WELLINGTON ECHOES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 381, 5 May 1910, Page 7

WELLINGTON ECHOES.

(From our Special Correspondent). May 2, 1910. The British public always like a man who is game, and the leading note of the Wilford side of the Mayoral contest was of gameness. He won the hearts of the electors by telling them that he regarded his four defeats as so many milestones on the road to the Mayoral chair and chain. The phrase caught on and Mr. Wilford got the chair and chain by 1000 votes. Mi> Crawford polled re>markably well for a first contest, coming so near as a thousand to the winner. Some attempt was made to introduce political capital, a few being misguided enough to pretend that Mr. Crawford represented the Opposition and Mr. Wilford the Government party. But as only some 38 per cent of the voters rolled up one may dismiss the political idea as a bad dream. The sole issue •was veteran against tyro, and the veteran, having proved himself a 'game 'un," won. Besides, Mr. Crawford showed signs of rawness, got wound up in strange fetters and failed to get out by blaming the reporters, who as usual stuck to their guns with more than usual success. I

Of politics we had a taste later •on with the speech of Mr. Massey's, ■which which astonished us all by coming up from remote Hokitika. It has not added much to the political interest, beyond the fact that it in a sense cleared the air. Where all was vague and mysterious all is now nebulously clear. Mr. Massey talked much of a Dreadnought | and the sequel to the famous offer. He | found fault as in duty bound with the I sequel. Work was too much neglected | during the first session and too much j compressed in the second, and there is i no sign for making up for the undue ; compression iii the coming third. In ■ other words, Mr. Massey is the same ' Mr. Massey that we knew before he set up his standard in the old Seddonian : stronghold. Had he refrained from i criticising the Government attitude on i the land question he would have been 'more than human and less than politi- : cal. But how he will make them de- | velop anything different he did not say. It will, of course, depend upon circumstances, and these are of the things tliat are unexpected. That he talked about "Tammany" and defined "Tammanyism" incidently as refusing "ads" to the '"Dominion," does not surprise anyone who knows that he has to throw a sop to his best friend among the local press—his only friend, perhaps nve may say. But no one believes that this will be ,a strong point of Opposition policy next session. The government taxation of last year Mr. Massey does not, of course, like anv bettor that he liked it last yeaT, and if necessary he will stone-wall again the irrant to the ex-High Commissioner for advising the Government (inanciallv. Water power and the rights of the Government and the people and the speculators he could not avoid at Hokitika, where these things make a burnim* subject. But when all was «aid. and apparently very well said, by the Opnosition leader, there .was no hint of a policy. Why should there (lis? The i business of tile Opposition is to oppose, and at Hokitika the Leader of that party did what the leader of the Government partv very often docs in the King's Speech—said as little as he could and that nebulously with a srreat show of vigor. At all events, we seem to know that we are ,not to expect too much novelty from the Opposition when the House meets. * * * * There was one point of the Hokitika episode on 'which all narties arc agreed. Everyone admires the thorough manner in which the proverbial West Cons', hospitality was extended to Mr. Massey. They banquetted him royally and they thanked .him for the services he has rendered so Ion?, and so long as a public man durinc the whole of his career. All men subscribed to that doctrine, for Mr. Massey is highly ponular on both sides as one \v!io does best for the countrv whatever he may think of the Government. Someone ought to write a ''piece" about it and have it put in the "School .Reader."

Mr. Millar on his return from the "other side," made a neat excursion into railway politic-?, without adding anything to what the cable has already told us about his sentiments. Of course he reiterated his point about the inability of the Commissioner system to find trucks enough to accommodate all the settlers' demands. Between his (illusions to the subject through .-in interviewer. and Sir Joseph Ward's throui/h a similar interpreter, we. have at all events the sure knowledge that the system of making the railways pay their interest will not be disturbed.

Another Ministerial speech winch people are talking about is that devoted by the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie to the country north of Auckland in Auckland in particular, and to the fruit industry in general. That he made the most of the former is beyond doubt, aK it is beyond cavil. As to the second, it has long 'been clear that the Dominion is not doing justice by any means to its capacity 'for .growing fruits of all sorts. If the Hon. Thomas can succeed in galvanising the farmers into doing their duty in this matter he will deserve well of his country.

Humorists are delighted with the "break out" of the Aucklander -in the old rut of the 'Frisco service. He can't understand that the Australians can have any right or interest in the saw service, and so has ordered the Post-mastei'-(Jeneral just to ask the Australians to do that which they have persistently refused to do all along, namely, to cut out Brisbane as a port of call. Sir Joseph mildly pointed out that this is already as clear as anything can be, but the Aucklander calmly orders him to "kin liy" have another try. In case, however, of a failure, he is to make an alternative oll'er giving the Aucklander the advantage of 'the port of call with a little less to pay on his part. So Sir Joseph is ifaced with the prospect of trying to make the Commonwealth realise 'that Auckland is the "hub of the universe." As for the rest of the Dominion, which Sir Joseph mildly pointed out has some ideas on t'i>- siihjivt. and some rights too, the Aucklander has taken not the slightest notice, .-liter which no one can say af, al! events that the Aucklander has not the virtue of persistent consistency. We -hall have a political "casus -belli" and some ■hours will be wasted presently of the Parliamentary time. But that is al! in the dav's work. "** * *

The interest in the Bowron ease is of the keenest. The serious position of the firm is discussed without gloves at every street corner. The pending appeal stops much of the formation of finite opinions, 'but there is a good deal of material for their formation aneut a resignation from a certain place and other matters and eventualities which do not at oresent bear too much wving. A:i .v.e .'Jut th; iL tc

be seen through to the bitter end, if necessary. But there are no politic* iu the thing from first to last. The present condition is just a whirlwind of criticiian.

