The Wairarapa daily. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1889. Two Views of the Situation.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3217, 30 May 1889, Page 2

The Wairarapa daily. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1889. Two Views of the Situation.

The members who represent the electorates of the city of Wellington in Parliament can scarcely be said to be a very happy family while they express such widely divergent views as those which the representatives iof Te Aroand Thorudoti have .just given utterance to. Mr Menteatli addressed his constituents a day or two ago, and took a most doleful, and almqst pessimistic view of the affairs of the Colony, According lo him our publio affairs are in as great a mess now as when the Stout-Vogel Ministry ceased to hold the reins of power; tlje saying for which the Promier tfijtes credit is a mere sham gpt up by the clever manipulation of figures, and tho future looks as gloomy as ever. Nor did he indicate how the country could bo extricated from the mess it had got into. There is no doubt a great deal of truth in what he said'; but we fail to see for what reason everything should have been painted in the most gloomy colours. The newspapers and the publio had hardly got 6vor the fit of the dumps which Mr Menteatli had given them, when the sprightly little member for Tborndon, Dr Newman, ascended the platform. Dr Newman is not at all the man to take the worst possible view of everything, except, perhaps, -on the question ol hygieoe, the study of which has led him to the conclusion; that • the human race is. doomed to early extinction'unless every man, woman and child is forthwith wrapped up from head to foot in flannel, At the same time, it is never,, safe lo speculate on what be will say next on the political miestjojis pf the to. He is one of those members mio' do not belong to any definite party, "but who try to .sit on a middle platform, ready v to throw in theii weight with that party which sppro.acUes - nearest to thom. in their views, . Tjn<s, Dr Newman does not Relieve in Freetrade; yet lie is_ not a Protectionist pure and Biinple, Well, Dr Newnp proved to be in a happy; mood wlien lie me! his constituents, and he appears tc haye treated tliem to one of tho besl speeches he has ever he can speak and reason remarkably well when he is in the right humor, If Mr Menteatli saw eyorything darj as' . night, Dr Ney/oian could fine

nothing but what was blight and flittering,, and promising cf. a irost prosperous future. He argued that there had been a most wonderful improvement in the finances of the Colony as a whole, as well as in those of private individuals; that the improvement iu the prices of produce which had recently taken place would and that colonists-: would'have no occasion to be anxious as to the iuture.. AH this'' was, of course, m nuts" for i}ie .Wellington papers. Tliey W Mr Men'tpatU's

specqh in the most unmeasured terms, booaußß. ho had (ihoson.to look at the dark' eido of things, and they now praised Dr Newman in an equally extravagant manner for showing only the blight cidu. We are not at all prepared to follow either speaker to his parlicular extreme. There is fluch a word as " moderation," which both of thorn appear to have overlooked." There . can be no denying tlio fact that tlio Colony has done a great deal to pull itself out of the mite into wliioli Sir Julius Vogel; had dragged it, and Mr Monteath must be very Bhortaightecl in leed if he oanhot see that. On the other hand, a great deal has yet' to be dono. before the' stains left by the immersion have all been removed) 'and Dr Newnmu Bhould not have ignored them in such a jaunty Banner. We notice that Mr Fisher intends to' speak on Monday next, ,Wo shall then irobabl'y receive quite another view )f public

Wellington Justices of the Peace, and especially the younger ones, are noted for their anxioty to uphold the dignity of the Bench, and for tk i extraordinary tilings thoy do, too, when anything that, borders on contempt occurs before them. ■ The other day a, man was. fined for a breach of tlie city by-laws, arid as lie to leaving the Court lie was heard to say, "-I couldn't expect anything else from'you." • For uttering these words the Chairman ordered him to come back, and having got within propor earshot, gave him the alternative of withdrawing the words or being committed for contempt of Court. The man evidently thought that it would be best ,'to 1 do the former, and said lie supposed he would lave to do so, whereupon lie was allowed .to go, Anyone taking a second look at the words to which exception was taken will readily see that they contained nothing whatever that was inimical to the dignity of the Bench.' They might, for all the Chairman of the Bench could tell, have meant that the verdict was a very just and proper ono. A good specimen of the- bush lawyer would have eleoted to be locked up, and then gone ior the Bench for damages, and by the time the action was over the Chairman would probably have concluded that it .is not always advisable to stand on tip toe upon the very pinnacle of dignity,

