MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 358, 29 August 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

In the course of an able article on Mr Vogel's recent change of policy, the Canlcrbury J^vjuss writes : — When .(. Minister begins tins session by announcing that ho has \\n important proposals to make, and afterwards, aL o moment I1 '' notice, ami apparently by a sort of " happy thought," pinposes a radical chanire in the constitution, one natuisi"\ inquires the reason. for so extraordinary a proceeding. VN peciully so when the proposed chaugo is of n kind dim l\ oppoiod to the Minister's previously expressed princijiU-' and the course of.his political acnon. For, till lecently, Mr Vogel was the great champion of provincialism. * * * What then bus brought about so complete a change in bin opinions? What hat led him to tho conclusion that piovincial institutions are a nuisance, and that provincialism should bo abolished ? The spee ch affords no ansuor to theso enquiries. It contains ample evidence that Mr Vogel is much annoyed at the opposition to the Forests Bill, that he 13 on bad terms w lth the provincial authorities ol Wellington, and ha* something like a personal quarrel with Mr Fitzherberfc. But that is all. We get no clue to tho reasons for hia crusade against the provinces beyond such small private motives. On public grounds there is no explanation why provincialism has grown odious in his sight, or why he is seized with a desire to destroy institutions which it used to be object of his political lifo to protect and foster. * * The provinces are as they were, the only circumstances that have altered are his own. Ho has moved from tho Opposition to the Treasury Bench, and in place of making demands, has to find the means of satisfying them. There is no other way of accounting for Ins sudden reversal of policy; we do not know whether tho chnngd will be held sufficient to justify it. * * * All that the Premier urges — to which his eyes have been so wondrously opened by tho debates on the Forests Bill — is nn old story with us. * * What wo object to is the abruptness and inconvenience of Mr Vogel's action. He is doing on tho spur of the moment and out of piquo what ought, to be dono deliberately and on well constituted grounds of public policy. It is evident that ho had never dreamt of touching the provincial question this session, and that ho would not have meddled with it — still less have taken the line ho has upon it — bnt for the opposition to tho Forests Bill. Tlie argument about tha pauperism of tho Northern provinces, and tho disproportion between their revenues and the' expenditure of the G-enoral Government in the North Island, is clearly an afterthought. While, then, wo have no quarrel with Mr Voxel's conclusions, we dislike tho process by which lie has arrived at them. If tho Northern provinces are to be abolished it should not be as a penalty for opposition to the Grovernraont. A great constitutisnal change, even though desirable m itself, ought not to be mado merely because a Minister happens to lose his temper ovor the ill-success of a favorite measure. The official report on our recruits and recruiting system for 1878 hns just been published, and is interesting because the new plan introduced by Lord Cardwell only came into operation during tho early part of last year- The total number of recruits raised in the fwelvo months was 17,194, being rather lc-s thnn l.ho supph for 1872, but this is | accounted for by the recent reduction of our foices to the extent of 5,000 men, so thai fowor recruits wero required, though larger numbers might, if needed, have been obtained. The physique and stamina of the men who joined were satisfactory, and those whoso bodily development and general appeal anco were at first objected to were mostly young lads wlio have since grown into strong and healthy men, in consrquenco of the better feeding provided for them in the avniy, and to the moro healthy and active habits they pursue ns soldier*, compared with their conditions of life previous to enlistmont. A soldier, saya Land and Water, is now better fed, clothed, lodged, and educated than ever he was formerly ; lm health is carefully attended to, and provision is made for his amusement. The average age of lecruita i 9 found to bo less than it used to be, owing probably to tho existing high rate of wago3, which tempt tho full-grown labourers to seek employment in other channels. In tho north of Scotland thcro "has been a great lack of success in recruiting, and nearly all tho Highland rcgiraouts have therefore bpen kept below their full strength. Again, in the seafnnng districts the lads become marines or mon-of war's men, owing to preferences which aro easily understood. Very little is said about desertions, except that thoy have become frtqnent for several yours past, and aro a considerable) drain u\ on our forces. High wuges, in reality, seduce tho soldier fiom his duty. Fire feet five is the present infantry standard ; in no other army in, Europe is it so hijsJk \'es, it was a sorrowful sight, to sco that manly form at mid day, prostrate, stretched out on his back, on a long wooden door-slop, not f.ir from licensed liquor saloons. Tuere ho lay alone. Blood was dry on his lips, and in his nostrils. The broathing was heavy, eyes closed, feet dangling, hinds helpless, face flushed and soiled with dirt. Tho ' dark blue garb repot ted him n sailor. Wo looked at tho I manly features, once bright and esprei>sivu, but now so powerless and loathsome. Our heart was agonized for him t

