Wellington News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 193, 19 August 1904, Page 4

Wellington News.

(From Our Correspondent.)

1 luring the last throe years the advancement of Wellington and suburbs has been very convincing'. Great piles of warehouses have risen almost daily in place of the tumbledown shanties which used to disgrace the city. Lames of questionable repute have been swept away, > and formed into wide respectable streets ; the population has i.ntu-as-«l by over eight thousand, -tlliis Latter being greatly augmented toy the merging of Melrose into tile city. During tho last twelve years the population has increased from 34,000 to 00,000 souls 1 , while the shi[>ping at the port ivas trebled during the last four years. Vessels of 7000 tons used to be the heaviesll draughts, now we are having Mottoms of 18,000 tons entering and leaving periodically, loaded with produce. Property within tho city has also advanced in value very much. For instance, in some parts, notably in Oriental Bay, Willis-street, and Lamb ton Quay, values have doubled since 1900. Such aro the parrot-liko cries of the land boomers aided b'.v the local press. Everyone hopes this healthy state of things is going to last. —A Menace to Shipping Companies and Exporters.— That our Harbour Board is a mighty power in tlio land goes without saying, hut that that very estimable body sometimes does things without due thought requires not to lie said to become known. For instance, at last meeting, Mr Harold [ioauchamp, one of the most enterprising citizens, whilst pointing out ' a somewhat hasity motion of the ' hoard passed !ast May, increasing the harbour rate to 4d per ton on all goods inwards and outwards to and from the port of Wellington, moved that the rescinding of it be referred to a special committee for report at next meeting. The argument in favour oi his motion was that the revenue of the board last year was £114,566, of which £50,932 was contributed by importers and exporters, £56,976 by the ships, and the balance from other sources. Of course, this appears at firsti sight to bear heaviest on ships, but ultimately the burden will have to be borne by producei'9, as increases in freights must necessarily follow. In the event of the grievious rate being collected the big steam shipping, companies would lie required to pay more than double what they are now paying for the right to enter the port of Wellingtons whilst smaller steamers trading to the port would be nearly swamped. As instances Mr Beauchamp showed that the Queen of the South would have to pay £2O as agiainst £5 Is last year ; the Wakatu would have to pay £52 as against £ll 12s 6d ; tie Himitangi £4O instead of £2 15s ; the Huia £174 as against £lO 15s Od ; anid the Opawa £ll7 as against £27. In the case of one other small company the new rate would draw away annually three per cent, of its entire capital. —The Truancy Trouble.—

The truancy question is troubling the powers that lie here us well as those of elsewhere, and nearly every court day the beak has to deal with some oSendjjig urchin. Last week the Education Department seint out to the Board of Education a circular asking their opinion regarding a recent utterance of a Stipendiary to the effect that where children get beyond their parents' control the law should be amended in the way of giving magistrates power to send such truants to industrial schools, and compel the parents to pay the co:t of maintenance. But the boand wasn't taking any, and so replied that the law already gave the magistrate sufficient power if ho chose to exercise it.

—Who Wouldn't Live in Wellingto*?— Tho Wellington City Council is fast earning for itself the questionable titio of "Star Chamber." Its latest mandate to the ratepayers is contained -in a public notification that no one shall distribute hamtlMills in the streets. If you happen to have and hold a section is any part of the city you must not, under pains and penalties of all soils, build a dog-liouse without getting a permit from the august City Fathers. Last week a friend of mine dared to shift a small wash-houw, and he was immediately called to account by one of the innumerable "rouseabouts" with which tho highways and byways are beset. If the City Council wants to "do anything in "the way of altering plans for tlus

now notorious electric tramway, or raise a loan for purchase of some land for a golf club or polo ditto, the City Fathers may, in their wisdom, exclude the pi-ess from their meetings when discussing iho knotty point. Of course,, these and many other questionable acts have from time to time aroused the wrath of citizens to pitches 'bordering upon frenzy, drawing from many anathe-

mas and such expressions as : "Wait till next election, and we'll let them see what we'll do," but yet when (hose periodical epochs do arrive the irate citizen appears to forget his wrath, and so the Augean stable remains undisturbed. —Humane Wellington.—

