JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4795, 9 August 1894, Page 2

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON

(By Our Own Correspondent). - . Tuesday,. . ifo Clicmis Case again and a Court if Criminal Appeal.—The Arior:} Say CcMmtm Farce,—Eansatt*'a:nd< lU_ Tune IMiit.—Thc 'Parliamentary: Exi cursionandthe Mayoress of Onehtmga. -r-Sir JiiUus Vogel's Claim.—A Lesson in Gaelic,—-A looming Native Trouble.— The Skinflint .Brigade—A Slmnije Rumour.—Foreign Insurance Companies mid Jflreign Capital.' Horn to'drive it aicay.—Gold Feiier.—A Street Bhymer. A Wellington Street Incident.—The Failure of the Oracle.

The Clicmis case, thanks mainly to tlio; . oxortioiis •of the: indefatigable " Clinrlio" Mills lias '' tiobicd up" again this session. This time a-lew-hot-headed foreigners with a fair. sprink--ling of equally hot-headed Englishmen, have formed thcmselycsintoncoinmittce and; they .recently Idepitfationiscd; tlio genial Mills at the Parliament Buildings with a view to having the case reopened. Mr Mills informed • the deputation thatbowas'as firm a believer as ever in the innocenco'; of'- Cherais, ' and that his littlo Bill, which he was introducing to Parliament, , provided for . a Court of Crimiual Appeal- which would enable tlie case to be re-opened. lam rather afraid, however, that Mr Mills, despito his influence with the Government and tlio Party, is reckoning without his host as the bulk of members are not favourably disposed towards the creation of such a court. The system has proved anything but a success in America and its introduction here would be anything but an unmixed blessing. ■

It is also evident- that Mr Mills' sole idea in getting such a measure placed 011 the Statute Book is to rc-try., fi case which has practically been threshed out to the last grain, that it would be abso-; lutely miscliicTOUs to support Mr Mills iu this amiable fad lie possesses, regard-' ing Clicmis 1 innocence of the crimo for which he was_ convicted after ono of the most exhaustive trials iu our colonial criminal annals. Tho Government is known to cutcrtaiiv distinctly averse views to.thosc possessed by their sturdyhenchman, therefore, I don't think Mr Jlills will receive niuch oiicourageineut so far as his efforts to prove Clicmis' innocence nro concerned.. .This rami ctfcire took up the best part of the Publie Petitions Committee's time a couple of sessions ago aiidiiot one tittle of rebutting evidence was produced to establish Chemis' innocence, and as 110 fresh circumstances havo arisen it is, I think, to bo regretted that tho question has been re-opened.

Tho Arbor Day; celebration in Wellington was not a remarkable success, notwithstanding that the Governor and party, together with the Premier and the Minister for Lands graced the pro* ceedings with their presence. The oili- ■ cial part of the programme was decidedly slow, aud partook more of the nature of a funeral than anything else. First of all tho Mayor made a dull aud prosy speech ivliilo everybody stood bare headed. The Governor tried hard to lopk_ interested, and only succeeded in | looking bored, mid in reply lie was dismally jocular. The Premier was the only one who rose to the occasion. The depressing circumstances couldnot damp his spirits, for he made the best spcccii of all. Then the tree planting commenced, The Governor ami his daughter struggled right manfully with whnt looked very mucli like a navvy's shovel to get tho soil round a tree, and Wter digging around for a time they succeeded in tilling up the hole. This part of tho lunctiou was more like a funeral than c\cr, especially as everyone stood bareheaded around an open grave as it were, The general tree planting thcuprocccdcd gaily, everyone shovelling into the holes whatever camo first- to hand, stones, road metal, broken bottles, etc. Thci trees thus planted under such auspicious circumstances will, no doubt, nourish' exceedingly. Few of the trees planted Just year luivu survived, for the very good reason that cvcrjoiio shovelled into the holes whatever they thought fit. For 1 instance, some people were possessed with the idea that iron filingswero a good thing to make a tree grow, therefore they interred all the old iron scraps they could lay their hands on at the roots of the unfortunate plant. Others pinned their faith on bones aud sundry other devices for encouraging growth. Inouo part of the town this year,' 1 .1 am informed, a hard-metallcd roiid'was picked up, and trees planted in this uncongenial soil, and then people,wonder why the trees won't grow. ; The fact is,' this Arbor Day celebration' is gone about in the wrong manner. It would be far better to employ competent gardeners to prepare tho holes , with proper soil aud manure, and then ! the people could put the trees in if tlioy thought fit. It would, howovcr,bc better still for the planting to be done altogether by skilled men. The present indiscriminate system is a wasto of energy, aud the result is practically nil.

