JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4629, 25 January 1894, Page 2

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON

.".By Our Own Correspondent), - \ v Wednesday, Comments wi-i'# Commissioners.— Shaking the "ust $ Ml,Sim.—Vhy I % tm . not re appointed.—Mr Mam/ll to leave the Colony.—Tlte'i huddart'Parhr Company fighting to thebittei end:—A -Virtuous people; " Gambling strictly .Prohibited" excefit if'tht lotaluator l—lhf'tlxtionyelilims; A warn time expected, —Commercial Retrenchment.— Bank Amalgamations; How it will ajjed the Colonies! Hard times, the Races and £9600 through the totalkator in one day.-Anniversaryas il was and ant is I—Political Pickings.—Cricket monopoly,—The Brough and Mud' caull Company. ■ >

I understand that Mr J. P. Maxwell libs decided' to leave tha Colony and will first of all go to England, I hear that Mr Maxwell has obtained the offer of a.good position in connection with some large Railway oontraots w.bioh are being constructed by an English firm in BouthAmerica and he will in all probability go out eventually to that country in his capacity of a Civil Engineer, Mr Carruthers,- ei Engineer in Ciiiof for the Colony, is I believe, connected with the firm to which Mr Maxwell is going and there are already aerer»l ex-New Zealanders engigadiu its employ, amongst whom are Mr Knorpp formerly an Engineer in the Publio Works Department, and Mr J. Bluokett'a son of the late Mr •Tohn Bkckett, It is an extraordinary thing how we manage to drive our best Engineering talent away and' more particularly is this noticeable in connection with tb a Railway service. Mr Maxwell must shortly bo numbered with-MessrsKaok and Allison Smith as men whom this Colony has driven from her shores and whom it will be found difficult to replace.

Mr Maxwell's loss will be very muoh felt. He lias made the management and control of rail ways a epeoial study and lib has, in addition to his great' administrative and business capacity, the advantage of a professional training aB an engineer, There is no doubt that Mr IJaxwell was the Premier's hen noir, aod the attacks whioh Mr Seddon has from timo to time made on the commissioners have been mainly directed against him. As to Mr Hannay no one dreamt that he would bn likely to receive his congi, while Mr McKerrow was retained. Mr Hannay was generally regarded as the safe man of tbs trio, who, having merged whatever were his private opinions into officialism, was nnt likely to come into conflict with the Government of the day, if by any diplomatic official evasion he could avoid doing so. It was Mr Maxwell, it is saidj who used to inspire those stioging official memoranda, which the Premier knows so well and hates so heartily. Mr Hannay, report says, is to receive an appointment in connection with the tr»ffio management in the Eailw&y Service. Whether he will be content to serve in a depart" meot, over which he was once one of the ruks, remains to be Been. I should think not, There is do doubt that Mr Mclerrow's very strong southern political influence has stood him in good stead, and J am told thatl the Minister for Lands made » big stand for his re-appointment, Mr MoKerrow is also personally popular, not only in the service but with the public generally, Messrs Maxwell and Hannay are not by any means so pleasant or so approachable as their chief, and this may have had a good deal to do with the matter.

The Huddart-Parker Company bare (bis time come (o stay, They are goiog to hold (o their one boat for some timo yet Id order to harass the Union Company's trade with the least poauble losb to themselves, It is a wile riselve this, for they can always comfortably fill the Tasmania with paßsetigera and cargo, while they could not do the same with several steamers.' And yet the faot of one boat being in opposition is suffioient to cause the powerful Union Com - pany to reduce its rates to the lowest possible amount. Of course the Huddart-Parker Company do not pretend that they are making the "Tasmania" pay at present—they are in fact losing money, but then it is better to lose on one boat than on a dozen. Everybody of course says what a fine thing this opposition ut, and how much obliged we are to the Huddart-Parker Company for bring* ing freights and passenger rates down, and they-to properly show their gratitude-patronise the Union Company, However, Mr Murrcll says his Company have come to stay,and he is sure thut when they have be'-n here long enough wt in New Zealand won't like to let them go away again. However, nrn virrom, it is a hard fight and an uphill one too, and much bone and ainew in the shape of capital is required to last out a bout with tho redoubtable Union Company,

