JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4987, 28 March 1895, Page 2

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

(By Our Own Correspondent,}

Tuesday. " Our Oien's" reply to " Luther." —More Side-lights on Chunk Matters.— Telephone Belles and "Fair-play."— The Celibacy of the Clergy.—Pot shots at Politics.—The Government Programme. —The Chemis Case Again.—The new Recreation GnuniPurchase.—lntemperate. Temperance.—Land for The Return of the Wanderers. *

I notice tlint in your issue of the 23rd iust. a correspondent—" Luther " takes me rather severely to task for my remarks regarding the part which women as compared with men, play in Church matters in Wellington. Your correspondent is merely hypercritical when he (or she) attempts to distort my remarks as applying to the Christian Church as a whole. Nothing was further from my intentions, us could easily have been scon had your correspondent, eyen perfunctorily, perused my paragraph. That I was evidently referring to tlio Anglican portion of "the Church" might at once have been seen by my reference to the General Synod at Nelson, which was entirely an Anglican fhurch Conference as everyone knows. lam not aware that in " lieforiued" or " non-episcopal" Churches such bodies as vestries or Synods arc known. They are usually designated by somo other name. I am not a member of a " Reformed" Church, so 1 am unable to slate positively what the proportion of malcworshippers and workers is as compared with the female, bni I am quite prepared to accept "Luther's" assertion, that the numbers arc about cqin Would that such a state of affairs wero true of the Anglican community P I have, as regards the Anglican Church, an intimate knowledge of the facts, and I again unhesitatingly repeat my former assertion that the preponderance of female workers and worshippers in the Church of England is as three to ono compared with the males.

There was no intentional arrogance on my part, when 1 referred to the Church of England as "The Church." It was a mere colloquialism bred of habit more than any desire to be offensive to tho non-episcopal churches, for whom I have lon;,' entertained feeliugs of tho highest respect and admiration. Would that our own (Church of England) organisation were as complete, and that our adherents were so fully en mpport with their " Spiritual pastors and mas. ters," as they are in the so-called "dissenting" congregations, ¥OlOllllß 50, there would have been no necessity or jutification for my remarks of last week, I believe, and have long believed, that there is much that is faulty in our organisation, or for example, country parsons would not he left to exist in a stale bordering on genteel starvation, which is a disgrace to our Church anjfe stumbling block to its influence. 1m can a man adequately administer spiritual consolation, when his own temporal necessities arc haunting him every uour of his life, in the shape of the horrid Frankenstein of pressing poverty! With the non-conforming churches such a thing would he impossible. There, at least, every minister is placed above all fear of necessity, and therefore, with a mind free from anxiety, he is able to devote himself heart and soul to his ministrations. I have in my mind's eye, a country Church of England clergyman near Wellington, whose stipend is supposed to reach the princely sum of .6150 peranmnii. I say mpmml advisedly, fot it hardly ever readies £IOO a year, and on this income he is expected to maintain a respectable appearance, support his family, and act as general almoner for the parish, which is a fairly large one. The result is obvious, he must run into debt. Can a man with this millstone of pecuniary embarrassment eternally tied round his neck, adequately perform Ms priestly duties ? I leave it to tho common sense of your readers to decide. I am obliged to "Luther" for having given mo to opportunity to further enlarge untt l . subject on which I have felt kccnljTor years past, and to assure him that he is entirely mistaken, in supposing for a moment, that I included in my condemnation, cither the non-conforming Churches, or that admirably-organised and splendidly-managed institution—the Church of Home. It pains me much to thus criticise my own Church, but tho fact is we have for so long been trying to blind ourselves to the truuc facts of the case, that I hope a little wholcsomo straight speaking may do good.