_ The time limit, under,the new standing orders,, is ao doubt a : very good thing for the House and for the country generally, but it is certainly very severe upon the ifairwjv/ reporters', ivlto vainly struggle to keep up with, the rapid utterances of who are desperately desirous ofgetfingasmiich as possible into the time at their disposal. The knowledge that the time at a member's disposal is limited, has, of' course, the effect of causing him to speak more rapidly, and consequently incoherently, and tho llmmml stall' have to employ tho " winged art" with lightuuig rapidity to keep anywhere withiuhail.Thorcsultmustbebad reportbig,and I should not bo surprised to learn that complaints from members regarding tho transcript of their speeches will bo loud and frequent, The l[unmnl 1 reporters are most efficient stenographers, but it eau hardly bo expected that tlioy will be ablo to perform impossibilities. Some of the speeches delivered last week averaged at times, I am informed, over ?00 wordspermiiiute. This gives a fair ideii'bf whatisrwjuircd in the llttimrd Gallery now-a-days,. ,

; The Parliamentary: excursion party returned from' their trip to tho Marl.borough Soiimls and Nelson this, morning. Tho pai'ty, which was a very largo one, included most of the leading Government supporters' and a few of the Opposition members with tlioir lady friends, had a most enjoyable time from all accounts. Mr C: Mills ably acted as Cicerone, and showed'tlic.party, all the sights, Mrs Yates,. tho Mayoress of Ojielmnga, was an invited guest, And I ran told she charmed everyone by her amiability aiid sound common-sense, In fact, many of the most determined opponents of tho admission of women into Pnrliaincnt'haYp become quite converted to Dr Newman's ideas since they liavo come into contact with Mrs Yatea, . Mrs Yates was in fact the heroine of tho trip. Several members who had intended, to go grew, fainthearted when they sallied forth'into tho storm of Friday night and -decided to stay at lionie. Thoy aro rather sorry now wheu they listen to the glowing ac r counts of tho excursion givon. by tlipse who braved tho elements,. Amongst those who did go was your member. Mr, Hogg. These pleasant littleexcursions will be siidly missed wheii the ''Hinemoa" is.sold, forouc could hardly take a pleasure trip in. a table rcpiiiug steamer,

' Sir Julius Yogel is again petitioning Parliament for consideration of hia'cliiihi ngaiust tlic Colony ill floating one of the big l6nus. ■' This year, homer, tliere is a now.departiire, for Sir Julius does not approach tlie House direct,but through lus son, Mr H. B. Vogel Svho petitions in his own name on behalf of liib father. This will give Sir Julius anopportijriity, pf aijpoariiig before the Comiiiutcc pm pcrsoifa its it Vcrp, ! ar ( d; i|rjging 'liis! claims through' liis son, acts as the pcTjtidiier^, i"i. 1 ; I flu;M«^^Voir»^iraiUw'epuod6 is ilic suiijcct'of a gobd deal of gossip about town. Hitherto Messrs Earusliaw and KcKeniiie, despite sonio (rifling I differences of opinion, kvo bceu very

good frionds,;Now,,alal it is said tWo ; id* exceeding bitterness between the - quondam cronies, antl if either could; metaphorically speaking, annihilate tlio'? i other, why ho cheerfully would. I do not thiuTc, from'what I hear, that Mr McKerizio deliberately meant to be in. sblont, but that tlio words "Little black devil," or their Gaelic equivalent, - i out in the heat of tlio moment. Of course Mr Earnshaw found plenty of sympatliising:translators and' then the trouble began. Mr Eanishaw, by the ' way, has a very- -pretty'knack of ' vituperation .when roused, and lifcb lio/ doubt wo shall hear a goodwal : more about" tho.little black devil yet,",

