GOSSIP FROM AUCKLAND. [FROM A CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2046, 18 August 1885, Page 3

GOSSIP FROM AUCKLAND. [FROM A CO RRESPONDENT .]

Ai cm v.vu, Saturday. Tmv.s aie lather quiet at [indent in the city. Within the last week we have bad nothing much to distin b oui gravity. The iiiunicip.il squabble appears to have subsided. As might have been expected, it has ended m a h//lc. Tho,e noisy gentlemen, Councillors Ganatt and Gnklie, li.no succeeded in obtaining what they well meiited, public contempt. I" the Spectator the proceedings of the council have been made the subject of .1 screaming fa ice, entitled, " Retrenchment ala mode." The characters, or rather the peculmntics of the, councillor?, appear to have boon well hit off, and the whole subject has been propeily burlesqued. " Much ado about nothing " may be written as an epitaph on the late municipal hufbub, and it is to be hoped that for some time at least wo, have heird the last of these corporation wind-bag-*. We ha\e had several meetings of the unemployed, of which class there aie pcihaps more in Auckland than is g. uei.Uly supposed. At one of these meetings a man, who represented fom hundied others, most of whom were nimricd men, said " he was almost penniless, th.it he had a w lfe and a Large family of young clnldien, one of w horn ho might lose, and that he had not sufficient bread even to put in their mouths." Resolutions weie passed, urging the (iovermnent to desist from encouraging immigration, and to (Jo something to provide woik for the unemployed. The old feud between labour and capital seems about to be revived ; it seems .strange and tad that a paupei class should be springing up in so young a country as New Zealand. The firemen on the steamers of the j Northern Steamship Company havostiuck for an incieasc of t'l per month. It is notorious that this company has suffeied much fiom the depiction in the shipping tiadc dming the last twelve months, and then last balance sheet was not much calculated to cheer the spints 'if the shaie holders. The«o hades unions have too much of the bully in them, and this attempt to coeice employers into g'ving a hieher wage than they could affoid to pay was generally regarded at a most baiefaced tiy-on : so much so, indeed, that it has been abandoned by its promoter. Mr W. L. Rees has been energeticallj pushing his "cheme for the co opei.ition of land, labour and capital. Seveial mrlucn tial Aucklanders have sat on the same platform, and have given his ideas their support and sympathy. We h.we had some elaborate suggestions put foiwaid, which certainly look very well on paper. As a rule, state interference i» pernicious and he who embarks on the sea of political economy launches out on a wide ocean. These gentlemen doubtless wish to do good, but when they talk of reducing the puce of commodities in such a sweeping manner, they seem to lose bight of the old laws»of supply and demand which have hitheito been regarded as the index, of pi ice. It is shrewdly suspected that certain at-tnte mdividuals are in search of a billet. The Rationalists appear to be making great efforts to spioad their doctunes. Their organ, "The Rationalist," ceitainly possesses talent on its staff, plenty of cheek, and little modesty. Mr Robert Lowe (of match tax celebuty), now Viscount Sheibrooke, once described certain of his enemies of the loquacious order as posseting an inoidinate share of lungs and impudence, and this de»ciiptiou would fit the Auckland Rationalists. One of the Rationalist's articles on the meeting of Anglican Sunday School teachers was a scorchei. Mr Hammond road an article deprecating the undue mterfeience of clergymen in the Sunday School, and showing how irritating it was to the superintendents, whose plans thereby were often disorganised. Mr Hammond's paper appears to have been a most able and exhaustive one. As may bo unigmed, the impious "Hammond's'' rutnaiks fell as a bomb shell into tho cimp of Iho parson*, and the denial cackle which onsiied, as desciibed by the Rationalist, was most amusing, nay/ludicious. Gerald Ala<wy, tho pi oat gun of the Rationalists, has been tiymg to shoot the devil, Geiald, f«n aught we know, may be n good maiksinan, but we would advise him to take plenty of bullets, and see to the pinning of his rifle. We also wish him success, but fear he will return with an empty bag, Martin Luthei once shied an inkstand at tho gentleman in sable, but missed his in.uk. Possibly a bullet might penetrato wheie .an ink-pot would not. This occui lence may pci chance be the oiigin of the pi inter's devil, Luthei was a famous inkslinger, or pet haps the anecdote, like that of the famous hatchet of George Washington, may be involved in doubt. Some incredulous people have the face to say that both are tnoiuly ploasant fictions. Ono of Massey's lecturus was entitlod, "The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ." This dealt largely with the musty records of antiquity, and was an attempt to prove that the Jew*, luceivcd their traditions and customs fiom the Egyptians. The attempt, however, did not seem successful. It is much easier to pull down than to build up ; notwithstanding the cavils of infidel*, and the sneeis of nthciots, the fact remains that tho highest dHctrine was enunciated by the Man of Nazareth when he said, "Do unto otheis as ye would that men should do unto you." The fact is theso loose thought (fruethought) people are too apt to mistake sinai tness for brilliancy and dogmatism for foice ; they discard the feelings of courtesy, and a slashing style is adopted to give an appeal - anco of strength which does not really exist. On the wholo wo arc having a very fine winter. A short time ago tho woildfamed correspondent G. A. Sala passed through Auckland on router for Sydney. He suoke highly of the treatment ho receiv ed during the threo or four hours he remained in this city, and expressed his gratitude for tho kindnois shown tow aids him. It is a great question whether these distinguished strangers who come amongst us aie capable of giving a true account of the Colony, its resources and the condition of its people, as to whether they aio pio-peious and contented or tho reverse ; taken in hand by tho dlite of the place, com ted, feted and caressed by the wealthy they sco only the sunny side of tho picture ; of the darker side, the poveity, the stiuggles and tho hardships of colonial life, they see little or nothing. They return to tho old country and write and lecture about the glorious Britain of the South, its magnificent lesources, unrivalled climate, and all the lest of it ; as a consequenco, numbers of people decide to emigrate, as they aroled to behove, to a land where they can almost livo with out work ; they come hither, and to their intense chagrin find that thoy_ aie totally unfitted to undergo the hardships of colonial life, and that they must either starve or leturn whence they came, and all this on account of the overheated imaginations of enthusiastic globe-trotters. The preserved meat market continues brisk, as far as boiled beef is concerned, but boiled mutton goes off slowly. Gieat difficulty has been experienced (ho the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile people say), in disposing of the 21b. tins size beef, which is bo useless as to bo almost unsaleable. The parade of volunteers in the domain on Saturday, before Sir Geo. Whitmoro was a great success. The weather was fins, and large crowds of citizens weie also on the ground. Fourteen companies of volunteers put in an appeal ance, and it was altogether tho most successful parade yet tried here.

Mmsm Srott and Cox, dnprrs md pro<-pr<;, Hamilton, nnnnunre tint tin v line dissohed p.Ltiu rslup I lie Innings tull HI future be carried on by Mr N \<. Cos