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Page 42, line 19 of Chap. viii. read "North" before "Island."
Page 44, 2nd line from bottom, read "and" for "but."
Page 68, line 30, read "Lieut." for "Lieuts."
Page 69, line 18, read "Kaitaki" for "Raitaki."
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Page 77, line 19, read "Butler" for "Bailor."
Page 99, line 4, for "now" read "how."
s many feel no small amount of pleasure in looking back, and talking of old times, and as there are many yet who took part, or who are interested in those who did, still in this Colony, I feel that a reference to the trip may not he out of place. Everyone has some idea of the year
Being in Malta at the time, we were as a matter of course, on the tiptoe of expectation, looking for an order every hour to proceed; consequently there was considerable excitement. Matters were thus till September of that year ('57), when an order came for 200 of the "Die Hards" to proceed through Egypt. I was on duty that day at the main entrance to the city of Valetta, and before noon saw mounted officers galloping about. Shortly after I saw the Colonel, now General Sir H. Warre, K.C.B., ride into the city at a time when he was usually employed at the orderly room. But no word reached us until our dinner came, then we were informed that the two companies stationed on the Ravelin were to be made up to 100 each and proceed with all speed to Aden. It so happened that I was the only one present that belonged to either
Before we left we heard several rumours connected with our going. It was owing to the conduct of a Sepoy regiment 1400 strong. They were not as obedient and respectful as they ought to be, and there were only some fifty European troops there, of the Bombay Artillery—some of "John Company's" men. They and the few European residents were not happy, and a couple of hundred more troops was a necessity, and as they could not be spared from India, the next nearest place had to furnish them. It is hardly necessary to dwell much upon the events up to the time of our leaving. It was pretty well known that the remainder of the regiment would soon follow, and that the women and children would be sent home until affairs in the East justified their joining again. There was, therefore, lots of leave-taking with
After a stay at Kafrez-Zaiad of a couple of hours, we re-entered the train and started on our journey. We seemed to have created some interest among the natives: so many of us all dressed alike. At every stopping place they crowded round the train selling water. They offered very little else, and they did not drive much trade in that as it had not the look of having issued from a clear running brook or spring; nor did it appear to have been filtered. Several natives were very inquisitive. They wanted to know what we were, and where we were going. Some of the replies were highly amusing. One said we were navvies going to India to make railways. This didn't seem to take, nor did another that we were pilgrims off to pay our homage to their great Mahomet
The system of irrigation is interesting, but like everything else it is as old as the hills. A large beam pivotted on an upright pole, at each end is a rude construction to take up water. This is conveyed by a trough to the other end, which is lowered to discharge the water into another paddock. Thus they cover large areas of country. I have heard many complain of the shaking of our trains, but they would ascertain what real shaking means if they had taken a trip at that time.
The next branch of the Nile, The Damietta branch, is crossed by an iron bridge. When drawing near Cairo we got a glimpse of the Pyramids. We reached that city at about 5 p.m. The stationmaster, who was an Englishman, turned out in evening dress. He expected, he said, to have had the pleasure of seeing some red. coats. We only had about fifteen minutes to stay at the old city. Everyone would have liked a few hours there, but that was not in the contract. The line from Cairo to Suez is a thing (or was then) to be remembered. Entering the desert, just at nightfall, is one of the most desolate scenes imaginable, the vast dreary space being nothing but drifting sands.
The Fellahs, or Egyptian labourers, along the line, have to depend on the trains for water, and great is their joy when it arrives at one of the stopping places. A mob of them rushes down to the train, as if attacking it, and I must candidly admit that many of us drew our clasp-knives, the only weapons we had, prepared to sell our lives dearly. We soon became acquainted with the real cause of commotion. The carrying of water by the trains was no small matter, and a few remarks here will, I think, not be out of place. The want of water cuts down the profits of the line. For 30 miles
We arrived at the terminus at about 10 p.m. Here we were again marched into a large marquee, to another spread laid out for all hands. This was a very welcome sight, and it is needless to say that we soon eased the tables. We had not touched anything since we left Kaffrez-Zaiad, at mid-day, as there were no stores at which to purchase, and the supply on the tables did not admit of putting anything away for the journey. I was fortunate enough to bring with me from Malta a box of cigars, and this eased off the pangs of hunger; but it is astonishing how little thought one gives to eating
We had but little time to wait before we were conveyed in a tug steamer to the "Alma." Consequently, Suez was not surveyed; but looking at it from our halting place, we thought we did not miss much of a treat. About 4 p.m. everything was ready for the start up the Red Sea, and we we were all called together to pay a parting compliment to Colonel Packlington, who was just going ashore after seeing us finally fixed for the last stage of our journey. Never, I think, did two hundred men shout more heartily than when called on by Major Logan (whose death as General Logan was cabled out on 31st January, '90) for this purpose. He referred to the unpleasant incident when embarking at Malta; but he said, "On my return there I shall make such a glowing report of your conduct since then to your colonel (now General Sir H. J. Warre, K.C.B.), that I feel sure he will forgive all. He said it was impossible for men to behave better than we had, and with nothing but compliments the tug steamer moved off amidst loud hurrahs. This was after he crossed the Red Sea. One and
The second charge for the attempt on the life of Lieut. Walker, for which he was sentenced to penal servitude for life. Strange affair! Nothing further of note or worth recording transpired on the voyage. We were all anxious to get to our journey's end, and after passing through the Straits of Babel-Mandeb—the key to the Red Sea—we duly arrived about 10 p.m. on the 13th October. We had not the good fortune of a good look at the shore until next morning. A few lights were visible and that was all we could see, but we could feel that we had come into a very warm spot.
Next morning at break of day we were on the alert. I am going to borrow now, I cannot do better than give the account of Aden from the pen of Dr. W. H. Russell, which he gave in the same year. He sailed in in daylight, and this is what he says of it:—"Early next morning we saw in the distance a line of crags like shark's teeth rising out of the water. These resolved themselves into sharp saw-backed ridges of rock cliffs, and peaked mountains of rich rufous and vandyke brown, streaked with reds and blacks as we approached. Surely these are Vulcan's workshops; here are the dust and ash heaps of the Cyclonean forges. Not one little tree, not one blade of grass, not a patch of verdure the size of a man's hand! The eye seeks the tumuli in expectation of the smoke of the subterranean fires in which those rocks were melted and cast out in beds of scoria and ashes. The blue sea seems actually
Soon a very good dinner of currie, rice, &c., and some beautiful white bread, was served up. Coming to view matters philosophically, we began (I did at any rate) to feel that there were lots in the world not much better off than we were. The attendants were in full dress—black—the only white or lighter colour about them being the bits of dirty rag—carelessly thrown round their loins, and the whites of their eyes. They didn't use white gloves like European waiters, and my first thought was whether I could relish the food that they had prepared and brought us in that 'get up,' but as soon as I tasted the currie I went for it right off, and glanced round in search of more. One very particular chap (Pat Sullivan) started grumbling at the food, and called it the nastiest currie he ever tasted in his life. I believe this, for I think, like myself, he had not tasted such a thing before.
We had not much to do in Aden, and we had a long time to do it in. We were not allowed to walk out between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. This was to our advantage, for at about midday there were but a few inches of shadow, and the sun looked to be so close that one might hit it with a stone. The mirage was so thick and danced at such a rate that nothing, not even the barren scoria hills, seemed to stand still. At 5 p.m. some went out to have a look at the town; others were more patient. There were no 'pubs' to rush to. Goodness help soldiers in such a country if they had free access to all sorts of liquor! We could procure in our own canteen quite as much good English stout as we needed, and this is the salvation of men in such places. Arrack—a good wholesome spirit—is plentiful at one anna a glass (1½d); porter about the same per pint. I don't think I went out the first day; but this I can venture to assert—that before a week I had surveyed and knew as much about Aden as anyone who arrived with me.
I think it was the first evening I went out I met a Sepoy officer in uniform going to visit a guard. I was in a bit of a fix. I did not know whether I had to salute him or not. When I got within a few paces of the officer, he threw out his arm and gave a long, sweeping, military salute. It nearly took my breath away, and he must have noticed the expression of surprise I exhibited. I returned the salute, but not with so much gusto as he gave it. I said to myself—"What! Must these officers salute us—white chaps, regardless altogether of rank?" After relating this on my return, the men all looked upon it as elevating, and Pat
I must say that, whatever feeling the Sepoys entertained before we arrived, they were very civil after. Great precautions were taken for giving alarm, &c., if anything occurred. There were two or three batteries always manned overlooking the lines of the Sepoys, and a signal to us of any outbreak among them at night was to be a rocket thrown into our square. Matters went on very quietly for some time. The order to the sentry was to give the alarm should he see such a thing thrown. Not far from us was a signalling station for vessels coming from the Bombay direction. The one to do a similar office for any coming from the Red Sea is the one Mr Russell refers to as being perched high up. When a vessel came in at night, in addition to a gun firing, a blue light was burnt.
One night a sentry got his orders a little mixed, and about 1 a.m. bang went a gun at the flagstaff, and a blue light was shown. (A steamer was coming from the East.) The sentry, no doubt, had the rocket in mind, and perhaps he was not very wide awake, but he gave the alarm. Out everyone turned, fully believing that we were attacked by the Sepoys, or the Arabs from the mainland. The two companies fell in, one facing the way they must approach; the other some distance away, and at right angles to the other, thus being able to pour in a cross fire. The Staff-brigadier Coughlin, the Brigade Major, Captain Thacker (since died a Major General), and our own mounted officers, were waiting and waiting. Some had been dispatched to see what they could learn, and everything was found to be as quiet as could be desired. Then it came out that it was a 'sell,' or to use a military term—a false alarm.
Lots seemed disgusted (so they said) because the attack was not made. I can't say that I was over anxious to shed a brother's blood, not even a dark brudder, in fact. I felt somewhat pleased that they stopped away, for of all things I would not care to leave my bones bleaching in that spot. Besides, had I left them there, this much must be said: I should not have enjoyed the many pleasant years I have in this colony, and some thousands of children would not have
In due time we were dismissed to our beds, after offering up a few blessings for the man who was the cause of our being roused. If one might judge from the boastings indulged in when all danger was over, it would have gone very hard with any enemy. This turn out cost one man six months' hard labour. He had been indulging rather too freely, and when roused up it was found that he must go into durance vile; he struck his superior. He was a very rough customer, was John Long, when under the influence of liquor, and he could boast of more courts-martial than years' service.
This alarm suggested to our leading musician a tune which was duly entered at Stationers' Hall: "The Aden alarm gallop." Many may, no doubt, have heard of it. W. E. Heywood (Capt.), lately deceased, resided as mine host at the Albion Hotel, Invercargill.
We had a very fast runner in our party, and the Somalis, who are a very active race, and fancying they can run, put forward all their best men, one after the other, but Cosgrove was too much for them; the fact was they were quite a little gold mine to Cosgrove. When they found they had no one in Aden that could lead the way for Cosgrove, they sent away to their country for the best runner procurable. In due course over came an individual, an animated flag staff. In fact I never saw anything like him in my life. Without at all over-stepping the bounds he could easily hide behind one of our roadside telegraph poles and would reach nearly as high. The general feeling was that our man was doomed, and that we were no longer to have the champion runner in our crowd, and very few ventured any money on Cosgrove; it looked so much like handing over our rupees to the Somalis, who, by the way, were most eager to make bets on their man.
In due time the fatal hour came, and as the two men were placed side by side it looked utterly absurd to bet on Cosgrove. It looked as if the "Pole" had only to take his longest strides and he could walk against Cosgrove's running. The distance was to be 200 yards. Off they went, but it was soon discovered that though the "Pole" could boast of long limbs he lacked wind—a great requisite in such cases—and dropped out about half way. Then the regret was that all the bets were not taken. The fellow's friends were very pleased that
Before we left, a tunnel cutting off three-fourths of the distance to the Isthmus or Turkish Wall fortifications, was opened. It took seven years to cut it through. It was started at both ends and they met in the centre. It was about 250 yards long.
Good water was a very scarce commodity for some time, it was very brackish; indeed, it must have been about half and half—a drink I am very partial to out here—but then it meant half sea water and half fresh, mixed. Then there was a contract with the Arabs of the mainland, and they brought in plenty on camels, in skins—about eight of the skins would be on each camel. It was rumoured that this water cost a rupee (2/-) a gallon. When it is stated that each man was allowed three gallons a day for all purposes, it will be seen that our water cost a very tidy sum. Condensing engines were erected eventually, and the water was better.
We formed up at the gate leading out to the mainland, and two spies on swift camels were sent ahead to ascertain the whereabouts of the Arabs, who it was known were going to contest our advance. We moved off, and the sun was soon seen rising. The march was a heavy one; loose sand, and now and then wading through water, then into loose hot sand again, with the result that the stability of our boots (those locally made) were put to the test. After being in water they were like wet brown paper.
We were singing away, as a matter of course. One grand old warrior, Edward Kelly, who was a capital hand at singing good choruses and marching songs, was with us.
Brigadier, now General Sir Coughlan, K.C.B., in command; Captain Sam. Thacker, Brigade Major in Aden, accompaning him, as did also Mr Rassam, the interpreter. Our officers were Captain W. E. Brown, in command; Lieutenants Sir Robt. Douglas, Bt., T. H. Traggett, and Powell.
Lieut. Traggett, E. Kelly, M. Ryan, and B. McCarthy met their doom in this colony on
After some miles of march we could see the spies some distance ahead, and they did not appear to be moving. After events showed that they were watching the enemy, some three thousand strong. They were soon seen to be moving towards us. The Brigadier and other mounted officers were out in front of the advance guard, and as soon as the spies came up to them we were all halted, and the spies began explaining matters and pointing round, indicating where the enemy were.
Before long the Brigadier turned in his saddle and called out, "Throw the advance guard out in skirmishing order."
We were at a loss to account for this, for though we could see for miles we could discern not the slightest sign of an enemy. There were, it is true, any amount of scrub and little sand mounds all over the plain, and ample covering for men on foot, but we expected our friends to be all mounted, and this proved to be correct, a fact we were very forcibly convinced of before even our advance guard was properly extended.
About 1200 yards ahead there arose a yell which almost shook the ground, and as if by magic there appeared the force, all mounted either on camels or horses, the latter consisting of those beauties for which Arabia is so noted. Animals, men, and all must have been lying down waiting our approach, and they opened the ball.
Like the late Prince Imperial at Spicheren, this was my baptismal firing, for although I had been in the Crimea, after the fall of Sebastopol, I had not been under fire, though I had gazed on the sad ravages of war and the millions worth of destruction, saw miles of road mettled with broken shot and shell, and helped to construct walls round the numerous graveyards, and in some cases to put more covering over the remains of the poor fellows who had met their doom, covering which time and circumstances did not admit of being done when they were placed there.
As they opened fire, the two field guns were brought from the centre of the column, where they had been concealed during the march. The extended line in front was ordered to lie down, to enable a few rounds of grapeshot to be sent over among them. The first round was very near causing considerable mischief among the line in front; through some reckless elevation it was sent ploughing up the sand among the skirmishers, and the officer who was responsible for this got somewhat scared. The next round was more successful. That, and our rifles, created a little move among them. The bright weapons of the Arabs were flashing in the sun. The whole of our men were soon extended and peppering away at them They dared not come nearer, thus the guns and us had all the sport, as the other part of the force had still the old "Brown Bess," or some very near relative to that much abused old weapon. Many people seem to forget altogether what solid work had been done by them in the past. When the Arabs found it was not to their interest to get any nearer to the white coats (we were thus dressed), they made an attempt to get round our right flank, and, as was supposed, make for Aden, under the impression that they could easily get in in our absence. Seeing the attempt, the commander sent off his body guard (15 Scinde horsemen). They went full gallop, and near enough to open fire. This bold rush out caused the Arabs to reconsider their decision, and they swept away round to the left flank, taking every care to describe a big circle, in order to avoid the little messengers we were sending after them.
By this time a long line of Sepoy skirmishers were thrown out to our left. The Arabs found that they could get much nearer to them, and did so. Then a few white coats wore sent to mix with them. This caused them to edge off, and they made an attempt to get round to the left, and this brought them not far from the Harbour Steamer Point, and a gunboat commenced to fire away with blank, which made the Arabs again change their minds. Finding that they were not likely to gain much advantage by fooling round near us, they struck a bee-line for their home, or in the direction of a town we could see a few miles ahead, Shakothman, and we had nothing more to do but follow straight on.
The blue jackets began to grumble about taking no active part. They said, "The 'Die Hards' with their d—d long rangers have it all to themselves, and will get all the credit for this."
"Never mind," said the brigadier, "you shall storm the town."
The right of our line was somewhat overlapping the town, as we got nearly up to it, and Sir R. Douglas, who bad charge of that part, said:—
"Now, the moment the sailors get the order to charge, you cut for that big building as if Old Scratch were behind you, if we can only get half a dozen men there before the tars I'm satisfied."
A halt was ordered about 600 yards from the nearest building, and a few shot and shell sent in, but there appeared to be very few people left, having nearly all retired before we got there.
Soon the tars were ordered to charge, and away they went; half a dozen or so with Sir Robert kept edging in the direction of the big house, and when the tars rushed we rushed, and to their disgust a few of us got in before them—right into the front entrance of the large building, which proved to be a mosque—Sir Robert in the lead. In the centre was their place of prayer, and here we found a few, and three wounded men that they could not manage to take away; and no doubt the Arabs were cute enough to know that we were not likely to injure them further.
Outlying pickets were sent out in order to allow the remainder of the force to take it easy. The native sappers were set to work to undermine and blow up a building or two, just, it was supposed, to bring the Arabs to their senses as soon as possible; the remainder piled arms, and were enabled to fossack around a bit.
I ought to have mentioned that soon after the firing commenced the Brigadier said:—
"Half a dozen of you men have a pop at that chief." This was the leader, who could be seen galloping about urging on his men, brandishing his sword, which could easily be seen glittering in the sun. So about half a dozen went down on the knee and fired. The chief was seen to fall.
"Well done," said the Brigadier, and he gave ten rupees to Wm. McIntyre (now in Greymouth), and credited him with popping off the chief; but to this day I never could understand how he arrived at that conclusion, seeing that we fired simultaneously, or nearly so. However, in the town I came upon a small box of Mexican dollars, one of which is still in the family as a brooch; perhaps that accounts for
When the rush was first made two or three of our men came running out of the mosque with flags, on which were several small bells jingling. These, Mr Rassam said, were connected with their place of worship, and not flags of war, and they were at once replaced.
Word was passed along that a flag of truce was coming in, and three mounted men could be seen approaching with it, but just as they arrived within about four hundred yards from where we were all idling about, a mine exploded with a loud report, then another; this caused the party with the truce to turn round and flee for their lives. After some time they were seen coming again, and Mr Rassam went out to meet them.
They asked why the big guns had been fired at them; but they were informed what it really was, and on they came to within about one hundred yards of where we were all standing waiting for their approach, when they declined to go on unless we were sent away. Then Mr. Rassam said, "Move back, men, clear from the mosque; they do not like to pass you."
This we did, and they passed in, when a conference was held, and they came out, mounted other horses, and off they went. We shortly learned that all was squared, and the we were to return that afternoon.
The chiefs stated that they had lost 73 men and 3 chiefs. Besides a number of horses and camels, three men fell into our hands, and were taken into our hospital. One died from a shot in the chest. Another had his arm above the elbow shattered with a grapeshot, and it was taken off by Dr. Griffin. I think he died in our hospital. The third was a huge Seedie shot in the leg, and as soon as he got well enough to leave, he did so one dark night, for some natives had told him that as soon as he was well enough he was to be shot. He must have thought there was some truth in it, for he cleared. I was somewhat doubtful of the number killed; but as the chiefs said so it ought to be true. In such a case they were less liable to exaggeration than we should be.
About three in the afternoon we made a start for Aden, and from the Arab gate up to our lines, a distance of four or five miles, the road was lined with the inhabitants, cheering us heartily as we passed. This affair ended very satisfactorily, if we might judge from the compliments bestowed on us in
always treading on their bare toes; yet it could not be avoided sometimes if any progress was to be made at all. But after the brush, no matter how crowded the streets were, there was always a passage made for a European soldier.
John Long had cause to rejoice at this expedition, though he was only present in the spirit—his body was in gaol. The Brigadier was so delighted that he remitted the remainder of his sentence a few days after our return.
In
In order to conclude my remarks concerning Cosgrove, I will here refer to a great victory achieved after our arrival in Poonah in little, a challenge was duly sent over, and cheerfully accepted.
There was immense interest taken in both regiments. Each was quite sure of victory, and every man raked all the rupees together that he could and was determined to lay them on their man. In due time the day fixed for the great event came. Nothing else was talked about. Officers as well as men displayed the utmost interest in it. The spot chosen was on the Racecourse, and about midway between the quarters of the two regiments. I question whether anybody
"One hundred rupees on Glouster" (their man's name), fifty, and all other numbers. Our men were dodging round taking them up as soon as they opened their mouths with "Here ye are me boy. Any more? Come along. I have a few more left. Come on." This went on until all the rupees were used up. Officers and all were betting. Indeed it was stated that some very tall sums were staked on this race by them.
"Come along," one of our men said, "bring out all the rupees you have. We will not leave as much in your regiment as will pay for a tot of arrack this blessed night."
Betting ceased, and the men toed the mark. Glouster was an immense get up—more like a circus clown, less the painted mug. Cosgrove was just as he would be seen idling about his bungalow, except that he pulled off his boots. Glouster had on very fancy pumps. A pistol was fired and off they went, our man leading. He was generally good at the start, and he made a particularly good one on this occasion. He got in about 3½ yards ahead.
Then the excitement was tremendous. Cosgrove was lifted on a few strong shoulders and carried all the way to our lines, with the band nearly bursting themselves with the "Conquering Hero."
The canteen did a roaring trade that night. The Savings Bank account at the end of that month was greater than before the withdrawals for the race. Yet there were hundreds of rupees spent, but they had come from the 56th.
This great victory caused a coolness between the two regiments from that day, and a few evenings after a man of ours, one of my own company, named Stimson, was found dead in the lines of the 56th. It could never be traced home. Stimson was one of the most inoffensive men I ever knew—no more harm in him than in a worm—and I believe he would avoid stepping on one. He had been over seeing a friend who belonged to the same part of the Old Country as himself.
The 56th got the cholera soon after this and had to be removed some miles away under canvas. I don't say this was
can say, that not one of our men died of grief over it.
From the death of Stimson no man of the 56th was permitted to enter our lines, not within cooey of them, and matters would have been very much worse but for a major of that regiment who once belonged to the "Die Hards" throwing oil on the troubled waters.
John was taken ill one day like a great many others, and was carried off to the hospital. The doctor had gone his morning rounds, so when he saw his new patient in his afternoon rounds, he said—
"Well, what's the matter with you, Mullins?" "Arrah musha, sir, I don't know; but cure me, doctor, for the love of God, and you can have all the rupaas (rupees) I've got in the bank."
"Oh! how many have you?" said the doctor.
"Oh," said John, "a whole lot."
"All right," said Dr. Griffin, who was fond of a joke, "we'll see what we can do for you."
So he gave the necessary instructions, and among the items of diet sago was mentioned. John heard all.
Next day the doctor asked him how he was doing.
"I'm no better, doctor, and I didn't get that bird you ordered me yesterday."
"What bird," said the doctor.
"Why, that seagull," said John.
"Why, you d—d fool, I said nothing about a seagull; however, if you'd like one, perhaps one of your comrades will shoot one for you." There were plenty close at hand.
John got all right and lived to come to this colony. He was a powerful man, though well up in years, having joined the army after passing over the lino of middle age.
The first month after our arrival in Aden John's credit at the bank was read out to him, so many rupees, annas, &c. It had been changed, of course, from £ s. d. John roared out, "To h—ll with the rupaas, let me hear me credit in pounds. What do I know about your rupaas?" and it took some time to convince him that so many rupees represented so many pounds. John was one of those men that could say a great deal without getting himself into trouble, as his disposition was well known.
Poor old Stephen Maloney and John were comrades for years. When in Taranaki in '87 had I known that poor old Maloney was there, I would have gone to see him if the journey involved a twenty-miles walk. I am sure he was ignorant of my being there, or he would have looked me up. He was in my company for many years. I first saw him on
John Mullins was a very saving man, so much so that he was often tempted to do some very strange things. I do not infer anything dishonest. Here is one thing he did. He was out of blacking, but did not relish the idea of having to hand out the price of a box. Men did not care to lend such things to one who would never purchase if he could avoid it. A man who had an extra box said to him, "Look here, John, if you'll eat half of this you may keep the other to use." "All right," said John, jumping at the offer, and the full box of blacking was cut fairly in two, and he ate the half. It didn't make him sick, but it did some of those who witnessed the beastly operation.
The cholera paid us a visit and remained about three weeks, and 1300 of the inhabitants and a number of Sepoys succumbed to its ravages, but, strange to say, not one European was taken off. We were not allowed out except on duty during this exciting time. We could see them being carried past about 300 yards from our bungalows; the train of Doolies passing to the hospital. Another might be seen taking away the dead to the place of burial or cremation.
We had a theatrical company among us, and put some very fair pieces on the stage. During an interval in one night's performance, two of our lady characters went out to refresh themselves at the canteen in their stage garb, and well got up. Some Jack tars were about from Steamer Point and spotted them in among the men in the canteen. They soon had them in tow and strutting about the square. The tars were piling it on, when the stage bell rang. They gathered up their skirts, and one said to the other, "Come on, Tom, or by jingo we'll be late," and away they flew, leaving the tars thunderstruck, and when they found their breath one said, "By heavens that's two of them d—d soldier actors."
One night when all was quiet and nothing could be heard but the sentry calling "All's well," and the jackall on the rocks close at hand, and all the men sound in the land of Nod, a big black fellow stole into one of the bungalows, unnoticed by the sentry. It is thought that he came round the rocks from the mainland. However, he got in, and there was of course nothing to keep him out, for the bungalows are nearly all doors and windows, and in this delightful spot they were nearly always open, and a light burning all night. He selected a time when all would be sound asleep, and but for some man turning in bed and opening his eyes, he might have been there till morning. This man saw him turning down the bed clothes, and he jumped up and gave the alarm. The visitor received some pretty rough handling from our quartermaster, who was soon on the spot. The fellow got a rare good shaking, and he was marched off to the cells, and in the morning it was discovered that he was terribly affected with smallpox. Then there was a hubbub. Every one who had touched him, or had been where he had been or walked, became rather uneasy. He was taken away by the civil authority from our midst, and bottles of disinfectants were scattered about ad lib. The fellow had been placing green leaves close to the sleeper, to, as was supposed, set the horrible disease among us. He was not quite right in the upper story, and in consequence had been induced to undertake the work; but he did not succeed, and he was packed off to the mainland, and the event was soon almost forgotten.
Doing sentry duty in the wee hours was a very dreary thing indeed, no matter if every available moment during the day had been taken advantage of and devoted to sleep. This from various causes was impossible.
One night I was on from 12 to 2, and the whole length of the lines had to be looked to. Everything was open—no gates to lock at night—so the sentry could walk round the whole space occupied. I soon found it impossible to keep my eyes open. I therefore got at one end and squared myself for the other, locked my arms round my rifle at the old support, shut my eyes, and marched off in slow, very slow, time, and by the time I was at the other end I had enjoyed a very fair snooze. I went back and did it over again. Had I walked back over the same ground, I was liable to walk away out of our lines altogether, but could not the way I did it, as a high rock was there to stop me.
Another night I was posted in front—the road leading to the town. I was just in front of the last building. Here, again, I was overcome, and quietly took a seat on a big stone close to the wall, locked my rifle, and off I went. On such occasions the slightest noise would rouse me up. Something did on this occasion. It was a moonlight night, and as I opened my eyes I counted seventeen jackals, all within less than that number of yards from me. Sleep soon went off me, and there I sat, highly amused at their capers, and did not move for some time. Then I gradually drew one foot well under and sprang up, and the way they flew up the rocks close by was worth seeing. Before I moved, one would sneak up close and dodge back again. As they get very little to eat and are nearly all blessed with a very fair appetite, that number would have been able to dispose of me at their ease.
Jackals are rather innocent things if you are on the alert, but I don't think they are very choice in their food. We often wondered how they existed. They and the hyenas frequently came down and helped themselves to our water. They could never get anything to eat, for the hawks took care of all scraps, for the moment you threw a thing out of your hand, several would be down after it. They kept the lines very clean, and no one was allowed to injure them. We often had a bit of fun, though. Get a newspaper, tie it to the end of a string, and a bone or bit of meat at the other. This would soon be nipped up, and away would go the paper in the air, and all the hawks would go for the one with the paper, and he would have a very lively time of it until he got the string detached and the paper dropped.
I was having a walk one afternoon and had to pass through a tunnel leading to the right of Redan Battery, at the Isthmus, where we furnished a guard. When entering the tunnel a stone about the size of a 40lb bag of sugar dropped at my feet. Had I been a few inches farther ahead my fate was sealed. It gave me a bit of a turn, and after looking up at the goats which had displaced the lump, and wishing them—well, I will not say where—I passed on, but whenever I had to pass through that tunnel again, I was very particular in looking up to see that there were no goats fooling round.
The party at the Isthmus had to furnish three privates to do duty on the Arab gate. When I was down I generally had to do this duty. The duty consisted of taking down the number of people, camels, horses, asses, monkeys, and so on, also the number going out. The usual number of camels passing in per day was from ten to twelve hundred.
The result of the day's traffic was sent to the Brigade Office, by which it could be seen how many people and animals were in over and above those belonging to the place. There were no arms permitted to pass in, only when requiring repair, and for this a permit had to be procured from Mr. Rassam. Nearly every man carried arms from the interior, but had to leave them in a bungalow just inside the Arab gate, which was there for that purpose, until they were required for the return journey. I was several times on duty when the Sultan passed in. The natives about the gate, and there were always a good few when he was expected, all kissed his toe. He would always salaam and shake hands with the European on duty at the gate.
The Sultan had a son, a fine young fellow, and our officers made much of him whenever he came in. Through him and Mr. Rassam they could purchase horses. I knew one officer to purchase several at different times for 30 or 40 rupees, train them for racing, jumping, &c., then sell, perhaps, for 300 or 400 rupees.
Racing was of frequent occurrence, almost weekly, as we had a Brigade holiday every week—on Wednesday one week and Thursday the other.
Donkey races were the most popular. Races were held at the Isthmus—there was no room up in the crater. Natives as well as Europeans attended. The fair sex, of course, were bound to be there. They were rather limited; but to make up for them there were plenty who could not be called fair. But any other colour could be found, from a light brown to a jet black. The young Arab damsels are rather pretty, as a rule, until they bid adieu to their teens; then their charms suddenly desert them. The Somalie lassies have very nicely shaped faces. To my mind they have the best of any race I have met, our own not excepted. I expect to get a snub at home for this, and perhaps from other quarters; but as I did not undertake these pages with a view of stating anything but facts, I cannot make an exception even in this particular. Facts are facts, and very stubborn to combat.
not procured from Worth), is such that very little is left to conjecture. The young men, too, are well shaped, and very active in nearly all the games indulged in by Europeans.
In
The quarter-deck was awninged over, and all arrangements were thoroughly complete for the performance, which was witnessed by an audience such as any manager would be pleased to see when he has a show on. The pieces staged were:—
" " "John Overt," or "The Miser of Southwark Ferry."The Man about Town."Paddy Carey," or "The Sollicking Boy of Clogheen."
All hands did their work well. Commodore Edgell and Brigadier Coughlan and his good lady were among the audience.
The excellent band of the ship was delighting the audience, under Mons. Julan Jose Faustine.
A Wm. Connell took the leading female characters, whose get up and acting would have been no discredit to a first-class theatre. During the evening he sang very touchingly that beautiful song "Good News from Home." This was the first time any one in the place had heard it, any of us at any rate, and I shall never forget the rounds and rounds of applause which followed it, and that it went to the heart of every one is but natural.
The memory of all was carried to the dear old soil, and those dear to us there. No better proof of this was needed than the way the handkerchiefs were brought into requisition,
There was a river bed near our lines, and we often wondered what it was for, as there appeared to be no necessity to provide for carrying off any surface water, for any that had fallen since our arrival just fizzed on the scorching rocks and it was gone. Just a month after our visit to the "Chesapeake," to the very day, we altered our opinion about the necessity for a watercourse, for on the 10th April there was some came. To say it rained would be too commonplace, to say that it poured would not convey a sufficient idea of what actually occurred; but if I say that a few million tons of water got stored up just over Aden, and it suddenly fell down, that would come somewhere near what occurred. I believe the fire in the "crater" must have been extinguished by such a fall as that. It was fortunate for us that the river bed was there, or I believe we should have been washed into the sea, as it was we were very near it. We very nearly shared the fate of about 300 camels, sheep, and a few other animals, and a few small bungalows, in which the occupants of some found their way down into the bay. All were rescued by our men, as the bay, even at high tide, was fordable for some distance from shore.
Many are no doubt aware that in order to secure camels after they he down a rope from the neck is tied round one knee, and this prevents their rising. Those that were on the market place, and right in the track of the water flowing from the reservoir, which had given way, by the terrible rush of water from the different hills which found its way into it. This swept everything before it down into the sea. All our men worked with a will and saved all. It was no hardship to be in the water there, in fact it was a great pleasure at any time, but in this instance in particular, as we were rendering a great service to the inhabitants. It was night, unfortunately, and the task was rendered all the more difficult. It was not so fatal as that at Johnstown not long since, but had the water had far to travel before reaching the
We were in great favour among the natives over this, and three rupees were offered for every camel saved, but this was declined. It is very fortunate for Aden that it does not rain often, if that is the way it goes about it. It rained but three times while we were there, but the instance I have referred to was the only fall worth recording. They have recently had another fall, the first real fall there since that time,
Prior to our advent, a certain political resident was playing high jinks with "John Company's" rupees. He was enjoying a glorious time, looking after number one with a thoroughness not often witnessed—"Providing for a rainy day," to use a good old saying. Perhaps the blame would not have been so great had he not made others suffer by his grasping actions.
I have heard the loss of thousands upon thousands of rupees accounted for through white ants. I know ants are very plentiful in some parts of the East, but I have always doubted their ability to scoff such a large quantity of silver as is contained in a few lacs of rupees. I was never aware (but then I am not well up in natural history) that their digestive organs were such that they could cause such a solid substance to entirely disappear.
Some men will tell us that all men are rogues. This gentleman was bent, it would appear, to have the gain with the name. It was unlucky for him, but perhaps fortunate for the Government, that there was in Aden a reverend gentleman, Mr. B——, a Church of England clergyman, and a very popular one too. He went to dine with the political resident one evening, and before dinner they were walking round the premises, where an effort was being made to cultivate a few shrubs. A large tank of good fresh water was at hand for this purpose. The reverend gentleman put his finger in and tasted the water, and found it good. He drew the attention of his host to the fact, and remarked what bad water the men in barracks were using. "It's half and half," was the reply, "and it is useless putting anything but pure fresh on these."
The reverend gentleman was so disgusted with the reply that he called his groom to bring his horse, and off he rode: and though pressed to remain and dine, he declined.
On arrival home, he sent a servant for a bottle of the water from the aforementioned tank, and procured another from the barracks, and despatched the two off to Bombay; and it was not long before a Board of Officers were down to investigate the whole affair of the resident.
One act will, we all know, often lead to the discovery of others. It was so in this case. All the public works which had been carried on were overhauled, and some very glaring instances of fraud discovered. Here is one case:—
A building which he had entered in a schedule as a "store building," was down as having cost 1,600 rupees. It was one of those requisite structures which is needed at every habitable building. I have seen the building hundreds of times, and the kind of material used (bamboo and a few boards). Its outside cost, taking the native labour into account, which is very cheap, could not have been more than 50 rupees. This was a nice little profit on one small building.
There were many other instances of greater or less magnitude. A trial and imprisonment during the Queen's pleasure followed. He caused a barracks to be commenced, and its walls (stone) were about breast high. This was standing as a monument of folly when we were there. It covered a large area, as there was a room, or I ought to say, a cell, intended for each man. We often wondered what the higher powers were thinking of ever to allow such a thing to have been started. His wife frequently took a trip to Europe for the benefit of her health, which was considered good; but the real reason of her going was to invest the spoils. So whilst he was doing penance in the East, she was in the far West, not at all badly provided for.
Sleep is a luxury very hard to indulge in sometimes. I have known many, myself among the number, to run out several times in a night to dip a sheet into the sea, wrap it round, and lie down thus until it got warm. That would not be long. Thus we often put in the night. The salt water would be rough on the prickly heat.
Englishmen, as a rule, enjoy a steak rather under than overdone. Many, perhaps, have heard of cooking on the
A few of us on our return from a morning swim remained watching some Arabs fishing from a breakwater near the Isthmus. We were very interested in the way they were pulling up the finny tribe. The line was no sooner in than up came a fish. We were not long there before a member of a very strange species was hauled up. It was not unlike a hedgehog at first glance. The natives seemed somewhat startled at it. We were particularly so, for the instant it dropped on land it commenced to grunt like a pig, and at every grunt it gave it swelled out so rapidly from about the size of a hedgehog to that of a large wire dish-cover, and not unlike it in shape. "Good heavens!" said one of my companions, "they've caught Old Nick," and he cleared; and as we all wanted our breakfast, we followed. This was the only time I had ever heard a fish trying to tell us of the wonders of the deep.
This is a structure of some note, perched as it is on the top of a conically-shaped rock. There are two ways of getting up by steps. If my memory serves me correctly, there are 91 steps in one and 93 in the other. Each step is about a foot high. This renders it all the more tedious to get up or down. There are no handrails to assist; therefore it requires a little nerve, to those, at any rate, who are at all timid in ascending to any great height. It would be a difficult place to take, for a dozen men could knock over hundreds as they came up. I only went up once just to say I had been up. I was glad to find that all others had about the same feeling about this as I had. I believe I know people now who would suffer a great deal rather than go up.
I omitted to mention that after our return from the mainland from chastising the Arabs, there was a strike among our cooks (Somalies). This did not arise through a want of increased wages. It came about thus: The three days' cooked provisions, or the meat portion (pork), was,
A good deal has been said and written concerning men carrying bullets about in their bodies for years. We had two instances among our Aden detachment.
A sergeant (Lewis) who had been in the service of the Queen of Spain under Sir De Lacy Evans in
The other case was a Richard Hughes, who had his head in a bullet's way at Inkermann, and carried it till we were in Aden. We all knew there was something wrong about his nasal organ, not only from the tone of his voice, but from the constant little efforts to blow something out—something not usually expected. So one day out came this something in the shape of a Russian bullet, much to poor Hughes's relief. Hughes died soon after this—not through losing the bullet. Other causes could be traced, which cut off a real good soldier, and one of the most willing, energetic men I ever met. He had a stripe or two several times; but he was rather too fond of his drop ever to expect to go up to the three.
The Somali women work very hard; the fact is they do all the most laborious work. Quite a crowd of them gather at the Arab Gate every morning to rush out as soon as it is opened. They go out to the mainland for bundles of wood. The loads they bring would astonish a stranger. They carry the bundle on the small of the back, on which they have a
One afternoon, not long before closing time (sun-set), a diminutive, withered old creature came to the door salaaming for a drink. The chatty was nearly full at the time, so I thought I would see how much she would drink, and I told her to satisfy her thirst. This pleased her, and she started. I was leaning on a stretcher reading, but could readily count the number of pints she would despatch. I had often watched one drink six or seven, but then they had not permission as this one had to take her fill. She went on, and when the number reached ten I left off reading and gazed with as much astonishment as she put forth efforts to use up all my water. Before she took a spell thirteen pints had disappeared, and I concluded that she had used nearly all, and went over to see, but there was still a fair quantity left, and I told her to wire in, which she readily did, and four more pints went out of sight, making in all 17 pints. Well, I thought to myself, I've been and done a fine thing for myself; there'll be an inquest over this, and when I say I allowed her to drink 17 pints of water they'll blame me for her death, and I vowed if I got safely over this that I would limit them to six pints in future.
While I was thus cogitating and giving myself unnecessary anxiety, she salaamed me and walked off. It was fortunate she was not encumbered with corsets or other tight laced apparel. Her shrivelled appearance would suggest her to be about 150 years old. The men never do that sort of work, they seem to be above it. They usually attend to the Europeans as cooks, boot-blacks, scrubbers, &c. They look on the aged women as only fit for hard work; for the young folks, I find that some of our young race are not adverse to this sort of thing either, having no objection whatever to see their parents do all the work if they will. Many parents I feel sure will agree with this remark. Fancy one small person putting 17 pints of water out of sight.
I once put myself into a similar predicament. I went to the doctor for a dose of medicine, and I thought he gave me an emetic, so I went and procured a camp kettle full of warm water, and went to a sly place to drink some of it, to bring back the dose. I got about half way through the water, then tried to bring it up; but it wouldn't move. On I went and finished the water; then poked my finger as far as I could down my throat. That was no use. Then I procured a long straw; but the result was the same—I was compelled to slacken out. However, I told no one what had occurred, as I did not care to let my chums see what an ass I had made of myself. Some concluded that I was developing rapidly into a dropsical patient, and that there would be a funeral in the company in a day or two; but there wasn't, at least not on my account.
I have said that the Somali men were very active and fond of games. They had a system of gambling which deserves notice. A number of them would squat round in a circle on the ground, and each would put down a coin in front of him, and then they'd gaze, sometimes for many minutes, as mute as possible. Then suddenly one would scoop the pool. I was curious one day to ask why it was grabbed up by one, and it was explained that whoever owned the coin on which a fly would first alight was the winner. For fairness I think it would be hard to beat that game, for it would be difficult to have a trained fly of one's own which could distinguish its owner's coin. We have heard lately of trained fleas; but I have not heard yet of trained flies.
Every Monday morning a supply of porter and arrack had to be brought from the commissariat store, some distance away, and for this purpose two or three good judges of liquors were taken on a bullock dray to sample the various barrels. Those not considered good were at once emptied out on the ground. Those men generally came home gloriously tight. This being a duty, they were of course privileged.
To relate the system of liquor supply to the men will not be out of place here. Each man was allowed to purchase two pints of porter and two glasses of arrack a day. The check was thus: A roll of each company was placed on a board
all hung to the front a man was supposed to be done for the day; but as the profits of the canteen sergeant depended on the quantity sold, he was not always inquisitive enough to ask names. He knew who could stand extra allowance. Sometimes the strings would by mistake or some other cause get pulled back, so that he would not be seen serving a man who had four knots hanging opposite his name.
As proof that canteen sergeants were not too exacting in seeking names, here is an instance:—
Mick Kervin made an exception once in sharing with another, three annas. He decided to drink their worth himself. As time was short, and he thought if he shouted for anyone he was running a certain risk in not getting a return that night, so he went into the canteen and called for "three glasses of arrack."
"Who are they for?" said the Sergeant.
Mick replied, "there's one for me, one for Kervin, and one for Ladawacks (a nickname)."
He got the three lots, took them aside, and put them out of sight. Now this Sergeant knew every man of the detachment just as well as I do the number of my own children; indeed, I think better, for I have often had to pause when asked how many boys and how main-girls there were—rough, isn't it?
Mick was a very innocent man, as harmless as a babe. Officers and all shared this opinion of him. Mick did not know his age, and he was one of those whose age you could not get at within a dozen years or so. The nearest approach Mick could go to it was that he could "jist remember the night of the big wind." When and where Old Boreas had displayed his power which Mick could remember none of us could guess.
Mick wanted an advance of pay one day. His Captain was present to see it paid, and Mick walked up to him, and put his mouth close to his ear and whispered, "I want ten rupees to-day."
The Captain, good humoredly, put his mouth to Mick's ear and replied, "all right."
When the others had been paid the Captain said to the pay Sergeant that Kervin wanted ten rupees.
"His account won't stand it," was the reply.
The Captain then turned to Mick and said, "whatever do you want of so much money? Do you want to get married?
"Well," said Mick, "I'd not mind that same, but, be gorrah, there's none here would have me but blacks, and if I took one of them to ould Ireland, I'd be kicked out of the house, so I would."
It ended in Mick receiving only five rupees; this would not last him long, as he rarely went to bed worth an anna. Mick was usually blessed with a remarkably good appetite, and his regular rations did not at all times satisfy him, so he often ran to the canteen for what he called a "chest opener," this was a pound loaf. Salt beef was issued once a week, and Mick would frequently be heard wishing the day to come round, for he always got a good fill that day. It made him so thirsty that he had to resort to the water chatty.
Many are aware that French soldiers are far away above ours in looking after number one when on a campaign, and things must be scarce indeed if they cannot only procure enough for their own use, but turn in some honest coins by selling to others. If in the vicinity of English troops they look upon them as solid cash, as they are easily caught. The following proof will amply show this. The victim is still in the flesh within the bounds of the Provincial District of Wellington.
One day a French soldier called at the hut of the Grenadier Company of the Die Hards in the Crimea, with what he called a rabbit. Everything that could have told the tale was carefully taken off, and the animal was just ready for the cook. The price asked and obtained was 3s. 6d., and the man went off rejoicing. The next day he came around crying "meeow," "meeow." It then dawned upon those who had feasted that they had eaten a cat, and such was the case. It was useless offering any more rabbits in that quarter. Frequently' they would come round collecting all the spare biscuits, to even the sweepings of the huts, take it away, grind it up, make it into bread, and come next day and sell a loaf
The most popular game among many was the throwing of 16oz. bullets, and we could boast of having in our detachment a man who could beat all who ever competed with him, a John Sullivan, who afterwards met his death in this colony. I often wondered how he picked up the art, for I had never seen the game before I saw it in Aden, and as he was good and competed with some of the Bombay Artillery shortly after our arrival, who were among the best, he must have had experience in the game before he saw that part. I will here relate the particulars of poor Sullivan's death, and a singular dream he had the night before he met it.
It was during the campaign on the West Coast of the island in
On that same occasion we had a sergeant (Fred Day), who was usually one of the most jovial fellows in the regiment, even when danger existed. He belonged to Colonel Hazzard's company, and when that gallant officer fell, the first words he
The "Die Hards" had a pretty tough time of it that morning—ten killed and nineteen wounded in a very few minutes. Colonel Butler was in a towering rage, for he wanted to send flanking parties out, and had he been allowed to do so, the number who made good their escape at the back could not have done so, and our loss would not have been so great. General Chute boasted that that was the way to take them—rush right at them, and let them see we are not afraid of them. The General himself had a narrrow escape; he had one of the buttons of his coat shot off. Colonel Hazzard's body was taken to Wanganui; the remainder were buried at Waingongoro.
As I have related one dream in connection with the old "Die Hards," I may here refer to another, the hero of which, so far as I know, is still in the flesh in this colony.
In the early part of the sixth decade of the present progressive nineteenth century, 'Tom Walton' resided in one of the shires of dear old England, and was sent one day by his father to a town some miles away to receive some money—a pretty large sum. Tom was endowed with a fair share of life, and was a very large-hearted young fellow, and when he got possession of the money he felt himself to be a person of no mean importance, and acted accordingly, and before starting for home he had a leetle too much stimulant. On his way home, having to walk, he was struck with a desire to lie down and rest his weary head. He left the road and made for the friendly shelter of a haystack; but before settling down he took the precaution to hide his father's money, as he thought it possible that others might be tempted to the same spot, and seeing him, they might be inquisitive enough, without a desire to disturb him, to see how he fared financially for the road. So Tom put the money in a secure place somewhere about the fence, near a post, and he was soon in the land of dreams.
When he awoke next morning the sun was well up, he felt his pockets, but, alas, there was nothing there. He had forgotten all about hiding the money, and concluded that someone had been taking unwarrantable liberty.
"Well," said Tom, "I can never face the governor without it."
So he resolved to do what thousands of young fellows had done before him, take the Queen's shilling, which he did and ere long found himself over in Kilkenny, from where he wrote home to allay any feeling of anxiety which must have existed there.
Tom got on very well with his drill. He was one of that stamp of young fellows whom no one could dislike. He was soon dismissed from recruits' drill, and looking forward to foreign service.
One night he had a dream, when the whole scene of the haystack, and the spot where he had planted the money, came most vividly to his mind. In the morning he related the circumstance to his Color Sergeant, and asked him to procure him a short furlough to go home.
This was soon done, and off Tom trips to England, and made straight for the spot, picked up the money, and was soon home and everything explained.
Then his parents were anxious to purchase Tom's discharge, but this he would not consent to, as he had taken a fancy to the army. The "Die Hards" shortly left for Corfu, then on to the Crimea; endured the hardships of the campaign, and kept company with the regiment to this colony. Here he completed his time, then took his discharge, and afterwards joined the colonial force, and was present and got wounded when the gallant Yon Tempsky and other good officers met their doom. Tom recovered from his wound, though a dangerous one, and I trust is yet hale and hearty. If a good, jolly temper is any way conducive to long life, Tom, barring accidents, ought to live to a good old age.
There was an Indian prince brought down to Aden for safe custody, but I regret I am unable to recollect his name. He was met at the steamer by Lieutenant Arthur of the Aden troop, and driven in a carriage and lodged in one of our common prison cells, which were under the charge of Corporal John Wood, No. 1040, who was in high glee at having a real live prince under his orders. Wood was our low comedy man, and a very good one too, though, as we thought he was past the age for growing, he seemed to have grown several inches after the prince came; but he got mighty uppish, and would hardly look at his old friends.
He thought he had suddenly become famous, and boasted that he would yet find a resting place in Westminster Abbey, but he didn't though.
This is the same 1040 that so distinguished himself on one or two occasions with the bear, which will be referred to later on.
The prince was eventually sent out to Arabia. We were at a loss to account for his being placed in such a confinement. That he was perfectly safe in Aden is beyond question, unless it was thought he might work mischief among the sepoys had he been on parole.
I have stated that the canteen did not open till gunfire at noon. It was a very difficult task for those who felt out of sorts in the morning, after imbibing rather freely over night, to procure a "pick me up;" so, if sufficient capital could be procured, a bottle of Eau-de-Cologne would be purchased, which seemed to answer much the same purpose, but I think it was more intoxicating, and those using it would be very flushed in the face, and attention would soon be drawn to them on that account.
This is a subject which I cannot ignore in this narrative, because one animal was the means of infusing a very great deal of life into us, and it would be wrong not to give him a prominent place. I refer to a fine black bear presented to us by Captain Playfair, who was assistant political resident of Aden. As may be supposed Bruin was very attractive. There was a circular building—roof and poles—erected for him, with a pole in the centre to which he was chained. Thus he was able to walk round as much as he pleased. For some time there were men watching him at all hours of the day. He was very fond of play, and from the first he seemed to take a decided dislike to white canvas boots, which were very plentiful among us, being so much cooler than leather. As he was doing his walk round inside the circle of men, he had a nasty knack of suddenly throwing out a paw to damage or smear white boots. Usually the fore paw was applied, but sometimes he would pass a pair with his fore paws, and when it was supposed he did not intend noticing any particular boot, he would throw out a hind one. The two pioneers were deputed to look after Bruin. Dates were his
It became quite a cant saying at tattoo if P—— did not respond to his name for some one to call out—
"Oh! he's having a sleep with his chum."
Bruin frequently broke loose, and for the first few times this caused a little excitement. His den was located just at the back of the theatre bungalow, and running at right angles with the theatre was a large bungalow used sometimes for the sick when the hospital was full, with a space of a few yards between. When loose, Bruin was very fond of prying about and investigating matters which many thought he had no business to. He was always very anxious to see the contents of a bungalow when he got loose, others of a less inquisitive disposition would have been satisfied with looking through the wicker work.
Unless he was seen and one of his keepers soon appeared, Bruin was bound to find the inside soon. Reed walls and doors were not much to stand against him, though generally he got in by a door.
There were two men living in the theatre who generally did the lion's share of the work in putting pieces on the stage. They had their quarters at the opposite end from the stage, and one afternoon the one who did the daubing was on the stage, the other doing an afternoon nap. Bruin got loose and managed to get inside the compartment used for sleeping. He went sniffing about until he got to the face of the sleeper, who was facing from the wall. Bruin's breath and sniffs awoke him; but he was not long in Bruin's company, for he made a bound over him and the two partitions which divided the three different-priced compartments (about three feet high), and on to the stage, ran up a ladder, pulled it after him, and left his comrade (who was putting a few finishing strokes on some scenery for that night's performance) to look after himself.
He soon took in the situation; but instead of remonstrating for such cowardly conduct, he suddenly discovered that he was in need of some more colouring material, and bounded out of the green room door to get it, leaving Bruin to refresh himself with about three gallons of cocoanut oil, which had been put in a tin trough for the footlights.
In due time one of his keepers arrived and led him away, but not before he had disposed of all the oil. The moment Bruin saw one of his keepers near him he would throw himself down for a little play. Bruin always had his chain on when he got loose; consequently, he could sometimes be heard before he was seen.
He took it into his head another day to visit the hospital bungalow next door. He walked in through an open door, close to which was a sergeant in bed suffering from rheumatics, which had confined him to his bed for four months, from which he had not moved; but as Bruin walked in, poor Tobin leaped from his bed and out through another door. The other patients were so taken aback at Tobin's sudden activity, that they ran to see where he was going. Not from the bear? Oh, dear, no! Bruin did Sergeant James Tobin more good with that one short visit than the doctors had in four months.
Every Sunday Bruin was taken down and chained to one of the verandah posts of a bungalow, and was allowed just as much chain as would enable him to look in a door. On one occasion a Sergeant Hey wood, not long since deceased, and who was well known in Rangitikei and Invercargill, went out of his small room at the end of the long bungalow to do an afternoon nap. As he would enjoy more breeze, he took possession of the cot close to the door which Bruin could look in. The sergeant fixed himself with his feet towards the wall, and was soon in the land of dreams.
Bruin was noticed to be paying more than ordinary attention to the trestle of the cot nearest to him. The cot consisted of two iron trestles and three boards. He seemed at a loss how to manage the little devilment he had in him; but at last a happy thought seemed to strike him, and he was not long carrying it out. He turned round, as he was unable to get a fore paw round it, and got a hind one round, then gave a good pull, bringing the trestle through the doorway, and, as a consequence the three boards and the sergeant were scattered on the floor. Poor Heywood soon gathered himself up, and when he saw Bruin calmly looking on, he declared that he was just dreaming he was being chased by a huge wild cat. Through that little joke Bruin was deprived of a yard or two of chain, and the pleasure of putting his head in the door.
One evening we were on parade, all facing the theatre and about 150 yards from it, when one of the men who lived in the theatre was coming down all ready equipped for night guard as soon as the parade was over. He had not travelled many yards from his residence when he heard Bruin's chain, who was just moving through the interval between the theatre and hospital bungalows. Wood at once put on express speed Unless he made a slight detour, there was a drop, sloping about one in one, as far as my memory serves me at this distance of time, over 30 years, and about four or five yards from top to bottom. Wood took the straight line, and as his inclination was going much faster than his legs, he overbalanced himself in the descent, and spread himself out like a devil fish at the bottom, and the whole parade, officers and all roared with laughter.
A battery of R.A. landed at Aden one Sunday. We had refreshments ready for them, and after they had done justice to them, we, as a matter of course, took a man or two each to show them round, and the cantonments were soon dotted with men. Bruin, thinking, perhaps, he had been overlooked on account of our visitors, took it into his head to make down on his own account. We had been so accustomed to see him loose that we hardly noticed, presuming that one of the pioneers would see him, but on this occasion, as if by a mutual understanding, not one of us drew the attention of any of the strangers to our pet, leaving them to make the discovery. We were not long in becoming acquainted with the fact that they had seen him. Their expressions of surprise were highly amusing. They could not believe at first that it could be a bear moving about at largo and none of our men taking am notice of it; but when they were satisfied it was, some were for running and getting out of the way, until they were assured there was no danger. Eventually, one of the keepers took him off to his Sunday's place, and, as it may be inferred, the strangers soon flocked about him.
The fact of us possessing that bear seemed to have been known a long way off, as many travellers who called in at Aden asked if it was true we had such a pet, and, as a matter of course, they always wished to see him.
When we were expecting to leave Aden to join the headquarters of the regiment up in India, it became a question of what was to be done with Bruin, so it was decided to send him to England as a present to the Zoological Gardens at
Bruin has taken up some space, but not undeservedly. I must now refer to a few dogs, a goat, and the best talking bird I have ever heard, and conclude regarding animals with an account of a dromedary possessed by the regiment in the Crimea.
In Dublin, years ago, the regiment had a dog which would walk out with any man of the regiment, and if he lost sight of him he would run to every red coat to see if he had the 5 and 7 in his cap, if not, off he would trot to the next, and so on till he found the number, then he would keep with that man.
In Aden we had two very good dogs, "Boxer" and "Pincher." They did duty regularly, relieving each other on the Main Pass Guard. They came to grief one day. A color sergeant, who allowed his Welch blood to get the better of his judgment, hung the two of them up together, because he blamed one of them for killing a pet mongoose. When this came to the notice of the commanding officer, he received a severe reprimand for it, and it was very near being much worse.
Another dog, called "Soldier," saved a life. He belonged to an officer's servant, who, with his master, during the very hot windy season resided on the top of Mashaugh, overlooking the sea. To get up to it a narrow path had been cut out of the solid rock and up its side, so narrow that two persons could not walk it abreast. The top must have been about 200 feet.
One night the servant and his dog came down to our bungalows, and the former had taken more porter than would justify his travelling with up this track, and though I did my utmost to get him to remain down all night, it was no use. He, of course, thought he could do all right, and away he went. About half-way up he fell flat, and the dog went on
On our arrival in Poonah we found that there was a
To a parrot, which we found was with the regiment,
The "Die Hards" had a fine dromedary in the Crimea not in the line of a pet, though there was a very warm feeling entertained by all hands towards him, for to him must be attributed the credit for that regiment faring so much better than many others as regards supplies. He frequently went down to Balaclava during that very trying time when there was plenty there, but could not be got to the front.
When the regiment was bidding adieu to that now historical spot, the question arose as to what was to be done with the old drom., when it was discovered that he could not be taken down to Malta in the "Etna." So one afternoon he was sent adrift. Many were watching what direction he would take. It was thought he would make for Balaclava—the road he had so often travelled over—but no, he made for the direction of the watering place, as we supposed, to take a last drink about there, and bid an ungrateful lot good-bye; but he passed the water as if it was not there, and made straight for Inkermann, and not one gaze did he bestow on the old familiar spot, so disgusted he must have been at being set adrift after all the service he had rendered and lives he had probably saved.
We often wondered what became of him. Perhaps the poor old fellow, after scaring the lives out of some of the Russians, got his existence ended for a wild beast.
It was whilst here that we heard of the first formation of the present great volunteer system of England, and as we had all the leading English papers in our reading room, we were very well posted in how they were getting on. "Punch," as a matter of course, was bound to note events and have his little joke at the expense of our citizen soldiers. Here are one or two of them, which, perhaps, some of our own volunteers will indulge in a smile over:—A captain was marching his company in line up to a big ditch, but not knowing what command, if any, should be given for them to go over, he, as soon as they came abreast of the ditch, called out, "Halt! Now, as a front rank standing, prepare to jump."
Another captain was marching his company in fours, and they came to a gap through which they could only pass in
He also was at a loss what command to give put them through in military order. So as they got Halt! Break off and fall in on the other side." None but military-trained men can appreciate this.
It was in Aden we heard of the late lamented
During my stay in Aden a Parsee merchant gave Illustrated London News of the 8th February,
I think I must talk about leaving Aden now. did come, however, when we heard rumour, and one bearing a little truth. A communicate actually came that we were to be relieved by a wing
This was news, and an item which sent a thrill of
Eventually we packed up and moved down to
The steamer was at her anchorage almost as soon as reached our tents. The 4th soon landed, and they receive very hearty welcome as they stepped on shore. We
We embarked on the 14th, and many came on board to see
A very remarkable thing, nearly every important affair
I omitted to mention that this gentleman came on board
On board the steamer up to Bombay one of our men
I shall now skip a few months, and pass on to the very
One day, early in November, I was sitting at dinner
I may here mention that the 64 th Regiment was then
We turned round and watched the orderly go straight
Preparations were at once commenced. All
Well, we did not get clear in fourteen days. It took Now we are bound to go, as they are not
A few days later the other wing (headquarters) left, and next day embarked on the sailing ship "Castillion," Captain Harrington, early, and sailed that evening. Never, I think, did men look forward with more pleasure than we did at the prospect of before long mingling with people of our own race. The New Zealand War cost us no thought, for it was pretty well understood that it could not last long.
As the good ship "Castillion," Captain Harrington, is ploughing her way to New Zealand, I will just relate what I must term "a bit of a sell." Our cooks had gone on to prepare coffee for us at the bottom of the Gaughts, where we should finally take train for Bombay. So by the time we arrived there they had refreshments ready. It need not be wondered at that many were what may be termed in colonial logic "on the loose," and would much rather have something "short" than coffee, or both combined. Our stay was very limited. There was the train just waiting our pleasure. The cooks seemed to be up to a thing or two, and several of them went round collecting prices of bottles of brandy. They'd go up to Brown, Jones, &c., and say:—
"You want the brandy?" "Yes; how much the bottle? "
"Six rupees," he'd reply.
He'd soon have the money. Thus they went round to dozens of men, but the brandy never came, nor did they think to return the rupees. They, of course, kept out of sight until the train started, then they edged along to bid us bon voyage. I will not attempt here to give the language in detail that passed during the first mile or two of the journey. That little trick deprived Auckland of a few pounds, but Auckland's loss was those fellows' gain, and they must have gone back to Poonah comparatively wealthy. This is one of the drawbacks the white man has to endure. He is green, as a rule, but every one who parted with his six rupees on that occasion would hardly be tricked again in the same manner. I didn't happen to part myself.
When seven days' sail from Bombay our ship caught fire, but it was soon got under. It scared a few ladies who were on board. The name of the Sergeant Major (Cummins) was placed in the records of the regiment over that (the historical records). The first thrown overboard was Captain Shute, a brother of the present member for Brighton, who was in Poonah during our time commanding the 6th Dragoons.
his regiment was under orders for New Zealand. It was little thought then that he would not go, and the young brother would—at any rate start to go—and be the first thrown overboard. This gallant young Captain caught a severe cold before leaving, and he grew worse as we got to sea, and he finally succumbed. We lost altogether five members during the trip to Auckland. Apart from this there was nothing of importance occurred during the voyage. The time was passed as pleasantly as possible.
We did not enjoy the cold climes when we got into them, indeed, many of us inwardly wished for a little of the warmth we enjoyed in Aden as much as we disliked it when there.
We arrived in Auckland Harbour on the
Mick Kervin said, "Be gorrah, this is something like a 'chest opener' now."
There was some doubt as to whether we should land there or go on round to Taranaki, the seat of war, as our other wing had done in the "Star Queen." Finally it was decided that we should land. This we did on the 24th, but it was generally understood that we should not be in Auckland long before we should be ordered round. We were, of course, only wishing that the troubles would soon be over, and for the remainder of our term in the colony only have to do the usual duty devolving on soldiers in times of peace.
I regret to say that many of our non-commissioned officers, and privates with good conduct badges, allowed the change of country to play too much on their brains, and gave way to drink, and to absenting themselves from their duty.
Promotion went ahead very rapidly. To convey an idea, I have only to relate my own case.
I was twenty from the top of the roll of lance corporals when we landed, 24th January, and on the 12th February, 19 days after, I got the permanent rank in my proper turn. On the 18th (my birthday, by the way), we marched down to Onehunga and embarked on board the man-of-war "Niger," and proceeded to the Waitara, where we arrived and landed next day; encamped there for a night, then marched away next day to the front, only a few miles, to No. I redoubt. The celebrated Te Arei Pah, before which they were sapping, was three miles further on.