I find that I am also accused by another correspondent iu the same issue with having been unfair to the " Telephone Relies" of Wellington. I can only say in reply to "Fair-play "that he is a very lucky man if in his experience of the Telephone Exchange he has found nothing to complain of. "Fairplay" must indeed be a favored individual, for his experience is, I venture to say, almost unique. It must bo "Fair-play's" fascinating manner which. has worked the oracle. I honestly wish, he would impart tome the secret of his success, " Fair-play" accuses meofirjdnlging "in (lights of fancy," and not adhering closely to facts. Well, I will not adopt the In qiwmic stylo of aimment, tor I am sure that" Fair-pIaJR lias been carried away somewhat frflm 4 the paths of strict courtesy by his J chivalrous defence of the Telephone A ladies, and therefore due allowance j| must be made for his impulsive-iH ncss, I would, however, remind " Fair-play " that there are two sides to every question, and that because his experience has been favourable is no proof that other people's have been so also. As to " Fair-play's" remarks about"rude and boorish" behaviour to the Telephone operators I am sorry to learn that he has, with all his chivalry, calmly stood by and listened to such " rude, gruff, and peremptory orders," without offering a protest. I am surprised that "Fair-play" should have been in such bad company. Personally, I must say that I have never vet heard any " rude and boorish " behayiour audi do not think so badly of my fellows as to believe that any min with any spark of manly, to say nothing of gentlemanly, feeling in him would forget that he was talking to a lady, cym though she was a "Telephone girl." Had I been singular in my telephone experience I would have thought nothing of it, but the paragraph which " Fair-play " complains of was based on the similar experience of others, and I felt it my duty as a public scribe to offer a mild protest. lam glad that Ms remarks have attracted soino atteifßa as they may be tho humble nieanslf effecting an improvement. It was "more in sorrow that in anger" that I wrote, and I can assure" Fair-play " that lam quite as anxious to be as strictly just and impartial as his mm deplume would imply he is,

_ An amusing story reaches me concerning a well-known Church of England clergyman, who is a lirm believer in the celibacy of the clergy, and has strictly acted up to his principles by remaining a lone and solitary bachelor well into middle life. It appears our celibate friend went to pay his respects to a high dignitary of the Church, newly arrived in the Colony, and after some pleasant opening remarks, the dignitary blandly hoped that Mrs— was not unwcll.asshchadnotcomcwithMr—. The visitor somewhat shortly remarked he was unmarried, "Oil," said the dignitary, turning to his wife, who was also present,." we must find Mr—a nice girl, who will supply that deficiency f" The horror and speechless indignation of the celibate curate may well to- imagined, as etiquettoAventcdhim from telling his sayjHor what his principles were, and whatmado it all the more aggravating, was the fact I that the dignitary's wife smilingly assented to her lord and master's proposition.

0« rfiV that Mr Scobie Mackenzio s shortly to bo subsidised to stump the Colony for the purpose criticising tho speeches, which have from time to time bcendclivered by various members of the Government in goneral, and tho

1 rentier in particular. In the meantime, I bclicvo, the redoubtabloScobic is getting up his case, and piecing together the component parts of the crushing indictment, with which he is to overwhelm the Government. Possibly Mr McKcnzio is the individual to whom Mr Scddon rcicrrcd in his Wanganui speech, who would be selected by the alleged"Secret Committee" to stump the country with the amiable purposoof " tearine the Government to rags." Aweycr, in the fulness of time, no tsiibt wo shall sco whether there is any truth in the Scobie Mackenzie raid. There will he some fun if there is.

i lam informed by a gentleman very intimately connected with politics and one who ought to know what he is talking about, that the chief items on tbe Government programme for next session will bo Local Government Reform aud the revision of tho Tariff. It is proposed to consolidate vcrv largely the Local Bodies and centralise their functions as much as possible. In fact it is asserted that the Government proposals will practically mcau a return to the old provincial system, excepting that it is not intended to confer legislative powers as formerly. The provincial councils or whatever they arc to be called will be merely administrative bodies having charge ot roads aud bridges and similar public works iu their respective Districts.

There is no doubt that a return to this semi-provincial government system will he extremely unpopular in the country districts, for it will be thought aud with somo degree of reason, the result will be that the bulk of the expenditure on public works, as was formerly the case, #he in the vicinity of the large (owns, tho outlying districts will be starved m consequence. The Government would speedily tiiul, were they to attempt such an alteration as I have indicated, that they were digging a pit for (heir own destruction, for it is believed the country members would rise as one man in emphatic protest,

As to Tariff reform, it will undoubtedly lie in the direction of protection of the most advanced description. This alsD will be exceedingly uupopulur with the country residents, who undoubtedly will feel (he effects of protection more acutely perhaps than the dwellers in the large centres, From all appearances therefore, should my information prove correct, the Government are entering upon a very hazardous policy as regards their own political existence, and next session may be regarded as one which will be big with exciting events.

