WELLINGTON NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 348, 1 October 1898, Page 3

WELLINGTON NOTES.

(FROM OUR OWN" CORRESPONDENT.) OUR PROSPERITY. So anxious are Ministers to educate the people to the belief that their administration and legislation have been succcii'ul tla; they cram every ro3-iblo document with assertions to that effect. Take the Budget as an example. In the peroration of that exultaut but spurious collection of figures and romance it. is stated that " the continued prosperity of the colony leads me to the conclusion that we are on safe lines. Our population is increasing. The output, of gold is increasing. The labourer scouring the country for work, commonly known a* the swaeger, is now becoming a thing of the past ; the employment of nearly the whole of the woikers, privately and publicly, has proved ben< ficial to the colony as a whole" Is a .single one of these assertions true ? The answer to this is distinctly in the negative. As regards the employment of labour, so far as Wellington is concerned, one has only to visit the Queen's Wharf before 8 a.m. to see what is the condition of unskilled labour at the seat of Government. This morning there were from SOO to 1000 men waiting for selection as coalheavers, stevedoies, or lumpers. These men do not attend there for pleasure, nor because they are fond of work of that character. They go there because of a chance of earning from 20s to 30* per ,veek. Some who are permanently employed by the Harbour Board and the Shipp ; ng Companies do better, but the casual labourers do not earn more than is stated above. Trade has increased on the Wellington wharf, but labourers have multiplied in a far greater ratio. Of the crowds who wait for selection every morning not more than one-third find work ; the others have to wait till next morning may find them a chance of earning a few shillings to pay their rent or their board and lodging. As for carpenters, bootmakers, clerks and others out of work, they are more numerous here than even J.P's. Then, as to the output of gold increasing, the official figures for the past four years do not indicate anything to grow jubilant about. The mines statement is the authority for the following values of gold exported : 1895, £1,162,164; 1596, £1.011,428; 1897, £980,204 ; IS9S, £1,015,742, all being to March 31st ; and this in spite of an enormously increased State expenditure in nursing the industry, but which has been more than negatived by the specially forbidding legislation which has scared foreign companies from our fields. So disheartening has thisbecnthatthe AngloContinental which scooped up our official experts and secured our Premier as an advisor, are about to withdraw, after experiencing the value of their services in preventing the flotation of " wild eat" companies. The Anglo-German concern has spent capital freely in following the advice of the talented individuals they considered they had done a stroke in securing, but the properties they have exploited mostly failed in the past when in the hands of ordinary mining men who did not boast of a string of capital letters after their names. Mining expert Seddon, it is stated, has had notice from the Loudon Board that his valuable services will no longer be required, and thus will he be reduced to the comparative penury of a professional politician. Then, as to the increase of our population. The monthly returns for this year show, in every case, that more people are leaving the colony than come to it, by about 2700 since January last, while our birth rate is the lowest of the Aus tmlasian colonies, excepting Western Australia. People who can leave are leaving, and those remaining are too discouraged to marry and make up for the loss by natural increase. As for the swagger who, according to Mr Seddon, is a "thine" of the past, it is, in the first place, very ungrateful on the Premier's part to refer to his supporters as " things," and, in the second place, some country Dapers record that swaggets are not only numerous, but more aggressive than ever they were. All of which goes to prove that official documents, especially Budgets of the present day, are not records to swear by, but rather to add to those on the Index expeir galorius of bocks forbidden to be read till purged from error. THE POLICE SCANDAL. The very wholesome fear Ministers have of Parliament debating the Police Commissioners' report and recommendations, was shown by their wanting to refer it to a select committee. They first of all appointed a very select commission, which told them, as gently as possible, that the Force should be free from political control. That was a slap in the face, ' and, with the object of having some excuse for not parting with their patronage, they desired to take shelter behind a still more Select Committee. But the House would not hear of it. Members had evidence enough and to spare in the enormous Blue-book. That expensive volume will be read by nobody, but the Shadow of Tammany, which is an able digest of it by Mr T. E. Taylor, will be devoured by thousands. The dodged persistence with which he has pursued his quest of the truth in regard to the causes of the decadence of our constabulary with the combined forces of Ministerial obstruction, and the liquor trade against him, has it reward in the utter degradation of Premier Seddon and his colleagues, so far as their unwarrantable interference with the police force has been concerned. Mr Taylor has condensed a ponderous indigestible blue book into an interesting and instructive narrative, taking his readers step by step along the road to instruct them, and illustrating here and there by extracts from the evidence how Mr Seddon, both as Defence Ministcrend after he had oonferrcd that portfolio on his festive and facile colleague Thompson, became and remained the actual head of the police ; taking upon himself the functions of Commissioner, Inspector, Sergeant and Pooh Bah in general. Over and over again evidence is quoted to show how circumstances alter cases, how facts were distorted, how truth was disregarded, how the " pull " political was worked tor all it was worth and how great a part the brwery interest plays in the Government of New Zealand. No wonder the " Bun Tuck "Ministry after trying to bury their misdeeds in a select committee,and failing in that,determined to drop the troublesome subject altogether and let things go on in the old comfortable fashion. But the day has gone by for that sort of hushing up. The country is now wjde-a-wake, and the Ministry not only stands arraigned at the bar of public opinion for its misdemeanours on police administration, but their misdeeds on other subjects will be overhauled while the Estimates arc on. Mr Taylor and bis friends are not asleep. They called a public meeting at the Theatre Koyal last night to ventilate the subject and had an attentive house. Among the audience were several mem bers of Pailiament and seme publicans. Had they attempted such a thing a year ago the beddouian wirepullers would have packed the theatre with rowdies to prevent freedom of speech. They have frequently done that in the past. On one occasion, a couple of years ago, Sir Robert Stoiit's recess speech was howled at for a conb'e of lienors; political women taking a prominent part in leading the uproar, Last night marked a change in public feeling. The audience listened attentively and good humouredly to what the speakers had to say, and, what is more, a very strongly-worded resolution, condemnatory of the Tammany practices of the Government, was carried without a dissentient voice. What is more to the purpose, Mr Pirani said he would undertake that before twelve months were passed a Royal Commission would be set up to enquire into the Civil Service. Be that prediction a true oue or not, Seddonism has received its

death-blow, ami the country may hope that the end of this session will brine with it reflations that all the bluster and sham sympathy with the workers which melodramatic S> ddon belches out in three .hours' speeches will not save him from 'he contempt of the people he has mi;iled ;.nd inezenly exploited for his own person .1 ambition and aggrandisement.