The next day we furnished a force for duty in the trenches and rifle pits. Some would be employed at making the sap, the remainder amusing themselves firing at random, or at wherever they could see smoke rise; well, that may be called firing at random, because the natives never showed themselves. Perhaps, now and then, a head, or what we might take for one, would be poked up, and before a shot could be fired it would be down again; but in the space of a minute perhaps five hundred shots would be sent at it, or where it had been.
At sundown we all retired from the trenches to our respective redoubts, leaving the enemy to come down, if they took a fancy for work, to make some of the sap, or fill in some we had made. This latter idea seemed to be more to their taste. The work was much easier, too, and thinking, perhaps, we were getting on too well with it, they decided to put a check on us, so one night they came down and filled in about 150 yards of the sap, or more than had been done in several days, and to give us still a greater surprise in the morning, they had rolled up into their Pah our large sap roller, made of supplejack. How they did chaff us in the morning. It was a good trick, and we rather enjoyed the joke, so "we did another."
The next night a live shell was so attached to the advance sap roller that the instant it would move the shell would explode, and they came down to serve us a similar trick, but after what happened they did not trouble themselves to push up the roller. They did not enjoy that joke half as much as we did. Some half-dozen of them did not return, not whole at any rate, judging from what we saw in the morning.
They did not trouble to come for any more sap rollers. As they had any amount of material at hand they could make some for themselves should they require to sap up to our position. The banter carried on by both parties to each other was amusing. Here is a sample:—
"Kakino Te New Hoio" (57th regiment), "Go back to India."
"Kapai Te Hikati Tiwliete" (65th regiment).
"Kapai Te Waiporo, Kapai Te Tupeka" (tobacco).
Our men would call out, "Come down for some waiporo," then would come back—
"Kahore, you make it the kill."
Thus the time would pass, each side blazing away at the other, yet in the face of this danger the time was really pleasantly spent. I well remember Doctor Grailing, who corresponded for a Taranaki paper, coming down to the trenches one morning, and he remarked that the enemy had received reinforcements from Waikato. That morning before breakfast every man in my part of the trench had disposed of all the rounds he had brought down (120).
The first time our Captain (Woodall) went on duty he "shouted a h. h. of beer." This was his baptismal fire. Some men actually wished there were other officers who had not sniffed powder in anger before; queer, isn't it? It was known that the enemy had received reinforcements of three or four hundred men from the Waikato about the middle of March; this, I presume, was in consequence of our arrival. We knew very well, for from that time up their firing was much greater, and on the 17th (St. Patrick's Day) matters were very lively indeed.
It was thought from the excitement among them that they would make a sortie on the trenches, for it (the sap) was being cut through a rise leading into a gully in which they had access, and we were ordered to fix bayonets three different times that afternoon.
It was on the top of this rise that Lieutenant McNaughton, K.A., met his death. He got out of the trench and went to the top of the rise and was looking over when the fatal bullet
A day would never pass but someone would get hit. Colonel (now General Sir H. J. Warre, K.C.B.) whom we left behind in India, resigned and followed us. He came up to the front immediately he arrived to have a look round. He seemed astonished at sapping and keeping so many men on duty there day after day, when he thought it might be taken by storm, and with less loss than was occurring under the existing system.
He was supposed to have said, "Well, the first day I am Field Officer, I shall see what sort of a place that Pah is."
He never got on duty, for he was ordered off to take command of the Auckland district next day, and this fact gave some credence to his expressions.
One day Major (now Earl Sinclair) actually-had a party of men across a gully leading to the "Green Hill," a position from which the enemy could continually play havoc without loss to themselves, and was determined to take possession of it, and there is no doubt but that he would have attempted it had not Major Paul, Brigade Major, seen the men ascending the rise, and galloped over to order them back, which, of course, they had to obey.
In the Pah there was a fellow we christened "Jack in the box." He used to do nearly all the mischief from that direction, and there must have been many hundredweight of lead sent at him to end his existence, but it seemed he was not to die by bullets, so Captain Mercer. R.A. (afterwards killed at the storming of Rangariri, on the Waikato River), took the matter in hand. He frequently threw 10 and 13 inch shells into the place, but, of course, we could never tell what mischief was done, only this, they would displace a terrible lot of soil, as the shells would sink in a considerable distance, then explode, sending perhaps a few tons of earth into the air. One shot, however, dropped into "Jack in the Box's" pit, and sent him to accompany the earth into the air. There was a roar of laughter on our side at this.
We could always expect a volley after a laugh, and on this occasion they seemed to have got their monkey up, for they peppered away as if they would do us all the harm possible.
The firing of such large quantities of ammunition was the outcome of a general order that men were never to fire unless they "What are you firing at, sir?"saw an enemy. Well, although card-playing was amusement for some, there were many who did not indulge in it. How were they to amuse themselves if they were not allowed to waste ammunition. Those anxious to fire could easily find an excuse, as the surroundings were such that any one could hardly be contradicted if he said he saw a man. A man would sometimes be seen firing as if he was bent on firing so many rounds in a minute, and appear somewhat excited at his effort, when an officer would rush up to him, saying—
The man would reply, pointing in some direction, "I just saw a black head sneaking through that fern" (or scrub).
In the chain of rifle pits facing the "Green Hill," two men would be in each. They would select a tree, and decide the number of rounds each should fire, and the winner would probably drink the other's grog when they got back to camp. Thus time went on.
In the middle of April I was one of a party on duty in the advance redoubt (a small one thrown out to keep men in all night after the sap was filled in), Captain Shortt incommand, when we saw a flag of truce coming down from the Pah. A very respectable native dressed in black cloth was carrying it. There was another man with him, and two young women.
Captain Shortt said, "Come up with me (picking out two or three, myself among them) and bring all the tobacco you can."
Up we went and met them about half way between the redoubt and Pah. There were great salutations and shaking hands. One would think we were very old friends just meeting after a long separation. Such, I am always proud to say, is the feeling when meeting an enemy under such circumstances.
The man in seedy black had a letter for Mr Drummond Hay, the interpreter. This was sent on down and we kept the party in chat until Mr Hay came up, from about a third of a mile from where we met the flag of truce.
They had a chat, then all went back but the man in the seedy black coat, who accompanied Mr Hay down through the trenches to the head quarters. I must not forget to mention that we gave away all the tobacco we had, and it is worthy of note that the two girls got the lion's share. From this day there was no more firing, and not many days passsed before we moved down to Waitara.
Then the question of the distribution of the troops came on. First, we were led to believe, that we were to go to Auckland. This was pleasing, for many had no doubt made a few friends during our short stay there; but this did not come about. We were ordered into New Plymouth, where the remainder of the regiment was. It was sad news to some, who would have liked Auckland. For myself I can only say this, "Had I not gone into New Plymouth I should never have met the party I did, and I am sure had I searched every settlement in the whole colony I could never have been so well suited as with the one who has already shared over five and twenty years with me, and who I hope will yet share as many more." More than that would hardly be wise on my part to wish for.
Into New Plymouth we went, and matters were quiet for a time. We furnished small detachments north of the town, viz., Bell Block, Mohoiti, and Waitara. Then there were several block-houses round the town, in each of these a small body of either troops or militia were located. Marsland Hill barracks was the chief centre for troops. I had a look at it in '86. Alas! what a change from the good old days of '61, 2, 3, and 4. I walked into the room formerly used as an orderly room. The room was there, and in one corner a bit of dirty straw on which some stray pig must have been in the habit of passing some of his spare time. Then I looked into the once pleasant Sergeants' mess-room, in which I had spent so many pleasant hours with comrades, many of whom have long joined their kindred dust. After viewing round I left with a sad heart, to think that the bright past, the association with true friends, was for ever gone.
I went outside and stood gazing townwards. On the very spot I had often gone to, at a certain hour named by arrangement, to give the signal to a dear little creature whether I should be out in the evening or not; but I could not see the place the signal was given to, for trees had grown up and shut out the view. I went also to the grave-yard to have a
In roaming over the grave-yard seeking for graves of my lost comrades, as I would come to one, one perhaps concealing the remains of an intimate friend, (this I can say was the case at many), I noticed they were sadly in need of repair; and a year later, when the encampment was held in New Plymouth, on the very ground which was our rifle range in
Going back to our furnishing men for the different outposts; this was the only change we were subjected to for a time. A few companies went down to Wanganui, it is true. Thus the whole regiment was embraced in those two places. I went to the Waitara in
We had rather a rough character in our Company-rough when in liquor, but otherwise one of the best of fellows. He was just on his last chalk, as we called it, that is if he got another offence for drunkenness against him within a certain time he was bound to be tried by a court martial. I could see one day that "Mickey" was drinking, and unfortunately he was bound to be run in when he got to a certain stage; so I went up to him and whispered—"Scannell, you'll have to take the cramp—mind you must, or in you go." Mickey took the hint, and in a few minutes he was rolling on the floor in apparent agony. I ran to him, so did others; then the Captain, hearing the scuffle, came round from his room, which was under the same roof as ours, to ascertain the cause
Two months was the period of stay at those out-posts. My Company went out again in February '63, right in the peach season again. I often went into town on Sundays to see some one I knew there. I know her now. One Sunday, nearly the end of April, and what I thought would be my last Sunday's trip in, good old Tamati Whaka brought me his horse as usual to go in on, and he gave me a letter to give to Mr. Parris, Native Commissioner. I may here state that there were nearly always rumours about that something was going to happen, that another outbreak would come on us soon. Outposts had been established on the southern side of New Plymouth as well as the north; these were beyond Omatta, Poutoko, Oakaru, and Tataramaka; from New Plymouth about six, nine, and fifteen miles respectively. At each post there were men of our regiment located.
Tamati was a good loyal chief and he requested me to deliver the letter into no other hands than those of Mr Parris.
It was about mid-day when I arrived, but Mr Parris was at church, it being Sunday. However, I met him a little way down Devon street and handed him the letter. Waited to see if I could be of any service by taking anything back with me in the evening. He opened the letter, and I could see by a sudden surprise expressed in his face that very important news was contained in the letter. He said—
I expressed the hope that nothing very serious was likely to occur.
He replied "I hope not."
When returning in the evening I met Mr Parris at Bell Block, just where the Wairarapa volunteers made the attack
We parted, and on my way I had to call at Mohoiti, where part of my company was located.
As I approached I was challenged by the sentry, in what I thought was rather an unusual way, and as I ascended the hill I saw the men were under arms.
"Hello," I said, "what the deuce are you fellows up to?"
"Oh," said they, "we are warned to be on our guard, as we may be attacked at any time."
"Why," I said, "who told you?"
"Mr Parris."
"By Jove," then said I, "that letter I took in from old Tamati must be of importance."
The officer in charge told me I was not to go by the road to Waitara, but straight down to the beach and round that way. I led him to suppose I would, but when I got out of sight and over the river, Tamati's horse (which was a good one) did a good gallop to Waitara.
On my arrival there (about ten p.m.) I found even more excitement than at Mohoiti, for they were all engaged throwing up earthworks round the base of the block house, and every man had been told off to his place at the parapet in case of an attack. That attack never came. In a few days our company wont into New Plymouth, and nothing transpired till the 4th of May.
We were out road-making on the Great South Road near Cooper Ward's house, between ten and eleven, when we saw Major Greaves, the D.A.Q.M. General, gallop in from the southern direction. There was a bar across half the road to prevent traffic, and he did not even turn his horse aside to escape it, but sent the fine animal over. We were all quite sure that something unusual was the matter. Not half an hour could have passed before we saw Captain Mercer's troop of mounted artillery come thundering along from town. Then same Sir Geo. Grey (Governor), and General Cameron and staff. They were on parade at the time, hence their quick-response. Sergeant Major McKay, of this city, was among them.
A man from Poutoko passed us on his way to town on leave, between the time of Major Greave's passing and the troops going out. He knew of nothing; all was quiet, he said, when he left the camp. At 12 o'clock (dinner time) we left, feeling pretty well convinced that we should do no more road-making that day, and while at dinner we received orders to march to Poutoko at 2 o'clock. At that time every man was there. We had heard by this time of the murder of our party on their way from Tataramaka, consisting of Lieutenant Traggett, Assistant Surgeon Hope, Colour Sergeant Ellers, Sergeant Samuel Hill, Privates W. Banks, J. Flynn, E. Kelly, B. McCarthy, and M. Ryan. F. Kelly only escaped and returned to his post.
Then off we started. We were just out of town when we met General Cameron, who instructed the Captain to march the company back, and await fresh orders. On the 7th the remains of the massacred party were interred. On the 8th we marched out. On the 25th of same month Lieut. Waller met his adventure which has already been recorded. The captive Hori, on that occasion indicated where the body of Ryan was lying. This body was taken from the place of massacre and thrown into a pit. On the 29th a force went out and found it, and it was buried at the first post we came to (Oakaru). When the 4th May came round again I was stationed at Oakaru, and had prepared a head-board and fence for the grave, and on that day they were duly placed in position. The first time the Colonel visited that post after this, he saw the grave and enquired who had done the work, and when he was informed he sent for me and heartily thanked me for it. Nothing further of note occurred till the 4th June.
During the previous night a force was marched to Tataramaka, made up from New Plymouth and the southern post. I was stationed at Poutoko and I think it was about midnight when the town party arrived, which we joined and moved on. From dusk that night patrols had been posted to prevent any native passing from town, so that no information of the intended attack could be conveyed to the hostile tribes.
Being rather "chummy" with the Commissariat issuer, I procured a soda-water bottle full of good old Jamaica and gave it to the man who kept my traps in order to carry for me. We had three or four rivers to cross, and in the month of June the water flowing from "Majestic Egmont" is not of that temperature which is altogether agreeable. When there
We arrived at Tataramaka some time before daylight,
The man Lever, whom I had entrusted with the bottle grog, had probably got fatigued carrying it in a bottle,
That was a very quick bit of work from the time commenced. There were three drays loaded with the
As a matter of course the hand formed a stretcher party, and two of them went and took down a board on which a schedule of fees to be paid by Europeans passing through the toll-gate was painted. Old Colonists will remember hearing of that toll-gate, more on account of the moderate charges than anything else. For the Governor to pass through was £ 1000, a Bishop £900, and so on down to the small fry. Sir George was supposed to have told General Cameron that one thousand men would be required to capture that toll-gate schedule.
The General saw the two bandsmen walking off with it and remarked to Sir George—
"I thought you said a thousand men would be required to take that toll-gate. Why, there's two bandsmen of the "Die Hards" walking off with it."
This schedule was exhibited in New Plymouth, and is no doubt in existence now.
In this attack the "Die Hards" lost three killed and five wounded. The killed were—E. Martin, J. Osborne, and Geo. Shipman.
After returning from accompanying the Governor and General to the position, a short halt was made prior to our march back to our respective camps. This was when a wag of a bandsman ran round the ranks of my company and noted with pencil and paper each man's account of the number he had killed, the total reaching close on one thousand. Each man had dispatched half a score or more according to his account, but as we could only account for about fifty there was a slight exaggeration somewhere. Matters were pretty lively in the Taranaki province for a few months after this. I may mention that at the trial of Hori, the half-caste, for the murder of the party on the 4th May (he being the only one brought to justice), Mr Parris mentioned having received a letter from Tamati Whaka, the one previously referred to.
Guerilla parties were now formed at each outpost, consisting of an officer, a couple of sergeants, and about fifty rank and file. These were in the habit of falling in quietly at night, and sneaking off to lay traps for the enemy. This was easy enough; but they seldom made a haul. Our coloured brethren were too sharp, as a rule, to fall into traps; in fact, on one occasion it was very near the other way.
A party went out one night (
In the morning the advance guard moved off from the Poutoko Redoubt, and had not gone far when they were fired upon from some bush near at hand.
Lieutenant Powys was here wounded, also the fine old regimental dog; but neither severely. This created a little excitement, and word was soon off to New Plymouth. The two parties kept banging away at each other nearly all day. The enemy was pretty strong, judging from their fire and the space from whence their firing was coming.
Two men were killed—Thomas Finn and Daniel Crane. Finn had been hit in the head, and maddened by this, he rushed towards the bush, and Lieut. Downes and Bugler D. Stagpool went out to bring him back. As the officer picked him up (he fell near the bush) a Maori rushed out, He was despatched, however, by Lieut. Downes. For this both Lieuts. Downes and Stagpool received the Victoria Cross, Finn and Crane were the first two men of the military who found resting-places in the New Cemetery at New Plymouth.
It could not be ascertained how many of the enemy fell on that occasion; but there must have been a considerable number.
One night at Poutoko the writer was in charge of a guard composed of some "Die Hards" and the—th Regiment About midnight one of the latter, who was on sentry, came to the guard tent and whispered—
"Sergeant, I think there are some natives in the trench." "Oh!" I said quietly; "stand to your arms, men."
I went out and listened—no sound. I then sprang on the parapet and gazed around—no sign. My sight was better
"Come on with me. We'll go out and walk round the trench. Then you will be satisfied." "Oh!" he replied, "I might have been mistaken. I think I was." "Come," I said, "we will soon see."
I believe that man would have forfeited ten years of his life rather than have given that alarm.
Trapping? It remained for Captain H. R. Russell to lay a successful trap, of which the following are the particulars:—
During his own term on outpost duty he had not succeeded in bagging any game, and as he was a bachelor, he remained out with his Company another term for a married officer, and this term had nearly run out and no game caught, so he took it into his head to lay a trap on the track leading from the beach up to Raitaki, at the foot of which our men had met their doom on the 4th May.
The party moved off in the silence of night, and forded the two rivers Taipoi and Oakaru. On the north side of the latter was a redoubt which was not then in use; in this the Captain left about a score of men under Sergeant Tom Hackett, with the intention of protecting his retreat over the River. From the redoubt to the river there was a considerable descent, much greater than on the south side. The remainder went on, found the track, then went up. The natives were in the habit of going down fishing nearly every day.
The party went within 800 or 1000 yards of Kaitaki, then divided, one half turning off into the fern, the other moving on a couple of hundred yards up. This last party was to let any natives pass and allow the other to deal with them. This was more easily said than done. As it turned out a mistake had been made in not going up some distance in the fern before lying down. Everyone was shivering with the cold, And a hearty welcome was given to old Sol when he made his appearance.
Soon the natives could be seen on the move on the hill, and it was not long before a party of six were seen on their way down. The men were now getting warm, and much interest was beginning to be taken. On they came—on—on—till their voices could be heard. There was a chief among
Worsley rushed out and ran the poor old chief through and grabbed his spear, which he afterwards presented to General Cameron. The party was soon despatched, ant another party on their way down, got alarmed, and three of them were picked off, making in all nine, just the number they killed of our men at the foot of the same track.
The trappers were soon ordered to move homeward, which they did, followed by several natives, but at a very respectful distance; but by the time they got in the river the natives somehow reached the bank above and began to indicate that they were about, when up jumps the party in the old redout: and opened on them, then they thought they had better get back to breakfast.
Captain Russell was now well satisfied and said, "Now we will soon be off to town." And we did during the next week.
This was looked upon for some time as likely to result it great loss of life, being considered a formidable stronghold, situated as it was on a high hill, with saps and rifle pits from base to top. Colonel (now General Warre, K.C.B.), made arrangements for its capture, and took out all the available force, and the event was looked upon as one of the most important of the whole war. He duly arranged his forces, fired a few shot and shell at it, then ordered the force to retire to their respective quarters. This was the signal for no end of abuse from the papers. They lashed out a terrible heap of abuse, and called him a second Colonel Gould. The Colonel read it all and smiled, and said to himself—
"Blow off all your gas. We have our own way of doing these things."
Not long after, he made his arrangements again—arrangements which were done very quietly, and left every one, nearly, puzzled to know what was in the wind. Captain Corbett's company of military settlers were sent off one day, accompanied by Lieutenant C. M. Clark, now Major-general
"Now, said the gallant Colonel, "we have it."
This gave command of a large extent of what had hitherto been very troublesome country. These rangers ran along to a place called Ahu-Ahu. Of this place more anon.
There was plenty of good solid hard work to be done, not only the ordinary military duties, but road-making, &c. Expeditions were now and then undertaken, involving a considerable amount of travelling. Such outings were seldom crowned with that success which their promoters wished.
Operations having been started in the Waikato, there were very few troops, beyond the "Die Hards," militia, and volunteers, left to look after the welfare of the province of Taranaki.
Captain Shortt and his company were located there, near the spot where the junction of the New Plymouth and Waitara lines now exists. The location of a force there seemed to cause the enemy a little annoyance, and they would have given something to rout them out of it. They appeared to have somewhat underrated the difficulties attending such undertakings, if we may judge from their action in this particular instance.
A prophet, in whom they placed every confidence, went one evening, after the sun had disappeared over the watery horizon, to the gate of the redoubt, which had been closed for the night. Sergeant Fred. Day was on duty, and he went to see what the native wanted, supposing him to be one of the friendlies. He opened the gate, and was just in expectation of having some important item of intelligence disclosed to him, when, as sudden as a flash of lightning, he received a smack in the face that would be no discredit to Slavin. This was a sort of a surpriser, and so unhinged his wits that it took a little time to fully realise that he had been duped; and before anything could be done the "prophet" was bounding
The "prophet" must have told them what he had done in the pakehas' camp to the boss of the guard; that they could go up and take possession of the place just a readily as he had carried out his little mission. They appeared to believe him, and at once preparations were made to go and take possession next morning. As the next day dawned, unusual activity seemed to prevail up their way Their voices could be always heard at the redoubt when they were at all excited. Precautions were taken at the redoubt Soon they could be heard getting nearer. The men fell in but no one could be seen but the usual sentry walking his post. The big gun was ready to belch forth its deadly grape &c.
On they came, many in full view; others sneaking through the fern. Matters at the redoubt were so apparently tame that they felt themselves almost in possession. Such ideas as these are sometimes very premature. In this instance it was so. They approached within easy popping distance. Still they could see no move but that of the sentry's head. The; opened the ball. No response. They must have caught the idea now that that they would soon take charge of the pakehas' quarters and all therein contained. Some may have gone so far as to foresee any amount of pickled pakeha within the near future.
Poor deluded simpletons, they little knew the fate many of their number would meet ere the breakfast bugle in the redoubt would call the defenders to refresh after their morning's exercise. They were now so conveniently close that the men lying waiting were burning for the fray. There little Captain Shortt gently said, "Up, men." I don't think he repeated all the famous words used by the Iron Duke at; Waterloo. Up arose fifty or sixty heads. Bang goes about that number of rifles. Then the attackers began to realise the fact that their morning's outing would not be an unmixed pleasure. Many, no doubt, sorely regretted their early move. Some had but little time to think over it, their souls having departed to the happy hunting ground; others were lying in agony. The gun then vomits forth among them. Terrible then was their excitement. Brave fellows. There they were, in spite of a deadly fire, carrying away their dead and
So much for the advice of their prophet. I wonder they didn't fix him up when they got back. They suffered a severe loss. The men in the redoubt went out to pick up those left behind. Captain Shortt received promotion over that little affair. There was no one hit at the redoubt. That prophet must have fallen much in their estimation after letting them in like that.
Captain Lloyd joined us early in '64 from Home. He was a dashing officer and a powerful man, though up to this he had seen no field service. On his arrival he was given command of No. 1 Company (grenadiers), and was located at Kaitaki after its capture.
I may here mention that a gunner by the name of Stewart was killed at Kaitaki after its capture. He was down in a gully having a wash when he met his fate.
Captain Lloyd had been ordered by Colonel Warre, C.B., to take his Company and some military settlers along the ranges and destroy all the native crops found. Unfortunately he had had no experience of Maori dodgery, and as they got to this place, Ahu-ahu, the men were scattered about over a considerable area, when suddenly they were fired upon by a party of the enemy near at hand. They had no rallying point, hence a kind of a panic occurred. Matters were serious. Arms were everywhere but where they ought to have been—at hand.
Poor Lloyd jumped into a pit and fought desperately, killing—as was aferwards stated by a native woman—five or six Maoris before he was mastered himself. "What happened to him is a matter of history. Several others met their fate, and some took shelter until reinforcements could arrive from New Plymouth, and that was not till just about dusk. They left there about noon; the distance was sixteen or eighteen miles. The force, when they did arrive, could only collect the dead.
The enemy fought shy and kept out of the way. One man was still missing, a Sergeant Appleby, of the Military Settlers.
There is a very melancholy incident connected with poor Captain Lloyd. He was in New Plymouth the night before
There was a Captain Lloyd visiting this colony a year or two ago, and I believe it was a son of our gallant Captain.
Ahu-ahu was a nasty place to tackle had it been at all defended. It had a zig-zag sap running from base to top through which men could pass up or down unseen by anyone on the flat. There were also several rifle pits and a trend running out some distance from the base of the spur. At this time nearly all the flat was covered with high fern and flax. This very sad affair occurred on the
Shortly after this a fairly strong force went down as fa: as Stoney River, to see how the natives were getting on. We bivouacked near this river for the night. Next
We had not gone far when we discovered the tracks of bare feet recently made. Captain Russell's company, to which I belonged, were in the advance, and before leaving the company had been told off and instructed what to do in case of trouble. They were marching in fours right in front and in case of any firing, they were to at once front form then equally divide themselves on each side of the tract. When drawing near the bush, we were every minute expecting a salute in the shape of a feu de joie.
Captain Mace, of the Mounted Volunteers, was asked by Colonel Butler to ride up on a certain mound and look ahead and as this line was just in line with us, somewhat to our left we were halted. All eyes were on the gallant Mace. He did not stop long on the mound, but turned and rode down to the Colonel, and told him the pah was not far ahead.
"Move on," said the Colonel, "but look out." "Look out," he again said. Then, without the slightest warning from the enemy, they began blazing away; but though they were within fifty yards of us, the Sawneys could not hit any one for some time. Then John Dowling got a bullet through his left shoulder. Our Company at the firing like lightning spread themselves out and began to return the salute with interest. Then an Armstrong gun was brought up, and it seemed to have upset their nerves a hit, for their fire at once became less and less.
How the three mounted officers escaped was a mystery, for the lead was flying round them like rain. The word to retire was then given, and old John Mullins roared out, "Retire be d——d! Let us go ahead and take the d——d pah. I'd like to have a tussle with Big Jack."
John was well known, and under the circumstances. Colonel Butler took very little notice of what he said. He merely said, "Shut up, you old fool, Mullins. I was not sent to attack the pah."
Retire we did, followed and saluted by Big Jack and some of his tribe; but they were careful not to get near enough to tread on our heels. Now and then a shell would be sent over to them just to keep up the fun.
On our way back to New Plymouth, we called at Ahu-ahu, and discovered the body of Sergeant Appleby, which could not be found on the 6th April.
In fossicking round this place we came across several trunks and other things, which had been looted from the "Lord Worsley," steamer, when she was wrecked. I remember coming upon a photo of a Miss Briggs, who was a passenger by the ill-fated steamer.
I met Mick Kervin one day in Devon street and he said, "Be heavens, Sergeant, there's something worth marrying in this place, isn't there. If you were to hunt the County of Kerry all over you couldn't find such pretty girls."
"Yes, Mick," I replied, "there are some blooming cheeks here, and no mistake. I suppose you will be selecting one to make her Mrs. Kervin some day."
"Och! who'd be bothered with an old fool like me, but
you, you sly dog, seem to be moving in that line, and I wish you and your choice good luck, so I do, and may the saints be good to the pair of ye, and all the little ones when they come."
Poor Mick did not live to see but two of the baker's dozen.
There was a good healthy joke got off at the expense of a member of the "Royal Tigers" in New Plymouth. A fine old sort he was (very fine indeed), tall, but remarkably thin. The joke was, that he was so thin that his leather stock (used in those days) slipped over his shoulders and he lost it. It that was true, he must have been as thin as a certain Yankee was supposed to be, of whom it was said by experts that it" would take about three such men to make a shadow."
A grand set of fellows were the "Tigers," different far from those of another regiment, some said. A certain pah was the source of some anxiety, and it was suggested it should be stormed and captured.
"Pooh-pooh!" said General Waddy, "we are bound to have a few men killed over it. I'll tell you what to do, Just encamp the _____th Regiment within three miles of it, and if they have not the whole concern cleared away in three days my name is not Dick Waddy."
The colony, as old settlers will remember, was yet anything but tranquil. General Cameron, having fixed matter; up in the Waikato, took all available force down to Wanganui, and at the end of
In
The enemy seemed to have had a decided objection to the advance of the force. Matters were by no means pleasant A gloom was cast over the country round, and, in fact, right down the coast to Wellington. The natives were sullen, and those in whom settlers had hitherto placed every confidence were not to be trusted too much.
On the 6th February my company was ordered out to join in the festivities going on at Nukumaru. All the regiment knew that where there was mischief to be done our company would have to be about. We had had a long spell under canvas (outpost duty) before leaving New Plymouth end, and if any company was to be left in Wanganui, ours had the greatest claim. So when we joined the force at Nukumaru this matter seemed to have presented itself, and there was
This we did not do, for our captain arranged for some other company to go in, for if this war is to be crushed, my company must have a big say in it.
In a few days we moved on to Waitotara. During this march a man of the 50th fell dead. After a brief stay here, and establishing a post and a commissariat depot, we moved on to Patea, and in order to lighten our loads, our greatcoats and other clothing were to be sent on by the little steamer "Gundagi." We only took one blanket each. This little arrangement would have been admirable, only, when we got to Patea, rough, wet weather came, and the steamer was unable to face the sea. This lasted for several days, and we were in a pretty fix. No change of clothing, no overcoats, and alas! only one blanket. Whilst in this plight I was detailed for Field Officer's Orderly, and Colonel Buller was the Field Officer.
As I reported myself to him he said, "You had better go round at sundown and make yourself acquainted with the position of the picquets, so that you can find them in the night."
I did this, and I flattered myself that I could have found them with my eyes shut.
At 11 p.m. I called on the Colonel as arranged, and off we started for the picquets. It was raining about as hard as it knew how, and as for darkness—well, I never saw anything blacker than that night was. We got to one picquet all right, and were on our way to the next when the Colonel said, "You are going too much to the left."
I replied that I thought not.
In a few more seconds he repeated the remark, and he would persist in it.
"Let me take the lead," he said.
So he did, and at once made a half-right turn.
I told him he would get into the swamp shortly. I had hardly the words out when in he goes, and I, being so close to him, before I knew what had happened, was on top of him, and in our floundering about, in place of retracing our steps, we were plunging farther into it. There was one
"I wish," said the Colonel, "I had allowed you to keep the lead."
"So do I, sir, for to tell you the truth, we shall have a job to get out of this."
We had not the remotest idea which way to steer to bring us out soon. We were so low down that we could not see the light in the guard tent; so I climbed on the Colonel's back and this enabled me to see the light in the guard tent. Then we made in the opposite direction, and were soon out. It was our misfortune that we could not shake off some of the we and mud from us.
We took the other picquets, and the Colonel said, "You had better come to my tent," which we reached about hall past twelve. We ought to have done all in about 20 minutes
"Just help me off with my top-boots, then we will have; tot of grog."
This was much easier said than done. I got them off in time. Then he reached under his bed for the bottle. He pulled it out right enough, and I was anticipating the benefit just then of a good stiff nip, but lo! there was not so much in it as would fill a girl's thimble. He was sorely annoyed and I was sadly disappointed. Thus I had to quit and call again at three to go round again.
"But," said the Colonel, "
youshall take the lead this time."
I went to my tent and just lay down as I was; was called by a sentry at three, and off we went again. I often wondered that that night did not prove a serious one to me.
The next day the weather cleared up and our overcoats &c., turned up, and we soon began to feel happy.
A few days after this we crossed the river and encamped on the north side, leaving a redoubt with a force on the sour side. This was very early in March, and on the 10th there was a slight gale came up that way. All the tents were levelled. General Cameron could be seen crouched in an old case under a bank. All the official documents went soaring away all over the country, like big flakes of snow.
I was very anxious to see the sea in its angry state, so I went towards the cliffs, covering my face and forcing my way along, but I was disappointed.
I dared not uncover my face, for the gravel and spray were so intense that I soon retreated.
Oh yes, that was a good old-fashioned gale, not the kind of thing experienced in these days.
Paper collars were just beginning to be the fashion, and an officer of the Royal Irish had quite a heap of them in his tent. His servant, a man of his regiment, said one day, "shall I wash thim collars, sir."
"If you like," was the reply.
So he gathered them up with a bundle of other articles, and off he went down to the river.
The officer goes to another and said, "That fool of a servant of mine is off down to wash my dirty paper collars, let's go and sit on the bank to see and hear what happens."
The man commenced operations, and all went gaily till the collars began to be operated upon. Before long he ceased singing a favourite ditty he was going over, and fixed his eyes on the paper that was drifting away over the gentle ripples of the river; then he looked at the flimsy remains in his hands, and was evidently of the opinion that he was unable to do justice to the occasion, so he finally wound up with a few very powerful adjectives for the benefit of the spalpeen who took his master in by selling sich things as thim for collars.
On the 13th March, after establishing posts at Patea, the remainder of the force moved further on up the coast. How far it was the general's intention to have gone that day I could not say, perhaps he depended on circumstances. This is very wise at times, and proved so in this case, for the enemy claimed a big say in the matter.
The force was all formed up and everything ready for moving off, when the General gave directions for the "Die Hards" to take the advance. This was not relished by the other regiments; but, as a matter of course, they had no say in it. On we moved, with two companies as an advance guard.
We had got a couple of miles on, when a trooper was sent in advance on to a ridge to see if any natives were about. He had hardly reached the top, when he suddenly wheeled his charger round and galloped back. He had not reached
The two leading companies were at once thrown out in skirmishing order, and away we flew. We were in this too. My company was one of the leading ones. Poor Father McSweeney dismounted and clung to the lee side of the hill. We were soon on top of this, when we exchanged a few shots with our friends opposite, then advanced. The troopers charged after them; but they happened to be too neat a precipice, down which the horses could not go; but they got down, and the troopers moved off to the left, thinking to get down round that way.
By the time the enemy were running out from below we had got to the top. This gave us a wonderful advantage over them. All near were soon disposed of. Several made for the river, thinking to cross; but alas! they were
Colonel Weare, C.B., 50th Foot, who was Acting-brigadier had got down by this time, and was urging the men down the bank. The village of Kakaramea was not far ahead. When getting down, a brother sergeant of my company slipped, and neve stopped till he came to the bottom. Colonel Weare saw this and thinking, I presume, that it was through eagerness to be them, he called out, "Well done, that sergeant."
After all was over, and we had or were about pitching on tents in the village of Kakaramea, the Orderly Sergeant of my company was sent out for (myself) by Colonel Butler, why said, "Who was the sergeant spoken to by Colonel Wear down at the cliffs."
"Sergeant O. C_____, sir."
"Send him to me. Colonel Weare wishes to see him.
I went off and hunted up Dan, and said, "Dan, the Colonel wants you."
Dan was a very fussy man, always anxious to put on lot of side when a superior was about; and in a surprised was he asked me what he was wanted for.
I told him I didn't know, but that the Colonel seemed in towering rage; so you are in for it over something.
Dan reluctantly moved away in search of the Colonel, who at once took him to Colonel Weare. There Dan met a
Dan was so taken aback that he nearly fainted, and no wonder. When he came back he said, "What do you think, Ned? I'm to be recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal."
I said, "My word, Dan, that was a lucky slip for you, I wish I had done the same."
In due time the medal was presented on the Market Square, Wanganui.
During this day and night a redoubt was thrown up here with the view of establishing another post, and the following day the main force moved on a few miles to a place called Manutahi. A good stiff day's work was before a large working party to cut a track for drays, &c., through a bush into a village. As the advance guard moved up to the village a few harmless shots were fired, and the natives bid it adieu for a time, and so far as a place of abode, forever.
I was detailed for outlying picquet that night, and the party I was connected with had to cover the right and half the front of the camp. When moving away after posting our second double sentry one of the men suddenly exclaimed, "There's a native."
"Where," I replied.
"Just there," he said, indicating.
The officer pooh-poohed the idea.
"But," I said, "this is the direction the natives ran as we came up, and it will not be safe to allow two men here alone (the place was covered with high fern and flax) without a good search round."
"No use," the officer said, "move on."
So they were cautioned to be on the alert and give the usual signal should they see or hear of anything about in the covering, and on we went, and all sentries were posted but one file. I was leading, and just in front and about the distance our last file should be posted was a large bunch of flax, and as I came to it, and was passing on the camp side of it, I heard a rustling on the other side. I suddenly sprang back and looked; there I saw a huge Maori creeping away with his gun at the trail. I levelled my rifle, but the officer would not allow me to fire.
"How do you know," he said, "but that it is one of our own men."
in my opinion that is how a large percentage of awards are granted.
Whilst on the subject of decorations, I would here observe, that like most other things matters at the Antipodes are reversed, and this has been specially noted as regards distinguished decorations. "Whoever heard of a man in the Imperial Army putting in an application for a Victoria Cross or other decoration, except the long service and usual war medals? It is not for individuals to claim, such must be moved for by others. Is it right that a man should be the judge of his own conduct? There are several instances on record in this Colony of where this has been done.
I know two instances in particular where they postered every officer they had known out here, after they returned to the old country, to recommend them for the Colonial Cross, and after no end of trying, extending over many years, they received them.
Some "heroes" too who have been immortalized in a book of that name strut about decorated with two New Zealand war medals. They got one from each government—Imperial and Colonial. My own ideas are that there is just as much honour attached to one as one dozen of the same kind of medals.
It was not intended by General Cameron to establish a permanent post here, because communication was open nearer the sea to Patea, but straight from that place to the coast near the mouth of the Manawapou River was the place chosen for redoubts and a depot of supplies. Potatoes were found at Manutahi by scores of tons already dug. They were all carted down to Manawpou for future use. Pork was also found in plenty—running about. In fact this afforded about the only sport we could avail ourselves of—that and cooking them. So plentiful was pork that the Commissariat General (afterwards Sir Edward Strickland, now deceased) offered us extra grog in lieu of the ration meat. This was cheerfully accepted, and was kept up for several days.
Shortly we all moved down to Manawopou and encamped on the south side of that river. A redoubt was thrown up; then another on the north side, between that river and the Tangoho, another river about a quarter of a mile north of it; here also were erected store huts. When this was finally completed each redoubt was manned, and the remainder of the force moved on about a mile beyond the Tangaoho, and was
Then we moved on to Waingogoro, encamping on the south side of that river. Two redoubts were erected here—one on each side of the river. Now and then a force would go out looking for game, also making themselves acquainted with the country round about; but rarely was there any game caught.
Before long the main force retreated, leaving each redoubt occupied by part of the "Die Hards," and those at Manawopou were also manned by some of our men, the remainder going back to Wanganui. My company was doomed to ruralise for some months at Manawopou. Our main duty here was to meet half way between there and Patea the convoys; next day take them half way to Waingogoro; the third day go and meet it again; and on the fourth take it half way to Patea. This, with guards' picquets and procuring firewood, just kept us from getting robust.
Now and then a little excitement would be created through a few thoughtless Maoris firing a few shots at the convoys. On one of those occasions our party went to meet the convoy coming from Waingogoro. We had a foot-bridge for crossing the Tangaoho River; but the troopers (six) who usually accompanied us had to wait till the tide was out sufficiently to allow them to cross. This delayed them some time, and one was deputed to bring the officer's horse (Lieutenant Waller's), and we had reached our destination before there was any sign of them. The two escorts did not exactly meet; but the officers usually did for a chat.
The drays were on their way to us, when we saw a trooper coming with all speed leading Lieutenant Waller's horse. We at once knew that something had happened, or he would not be alone, and at once fell in.
The trooper said, "Only for that d_____d horse I could have killed half a dozen Maoris."
This was taken as slightly bombastic, for the man was well known. One man said, "Why didn't you let it go?" "But where's the other men?" was asked.
"One is dead. The others are gone back."
The affair looked "queer." We hurried off, some going straight to the scene, and others tearing away in skirmishing order round bush wards, with the object, if possible, of cutting off the retreat of the natives; but we could see none.
When we reached the fatal spot there was poor Taylor—dead—with a huge gash right across his forehead, supposed to have been done with his own sword, which, with his carbine, was gone. His horse, too, was dead, and partly on him, another horse was kicking in agony on the ground, and a Captain Fisk, a militia officer who happened to be with us on his way to Wanganui with the convoy, and who some years after was drowned from a steamer between Taranaki and Auckland, took a rifle and put it out of its misery.
On another occasion our party were at the meeting place on the Patea side waiting for the coming convoy, when we saw a couple of troopers riding after some horses that had broken away from Patea. The men were in their shirt sleeves and unarmed. The offending horses made for the direction of the Manutahi Bush, and when the men found themselves within range they stopped, and some natives in the bush, seeing they were not likely to go nearer, opened on them. One of the troopers' horses was knocked over, and as the firing began, the stray horses turned round and went homewards.
We rushed up when we heard the firing, and lucky for the man whose horse was shot that we did, for he was held there. We got him free from the horse, and took saddle, &c., and got the other trooper, who took his comrade up behind him. We poured a volley or two in the direction of the bush and retired. This gave rise to all sorts of brave expressions from the enemy, which, of course, only amused us.
The scamp Kemble Bent deserted from his post on the south side of the Manawopou River, and went among the Maoris. Bent was a very bad egg. He was an American, and hated our service with all the hatred which characterises some men of that continent. He was frequently in trouble, and I don't think there was a man in his company sorry to see him "clear."
I was down trying to catch a few fish one day, a few hundred yards from the mouth of the Tangaoho River, in the deepest part, when the tide was in. Behind me was a high bank—leading to the table land—on which our redoubt was erected. On the other side it was low, but little above the water, and swampy, covered also with rapou and other growth.
I was sitting on the sunny, sloping fern bank, near the water, and felt about as happy as one could be when getting a bite now and then. The water here was not more than about twelve yards wide. Sitting quietly there it was but natural that I should begin to think of those far away in the old land, also of another individual in Wanganui, who has since played a very prominent part in my household for over a quarter of a century.
I was in hopes of an early meeting, and that this trouble was all over, so that we could "fix" ourselves. Thus thinking my thoughts were suddenly turned to another subject.
I heard a rustling in the rapou opposite. I could see it move. Soon I saw a huge black head gazing towards me.
Alas! poor B——, it is all up with you. The old folk at home, nor the dear creature not so far away will ne'er gaze on you again. You are doomed to be shot down here like a dog, and your dear old comrades will have no chance of revenging your death. I felt that I was doomed to see but little more this side of heaven. The fellow would just wait till I turned my back, perhaps, then do the horrible deed.
I did not pretend that I had seen him. I quietly gathered up my line, and turned up the slope, then I expected to hear the bang of a gun, a sharp cutting pain in my back, where no soldier ever likes to be shot. I had so firmly made up my mind that I was not to see the morrow's sun rise that by the time I got on the top, and no shot, I felt somewhat disappointed, Once on the top a sudden bound brought me out of his sight, and I never covered more ground in the same space of time as I did on this occasion to the redoubt.
The sentry and other men knew there was something up, and preparation was made for a run. I popped into my tent for my rifle, others did the same, and away we went, but not to where I had left. We steered a course that would bring us between him and the bush, got over the river, and moved down in skrimishing order through the flat, covering the ground he must be in, but no; we could not find him, and we had to return. Oh! but it was hard to catch those chaps at any time.
Plenty of very fine horses were caught up this way. Cattle, too, were very plentiful, also pigs, but we did not see any sheep. The natives had not started in sheep farming then. Many now can boast of their flocks, and now those plains are dotted with comfortable homesteads.
About four years ago I had the pleasure of seeing that country again. What a change! Municipalities have sprung up, and all vestiges of those days are gone forever.
From this place (Manawopou) a party of three went out foraging for potatoes, and, as will be seen, they went a little too far. They went to Manutahi to see if by any chance there had been any potatoes overlooked, when the great haul was made, previously referred to, and they found a pit containing some, and Hennessey jumped down to hand them up to the other two. This went on all right, as such operations usually do, for a time; then suddenly several natives rushed towards them. The two on top managed to make good their escape; but poor Hennessey fell into their hands. They took him away to a village in the bush, and the news was sent in all haste to the surrounding settlements that they had captured a pakeha, and as it reached the village where the scoundrel Kemble Bent was hanging out, and the description he got of Hennessey led him to suppose that it was a man named Murphy, against whom he entertained a warm grudge, he told them to kill the——; that he was no d——d good.
Nest day Bent paid an official visit to the captive. Hennessey said he would have lost his life but for a native whom he had often seen in Wanganui, and who told him what Bent had advised them to do with him; so as Bent went up to Hennessey to shake hands (they belonged to the same company), he shrank from him and told him what he had heard.
"Well," said Bent, "I thought it was Murphy, and you know I have it in for him."
Hennessey suffered much from sickness, and as he said after his return, it was a great wonder he survived it.
They treated him fairly well, and something near a year and a half after, when they had begun to pay little heed to him, they were all going away to another settlement, and Hennessey complained of not being well; so they left him there, and as soon as he saw them clear away, he started in another direction—the one he knew would bring him towards his old quarters at Manawopou, which were then occupied by men of the 18th Regiment. He travelled all he was able till dark; then he rested for the night. At daylight next morning he was up and off again, and he had not gone far when he arrived at the edge of the bush. Then he could see in the near
He made all haste, and was soon at the redoubt, where he gave himself up to the officer in charge, and in due time he was sent on to Auckland and was court-martialled, this being one of the formalities to be gone through in such cases. He was, of course, acquitted, and all his back pay granted, which, I remember, was something over £30. He told me some dreadful tales, and he said it now seemed all like a terrible dream.
"I never," he said, "expected my liberty again, or to see my old friends."
He related many items concerning Bent, and only hoped that he would yet fall into our hands and meet that fate usually bestowed on men who desert to an enemy.
"Bent," he said, "always carried a cavalryman's sword," one taken, as was supposed, from Trooper Taylor, previously referred to.
Bent was supposed to have been in the pah "Otapawa" on the
It would be a very difficult matter to find any body of men without a good grumbler or two among them. Even the "Tigers" could boast of some—one in particular. One of them had occupied the same spot in one of the famous blockhouses in the Rutland Stockade at Wanganui for fourteen years, when he received marching orders to the other, a distance fully seventy or eighty yards. This was too much for him, for the fourteen years "sticker" in one snug corner, so when shouldering his bed and other baggage he was overheard to remark, "They'll never let a fellow rest; they are always shifting one about." Poor fellow, how harshly they had dealt with him; but is it not characteristic of the average Englishman to grumble? Were some of them altogether deprived of a cause they would pine away and die.
My company was ordered into Wanganui. This was glorious news. They went, but, alas! just before that a man
A district court martial was pending, and as soon as it was over I expected to be allowed to follow my company; but no; sergeants were scarce, and Colonel Hazzard informed me that I could not go, nor did I.
Shortly the company I was doing duty with was ordered on up to Waingogoro. There we were more actively engaged. Parties were out nearly every day fossicking round native settlements.
One day a party of about fifty under Colonel Butler, the late Captain Sir Robert Douglas, and Lieutenant Powys, went towards Keteoneta, a rather formidable settlement a little way in from the edge of the bush. There were several whares outside, and as we came in view of these skirmishers were thrown out. Then we saw a man skedadle into the bush. A few shots were sent towards him, but without effect. A dozen or so with myself followed in the same direction. To our surprise, as we got to the bush, there was a parapet and space for only one man to go through at a time. We got through, and ran about 50 yards, when we came to another, but with a gap in it about the width of an ordinary carriage gate. Close in here was the main village, on a plateau, with the bush all round.
I took a hurried glance of the situation and said, "Boys, we must see the inside of this place, and be careful of the bush; keep a sharp lookout."
The doors of all the whares nearly were tied, and all the inhabitants away, luckily for some of us. They were some distance in, in some clearings, performing gardening operations, but the few shots had been heard by them, and they were carrying on a loud clatter, and we expected them to make a rush our way. We could even discover by their voices that they were coming nearer.
I sent a man out to tell the Colonel of this village, but the man got looting instead. Finding no help coming we retired. Nearly every man had possessed himself of something from the whares. One man and myself were empty-handed, and, as we came in, I saw a nice little grey pony tethered, and I had my eye on him.
Seeing a whare that had not been entered, as it was still tied up, I entered, leaving Shea (the man) outside. I at once spotted a small kit of Indian corn sewn up with flax. I
This will do for the little grey I thought; hut what about a bridle. Ah! here is the very thing, and off we went.
Well, I felt sure they would be following us close up, and I took the precaution to carry the saddle at the back of my head, and just as I got outside I saw Sir It. Douglas's servant walking off with the pony. That was rather annoying; his master had sent him for it.
I may say that all the whares outside had been set fire to. by our men, and in one of them were over a score of double and single barrelled guns loaded, so when the fire set them of it created a little stir among our men. The Colonel wanted to get away before more mischief was done, and we fell in with our backs to the bush, and had just got the word form fours, right, when we got a volley.
"Front," said the Colonel, "right about turn,
fire volley."
We did.
"Front fours right, left wheel, quick march."
No one was hurt on our side; but we heard after that our volley had a little effect.
My saddle was put on a bullock dray we had with us, and I got £6 for it when I got to camp from a Mr. Kirkpatrick the commissariat issuer.
On our way back we had to go over a slight ridge, and the natives were following us and calling out, and now and then sent up a shot or two in our direction.
The Colonel said to me, "When we get over this brow just drop the last half-dozen men to the rear, and lie at: wait for those fellows. They may come up this far."
This was done; but the natives took good care not to COME within range of that brow.
We remained there about three hours. So did the natives where they halted, until a trooper came out for us to return to camp. Then we just gave a volley over towards or friends, which caused them to move off, calling us all they could think. Probably they said, "Did you suppose we were fools enough to go over that brow. Not much."
Some time after this, or it may have been before—I will not be quite certain—a pretty large force went out in another direction.
By the way, I overlooked making mention of that kit of maize again. There was an old chief, civil, supposed to be Wiremu Kingi, residing on the Waimate Plains between our camp and Waroa. This old chap was a sort of a go-between. He could readily bring himself to act for either us or the enemy. He frequently called at our camp, and I noticed he generally put in an appearance about dinner time, and he could cause a large amount of tucker to disappear, and seem none the worse for the exertion necessary to do it.
The day after our trip out to Keteaneta he came in, and could tell us all that happened.
"One pakeha," he said, "dropped a kit of maize; never opened it. If he had, he would have found twenty-five sovereigns in it."
"When I heard this I felt very, very much annoyed; but I was careful not to let my brother sergeants know that I was the greenhorn who had it in my hand. The fact of telling Shea to open it made it more so.
To revert to the other place visited. This was, I fancy, the same place which afterwards became famous—Te-Ngutuote-Manu—where the gallant Von Temskey and other officers were shot down about three years after, when Titokowaru caused trouble on the West Coast, which kept the colony in a constant state of ferment for some time.
The party arrived at a little deserted village, and Colonel McDonnell was sent off in one direction with a party of friendly natives, and our men—two companies—under Captain Sir Robert Douglas and myself, were sent in another.
After going about a mile, we heard a shot across in the direction taken by the natives.
Sir Robert said, "Those fellows have dropped on the enemy, and we are out of it; but we shall soon be sent for."
We could hear the firing become more lively every minute, and were anxious to be with them. In the midst of his we came upon quite a number of bee hives, and nearly every one went for some honey. I can picture now Sir Robert leaning forward being fed by a man of his company. He would not handle it himself as he had his sword and revolver in his hands.
Before we could dispose of all the honey a trooper
As we hurried up we came upon our native
There was one of the civil natives wounded, named
In due time we all got back to our rallying point,
Colonel McDonnell, with his native contingent, went
I was looking for an opportunity of rejoining my company; in Wanganui, and in December an order came for me to go in. A brother sergeant was anxious to go into Wanganui; get married, (this is the same previously referred to
I agreed to this, and it was duly arranged he was to behind Mount Egmont.
On the
The General and his force passed on after doing
On their way they ran short of meat and had to dispatch some of the horses of the expedition. I, with many others, are of opinion that they didn't kill many horses, because all who are acquainted with New Zealand's grand forests are aware that the animals left by Captain Cook have plenty of offspring, and in no places can they be found in such numbers as where the naughty pakea has had but little to do.
Shortly after this all the "Die Hards" at Waingongoro removed out to the place now known as Waihi, an open encampment. The same routine life was enjoyed until the middle of March, when we started for a five days' march into Wanganui. This was cheerfully undertaken, and the fatigue of it was very little thought of, knowing as everyone did that it was almost like going home, and that they would be met and heartily welcomed by very old and in some cases loving friends.
Speaking for myself, I don't think I slept the night we made our last halt at Alexander's farm, for the next day I was to see one whom I had not gazed on for over four years.
Next day we moved on our last stage. At the top of St. John's Hill the regimental band was waiting for us, accompanied by scores of others, both brothers in arms and civilians, to whom the whole regiment was well known.
At 4 p.m. that afternoon Colonel Buller ordered a parade of his command, when, accompanied by the colonel commanding the regiment, he came and made a few remarks suitable to the occasion. Then Colonel Logan had his say, and thanked all hands for their conduct during their period on duty in the field.
That evening, decked up as I had not been for some time, I betook myself to a certain house in Wilson Street. Before I reached the gate loading into it I could see a head reaching over it; but I was not allowed to get to it—not there. There was a hop, skip, and a jump, and the meeting was destined not to take place in the open air. Perhaps it was as well. I thought so, and I think I can vouch for it that the other party saw the wisdom of it; hence the run in.
Not long (about a fortnight after) there was a wedding, and the day was not what one would choose, because the saying is, "Happy is the bride on whom the sun shines." We had no sun that day; but I don't think it has resulted in us leading a less happy life than if it registered 90 degrees in the shade.
On the 18th April my part of the regiment embarked on board the s.s. "Arahura" (Captain Flowerday). This leaving Wanganui was a sore trial to some who had spent so long there. I was not bound to it in that way, for I had with me; all I valued in it. The weather was rough as we got down to the Heads, and we returned to the wharf. This, I can say shortly occurred three times, and those interested in our remaining remarked that we should have to remain. However, on the fourth attempt we went over the bar. This proved a sore trial to some.
We arrived at Onehunga, landed, and marched to Otahuhu where we remained a few days prior to going on up the Waikato, Te Awamutu being our destination.
No war now. All was peace and goodwill, and the met were looking forward to the time when they would be ploughing the wide ocean on their way back to the old land.
In September '66, a couple of companies were ordered down to Auckland, mine being one of them. Here we remained till March '67, when all men entitled to their discharge could get it, and those not entitled to a free one could purchase. I had decided not to leave the colony, and early in April the good ships "Electra" and "Maori" took from these shores all the "Die Hards" who could not or would not remain.
Many took French leave, and the "Alice Cameron" bark, going to Sydney, took several, both of those discharge and those who were not. The "Maori" had a dreadful passage home. This was the one I should have gone in, had I elected to go. She was 130 days getting home. It was the opinion of all that they never would reach it.
After hearing this, I expressed my delight at not going——though I had regretted it several times before that news came back to me. I see the old corps has faithfully upheld into good reputation since it left these shores, nearly a quarter of a century ago. Let us pray that they ever will in whatever duties they may be called upon to perform.
There died at Dymchurch, England, on the
Another old "Die Hard" of the "Die Hards" ended his days about a-year-and-a-half ago in the Auckland Province. He, at the age of about 80, came on board the "Castillion" on our arrival in Auckland, in
After the departure of the regiment, and when trouble began, a few of the old regiment were well to the fore. When the natives attacked Tura-Tura-Moka, but for a few of them, they would have taken and slaughtered all hands. Three of them fell whilst fighting like demons. Those were—George Holden, Ralph Ross, and Wm. Gaynor. Michael Gill, another "Die Hard," came out of it, and with other survivors received a special grant of land.
Like many of its members, the old colours, which received such a battering at Inkermann, and in which every officer who held them shared, and which subsequently went to India and then to this colony, have been placed in their permanent resting place, and as this will be news to many, and interesting to all, I reproduce the account as taken from a London paper: "On
"The ceremony was held in the saloon of the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor being attended on the occasion by the Corporation Sword-and Mace-Bearers, and by Major Campbell, the City Marshall. Major Shortt, addressing the Lord Mayor, said, 'He had reason to know that his Lordship had been previously informed that new colours had been presented to the regiment, and that the old ones were to be
"The Lord Mayor expressed the pleasure he felt in acceding to a request so reasonable and honourable. He knew the service which the regiment had rendered the country from time to time, and it was gratifying to know that the trophies of their valour were to be deposited within the great metropolitan cathedral. He added that the city of London had at all times been proud of the army, and had never been slow to recognise its services in defence of the honour and interests of the country. These flags, the trophies of the pas exploits of the 57th Regiment, were to be lodged beneath the dome of St. Paul's, and there long might they remain to excite the emulation of the citizens.
"Major Short thanked the Lord Mayor for the readiness he had evinced to do honour to the occasion, and he was sure it would afford the officers and men of the regiment much gratification." The ceremony then terminated.
As proof of the genuine affection Sir H. J. Warre, K.C.B., had for the old corps, I purpose to make a few extracts from letters received from the gallant old soldier.
"I was very pleased to hear from you again. It is always a great satisfaction to learn that any of the old 57th, to whom I was much attached, are doing well and comfortably settled in the country of their choice. The deaths of our old friends, Collins and Cummings, are very sad. The latter, especially, was so young and active that he ought to have outlived many older men. The 'Die Hards' are now in Ceylon, and keeping up their old reputation. Colonel Logan has retired. Owing to the illness of Colonel Stewart, which obliges him to be in England, Major Clarke is in command, and Captain Piggott has recently been promoted Major; but there have been so many changes in the junior ranks that very few of the officers who were in New Zealand are now with the regiment. England has been on the verge of war with Russia; but nobody wanted to see another Crimean War, and her victories over the poor gallant Turks ought to
"Dear Old Comrade,—I have sent you a few more photos to give to such of my old comrades in New Zealand who desire to have a remembrance of their old commanding officer. That there may be some who do not continue to be a credit to the regiment is, I fear, probable in a new country where labour is scarce and therefore highly paid, and spirits are cheap. I would rather not contemplate the probability of an old 'Die Hard' disgracing his name, but ask such as are like yourself interested in the dear old regiment and its colonel during its service in New Zealand, to rejoice in the fact that I have been selected by the Queen, and am now on my way to India, to succeed General Sir Charles Stavely, K.C.B., as Commander-in-chief of the Bombay Army—an army of more than 35,000 men, and one of the highest and most responsible positions in the power of a general officer to hold. Had I the old 57th to back me I should be quite satisfied, and should not feel the least uneasy at the evident desire of Russia to counterbalance our power in Afghanistan and on our north-western frontier. I have asked Colonel Clark to join me in Bombay as Military Secretary; but as he has only recently become Lieutenant-colonel of the regiment by the death of Colonel Stewart, I fear his love for the regiment and his desire to command it will deprive me of his assistance in the control of the Bombay Army. Mrs. Warre accompanies me to India, and like myself, is always glad to hear from you and of the well-being of any of the dear old corps. Wishing success to you all in the splendid country of your adoption,
"The 57th is about to be removed from Ceylon to Gibraltar, and in another year or two will return to England."
Note.—On their way to Gibraltar Colonel Clarke landed them at the Cape and took part in the Zulu War; and it was
"Dear Old Friend,—It gave me very great pleasure to receive your letter from Featherston, dated 21st November last, which followed me here in my search for warmth and health, my health having failed latterly to an alarming extent but the bright blue skies and fine climate of this part of the Mediterranean coast ought to set me up and do me good. I cannot forget that on the Die Hards' on the war between France and Germany. In fact the whole of Europe will be in arms, and I do not see how England is to maintain her neutrality. If England can do so it will be a grand thing for the country. Our merchant service will you are well off in New Zealand, especially if inland, as Russian will have enough to do elsewhere, and will only levy black mail on the Australian large towns on the coast, if not properly defended. I went last summer to the Arctic Sea and visited Norway and all its spendid coast. No wonder Russia want to make use of what is now a wilderness. Many millions of cod-fish are caught and exported, and many millions are made into 'cod liver oil.' Whales, seals, and cod all contribute for the staple export. Oil! Oil! Oil!
"I have written you a long story in return for your excellent letter, and I have enclosed another photo which will speak for itself. Now I wish, if war is to be, we could all go back with our gained experience to fight for our Queen and country and the good cause, for England never fights unless there is good reason, to defend the oppressed and to maintain the balance of power, without which Europe would cease to exist, and our Queen would, as the Yankees say, be nowhere.
"I am sorry I cannot send you a copy of the 'Historical Records of the 57th Regiment.' I was so unwell in London I could not go to Mitchell's, the publisher, to know if they are out of print, but if God spares me to return to England I will make enquiry and send you a copy. Meanwhile Lady Warre and I join in hearty good wishes to you and yours,
"Dear Old Comrade,—If I cannot write you so interesting and agreeable a letter as yours of the 11th July, it is not from want of intention; but newspapers in these days deprive one of all that is interesting by way of public news, while life in this Old Country is reduced to a monotony that renders anything like description impossible. It is always a subject for rejoicing to find oneself remembered by old comrades, and to hear of their well-being in the distant land of their adoption. I sent your letter to Dublin, where Colonel and Mrs. Clarke now are. He is deputy-adjutant-general, with and under Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar. He begs me to say how pleased Mrs. Clarke and he are at your kind recollection of them. We see very little of them now that they are obliged to be in Ireland; but Colonel Clarke will become a major-general in another year or two, and will then have a spell unemployed. He is an excellent officer, and still devoted to his profession. That you are a grandfather makes one wonder at the rapid flight of time. You are to be envied on account of your good health and activity. What a pleasure and satisfaction it is to think that you and many other settlers from the dear old 'Die Hards' are enjoying life in comparative com-
Extracts from a letter from Major (now Major-General) Clarke:—
"Dear Sir,—Your letter reached me not many days ago. I was very glad indeed to receive it, and to hear of your welldoing, as the success in life of anyone who has served with me in the gallant old 'Die Hards' is, and always will be a matter of interest. General Warre told me some time ago he had sent you his photo. I am sorry to say I have not such a thing in my possession, as I have not been taken for years, but as I appear in a photographic group which was taken some two years ago of the officers of the regiment at head quarters, and come out pretty well in it, I send you a copy of the group, and have little doubt it will be far more interesting to you than a single one of myself. Poor Colonel Stewart died at Guernsey on the 6th May. He was unconscious for a week before his death. Only a few days before his last seizure he wrote to me talking hopefully of coming out again, but that was not to be. I much regret his death, as he was an old friend and a good honest man, with the interest of the regiment always at his heart. I hear that I am certain to get the regiment, and am expecting to hear daily that I am gazetted. I am thankful that it should come while I am still young and have plenty of energy to devote to the responsibilities of the post, and the only drawback connected with it
"There is only one person now in the regiment who was in it when I joined in
"After I left England to join the regiment here, General Inglis, who is a die hard of the 'Die Hards' (his father commanded the regiment at Albuhera), took np the superintendence of the work for me, and it has been brought to a very successful issue. I am sorry to say I have been laid up more or less for the past five weeks, but my doctor gives me good hopes of recovery without the necessity of going to England for change. I am able to attend to all documentary work, but cannot leave the house. It is very provoking being laid up just at this time, but I have generally been blessed with such good health that I have no business to complain. I often think of New Zealand and wonder whether I shall ever see it again, for I have a great affection for the country, and if I live hope to visit it at some future time. I spent a very pleasant five years there.
