all this, and its repetitions, which will be constant? Should not the party making accusations without foundation be made to do so ? A leaf might be borrowed from, the Jockey Clubs, who make it necessary that a deposit be lodged before any charge can be enquired.into—such deposit being forfeited "if, the charge is frivolous. We commend our suggestion, in all reverence, to the Education Board.

When a grievance is supposed to exist advantage is too often taken of the anonymous correspondence column of the local newspaper. More especially is this so with regard to personal matters, alleged ill-treatment, blackening .of character, and so forth. An example occurred lately in' the Dunedin ' Star,' in wh,ich a correspondent took up the case of a young woman—a newarrival—who, it appears, became .unwell soon after engagement in service, was cared for ii every way as a member of the family, and was to havegone to the hospital on her illness proving a i permanent one—only, of her own will, she went elsewhere. Her employer, a few days afterwards, was informed that she was lying dangerously ill at the hosIpital, and every little attention possible was shown her till she died. The correspondent, however, made this plain, unvarnished tale a foundation for a story of very plausible neglect and unkind treatment. Our contemporary says—what every newspaper must at., one time or another- endorse from . experience :—" While on this subject, we are sorry to have to complain that the pi'i-' Vilege of anonymous writing is endeavored to be made use of for very unworthy purposes. In this instance/we are inclined to our-correspon-ded erred through Bis &elmp £ %xti m future, in all cases of tint as a condition of insertion of a we shall expect not only that the Writer gives, as usual, his name and address, but that he consents, in. need, to have both published-ror,, ,at i: Jeast, -made known to the parties aggrieved—and

V'- -■' ■'■' r -' '■ !; -" : ' ■> - .■ ✓. - --i -t ■■ -. be ready to, substantiate.th©;truth of his .statements. It is-the safeguard against a paper being made a vehicle of slander. We trust our contemporaries will support us in this wholesome rule." '