THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1894. DANGER TO MORALITY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2645, 12 April 1894, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1894. DANGER TO MORALITY.

« Go teach ye all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” According 1o an item of news which came by the last Sac. Francisco mail, it is not found convenient to obey this Divine injunction in the land of the Stars and Stripes. It appears that in the city of San Francisco a number of Chinamen have renounced Confucius and embraced the Christian religion, and with this object in view have gone to the Presby • terian Church Sunday School, where a bevy of interesting young ladies are inculcating moral and religious precepts. The ladies, apparently, have no objection, for they permitted 100 Chinamen to give them an entertainment, and some of them have already taken almond-eyed Mongolians for better or worse. Now looking at this matter superficially, one would 'be inclined to think that it exhibits a state of things delightful to contemplate. To Christians the conversion of pagans ought to be a matter for thanksgiving and rejoicing. Here, instead of Mrs Jeliyby having to go to the natives of Borrioboola-gha, the natives of Borrioboola-gha are coming to Mrs Jellyby’s, and things wear at any rate the semblance of happiness. But the wiseacres of the church are not at all .happy over the matter; they see in this course danger to the morals of the yomig ladies who teach the Sunday School, and at a public meeting have determined to nip the terrible peril in the bud. We are not informed as to the grounds there are for these fears, further than that some of the young ladies have already married some of the Chinamen, but surely that ought not to be anything terrible. If the young ladies are satisfied why should anyone else interfere ? Possibly the fascinations of the Christianised Mongolians are too much for the susceptibilities of the Christian young ladies, but whatever may be the cause, it is evident that the conversion of the Chinamen is to be made a secondary consideration to that of protecting the young ladies, who certainly ought to be able to protect themselves. If Sunday-School teaching young ladies cannot look after themselves, who can look after them? Tons it is plain that this opposition to Chinamen arises from vulgar prejudice. There is no part of the world in which racial prejudices run so high as in America. The Negroes can travel anywhere else without being interfered with but in America they must keep to themselves ; they are shunned as if they were lepers, they will not bo allowed to go into the same hotels as, or travel with, the whites. It is undoubtedly the same feeling which has prompted the opposition to the Chinamen in San Francisco. In that city the Mongolians are very numerous, and the prejudice against them is intense. One would think their becoming Christians would be hailed with.pleasure by .professing (. hristians. To convert the heathen numerous agencies are at work, and a groat display is made throughout Christian countries; but here, where the harvest is ripe, it is not to be out down, forsooth, because Chinamen are worse companions for young ladies than American young men. If Chinamen are any wo jtHft than the average white men they must be bsd indeed, and if the religion which the yoi?ng ladies teach provides not a shield against Mongolian allurements, the Chinamen will not loso a great deal by being refused admittance to it. The whole affair betrays a very unhealthy condition, and is well calculated to fill up the ranks of the Freethinkers.

WAITE MAT A ELECTION

The Waitemata election has gone against the Government, Mr Massey having been elected in preference t> Mr Jackson There is nothing extraordinary in this, funt, wo should havo been surpris'd if the *G,»ult Jiad been otherwise. First of all Mr .Jackal Palmer was a very weak candidate. He was m •.•ai'Uameut for three years, and if ho gained &?>]/ distinction during that time it was by doing that which made him be spoken ol derisively. The fact m lu> was anything but a success. In addition to this to djd not improve his position by unseat3ng Mr Monk. The general opinion was that Mr Monk was not guilty of any sins more grievous than what almost every man .elected to Parliament commits. The conduct 0/ Ml’ Mouk and his friends partook

more of the nature of indiscretion than corruption, and consequently there was nothing more natural than that people should think that Mr Jackson Palmer in upsetting the election did a mean thing. Such an idea as that to get a hold of the public mind could only have a very bad effect, and the wonder is that Mr Palmer got such a large number of votes. There is another reason why it is not surprising that Mr Massey was elected. The public mind has been seized with a superstitious dread that something terrible must happen now because the Government is to ✓ strong and the Opposition too weak. People do not reason nor think out the probable results of such a position. They do not seem to realise that when a Government is strong it can be independent, and when weak it must resort to something like log-rolling to buy support. A Government cannot be too strong, but the general public think differently ; they believe that the present Opposition requires strengthening, and no doubt this idea influenced many a vote. But probably the most likely explanation of all is that the constituency is thoroughly Conservative. It is, of course, a rural district, consisting for the most part of squatting country, and it appears to us that the disapproval of such a constituency is complimentary to the Government. However, the election leaves the parties in exactly the same position as they were after the General Election. Mr Monk, who was unseated, was a Conservative; Mr Massey, his successor, is the same, so actually nothing has occurred to indicate that a change has taken place since the General Election.

OUR CREDIT

Although we are grumbling and growling, and not without cause, as regards the depressed condition of trade and commerce in this colony, there was never a time at which our credit stood higher in the English market. The fact is, the British money-lender thinks ten times better of us than we think of ourselves. Our 3J per cents, now stand at par, that is, a £IOO debenture or bill is worth £IOO, a thing which never happened before in the history of the colony. Now Zealand up to the time of the change from the Property Tax to the Land and Income Tax was the Cinderella of all the colonies; now she stands as their queen. For New South Wales debentures only 95J can be got, that is, every New South Wales £IOO debenture is worth only £96 I0s; Queensland’s is worth only £92, Victoria, £93, while ours is worth £IOO, or 20s in the £. That is a proud position to occupy, and one which our Conservative friends ought to appreciate. They predicted all sorts of consequences to a change in the incidence of taxation ; money wonld leave the colony, our credit would fall in the English market, and we should run from disaster to ruin. Time has proved the inaccuracies of their prophecies, and only for the low prices we should experience unexampled prosperity in this colony. Let us compare the present with five or six years ago. There was a great demand for New Zealand flax then, in fact the activity in that branch of industry was most extraordinary, the prices of sheep, wheat, wool and every commodity was good, and we were prosperous. But what made us prosperous ? The good prices, and it is the low prices which have caused the depression now. We feel, however, that there is a good time coming. American politics are the immediate cause of the depressed condition of trade now. Congress has for months been discussing the proposal to adopt a freetrade policy, and in consequence of that American merchants are not purchasing as they used to do. That question must soon be settled one way or the other, and when it is Americans will find themselves short of everything, and will rush into the markets to buy. The consequence will be a season of (great activity, and prices will go up again. This we feel certain of; we feel satisfied that we have now touched the bottom, and that next year will witness great improvements in prices all over the world. Meantime it is satisfactory to know that we stand so high in the estimation of the English money lender. We could now borrow money at 3J per cent, if we desired to do, but it is evident that the country has determined on living within itself and doing without borrowing.