OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4062, 14 March 1892, Page 2

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

(From Our Own Correspondent,)

Wellington, Saturday. 1 In these days of press associations and postal facilities it is not always r an easy task to aot as "own oorrea- 1 pondent" and detail occurrences that « have not already been most fully and , admirably reported by the excellent ?!' A ssocialion that keeps its ever watch- ' ful eye upon current events in this Colony, and as promptly supplies . them to its subscribers. It is) then, " with some diffidence that I pen my weekly letter, and tiust that the J ■ expression "chesnuts" may not be muttered too oft when your good readers scan my imperfect remarks. . It has been remarkably funny during the past week to read the wordy warfare that has been going on in the columns of the Times and the .. Post as to the merits and demerits of J that somewhat callow .fledgling, our SEW AGENI GENERAL, The Timr.3, withapertinacity worthier of a better cause, returns again and again to the charge to repel the or onslaught of its formidable opponent ch the Post, That Mr Perceval's reply til to the London Tinwi was conclusive Pi and telling no one can deny. The th Ageut-General's task was, however, a pi very simple one; he had merely to M refute certain statements made by T Jupiter Tonans, full of much inaccu- tl racy and displaying a surprising want tli of knowledge on the part of The Groat of Thunderer, but this only made his oi task easier and required no special pi heaven-born genius on Mr Perceval's sc side. The New Zealand Tims lauds 0 1 Mr Perceval's cleverness to the skies, se and insinuates that its mighty. con« B | temporary had better hide its dimin- ic ished head after thesevere cassations it delivered by its prot'.gl The Post te j follows in a half humorous and ear- r< ' castiu strain and make 3 certain sly c< | allusions to this David's defeat of the w . great Goliath, and opines that the d , Times will perhaps go on just the B > same in spite of its humiliation at d t the hands of this young New Zealand F 1 champion. d Talking of the Wellington papers d I reminds me that a little opposition c s is a healthy thing. Too much unani- T • mity, as has existed of late be>. li tween the" Triple Alliance," is apt I j to breed stagnation. Now 'hat the a { opportunity has arrived, let us hope 0 that the New Zealand Times, under I 3 its new regime will seize it and stir us s • up a little at times. e • The question whether 1 a CAPITAL IS on IS NOT BEING DRIVEN (3 t AWAY I s from the Colony is still a moot point, v r The true test, it seems to me, is to be ■" derived from tho fact that the price of c ] money ha 3 not materially gone up n and that there is still plenty of money 1 i, in the Colony waiting for investment, e II But there is no doubt that the greatest i 0 care is necessary on the part of the I Government to prevent the ever timid I t, capitalist from being frightened, A ( ic good wool season with commensurately i n good prices should do much lo increase I 10 prosperity, and with good times will ! come .increased confidence. Oh I I [. that this unfortunate country could 1» be allowed to rest awhile from this , d abominable craze for new legislation; i that it could be allowed to govern it» 1 '. n self with no fresh laws, with merely a I 'J steady hand at the helm to keep the i lt ship of state straight; and buoyant as ' io a cork tho Colony would rise from the | id sea of adversity, It would be well if ' it could bo so. Masterly inactivity j in the matter of law making would i m a ' CRIMES OF VIOLENCE ;o unfortunately seem to be on the inig crease in tho Colony, as a perusal of i[l the calendar now before the Supreme iy Court Criminal Sittings will show. There are no less than five charges of I, e bodily violence, and one very revolting to case of actual murder, It seems ds strange that in a law-abiding country like this is, that this should bo so, There must be something radically B e wrong in our social system for this to state of affairs to exist. Are we degenerating in civilization, and are our _ 0 brute instincts, long kept under by ad restrictive laws, onco more asserting 11, themselves? The thought strikes me ,'' that perhaps, after all, there is ''someM " thing rotten "(n our state educational systeu), Is and wrong cleariy defined in our public 1,0 sohools ? Is any code of morals inoul--1 a oated in the minds of tho pupils at all ? iij If the Bible is prohibited in the State ;e, schools, are any other moral teachings placed in the hands of the soholars, n " Most of the prisoners arraigned on 6 these charges of wounding 'and robbing with assault and violence are mostly young, They have perhaps ®' not long left the schools which a 0 ° paternal Government has provided 1 a ij for them, flow have their morals ty been trained ? That is ihe question I n- This outcry forenforced Bible-reading, en with oomment thereon, should not u ' lightly be set aside as a mere ecclesiasi ' r " tioil olamour unless some equivalent is We may have to answer nt for lfluch, unless something in the :se manner I have indicated is initiated, ty Much interest is .centred jn the •M NEW ZEALAND KIFLE ASSOCIATION'S '1 ANNUAL MEETING, , held this year at the now permanent jij rango at Trentham, near the Upper )0 Butt. The range is admirably on adapt?" for 'he purpose of a New ile Zealand Bisley Common. Til" site is •or well sheltered, the light is good, and the range itself is and jjas now \ been thoroughly well drained, The attendance from all parts of the n d Colony is very satisfactory, and the ng competition is expected to be keen. Ire Kruse, tho present holder of the championship, is stated to bo in very good form, and the opinion is freely expressed that be ought to be successful once more. • Bi)t who knows, perhaps one of the Masterton continn gent may furnish the champion I The opening day (Friday) was very unpleasant, A strong northerly wind was blowing, and in spite of the sheltered nature of the range good shooting was out of the question. p or Mrs Beeyes, wife of the Minister for n „ Justice, fired the opening shot, and |y made the usual bull's-eye. By the an ' way, how is it that these opening shots 0 f are always bulls eyes ? No one ever to ' heard yet of a lady, or some notability en usually selected on these auspicious IBt occasions to fire the first shot, ever making anything else but a bull Wye; D „ and missing the target altogether appears to te an utter impossibility, It is with a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction that I record the fact that the NEW ZEALAND AMATEUR ATHLETIC fe« REPRESENTATIVES 18 ° have at last departed. Much has the public mind been exercised as to whether they would really go or not, , but fortune has been kind and 0 Messrs Batger and Hempton have cone, May fortune go with them. ; They will have a very pleasant trip, ;8 " and the mere fact of New Zealand 3 jj producing a world's champion hurdler , or sprinter—which there is every ohance of it doiilg-rwill attract a e ' large amount of Htteatiba and serve