and for bia mot bur. For that mother who »..-vo him, birth, at tlio peril of her own life. S,h.Cvhad ceaseletsly cared for li in infancy, had fondled andcartwS .the once beautiful expanding form, but it was now loathsome. sThe montnl question was, where ii she now ? Away perhaps waitings longing for the return of her boy. May be>}ie is her only son, her enly earthly hope- A sauVnv dne^ii class of men who do much for commerce, musi for tb;e world. Why was he 'i$JQn% thtfre? To * passing najatej I sft'id : Sec thin poor man. *jsVfio his done this ? i Who hat macfe him so helpleas, and then left' him ? With-a grim laugh, the reply was, — Plen:y of white men give- drink. r W« taid, call lome of them to caro for him. They passed on saying, — Plenty white men all around Honolulu givo drink. " O, it is pitiful, in a whole city full, friends he had none. Where was the individual who held out the tempting liquid destroyer, with ono hand, and with the other grasped the quarters t6 enrich his own pocket ? If his sense of propriety, of justice »nd humanity, * has departed, or bean absorbed in tbe^fumes of alcoholic drinks, why should be not be required to nune and care for the wreck he has made ? But no, justice is left out in the cold. When the victim of avarice becomes loathsome, he is turned out to lie where he may happen to fall, and the destroyer goes on, sporting his gold watch and cigars, chuckling over his paltry death-itained silver to obtain more by ft continued work of destruction. Thus things go on from month to month, from year to year, irith public permission, as though it were a nice, a respectable thing, to destroy the noble work of God. How many, of both natirei and foreigners, aro every year pushed into that absorbing gulf of intemperance which has no mercy and no bounds ? And shall it thus continue ? Shall there be a public annual , auction, to sell to men permission to scatter destruction and death jiut to enrich the Government treasury, and replenish the pockets of such as love to deal out sorrow and rum, and death to their fellow-men ? Our hearts are draped in mourning by the recent death of one young man in the vigor of ( youth, who died from the poisonous sting of a marine insect. .No one thinks of casting responsibility on the soulless thing, but hold it up on exhibition as a thing to be feared and avoided. Why is ho who tells poisonous liquid, such at it well known to destroy both body and soul, made not only prominent, but responsible, — for ho has a soul> and knows good from evil. — A Woman. An exchange paper sa> s : — " Curious persons who examine the Monthly Army List have often expressed their surprise at the display of patriotism made by New Zealand as illustrated in its pages, where not dozens only, but hundreds of our bia\e fellow-subjects aye found beating commieeions in. the colonial Volunteer service, which are duly recognited in the official lists. Of majors alone, for instance, t'>ere appear to be enough to fill a very respectable battalion on their own nccouut, without any assistance from- the lower military »ra<'es." This sarcastic writer professes to have instituted inquiries as to what the New Zealand majors are doing to keep up their acquaintance with military ait- One result is a communication from Tnrnnaki describing a local Wimbledon winch had taken place there :—": — " Mr Collins, who obtained the best score — 54 — ' was awarded a plum cake, ■ lady's necklet, and a jet cross.' The second to him (Mr Furlong) recvu cd a. bottle of claret, and the third (Mr Elder) a silver brooch and doll. But the more substantial acknowledgement of a sucking pig was specially reserved for the lowest scorer (Mr Eoebuck), apparently on the tamo principle adopted in 6ertain races among themselves- where the last in wins. As the local paper remarks that ' nothing occurred during the day for special remark, with the exception of a narrow escape the marker bad of being shot, the disc in his hand having been cut in two by a bullet,' the whole of the proceeding patted off very pleasantly, and no doubt were calculated to give the Toranaki Volunteers at once an excellent opinion of their own military qualifications for a place in Hie Army List." * The Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes as follows regarding the South Sea scheme and the official denial of the existence of such a scheme given when some months ngo the Times alluded to its existence : — "The Polynesian Company", with a Government guaranteo of five per cent, on the capital of one million, and itt intention to monopolise the Polynesian traUe, was,' after rill, * gMat and concrete emanation from the Treasurer's fertile brain. Your statement of its existence three months ogo proves to. have been more than litemlly correct, despite the authoritative denials of the Government and the telegrapheri. Nothing has created a, deeper mistrust than this audacious denial, for it is now pretty well known that Sir James Fergusson wrote to Lord. Kimberley and was himself thoroughly aware of the whole proposal on tho 11th March last. Nay, I will go further and state — strange at i^may sound — that the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury was sought, ami his bltating, it is said, obtained on an enterprise so well calculated to diffuse the benefits of trado fchd of Christianity throughout these benighted islands. His Grace, I hear on good authority, I approves of the 'a'ctilmb ; but J fear if the hearts of the promotars could bo searched, they would he found to care le=s for the approval or the blessing than the subscriptions, for shares which his influence and name may secure. Nt> one, of cour-e, mixes tho Governor up with the affair, but peop'e- laugh at the manner in which ho has been worked 4 and iicl that, his Excellency must hare his weak tide, which tho«c about him have not been slow to discover. More worldly-minded men than his Grace of Canterbury, and ahrcwiier business mep than hjs Excellency the Governor, see their way, no doubt, to make a good thing out of the ulfnir, but lam told that it baa received the adhesion of a n number of t cry influential people', as the cunt phrase goeth. What right these influential people — each with his own private and particular axe to grind — have to conduct tecret negotiations, which amount almost to* conspiracy against the public purse, and of which they are §0 ashamed that they dare not submit them to deliberate public criticism, is a question whicVi the taxpayers of tho colony mjfry^one day ask. In New York those things are called' Rings, and we are righteously and justly horrified at their existence. One cannot help asking if they will strike the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Governor of New Zealand in the same light, and if so, whether they will be as much horrified at tho ' Rings ' m a Conservative as they are in a Democratic community." Tho handsome premises erected for the Times in* Queen Victoria street, will be used as well for the manufacture of the "Walter" printing machines. The main elevation, in Queen Victoria street, is about 60ft in length, and upward* of 60ft in height from the street level; the central portion, which is surrounded by a bold and massive carved pediment in stone, being carried to a height of nearly 80ft. The building has «, deep and spacious- basement, containing ono large workshop, extending over the entire ground area. This part of the building is 161t in height from the floor to the ceiling, and is exclusively let ap^Vt. for' the manufacture of the " Walter " machine. The building, in addition to the basement, contains the ground floor, which is lofty, and four stories above. The materials used are red wire- cut brick, with yellow brick, dressing!. Each storey contains a rangeof nine windows, which are segment-headed. The entrance is at the uc*t angle of the building, and is an ornamental feature. It is 111 carved itone, and circular in form ; the arched head ing being supported on each side by massivej polished granite columns and bold stone cantilevers. Tbs facade is supported by a projecting stone cornice, four feet in height; and above this, in the central portion of the elevation, and extending across nearly two-thirds of the entire frontage, rises the pediment already mentioned. The carving on tho face of the pediment is a reproduction of the motto which ha 9 long daily appeared in the Times. In the centre a huge- block of stone represents an open book, with the words " The Times" inscribed in large black letters; on one side is another open book, also carved in stone, having on it the inscription " Times Past," and surrounded by & profusion ot oak leaves in full foliage, and bunches of acorns, the foliage of the oak-leaves obscuring some portion sof the book of " Times Pask;" on the other side is a third book closed, on which is inscribed " Future." Iv the central portion of the upper part of the pediment over the carving 1 just described is a large and ornamental clock. — City Press. For the engi aving copyright of her Roynl Academy picture, " Calling the ltoll," Miss Thompson has received the magnificent sum of £1,200.