The irrepressible Major Kemp is once morp before Parliament with his eternal Horowlieiiua Block' petition. -Tlio gone- < ral opinion about the lobbies seems to be that this question will never be properly sottlod until a lioyal Commission I has been appointed to enquire into and report upon tlio trust ,of this block of land, which l - Kemp /claims. to have the sole right of administering on behalf of ftlargO:,number 'of West Coast Natives, Kemp claims tho sole trusteeship; despite tho awards of Native land Courts, and "unless tho matter is set at rest for onco ahd for ever by some'searching enquiry,"-the case will bo constantly iu tlio law Courts - and before 'Parliament, until at last tlio Natives willjud thornsejves landless and thei||!lcri|age, frittered away by chdwss i 'lawcosts '. ~

I hear that all the increases to Cmit Servants' salaries.on tlio Estimates,, oxcept those to cadets; arc to-'bo attaoked when tho House goes into Committoo of Supply; are .dotcrmincd to economise as much as possible, and, as usual, the unfqrtunntoCivil Servant is to bo tho scape-goat The Civil Service will never lie' placed oh asatisfnetory basis jintil a Classification. Bill is passed. This Herculean task, tlio present Government will, no doubt, sliirk, as all other Governments havo done. A committee of members;has already;becti formed to review the Estimates, and I hear that reductions will bo proposed, with a view to cutting down the expenditure in other directions if possible.,

It is still persistently rumoured that cither Mr Inrnach or the Hon. George McLean'mil bo chosen as tlio President of the liank v of New Zealaud,- I (jgfr' not find, however, tlxat there is miwir reliance to bo.placed in this rumour and certainly as regards Mr McLean thcro is not, I should say very much in tho report. Mr McLean .is already Chairof Directors of the Colonial Bank and • his interests lie in entirely different circles. Possibly the rumour has arisen from the fact that Mr McLean's advice during the recent Blink crisis was very much in request. Why Mr Larnacli's name should have been selected as one of the possible aspirants for the position I am totally at a loss to to say.: MrLarnach, as far as, I. am awdre, has never shop himself ' a | a linancial genius and as an adraiuistra-, tor he'never was a startling success,' Mr' Murray, the Bank of N,Z, expert and adviser is still in Wellington and I liavo.no doubt, poor mat), ho heartily, wishes all the negotiations were com. ploted.so that he could return to his farm in tlio Waikato and enjoy peaco and quietness once more .untroubled''-'by any tlioughts of bank crises aud state guarantees. ;■; . :

A deputation of agents, representing foreign insurance companies recently waited on the Colonial Treasurer with a view of protesting against the deposit of; £20,000 which it is proposed' tlioy shall l make asset forth in the Financial State-'; • mciit. The deputation pointed out that' tlio proposal would liavo the effect' of' driving companies out of the colony, and that'this' would riot in. any way benefit the commercial immunity,from tliei reason that local companies would ' not any the moro be in ii position' : to' in.'' crease their block risk limits, which are • now,divided about equally amongst 1 — the foreign and New Zealand companies. Consequently business would probably bo sent out of the Colony as it could not bo done locally.- ■ Moreover,' if a measure giving, .effect to tlio proposals in the budget was • carried, itis more than probable that; retaliatory measures would bo passed in the Australian Colonics, which would, effectually debar a New Zealand com-', pany from doing business there. It is intended that the word" foreign" shall I apply to all companies not of Now Zealand origin, so it will be seen that tho last argument was a cogent one. Mr Ward, was, however, unwilling togivowitjvso therefore it will bo interesting-' to observe if Parliament will givo effect to the proposal. As a'matter of fact, ,1 belipve most of tlio largo foreign com-, piinies have, already considerably more ! ilihri £20,000 invested in tho Colony,and • and as they can deposit securities, not • liecossarily cash, with tlio' Govornmcnt, ifwill not, I siipjiose, affect thoni much,. The smaller fry will; howcvor,packup ' and be off. .. . ■ '

