NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 82, 21 November 1874, Page 6

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

We rcgrefc to learn that the measles has been making sad havoc amongst the unfortunate waifs in the Industrial School, on last Sunday there being no less than forty-two of their number laid prostrate. The dormitories have been improvised into an hospital to meeb the emergencies of the occasion, and thanks to the unremitting care and attention of the Superintendent and Matron, Mr and Mrs Britton, nothing is neglected that can be done to comfort and alleviate the little sufferers. Considering the very great strain which must be caused by the presence of so much illness in the institution, the arrangements which have been made, and the care and attention bestowed on the little patients, reflect tho highest credit on the officers of the institution.

By the May Queen, which reached port on the 12th insfc., the Her. Fathers Higgins and Grleasxire arrived for this diocese. It is also more than probable that Father Coleman who is expected to arrive shortly beforo Christmas, will be accompanied by another clergyman, making a total of five gentlemen who will have been added to our list of clergy since the departure of the Vicar-G-eneral. "We learn also that by the incoming Suez mail the Most Bey. Dr Redwood, Bishop of Wellington, is expected, and already preparations are being made throughout his diocese to give his Lordship a fitting ■welcome, on his taking charge of his Sec.

The usual fortnightly meeting of St. Joseph's Branch of the Hibernan Society was held on Monday evening, in the schoolroom attached to the church. After the general business of the meeting had been disposed of, Bro. J. J. Connor proposed, and Bro. Moylan seconded the following i % esolution :—": — " That- a committee, to consist of Bros. J. Toal, T. O'Donnell, J. Meenan, Kirk, Desmond, M'Ewan, the mover and seconder, and the officers of the Lodge, be appointed

for the purpose of making arrangements for a Pic-nic for the Catholic school children, and their parents and friends, on St. Stephen's Day, with power to request members of the congregation to join the committee in arranging and carrying out the programme." During a discussion which ensued, it was stated that Mr Perrin, of St. Joseph's School, had already taken some initiative steps toward a similar object, and it was unanimously agreed that the cordial support and assistance of the Society be accorded the efforts of Mr Perrin, with the view of making the proposed celebration a genuine success. Bro. Moylan intimated his intention of offering as a prize to be competed for, a suib of boys' clothes. The first meeting of the committee has been arranged to take place on Monday evening, at seven o'clock, in St. Joseph's schoolroom.

We have been requested to draw the attention of members of the H.A.C.B. Society to an advertisement which appears in another column, notifying that the next meeting of the Lodge will take place on Tuesday, the Ist of December, the previous day being a holiday. Theee appears every probability of there being no mail by the San Francisco route this month. The mail steamer was due at Auckland on the 6th instant, and Dunedin on the 12th, and making due allowance for her usual want of punctuality, she is oven then coa- . siderably overdue. As the Suez mail should arrive on the 25th, and she usually anticipates her contract time, it is more than probable that our first European mails will reach us by that route. The success of Madame Arabella G-oddard's Concerts promises to be quite unprecedented, the whole of the reserved seats having been taken within an hour of the opening of the plan. Iv connexion with these concerts, we notice" that the lady vocalist is Mrs Smythe, who was the leading singer in the choir of St. Francis's, Melbourne, some twelve years ago, when Miss Julia Matthews was also a member of the choir. Since then Mrs. Smythe has attained an eminent position in her profession, and has travelled nearly all over the globe. We have to acknowledge the receipt of ' The Illustrated New Zealand Herald' for November, which maintains its usual excellence, the present number being fully equal to any of its predecessors. The illustrations — sixteen in number — are of an unusually interesting character, the front page-cut being a representation of the " Hoistiug of the British Flag at Fiji," in which the likenesses of the old King in European costume, and His Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson in his official uniform, are very faithfully given. Amongst the other larger illustrations are " Taking the Veil in Abbotsford Convent, Victoria," " Rosa Neva at the Fountain," from the painting by M. Herbert } "Banquet at the Opening of the Melbourne Meat-marlet,"with several landscape views. The letter-press contains some choice and selected reading, with a resume of tho news of the month, making it most suitable for forwarding to friends in the old country.

