JOTTINGS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4141, 17 June 1892, Page 2

JOTTINGS.

; (By Our Own Oomspondent.) Wellington, Thursday, : i I ain assured- tliat the report that the duties on woollen goods'are to be substantially raised is perfectly correct. Asp'eoial extra duty will be levied in order to give a fillip to the Colonial factories, Petone, Roalyn, Moagiel, Kaiapoi and others. If this ia not protection witlra vengeance, it is hard to Bay what is,

Ministers are exceedingly well sat" isfied with themselves in tlia matter of "dummy" hunting,; tfbtl lay the "flattering unotioo to their souls" that they are doing good , service by hunting these vermin out of the country, and they never omit to inform the public of their efforts in this direction upon every conceivable occasion. It is,however, a significant fact that the ''hunting" coneist3 of chasing only "dummies" of one colour, and that not the" right." A strong feeling. is growing up that Ministers are pervert" ing their position and abusing their powers by attaching supposed. Opposition offenders, while very glaring oases have, it is said, come j to light of offences against the land laws, committed by staunch supporters of the Government in which it is widely suspected prosecutions have repeatedly been quashed at the outset, Far clearer cases thin those of Messrs Phillips and Pharazyn are well known to exist, but' as the delinquents are of the "rightcolour," enquiry is, it is conjectured, promptly smothered, : If there ,is , a gram of truth in any of these statements, Ministers are scandalously abusing the l)igh trust placed in their hands by the Colony,

1 One of the matters to which the Opposition will give special attQatjoa and show up during the coming 'session, will, be what they consider to be the infamous attempt to flood tbe House of Lords with fifteen new members, Gaptnin Eussell, at Dr Newman's banquet' at Johnsonville last week, drew special attention to a fact which has not been commented upon by the press of the Colony, that the coih stitiition consists of the Governor, the Legislative Council, and the House ofißepresentatives, and that Ministers by trying to swamp the Upper House with fifteen new bartizans added to those already in the Chamber,'' were thereby rendering the Upper House powerless. In fact, they were endeavouring to kill the power of a second Chamber, thereby reducing the constitution by their unjustifiable aotion to a Governor and one» Chamber, The Opposition, whilst fully admitting that Ministers have a perfect right to place in the Upper House a fair and reasonable number of their own supporters who have any political or colonial record, will strongly protest against the attempt to nominate fifteen persons wbo have scarcely any political merit and whom it is desired to reward for their correct colour by appointing to snug little billets with a salary of £IOO per annum and allowances. ■ ■ ;

It is believed in Opposition circles that the Government will not ask Lord Glasgow to appoint thoir fifteen partizans to the Legislative Counoil until near the close of the session. Ministers' policy is to send their measures up to the Lords hoping that then they will bo rejected, and this will afford them an excuse for asking tor a number of their own adherents. If Lord Glasgow refused, they would then appeal to tho country with that old stook electioneering cry on their lips that" The Lords must be mended or ended."

The following facts about our new Governor may not be generally known, Lord Glasgow is ,a Scotch peer, but does not hold a seat in the. House of Lords as many suppose, owing to the fact that ho is not also a peer, of the United, Kingdom nor a representative peer for Scotland, Lord Glasgow is a near relative ot Sir James Ferguson, now a member of the English Cabinet and holding office ' aB Secretary of State for India, and it is probably through the latter's influence that tiib appointment as {Governor of New Zealand'was pbtai'ned. 'fhe! family are Episcopalians:' !fhe governor is a most conscientious, bard-working man, who has surprised'all New Zealanders wbo hare met him in England and talked with him in ,the Oolonieß by the earnestness with which lie has laid himself oat', from the outset of his appointment, to learn anything that he'possibly could about the new land which he lias undertaken to govern. It is believed that-no governor New Zea» land ever had before, was so,determined as' Lord Glasgow is ,t'o mike himself fully acquainted with the wantsand wisjiea of the people, . & L_ -. .

The Montague-Turner .Opera 00. i most successfully inaugurated the third week of 'their season jjy, producing 'iihjjrbise Thomas' 'charming work " jMignon 1 , caste was really excellent, so far as the! artistic rendering of the difficult musio was concerned) and' general regret was expressed;that; the company staged" JiJgnon'f for one aigljt J

only. "Mignomand ''Lucrezia Borgia' moat -, certainly' rank as the most .successfal productions of the Company duriogslheir Wellington Beaton,,- The singing of the principals, Miss Montague and Mies Lambert and Messrs Turner and Farley, was a musical treat of the highest order, Kosuos.