ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1415, 28 July 1881, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

What a splendid thing it is to follow a leader who appreciates the value of his followers and is willing to help them to grind their little axes ! Mr de Lautour is one of the fortunute individuals who finds himself in the position of follower of such a leader, and that leader is the great and good Sir George Grey. During 1 the last session of Parliament Mr de Lautour biought in a little bill to amend the Legal Practitioners Act, so as to make serving as a Member of Parliament, instead of solving ai tides m a solicitor's office, a qualification for admission to tho bar The reason why was not far to seek. Mr dc Lautour is a M.H.R and he wishes to be a solicitor, but is prevented berving articles in the usual way by what he is pleaded to term his Parliamentary duties. The bill met with the fate it deserved, being ignomiiiiouwly thrown out. Sir George Grey has nobly come to the rescue ot his follower, and has introduced a bill which, if it becomes law, which I do not believe it will do, will enable any person of mature age who can pass the necessary examinations to demand admission to practise as n solicitor. Anything else, Mr George ? "Would it not be better to abolish the examinations also and allow any man who likes to become a solicitor, as any man may become a grocer or a butcher.? Ot course, the consequence would be that we would have cheap law, and no one needs to be told tho result of cheap law. There was a splendid instance of the advantages of cheap law which came before Judge Gillies some time ago. An old gentleman, who was very fond of the bawbees, wanted his will drawn out, and determined to get it done as cheaply as possible. .After trying to beat down several respectable solicitors and narrowly escaping being helped out ot their offices by an application of shoe-leather, he went to a friend and admirer of Sir George Grey, who it is said drew up the will, a long and ponderous document for the munificent sum of ten sh Mings and sixpence. In couise of time the old gentleman went the way of all flesh. The will was duly proved and probate was granted. Then the trouble began. It was found necessary by the executors to apply to Mr Justice Gillies for directions as to the manner in which the provisions of the will were to be carried out. A number of our leading solicitors, (the present Attorney General among them, if - 1 • remember aright), were engaged, to appear on behalf of the executors and the legatees, much time ■ was necessarily > spent in argument, and thd way in which the guineas were spent . in . contesting that will was enough to make the testator turn in His grave. So much for cheap law, and yet that noble minded man, Sir George Grey, would subject innocent , ipeople to ■ the clanger of being placedin.a ) sin4la.r, ov worse position, simply' to further the privato ends of hisheiiohman.Mr de Lautour. Fortunately, ,the -majority! of the members of Parliament are not to be so easily hoodwinked. ' ! ' Our dear friend, Dr Putcba«, wh'6 made himself famous (?) by the notorious "Parchas chargeB,M irt [connection With the Auckland fidWge and drammar School, has bpen figuring in thp^uprepe ,Qp«rt. this week as | 'de / fendanj|; in, an' action Jol trespass. It' appears thai tnere was a dispute as to boundary between hitnand a ma.n .>an»edMHpigntonl a Stokchihisfc. The latter erected a brick wall on what he believed t6 .be-thi*. own land. i.'Br Purohas claimed the, land,, { sq ,he and his ( who'had'prb'bably ae,eri, Studying, the abcount of "tHa Sie'tfe '6? 'Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, brought oatteringv rams W &» W!W '^W'MfmW down. Hence the action 1 , Which resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff (Heighton), for '£125 'arid(! boats/' People"' want' 'to know, What does Olivia say ? . Of ' course'/ all the 'ffia'dersbY the "vf AiKato Times will kfibW tfte result- of the Free Lance libel oases, The gen.era.l

feeling at the Gaffe, and throughout the city, is one of satisfaction at the result, which was a victory/ for »Mr ,'^ipkham in r both cases. At firsVsight lfn&y appear as it the representative of the Central CoramiJ?be^ojßQxJs^S[«sfc"had -been-vic-torious in his case, but he certainly was ( not. , ,He qerteiidy; obtained | an apology, and he may haye obtained, ,twenty pounds towards his' J expenses,' though many people are very doubtful of this, ,Even if he received that sum, it would be but a small portion of his expenses, and everyone has been talking about what^Ke defendant was going to prove^and B-'gfe? B^ deal against Mr linvWMi^J-^ ,hvM^[ believed as if it had be§|[^!!wQnr-Jo ,as^ evidence in the witiiej^Jto&^^/tae Supreme Court. The two^otttogjsoKjJltpra, Messrs R. Browning and^,/3<!. WJjltij^er, ' who defended Mr Wiqkh&'ni^ I-ha-vegf^ \ gained great kudo* for tW^bfo jn^niierih! which they conducted tse? cases, and they have thoroughly^ell^earned it.^ Some time ago I%m^^^^i. i sß3e^L Australian, an excell#t^j^^ftije? >^|ii9^ lished in Melbourue, ? :falg|«J»^s^|cl|^e| readers of the Jlc^o«^^k^^fy^hSftlJ l c^o«^^k^^fy^hSft1d v i i hear more about i|:^'j7X'* I '^'^w^f !^ ;( ***^W , my promise. In jj<wß| recentj^ttrnbers of^j the journal there %pjfeared an ssicle, en* titled " A Bit of 9r^!phina.'?4ft is a description of the jCKinese qu^TOr of San Francisco, by Chk'^fe WaiTenSjtoddard. The writer, after^referring 6nefly*.tQ the Chinese merchan%%,h<> are comfortably, - if not elegantly rhouded, describes the wretched, closely , packed haunts , of the lower class of Mongolians. He saysy^'ln apartments not more than fifteen feet square three or four .'different professions are often represented, and these afford employment to ten ,ort a dozen men,',' Again," The seventy-five cigar factories employ 8000 coolies, and these are huddled into the closest quarters. In a single room, measuring 20 feet by 30 feet, sixty men and boys have been discovered industriously rolling real Havannas." After describing that portion of the Chinese quarter which ii above ground, the writer uives an account of what may fairly be termed the infernal regions — 'the gambling and opium-smoking dens, which are reached by means of passages so narrow that two persons oannotpass in them and so low that a man has fiequently to stoop to walk along them. The dens in which the opium is hmoked are " just long enough to lie down in, and just broad enough to allow a nariow door to swing inward between two single beds with two sleepers in each bed. The doors are closed and bolted ; there is often no window, and always no ventilation." The odours that salute us (Mr Stoddard was piloted by a special policeman) are offensive }* on every hand there is an accumulation of filth that should naturally, if it does not, breed fever and death." After giving a very full account of the opium smokers, among whom were a number of white men, the writer continues, "While the opium habit is one that should be treated at once with wisdom and seventy, there is another point which seriously involves the Chinese question, and, unfortunately, it must be handled with gloves. Nineteen-twentieths of the Chinese women in San Francisco are depraved. Some are the concubines of wealthy Chinamen, who have paid for them from one hundred to a thousand dollars each. If one of these wearies of his concubine, she is sold to some secondhand purchaser and his harem is replenished with a market supplied with the latest arrivals. Probably the discarded woman descends at once to piomiscuous traffic ; yet, even here she is still a slave, and what a slavery is this in the house that inchneth unto death. The sirens are ill-shapen, un-handsome, unwholesome creatures, with high check-bones that flatten and harden their faces, the narrow slanting eyes are glassy and expressionless ; the mouths are low, broad and sensual; the noses notoriously queer." I must pass over the remainder of what Mt Stoddard says about these unfortunates, which would be too horrible for publication, if it were not for its evident truth. After giving an aooount of the lepers, the writer describes a Joss-house, a theatre, where the same play continues clay after day, and an eating-house very different from the Cafe frequented by St. Mtjxgo.