The complimentary concert tendered to Miss Hesford takes place on Friday evening next, in the New Temperance Hall," Moray Place. A very attractive programme has been prepared, and. will serve to introduce several, strangers to a Dunedin audience, who have been very successful in other places. It is now seven or eight months since the last concert by the f ull choir ; since then their numbei's have very much increased, and the glees on [Friday evening will be sung by a chorus of twenty-two voices. His "Worship the Mayor has kindly promised his patronage on the occasion. As Miss Hesford has a large circle of friends and admirers, there is but little doubt that there will be a good attendauce in the Hall on Friday evening to testify their appreciation in a substantial manner. A general meeting of the Press Club was held on Saturday evening, the Vice -President in the Chair. His Honor Judge Chapman was tiuaniniously elected a life member, and Mr C 5-. E. Barton an honorary member. The Secretary announced the receipt of a donation of £5 from the President of the Club, Mr G-. Bell, for the purchase of books, to form the nucleus of a Press Library. The Secretary was instructed to convey to Mr Bell the thanks of the Club for his liberal present. Several new members were admitted, others proposed for ballot, and after some routine business had been transacted, the meeting terminated. Juries as well as elections have undergone a {radical change within the last score of years, and the old spirit with regard to the former, which prompted the tloreat of the mastication of shoe leather in preference to a change of opinion, seems to have entirely died out. . The nearest approach to the careful provision for contingencies exercised in olden times, may be learned from a paragraph clipped from the ' New Zealand Times.' Tbat journal says : — "Jurymen are not probably aware that it is a misdemeanor to tale meat, drink, or food of any kind into the jury -room when ordered to retire from the Court for deliberation. His Honor, during the late sittings of the Court at Auckland, seeing a juryman with a haversack over his shoulder, and mindful of the suggestion it conveyed, gave this piece of information to the public. The punishment for such an offence is fine, and its repetition would subject the delinquent to punishment for comtempt." Mr J. L. Q-ilhes, the member for Milton, would appear to bo a highly fortunate man, and an especial favorite of Dame Fortune. As Speaker of the Provincial Council, and a member of the General Legislature he has been entitled to a dotible honorarium, a short while since he was elected to a lucrative appointment of £500 a year, and. last week his admiring constituents entertained him at a banquet which was supplemented with the presentation of a purse of eighty guineas. Mr GKllies would appear to be an exemplification of the old adage, " There is nobbing so successful as success."

Strikes have become quite a colonial institution, all grades of the community from the highest to the lowest being anxious at some time or other to participate in their somewhat doubtful advantages. Some short while since there was a split amongst the "Devils Brigade in Sydney, Horsehair and Pavchmeiit being at dagger's drawn, caused by the custom of the latter in awarding to the higher branch ot the profession all the work and honor, while retaining as a set-off tor themselves the pecuniary proceeds of the transactions, and a strike was the consequence From the Victorian papers, however, we learn that