There is a certain class of newspapers who delight in getting hold of a subject which affords them an opportunity to abuse someone, no matter whether there is ground for attack for not, Ab long as they can relieve the editorial mind of' the incubus whioh has taken possession of it, they are quite content to go on until a similar opportunity presents itself, when the operation is repeated.- An illustration of this lias beon furnished by our local contemporary by a fjerce onslaught oil tho Greytowu Bench which, early last week, dismissed charges of riotous behaviour, and using obscene language in S public place, whioh had been laid against two young men in tliat township. In describing the case our contemporary says.:-" The landlord, after closing his house, had his premises, forcibly broken into, and in the encounter with this brace of respectable larrikins-had his eye blackened. It also appears that the. language they used was of a very disgusting nature, and' such as. to

irritate and annoy every listener 'lnfovtunately, the evidence lma nol

been fully reported, In the journal'! published at Grey town, which claims j to be (.lie organ of publioi opinion and intelligence, it is carefully ■ suppressed. , , , . , , Perhaps the gentlemen who occupied the Bench will bo able to explain their reason for dismissing the informations, Did they consider that no assault was committed?" And a little further on we read:—"it is just possible that we have been misinformed, If so, we shall be pleased to publish any explanation that may be offerei" To take this last point first, why did not our contemporary verify his information before ho used it? He could

have done that in ten minutes, as the iacts were within easy reach. But that did not suit him, for he shrewdly suspected that all bis material for a sensational article would have vanished into thin air if he had.breathed a word about the matter before it appeared in print, Now for the facts of the case, The question is asked, "did they (the Bench) consider that no assault was I committed The Bench could not I very well hayo any opinion on the point, seeing that no charge of assault was laid. That, we think, is quite sufficient to answer the question, Then, the informations were laid under the Police Offences'Aot, and as the ohni'ges of riotous khavioiu' and using obscoue language were contained in the one information, wherefis the Act named provides that each shall be. laid separately, the summonses were bad on-tho face of them, and the Bench had no alternative, on this ground alone, but to dismiss the cases, Then the one charge was for "using obscene language in a public place." On tho informant's own showing, the place was the back yard of an hotel altc the place had been dosed for business. The spot would, our contemporary must admit, hardly come wjthin tlie definition of a public place, Thd obarge of riotous behavior stood in a precisely similar position. When the case iu support of the informations had been concluded, Mr Beard, counsel for the accused, at once raised these technical objections,, the. Bench took time to consider them, and then did what they might have done at once, and what they could not. help doing—they dismissed tlip without oalling ou the defenoe ,at all. Tliese are the plain unvarnished facts, and on this structure our contemporary has based a fierce'onslaught on . the Bench, which, it should be noted, oohsisted of Colonel Koberts, 8.M., aiid Messrs H. H. Jaoksoii and F, H. Wood, J's,P. . Perhaps these gentlemen will survive the" inuendoes of having been tampered with, aiid laugh at• ,the (jige : Ijttle trap ! which their acouser fell into;. jp'must adjust a word or two : in sympathy with our Grey to wp con temporary, Who, hpwever, will most likely survive tho charge of' living e'n|jrely suppressed the particularly djsgustr l&ngiiag?; that i repeated during tho hearing of the page, If tjjo Star js anxious to. print it, it will' no doubt be found in the Eesidennt Magistrate's note book.

A pood deal of the Taranaki butter, i< said to bo finding its way to Honolulu,

| It is reported' that the Government Intend to create fiatjva fieetvp of several thousand acres at the mouth of tho Plalto Itivec, -, . • The past year's operations'of the Mel bourne Harbour .Trust show that the cash receipts amounted to upwards of £450,000, mi' increase of £39,000 ■ upon

Pahiatua and Eketaliuna footballers will try conclusions with'"the: Oroy town club on the Bth Juno. The match -will be played at Hawora or Tutaekara. ; ' The Mayor of Christ ohuroh has-re-ceived a letter, signed by over-400 citzuna, tliankine him for - refusing to preside atamoeting.otl'arneli tyoipa-: thisers in March,. •

Considerable enquiry is boing made for lunj in tlm centre at New. Plymouth, and tin May 10, a vacatit blook was sold at LlO a foot for building on. Mr W, Jcssen has beon appointed to the office, of .. Treasurer to tho Mauriccvilla. Road Board, not Mr Jackson, as stated in our report of the meeting. ■ During tho past month heavy and continuous rains have been experienced' at ' Fiji, aud up to the date of the Mawhera's departure had shown no signs ofdiminish- • ing. O:.;

, The following sentence is a ; celebrated puzzle," but if read correctly is good : sense:—" If: Moses was' the son. of PhavuahV daughter, then he was the daughter of Pharoah's son." '

, It is expected that the naval review to be lield early in August will bo the most splendid spectado ottlie -kind. yet witnessed. Over one hundred warships will bo drawn up in lines, stretohing along the Solent and Spithoad, with Kelson's old flagship the Victory at the hoad.

Mr F. H. Wood announces 'his next Taratahi Stock Sale for Thursday, June litli, The catalogue is' already a long one and further entries are invited.

We have received a letter from MrG. W. Phillips, of Alfredton which is not of sufficient public interest to insert in our columns, It chiefly relates to a dance that took place in that settlement. On tho Queans Birthday the football match between Pahiatua and Eketahuna camo off and leaulted," after a capital game in a draw, both securing a goal and a try.

