JOTTINGS From WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4783, 26 July 1894, Page 3

JOTTINGS From WELLINGTON.

■f ■; (By .Oar,- Own Correspondent). ' ;r ' . ■ Tuesday, - ifov celebrities. Thmophj and Mrs : pesant.—HowlheibaltoimndSkugh-ler-lmes M't may effect the Com ■; Iri/'—Tltefalling lievsmihid Customs ■■ fle'tim.—d red raj to a b ill. A'ewspajm and the Hon J. MoKenae,~ The capabilities of women to sem cn Yeslrfa. What women do for i the Church. A religious cehm how wemight jetahng without a Bishop, - A scare in the Telephony Exchvvje.— The Opposition I'rophet. f'apkin } Edwin becomes "uiruggy"—loc<il Industries a boom in Wellington— l he Divorce Bill. Holes from the Galh'y.—The Premier as a Vocal-it 'Jho Members mm. Tkmsekes —The Hermit of Islatul Bay, The Great Talmago the colossal fraud as somo call him—having come and gone,.wo may now look forward to the advent of another celebrity in ' tlio porson of Mrs Annie Besant, tlio , noted Thcosophist and lecturer, The ; " much travelled " : 'R. S. Smy the has ... aniKmced that Mfe Besant will visit about October next, aiid will deliver ft scries of lectures in the cliiof towns of the Colony. ■' r The lectures'will consist mainly of expositions of 'Theosophy, but Mi's Besant will occasionally vary the proceedings by holding forth on tlio many advanced social theories with which, for the last two decades, her j name has been prominently linked, ( • The people of this Colony have certainly much to thank Mr Smytlie for, , ■ for lie has brought us into intimate ■ contact- witli some of the greatest of j tho old and new world celebrities, , amongst whom the nnmcsof Do Witt ! Talmngc, H. M. Stanley, and Max j O'Roll stand pre-eminent. As n j fitting climax of this triumphal pro- , of celebrities, wo arc now j promised Mrs Besant and Mark Twain, Truly we have only to stay , (it home now-a-days to havo the j I —■ wH'ld-brought to our doors,

It will be a bad thing for the country if the Abattoirs and Slaughterhouses Bill now boforc Parliament passes info law, This Bill provides for the establishment of public abattoirs m the chief towns, wherein the animals before and after slaughter are to be inspected by properly qualified persons—possibly veterinary surgeons, So far as these are conoornod, this is as it should be, for it will moan that the chances of people eating diseased meat will be reduced to a minimum, Indeed, as all diseased cattle are to be condemned at once, it is, of course, certain that sellers of animals for slaughter in the country will take caro that nothing but sound beasts are sent to the cities, It will, of course, be impossible to establish abattoirs in scattered country districts, where practically nearly every other man is butcher for himself and his neighbours, and inspection in these cases would be utterly impracticable, There is, therefore, very great risk of all tho sound animals being sent to the towns, in order to puss the Inspector, and all tho unsound or diseased beasts kept for home consumption, because there the all-per-vading oye of the Inspector w ! ll be not. This is an aspect of the caso which litis nqt been considered, and J therefore commend it to the watchful attention of my country cousins,

Tho Premier has admitted that tho Itevenne is falling, and indeed this is not to bo wondered at considering tho prevailing depression, If one could only'get at the Customs Itoturns they would bear eloquent testimony as to tho slackness of trade, I have heard that the amount of duty paid at tho Custom Houses throughout the Colony for the quarter ending the 30th Juno has been the lowest on record for many years past. Although the figures are nqt obtainable any merchant will inform too that his duty account for tho last three months has been abnor--"TBallyimr, for the very good reason , that tliero is no demand for goods. The people are denying themselves everything possible. The bonded stores, in Wellington, are chock full of dutiable goods, wlijoh the owners are naturally unwilling to clear through the Customs while the demand is so small, The Land and Income Tax payments falling due . next month, will press very heavily on people, and there is no doubt that tho Government has selected a very inopportune timefor these payments. It is a pity that the tax could not have been payable sonic two or three months later in the year as this enforced spoliation in tho very height of the dullest season on record will add considerably to the depression.