. Mr C.H.Mills, M.H.11, is now in town and lam told he is more firmly convinced than ever that the convict Chemis, who is now serving his life sentence in Lyttelton Gaol for the murder of Hawkins, is an absolutely innocent man. Mr Mills spares neither time nor « blcin impressing upon everybody ■onvictions and he certainly makes oni a very good case for his belief. Mr Mills does not intend to rest until the mystery has once more been thoroughly probed to the bottom, and with this object in view he intends early nest session to again bring the matter before the House. Mr Mills may or may not be mistaken in his belief but at least one cannot help admiring his dogged persistence in the face of extraordinary opposition. Strange things have happened ere now in the history of criminal cases in this Colony, amongst which Die trial and conviction of Trickcr for the murder of Raynor, of whichhewas afterwards proved to be entirely innocent, is a striking instance that circumstantial evidence is anything but infallible,

I hear that the counsel for the Midland Kailway Company in the great arbitration case which commences early in April will include the names of Messrs H. D, Bell and A. E. Guinness. Personally, I doubt very much whether Mr 801 l will accept a brief from the fact that his partner, Mr Gully, is one of the leading counsel on the other side, but there seems no doubt that Mr Ainness will be employed, for he has Wg acted as legal adviser to the Company on the coast.

The Wellington Corporation have done wisely in deciding to purchase the three-acre paddock in Hobson-street, as a recreation ground for Thorudou. It is true that the paddock is very small for a recreation ground, but beggars cannot be choosers, and space in Wellington generally, and Thorndon in particular, is very limited. Of course we have not yet secured the ground finally, for a sum of £8,500 (a handsome price by the way for three acres) has to be borrowed, and to do this a poll of the ratepayers will have to he taken. The paddock was originally purchased by Sir Churlcs Clifford in the very early days, when be was one of Wellington's first settlers, and it has descended to Sir George Clifford—his eldest son. I should very much like to know what the difference is between the original price which Sir Charles paid for the land and that now offered by the Corporation—£B,ooo. I am open to wager that the " unearned increment" would astonish most people. The paddock lias never been built on or im-

proved in any way, but it lias steadily risen in value owing to the value of the f joining land as building sites. Hobsonret, as most or your readers are aware the Park Lane of Wellington, and licucc every inch of ground is immensely valuable. The Corporation, all things considered, have obtained the ground at a reasonable price.

I understand that several prominent supporters of the Temperance movement in Wellington arc withdrawing from membership in the N.Z. Alliance, in eonsequenco of the extreme lengths to which that body is prepared logo in the direction of Prohibition. The resigning members say that they have every sympathy with the Temperanec movement, but none whatever with the intemperate and high-handed means the party is employing to achieve its end—Prohibition. It is a pity that such a power for good as the $A Alliancc should adopt as its watchword the Jesuitical motto of the means justifying theend. They must undoubtedly alienate public sympathy by such a procedure,

All tie Ministerial residences in Wellington are now occupied or let. The Premier rcsidea in the Molesworth Street residence, and Mr Hcywood, the Secretary to the Treasury occupies the house in Lower Tinakori Eoad. The large mansion in Tinakori Itoad—opjMsite Hill Street—formerly tenanted «, Mr Ballance and preceding Premiers Ifias been let as a boarding-house. The Government have therefore successfully disposed of the Ministerial residences diihculty.

There are rumours afloat to the effect that the Government have secured an estate at Pctone for small farm purposes under the Land lor Settlements Act. I cannot vouchfor the truth of thcrumour, but, no doubt, we shall hear all about it hhortly if there is anything in it, It is further stated that the land, which consists of about 2,000 acres of hilly country, is to be cut up into small holdings for the purpose of settling .Railway, Woollen Company, and Gear Meat Company employes on, as it is anticipated a great many of them will shortly be working half-time only, and they will thus be enabled to eke out an existence during the slack season. Can this be meant as a sop to Cerberus for the next general election!'

Several of the people who were foolish enough to accompany that arch-impostor jjageno, to tJouth Africa, have now reWned to Wellington.all of them poorer, and let us hope sadder and wiser individuals. They have now learnt to their cost, that prophetic predictions do not always "pan out" to the letter, and that "it is better to hear the ills we have, than to fly to those we know not of." Euseiie, I believe, when he discovered that most of his followers had becomo sceptical of his supernatural powers, upon arrival in Capetown, and noting discontent setting deeply on their brows, suddenly disappeared with a

faithful few, and left the remainder stranded in the South African capital. It is a portion of these latter who have now found their way back to Wellington.