Some of the local shopkeepers have been accustomed for yean past at Christmas and New Year to distribute presents to their customer by, means of lptterfes. The pus'nmer baying eay, SjsSd worth of goods, receives a tiqket, while another who buys fis, receives two tickets, and so on. It wan ft common custom and harmless enough, goodness knows, yet the police have thought i: necessary to interfere, and put a siop to the practice under the plea af & breach of the" Gaming and Lotteries Act," We are really becoming mosi virtuous, and all by Act of PnrlUraent, too. It is now. forbidden 10 back a horse on a totalisator excep on a racecourse, and there one enn do it to one'B heart's content, although where the different comta in from a point of view it is see. Gambling with dice or cards is Bternly repressed (when found out) and y?t there is a certain form of gambling which is winked a( and parried on wjtli ppunity in Wellington, aud, indeed, all over the (Jojony, I allude to the" coceultations" or sweeps' on horse races. These consultations, which are, of course, got up svh ma, are becoming immensely popular with the puhlioj and apparently the polioe have been told to shut their eyes, for they never interfere, although they must know of their existence. Yet, if the poor Chinaman indulges in a "little flutter" atfan tan," or the etruegling trftdefmen trieft it) help Ins Xmas trade along by a gift distribution by lottery, th'ey are remorselessly " flopped " upon by the guardians of the peace. It is.the invidious dis. tinotion that is made that l objeot to —rthe. poor shopkeeper might be allowed to have a show against the sweep promoter^who draws-ten per cent very easily for bii trouble, : One hears very little of all those election petition which rumour said

were being prepared t i unseat. some! of the successful candidates at the | ]«Ht election. Ido not suppose that anything more will he beard now. That £2OO is the stumbling blook. i The petition ngainst Sirfiobt, Stout's return comes on for bearing in a fortnight orso. Mr W. B. Edwards appears in support; of the petition. Now, Sir Robert Stout and Mr Edwards are. not' good friends, It was Sir Robert Stout who- so bitterly opposed Mr Edwards' judgeship in the first instance, and who so strenuously strove to upßet it subsequently, and when it whs upset, he just as fiercely fought against all compensation being paid to the unlucky man' who had sacrificed a fine practice for a Supreme Court judgeship which was forced upon him, muoh against Ins better judgment.

One of the best known and oldest! established mercantile houses in Wellington has just completed a drastic scheme of retrenchment whereby its confidential clerk, head salesman, and chief traveller have all received notice of retirement. As nearly all these gentlemen have been many years in the firm's service it seems exceptionally hard on then, The accountant, bas, for instance, been nearly 30 years' in the .firm's employment, whilst the. others are servants of many years standing. Shrinking 'of trade and partnership re-arrangements aro the causes of the retrenchments, It is but fair to add that the firm in question bas behaved in, the most liberal manner to its retrenched ' and has endeavoured to make the task of a fresh start in life as easy as possible to those whom circumstances have unfortunately oompelled Ihem to part with.'

Talking the other day to a leading commercial gentleman I was informed that the rumoured amalgamation between the Union Bauk and Bank of Australasia was not at all a remote contingency. In fact, my informant stated that before the yuar was very much advanced something definite would fee made public. This gentleman's English advices of a very recent date informed him that the amalgamation proposal was freely talked of in London financial oirolea, and the universal opinion .was that such a scheme .would'have a very beneficial effect upon colonial finances. If .the amalgamation . were to take place it would practically mean that the combined banks would be the bullion holders for the Australian Colonies, they would, in fact, play tbe the same part in Australasian finance as the Bank of England does in Great Britain.

One ~would Bonrcely think that limes were so ba<t and trade so dull, looking at the great crowd at' the racecourse on Monday last. Something over five thousand-people was, the estimate-whioh constitutes a reoord for a Wellington race meeting. The large sum of L9OOO was put through the totalisatora during the day, from whioh fact it may safely be argued that tho British public can always find a pound or two for a bit of sport, no matter how muoh they may be pecuniarily embarassed otherwise, or who has to wait for payment in the meantime. Quite a large number of Wiirarapa people came down, and remained for tbe Bam and Ewe Fair yesterday and the conolmioa of the racing to-day (Wednesday).; The 1 weather on Monday was simply perfect and the Hutt raoecoaras never looked better, The arrangement! were first-class and evoked great praise from the owners nnd trainers, of whom there were present in great numbers from all parts of the Colony.

