Our Wellington Watchman.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2665, 4 August 1887, Page 2

Our Wellington Watchman.

Augusts. I need not, I imagine, enlarge on the subjectof Sir Robert Stout's address to tho good peoplo' oi' Wellington, aa your usual correspondent will, ere th is reachea you, have afforded you full details. Sir Robert looked remarkably bloooraing, und his speech, taken all round 1 , was not a bad one. He haß apparently got over that terrible laugfrof bis, or put it aside till next, session; at any rate we did not hear it bo ofton. He went for the hands down, and the audience were, as audiencoa generally are, .immensely tickled with tho shies at "thoso newspaper fallows." An experienced old stager near roe, remarked, however,' " He'll get the worst of that in the end." This good old; gentleman had probably"been there" himself, and probibly knew how hard it is to kick against the pricks. Bobby,-of.course, : spreadjhimself on the subject of Educa-'' tiou. His remarks were'good,, though, old Mid a trifle long winded, but as I heard a gentleman aay aftorwardß in the street, " Heddercations the bloomin 1 subject of the day, and yer cau't get over hit."

"Wo are currying out retrenchment here wit') a vengeance; unothor six Government printers have received the key of the stroet. That makes twenty-six men turned out into the cold at the slackest season of the year—many of these are old hands. Thus, 26 families will he more or less hard up for some time, but what of that ? a noble retrenchment is effected and the country saved. I do uot hear that any reduction has been effejted, at present, in the travelling expenses of Ministers, who arej still cjoing the swell swagger tHrpghouttlie land, When will people see that" tiie'present Ministry is the rijoijt personally expensive we ever had! Many popl'e wonder that I a radical "go for-'jtnese- other " radicals." I go for thera because they are not radicals; the only part about them that is radical in their protestations; in practice they are the most conservative lot that wereever in power, and a good many people, in

Wellington at least, are beginning to see this.

This is a vigorous Native policy with a vengeance that the Native Minister is installing, eh? What does it mean? Do you think he intends to finally solve the Native difficulty by putting all the Maories in chokee 1 Thai, would be a solution with a vengeance, would it not 1 The telegrams are fairly- bristling with' "desperate er.gageaienta, w ' , but when you come to.analyse all these warlike encounters they d\ not seem' tobe'soveryheroicafter.all. ..

.Mr Ballance seems to have developed a sudden taste for chivvying and ' a ruavin' on.' I wish to heaven he would came to Wellington when he has time, and chivvy pur tramway proprietors a bit. The way they stuff and overload the trams is simply disgraceful, and there does not Beeui to be any. police limit as.to the number of passengers cairied— if there are Huy regulations they area perfect dead letter. Some of these days ißuppose there will be one grand big smash, and then I suppose the. "Majestyof tho Law" will prance round a good deal. Last Saturday; when the football niatoh— Wairarapa versus Wellington was on, some of the crams were loaded to the water's edge like- a London barge. I hear that au aggrieved passengor, with corns, veiilured. to ask a haughty official whether the trams were licensed to carry any' particular number, arid was commanded to" find out." Talk about monopolies and despotism, no monopoly caii possibly bo more autocratic than a commercial one, and no despot can. be more terribly despotic than some secretary or manager of one of these companies when he's " got 'em on."

I see Mr Vickers who, after twentyfour. ycai'R service', wag lately diacharged from the Native Department on the plea of retrenchment; again returns to the attack and declares that the Bead office of the Native Department at Wellington was bettor served when it was carried on by four officers at an expense of £1165 per annum than it is now, when the salariea are £3090 a year. These' Government savings are a deap mystery, there's no denying that, The Government claims savings in every department and yet in every department- tho'expenses are heavier, Perlmps their ideas of economy are like those of th 3 gentleman, who, when ! reproached by his wil'it with eatiug jam j with bis bread and butler, declared! that that was the truest ot economy, i because " the same piece of bread did for both," Talking about this vecoiads; mo that tlm Government have given employment;to a'-poor oreaturo who was notorious a short tituo since for looking upon the rum when, it waived, and-'for looking, upou .it,;tpo'fVe-, qiicntly. However, they have picked him from the gutter and' he now swag--gera down Lamblon Quay with the best of the Civil servants, No .one would, of course, object to giving a man a chance, but this' man has had char.cos inmimciable, and his fatal propensity has shivered them all. I hardly think the proper use to make of a Government department is to turn it into an asylum for hopeless dipsoma-. macs, when there are a number of more worthy objects without employment' ',

TbeKcv. L M. Isitt, of the Wes-; loyan denomination; has made'himself dglrvedly popular in Wellington by :liis practicalChristianity-/'His Saturday, nigbt "pops" have-been a. big success, and many a thrifty housewife bleasos their institution> and the revenue has been made not a few pounds puorer thereby. Half of tho so-called drinking habits are incurred; in this country at any rate, by lack of available rational amusement, and many a good fellow gees "on the tare" simply to give variety to a too monotonous existence. "Let's get drunk and change the Bcene" is an invitation I have frequently heard inNew Zealand. Mrlsitt, by providing a first class entertainment on one night in the week for the toilers of Wellington, has supplied a real want, and done an immense amount of good to his fellows, and that is.what I take the liberty of calling ''practical Christianity."