"I fancy the regiment is sure to leave Ceylon this year. We were to have gone to the Cape, but there are so many regiments there now that we should hardly be required as a relief. All moves, however, are in abeyance so long as the present uncertainty exists as to war or peace. You ask after my family. We have three children, the two eldest are girls and are in England; the youngest, a boy between five and six years old, is with us here. Kindly remember me to any of the old regiment you come across. Wishing you every success, in which Mrs Clarke joins, and hoping you will like the photo,
Names of members of the regiment who lost their lives in New Zealand:—
Prior to entering the "Die Hards" the writer was in the "Springers" (62nd foot) for a year, he therefore can be excused for giving an anecdote or two connected with that regiment.
Major Taylor returned from the Crimea in '55 to Malta, having been wounded, and then took command of the 2nd divisional battalion, which occupied Verdella Barracks. The Major was passing out of the barrack gate one day in a terrible hurry, and coming suddenly upon the sentry, he was past him before he could give the customary present, which compliment was entirely ignored. So the man remarked to a picquet sentry close at hand, "I'll never present arms to that old d——l again."
The Major suddenly turned on his heel, rushed back, and shook his fist in the sentry's face, and said, "That old d——l doesn't care a d——n whether you do or not," then turned and went his way.
It need hardly be said that the sentry was somewhat taken aback. The gallant Major went again to the Crimea as the Colonel of the regiment, but he did not leave it a second time.
Paddy enlisted with the "Springers" in '55, and was soon in the depot at Mullingar. He regretted his rash act, so in order to be restored to his native village in preference to facing the Russians, he pretended deafness. This he carried out with fair success for a time, and it was thought that he would soon be a free man again. Early one evening he was passing out of the gate for a stroll, when who should he meet but the Adjutant, who had a dog with him; so he said to Paddy, "Doyle, just hold this dog till you hear me whistle, then let him go."
Paddy, of course, undertook the task, and the officer walked on a hundred yards or so, then gave a whistle which only a man of good hearing could have heard. Off went the dog, and Paddy off his guard. The officer called Paddy to him and said, "Now, Doyle, no more of this acting, or we shall tie you up."
Deafness was put off, and in due time he faced the Russians, but I cannot remember how he fared, but I fancy he was left behind when the regiment took its departure.
Paddy enlisted rather late in life with the 41st Regiment and went out to Malta with a party of that regiment in '55 He was one of those usually termed "one of the Queen's be bargains," and why he was ever passed to go abroad vice versa. Being such a slow card, it was not likely Paddy would be very punctual in taking his place in the ranks. The battalion would be usually inspected, told off, and ready to march away to the drill ground when Paddy would be seen or heard dragging his feet along the pavement bordering the square. By way of a change he would sometimes pipeclay his boots. To punish such a heap of innocent would be a crime. None of us ever thought there was acting about him. His looks, manner, and his actions indicated nothing of the kind. I think Paddy was sent home eventually to gladden the hearts of his friends, as his absence from them must have been a sore trial.
Those who have any knowledge of dockyards are wel aware that smoking is strictly prohibited. It is therefore
"Y-y-as," said Bittle.
"Hand me over that pipe and tobacco."
"Do you want a draw?" said Bittle.
"No," was the reply; "but I want the proof against you."
"Well," said the sentry, "if you are mighty be a little merciful."
"No; hand it over. I've caught you at last"
"Now," said the sentry, "what pleasure will it be to you to see me punished for this heinous offence? I'll be careful that it does not happen again."
"No use. Hand it over at once."
"Very well then, if you will have it, take it."
As soon as the policeman got possession he was moving off, and Bittle knew that was to the sergeant of the guard to have him relieved and his belts taken off (to be made a prisoner).
"Where are you going," said the sentry, "in such a hurry? Come here."
"No use," said the policeman; "I can't look over it."
"Nor can I," said the sentry. "Go in there (pointing to the sentry box). You are my prisoner, and budge if you dare."
The sentry called for the sergeant of the guard, who was soon on the spot.
"Here, Sergeant, I've made a prisoner of this policeman for smoking in the dockyard. Search him, and you'll find his pipe, still warm."
The policeman was nearly knocked dumb with astonishment and vehemently protested his innocence and explained the real position of affairs, which the sergeant was inclined to believe. Still he must support the sentry. It ended, however, in a compromise. Both agreed (policeman and sentry) to say no more about it.
Persons should be very careful how they act towards a sentry, for he possesses great power.
It has been said, "That country is the happiest which has no history," which saying, while pretty generally accepted as a kind of truism, may yet be doubted, if not disputed: at all events, such a statement, however applicable to any one of the ancient countries of the world, can scarcely be received with reference to a modern colony whose birth and beginning are known. Be that as it may, the present seems a very opportune time for the publication of the principal portion, at least, of the following pages, seeing that this Colony of New Zealand is 011 the eve of celebrating the jubilee of its foundation, dating the same from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, on the
Moreover, the writer of the following résumé of occurrences that happened at that time—who also took part in them, and wrote them down on the spot while fresh in memory—is also the writer of this, and is, as far as he knows, the only one
It also occurred to him that—as no special account of what then took place had ever been published, and as the narration he had written was both authentic and genuine and particularly well-attested, and the only (known) one ever made—he should seek to make it known to his fellow-colonists; and therefore, while casting about how the better to accomplish this, he applied to the Government of the colony to publish his MSS., deeming them, though brief, to be not merely interesting, but also of a colonial, if not of a national importance, especially in days to come; and the Government have consented to do so.
Before the writer enters on the subject of the following; pages, he thinks it right to inform his readers why it became written in the manner it is, and how two persons wholly disassociated came to unite in supporting it.
First: It was thus written in its present condensed form by the writer, from notes taken at the time, for the secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, London. It will be seen that he was not only present, but had a little to do on that occasion, also, both before and after it, in his then more particular vocation in the printing-office of the Church Mission at Paihia, near Waitangi, of which he was the printer and superintendent, but without any assistants. And here he may further observe that had he not been so closely worked at that time (both for the newly-established Government and the mission), without any assistant and under many peculiar disadvantages, his MS. would have been much larger. And it was solely owing to his many heavy and pressing duties that he did not attend the great public meeting held two days after at Kororareka (now Russell), when the foundation of the newly-formed colony was duly proclaimed with the usual demonstrations of show and ceremony. This also accounts for the non-appearance of his name among those of the Europeans who signed as witnesses on that occasion.
Second: Mr. William Richard Wade, hitherto a member of the Church Mission, was about to leave both it and New Zealand, with his wife and family, to reside in Tasmania. Mr. Wade and the writer had come out to-
minus the printed appendices—of which, however, there were still a few spare copies remaining. In those days, and for long after, our correspondence with England generally went by the way of Sydney. It may further be briefly mentioned that Mr. Wade, after living several years in Tasmania (Hobart Town) as a Baptist minister and teacher, died there some years ago. He wrote and early published there a small but interesting volume of his "Journey in New Zealand."
Third: Mr. James Busby, formerly and for many yean the British Resident in New Zealand (his official position terminating on the arrival of the Lieutenant-Governor. Captain Hobson, R.N.), was also leaving New Zealand with his family for Sydney by the first ship thither. Mr. Busby and the writer were also very intimate. A ship having at last arrived in the Bay of Islands bound for Sydney (the "Eleanor," Captain W. B. Rhodes, a gentleman long afterward known in this colony as one of its early and energetic settlers, and filling several high political situations), passages were taken by her for both Mr. Busby and Mr. Wade and their families, and on the 25th March the writer accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Busby on board; Mr. Wade subsequently embarking from the mission-station at Te Puna, on the farthest north side of the bay.
Fourth: During the passage to Sydney Mr. Busby read the said MS., which he had not previously seen, and also added a few valuable notes, which the writer has faithfully
ipsissima verba), inserting them where Mr. Busby had placed them. And this, in the writer's opinion, has rendered this little narration of those circumstances doubly valuable as a historical reminiscence of what then really took place, the same being now attested by two capable witnesses, acting independently, yet agreeing in the relation.
The writer has also availed himself of this opportunity of laying before his readers copies of the treaty in English and in Maori, and also of the three early and chief Proclamations relating to the foundation of the colony.
Were the writer now and for the first time to leisurely write (from his old original notes) a relation of what took place at the signing of the treaty, he should, no doubt, make some alterations (possibly improvements) in the language and style used in a few places. But on consideration he has decided not to alter it in any instance, so that the narration should stand as Mr. Busby read it, and with his Full acquiescence in its correctness. For this reason, also, the old and early mode of writing Maori (the not using the wh character, &c.) has been retained. And this last also applies to all the Maori papers herein published in the Appendices.
Memoranda of the Arrival of Lieut.—Governor Hobson in New Zealand, and of the Subsequent Assembling of the Native Chiefs at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, the Residence of the late British Resident, James Busby, Esq., on Wednesday and Thursday, the 5th and 6th days of
January 29th. 1840
30th.—Early this morning circular letters were printed at the press of the Church Missionary Society for the assembling together of the Native chiefs at Waitangi, to meet the newly-arrived Governor, on Wednesday next, the 5th day of February.
Two Proclamations were also issued by the Governor—the first stating that he had been appointed Lieutenant Governor over any territory which is or may be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty within the Islands of New Zealand, and that this day he entered on his office; the second stating that Her Majesty docs not deem it expedient to recognise as valid any titles to land in New Zealand which are not derived from nor confirmed by Her Majesty; and that all purchases of land in any part of New Zealand made after the date of this Proclamation
In the afternoon the Governor landed at
The flag was taken down while the proceedings were going forward.—J. B. Mr. Busby has here, in the margin of the MS., "?,.J. B." My allusion was to the rather sombre appearance of the fern, and manuka A small body of them had accompanied Captain Hobson from Sydney. The common Maori name by which the Roman Catholic bishop and the priests were known. Mr. Busby was on the Governor's immediate left, and the Rome Catholic bishop next to him.—J. B. The gifts of the Roman Catholic bishop.—J. B. This garment was afterwards much admired and talked of by the Natives themselves. I have only seen one similar one, which I early (in Wednesday, February 5th.—This morning at an kai-tuki (canoe-song singer), who, standing conspicuously erect in the midst of each canoe, and often on the thwarts, animated the me by his gestures as well as his voice; the boats of many settlers and residents living on the shores of the bay, together with those from the different ships and vessels at anchor in the harbour; and the ships an vessels decorated with the flags of their respective nations. On shore, in the centre of the delightfully-situated lawn a Waitangi, a spacious tent was erected, which was tasteful adorned with flags, &c., &c., over which England's banner streamed proudly in the breeze;à l' Anglais; whilst the countenances and the gestures of the Natives, who were squatting grouped together according to their tribes, bore testimony to the interest which they took, if not in the business, in the gaiety and life of the day. Nature appeared for once to have consented to doff her mantle of New Zealand grey,(Leptospermum scoparium) scrub, and rushes, on the barren hills around.cicadæ, those little gallant monotonous-toned summer gentlemen, sang livelier than usual. Everything, in fact, wore the appearance of cheerfulness and activity. Whilst all this was exhibited and enjoyed without, the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Busby, and Rev. H. Williams were engaged within, translating the treaty, and arranging other preliminary matters, for the meeting. About half-past ten a.m. the French Roman Catholic Bishop Pompallier, dressed in canonicals, attended by one of his priests, arrived. They landed, and walked onwards, without the least hesitation, into the room in Mr. Busby's house where the Lieutenant-Governor and others were closely and privately engaged, brushing by the [mounted] police,i.e., "He, indeed, is the chief gentleman! Pikopo (Pompallier) only is the companion for the Governor"). Hearing the observations made by the Natives, I repeated them to my brethren, Messrs. King, Kemp, Clarke, and Baker, at the same time calling their attention to what had just taken place, saying, "If Pikopo and his priest go in, we, for the sake of our position among the Natives, should go in also." To which the brethren assenting, we walked on towards the house.
kaitaka mat (finest and best kind of garment, only worn by superior chiefs), fringed with a deep and dark-coloured woven border of a lozenge and zigzag pattern, the whole of Native (I might truly say of national) design and manufacture.hani (or taiaha, a chief's staff of rank, &c.) was seen erected, adorned with the long flowing white hair of the tails of the New Zealand dog and crimson cloth and red feathers. In the distance the raven-black and glossy locks of the Natives, gracefully ornamented with the snow-white
tout semble. Around the sides of the tent were the whites, residents and settlers, by far the greater part being very respectably dressed; and outside of them, against the walls of the tent, were flags of different nations, which from the vividness of their colours, especially when the sun shone brightly on them, gave a charming air of liveliness to the whole.
A few little matters having been adjusted, the Governor arose, and, addressing himself briefly to the whites, said that the meeting was convened for the purpose of informing the Native chiefs of Her Majesty's intentions towards them, and of gaining their public consent to a treaty now about to be proposed to them. He then addressed himself to the Natives, in English, as follows, the Rev. H. Williams acting as interpreter:—
"Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, wishing to do good to the chiefs and people of New Zealand, and for the welfare of her subjects living among you, has sent me to this place as Governor.
"But, as the law of England gives no civil powers to Her Majesty out of her dominions, her efforts to do you good will be futile unless you consent.
"Her Majesty has commanded me to explain these matters to you, that you may understand them.
"The people of Great Britain are, thank God! free and, so long as they do not transgress the laws, they can go where they please, and their sovereign has not power to restrain them. You have sold them lands here aw encouraged them to come here. Her Majesty, always ready to protect her subjects, is also always ready to restrain them.
"Her Majesty the Queen asks you to sign this treaty and so give her that power which shall enable her to restrain them.
"I ask you for this publicly: I do not go from on chief to another.
"I will give you time to consider of the proposal I shall now offer you. What I wish you to do is expressly for your own good, as you will soon see by the treaty.
"You yourselves have often asked the King of England to extend his protection unto you. Her Majesty now offers you that protection in this treaty.
"I think it not necessary to say any more about it. I will therefore read the treaty."
Here His Excellency read the treaty in English, and the Rev. H. Williams read the translation of the same, which had been prepared in the New Zealand language, to the Natives.
The treaty having been publicly read in English and in the Native tongue, liberty of speech was granted to any one who felt inclined to speak on the subject, or to make any inquiry relative to the same.
Some brief preliminary proceedings followed, during which Mr. Busby addressed the Natives to the effect that the Governor was not come to take away their land, but to secure them in the possession of what they had not sold; that he (Mr. Busby) had often told them that land not duly acquired from them would not be confirmed to the purchaser, but would be returned to the Natives, to whom it of right belonged; that this the Governor would be prepared to do. Suddenly,
Te Kemara, a chief of the Ngatikawa, arose and said, "Health to thee, O Governor! This is mine to thee, O Governor! I am not pleased towards thee. I do not wish for thee. I will not consent to thy remaining here in this country. If thou stayest as Governor, then, perhaps, Te Kemara will be judged and condemned. Yes, indeed, and more than that—even hung by the neck. No, no, no; I shall never say 'Yes' to your staying. Were all to be on an equality, then, perhaps, Te Kemara would say, 'Yes;' but for the Governor to be up and Te Kemara down—Governor high up, up, up, and Te Kemara down low, small, a worm, a crawler—No, no, no. O Governor!
This chief spoke in his energetic, peculiar manner, as if very angry; his eyes rolling, and accompanying his remarks with extravagant gestures and grimace, even for a Native. The officers of the man-o'-war, and all strangers, were wonderfully struck with his show of himself. To any one unacquainted with New Zealand oratory it is morally impossible to convey a just idea of his excited manner, especially when addressing himself to Mr. Busby and to the Rev. H. Williams on the subject of the land And yet it was all mere show—not really intended; as was not long after fully shown, when they gave their evidence as to the fair sale, of their lands before the Land Commissioners, I myself acting as oreter.
Rewa, chief of the Ngaitawake Tribe, arose, and said (his first short sentence being in English), "How d'ye do, Mr. Governor?" which, unexpected as it was, set all hands a-laughing. "This is mine to thee, O Governor! Go back. Let the Governor return to his own country. Let my lands be returned to me which have been taken by the missionaries—by Davis and by Clarke, and by who and
Moka, chief of the Patuheka Tribe, arose and said, "Let the Governor return to his own country: let us remain as we were. Let my lands be returned to me—all of them—those that are gone with Baker. Do not say, 'The lands will be returned to you.' Who will listen to thee, O Governor? Who will obey thee? Where is Clendon? Where is Mair? Gone to buy our lands notwithstanding the book [Proclamation] of the Governor."
On this being interpreted to the Governor, His Excellency said "that all lands unjustly held would be returned; and that all claims to lands, however purchased, after the date of the Proclamation would not be held to be lawful." This was also interpreted to Moka by the Rev. H. Williams; when
Moka rejoined, "That is good, O Governor! that is straight. But stay, let me sec. Yes, yes, indeed! Where is Baker? where is the fellow? Ah, there he is—there, standing! Come, return to me my lands." This he addressed to Mr. Baker, coming forward as near as he could to the place where Mr. Baker was standing on the raised platform, and looking up, waiting for a reply. To which question Mr. Baker quietly replied, "E hoki, koia?"—equivalent in English to, "Will it, indeed, return?" On which Moka continued, "There! Yes, that is as I said. No, no, no; all false, all false alike. The lands will not return to me."
At this juncture a white man came forward, and, ad-
Johnson was an old resident (dealer in spirits, &c.) of Kororareka.
The Governor: "Then, pray, Mr. Johnson, do me this great favour and come forward and interpret for me. I am anxious that the Natives should know what I say, and also that I should know what they say. Mr. Johnson, do you fully understand the Native language?"
Johnson, (coming forward): "Why, I can't say I do, but I know how to speak to them, and know also what they say when they speak to me; and"_____
The Governor: "Then pray tell mc what has not been interpreted."
Johnson: "No, Sir, I beg to be excused. The gentlemen of the mission ought to be able to do it, and can do it very well; only let Mr. Williams speak out loud so that we may hear—we here in the back part of the tent; and let all that the Natives say be interpreted to the Governor. They say a great deal about land and missionaries which Mr. Williams does not translate to you, Sir," &c. This can only refer to their immense amount of repetition: otherwise Mr. Williams translated fairly what they said.
The Rev. Henry Williams, having obtained permission of His Excellency, addressed the whites in English, and said, "A great deal has been said about the missionaries holding land, and their farming, and what not; but the Commissioners who are about to sit will examine into the lands held by the missionaries, and their titles thereto, as strictly as into any other. I wish for this to be done, and I have already applied to His Excellency for the lands in the possession of the missionaries to be first brought before the Commissioners. People should recollect that were it not for the missionaries they would not be here this day, nor be in possession of a foot of land in New Zea-
Mr. Busby, having also obtained permission of His Excellency to speak a few words to the whites on his purchasing of land, rose and said in English, "I deny that the term 'robbed' has been used by the chiefs Te Kemara and Rewa with reference to my purchase of land, as indicated by the white man who spoke, and coupled by him with Mr. Williams by gestures, though not plainly by name. I never bought any land but what the Natives pressed me to buy, for which I always paid them liberally. Allusion has been made to my possessing large tracts of land: I am happy to say that I do hold some land; but I did not make any extensive purchase until I was out of office, and then, on my finding that, after having served the Government for fifteen years, not any provision was made, nor was likely to be made, for myself and my family, I purchased land. I only regret that I had not done so at an earlier period, and that to a larger extent. In all my purchases, also, I have reconveyed to the Natives both habitations and cultivations, by an unalienable deed of gift, according to the number of persons thereon."
Tamati Pukututu, chief of Te Uri-o-te-hawato Tribe, rose and said, "This is mine to thee, O Governor! Sit, Governor, sit, a Governor for us—for me, for all, that our lands may remain with us—that those fellows and creatures who
"Piritoka," and "piriawaawa,"—words of deep metaphorical meaning: anglice, homeless wanderers, skulks, loafers.
Matiu, a chief of the Uri-o-ngongo Tribe, rose and said, "O Governor! sit, stay, remain—you as one with the missionaries, a Governor for us. Do not go back, but sit here, a Governor, a father for us, that good may increase, may become large to us. This is my word to thee: do thou sit here, a father for us."
Kawiti, chief of the Ngatihine Tribe, rose and said, "No, no. Go back, go back. What dost thou want here? We Native men do not wish thee to stay. We do not want to be tied up and trodden down. We are free. Let the missionaries remain, but, as for thee, return to thine own country. I will not say 'Yes' to thy sitting here. What! to be fired at in our boats and canoes by night! What! to be fired at when quietly paddling our canoes by night! I, even I, Kawiti, must not paddle this way, nor paddle that way, because the Governor said 'No'—because of the Governor, his soldiers, and his guns! No, no, no. Go back, go back; there is no place here for the Governor."
Wai, a chief of the Ngaitawake Tribe, rose and said, "To thee, O Governor! this. Will you remedy the selling, the exchanging, the cheating, the lying, the stealing of the whites? O Governor! yesterday I was cursed by a white man. Is that straight? The white gives us Natives a pound for a pig; but he gives a white four pounds for such a pig. Is that straight? The white gives us a shilling for a basket of potatoes; but to a white he gives four shillings for a basket like
Here there was an interruption by a white man named Jones (a hawker and pedlar of Kororareka), and by the white man who had previously addressed the Governor, and also by another young white man, who all three spoke to the Governor at one time from different parts of the tent, calling on His Excellency to have the speeches interpreted for the whites to hear, and also to have them interpreted correctly. Johnson was again called for to come forward, who, on the Governor desiring him to do so, interpreted the speech of the last speaker, Wai, commenting on the same, after first remarking that "it was great lies."
Pumuka, chief of the Roroa Tribe, rose and said, "Stay, remain, Governor; remain for me. Hear, all of you. I will have this man a foster-father for me. Stay, sit, Governor. Listen to my words, O Governor! Do not go away; remain. Sit, Governor, sit. I wish to have two fathers—thou and Busby, and the missionaries."
Warerahi (George King), a chief of the Ngaitawake Tribe, rose and said, "Yes! What else? Stay, sit; if not, what? Sit; if not, how? Is it not good to be in peace? We will have this man as our Governor. What! turn him away! Say to this man of the Queen, Go back! No, no." After him a chief of Waikare spoke of the unjust dealings of the whites, saying that for a very little thing—a shilling—they wanted a pig as big as himself, and much more to the same purpose. Would the Governor cause them to give as large a payment as the article they got?—J. B. (Meaning its fair value.) Not much noticed in the bustle.
Here a commotion and bustle took place among the Natives, who were sitting closely packed, in consequence of a lane or open space being made in front of the plat-
à la Nouvelle-Zélande.
Hakiro (son of Tareha, but who on this occasion appeared and spoke on behalf of Titore, I may here briefly state, in a note, that Titore was one of the most powerful and best of the many Ngapuhi chiefs of high rank—so much of Nature's true nobility of manner and appearance about him; his voice, too, was mild, yet firm, possessing more of the suaviter than the fortiter, so contrary to the usual loud bluster of the Maori, especially of those chiefs residing on the shores of the harbour, whose manners were not improved through their common intercourse with shipping and low-class whites, I had visited him on his death-bed (he died comparatively early, from consumption), and, though he was not a Christian, I was much pleased with his demeanour. Our parting was a mournful yet very affectionate one. There is a very fair likeness of him (there called "Tetoro") given as a frontispiece in Captain Cruise's "Ten Months' Residence in New Zealand," taken before the invention of photography.
Tareha, chief of the Ngatirehia Tribe, rose, and, with much of their usual national gesticulation, said, "No Governor for me—for us Native men. We, we only are the chiefs, rulers. We will not be ruled over. What! thou, a foreigner, up, and I down! Thou high, and I, Tareha, the great chief of the Ngapuhi tribes, low! No, no; never, never. I am jealous of thee; I am, and shall be, until thou and thy ship go away. Go back, go back; thou shalt not stay here. No, 110; I will never say 'Yes.' Stay! Alas! what for? why? What is then here for thee? Our lands are already all gone. Yes, if is so, but our names remain. Never mind; what of that—the lands of our fathers alienated? Dost thou think we are poor, indigent, poverty-stricken—that we really need thy foreign garments, thy food? Lo! note this." (Here he held up high a bundle of fern-roots he
Here I should state that those chiefs, Rewa, Moka, Tarelia, and Hakiro, were all from Kororareka, their residence being close to the Roman Catholic bishop's.
Tareha was clothed with a filthy piece of coarse old floor-matting, loosely tied round him, such as is used by the commonest Natives merely as a floor-mat under their bedding. He was evidently dressed up in this fashion in order the more effectually to ridicule the supposition of the New-Zealanders being in want of any extraneous aid of clothing, &c., from foreign nations. He also carried in his hand, by a string, a bunch of dried fern-root, formerly their common vegetable food, as bread with us. His habit, his immense size—tall and very robust (being by far the biggest Native of the whole district)—and his deep sepulchral voice, conspired to give him peculiar prominence, and his words striking effect: this last was unmistakably visible on the whole audience of Natives.
Rawiri, a chief of the Ngatitautahi Tribe, arose and said (first sentence in English), "Good morning, Mr. Governor! very good you! Our Governor, our Father! Stay here, O Governor! Sit, that we may be in peace. A good thing this for us—yes, for us, my friends, Native men. Stay, sit. Do thou remain, O Governor! to be a Governor for us."
Hoani Heke, a chief of the Matarahurahu Tribe, arose and said, "To raise up, or to bring down? to raise up, or to bring down? Which? which? Who knows? Sit,
sit! a father, a Governor for us." (Pronounced with remarkably strong and solemn emphasis,
Hakitara, a chief of the Rarawa Tribe, rose and
Tamati Waka Nene, chief of the Ngatihao Tribe, sit. Do not thou go away from us; remain for us—a father, a judge, a peacemaker. Yes, it is good, it is straight. Sit thou here; dwell in our midst. Remain; do not go away. Do not thou listen to what [the chiefs of] Ngapuhi say. Stay thou, our friend, our father, our Governor."
Eruera Maehe Patuone (the elder brother of Tamati Waka Nene, who has for some time been living in the island of Waiheke, in the Thames, and who only came up from thence a few weeks back) rose and said, "What shall I say on this great occasion, in the presence of all those great chiefs of both countries? Here, then, this is my word to thee, O Governor! Sit, stay—thou, and the missionaries, and the Word of God. Remain herewith us, to be a father for us, that the French have us not, that Pikopo, that bad man, have us not. Remain, Governor. Sit, stay, our friend."
Te Kemara (who had spoken the first) here jumped up, and, in his usual excitable, lively, and flourishing manner, said, "No, no. Who says 'Stay'? Go away; return to thine own land. I want my lands returned to me. If thou wilt say, 'Return to that man Te Kemara his land,' then it would be good. Let us all be alike [in rank, in power]. Then, O Governor! remain. But, the Governor up! Te Kemara down, low, flat! No, no, no. Besides, where art thou to stay, to dwell? There is no place left for thee." When Te Kemara said to the Governor, "There is no place left for thee," I said that "my house would be occupied by the Governor which intimation served to produce the change in his demeanour.—J. B.
This incident ended this day's meeting.
His Excellency then gave public notice that on Friday the 7th instant, at 10 a.m., the meeting would be reassembled.
Three cheers were then given for the Governor, in which all lustily joined. Soon after the several parties separated apparently, I thought, pleased.
A truly laughable event (serio-comic, I might call it happened as the Governor and his suite, with the captain and officers of the man-o'-war, were embarking. The anecdote is too good to be wholly lost. I was one a those who escorted the Governor to his boat, some distance off on the sandy beach below. His Excellency was talking with me, by the way, about the printing of the treaty and other kindred matters. To get to the
In the afternoon a quantity of tobacco (negro-head) was distributed among the Natives, or, rather, was intended to be so, for they soon upset the superintending officer (who was obliged, nolens volens, to put up with the loss of his dignity), and so got the tobacco among them, by which, however, some got a large share, and some got little, and others none at all. This occurrence occasioned much dissatisfaction among the Natives, and for some time I feared the result.
Notwithstanding the public notice given by the Governor that the next meeting would be held on the Friday, 7th, it was found on consideration this evening that it would be advisable to hold the same on to-morrow, Thursday, 6th, inasmuch as the number of Natives gathered together was large, and they had no supply of food with them; neither was there any place at hand (or within several miles, and only situate on the opposite shores of the bay) where they might obtain any. Several of the Native chiefs
In Thursday, February 6th, 1840
We then proceeded to the tent, where, after some little delay and difficulty, the Natives assembled together. Some few necessary arrangements having been entered into for the better and more regular signing of their names, the Governor rose and said, "I can only receive signatures this day. I cannot allow of any discussion, this not being a regular public meeting." At this stage of the proceedings a messenger came to the Governor, informing Him that the French Roman Catholic bishop and a priest were at Mr. Busby's house, and that they wished to be present at the meeting, &c.; on which the Governor despatched his secretary to bring them over to the tent. They soon came, and took their seats in the same places they had occupied on the preceding day. His Excellency then proposed that the Rev. H. Williams should read the treaty to the Natives from the parchment (as that read the day before was from the draft on paper), which was done by Mr. Williams.
Here the Roman Catholic bishop made some remarks to the Governor in an undertone, which were not heard by us; and the Governor, addressing himself to the Rev. H. Williams, who was acting as interpreter, said, "The bishop wishes it to be publicly stated to the Natives that his religion will not be interfered with, and that free toleration will be allowed in matters of faith. I should therefore thank you to say to them that the bishop will be protected and supported in his religion—that I shall protect all creeds alike."
On which Mr. Williams, addressing the Natives, said, "Na, e mea ana te Kawana"—("Attend, the Governor says"—) when he stopped, and, turning to Mr. G. Clarke, of the Church Mission, standing next to him, said something that was inaudible beyond the spot on which they two stood. Mr. Clarke, however, appeared not to understand—at least,
The slip of paper contained the following words: "E mea ana te Kawana, ko nga whakapono katoa, o Ingarani, o nga Weteriana, o Roma, me te ritenga Maori hoki, e tiakina ngatahitia e ia." ("The Governor says the several faiths [beliefs] of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome, and also the Maori custom, shall be alike protected by him.") I got Mr. Williams (though with some little hesitation on his part) to insert "me te ritenga Maori hoki" (" and also the Maori custom, or usage") as a correlative to that "of Rome."
All being now ready for the signing, the Native chiefs were called on in a body to come forward and sign the document. Not one, however, made any move nor seemed desirous of doing so till Mr. Busby, hitting on an expedient, proposed calling them singly by their names as they stood in "Will your Excellency allow me to make a remark or two before that chief signs the treaty?"his (private) list, in which list the name of Hoani Heke (known, too, to be the most favourable towards the treaty) happened to be the first—at least, of those who were this day present. On his being called by name to come and sign, he advanced to the table on which the treaty lay. At this moment I, addressing myself to the Governor, said,—
The Governor: "Certainly, sir."
Mr. Colenso: "May I ask your Excellency whether it is your opinion that these Natives understand the articles of the treaty which they are now called upon to sign? I this morning"_____
The Governor: "If the Native chiefs do not know the contents of this treaty it is no fault of mine. I wish them fully to understand it. I have done all that I could do to make them understand the same, and I really don't know how I shall he enabled to get them to do so. They have heard the treaty read by Mr. Williams."
Mr. Colenso: "True, your Excellency; but the Natives are quite children in their ideas. It is no easy matter, I well know, to get them to understand—fully to comprehend a document of this kind; still, I think they ought to know somewhat of it to constitute its legality. I speak under correction, your Excellency. I have spoken to some chiefs concerning it, who had no idea whatever as to the purport of the treaty."
Mr. Busby here said, "The best answer that could be given to that observation would be found in the speech made yesterday by the very chief about to sign, Hoani Heke, who said, 'The Native mind could not comprehend these things: they must trust to the advice of their missionaries.'"
Mr. Colenso: "Yes; and that is the very thing to which I was going to allude. The missionaries should do so; but at the same time the missionaries should explain the thing in all its bearings to the Natives, so that it should be their own very act and deed. Then, in case of a reaction taking place, the Natives could not turn round on the missionary and say, 'You advised me to sign that paper, but never told me what were the contents thereof.'"
The Governor: "I am in hopes that no such reaction will take place. I think that the people under your care will be peaceable enough: I'm sure you will endeavour to make them so. And as to those that are without, why we must endeavour to do the best we can with them."
Mr. Colenso: "I thank your Excellency for the patient hearing you have given me. What I had to say arose from a conscientious feeling on the subject. Having said what I have I consider that I have discharged my duty."
Whilst the treaty was being signed, Marupo, chief of the Wanaurara Tribe, and Ruhe, a chief of the Ngatihineira Tribe, made long speeches against the signing of the same. Both declaimed strongly in true New Zealand style, running up and down, flourishing their hands and arms, stamping with their feet, &c. Marupo was stripped naked to the loins, and continued his oratory and gestures until he was exhausted. Both, however, of these chiefs subsequently came to the table and signed the treaty. Marupo, having made his mark (as he could neither read nor write), shook hands heartily with the Governor, and seized hold of, and much wished to put on, His Excellency's hat, which was lying on the table. After some little time Te Kemara came towards the table and affixed his sign to the parchment, stating that the Roman Catholic bishop (who had left the meeting before any of the chiefs had signed) had told him "not to write on the paper, for if he did he would be made a slave."
Rewa was now the only chief of note present who still refused to sign, but after some time, being persuaded by some of his Native friends as well as by the members of the Church of England Mission, he came forward and signed the treaty, stating to the Governor that the Roman Catholic bishop had told him not to do so, and that he (the Roman Catholic bishop) had striven hard with him not to sign.
During the signing of the treaty a few chiefs arrived who were not present on the first day from not receiving their summoning letters in time and from the long (distance they had to come—of course on foot. They, however, signed the document.
Forty-five chiefs signed the treaty at this second day of meeting. The greater part of them were from the Bay of Islands and its immediate vicinity. Among them, however, were not many chiefs of the first rank. In fact, there were none present from any distance save Tamati
His Excellency appeared to be in good health and spirits, and to be much interested in the scenes before him. As each chief affixed his name or sign to the treaty the Governor shook him by the hand, saying (in Maori), "He iwi tahi tatou" ("We are [now] one people"), at which the Natives were greatly pleased.
All that were disposed having signed, the Natives gave three cheers for the Governor.
His Excellency, on leaving, requested me to attend to the distributing of a bale of blankets and a cask of tobacco to the Natives, which occupied me till late, each chief who had signed the document getting two blankets and a quantity of tobacco. By dint of close and constant management the said distribution went off well without any mishap or hitch.
Friday, February 7th, 1840
Saturday, February 8th.—This morning H.M.S. "Herald" hoisted a profusion of British colours and fired a Royal salute of twenty-one guns in honour of the new British Colony of New Zealand. At Kororareka, too, there was a great display, &c. The members of the mission went over to Kororareka, but I could not possibly go, being very busy in the printing-office with Proclamations, two treaties, &c.
Monday, February 10th.—This morning the Governor and suite and the captain of H.M.S. "Herald" rode to Te Waimate Mission-station, in the interior, where they obtained some signatures to the treaty. On Tuesday, the 11th, they proceeded on to Hokianga, where they obtained a great number of signatures. On Friday, the 14th, they returned to the Bay of Islands and to their ship.
The total number of signatures obtained at Waitangi, Te Waimate, and Hokianga was about one hundred and twenty.
By His Excellency William Hobson, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the British Settlements in progress in New-Zealand, &c., &c., &c.
Whereas Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has been graciously pleased to direct that measures shall be taken for the establishment of a settled form of civil government over those of Her Majesty's subjects who are already settled in New Zealand, or who may hereafter resort hither: And whereas Her Majesty has also been graciously pleased to direct Letters Patent to be issued under the Great Seal of the said United Kingdom, bearing date the fifteenth day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, by which the former boundaries of the Colony of New South Wales are so extended as to comprehend any part of New Zealand that is or may be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty, her heirs or successors: And whereas Her Majesty has been further pleased, by a Commission under her Royal Signet and Sign-Manual, bearing date the thirtieth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, to appoint me, William Hob-son, Esquire, Captain in Her Majesty's Navy, to be Lieutenant-Governor in and over any territory which is or may be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, within that group of islands in the Pacific Ocean commonly called New Zealand, and lying between the latitude thirty-four degrees thirty minutes and forty-seven degrees ten minutes south, and one hundred and sixty-six degrees five minutes and one hundred and seventy-nine degrees east longitude from the meridian of Greenwich: Now, therefore, I, the said William Hobson, do hereby declare and proclaim that I did, on the fourteenth day of January instant, before His Excellency Sir George Gipps, Knight, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies, and the Executive Council thereof, take the accustomed oaths of office as Lieutenant-Governor as afore-
Given under my hand and seal, at Kororika, this thirtieth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and forty, and in the third year of Her Majesty's reign.
Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, regarding with Her Royal Favour the Native Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand, and anxious to protect their just Rights and Property, and to secure to then the enjoyment of Peace and Good Order, has deemed it necessary, in consequence of the great number of Her Majesty's Subjects who have already settled in New Zealand, and the the rapid extension of Emigration both from Europe and Australia which is still in progress, to constitute and appoint a functionary properly authorised to treat with the Aborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of Her Majesty's Sovereign authority over the whole or any part of those islands. Her Majesty, therefore, being desirous to establish a settled form of Civil Government with a view to avert the evil consequences which must result from the absence of the necessary Laws and Institutions alike to the Native population and to Her subjects, has been graciously pleased to empower and authorise me, William Hobson, a Captain in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, Consul, and Lieutenant-Governor of such parts of New Zealand as may be, or hereafter shall be, ceded to
The Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand, and the separate and independent Chiefs who have not become members of the Confederation, cede to Her Majesty the Queen of England, absolutely and without reservation, all the rights and powers of Sovereignty which the said Confederation or Individual Chiefs respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess, over their respective Territories as the sole Sovereigns thereof.
Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof, the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates, Forests, Fisheries, and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess, so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession; but the Chiefs of the United Tribes and the Individual Chiefs yield to Her Majesty the exclusive right of Pre-emption over such lands as the Proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate, at such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective Proprietors and persons appointed by Her Majesty to treat with them in that behalf.
In consideration thereof, Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her Royal protection, and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British subjects.
Now, therefore, We, the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand, being assembled in Congress at Victoria, in Waitangi, and We, the Separate and Independent Chiefs of New Zealand, claiming authority over the Tribes and Territories which are specified after our respective names, having been made fully to understand the Provisions of the foregoing Treaty, accept and enter into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof: in witness of which, we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and the dates respectively specified.
Done at Waitangi, this sixth day of February, in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty.
Ko Wikitoria, te Kuini o Ingarani, i tana mahara atawai ki nga Rangatira me Nga Hapu o Nu Tirani, i tana hiahia hoki kia tohungia ki a ratou o ratou rangatiratanga, me to ratou wenua, a kia mau tonu hoki te Rongo ki a ratou me te ata noho hoki, kua wakaaro ia he mea tika kia tukua mai tetahi Rangatira hei kai wakarite ki nga tangata maori o Nu Tirani. Kia wakaaetia e nga Rangatira maori te Kawanatanga o te Kuini, ki nga wahi katoa o te wenua nei me nga motu. Na te mea hoki he tokomaha ke nga tangata o ton a iwi kua noho ki tenei wenua, a e haere mai nei.
Na, ko te Kuini e hiahia ana kia wakaritea te Kawanatanga, kia kaua ai nga kino e puta mai ki te tangata maori ki te pakeha e noho ture kore ana.
Na kua pai te Kuini kia tukua a hau, a Wiremu Hopihona, he Kapitana i te Roiara Nawa, hei Kawana mo nga wahi katoa o Nu Tirani, e tukua aianei amua atu ki te Kuini; e mea atu ana ia ki nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tirani, me era Rangatira atu, enei ture ka kore-rotia nei.
Ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga, me nga Rangatira katoa hoki, kihai i uru ki taua Wakaminenga, ka tuku rawa atu ki te Kuini o Ingarani ake tonu atu te Kawanatanga katoa o o ratou wenua.
Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangatira, ki nga Hapu, ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani, te tino Rangatiratanga o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa. Otiia ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga, me nga Rangatira katoa atu, ka tuku ki te Kuini te hokonga o era wahi wenua e pai ai te tangata nona te wenua, ki te ritenga o te utu e wakaritea ai e ratou ko te kai hoko e meatia nei e te Kuini hei kai hoko mona.
Hei wakaritenga mai hoki tenei mo te wakaaetanga ki te Kawanatanga o te Kuini. Ka tiakina e te Kuini o Ingarani nga tangata maori katoa o Nu Tirani. Ka tukua ki a ratou nga tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki nga tangata o Ingarani.
Na, ko matou, ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tirani, ka huihui nei ki Waitangi. Ko matou hoki ko nga Rangatira o Nu Tirani, ka kite nei i te ritenga o
Ka meatia tenei ki Waitangi, i te ono o nga ra o Pepuere, i te tau kotahi mano, e warn rau, e wa tekau, o to tatou Ariki.
In the Name of Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. By William Hobson, Esquire, a Captain in the Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor in New-Zealand.
Whereas, by a Treaty bearing Date the Fifth day of February, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty, made and executed by me, William Hobson, a Captain in the Royal Navy, Consul, and Lieu-tenant-Governor in New-Zealand, vested for this purpose with full Powers by Her Britannic Majesty, of the one part, and the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New-Zealand, and the Separate and Independent Chiefs of New-Zealand, not Members of the Confederation, of the other; and further ratified and confirmed by the adherence of the Principal Chiefs of this Island of New-Zealand, commonly called "The Northern Island"; all Rights and Powers of Sovereignty over the said Northern Island were ceded to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, absolutely and without reservation:
Now, therefore, I, William Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor of New-Zealand, in the Name and on the Behalf of Her Majesty, do hereby Proclaim and Declare, to all Men, that from and after the Date of the above-mentioned Treaty, the full Sovereignty of the Northern Island of New-Zealand vests in Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her Heirs and Successors for ever.
Given under my hand at Government-House, Russell, Bay of Islands, this Twenty-first Day of May, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty.
Paihia: Printed at the Press of the Church Missionary Society.
In the Name of Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. By William Hobson, Esquire, a Captain in the Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor of New-Zealand.
Whereas I have it in Command from Her Majesty Queen Victoria, through Her principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, to assert, on the grounds of Discovery, the Sovereign Rights of Her Majesty over the Southern Islands of New-Zealand, commonly called "The Middle Island "and "Stewart's Island"; and the Island commonly called "The Northern Island" having been ceded in sovereignty to Her Majesty:
Now, therefore, I, William Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor of New-Zealand, do hereby Proclaim and Declare to all men that, from and after the Date of these Presents, the full Sovereignty of the Islands of New-Zealand, extending from Thirty-four Degrees Thirty Minutes to Forty-seven Degrees Ten Minutes South Latitude, and between One Hundred and Sixty-six Degrees Five Minutes to One Hundred and Seventy-nine Degrees of East Longitude, vests in Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her Heirs and Successors for ever.
Given under my hand at Government-House, Russell, Bay of Islands, this Twenty-first Day of May, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty.
Paihia: Printed at the Press of the Church Missionary Societ
By Authority: George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.
amuel duncan parnell, the founder of the "Sight Hours System," and whose portrait adorns the title page of this pamphlet, was born in London on the
On the
From this period it will perhaps be more acceptable to republish an account of the events leading up to the initiation of the Eight Hours system, as taken from Mr. Parnell's own lips by a member of the staff of the Evening Press, and subsequently published by that journal. He says:—
We would have been the first ship here had it not been that we had to put in at Plymouth to get one of our masts repaired; it had been sprung soon after sailing. There was a large number of passengers, our ship taking the 'intermediates,' as the others were full of the cabin passengers. Among our passengers was Mr. Robert Hunter, sen., who was coming out to the colony as agent to the well-known firm of shipowners, Messrs. Willis & Co. He was accompanied by his wife and a large family, the eldest of which were two sons, George and Robert. Mr. Hunter and I struck up an acquaintance and became very intimate. He seemed to take an interest in me, and asked me if I was going to follow my trade when I landed. I replied that that, of course, depended on circumstances, but added, that if I did I should only be too glad to do all his work for him. Well, to make a long story short, we arrived and dropped anchor, as I stated, on the 7th February, after a voyage of 144 days. We all got ashore in due time, and I located myself on the banks of the Hutt River, at a spot between the present township of Petone and the Lower Hutt. There was a Maori chief at a pah close by who seemed to have taken quite a fancy to me. He was a fine fellow; he used to come every morning to see how I was getting along. He called me a "rangatira" (headman, or gentleman), and he showed me the marks of the deposit from former floods on the trunks of the trees in the bush, and warned me against the height of floods. Profiting by this simple and ingenious native's experience, I built my house, which was one I had brought out in sections, having made it in my workshop in London, upon piles 20 inches high. It was lucky indeed that I did so, for I had barely had it up a week before a heavy flood came down the river, and the water rose until it just washed the under-side of the floor, but we were quite dry inside. Mr. Hunter in the meantime had settled further down, towards the Koro-koro Pah, and nearer the sea beach than I did. When the houses were up, he came to me and said he wanted a store built, as he expected a quantity of stores out by the next vessels, and he asked me if I could build it for him.
"I will do my best," I answered, "but I must make this condition, Mr. Hunter: that on the job the hours shall only be eight for the day."
Mr. Hunter could not dream of such a thing; it was ridiculous, preposterous, &c., &c.
"There are," I replied, "twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation and in which for men to do what little things they want for themselves. I am ready to start to-morrow morning at eight o'clock, but it must be on these terms or none at all."
"You know, Mr. Parnell," replied Mr. Hunter, "that in London the bell rang at six o'clock, and if a man was not there ready to turn to, he lost a quarter of a day."
I said, "Mr. Hunter, we're not in London, and if you don't agree to these terms I can't help you. I have plenty to do for myself, so I must wish yon good-morning." And I turned to go home.
I had not got many paces when he called me back, and said that he supposed he must agree to it, as he wanted the building up, and he hoped that I would get along with it as best I could. And so you see, the first strike for eight hours a day the world has ever seen was settled on the spot.
About the wage, Mr. Hunter would not give more than 5s per day, and he asked me what I would do for workmen.
I answered that I did not know exactly; there were only two men that I knew of, as there were not many about, and all that there were were busy setting up their own abodes. I went to see the two men I knew of, and asked them if they wanted a job. One of them was called "Old Palfry," and the other's name was "Bill Taylor." I said, "It is to put up a store for Mr. Hunter, and the wages are to be 5s a day." They answered, "Oh, he be d—d, we won't work for that." The fact of the matter was that they did not want to work at all.
I said to the men, "You had better go and see Mr. Hunter yourselves, and if you see him, don't forget that I have already agreed that the time is to be eight hours per day."
The men acknowledged that that part of the bargain was first-rate, but they said they would not work for 5s per day.
I told them again to be sure and not forget that I had bargained for eight hours per day, work to begin at 8 o'clock.
They, however, never went near Mr. Hunter at all, simply because, I suppose, that they didn't want to work.
There were only three other carpenters here then. One was building a boat, and the other two were sawing timber to build a house for Mr. Moles worth. I told them what the time I had bargained for was, but they had plenty of work with Mr. Molesworth, and would not leave their present employment.
I saw Mr. Hunter the next morning, and told him I could not get any men.
He said I must get on with the building myself, and he would see what he could do in the way of getting men himself.
I had been able to get one or two labouring men, but I was the only carpenter on the ground. In speaking to Mr. Hunter about the work generally, I had mentioned to him that perhaps I would not be able to get to work by 8 o'clock sharp every morning, as I had such a long way to come; but I assured him that whatever time I lost in that way I would make up. Mr. Hunter said that would be all right; but it happened that a very few mornings after that I was unavoidably a few minutes late, and on arrival at the building I met Mr. Hunter, who was looking very angry. I said, "Good morning" to him, but he made no answer, and I was going on, when he said, "This won't do, Mr. Parnell."
I said, "I told you, Mr. Hunter, that perhaps I might be a little late some-times, but I would always make it up."
He said, "It is not that; you are setting a bad example to the men."
I answered, "Well, Mr. Hunter, if you think so I shall not do any more for you at the store; I have done a great deal more for you than I have for myself." With that, I turned away and went to the store and got my tools.
While I was working on Mr. Hunter's store, and previous, of course, to my disagreement with him, the ship "Adelaide" arrived from Home. It was on the
Mr. St. Hill came round to me and said, "Mr. Hunter tells me you came from London."
I said, "Yes, I came from London."
He said, "You must have heard of me? I was an architect there."
I said, "I could not recollect him at all."
He said then that he had learnt from Mr. Hunter that I had introduced an eight hours system of labour here.
I said, "Yes, that's correct, and don't you think eight hours is long enough for anyone to work?"
He said, "There is Captain Daniells that has come out in the "Adelaide," he will be a large employer of labour, and he will put a stop to this eight hours racket."
"I said," You are too late, you can't put a stop to it now; the men have been working at it some little time now, and they won't give it up."
They tried for some time afterwards to break up the eight hours rule, but it was of no avail, as I with ease enlisted the sympathy and help of every workman that landed from the other ships that followed, and the system gradually became an accomplished fact. The ships that followed the "Adelaide" were the "Bengal Merchant,"
It may be interesting to know that the first strike of labour that ever I occurred in New Zealand was a very few years after the time when the incidents I have been relating took place. It was in connection with the making of the present road along the harbour, leading from the town when it was shifted to its present position, to the Hutt Valley. The men would only work eight hours a day, and because they were ordered to work more they threw down their tools. The concession was ceded, and work was resumed."
During the year
Mr. Fox, evidently labouring under an illusion, or speaking in ignorance, is alleged to have replied that the men in Port Nicholson wrought longer hours, and only received 2s 6d per day.
This, it will have been seen from a preceding paragraph, was not in accordance with facts, as at no period since
As during the strike of the men engaged on the Hutt Road (years previous to
The men of Otago were eventually successful in their demands, and thus the result of the seed sown on Petone Beach in
As may be well supposed, aspirants to the title of founder of the "Eight Hours System" have been as numerous as "Colonels in the American Army," but not one has yet been able to honourably usurp Mr. Parnell's claims to this great reform, that is now vibrating from the four corners of the civilized world.
The people of Wellington having had the fact of Mr. Parnell's great work so forcibly brought before them—the Trades Demonstration, which was held for the first time in New Zealand on the
took place on the trolly conveying the fishermen's tableau, and was made a the request of a large number of people by Mr. H. W. Potter. As Mr. Parnell was introduced to the assemblage by Mr. F. C. Millar, Chairman of the Demonstration Day Committee, he was greeted with prolonged and ringing cheers Mr. Potter, in making the presentation, was frequently applauded. He said:—
Ladies and Gentlemen,—At the request of a large number of friends of the Eight-hour Movement, I have now to perform a most pleasing as well as
The address was as follows:—
"We, the labouring class of Wellington, on behalf of ourselves and fellow workers in other parts of New Zealand, esteem it a great privilege to have you living in our midst, and being present with us on this occasion. We recognised in you a gentleman who, by God's providence and having a heartfelt sympathy for your fellow-men, was, at the early settlement of the colony (in the year bonâ fide producers, we believe this to be a most fitting opportunity to present you with this address as a mark of our appreciation of your noble efforts, and the success which ere long will be duly recognised, and appreciated, as one of the greatest boons conferred upon the labouring classes.
"We trust that, although now in the winter of your life, you may yet be spared to witness the fruitful bearing of that great tree of philanthropy planted by you for our benefit, and that in the near future an united effort will be made to secure and establish a more lasting tribute to your respected memory.
"Signed on behalf of the Wellington section of the labouring classes by John Plimmer, D. P. Fisher, C. F. Worth, W. McGill, E. Player, and H. W. Potter."
Mr. Potter handed the address to Mr. Parnell amidst prolonged cheering, and concluded—In begging your acceptance of this token of our esteem, I would ask you to remember that its mere intrinsic value is immeasurably outweighed in the gratitude towards you, which shall live as long as the memory of the benefits you have conferred upon us shall last. I have much pleasure in handing you the address, and may you live long to look at it. (Cheers.)
Mr. W. McGill replied on behalf of Mr. Parnell, who was deeply moved, as follows:—Mr. Parnell not feeling equal to the task of replying to your kind words, Mr. Potter has asked me to read his reply, as follows:—"Mr. Potter, Gentlemen, and Fellow Townsmen,—I thank you for the address you have presented me with this day. I feel happy to-day because the seed sown so many years ago is bearing such abundant fruit—(cheers)—and the chord struck at Petone fifty years ago is vibrating round the world, and I hope I shall live to see eight hours a day as a day's work universally acknowledged and become the law of every nation of the world. (Cheers.) It is the outcome of my early convictions on entering on the battle of life. I was convinced that the working hours were too long, and the time for recreation too short. (Cheers.) I spoke to my shopmates in London about the long hours we had to work, but; they saw no hope of getting things altered, but on coming out to this colony I determined to do what I could to alter things, and on the first opportunity I got I made a stand for eight hours a day, with the result as you know. Again I thank you for the recognition you have shown me of the part I took to benefit my fellow-men."
Mr. Millar—"Now, boys, three rousing cheers for Mr. Parnell!" This was responded to with great enthusiasm.
Messrs. Millar, Fisher, Worth, and W. W. Collins then addressed those assembled, and cheers were given for Mr. Winter (who was introduced to them), the Committee, Mr. Potter, Mr. E. Gell (a member of the Wellington Carpenters' Union of
The Committee who had carried out the necessary arrangements in connection with the address, did not now lay down their arms, but instead went to work to formulate some scheme for a more lasting commemoration of the Eight Hours System, and several meetings were held by them discussing the matter, which, as it grew older and took a more and more tangible and substantial shape, was on all sides receiving a willing and growing support. At a meeting of the Committee, held on cortege moved off and wended its way towards God's Acre, it numbered quite three thousand people, and was headed by the Garrison Band playing the Dead March in Saul. The body was borne along the full length of the way by relays of workingmen, who were glad, indeed, to do this last act as a tribute of the profound respect they hid had for the old man. At last the sad duty was over, and after a most impressive Socialistic ceremony, performed by Mr. John Chantrey Harris, the body was consigned to the grave, and the mournful assemblage turned away to again meet the world and resume their every-day avocations.
[Samuel Duncan Parnell, founder of the Eight Hours' Labour Movement, died at Wellington (N.Z.), where he had lived for 50 years, on
Printed at the Evening Post Office, Willis Street, Wellington, N.Z,
he Committee of Management has pleasure in laying the Thirteenth Annual Report before members. Seven meetings have been held during the year, and the attendance has been very satisfactory. There are 15 members on the Committee, and the average attendance has been 8. The Committee has to express regret that owing to removal to another educational district, Mr. Selby found himself compelled to resign his place on the Committee, and desires to express its sense of Mr. Selby's services to the Institute.
The Council of the New Zealand Educational Institute met this year at Dunedin, and our Institute was represented by Messrs. A. Wilson, Jas. Reid, C. Chilton, W. S. Fitzgerald, W. Milne, and D. A. M'Nicoll. The meeting was in all respects a very successful one, a large amount of important business being transacted. As a full supply of the report of the meeting of Council will be available at the Annual Meeting, it is unnecessary to give a resumé of the business dealt with.
A Special Committee of the Institute was appointed at last Annual Meeting to confer with the Committee of Management with regard to preparing a plan for a closer union among teachers. It was resolved that the subject be sent on to the Council for discussion. The matter occupied a large share of the attention of the Council, as may be seen by reference to page 10 of the Report. The constitution of the Institute, however, comes up for consideration again at the forthcoming Annual Meeting, when members will have an opportunity of again discussing it.
A deputation, consisting of Messrs. Milne. Fitzgerald, Chilton, and M'Nicoll, waited on the Education Board in order to lay before it the resolutions passed at the last Annual Meeting respecting the appointment of teachers. The Board has, repealed the resolutions of
In this connection the Committee of Management adopted the following resolution:—"That the Committee of Management desires to thank the Board for the courteous reception given to the deputation of teachers appointed by the Otago Educational Institute in re appointment of teachers; and at the same time to express regret that the resolution of the Board not to hear Mr. White was not previously communicated to the members of the deputation, who were in ignorance of the Board's determination till they were made aware of it by the Press."
The Committee of Management, after considering the action of the Board in censuring Mr. White for certain criticisms of the Board's policy, made at the last Annual Meeting, unanimously adopted the following resolutions:—(1) "The Committee of Management regrets that whereas the Board recognises the right of teachers, along with other members of the community, to express their opinions regarding any line of policy adopted by the Board; and whereas Mr. White, when requested by the Board to explain the words to which it took exception, affirmed that he had criticised only the Board's line of policy in regard to the 'three-name system,' the Board, in the face of this explanation, has seen fit to pass a vote of censure on Mr. White." (2) "The Committee is further of opinion that the Board was unjust to Mr. White in proceeding to put an unfavourable interpretation on Mr. White's words before asking him for an explanation."
At its meeting in August the Committee of Management unanimously censured the action of certain members of the Institute who signed and forwarded to the Board counter resolutions referring to the appointment of teachers, to those unanimously adopted at the Annual Meeting. Copies of the resolution of censure were forwarded to the various branches, who, without exception, approved of the Committee's action.
A sub-committee, consisting of the President, and Messrs. M'Nicoll and White, met the members of the Tuapeka Branch
The Committee, at the suggestion of the Waitaki and Dunedin Branches, decided to bring the question of individual examination and estimation of results by percentage values before the Council. The Council expressed its sense of the harmful effects resulting from the publication of percentages of individual schools.
The Committee of Management, in consideration of the great kindness invariably shown to Otago delegates in other centres, felt it incumbent upon it to extend a fitting hospitality to the visiting delegates who attended the Council of
The Inspectors having advised the Board to make a regulation insisting upon the use of two Readers in Standards I. and II., the Committee has requested the Board to defer consideration of the matter till after the Annual Meeting, in order that members from the various branches may have an opportunity of discussing the question. The Board deferred consideration until its meeting in August.
At the suggestion of the Dunedin Branch, the Committee has also requested the Board to defer consideration of the Scholarship system until teachers from town and country have had an opportunity of discussing it at the winter meeting. This matter has also been deferred until the Board's meeting in August.
At the suggestion of the Milton Branch, the Committee has this year decided to depart to some extent from the programme usually drawn up for the General Meeting, so as to leave more time for the discussion of practical questions.
The Committee regrets that it has not been found practicable, as suggested at the last General Meeting, to arrange a date for the present meeting such as will suit primary schools, secondary-schools, and University. The date has been fixed so as to coincide with the University holidays, in accord with the resolution passed at last Annual Meeting.
Your Committee have the pleasure of presenting the following report of the affairs of the Waitaki Branch for the year
Eight ordinary meetings and one special meeting were held during the year. The President's opening address dealt with the position of teacher and scholar, and contained many good suggestions.
Papers were read as follows:—"The Teacher as he was, is, and is to be," D. Ferguson, M.A.; "What shall a Boy learn?" P. B. Eraser, M.A.; "Critical Paper on Mason's Grammar," R. Peattie, M.A.
Discussions were held on "Keeping in," "Appointment of Teachers," "Interchange of Teachers for Examination Work," and "General School Work."
The Special Meeting was devoted to the consideration of the proposal for extra reading books in Standards I. and II.
The attendance at the meetings, though at times not so encouraging as the Committee could have wished, has on the whole been very satisfactory, the average being 11.
The Committee again desire to draw the attention of country teachers to the fact that they are always welcomed whenever they can find it convenient to attend during their visits to town. The Committee consider, too, that teachers could do worse than spend an hour or two in this way now and again.
The Science Classes started some time ago were carried on till the end of
Five meetings have been held during the year:—
v. Class Examination."
During the Session of
A paper has been read at each meeting. The following was the programme of work carried out:—
Miss Eraser—"Our Girls."
Mr. J. Reid—"Essay on Education."
Mr. Chilton—"Natural History Societies for Children.".
Prof. O. David—"Physical Education."
Mr. McPhee—"Political Economy as a School Subject."
Mr. W. Gray—"The Influence of the Scholar's School Life on His Character."
Mr. Paterson—"The Importance of English History as a School Subject."
Mr. White—"The Education Board's Scholarship Scheme."
Railway Arrangements.—Saturday Return Tickets available tor one month may be obtained for distances over 20 miles. Saturday Return Tickets will be issued for distances of 20 miles and under on the25th, 26th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of July, and will be available for return until the4th of August, on the production of a certificate from the Secretary of the Education Board.
Clause 5 of "The Native Land Act,
Clause 17 of "The Native Land Court Acts Amendment Act,
It is hereby notified that any persons making application under the foregoing provisions must furnish the following information:—
1. The name (if any) of the land granted, and the numbers and dates of the grants or other instruments containing the restrictions sought to be removed, or sufficient other information to enable grants or instruments of title to be traced and identified.
2. Whether the applicant is an original grantee or a successor of an original grantee. If the latter, copy of the succession order must be forwarded with the application.
3. Where consent is required to any partial alienation of land, such as by lease or mortgage, an engrossment of the instrument of alienation to which the consent of the Governor
4. Each signature to an application must be attested by a Judge, Registrar, or Licensed Interpreter of the Native Land Court, a Justice of the Peace, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court, a Clerk of Resident Magistrate's Court, or a Postmaster.
5. In cases where the application is written in English, but signed by a Native, in addition to the attestation of the signature, a certificate must be appended, signed by a Licensed Interpreter of the Native Land Court, certifying that the application was read over in Maori, and explained to the Native before signing, and that he appeared fully to understand the same.
6. Any person signing the name of another to any application without sufficient authority will render himself to such penalties as the law provides. In all cases where practicable the authority to sign as agent should accompany the application.
The applicant disclaims the right to the exclusive use
Nature of the Articles to which it is in Frozen mutton and lamb, to be applied to the wrappers
Class of Goods in connection with which the App Class No. 42.
Any person may, within two months of the date of
Whereas by "The Native Land Court Act,
Now, therefore, I, Hugh Garden Seth-Smith, the Chief Judge of the said Court, do hereby, in exercise of the power and authority vested in mo by the said Acts, revoke all former rules and make the rules following.
1. In these rules—
2. A register shall be kept in each district, and every application to the Court shall be recorded therein by the Registrar, as of the day on which it is received in his office.
3. The register of each district shall be arranged in such manner as the Chief Judge shall direct.
All subsequent proceedings in respect of any application, or of the land affected thereby, shall also be recorded from time to time in the register.
4. All applications to the Court must be forwarded to
Applications for rehearing or for inquiry under section of the said amending Act (
5. All applications to the Court or to the Chief
6. Every application and every such authority as
7. The signature of every Native to any application
8. The application for investigation of title under
9. If a block of land in respect of which an
10. An application by the Governor under section 18 of
11. An interim order under section 20 of the said Act
12. The order of the Court upon an investigation of
13. A direction under section 12 of the said amending Act (
14. An application for partition by a Native owner may be in the form numbered six, and by a person other than a Native in the form numbered seven, in the Schedule hereto.
15. No application for partition of land the title whereto is a memorial of ownership or certificate of title under any Act relating to Native land shall be entertained until the memorial or certificate has been issued by the Court. Where land has been divided under "The Native Land Division Act,
16. Before the sitting of the Court to hear an application for the partition of land held under Crown grant, or registered under a Land Transfer Act, it shall be the duty of the Registrar to ascertain whether any, and what, transactions have been registered in the District Land Registry, or in the Deeds Registration Office, in respect of such land, and to attach to the application for partition a list of such transactions, if any.
17. If more than one application for partition be received in respect of the same land, it shall be sufficient if the list referred to in the last-preceding rule be attached to any one of such applications, and a minute referring thereto placed on each of the other applications.
18. A partition order shall be in the form numbered eight or nine in the Schedule hereto, as the case may require.
19. A "lease order" may be in the form numbered ten in the Schedule hereto; but separate orders in respect of each parcel of the partitioned land may be made.
20. Applications under section 42 of the said Act may be in one of the forms numbered eleven in the Schedule hereto.
21. An order declaring relative shares or interests in land when not embodied in any other order may be in the form numbered twelve in the Schedule hereto. Such relative shares or interests may be expressed in any order of the Court either as fractional parts of the whole in value or area, or as a determined area, as the Court making the order may decide.