there is something more than a remote contingency of the action of the legal fraternity being imitated by no less a body than the judges of the Supreme Court. It appeal's there is every likelihood of Sir William Stawell, the present Chief Justice, who is on leave of absence, resigning his office, and it is rumored that the Premier, Mr Kerferd , feeling himself overweighted in his present position, would not be loth to resign its cares and uncertain £2000 a year for the snug office of Chief Justice for life, with £3500, and knighthood in prospective. As Sir Redmond Barry, the Acting-Chief Justice, has had twenty years' experience as a Judge of the Supreme Court, and the Attorney-General and Premier has not had half-a-dozen years' experience at the Bar, the Bench are naturally wroth at the bare supposition of such a contingency, and it is said that their Honors have entered into a league, offensive and defensive, to protest against their being deprived of promotion, and all other means failing they will go out on strike. Should Mr Kerferd carry out the intention, and follow the example of our late Minister of Justice, Victoria may witness something unique in the way of 6trikes. The members of the South Australian Legislature have set an example of patriotic self-abnegation which is certainly worthy of being • imitated by their brother legislators throughout the Colonies. A proposition having been made for the introduction of a Bill providing for payment of members, it was followed by an amendment limiting the amount of honoraiium at £200 per annum, but on coming to a division the amendment was lost by more than three to one. A further amendment was tabled to refund members residing more than ten miles from Adelaide their bona fide travelling expenses fc This also was negatived, and on the original motion being put to the House, either the mover or seconder of the resolution had evidently turned the matter over in his mind to some effect, there being only one member found to be in favor of the motion. This conduct of the South Australians exhibits a marked contrast with that of a number of our own legislators, whose attendance at the Coimcils of the country, if remunerated according to their own estimate, would be rather an expensive commodity. In an article on the necessity for a State Reformatory for the Province, the Napkr ' Daily Telegraph' — a journal which cannot be accused of any undue leanings to the Church — thus speaks of the care and efforts made for the religious training by the Catholics of that province :—": — " It is a fortunate circumstance that there is at least one religious sect in tlie Province, whose members are able to support those charitable institutions, which, in other countries are either established or wholly maintained by the Government, or owe their existence to the voluntary contributions of all classes. We have repeatedly had occasion to refer to the well-conducted Catholic educational establishments of Napier, that have merited every word of praise bestowed upon them by members of all religious denominations. The Church of England in this province is magnificently endowed with a splendid estate and a large fund, but we look to it in vain for those charitable institutions which the Catholics have established unaided and single-handed, and which have more truly enriched their Church than the Te Aute property has that of the Reformed religion." This spontaneous testimony is of course most satisfactory, hut it only serves to show with greater effect the grossly unfair treatment of the Catholic body, and the anomalous conduct of withholding aid towards educational purposes which admittedly would be so profitably expended. Soiie amusing proposals are made by a correspondent of the 'South Australian Register' as to the tests which should be applied to prove the eligibility of persons who offer themselves at home as working men desirous of emigrating. Holding that it is genuine working men who are wanted, and not pretenders, or shams, " A Northern Farmer" submits three tests, to which all candidates should be subjected. One of these is the hands, with regard to which " the fingers should be short and square at the ends ; if over 30 years of age a little knobby on the knuckles. The pahn should be hard and dry, and when the owner is asked to put his hand flat on the table it should be found resting oil the wrist and the tips of the fingers." The next is the hand-writing, and although the writer looks back witli-regret to the days when the best immigrants were unable to sign otherwise than by a cross, yet this is a declaration of faith that he would not now insist on. " A man should not be condemned because he is able to write his name, but to a good farm laborer it will be always an effort requiring a sigh after it is finished. Any attempt at a flourish should cause a man's rejection." His third test is " speaking capabilities," and with reference to this he says : — " Make the applicant stand on a chair and ask him a few questions ; if he speaks as readily as when on the ground be doubtful of him, but if he shows the least tendency to wave his arms, condemn him at onee — he is a born orator, and if brought out will never work himself, and will try to prevent others from working, but will possibly get in Parliament, or come to some bad end." We would commend these tests to the attention of the Agent-General for New Zealand.

It appears the vacant seat in the Cabinet of Minister of Justice has been offered to and accepted by Mr Bowen, Besident Magistrate at Christchurch, but the appointment would appear to be received with much disfavor by the Press. Comnienthjg upon the fact, the ' Times ' says : — "We venture to say that no public man or newspaper outside Canterbury will be satisfied. We are not aware of any claim Mr Bowen has for high political office. He is quite unknown outside Canterbury, and cannot possibly strengthen Government more, and especially as he must take a seat in the Upper House, where he need not hope to excel while that experienced political gladiator, Dr Pollen, leads it. If a Ministerial recruit was wanted for tlie Legislative Council, surely there were men to choose from already in that House. But this is a ' Government of surprise,' and the Colony will certainly be surprised at the selection made. There is nothing to recommend it ; and, morever, it can only weaken the Ministerial party. We have nothing to say against Mr Bowen, but object in the most emphatic terms to a gentleman being taken from the rank and file of the civil servants and pitchforked into the position of a Minister of the Crown. The outcry that was made in the case of Mr Gisborne's elevation and retirement is as nothing to what ought to be made on account of this

last Ministerial performance. The country groans under the weight of civil servants ; it is made subject to tribute in a most literal and unmistakeablo way, and if it submits to have its Ministers elevated, for reasons, from the ranks of the Civil Sorvico, and thon, having served their purpose, retreating again within its lines, it may abandon all hope of economy or efficient good. Wo are friends of the Government, but can conceive of no action, rightly considered) so calculated to bring the Government into contempt."