The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1882.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4344, 2 December 1882, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1882.

A cable message a few days ago conveyed the information that Mr W. J. Clark baa been created a baronet. The Sydney Morning Herald, a journal of decidedly Conservative tone, says of the matter :— " We are told it is the good work he did in connection with the Melbourne International Exhibition. His efforts on that occasion were doubtless worthy of recognition. He displayed some administrative skill, and was courteous and generous in his entertainment of strangers; but many others equalled him in these respeots, and we hear nothing of any other baronets to be. Sir Patrick Jennings, as Executive Commissioner for the colony at our own. Exhibition, was very courteous and hospitable, and in the performance of his many duties labored honestly and well. His efforts won him a knighthood, wherewith both he and the country were probably well enough content. Why, then make the distinction between the two— the one a knight, the other a baronet p Is it not tantamount to an admission that the weight of gold is more than the weight of merit in the EDglish Court ?— that a man may mount the first rung of the ladder by good service or personal merit, but that a high leap can only be accomplished by the aid of golden wings?" Why was Mr Clark created a baronet? Because he has immence wealth, probably two to four millions sterling. And how did he come to have this wealth? Because he is the son of his father. And who was his father? Probably most persons have heard of a miserly old man who resided in the Whau and died two or three years ago, possessed of very considerable riches, none of which he succeded in carrying out of the world, but next best thing left it locked up for several years bo that no one might enjoy it. Even this old man's family had to leave him, and when his nice house was burned down he took up his residence in a tank. This amiable old party had a brother also well known in Auckland, and that brother had a dog yclept Beckliam, after a recently deceased District Judge of Auckland. Mr Clark, senr., was such another. Although " boundless his wealth as wish could claim/ he affected the hut rather thau the mansion, he preferred Bkinning a sheep to the arts and sciences, and his ambition lay in the acquirement of broad acre^ rather than to shine as a legislator, or the benefactor of the whole human race. He was a miser of misers, and the motto of the Northern Farmer, " Property ! Property ! Property ! " would apply to him with incomparably more force. Mr Clark, junr., enternd into this wicked world with a silver spoon in bis mouth and baa managed to 101 l through it aiuc* innocent of £re>»i deed» »ud guiltless of

great crimes. Unlike his father, he spends money freely, and leads an indolent, aimless exist' nee If for bo other reason he is not »icious, because he is too lazy. Still be is a good natured man, and is generally respected. But the honors of the empire should be bestowed upon men —men of intellect or energy; leaders in the land—not merely money-bags. The London Daily Telegraph speaks of this as a beginning of the federation of the empire. If this is the beginning, it is based upon the worst principle possible, and introduces tho most undesirable feature of Old County society, where the honors are more frequently awarded to acres than to brains.