Perhaps one of the most humane proposals yet mooted in Wellington is that one now agitating the bosoms of many, known by the name of the Prisoners' Aid Society, and at a meeting held last week it was decided to form such an institution, to 'be called the Homo of Hope. At that meeting it was shown that many good and excellent men unfortunately found their way into gaol, and only needed a helping hand on their exit to put t'hem on the right track again. Dunedin, Auckland, and Christchurch had their Prisoners' Aid Societies, and there the prisoners' outlook was discharge, and therefore his desire to return to prison was minimised. The heart of m any a Poor wretch forlorn of hope from past misdoods, attributable in most cases to absence of home influence in early life may doubtless be encouraged when he loams, on coming out of prison, that someone is ready and willing to take him by the hand, show him how to earn an honest living, and to regain the respect of his fellows. —Our New Zealand Handy Men.— The Royal Naval Registrar for New Zealand lis now busily engaged in receiving -applications for enrolment in t'lie New Zealand branch of the Royal Naval Reserve, and* many British lads, free liom and of good repute, are joining. It will not belong, therelore, Ittefore our naval training ships will be turning out smart "handy men" for active service in the Imperial N-avy. —Our New Governor and His Lady— His Excellency the Governor and Lady Plunket, since their arrival in the colony, have lost no time in making themselves popular with the people. Hardly a week passes that they do not give some invitation to Government House. They also liberally patronise tilio theatres, bazaars, and other entertainments for the public 'good or for charitable purposes. One week you And Iho Vice Regal party attending a football match, or patronising t-lie rink, or lending their presence at the Salvation Army, or at the Sailor Missions, and the next will find Lady Plunket visiting the Old Men's Home, the Army's Maternity Home, or the Paulina Home. —The Liedertofel Revived in Wellington.— After years of lethargy the musical talent of (lie Empire City has Suddenly wakened up under the -direction of Mr Kobert Parker. Last week the Wellington Liedertafel began its season well with a successful concert, which attracted a crowded audience. . Many of the features of -the evening l were noteworthy, calling forth appreciation from public and press. —A Progressive Seaside Resort.— Wellington's best seaside resortDay's Bay—has advanced by leaps and bounds. Three years ago one

might have counted the bungalows and seaside villas on the fingers and thumbs ; now there are hundreds of those pretty cottages/ dotting the foreshores of Fort Nicholson, from Lowry Hay (lately the Governor's residence) round towards the harbour entrance and Poncarrow lighthouse. Ferry boats ply all day between tho city ferry wharves and the jetties of the bay, and th\>y are always well patronised, too. The Duchess, our favourite boat, is always crowded to excess. The Wellington Ferry Company, in order to meet the demands for increased accommodation, have just completed a very lino boarding-house, with capital grounds around it. Round the pavilion they have also made golf and hockey grounds, which naturally are being well patronised. Landed property over the bay has gone up very much in value. Last week representatives 01 tho Wellingto7i Harbour Board paid a visit to the bay, w.ilh tho object of selecting a site for an extra wharf. —Wellington Rates.— It has long passed into an accepted saying that if a man owjis five houses in the city ol * Wellington the fifth one 'belongs to the City Council. Our rates are now nearly four shillings in the _ £,. and the City Fathers are not slow' over increasing them. Certainly such a policy does not diminish values, rather the reverse. Hut what is. exeivising the public mind at present is not so much those increases as the manner in which they aro being increased. For instance, there is a bleak and not too dry parcel of land (a distant suburb) known as Miramar, about the possible purchase of which by the council there is a 'great deal of wire-pulling. Tho arguments in favour of the purchase set forth that if the land were acquired iby t|he city and a tramway Walde to it the congested state of the dwet'lmgs within tile oity would be relieved. On the other hand ratepayers anid people looking for homes and investments aver tlhat the small pavings likely (o be effected would not compensate for tho inconvenience and cost of transit to and from their suburban homes, whilst t!io increased taxation on to the shoulders of an already overburdened ratepayer is not justified by prospects. However, the ratepayers will be afforded lft chance to say by poll next week.