It was, I believe, quite the recognised thing once for the whole population of Wellington to turn out tn mssi for the Annual Regatta, which hue been held on liio waters of Port Nioholson every Anniversary Day for fifty years past, Now alas,' the times have changed. Theßegatta now occupies a very weak hold in the people's' amotions, and but a languid interest is taken in the annual aquatio carnival, The races hare practioally killed the fiegatta ( and those people who do qot go to the fiaces go anywhere except to the Regatta. This seems a pity, for in a large shipping port like Wellington one would hare thought tljat anything to do with aquatics would have been of first interest to the publio. As a rule on Anniversary Day a howling gale has raged, andit used to :j be thought that the 22nd of January usually meant a big blow. Aooidenta used to-be frequent on Anuiversary Day also, nearly always someone was drowned, :but fortunately in late years this paM of the day's proceedings has b;en "more honoured in the beaoh than the observance," A great many families in Wellington have indeed had cause to mourn Anniversary Day as an event of vety ! sorrowful import to them. The 22ud of January, 1891, was lovely as regards weather. A soft breeze just sufficient to 000 l the heated air, gently ruffled ' the blue waters of Port Nioholson and as the yachts and numerous small sailing craft which orowded the spread their white sails in the bright sunshine,it would have been hard to have seen a prettiersight anywhere,

The rumour in still gaining ground that the Government intend to submit a loan proposal to parliament next session, Indeed it is bard to foe bow Publio Works aro muoh longer to be constructed out of revenue, especially as I believe the revenue for tbe last quarter of the year ending 31st March next, will not show such a handsome surplus is ia expected, Ministers are working very bard now in Cabinet and in the 1 ftvjpus departments, getting up 'it Mrs of back work and talking over polioy measures for the coming wssion, Ai l to]d you some tine h.(O, Sir Pfttriok ftuokley h«B now definitely abandoned all idea of going unless be goes an Agent-Gene-rai, ami has taken up his residence in his house at the Hutt again, which lie had let before in anticipation of bit eaily visit to England, It Is now asserted the Government have definitely decided to propose SirMauricn O'Botke as Speaker, although Major Steward is canvassing frantically {or Bup|>oi liu the south, Sotae people go eo far us to ayejt that the late Speaker an excellent ohance of su'coubs in the present parliament, and wilj press Sir Maurice very hatd jf ho does not beat him. Mr Guinness will probably bo proposed again as Chairman of Oomjjtypes, though; there are several hungry aspirants for the office who will have to be settled with, .We lire, looking forward coflsideiablo. iuterest to the cricket match, New South Wales v. Wellington, whioli takes place on Saturday aid Monday next;' A fairly etrong team has been selected, and.by the inclusion of Firth it nil j beparticularly , in - the' bowling:ind''Mding r-iWiT l ' Is

departments of tho game, The city of Wellington oan no doubt get together ; i a very, good 'representative team, but it has for some time past been a mat, ter of mystery to me why the Selection Committee should not go further afield and pick up I good mail or two outside .of the town boundaries. In your district, for infltanoe, there must be one or two men!fully worthy of a place in a Wcllington representative team. Indeed, I slionll not he surprised if some really first-class talent . rojght be developed in- this manner, more than equal to anlthing we can produce.. You .ought io be able to play cricket in the iountry, with plenty of grounds at for' practice, especially as littlaft hamlet throughout tho leMth'.iaaW breadth of the land has ,i'B orioliw® olub. I bare no doubt there is any ' amount of talent whioh only requires discovering.: Why it shoiild'be taken ' for granted that no one out'sido of Wellington City oan play passes -my comprehension. Fo^f- 1 * stance, if I remember aright, we used to obtain very valuable assistance from Wa'nganui and district, but we apparently think we oan'dO without their aid, now that we have improved ' so muoh of late years,

That most excellent combination the Brough and Bouoicault Comedy Company opens at the Opera Houso here ou Friday next in Grundy's great drama '• The Village Prii>at." Uuriug the Company's stay in town thoy will produce ip rapid aucoe'ssion ■ Bomeofthsmoat faraouscomediesof the day—comedies which have eet the theatrical world of London in a blaze. The Brough and Bouoicault Company is deserved!/ looked upon as the best combination of actors and actreoeg which has ever been got together in Australia. Indeed, 1 doubt whether it would be possible to obtain better talent, and collectively,' anywhere. Thiß is tha verdict of all those who have witnessed the Company in'iJiobe," "The Amazons," ot'-ThrVillagePriest.'' ; The people of Wellington may safely rackon upon a dramatio treat of the highest- ■ order. I would strongly advise alt those iii your district who may be desirous of witnessinff artistio performances not to miss ths opportunity. presented to them by the advent of the Brough and Bouoionult Company.