The Hon. John McKenzie appears to hate newspapers and journalists as the deyil hates holy water. He always seems to be possessed w v ith tho idea that there is a " chid" hoveling arqund " takjn' notes" and feant that" faith he'll print them," Now, I should say that'the Minister for Lanils hqs nothing to fear from newspapermen, for not one of them dqubts for a moment his honesty of ■purpose nq matter how much they may differ from his views on tho land question, Legitimate criticism is what overy publio man must submit to, and if ho professes that confidence in his administration which wo are led to believe the Hon John McKenzie does in his, well, the carping comments of opposition pass him by as unnoticed as the sighing of tho idle wind, Because one or two papers have descended to vulgar personal abuse it is surely childish to vent his spleen upon tho press of tho Colony at large, frieiidsand foes alike, The very Bill which Mr McKenzie so vehemently abused, The Institute of Journalists' Bill, would do much to prevent papers indulging in personalities becauso tho essence of ifsprovisions is to raise the standard of journalism and by incorporating its fycnihers tq encourage higher aims and ideals, thereby improving the p(r§oni}(l qf the craft,

.flip questiqii was raised the other flight at the annual meeting qf the pritjhiqnci'S qf St, Petcf's as tp the eligibility of wpmen to servo on Church Vestries.' ItWfis urged that as women are now eligible to servo in almost any position saYO that of Parliament, there was no lust causo or impediment why they should not take a part in the administration of church affairs. The speaker very truly poiuted out that it was mainly owing to the organised efforts of women that our churches wore kept together at all, and that it was the weaker Bex who by their industry and unselfishness had a great deal to do with providing the sinews of war for carrying on the ministrations of the church, It was therefore argued as a legitimate and logical outcome, womon should be flowed to hold office oa the Yestry

as, if theirsemcesworo ho freolyftnd gladly accepted «m nn unofficial capacity and woro so highly valuablo and successful, niuely it would bo only just to bestow on them tlio right to liavo a voico in tlio administration of tlio church affairs, in wliicli at present, despite their labours, tlicy had absolutely no control. As was to bo expected, the proposal was promptly rejected. Tlio church is far too conservative to allow of such nn innovation just yet, but it is not at all too conservative to reject their sorviccs unofficially,as it well knows that if it wcro not for tlicso w&inon, whom tliey shut out from their Council Chamber,that the whole fabric of church organisation, relief work, and finance would speedily become an unknown quantity, It is strange that the church in this as in other things, should lag behind the times, I (irmly bolievo myself that the presence of the women on Church vestries and Diocesan Synods, would go far towards preventing the Church of England, in this Colony, from drifting into financial chaos and dismemberment, which now threatens it.

Whilst I am touching on church matters I might montion that this proposal, which emanates from Duncdin, to take what is known as a religious census of the inhabitants of the various parishes, is fraught with a good deal of danger, It is much better to let sleeping dogs lie. People object to have their religious beliefs enquired into, and perhaps tilkcd about, just as strongly as they would resent any enquiry from outsiders into their private concerns, Not so very long ago an energetic incumbent of a largo Wellington parish took it into his head to depute a lady member of his congregation, as a sort of amateur census taker, This enthusiastic though indiscreet female made a house to house visitation and was foolish enough to comment to her friends afterwards upon the information she lwd obtained, in somo casoa confidentially, Tho result was that agood many substantial subscriptions were stopped, and the individual who perhaps went to church for form's sake, never ontorcd the doors afterwards, His or her ideas may not have been altogether orthodox according to existing views, but they decidedly preferred to keep those ideas to themselves, and not make them common property,

