Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1895. THE CLANSMEN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4920, 8 January 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1895. THE CLANSMEN.

ilixiSTEiis are not having a very good ■ime just now with the Opposition res. It lias been a dull period of ,Im year for newspapers, a sort of jig gooseberry season and one paper town south to kill time made up a ist of the relatives and intimates of Jie Hon, John McKcnzie for whom Jiat illustrious poison had generously provided Government billets. Somewhere about forty lucky elansjieinvere enumerated, with their Christian names, surnames, occupations and relationship to the Minister jf Lands. Then iiuqther journal reused the list and brought it down to twenty-seven, and other influential papers have taken ap tho record with further revisions, till one'cannot lookit a "Southern newspaper without seeing this black list in some part of it. And the Honourable' John can only suffer, and possibly swear, for ho cannot deny his misdeeds and lie know that every appointment is illegal, irregular, and improper. The Honourable John has been sweating tlio Colony for the benefit of his own Clansmen and if Minister who specially prides himself on his uprightness and disinterestedness puts his spoon into the Colonial jampot, what are his colleagues _ about, who are not troubled with his nice conscientiousness ? Each Minister appears to have a following which must be supported by the country. The Premier sets the example and the Hon John McKenzie though he may be little slow to'follow his chief, when he does get to work does his bit of raiding very thoroughly.When an ordinary mortal aspires -to enter the Civil Service he has to. pass an examination, to provo that' he can read, write and add up sums, and even when ho has come through this ordeal in triumph he has to wait till hope deferred inaketh his heart sick, before lie can obtain' acadotship. But with a clansntanl of the McKenzie taitan the case is different,' There is no examination for' him, no waiting ou the list, no beginning as a cadet. He is at once put on tho staff full Hedged, by the head of tho clan who nobly scorns all. rulo aucl regulation when he plays the patron. Perhaps the man- } ner in which, tho clansmen are ' pitch-forked into Government billets j accounts, in'. a' measure for certain' ■ peculiaritiesintheLandpepartment. I ( Jt is said that it tqkes four times ns ■ j

long to obtain an. Answer to a letter' addressed to this Department than' to any. other.'. If. the clansmen do I hot happen to be able to write, audi there' is no reason why they should j possess this accomplishment, it .is evident that theDepiirtment is some what handicapped in dealing with an extensive correspondence. Perhaps our southern contemporaries who have taken a special interest in collcctiugparticulars about the forty clansmen, might ascertain whether they are able to read and write. Of course it would be very wrong to try and prevent any Minister of tlio Crown from providing forhis friends at the expense of the public,bnt still there should .be sonic ([ualilieation for Ministerial proteges.- Wu would suggest thai in future no clansman who has not passed the third standard in our Public Schools should be eligible for State employment.

Quit local contemporary denied that the Town Lands Trustees have.deliberately allowed their tenants to be over-charged for the preparation of leases, but at the same time admits that two guineas was the fixed rate formerly charged by Mr Beard. He does not, however, explain why Mr Bunny should be allowed to charge four guineas, when Mr Heard only charged two. He does not explain how it is that on one occasion when the cost of a lease was charged against the Trust, Mr Bunny's bill was cut down to two guineas, and that sum was accepted by him. The Trustees have been tying up their tenants hand and foot, and leaving them to the tender mercy of their solicitor; and when one of tliein makes a mild protest ho is simply insulted. This is scandalous, and if the Trustees do not for the future iix a fee, we vetiture to say that the people of Masterton will insist upon their doing so.

There is a rumour that a certain Bank recently wanted money and put some pressure on the Hon. Mr Ward to lindit, tho result being that; Mr Ward sold £150,000 worth of Consols to the Bank of New Zealand, and lodged tho proceeds with the Bank in question. Now this rumour may be altogether fictitious, but none the less it requires to be contradicted. Will the very able interviewer of the N. 'A. Times, the (km at machimi, who so frequently conies to the rescue of maligned Ministers, bail up the Hon. J. 6. Ward, mid get his version of the rumour to which we refer. There i may be, of coHr.se,,some foundation for it, but we can hardly accept as credible the story which is being circulated.

Tub Government will not re-ap-point Mr Pirani to the Land Hoard, and it is an open question whether Mr Hogg, whoso term expires in April next, will not also be deposed. Messrs Hoggand I'iraui have worked together on the Hoard to promote the interests of country settlers, and have thus come into collision with that well-meaning despot, the Minister of Lands. Jle Pirani is to be punished, but whether Me Hogg will share his fate remains to bo seen, The Lauds .Department is rapidly becoming the Augean stable of the administration, and we should not bu surprised to find Mr Hogg, as well as Mr Pirani, devoting himself to the Herculean labour ot donning it out.