The Obserber.

Observer, Volume 4, Issue 82, 8 April 1882, Page 50

The Obserber.

Satueday, Apriii Bth, 1882,

It seems that after all Mr Bryce did contemplate a march through the King country. "It was probable," says a contemporary which makes the statement upon official authority, " at one time during his present visit that the Native Minister would return to New Plymouth through the comparatively unknown country between Alexandra and Mokau." Doubtless it was also probable that Mr Bryce would have considered it incompatible with his dignity and personal safety to travel without an escort of some hundreds of armed constabulary, just as he did when he travelled through the "comparatively unknown country " about Parihaka., His attitude towards the natives during his term of office has not been such as to endear him to the tribes, or .to enable him to imitate the example of the lady whose exploits are sung in Moore's Irish melodies, by relying for immunity from harm on his own conscious innocence and a snow-white wand. Mr Bryce is too fond of the bawbees to spend much in jewels either rich or rare, and top. much attached to the sweets of office and the'luSt of power to incur any sei'ious risks. ; Bryce may be an enthusiastic explorer, but he has too much respect for his own skin to run the chances of being potted and served up from a Maori oven. Between his return through the terra incognita and an attempt to repeat the Parihaka raid, there is just about the same difference as between tweedledum and tweedledee. That the Native Minister did not blunder on his own destruction may be attributed more to the restraining influence of his colleagues, than to any prudence of his own.

The name of the Prophet figs ! Our morning contemporary, which, has lately become a sort of court circular for the great Bryce, and chronicles his small doings with all the fidelity of/ • a Boswell, made a great flourish of trumpets over the arrival of Parehaurald, one of Tawhiao's numerous wives. It was pretended .that the lady had come to town to play the role of a female .. diplomatist on a mission of extreme delicacy, and : that certain mysterious negotiations Avere proceeding in the House of Major we. beg pardon • — Judge Mair, which she had chosen as the scene of operations. JEn jjassqnt, it may. b& ' stated that Major Mair (hke many other dis- i tinguished politicians) does not disdain to employ feminine cunning and skill in weaving diplomatic : web s among the kingites. But unfortunately Mr Bryce, unlike his predecessor, steels, his heart against female blandishments,™ and ;is proof against their quips, and cranes,, and; wanton wiles. The delicate compliment of sending a' handsome wahine to negotiate with him in grave affairs o state is .thrown away ; . on his- cold , arid : un-. sympathetic - temperament.: Like; all -men > who •'"' are victims of mal de mer /and, chronic attacks.of' biilicaisness he is . devoid ! of gallantry, arid his ■'■• soul is impervious to the .seductive ; influences .'of ;/ female beauty. It is'not Ukely,-tneref ore, that V Parehauraki was . brought /upori^theisc|ne^^ih;i; any h.ope of melting M^iister, though it is,not^equall^ r bertam-t]^ \

susceptible Premier. It turns out, however, that the main object of Parehauruki's visit to Auckland had reference to certain old clothes which ' Her lord had left behind, when in the 'full .blaze of royal pomp, he shed Ms former somewhat Beedy covering, and donning the gorgeous apparel presented to him by Mr Samuel Coombes — at once ,a tribute of admiration and an effective advertisement for the people's draper— burst in full fig upon the admiring gaze of the multitude.

It was Disraeli who once taunted a party in the House of Commons with having watched their opponents while bathing and stolen their, clothes. Indeed apparel and politics have a closer connection than many people ever wot of. Carlyle in his " Sartor Resartus " gives us a graphic picture of a grand assemblage of ;. monarchs, great officers of State, chamberlains, gold. -sticks in waiting, and courtiers suddenly _ divested of their gorgeous apparel and gold, and fine lace. We know how a bird looks, when its feathers are plucked off. The newly-fledged ' Minister who electrified the House with the an- . nouncement that he and his colleagues "had just . time to change their shirts before they waited on His Excellency," and who have been handed down on the scroll of Parliamentary fame as . Clean-shirt Ministry," fully appreciated the important part which clothes 'play in statecraft. It is a common occurrence in these days for one set of Ministers to steal the clothes of their pre- - decessbrs in office, regardless of fit or harmony of appearance. The Hall Gt-overnment had no .scruples of conscience in appropriating the apparel of the Grrey - Administration, albeit it had become somewhat threadbare and patchy, and 'some 'of it was in the form of "unredeemed pledges." The Maori King will not deign to wear Mr Bryce's cast-offs when he opens the great meeting with due pomp and state, but is understood to prefer the scarlet hunting-coat and * top-boots of his old friend Hardington. It may be that the bent of Tawhiao's taste is emblematic of his policy. There will be a species of poetic justice in the appearance of the King in the costume of a clerk of the course — clearing the way for a railway to New Plymouth. "We shall see what we shall see," as the clown says.