22. Applications for a certificate under sections 45, 47, or
23. A certificate under section 45 of the said Act
24. A certificate or succession order will be delivered
25. Any person applying to the Court for an order
26. The Court may, if it think fit, require any person
27. Before an order under section 9 of the said amending Act (
28. An order under section 9 of the said amending Act (
29. If a will within the meaning of section 9 of "The Land Transfer Act
30. The Registrar shall attach to each application for a
31. An inquiry under section 17 of the said amending Act (
32. An application to annul or vary any restrictions under section 6 of the said amending Act (
33. An order annulling or varying restrictions under the said last-mentioned section may be in the form numbered twenty in the Schedule hereto.
34. In the absence of any special directions, notice of all applications, and of the sitting of the Court thereon, shall be in the form numbered twenty-one in the Schedule, and shall be inserted in the Kahiti in the Maori language. Notice of applications for partition and removal of restrictions shall also be inserted in the Gazette in the English language.
35. A copy of such notice shall be sent by post to each of the applicants whose applications are notified therein. Copies may also be sent to any other persons, for distribution or otherwise, if the Chief Judge shall think it necessary to do so.
36. An order of the Chief Judge appointing a time and place for the sitting of the Court shall be in the form numbered twenty-two in the Schedule. An order adjourning the sitting of the Court shall be in the form numbered twenty-three.
Notice of an order of adjournment made before the time appointed for the opening of a sitting shall be given in such manner as the Chief Judge may direct.
37. If an adjournment is made by the presiding Judge after the opening of a sitting it shall be sufficient if a minute of such adjournment be made in the minute-book of the Court.
38. An adjournment made by the Chief Judge after the opening of a sitting, when he is not presiding, may be notified in such manner as he may direct.
39. It shall be the duty of the Registrar to transmit all applications notified to be heard at any sitting of the Court, together with all plans and other documents relating thereto, and a copy of the notice, to the Judge who is to preside at
40. It shall be the duty of the Chief Judge to provided a clerk and interpreter for the Court.
41. Notice of the intention to bring any other business before the Court in addition to that notified in the first instance may be given from time to time by publication in the Kahiti, or in such other manner as the Chief Judge may direct. Such notice shall be in the form numbered twenty four in the Schedule hereto.
The Chief Judge may refuse to allow any such supplementary notice to be issued unless the parties applying & posit with the Registrar a sufficient sum to defray the cost of printing and circulating such notice.
42. Subject to these rules the Court shall decide upon the sufficiency of any notice.
43. If more than one Judge be present at a sitting of the Court the senior Judge shall preside.
44. If more than one application is received for the investigation of title to land it shall be in the discretion of the Court to decide which of the applicants shall be regarded as claimant for the purpose of conducting the case.
45. Upon any investigation of title to land, the claimant; shall first proceed to establish a primâ facie case without cross-examination by any counterclaimant or objector. If a primâ facie case be established to the satisfaction of the Court, the counter claimant or objector shall then proceed with his case. If there are more than one counter claimant or objector, or party of counterclaimants or objectors, the Court shall decide the order in which their several cases shall be taken. The case of each counterclaimant or objector being closed, the claimant shall proceed with his case. Each counterclaimant shall then be entitled to address the Court in the prescribed order, and the claimant shall be entitled to reply.
46. The Court may, if it think fit, at any stage of the proceedings require each or any conductor for the parties before it to hand in a list in writing of the names of all persons who claim to be interested in the land or any part thereof in respect of the interest he represents.
47. The order of procedure in other matters shall be in a the discretion of the Court.
48. If the Court refuse to decide upon any application, a minute, stating shortly the grounds of such refusal, and signed by the presiding Judge, shall be sufficient.
49. A minute shall be placed on every plan or other paper produced before the Court, and used as evidence, stating by whom the same was produced, and the date of its production. Such minute shall be signed by the presiding Judge.
50. No person shall be allowed to copy any plan produced in evidence in any proceeding without the leave of the presiding Judge being first obtained.
51. A summons to witnesses maybe in the form numbered twenty-five in the Schedule hereto, and may be addressed to any number of persons not exceeding four.
52. Service of a summons shall in general be made personally, but a Judge may, for good cause shown, direct that service in any particular case may be made in any other manner that will, in his opinion, be sufficient to bring the issue of the summons to the knowledge of the witness whose attendance is required. A summons to a witness to show cause why he should not be fined under section 3 of the said amending Act (
53. Personal service may be effected by leaving with the witness a copy of the summons, sealed with the seal of the Court; but it shall not be necessary to show the original summons.
54. The person effecting service of a summons shall forward the original summons to the Judge who signed the same, with a statement of the manner and of the time and place of service indorsed thereon and signed by such person, with the addition of his place of residence.
55. A summons to show cause and an order for commitment under section 3 of the said amending Act (
56. Witnesses' expenses may be allowed, according to the scale in the Schedule hereto.
57. An application for rehearing shall state shortly the grounds upon which such application is made.
58. The Chief Judge may require any applicant to furnish further and better particulars of the grounds of the application.
59. No inquiry will be held upon an application for rehearing until after the expiration of three months from the date of the decision in respect of which such application is made.
60. Notice of any sitting of the Court to inquire into
61. An order directing or refusing a rehearing Gazette Kahiti or in such manner as the Chief Judge shall from
62. An order made on rehearing may be in the form numbered thirty in the Schedule hereto.
63. Boundary surveys of areas over 3, 000 acres in extend may be made by the system of converging angles observed between fixed and known points, the intervening and adjacent features being delineated by cross-bearings, or
64. Surveys under 3, 000 acres in extent must be triangulated and traversed, or traversed only if triangulation be in applicable by reason of the denseness of the forest.
65. When triangulation is available for ascertaining distances it will not be necessary to chain long lines if the crossings of streams, ridges, or other natural features are fixed by intersections. Where a boundary-line abuts on to a stream, lake, or coast-line, the length of such line, as well as the traverse length, must be supplied. Swamp or
66. The positions of all remarkable hills, ridges, pas,
67. The Native names of all boundaries or natural features within or pertaining to the block must be ascertained, together with the names and position of adjacent lands, and shown on the map.
68. All plans are to be drawn upon mounted paper, to the scales given in the Schedule hereto, but they must not be on a less scale than 20 chains to the inch, unless by special permission. It is advisable when possible, but not absolutely necessary, to keep the maps of the uniform sized of 30in., by 30in., or 18in., by 16in., but in no case must a les
69. The certificate of the Surveyor-General or other officer, under section 81 of the said Act, shall be in the form numbered thirty-two in the Schedule hereto.
70. Notice of applications under sections 81 to 85 inclusive of the said Act and section 10 of the said amending Act (Gazette and Kahiti; but the Court, if satisfied that all parties interested are before it or duly represented, may proceed to deal with such applications without such notice having been given.
71. Orders of the Court under sections 81 to 85 inclusive of the said Act shall be in the respective forms numbered thirty-three to thirty-five in the Schedule.
An order of the Court under section 10 of the said amending Act (
72. An application for an authority to a surveyor under section 89 of the said Act, if not made by or on behalf of the Government, may be in the form numbered thirty-seven in the Schedule hereto. Such authority may be given in the form numbered thirty-eight in the Schedule, on an ex parte application; but a Judge may, if he thinks fit, direct that notice of any application shall be given in the Kahiti or in such other manner as the circumstances of any particular case may require.
73. No person not being a barrister or solicitor of the
74. The foregoing rule shall not apply to Natives
75. A register shall be kept of all persons to whom so licenses have been granted, and shall be published in the Gazette and Kahiti from time to time.
76. Licenses shall be annual, and shall expire on
77. A license may be withdrawn at any time.
78. An order for the payment of costs may be in the form numbered forty in the Schedule hereto.
79. The fees set out in the Schedule of Fees
80. The amount of any fee accruing under the said Acts, such fee be not remitted, shall be a debt due to the
81. The Court, or a Judge or a Registrar of the Court, may decline to proceed in any case or to do any act in
82. A Judge shall minute in the margin of each order the amount of any fees accrued in the matter of such order specifying such as have been paid.
83. An account of all fees accruing in respect of business had before him shall be kept by each Judge, who at
84. The fees payable in respect of a hearing in Court
85. A statutory declaration under section 13 of the said amending Act (
86. An order of reference to the Supreme Court under Part IX. of the said Act may be in the form numbered forty-two in the Schedule hereto.
87. A warrant of commitment under section 4 of the said amending Act (
88. An order appointing Trustees under "The Maori Real Estate Management Act,
89. When the forms in the Schedule hereto are directed or authorised to be used, such variations may be made therein as the circumstances of any particular case may require.
He tono whakawa putake whenua
1. Ko matou ko nga tangata kua tuhia nei o matou ingoa ki raro o tenei pukapuka, he tangata Maori e mea ana no matou, kei te whai paanga ranei matou, ki to whenua Maori o whakahuatia ana i raro nei; ka tono atu nei ki te Kooti Whenua Maori kia whakawakia to take ki taua whenua.
2. Ko te ingoa o tana whenua ko_____i to takiwa_____o_____Ko nga rohe enei o te whenua_____.
3. Ko to matou Kainga kei_____.
A ka tono atu hoki matou kia tukua atu he mana ki a kai ruri kia haere ia ki runga ki taua whenua ruri ai.
He mea tuhi i te_____o nga ra o_____, 189_____.
Na_____.
Me tuhituhi o koutou ingoa ki konei:
In the matter of the Native land known as of an application to have the title thereto
Application is hereby made by His Excellency the Government of New Zealand that, in default of a certified map of so land being placed before the Court on any hearing to
In the matter of the Native land heretofore known as_____, and of the investigation of the
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before
Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It having been ascertained and decided that the Natives whose names are set out in the first column of the Scheduled indorsed hereon, and therein numbered respectively or to a parcel of land to be called or known as_____,], and estimated to contain_____:
It is hereby ordered that, upon approval by a Judge of a certified map of the said [parcel of] land, the order of the Court declaring the said Natives to be the owners of the said [parcel of] land, in the said relative proportions, shall be signed and sealed. And it is hereby declared that so much and such part of the share of each owner as is set out in the third column of the said Schedule shall be inalienable.
Witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the
seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189_____Judge.
In the matter of the Native land called or heretofore known as_____, and of the investigation of the title thereto.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It is hereby ordered that the Natives whose names are set out in the first column of the Schedule indorsed hereon, and therein numbered respectively from one to_____, both inclusive, are, and they are hereby declared to be, the owners of the parcel of land to be called or known as_____, containing_____, and delineated in the certified map numbered_____, in the relative proportions set out after the name of each of them respectively in the second column of the said Schedule; and it is hereby declared that go much and such part of the share of each owner as is set out in the third column of the said Schedule shall be inalienable.
Witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____day of_____, 189_____Judge.
In the matter of the land known as_____, and of an order of the Court, made the_____, day of_____, declaring the said land to be owned by Natives more than twenty in number.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
The Court doth hereby direct that, upon the title to the said land becoming first ascertained, the said land shall, if practicable, be forthwith partitioned, so that each parcel thereof shall be owned by not more than twenty Natives.
Witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189._____Judge.
["Section 12,"Native Land Court Act
Ko matou ko nga tangata Maori e mau nei o matou
Ko taua whenua e puritia ana inaianei i raro i tetahi
Ko to matou Kainga kei
He mea tuhi i te_____, o nga ra o_____, 189
_____Na
Me tuhituhi o koutou ingoa ki konei:
I, _____, of_____, being a person claiming to
As witness my hand, this_____, day of
_____189.
In the matter of the partition of the land known as_____, _____, heretofore held under_____, dated the_____, day of_____, 18_____.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It is, as part of the said partition, hereby ordered and declared that the several Natives named in the first column of the Schedule indorsed hereon, and therein numbered from one to_____, both inclusive, are entitled to [or the owners of] that part of the said land which has, on such partition, been named by the Court "_____,"and which part is particularly delineated in the plan indorsed here on in the respective proportions set out after the name of each of them in the second column of the said Schedule; and it is hereby declared that so much and such part of the share
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of
_____189._____Judge.
[Note—If the title is Land Transfer certificate or Crown grant the words "the owners of" should be used in lieu of "entitled to."]
In the matter of the partition of the land known as_____, _____, heretofore held under_____, dated the_____, day of_____, 18_____,.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It is, as a part of the said partition, hereby ordered and declared that_____, the owner of [entitled to] that part of the partitioned land which has, on such partition; been named by the Court_____, and which part is particularly delineated in the plan indorsed hereon.
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court.
[Note.—This form to be used when order made in favour of persons other than Natives or of not more than one Native.]
In the matter of the partition of the land known as_____,.
Before_____, Esquire, Judge.
If orders made under section 31 the words "entitled to" should be used.Whereas, by orders dated the_____, day of_____, the several persons whose names are respectively contained in the several Schedules indorsed hereon were declared to be the owners of [or entitled toHere state covenants it is intended to negative, modify, or apportion]:
Upon hearing the parties, and upon evidence taken,
I do hereby order that, in lieu of the rent reserved by the said lease, there shall be paid to the persons named in the First Schedule the sum of_____, in the relative proportion set out in the said First Schedule; to the persons named in the Second Schedule hereto the sum of_____, in the relative proportions set out in the said Second Schedule; and I do further order that the benefit and burden of the covenants [State any apportionment or otherwise].
As witness my hand, and the seal of the Court this_____, day of_____, 189._____Judge.
Ko matou kua tuhia nei e matou o matou ingoa ki raro nei he tangata Maori e mea ana, kei te whai hea, paanga
Ka tono atu nei, kia rapua a kia whakataua hoki, te tikanga o te hea, te paanga ranei o ia tangata ia tangata nona taua whenua.
He mea tuhi i tenei_____, o nga ra o_____, 189.
_____Na
Me tuhituhi o koutou ingoa ki konei:
We, the undersigned, being persons claiming to be entitled respectively to a share or interest in land known as_____, and held under _____, make application to the said Court to inquire and decide what among the several owners of such land are their relative shares or interests therein. Dated this_____, day of_____, 189.
In the matter of the land known as_____, and of the application of_____, to determine the relative interests of the several owners thereof.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It is hereby ordered and declared that as among the several owners of the said land their relative shares and interests therein are equal in value [or in the proportions set out after the name of each such owner respectively in the Schedule indorsed hereon].
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of
_____189._____, Judge.
Kia mohio koutou. Ko_____, tona Kainga kei_____, i mate i te_____, o nga ra o_____,. Na, he whenua ano tona ko_____, kei te takiwa o_____, kihai taua whenua tukua e ia ki tetahi tangata. Na, he mea atu tenei naku ki a koutou, e whai take ana ahau ki taua whenua. Ko toku kainga kei_____, e tata ana ki
No te_____, o nga_____, ra o_____, 189.
Me tuhituhi tou ingoa ki konei:
_____Na
_____Kai tono.
Kia mohio koutou. Ko_____, tona Kainga kei_____, i mate
No to_____, o nga_____, ra o_____, 189.
Me tuhituhi tou ingoa ki konei:
_____Na_____,
_____Kai tono.
In the matter of the land known as_____, situation at_____, and of the estate, share, or
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It is hereby certified that_____, aboriginal natives, are the persons who are entitled to succeed to the estate,
In the matter of the personal estate of_____, deceased At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
Whereas the said_____, an aboriginal native, died intestate, possessed of personal estate in New Zealand [or
It is hereby certified that_____, [State navies and pl of abode] are the persons who ought to succeed to such personal estate according to Native custom and usage [
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this day of_____, 189._____, Judge.
Know all men by these presents that we, _____, of_____, are held and firmly bound unto_____, Registrar of the Native Land Court for the District of_____, in the sum of £, for which payment well and truly to be made to the said, or to such Registrar for the time being, we do, and each of us doth, bind ourselves and each of us, and the heirs executors and administrators of us and of each of us, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents.
Whereas by order of the said Court made the_____, day of_____, it is ordered that the said_____, may administer the estate of_____, deceased, on behalf of those entitled to succeed:
Now the condition of the above-written bond is that if the above-bounden shall well and truly administer the personal estate of the deceased according to law, and in the manner directed by any order or certificate of the said Court in that behalf [and shall render to the said Court a true and just account of the said administratorship on or before the day of_____,], then this bond shall be void and of none effect, but otherwise shall remain in full force.
Signed the_____, day of_____, in the presence of
Judge of the Court [or Solicitor of Supreme Court, or Justice of Peace, or Clerk of Resident Magistrate's Court, or Postmaster].
In the matter of the personal estate of, deceased.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
Whereas by a certificate bearing date the_____, day of it has been certified that certain persons therein mentioned are entitled to succeed to the said personal estate, and_____, have been designated as the persons to whom letters of administration may be granted to administer the said estate on behalf of the persons entitled to succeed
It is hereby ordered that_____, may [upon
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of
189._____, Judge.'
I [We], the undersigned, being the owner [a
Dated this_____, day of_____, 189_____,.
Signed by the said_____, in the presence of
Judge_____, [or Registrar of the Court, or Justice of the Peace, or Solicitor of the Supreme Court, or Licensed Interpreter].
(Maori Ko ahau [ko matou] kua tuhituhia nei toku [o matou
Ka tono atu nei ki te Kooti ki te whakakore ki te whaka rereke ranei nga here e mau ana i runga i taua whonua.
He mea tuhituhi i tenei_____, o nga ra o_____, 189.
Kua tuhituhia nei e taua_____, tona_____, ingoa i te aroaro o
Kai whakawa o te Kooti, Rehita o te Kooti, Kai Whakawa, Roia o te Hupirimi Kooti, Kai Whakamaori whai Raihanaranei.
In the matter of the land known as_____, held under_____, and of an application to annul or vary the restrictions on the alienation thereof.
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
The Court, being satisfied, on public inquiry, that, apart from the said land, the owner [or owners] thereof has [have] other land, or shares in other land, the title whereto has been determined by the Court, belonging to him [or them] in his [or their] own right, and sufficient for his [their] maintenance and occupation, and that, as to the said land the subject of this order, those appearing as owners, and all others having a beneficial interest, concur in the proposed removal:
It is ordered that the restrictions on the alienation of the said land be, and the same are, hereby annulled [varied, and that the said land shall, from the date hereof, be subject to the following restrictions, that is to say, _____, unless and until the same shall be annulled or varied by some further order of the Court].
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of
_____189._____Judge.
Notice is hereby given that a sitting of the Native Land Court will be held at_____, on the_____, day of_____, to hear and determine the several matters mentioned in the Schedule hereunder written, in respect of which applications have been received by the Registrar, and all such other matters as may be lawfully brought before it. Dated this_____, day of_____, 189.
_____Registrar.
In exercise of the authority conferred on me by the 53rd section of "The Native Land Court Act,
Dated this_____, day of_____, 189
Chief Judge.
In exercise of the authority conferred on me by the 53rd section of "The Native Land Court Act,
_____Chief Judge.
Notice is hereby given that the several matters mentioned in the Schedule hereunder written will be heard by the Native Land Court sitting at_____, on the_____, day of_____, or as soon thereafter as the business of the Court will allow.
Schedule.
(See Form No. 21.)
In the matter of the land known as_____,
To
You are hereby summoned to attend the said If the production of documents is required add and you are hereby required then and there to have and produce to the Court (Specify the documents required and all other books, deeds, papers, and writings relating to the said matter in your possession or under your control.
As witness my hand and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189._____Judge.
Note.—If you fail to obey this summons you are
Indorsements on Summons.
I, the undersigned, one of the Judges of the Native Land Court, do hereby direct that service of this summons may be effected by [State mode of service].
Dated the_____, day of_____Judge.
I, the undersigned, do hereby certify that I served this summons on_____, at_____, [State mode of service], on the_____, day of_____, at the hour of_____, in the
or tendered] to him [her; the sum of £_____, for expenses.
In the matter of [as in the original summons].
To
You are hereby summoned to attend the said Court at on the_____, day of_____, 189, at the hour of_____, in the_____, noon, to show cause why you should not be fined, and otherwise dealt with according to law, for that you, on the_____, day of_____, 189, neglected or failed without sufficient cause to appear at the sitting of the said Court at_____, [or to produce to the said Court sitting at_____, (State particulars of books, &c.)], as required by a summons under the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, served personally [if otherwise, state mode of service] upon you on the_____, day of_____, 189, at_____, by_____,. And take notice, if you fail to attend as required by this summons, the matter may be determined in your absence.
As witness my hand and the seal of the Court, this day of_____, 189._____Judge.
In the matter of [same as in the summons, if any].
† Whereas by a summons dated the_____, day of_____, 189, under the hand of J.S., one of the Judges of the said Court, A.B., of_____, was summoned to appear at the sitting of the Court at_____, on the_____, day of_____, 189, at the hour of_____, in the_____, noon, to give evidence in the said matter, and then and there to have and produce to the Court [State documents required to be produced], and all other books, deeds, papers, and writings relating to the said matter in his possession or under his control: and the said summons was served personally on
or with the leave of the said Judge (State mode of service authorised) at_____, by C.D, _____, on the_____, day of_____, 189, who or tendered] to the said A.B. the sum of £ as and for his expenses, such sum being according or failed], without sufficient cause, to appear as required [or to produce (so document), the same being a (document) relating to or under his control]:† whereas *the said A.B. has been afforded opportunity to so cause why he should not be fined, and has failed to or not exceeding to be paid and applied according to law; and if the not exceeding days], unless the said sum shall be sooner paid.
As witness my hand and the seal of the
If the witness be present in Court, insert in lieu of part of the preceding form marked † to † :—
Whereas at a sitting of the Court holden at_____, the_____, day of_____, 189, A.B., _____, of_____, or give evidence in the said matter]: And whereas* [or preceding form, inserting "refusal" in lieu, of "neglect") "failure"].
In the matter of a decision of the Court, made the_____, day of_____, upon the_____, and
Upon inquiry in open Court, at_____, before Chief Judge of the said Court, assisted by_____,
I, the said Chief Judge, do hereby dismiss the said application [or order a rehearing as to the whole of or such part of the said land as is (Describe part), or for the purpose of ascertaining and determining (State the questions of title as to which rehearing is to be had). If upon terms or conditions, add, upon the terms and subject to the conditions following, that is to say:]
Dated this_____, day of_____, 189.
Chief Judge.
[Note.—This order is to be filed as a record of the Court.]
Registrar's Office, _____, 189.
Notice is hereby given that a rehearing has been refused by the Chief Judge in respect of each of the several matters mentioned in the schedule hereunder written.
Dated this_____, day of_____, 18_____,.
Registrar.
Notice is hereby given that a rehearing has been ordered by the Chief Judge, to be heard at such time and place as may be hereafter appointed, in respect of each of the several matters mentioned in the Schedule hereunder written.
Dated this_____, day of_____, 189.
Registrar.
In the matter of the land known as_____, or case may be], and of an order for a rehearing
At a sitting of the Court_____, before_____, and Esquires, Judges, and_____, Assessor:
Upon rehearing, it is ordered that the said decision or reversed, or altered, or varied by (State the variational) and that new orders shall be prepared which shall
As witness the hands of_____, and_____, Esquired Judges, and the seal of the Court, this of_____, 189._____Judge.
_____, __________, Judge.
I Hereby certify that this survey has been made
Forwarded to the Chief Surveyor at_____, on the_____, day of_____, 189.
In the matter of the survey of the land known as situate at
I, the undersigned, hereby certify, within the terms of the 81st section of "The Native Land Court Act,
[An officer authorised by the] Surveys General [in that behalf].
In the matter of the land known as
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____,
Judge:
It is hereby ordered that the estate and interest of the Native owners of the said land shall be and the same is hereby charged with the payment to_____, certified surveyor, of the sum of_____, for money owing to him by the said owners for the plan of the said land, used and accepted by the Court, or [and] for the survey upon which the said plan was founded.
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of 189._____Judge.
In the matter of the land known as
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before Esquire, Judge:
It is hereby ordered that the Natives who have, by order of the Court dated the_____, day of_____, been declared to be the owners of the said land [or of the part of the said land which has been named by the Court_____,] shall pay to_____, a certified surveyor [or the Native who had the said land surveyed at his own cost], the sum of being the whole [or one-part] of the cost of the said survey, and of the plan used by the Court the result of such survey.
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189_____Judge.
In the matter of the land known as_____, At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge:
Whereas it has been made to appear to the Court
And whereas the said amount of such cost has not been repaid when required [and the said amount is disputed;]
Upon the application of_____, and upon evidence taken
It is hereby ordered that_____, the Natives at whose request the said survey and plan were made, shall pay a, the Surveyor-General, the sum of £_____, As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, the seal of the Court, this_____, day of
189._____Judge.
In the matter of the land known as at a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge:
Whereas by an order bearing date the_____, or] for the survey upon which the said
Upon reading the application of_____, and upon
It is ordered that the said hereinbefore recited order or_____, th part] of the said amount still owing and unpaid as aforesaid. As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this day_____, of 189._____Judge.
Ko matou ko ngo tangata kua tuhi nei i o matou ingoa ki raro iho nei ka tono atu ki te Kooti kia tukua he mana ki a_____, kai ruri kia haere ia ki runga ki te Whenua, ko_____, te ingoa, ruri ai_____,. He mea tuhi i te
o nga ra o_____, 18
Na
In the matter of the [Native] land called or known as
It is hereby ordered that_____, Esquire, Surveyor, shall be and he is hereby authorised to enter on the said land for the purpose of making a survey thereof.
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and (L.S.) the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____,
189._____Judge.
I hereby approve this order.
[Assistant] Surveyor-General.
To_____, of_____.
You are hereby authorised to appear in Court as agent in any matter or proceeding in which any person interested therein may desire your appearance or assistance, subject
Given under my hand, this_____, day of_____, 189 Chief Judge.
N.B.—This license will expire on the 31st day of December, 18. To avoid delay, applications for fresh licenses should be forwarded to the Chief Judge, Wellington, not later than the 30th November.
In the matter of_____, At a sitting of the Court before_____, Esquire, Judge:
It is ordered that_____, of_____, do pay, on or before the_____, day of_____, to_____, of_____, the sum of £_____, as and for his costs of and incidental to the said matter.
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189.
_____, __________, Judge.
In the matter of the land known as_____.
I, _____, of_____, do solemnly and sincerely declare that the application to the Chief Judge of the said Court for an inquiry under the provisions of "The Native Land Court Acts Amendment Act, or mark], and that the statements therein contained, so far as they relate to my own acts and deeds, are true and correct in every particular, and, so far as they relate to the acts and deeds of other persons, I do verily believe them to be true and correct; and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand intituled "The Justices of the Peace Act,
_____(Signed.
Declared at_____, this_____, day
of_____, 189_____, before me,
Justice of the Peace [or Solicitor, or Notary Public].
Mo runga i te whenua e mohiotia ana ko
Ko ahau ko_____, o_____, e ki tuturu ana i runga i te ngakau marire me te ngakau pono ko te tono ki te Tumuaki o to Kooti Whenua Maori, mo tetalhi uiuinga i raro i nga tikanga o "Te Ture Whakatikatika,
Na ka whakapuakina e ahau tenei kupu tuturu i runga i taku mahara e pono ana taua kupu i runga hoki i te mana o tetahi Ture a te Paremete o Niu Tireni o huaina ona ko "Te Ture mo nga Kaiwhakawa,
I whakapuakina ki_____, i tenei_____, o nga_____, i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e_____, ki
toku aroaro._____, Kaiwhakawa.
Roia.
In the matter of
It is hereby ordered that the question of law hereunder stated, arising in or necessary to have decided for the purpose of the said matter judicially before this Court, shall be sent to the Supreme Court for decision, that is to say [Here state-the question or questions]. And it is further ordered that all proceedings in the said matter be, ad interim, stayed.
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, and the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189._____Judge.
To_____, Constable, and all other Constables of_____, and to the Keeper of the Gaol at_____, Whereas at a sitting of the Native Land Court at_____,
or C.D., the or Clerk of the Court, or Interpreter, or other office during his attendance in Court] [or did wilfully interrupt the proceedings of the Court] [or did misbehave in Court by then and there [Describe the insult, interruption, or misbehaviour]: This is therefore to require you, the said or some other peace officer, to take the said E.F. and not exceeding fourteen] days, or until he shall be sooner discharged by due course of law; and for
Given under my hand and the seal of the L.S.) this_____, day of_____, 189._____Judge.
In the matter of the land known as_____,
at
At a sitting of the Court held at_____, before_____, Esquire, Judge, and_____, Assessor:
It is ordered that the estate and interest of_____, [State the disability] successor to_____, deceased, in the said land, be vested in_____, as trustee [s] for the management thereof under the said Act, and that the said trustee shall have the several powers and be subject to the Here state the powers and indents to be negatived or varied, if any].
As witness the hand of_____, Esquire, Judge, the seal of the Court, this_____, day of_____, 189._____Judge
Female witnesses at the rate of two-thirds the allowance of male witnesses of corresponding rank.
For witnesses residing beyond three miles from the Court there will be allowed their coach, railway, or steamboat
There will also be allowed 3s. in addition for each night such witnesses are necessarily detained from their our houses, except when travelling by sea.
The following are the scales to be used in surveys:—
The following forms of oaths have been approved by the Judges for use in the Court:—
You shall well and truly interpret the oaths to be administered to the witnesses and the evidence they shall give before the Court in the several matters and proceedings I before the Court during its present sitting, and all such I other matters as the Court may from time to time require you to interpret from the English language into the Maori language, and from the Maori language into the English language, to the best of your skill and ability. So help you God.
Ko nga korero ka korerotia e koe inaianei mo nga putake e whakahaeretia nei ki te aroaro o tenei Kooti hei te pono, I hei te pono katoa, hei te pono anake—a ma te Atua koe e awhina.
E ki pono ana ahau ko aku korero ka korero nei mo nga putake e whakahaeretia nei ki te aroaro o tenei Kooti he pono, he pono katoa, he pono anake.
As witness my hand, this fourteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and ninety.
The following scale of fees, approved by the Hon. the Native Minister, to be charged by Native Interpreters, is published for general information.
Commission on paying rent to Natives, 7½ per cent., and not less than 21s. per any one block.
1. No Interpreter is to charge fees exceeding those published scale, excepting in agency cases, when fees may be regulated by agreement entered into in writing.
2. No Interpreter shall be allowed to receive fees from both parties to any transaction in which he may be employed.
3. Any breach of these rules will render the Interpreter liable to have his appointment cancelled, on complaint being made to the Native Minister.
Sir,—The very keen interest excited by the publication of my proposal to hold a New Zealand Exhibition in London has induced me to collate and lay before you the opinions on both sides which have appeared in the public Press.
This, with your permission, I will preface with a brief outline of the project itself.
The success which has attended the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, now open, has been altogether beyond expectations. Such a thoroughly representative collection of New Zealand exhibits, showing so clearly the advanced progress of the Colony, was a surprise even to those with extensive previous experience of these matters, and at once induced the thought:—"Enlarged and elaborated but a little more, trimmed and polished to suit the London taste, what a revolution this Exhibition would effect in the popular impressions of New 'Zealand, if it were held in the world's metropolis instead of at, the Antipodes!'
It has been contended that lecturers have preached the Gospel of New Zealand with weary iteration in every town in Great Britain, and that, therefore nothing new can be said or shown about this Colony at Home. Whether the desultory efforts of the occasional New Zealand lecturer has effected anything like such a result I am not in a position to say, but three things I do know:—
[Only a month or two ago a letter came to a member of the House of Representatives asking him to meet some friends coming by the next direct steamer, and to kindly provide some accommodation for them, such a thing as a good hotel, they took it for granted, being unattainable in New-Zealand yet!]
The argument that New Zealand can become better known by its products than by an Exhibition is true only in a perverted sense, and shows the most extraordinary ignorance of the way in which New Zealand products are dealt with at Home. In the first place, the proposed Exhibition will not be a mere show. It will be a collection of the very best samples of the very products that are to make New Zealand so well known. It will serve as the best of introductions to those very products. It will introduce to notice under the most favourable circumstances products now not sent Home at all, and will further advertise far and wide products now regularly shipped, and but very little known. To imagine that these products can become known without some such introduction shows a child like innocence of the ways of the world, which is almost ludicrous. Despite the efforts of our very able Agent-General, New Zealand would never become known if this weak reed is to be leaned upon. Nothing is more certain than that the bulk of New Zealand frozen mutton goes to the consumer as Scotch; that New Zealand cheese is sold as American, butter by any name that is temporarily.popular, and that even wool and grain are often treated in a similar way. Tallow and flax are the only two products that we can really be certain are always sold as of New Zealand growth; and it seems to me a somewhat difficult task to build up the agricultural, pastoral and industrial reputation of the Colony on such slender foundations.
The proposal is then to gather together really representa-
toto, by the sale of the goods in London after the Exhibition is over. It would be worse than useless to have these exhibits upon a small or insignificant scale, and from the first it should be borne in mind that in such a city as London everything to have a good effect must be on an extensive scale.
It has been pointed out that Londoners will not come to sec exhibits. That is very true, though it applies less to Now Zealand than it would to better known countries. The idea is to group these exhibits round a number of attractions of such a a nature that they cannot fail to draw immensely. Once having got the people in the building the exhibits will be so arranged as to force themselves upon the visitors' attention. Among the attractions, business should be combined with pleasure, for the principal feature in the centre group should be the Intelligence Bureau, where a land and immigration agent would have his office stocked with pamphlets upon our resources, and the fullest possible information regarding all matters connected with the Colony. In the Bureau it is proposed to have an extremely large relief model of the Colony, on which could be marked the nature of the country, whether bush, mountainous, auriferous, and if agricultural and pastoral, whether rich, medium, or poor. The Crown Lands for sale or lease would be distinguished on it, and a key map would hang close by with enlarged plans of the blocks of Crown Lands. A suggestion which might be carried into operation with considerable advantage to the Colony is this:—That the lands for sale should be so priced as to admit of the land agent, upon receipt of the deposit for a piece of land, and satisfactory assurance that the purchaser was not without some means of working it, giving him a free passage to New Zealand. It is perfectly clear that if judiciously worked this would result in the introduction of the very best class of immigrants, while the settlement of Crown Lands with a teeming population of happy and prosperous people would largely increase the revenue of the Colony year after year, would decrease the amount of taxation per head, and would advance the value of property already held privately in the Colony, and in this way also would prove a source of great gain both to property owners and the Govern-
Round the large relief model should be placed, opposite the various localities, samples of the products from that locality, and round the walls of the bureau should be stationed enlarged models of our harbours and large cities, with series of photographs, the object being to give those at Homo some idea of the size of our towns and the extent of our civilization. The Bureau should be placed close to our grain trophies and not far from the Mineral Court, so as to enable ready reference to any point of interest, and facilitate the introduction, with immigrants, of cheaper money in quantities sufficient to materially assist in the development of our resources, and the extension of our industries. Other sources of revenue should not be overlooked. A Tourist Court with models of the Hot and Cold Lakes, and West Coast Sounds, guide-books and fullest information as to routes, hotels, expenses, etc, and in connection with it an Art Gallery of New Zealand pictures by New Zealand artists should be an important feature. Lectures upon New Zealand scenery, resources and progress, illustrated by limelight views, should certainly be given. Very considerable prominence amongst the attractions should be given to a Now Zealand Fernery upon a very extensive scale. This in full frond during a London winter could not fail to attract attention. Looking into the fernery I propose to have a restaurant, where absolutely nothing but New Zealand food products should be served up, and served up in such a way as to make them popular. The immense amount of good which could be done for our frozen meat, dairy, grain, and fruit trades by this project is simply incalculable. At Paris a small cpergne piled with New Zealand fruit caused exciting struggles only to see. Tons of the same fruit selling in our Exhibition in London at a season when the city is bare of fruit would create a furore. Running on from the fernery, as another attraction, I would suggest an artificial New Zealand gully, with native plants and shrubs on the banks of a rocky creek. Here, and here alone, would I allow the Maori to have a place, and that only to the very limited extent of a few whares, with natives making mats and kits, and, possibly, also, used with caution, as a Haka troupe. Working dairies should be another feature. Details of numerous
It will be seen in such a scheme as this there is no room for provincial jealousies. To bring the project to a successful issue every part of the Colony must unite in one long, strong pull, or the advertisement fails to do good to the part which has been so short-sighted as to lag behind the others in its efforts to be adequately represented; and yet no single province can, if my proposals are carried out as they are intended to be, come more prominently to the front than all the others.
The question of expenditure is one to be very closely looked after. It is easy to say that such an advertisement is worth all the money that can be expended upon it. So it undoubtedly is. But how much better, even as an advertisement, it would be if sufficient attractions were added to make people flock to the Exhibition in such numbers as to make it the financial success I confidently predict, in the light of my past experience, that it can be made if carried out on the lines suggested. The £20,000 which would meet all requirements up to the time of opening must be regarded only as an advance to be returned from the profits of the Exhibition. I see no good reason why it should have cost the Colony one single penny piece by the time the exhibits are sold. On the contrary, enough profit should be made by it to leave behind in London some permanent advertisement of the Colony, say in the Colonial Institute.
To make a thoroughly effective display, the total outlay could not, as some have supposed, be limited to £20,000. Neither would the receipts. If in a little over two months an Exhibition, with but a fraction of the attractions I should introduce in London, can, in a small centre like Dunedin, show cash receipts amounting to over £15,000, what could be done during six months in the largest city in the world? Any London financier would see the force of this point, and a credit, therefore, of £20,000, with the usual railway and postal concessions, would be ample.
I should most earnestly deprecate the adoption of a suggestion made to amalgamate this Exhibition with any other. For New Zealand to obtain the full benefit of the advertisement and escape being eclipsed by wealthier countries, she must stand absolutely alone in this matter. Other colonies will only be too ready to seize upon the idea now it has been formulated and follow New Zealand's footsteps. In fact an Australian Federal Exhibition in London has been already spoken of and should be forestalled at all risks.
If the Colonial Institute building is available and suitable, that seems to me to be the best place for the Exhibition. Failing that, I am assured there can be no difficulty in securing
The exact time of holding the Exhibition is not very material so long as a part of the London season is included; and further, it is not much use holding it during the hotter summer months. The only point requiring any urgency is that the matter should be so far settled before the close of the present Exhibition as to save the difficulty and expense of re-collecting such of the exhibits as are to be taken Home. It will be necessary to pay freight Home, and to grant exhibitors space free, and to add to this the expense of re-collecting those exhibits now here would be a serious matter. The promise of the Government to support the proposal would be quite sufficient guarantee upon which to collect exhibits, leaving all details to be arranged when Parliament next meets in the ordinary course.
No time is so suitable as the present year, for beside the fact that New Zealand is beginning to attract some little attention at Home, money is especially cheap and plentiful in London, a very necessary point to consider if the Exhibition is to prove the very material aid to the Colony which it can be made to be.
Final y, it seems to me that not only would the Exhibition be of immense service to the Colony in increasing its population and introducing cheap foreign capital, but it would also very materially strengthen the hands of the Agent-General in London who would, I presume, be placed officially at the head of any such enterprise, aided by an honorary body of advising Commissioners, formed of distinguished New Zealand colonists, in London, and a similar body appointed to act here in the Colony.
The following is a copy of the letter laid before the Executive of the New Zealand Exhibition, re the proposed New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition to be held in London:—
Sir,—I beg to submit for your perusal the following scheme, which, if it meets with your approval, I shall be glad to further explain:—
The people who visited the Colinderies in London last year, and the New Zealand Court in Paris latterly, agree that the representation of this Colony was so very meagre that it would have been better even to have abstained altogether, as was done in Paris in
In fact, in all the great displays made by the British colonies New Zealand has been ignored. The importance of such exhibitions, more particularly in Europe, is obvious.
Capital, population, skilled labour, both for farming or manufactures, are wants which need to be supplied. The best, cheapest, and most efficacious way to arrive at so desirable an end is to strike a straight and decisive blow in London.
It should be done now, when we have here gathered in one centre some of the choicest products of the colony.
I have spoken already to some of the leading exhibitors, who are willing to enter into the scheme, which is:—
From the feeling evinced by exhibitors on this proposed scheme, I feel confident that even in addition to the valuable goods shown here a larger number of exhibits would be secured free, but we should have to purchase gold, wool, and I dare say, other articles.
Still I think that an advance of, say, £20,000, would cover all expenses—I say advance, because the charge for admissions, sale of privileges, &c., would recoup the outlay.
The ultimate benefit to the colony is too obvious to need comment. I shall be glad to undertake this scheme if approved of.—I am, &c.
The following appeared in the Dunedin "Evening Star" of January 24th:—
The following letter in reference to M. Joubert's scheme re a New Zealand exhibition in London speaks for itself:—
Dear Mr. Joubert,—I had wished to say a few words to you regarding your important scheme for bringing New Zealand more prominently before the world, before leaving Dunedin; as pressure of business prevented me, I take the opportunity presented by being weather-bound in this charming mining centre to write to you on the subject. There can be but little question that an exhibition such as you propose, if carried to a successful issue, would be of material benefit to the colony; and I only express the opinion of everyone in saying that if it is to be a success it could not be left in better hands than yours. Nor is anyone better qualified to judge of the means and influences that should be brought to bear in order not only "to deserve" success, but "to command" it. In undertaking an exhibition in London, however, you are doubtless fully aware that you pass into quite another sphere from that of your victories in Calcutta, Adelaide, and Dunedin. An exhibition in towns of the size of these last named—and we might even include Melbourne—meets, so far as experience proves, with a reception from the citizens that almost makes it, so to speak, a "civic institution"; and, when capably managed, and with a due regard to economy, carries the elements of success in the interest evinced from the outset by the people in whose district it is to be held.
An exhibition in London, however, is a totally different affair. The saying "that Londoners are sick of exhibitions" is no doubt a catch phrase that may be thrown at you; but I cannot agree with it. I believe the people of the colonics are more tired of them than Londoners, and the chief reasons why the "Healtheries," and the "Colinderies," &c., have been successes are because Londoners are getting educated up to good shows where novelties are introduced—where they can be sure of hearing good music, and where the attractions for promenading, little teas and suppers, &c., are of a high-class order.
But here comes the rub. The very fact that the good people of the British capital are so educated is at once your surest guarantee of success on the one hand, of distinct failure on the other. Success, if the undertaking can present features new to London, together with the good "stock pieces"—good music and outside attractions; failure, if merely an exhibition of New Zealand products, without any great attractiveness outside of the exhibits themselves.
The attention that the colonies are exciting in England is one distinct element in favour of your scheme; the position of Lord Onslow in this colony and the Old Country is another weighty adjunct; the ability and popularity of Sir F. Dillon Bell will he extremely valuable; and lastly, the fact that the country you seek to advertise is unquestionably the scenic colony of the Empire, and might become the granary of Australasia, is an element making your position extremely strong, more especially when the attractions that the Maoris and South Sea Islanders present to Englishmen is also considered.
To suppose that holding a small exhibition of New Zealand products in London, with the expenditure limited to £20,000, would be a success, you will doubtless agree with me, is absurd. It would profit the colony so little. I imagine, that the £20.000 would with difficulty come back to it; and yet I think that with co-operation (i.e., fitting in this exhibition with another), and the securing of powerful assistance in London from the commencement, a great benefit to the colony would accrue.
It is more than probable that another of those pleasant musical "fairs," like the Colinderies, will be projected in London ere long. So soon as the decision is come to it will be comparatively easy for the A gent-General to apply for the space required for the New Zealand exhibits, and if at the same time Lord Onslow can be induced to represent the matter so as to secure the requisite interest of royalty and the Colonial Office, etc, the undertaking will be launched auspiciously. It then remains for the Colony to strengthen your hands (for I could not suppose any other hands hut yours will have charge of it, and in order to do this there must be a genuine effort made by all parts both of North and South Islands to join in the movement. No interurbian jealousy, no provincialism, but an effort that shall sink all petty spites for the good of the whole Colony. All the industries must be faithfully represented, and the details carried out. Flax, for example, should be shown in the growing state if possible, and the process of dressing traced through all stages. In the grounds there should be a genuine Maori village. And if it were possible to reproduce a portion of Whakarewarewa, for instance, with an artificial geyser, it would attract a large amount of interest. The South Sea Islands might be represented too, since New Zealand is the nearest important centre to the principal groups, and is so materially interested in trade being developed with them.
It is part of your scheme as published to have an inquiry bureau. I would make this bureau a very important feature of the Exhibition, it ought to be made a regular rendezvous, and while having comfortable chairs and tables for the use of people wishing to make enquiries, there should be various offices as well, notably an emigration, a land, and a tourist office.
In the first and second there should be officials, furnished with full particulars of the cost of living in the Colony, the price of farms, conditions of lease and purchase, etc., eve. In the last one there should be some one capable, not only of giving the requisite information—such as maps, guide-books, etc.—to enable people to find their way to New Zealand and to adequately describe the scenery and attractions of the Colony from a tourist, farming, health-seeker's, and miner's point of view, but also able to let them know the cost, to give them the required tickets, secure them passages, issue them drafts, ete, etc.
In his able speech at the Agricultural and Pastoral Asssociation of Canterbury's show last November, Lord Onslow remarked:—"I see there is to be a Tourist's Court in the Dunedin Exhibition, and I notice also that Messrs Cook and Son have taken New Zealand in hand, and for the future the man who you most want to see here is the commercial man, who requires rest from his labours for a time, and who will be glad to come out to New Zealand if he can only know the time it will take him, and what it will cost. I think you may be sure such a man will advertise your Colony, and he will send his sons, and his friends will send theirs... What is wanted is something more like modest 'Murray' which will show the people where to go and how to get there."
No one who has an acquaintance with travel and travellers but will endorse these words. People unquestionably want to know the time, want to know the cost, and then want to have trouble taken off their hands, and their tickets given them without any worry about securing berths, etc, etc. You have been pleased to say that Thomas Cook and Son helped materially towards your success with the Calcutta Exhibition. You likewise know how the New Zealand Railway Commissioners behaved towards them regarding the Exhibition in Dunedin. Possibly they might reconsider the wisdom of such treatment in the event of this exhibition being held in London; or if not, perhaps the people of the colony might take the matter up. But in any case we need not review that
As regards the 'modest Murray,' you have probably seen my attempt to make a substitute for that valuable class of guide book in this colony in in 'Brett's Handy Guide to New Zealand,' which is just published. In addition to this, however, a large map of New Zealand, such as is at present in the Tourists' Court, Dunedin, together with those bird's-eye view maps of the North and South Islands in the vestibule of the art gallery, with wood photographs of the scenic resorts, the farms, homesteads, mining claims, etc., etc., also pamphlets folders, etc., for distribution, would be essential in order to have the court completely what it should be. It would be advisable also for the Union Company to send a model of one of their steamers, and the railway authorities a specimen carriage, and the coach proprietors a model coach, so that sceptical people might see for themselves the means of locomotion round and in New Zealand. Long as this letter is, it is necessarily sketchy, but if there should he anything in it which can in any way be of service to you and aid your endeavours to benefit the colony, it will be a matter of satisfaction to
The "Otago Daily Times" contained the following letters on
Sir,—The proposal I put forth to hold a purely New Zealand Exhibition in London has been termed a "bold scheme." I fail to see anything approaching boldness in it.
Exhibitions are now mere business ventures. This is the age of advertising. The greater the ad. the greater the profit. Advertising is the commercial translator, or rather synonym for "blowing"—a system of advertisement which has in some instances proved eminently successful to some of your neighbours.
No one will for a moment dispute the fact that this Colony possesses all the requisites to make it a most thriving country in every respect. All it wants is judicious advertising. That is what I propose should be done.
The next question arises—the cost. On this point I must beg to differ from you. The cost of an exhibition depends in a great measure on the basis upon which it is started, as well as the amount of sympathy it enlists. No better example of this can be given than the cost of the present Exhibition as compared with the Melbourne Centennial. If this is an age of advertising it is also an age when co-operation systems prevail in all public as well as private undertakings. Aide toi et Dieu t' aidera is the motto I have long pinned my faith on.
One of the characteristics prevailing in this community (due no doubt to the origin of its inhabitants) is "clanship' Whether this extends further than the limits of Otago remains to be proved.
In order to sound the public opinion on the "scheme," I have had a thousand copies of it printed, posted to all parts of New Zealand with a short circular inviting criticism and soliciting co-operation.
Within the last fortnight I have received some scores of replies—the largest majority favourable, some indeed most flattering, and even those who somewhat dissent from the proposal are, like yourself, acting with caution, advise further consideration and offer suggestions which I may at once acknowledge most gratefully; these suggestions will meet with due consideration when the time comes to go into details.
It would take too much of your valuable space to enter now into details; principally those referring to revenue and expenditure of this proposed exhibition in London; suffice it to say that I have gone most carefully over the cost, and provided we can secure a suitable locale in either the Colonial Institute or the South Kensington Museum I am prepared to guarantee that the sum I have named (£20,000) will more than cover the outlay.
As to making a display worthy of this colony, and which would attract the attention of the British public, one need only look at what has been done here on a very, very small scale indeed to feel quite convinced that when a call is made for a National Exhibition every province in New Zealand will respond right cordially.
I am quite aware that in going to Loudon we go as New Zealand only; but from what I have already heard on the subject, I feel quite confident that we should have enough to cover an area exceeding that of the Dunedin show, exclusive of foreign element.
In conclusion, I may tell you that I have written to London, and ere long may receive by cable sufficient information relating to either South Kensington or the Colonial Institute, also what chance of success the scheme would have.
It is most gratifying so far to see that there has not been one dissenting opinion as to the principle, though several correspondents, as well as your leader in to-day's "Otago Daily Times," may tend to throw a sprinkling of cold water on it. Still you all agree that the principle is sound, that the results will undeniably benefit the colony. The details, I think, might be left to those into whose hands the Government in their wisdom will place the management.
If my share of the work does not go further than propounding the scheme, I shall be much gratified to think that in so doing I have in a small way requited the many courtesies and genial hospitality I and mine have received since we landed in this glorious country of yours.—I am &c.,
Sir,—Some thoughts are; suggested by your leader of this morning on the proposed New Zealand Exhibition in London, especially in reference to the cost.
I have recalled a circular issued some five or six years ago to the people of Australasia by Mr R. E. N. Twopenny, in which he advocated the holding of an exhibition of purely colonial (Australian and New Zealand) products in London as a means of attracting capital and labour to these Southern Seas, by reason of the display to be made there of the great natural products of the Southern hemisphere. That circular struck the keynote and originated the most successful exhibition held in London, and Mr Twopenny may be considered the father of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of
If you can get the support of the Prince of Wales, and an influential committee appointed to supervise details in London, there will then exist no reason against the financial success of a purely New Zealand Exhibition in the metropolis of the world, where an exhibition of your mineral re-
[What we said was that Parliament must be prepared for an outlay of at least £100,000, but that if successful the enterprise would very possibly leave a profit as the receipts in that case would be very large.—Ed. O.D.T.]
The following letter is taken from the Wellington "Evening Press" of
Sir,—My attention has been called to a letter upon the above subject signed "Discretion" in a recent issue of your valuable paper. It seems to me somewhat remarkable that anyone should be found presumptuous enough to so emphatically pronounce upon a scheme with the main features of which (to say nothing of details) he was entirely ignorant. The proverbial angel might well have feared to tread on such uncertain ground.
"Discretion" considers that to advertise our own dear country and its wealth of resources at Home would be "to forward the characteristics of ridiculousness with which we are already viewed by our sister colonies, and, indeed, by the world at large." Even with the help of a formidable array of dictionaries I have not been quite able to fathom the profound depths of wisdom doubtless conveyed in this remarkable sentence. One thing is clear. "Discretion" is altogether unaware that while New Zealand has spent pounds, sister colonics have spent thousands in advertising them-selves at Home. It is only the misleading croakings (which would be positively wicked in the falseness of the impression they give outsiders, did we not know that they arise merely from an undue accretion of bile) which bring the colony into contempt and ridicule abroad. And, thank goodness, there are now signs that all the mists of dismal misrepresentations are not sufficient to blind the eyes keenly watching us from abroad to the solid, though humble, prosperity of our people.
But, sir, taking "Discretion's" doleful view of our condition as the correct one, what are the chief-in fact the only—remedies? Why these:—
Now, I appeal to any man of common sense who possesses some knowledge of the world whether these three objects cannot be better attained by a judiciously planned and properly conducted New Zealand Exhibition in the very heart of the world's market than by any other method. Is it then truly "unveiled hypocrisy" to scheme for such worthy ends as these?
Can our wool, our frozen meat, flax, timber, or minerals be brought before purchasers in any better way than by showing well prepared samples at their very doors?
Take our dairy produce alone. Even "Discretion" will not deny that here in New Zealand we can make butter and cheese which can compete, if given a fair opportunity, against the world. Yet our whole annual make of butter would not supply London's wants for half a day (vide statistics in Insurance and Finance Journal of June 1st and London Gazette for September and October). Nor can all our dairy factories in one year make enough cheese to keep up with the demand in London during four days. Surely we have, still unproductive, vast tracts of land fully equal to that already being grazed. What is wanted but capital and practical farmers and graziers to quadruple our output and to make our dairy products command the top prices at Home? If "Discretion" can project any practical scheme to achieve these ends, less costly and more efficient than a New Zealand Exhibition in Loudon, with exhibits to attract attention, working dairies to serve as illustrations, a Government intelligence bureau to secure the sale or lease of our lands, an efficient and well-equipped lecturer upon New Zealand, a New Zealand restaurant where the ablest French chef that money can procure will serve up nothing but New Zealand goods in the very best style—if he can beat this colossal cheap advertisement, let him do it, and I for one will heartily support him.
Finally, that M. Jules Joubert, who proposed the scheme, should be entrusted with its execution is only natural, for he has demonstrated that he can do what no colonial Government has yet been successful in doing—he can fun exhibitions at a profit.—I am, &c.
The following letter appeared in the "Evening Star," Dunedin, on
Sir,—It would be a thousand pities if the suggestion which emanated with Mr Joubert—that an exhibition of New Zealand manufactures and products be held in London under the sanction, and with the aid of, the Colonial Government—should be allowed to lapse for want of a careful analysis as to what would be the practical results of such an enterprise.
It is doubtless admitted that at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition New Zealand took anything but the important place in that representation which she was capable of doing, and I would unhesitatingly assert that an exhibition such as Mr Joubert suggests, with a minimum of risk and the surety of a maximum of practical result, cannot fail to commend itself to each colonist, after examination. It would appeal alike to the monied class and the mechanic, and do greater good than years of service of agents in the cause of imigration, and appeal to a more substantial class. The best result would be obtainable by the Exhibition being a New Zealand one pure and simple, without amalgamation of interests with any other
We complain of our dairy interests and consignments not meeting with fair play; the same with our meat traffic, extending even to flax. Our cheese, butter, and meat are openly sold as the products of other countries, notably of Britain and America. It will establish the fact that an article bearing a New Zealand brand is equal to and superior in cases to the products of other countries.
It will tend to bring practically under the notice of shipowners and others the value of our coals for the supply of coaling stations in the Indian Ocean. It will aid the fruit industry. It will establish known information as to our New Zealand timbers, and with the kauri create a possible large demand for manufactures where absence of knots, etc.. is a great feature, as in the case of piano tops for subsequent ebonising; and with our woollens I believe that quite a demand was established during the Indian and Colonial Exhibition for the rugs of pure wool. But these are only sample cases of where a direct trade would be benefitted. New Zealand would undoubtedly reap a harvest from the establishment in such an exhibition of a systematised land bureau, conducted by a government officer well acquainted with all the Crown lands open for settlement, who could render information upon the subject, supported by large photographs of the districts and general scenery, and accept applications from intending settlers under any of the Land Settlement Acts who could assure them of the land they select being reserved pending their taking possession. This office would do more real good in a practical immigration cause than lecturers who would induce people to emigrate upon uncertainties. And those with means would feel assurance in determining to throw in their lot with those of this colony when they had the opportunity of negotiating for the land before leaving England, and with the surroundings and proofs of fertility which the Exhibition would be capable of illustrating. For this cause alone—the cause of a practical immigration and land settlement scheme, inducing an influx of vigorous colonists—Mr Joubert's scheme stands with glowing recommendations.
I would contend that such an Exhibition could be established and conducted with little or no subsequent loss so far as the immediate £ s. d. is concerned, and certainly with a happy result out of all proportion to the expense incurred. I suggest that the opinion of each member of the Legislature be obtained, and it would then be as certainable what probability there would be of the scheme being matured and accomplished if brought before the House during the coming session.—I am, etc.,
The following cablegram appeared in the "Otago Daily Times,"
The Chronicle applauds the idea of holding an exhibition of New Zealand products in London.
The Otago Daily Times (December 30) says:—
"... The idea is in many respects a happy one, and as regards the needs of New Zealand, if not the disposition of the British public, very opportune. The credit of the colony has improved of late, but a good advertisement, such as a successful Exhibition in London, would greatly help us in many ways, particularly if it were specially directed to attract the attention of the agricultural classes.... To make the Exhibition fashionable is half the battle, and the idea that it should be a kind of stepping-stone to the Imperial Institute may succeed in engaging the active interest of the Prince of Wales, which is absolutely indispensible to success.... M. Joubert's actual scheme of taking over the present Exhibition to London would of necessity be subsequently developed. The present Exhibition, robbed of the Australian and Foreign Courts, could not be expected to meet the requirements of the British public, who have almost been spoiled with varied and attractive displays, and it would be found that at least half of the present exhibitors could not afford to send their exhibits to London. Nor could any private persons be allowed to control an enterprise in which the credit of the colony is so deeply involved in the heart of the Mother Country. The Government would have to take the Exhibition in hand, and carry it out on a complete and comprehensive scale.... What the cost of such an Exhibition would be it is difficult to say. It might very possibly succeed so well as to leave a profit as the "Colinderies" did, but in organising a large advertisement of this kind the colony must be prepared not to look at money as regards the original outlay. The New Zealand Court at the "Colinderies" cost nearly £20,000, and the New South Wales Court at Melbourne, £45,000. The financial success of our present Exhibition arises chiefly from the system of placing the greater part of the expenditure upon private exhibitors, which is out of the question in this case. At the lowest we should say that Parliament must sanction an outlay of £100,000..."
The Dunedin Evening Herald (Dec. 3rd), says:—
"... But if the Exhibition were to cost £100,000, it would still be the duty of the Government to unhesitatingly go on with the project. Whatever the cost it is preposterous to suppose that, with such aims in view, the amount would not be trebly returned to the Government in a direct form within a year, to say nothing of the vast indirect good that would most certainly accrue. Such an opportunity to advertise the colony never has presented itself before and probably never will again, for, failing our going on with the project it may be relied upon that some
The New Zealand Times (December 13) says:—
"... Again and again have we lamented the shortsightedness of successive administrations in not making provision for advertising New Zealand in the Mother Country. It has been urged many times in these colonies the great gain that would probably accrue to the colonies by establishing agencies in the principal country towns of the United Kingdom. The one agency in London is more ornamental and representative than anything else, for its principal work is not keeping New Zealand and her attractions prominently before the working bees of the great British hive, and inducing swarming in this direction. That should be the object of New Zealand agencies in the Motherland, and if they are not the colony's zealous, intelligent, never tiring advocates, they are nothing to it. But the head agency in London might initiate a most desirable undertaking by securing a site in some convenient part of the city for the permanent exhibition of New Zealand products. If a corner could be secured in the South Kensington Museum, than which no better site could he obtained in London, enough of all kinds of minerals, and metals, and timber, and grain, and wool, and flax, and fruits, in their season, could he sent to fill it, and be thoroughly attractive. It is here that part of M. Joubert's propositions fit in. Maps and diagrams, and all kinds of the colony's statistics, could be placed there for reference, and well-executed photographs of the towns and scenery of the colony. New Zealand might be most admirably depicted in microscosin in such an Exhibition, and be brought really face to face with our race in the North. Of manufactures, too, there might be some. It could be made optional for any one in the colony to 30 advertise his or their wares at his or their proper cost. A mass of iron-sand, with steel manufactured from it, would he a taking exhibit, and so would be the products of our woollen mills, and tanneries, and brick and tile yards. Such as these, with a sufficiency of the raw material of every description would be the very best standing advertisement the colony could have in the heart of the great Empire. Ten or twelve, or even twenty thousand pounds spent in such a direction would he money well bestowed. It would be essential for the success of the scheme that the Exhibition should be located in a position frequented by the public, free of cost of course. South Kensington Museum would he the place above all others, but failing all others we believe it would pay the colony to rent a commodious building in a convenient situation in which its exhibits could be permanently placed.
"And more than this, we would unhesitatingly counsel the establishment of permanent exhibitions, necessarily on a much smaller scale, at, say, half-a-dozen of the principal country towns of the United Kingdom. If people in the country districts were only brought into touch with the colony by placing facilities in their way to see and examine what the colony produced indigenously and otherwise, a most potent inducement to emigrate to it would be offered to them. And also a few indispensable views to let; them see what the country is like. We want to attract people, people of the right kind, with means great or small, and if we do not tell them all about the country and practically illustrate our arguments, how can we
hope to succeed? And it must be done, too, in season and out of it. For the people of the United Kingdom are difficult to move out of their country, that is, the sort of people New Zealand wants. There is really room for the showman business among them. Say that such exhibitions, as we have indicated were established, then in connection with them might be appointed a man who loved New Zealand to his heart's core, one with infinite capacity for discourse, familiar with the colony, and the life of its people, whose duty it would be to deliver periodical lectures at the sites of the Exhibition, with occasional divergencies in other directions. He would sound New Zealand's praises, tell of its boundless resources, explain its progress, and clinch his arguments by quoting current statistics, and by putting the colony's best foot forward tor it, so to speak. There are two or three men in the colony who could fulfil the required conditions of the position. Possibly Mr. Joubert himself is one of them....."
The Westport Times (Dec. 14) says:—
". . . We are quite prepared to hear all arguments used in opposition to this proposed grant characterised as narrow-minded and mean, but we feel convinced they are neither. The colony cannot spare the money, and were such an amount available it could be devoted to much more useful objects."
The Bruce Herald (December 17) says:—
"... Mr. Joubert thinks that an advance from the Government of say £20,000, would cover all expenses, and that the charge for admissions, would recoup the outlay. The idea strikes us as being very good, and if the venture is to pay for itself, as Mr. Joubert predicts it will, there is no reason why it should not be carried into effect. At this stage of the business it is hardly necessary to do more than express approval or disapproval, but should it be decided to carry out the proposal a very great deal might be said relative to details."
The Christchurch Weekly Press (Dec 19) says (in he Editor's column):—
"I am a great believer in advertising the Colony, and it is, therefore, with pleasure that I hail Mr Joubert's proposal to hold, next year, a New Zealand Exhibition in London. He thinks it can be done without expense, believing that if £20,000 were advanced for the purpose the charges for admission and profits from the sale of privileges would recoup the outlay. At a time when the Colony in its corporate form, and in the persons of its individual citizens, is doing its utmost to live economically, a prospect of this kind is grateful to the mental eye, and one would love to dwell on it. I could very well believe that now we have plenty of cool space a New Zealand restaurant, such as Mr Joubert proposes as an important part of the Exhibition, might prove extremely profitable; and if the Exhibition itself "caught on" to the affections of the British public, as there is no reason why it should not, why then, it ought to yield a very fair return in gate money. But here we have a "might" and an "if," with which I will not tarry longer.