Yet another church matter (I am in a clerical humour this week). As wo do not seem to be able to secure an English divine as Bishop of this Diocese at any price, would it not be a good thing to abandon tho idea altogether and endeavonr to worry along without a Bishop ? We have managed very comfortably to do without a Bishop for nearly a year now, and when one was required we could borrow him from one of the other dioceses, paying a small subsidy for his services, The stipend could then be devoted to other purposes, say, added to the clergy pension fund, or used to supplement the stipends of country clergymen when they fell short of the required amount, I understand that a proposition will bo brought forward at tho next meeting of the Sydiuid that the English commission should be re-called aiid a olorgvman selected in the Colony for tho Bishoprio. Thcro are somo e.xccllont men in the Wellington Province who would suit the position admirably, Of course what would suit us better than anything would be to obtain an excellent man like the Bishop of Duncdin, who for the sako of the title and the position, would perform the duties for nothing or at a very low salary. But, then, such a man as the Bishop of Dunedin, must have independent means. Unfortunately there arc not very many so provided amongst the colonial clergy.

Tlio Wellington Telephone Exchange Oil Friday Inst about halfpast 0110 p.m. was a scono of great excitement, Blue fire ivns Hashing all over the room and tlio young ladies who so cheerfully and obligingly switch you on to the subscriber you want to talk to, were one and all in a sfate qf hysterics and wild excitement. Tlio reason for all this confusion was, not that ono of them had got married or purchased a new bonnet, but because the vivid lightning, which was flashing about, had somehow got in to the wires, and the electric fluid had found a vent at the Telephone Exchange, Noone was hurt though everybody was highly terrified. Not even a stray curl of tlieso dainty telephone maidens' tresses had been singed but they nearly all more or less had received " shocks" varying in intensity according to the imagination of the fair reciter. As a matter of fact more than half the telephones in the city wero af-fected-by the lightning and it will be some days before all are placed in perfect working order again, In one hpusc a young lady declares she saw a ball of blue fire issuofrom the telephone transmitter, tloat across the room, and burst on the gaselier with a report; like a pistol shot. Of course one has to allow a good deal for excitement on these occasions. I must say, however, that I have seldom seen such yiyid lightning in' New Zealand,

Mr Wragge, tlio Queensland woather proplict seems to have been somewhat near the mark when he predicted !l great antarctic disturbance with a very low barometrical | pressure at Wellington. Apparently the antarctic disturbance came off nil right judging by the southerly storm, with hail, rain and lightning on Friday, and an exceptionally low barometer, The Aurora Australia early on Saturday morning is also another proof proper, say, of an antarctic trouble, People are commencing to grumble at Mr Wragge poaching ourprophet's preserves, and say that it is no use paying Captain JMwin to predict when someone else does it for him. I understand, however,that the Captain is arranging a counter demonstration on a large scale lvjiich >vill strike terror into the heart of his Queensland rival. In the meantime the weathpr h#p cleaved up,sq let us liqpe thai Blithe bad leather has gone to Queenslipid,

Local industries will shortly be 011 the boom in Wellington, Tlio O, Dairy Farmers' Union will erect their central factory in town, and this with the branch creameries will employ a large number of hands, Messrs R. Bell and Co., the match manufacturers, of Loudon, (they must not be confoundedwith Bell and Black)will shortly start making matches here, and it is estimated tliat, over ft hundred hands alone, men, boys and girls,will find employment in this industry, Like Messrs Bimbaum and Son, the waterproof manufacturers, who have been, enI gaged in making waterproofs for jsome time past We, Messrs R, Bell

and Co, find it cheaper to import the raw material and manufacture locally, thus saving duty, to manufacturing at Home and exporting the icady-mndo article which is. only admitted at a high rate of duty, These are further evidences of the growing importance of Wellington as a manufacturing and distributing centre, I hear also that a firm of glass blowers, long established in Auckland, are only waiting; an oppotunity to 'obtain suitable premises before shifting their plant and commencing operations in Wellington,

