OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4097, 26 April 1892, Page 2

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

(Froy Our Own Correspondent,)

Wellington, Saturday. The Easter holidays, so for as Wellington was concerned, : wero completely spoilt by wet weather, which, to thoSe',who have, neither the leisure nOr means to . go away for "a brief respite, is very hard. Fortunately, on Easter Monday the elements were i more propitious, and after a few sharp showers in the morning the weather settled down and the remainder of the day was bright and fine, though cold. It is really wonderful the exodußthat takes place from Wellington at Eos. ter. Oil Thursdny evening the trains and steamers were crowded with holiday makers, laden with portmanteaux, guns, fishing rods and other paraphernalia of sport. The.Druid Sports at the Basin Reserve on Easter Mon - day were attended by about 4000 people, and there is no doubt that had the weather been liner the attendance would have been doubled; The Myra Kemble Company in " Dr Bill," at tho Opera House in the evening, drew an enormous audience who seemed to heartily enjoy the extravagantly ludicrous positions in which the characters find themselves during the action of the play. Dr Bill ia certainly the most laughable farce, one can hardly call it a comedy, that has been produced in Wellington for many a long day, Thero is, however, a slight element of coarseness in the play which, to our Anglo-Saxon ideas, is to be deprecated. The famous "Kangaroo Dance" is the funniest thing posi sible, and from the many private rehearsals I have seen it has evidently " caught on," and' a good many otherwise staid and sober people have shown evidence of an attack of the " Kangaroo" as well as Miss Fauntleroy, in "Dr Bill." New dances are being sought after now, why not introduce the "Kangaroo" into the Wellington boll room during the coming sessional gaieties 1

The press and the public are apparently very tnuoh exercised over the retirements of Messrs G. S. Cooper and W. lIE. Brown, and for what reason ! fail to understand. From what I can hear the service is generally unanimous in expressing approval at the action ot the Government in making the retirements, There can be no hardship in civilservants retiring on such handsome pensions as Messrs W. E, E. Brown and G. S. Cooper will draw; the cases might be different if no pensions were due. Under the present deplorable system of Civil Service management it is only by retirements such as these that any promotion in position or in« crease in pay cun be effected. As to the suggestions ..that have been thrown out that the Government hopes by similar retirements to those under notice to riiakethe officers pros moted to the vacancies, subservient to their political ends, is, I am confident, a gross libel on the Service generally, Civil Servants are distinctly non-com-batants in the political arena, nor is it ever likely, that there will bo any change in the Service in this respect. The " eternal .fitness of things," the nature of our Government,and historic precedent will effectually prevent the Service'' degenerating into the American system of "the spoils to the victors,"

There must, however, be something " rotten in the state of Denmark" when officers are first informed of their proposed retirement's, through the mediums of thi press or by the inquisitorial reporter seeking particulars for" copy." Common courtesy would ordinarily 'demand that i suoli indignity would be spared long and faithful servioe, There have been several instances of a similar nature to this during the present Government's tenure of office which do not reflpct creditably on those concerned in these fragrant breaches of politeness and etiquette.

The report that the Government intends to introduce a Bill abolishing the offices of the Eailway Commissioners has, I believe, something more than mere cqnjpo'ture "about jt, flje proposal is to ask the House to appoint a Minister for Railways,and constitute a Board, under the direction of the Government, to manage the Railways,' The Board'.will consist of the Chief Engineer of Permanent Way, tlje Chief Itaffio m'nnagejr and the ijocomqtiye fejiperintcDdent, ' Tjie new portfolio will probably be lipid tj the Minister for Pubjic tyork'p, Mr Seddon relinguishing his portfolio ofj dofenpe* to Mr Oadraan,

j j ! | . j j " j ■ ■ The reQeijt police raid on supdry reputed betting houses in Wellington only exemplifies the truth of the saying that it is impossible to make people moral by ; act of Parliament and also illustrates forcibly the glaring inconsistencies '■ of our Gaming and Lotteries Act, Surely if it is pers feetly legal to gamble on a racecourse with the totelisator why should it not be permissible to gamble with (lie gap jwchjne in a dwelling house? If gambling by meaus of a totalisa'tor is allowed at all'wJjy'Bbould not othe: forms of gaiifibliny such' as lotteries and sweeps or " consultations"" be perfectly justißable. There is no fflpj djjjfererice be.tween the vaVious forms of gambling,-if one'form is wrong bo then"' ojigljt' a]) the 1 qtbfp'tp 'jig »ropg"'tt%. " Th 1 natural query is if wp pne form of gambling why not legalise all J Why. make fish of one and fowl of another! Let us either piit down all forms of gambling with a strong hand nr " 20. the whole animal" and Iggalise everything, our pr'toC!)!' !' IVS is'absur/l M nepjd? remedying at once.' Settipg pae ibp'qiiesliptf it js right or wrong, tjr good or bad for peopfe tp gamble, \yo if)usj, recpg : nise the (not that ft large section yiilf do so, the fascination is too strong to be resisted, All the Acts of Parlia>ment that werc;evec deviled enforcing tbo severest of penalties would not bo able to eradicate ttyS vice ; human nature pannot be changed, Thousands of pound? afe sanfi oijt qf tbjs Qolpny annually to CQiisiiltotipfls on the othl'r side aßthe result of. our restrictive legislation, thus showing that ifpnopl -. aie tinable to'sin (tt home they will go 1 afiefd' to bo, * | yery "spall profe tiori"of this money c'otiies in the fbfm of p'rizbsl' Why not' : then legalise lotleriea aiid let tha State see that. tliay .are, properly "conducted. The money would bo kept in the cpuntryj tjie.revenue.would be a co'n :; siderabU gainer through the Post Office, and the peojih would be,pro..