The Rov W. Thompson of Wailienga who is leaving for Petone preached farewell sermons on Sunday last. The Martinborough Sunday School presented Mrs Thompson with a tei'servico as a parting gift and it it intended to give Mr Thompson a gold watch as a memento of his four and a half years services in the Lower Valley district. | The annual meeting of the Queen's Jubilee Fuud Committee, Ohristchurch, formed to rolieve respectable woniou in distress was held yesterday. Mrs Murray-Aymsley l was re-elected President. The amount to tho credit of tho fund is £63?. ~ '

Soveral desirable properties in the estate of Mr J. D. Baird, Bituate in Masterton, are advertised for saloin another column by the Wellington Trust, Loan and Investment Company. This is a very good opportunity for a working man to secure a freehold section as the Company'aro willing to make liberal terms as to payment. Our East Goait correspondent writes: —All the stations on tho coast aro in full swing poisoning now, and I hear that tho rabbits aro taking it freely, and I know that they could do with moro hands if they could get tliein, very few mon are on the road coming through this way. We are beginging to looltoui for rain, as everything is looking very dry.

Our Whakataki Correspondent writes; --The following is the result of the fireing of the Whakataki-Tinui Riflo Club' for Mr H. R, Elder's trophy, and three other prizes on Friday last, tho Queen's Birthday. The weather was sidondid, what wo pall in tho old country Queen's weather, twonty-flvo members nut in an appearance to compete.. The'distances were 200,- 300, 500 yds, seven shots at oacli range. The result being that Mr John Pickett of Akitio was first, 63 points, Mr John Osborne second 58, and Mr Poroy Belliss third 54, the other members Bhowed groat improvement on thoir last shooting,. • , We are pleased to notice that most satisfaclory progresss is being inado by the .Philharmonic' Society with the practices of the " Pirates of Penzance."' All the leading parts have been allotted to most capablo and conscientious members, the choruses are strong and their rendition "harmonious, while. the orchestra is deserving of great praise for the state of efficiency which it has attained. The practice on Wednesday night was very largely attended and gave every- promise tliat the performances will be the most successful that have bean giyon in Masterton. Mr Gale, ex-Governor of Pentridge, the bip- Victorian, gaol, says:—'.Areformed prisoner! I lnwe never iu my thirty-eight years' experience ever seon one. If a man is seut to goal and does not come up again, Ido not call him a reformed criminal." But if amm who is an hereditary criminal, and has been in gaol a number of times, turns to honest pursuits, that would be reformation; but I liave never seen one of those yet. As a means of reformation I rogard gaolß as positively usoless. As a means of punishment they are all right;. as reformatories their effect is nil, Once a man gets into gaol he is lost, to all intonts and purposes. Re is led away by othors. Habitual criminals talk about crime and laugh at it, and then weakminded associates are soon led into the same grooves. No- doubt crime is a kind of moral insanity. If it were not how do you account for the samo men coming bacis again and again to gaol? They work, for loss food and for less rations than they get outsidn, Yet they prefer to do so rather than to earn an honest living. Thqre n?ust bo something wrong with thorn in some way." At a meeting of'the. 'Mas'terton Agricultural and Pastoral Association hold on Wednesday afternoon, President Lowes in the chair, it was resolved to hold the annual meeting on Saturday, Juno Bth, at 3 p.th., in tho Central Chambers. Tjie President was authorised to have the balance qheefc, when audited, printed and circulated amongst tho members. The President gavo, uotioo that at tho annual meeting he would move the following resolution:-"That this Sooioty cordially approves of the resolution of the joint committees appointed by,the two Societies, viz., to hold alternate shows at Masterton and Cartertoiii and this Society pledgos itself to endeavor to carry out such resolution, believing that this cause will prove beneficial to the pastoral and agricultural interests' of the district."

, A meeting of the' Wellington Education Board k was lield on Wednesday, May 29th, ■ Present; Mr J, R. Blair, (Chairman), the Rev/ J, Patterson, Messrs Young, \V. 0, Buchanan, J1.1i.E., F. H. Fniscr, anil' Dr Newman, M.11.R, It was resolved on tlie recommendation of Inspector Leo to add . a pupil teacher to' the teaching staff at Parkville, and invito tenders for an additional Classroom, Itwusresnlycd The elections : of ■ the Dreyertftn find VVaiheuga School Qoßlimtteea" Were ordered to take place on the 19th June, Miss Jane .Miller was appointed pupil teacher at Pahiatiia, and Mr H. Wilson to act temporarily as assistant master at Mastorton. The Board declined toerect a teacher's residenco at Mangaone, and decided, on tlie Inspector's recommendation, to give the present master three months' notice, Tho request of tho Mnstertbn Committee for a graut for a water, supply |was refused, but £ls 13s granted for oxtras for the remova' of outbuilding, Mr Buchantta undercook to. report bq to -tho- necessity for fencing and the' ■ Mara sqlifjol, An.olfer by Mr Trotter fo.r. the sale to the Board of qn acre (if ,'grouiid at Makara, o.n which to erect a rolioo.l at a future idatp, ,v[as' left in til? hiyids'of tho Cprajiu) tq deal with. The request of the .Greyio.wn 'Committee for further attention tp rpofing and drainage was ; referred jo tho arohjteefc'for ; a report The Kaiwaiwai Bohooi Committee 'was granted i.BU; 1 towards the erection of a school-Committee. The matter of providing water-tanks for the Featherston school was left in Mr Buchanan's hands,