; Tho clergy last night made a ; crusado against the Divorce Bill, which is now engaging the attention of the Legislative Council. The Rev. Mr Sprott at St. Paul's preached a most eloquent sermon denunciatory of tho Bill, and tlio reverend gentleman from a canonical point of view made out a very strong case. Personally, I do not sec very much, objection to the Bill if the "desertion " clauses were modified someDesertion is a very common j practice in this Colony and it seems 1 intolorablo that a man should be' allowed to return at his own sweet j will, whether the woman desires'it or not, to loaf on his wife's earnings and then to decamp again when it suits him. Many people would like to see a provision in the Bill for divorce in eases of insanity, habitual drunkenness nnd criminality. Ido not think, however, the Bill is likely to got even out of the " Lords." The " Lords" are rather slack just now of work, and so any little diversion is acceptable. That is why Mr Soddon was so anxious to givcthoUpper House the Industrial and Conciliation Bill to tend. As soon as this ; Divorce Bill is properly known and 1 understood, you limy expect a perfect ' shoal of petitions and deputations 1 against it. At present it comes as a ] sort of surprise to everybody, 1

s The week in Parliament lias been 2 a varied and ovcnlful one. The passing of the Bank of Now Zealand Amendment Bills,and the final adoption of the new Standing Orders were ) good strokes of business, This i good work was, however, marred by . the discreditable display which took t place over Dr Newman's unfortun- . ate " Women's Legislative Disabil- ■ ities Bill," The Doctor was also uit- > fortunate with his other bantling > the I'harmnoy Bill, which suffered the fate of its predecessor on the preceding evening by being ignomini- , ously shelved, The debate on the : Womens' Legislative Disabilities ! Bill was about the most sorry farce I ever played within the walls of the i House of Iteprescntativcs. Every member appeared to lil' playing a game of bluff, until at last disgusted with their own hypocrisy the] Bill was eventually shelved for the time being, The Pharmacy Bill was also shelved, and more is the pity, for it is a very useful measure in some'respects,in so far as it would prevent the entry into the trade of incompetent and unprincipled persons. There are comparatively few safeguards under the existing Act. The passing of the now Standing Orders is a great achievement. It is thought that the time limit, however, will not shorten the session for if members oannot speak so long they will speak oftener, The conduct of business will be much facilitated by the abolition of the senseless "adjournment" provision under which a member could" stonewall "allnight if he were so disposed. Practically by the amending of the Standing Orders the principle of the closure has been affirmed. The Premier is a man of many parts. Ho came out in a new light on Saturday night as a vocalist at the social gathering given by some of the members to their friqnds in the Parliament Buildings, I am told that Mr Scddon outs a veryj Creditable figure as a vocalist though his singing is of somewhat a robust order. These reunions are to take place regularly, I believe, during the I remainder of the session, It used, II believe, to be a regular custom somo years ago for the members to jjivc a big ball when Parliament was in session. Why not revive the custom? I am sure tlio Wellington people would very much appreciate® snob an innovation in the regular! sessional gaities, of which, by the way, there are more than ever this year, despite the hard times, A good / many of the members receive a great deal of hospitality iu one way or another at the hands of Wellington, and a Parliamentary Ball would bo a graceful and appropriate way of 1 making somo return,

Your readers who may know tlio Hermit of Island Bay, will be gratified to learn that his cave dwelling is not likely to be injured by tlio Queen's Drive, now in course of cpn-. struction. Everyone in Wellington knows the hermit, and ovory visitor is taken out to sco him as a matter of course, so it would never have done if the chief of our local celebrities had been turned out of his subterranean dwelling place. How many stories have been woyen concerning tlie hermit's past, what a wealth of romance has been twined about his prosaic person, and how numerous nave been the conjectures concerning his* career, Did not Edward Wakefield write the story (or supposed story) of his life, and have not people times out of number tried to elucidate the mystery of his life, and failed iguominiously ? Even now, no one knows his name, or how he lives, The wonder is that'the police have not turned him out of his cave mid lodged him in tlio cold, cold cell as a vagrant, without any ostensible means of support long ere this. Public opinion, however, would have made itself heard if they had, for the people of Wellington prize their hermit beyond measure-for ho is unique. No other town in tlio colony can show anything liko him. We are all. delighted, therefore, tlmt his lramblo cave has been spared, although his privacy has been sqd|y invaded by the construction qf tlio road.