Let me return, suppose that the £20,000 did not return to us again, but was expended in making the Exhibition. Well, then, I should say that in the present circumstances of the Colony it could not be better spent. We have converted the city editors of the London papers from enemies into friends. Thus we are assured of the support of the Press, and may, if we will, go ahead with an exhibition without fear of injury from prejudiced critics. We ought, therefore, to seize our opportunity, and proceed to show the English farmer what we have been showing in Dunedin to his Victorian cousin—that is, our magnificent display of grain and wool. If we do that,
The Christchurch Star (December 20) says:—
... The project is better worthy of public money than any scheme of immigration of the many which have absorbed so much of the contents of the State coffers. We show everything we have—mineral, animal, and vegetable—we give a comprehensive idea of our civilization, our public works, our school system, churches, roads, bridges, lighthouses, harbours; we have every kind of pictures of our scenery, every information about our climate. This is the sort of compendium we all had in our mind's eye when the project of the Imperial Institute was first introduced to our delighted vision. Let us go in for the thing alone and on our own account. Singularity will breed appreciation. The experiment will be a grand success. What that means to a country that sends away annually food enough to feed five millions, and can grow at least three times as much more, we need not stop to calculate, any more than we need to calculate the contents of the ocean in gallons in order to give us some idea of its immensity.
As we have said, his idea is superb. Nothing could be better conceived than his proposal for taking our big advertisement to London and keeping it there. Nothing could be more in keeping with the public opinion that took fire at the Colinderies and rushed in consequence to support the Imperial Institute...
The Wellington Evening' Press (December 20) says:—
... We New Zealanders indulge in a good deal of foolish rhodomontade, but we hope that all our common sense has not yet deserted us, and that we shall have the courage to put a prompt and decisive stop to such a midsummer scheme. Our merchants find no difficulty in disposing of our produce without making us the laughing stock of London, and when we have had all the dirty linen of the Bank of New Zealand washed, and our commercial establishments and our administrative departments inoculated with a little honesty, and the shameless swindling of the bankrupt traders put an end to, it will be quite time to show ourselves in London, and by such honest methods we shall gain more confidence and gather more respect and renown than such a ridiculous proposal as that before us can accomplish to discredit us, even though it had the misfortune to struggle through a whole London season."
The Tablet (December 20) says:—
Mr Jules Joubert has made a proposal which seems to merit consideration. Mr Joubert proposes to supplant the Exhibition now being held in Dunedin by one to be held in London, and the idea strikes us as a very good one. It is true, the Exhibition as it now stands answers all the uses for which such an enterprise is commonly undertaken. It very effectually shows the condition of the country, both with respect to its resources and the degree in which they have been developed, and also illustrates the progress amongst us of culture and civilization, as well as the relative position borne by the Colony towards other countries, both of the old world and the new. For all who visit the Exhibition the effect must be perfect, and nothing more is needed. But however crowded the courts and corridors may be by strangers, the fact remains that the numbers must be comparatively few. And perhaps the classes whom it is most desirable to interest are those who will be the least represented. To carry the matter, therefore, within reach of them, and force it, as it were, on their notice, would seem a very advisable course to take. The Exhibition, as we have said, presents to the
The Poverty Bay Herald (Dec. 23) says:—
"... Now, we do not like the idea of an 'advance' for any such purpose. If substantial benefit is hoped for from the enterprise it should be considered worth paying for. The English people have an idea that colonists keep too close an eye on the main chance. The Australian cricketers fell into disfavour through alleged greed of gate-money, and the tour of the Maori footballers showed how strongly opposed the Home public were to the game being converted into a source of profit. The proposed Exhibition in London, it is claimed, would be a grand advertisement for New Zealand. If there is justification for that belief the colony should be prepared to pay for it, and not look to English people bearing the expense.... It would be better if M. Joubert communicated with the several colonial Governments with a view of promoting a joint undertaking, and if the negotiations met with success, then New Zealand could put her best foot forward in bringing under the notice of the Home people the natural resources and industries of these islands; and the expense need not be great.... "
The Cromwell Argus (Dec. 21) says:—
"When M. Jules Joubert's proposal to transfer all the New Zealand exhibits of the present Exhibition to London was propounded, the project, at first blush, seemed too ambitious; but more mature consideration admits not only the practicability of the scheme, but also the advantages which would result to the colony in carrying it out. As pointed out in Mr Joubert's circular to the President of the New Zealand Exhibition, this colony has never, up to the present, been adequately represented in any of the world's great shows in Europe; in fact, when it has been represented at all, the show has been so meagre as to bring more of discredit upon the colony than credit. With all the choicest productions of New Zealand gathered together in Dunedin at the present time, this past error can be easily and inexpensively remedied. The cost Mr Joubert fixes at £20,000, an inconsiderable trifle to the Government as compared with the far reaching and lasting benefits which may fairly be assumed would result to the trade of the colony generally; but when there is a likelihood of this
un fait accompli."
The Auckland Evening Star (Dec. 24) says:—
"A project to convey a number of the leading exhibits now being displayed at Dunedin to London for exhibition is receiving considerable support in the southern press, and is said to be endorsed by a prominent member of the Ministry as well as by the Executive Commissioners of the Exhibition.... The bureau of land, emigration, and information, no doubt sounds well, but we apprehend that the colony already possesses such a bureau in the Agent-General's office presided over by one of the most able and highly-paid officers in the service of the colony, assisted by very capable subordinates. Applicants for information naturally go there, and if a more active policy were decided upon in the promotion of emigration, the work could be done much more effectually and economically through the Agent-General's Office than by setting up any new and irresponsible bureau at South Kensington. It is a mere matter of cost. Another matter which really weighs against the Exhibition, although the fact has been urged in its favour, is the question of providing for the proper representation of the colony at the Imperial Institute. This will prove a much better place of exhibition than New Zealand could possibly set up for itself by an expenditure of £20,000, and when the time conies the Government will have to spend a considerable sum to secure the adequate representation of New Zealand in this permanent display of colonial products. It is by no means certain that the exhibits at Dunedin would be available for the Institute, or would be the most suitable for that purpose. The selection of exhibits for the Imperial Institute can be most satisfactorily considered on its own merits when the proper time comes....."
The Palmerston and Waikouaiti Times (Dec. 25th) says:—
... "The scheme propounded by Mr Joubert is one that is deserving of serious consideration, and ought not to be summarily dismissed, as very much more depends upon it than many at first think. It will be observed that Mr Joubert in his letter gives very conclusive evidence, and supports the realisation of his scheme by arguments that are unrefutable, and which point to the advantages which such a proposal is calculated to confer on New Zealand. The fact cannot, of course, be denied that the more widespread the publicity we give to the resources of the Colony, and the progress that has been made in the industrial, manufacturing, and other pursuits, the greater the benefit that is likely to accrue from it. The present Exhibition will do much to advertise and bring into prominence the
The Dunstan Times (Dec. 27) says:—
.... "It seems to us that the project, is one which, if carried out will he of incalculable benefit to the Colony, and place New Zealand under an everlasting debt of gratitude to Mr Joubert, who, of course, will be entrusted with the task of carrying the scheme into execution. There is no one else to undertake the work, for no one else has yet demonstrated that they can run exhibitions at a profit, as he has done. This is a serious point, for, although it would eventually pay New Zealand to lay out the whole cost of the Exhibition merely to secure such a gigantic advertisement, still we must remember that we have not the means in hand to scatter money so lavishly, and must, therefore, turn to the man who can give us the full benefit of the advertisement, and recoup us for all the outlay. This M. Joubert's previous successes has shown that he can do."
The Tuapeka Times (Dec. 28) says:—
.... "Our exports in the English market are the best proofs of the fruitfulness of our soil; our land laws are as liberal as we can reasonably make them; and the rest depends upon ourselves, upon the caution with which we administer our affairs, avoiding further debt, and eschewing experimental legislation. These and not Mr Joubert's score or two of half-clad Maoris, and his other showman's devices, will impress the people at Home with notions favourable to our Colony and to ourselves....
The Waikato Times (Dec. 28) says:—
.... This will enable New Zealand to take a foremost place at Home, and have the choice of the best positions in the Institute. That M. Joubert should himself carry out this scheme he has initiated is only feasible, for no Colonial Government, and but one Home Government, has ever yet been able to make Exhibitions pay, while M. Joubert has demonstrated that that is just the speciality in which he shines—he runs shows at a profit."
The Otago Daily Times (Dec. 31) says:—
.... "At a time when Mr Joubert is projecting a fresh Exhibition, it may be well to copy from his book ("Shavings and Scraps") Lord Ripon's words at the closing ceremony of the Calcutta Exhibition:—'We cannot allow this day to pass without recording publicly the great obligations that are due to Mr Joubert for the success of this Exhibition. I confess that when he first intimated his intention to hold an Exhibition in the capital city of India, I looked upon it as an impracticable scheme. Mr Rivers Thomson, however, held a different opinion, and I am happy to-day to acknowledge that Mr Joubert has most nobly redeemed all his promises, fulfilled most honourably all his engagements, and deserves the thanks not only of the Government of India but of the whole population of this Empire.'
The Dunedin Evening Star (Dec. 31) says:—
"In respect to the project formulated by Mr Joubert for moving the present Exhibition, or rather the purely New Zealand portion thereof, to London, Mr Fergus did not certainly commit himself very distinctly, but he said enough to convey the impression that, as a Minister he was generally favourable. 'The Government,' he said, 'would be glad to forward the interests of the colony in the direction indicated...."
The Dunedin Evening Herald (Dec. 31) says:—
"... Mr Joubert was publicly thanked by Lord Ripon, Viceroy of India, for the incalculable amount of good his brilliantly successful Calcutta Exhibition had done India, a circumstance which, conjoined with the success Mr Joubert has made of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, may well be borne in mind while considering his proposal to hold a New Zealand Exhibition in London...."
The Grey River Argus (Dec. 31) says:—
"... If carried out in any sort of proper and spirited way, the scheme cannot fail to be of immense benefit, to us. We are told that some members of Government have already expressed themselves favourably to the scheme. That is a very great deal gained, as it almost amounts to compromising the Government. However, unless they are prepared to make it a ministerial question they had better not bring the matter forward at all. It is fully expected that the Colonial Treasurer will next year show a surplus of at least £200,000, probably rather more than less. As we are now receiving little or no practical benefit in any way from the expenditure on the Agent-General's department in consequence of the complete discontinuance of public works and immigration, we might well afford to try the effect of giving the colony a fillip by Mr Joubert's project. After looking into the matter carefully we cannot help thinking that the scheme is likely to do us a great deal of good as a colony, and that the prospect of loss in carrying the idea out is a mere nothing. With all the old outlets of expenditure, extravagant and otherwise, completely stopped, Government would be fully justified in risking the expenditure of the sum asked for, and from which every part of the colony must derive more or less benefit. It is not like asking for a bridge or section of railway for some particular locality."
The Taieri Advocate (January 8) says:—
"A few weeks back Mr Jules Joubert, general manager of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, propounded a scheme which advocated the holding of a New Zealand Exhibition at London. It was urged that beneficial results would be sure to follow; that our population would be considerably increased by the arrival of desirable immigrants, who instead of looking forward to a period of inactivity and ease, would be imbued with the idea that to be thoroughly successful in this colony patience and perse-verance—those admirable adjuncts to a man's character—would have to be continually exercised to bring about the desired result. The many advantages the colony possesses in the shape of innumerable attractive spots would, it was alleged, have the requisite effect, if properly set forward, upon tourists; while by the aid of a land bureau, with which would doubtless be incorporated an immigration bureau, settlement would be facilitated to a great extent; the productive quality of the land would be brought prominently before English capitalists; and the natural consequence would
The Dunedin Evening Herald (Jan. 17) says:—
"... Mr Joubert's services in connection with the present Exhibition have been simply of incalculable value. In exhibitions he has never made a failure, and as every step leads but to another yet higher, and as he is a man who lives not in the present but in the future, it is reasonable to suppose that he never will. And that is the best of auguries for his proposed New Zealand Exhibition in London."
The New Zealand Herald (Auckland) says:—
... "In addition to other features of the scheme, Mr Joubert proposes that the Government shall send home a first-class man with a good knowledge of this Colony, who shall be empowered to sell or lease Crown lands, and to give full information and every possible assistance to emigrants of the right, sort. He should be provided with every available hand-book and work of reference, pamphlets specially written for the purpose, maps, large relief models, etc., etc. His efforts would also be seconded by those of a lecturer, whose discourses upon New Zealand would be illustrated by limelight views of the best sort. Nor does the advertising stop here. The most unique proposal of all is to establish a New Zealand Restaurant. Here the very best French chef that money can procure will place before Londoners in the most attractive form possible—New Zealand goods of all descriptions, frozen meat, game and fish, bread made from New Zealand flour, New Zealand joints, New Zealand tinned goods, etc., etc."
The Tablet says:—
"It has been proposed to transfer the New Zealand Exhibition to London, and to find a home for it in the new Colonial Institute. This is a wise idea, and it will at once command itself to the approval of Colonists... In no other way can the resources of this Colony be adequately advertised, and advertising is just the very thing which the Colony wants at the present time.... The best capital for us would be brawny arms and stout hearts. These of themselves would soon create capital, and, as much would have more, and as Providence aids those who aid themselves, capitalists would soon of their own accord, pour millions into our laps, and press us to make use of their superabundance in the further development of our magnificent country. We hope, therefore, that this project which has proceeded from the fertile brain of Mr Joubert will be realised. We think it the best and wisest project that has for many years been suggested by any friend of New Zealand. But there is one thing more which is required, which the Government can do, and which ought to be done at once. The Government should at once prepare for settling people on the land....
Zealandia (January 1st) says:—
"But the New Year promises to bring forth something of far greater importance to the Colony than the current Exhibition. The proposed New Zealand Exhibition in London the latest project which has sprung from the fertile soil of M. Jules Joubert's brain, is a colossal advertising scheme, which,
Zealandia has been started upon show that I am intensely patriotic—many writers think too much so. Anything, therefore, which promises to benefit New Zealand deeply interests me. It seems to me that a well conducted Exhibition in London cannot fail to be of incalculable benefit. But there must he enough of the "show" element in it to attract the people, and, as it were, trap them into seeing the exhibits. Mr Christie Murray, when interviewed on the subject, said very truly—"Londoners will not go to see exhibits, hut they will flock in thousands to see the Maoris and the fernery, and to eat New Zealand fruits in midwinter."
Caxton Printing Company Manse Street, Dunedin.
One of the principal features of the nineteenth century has been the enormous strides made by Great Britain in the direction of colonisation, and the last fifty years has been specially remarkable as a colonial epoch. Without reference to the other great colonies of the Empire, fifty years ago the whole population of Australasia numbered only some 345,000; now it amounts to more than three and a-quarter millions. Even more extraordinary has been the increase in the trade, the revenue, the wealth of these colonies during the same period.
The seeds of this great era of progress are to be found in the immortal discoveries of Watt, Ark wright, the Stephensons, and other great discoverers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The use of steam in manufactures and locomotion, the textile revolution, the growth of the factory system; all these combined led up to a marvellous and sudden change in the material and external life of the people such as history affords no other example of. This result has been an enormous growth of population, vast expansion of sea-power, of commerce, of manufactures, all leading to the portentous growth of the Empire.
The most astonishing proof of this marvellous expanding power is afforded by this our colony of New Zealand, founded here fifty years ears ago, whose jubilee we lately celebrated, and the early history of which we here sketch for our readers.
In the year Terra Australia Incognita, and it was only later that he ascertained he was merely in the wake of an earlier discoverer.
The navigator's accounts of New Zealand are too well known by all readers of his admirably written voyages—and who has not read them?—to need any recapitulation by us. Reference is only made to this voyage because the discoveries of Captain Cook in the South Seas led to the formation of the penal settlement in New South Wales, to which we have already referred. From this voyage sprang the first colonisation of Australia.
In phorminm flax, the silk-like softness of which was much admired. But the growing confidence (at first disturbed by the dread of cannibalism) between Europeans and natives, was interrupted in the year
In
But Hongi, the friend of the missionaries, proceeded to England, where he charmed the religious world by acting the part of a devout Christian. Presents were showered on him, all of which he sold just previous to his return to New Zealand, and with the proceeds he purchased 300 muskets and stores of ammunition. With these lie carried on devastating wars throughout the islands. Other tribes, to avoid extermination, had to open up trade with Europeans, to procure the much-needed powder and lead. The erstwhile hated pake has became valued friends and allies, and gradually European settlers became pretty numerous in the land.
Between
In connection with Kororareka it must not be forgotten that here New Zealand received the first act of official recognition from the English Government, though the islands had previously been named in more than one Act of Parliament, and albeit this recognition took the form of dealing with the future colony as an independent foreign State. In consequence of representations from the New South Wales authorities as to the lawless state of the place, and of a letter addressed to King William IV. by thirteen New Zealand chiefs, praying for the protectection of the British Crown. Mr. Busby was despatched to the Bay of Islands as British Resident. He arrived on the
This clearly proves that up to and include the
Amidst some variations in detail, the general account given by the natives of the first arrival in the islands constitutes a generally harmonious narrative. Some of their traditions state that before the arrival of the Maoris there were no men in the land, which was covered with forest. According others, when their forefathers came to New Zealand they found the land thinly populated with a race short and plump, but physically inferior to themselves, called Moriori, and many circumstances tend to show that this latter tradition is the most correct one. All tradition is consistent to three points, viz., that the Maoris came from a place called Hawaiki; that their departure from the latter place was caused by a great civil war; and that they found a race of gigantic birds in Aotearoa, as New Zealand was first called by them.
There is also a general consensus as to the names and number of canoes in which the migration was effected, especially with regard to those which conveyed the progenitors of the Auckland contingent, viz., the "Arawa," "Tainui," "Kurahaupo," and "Matatua." The Arawa, which carried the renowned Tama-te-Kapua, left a few persons at Maunganui, at the mouth of the Tauranga harbour, and the remainder proceeded to Maketu. This canoe is said to have brought over from Hawaiki certain stone images and other objects of great renown, and field is the highest veneration, one of which, the smaller, was given to Sir George Grey some years back, and is now in the Auckland An Gallery among the other art and archæological treasures presented to the city by Sir George Grey. Another, the largest, was buried on the island of Mokoia, in the middle of Lake Rotorua, and was the occasion of some little excitement when disinterred a
The Kurahaupo carried the ancestors of the Poverty Bay tribes, and those of the natives occupying the country around and to the north of the Bay of Islands.
The Matatua canoe was dragged on shore at Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty, and from her crew sprung several of the East Coast tribes. With regard to the time which has elapsed since the migration of the Hawaikiani to New Zealand, Tawhiao is said to be the sixteenth in direct descent from Hoturoa, who landed at Kawhia from the Tainui, and the genealogies of the principal chiefs whose forefathers came in the various canoes will all be found to cover a similar period.
The isthmus of Auckland is one of the most remarkable volcanic districts of the earth. It is characterised by a large number of extinct volcanic cones with craters in a more or less distinct state of preservation, and with lava streams forming extensive stone fields at the foot of the hills, or with tuff-craters surrounding, like an artificial wall, the cones of eruption piled up of scoria and volcanic ash. These cones are promiscuously scattered over the isthmus and the neighbouring shores of the Waitemata and Manukau.
Upon a rectangle twenty miles long and twelve broad, or within a radius of ten miles from Auckland, Hochstetter counted no less than 63 separate points of eruption. Each of these volcanic cones was, some hundred years ago, a fortress terraced by the hand of man, and more than a score of very strong fortresses of this description, varying in height from 150 to 642 feet, were within six miles of the centre of the isthmus.
Maungawhao, now known as Mount Eden, was the highest, and the most important of these fastnesses, occupied by "Nga-iwi," so called from being formed of the scattered remnants of several tribes which had been individually all but exterminated in wars by tribes of other districts, and which thus consolidated for mutual protection. Next in strength was Maungakiekie, now called One Tree Hill, which in 1720 was the fortress of the great chief Kiwi, who ruled in the neighbourhood. In 1740 he fell in battle with invaders from Kaipara, and from this time to the era of colonisation destructive warfare was kept up in the district almost without interruption.
Maungawhao was a pa of extraordinary strength. The sides of the hills were terraced, and high palisades with inner fences, and pits for concealment, rendered each separate terrace a separate fortress. On the northern face, the people had their cultivations in the rich warm scoria soil. Piles of stone still show the division walls of the kumara and taro grounds, and in the caves and crevices of the rock may still be found the bones of the people who lived there. The amount of labour that must have been expended in trenching, terracing, and fencing such a gigantic fortress as this, and all without iron tools, is a proof that the natives were much more numerous in former times than they were when they first became known to European voyagers, even long ere the era of colonisation.
These forts were also of such an extent that, taking into consideration the system of attack and defence used necessarily in those times, they would have been utterly untenable unless held by at least ten times the number of men the whole surrounding districts for two or three days' journey could produce a century ago. And yet, when we remember that in those times of constant war, which include at least the two centuries preceding the arrival of Europeans, the natives always, as a rule, slept in these hill forts with closed gates, bridges over trenches removed, and ladders of terraces drawn up, we must come to the conclusion that the inhabitants of the forts, though so numerous, were merely the population of the country in the close vicinity.
War was indeed the chronic state of the island, war springing from any and every imaginable cause, the most fertile being land and women, but also frequently resulting from violation of the tapu, personal insult, or the mere ambition of a chief. Every offence but the destruction of life had some commercial equivalent, but for murder there was no compensation but the taking of another life, either that of the murderer or one of his tribe.
What earned the Maoris such a terrible name among the earlier visitors to the shores of New Zealand was not so much their reputation for ferocity in war as their cannibalism, and this also caused the Maoris themselves to be very timid in casual meetings with alien tribes and with strangers. This dreadful custom, whatever might have been its origin, was, at least during historic times, not caused by the promptings of revenge or the gratification of hatred, but by an actual love for human flesh as an article of diet. A Maori of the old school would eat anyone but a blood relation.
The earliest visitors to the islands had sad experience of this dreadful practice. One of Tasman's sailors was eaten in 1642: Captain Cook had a boat's crew eaten in 1774; Marion du Fresne, and many other navigators, met this horrible end. As also did the passengers and crew of the Boyd, in
In
In
Judge Maning's friendly chief, "Lizard Skin," killed and cooked several men in what is now Shortland-street, and forced three more of the enemy to jump over the cliff, which, in the early days of Auckland, was known as Soldier's Point.
It is not only in the traces of Titanic fortifications which the earliest settlers found on every hill that we find proof of the steadily diminishing number of the population. There is also most unmistakeable evidence that vast tracts of country which the first European visitors found bare and desolate had once been fully cultivated. Ditches for draining the land were still traceable, large pits were to be seen in hundreds in which kumaras were once stored, and that in places which had lain wild time out of mind. Those most competent to form an opinion have calculated that long before the era of colonisation, the population had at one time been very dense.
Among other most striking proofs of this we may instance the road leading from Tauranga to Oropi, on the way to Ohinemutu. For miles after leaving Tauranga every hill bears the marks of former extensive fortifications, but what strikes the observer even more forcibly is the immense accumulation of shells which cover large patches at short intervals until the bush is reached at Oropi, some thirteen miles from Tauranga, and all these heaps of shells represent the cooking places of hapus which have long since vanished from off the face of the earth.
As an instance of the rapid rate at which extermination was carried on, in
But of all the curses with which New Zealand was afflicted, in the era immediately preceding that of colonisation, the greatest was the famed chief Hongi Hika, he who, we have already seen, first introduced missionaries into the country. Born in the year 1777, near the Bay of Islands, Hongi was a chief of illustrious descent of the great Ngapuhi tribe. He early distinguished himself in battle, and was soon known as the greatest fighting chief of the Island. Even while protecting the Rev. Mr. Marsden, and encouraging the spread of Christianity, he was immersed in warfare, and successfully ravaged the Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Whangaroa, and Hokianga. In
Before returning he collected large stores of guns and ammunition, and in
It has been computed that at least 30,000 lives were sacrificed in Hongi's great raids between the years
The last great intertribal war of the Maoris before the colonisation of the country was the Rotorua campaign of Te Waharoa of Ngatihoua against the Ngatiwhakaue, which lasted from
Reference has been made to the European settlement in the Bay of Islands now bearing the name of Russell, then known as Kororareka, a little hell that spread its contaminating influence over the whole surrounding country. But even before the time of Kororareka many Europeans had settled on the coast who must not be confounded with the ruffianly rabble of idlers, beach-combers, and whalers, landed from their shins merely to enjoy riotous living for a few days, such as constituted the population of this Alsatia of the Southern Seas. The sealers, whalers, and even the runaway convicts who cast in their lot with the Maoris, were the first to implant the seeds of civilisation in the native race, and of these the whalers are generally allowed to have exercised the most beneficial influence They came in after the sealers, and in
Most of these whalers possessed native wives, many of them selected from the best families of the land, and from a tact peculiar to native women, these whalers' wives generally obtained strong influence over their husbands; they often acted as mediators in drunken quarrels, promoted good feeling between the two races, and occasionally turned the tippler into a sober man. The whalers, on the other hand, are acknowledged to have exercised a beneficial influence on the aboriginals, by creating new wants and introducing new customs. Everything used by them was coveted by the natives, and pigs, flax, labour, and land were readily given in exchange for tea, sugar, tobacco, blankets, and dress. Canoes were superseded by whaleboats. Chimneys, beds, and glass windows were introduced in native huts. The whalers taught their wives to sew, cook, and keep themselves clean, and they in turn invariably took a laudable pride in decking themselves out for their husbands' admiration. Impartial witnesses in
The first missionary, Marsden, landed in the Bay of Islands in
But when Christianity did take root it grew rapidly, and soon after
If the missionaries in the early days were unsuccessful in making converts, they were, at least, eminently successful in acquiring land. In fact such facilities did they find in purchasing it, they being at first almost the sole buyers, that, having acquired some hundreds of thousands of acres, they professed to fear lest unscrupulous Europeans might buy up the whole country, and reduce the natives to beggary. To prevent this dire misfortune—or at least such was the reason alleged—in
Even as late as
In the years
There are two claimants for the honour of being the place in which the act of establishment of New Zealand as a colony, i.e., an integral part of the British Empire, took place—to wit, Auckland and Wellington. In an earlier section we have shown how futile the claims of Wellington are. But were further proof needed it is afforded in the following unanswerable sketch of events:—
By a commission bearing date
Clearly the date of the jubilee of the colony is January 29, the date of the anniversary as a colony, as distinct from the several provincial anniversaries, interesting as these latter are in the history of the settlement of the colony. These latter run as follows, viz. Wellington.
The town of Auckland has a history distinct from that of the settlement of the district, and the proclamation of the colony within its bounds. Governor Hobson was landed at the Bay of Islands, and originally intended to fix his capital at the spot now occupied by the town of Russell. The site was, however, found unsuitable, and he finally chose a site for his chief town on the right bank of the Waitemata River, a spot which in 1769 Captain Cook had pointed out as a good place for a European settlement Under the Governor's instructions, Captain W. Symonds, the Surveyor-General, purchased the land from the natives, no difficulty being experienced in the transaction. On Tuesday,
The first sale of Crown lands in the new town took place in
The colony was established, but there were yet many vicissitudes, many difficulties to be surmounted, many hardships to be undergone by the dwellers in the infant settlements. It should be noted that from the first moment of its being proposed as a British colony, New Zealand was expressly guaranteed an exemption from convicts, and so escaped the infliction of this curse of Australian colonisation. Emigrants chose it from its first establishment in preference to Australia or Van Dieman's Land for this
Taken as a whole, the early reports of the infant settlement were cheerful and hopeful. Pork and potatoes, we are told, was the staple dietary for all classes of the community. Complaints are to be heard of the price of clothing, but—happy days! we read that "there are no taxes in New Zealand, nor any rates nor dues;" and, moreover, money can be safely invested in real security at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum. The main complaints are about communications. The town of Auckland was a morass overgrown with small tea-tree; beyond that again, for about a mile and a half, was a dense thicket, so dense in fact, that in order to find one's way through it, it was necessary to take the bearings of some of the loftier trees. Some four years after the foundation of this settlement, the main road leading out of Auckland was hardly passable in the winter season for the distance of a mile. Epsom consisted of three tents; the land beyond, stretching across the isthmus, was a treeless open country, clothed with a sombre covering of brown fern. Onehunga was unoccupied save by the small remnant of a neighbouring native tribe, and the Bay of Manukau was a lone expanse of unfrequented water. In those days of "the streets before they were made"—as Swainson calls them after the old distich—when the infant capital was built of reeds and rushes, when drays were abandoned for weeks together in the principal street, buried axle-deep in mire and clay, and when a native whare did duty for a police court six days in the week, and tor a place of worship on the seventh, locomotion by night was difficult, and in the winter season decidedly uncomfortable along these streets which existed only on paper. But then, as now, dancing was enjoyed with great zest, and though to attend a ball-on a dark, wet night was, indeed, the pursuit of dancing under difficulties, yet, in the worst weather, its votaries were never daunted—the ladies gallantly wading through mire and water—their "twinkling feet" and "light fantastic toes," as the old chronicler we have before us gallantly terms them, encased in men's jack boots; their would-be partners—for life or for the dance—being carried high and dry on the back of some friendly Maori. From the very earliest period of the settlement lovers of dancing had an opportunity of gratifying their taste at a ball given by the Queen's representative on the occasion of Her Majesty's Birthday. In these, the dark ages of the colony, a piano, played by the gracious hostess, the wife of the Governor, with a violoncello accompaniment, vamped with all due gravity by the Queen's Attorney-General, formed the modest orchestra at Government House, reminding us of the days of simplicity recorded in Gray's "Long Story," when—
Yet the balls in those olden days of the colony were said to have been probably as enjoyable, and certainly as much enjoyed, as the Gubernatorial Birthday Ball of to-day, with all its state and ceremony.
The relations between the natives and the settlers in this, the Northern settlement, were at first most harmonious. Strange to say, the first serious difficulty arose from the operation of a measure which had been devised in the interests, as it was supposed, of the Maori race, viz., the treaty of Waitangi. Under this no settler could legally purchase land from the natives after
The murmurs of the natives became louder and louder, the situation was menacing and Fitzroy gave way. In
Then came a grand war-dance, the greatest exhibition of the sort that Auckland has ever seen. Seventeen tribes took part in the pageant; sixteen hundred men armed with
One incident in connection with this great war dance is worthy of record. A native war dance is the most curious sight to be witnessed in New Zealand, and will soon be among the things of the past. A few of our country women on the occasion in question were unwittingly compelled to become spectators of a scene—as Mr. Swainson says—"hardly to be equalled in the uncivilised world." Many Aucklanders, including a few ladies desirous of witnessing the manners and customs of the natives, made holiday and walked out to pay a visit to the great Maori camp. It was not then generally known that a Maori war dance of the olden days was an entirely undress performance. A feather adorned the head, a patch of red ochre the cheek, and a handsome tatooed scroll was frequently embossed upon the hip; but the mat and blanket were thrown aside as cumbersome superfluities.
As soon as it was announced that a war dance was about to be performed, the space allotted for the purpose was immediately walled in by the eager and expectant bystanders, the ladies being politely accommodated with front places. Closely hemmed in by their countrymen behind, their escape or retreat was impossible; and when some hundreds of the tattooed warriors, with frantic shrieks, wild gestures, and hideous grimaces, rushed yelling into the arena, the ladies evidently thought that a New Zealand war dance was more honoured in the breach than in the observance, says our authority.
The soldiers in Auckland sunk into nothing before this display; and the settlers, for the first time, admitted that they lived in New Zealand on sufferance. Two hundred chiefs and men of influence returned the Governor's visit, and requested that their lands should be secured to them. After this interview the assembly dispersed.
The display produced the desired effect: terrified by the one race, and cajoled by interested parties of the other, Captain Fitzroy rescinded the ten shilling an acre proclamation, and issued another allowing purchase from the natives on the payment of 1d per acre to the Crown. Nor was this the last panic. After the destruction of Kororareka, consternation spread through the town of Auckland. When the penniless and haggard inhabitants of Kororareka, packed like slaves in Guinea ships, landed on the beach, the terror of the settlers, apparent to the friendly Waikato tribes, increased when the people heard that Heke was to attack Auckland next full moon. Out-settlers, dreading a war of races, congregated about Auckland; several colonists left the country, and property could be bought at a nominal price. Britomart Barracks were entrenched, and two blockhouses built; a militia ordinance was hastily passed, and 300 men trained to arms. Fort Ligar, an earthwork near the Roman Catholic Chapel, was thrown up, and the windows in St. Pauls Church were barricaded. Every day Heke grew more terrible in people's minds. A sentry was posted on the roof of the barracks to catch the first glimpse of his army. One night the firing of musketry was heard, the drumsbeat the Governor and troops ran to arms, the officers and men of Her Majesty's ship Hazard landed, and all remained in attitudes of defence until daylight, and then much merriment arose when it was found that the alarm originated in the firing of guns at Orakei to celebrate a chief's death. Te Wherowhero, seeing the terror of the inhabitants, offered to defend Auckland against Heke.
Again, after the defeat of the troops at Okaihau and Ohaeawai, yet deeper terror was struck into the hearts of our pilgrim fathers. With disorganised finances, a bankrupt treasury, and a defeated defence force—a body of troops seemingly quite unable to cope with the foe—matters did indeed look hopeless.
But there was a silver lining to this dark cloud. Captain Grey landed, and sunshine again beamed on the colony. Our disasters on the field were retrieved, our troops victorious, the enemy sued for peace, our credit was restored and finances were placed on a proper footing, Peace once more reigned over the land, and there was plenty in the town and settlement. What wonder that Sir George Grey should have been hailed as the saviour of the country, and that his name is still a power in the land.
All the heartburnings and jealousies which came into play in the early days of the coloinsation of New Zealand have passed away even to their very memory, except in the minds of some of our earliest settlers. Europeans and natives, laymen and missionaries, Government immigrants and Company's settlers, now work together as one harmonious whole, all equally having the interests of the colony at heart, and equally priding themselves on the glorious progress it has made.
Looking back through the vista of years to the year
It is far too general an opinion that the advent of the colonists has proved fatal to the native race, and that they are slowly dwindling away owing to their contact with Europeans. We venture to express in the most emphatic manner a contrary opinion, viz., that the colonisation of the colony has
hangi (cooking oven).'"
Standing on the summit of Maungawhao, the old frowning fortress of the man-eaters—now Mount Eden, the centre of smiling gardens and handsome villas—looking down upon the great city which lies spread at our feet, with its crowded thoroughfares, its bustle of commerce, and its wealth of shipping; while to the horizon extend fair homesteads, trim fields, and lowing herds; when we turn to the country we are reminded of Shelley's lines—
While the evidence before us of the greatness of England's colonising power, and of its enormous expansion in trade, in commerce, in all that constitutes national greatness during the last fifty years, shows that the dictum of Cowley still holds true, and that still more so than when he wrote it—
"All the liquid world is one extended Thames."
It was fifty years ago on 29th January since Captain Hobson landed in the Bay of Islands, bearing Her Majesty's Commission as Lieu-tenant-Governor of New Zealand. He had taken the necessary oaths of office on the 14th day of January previous as Lieutenant-Governor before Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, as New Zealand had been included in the domain of New South Wales on the 15th day of
Those who resided in the Middle and Stewart's Islands were almost wholly employed in whaling pursuits.
On the day after the arrival of the Lieutenant Governor at the Bay of Islands he met the principal inhabitants of the chief settlement at the Church of Kororareka, where he obtained some forty of them to sign a declaration as witnesses that he had that day published two commissions, one under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland dated the
On the Monday following, the 3rd of February, forty-five of the inhabitants of Kororareka presented an address to His Excellency, pledging themselves to aid His Excellency with their best exertions to establish order, law, and security for life and property, "in this improving and important colony.
The address, it may be said in passing, was drafted by the Hon. Dr. Pollen, onwhom his years sit as easily as those on men whose days have been fewer, less actively and usefully spent.
Previous to the establishment of British authority in New Zealand by the arrival of Captain Hobson, a considerable trade with New South Wales, Great Britain, and America prevailed. The British and American statistics have never yet been obtained, and those of New South Wales only partially. The exports consisted chiefly of whaleoil, sealskins, flax, timber, pork, and potatoes; and the imports of ordinary merchandise, firearms, powder, and ball. Thus, from
And from
In the four years—
The expenditure from the mission stations and the whaling vessels frequenting the coast was considerable. There were no harbour nor Customs duties to pay. The sperm and black whales frequenting the shores of the two Islands caused large number of whalers every year in the summer months to congregate in the New Zealand waters. The Maoris sold large tracts of land, for which they obtained both money and goods, and the sale of their lands, coupled with the barter of their produce to the traders and whaling vessels, caused them to enjoy a rude kind of abundance, different from that which they possessed before they were brought into contact with Europeans.
The missionaries had imported sheep as well as cattle into the northern portion of the North Island, while at Mana and Kapiti speculators from New South Wales had formed small sheep and cattle stations. There were of course no roads in the country, and the boat and canoe formed the chief mode of transit from one place to another. The doctor visited the sick, and the priest the dying, when their services were required, by water.
The early statistics of the colony were not carefully classified, and for the first 14 years of the life of the colony are somewhat imperfect; but such important matters as population, imports and exports, shipping and live stock, can be obtained from the earliest dates. The first general census of the European population appears to have been taken in
The military and their families are not included in the above figures.
An incomplete return exists for the year
The figures relating to the Maori people are those of the Government, but Maori experts outside the Native Office view them with grave suspicion.
The population for
The excess of immigration over emigration has varied largely in different years. Two epochs are, however, well marked, namely, those of the gold discoveries in Otago and Westland; and when the Public works and Immigration policy was developing itself fully, from
At the end of the year
There were not in
"The Agent-General will provide passages for a limited number of persons who may he desirous of taking up land in New Zealand at the same rates as are required to be paid by persons nominating their friends in the colony, namely, £10 for each adult, and £5 for each child between the ages of 1 and 12 years.
"Before passages will be provided, however, each head of a family must prove to the satisfaction of the Agent-General that he is possessed of £100 in cash, and that he is also possessed of cash equal to the sum of £50 for each member of his family over 12 years of age.
"Persons desirous of doing so can arrange to come out in the second-class on the above terms, by an additional payment equal to the difference between the cost of steerage and second-class passages."
Forty-one farmers arrived under these regulations in
The total expenditure by the Government on Immigration from the passing of the Immigration and Public Works Act,
The year
It is one of the most curious facts of life in New Zealand that the artisan and the labouring classes should migrate to the Australasian colonies. Life perhaps in exceptional cases may be easier there, but it is far less pleasant; as of all the British colonies in the domain of the Crown New Zealand is without doubt the most pleasant and easiest place to live in. Those who know it best love it best. It is a land not only pleasing to behold, but fruitful beyond most others. It contains large stores of hidden mineral wealth, and those elements of usefulness that conduce so much to the welfare of a people. Its surrounding waters are as pregnant with abundant fish as are the waters of Newfoundland. Those who grow grain in the South reap the heaviest harvests of any reapers in the world. In the North fruits of almost all climates find congenial environments. Sheep and cattle all through the colony grow fat, fearing no drought. Peace has been secured with the native race, and the manifold fruits of industry can be gathered without fear or danger. Many of the appliances of civilisation are spread all over the land, which throughout its length and breadth has been made habitable. Yet the people, unattached to the soil, wander away to other countries.
The revenue the Government of New Zealand obtained from the sale of Crown lands was very small indeed, as for several years it had really no land to sell or money to purchase with. Thus, from
The public lands have also been dealt with under the deferred payment system, and by perpetual lease. The statistics of the first-named are compiled from
The official statistics say, "The waste or Crown lands sold in each year prior to
The colony is divided into ten land districts, enumerated below, with their total raceage and the area of Crown lands sold or otherwise disposed of from the foundation of the colony to the
Of the land not disposed of some 13 or 14 million acres belong to the aborigines or to the Europeans who hold it from them, leaving some 33 million acres of Crown lands to be dealt with. Some 15 millions are open grass or fern country, 10 millions are forest, and nine millions are barren mountain-tops, lakes, and worthless country." Of the open grass country, some 11,000,000 acres are held lor depasturing purposes, yielding an annual rental of over £150,000.
According to last census land is shown to be occupied in manner following, and though a number of small holdings have been since taken up, they will not affect the general view as to the manner in which the land is occupied, excluding Crown pastoral leases:—
The earlier figures are taken from those prepared for the Indian and Colonial Exhibition. The sheep are the number certified to by the Live Stock branch of the Crown Lands Department, as existing in the colony in
The next census will probably be taken in the early part of the year
The statistics of the census periods are of course fuller than those of the years when no census is taken, and from the returns of
Several vessels had been built in New Zealand of the timber of the country before Captain Hobson's arrival. The first was constructed by a sealing gang at Dusky Bay some 95 years since, and named the "Providence." She was taken to Norfolk Island, and thence to India. What became of her is not recorded, but as she was most probably the first vessel built on the Australian waters, her subsequent history would be a matter of much interest. The year following the "Assistance," of 60 tons burthen, was built at the same place, and taken to Sydney and sold for £250.
And here, perhaps, it may be pertinent to state that the sealskins caught in New Zealand waters by the gang who built the "Providence" at Dusky Bay was probably the first export from Port Jackson of the produce of Australasia, as well as being the commencement of the great sealing industry which thence took its rise, and flourished in the first quarter of this century, but had almost ceased to exist before the arrival of Captain Hobson in these seas.
The missionaries built several boats at the Bay of Islands, and several vessels were constructed at Hokianga. One, in
A difficulty arose about
After
The import and export tables that were prepared for the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London commence with the year
The Registrar-General has published in the broad sheet attached to the volume of statistics for
The exports for
Customs duties were first levied in Auckland and Russell on
The original stock of sheep in this colony was nearly all drawn from New South Wales. The missionaries were the first sheepowners in the Bay of Islands, though Captain Young may be considered the second in the field, as he brought both sheep and cattle to Hokianga with him when he settled at One-Tree Point, on the river, though the sheep were soon scattered and killed by the dogs of the natives and settlers. The missionaries exported perhaps the first wool to Sydney, though a Mr. George Bell, of Dundee, took up Mana Island, in Cook Straits, in
New South Wales herself started her herds and flocks from small beginnings, as the whole of the stock which accompanied the expedition of
Captain McArthur established a homestead at Parramatta with the Crown grant of 100 acres, and bought in
In
A portion of the flock was purchased by Captains Kent and Waterhouse (the Government Commissary having refused them) at four guineas a head. There seems to be some uncertainty as to how many reached Sydney, but it is understood that Captain Waterhouse landed only a few; yet for as many as there were Captain McArthur still following up his views, when he begged his friends to bring back woolled sheep, immediately offered 15 guineas a head for the whole lot.
With the new and valuable blood of the pure merino, which Captain McArthur had thus acquired, he commenced to cross his hairy sheep, and whilst others were devoting their attention to the production of carcases he steadily persevered in the attainment of his original object.
Captain McArthur being in England at the commencement of the present century, purchased nine rams and a ewe from the Royal flock of pure Spanish merino at Kew. Four of the rams, however, died on the passage to New South Wales, where he found his breeding flock had increased during the four years of his absence to 3,277 ewes, and this number was soon afterwards augmented by a purchase from the Government flocks of 100 of the finest woolled sheep he could select.
The foundation, Mr. King says, of a pure Australian merino flock being once laid, and good prices obtained for fine wool in the London market, the settlers soon took up the profitable speculation, and Captain McArthur's sheep became the source from which the whole industry emanated.
For the successful prosecution of the enterprise on which he had engaged, the Government gave Captain McArthur a grant of 5000 acres of land in any locality he chose to select as being most suitable in his judgment for pastoral purposes.
As showing the many sided character of the Reverend Samuel Marsden, it is related that when he was in England in
Wool is the most important production of New Zealand. It is divided into two classes: combing wool and clothing wool. The first comprises the long-stapled wools of the Lincoln, Leicester, Cotswold and Romney Marsh breeds of English sheep; the second the short-stapled wool grown by the Southdown and
Though the Leicester breed has received great attention in New Zealand and in the Auckland provincial district especially, the merino is the most valuable and important breed fostered in the colony, "and of sheep of this class the flocks of the colony are chiefly composed." Dr. Hector says: "They are of the Australian merino variety, improved through the importation of pure Saxon merino rams from Germany."
The published exports of the wool of the colony commence at
Under the head of "Grain," the following quantities and values are tabulated for the periods stated, as having been exported from the colony:—
It may, perhaps, here not be out of place to quote a few paragraphs from the report of Mr. Proctor Baker, who was appointed by the Royal Commissioners to report on the grain sections in the Colonies and Indian Exhibition of
"The average produce of over 26 bushels of wheat per acre, and over 32 bushels of barley, places New Zealand in the position of being among the most prolific countries in the world . . . . . .The samples of wheat shown in sheaf by the Canterbury Association are so remarkable as to be placed on record. . . . . . . In fact, nothing finer than these wheats has probably ever been seen. The wheats of commerce which are shipped to England do not approach in quality these fine specimens . . . . . .The samples of barley were simply magnificent, and such barley as the Chevalier would bring enormous prices in England . . . . . In the quality of its oats, again, New Zealand is in one front rank. The samples of potato oats are unsurpassable . . . . . In all the chief grains, New Zealand has shown by these samples a production of superb quality and in prolific quantities"
Dr. Newman, M.H.R., for Thorndon, writes:—"What must strike every student is this country's wonderful power of adapting herself instantly (sic) to suit the ever-varying tides of the ever-varying foreign marts. When wheat suddenly ruled high in London our farmers quickly increased the yield. . . . . . .Oats were in moderate supply; prices abroad jumped up, and next harvest farmers garnered three times the quantity. 30,000,000 feet of hewn timber were exported; prices tended upward, and the amount swelled to 43,000,000 feet. . . . . . Indeed, the most hopeful feature of New Zealand's future is the wonderful elasticity of her resources. Show her people a profit on any single article, and, to use an Americanism, 'they jump at it baldheaded.' This quickness of response, this great capability of soil and climate, constitutes a lasting rock of prosperity."
When dealing with the wonderful increase and development of the trade in frozen meat the above extract came to recollection, with the further statement of the same writer that "Formerly run holders looked to sheen to yield a wool-clip once a year only; now they reap another harvest once every month in the year, by freezing so many that in a year one-third of the whole flock, on a good run, will go through the slaughter-yards.
So rapid has been the development of the trade in its short career that no excuse is needed for quoting the official figures in fall of the quantity exported and its declared value:—
New Zealand flax was one of the earliest exports from New Zealand, and for a number of years in the first part of the century was an object of diligent native manufacture. No New Zealand trade was so full of hazardous adventures as that of the resident flax-trader, as there was the constant danger of his losing his life if he offended the natives among whom he lived. The Customs returns of New South Wales of
Sir James Hector in his "Handbook of New Zealand" writes: "From phormium fibre to compete with manilla, and several machines were invented for rapidly producing the fibre from the green leaf. With these machines the export trade again increased so that from
It was stated some time since on good authority that New Zealand flax was being extensively cultivated in the Azores Islands, and that a company had been established there holding a concession from the Government of a monopoly for the manufacture of this article throughout all the Portuguese possessions. Within the last year or two the price of flax has considerably hardened, and the commodity has been in much greater demand. This improvement has arisen from two or more causes, and the increased price promises to become permanent. Various reasons have been given for this "hardening," but the supply of manilla hemp falling short would almost account for it alone. The natives of the Philippine Islands have been affleted with an epidemic, and a great mortality has overtaken them, while the fibre that competes with manilla has also decreased in its yield. But, beyond these circumstances, which may be only of an ephemeral character, a new and increasing use has been found for the fibre of the flax. This is the manufacture of twine for use in the harvesting machine—the flax fibre answering all the conditions for twine-making remarkably well. While a new use has been found for the phormium, machinery has been brought to a more efficient character for cleansing it from the mucilage that at one time it seemed almost hopeless to expect.
The quantity exported since the commencement of
In order to show how the export of flax fibre has increased of late, we give the following figures:—In
Gold, Dr. Hector writes, was discovered in New Zealand in
In
In
The Thames goldfield was opened in
From New Zealand from
Kauri gum is essentially an Auckland article of export. It is the turpentine of the Dammara Australis, found in a solid form as far south as Taranaki, and it is excavated from the sites of old kauri forests. The first export of the article is said to have been made by Captain Mair, a resident of the Bay of Islands, before
It first appears in the export tables for the year
The timber trade from New Zealand is older than the century, although there is no record of machinery being erected for its manipulation until after the arrival of Captain Hobson. Timber was exported in bulk from the Thames before the end of the last century, but as it was described as different from the Norfolk pines in having the turpentine in the centre of the tree instead of between the bark and the wood, Mr. Cheese-man was led to conclude that the spars shipped by the Fancy, as the vessel was called, were other than those of kauri. The Fancy was the first vessel that is recorded as having taken timber from the Northern Island to India, though that cut from Dusky Bay had previously obtained commendation at Port Jackson.
After Mr. Marsden's time (
The published exports of timber reach back to
The output from the coal mines of the colony is rapidly increasing, and from the fact that there is in the Middle Island a large quantity of the best bituminous steam coal that is known to exist south of the Equator, in the close vicinity of harbours capable of accommodating steam colliers of 500 tons burthen and upwards, a well-founded hope exists that the future of coal mining in New Zealand will be the source of great wealth to the whole community. Time is the chief factor in all modern mercantile transactions, and the steamer that makes the fastest passage as a rule, most other things being equal, is the greatest favourite. The quickest passage most people consider the best. As with the passenger, so with the owner. A day or two saved in an ocean passage means a considerable saving in the cost of the voyage. The best coal for raising steam is a great consideration both with the owner and master, as the shorter time the steamer is on the water the risk as welly the expense of running is lessened. It is only a matter of time when most of the coal for the British navy used south of the Equator will be drawn from New Zealand; ana that the Southern Imperial coaling stations will also be largely supplied from the same source, seems equally certain, as the engineers of steamers esteem the bituminous coal on the West Coast of the Middle Island 20 per cent better than the best New South Wales coal for steam purposes. Until petroleum takes the place of coal the country that has the largest supply of steam coal of the best quality convenient to harbours can hardly fail of being "rich beyond the dreams of avarice" in the near future. Of this bituminous coal of superior quality the Mount Rochfort mine, in Nelson, alone contains 140,000,000 tons.
The whaling exports are very imperfect, but they show that the greater portion the products of the fishery were not exported from New Zealand, but must have gone to New South Wales, and that whalers foreign countries took their cargoes away without their quantities being known to, or recorded by, the Customs authorities. Thus in the season of advalorem on what they either sold or ex-changed. The operations of this tax without doubt restricted the amount of oil cleared from the New Zealand ports. From the founding of the colony until the year
From whaling to fishing seems but a short stride, and yet the industries are widely apart. Fishermen rarely become whalers, while whaling crews are composed of men of all conditions and all classes. And though edible fish swarm all around the New Zealand coast (several known varieties not yet being classified), with its 5300 miles of coastline, serrated with numerous bays and inlets, there never has been any really steady supply of fish at any one of the centres of population in either Island. Not enough, even, for local consumption, let alone for steady export. The explanation is simple, as are most other things when known. Fisher folk are bred and are not trained. Our Legislature passed a measure for the establishment of fishing villages, but they did not transport fisher-folk to fill them. Fishermen form a class that live apart nearly all the world over. They certainly do so, at least in Europe. They live in hamlets by themselves, and the calling seems hereditary. They rarely intermarry. The fish women are as important as the fishermen. They sell the fish which the men capture. In some places they also make and mend the nets while their husbands or fathers repair and paint their boats. Some time since, when the late Mr. Waddel was Mayor of Auckland, a number of citizens signed a letter which was drafted and sent to Mr. Davitt, of Home Rule notoriety, asking him to use his influence to induce some fisher folk from the West Coast of Ireland, who were in sore straits for sustenance, to migrate here to form a fishing village in the Hauraki Gulf, stating that homesteads would be provided for them if they came, and that the Government would be moved to grant them free passages, but Mr. Davitt never thought it worth his while to reply to the letter, though the present acting-Premier of New Zealand, the Hon. Mr. Mitchelson, was among the persons signing the document. It was the lack of fish in Auckland, with which its surrounding waters swarm, with the knowledge that if a fishing village was wanted here a village would have to be imported—young and old, grandparents and grandchildren—before a regular supply of fish could be obtained. A fishing export trade has yet to be established, as neither fish, fishing, nor fisheries have as yet found a place in the copious index of our volume of statistics.
The first portion of the revenue and expenditure figures are taken from the Comptroller's balance-sheets of the colony, commencing as they do with the year
The "Receipts in aid" in the earlier years comprise advances by the Government of New South Wales, and receipts from the Imperial Treasury in the form of Parliamentary grants and drafts on the commissariat chest. They ceased at the date when the Constitution Act was passed. It is curious to compare the figures of the Audit Office in the "Balance-sheets of the colony," with those issued by the Registrar-General from Dr. Thomson's "Story of New Zealand"—the Registrar-General in a memorandum telling us—"Which is stated by Sir George Grey to have been supplied from official sources when he was Governor." The "Receipts in aid," according to the Audit Office, amount to £297,240, whereas in Thomson's tables they are set down as £1,517,967, being Parliamentary grants of £304,432, and appropriations from the commissariat chest of £1,203,536.
There are no expenditure returns prior to
The expenditure "out of revenue" for the years
The public debt of the colony on
A large portion of this amount of liability has been expended in reproductive works, or works of expediency, so as to render the country habitable for persons accustomed to the wants of civilisation. At the end of the Maori War, though the Middle Island was tolerably provided in some portions with ordinary roads, it was almost deficient in railways, while the North Island was deficient in both roads and railways, and wanted moreover the special means for making them in the lack of public land to supply the funds. A large portion of the colony was difficult to open—perhaps three times as difficult and expensive as any of the Australian colonies. Even in the open country which prevails in Otago and Canterbury railway and road construction have been difficult and costly, from the bridging of the many wide and rapid rivers with which the land abounded; while in the other districts of the colony great difficulties are encountered from the density of the vegetation, and the uneven contour of the country. In
The above details are from official figures published at various times, and are to be found in the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives, and in the volume of Statistics for the year
The growth of the cost of the Civil Services from the Balance-sheets of the colony, issued from the Audit office, is here given in quinquennial periods:—
What is included by the Comptroller it the Civil Services does not appear clear, as in the "Introductory Remarks" it is stated that "Postal up to the year Marine in the earlier years is included in the Civil Services and "Under the head of Lands is comprised all the expenditure on surveys and on the goldfields," but as most people would regard the postal authorities, the surveyors and draughtsmen, and the marine officers as Civil Servants, it would seem that a very large number outside the "Civil Service" roll obtain Civil servants' salaries and Civil servants' employment.
The total of the pensions paid to
For compensation for loss of office two periods in the hist decade are notable, those of
The Property Tax Department supplied the following information concerning the assets and liabilities of the colony, made up to
It must be borne in mind that in this estimate of the wealth of the colony the unalienated lands, (after deducting 9,000,000 acres which are held to be worthless, as being "barren mountain tops, lakes, and worthless country"), are only computed as being worth some 10s an acre, whereas in New South Wales the unalienated Crown lands are computed as being worth 13s 3d in the estimate of the public wealth in "The Wealth and Progress of New South Wales," published under the Government auspices, and compiled by the Government Statistician.
As already stated, the particulars of the various industries can only be obtained at census periods, and those of that time must be used at the present occasion. It will be most satisfactory to place the details in a tabular form after the manner of the Registrar-General, adding such information after the table as is most expedient for the full appreciation of the work done:—
In the woollen manufactures the increase of production and the consequent consumption of native wool is both remarkable and gratifying. In ad valorem, and it is presumable that this increase in the tariff has stimulated the local production of these goods, but it should be added that the mills export their manufactures to New South Wales, where the Customs duties are light compared with those in this colony."
Dairy produce has made a large expansion since the census report of
New Zealand brewed beer appears at length to be driving the imported article out of the market, as the quantity imported in
There are six banks doing business in New Zealand, with the following paid-up capital:—
Their deposits, assets, and liabilities in the colony at the end of
This Bank was founded in Auckland in
The provisional trustees were—for Auckland: Messrs. J. L. Campbell, Thomas Henderson, James O'Neill, Thomas Russell, and James Williamson. For Wellington: Messrs. A. D. Brandon and W. B. Rhodes. For Nelson: Mr. H. E. Curtis and Hon. E. W. Stafford. For Canterbury: Hon. F. A. Weld and Mr. J. Cracroft Wilson. For Otago: Messrs. E. M. Glashan and John Jones. For Hawke's Bay: Mr. J. Watt. For Marlborough: Messrs. W. H. Eyes and J. Sinclair. The prospectus stated, inter alia:—"It is manifest to those who have devoted attention to the subject, that the banking establishments in New Zealand have derived immense profits, which are payable entirely to a foreign proprietary, from a trade carried on with the funds of the colonists, a circumstance which must lead to the consideration whether the colonists of New Zealand are not now in a position to enjoy, and entitled to receive, whatever advantages can be derived from the employment of their own capital."
The people of Auckland manifested much interest in the proposed Bank, and when the share list was opened it was found that 10,000 shares, representing £100,000, were taken up in what was then known as the capital of New Zealand. An equal number was reserved for London, where aboard of director was to be appointed at an early date. All the shares that were allotted to Sydney were taken up, while in Wellington and Christ-church the proposed Bank was greatly in favour with the public.
A special general meeting of the share-holders took place at the Mechanics' Institute, Auckland, on
Business was opened at Auckland, where the head office was fixed, on the
The first half-yearly meeting was held at Auckland, on
The day after the meeting the New Zealand Government account was transferred from the Union Bank of Australia to that of the Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Fox was at the time the Premier of the colony.
The second half-yearly meeting was held on 30th October, when the paid-up capital amounted to £179,468, and a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum was paid. £6,000 was added to the reserve fund, and £894 carried forward.
At the same half-yearly meeting the directors met the shareholders with a London Board of Directors appointed, and a branch there in full operation.
At the third meeting the paid-up capital amounted to £239,592. A dividend of 10 per cent, was declared, the reserve fund was increased by £24,000, and amounted to £33,000.
At the October meeting of
A sixth call of £1 per share was made for
At the
From the meeting held in
From the April meeting of
The year following, 10,000 new shares were issued at £3 premium, which increased the capital to £600,000 and the reserve fund to £180,000. A sum of £45,000 was paid in dividend and bonus at the April meeting, while £7389 was carried forward. The ordinary dividend and bonus were not declared until the October meeting of
In
During the next eighteen months the capital of the Bank remains at £725,000, while the reserve fund increases £25,000 every six months. The usual dividend of 10 per cent, is paid, and the bonus of 5s a share. In
At the meetings of
At the April meeting, in
The year following, at the October meeting of
Up to the October meeting of
In
In
At the October meeting in
In
At the October meeting of the same year a like dividend was declared.
This Bank was incorporated by Act of the General Assembly in
This Bank was established in London in
In
There are seven Savings Banks other than those connected with the Post Office in the colony, which were established at the places named, in the years mentioned:—Auckland, in
A brief record of the Auckland Savings Bank (it being the oldest and richest in the colony) may be given. It was founded in
The Bank was opened for business on the
In
In
In
In
With the withdrawal of the troops came a season of depression, and the Bank was compelled to realise some of its securities in order to meet the demands of the depositors.
The discovery of gold on the Thames revived the prosperity that had been waning, and in
In
In
Mr. Bartley was directed to prepare plans and specifications and to call for tenders, when that of Mr. J. Heron was accepted. The cost of the structure, which is handsome and convenient, was about £10,000. That the Bank continues to prosper is evident from the fact that the amount on deposit at the end of the year
The Foreign Banks doing business in New Zealand are the Banks of Australasia, New South Wales, Union Bank of Australia, each of which have establishments in all the principal centres of the colony.
This company has, comparatively speaking, a distinct sphere of operations almost wholly its own as a company, and was inaugurated in London in
These figures tell a tale of great and rapid progress, and indicate something of the magnitude of the company's operations. During the first eight months of its existence, the company paid a dividend of 6 per cent.: from
Owing to the growth of the company's operations, it was recently found expedient to effect a change in its constitution, by dividing the Australian and New Zealand business, and the establishment of a head office in Melbourne for Australia, leaving the New Zealand head office in Auckland, as before, with Mr. Battley in charge; also of concentrating the control in the London Board, thus dispensing with the necessity for a colonial Board of Directors.
The company has its branches and agencies at every important centre in this colony. Its large and comprehensive business embraces general financing and agencies of almost all kinds; dealing as brokers in all varieties of colonial produce; shipping on consignment to London. America, and elsewhere, Naturally enough, in a colony like New Zealand, which is chiefly pastoral and agricultural in its pursuits, the company's principal handlings have consisted of wool, grain, and frozen meat, and latterly of hemp. It is worthy of note that during last season the company passed through its hands no less than 186,000 bales of wool, a larger quantity than any other single institution in the world. It is yet too early for its record of the current season to be known.
The company has a strong London Board, including, as it does. Sir James Fergusson (one of our New Zealand Governors), Sir E. W. Stafford, Sir George Russell, the Right Hon. A. J. Mundella, and Messrs. Thomas Russell and Falconer Lark worthy. The last-named gentleman is managing director, and is the only one of those whose names appeared on the original articles who is now on the directorate. He recently passed round the colony on an official tour of inspection.
This company was established in
This is a company with the head office in London, the total capital being £1,000,000, the paid-up capital £100,000, and the reserve fund £21,567. The general manager is Mr. J. M. Ritchie, and the New Zealand head office is in Dunedin, with branches in Christ-church, Timaru, Invercargill, Melbourne, and Sydney.
An Act was passed in
This scheme may be justly described as the only successful institution of the kind set on foot by any Government, and the example thus offered has attracted the attention of various other colonial Governments, and also the Indian Government. The premiums were from the first fixed at what were deemed the lowest rate commensurate with a prudent regard to safety, and without any idea of profit-bonuses. But notwithstanding these low charges, careful management, together with the favourable influences of a healthy climate and comfortable social conditions, have produced results more satisfactory than was anticipated. The business of the department in the first ten years of its existence produced a profit of £77,000, as shown by the valuation report of the London actuaries.
The advantages of the scheme have been thus summarised:—1. The security offered to the assured. 2. The division of profits, which are wholly divided among the policyholders. 3. The low scale of premiums. 4. Policies containing no restrictive conditions.
The following tabular statement will show the growth and extent of this department:—
The foreign insurance companies operating in New Zealand are in number following, and the extent of their business may be gauged by the annexed detail for the year
The following gives the grand total of the number of policies and amount assured on the books according to the last sworn returns:—
Perhaps no better evidence of the prosperity of the colony exists than the number of life assurance institutions transacting successful business in our midst. The life assurance institutions of Australasia may be looked upon with pride by all colonials, inasmuch as no society established in these colonies has ever failed to meet its engagements, and of all these societies there is not one which is not in a properous condition at the present day. Australasia leads the world in respect to life assurance. No other country carries a larger amount of assurance per head of the population, neither are the liberality of the conditions of the policies and returns to policyholders surpassed.
The pioneer company in New Zealand is the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Established in the year
Taking the companies in their order, the next to commence business in New Zealand was the Mutual Life Association of Australasia, established in Sydney in the year
The National Mutual Life Association of Australasia, which is distinguished as being the first office in the world to apply the surrender-value of policies to paying overdue premiums, began operations here about ten years ago. This company has a wider popularity in Australia than in New Zealand, the majority of its business being held there, New Zealand only contributing a small proportion of the total. The headquarters of this company are located at Wellington, and the New Zealand branch is under the control of Mr. S. G. Martin.
The year
The latest additions to the ranks consist of the two mammoth American companies, the New York Life and the Equitable Companies, with whom millions are but as thousands with other people. Their business here is not of large amount, together equally only 4 per cent, of the total business of the colony.
The total amount of assurances in force in the colony (exclusive of policies held in English offices) is now £14,613,598, total funds being £2,865,409, and the annual new business transacted last year £2,065,985, nearly half-a-million a year being collected in premiums.
