WELLINGTON NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 267, 29 March 1898, Page 3

WELLINGTON NOTES.

[from our own correspondent]. Wellington, March 21. AFTER THE BATTLE. It was geueially understood in Ul3 bestinformed Liberal circles during the byeelection that your own correspondent was a thing of the past, and that, with his decease, at least cue " assassin " would be removed from the path of the Scddocites. Put, thanks to the capacity of the modern surgeon and a tough hide, the Seddouites have been disappointed. The Wellington fection of the party have 10-t that buoyant and aggressive attitude they bore a month ago, end in its plice is a subdued—not to say hangdig—look, that betokens a knowledge that their d>y of reckoning is near. They have had *uoh a long innings that they dreid the idei of having to exist by their own exertions. As a matter of fact the young fellows who are just entering manhood have been so taught during the past seven years that it is a part of their religious belief Hat Seddonism spells prosperity and anything else dire inin. This view of the opinions held by some people will be lest mderstood by an illustration. On the night of the election, when the people at every telegraph station in the colony were e gcrly waiting for the result, tlie first ii.formation that came to hand at one of the principal towns was from a Permanent Arti'lerynnn, who is a son of an ex-M.H.P. His message read : " Duthie has majority of over ICOO. Villainy triumphant." Now there is no doubt but this young man was quite in earnest in what he wired. He had been taught that anything said or done by any person not saturated with the Seddodian faith was vicious or, at anyrate, heterodox But if any "of these neophytes were asked to define what they meant by villainy they would be quite as much at a loss to give an inttlhgible answer as Dr. himself would be of the term "Liberal." It is, perhaps, an unpopular view to take of the pr.seut state of things, but there are many sober-minded people who are old-fashioned enough to believe that no man should have a vote until he had secured it by acquiring sometlrng worth defending, and that the enf anclrsemcnt of woman has been a blunder. Those who were in the vicinity of the skating-rink on polling-day and saw the samples of degraded womanhood who were brought by the score to cast their votes, and were welcomed by the Premier and his associates there, would feel his gorge rise at the thought that each of these unfortunates hud as much control over the choice of a representative as himself. Universal snff age is very like Socialism ; it is a capital subject to write high falutin essays about, but in practice the sublime desire of the Socialist to e'joy the tights of the citizen somehow get tangled up with a belief that his vote has a market value, which it is his sHity to obta ; n the highest price for—not necessarily in hard cash, but in some favour the profess'onal politician is willing and eager to pav. EXAMPLES" IN POINT.

Nor is it necessaiy that the recipient of favours should be a horny-handed son of toil. We have examples in Wellington at the present moment of both the fatrnan and the worker bent; "arranged for." In the Supplementary Estimates passed last session is a vote, " Parliamentary Buildings—new library £7000." That is the sum the representatives of the people authorised their servants the Ministry to expend What Seddon and Co. have undertaken by order of the Trades Unions, of whom they are in much greater iear than of their obedbnt majority in Parliament, will involve an expenditure of over £50,000 according to tome and £60,000 as estimated by others in the I uilding tiade. A pretence was made <f ca'ling for tinders, but the specifications were drawn in such a wilt'u'ly unintel'igible form and had besides conditions embodied which no contractor could fulfil, that no tender was accepted, and that prodigal Liberal machine—the co operative .system—is now in full blast in close proximity to the statue of John Ballance, whose back, luckily for his memory, is turned to the tcene of reckless waste. So men are engaged on the job that thsy are not only tumbling over one another in daylight, but an electric installation has been established so that the squandering of money may continue through the night. The po nt in this job for country electors to note is that while funds cannot bo provided for works in rural districts which have been authorised by Parliament, the Trades Council of Wellington holds such a grip on the dictatorial Premier that he violates the law and flouts Parliament to the extent of undertaking the building of a new Parliament House without affording members an opportunity of discussing whether one should be built, or where, or in what style. So much for that side of the question. Now fcr the favours shown to tV,e fat man. THE PREMIER'S PAPER.

The v : cissitudes, misfortunes and internal disturbances which have kept the New Zealand Tines before an amused public for some years have at Inst ended ill its absorption into the Bank of New Zealand. The motto which the paper ought to have adopted is the saying of Disraeli that "Change is inevi'able in a progressive country." If New Zealand had progressed in anything near the ratio that the Ministerial morning paper has changed its opinions during the past four years then would we have been the foremost co'ony of the Pacific. Just after the Premier's departure for hie costly Jubilee trip the M.M.J, plucked up courage and made a declaration of independence. Jt does that whenever there is a change in the staff. Subscribers smile and bee drinks on the humber of days that will elipse before a leader dictated in the Premier's office appears declaring its unswerving faith in Seddonism. As a commercial venture the M.M.J, has had a most distressful time of it, but what between new blood, the brewer} interest and a good-natured bank manager, the concern managed to scratch along through the vigorous efforts of the office duu. Not but the proprietory could boast of wealth. The largest shareholder is a director of B.N.Z. ;bo is the mortgagee. Mr William Watson, President of the Bank, is not personally a shareholder, but his wife is; the Premier is also a large shareholdi r, and was prior to his Jubilee trip a member of the Advisory Board. With all this wealth and talent it is passing strange that industrious canvassing and frequent changes of editors have failed to produce dividends, but Melancholy seems to have claimed the M.M.J, for her own. Up till iccently the National Bank had the distinguished honour of being its banker, charging current rates of interest on the chronic overdrafts. Recently the diicctors of the paper have struck out in quite an enterprising way in purchasing new and extensive premises, and ordering up-to-date plant. Some inquisitive people wondered how all this was to be financed, and their curiosity has been gratified this week by learning that the Bank account of the M.M.J, overdraft, and all has beeu transferred to the State Bank, and the intpreat to be charged is 5$ per cent. Now when one comes to think of it, and to realise that no country tradesman or farmer, however solvent, could deal with the Bank of New Zealand on such favourable terms, and that two bank directors, the President's wife, and the Premier are all partneis in the paper, and the iniquitious bargain, it does seem that the tooiier the colony cuts itself adrift from the Bank at any cost the better. The Tegctmeicr letters alone, just before and just aftpr the bye-elec-tion, were sufficient to brand the Bank as a mere political engine, but this taking over of the Ministerial Morning Journal on such terms is a scandalous job that disgraces everyone concerned.