; Quito a number of our young men have recently been smitteu with tho 1 gold ; fever, and have thrown up their . situations and aro now e» wife for Cool.' • gardie in the hope of striking fortune by ' one lucky blow of the pick-axe. I have.. heard of some more young mcu who aro • contemplating an early dcparture,dcspitp , tho persuasions of their friends. I hope * tho'persuasions to stay where they aro , will avail, forsurcly comfortnblo homes ' and safe billets are preferable to the very problematical eharico of finding . fortune amidst the burning sands of far ' off Coolgardie. It was reported in town that- an ex-civil servant was amongsttlio • party,which recently struck such rich gold at Coolgardie, mid this has I sup- . ]tosc fired our young bloods' imagina* . tioiis with dreams of riches, Itis apity,' there is really no nnthciitie information regarding tho gold field to hand,

i I am extremely fond of following.Dr Johnson's advice and observing human ' ; nature in tho streets. One sees, such a diversity of characters and observes so many strauge and ludicrous things,which ■ are, to th'o thoughtful man,'a liberal education In thpniselvcs, Popo has toll} us that" tho proper study of mankind Is man," aud T believe Popo was right after all. Tho fair city of 'Wellington : on a Saturday affords an excellent ' opportunity for seeing andhearing many ~ entertaining things..The other Saturday night I'strollcd down the ."'Quay." aiid : listened for a 'moment to tlib Salvation " 1 •Army with a most discordantkiid holdirig forth in the glare of (Mriwerfui electric lamp at " Fountain," l'ou have often heard, the ' Salvation Army, and are, of course, well acquainted with their .methods; mjd, Jio doubt, you have often been oiitraiiccd bythoiroxmiisitcmusic, com* ' prising as it does 1 all' the latest battlo hymns, set to music hall airs. Yoii ■ would not,'therefore, be surprised to hear, " The, Man that Broke the Bank nt Monte Carlo," or, "Daisy' Bell," rigged up in a new guise as hymns. Nor ' was I, for the; Salvation Army's success depends largely upon tlio 1 constant in; ' troduetio.il ot audacious novelties m its hymn tunes. I yvns, however, considerably surprised to hear an urchin of the •" maiure age of twelve years! reciting how he had "found the way to grace ' after' : years of sin, and excitedly exhorting the' ; 1 bystanders "to go and do likewise. I". thought the Arn.y must bo getting hard ' up when they had to 'depend' on' tho : exiimploof suchprMbiiioiis'convcils as 1 the youth in question., Presently mov:, ing furth'er.on down the: street, I saw a'., crowd round an individual who appeared " ,r to be declaiming in aii excited state. 1: ''■ This gentleman was also one of tho ' , Army, and his special;vocation,amiar./ '■ ciitly' was: the'' manufacture (brim.: prpmjitii doggerel rhymes,all bearing'on 7 , the depravity of -liunjaiiV Mtiiro; i£. general anij tlie depravity of tohianrir particular;' I'might 1 aiid■ ipiinagcd to'retain'in my hiemory (hp : " owning lines of an ode to Wellington, ; 1 ;wl[ich stpick mo as'ibbiiig sommvhat unique.- •' I therefore givp them : ,for tho ■ benofit of 1 your readers. Here thev • ' aro;— o•, i ' vr j •'QIi, steeped in criino • andsofrow, ; . You're worse than your twin sisters, ' , Sodom and Gomorrah 1"

.1 thought tliis was rathor hard on poor Wellington, aud as I moved sadly away I pondorcd over tlic reflection thus cast upon our fair town and wondered what ,WO could liavo douo to mako this street rhymer so severe upon us.

-■Tho earthquake did not como off on Sunday, for the very good reason, I am now informed, that the Rifted seer ivlio prophesied' the shake has not yet departed from tlieso shores. Possibly the prophet has only postponed the calamity ho has Intel time to depart, which I believe now is to bo noxt month. When that memorahlo day arrives, and our local oracle takes himself off, let us hope ho mil not forget to take the earthquake with him.