When we consider that the population of New Zealand only now amounts to 650,000, that this accumulated business and funds really represents only twenty years' actual work, and that these figures indicate a certain secure provision for the future of our people, well may the colony at this Jubilee of its existence be congratulated on the wisdom and foresight thus displayed.
The New Zealand Accident Insurance Company was established in
This is a Fire and Marine Insurance Company established in
The South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company was established in
This is a fire and marine insurance company, established in
This also is a fire and marine company. It was established in
The Colonial Insurance Company was established in
This company, the head office of which is in Dunedin, has for its general manager Mr. Thos. Fisher. The capital of the company is £1,000,000, and the directors are: Messrs. John Reid, William Royse, James Anderson, James Curie, David Baxter, Maurice Joel, and William Scouler. The company has branches in London. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide, as well as in all the principal cities and towns of New Zealand, and sub-agents in all districts. Mr. F. Nutter is manager of the Auckland branch, Mr. Archibald Scott manager at Christchurch, and Mr. William Evans manager at Wellington.
The following foreign insurance offices are also doing business in the colony:—Baden (Marine), New Zealand manager, Mr. C. Reynolds, Dunedin; Victoria (Fire and Marine), New Zealand office, Dunedin, Mr. J. W. Bradley, resident secretary; United (Fire and Marine), Sydney, Thames, and Mersey (Marine), Phœnix (Fire), North Queensland (Marine), North German (Marine), North British and Mercantile (Fire), Hamburg and Magdeburg (Fire), Norwich Union (Fire), Imperial (Fire), Royal (Fire and Life), Northern (Fire and Life), Globe (Marine), Sun (Fire), North German (Fire), Liverpool, London, and Globe (Fire), Guardian (Fire and Life), London and Lancashire (Fire), and Alliance (Marine).
The Public Trust Office, established by Act of the Legislature in
The education provided by the State for the instruction of its children is secular and free. Opportunities are afforded to clergymen and others to give religious instruction to the children outside the four hours a-day for five days in the week, which are devoted to secular teaching, but the opportunity is more observed in the breach than in the performance. The secular subjects taught art reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and composition, geography, history, elementary science, drawing, object lessons, vocal music, and for girls, sewing and needlework, and the principles of domestic economy. No child whose parents or guardians object need be present at the teaching of history.
There are also at the chief towns of the colony superior or secondary schools, most of which have been endowed with lands and money out of the public estate. Some of the endowed secondary schools, and the endowed collegiate institutions in Canterbury, Otago, and Auckland "are affiliated to the New Zealand University, which is an examining body having power to confer degrees and to grant scholarships. The New Zealand University, which has a Royal Charter, is maintained by an annual grant from the Consolidated Fund."
Separate public schools are provided for the education of the children of the native race.
The expenditure for the decade has been for the financial years as follows:—
At the end of the year
The secondary schools were 22 in number, employing 114 regular and 51 visiting instructors. The number of students was 2004, and the annual rate of fees ranging from £18 to five guineas. There were 244 boarders at the various institutions, the charge for whom, exclusive of day school tuition, varied, according to locality, from £38 to £52 10s per annum. The total income of these secondary schools for the year was £55,017, or nearly £27 10s per pupil. 82 of whom were over 18 years of age. Of this amount of income £20,186 came from fees, the remainder principally the rents of secondary school reserves, and the annual sum voted by the General Assembly.
The total number of undergraduates on the books of the New Zealand University,
The private schools in the colony are 299 in number, employing 723 teachers in the instruction of 15,853 scholars. The Roman Catholics out of this number of private schools have 96 and 9346 scholars.
In the native schools, attended by 2592 pupils, there were 100 teachers employed, whose salaries and allowances amounted to £12,086. The total expenses for the native schools for the year
The number of registered Building Societies (the Registrar-General states) in the colony on
The Registrar of Friendly Societies received returns for the year ending the
The total value of the assets of these societies was £383,515 9s 2d, equivalent to £15 7s 8d per member. Of the total assets the value of the sick and funeral benefit funds amounted to £339,614 os 10d, an increase of £43,946 18s 7d on the value of these funds at the end of
Of the funds, only £244,072 were invested at interest, of which the amount lent on mortgages of freehold property was £165,567, at an average rate or interest of 7.7 per annum; £56,044 were with the Post Office Savings Bank and other banks, at an average of 4.9 per cent, interest; the residue was variously invested at rates averaging 6.9 per cent.
The receipts during
In addition to sick pay out of the benefit funds, the sum of £23,645 was expended out of the medical and management expenses fund for medical attendance and medicine.
The events we have thus rudely sought to summarise are those of a lifetime only. The Hon. Dr. Pollen landed at the Bay of Islands in Maori, and tor the pakeha in this island. Let him be a good man. Look out for a good man, a man of judgment. Let not a troubler come here. Let not a boy come here, or one puffed up. Let him be a good man, as the Governor who has just died."
It was a difficult matter to govern a country inhabited by two warlike races; the one of the Stone Age, the other the heirs of the knowledge of Tubal Cain. The Maori held all the land of the country, and the pakeha all the money and the objects of desire to Maoridom. Each beheld with covetous eyes the possessions of the other. Heartburnings naturally sprung out of those diverse conditions, and only a strong and wise rule could cause these conflicting interests to become reciprocal and work in concord. When Parliamentary Government arose, in which the Maori race had no sufficient representation, war ensued, and the Maori, beaten but not subdued, had to be conquered by roads and railways passing through his domain, and by the introduction of immigrants in such sufficient numbers as to preclude the idea of his ever fighting again.
In thus establishing the rule of the Queen many blunders would necessarily happen, but we are entitled to point with pride to the results of our colonisation. We are a loyal, contented, and prosperous people, anxious above all other things to aid in the consolidation of the Empire, and to bequeath to our children and their descendants the priceless blessings of British freedom, and to aid in the future domination of the Anglo-Saxon race,
The first attempt to form a sort of Government in New Zealand, to replace the anarchy which had been prevailing, in which every man did as seemed good in his own eyes, was on Tuesday, the
"This Association has been formed in consequence of the absence of any magisterial authority in the Bay of Islands to frame laws for the better regulation of matters connected with the welfare of the inhabitants, both European and native. The limits of this Association are thus defined:—From Malony or Brind's Bay in a straight line across the land to Oneroa, or the long sandy beach, and all the land that is bounded by the coast from the beach to the Bay." The first resolution provided that in the event of any act of aggression being committed on the persons or property of the members of the society, by the natives of New Zealand or others, the individuals of he Association, should consider themselves bound to assemble together (armed, if necessary, on being called upon to do so) at the dwelling of the person attacked; any member refusing to respond was to be fined £5, but if the person attacked proved to be in fault, he was to be fined £1. The following resolution provided for fines for enticing sailors to leave their ships, for refusing to assist in recapture of runaway sailors, for punishment of robberies, etc. The 8th resolution states that if any inhabitant of Kororareka, or its vicinity, refuses to conform to the foregoing resolution, he not being a member of the society, the members shall unite to oblige him to abide by the law, a fine of £10 was to be inflicted on members who refused to co-operate. By the 9th resolution householders and landholders were obliged to enter into an agreement with their tenants to abide by the laws, under a penalty of £20, and members refusing help to landlords to enforce the laws were to be fined £10. In disputes between landlords and tenants the decision of an arbitration committee of five members was final The 11th resolution required that the Association should meet monthly in the house of one of the members, and the chairman, deputy-chairman, and two other persons then chosen, were the four officers for the ensuing month, to take cognisance of any matter coming under the foregoing resolutions. No officer was to receive any emolument for his services, so that the first Government started very fairly. For the better enforcement of the resolutions, the 13th provided that every member of the Association should provide himself with a good musket and bayonet, a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and at least thirty rounds of ball cartridge, the arms and ammunition to be inspected by an officer appointed for that purpose. The consolidated revenue of the Association was made up of a payment by member of 10s at the general meeting, and 2s a month afterwards. Happy taxpayers to get off so easily! One of the "leading lights" in the formation of the Association was the late Mr. Benjamin Turner, of Newmarket, Auckland. A list of donations is appended to the document, showing that there were men of public spirit in those days in connection with the Association. The "roll of honour" is as follows:—
Alexander Gray, 10s; Thos. Spicer, 10s; Robert Edney, 10s; John Johnson, 10s-John Roberton, 10s; George Russell, £1 1s; John Evans, 10s; James Jones, 10s; Hugh McLiver, 10s; George Hemmings, 10s; David Salmon, 10s; Thos. Fairclough, 10s; Joseph Meyrick, 10s; Samuel Stephenson. 10s; Thos. Grenville, 10s; Win. Jones, 10s; Thomas Graham, 10s; Win. Alexander, 10s; Captain Starbeck, Merrimac, £2; Captain Apsey, Haricott, £1; Mr. Lake, first mate Haricott £1; Chevalier Dillon, a book; contributed by the members on a former occasion, £1 2s: Captain Riley, of barque Hope, £1. The printed document of the Constitution is dated
Captain Hobson, our first Governor, was a man whose record in the navy and in the service of his country was a bright one. He entered the navy in
The New Zealand Government Gazette, published at Kororareka, Bay of Islands, on
It says: "By the latest accounts from Auckland we learn that the James had arrived from London—[Among the surviving passengers by the James in Auckland, to-day, are Mr. Corbett, ex-Chief Postmaster, Mr. Joseph Newman, share-broker, and Rev. W. Gittos, Wesleyan Missionary],—bearing his Excellency's commission as Governor-in-Chief in and over the Islands of New Zealand, and Her Majesty's Order-in-Council for their separation from New South Wales. His Excellency was pleased to appoint Monday last for proclaiming the same, and shortly afterwards a levee was to have been held. In the evening His Excellency was to have given a grand dinner at Government House, to which all the elite of Auckland and the surrounding country had received invitations."
"Early in the morning of Monday last, the day appointed for proclaiming His Excellency as Governor-in-Chief, etc., we were proud to observe the ships in harbour decorated with numerous flags. At noon they tired a salute in honour of the occasion. The Union Jack floated in front of the stores of Messrs. Henry Thompson and Co., over the premises of Messrs. Edney and Hemmings, and also at the Flagstaff Hill. It is impossible for us in our limited space to describe the demonstrations of joy which the inhabitants manifested in the evening on the happy occasion. Illuminations, fireworks, burning of tar-barrels, firing of muskets and pistols from the hills and all parts of the town, the parading of a band of music through the streets, the rejoicing of the Maoris, their war and other dances, all tended to make it one of the happiest possible. Among the illuminated premises we noticed the Russell Hotel, which was very brilliant, as were those of Messrs. Edney and Hemmings, on the beach, Mr. Dunn's inn, York-street, Wood's Hotel, the Gazette Printing-office, Captain Clayton's new house, Mr. Fenton's, &c. The night was remarkably clear, the reflection of the red blaze from the town mingling with the softened light from the 'young May moon' falling upon the sparkling waters of the Bay, produced a charming effect. There could not be less than 200 Maoris on the beach during the evening. We regretted that His Excellency had not witnessed the fervour of this rejoicing. Several of the men carried muskets and powder-flasks—many Maori boys carried small flags on handsomely-carved battle-axes, and the females also vied with their partners in their manifestations of delight. The entire proceedings happily passed off without the slightest accident".
A party of gentlemen were entertained at dinner by Henry Thompson, Esq., at his residence, Kororareka, and the editor gives away himself and the staff by stating "for the particulars of which we are indebted to a gentleman who was present." They forgot the Press in those days when the dinner was on, but availed themselves of its services for their puffs when the fun was over. Why these early settlers might have lived in
At that banquet, reference was made to Governor Hobson's health, but no one thought that his public career was so soon to be cut short. During the period he held office he was under every disadvantage, which impaired health ana novel position could impose upon him. At midnight on the
The first regatta which took place on the waters of the Waitemata came off on the
It may be interesting to our readers to re-call some of the incidents of Old New Zealand in connection with our anniversay regattas and the commemoration of the anniversary of the colony. 29th of January. The New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette of
That journal says:—Saturday last being the anniversary of the arrival of His Excellency Governor Hobson a regatta was got up at a few hours' notice. The vessels in harbour hoisted their flags, and the day was very beautiful. About one o'clock guns were fired, which was a signal that His Excellency and suite were about to go on board the Government brig Victoria. At this time the river looked remarkably well, as there were a great number of boats and a quantity of canoes rowing in every direction. The harbourmaster, Mr. D. Rough, then gave the signal for whaleboats to take their stations, when live boats started for the prize, which was easily won by the boat steered by Mr. Merriott. The second race, for gigs pulled by amateur crews, next came off; three boats started on the signal being given. The Black Angel (4 oars) and the Leander (5 oars), the property of Mr. Felton Mathew, took the lead, followed in their wake by Mr. Weavill's 6-oared gig, pulled by the gentlemen of the Survey Department. The race was admirably contested down to the buoy, the Leander pressing the Black Angel hard on her larboard quarter, for the purpose, we supposed, of taking the inner berth on rounding it. On arriving at the buoy, the two leading boats were stem and stem, the Leander having decidedly the better berth on rounding it, when the crew of the Black Angel, finding she could not turn so quickly as their opponent, backed water with their larboard oars, consequently making a foul stroke, and threw themselves athwart the bow of the Leander. This forced the Leander either to run into her adversary, or take the outside berth (as a matter of courtesy the latter was taken), in doing which she got aground, and in the confusion the other boat grounded also. The Black Angel was immediately got off by one of her crew jumping overboard and pushing her off the mudbank (this was, however, contrary to the laws of aquatic sports), and got nearly six ship's lengths ahead of her adversary before she could possibly be pulled off by her crew. In the meantime, the 6-oared gig, which was a long way astern when the confusion occurred, rounded the buoy safely, and seeing what was the matter kept in deep water, and was abreast of the Leander before she got headway again. The Black Angel of course, came in first, but although the Leander's crew were much fatigued by getting her off the sandbank, they were not so great a distance from the Black Angel in coming in as when they got
It will be seen that our first anniversary regatta was the "day of small things," there king only three races; and the regatta of to day, almost half a century after, will serve to show by contrast the progress of the port and of the colony.
It seems that this anniversary regatta was "another injustice" not only to Wellington but to Ireland, for on St. Patrick's Day an Auckland regatta had to be got up under the immediate patronage of His Excellency the Governor, the stewards being W. Shortland, Esq., R.N, W. F.Porter, H. Tucker, Esq., R.N., and David Rough, Esq, harbourmaster. There were five races, including gig, whaleboat, and canoe races. Subscriptions were received at S. A. Wood's, Royal Hotel; Watson's. Exchange Hotel; Crummer and Phillipsthal s, Victoria Hotel, and the office of the New Zealand Herald.
So far as the old files at our disposal enable us to judge, the Anniversary Regatta fell into desuetude, being superseded by a race meeting The New-Zealander of January 31 says: "On Monday last New Zealand entered the tenth year of her colonial existence, and—as is now the established custom on such occasions—her anniversary was welcomed with its fete. If the idea of commemorative festivals be copied from our colonial neighbours, we confess it would have afforded us more satisfaction to have beheld that idea effectually imitated in all its bearings; for, whatever our equine predilections, in a maritime colony of the greatest maritime nation the world ever saw, we are of opinion that a regatta would be a much more national and appropriate annual sport, one which, if properly conducted, would afford quite as much pleasure, and very probably much more colonial benefit. We have no desire to disparage the sports at Epsom, but merely to show what we consider are the superior claims of a regatta as an anniversary fete upon our own metropolitan attention. We think such a pastime, so essentially English, should take precedence of all others in celebration of our natal day."
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Auckland and Manukau (says the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette, of in specie, by subscription of 3sovs. each; and the Valparaiso Stakes (handicap) heats, once round the course, gentlemen riders. The second day's racing consisted of Ladies' Purse, Hurdle Race, and Consolation Purse. The amount of prize money is not given. The stewards were: Lieutenant Smart, 28th Regiment; Dr. Gaumie, 80th Regiment; W. Young, Esq.; J. Coates, Esq., treasurer; Lieutenant Best, 80th Regiment. Clerk of the Course, R. Benson, Esq. Among the conditions were: Publicans could erect booths on the racecourse on paying £1 to the racing fund; private matches taking place on the days of the races to pay one guinea entrance to the funds for use of the course. No false start allowed. Jockey costume must be worn. Subscriptions for the races were received at the Bank, Wood's Royal Hotel, Watson's Exchange Hotel, Hill's Yew Tree Inn, Mason and Paton's auction mart, and at the office of the Auckland Printing Company. The betting rooms—for human nature was just the same in
The anniversary races, bona fide property of, and ridden by, aborigines—caten weights. The second day's events comprised the Metropolitan Plate, Hack Race, Garrison Plate, Carthorse Race, Consolation Stakes, and Hurdle Race. The prize-money ranged from £0 to £40.
From the files we learn "the sports at Epsom were remarkably well attended. His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, Sir George Grey, was present to enjoy them. The editor, apparently, undertook to do the first day's racing, and he gets the report into about a dozen lines, as follows:—For the Maiden Plate the first horse, Cantab, was distanced in the first heat, his rider being thrown before arriving at the weighing stand. In the next,
The road to the scene of action is described "as strewn with vehicles of all sorts and sizes, and covered with equestrians and pedestrians of all hues and complexions. The course was in excellent order save the keeping of a few mounted policemen being required to apprehend the drunken ruffians who got up extemporary races for their own amusement, but the endangerment of other people's lives."
On the second day the "Phaeton" of the period relieves the editor and devotes thirteen lines to the day's races, or one more than his chief. He says:—"Yesterday's races afforded great sport. The Metropolitan Plate was taken by Mr. Crummer's bay mare Verjuice, the only real blood that showed, and that, consequently, left everything else hopelessly behind. The Hack Race was won by Mr. Young's Alderman. The Garrison Plate by that capital gelding Zaccho. The Carters' Race was such a glorious higgledy-piggledy that we have not heard which won. The Consolation Stakes were taken by Mr. Codlin's bay gelding Jack; and the Hurdle Race was also won by the same high mettled racer." He gives the editor away about the "drunken ruffians," etc., by stating that the races passed off' with the greatest decorum, and that the 58th, who had extensive leave, "conducted themselves in a most orderly and honourable manner." A number of men-of-warsmen from H.M.s. Fly chartered sundry carts (for hansoms and omnibuses were unknown in those days), and, with banners flying, made the trip out and home in ship-shape and truly characteristic style.
When the anniversary of the colony approached next year (
The New Zealander makes the following comments on the subject, which read curiously in the light of present events:—"The proposal to celebrate the anniversary of the colony by a regatta is about to be acted under auspices which promise well for its proper arrangement and efficiency. This amusement, we need scarcely say, is free from many of the objections which have been urged (in our opinion justly), against horse-racing, and, moreover, is better suited to a colony like ours, where strength rather than Heetness is desirable in horses which are with comparatively few exceptions, employed in farm work, but where—from our insular position and maritime engagements and prospects, and from the fact that so large a portion of our communication with the interior is carried on through our coasting vessels—everything that tends to the construction of better and safer boats is especially valuable. Our regatta, therefore, may be found not only an agreeable recreation, not necessarily involving anything which should offend the most fastidious moralist but also the means of doing much practical good by stimulating to augmented taste, liberality, and effort in the designing and building of boats."
The advertisement of the regatta is headed "Auckland Regatta, in Commemoration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Colony,
The Southern Cross thus describes the canoe races:—"The tenth and eleventh matches proved to be the most attractive and prominent of the day. These were the native races and were intended to have been contested the first by canoes manned by twelve Maori only; the second by canoes containing an unlimited crew. Such, however, was the eager excitement of the native competitors, and so anxious were they to exhibit their prowess, that it was found impossible to carry out such a plan. They were, therefore, all permitted to come to the scratch at once, and a
The same journal in its editorial on the tenth anniversary says:—"With this morning's dawn we hail the return of the day on which 'the shadow of the land' was conceded to the Sovereign of the Isles." From that day out the anniversary of the colony (the 29th January) has been commemorated by a regatta.
The following year's regatta (
The Wakatiwai Canoe Race was won by Hemi Pateora, of Orakei, and Paora, of Orakei. But the Wakataua Race was emphatically the race of the day, and is thus described:—"It was a magnificent one, and such as New Zealand only could show. Five large and powerful canoes, beautifully carved, and highly decorated with pigeons' feathers, and manned by an unlimited number of fine athletic natives, formed line to compete for the prize. It was a picture to look at these craft and their ardent and excited crews, who, like hounds in the leash, sat ready to dart towards the appointed goal. Away they sped the instant the musket shot announced the period of trial had arrived. Their fleet canoes actually bounded over the tide, which foamed and hissed under the nervous rapidity of their strokes. Every ship cheered, and a shout of admiration and delight was mingled with the energetic outcries of the native conductors, who with voice and gesture kept time, and gave encouragement to the close-packed paddlers of these flying race boats. The speed with which they pushed onwards was perfectly surprising, far surpassing that of the whale-boats, over whose course of four or five miles they swept in 37 minutes, being 13 minutes less than that which the whalemen had consumed. The two leading canoes came in neck-and-neck, the foremost being scarcely half-a-length in advance of the other, and the remaining three together and at a very trifling distance behind. It were a study for a painter to have caught the triumphant attitude of the leading chief (Te Wherowhero, Tawhiao's father), as with dilated nostrils, arms outstretched, eyeballs rolling in their sockets, he gave expression, amidst the shouts of the spectators, the thunderings of the American and English ships, and the exultation of his fellow-countrymen, to the unbounded delight of the moment. It was an incarnation of the triumph of the savage combined with the innate energy and ardour so characteristic of the British sportsman. The attitude was intensely classical, a Maori realisation of Ajax defying the lightning. A voyage to Auckland would almost be repaid by beholding such a contest. The first canoe was called the Wharepuhunga. She is the property of the celebrated chief Te Wherowhero, and was paddled by his tribe. The name of the second was the Tamahu, of the Thames. She was paddled by the Ngatipaoa tribe, with their chief Hauaru at their head."
The following was the canoe song chanted on the occasion:—
The keenness of the contest was intensified by tribal jealousies. As the canoes shot under the signal gun as it blazed out its contents at the close of the race, the sweating, excited crews leaped into the sea to cool themselves. They afterwards came ashore in Commercial (or Town) Bay, and on a sand bar on the beach, a little eastward of where now stands the Imperial Hotel, Fort-street, danced the war dance and got their prize money. In subsequent regattas the canoe races fell into desuetude or were poor affairs, owing to the Maoris of a later date caring more about money than aquatic sports, and wanted a prize of inordinate amount, which probably would be run for as 'a put-up job' and divided! The revival in canoe contests now brought about at the Jubilee will be hailed with satisfaction by all old colonists, as well as by the Maori people themselves.
The best poetical description of a Maori war-canoe race is that given in the following verses by Mr. Alfred Domett in his "Ranolf and Amohia":—
The late Mr. C. O. Davis, an accomplished Maori linguist, published the following on the subject of Maori war-canoes and their uses:—
"It was not customary with the Maoris in ancient times to appoint regular days for canoe races as is now often done. Sometimes a great chief would proceed on a visit to a neighbouring relative or ally, or on a foray or a hostile expedition. If he went by land he was usually accompanied by a large retinue befitting his rank, often numbering 100 followers, and if he went by water he was escorted by as many as half a dozen large war-canoes all fully manned, and ornamented in the highest style of native art The principal war-canoe was called the 'Tararo.' It was elaborately carved and ornamented with tufts and plumes of the pigeon, albatross, and other birds. Sometimes the carved board rose to a height of twelve feet, all splendidly decorated. Two streamers of white albatross feathers decorated the bows. In the spaces between the gunwales and top sides beautifully carved pieces were let in. The spaces between the thwarts were partly covered over with twigs so as to form a platform upon which the warriors were enabled to sit in regular rows; in fact, they displayed a wonderful uniformity and precision, both in regard to position and motion, so that the war-canoes appeared like some vast antennæ instinct with life. Another name for these war-canoes was Waka Taua, from waka, a canoe, and tana, war party. In manning a canoe two men known to be skilful in handling the large steer-paddles were placed at the bow and stern, and co-operated with each other in guiding the canoe. Two or three other persons well versed in the chants and songs used on such occasions would relieve each other as fuglemen, standing up in the canoe, beating time with a paddle or taiaha (ornamental spear) and chanting a song, the chorus of which was sung by the rowers, who were bare to the waist, with heads beautifully decorated with huia and albatross feathers. Sometimes they wore over the brow topknots composed of feathers, and ribbons of tapa (native cloth), and the tuki or carved comb, which gave to the heads of the rowers an appearance of savage grandeur in singular harmony with the decorations of the canoe itself. They also often wore white or black tufts of albatross feathers (Puhoi) in the ears. These latter ornaments were only worn by men of distinction. Races sometimes occurred in this way. A number of canoes would set out together, the rowers would stimulate each other to put on speed, and in the emulation there would be a struggle for the lead, which would result in a harulycon tested race."
With our present publication we issue a sheet containing fac similes of two proclamations by Governor Hobson. The originals of these proclamations are preserved at the Auckland Institute, and are most interesting historical documents.
In a despatch, Governor Hobson narrates his action at Kororareka on landing. He says:
"Sir,—I have the honour to acquaint your Excellency that, immediately on my arrival in the Bay of Islands I issued an invitation to all British subjects to meet me at the the church at Kororareka on the following day, there to hear read Her Majesty's Commission under the Great Seal, extending the limits of the colony of New South Wales, and Her Majesty's Commission under the Royal signet and sign manual, appointing me Lieutenant-Governor of such part of the colony as may be acquired in sovereignty in New Zealand.
"I have now to report that on the day appointed—namely, the 30th ultimo, the ceremony of reading the above Commissions was performed in the presence of a concourse of persons, forty of whom subscribed the document, a copy of which is annexed.
"The proclamations framed by your Excellency and the Executive Council of New South Wales were then read and published—the first announcing that Her Majesty's authority had been asserted over British subjects in New Zealand; the second, acquainting the public that Her Majesty does not deem it expedient to acknowledge as valid any titles to land in New Zealand which are not derived from, or confirmed by a grant from the Crown.
The document referred to states that the commissions have been published. The following are the signatures of those who were present:—
The first proclamation referred to in Governor Hobson's despatch was as follows:
"By His Excellency William Hobson, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of the British settlements in progress in New Zealand, etc., etc., etc.
"Whereas Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has been graciously pleased to direct that measures shall be taken for the establishment of a settled form of Civil Government over those of Her Majesty's subjects who are already settled in New Zealand, or who may hereafter resort hither. And whereas Her Majesty has also been graciously pleased to direct letters patent to he issued, under the Great Seal of the said United Kingdom, bearing date the fifteenth day of June, in the year
The second proclamation respecting the titles to land is that of which we give a fac simile, and dated the
Our other "Those persons who have settled at Port Nicholson under the auspices of the Company are, from their rank, their numbers, and their wealth, by far the most important in the colony. But it is to be regretted that, from the impunity with which they have heretofore, in defiance of the Government, encroached on the land, they assume a tone of dictation and authority which is totally subversive of all Government, and which must evenntually be overcome, or the sole management of the affairs of the island must be surrendered into their hands. On a recent occasion Sir George Gipps gave them the permissory occupation of 110,000 acres around Port Nicholson, on condition of their confining themselves to that limit, with a promise to recommend to your Lordship to obtain for them from Her Majesty a free grant to that extent, in return for the expense the Company had incurred in importing immigrants into the colony. But almost coincident with that act of grace, they spread themselves over the land of Whanganui, to a distance of 90 miles, in direct opposition to a notice simultaneously published both by Sir George Gipps and myself respectively. . . . It is quite evident, notwithstanding the extraneous matter introduced into the Port Nicholson petition, that the whole matter resolves itself into the simple fact, that I have not studied the exclusive advantage of the company, by fixing the seat of Government at Port Nicholson, and it is equally certain that the counter petition must be attributed to my having chosen my position on the Waitemata."fac simile is a somewhat singular proclamation which Governor Hobson felt himself constrained to issue in regard to the proceedings of the New Zealand Company's settlers at Port Nicholson. In a despatch in reference to their proceedings, Governor Hobson said:—
We have before us a circular dated tending to bring the Government into hatred or contempt, were to be punished at the discretion of the Court, as in cases of high misdemeanours, or by banishment from the colony for a number of years." Well might Messrs. Eagar and Co. pause, and state in their circular that "one thing has become now manifest, the Government of the British colony of New Zealand does not wish a free press, while, on the other hand, our feeling is—A Free Press or None at All. How Could any paper here, the amount of whose income would be averaged by £10 or £12 per week, with its expenses deducted, endure recognizances of £600, to say nothing of fines and penalties ad libitum of every Government servant who might happen to feel wounded by an editorial remark." It appears that a meeting of subscribers and of the public, was called in a day or two at Jones's Royal Hotel, for, as Robert Burns says, "Whisky and freedom gang thegither!" Messrs. Eagar and Co. urged "promptitude, unanimity, moderation and determination. These qualities will effect our triumph. In New Zealand the Press must be to all intents and purposes in public matters un-chained as air." Bravo. Eagar and Co.! It is satisfactory to learn that the New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette resuscitated, and ran its course, for with journals, as with men, "It is appointed once to die, and after death, the judgment."
Among all the colonists of New Zealand few probably could say with the late Mr. Swain-son, that they came out in the year One of the colony; still fewer would be able to narrate the events of that year as matters of personal recollection. Half a century ago such adventurous emigrants left their homes in Great Britain, and after long, wearisome, and often painful voyaging, arrived in, what to them must have seemed like a new world. Since that date a marvellous transformation has been effected, not only here, at the ends of the earth, but in every country under heaven; a transformation so thorough, that, to realise the conditions of life in the year
Fifty years ago the railway engine had already shown that the Quarterly Review had been mistaken in declaring that the idea that a train might be drawn at the rate of fifteen, or even twenty miles an hour, was "a gross exaggeration of the powers of the locomotive steam-engine." Already, also, it was evident that the same writer had been without the spirit of prophecy when he thus summarily disposed of the question:—"As to those persons who speculate on making railways general throughout the Kingdom we deem them and their visionary schemes unworthy of notice." Still, at the period referred to, railway travelling was only in its infancy with regard both to comfort and to speed. Third-class carriages were hardly better than New Zealand cattle trucks of the present day, being not only seatless, but roofless. The second-class were mere wooden boxes, with seats indeed, but without cushions, blinds, or the least attempt to make traveling anything but a painful penance. The first-class were slightly enlarged copies of the stage coach, cramped, close, and stuffy. The mail train, as English people know it now, with its stately sweep into the stopping stations, its almost fearful flight through the country, doing for instance the 400 miles between London and Edinburgh, in something less than nine hours, all this was yet in the future, while the electric telegraph was regarded by the few who had heard of it beyond its promoters, as merely a scientific curiosity, not in the least likely to have any appreciable effect upon the world. Wires had been laid between the Euston Square and Camden Town stations, a distance of a mile and a-quarter, but their removal had been ordered. In
Half a century ago the British nation, by the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies, in
Americans, when reproached with their "peculiar institution," would sometimes retaliate by pointing to the glaring injustice of many social conditions in England, and their statement was unanswerable, though it could hardly avail as an excuse for another wrong. The land was at that time mostly let out in farms by the great owners, who considered the tenant's vote as much the landlord's right as was the rent; and the vote, of course, was to be given in support of the "landed interest." The farmers generally acquiesced, either through indifference, or fearing to lose the farms already held under various vexatious and hurtful restrictions. As for the labourers, their part was to till the ground and mind the Hocks; they did not therefore need much "book learning," and it was doubtful whether it would really be a good thing for them or their children to learn to read and write. But the privileged class, whose mountain seemed to stand so strong, have had, like the American slaveholders, to eat the fruit of their own doings; great changes have been brought about by the rising tide of righteousness, and the end is not yet.
In England, in the year
In his impassioned protest against slavery William Knibb dwelt on its especially cruel effect upon women. "Must I then," he asked, "plead for woman? If anyone refuse to advocate her cause—if he decline to lift his voice in her favour, . . I say he is less than man." When the British nation acknowledged the justice of this plea and decreed liberty to the slaves, it was a step upward for the whole human race, for—
"When a deed is done for freedom, through the broad earth's aching breast, Runs a thrill of joy prophetic trembling on from east to west— For mankind are one in spirit, and an instinct bears along, Round the earth's electric circle, the swift flash of right and wrong."
The enfranchisement of the poor black women was a happy omen for women every, where, and if for women then for men, since the degradation of one sex keeps back both alike from the fuller, freer life awaiting them in the future, and towards which, however, much remains undone, great strides have been made in the past half century.
In or about the year
Could such things be done now, in this year
"Till morning tread the darkness down
And night be swept away."
Half a century ago, to return to the year one of our colony, our countrymen came hither with a blank sheet on which to write, if they would, the history of such a nation as the world has never yet seen. Physical difficulties there were no doubt in plenty, but the far more serious moral and social difficulties only existed by the will, or by the carelessness of the colonists themselves. All old nations were, and are, weighed down by the accumulated burdens of many generations by privileged classes, and by established customs, which have pushed aside the great principles of truth and justice, the only sure foundation for any community. Here, on the contrary, untrammelled by the baleful legacy of the past, protected from unfriendly, and also from friendly interference by the vast expanse of ocean, with a favourable climate, with a native race capable of appreciating honourable treatment—here was an opportunity for building up a State by righteousness; a free country, where every one would have had liberty to make the best he could of his own life, to earn, and to spend his earnings, and where the functions of Government being small, taxation also would have been of the smallest. Such a country would have attracted the best from every nation, because the fame of its happiness would have gone everywhere, while the baser sort would have been kept away by the dread of an enlightened public opinion, which would have made all attempts at unjust privilege at unrighteous gain practically hopeless' Bishop Butler, in his famous Analogy,' describes the possibilities of a nation founded on righteousness:—"In such a State there would be no such thing as faction, but men of the greatest capacity would of course all along have the direction of affairs willingly yielded to them; and they would share it among themselves without envy. Each of these would have the part assigned him to which his genius was peculiarly adapted; and others, who had not any distinguished genius, would be safe, and think themselves very happy by being under the protection and guidance of those who had. Public determinations would really be the result of the united wisdom of the community, and they would faithfully be executed by the united strength of it. Some would in a higher way contribute, but all would in some way contribute to the public prosperity; and in it each would enjoy the fruit of his own virtue. And as injustice, whether by fraud or force, would be unknown among themselves, so they would be sufficiently secured from it in their neighbours. For cunning and false self-interest, confederacies in injustice, ever slight, and accompanied with faction and intestine treachery; those on one hand would be found mere childish folly and weakness, when set in opposition against wisdom, public spirit, union inviolable, and fidelity on the other. Add the general influence which such a kingdom would have over the face of the earth, by way of example particularly, and the reverence which would be paid it."
All this and more was open to New Zealand. Why is the reality so different? Those who came hither brought with them a chart by which they might have been safely guided, but they said, "Nay, but we will
The devotion of several days to mere amusement, and the consequent upsetting of business and of public traffic, may be a suitable way of celebrating the birthday of this State, but it will hardly satisfy those who, having at heart the true welfare of the country, realise in some measure the noble possibilities of the future, possibilities which can only be grasped by a noble people of high aims and principle. As long as there are among us "the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, the scant measure that is abominable, the wicked balances, and the bag of deceitful weights," or any other devices for robbery more or less disguised, the land cannot know true prosperity. It follows that the cheat, little or big, is the enemy, not only of himself, but of his country. To search and try ourselves, and if there be in our hands the gain of oppression, to give back such unjust gain to the person wronged, would make of this somewhat unsatisfactory Jubilee a starting point towards better things, a period to be looked back upon with thankfulness forever. The debtor who, though shielded by bank ruptcy, lately sought out and paid his creditors in full, this honest gentleman has get an example of how to keep the Jubilee, for the promise of Him who cannot lie is perfectly definite—"Seek good and not evil, that ye may live, and see now if I will not pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to hold it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live"
We give below portraits of those whose names were most intimately connected with the Jubilee celebrations in Auckland.
Auckland has already welcomed the Earl of Onslow when he landed here as Governor, and he was cordially received amongst us when he come for a more leisurely visit. Since he has been in the colony Lord Onslow has shown himself deeply interested in all that concerns it.
The Right Hon. Sir William Hillier Onslow, Bart., Knight of St. Michael and St. George, fourth Earl of Onslow, was born
Arthur George, third Earl of Onslow, who died without surviving male issue in
The Right Hon. Lord Carrington, G.C.M.G., Governor of the colony of New South Wales, is Charles Robert Carrington, third Baron Carrington, who was born in
Rear-Admiral Lord Charles Douglas Scott, C.B., is a brother of the Duke of Buccleuch. He served as a midshipman on the St. Jean d'Acre in the Baltic and Black Seas in
protect British subjects and interests at Yangchow in
Sir John Thurston, K.C.M.G.. F.R.G.S., F.L.S., Governor of Fiji, High Commissioner and Consul-General for the Western Pacific (whose portrait we give from a photograph by Farley, of San Francisco), was born in the year
Turstin, who, in the year ad interim Government;" was again nominated as special adviser to the king and chiefs in
of German subjects to lands in Fiji,
In such a matter as this, an important part was taken by the chief magistrate of the city, Mr. J. H. Upton, who had but recently taken office.
Mr. J. H. Upton, our present Mayor, is an Englishman. He arrived in Auckland in
Mr. A. E. Devore, President of the Committee, has played the most active part in connection with the Jubilee celebration. The proposal to have a grand celebration of the Jubilee was conceived during his occupation of the Mayor's chair, and all through he has kept the object steadily in view, sparing no trouble or exertion to make it a success. His services to the Jubilee celebration will be gratefully remembered by the citizens of Auckland.
Albert Edward Tyrell Devore, our ex-Mayor, was elected without opposition to the Mayoralty of Auckland in
In
The most illustrious of our Maori visitors is Rewi Maniapoto, the famous leader of the Maoris at the fight at Orakau pa. Rewi is now a very old man, and we scarcely expected to see him with us in Auckland again, but the ancient warrior said he had heard that at this time there would be a number of rangatiras (or chiefs) assembled at Auckland to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the colony, and therefore he must come, if it were for the last time. Rewi was from the first one of the most fiery spirits in the warlike section of the King natives. It was he who led the party who
We are fighting in Christian times." The performance of the ancient rite by the priest might have inspired courage, but Rewi was no longer a heathen, but clung to the faith the Europeans had taught him, although he wanted to cast off their rule. But hunger and thirst did their work amongst the defenders of the pa. A scanty meal of potatoes was distributed to the survivors, but the men could not get the food over their throats, which were burning with thirst. Rewi's resolve was taken. He said: "We shall now have to leave the pa, but not as the Waikato left at Rangiriri (that is, as prisoners). We shall go from here as free men, or leave our bodies on the land." Hapurona, a Urewera chief, proposed that a white flag should be hoisted, and when the troops came close up to the pa, to fire a tremendous volley, and in the confusion to charge through them and escape. This proposal Rewi overruled. Then Major Mair called out to them a message from the General that at least the women and children should be sent out. Then Ahumai, sister of Hitiri, said: "If our husbands and our brothers are to die, of what profit is it to us that we should live? Lot us die with the men." Then came the reply to Major Mair from Rewi: "Ake, ake, ane." The rush out of the pa was made shortly after, during which so many fell. Rewi escaped, but hi warfare was accomplished. He has come to visit us on this our Jubilee, and in all probability we will never see him again.
Sir George Grey, K.C.B., was born at Lisbon, Portugal, in
The fêtes promoted in celebration of the Jubilee of the Colony, and which were carried out by a large and energetic committee, at the head of which was Mr. Devore, commenced on the 29th of January, Jubilee Day, and extended over the three subsequent days. They proved a brilliant success, and were attended by the largest masses of people ever before congregated together in Auckland Additional êclat was given to the festivities by the presence of His Excellency the Governor, the Earl of Onslow; Admiral Lord Charles Scott, in command of the Australian Squadron; His Excellency the Governor of New South Wales, the Earl of Carrington; Sir John Thurston, Governor of Fiji, and High Commissioner of the Western Pacific; and other distinguished personages. The Australian Naval Squadron was represented in port by the Flagship of the Station (H.M.S. Orlando), H.M.S. Opal, and H.M.S. Lizard. Lords Onslow and Carrington arrived in Auckland on January 28th, and were accorded an enthusiastic reception by the populace. The weather on Jubilee Day, and indeed throughout the week, proved exceedingly favourable for the fêtes, full particulars of which, taken from the very complete reports published in the New Zealand Herald, will be found below.
The Jubilee celebrations to day were a grand success, the weather being favourable, and Auckland poured out her thousands to witness the magnificent spectacle presented. Numbers generate magnetism, and never in the history of Auckland, since her foundation as a province, were such masses of people to be seen in her streets. On all hands was to be seen the flag of New Zealand on the flagstaffs, and those who looked upon the symbol of the Southern Cross did so with feelings of gratification and pleasure, for they felt that after the scenes of to-day we had made a new departure—the first pulses of life in the young nation had begun to throb.
The morning broke looking dull and gloomy, but as the day strengthened the clouds rolled away. As Captain Edwin very properly stated, there might be bad weather from the eastward, but it would not come further than Tiritiri. By eight o'clock the whole city was alive, the tram-cars bringing into town crowds of passengers, and the members of the various Friendly Societies hurrying to and fro. At nine o'clock the streets were crowded with sightseers.
The shipping: in port was gaily decked with bunting from stem to stern. Special notice was taken of the splendid appearance of the men-of-war—H.M.s. Orlando, Opal, and Lizard being elaborately dressed with flags. Holiday reigned on board these ships, and the crews and their friends watched with keen interest the different events. All the principal establishments in the vicinity the Northern Roller Flour Mills, the Waverley, Thames, and Waitemata Hotels, made a good display of flags. The Harbour Board Offices were similarly adorned, while the New Zealand flag was gaily flying for the first time from the turret of the net Custom House.
A string of flags stretched across Queen-street from the Civil Service Supply Association Stores to Messrs. Cruickshank and Co.'s warehouse, conspicuous in the line being the Union Jack flanked by the Stars and Stripes and the Royal Standard. Another line of flags was thrown across from Firth's old mill to Mr. Gabriel Lewis's auction room and to Morrin and Co.'s (late H. F Anderson and Co.'s) chandlery premises. The flagstaff of the Victoria Arcade was bedecked with bunting, one or the flags having upon it the words "New Zealand Insurance Company," while from the office of the American Consulate on the first floor, prominently hung the Stars and Stripes. At the adjacent window was suspended the Belgian flag, at the office of the Consul, Mr. Arthur Masey. All the verandah posts of the handsome building adorned with nikau, which, in front of Mr. Wild man's premises was relieved with
This, the earliest and most imposing feature of the day's proceedings, took place at half-past nine. For some time previous to starting the streets along the route of march were thronged with thousands of spectators anxious to secure every point of vantage for sightseeing. The streets were gaily decked with bunting. As the various societies marshalled into procession in regalia, headed by their banners, the spectacle presented was an animated one in the vicinity of the rendezvous at Ponsonby Reservoir, Karangahape and Ponsonby Roads. When the procession moved off several thousands of people were congregated at the junction of the above thorough-fares.
Shortly after the time appointed (half-past nine a.m.) Marshal T. Cole had succeeded in arranging the procession, and it moved off headed by two mounted troopers of the Armed Constabulary—Constables Walker and Kelly—followed by Marshal Cole in a carriage, and then succeeded the Artillery Band (Bandmaster R. Hunter), playing a lively military quickstep. First in the procession was a carriage containing His Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. H. Upton), the Town Clerk (Mr. P. A. Philips), and Mr. A. E. Devore (president of the Auckland Jubilee Committee); second carriage: Councillors D. Goldie, C. Atkin, J. J Holland, J. Swales, and P. Dignan; third carriage: Councillors Grey, Tren with, Warren, and Davies: fourth carriage, Councillors D. F. Evans, Hewson, J. Patterson, and Layers; fifth carriage contained representative members of the Auckland Jubilee Committee: Dr. Campbell, Captain H. F. Anderson, R. Cameron, and A. S. Russell. Then followed the various societies and organisations in the order hereunder named as drawn by lot:—
The Loyal Orange institution mustered strongly, 36 lodges being represented, and to prevent the procession being unduly extended, were ordered to "form fours," the rest of the procession marching two abreast. They were preceded by a carriage in which were Grand Master, R. Farrell; Deputy Grand Master, J. Jamieson; Grand Treasurer, W. Hazard; Grand Secretary, C. Carnahan; Grand Chaplain, Rev. A. J. Smith. Then followed an officer, the Bible-bearer, Bro. Nesbitt, bearing an open Bible, supported by two officers withdrawn swords. Lodges:—City of Auckland, No. 1: R. W. Sharp, W.M.; J. Little, D.M.; A. C. Riggs, secretary; R. Nesbitt, treasurer. Royal Albert, No. 2: J. Boone, W. M.: J. Scott,
D. M.; C. Bush, secretary; W. Sherson, treasurer. Loyal Inniskillen, No. 3; J. Jamieson, W.M.; T. Ward, D.M.; S. McMaster, secretary; C. Coulter, treasurer. Young Diamond, No. 10: T. W. Henderson, W.M.; J. McCammon, D.M.; S. Harper, secretary; A. Johnston, treasurer. Otahuhu, No. 14: T. Massey, W.M.; J. Jones, secretary. Newmarket True Blue, No. 19: A. Whisker, W.M.; E. King, D. M.; Craig, secretary; C. C. Crozier, treasurer. Pukekohe, No. 26: J. Hewitt, W.M.; J. Morrow, D.M.; A. Tan-sett, secretary; C. Craig, treasurer. Barton True Blues, No. 32, Papakura: W. Hall. W.M.; J. Watkinson, D.M.; D. Hall, secretary; R. Tomlinson, treasurer. Star of Eden, No. 36: H. H. Seabrook, W.M.; J. Nutt, D.M.; J. Hill, secretary, J. Patterson, treasurer. Monaghan True Blues, No. 46: J. Moorhead, W.M.; J. Little, D.M.; C. C. Wright, secretary; Whangarei, No. 25: S. Austin, P.M.; J. James, P.M. Forty arrived from Pukekohe by train, and joined the procession in Government House grounds, as did some other country representatives, making the total number present 260. The marshal of the order was Captain C. Robertson.
American Order of Oddfellows, 25 members:—Officers: H. Keesing, P.D.D.G.M.; Wheeler, N.G., F. Hune, N.G., Kawakawa; P.G.'s Birdsall, E. Morrison, McCulsky, Fell, Falconer, Cobley, and J. H. Philpott.
Manchester Unity Oddfellows:—Loyal Good Intent (52 members.) Officers: In carriage,—Ruge, P.G.M.; Trayes, D.G.M.; and C. Smith, corresponding secretary; and W. E. Lewis, N.G.; J. A. Pennalligan, N.G.; D. N. Carter, G.M.; the marshal was Mr. E. Lewis.
Newmarket Band, under Bandmaster W. R. Hunter.
Fire Brigades and Salvage Corps:—Thames Brigade, 20 men, under Captains Williams and Patterson, with hose reel lent by the Auckland Fire Brigade. Auckland Fire Brigade, 37 men, under Superintendent Hughes and Foremen Hurley, Clarke, Glad-ding, Brannigan, and Wilkie. Suburban brigades present were: Parnell, Captain Cowan; Newmarket, Captain J. Wilson; Eden Terrace, Captain E. Strong; Newton, Superintendent Fenton; Mount Eden, Captain Keyes. Auckland Salvage Corps, 8 men, under Captain Field, making a grand total of firemen, etc., of about 120 men. The Auckland Brigade had a hose reel, a manual fire engine, as used in the olden time, a horse reel, and the suburban fire brigades had also their fire apparatus. All the reels were beautifully decorated with bannerettes, garlands of flowers, ferns, foliage, &c., in chaste designs. The decorations of the Fire Brigades attracted general attention, and constituted one of the features of the procession.
Newton Band, under Bandmaster West
Foresters, 192 members:—Mr. Jones, C.R., who acted as marshal; District Executive in carriages, W. T. Webb, G.C.R.J., Webley, treasurer, H. T. Garratt, D.S. Court City of Auckland was represented. Court Pride of Onehunga: Officers Aichram, C.R., Massey, P.C.R. Foresters carried the weapons emblematic of their Order.
Rechabites, 35 members:—Carr, C.R.; R. French, D.C.R.; R. H. Hughes, secretary; Crowe, Guardian. There were representatives from Aratapu and Thames.
National Independent Order of Odd-fellows, 79 members:—Officers: Adey, G.M.; McKenney, N.G.; Hitchcock, D G.; Thorne, secretary. Officers of the United Brothers and Huntly Lodges were also present.
Hicks-Sawyers' Minstrel Band, under Drum-Major Speed, escorted by Zouaves.
Hibernians, 40 members:—Officers: W. Beehan, President; P. O'Kane, V.P.; T. H. White, Secretary; W. Kane, Treasurer; D. Flynn, P.P. The officers of the District Executive also marched.
Good Templars, 58 members: Officers: Captain LeRoy, G.D.D., and T. W. Glover, G.C.T. General members of country lodges were present, also a number of ladies.
Auckland Band of Hope Union: There were 115 children, 50 girls dressed in white being in one of Winstone's vans drawn by four horses, and 65 boys in a lifeboat on one of Craig's trollies drawn by four horses. The decorations of the van were very beautiful, consisting of a bower of evergreens, garlands, and flowers, with the following mottoes conspicuous: "Water, God's Gift to Man," "Why Not Abstain?" "Wine Is a Mocker." Both the van and boat were decorated by Messrs. W. J. Macdermott, C. G. Hill, and A. E. Perkins. The children sang temperance hymns and songs exroute, and the sweet voices of the little girls, as they sat embowered in foliage, were pleasant to listen to. The children were ruddy and happy, and a good specimen of "Young New Zealand," whom they worthily represented. The van and lifeboat attracted general attention, and the Band of Hope Union display was one of the most interesting features of the procession.
New Zealand Federated Seamen's Union, 40 members. The Union had a lifeboat on a trolly. The trolly was decorated with the Union Jack and other flags, and in the boat were a crew with oars up, the crew being seamen from the Union Steamship Co., one of the officers of the local Union acting as coxswain. The other officers were W. Vines (president), J. W. Duthie (secretary), J. Gallagher (treasurer), and Nixon, marshal. In the boat was displayed the New Zealand flag, and the house flag of the Union Steamship Company. The Union had also a large banner with the motto "Unity is Strength," "Defence Not Defiance." The lifeboat, with its stalwart crew, attracted a good deal of attention.
Federated Wharf Labourers' Union, 58 members: Officers—E. Coombes, president; Dobson and Niblocke, vice-presidents; W. Bines. Each of the members, as also of the Seamen's Union, wore a rosette, the red, white, and blue. The banner of the Wharf Labourers' Union contained a representation of harbour and shipping, with picture of a lumper trucking goods to a wharf shed.
Perhaps the most unique feature of the whole procession was the appearance of the Rarotongan Jubilee Singers. They were preceded by two carriages, the first-containing the chief Tepou and his wife, and Tea, wife of the Crown Prince; Mr. A. H. Brown, interpreter; Mr. H. J. Ellis, secretary; and the second Crown Prince James Tepou, Mr. H. Nicholas and family. All of the Rarotongans wore pieces of crape as mourning for the Rarotongan Ngataitautai, who died the previous day, and for the same reason they did not utilise their band. Men and women walked alternately, the former clad in white clothing, with straw hats, and the latter in white flowing robes, with tout ensemble was complete. Their appearance in the procession was the feature of the day, and all eyes were directed to the Rarotongans, for the incident was one which will become historic, in these children of the Isles of the Seas on Jubilee Day giving the band of welcome to their brethren the Maoris and to the colonists of New Zealand.
The procession was closed with a number of private carriages, making the total estimated number of persons in the procession about 1500. The procession was over a mile long, and as the whole route along Karangahape Road and Symonds-street to Government House gate was crowded with spectators on the footways, and on the verandahs, it is estimated that the pageant was witnessed by 40,000 people. Some idea may be gained of the proportions of the procession by stating that as the head of it turned out of Karangahape Road into Symonds-street the last of the column had not moved from the rendezvous at the junction of that thoroughfare and Ponsonby Road.
The procession moved into Government House grounds, and took up a position in rear of the Volunteers, who formed the guard of honour. The avenue was lined with Volunteers, who also assisted the police in regulating the crowd. In compliment to the Rarotongans, they were allotted specially the place in front, opposite the platform where His Excellency was to receive the addresses. After the presentation of the addresses, the line of march was resumed by the Waterloo Quadrant gate, along Princes-street, down Wellesley-street and Queen street to the wharf. The scene in Queen-street was the most effective of the day, as the street was occupied from end to end by the procession itself, which was flanked by great crowds along the roadway and side walks, the traffic being temporarily suspended. The view from the upper storeys of Queen-street premises showed a sea of faces, only relieved by the banners, the uniforms of the bandsmen, and the bunting across the street. On either hand the buildings were gaily decorated with flags, bannerettes, foliage, etc. Every verandah was crowded with groups of sight-seers, and almost' every window was occupied by ladies and children.
The procession broke up at the Queen-street Wharf, the rear being brought up by six tramcars laden with passengers, who had been blocked in getting down the; street,
At the end of Queen-street, and before the procession disbanded, the Mayor called for three cheers for the president of the Jubilee Committee, which were heartily responded to.
Mr. Devore addressed the people and said he felt honoured at the kindly reference made to him by the Mayor at Government House and now, and that when he first mooted the idea of this celebration he received cordial sympathy and support from many citizens; and with their assistance and that of a hard working and enthusiastic committee, and the warm assistance of the press, the present successful gathering had resulted. It was a people's celebration, with their own moneys, without any Government assistance, and would be carried out by their own exertions, and was in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the colony and of this province, and it was intended as a token of gratitude that we lived in this favoured colony, and as a tribute of affection to our Queen and flag.
Everything having gone off without a single hitch or accident, the Orangemen, headed by the Newton band, re-marched up Queen-street and Grey-street to the Protestant Hall, Newton, where they formed in a circle, while a few appropriate remarks were made by Grand Master Farrell and Past Grand Master Goldie, M.H.R. Three hearty cheers were given for the Grand Master, after which the refreshments provided were partaken of in the hall.
The Volunteers mustered at the drillshed shortly after nine o'clock, and fell in by companies under their respective officers, but, as might have been expected, the musters were not very large, as a great number of Volunteers are members of the various Friendly Societies which took part in the procession, and others are members of the Fire Brigades, and Rowing Clubs. However, there were about 200 men in the ranks. The two naval companies were paraded as one under the command of Captain Miller, and the two artillery companies also paraded as one under the command of Captain Geddes. The engineers had a fair muster under Major Anderson, and the other companies on parade were the Victorias (Captain Cooper), City Guards (Captain Kohn), Newton Rifles (Captain Robertson), Royal Irish (Captain Leahy), and the Onehunga Rifles. The rifle companies were formed into the guard of honour, and were placed under the command of Captain Kohn, and the navals, artillery, and engineers were placed under the command of Major Anderson to line the entrance to Government House. Colonel Shepherd, of course, was in supreme command, and Major Skinner was adjutant. Surgeon-Major Dawson and Staff-Surgeon Erson were also present in uniform. The No. 2 Garrison Band was in attendance, and after Colonel Shepherd had given his instructions, the troops marched to the eastern gate of. Government House grounds. The Navals, Artillery, and Engineers lined the drive from this gate to the main entrance
His Excellency the Governor received the addresses on the terrace in front of the main door of Government House. Amongst those who were on the terrace were Admiral Lord Charles Scott (Admiral of the Australasian Squadron), Lord Carrington (Governor of New South Wales), Sir J. B. Thurston (Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner of the Western Pacific), Lady Thurston, His Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. H. Upton), Mrs. Upton and Miss Upton, Captain Savile (A.D.C. to Lord Onslow), Mr. Meysey Thompson (A.D.C. to Lord Onslow), Sir Frederick Whitaker (Attorney-General), Hon. E. Mitchelson (Native Minister), and Mrs. Mitchelson, Hon. T. W. Hislop (Minister of Education), Bishop and Mrs. Cowie, Captain Barlow (Commander of H.M.s. Orlando), Captain Bosanquet (Commander of H.M.s Opal), Captain Trench (A.D.C. to Lord Carrington), Lieutenant Fitzgerald, R.N. (Flag Lieutenant to the Admiral), Mr. Pullen (Private Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief), Mr. Spence (Private Secretary to Sir John Thurston), T. Thompson (M.H.R.), D. Goldic (M.H.R.), Dr. J. L. Campbell, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Devore, Mr. J. Dil-worth, Rev. G. Smales, Rev. C. M. Nelson, Mr. J. Macandrew (Mayor of Thames), Mr. L. J. Bagnall (member of Thames County Council), the members of the City Council, the Jubilee Committee, and two delegates from each of the societies taking part in the procession.
His Worship The Mayor (Mr. J. H. Upton), addressing His Excellency, said:—"Your Excellency, I have the honour to request that you will permit me, in the name of the citizens of Auckland, to present you with a loyal address."
The Town Clerk (Mr. P. A Philips) then read the address as follows:—
To the Right Honourable the Karl of Onslow, Grand Cross St. Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of New Zealand.
May it please Your Excellency.—On this the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the colony of New Zealand, we, the Mayor and Councillors, representing the citizens of Auckland, desire to offer Your Excellency our hearty congratulations on the state of advancement which the colony has reached, and we most respectfully request that Your Excellency will he good enough, on our behalf, to convey the same to Her Majesty the Queen. On this day "fifty years ago Captain Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands with Her Majesty's commission as the First Lieutenant Governor of this Colony, as part of Her Majesty's dominions. The life of this colony is almost coincident with the reign of our gracious Queen, and we venture to hope that Your Excellency will give to Her Majesty such an account of the natural beauties and of the material condition and resources of our country as will enable her to regard it as one of the most bountiful and happy of Her Majesty's possesions. At the time of the proclamation of the Queen's sovereignty, the European settlers were few in number and weak in resources, and the work of colonisation was carried on in the presence of a numerous and warlike native population. Since that time fierce wars have raged between the two peoples, but now, happily, all is peace, and we live in the most friendly relationship with the native race. Under Her Majesty's beneficent rule we enjoy complete political freedom, and the highest offices in the colony are open to all citizens who by their ability and integrity, may deserve to attain thereto. Our system of primary education is absolutely free to all. No child in New Zealand is permitted to be left without the elements of a sound education, while by means of secondary schools and university colleges, the advantages of higher education are obtainable in every part of the colony. Though placed at the Antipodes, we earnestly cultivate feelings of attachment to our mother country, and we respectfully request that Your Excellency will be so good as to convey to Her Majesty the assurance of our affectionate regard for her royal person, and of our unswerving loyalty and devotion to her throne.
His Worship The Mayor said:—"Your Excellency, this address from the city of Auckland contains no word of welcome to you as Her Majesty's representative, we thought it would be more appropriate perhaps if uttered the words of welcome to your Excellency which express the feelings that animate our minds to day. To utter words of welcome to one whom it all respect so much as we do the Governor of the colony in the formal words of an address would, it was thought, perhaps hardly give a clear enough expression of our feelings, therefore I have to say to you, in the name of the citizens, that we offer to you a hearty welcome to our city, and not only to your Excellency do we offer that welcome, but also to the distinguished guests who accompany you. There are amongst those guests two whom I should like to name. There is the Governor of New South Wales, the Governor of that great colony which is the mother colony of this group; and I desire, on behalf of the citizens, to offer to His Excellency Lord Carrington our warm welcome. Again, there is present amongst us as a guest of yours to-day the Governor of the youngest colony of this group—namely, the colony of Fiji. We have here His Excellency Sir John Thurston, whom we also desire to welcome. Always in Auckland—and I am sure in every part of New Zealand—but I think especially here, we are always glad to welcome the Admiral of the fleet, and therefore I have very much pleasure in also especially stating that I offer, on behalf the citizens, a hearty welcome to Rear-Admiral Lord Charles Scott. (Cheers.) Your
His Excellency the Governor (the Earl of Onslow), on coming forward to reply to the address, was received with loud and prolonged cheering. He spoke as follows:—Your Worship and gentlemen: I receive with very great pleasure the address which you have just presented me. The day is one of which you may well be proud, and the proudest feature of it is the presence here of some of those pioneers of colonisation who witnessed the first hoisting of the British flag in Her Majesty's name—(loud cheers)—an act which secured to them and to you all the privileges which are enjoyed by those who live under her constitutional rule. (Cheers.) Finding as I do in this country all the modern requirements of civilisation now constantly at hand, it is difficult for me adequately to appreciate the courage, the self-reliance, and the physical stamina which must have been possessed by these men and by others who set themselves the task of turning a wilderness into a garden, and opening up to their fellow countrymen such a land of promise. On a previous and somewhat similar occasion, I pointed how vividly the contrast between the condition of the colony to-day and fifty years ago strikes a resident among you, and a student of your history, I refrain therefore from again calling attention to that which must be patent to every careful observer. (Cheers.) It has never been the policy of the British Government to foster colonising enterprise by artificia aids, or pecuniary assistance, and as a result our countrymen look upon their conquests of the axe and the plough as essentially their own, and can claim the right to a complete freedom for their institutions. (Loud cheers.) Whatever may be thought of this policy, if it be true that nothing succeeds like success, it may be claimed for it that the colonial policy of no other nation has been attended with similar results. It has been shown that an attempt to import into a new country a ready-made system of government, with a host of officials for its administration, has failed to win for any nation such an Empire as that which is scattered over every sea, but is bound together by the Crown of England. (Prolonged cheers.) That Empire owes its rise to the marvellous power of self-government, the special attribute of the Anglo-Saxon race, which is capable of being adapted to all circumstances and to every climate. No Englishman can claim a knowledge of his country
Replying to the personal welcome extended by the Mayor to himself and the other representatives of Her Majesty present, His Excellency said that unfortunate circumstances in his family prevented the fulfilment of the promise made when he passed through Auckland, that he would return to visit them again at the conclusion of the session of Parliament, but he was glad that his first stay should be ushered in by so auspicious an event as the celebration of the Jubilee of the colony. (Cheers.) Referring to the Mayor's expressions of gratitude to His Excellency for declaring the day to be an official holiday throughout the colony, he pointed out that the days on which holiday should be made ought essentially to be selected by the representatives of the people, and in such matters he deferred entirely to the advice of his Ministers, who were doubtless desirous to abide by traditional and long-established custom. (Cheers.) He thanked the Mayor for his kind expressions respecting Lady Onslow—(cheers)—who was endeavouring to take his place in fulfilling the duties of hospitality towards another of Her Majesty's representatives in Australia at the other end of the colony. (Cheers.) Indeed, the only difficulty which he experienced in the administration of the Government was that none of the centres could see what the Governor could possibly want to do in any other, and each of them pointed out that his duty was to spend twelve months out of every year in their city. (Laughter and cheers.) Even Sir Boyle Roche never claimed that his bird could be in more than two places at once, but the wildest flight of Celtic imagination had never conceived such divisibility as was expected of the Governor of New Zealand. (Laughter and prolonged cheers.)
His Excellency then said:—Before I do anything else, allow me to read to you two telegrams which I have received from England. The first is from Her Majesty the Queen. (Loud cheers.)
"You are directed by Her Majesty to make this announcement:
"I have received Her Majesty's commands to offer congratulations to the people of New Zealand on fiftieth year of prosperity and good government, and warm wishes for continued welfare."
The reading of this message, which came upon everyone as a surprise, was followed by prolonged cheering.
His Excellency then called for three cheers for Her Majesty the Queen, which were given most enthusiastically.