aa'an : excellent advertisement for the Colony. Messrs Batger and Hemp- ir ton .are. not hud samples of young n New Zealand brains and sinews. w On many sides is heard the wail of k llie hoaxed, The last wail comes ri {com the unfortunate ti MOKA.U CO-OPERATIVE COAt, MINING b COMPANY. Owing chiefly to the gross neglect of duty displayed by the late chairman, Mr A, W. Brown, this company appears to have got into a most hopeless muddle. A blacker record of incompetent and wilfully neglectful manage- ' ment has not come to light for a long time past, Tho working-men share- ' holders seem to have been " fooled to c the top of their bent." The share* 1 holder's money has been squandered in the most extraordinary manner, 1 and no real attempt appears to have ' been made to develop the resources of ' the mine. The only thing left is to 1 liquidate; but liquidation will not be achieved without payment of more ' calls from the already long suffering 1 shareboldors, 1 The most successful 1 DRAMATIC SEASON on record in Wellington lias just 1 closed, and Mr Bentley and his versa- ■ tile company have left for Napier, via Palmerston. During the past week the company produced the following , plays: On Monday, " Othello," with i Mr Bentley as the Moor of Venice; Tuesday, " Richard lll.'' This, by ' the way, was the only non-3ucccss of ; the season, not from a histrionic point i of view, but simply from the fact that i owing to the spectacular nature of the I play it was not possible with the rei sources at the disposal of Mr Bentley's i Company to mount it properly, con- , sequently it fell rather flat. The > Battle of Boawortb Field with an • imposing arrnypf six men who fought i indiscriminately on either side rather ! takes away the illusion of stage • reality. Tom Taylor's exquisite ! comedy of" Still Waters Run Deep" i was produced on Wednesday, Thursi day saw Lytton's great play of 3 Richelieu—which, by the way. was t dragged out to an inordinate length. 1 Friday, " Hamlet" was repeated and drew an immense house. A splendid s double bill was proparedfor Saturday, i consisting of" David Gar rick" and " the i- Taming of the Shrew, 1 ' We in VVel- >. lington bid farewell to Mr Walter t Bentley with regret, and the public e are under a debt of gratitude to the e Veteran Viotorian Actor-Manager, the r Hon. George Coppin, M.L.U., for s sending such a capable actor and efficient company round the Colony. The whole season has been a rich n dramatic and intellectual treat, and has met with the succes it fully desert. ved.

One hears very little of OUR NEW GOVERNOR'S EXPECTED ARRI- . ■ • vjsti;

but things seom to drag themselves along somehow very well without the real genuine Simon Pure, Sir James Prendergast.apparently is quite equal to the task of holding the reins of Government. Apropos of Governors reminds me of a very good story I heard tho other day in reference to Lord Onslow when travelling with the Hon. E. Seddon oil the West Const of the South Island. On one occasion they had stopped for a meal at a public house, As they were going out, the landlord tipped the Honourable Richard a wink and asked him if he would care to see a " white pigeon" he had in the back parlor. Dick consented, and found a 'leautiful bird there in the shape of a :jood nip of whisliy, Suddenly the i.oor opened and entered His Excellency :• " I think I'll have a white pigeon too I" hs said, and thereafter nothing else but white pigeons were drunkonthe journey, THE OONVIOT STATION AT MIMOBD SOUND seems to require • a lot of inspection The Minister for Justice has jus returned from there in the' Hinemoa. The Government yaoht took down to the Sound some forty convicts, six members of Parliament, and about two policemen, What an awkward predicament it would have been for the Minister and the members if the convicts had revolted, seized tho vessel, and forced thegeqjal Jairchild tp make for. some far off secluded isle, Not long ago Mr Buckley inspected the station and held an enquiry as to some alleged dissatisfac tion existing amongst the pampered prisoners, Since then two or three other inspections have been found necessary. The trouble ia, the experiment has not proved a success, and the road the' convicts are making to the Sutherland Falls is still in the initial stage, and not likely to get beyond it. It would be belter to ship the whole lot back again, convicts, gaolers, warders, doctor, everything and everybody, The only things that might bo left behind with advantage would be tho members of Parlius ment and the road, Eosiios.