In spite of repeated attempts to crush out the infamous truck system, it still flourishes in all its rank tyranny in some of the remote country districts. Under this vicious and dishonest system the workman is not allowed to dispose of his earnings in the way he deems most conducive to his own advantage. . He is the mere prey of some unscrupulous vampire who sucks his life-blood . and waxes fat on the wear and tear of his brain and muscles. He must purchase all he requires at exorbitant prices at some local store, or drink part of his wages at some grog shanty in which his employer is privately interested. The unfortunate victims of this wholesale extortion and fraud dare not protest against it under pain of loss of employment. Beyond the vigilance of the law the employer and his accomplices unmercifully fleece' the workmen and reduce them to an intolerable species of serfdom. Wo have before us at this momenta signed document which gives a striking instance of the operation of the truck system. A young man in Auckland, whose father is employed at a certain country saw-mill, where the prices of provisions at the stores are 50 per cent, over town, sent a quantity of provisions with a view to cheapening the cost of living, and enabling his father to save something for his family. When the goods reached their destination the manager of the mill warned the consignee that he must not receive them, on pain of dismissal from his employment. For the present we. refrain from publishing names, not out of * consideration for the manager, who ought to be instantly discharged, but to save the workman. : It is high, time, however, that some check were • : put to this system of extortion ; and if any more well authenticated complaints of this kind reach us we shall- see what can be effected by a merciless exposure of all the facts. It is just possible that millowncrs and others are not always cognizant of the tyranny by which the managers feather their own nests, and the workman would do well to-make a joint representation of the hardships undjer which they suffer.

It is difficult to know exactly what constitutes drunkenness. We hold strongly to the belief that most of the miserable wretches one sees staggering about the streets are more poisoned than drunk, and that if all the beer, wine, spirits, &c. that are sold, were free from poisonous adulteration, there would be in the comniunity,at all events,very little drunkenness. But imagination also goes a great way j we hare seen a man get very excited and apparently drunk on three glasses of water. The gentleman in question, who was notorious for liis 1 excitability when in his cups, was travelling with us on one occasion accompanied by a mutual friend. The mutual friend and ourselves determined if possible to keep our excitable companion sober, but, as the sequel will show, we only partly succeeded. The plan, we adopted was v very simple, in the evening whiskey, a lemon, sugar and hot water were produced, and we all filled our glassesj but before our excitable companion touched his, we managed by engaging his attention elsewhere, to substitute plain water for the whiskey in his tumbler. He added sugar, a slice of lemon and some water and sipped it off, making the remark that the whiskey was not very strong. In the course of the evening we supplied him with three doses of the same mixture. The second glass loosened his tongue, and before he had ■finished the third he was to all appearances under the influence of liquor. It is evident therefore that a lively imagination has a good deal to do with the effect of alcohol on the human system. There are few people but must have noticed the magic effect of the production of a tray with spirits &c, upon a company . of dull conversationless individuals; They brighten up at once, the very sight of the bottle loosens their tongues, and they become lively and vivacious. This is a phase of the question that has not yet been touched on by the G-.T.'s, but it is a •r vety serious one,, for if a man can get tight on .; : Jwater,;andif the sight of a tray has such an ex--5! hilaratinf effect, the GhT.'s field of action becomes

, Little by little the career of the notorious Laridershtit comes out. A gentleman, who. saw „him at Honolulu, before he dazzled and diddled for a brief space a select few of the trusting and unsophisticated jamtarts of Auckland, who were charmed by his magnificent style and "taking ways, relates some more instances of Landershut's enterprise and. unbounded impudence. . He contrived to introduce himself to the, officers of a French man-6!;war on the station, showed them the lions of the place, entertained them at a grand dinner, and finally eased some of them of their superfluous cash by means of his dexterity with the cue. All this.time Landershut was living in regal style at the swell hotel in Honolulu, running up enormous bills in every direction, and paying his addresses to a coffee-coloured heiress. i Just when the ingenious <vooer was about to j secure a wife and a fortune, the girl's father be-, came acquainted with the adventurer's real character. A visit by the chief of police followed, and Landershut was offered the disagreeable alternative of seeking a fresh sphere of industry, or undergoing a course of geological study in the public gaol. He chose the lesser of two evils,and came to Auckland, with the result already known to our readers.

