OUR WELLINGTON LETTR.
(From Our Own Correspondent,). Wellington, Saturday. Coming events in connection with this year's Session are already casting their shadows before, The air is thick with rumours of what will and what will not be done. Amongst the most prominent of the political canards is that referring to the Railwav Commissioners. Rumour Jiath it that the Government intends, this session, to bring in a Bill abolishing the oliifle of Railway Comliiiesioners altogether, The Gooorn/|r sioners' term of office has still about eighteen months to run, Attheexpiration of that, time m (lit that the Government will propose that the control .of %e Railways shall once more be vested in their hands. It is reported that the arbitrary action of the Commissioners over the proposed goods station for the Te Aro fiail» way Extension has precipitated njtittprs, |t has always been a very sore [ioint;with tlio present Government thatthey can have no fay or patronage in conn,eotioij with the Railways. ! > I t f . . I Would—for the Civil Servants' sake—that, an independent Board, answerable only to Parliament, con- i trolled their destinies. In the new Civil Service Bill drafted by the Public Service Association provision was made for a Board of Control, not however independent, but oven this proposal has, I hear, been taken exception to by the Government, The so called Liberals are.as anxious to gojjserve what they deem to be their privileges as i$ yflijr put and out Tory.
)3vcfything seems to. ,depend now upp the,question ,of whether our new Govfirnor-jtiOfij Glasgow—will or; wjll n<}t thos.e appqmtpMtßto; tho Upper Chamber;. Tbp .Government,is ina hopeless minority in the Counoil, and of course .the ohanp® of getting their pet mensures through is very remote. . Conit is. said that failinF'ibrd Glasgow's acquiesence for in the Upper How m bW mediate appeal to the country will, be itsked for j.hoping thereby that the voice of publio opinion : will compel these /' obstructive" Councillors to bow to '0 yjl'of iia ,£plp-. The is fislty and Ms like the (a|t .desperate men, but 1 think the' (wmi? hf os«p ftrp (op dear to be imperilled in tins maper. The ballot-box is tebewus j perhaps a revulsion oi feeling may set in not in pccordance with the views of these sa^e Ballothoses bayp "prodded grange resalta erenow,;,; ,< i
Thp strongest plank in the platform l of the Government : iß_pf courss ! tbo eettlirnent of the larid. ' Oil tbd point at least they baye always been/ thought to bo" sound'-on the goose,'':
but oh all no land is available for Battlement at preeeut oxcayt to a favored few. The Te Aro Special Settlement Association ifi ft case iii point and there are many others' similarly situated. Why. do not the Government open up some of the splendid land on the .North Island Main Trunk Railway Central route. This question will be pressed liotne during the coming session, and-, if satisfactory replies are not given, not a few adherents will be wavering in their allegiance.
•The acquisition by the Government of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway is also alleged "to be on the tapis, . It is freely said about town that a Bill will be brought in to purchase this valuable property, It, will be extremely hard on the shareholders if after all theirself-denial and sacrifice for the past ten years, this proves to lie tho case, ; The admirable apesob made by the Chairman of Directors at the meeting on Wednesday shows most conclusively what this line has done for the colony in the way of opening up tho country and inducing settlement, This immense service has been ill-requited in the past by inequitable and some taxation. If there is anything in this rumor of the Government purchase,the shareholders' case will be exceptionally hard, aud that justj as they are commencing to reap the fruits of their courage, their persistency, and denial.
