WELLINGTON NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume III, Issue 186, 21 September 1897, Page 3

WELLINGTON NOTES.

[from our own correspondent]. Wellington, September 14. THE PROSPECTS OF THE SESSION. Dr. Skddon lias refrained from taking the public into his ceufiilence as to his intentions regarding the business of the session, nor is the Ministerial morning journal inspired with leading articles and prognostications of the statesmanlike policy as it was wont to bo ; indeed, there seems to be a studied coolness existing between the Cabinet and its former mouthpiece. Just after Mr Seddon's departure it .assumed the garb of independence with a view of catching advertisements and inducing people to take shares in the unfortunate concern. The independent dadgc failed to impress either advertisers or capitalists, and after wavering until the great man's return the paper again did some excellent grovelling, and next day circulars were sent round with proposals to the old shareholders to take up new shares. It was hoped that the Premier would put in some loose cash out of his hard earnings, but the disloyalty of the organ in his absence is said ».o have had its due effect en his desires to run a paper, and so the re-construction is hanging fire. But if the local papers are barron of news as to what is going on and what is imminent in political circles, the man in the street hears a great deal. For a week or more it has been in everybody's mouth that' the former harmony existing iu the Cabinet has given way to estrangement, and the two heavy guns are more likely to be poundinfjatcach other than at the enemy. Dr. Seddon is highly displeased at much that has occurred during his absence. He has found that his incapables have done things they ought not to have clone and left undone things they ought to have done, and that tlieie is no good in them. Foremost among the sins of commission is the open sympathy expressed for the position of the Hon. J. 0. Ward ty the Hon. John Mackenzie, aggravated by the departure of the latter to take part in a banquet to the elect of Awarua. It is current talk here that the rupture between the chiefs is bo pronounced that one will lead the Wardites in the House and the other will whip up those who look upon the entry of an uncertificated bankrupt to Parliament as an impertinence. Although public opinion inclines strongly to that view of the situation. I am inclined to differ from it. It has long been known that the Hon. Jock has been very wroth at the notoriety Mr Seddon has succeeded in gaining. The piles of newspapers sent to him from England containing references to the triumphs of the New Zealand Ambassador ouly provoked Gaelic objurgations to the effect that it was " Seddon, Seddon, nothing but Seddon." Added to this is a pent up desire to visit the land of his birth as a Minister of the Crown. Now it must be clear to anyone who has taken stock of the average Liberal that if travelling expenses can be charged to the State that he will not pay them out of his own pocket. And, seeing that Ward, Reeves and Seddon have all within the past three years voyaged aeross the deep blue sea on various pretexts at the colony's cost, it is not within the bounds of reason and Highland prudence that Mr John McKenzie .should pay his own passage. Therefore it may safely be concluded that whatever little differences he and Dr. Seddon may have just now regarding the Awarua martyr, these will bo buried when the first caucus of the dumb doga is whipped into the party, kennel to receive orders from him who must be obeyed. But, it may be said, Mr McKenzie cannot go Home without being sent to do some public service. Granted. Did ever anyone know a Liberal so deficient iu imaginative powers as to be short of a reason ? That, indeed, would be holding the patriot up to scorn. There are a dozen reasons tor his going. Dr. Seddon told the Fnbian Society that England was behind the times and that if they had a Conciliation Board suoh as he had invented there would be no strikes and that the employers and workers of England would have the same respect and admiration for each other as they had in New Zealand. In a similar manner the Hon, McKenzie would show the people ho,v to resume the laud they had been robbed of in the time of William the Conqueror, and how easy it would be, if they only left it to him, to take the cash out of the Savings Bank or anywhere else where available funds were to be found and buy out the Dukes and Barons and turn the mansions into shearing sheds and the parks into village settlements. He might fill in a spare half-hour by visiting the Lord Chancellor's office and admonishing a few judges and then cut across to Threadneed le-street and arrange a loan, and finish the evening by taking a few lessons in courtesy. The idea, that no reasons could bo advanced for a free trip is simply preposterous. Another cause of discontent in the bosom of Dr. Seddon is the wilful disobedience of the Hon. Hall-Jones. It may be remembered that this Stateman undertook, while Mr Seddcn was junketing in Australia early this year, to improve Parliament House by the erection of certain conveniences in the rear of the Legislative Council Chamber. When Mr Jones with a pardonable pride led Mr Seddon to view the result of his efforts, the great man exploded with wrath and exe'aimed. " It's a d—d excrescence, pull it clown," and down it came forthwith. But during the longer absence of the Premier in England, Mr Jones took courage and heart of grace to design and constiuct a more pretentious affair fully 12 feet square. Dr. Seddon is at present bearing up against this disobedience manfully, but the time is near at hand when there will be a reconstruction of the Ministry with the member for Timaru left out of it. Probably Mr T. Thompson will also be called on to hand over his portfolio. Mr Larnach is known to be longing for the Treasurership, and there is not a man among the dumb dogs but hankers after the superior attractions of a seat in the Cabinet. As for the work of the session, the Opposition has a big contract in hand. The task of extracting information regarding the jobs perpetrated and the corruption which is rampant in the service would provide work for three months alone. The Address-in-Reply debate will be a very interesting affair for the transgressions and short comings of the past eighteen months have been oa a colossal scale. Then the country must be tickled with a few more labour Bills.—Old Age Pensions, Master and Apprentice, and so on. There i 6 a new Mining Bill on the stocks ready for launching. There is the Local Government Bill now getting mildewed with three years' repose on the shelves of the printing house. There is the great democratic measure of one man, one vote for Local Bodies, by which the ratepayers who find the money will be subject to the will of the people who pay nothing. All these things will enable members to fill up their usual four volumes of Hansard and to spend a few months pleasantly in the best club in the colony. AN AUDACIOUS PROPOSAL. One of the wealthiest corpoiatious in the Australian colonies is the Sugar Company, which has refineries in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland, and practically controls the whole trade. Its profits, as shown by its balance-sheets, are on a gigantic scale. Of recent years foreign _ beet sugar has come in competition with it, and, as a consequence, people get cheap sugar. Sentiment counts for something but self-interest for more, and if both kinds of sugar are equal i n quality the housekeeper would not, if she could, trouble herself much whether the article was the product of Fiji sugarcane or German beet. The Sugar Company is petitioning Parliament for pr otection to the extent of £2 per

ton, virtually :Jd per lb. That means that sugar bought by the consumer will be higher by that sum. This millionaire ring has not even the excuse that it is struggling against competition, or that it is hampered for want of help. It simply wants another fai thing per lb. on the fifty million pounds it sells annually in New Zealand. And if the company knows how to lobby it is not at "all unlikely that it will succeed. A Parliament may be sweetened as readily as a cup of tea. The quantity of sugar necessary is larger. That's all the difference.

Nickel bits repaired, also new rings fitted, bj H. H. Howdcn, jeweller, etc., Hamilton. We often hear of sensational bets being made, such as a guinea to a gooseberry ; a bible-backed policeman to a pint of i-he oak ; a hundred pounds to a bundle of chips, and so on. The art of betting is to win, and to win you must back certainties. Here is a tip : You back Woods' Great Peppermint Cure to beat a cough or cold every time. You'll always get home ; no Johnny Armstrong about that.".