His Excellency then said:—Now I will read to you one more message which I have received from Her Majesty's Government from the Secretary of State:—
"It gives me much pleasure to convey congratulations on behalf of Her Majesty's Government on the occasion of the fiftieth's anniversary of Her Majesty's acquisition of of New Zealand.
His Worship the Mayor then said: Before this ceremony is concluded I should like to give expression to what I am sure is your wish, that we should hear a few words from His Excellency Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales. (Cheers.)
Lord Carrington, on advancing to address the people, was greeted with loud cheers. He said: With great respect I return my best thanks for the compliment paid to me by this vast assembly: a compliment which I value all the more because I know that it is due to no personal merit of my own, but that it is an earnest of the good-will felt by the people of Auckland towards the colony of New South Wales, with which it is my good fortune and my pride to be so closely associated. (Cheer?.) I believe, sir, that it is a recognised thing that when strangers and travellers come into a country they consider themselves privileged to instruct and to teach. A three-days' visit entitles a man to make a speech—(laughter)—seven days to write a book—(renewed laughter and cheers), I cannot claim to be one of those gifted beings who think that they can take in a nation's future at a glance; yet, in a happy fortnight spent in this happy country, I can clearly see that you New Zealanders, by your industry, your frugality, and your perseverance, are teaching the great lesson that life is not to be lived by proxy. (Cheers.) I have seen Milford Haven (one of the wonders of the world), the Hot Lakes; your four cities of Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland; your great
The Mayor then called for three cheers for His Excellency the Governor, which were given with great enthusiasm.
Three cheers were also given for Lord Carrington, for Sir J. B. Thurston (Governor of Fiji), for the Governor's other guests and for Lady Onslow and His Excellency's family.
Mr. R. Farrell (Grand Master of the Orange Society), presented to His Excellency the following address from the Orange institution:—
To His Excellency Right Hon. Karl of Onslow, K.C.M.G.
May it please Your Excellency,—We, the members of the Orange Institution in Auckland, and loyal and devoted subjects of her Most Gracious Maesty, desire to welcome you, her representative, to our city on this auspicious occasion, being not only the Jubilee of the colony of New Zealand, but the Jubilee of the Orange Institution in this colony. We trust that the ties which bind us to the mother country will never be severed, that peace and prosperity, concord and unity, will flourish amongst us; and that nothing will tend to mar the amity which exists in this our adopted country. We feel assured that your fidelity to the laws and constitution of Great Britain and her colonies will add to the happiness of those over whom you rule, and that trade and commerce will take the place of that depression which has reigned throughout our colony for the last few years. We pray that Her Most Gracious Majesty may long reign over a loyal and law-abiding people, and "that nothing shall ever arise which might lead to even a semblance of disruption in the Empire of which she is the esteemed and exalted monarch. We right heartily welcome Your Excellency to this city, and pray the Most High to watch over yourself, your Countess, and family, and that the righteousness which exalteth a nation may spread over the length and breadth of this the land of our adoption.—We are Your Excellency's faithful and loyal servants. (Signed on behalf of the Orangemen of Auckland.)
His Excellency replied as follows: Orangemen of Auckland, I rejoice to be able to congratulate you simultaneously on the attainment of the Jubilee of the colony and of the fiftieth year of your existence as an institution in this colony. (Cheers.) You rightly assume that during my administration of the Government of New Zealand it will be my endeavour strictly to adhere to those constitutional forms of government which are so cherished by Englishmen throughout the world; but the revival of trade and commerce, of which at the present time we see such striking evidences, is controlled by influences far removed from the power of the Governor of a colony. The tendency of modern thought and statesmanship is rather towards federation and union of States for common protection and for strength, than to disruption of empire, which you so justly deprecate. (Cheers.) I shall convey to Her Majesty the Queen, with every feeling of satisfaction, the expressions of attachment to her person which come so appropriately from an institution bearing the title of a Loyal Orange Lodge. (Prolonged cheers.)
Immediately after the presentation of and reply to the Orange address, the President of the Hibernian Society (Mr. W. Beehan) and the Secretary (Mr. T. H. White), who had been standing to the left of Grand Master Farrell, shook hands with him, and with Deputy-Grand Master James Jamieson, and expressed their gratification at the unity shown on the occasion. Grand Master Farrell cordially reciprocated the sentiments expressed by these gentlemen. The incident was one of the most pleasing which occurred during the day, and gave great satisfaction to those of the general public who witnessed it.
Most of these were in Queen-street. The Waverley Hotel had a star in each window, on tinted paper, and lights placed in the windows, which had a pleasing effect. The Waitemata and Thames Hotels were tastefully decorated with Chinese lanterns, and at the latter hotel a carbonate light was displayed, which illuminated the locality and attracted a large crowd to witness it. In Custom-street East, the Britomart Hotel was brilliantly lighted with Chinese lanterns in fanciful designs. The New Zealand Insurance Co. made a fine display in their offices known as the Exchange Buildings. The whole of the windows in the façade, twenty-one in number, were blocked with tinted paper (red and blue) cut diagonally and illuminated with 800 candles. The outer bay windows on the first floor were occupied by two tasteful designs, as was the Queen-street face of the Exchange clock. The Victoria Arcade, also the company's property, had a row of Chinese lanterns along
Herald publishing office there was a design in gas jets containing the names of the journals "Herald and Weekly News," which was enclosed in a bordering of gas jets, and brilliantly lit up Lower Queen-street. In Shortland street the Evening Star was tastefully illuminated, the design illustrating the name of the journal. There was also a transparency, with the dates "paka or storehouse, canoe on the lake with its crew of paddlers, the background being filled up with a range of mountains. On the right is
Among the miscellaneous illuminations F. Williams, fruiterer, on the wharf, had a row of gas jets extended along his premises, and Messrs. Foss and Co., butchers, Victoria Luncheon Rooms, Young and Graham, confectioners; W. E. Mears, bookseller; D. Movally, fruiterer; and Messrs. Campbell, fruiterers, had decorations with Chinese lanterns.
Newmarket decorations on Jubilee night were very neat and appropriate. The fire-bell tower, with its four transparencies, was a very noticeable feature, but the main feature was the display of fireworks by the Fire Brigade. Considerable attention had been devoted to this feature by Mr. Wilson, superintendent, and the members of the Brigade, and frame works for see-saw fireworks, and other displays of a striking character were erected. A large crowd witnessed the pyrotechnic display. The Parnell Borough was certainly the most effectively perfect in the way of ornamentation. The arch across Manukau Road is a splendid feature. The evergreens and the lettering commemorative of the event are well displayed, but a very prominent figure in the centre of the arch is that of a well-dressed Maori woman. Beneath the arch a line of Chinese lanterns set off the view to advantage. Mr. Davis' toy shop and Mr. Bagley's fruit shop were also beautifully decorated with evergreens, transparencies, flags, and Chinese lanterns.
His Excellency has sent us the following, which is a copy of his reply to the cable messages from Her Majesty and the Secretary of State for the Colonies:—
"I have received the telegrams from the Queen and Her Majesty's Government. Ministers and people of New Zealand return thanks for congratulations on Jubilee.
The fiftieth Auckland Anniversary Regatta, the first of the series of Jubilee celebrations, was held to day, and was a pronounced success, though owing to the lightness of the wind the sailing contests were deprived to some extent of their interest. Owing to the attraction of the procession of friendly societies and other bodies in town the attendance was somewhat meagre during the earlier part of the forenoon, but about eleven o'clock the p.s. Enterprise was crowded every trip, and speedily filled up the two commodious flagships, the British ship Canterbury and Norwegian barque Orion, on board of which both Captains McMillan and Pettersen, as well as the members of the Regatta Committee, did all in their power to make everyone comfortable. By three o'clock both craft were lined alow and aloft with spectators of both sexes and all ages, the total number on board being estimated at fully 2000 people. Amongst the visitors in the early forenoon were Paul Tuhaere and his son Kawhiti, who rowed up from Orakei, and were received and welcomed by Captain McMillan and the members of the committee. About midday great amusement was caused by the appearance of the launch of H.M.S. Orlando manned by about 100 lolly tars, who included in their number a drum and fife band, to whose music several fantastically arrayed individuals danced and performed a variety of ludicrous antics. The scene during the afternoon was a grand one the harbour literally swarming with craft of all description, including the stately ironclad and ocean-sailing packet, the greyhoundlike whaleboat, unwieldy scow, shapely yacht, top-hampered ferry boat, and miniature cockleshells of dingies and skiffs, all of which were crowded with spectators or performers. It is pleasing to note that during all the hurrying to and fro, tacking backwards and forwards of such a multitude of vessels, that no accident of any kind has been reported, and in almost every case the races passed off without dispute. Amongst the many who worked so hard to bring the Regatta to such a successful conclusion, the names of Messrs. C. C. Dacre (secretary), H. Parker (signaller), J. F. Haultain and D. Ross (starters), J. B. Graham and J. M. Brigham (judges) are worthy of particular mention, while the officers and crew of the Canterbury and Orion were on the alert all the time to further the exertions of the committee.
The following are the office-bearers and managing committee of the Jubilee Regatta:
Patron:—J. H. Upton, Esq., Mayor of Auckland. Vice-patrons: A. E. Devore, Esq, President Jubilee Celebration Sports; M. Niccol, Esq., Chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board. President: John Marshall, Esq. Vice-president: The Manager Union Steamship Company. Committee:—Messrs. A. H. Nathan (chairman), P. Dignan, C. C. Dacre, J. J. Holland, D. F. Evans, J. Waymouth, J. F. Haultain, D. H. Ross, T. McEwin, C. Webb, R. S. Reynolds, A. Buchanan, F. W. Edwards, E. H. Montgomery, A. S. Reid, W. Skeen, J. B. Graham, J. Knox, R. Baxter, H. Parker, J. Hodgson, H. Rees George, Captains Nearing, A. Farqu'ar, and W. Farquhar. Umpire sailing races: Mr. J. Waymouth. Judge sailing races: Mr. J. B. Graham. Stater sailing races: Mr. James Haultain. Measurer: Mr. George Goldie, Hon, treasurer: Mr. J. Waymouth. Umpire rowing races: Mr. D. F. Evans. Judge rowing races: Mr. J. M. Brigham. Starter rowing races: Mr. D. H. Ross. Handicappers: The Committee. Hon. Secretary: Mr. Charles C. Dacre.
The details of the day's racing are appended:—
1st Race.—Scows (bona fide baulk timber scows, square bilges, handicap): 1st prize. £20; 2nd, £10; 3rd, £2 10s. Course: From flagship round mark boat off Lake Takapuna, thence round Drunken Bay buoy, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves thence round mark boat off Sugar Works, finishing at flagship.
Irene (D. M. Darrah), 40 tons; Ida (G. Darrah, 29 tons. The Dungarvon and Hauturu also competed. The Ida got away from her moorings first, followed by the Dungarvon, Hauturu and Irene; but the Dungarvon got a good slant, and worked down the harbour, while the others were dodging about between the flagship and the North Shore, the wind being both light and contrary to making good progress, and it was some considerable time before the vessels made their appearance round the North Head. After dark a southerly breeze sprung up and the Ida, getting a good slant, worked well up, and finished first; the Irene, second, a good way astern.
2nd Race.—Coasting Cutters (Handicap), 12 tons and under 25, and which have not been built for yachts: 1st prize, £50, and clock presented by Mr. Kelsey; 2nd. £20; 3rd, £7. Course: From flagship, thence round black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto Channel, thence round Drunken Bay buoy, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, of Judge's Bay, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Twice round.
Gannet (J. Spencer), 17 tons; Henry (J. Hodgson), 14 tons; Margaret Casey (S. Lecky). 18 tons. The Sarah and Teviot also entered. This race was very disappointing owing to the unfavourable nature of the wind. At the start the Gannet and Henry were quickly under way, and when off tie North Share the Gannet had the foremost position. On the return up the harbour the Henry had taken first place, and kept it till the finish, winning well ahead of the Gannet, the others being a good distance astern.
3rd Race.—Yachts (first-class); Yacht Club Regulations (all marks to be kept on starboard hand): 1st prize, £40, and silver cup presented by John Marshall, President Regatta Club, valued at £1515s; 2nd, £20 Course: From flagship round mark boat off Lake Takapuna, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, off Judge's Bay, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works-passing east side of black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto Channel, going and coming. Twice round.
Matangi (John Wiseman), 14.50 tons; Wenona (H. Whittaker); Ngaira (H. Haines), 847 tons; Maritana (W. Vereker Bindon), 1419 tons. From a flying start the Maritana rot away with a slight lead, the Ngaira second, the Matangi third, and the Wenona last, The Maritana went about to the north side of the flagship, but lost considerable ground, and off the Lizard the Ngaira and and Matangi were in front, fighting for windward positions. Abreast of the Devon-port wharf the Ngaira had the weather position, the Matangi being next, and the Maritana not far behind. All tacked across to Hobson's Bay, when the Matangi touched the ground, and hung for some minutes, having to lower the jib and work round, which delayed her considerably. Coming out of the bay, the Maritana assumed the lead, with the Ngaira close handy, but the latter weathered heron the next tack, and rounded the North Head first. On the return she still led, but the Maritana was at her heels, and on the run across to the Clara Hargreaves passed her, the Matangi being a good third. This order was maintained up the harbour, round the Sugar Works buoy, and until the vessels went into the Rangitoto Channel the second time. It was near dusk when they came inside North Head again, the order still being the same. With the wind almost a calm, and a strong ebb tide, progress up the harbour was very slow, but the Maritana maintained her advantage, and finished first about nine o'clock, the other pair giving up when near the Argyle, about eight p.m., their owners being under the impression that that was the latest hour at which the race could be finished.
4th Race.—Yachts (second-class); Yacht Club regulations (all marks to be kept on starboard hand): 1st prize. £20 and silver cup presented by the Colonial Insurance Company, valued at £15 15s; 2nd, £15; 3rd £3. Course: From flagship round black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto Channel, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Twice round.
Mapu (Waymouth and Son), 5 6-10 tons; Awatea (Fredk. W. Mace), 4¼ tons; Spray (A. J. S. Gibbs), 4.90 tons; Tawera (Carlaw and Stone), 7.1 tons; Juvarnia. The Awatea was first to get away, followed by the Mapu, Tawera, and Spray (with no topmast). The Juvarnia at the time of starting was on the north side of the flagship well over towards the shore, and of course was out of the running to all appearances. The Awatea, getting under the lee of the flagship, had to go about, and the Mapu shot ahead and went about to weather the Opal, the Tawera following. On the run across to Brick Bay the Tawera was sailing closer to the wind than the others. The Awatea was the first to go about, but was a long way astern, the Mapu well to windward, the Tawera following, and the Spray a long way behind. The Mapu got a good breeze out of Brick Bay, and made good running along the shore, being the first round North Head. On reappearing she still had the lead, and rounded the Clara Hargreaves fully a mile ahead of the Juvarnia, who, though starting so late, had made such progress as to take the second place, owing to making a mistake in the course. The Spray followed, leading the Tawera by a few seconds. The race resulted in a win for the Mapu, the Spray being second, Tawera third.
5th Race.—Fishing Boats, over 4 tons: 1st prize, £30; 2nd, £10: 3rd, £3. Course: from flagship round black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto Channel, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Twice round.
Caprera (J. Petonie), 8 tons: Christina (F. Williams), 8 tons; Laurina (F. Williams), 5 tons; May (D. Holland), tons; Foam (J. Quinn), 4 tons. The Caprera was first to get away, followed closely by the Laurina, and the others. The Caprera was the first to go about, the rest following, the Christina being astern a good distance. In the run across the harbour, the same positions were maintained, but on going about the Laurina took the leading place, with the Christina next, and the May a good deal astern; but the Christina was working well to windward. Off the Dock, where the boats again went about, the Christina took the foremost position, the Caprera a long way astern, followed by the Laurina. On the run up, the May had improved her position considerably, and was leading, the Laurina second, Christina third, and Caprera last. These positions were maintained up the harbour, and on the second time round, the race resulting: May, 1; Laurina, 2; Christina, 3; Caprera, 4, the Foam being a long distance astern.
6th Race.—Yachts (Third-class); Yacht Club Regulations (all marks to be kept on starboard hand). 1st prize, £20, and aneroid presented by Mr. Howden; 2nd, £10; 3rd, £2. Course: From flagship round black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto Channel, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Twice round.
Maia (W. and D. MacCormick), 3 8-10 tons; Manola (W. Holder), 3½ tons; Tangaroa (Thos. Kilfoyle), 3½ tons: Transit (H. Wright), 2.28 tons; Matea (Walter Jones). 3 9-10 tons; Isca (Henry Wilson), 3 tons. All formed into nice line, the Tangaroa being the first to get away, followed by the Maia, Transit, lsca, Matea, and Manola, the latter working well up to windward. All went about when off the Opal, the Manola taking the lead, the Maia second, the Tangaroa third, and the Transit fourth, but well to windward, and the Matea close up next, the Isca being last. When abreast of the Orlando they all went about again, heading into Brick Bay, the position being much the same, though the Maia was keeping close up to the wind, and the Manola still leading. When about off Calliope Dock the Maia had taken the lead, Tangaroa second, and the Manola third. On the return run the Manola was the first to round the North Head, Maia second, and the Isca third. On the second round the Manola still maintained the lead, but the Isca had worked up into second place, the Maia third, and the race resulted in that order.
7th Race.—Open Sailing Boats (first-class), 20 feet and above 16 feet: 1st prize, £20; 2nd, £7; 3rd, £3. Course: From flagship round red buoy off Sandspit, North Snore, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Twice round.
Era (J. Logan), 20 feet; Surprise (J. Collins), 20 feet; Ira (C. Bailey, jun.), 20feet; Alice (Kingi), 20 feet. The Alice did not start. The Era was the first to go about past the flagship, followed by the Ira and Surprise. Working across to Stanley Point the Era still kept a good lead, the wind freshening, and the Ira sailing closer to the wind than the others, the Surprise following close up, and got well to windward of the others, the Ira working away to windward. Passing Devonport Wharf the Era began to close on the Ira, and on the run up the Ira was first and the Era second, but the latter improved her position on the run down and took first place, which position was maintained, and the race resulted: Era, 1; Ira, 2; Surprise, 3.
8th Race.—Yachts (fourth-class), Yacht Club regulations (all marks to be kept on starboard hand): 1st prize, £10, and Cup presented by Messrs. P. Hay man and Co., valued at £7; 2nd, £5; 3rd, £1. Course: From flagship round black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto channel, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Finishing at flagship.
Sybil (M. Fairs), 1.52 tons; Doris (Geo. R. Webb), 1 7-10th tons; Nikau (Harold W. Hudson), 1-12 tons; Maud (R. Gibbs), 1 ton; Italy (G. P. Burton), 2 tons; Malvina (J. T. Munro). The Millie and Comet did not start. The Maud was the first away, with the Nikau, Malvina, Doris. Sybil, and Italy. On the run across the harbour these positions were maintained, but the Italy had much improved her place. As they ran along towards the dock, the Malvina crept ahead, the Maud and Nikau being next, while the Italy was well up to windward, these positions being maintained as the boats rounded the North Head. During the beat down Rangitoto Channel, some misapprehension appears to have occurred as to the proper buoy to be rounded, and the Italy, which had gained considerably, and the Doris, rounded the black buoy off the reef. The Maud, Nikau, and Sybil were the first to reappear round the North Head and pass the flagship, but it is thought that they have not gone the full course, and the Italy and Doris, which shortly after came up, are considered as first and second boats.
9th Race.—Fishing Boats, four tons and under: 1st prize, £20; 2nd, £7 10s; 3rd, £1 10s. Course: From flagship round black (Kate) buoy, Rangitoto Channel, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar Works. Finishing at flagship. Venice (J. Lomey), tons; Lita (Jas. Clare), tons; Mignonette (J. Gallagher), 3½ tons; and May (F. Williams), 3¾ tons. The May Queen also started. The May was the first to get away, slightly ahead of the Venice, the Mignonette, and the Lita, the May Queen being last. On the lead across to Brick Bay, the May took the first position, but in the run down to the dock, the Mignonette displaced the May, the Venice being some little distance behind, and the May Queen away in the rear, with but little alteration these positions were maintained round the buoy in Rangitoto Channel, and the second run round, the race resulting—Venice, 1; May 2; Mignonette, 3.
10th Race.—Open Sailing Boats (second; class), 10 feet and under: 1st prize, £15. 2nd, £10; 3rd, £2. Course: From flagship round red buoy off Sandspit, North Shore, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat off Sugar-works. Twice round.
Lively (A. Smith), 16 feet; Devonport (G. Herrington), 16 feet; Sprite (J. Rogers) 16 feet); Clyde (D. McCallum), 16 feet; Coy (J. Hammond), 16 feet: Era (W. Holmes) 16 feet; Star (J. Maxwell). 13 feet; Vic (J. Mitchell), 16 feet; Phyllis (A. J. Carr), 16 feet; May (W. Lysaght), 16 feet. This was a good race for the first, half hour or so-all being pretty close together as they went down towards the North Head. As the wind failed in the Channel they straggled badly, and several gave up. The Alice came in first after dark, with the Era second. A third boat finished, and her owner expressed his intention of protesting but we were unable to ascertain her name.
11th Race.—Men-of-War Pulling Race: 1st prize, £10; 2nd, £5; 3rd, £2. Course From flagship round red buoy off Sandspit, North Shore, thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, thence round mark boat oft Sugar Works. Twice round.
Orlando (launch), 60 men; Orlando (gig), 8 men; Orlando (galley), 8 men; Opal (galley) 8 men; Opal (pinnace), 34 men; Opal (whaler), 6 men. This was a grand race. The Orlando's galley, with eight men, took the lead, and maintained it for a considerable distance, but the gig from the same vessel, with a like crew, pressed them hard, and a desperate struggle ensued past the wharves for first place. The Opal's galley of eight men, and the Orlando's launch containing over 60 rowers, had a similar determined contest for third place. The tars, as they passed the shins and wharves, were repeatedly cheered, and responded by some grand spurting. The race finally resulted:—Orlando's gig, 1; Orlando's galley, 2; Opal's galley, 3; Orlando's launch, 4; Opal's whaler, 5; Opal's pinnace, 6
12th Race.—Men-of-War Gigs: 1st prize, £7; 2nd, £4; 3rd, £1. Course: From flagship, thence round steamer Argyle, thence round hulk Senator, finishing at flagship.
Orlando, first whaler; Orlando, second whaler; Orlando, despatch boat; Orlando, marines' whaler; Opal, whaler; Lizard, gig. This was another exciting event, and all the crews worked with great vigour throughout the contest. The Lizard's gig was allowed 11 seconds start, but got no nearer than fifth, the Opal winning rather easily. The result was:—Opal's whaler, 1;Orlando's 1st whaler, 2; Orlando's despatch boat 3; Orlando's 2nd whaler, 4; Lizard's gig, 5; Orlando's marines' whaler, 6.
13th Race.—Men-of-War Cutters: 1st prize, £10; 2nd, £5. Course: From flagship round mark buoys, thence round hulk Senator, finishing at flagship. Orlando (No. 1), Orlando (No. 2), Opal, Lizard. Shortly after this event started the Orlando's two cutters had slightly the lead, and on the return past the wharves were neck-and-neck, pulling desperately. The Lizard's, however, were close behind going well, and, rounding the Senator smartly, got ahead, and won a very exciting race, the positions being:—Lizard's cutter, 1; Orlando's 2nd cutter, 2; Orlando's 1st cutter, 3; Opal's cutter, 4.
14th Race.—Champion Whaleboats: 1st prize, £100; 2nd, £35. Course: From starting boat off Point Resolution, thence round mark boats off St. Mary's Point, finishing at flagship.
Thames Rowing Club: W. Woodward, 1; J. Johnstone, 2; H. Slade, 3; H. Gallagher, 4; J. Johnstone, stroke; T. Rolton, steer-oar. Hauraki Rowing Club: S. Lowrie, R. Lowrie, A. Fisher, G. Tetley, H. Brownlee, and W. Rolton steer-oar. Waitemata Rowing Club: J. Collins, 1; T. B. O'Connor, 2; G. Barrett, 3; R. Moore, 4; M. Keefe, stroke; E. Moore, steer-oar. City Rowing Club: C. W. Pennalligan, 1: G. Bowles, 2; A. Harvey, 3; R. White, 4; W. Brophy, stroke; L. Skinner steer-oar. West End Rowing Club: F. W. Edwards, N. McLean. O. Wells, J. Whitticombe, J. Payne, stroke, A. Bailey steer-oar. This race, which was considered the event par excellence of the day was postponed for the arrival of the Vice-Regal party in the Nautilus, and was not started till about half-past four p.m. Mr. Ross got the five crews on very even terms, but the West End, which had the inshore position, rowing at a great pace, soon took the lead, the City men being slightly ahead of the Waitemata, who were third, the Hauraki being a length ahead of the Thames. When a couple of hundred yards had been traversed, the Waitemata had caught up to the City, but West End were still ahead; and off St. Barnabas Point the positions were:—West End, 1st; Waitemata, 2nd; City and Hauraki level, 3rd; Thames 5th. Both West End and Waitemata were rowing strongly, and in good time, but the City were a bit jerky, and Haurakislow in recovery. Off Mechanics' bay Waitemata had gained somewhat on the West End, and Hauraki had dispossessed City of third place, and the Thames were now level with the latter, all pulling hard against the ebb tide, and the coxswain of each boat backing up the stroke. Off the Senator hulk, Waitemata had got on terms with the leader, and settling down to their work drew steadily away and by the time the Railway wharf was reached daylight was apparent between the two boats. Between the Senator and the wharves both the City and West End crews were interfered with greatly by the ferry steamer Britannia running too close, and I giving them her backwash. Passing the Queen-street wharf, the Waitemata's, who were the favourites, were heartily cheered by the crowds on the pier, and the West End going strongly about two lengths behind, were also applauded. From this point out the race hardly needs description as the Waitemata and West End drew clear away from the other competitors, and rounded the buoys considerably in advance. The race resulted in Waitemata being first about 12 engths ahead of West End; behind these came Hauraki about 7 lengths further astern. Thames were 5 lengths behind their confreres, and the City last distanced. The victors were received with lengthened applause as they passed the flagships and wharves.
15th Race.—Naval Volunteer and Permanent Force Cutters (12-oared), which have been built for cutters: 1st prize, £30; 2nd, £15. Course: From flagship, thence round steamer Argyle, thence round hulk Senator, finishing at flagship. Chanticleer (Auckland Naval Artillery), Hinemoa (Auckland Naval Artillery), Jubilee (Thames Naval Artillery). Two crews from the Auckland Corps and one from the Thames competed. On the up journey they kept fairly even for a time, but on rounding the Argyle it was seen that the Hinemoa (the A.N.A.'s new boat) had the lead, and this was maintained to the finish, the Jubilee (Thames) being second, a couple of lengths behind, and the Chanticleer last.
16th Race.—Merchant Vessels' Gigs (4 oared), to be rowed by bona fide crew: Prize. £10. Course: From flagship, thence round steamer Argyle, thence round hulk Senator, finishing at flagship. Orion, Canterbury, Waimea. This was a first-rate race between the Canterbury and the Orion. The Canterbury was the first to get away, closely followed by the Orion. On the run up the Canterbury kept well ahead, and rounded the Argyle first, about a minute ahead of the Orion, the Waimea being a long way astern. Passing the Queen-street wharf the Canterbury had considerably increased her lead, and the Senator was rounded in the same order, and finished in the same order, about equal distances apart.
17th Race.—Whaleboats, to be rowed by junior amateur members of any recognised rowing club, and whose weight does not exceed 10 stone. Course: From Railway Wharf round mark boats off St. Mary's Point, finishing at flagship. West End Rowing Club: R. Dowden, C. Farquhar, H. Stevenson, J. Williamson, J. Clark, W. Scott, steer-oar. Ponsonby Rowing Club: A. Cook, A. McIndoe, A. Finlayson, Wm. Scott, G. Mackenzie. City Rowing Club: W. J. Evers, H. Barton, A. J. Parker, C. Otto, H. McNaughton, L. Skinner, steer-oar. Hauraki Rowing Club: W. Webb, J. Bradshaw, A. Rae. A. Brown, F. Brown, W. Rolton, steer-oar. North Shore Rowing Club: R. Logan, G. Chester, F. Chamberlain, H. Grattan, D. Harvey, A. Logan, steer-oar. All were despatched to an even start, but by the time the Queen-street Wharf was reached St. George's, which had the inshore position, were ahead, North Shore being second and Hauraki third. The leading boat increased her distance on the journey up the harbour, but owing to a passing cutter obscuring one of the buoys, mistook her proper mark. She, however, gained no advantage by the error, and won by eight or nine lengths, North Shore second, and Hauraki third. The last-named has pro-
18th Race.—Whaleboats, to be rowed by amateur maiden oarsmen (Rowing Association definition) of any recognised rowing club: 1st prize, £15; 2nd, £5. Course: From Railway Wharf round mark boats off St. Mary's Point, finishing off flagship.
City Rowing Club: J. McDonnell, A. Eagle-ton, J. Miller, W. Lawson, J. Halpin, L. Skinner, steer-oar. Poverty Bay Rowing Club: Walters (stroke), Marshall, Hansen, Walters, Adeane. Waitemata Boating Club: C. McDonald, R. Stewart, T. O'Neill, J. Conway, M. McLeod, Moore, steer-oar. St. George's Rowing Club: F. Jervis, E. Anderson, A. E. Whyte, W. E. Thomas-Burton, H. Sanders, steer-oar. North Shore Rowing Club: B. Lambert, F. Brown, W Brown, C. Marshall, Otway, A. Logan, steer-oar. Ponsonby Rowing Club: J Cole, E. Tate, P. W. Scott, D. Cole. S. Bowden Hauraki Rowing Club: R. Inglis, J. Simpson, W. Anderson, J. Anderson, W. Moor-craft, W. Rolton, steer-oar. This, like the other rowing events, was a well-contested event, but the inshore craft had, owing to the strong ebb-tide, a considerable advantage. The Hauraki crew went away with the lead shortly after the wharf had been passed, and Ponsonby was second. Waitemata and St. George's crew fought hard for third place, and when the buoys had been rounded had run into second place, arid this order was maintained to the finish, the result being Hauraki, 1; Waitemata, 2.
The Jubilee meeting of the Takapuna Jockey Club was held to-day on the new racecourse. The attendance was the largest that has ever assembled under the auspices of the club, there being fully 6000 people present. The weather was warm, but enjoyable.
During the afternoon His Excellency Lord Onslow accompanied by Lord Carrington and Lord Scott, Mr. Upton the Mayor, and Mr. Devore, arrived on the ground. They were received by the Hon. Mr. Mitchelson, president of the club, and by the stewards, and were entertained at a luncheon spread in a marquee, and provided in the very best style by Mr. Robson, of the Commercial Dining Rooms. Amongst the guests at dinner besides those enumerated were Colonel Hume, Sir F. Whitaker, Mr. Meysey Thompson, Messrs. J. Marshall, J. Coates, J. M. Phil-son, Mr. P. A. Philips, town clerk, Captain Saville, A.D.C., and others. The Hon. Mr. Mitchelson, as president, occupied the chair, and proposed the health of His Excellency Lord Onslow. His Excellency suitably replied, and proposed prosperity to the Takapuna Jockey Club. The health of Lord Carrington and Admiral Scott were suitably honoured. The distinguished guests were only able to remain on the course for a short time, and on driving off they were greeted with warm and enthusiastic cheering. The following are the results of the races:
Handicap Maiden Plate of 30sovs. For all horses that have not won an advertised race exceeding 25sovs. One mile.
Possum (8st 12lb), Hune (7st 10lb), Orakei (7st 10lb), and Stamford (7st), also ran. Winifred, Parnell, Te Kooti, Phantom, and Elena were scratched. After several rather annoying breaks, Mr. Wattie despatched the field to a good start, and Fairy Queen went off to the front, followed by Rataplan and Hune. Fairy Queen held command to the home turn, where Torment came up with a great rush, and Rataplan also put in a strong claim, the result being a magnificent race up the straight, Torment passing Fairy Queen at the post, and winning by half-a-length; Rataplan a close third. Time, 1m. 49s. There were 418 investors on the totalisator of whom 126 were on the winner, and the dividend was £2 19s. Rataplan was the favourite.
Novel Race of 20sovs. Winner to be sold immediately after the race. Lowest weight 8st 7lb. Five and a-half furlongs.
Mr. J. Davies' b m Westmore also ran. A number of horses entered were scratched. Octopus started a warm favourite. The start was a good one, but Octopus at once took command of affairs, and when the back of the course was reached he had a lead of three lengths, his closest attendant then being Badger; but, maintaining his position to the finish, he won by three lengths, about the same distance separating second and third. West mere was outpaced from the start Time, 1m. 15s. Totalisator investments, £220; 125 on Octopus; dividend, £1 11s. The winner was bought in by the owner for £20.
Handicap Hurdles of 75sovs; second horse to receive 5sovs out of stakes; over eight flights of hurdles. Two miles.
Recruit (10st 9lb), Messenger (10st 4lb) Rossiter (10st), Black Joe (9st 8lb) Par-
Zealandia Handicap, of 40sovs. Second horse to receive 5sovs out of stakes. Five furlongs.
Tupake (9st), Raglan (9st), Capella (7st 8lb), Blarney (7st 4lb), and Torment (6st), also ran. Tamora and Badger were scratched. Teksum, although top weight, was favourite on the machine and in the betting. Mr. Wattiesent his field away to a moderate start. They all swept round the track of the course in a cluster, but then the leading division cut out the pace so merrily that the others were left behind, and one of the most magnificent struggles ensued in the straight which has been seen here for many years. Prudence secured a victory by half-a-head from Dolosa, and Dolosa beat Teksum by half-a-head for second place, so that only a head separated the first from the third, and the time was 1m. 9s. There was £588 on the totalisator, of which only £25 was invested on the winner, and the dividend was £21 3s.
Takapuna Jubilee Cup Handicap of 150sovs. Second horse to receive 15sovs, third horse 5sovs. Winner of any handicap of 50sovs after the declaration of weights to carry a penalty of 5lbs extra; of 100sovs, 7lbs extra. One mile and a-half.
Leorina (8st 2lb) also ran, and was equal favourite with Patchwork. Tamora, Capella, and Torment were scratched. Loch Ness was the first away when the flag fell, followed by Patchwork and Montrose, but at the back of the course Patchwork fell back, and Leorina ran into third place, and maintained a handy position for about half a mile, but when on the final round the back of the course was reached she gave up and Loch Ness went off with a commanding lead, but Montrose and Patchwork put in a strong claim at the finish and a most exciting struggle took place. The judge awarded the victory to Loch Ness by a head, Montrose beating Patchwork by a neck. Time, 2m. 47s. There was £878 on the totalisator, 130 on the winner, and the dividend was £6 1s.
Handicap Pony Race of 25sovs. Second horse to receive 5sovs out of stakes. Six furlongs and a-half.
Fifteen others also started, and, as might be expected, there was a great deal of difficulty in getting such a large field away in order; but after several ineffectual attempts they were let away in fair order, Little Hilda going to the front, followed by Orphan and Belvidere, Grace Darling, the favourite, holding a good position. The little horses held well together, and after a splendid contest in the straight Lottery just won by a neck, Grace Darling being a close third. Time, 1m 31s. There was £792 on the totalisator, of which only £26 was on the winner, and the dividend was £27 8s.
Handicap Steeplechase, of 150sovs. Second horse to receive 15sovs, third horse 5sovs out of stakes. About three and a-half miles.
Recruit (10st 7lb), and Larrikin (9st 7lb) also ran. Orangeman. Parnell, and Hero were scratched. Nearly every horse starting was well backed, but Recruit had perhaps the call in the betting, although Takapau had again a strong support, and Messenger was not left without backers. When the flag dropped Recruit went to the front, and led over the double hurdles, but here Takapau shot out, and took the lead round the flat, with Recruit second, and Messenger, even at this early stage showed a disposition to maintain a determined rear guard. Takapau led up the hill followed by Recruit and Rossiter, but on clearing the water jump, Recruit was first, his rival Takapau being second. At the back of the flat course Larrikin came into the front, and led up the hill, followed by Takapau and Recruit, and this order was maintained to the water jump, where Larrikin fell and Recruit took the lead round the fiat. There was not very material alteration in the next round, Recruit leading over the water, with Takapau and Rossiter in close companionship. The two leaders joined issue in the home turn on the flat, and then ensued one of the most peculiar exhibitions of jockey ship that has been witnessed for some time. It could be seen that Johnson, on Tapakau, and Fergus, on Recruit, were devoting their attention to each
Selling Race of 30sovs. Five furlongs.
Fragrance (8st 2lb), Onslow (7st 4lb), and Lady Lonsdale (6st 7lb) also ran. Capella jumped away when the flag fell, and won easily by two lengths. The winner was bought by Mr. J B. Williamson for £41. The totalisator dividend was £13.
Anniversary Handicap of 80sovs. Second horse to receive 10sovs out of stakes. Winner of the Zealandia Handicap or Takapuna Cup to carry a penalty of 5lb extra, or both, 7lbs extra. 6 furlongs.
Tamora (7st 8lb), Rataplan (6st 12lb), Torment (6st), and Fairy Queen (6st), also ran. Dolosa and Leorina were quickest away, and the pair raced on terms till nearing the home turn, here Teksum put in his claim, and an interesting struggle down the straight resulted in a win for Musket's son. Dividend, £3 2s.
Of course the fracas and complaints in regard to the riding of Fergus and Johnson in the Steeplechase could not be overlooked, and the stewards held an inquiry and took evidence, the outcome of which was that the following letter has been forwarded to the Auckland Racing Club:—"In the Handicap Steeplechase a complaint was laid by Mr. J. J.Russell, the owner of Takapau, against Fergus, the rider of Recruit, for wilful interference with the horse; and after evidence was taken, the following decision was given:—'That S. Fergus, the rider of Recruit, be disqualified for three months, and one month for striking Johnson, the rider of Takapau; and that Johnson, the rider of Takapau, be cautioned for striking Fergus with his whip in the race while he held the bridle of Takapau.'"
Mr. Featherston, owner of the fine steam yacht Nautilus, kindly placed his vessel at the disposal of the Entertainment Committee, ana they resolved to employ it in taking His Excellency and party to Devonport to see the races there, then to visit the flagship, and to follow the Whaleboat Race. At two o'clock the steamer left the old ferry tee. Amongst those on board were:—Hon. Sir F. Whitaker, Hon. Mr. Mitchelson, Hon. Mr. Hislop, His Worship the Mayor, Messrs. Devore, Rees George, R. Cameron, J. Marshall, A. S. Russell, J. Coates, and Captain Anderson. The Nautilus was steered throughout the day by her owner; and ticklish navigation it was sometimes, as the harbour was simply alive with craft of all kinds. She went alongside the Orlando, where the Governor and party were, and waited for a few minutes, as Lords Onslow and Carrington were watching with keen interest the race in which the boats of the men-o'-war were engaged. After this was concluded they embarked on the Nautilus, and steamed rapidly to the Devonport Wharf. Here His Worship the Mayor of Devonport (Mr. M. Niccol) was in waiting, with carriages to convey the party to the race-ground. Lord Onslow was accompanied by Captain Savile and Mr. Meysey-Thompson, while with Admiral Lord Charles Scott was Flag-lieu'enant Fitzgerald. All the party were, of course, in mufti. They were conducted to seats on the grand stand by Mr. Mitchelson, who is President of the Taka-puna Jockey Club, and Mr. Niccol, who is the Vice-president, and shortly after their arrival, Mr. E. W. Alison, chairman of the stewards, and Mr. W. H. Fenton were introduced to their Excellencies and Admiral Scott. They then saw the race for the Takapuna Jubilee Cup, which was a capital one. Shortly after the party were invited to the Marquee, where an excellent luncheon was set out. Time, however, allowed of only a few toasts being drunk. His Excellency the Governor asked those present to drink the toast of "Prosperity to the Takapuna Jockey Club." The Hon. Mr. Mitchelson then proposed the health of His Excellency the Governor and Mr. M. Niccol then proposed the health of Lord Carrington, and Major: George proposed the health of Admiral Lord Charles Scott. The party were then driven to the wharf, and the Nautilus steamed for the flagship. Arrived there, they went into the cabin, when Mr. J. Marshall, as president of the Regatta Club, proposed the health of His Excellency the Governor, Rear-Admiral Lord Charles Scott, and of Lord Carrington. His Excellency acknowledged the compliment, and proposed "Success to the Regatta Committee." After a brief stay on board of the flagship the Nautilus left, and followed the course of the whaleboat race. When this was concluded, Lords Onslow and Carrington and Admiral Scott were landed at the Queen street Wharf.
A Jubilee Chick Show, under the auspices of the Auckland Poultry, Pigeon, Canary, and Dog Association, was opened on Jan. 29 at the Columbia Rink. The Show was excellent in respect both to the number of birds shown in all classes and to their quality. Some fine specimens of poultry were shown, and in pigeons and canaries there were first-class exhibits. The officers were:—Poultry classes: Judge, Mr. F. Rogan (Wellington); steward, Mr. C. Philipps. Pigeons: Judges, Messrs. W. C. Arthur and J. J. Craig; steward, Mr. J. F. Logan. Canaries: Judges, Messrs. G. Cruickshank and J. E. White; steward, Mr. E. Haywood. The following is the prize list:—
Poultry.—Black-breasted red game, under twelve months—Cockerel: Craig and Duane, 1st and 2nd prizes: C. L. Wright, very highly commended. Pullet: Craig and Duane, 1st and 3rd prizes; F. Holmes, 2nd. Black-breasted red game, under six months—Cockerel: Craig and Duane, 1st and 2nd prizes;J. L. Pattison, 3rd. Pullet: Craig and Duane, 1st and 3rd prizes; J. L. Pattison and; C. A. Fawcett (two exhibits), very highly commended. Pile, under twelve months—Pullet: F. Holmes, 1st and 2nd prizes. Pile game, under six months—Cockerel: J Coleman, 1st prize. Pullet: J. Coleman, 1st and 2nd prizes. Duck wing game, under six months—Cockerel: Craig and Duane, 1st prize; W. Rowe, 2nd. Pullet: W. Rowe, 1st prize; W. Hogg, 2nd. Malay Game, under six months—Pullet: Craig and Duaue, 1st prize. White Dorkings, under twelve months—Cockerel: T. and F. Stainton. 1st prize. White Dorkings, under six months—Cockerel and pullet; T. and F. Stainton, 1st prize. Buff or cinnamon Cochins, under twelve months—Cockerel; Colonel Dawson, 1st and 2nd prizes; E. Haywood, 3rd. Pullet: E. Haywood, 1st prize; Reid Brothers, Motutapu, 2nd and 3rd. Buff or cinnamon Cochin, under six months—Cockerel and pullet: Reid Brothers, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes; J. Hungerford, very highly commended. Partridge Cochins, under twelve months—Cockerel: W. F. Buckland, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Pullet: W. F Buckland, 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. Partridge Cochins, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: W. F. Buckland, 1st and 2nd prizes; P. R. Syers, 3rd prize, and another exhibit very highly commended. Dark Brahmas, under twelve mouths—Cockerel: W. F. Buckland, 1st. 2nd, and 3rd prizes; G. Towler, very highly commended. Pullet: W. F. Buckland, 1st and 3rd prizes; G. Towler, 2nd. Dark Brahmas, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: Reid Brothers, 1st and 2nd prizes: G. Towler, 3rd: W. F. Buckland, very highly commended. Light Brahmas, under twelve months—Cockerel: B. H. Clow, 1st and 2nd prizes. Pullet: B. H. Clow, 1st prize. Light Brahmas, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: B. H. Clow, 1st and 2nd prizes; Mrs. G. Cave, 3rd, and another exhibit very highly commended. Black Langshans, under six months—Cockerel and pullet: J. Armitage, 1st prize. Plymouth Rocks, under twelve months—Cockerel: T. Gresham, 1st prize. Pullet: Mrs. T. Hyde, 1st prize; T. Phillipps, 1st and 2nd prizes. Plymouth Rocks, under six months—Cockerel and pullet: T. Phillipps, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes; E. Haywood, two exhibits very highly commended. Wyandottes, laced, under twelve months—Cockerel: Mrs. T. Hyde, 1st prize. Pullet: Mrs. T. Hyde, 1st prize: Miss Elsie Haszard, 2nd; Horace Haszard, 3rd. Wyandottes, laced, under 12 months—Cockerel and Pullet: Audus Raynes, 1st and 2nd prizes; J. C. Spinley, 3rd. Black Spanish, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: J. Lowe, .1st and 3rd prizes, and another exhibit very highly commended; P. J. L. Smith, 2nd. Andalusians, under 12 months—Cockerel: Dr. Parkinson, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Pullet: W. Emery, 1st prize; Dr. Parkinson, 2nd and 3rd. Andalusians, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: Dr. Parkinson, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Black Minorcas, under 12 months—cockerel: Dr. Parkinson, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Pullet: Dr. Parkinson, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Black Minorcas, under six months—cockerel and pullet—Dr. Parkinson, 1st prize. Golden-pencilled Hamburgs, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: E. Haywood, 1st and 2nd prizes. Silver-spangled Hamburgs, under twelve months—Cockerel: F. A. White, 1st and 3rd prizes; R. Young, 2nd. Pullet: R. Young 1st prize; F. A. White, 2nd. Silver-spangled Hamburgs, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: F. A. White, 1st pri e. Golden-spangled Polands, under twelve months—Cockerels: F. A. White, 1st prize. Pullet: F. A. White, 1st prize. Gold en-spangled Polands, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: F. A. White, 1st prize. Silver-spangled Polands, under twelve months—Cockerel: F. A. White, 1st prize. Pullet: F. A. White, 1st and 2nd prize. Silver-spangled Polands, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: F. A. White, 1st prize. Houdans, under twelve months—Pullet: E. Mander, 1st prize; W. Waddel. 2nd. Houdans, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: G Taylor, 1st prize; W. Grey, 2nd; W. Coop, 3rd. White Leghorns, under twelve months—Cockerel: J. Armitage, 1st prize; H. G. Garlick, 2nd; A. E. Dewes, 3rd. Pullet: H. G. Garlick. 1st and 2nd prizes. White Leghorns, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: Henry Wade, 1st prize; Strong and Son, 2nd; H. G. Garlick, 3rd; A. G. Baker, W. Grey, and J. Milden-hall, very highly commended. Brown Leg horns, under twelve months—Cockerel: W F. Buckland. 1st prize; A. E Dewes, 2nd Pullet: A. E. Dewes, 1st prize. Brown Leghorn, under six mouths—Cockerel and Pullet: A. E. Dewes, 1st and 2nd prizes; W. F. Buckland, 3rd. Black Javas, under six months—Cockerel and Pullet: A. E. Dewes, 1st and 2nd prizes. Black or brown-breasted red game bantams under twelve
Pigeons, under six months.—Dragoons, any colour—cock: G. Ford, 1st, and another exhibit highly commended. Hen: J. Walker, commended. Antwerps, short-faced, blue or silver—cock: J. Walker, 2nd; J. J. Knight, 3rd. Hen: J. Walker, 1st. Barbs, any colour—cock: Waddel and Bartley, 1st and 2nd prizes; E. J. Sexton, 2nd. Hen: Waddel and Bartley, 1st and 2nd prizes, G. H. Siddle, 3rd. Pouters, any colour—Cock: J. T. Knight, 1st prize; and another exhibit commended. Hen: J. T. Knight, 1st prize. Jacobins, red or yellow—Cock: G. Towler, 1st and 2nd prizes. Hen: J. Walker, 1st prize; and another exhibit commended. Nuns, and variety—Cock: H. Wilson, 1st prize; C. Newton, highly commended. Hen: H. Wilson, 2nd prize. Magpies, any variety—Cock: E. Colson, 1st and 3rd prizes. Hen: J. Walker, 1st and 2nd prizes. Fantails, English, white—Cock: A. H. Grainger, 1st and 2nd prizes. Hen: H. Parkinson, 1st prize; A. H. Grainger, commended. Fan-tails, Scotch, white—Cock: J. Walker, 1st and 2nd prizes. Hen: J. Walker, 1st and 2nd prizes. Owl, any variety—Cock: T. Todd, 1st and 2nd prizes. Hen: T. Todd, 1st and 2nd prizes. Tumblers, short-faced, almond—Cock: J. Walker, 1st and 2nd prizes. Hen: H. Wilson, 1st prize. Feather-legged tumblers—Cock: J. Walker, 1st prize. Hen: J. Walker, 1st and 2nd prizes. Ringdoves: H. A. French, 2nd prize. Selling class, any breed: G. Ford, 1st prize; J. Walker, 2nd and 3rd prizes.
Canaries, under six months.—Norwich, clear yellow, cock or hen: W. Coe, 1st prize; J. Pithketley, 2nd; T. Shewring, 3rd, Norwich yellow, marked or variegated, cock or hen: T. Shewring, 1st prize; C. A. Fawcett, 2nd. Norwich, yellow, ticked, cock or hen: C. A. Fawcett, 1st prize; W. Rosser, 2nd Norwich, clear buff, cock or hen: C. A. Fawcett, 1st prize; W. Rosser, 2nd. Norwich, buff, cock or hen: C. A. Fawcett, 1st prize; W. Forgie, 2nd; W. Rosser, 3rd. Norwich, buff, marked or variegated, cock or hen: W. Rosser, 1st prize; T. Shewring, 2nd; C. A. Fawcett, 3rd. Norwich, dark crested, yellow or buff, cock or hen: C. A. Fawcett, 1st prize. Cinnamon, yellow, cock or hen: W. Sowden, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes Cinnamon, buff, cock or hen: W. Sowden, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Cinnamon, yellow or buff: W. Forgie, 1st prize; C. A. Fawcett, 2nd. Green canaries, cock or hen: W. Forgie, 1st prize; W. Sowden, 2nd and 3rd. Any other variety: W. Forgie, 1st prize; J. Pithkethley, 2nd. Selling class, any variety, cock: C. A. Fawcett, 1st prize. Hen: C. A. Fawcett, 1st prize.
Other Cage Birds.—Goldfinch, mule, cock or hen: G. Ford, 1st prize; W. Rosser, 2nd; J. Harrison, 3rd, and another exhibit highly commended. Any other variety of finch, cock or hen: W. Forgie, 1st and 2nd prize; C. A. Fawcett, 3rd. Parrots, any variety, large: R. G. Cox, 1st prize.
Champion Prizes.—The following exhibitors gained champion prizes with the birds which won first prizes in their respective sections:—Craig and Duane, black-breasted red game cockerel, under twelve months, champion in classes 1 to 32; Colonel Dawson, buff or cinnamon cockerel, under twelve months, champion in classes 42 to 59; Mrs. T. Hyde, laced Wyandotte pullet, under twelve months, champion in classes 60 to 79, and in classes 120 to 122; F. A. White, silver-spangled cockerel, champion in classes 84 to 101; E. Mander, Houdan pullet, under twelve months, champion in classes 102 to 113; Henry Wade, white cockerel, under six months; G. Towler, golden Sebright cockerel; and pullet, under six months, champion in classes 129 to 143; Reid Brothers, pair of Rouen ducks, under six months; Waddel and Bartley, barb pigeon, hen, champion in classes 164 to 176; J. Walker, Scotch fan-tail, white, hen, champion in classes 177 to 210; W. Coe, Norwich canary, clear yellow; W. Sowden, cinnamon canary, yellow.
A number of birds were also entered for exhibition only.
The team of cricketers from New South Wales, whose visit has been eagerly looked forward to for some time past, arrived from Sydney on Wednesday forenoon, by the s.s. Arawata. As soon as the vessel reached the wharf a number of the leading cricketers, including Messrs McKinney, Beale, Lusk, Cheeseman, Fowke, and others, proceeded on board and offered the "Cornstalks" a hearty welcome to our shores. Upon getting their luggage on shore, the New South Welshmen, in company with a number of local players, were taken to their quarters at the Governor Browne Hotel, Hobson-street. The visitors, with the exception of their captain, Mr. J. Davis, who suffered greatly from mal de-mer, appear to have had a very pleasant passage, and all speak in high terms of the treatment they received from the officers on board. They were greatly pleased with the beautiful scenery of our harbour. The grand display of bunting, and crowded wharves, shipping, and ferryboats also appeared to make an impression upon their minds. After lunch the New South Wales players were escorted to the Domain cricket ground, via the Cemetery bridge, from which they admired the beautiful scenery, the large ferns especially taking their fancy. About a couple of hours' practice was indulged in, and considering that our visitors were fresh from a sea voyage, the form displayed was first-rate.
The Government offices, banks, insurance and lawyers' offices, and most of the wholesale establishments and factories, were closed to-day in celebration of the Jubilee. There was no demonstration. The Wesleyan Conference to-day decided to send a telegram to the Mayor of Auckland congratulating the citizens of Auckland on the Jubilee.
To-day was observed as a general holiday, but outside the Exhibition, which was largely attended, there were no special attractions. The harbour excursions were largely patronised, and some thousands visited the waterfalls in Leith Valley. The weather was splendid until late in the afternoon, when it turned somewhat cold.
The great interest which has been aroused in regard to the celebration of the Jubilee of the colony in Auckland was evidenced in a most unmistakable manner by the great crowds of holiday-makers which assembled at the North Shore this afternoon to witness the events of the second day's celebration, which consisted of a swimming carnival at Calliope Dock, Maori canoe races along the shore, and native war dances at Takapuna. From long before noon the ferry steamers were packed with living freight, and it is estimated that there were over 20,000 spectators congregated along the foreshore of Devonport, during the afternoon. At Takapuna, though Mr. Thomas Porter and his contingent of Waikato natives were present and eager to carry out their promised dancing, its execution was sadly marred by the senseless crushing of the crowd, and the absence of a properly protected enclosure was very apparent. It was intended that an address from the Waikatos should be presented to the Governor by Major Te Wheoro at Takapuna, but owing to the great crowding, this pleasing incident had to be omitted altogether.
Owing to the great crowd of yachts, cutters, and steamboats, which, during the afternoon, congregated off the foreshore in the vicinity of the dock, it was found impracticable to run the Maori events as originally intended, and by common consent the natives themselves agreed to postpone the war canoe race till next afternoon. Mr. Thos. Porter had his men ready for the races for a long time, and having no means of clearing a course, at last despatched a small canoe to the middle of the harbour as a mark boat. Four whakatiwais, all manned by full crews of half-naked Maoris, all decorated with feathered headgear, etc., then started on a race, and a stirring scene was witnessed as the dusky paddlers, gradually increasing their pace, swayed to and fro in perfect unison, to the wild chants of the excited fuglemen in the centre of each craft. Through a mistake natural enough under the circumstances, two only went for the proper mark, but a splendid race between them took place, and resulted in the Momoni, manned by the Huntly hapu, winning by about half a length from the Pupirikana, whose crew also hailed from Huntly. The Tarai Puruku, with a crew of Rangiriri Maoris, and the Ruahori, manned by Kainara men, went along the foreshore towards the dock, and had a good race to themselves.
The Maori war dance was looked forward to as a feature of the Jubilee celebrations. At the hour fixed for the dance, four o'clock, there was a large concourse of people gathered on the racecourse. The small grandstand was crowded with persons eager to witness the performance, and even the steps of the stand from top to bottom were closely packed. When the Maoris arrived on the scene they were taken to the centre of the field, inside the racecourse. They were, however, soon surrounded by a crowd of people, and it was found impossible to keep the spectators back, in order that the dance might begin. There were only two or three policemen present, and they were practically useless in the matter of keeping back the public. No provision, indeed, had been made to preserve a clear space for the Maoris. There was no portion of the ground fenced or roped off, as might easily, of course, have been done. The Maoris finding it impossible to dance in the field, moved forward to the racecourse proper in front of the grandstand. Here again the the or three police, aided by a few civilians and some of the Maoris, vainly attempted to keep back the crowd. The native women numbering about 50, all attired in light flowing garments, started one of their dances, and the performance was loudly applauded by the assembled multitude, but they were soon compelled to desist dancing, owing to the crowd crushing in upon them. The men then attempted to give a war dance, but were unable to do so in consequence of the people pressing in on them. The natives who were to have given the war dance numbered about 250, and these were all Waikatos. It appears that there was some disagreement between the Ngapuhis and the Waikatos, and the result was that the former did not put in an appearance. The dusky warriors were gradually forced along the racecourse towards the road, until they at last became disgusted and left the ground, much to the disappointment and annoyance of the spectators. His Excellency the Governor arrived on the ground shortly after four o'clock. He was accompanied by his suite, and Admiral Lord Charles Scott, Sir John and Lady Thurston, and several members of the Reception Committee. No special provision bad been made for the Governor and his party, and they had to crush through the crowd on the steps of the grandstand in order to reach a place where they could get a view. After the Maoris gave up their attempt to dance, the Rarotongan natives performed one of their strange dances on a small space which they managed to secure just below the stand.
It was intended that as to-day was to be especially a day for Maori events that a procession of the natives now quartered at the North Shore should take place at ten o'clock, and the Artillery Band was in waiting at that hour to march them off on their arrival at the Queen-street Wharf. It was not, however, until eleven that the natives arrived, in charge of Mr. Porter. There were 150 of them, all Waikato natives, the North-em natives not taking any part in the proceedings. They were soon formed it line,
His Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. H. Upton) received the following telegram from Christchurch to-day:—"The Wesleyan Conference congratulates the citizens of Auckland on this auspicious day, and rejoices with them in their celebration of the Jubilee of the colony." The Mayor has sent the following reply:—"To the Rev. William Lee Secretary Wesleyan Conference, Christchurch. On behalf of citizens of Auckland, I return you sincere thanks for your kind message of congratulation.—J. H. Upton, Mayor."
A Jubilee gathering of the Band of Hope Union was held this evening, at St. James's Hall. Mr. E. Withy, M.H.R., occupied the chair, and there was a good attendance. The Band of Hope Union children on the stage made a fine display. A very pleasant programme, consisting of songs and recitations, was successfully rendered.
The Minister for Native Affairs, the Hon. E. Mitchelson, has received the following communication from Major Kemp, which the latter desired to present to His Excellency the Governor at Wellington, but which he has now forwarded to him and the Jubilee Committee at Auckland:—
Wanganui, mana and her favour to these two islands, called New Zealand. The proof of which is the Treaty of Waitangi. "In my opinion this is a fitting time to confirm the unity of New Zealand and England under the mana and favour of Queen Victoria and her chieftainship for ever and ever." Sir,—Th s is an urgent word of mine to you, or rather to you and the Governor: Do you cablegraph these words above written, and I will pay for it, although it may cost ten or twenty pounds—"that is, for those words from the words "fitting time" to "ever and ever," as quoted.—From your obedient servant, Meiha Keepa Rangihiwinui.
His Excellency has sent the following reply:—
Sir,—I have received through my Minister for Native Affairs your communication to Her Majesty the Queen, expressing your desire that the union of New Zealand to Britain, as at present existing, should be confirmed for ever and ever. I have, at your desire, conveyed that message to Her Majesty, and have also, as you request, directed that your statement he made known to the Jubilee Committee at Auckland. I am always ready and glad to receive your communications and addresses at any time that you intimate to me your wish to make them. Onslow, Governor.
The natives of Rarotonga, who are at present in Auckland on a visit, waited on His Excellency the Governor at Government House to-day, at eleven o'clock. There were present about twelve natives (six women and six men). These were headed by the Premier of Rarotonga, Tepou o te Rangi. His Excellency received the natives in the drawing-room. Most of the natives sat on the floor, as is their custom. There were present with His Excellency Commander Pelley (H.M.s. Lizard), and Captain Savile (A.D.C.). The Premier of Rarotonga and his son were introduced to the Governor by Mr. H. J. Ellis.
Tepou o Te Rangi then read an address to the Governor, of which the following is a translation:—
To the Right Hon. His Excellency Lord Onslow, Governor of New Zealand and representative of that great Queen Victoria of Great Britain.
Salutations! I, Tepou o te Rangi, Premier of Rarotonga, and part of my people who have come with me, wish to say a, few words. We have merely came to New Zealand on a visit; but upon our arrival here we heard of the festivities to be celebrated in honour of the jubilee of this great country of New Zealand. We are all very much pleased to meet you on this festive occasion, as we ourselves are also children of Great Britain, as that great Queen, Victoria, has been pleased to grant us her protection in the year
Mr. A. H. Brown interpreted the address.
The Earl of Onslow replied to the address as follows:—The Premier and people of Rarotonga,—Your address is an interesting event in the celebration of our Jubilee festivities, and your presence among us yesterday gave additional lustre to the proceedings of the day. New Zealand, and especially this part of the colony, has always had a peculiar interest for the islands of the Pacific, and has watched with interest the spread of British influence among those Islands. I have to offer my condolences with you on the sad loss which your small company has suffered since you have been here by the death of young Ngataitautai, and I fervently hope that the rest of your stay in New Zealand may be marked only by pleasure and happiness. Enjoying as you do the protection of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, you must be aware that you have the protection of one of the most powerful sovereigns of the
His Excellency then handed a copy of his reply to the Premier of Rarotonga. At the request of the Premier of Rarotonga, the Governor withdrew to an adjoining apartment in order that the natives might make some presents to him in true Rarotongan fashion. The natives then brought in the presents, which consisted of mats made from the breadfruit tree; mats made in the old heathen days; a pair of shoes, etc. The Premier then led the way to the Governor, the presents being carried by the women and several of the men. These gifts were laid at His Excellency's feet. The Governor heartily thanked the natives for the valuable and interesting gifts.
This portion of the second day's Jubilee events was a most pronounced success, and was patronised by fully 6000 people. These were conveyed across the harbour to the wharf at the Calliope Dock by the ferry steamers, and by the time the first race started, at noon, the whole of the spacious enclosure was alive with people, the caisson, sides, and all the ledges of the basin to the water's edge being literally packed with spectators, who betrayed very keen interest in all the contests, as they were, from the splendid opportunity offered them by the conformation of the dock, able to see and follow without trouble all the events as they were run. All the officers of the Auckland Swimming Club worked very hard to have all the arrangements perfected, and the proceedings passed off without a hitch. Mr. J. E. Cooke acted as starter with conspicuous success, while the judges, Major Anderson and Mr. A. M. Myers, who were ably assisted by the patron of the club, Mr. John Marshall, gave satisfaction in all their decisions. The exhibition of swimming throughout was very creditable, the boys especially showing great improvement since the last gala. The Rarotongan events were very popular. In the long dive the winner, W. Allen, made a phenomenal record of 75 yards, but was greatly exhausted at the finish, and would have sunk had it not been for the plucky conduct of Messrs. A. M. Myers and J. Marshall, who jumped into the water and hauled him ashore. The Jubilee Championship was a desperate fight, and was won by a few feet by H. J. Bailey. It is worthy of remark that Bailey, as well as last year's champion, W. Von Stunner, was trained by Prof. Pannell, and in addition the following of his pupils snowed the benefit of his experienced coaching by securing prizes during the day:—P. J. Missen, N. White, A. McLean, and H. N. Cossar. The races were as follow:—
Maiden Race, 100yds.—A large field of about twenty started, and though they were despatched in rather an uneven manner a fast swum race took place, which resulted, M. Scott. 1; A. Gold water, 2; P. J. Missen,
Boys Under 12, 50yds.—This race like all the juvenile events was very exciting, and a close struggle for victory ended, N. White, 1; J. Graham, 2; W. Kenny, 3.
Long Dive.—A good field of seven competed in this event, but though some very creditable diving was done, the winner, W.J, Allen, was a good way ahead, his record being given as the wonderful one of 75yds. He was much exhausted at the finish. Some of the other competitors have, we understand, protested against Allen on the ground of wrongful entry.