A short time ago the residents of a country town wanted to deputationise a Minister on some important local matter, and it was arranged that a delegation should proceed to Auckland to explain the wishes of the good people of Blank. Now this Minister was known to be a very slippery fish, and the acute Blankites reckoned that if he heard of their intention he might be fifty miles away on important business just when they wanted to see him. It was consequently agreed that the great man should be taken by surprise. A member of the deputation — who, by-the-way,-had been most. zealous in advocating that the affair should be done sub-rosa, but who was a henchman to the Minister — telegraphed to the Hon. Mr Skinflint the proposed raid of the Blankites. Well, the deputation came to Auckland, found the Minister " at home," and explained the cause of their visit. The Minister inadvertently, during the interview, let the cat out of the bag as to the telegram. Like the presage of a hurricane, a cloud of suspense settled on the brows of the Blankites, and the expression on the face of each deputationist as he scanned the physiognomy of his brethren was truly awful to behold. Each wondered who was the traitor. The cream of the joke was that the recalcitrant deputationist, while kicking at the Minister below the table to silence him, let the leader of the deputation have it on the shin. This led to the discovery of the breaker of the vow of secrecy, and bitter were the maledictions of the embassy on his devoted head, especially when they found that the Minister was not disposed to make a grant for " that truly desirable road" and " the most necessary bridge."

A novel argiinient was used by Mr Smith, the counsel for the defendants in the prosecution at Dunedin against a number of leading citizens for getting up a sweep on the racecourse. He contended that the Legislature, in using the word "sweepstakes," had made nonsense of their meaning, and he quoted from 1 standard dictionaries to show that the word " sweepstakes," used in the singular number, as it was both in the Act and the information, meant the person receiving the sweepstakes, and that the word "sweepstakes" in its common acceptation properly meant a fund subscribed to supplement prizes by the owners of horses entered for a race. He shewed, further, that the term in common use was " sweep," not "sweepstake" or "sweepstakes." In Latham's dictionary the word " sweepstake " in the singular is defined — " originally, perhaps a game of cards ; now applied in the plural form to the holder of sweepstakes in horse-races." The Library Dictionary only gives the plural form, and defines it as " the whole of the money won at a horse race ; one who wins all." Mr Smith therefore contended that the vrord in its more common acceptation meant the fund ; that if it was a case of quod voluit, non dixit, the Legislature must take the consequences, and. that a court of law was not competent to supply language to carry out the Legislature's meaning. The magistrate, in over-ruling the objection, quoted the phraseology of the Act, " every scheme commonly known as a sweepstake", and the language used on racecourses by persons engaged in getting up lotteries, " Let us have a sweep," or " sweepstake " ; and he thought that " the phraseology did not matter, so that defendants understood the offences they were charged with."- The latter ruling of the Dunedin Dogberry is so manifestly absurd that it goes without saying. But it is a dangerous doctrine for a court of justice, and one which is constantly contradicted by every-day experience of the administration in the law - courts. The main point, however, i 3 that some of the provisions of the G-aming and Lotteries Act are ridiculously stringent, and only calculated to foster evasions of the law, or the gratification, in some worse form, of that taste for a mild type of gambling which seems to be inherent in human nature, and is common to all sorts and conditions of men, from high church dignitaries and grave and reverend seigniors, down to Tom, Dick and HaxTy.

A few days ago a couple of metropolists went into Grreenshields' shop to buy some braces. One of tlie gentlemen remarked that during tlie last week we had more wind in Auckland than there had been, in Wellington for the last six months. G-reenshields said that was most extraordinary, as the general impression in Auckland was that, after a few years' residence in the Empire City, people got quite bald headed, the hair being fairly blown out by. the roots. Both gentlemen then uncovered, and displayed luxuriant crops of hair — one of the gentlemen remarking that he had been fifteen years in "Wellington, and the other twenty years ; so that yarn could not be true. Greenshields then said that it had always been reported in Auckland that, in order to preserve their windows, the shopkeepers in Wellington had to put up their shutters in windy weather, as , the road, metal was flying about like grape shot. The Southern gentlemen declared that that was another device" of the enemy, and that in-Welling? ton they had better roads' and streets than we

have in Auckland. The two were next asked about " Skeleton G-ully," but they: solemnly [declared that they had never heard of such a place. They were then told that it; was a gully, in Wellignfcon, thickly strewn with bashed hats, smashed umbrellas, etc., etc., wrecked with the wind. They were next told that Aucklanders always knew Wellingtonians whenever they came North, as, whenever they came to the corner of a street, the hand was naturally raised to the top of their hat for the purpose of fixing it more firmly upon the head, so as to prepare for windy contingencies. On enquiry as to the truth of the reports about large quantities of . crockery being broken by earthquakes, they were glad to report that these breakages had ceased, as the " quakes " had migrated to Christchurch, and the rats had gone with them. Finallj, Grreenshielda was told that he had better braces than could be got in Wellington, and that we had nicer looking girls in Auckland, but for everything else we were second fiddle to the Empire city, the depot of " quakes."

We hear there are likely to be a number of Richmonds in the field for North Franklin, and that the coming contest is regarded as a kind of Consolation Stakes for all the spavined and broken down hacks that did not finish on the post at the last general meeting. We hope, however, that better counsels will prevail, and that no dummies will be entered to crowd the course and spoil the running. In common fairness Harris and Buckland ought to be allowed to run on their merits with a clear field and no favour from outsiders. None of the others who are mentioned stand the ghost of a show, and can only spoil sport by entering. Heoi ano !

