OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2539, 18 October 1888, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

[KROM OUR OWN CORRKSrONDENT.J Sydney, October 3. The Kemp-Han'an match was a foregone conclusion, so much so that very little interest was shown in it. The smallness of the attendance may be partly explained by the date being fixed for Friday, instead of Saturday. But this explanation won't cover the whole ground. The fact is, the glamour of Hanlan'sname has departed. At one time he was believed to possess strength and skill beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. All sorts of absurd hypotheses were resorted to in order to account for his phenomenal success. Concealed springs, hidden machinery, a s<:rew worked by the action of the sliding seat—these were among the least of the marvels which were related for the benefit of the credulous. But one hears very little of them now. The idol has fallen, and is siren, after all, to bo but common clay, livery successive defeat has been more cnishiag than the last, and the story lias become so monotonous that even second and thirdclass scullcre—or at least pcnllers who twelve months aL'O were little removed from novices—make no bones about challenging the once formidable exchatupiou/ They have got so used to beating him that another victory is scarcely taken into account. The explanation probably is that the (lower of physical vigour, which is the prime requisite for a champion athlete, is one which only blossoms once in unique perfection. A man may be able to hold his own with other men, so as to take a respectable position in n crowd, but to be better than all other men, and to be always better than all other men, is not given to any oue for a longtime together. If Hanlan had followed Beach's example, and retired before his laurels were wrestled from him, his position in the minds of the people would be very different to-day. Perhaps it is that ho cannot bring himself to recognise the inevitable, or perhaps he wishes to work his reputation for all that it is worth as a source of pecuniary profit. Whatever the cause, it is plain that he persists in rowing after l>l3 prowess has departed The revenue returns for the quarter just enilcd seem to show pretty plainly that matters have reached their lowest ebb, and that, in the natural course of events, a gradual recovery may be looke'! for. The Treasurer and the Free Trade dailies, indeed, claim that the upward movement has already commenced, and that the estimate of a moderate surplus bids fair to be realised The estimate, however, was to a great extent visionary, find depends in a great measure on the clever manipulation of figures rather than on a decrease of expenditure or increase of revenue. At least that 13 what the exTreasurer assured us. He pointed out the items to which he referred, and his reasoning seemed quite conclusive, and has never been satisfactorily refuted. So with the present estimates The Star, in an article which shows intimate acquaintance with the subject, states that credit has been taken for a large item of pastoral rents which are usually paid in December, and that the amount debited by way of interests on loans is considerably less than the sum due for the quarter. Unfortunately, the accounts are so enormous and so complicated that it is easy to shuffle the figures about in a manner that will deceive the vast mass of the public. But, sooner or later, of course this must come to an end. Receipts must in the long run balance expenditure, or else the vcice of the public creditor begins to be heard. The common practice in the past has been to conceal minor deficits as long as possible, and to pass their accumulated weight on until there comes a year in which the state of affairs is patent to everybody, then to make that year the scapegoat for all the sins of its predecessors. That at least is the conclusion to which we are led by the mutual recriminations of ex-'f reasurers.

Oue point is very prominent in the returns, and although the amount involved is small it possesses great siguiricenee. I refer to the deposits on conditional purchases, which, for the thret years just past, havn shown a steady decrease every year. Mr Coghlan's statistics just published also show that the number of persons employed in manufactures in ISB7 was less than that of the previous year. Here then are two weak points revealed, which call for remedial action. What that action should be is a point for the statesman, rather than for the press correspondent. But indifference and inaction would be inexcusable. The industries of a country constitute its strength aDd vigour. The progress of settlement is the gauge of colonial prosperity. What will our legislators do about it? Some say that they ought to do nothing and can do nothing. Lalsser-faive is always a popular doctrine with the dominant party. It is so comfortable, relieves one of such a weight of responsibility, aud is so beautifully easy to carry ont. It enables us to regard the misfortunes of those dependent on us with the most philosophic and social unconcern. But the people who suffer may be pardoned if they get a little restive under their their troubles, and begin to enquire whether it U absolutely necessary that they should continue to suffer. I, for one, shall bo much surprised if there is not a determined effort to secure for the fundamental industry of agriculture, at least, such a measure of encouragement as may enable it to compare advantageously with that of the other colonies.

An encouraging sign of the times is the opening of the Women's Industrial Exhibition which was formally started on its career yesterday by Lord Carrington. It shows that the enfranchisement of the weaker sex is proceeding in Australia a? it is all over the civilised world. Besides the employments which have commonly been reyaidcd as their only sphere of usefulness, women are now becoming lawyers, doctors, preachers, editors, reporters, type-writers, clcrka, cashiers, and a variety c> f other occupations too puineroua to meution. The necessity phich compelled a aelf-respecting woman

to depend upon marriage as her sole means of livelihood is departing. Whilst men are betaking themselves to bubblemongering, company promoting, syndicate forming, bookmaking, scrip gambling and other fashionable forms of preying on the public, women are betaking themselves to honest work. Sooner or later the moral condition of the weaker sex gives the tone to the whole of society, and we may reasonably, therefore, hope for a gradual return to a a better state of things. The Exhibition opened yesterday makes a very brave show. It has been taken in hand by a number of influential and wealthy people and a much larger number of industrious md willing workers. Consequently the result is encouraging. It will be open for some time, and a prominent feature in its proceedings will be a series of elaborate concerts in each of which some particular phase of musical art will be illustrated and emphasized. That useful and handy instrument, the typewriter, which has long been in use very extensively in the older capitals of America and Europe is now being very generally adopted in Sydney. Scarcely any important commercial house is now without it, and oven journalists are beginning to find that it is a great iinprovement on the pens. An ordinarily expert operator, after a few weeks practice, can w-rk with a typewriter twice or three times as fast as he can write with a pen. The Remington, the Hall, and other great manufacturing companies have established agencies here, and a large trade is being done. The price of the Hall is only eight guineas, and it is really a marvellous piece of mechanism, doing excellent work, and preferred by many to the more expensive machines. The price of the Remington is more than twice as much, and it, of course, has its admirers aud its special advantages.