The serious note of his coming career was struck at the West India banquet by our new Governor when he said he intended to throw himself energetically and sympathetically into the social and industrial life of the Dominion. A Governor has not much power, is true. But in these matters to which he has referred, which are, moreover, of considerable importance among us, he is. nve may judge from his career in the Commons, very likely to 'be not only sympathetic as <i student of our experiments, but also a capable adviser in many ways quite compatible with his position as one speaking constitutionally under responsible advice. In this he may take a useful leaf from the book compiled by the great Queen and steadily used by her very distinguished son whom he is coining here to repre•ent.

The Powclka scare has departed from us with a flight leaning to the ridiculous. The rush for the paper reporting the case before the Palmerston Magistrate had to be satisfied with a charge about a steel. With our heads full of murder, burglary and arson we have to ■put up with a small steal like this. It is too bad.

The release—practically free pardon —of the convict Co-burn, in prison for the crime of ••Truth,'' opens a big subColnirn -was in the unfortunate ; position of being punished for the crime | of another. Had he been merely fined ; the other could have paid the fine and j the business of pornography would have i gone on flourishing with nothing worse i that liability to occasional further toll. | The proprietor would simplv have gone ; 011 Paying what the Courts'dictated' for the advertisement of his filthy ware*. It was right, therefore, to make someone responsible, and who more properly | so than the manager, .who took this evil billet with his eyes open? But now the health of the victim turns out to be such that he cannot be allowed to suffer the punishment which the Court specially declared he had incurred with ; his eyes open. As sick certificates are ! |'ot difficult to -get, especially by men in pitiable cases, the question must be ; regarded as -still unsettled of the punishment for the crime of t'ho porno- | graphers who batten on filth from a distance out of tile reach of the law. Evasion of gaol being easy, the pornograph- ' er will not find it difficult to get the managers to run the risk of imprisonment. What must we do to put the fear-of the Lord into him? What is the matter with shutting up his business as we shut up the business of a publican who has offended against the law a certain number' of times? A paper convicted once of wanton obscenity, what the Court called "'purposeless obscenity, " ought not to be allowed ever to re-appear in print. Such an offender against morals and manners ought to be closed ,an-i everythinsr belonoino- to it confiscated to the State. It is -the onlv way to keep out such filth. To reiy on public sentiment to refrain from buying it is to rely on a broken reed. The public will buy pornography every time,' and the more abominable it is the more eagerly they buy it. The buyers are just .as guilty as the printer. But it is easier to confiscate the .plant lock, stock and barrel, aiul interdict re-publication under pa:n of n -tremendous fine than to put half the population in pao] while the other half goes on buying the unspeakable. * * * * The death of Mr. Beauchamp, father of the (president of the Bank of A'ew Zealand, carries the mind back to old times. Before the advent of the Union Company, he was a great shipping man. versed in steam, and introducing manv ships to the Dominion. The public has often been told apropos of a hulk', fituall, ugly, wizened, crawling in and out from the wharf, that -she -wa* once ■a popular passenger steamer, the crack j boat of the coast. Everything else about her was .forgotten ages ago and here we are reading j n the' obituarv of Mr. Beauchamp about the man who actually brought her here and ran {jer with others for years. A contemporary he was of Mr. Luekie, who was so long the "doyen" of the press of the Dominion, who died only the other day at the age of eighty, full of honors as well as of years. Mr. Beauchainp and he wore fcllow_ members of the House of Representatives, at which time they were both young and da-pper and worked to keep the members in a roar. Mr. Carroll, who was ,a friend of theirs and tells reporters stories about them which makes the scribes look at him with ' dancing eyes, speaks with all the dignitv of one of the few octogenarians left among us. Ah me! How old'the country is getting; and what a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the year one when everyone .was young and curly and going to make a fortune!

Apropos the figures of the volume of trade for last year .compiled l>v this same relator of reminiscences, tells us how all that water has not flowed past for nothing. It is the first time in our history that we have reached an export value of over twentv-one million' sterling. That it, has grown pleasantly mi { the whole is certain enough, (t is all the more pleasant for the circumstances t-lin.t the difference between the exports and the imports for the last quarter is ; nearly five millions .sterling. This exI plains 'how we are having better times. • It also explains whv the meeting of the | Farmers' Union was so small the other jdav and why the few who did attend (declared that what they are .s'loil-' 1 in2 for is a grievance, ft ,-,yas not a fortunate speech to .greet Mr. Massev's effort at Hokitika, but these little accidents happen in the host regulated families, and the best, friend of the Onposition will hesitate long before he <tewrilies that bodv as a v.*oll-resrtilate<J family.