A National Association is in process of formation in Wellington, on the same lines as that now existing in Auckland... The Association, it is proposed, will be very far reaching in its efforts, and will include nearly if I not all of the " Young New Zealand Party" who are just now in the cold shades of opposition. Prominent amongst these appear the namos of Messrs Scobie MacKenzie, J.Mao Kenzie, Dr Newman, Mr A. E. G. Rhodes and others of that ilk, • The Association will, in fact, represent an organised" party directly opposed to the tenets of the present faction in office, and if properly organised and managed should be a power in the land-for good let us hope, As the doctrines of Nationalisation are too advanced to meet the more cautious views of Sir John Hall aud Mr Eolleston, it is doubtful whether they will throw m their active co-opera-tion with the Association, but I understand that practically they are in accord and will give their support up to n certain puint, At anyrate their adherence will be the beginning of an organised patty devoted to true National interests in contradistinction to the Great Liberal Individualism. ,
It is felt that the fate of the Ministry now liauga upon the allegiance of the Auckland members, and as it is quite on the cards that the whole of the Auckland representatives will follow Sir George Grey into the lobbies in a body—if that marvellous political veteran chooses to exert his influence—every effort is now being made to propitiate not only the centrefigure of that wavering group—Sir George himself—but also those votes which are so urgently needed, This dallying with the North Island Main Trunk Railway routes is a case in point. Tho Government are fearful to offend, hence they dare not proceed with the route they know to be the best, namely, the Central,
I hear on undoubted authority that the Opposition party are very much dissatisfied with the apathy and inactivity of their leaders, Sir John Hall and Mr Holleston are apparently a little too much behind the times for their impetuous eagerness to be up and doing. Masterly inactivity does not pay in politics. As a result of this discontent an aptiye propaganda is now being brought forward by tho younger, more daring, and more active members of the party, This propagandra being based onNationalist principles, will it is hoped, appeal to the people when they have given the siw>§ duo reflection, almost as lorcibly as the programme of . the Great Liberal Array,
The election of a member of the Education Board in the room of Mr A, W. Brown—departed—is now exciting a good deal of attention in town and suburbs,' Mr W, A, Fitzherbert will reoeivfi a considerable amount of support from the town and Hutt- School Committees, but up (he Manawatu Line the undoubted rite is Mr Feist, of Masterton, and he should with the assistance of the Wairarapa Committees, make the running very close,
„ I have authority ,fpr stating that 6 it will be found this year that , the e - frozen meat returns have fallen off by e one third as compared with last year.. B Nearly all the large freezing works f are doing far less than last year. I This foiling off is not caused, by the , demand becoming: lass, ,l)ii{ simply is j the resu t of alitor nearly all of the I available old sheep having been „ killed off. Several large works will t be partially shut down directly,. This , is a j)|) al bad news, but it does not so directly affect this province; it is in Otago and S.ojitliland thit the • falling off will be so . Wool exppflj ifer? 'believe that the , price of wool Img now finally tojuched , bottom, but in the opinion, of one wlw lihs had Jarge experience in. tjie , matter, ft is (jui'te Iflfely (bat'?, still further drop will takp Juno. With this prognosticated bad news comes the oheering assurance that good '• bums" have taken place right up the Mnnawatu line, more especially in the Shannou district. In one case I heard of a block of about 400 a/jres of solid standing bush almost on'tiHy ap nwcb as to enable the o\va'ejr fpVifle anywhere over the section where'formerly it was impenetrable busk': i ! '' ' The trampy strike |t|l| drjgs its weary length along, but &s faf as Mr Hull, the proprietor, is poncwii the difficulty appears to have been surmounted. The 10 minutes servicers now been resumed as usual, and everything is running smoothly, and with soarijply'a'hitpj), the fact M fb? repljf djjyers>.af)ij conductors are still ''out,'' These poor strikers are in perilous danger of being'left to the'tender mercies; of tliejpUnion " for support., Publio sywpatjby 1 IS 'very ephemera], and jjoiy that the iriconvenieiice df n'o tramway serrjcf (las : beVh !t 'oiiipjy popujap feelj'%'ig fely p sjifely coming rflij'iid'fq .tbj fafef tJjjV tlip whole Strife in 8 ;'pf arbitrary power on we part oftlig I'rades Unions, and for very insufficient causes, The inflammatory and irijudMoufl made , by the Trades Union leaders, llascomplot|lv alienated any sympathy that la wort!) having, namely,.', the Sympathy, [of right-mjnded people. -AO'i.through; howayefypublio interest I ]# th&strike li;i i. l •' >; ,
bag bean of the faintest. Wellington has been fairly lively during the past week with concerts, dances, oirous, bunt club meets, and the Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club's sports. I will first of all speak of tbe circus, as it is shortly to visit your town. The show is well worth seeing, the riding, acrotiatio and gymnastic feats being really excellent. The night I was present three rings were in full swing at once, wiiioh is rather confusing when one ,trys to hep an. eye upon everything that is going on at the same time. 'The tent is an enormous canvas struoturo cipableof covering, I am told, 5000 people. The usual braying band attends the circus, but one can put up, with its hideous clamour when the rest of the 'show is so good. The Hunt Club had a ;very successful run at Miramar this afternoon, I am told by one of the red«herring enthusiasts. Why these enthusiasts can't gallop all over the country minus the hounds I don't know I _ I never did see much fun in chasing nothing, and as tor the ride why not get up a Steeplechase Meeting every Saturday and chase each other over hill and nale, across fence and ditch (if they must hunk), without going to the expense of keeping a pack of hungry hounds who kill nothing. Perhaps these Nimrods will be get ting up another fallow-deer to hunt this season I The Amateur Athletic Sports at the Basin Reserve this afternoon were attended' by a crowd of some 3,000 people who tried to look interested in the proceedings, despite the biting wind, Of course all the boys ran, jumped and " biked" nicely enough, and tbe events were got off in fairly good time, The fair sex was present in large numbers, and afternoon tea wub dispensed with graceful hospitality by those charming supporters of the Club in the Grand Stand during tho course of the afternoon. ' . Kosmos,
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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4087, 12 April 1892, Page 2
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1,833OUR WELLINGTON LETTR. Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4087, 12 April 1892, Page 2
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