JOTTINGS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4260, 3 November 1892, Page 2

JOTTINGS.

[By Our Wellington Correspondent).

Wellington, Wednesday. It was recently pointed out to mo, * by a gentleman well-known inpolitioal circles in Wellineton, that the amount of money- set down for roada and ' bridges in the Wairarapa District is ■ exceedingly small, and far belotv its > requirements. The rumours that were in circulation before and during the sossion, that large sums would be spent in the District for these necessary adjuncts to settlement, have been completely falsified by the Publio Works appropriations, Surely the Government have uoi adequately ' rewarded the. faithful adherence of their henohman, Mr-Hogg, M.H.R., or has that astute gentleman failed to keep that watchful eye of his as rnuoh ' open'as usual? ■ • .4,'

I learn on good authority that it will take, at least, £IOO,OOO to finish tho Ekctahuna-Woodville railway, and, at the present rate of progression, the work cannot possibly be completed beforb twelve years. "Patience" must be the badge of the Wairarapa people,

Viewed in the light Of subsequent events, it is quite clear that the bona, % filet of the Government in the matter T

of female franchise- are more open to doubt than ever, and considerable disouseion is taking place in certain ciroles over the. very palpable hypocrisy that was displayed when the Bill whb before the House, during tho dying days of the session. It is quite dear now, that the Electoral Bill was never intended to become law, because had the Government been in earnest; they could have called the twelve men to the Legislative Oonnoil just one week earlier than they did, and I woman's suffrage would to-day have been the law of the laud. This political hypocrisy is causing much adverse comment, here, in tho ranks of the Government supporters, and will no doubt tell heavily against them at the next general election, more especially with the temperance section, who are vory strong in Wellington politically.

It seems strange that the .Government should have exhibited such apartialicy towards the members of the Fourth Estate in their nominations to' p'' the Upper House, Amongst the twelve appointments to the Counoii there ore do less than live persons who are either conneoted with the press, or the printing trade, in some shape or another, It has also been a battle or; for some time past, that the lords should be rejuvenated, but of the • twelve appointments, only two or three ore young men, several are quite old, . and the remainder are going very rapidly down the hill of life, As far as the labour.party in Wellington is coneerned, Mr D, P, Fisher's appointment would have met with fur more favour than Mr Eigg's. Of course the party is pleased at a work-ing-man's eleration to the Council, yet Mr Bigg's selection meets with little real favour from the great mass of the working-men.

The Opposition do not intend to be idle during the recess and several prominent members will shortly ad-

dress their constituents. Mr Buch- -a annn has led off in the Wairarupa and JP Capt. Enssell, Mr T, MoKenzie, Sir '

John Hall, and the Hon, Mr Holloston will talk at an early date. Dr Newman does not intend to commence his crusade till next year, and Mr Duthie has not yot decided when he will address his supporters.

Complaint is being made of (he boorish manner in whioh Ministers have behaved on two occusinns recently, showing by their actions that they utterly forget the courtesies and duties duo from the high positions they hold. The French man-of-war, recently in port, was never even visited by Ministers; the officers were never railed on ; littlo or no respect was paid to thoir flag, and in fact they behaved with a\ studied discourtesy towards the representatives of a great nation, which is discreditable to this Colony. Another instance was the Stock Conference, which has just concluded its sitting, Delegates from all the Colonies wero present, but Ministers Bent no ono to welcomo them, nobody to look after them, or paid any attention to them at all, No Minister attended the sittings of the Conference except on the last day, when every- * thing was finished, when the Hon. J. MoKenzie went up and stood a solitary round of drinks, no doubt as a solatium for his and his colleagues pevious neglect.

One welcome result.from tho Stook Conference will bo that after this sea-. son's shearing New Zealand flocks will be declared free of scab, and sheep will consequently he allowed to be exported to Australia and elsewhere, Owing to the frozen meat trade rapidly developing in Australia it is anticipated that the flookowners on the other side will take advantage of the fact that this Colony is free from' scab, to largely import young rama: from New Zealand, in order to improve: the quality of their mutton for export. It is thought that quito an extensive jl trade in this direction will speedily arise.

The Opera Company still pursues Its successful season at the Opera House, and packed houses are the rule. Sinoa " The GondohW has been withdrawn " Dorothy" and the " Yeoman of the Guard " have been produced, and " Marjorie" was BtageJ •■-*■ last night for the first time. " Dorothy" is a delightful little opera, but it did not go off so successfully as when produced here on a former occasion, It is an opera that requires very careful handling, for'being weak in plot and dialogue in places, it is apt to drag, unless skilfully performed. The opera offers wido scope for low comedy and Mr Lauri took every advantage of this fact to introduce somo . very excellent fooling, but rather overdid the" gagging*" The dresses and scenery were tasteful and appropriate, and in this respect "Dorothy"' wasquite equal to the original production I witnessed at the Prince of? Wales' Theatre, London, although, of course, the singing and acting wera' not quito on a par with that of Mario Tempest,' Ben Davies and Hayden 'Coffin. The" Yeomen of the Guard " was most beautifully dressed and mounted and was altogether t finished performance. ■ " Marjorie" I have not yet seen and so will defer my remarks thereon till next week,. "The Old Guard" is announced for production this week, and uhoulct prove a great draw for it in a bright arid tuneful opera, with a good deal of spectacular military display in it, and many pretty and graoelnl daiioes, I also had the pleasure of witnessing the original production of this opera in London in 1888, with a great cast [including. Phyllis Broughtoo, Violet

Cameron and Arthur Roberts amongst other well-known artists.

Everything points to a most successful Show here, given only fine weather. Tho entries tbis year in all classes nro considerably in excess of

last year even up to the present moment,and the arrangements at the new JP" Show Ground at Petone are a great improvement on those at tho Hutt EacecouMe. Last year 70D0 pooplo were presont at tho Hutt at 4s Gd per head, so there is overy ohanco of a much larger crowd at Potono at 2s,

That time honoured institution, the Wellington Athenaeum and Mechanics' Instituto, is in deep water, and it is proposed to call the subscribers to< gether for the purpose of considering the advisability of realising the assets and voluntarily' winding the affiir up. The revenue from subscriptions has leon steadily falling off for some time, past, the only r6VHiuo now tint tho institution has to depend on, and the fact that the Free Public Library will shortly be opened, is expooted to further reduce tho number of subscribers. The liabilities amount to about £4BB, and the cash in hand is only £5212s Gd, It has, been a hard struggle to keep things together for some time past, and if the Wellington people lose an excellent reading and lending library, it is only by their own apathy and want of support of an extremely useful and necessary institution.