A man who was cute enough to inaugurate the. Saturday night "pops" may.!think,:be assumed to have his head screwed on pretty level, and therefore Mr Isitt's opinions on political matters deserve some attention. He has lately pronounced his political opinions, and plaiulyat that, fle asked in CnHrch'the other night;— ■ , " How many were there amongst our legislators, or amongst those who are now wooing (the terra " wooing" seems to bo fashionable with people who hail .from the Wairarapa) tho suffrages of the olectors would dare to stand u'piotf a platform : arid giy'o thoir utterances' upon- public' raattors-acoordihg to their innermost con-victionß;-'arid' not .influenced by their desire to catch'votep?'V •■ '>•• ■••..- Ho fnrtliierm.oi'e declared that our political dishonesty has ,becpm«.'Buoh a matterof course that it .is oup. standing' joke. He concluded—and T apology for feprddticing-such excellentwords, though previously ;;olßewberapublmhed—as follows>- -, ..-.-'. -i.:k. "New Zoaland to-day smart- financiers, rise glib Bpeatera, y.inufc: clever politicians who think they .are serving their country and theirtVinstituencieß, when in the gameooilf il j/rab." they can secure the largest slice for their own town or electoral district-but rherr of honor who are determined to bo true whether thoy sink or swim."

I Say it is refreshing in these days of sham professions and promises to come acroßS a wedge of almighty truth like this,? It seems to be the fashion just now, more than during ordinary eleeHon. times, to flatter and discontent the majority, by promising to them a prosperity utterly beyond attainment. Few seem to have the backbone'to tell the truth, to declare th'at prosperity can'only be attained by perseverance,' by steadfast; Endeavor, and by self control, .Ijo'^Someuniversalcureall is' flaunted p-.'o'ur eyes; and wealth is to be brought to us by means of some empty name. It, baa been said that no sound of politics should be heard from the pulpit. I freely, grant that party politics phonld not be heard", thence, but if theplpit'niay hot.ban deceit, lack of morality, Iw&of trlitli'

ud honor, then ] for one utterlpdi : ) see of what use the pulpit is, ; I note, moreover, that no uncertain i, Kinds havo lately gone forth fr,om' a ulpit in another colony. The Her. feorge Hay, a Presbyterian' Minister fCooma, flew South Wales, lately poke out on the Jubilee question in a • innner that may not havo heen clerical ut wa? astoundingly Christian. Hers re a few of Mr Hay's nuggets:~ "Probably you may expect me to g»f amefhing to m before 1 close with t* - erencfto theftubilee of Queen "Victoria, v Veil, le't.me say that the pulpit should e'no place for the praise of humanity, • eing it either in the person of king or. /' object. l Flattery of a maft forms no • li'rt of the training of the ministers of hurchjandif it did, kin;s or queensgß rould be the last persons iikelv on o use tho vile art. The darkest page inflK he world's hißtory is that which rccordsffij he deeds of kings. War, contineatsSE lycdin blood, famine, pestilence, th&cryH| if the widows and tho fatherless, i<jptj9B n the wake of the ills of this world, IWJH f less of these have fallen the sceptre cJHj Juoou Victoiiaitis because policy morefii ban virtue made peace expedient. 188 [ueßtionif more misery and poverty dncsfflE tot now oxist in the Ilritwh Empire thai JB ixißted under tho worßt of "its rulers. TkWI [ripinghand of poverty is at tho throaUVH tf millions of her subjects. Ireland is iiJH i state of rebellion, poverty, oppresaiouH rod crime, while the poor farmer of Scot-fil and is ground down to the very dustra )y oppression aud obnoxious land laws, fflj ->ithe Sceues-book in tho House of Com- §B Tions at home and in the Houses of Par-H iment iii the colonics, representative go-flB rerriment has received a rude shock andH points to a black cloud well up in the Wt Uorizonof British liberty. The onpM jrand nn'sMke of Queen Victoria's reign S is her jubilee on the throne. Ten years ffl ago she ought to have handed over tlit/jr crown to her son the Prince of Wales. For : years Bhe has been both mentally and physically incapacitated to occupy the throne'of the British Empire, and a greater lußtre would havo reflected on her nanio had she many years asjo retired into private - life,' Not as a queen but as a widowed 'mother will the memory of Victoria bo cherished, fler lifo has been blameless in this respect, and as a young . wife, bereft of a true and good ,husband, leaving to'hiir care a numerous faroiHMo bring up to' manhood. We accorafcur tribute of gratitude to tho father of the widowandthe fatherless, and yet why should we do this to her more than to A ten thousand widows who havo lived aa ■'.:• pure and .blaimelesg lives as hers, amid ' difficulties'-which she never knew and-.cannot' bow, and not the .: less pure, 'because, like the flowers of the •-.. desert* they- bloom, and fade uiißeen by " the busy,; bustling world ?At tho Bar of '■■: ■tho'great white throne of Eternity, Queeu -.. Victoria'will occupy no moredißtinguiflhed * poßitionlh'ahthey. ' Philauthrophy hasvj next to hbtiung to record of the Queen's' "•! generbMty; •'•BoDatioHS fromLs to Lso'' L ; to snoh calamities as tho Uulli disaster. ' ■.', aixd tho late Indian famiuo while a'-Qlas- ; - gow merohaiifr gives hio LI 00,000. Bho . : bui Id a a- pViV'abo chapel at Ualmoral into which only a:eelßot few daw to enter,.and . occapieß ;: 'tli|' : ; free.:Bittiiigß in the pariah .-ehuiiofrof^Gi'Sthio;; whileati Ironmaster .in,Scotlaiid;:liinds over L 500,000 for supplying llia'.religious wants of the poor minew'bßhtf/'jrpii districts around the city oflhe' fmpiro. After all, whatiAs the pulpit tyftlo else than to re echo Miceriiiu'g fHeflUnga of this earth the words of'Sot'ipfiirof' Kings be wise, be taught, kiss the Son lest ho bo angry, and ye perish ..from tho way." The National Atlthom'was sung at the close. . : '.-Hdw's that Umpire ?