THE WEEK, THE WORLD AND WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3009, 5 October 1908, Page 3

THE WEEK, THE WORLD AND WELLINGTON.

(By Frank Morton.)

It is cheering to see that one Eng-lish-judge has set his face against the somewhat ancient English habit of .sending dangerous and degraded persons to the colonies. It is none too soon that this one judge has become scrupulous.; Australasia has for long been the dumping-ground of the English criminal and scallywag. In all the Australian gaols there is a good scattering of accomplished British ruffians. In all the Australian cities there is a good representation of British undesirables. And Australia at least has had about enough of it. I don't pretend for a moment that all the remittance-men and derelicts are undesiratb. I have met many queer fi.-sh in Australia, and many of xhem have been harmless enough, while some have become good citizens. I remember one glad night in Melbourne being in a cab with Scsstor Keating and a Tasmanian and taking great joy in trie fact that the cabman insisted on aidreasing us fluently in Latin. Keating s*id the Latin was good, and I daresay it was. The old man was taming his living honestly, in any case. But the criminals and parasites come under quite another heading, and they should be kept out. It's not very easy to keep thejn out, but the British courts of justice should assist. Some criminals : unknown stole a safe from the shop- of a Chinese on Lambton Quay at an unusually early hour. The safe, which weighed about 3cwt. ? was carried about a mile. There' were constables about, and the police station is quite handy; but apparently no one took the least notice of the proceeding. Down at the King's Wharf, the safe was -opened with a cold chisel (the name of the maker is not advertised), and .£7O, with some silk and sundries, were removed. There were constables in the vicinity, but no one interfered with the robbers. The safe was left lying rou'id. In a week or two, there will be a paragraph in the newspapers to the effect that Detective Cassells has arrested the thieves, nod confidence in the Police Department will be<effectively restored. A few years after tnat, the detective will be promoted. Meanwhile, the Chinese is congratulated on having ..recovered his safe. More p3or-law guardians are in the hands of the London police. It is wonderful how English public spirit .runs to poor-houses. It is a first step in Parliament. In the Legislative Council the Hon. J. Rigg suggeoted that some of the earnings of "fallen women" in reformatories should be kept in trust for them. The Attorney-General promised nothing, but Mr Rigg will have the sympathy of all people who appear to think. This reformatories at present are places where women Iq.iite properly termed unfortunate fcra harshly sweated for the benefit of general taxpayer. Institutions of this class are the most miserable holes that a Christian government •evar perpetrated. They are therefore violently applauded by all just persons, and Mr Rigg is a very courageous man. I At the annual exhibition of the WellingtonUrt Society, there were a reasonably good number of pictures , •on the walls—patches ot which would have looked more beautiful bare. I | reiterate the point t tried to make a ' week or two ago. This society accepts for exhibition, among much ■good and dscent stuff, an amazing lot of rubbish. There is stuff hung this year, as there was last year, as (alas)! there will be next year, thai would disgrace any decent furnishing shop. The public pays for admission, and should not be insulted. If the committee were stricter, the minority ■of men and woman who can paint ■would ha encouraged, and these annual exhibitions would bec-rrie far 'more interesting from every standpoint. As it is, the Australian men have virtually ceased to exhibit here. The position "is made a littb worse by the fact that the city papers, generous enough in their sacrifice of space, know next to nothing of art and less than nothing of criticism. The result is that the papers offer no guidance to the public. They differ greatly among themselves, merely because they all are making wild shots in the dark in the hope of "encouraging" the society, and amid these differences the putflic is bewildered.