In our last issue we gave a remarkable instance of the grinding tyranny which some servants inflict upon their mistresses. The picture, howevei', has its reverse side. There are over-exacting and tyrannical employers as well as lazy, presumptuous servants. The public can have no conception of the family secrets which find their way unsolicited and often undesired to the editoral sanctum. Editors, in the course of their ordinary duties become the willing or unwilling repositories of the grievances, wrongs, and sorrows of a multitude of people in all positions in life. They are the guides, philosophers and friends of a vast number of women and men who have come to regard them as a kind of universal arbiters and advisers in. the most complex and various problems of social economy. Repulsed by the inexorable demand of the lawyer for a heavy fee, or chilled by the indifference of supposed friends, the poor, the distressed, the owner of a real or fancied grievance, even the obnoxious button-holer, is always sure to find a patient ear and a sympathetic heart inthe editorial sanctum. Those who accuse the journalist of a morbid inquisifciveness and unwarrantable disregard of the sacred privacy of the family circle know nothing of the difficulties of his calling, of the curious secrets of which he is made the repository, or of the unceasing vigilance and discrimination that are necessary in order to enable him to draw the line of demarcation between that which is legitimate matter for publication or comment and that which he locks up in his own breast. It often happens that servants amongst others pour their woes and wrongs into the editorial ear, and if some of the disclosures were to see the light in these columns they would cause about as much commotion in some respectable families as the fall of a bombshell in the drawing-room, or an earthquake in the kitchen.

One or two examples will suffice. A succession of complaints have reached us that one mistress actually denies her servants the bare necessaries of life, and endeavours to reduce them to a starvation diet. The statement is so clearly corroborated by the concurrent testimony of' several persons, where collusion was out of the question, as to amount to positive evidence. In another case the head of the family drives all the female servants from the house by his unwelcome demonstrations of friendship and regard. The other day a respectable looking woman called at this office and requested publication of a written statement to the following effect. She is the wife of a Thames miner, and accepted a situation in a family where she was told that her duties would be confined to attending to the wants of the master and mistress. She found, however, that the family consisted of several grown up sons and daughters, and that the work was consequently very arduous. One clay her scissors were borrowed, and the next day she asked that they might be returned. As they could not be found she requested that she should be compensated for their loss. The master flew into a towering rage, called her a number of opprobrious names not to be found in any version of the New Testament, ordered her to pack up and leave the house instantly, called her a thief, and finally slapped her on the face. The woman left the house almost penniless, staggering under the weight of her portmanteau and other belongings, and was fortunate in finding shelter at the house" of a comparative stranger. Too poor to secure legal advice she imagined that by appealing to the Observes she would secure justice. Of course, we recommended her to take out a summons, but she shrank from this course, because she feared that any statement she might make would be met by the conjoint rebutting evidence of the entire family, and that thus she would not only incur further pecuniary loss, but irreparable injury to her character. Of course, there are two sides to every story, and it is possible that a good deal might be said on the other side, but we have enough evidence in our possession to shew that, however exacting and self-assertive servants may be with the existing high rates of ' wages and competition for their services, they sometimes suffer from the tyranny or meanness of harsh and ill-bred masters and mistresses, and it is not surprising therefore, if this arouses a spirit of retaliation.

Cannot something be done by our inspector of nuisances to compel the owners of places of public amusement in Auckland to cleanse them from fleas, G-ood Heavens ! — go where you may — to the theatre, Choral Hall, or Lorne-sfcreet Hall, you are no sooner seated than the attack commences on your shins, and the vile creatures work

steadily upwards>having a nip and a sip of blood ;rby tlie way. In vain you imagine to Quieten them*by a sly pinch and a rub— the nimble creatures have t(e* taken themselves to a fresh spot, and one. thing, is certain, that though you may take away as many fleas as your clothes pan possibly hold— the next night you visit the same hall, the numbers are. in no sense reduced. Should you take a lady with, you to enjoy the entertainment it positively takes away. the. pleasure of any: bachelor to notice hsw she quietly squirms under the lacerating punctures of the vile libertines who traverse her enchanting form, and. instead of being struck senseless on beholding the beauties of Her divine figure absolutely give pain and misery by their biting propensities I ■ "Ah, dear me" — Says the flea " What sights we see !" The only consolation we have is in the knowledge that every creature has its parasites, and even these very fleas "Have other fleas to bite 'em, and so on — ad injinitwni." But soberly cannot Inspector G-oldie win golden opinions by causing the owners of such places of amusement to exterminate the fleas, one and all, with strong doses of carbolic. It is a crying shame that the evil should have so long existed uriredressed.