te'cted from the bogus" consultations " which undoubtedly do exist in those colonies where there is no state supervision, If a man is allowed to risk an unlimited amount of money on the totalisator why not allow him to risk a pound in a properly conducted Bweep or lottery ? There is neither rhyme nor reason in the oxisting " distinction without a difference."

The squabbling between the N, Z. Tims and the Post although amusing enough at first, has now by constant repetition become absolutely nauseat" ing. Apparently both sides are anxious to have the last say in this wordy warfare and such being the case, we may expect these mutual recriminations to go on ad infinitum. It is a matter for regret that two high-class journals, such as the Post and the Timss, should descend to such gross personalities and indulge 1 in so much 'journalistic Billingsgate. It is neither edifying nor amusing to their readers, nor is the dignity and' prestige of the press likely to be upheld by the introduction of tbis much to be regretted American stylo of journalism. The press is acknowledged to be one of the most powerful factors'in its' Humanising influence upon the masses, and it seems a thousand pities that its power for good should be lowered by this undignified and unseemly display of vituperation, personal spleen, and petty faultfinding, That there should be i healthy diversity of political opinion is right and proper, the more vigorous tho language the dearer the exposition as a rule, but there is a line beyond whioh journalistic license should not go.

Government House is now being thoroughly renovated, re-papered and re-painted throughout, in faot the house is being set in thorough order for the reception of His Excellency Lord Glasgow. It is to be hoped that while Mr Cuthbert, the drainage engineer from Christcburo'i, is liere, that a thorough overhaul of the sanitary arrange--ments will be made in order to put away for once and forever the stigma that has attached to the residence during the regime of Lord Onslow. Doubts are expressed, however, whether anything more can be done to prevent the danger of typhci J making its dread appearance again, unless the present arrangement is replaced by an entirely new sewage system, This should certainly be done if any doubt exists as to the efficiency of the present system. Then again Government House is not a convenient residence for entertaining. The ball rooms are much too small; in fact they are nothing more than ordinary drawing rooms convertible in«o dancing rooms by opening folding doors. When there is a big " crush" the rooms are simply packed, locomotion is a matter of difficulty and danger, and the beat is intense. A new ball room would therefore add very much to the convenience of the 1 residence, and as entertaining is one of the chief items of the vice-regal functions, it in only proper that every faoility should be at hand for the dis" charge of this important duty.

The Agricultural and Pastoral Association are leaving no stone unturned to make their new show ground at Petone a success, Everyone is putting his hand in his pocket with great liberality. The sum of £2250 has almost immediately to be raised, and mirabile dicta, for Wellington nearly £ISOO is already in hand. Wellington is waking up of late. .Hitherto, through the apathy or parsimony of the people, objects-of publio interest, have received soant support as compared with other towns in the Colony. Iu this instance the money is being raised by debentures bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent, and repayable in seven years, but it is not exactly a speculation .one would take up as a good investment for spare capital, so there ,is a little disinterested generosity in | the whole thing, which, as I remarked before, evidences the fact that Wellington is improving in this particular.

Apropos of the fact that it is a matter of extreme difficulty to appeal much to the purses of the Wellington people, however worthy the cause, I heard a very good story anent an eminent divine's revival mission bold here recently. The reverend gentle-' man indignantly stated in public that some'person had been canvassing for funds on his behulf contrary to his expressed wishes, He went on to say that he was very muoh annoyed at this person's action, as in all the places he Ijafj in the course of his travels lie had never asked fqr a sixpence: the Lord hud always provided bounteously for him without anybody's intervention, and ho did not want any other aid no\y, Re* pelting the same statement privately to one of Kis Mission Committee ibis gentlemnn, —ii very hard-headed Uhpistiaij remarked tliat " he wVaffaid 'lje'jjqrd >youlfl not provide much in 'Wellington unless someone bustled around pretty smartjy, and gathered it in !•' 'KoSHfIS. 1