Boys Under 14, Handicap.—This race was over a course of 60yds length, and was very keenly contested. W. Kenny had a good lead and looked like winning, but stopped a few yards off the tape and the others being close up did not gain a place, the race resulting W. E. Cossar, 1; F. Mc-Indoe, 2; J. Pollock, 3.
Jubilee Championship of New Zealand.—This was the event of the day; but, all though theee was a good number of competitors entered, the reported prowess of three caused the balance to retire. The distance was 440yds, and the starters were H. J. Bailey, A. N. Duthie, and P. Madigan, and they were got away on even terms. For a long time it was anyone's race, all keeping well together, but towards the finish Bailey and Duthie drew ahead, and, after a desiderate race, the former won by about a couple of feet his time being 7m., 10s. H. .J Bailey, 1; A. N. Duthie, 2; P. Madigan, 3.
Neat Header.—Eight competitors started, and some pretty diving was exhibited. Nicholson's clean style was much admired; but McLean was even better, plunging into the water without the least splash, in a very graceful style. A. L. McLean, 1; H. Nicholson, 2.
Calliope Handicap, 150yds.—A grand race took place for this event, a field of over 30 starting. The event was gamely contested, and the winner only secured the judge's verdict by a couple of yards, while the second and third men were even closer together. The scratch division swam excellently, but the limits were too long. The result was:—F. Hedges, 30s., 1; E. Jones, 60s., 2; H. Brigham, 40s., 3. Time, 2m. 53s.
Rarotongan Diving and Swimming.—For the long dive five natives started, but their records did not, contrary to expectation, exceed those of the average of the local amateurs. The winner, Tangaia, executed a good dive of about 55yds. In the race of 150yds five also competed, and the overhand style which they used was noted as differing from the European side stroke. The race was won rather easily by Kautai, 1; Pora, 2; Meau, 3.
Jubilee Handicap, 300yds.—Thirteen faced the starter, and went off well together. Duthie, the scratch man, swam in grand style, but could not catch the leaders, and after an exciting finish down the home turn the race resulted: F. J. Taylor, 50s., 1; A. Goldwater, 50s., 2; H. Nicholson, 15s., 3.
Naval Race, All-Comers.—Six bluejackets competed for this event, but the race was not very exciting, as Murray won rather easily, while Drake and Hayter, from the same ship, were neck-and-neck for second. The race concluded:—Murray (Orlando), 1; Drake (Orlando), 2; Hayter (Orlando), 3.
Back Race, 50Yds.—This was one of the best races of the day, and was contested by a big field. Many showed very pretty style, and a well fought race was won, after a very close finish, by L. M. Meyers. Major Anderson was sole judge in this event. L. M. Myers, 5s., 1; A. Smith, 10s., 2; J. W. Gittos, 8s., 3.
Boys' Race Under 13.—This was a handicap of 75yds, and brought out a large field. The result was:—A. Upton, 10s., 1; H. N. Cossar, 10s., 2; H. Black, 8s., 3.
Citizens' Handicap, 200yds.—Fully thirty competitors started in this race, and a keen competition ensued. Duthie and Nicholson, of the scratch division, went through their men well, but could not quite get up, and tied for third place. The winner Gittos swam well; E. S. Gittos, 35s., 1; A. Smith, 35s., 2: A. N. Duthie, 5s., and H. Nicholson, (10yds), equal, 3.
Naval Race, Officers.—A good race for this event resulted in a victory for F. Pierce (Opal); S. H. Skinner (Orlando) 2; J. Arm-strong, 3.
Among the most interesting and popular portions of the afternoon's sports, was the exhibition of fancy swimming by Professor Pannell, who has been fittingly named the "Water Wizard." He first indulged in a long plunge, and then showed some pretty swimming backwards, and then sculling feet first, and floating in various positions. A pretty revolving feat entitled "The Sun-flower," was displayed, and then some rapid styles of swimming, including the "porpoise stroke. The whole concluded with the Professor exhibiting a roll in the water, and then after being tied hand and foot and cast into the water, still keeping afloat and making progress.
The members of the Northern Club gave a Jubilee ball in honor of His Excellency the Governor. The assemblage was a large and brilliant one. There were present the Earl of Onslow and suite, Admiral Lord Charles Scott, Lord Carrington, and the commanders and officers of the fleet at present in Auckland harbour, besides a large number of prominent citizens. Sir John and Lady Thurston were also invited. The club was beautifully decorated with festoons of flowers, with ferns, foliage, and flags. The decorations were chiefly done by a number of sailors from the warships, and the thanks of the members of the club are clue to the officers for the hearty assistance given in this respect. An adjournment was made for supper about eleven o'clock. The tables were laden with all the delicacies of the season, and were tastefully set off with flowers, ferns, and pot plants. The music supplied was excellent. The following j was the programme of dances and music:—Lancers, "Patience;" Valse, "Love's Golden Dream;" valse, "La Murska;" polka, "Who's That Calling;" valse, "Sweet Vows;" valse, "Latona;" lancers, "May Flower:" polka, "Blush Rose;" extras, three valses; lancers, "Pepita;" valse, "Clarine;" Highland schottische, "Prince Charlie;" valse, "Love's Dreamland;" polka, "Le Mandarin;" valse, "Twilight Shadow."
The ball was opened by the Earl of Onslow and Mrs. James Russell in a double set, the other partners in the set being as follows:—Lord Carrington and Mrs. Mitchelson; Admiral Lord Charles Scott and Mrs. Allan Taylor; Captain Barlow and Lady Chute; Mr. James Russell and Mrs. Ware; Mr. A. K. Taylor and Mrs. Tolhurst; Mr. Denniston and Mrs. Denniston; Mr. Hanmer and Mrs. Hanmer.
The following is a list of the invitations which were issued:—
Mesdames Armitage, F. Angus; Misses Anderson.
Mesdames Bewes, S. Browning, Brigham, Berry, Burton, Bailey, Baker, Blair, Bedlington, Balmson, Butt, Brett. Misses M. Bruce, Brett, Berry, Brigham, E. Banks, Banks, Bedlington, Amy Brett, Brett, Brookfield (2), B. Banks, Bailey, E. Barstow, A. Barstow, Bruce, Birsill.
Mesdames Cotter, Churton, Cooper, Ching, Clendon, Lady Chute, Clark. Coates, Cottle, Rupert Clark. Misses Churton, Carr, Clendon, Sissie Coleman, Maggie Coleman, Coates, Chew, Clayton, Chapman, Clark, Chambers.
Mesdames Dignan, Denniston, A. Devore, Moss Davis, Misses Dickey, Durrieu, Da veney, Devore. Mrs. W. Earl.
Mesdames Fraser, Ford, Misses Firth (2), Fenton, A. Fenton.
Mesdames Goodhue, F. Nelson George, Gover, Angus Gordon, S. Goldstein, Misses E. Gorrie, M. Gome, Gruchy, Gordon, Isabel Gordon, Gray, Goodall.
Mesdames Macgregor Hav, Hull, Holland, Haines, Hanmer, Hoeder, Honeyman, Hay; Misses J. Hay, Holland, A. Holland, Hay, Houchen, M. Houchen, Ella Harris.
Misses Isaacs (2), Eva Isaacs.
Mrs. Jones; Misses Joseph, Jervis.
Misses Kissling (2), Gertrude Kempthorne, Keesing, Kilgour, Nelly Kilgour, Kempthorne, Mabel Kissling.
Mrs. Lewis.
Misses E. Lockett, C. Lawford, F. Levinsohn.
Mesdames Mahoney, MacLean, Mackechnie, MacLaughlin, J. E. MacDonald, Mitchelson, Murray, S. Morrin, McPhellimy, Lady Mainwaring, Misses Metcalfe, Ida McDonald, M. MacDonald, MacDonald, McGlashan, Murray, MacLaughlin, Moss (2), MacDonald, Mulgan, J. Mowbray, Morse.
Mrs. N. A. Nathan.
Mrs. Ormond, Misses Isa Outhwaite, Owen, Kitty Owen.
Mesdames J. Philson, Pierce, Page, Peacock, W. Philson, Payton. Misses Puckey, Purchas (2), Peacock, Mabel Philips.
Mesdames Rigg, J. Russell, Russell, J. Reid, Ruck, Misses Roberton, Rees, B. Rees, Russell, Rewes, Nina Russell, Rookes, N. Ruck, M. Ruck.
Mesdames Saunders, Stubbs, T. Viret Shepherd, Bruce Suttor, F. Sharland, Misses Sealy, Suttie, Stevenson, Stewart, Forbes Shepherd, Shotton.
Mesdames A. H. Taylor, W. Thompson, C. Chambers Taylor, Tennent, Trimnell, H. Thompson. Thomas, G. Thompson, Tolhurst, A. K. Taylor, Thomas, Tewsley, Misses M. K. Taylor, Wright Thomson, Tolhurst, Kerr Taylor, Katie Taylor, Louisa Taylor, Tilly.
Mrs. Upton, Miss Upton.
Mrs. Verdin.
Mesdames Williamson. Worsp, Ware, Reader Wood, Whyte, Webb, E. Waymouth, Misses Worsp, I. Worsp, Whitaker, Worker, Webb, Williamson, Wilkie, West.
Messrs. E. D. Benjamin and C. G. Andrews, F. Angus, G. Aickin, L Abraham, J. M. Alexander, Armitage, Anderson.
Messrs. H. Brett, Bewes, W. Bruce, H. L. Brett, T. G. Brassey, Dr. Bewes, Colonel Burton, Messrs. J. M. Butt, F. E. Baume, R. Blair, F. O. Bridgman, Dr. Bahnson, Mr. Burton, Professor F. D. Brown, Messrs. W. Berry, J. Bailey, jun., Baker.
Messrs. J. Logan Campbell, E. H. Clayton, Clendon. Duncan Clerk, F. Crombie, H. Campbell. T. Ching, Tewsley, A. Canoel, M. A. Clark, J. Coates, T. Cotter, J. F. Churton, A. E. Clarke, Cottle, Cumming, A. Chamberlin, Cottrell, T. G. Charter, Chambers.
Messrs Dasent, A. J. Denniston, Moss Davis, E. T. Dufaur, W. J. Dufa ur, P. L Dignan, Davy.
Messrs. L. Ehrenfried, C. I. Eller.
Dr. Forbes, Messrs Fenton, R. Fenton.
Mr. A. Gordon, Rev. S. Goldstein, Major F. N. George, Mr. H. Green way, Sir G. Grey Mr. S. T. George, Mr. Goodhue.
Mr. C. J. Hutchinson, Dr. Honeyman, Mr. John Hay, Mr. E. Harrow, Dr. Haines, Messrs. E. W. Hanmer, A. G. Horton, J. F. Hull, C. A. Harris, jun., J. H. Harrop, J C Hanna, Holland, Harrington.
Mr. R. E. Isaacs.
Hon. S. A. Joseph, Mr. Jones, Mr. T. Jackson.
Messrs. W. H. Kettlewell. H. P. Kissling, R. Keesing, W. A. Knight, G. King.
Dr. Lewis, Messrs. W. F. Lawry, E. Lewis J. W. Lusher, E. Langguth, Dr. Lewis, Mr R. Lusk, Mr. R. B. Lusk.
Messrs. F. S. McLean, C. C. McMillan, A L. McLean, J. Macfarlane, E. A. Mackechnie, John Murray, J. Marshall, E. Mitchel, son, E. Mahoney, jun., F. A. Menzies, Sir P. Mainwaring, Mr. W. H. Metcalf, Hon. E. McLean, Messrs. McLaughlin, Minnett, W. J. McKellar, T. A. Moresby.
Messrs. N. A. Nathan, S. J. Nathan A. H. Nathan, L. D. Nathan, D. B. Nolan, H. P. Norton.
Messrs. Joseph Owen, E. D. O'Rorke, Dr. Orpen, Mr. B. Owen.
Messrs. P. A. Philips. T. Peacock, J Philson, W. W. Philson, E. W. Payton.
Messrs. John Reid, R. Rose, J. Russell, J. B. Russell, L. Rees.
Lieut. Colonel Shepherd, Dr. A. Scheidel, Messrs. A. B. Sutter, C. Suttie, J. M. Steveson, M. Stubbings, W. Shera, F. Sharland.
Messrs. Thomas, G. A. Thompson, Taylor G. E. Tolhurst, A. K. Taylor, H. Thompson C. J. Taylor, E. C. M. Thompson, A. Thump, son, R. C. Tennent, H. Thompson. H. Tanks.
Mr. J. H. Upton.
Mr. Von Stunner.
Messrs. W. Weston, T. S. Weston, T.C. Williamson, Leslie Wilson, Captain Webb Captain Worsp, Messrs. J. R. White, R G Wood, J. B. Whyte, W. Ware, H. E. Whitaker, Sir F. Whitaker, Messrs. Wynyard, Weldon
The Jubilee meeting of the Auckland Racing Club was held to-day at Ellerslie. Excellent weather prevailed, for though the sun was hidden by clouds, the result was a grateful shade and an agreeable tempering of the heat. The course was in beautiful order; notwithstanding the recent dry weather, the lawn was a picture of colour, the flower-beds immediately in front of the stand and bounding the wall being covered in rich bloom, whilst outside the charming little summer-house near the luncheon rooms, the well-laid-out paths and masses of flowers, completed a beautiful effect. Everywhere the care of the authorities of the club was manifest. In the avenue parallel with the main luncheon room inside the stand, the eye was pleased by knots of flowers and foliage, boxes of trailing plants and evergreens, and a graceful arch which spanned the passage.
Early in the afternoon, before the first race, Lord Onslow, Rear-Admiral Lord Scott,: and Lord Carrington arrived on the course. At about a quarter to one p.m., the vice-regal "drag," a four-in-hand, was seen approaching, Lord Onslow himself driving, whilst there were also in the drag, Rear Admiral Scott, Lord Carrington, Captain: Savile, Captain Barlow (of the Orlando), Hon. Mr. Hislop, Mr. E. C. Meysey-Thompson, His Worship the Mayor of Auckland
In the afternoon the stewards held a meeting, and endorsed the penalty of disqualification for three months imposed upon S. Fergus on Jan. 29 by the Takapuna Jockey Club.
The following are the details of the racing, the numbers before the names of the horses showing the number of investors on the totalisators:—
Maiden Handicap, of 70sovs, second horse to receive 10sovs out of stakes. For three-year-olds and upwards. For all horses that have not won 50sovs at time of starting. One mile and a quarter.
There was very little delay at the post, and at the second attempt Mr. Cutts dipped the flag to an excellent start. When they settled into their strides, Dolosa was the first to show in front, and as they passed the stand she held half-a-length's lead of Rataplan, Fairy Queen being next, with the others close handy. As they swept round the bottom Dolosa increased her advantage to a length and a-half; but, as they ran up the back, Rataplan again closed the gap, and passing the three-quarter mile post, Fragrance too joined issue, and the trio raced almost abreast into the cutting, Ingorina and Eruption being their nearest attendants. As they raced across the top, Dolosa began to draw away again, while Rata-plan and Fragrance died away, and, sweeping round the home turn, Eruption shot up into second place, Memorandum also coming fast on the outside. Dolosa, however, continued to hold her advantage, and though Memorandum got past Eruption in the last fifty yards, he could never get on terms with the Leolinus mare, who won rather easily by a length and a-half, Memorandum beating Eruption by half-a-length for second place. Time, 2m. 14s. Dividends: Inside, £4 7s; outside, £3 8s.
Handicap Hurdle Race of 80sovs. Second horse to receive 1sovs. out of stakes. Over eight flights of hurdles. Two miles.
When the flag fell, Chemist drew out in advance, but they had scarcely gone fifty yards before Titokowaru was taken to the front, and by the time the cutting was reached he had at least a dozen lengths' lead of Black Joe. Titokowaru's jump at the next obstacle was very faulty, but he negotiated the next in grand style. From thence out the race was simply a procession, for going with a beautiful free stride, Titokowaru never gave
Juvenile Handicap of 120sovs, second horse to receive 10sovs, and third horse 5sovs out of the stakes. For two-year-olds. Six furlongs.
After two breaks away, the flag fell to a straggling start, of which Mary and Miss Cole had the best, and Souvenir and Leolantis the worst. Taylor immediately set to work to make the pace a docker with the favourite, and as they ran out of the cutting she held nearly a length's advantage of Miss Cole, Cambria being close handy next, while the field was closed in by Souvenir. Across the top stretch Miss Cole was almost on terms with Mary, but it was apparently only on sufferance, as Taylor was sitting quite still on the favourite. As they swept round the turn for home Reid had to take out the whip to Miss Cole to keep her in her place, while Leolantis began to go up, and by the time the Derby stand was readied he had Miss Cole beaten; but though he finished very gamely he could not reach Mary, who won with something in hand by half a length; Miss Cole was close handy in third place, and then came Cambria, The Dreamer, Souvenir, and Master Pat in that order. Time, lmin 17sec. Dividends: Inside, £2 9s; outside, £3 1s.
Jubilee Cup of 250sovs. Second horse to receive 30sovs, and third horse 10sovs out of the stakes. One mile and a-half.
After two breaks away the flag fell to a beautiful start. Hilda and Patchwork were the first to show in front, but Antelope soon joined them, and at the top turn there was little to choose between the trio, while Montrose was lying close handy. Coming past the stand, Hilda held half a length's advantage of Montrose, Patchwork, Antelope, Fabulous, Leorina, and Raglan following in the order mentioned By the time the bottom turn was reached Hilda had fallen back, and her place was taken by Antelope, who was barely a neck ahead of Montrose, Patchwork and Leorina being next. Racing round the bottom turn Montrose got his head in front, but when they reached the far corner Antelope was again on terms, and the two leaders began to make the pace very fast. When the cutting was gained Antelope was half a length in front of Montrose; and here Patchwork and Raglan set out to tread their way to the leading division. Antelope held her advantage across the top stretch, and she was first to reach the turn for home, but at this point Raglan came like a shot from a gun, and dashing to the front with a run which could not be denied, he had established a two lengths' lead in his favour before the Derby stand was reached, where Leorina passed Antelope, but though the daughter of Leolinus struggled gamely on, she never had a show with Raglan, who romped in a winner by two lengths, Leorina beating Antelope by a length and a-half for second place; then followed Patchwork, Fabulous, and Montrose. Time, 2m. 42s. Dividends: Inside, £4 2s; outside, £4 4s.
Handicap Steeplechase, of 150sovs; second horse to receive 20sovs, and third horse 10sovs out of the Stakes. About three miles and a-half.
When the flag was lowered Takapau and Recruit were first away, with Chemist next, Orangeman fourth, and Messenger last In the order they negotiated the gorse fence, which Takapau jumped in a very slovenly manner. As the horses came in sight again from behind the trees the colours of Takapau were seen in front, and he cleared the post and rail
Flying Handicap of 100sovs. Second horse to receive 10sovs out of stakes. Six furlongs.
Mr. Cutts slipped the field to a pretty fair start, of which Tupaki had slightly the best. Tupaki led into the cutting, followed by Patchwork and Teksum, while Dolosa whipped in the field. As they raced across the top the field closed up into a compact bunch, and Tupaki was the first into the straight, when Raglan ran to the front, and Tupaki fell away, his place being taken by Antelope. The daughter of Apremont was within a length of the leader as they came to the lawn rails, but Raglan always held her safe, and ran home a winner by a length. Loch Ness being about the same distance behind in third place, Patchwork was fourth. Time, lm. 19s. Dividends: Inside, £3 15s 6d; outside, £4 10s 6d.
Selling Handicap of 50sovs. The winner to be sold immediately after the race. Seven furlongs.
A mistake happened in regard to this race. The horses lined up at the six furlongs post, and Mr. Cutts started them from that point, Blarney finishing first. The stewards had no alternative but to send the horses back, and the race was then run from the seven furlongs post, Prudence winning by half a length. Dividends: Inside, £4 6s 6d; outside, £4 10s. A number of persons who had supported Prudence threw away their totalisator tickets when Blarney ran in first, not knowing that the race was void.
A Very fair attendance of the cricket-loving public patronised the Domain to-day to witness the commencement of the first intercolonial match between teams from Auckland and New South Wales. The weather in the early part of the morning was dull and gave promise of rain, but fortunately for the visitors and the benefit of those who have looked forward with considerable interest to the meeting of these teams the threatened rain did not come, and the atmospheric surroundings were all that could be desired, a nice light cool breeze tempering the rays of old Sol. A first-class wicket was provided for the occasion, and the members of the visiting team had no cause for complaint in this respect, but it did not wear so well as anticipated, for after the Auckland had been at the wickets for a few overs, it was easily seen that the batsmen would be troubled with a good many bumpy ones. The greatest interest was taken in the proceedings by those present, and every bit of skilful work with the bat or in the fielding, received good recognition. Very attractive batting form was shown by most of the New South Wales eleven, the hitting of Youill, Cottam and Robinson being a treat to see. McClinchy, Davis and Cow per displayed cricket of the skilful and patient order, and all gave the bowlers a great deal of trouble. Although a few chances were missed in the field, the efforts of a majority of the Auckland were very brilliant, the wicket-keeping of Fowke being very expert and effective, and as good as seen in any match throughout Australasia. Hawkins was the most successful trundler tor the Auckland, but most credit is due to Rees, who bowled all through, and secured the most wickets, and had all the chances that were given been taken, he would have come out with an excellent average. The visitors are of opinion that he is one of the best bowlers they have met, and with a little coaching would develop into an Australian eleven man. The Auckland men started very inauspiciously, four of their best batsmen being dismissed when only 24 had been totalled.
Play commenced at half-past eleven. Mr. Davis won the toss from Kissling, and elected to bat. The Auckland team was placed as follows:—Kissling, captain, third man, and long-field; Rees, bowler and slip; Fowke, wickets; Lusk, slip and bowler; Kelly, long-off and long-leg; Neill, mid-on; Yates, short-leg; Gardner, long-on and cover-point; Lynch, cover-point and long-on; Hawkins, point; Stemson, long-field; MacCorinick and S. Davis, umpires. Robinson and Youill appeared first for New South Wales. Between two and three hundred were on the ground at the start. As Robinson and Youill appeared they were received with a round of applause. Robinson took strike to Rees from the Newmarket end. Off Rees' third Robinson hit to mid-on, and scored 2. Lusk trundled from the Hospital end. Youill hit his first to leg for one. Rees bowled a maiden to Youill, a bye being scored off the last ball. Youill hit Lusk's first to leg for, while Robinson hit him to long on for 2, and followed up by hitting the last for 3 to square leg. Robinson drove Rees to long on for 1, Neill mulling the ball. Youill scored 1 by an uppish stroke of the last ball past third man. Youill scored. Robinson got a pretty forward cut off Lusk's first for 2. Youill cut Rees first for 1. Robinson placed Reed hard to extra mid-off, and Youill not responding to his call, he was badly run out. Telegraph: 1—10—18. McClinchy filled the vacant crease. Youill drove Lusk for 1 and followed up by cutting Rees for 3. Youill lifted Lusk out of the ground for 3. McClinchy stepped out to Lusk and broke his duck by hit ting him for 1; and scored 1 to leg off Rees. Youill by a forward stroke for 3 off Rees brought 30 up. McClinchy then gave Kelly an easy chance off Rees, which the fielder refused. Stemson replaced Lusk at the Hospital end. McClinchy drove .Stemson's fourth along the carpet for 2, and Youill lifted Rees to square-leg for 3. Stein-son bowled two maidens in succession. Rees gave McClinchy a full-pitcher, which he drove For 3. Youill lifted Rees to deep field, where Hawkins make an attempt to catch with bis left hand and mulled, the result 2 being scored. McClinchy obtained 2 for a drive off Stemson. McClinchy was applauded for a pretty cut for 2 off Stenison. Youill drove Rees for land scored 1 by a fluky hit to leg, and followed up by driving Rees in the next over for 1. Neill relieved Stenison, and Youill drove his fourth ball for 2, bringing 50 up, and in the next over repeated the dose by a pretty drive, and then scored 2 by a square-leg hit A very high hit to square-leg brought 2 to Youill, and his partner added 3 more to the score for a nice hit to leg, bringing 60 in sight. The next ball from Neill was lifted high out to the long-field by Youill, and Stenison was given a chance of bringing off a well-judged catch. (50—2—33 was signalled as Cottam appeared, and the newcomer safely negotiated a very puzzling maiden over from Rees. A single was obtained by each bats-man in Neill's next over. Cottam appeared to be much troubled by the deliveries of the left-hander. Yates was conspicuous for good fielding at short-leg. Mainly through the aggressive tactics of McClinchy the rate of scoring increased, and 70 was soon hoisted. Kelly now relieved Neill at the Hospital end, and started with a no ball. Cottam opened his shoulders, and lifted the new bowler hard to long-field, obtaining 3 for the stroke. Both batsmen were scoring pretty rapidly, and 80 was brought to view. Cottam had a very narrow escape of being run out, but his exceptional pace just pulled him through. Rees, who had been bowling since the start, now secured his first wicket, Cottam being the victim: 85—3—11. Clarke was next, and his partner welcomed him by driving Kelly for a single. Clarke opened, his account by lifting Rees high to mid-off, and a single to McClinchy for a skilful on stroke, brought 90 onthe board. This bats-man continued to do most of the scoring, and
After lunch McClinchy and Clarke took up their places at the wicket. Clarke taking the bowling from Rees, and snicked the third to leg for 1. Kelly resumed the bowling at the Hospital end, and Clarke brought 100 up by hitting him to leg for 4. The next ball Kelly had his revenge, by getting Clarke caught by Gardner at point. Telegraph: 100—4—8. Cowper filled the vacant crease, and contented himself by playing the remaining balls of the over. Off Rees' second ball McClinchy was smartly caught by Fowke. Telegraph: 100—5—34. Joe Davis, the captain, took McClinchy's place, and was applauded as he appeared at the wicket. Off Kelly's first ball of the next over Cowper scored by a pretty cut, and then Davis scored 2 by a square-leg hit. Davis hit Kelly nicely to leg for one, and then Cowper cut the same bowler for a similar number. Rees bowled three maidens in succession, and Kelly sent down his second, and then Rees trundled his fourth and fifth maidens. Davis broke the monotony by hitting Kelly to leg for one, and Cowper helped the score along by driving the same bowler to the off for 2. Davis spoilt Rees' maiden by hitting him to leg for two. Davis lifted Kelly to long-field for one, and Cowper scored two off the same bowler by an off-drive. Davis Snicked Rees to leg for 2. Lusk relieved Kelly at the Hospital end, and off his second Cowper stole 1, and Davis lifted the fourth to leg for 2. The no was quickly followed by the 120. Davis got another three for one of his characteristic leg hits, and his partner added a single for a nice stroke to the on side, and followed it up by cutting Rees very prettily tor a brace. When the total was at 128 Davis got Lusk at short slip a I chance of securing a good catch off Rees, but the Gordon man failed to hold it, and the batsman showed his appreciation of the let off by bitting the next ball to leg for three, bringing 131 in sight. A neat back cut by Cowper gained him a couple. Kelly at this juncture showed some smart bits of fielding at mid-off. Davis made a couple of uppish strikes to the off-side, but none of the fieldsmen were in the proper position, and runs were scored, 140 having to be put up, and Hawkins relieved Lusk, Davis hitting the second ball for a triplet. The rate of scoring did not decrease, and soon got to 149, when Davis lifted a soft one from Hawkins to square-leg where Lynch was in waiting, and the genial skipper had to retire for a well earned 32. 149—6—was the record as Newell filled the hiatus, but a smart catch behind the wickets dismissed him before he could score, and the first duck's egg of the team had to be recorded. Callaway appeared at the vacant crease, and drove Rees to long-off for 3, and off Hawkins' first obtained 3 by a pretty drive. Hawkins mulled a drive from Cowper, and resulted. Cowper got 1 by a nice drive off Rees, Lynch fielding well, and Callaway drove the left-bander for 1, and afterwards got a like number by a leg hit off Hawkins. Off Hawkins' next, Cowper was grandly caught at slip by Rees with his left hand. Telegraph: 159—8—18. J. Shepherd took the Carlton player's place. Callaway obtained 2 by a pretty leg hit off Rees. Shepherd broke his duck by a nice leg hit for 1, and Callaway drove Hawkins for 1, after which Shepherd was nearly run out through the Mossvale man refusing to respond to his partner's call. Off the first of Rees' next Callaway got a single by a pretty off drive, and repeated the dose off Hawkins. He then opened his shoulders to Rees, but was grandly caught in the long field by Gardiner. Telegraph, 165—9—13 Josephs stepped into the vacant wicket, and Shepherd scored two by a leg hit off the Gordon man, and cut the same bowler for a single. Josephs broke the ice by a flukey hit to leg, getting a simple for the stroke, and then skied one from Hawkins to leg, where Yates safely negotiated the catch, and the New South Wales innings closed for 169.
After the wicket was rolled, New South Wales took the field, and were soon followed by Yates and Neill, the pioneers of the Auckland. Callaway started bowling from the Brewery end to Neill, and sent down a maiden. Newell took the ball at the Hospital end, and off his third Yates got 3 by a nice cut, and off the last ball of the over Neill was smartly caught by Davis at point. Telegraph, 3—1—0. Lusk filled the vacancy, and Callaway sent down a maiden to him. Yates from an overthrow obtained 3, and then Lusk was clean bowled by a beauty from Newell. Telegraph, 7—2—0. Lynch appeared in place of Lusk, and was bowled first ball by the Sydney Club man. Telegraph, 7—3—0. Kissling filled the crease left by the United player, and hit Newell's last ball for 3. Kissling cut Callaway for a single, and Callaway bowled a maiden to Yates, and Newell followed suit to Kissling, and Callaway bowled another maiden to Yates, while Newell sent down his second in succession to the Gordon man. The batsmen were now playing very carefully, the bowling appearing too good to score off, and the play became rather monotonous until Kissling broke the ice by scoring one by a leg-hit off Newell. Kissling obtained a single by an off drive from Callaway, Cottam fielding rather loosely. Yates cut Callaway for 1, while the Gordon skipper played the remainder of the over carefully, and maidens again became common. Kissling obtained in the slips off Callawav, and took another maiden from Newell. Yates lifted Newell to long-field for 1, Cowper fielding smartly Kissling drove Newell to the off and Cottam mulling badly two resulted, and then Yates drove Callaway in his next for a single. Telegraph: 20. Yates opened his shoulders to Newell, and got three by a nice off hit; then the skipper obtained one by a leg stroke. In Callaway's next over Kissling was neatly taken at slip by Newell. Telegraph 24—4—10. Kissling was cheered on returning to the pavilion, having played well for his runs.
"Our Johnny" took the vacant crease, and negotiated the remainder of the over in safety. In Newell's next over Yates received applause for a fine off drive for five. Yates now appeared more confident, and brought 30 up by a drive off the Carlton bowler, and Fowke obtained a couple by a leg stroke. Yates next hit Newell for two, and followed up by a drive for one. Fowke earned applause for a pretty drive for
Notwithstanding the plethora of sports and other festivities which have been provided during the past couple of days, the appreciation of the public on the third day showed no signs of diminution, and the rowing regatta, Maori canoe races, and war dance, attracted fully 8000 people to Devonport during the afternoon, while great numbers also watched the grand yachting contest which took place for the splendid trophies presented by the Mutual Life Association of Australia. With the exception of the rowing events, all the day's proceedings were carried out without a hitch. The weather was bright and cool, and the trip across the water exceedingly pleasant.
The special boat race for the valuable trophies presented by the Mutual Life Assocation of Australasia, was held in the Auckland harbour. The race was run under the supervision of the Auckland Regatta Committee, and in accordance with the regatta rules. Mr. J. F. Haultain was starter; Mr. J. B. Graham, judge; Mr. D. H. Ross, timekeeper; Messrs. J. B. Graham, R. S. Reynolds, and E. Hodgson, handicappers. The master of the ship Canterbury, Captain McMillan, kindly permitted the use of his vessel for signalling purposes. The race, which was open to all sailing vessels from three to fifteen tons, attracted very great attention, and the sight as the fleet started off Queen-street Wharf and swept down the harbour towards the North Head under full sail was very pretty. Much interest was felt in the result of the contest, and the boats in their progress were watched by thousands of spectators on shore, and were also accompanied for some distance by other craft, one cutter, the Gannet, which was entered but could not compete (owing to the fact that her tonnage was beyond the limit), travelling the whole of the course. However, by the time the competing vessels had passed the hulk Clara Hargreaves the Spray and Matangi had a decided lead, and from this out these two vessels alternately held the premier position, the Matangi eventually finishing first, though the Spray won the race through handicap allowance
The details of the event are as follow:—
Special Handicap Race, for the Jubilee trophies presented by the Mutual Life Association of Australasia. Sailed for by vessels of three tons and up to but not exceeding fifteen tons. First prize, trophy valued at £18; second prize, trophy valued at £12. Course: From Queen-street Wharf round black and red striped buoy (first buoy round North Head), thence round hulk Clara Hargreaves, off Judge's Bay; thence round mark boat off Sugar Works, Chelsea. Twice round, finishing at Queen-street Wharf.
The other starters were:—Isca, 3 tons, W. R. Wilson; Maia, 3 4-5th tons, W. and D. MacCormick; Mapu, tons, Waymouth and Son; Tawera, tons, Stone and Carlaw; Sybil, 3¼ tons. Fairs and Wardell; Tangaroa, 3½ tons, T. Kilfoyle; Doris, 3 tons, G. R. Webb; Italy, G. P. Burton: Maritana, 12 tons, W. Vereker-Bindon; Manola, 3 tons, W. Holder; Mignonette, J. Gallagher; May, 6½ tons, D. Holland; Caprera, 8 tons, J. Patoni; Malvina, 3½ tons, J. T. Munro, Marsden Point; Christina, 8 tons, F. Williams: Laurina, 5 tons, F. Williams; May, 4 tons, F. Williams; Venice, 3tons, J. Lomey; Malua, 6 tons, J. Carlaw; Juvarnia, 6½ tons, J. Keys. Whangarei; May Queen, Johnson, and a few other small craft. The Transit, Awatea, Ngaira, Matea, Victory, Koroa, and Matiki, which were amongst those entered, did not compete. At ten minutes to three, Mr. Haultain sent the boats away to a good start, there being at the time a fresh S.W. breeze, and splendid weather for yachting. The Spray and Mapu, the cutter Henry, and the fishing boat May were amongst the first division as the vessels passed the Railway Wharf in a cluster, the Matangi being to leeward, and the Tawera in the rear. At the North Head, the Spray, which was carrying a balloon jib and mainsail, but no topsail, was leading, and she was first to round the Heads, the Mapu being second, but the latter unfortunately lost her jib halyards, and had to give up much of her advantage of place, and subsequently her gaff-topsail halyards were carried away. The Spray led past the lighthouse after having come from the Channel, and here the Matangi was second, with the Tawera, Henry, Christina, and Mapu next in that order, the others in single file, close together, and still behind the North Head. Oft Orakei Point, the Spray and Matangi tacked almost at the same moment, and
Then followed the Christina, Maritana, Mapu, and Henry, in the order in which they are mentioned. There was not much alteration in the places of the leading vessels as they ran up the harbour, except that the Maritana fell from fifth place, whilst the Spray gained a still further advantage of the Matangi, and when Captain Gibbs' yacht passed tbe boat off the sugar works, she had added thirty seconds' lead to that which she had held at the Clara Hargreaves. On the run down, however, the Matangi, under full sail, rapidly overhauled her opponent, and was alongside the Spray as the boats sailed past the Orlando. The Matangi was the first to reach the Victoria Wharf, where the approximate order was:—
The Mapu, Maritana, and Juvarnia followed, each separated by about a minute's distance. The lead gained by the Matangi was kept round the buoy in the Rangitoto Channel, but coming up the harbour the Soray once more improved her position, and both yachts, which were sailed with great skill, were abreast off Orakei. Passing the Clara Hargreaves, the Spray was ahead of the Matangi by about seven seconds, the next in order, some distance away, being the Tawera, Henry, Christina, Mapu, Maritana, Juvarnia, and Laurina. It was now evident that so far as actual positions were concerned, the race would be decided by the leading pair, and after a good race between the Spray and Matangi, the latter was first to finish, the race, however, as already stated, being won by the Spray through the time allowance. The following shows the order of finishing of the vessels which completed the course, and shows also the handicaps:—
The races for the various clubs of the Auckland Rowing Association, which were held as part of the Jubilee celebrations, did not prove as complete a success as was anticipated, as the fresh S.E. wind which prevailed during the afternoon caused a heavy roll on the northern side of the harbour, which proved too heavy for the light string-test gigs, and after one or two had been swamped, several of the races for this class had to be abandoned. The courses were laid from near the Calliope Dock to the Devon-port Wharf. The starter was Mr. J. F. Haultain, who, with the umpire (Mr. J. M. Brigham), had the use of the Permanent Force's torpedo boat, while the judge (Mr. G. S. Kissling) was stationed on one of the wharves. The details of the racing were as follow:—
Maiden Whaleboats.—Six crews—Waitemata, Hauraki, St. George's, Ponsonby, North Shore, ana City—competed, and were despatched about three p.m. to an even start, and a slashing race ensued. For half the distance all were well together, but as the wharf was neared, Ponsonby, Waitemata, and Hauraki drew ahead of the rest, and only half a length separated the three. A determined struggle to the post ensued, and resulted in favour of Ponsonby by about half a length, Hauraki being second, and Waitemata close up third. The winning crew was:—1. S. Bowden; 2. E. Taite;3. D. Cole; 4. J. Cole; P. W. Scott, stroke; J. Scott, steer-oar.
Champion Gig Race.—This was considered to be the event of the programme, but owing to the rough state of the water, the Auckland and two West End crews declined to start The field consisted of Waitemata, North Shore, Poverty Bay, and Ponsonby. The two latter swamped shortly after the start and both North Shore and Waitemata skipped a lot of water. The two latter kept a float and finished, but Waitemata had the advantage throughout, and won easily by several lengths. The Waitemata four comprised:—1. R. Moore; 2. G. Barrett; 3. T. O'Connor'; M. Keefe, stroke; P. Bailey, (cox.)
Dingy Race.—A. Bailey (Waitemata), H. Cooke (Ponsonby), R. Masefield (West End) started, but the race was a hollow affair, in Bailey speedily distanced his opponents, and won easily. Cooke did not finish.
Maiden Gigs (under 10 stone).—Of the seven crews entered all went out except the West End, but all were swamped at the post before they could be started. Waitemata baled out and went over the course, the starter protesting, as he considered the state of the water dangerous for gigs. The Waitemata crew was:—1, J. Philpot; 2, H. Bailey; 3, D. Dysart; E. Bailey, stroke; P. Bailey, cox.
At this stage the Association Committee met and decided that, owing: to the heavy seas, no more gig events should be started, and the junior maiden and senior bona fide gig races and scullers' race were abandoned for the time, but to be rowed off on another day.
The first of these events, which were run at the North Shore, was a contest between Paul Tuhaere's grand war canoe, manned by about 80 rowers, and two whakatiwai, or plain canoes, each having about 20 paddlers. The course was from the Devonport Wharf round a buoy off Calliope Dock and back. They were despatched on very even terms, and gradually increasing their pace as they progressed, a grand spectacle was presented to the thousands who lined the foreshore of about 150 stalwart Maoris, the majority of whom were nude to the waist, swaying in a graceful rythmic motion in time to the wild, exhorting chant of the several fuglemen, while the spray broke frequently over the rapidly-progressing craft, and drenched the lightly-clad paddlers. On the up journey the smaller craft held gallantly to the big whakataua, but at the buoy the latter forged ahead, and, though the rowers redoubled their efforts, she increased her lead, and won a good race by a couple of lengths. The result of the race was hailed with cries and antics of delight by the Maoris ashore, the wahines particularly being vociferous in their expressions of approval.
The whakatiwai race, over the same course, brought out four canoes, which were named the Momoni, Tarai Puruku, Ruahori, and Pumrikana. Each craft contained about 20 paddlers, two being composed of Huntly natives, one of Kaipara, and the other of Rangiriri men. The course was the same as in the previous race, and an exciting contest ensued. Near the finish the Momoni and Tarai Puruku drew out, but the former, whose men paddled with great vigour and in splendid time, distanced their opponents, and won. The Momoni was the canoe which won the whakatiwai event on Thursday.
There was also an event for Rarotongan canoes manned by single rowers. Four boats started, and although one fellow upset his frail craft at the start, and disported himself fur some time in the water, the other three made a creditable race, propelling their canoes with graceful dexterity, Tangaia being first, Kainana second, and Kowtai third.
In the evening, when the tide had gone down considerably, the canoe hurdle races were started, and three craft, manned by a couple of buxom wahines each competed. The receding water had left the hurdle-booms too high above the surface, however, and after many determined and amusing efforts to shoot them over the obstacle, the natives had to abandon the attempt.
The Maori war dance, whice was to have taken place on Thursday, but which could not be carried out owing to the spectators crowding in on the natives, was given to-day day at what are known as the Bear Gardens, at the North Shore. A portion of the ground was fenced off, and there was a large force of police present to keep the reserve clear. The time fixed for the event to take place was halt-past four, and at that hour some 4000 or 5000 people were gathered in and around the paddock. The hill at the north end of the field was covered with onlookers. After a delay of about half an hour the natives arrived on the ground, headed by a band. The dancing party consisted of about 50 women and 200 men, nearly all members of the Waikato tribe. The women attired in white flowing robes and were decked with some bright-coloured ribbons. On entering the field the women formed in line, and each woman placing her hands on the shoulders of the one in front of her, the whole party marched round in a circle, and then again formed line and faced the people. The Maori warriors in the meantime were crouching down behind the women. Most of the men had only pieces of cloth round their loins, the rest of the body being naked. They carried canoe paddles in their hands in place of guns, or, as was the custom in the old days, taiahas, tewhatewhas, meres, &c. Some of the men had decorated their heads with feathers. Te Rawhiti, who formerly occupied the position of secretary to Tawhiao, had charge of the women, and led them in their dance. The haka kotiro was then performed, and at each interval in the dance the spectators manifested their approval by applause. After a short interval the war-dance was given. The contortions of the men were hideous, and their chant and shouts had a strange effect. The dances were finished about quarter to six o'clock, when the natives returned to their quarters at the Naval Depot.
His Excellency the Governor proceeded to Motutapu Island to-day on a shooting expedition. The Earl of Onslow was accompanied by Admiral Lord Charles Scott, Lord Carrington, Hon. Mr. Mitchelson (Native Minister), Hon. Mr. Hislop (Minister of Education), Mr. J. H. Upton (Mayor of Auckland), Mr. M. Niccol (Mayor of Devonport), Mr. E. W. Alison (Chairman of Directors of the Devonport Steam Ferry Company), Mr, Meysey-Thompson (A.D.C.), Flag-Lieutenant Fitzgerald, Mr. L. D. Nathan, and Major George. The party started for Motutapu in the steamer Eagle at half-past nine a.m. The course taken was round Rangitoto Island. When outside the reef the anchor was dropped, and an hour and a-half was spent in fishing. There was excellent sport, for the party was kept busy the whole time hauling in fish—principally schnappers. About two hundred fish were caught. The steamer was then headed for Motutapu, and on arrival at that island the distinguished visitors were most heartily welcomed by Mr. John Reid. Horses were in readiness for those who might wish to go riding. Here the company were joined by Captain Savile (A.D.C. to the Governor), and Captain Trench (A.D.C. to Lord Carrington), who had sailed to Motutapu in Mr. H. Whitaker's yacht, Wenona. The Governor, Lord Charles Scott, Lord Carrington, and several others went deer-shooting. Two deer and a number of rabbits
In the evening His Excellency was present at the performance of the Rarotongans at the City Hall. There were present with the Governor Lord Carrington and Admiral Lord Charles Scott.
The Jubilee Horticultural Show was opened at the Choral Hall, and it was in every respect the most distinctive and best display of the kind ever held since the foundation of the colony, and it was carried out to a most perfect success by the following officers:—Judges: Messrs. J. C. Blackmore, T. Bullen, J. Mayo, and E. Turner. Superintendent of Stewards and Staging: Dr. C. W. Sanders. Chairman of Horticultural Committee: Mr. A. E. Dewes. Committee: Messrs. E. R. Atkin, F. Bennett, T. F. Cheeseman, W. Goldie, D. A. Hay, C. Hesketh, W. McIndoe, C. S. Macdonald, J. Pain, W. J. Palmer, C. W. Sanders, and Thos. Steadman. There were many distinctive features, too many, indeed, to notice specially, but the most prominent feature was the artistic staging of the exhibits. The hall itself was beautifully decorated with fern fronds and nikau palms, and the pot plants and shrubs were arranged with artistic ability. The centre hall was of course the great attraction, but the wings were also filled with exhibits of great merit. The south wing was mainly occupied by bouquets, fruit, pot plants, etc, and the north wing with vegetables and various exhibits of local industry. A central position in the main hall was occupied by a fountain in full play, and in the basin Mr. Goldie, of the Auckland Domain, had placed about 60 well-grown carp and gold fish, which by their lively movements and varied hues in the sparkling water excited a great amount of interest. At the stage end there was a striking scene, an illumination displaying a war canoe and a full ringed ship on a thoroughly characteristic new Zealand coast. On the other end, over the main entrance, was the motto "Jubilee" in raised flowered letters.
The main feature of the show was the pot plants, and nothing could excel the beauty and variety of this display, amongst the finest being several sent for exhibition only, and not for competition. Mrs. Boyd, of Newton, who was a large exhibitor, had a magnificent display of flowering begonias in full foliage and flowers, many of which were of her own hybridising. Mrs. W. S. Wilson exhibited four fine fuchsia trees in pots. They were healthy, vigorous shrubs, in full flower, and were worthy to represent the climate and its capabilities. The displays by Hay and Son, Neal and Co., Mr. Forrest (gardener to Mr. Murdoch), and others, were splendid, and one gentleman who did not allow his name to transpire sent a fine collection of forty large pot plants full of rich variety, and these were distributed so as to fill in the vacancies between the various stands and groups, and greatly enhance the richness of the scene. Mr. Forrest had a fine show of 40 varieties, not for competition. The cut flowers were very good, considering the unfavourable season. An exhibit of table and ornamental decorations by Mrs. E. Turner, of Karangahape Road, which were not for competition, formed a very attractive spectacle, and the bouquets were elegant and well grouped, the bouquets made up by children in the hall being very attractive indeed. Mr. Exler's display of pottery was also a fine feature, and the manufacture was equal in finish to any ever imported to New Zealand. They were finished in Rockingham and yellow glaze, and took the form of baskets, rustics, stave flower pots, etc., and in the large vases were some fine pot plants which showed them off to advantage. Messrs. Carder Brothers had also a fine exhibit of pottery. Fruit was splendidly represented in apples, pears oranges, lemons, peaches, grapes, etc. Mr. Crispe, of Mauku, exhibited some splendid lemons. Mr. John Abbott, of Waikomiti, had a fine show of luscious peaches, and Mr. J. Sharp, of Cambridge, made a good display of plums Mr. R. Hobbs had a really grand display of apples, pears, plums, and peaches in varieties, and Mr. E. B. Houlton, amongst his other exhibits, had a peculiar rock melon named the banana, which in shape and appearance except as to colour resembles a cucumber. Vegetables were not largely placed as to quantity, but the quality was splendid, potatoes, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, etc., being of the finest quality and growth. A very striking feature was the display made by the school children of the East Tamaki School, to whom a space was allotted in the north wing. It consisted of fruit, vegetables, pickles, etc., the boys at the school being taught to grow and the girls to preserve the fruits and vegetables. There was also a display of carpentry and joinery work by the boys, whose age range from 12 to 14 years of age, which would do credit to a carpenter and joiner; and another feature was a sample of boot-mending and saddlery. Another exhibit was hives bees at work, and also samples of knots and splices, the work of the boys. A collection of oranges, grown on the Pah farm, also attracted attention; and a model farm, exhibited by Mr. Hamilton, was a fine piece of work. Altogether, the show was a splendid one. The following are the awards;—
Group of Pot Plants arranged in a space equal to 50 square feet. Quality and general effect to be the leading features. First prize, £5; second, £2: D. Hay and Son, 1st prize and certificate of merit; W. J. Palmer, 2nd; Thomas Steadmin, highly commended; Mrs Boyd, certificate of merit (begonias).
Best Collection of Carpet Beading Plants in 3 inch Dots. First prize, given by the Right Rev. J. E. Luck, O.S.B., D.D., Bishop of Auckland, £1 1s; second, 10s: The Right Rev. J. E. Luck, O.S.B., P.D., Bishop of Auckland, 1st prize.
Group arranged in a space equal to 30 square feet. Quality and general effect to be the leading fea-tures. First prize, £2 10s; second, £1: Thomas Steadman, 1st prize; D. Hay and Son.
Six Begonias, tuberous-rooted varieties. First prize, 15s; second, 5s: Edward Neal, 1st prize; Mrs. Boyd, 2nd; Edward Neal, highly commended; Edward Neal.
Six Pelargoniums (zonals), double or single flowered varieties. First prize, 15s; second, 5s: Thos. Steadman, 1st prize.
Petunias, varieties. First prize, 15s; second, 5s: Thomas Steadman, 1st prize; D. Hay and Son, 2nd; Mrs. W. S. Wilson.
Four Fuchsias, varieties. First prize, 15s; second, 5s: Mrs. W. S. Wilson, 1st prize.
Group arranged in a space equal to 30 square feet. Quality and general effect to be the leading features. First prize, £2 10s; second, £1: D. Hay and Son, 1st prize: George Warburton, 2nd.
12 Coleus, in three or more varieties. First prize, £1; second, 10s: Thomas Steadman, 1st prize; 2nd, the Right Rev. J. E. Luck, D.D., O.S.B.; Miss Speight, J. H. Garner, Miss Whitaker.
Group arranged in a space equal to 40 square feet. Qualitv and general effect to be the leading features. First prize, £2 10 s; second, £1: D. Hay and Son, 1st and 2nd prizes.
Four specimens. First prize, £1: second, 5s: D. Hay and Son, 1st prize; Thomas Steadman, 2nd; George Warburton.
Collection grown in Open Air, arranged in a space equal to 15 square feet. First prize, £2; second, £1: Miss Whitaker, 1st prize.
Collection grown in Open Air, 24 distinct varieties. First prize, £1; second, 10s: J. Stych, 1st prize; Mrs. C. Alma Baker, 2nd; Mrs. Boyd.
Collection grown in Open Air, 12 distinct varieties. First prize, 10s; 2nd, 5s: C. S. McDonald, 1st prize; Mr. Stych, 2nd.
Collection Native Flowers. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: Robert Thompson, 1st prize.
Collection Annuals, 24 distinct varieties. First prize, 15s; 2nd, 5s: W. Goldie, for Auckland City Council, 1st and 2nd prizes; D. Hay and Son. Collection Annuals, 12 distinct varieties. First prize, 7s 6d; second, 2s 6d: W. Goldie, for Auckland City Council, 1st and 2nd prizes; D. Hay and Son.
Collection Everlastings, including ornamental grasses, 12 distinct varieties. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: D. Hay and Son, 1st prize; Miss Speight.
Phlox Drummondii, 12 distinct varieties, six trusses of each. First prize, 7s 6d; 2nd, 2s 6d: W. Goldie, for Auckland City Council, 1st prize; Mrs. C. Alma Baker, 2nd.
Zinnias, six distinct varieties. First prize, 5s; second, 2s 6d: D. Hay and Son, 1st prize; E. Haywood, 2nd; Mrs. C. Alma Baker, w. Goldie, for Auckland City Council, E. Haywood, Thomas Steadman.
Delphiniums, six distinct varieties, not more than three spikes of each. First prize, 7s 6d; second, 2s 6d: C. S. McDonald, 1st prize.
Dahlias, double, 12 distinct varieties. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: Miss Speight, 1st prize; G. Alder-ton, 2nd; G. Alderton, C. S. McDonald.
Dahlias, single, nine distinct varieties. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: A. E. Dewes, 1st prize; F. T. Ward.
Dahlias, Cactus, six distinct varieties. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: D. Hay and Son, 1st prize; C. S. McDonald, 2nd; Miss Speight.
Tea Roses, six varieties. First prize, 7s 6d; second, 2s 6d: W. McIndoe, 1st and 2nd prizes; D. Hay and Son, E. Lippiatt and Sons, W. J. Palmer.
Gladiolus, 12 varieties, one spike of each. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: Thomas Steadman, 1st prize.
Gladiolus, six varieties, one spike each. First prize, 7s 6d; second, 2s 6d: Thomas Steadman, 1st prize; 10. Lippiatt and Sons.
One Hand Bouquet. First prize, 15s; second, 5s: Mrs. Robertson, 1st prize; C. S. McDonald, 2nd; Mrs. Speight, highly commended; Mrs. C. Alma Bilker, Miss Cobb, Miss Eva Hughes, Miss Mabel MacIndoe.
One Bridal Bouquet. First prize, £1: second, 10s: C. S. McDonald, 1st prize; Miss Speight, 2nd; Miss Eva Hughes, Mrs. Robertson, Miss whitaker.
One Table Bouquet. First prize. 153; second, 5s: C. S. McDonald, 1st prize; Miss Cobb, 2nd; Miss Eva Hughes.
Collection arranged in a space equal to 30 square feet. First prize, £3; second, £1: E. Lippiatt and Sons, 2nd prize.
Collection grown in open air, arranged in a space equal to 30 square feet. First prize, £3; second, £1: E. Lippiatt and Sons, 1st prize, John Collins, 2nd; W. L. Beloe.
Collection of Stone Fruit, arranged in a space equal to 20 square feet. First prize, £1 10s; second, 15s: E. Lippiatt and Sons, 1st prize; John Collins, 2nd.
Collection of Grapes, 12 bunches. First prize, £2; second, £1: E. Jones.
Grapes, Black, two bunches. First prize, 15s; second, 7s 6d: E. Jones, 1st prize; James Trayes, 2nd.
Grapes, White, two bunches. First prize, 15s; second, 7s 6d: E. Jones, 1st prize; James Trayes, 2nd.
Collection, best. First prize, £4; second, £2: E. B. Houlton, 1st prize.
Collection Potatoes. First prize, £1; second, 10s W. Harris, 1st prize and highly commended; E. B Houlton, C. S. McDonald.
12 Potatoes, Round. First prize, 7s 6d; second, 2s 6d: E. B. Houlton, 1st prize; W. J. Palmer, 2nd; A. T. Good, W. Harris.
12 Potatoes, Kidney. First prize, 7s 6d; second prize, 2s 6d: H. Lipscombe, 1st prize; E. B. Houlton, 2nd; Michael Burke, H. Edmonds, W. Harris, W. J. Palmer.
12 Onions. First prize, 7s 6d; second prize, 2s 6d: W. J. Palmer, 1st prize; Michael Burke, 2nd; H. Bridgman, Michael Burke (three entries), Richard Nicholls.
Collection Salads. First prize, 7s 6d; second prize, 2s 6d: W. J. Palmer, 1st prize.
Collection Tomatoes. First prize, £1; second prize, 10s: Archibald Wilson, 1st prize; Archibald Wilson, 2nd.
12 Tomatoes. First prize, 7s 6d; second prize: 2s 6d: E. Lippiatt and Sons, 1st prize; Archibald Wilson, 2nd: Michael Burke, James Trayes, Miss Whitaker.
Collection Peas, fifty pods of each variety. First prize, 15s; second prize, 5s: W. Harris, 1st prize; Archibald Wilson.
Collection. First prize, £1; second, 10s, J. Stych, 1st prize.
Three Begonias, tuberous-rooted varieties. First prize, 10s; second prize, 5s. Mrs Boyd, 1st prize; J. Stych, 2nd, Tom C. P. Whiteley,
Three Specimens. J. Stych.
Three Begonias, varieties. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: Mrs. Boyd, let prize; J. Stych, 2nd.
Three Coleus, varieties. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: J. Stych, 1st prize; Tom C. P. Whiteley, 2nd.
Three Specimens. First prize, 10s; second, 5s: J. Stych, 1st prize.
Collection or croup. First prize, £1; second, 10s: . Stych, 1st prize; Tom C. P. Whiteley, 2nd.
Three specimens: J. Stych, 1st prize.
Collection grown in open air, 12 distinct varieties. First prize, 10s: second, 5s: J. Stych, 1st; W. Cruickshank, 2nd; Mrs. Boyd, W. Harris, S. E. Hughes (two exhibits), Tom C. P. Whiteley.
Collection grown in open air, six distinct varieties. First prize, 7s 6d: second, 2s 6d: J. Stych, 1st prize; E. Hay ward, 2nd; W. Harris, highly commended; S. E. Hughes, A. C. Lipscombe, C. W. Sanders, F. T. Ward, Tom C. P. Whiteley.
Collection Annuals, six distinct varieties. First prize, 5s; second, 2s 6d: W. Harris, 1st prize; W. Cruickshank, 2nd; A. C. Lipscombe, J. Stych.
Collection Everlastings, including ornamental grasses, six distinct varieties: J. Stych, 1st prize.
Phlox Drummondii, six varieties. First prize 5s; second, 2s 6d: Tom C. P. Whiteley, 1st prize; E. Haywood, 2nd; W. Cruickshank, W. Harris.
Zinnias, six varieties. First prize, 5s; second, 2s 6d: E. Haywood, 1st prize; W. Cruickshank, 2nd; E. Haywood, J. Stych.
Tea Roses, not less than three varieties. First prize, 5s; second, 2s 6d: Tom C. P. Whiteley, 1st prize; W. Harris, J. Stych.
Dahlias, double, six varieties. First prize, 7s 6d; second, 5s: G. Alderton, 1st prize; G. Aider-ton, 2nd: J. Stych.
Dahlias, single, six varieties. First prize, 5s; second, 2s 6d: A. E. Dewes, 1st prize; F. T. Ward.
Collection Sauces and Pickles, preserved, dried, or made in New Zealand. First prize, £1; second, 10s: H. Lipscombe, 1st prize.
Collection Garden Seeds, Tools and Requisites. First prize, £1; second, 10s: Arthur Yates and Co., 1st prize.
For Boys or Girls under the age of 14 years
One Bouquet, all the materials to be brought to, and the bouquet made up in, the exhibition room under supervision. First prize, 10s; second, 7s 6d; third, 5s: Miss Kate Speight, 1st prize; Miss Mary Garnaut, 2nd; Miss Mary Combes, 3rd; Cecil Hughes, Percy Hughes, Miss Sarah McIndoe, Miss M. Richards.
The following exhibits were not for competition, but added largely to the success of the exhibition:—
J. Jones, Remuera, six vegetable marrows; J. M. Horsbrough (age six), one sunflower; John Stanley, Birkenhead, three heads celery; H. Lipscombe, Hepburn-street, two plates plums; Ed. Neal, Epsom, seedling begonias; grown on Pah estate, Onehunga, oranges (specially commended); W. Nicoll, Remuera, three cabbages; M. Burke, Mount Eden, six carrots, six parsnips, 12 potatoes; W. McFetridge, Takapuna, six sticks rhubarb; East Tamaki district school, miscellaneous (special prize, £1 1s); Miss Speight, Parnell, pompon dahlias; W. McFetridge, Takapuna, 12 onions, six sticks rhubarb; H. E. Sharp, Waikomiti, 20 varieties apples, eight varieties Russian apples; four plates ornamental crabs, one plate plums; E. B. Houlton, Epsom, two banana melons; E. Withy, Remuera, miscellaneous (highly commended); H. Green, Symonds-street, blackberries and raspberries; A. E. Dewes, Parnell, seedling cactus dahlia; R. Hobbs, M. H. R., Pokeno, collection of fruit; W. J. Palmer, Carlton Gore Road, vegetable marrows and rhubarb; J. .Mayo, Drury, Cloth of Gold roses; E. Haywood, Ponsonby, box cut flowers; J. Abbott, Waikomiti, six plates fruit, one plate potatoes; J. Trayes, North Shore, two cucumbers: T. Steadman, Auckland, variety ferns and cockscombs (highly commended); W. J. Palmer, Carlton Gore Road, collection salads; F. Forrest, Epsom, cut flowers; A. Lipscombe, Hepburn-street, cut flowers; D. Hay and son, Remuera, roses; E. Haywood, Ponsonby, plate blackberries; W. J. Palmer, Carlton Gore Road, cut flowers, tuberous-rooted begonias (C.M.); W. Goldie, Auckland, one lilium auratum; D. Hay and Son, Remuera, group plants; Mr. Martin, Mahurangi Heads, lemons; Mr. Marti; Mahu angi Heads, maize; R. Brewin, Kaukapakapa, native seeds (Wildmau's prize, special); C. A. Bruford, Onehunga, thirty-six varieties dianthus: H. Crispe, Maukau, Lisbon lemon; John Sharpe, Cambridge, collection fruit; Exler and Son, Avondale pottery, pottery works; Mrs. Speight, Panell, hats made by native girls; Mrs. Edward Turner, Karangahape Road, floral decorations (specially commended); Mrs. Malcolm, Helensville, hanging-baskets, epergnes, etc.; Carder Brothers, pottery ware; Mr. Hamilton, model garden; a horticultural friend, collection of pot-plants; the Right Rev. Dr. Luck, 12 coleus; Thomas Steadman, four hanging baskets; John Sharp, Cambridge, apple "Crimson Peach," a sport from Irish Peach.
Special prizes were given by the following gentlemen:—
The Right Rev. J. E. Luck, O.S.B., D.D., Bishop Auckland, donation of £1 1s; Mr. F. T. Ward, Parnell, donation of £1 1s; Messrs. Hammond and Co., Newmarket, half-ton Taupiri coal; Mr. W. Wildman, stationer, Victoria Arcade, New Zealand, illustrated by Mr. Edward Wakefield.
The show was opened without any formality shortly after three o'clock, when Mr. Eady's band played a number of selections. There was a large rush of visitors at the outset, a great number having been waiting at the doors until the judging was completed.
There were special exhibits of a peculiarly interesting character. One of these was a magnificent display of Indian weaving work, exhibited by Mrs. Hyer, who is at present staying at Wyward House. The work, which is all hand woven, is very beautiful, the fabric being rich and fine. There were table cloths and covers, and dress fronts for skirts ami bodices, the interweaving being rich and artistic. There was another very noticeable feature in the way of native industry, and this was an exhibit, in the name of Miss Speight, of ladies' hats, built and trimmed by native women of Hokianga out of the native poplar tree. The texture is elegant and beautifully soft in appearance, and the hats were greatly admired by lady visitors last night.
The attendance in the afternoon was good, and cheered the hearts of the promoters of the show, but they were quite unprepared for the rush of visitors in the evening. It is true that everything was in shipshape and in exhibition order, and the attendance was all the more gratifying. The flower show was an attraction, but there was another powerful draw in the shape of a tableau and concert The tableau was thoroughly in keeping with the event. It was a living similitude of the founding of the colony, and the hoisting of the British flag in New Zealand. Admiral Lord Charles Scott gave permission to some of the crew of the Orlando to take part in the feature of the display. Master-at-Arms Grant, of the Orlando, had control of the display, and the whole programme of reading the proclamation, hoisting the flag, and firing the royal salute, was realistically performed. The following programme was then performed, Mr. Phillpot officiating as conductor:;—Jubilee Ode to "Zealandia" (written by H. May, Esq.), composed for this occasion by J.
This match was resumed at half-past eleven a.m. to-day. The weather was all that could be desired for cricket, the sky being clear, while a slight southerly breeze pleasantly tempered the sun's rays. The wicket played far better than on the first day, and in consequence there was a good display of batting on both sides. For the home eleven Yates showed fine form, and appeared to master the Cornstalks' bowling, while Kissling played pretty cricket for his score of 39, not out. His hitting all round was very fair, and it he could only infuse more force into his strokes his play would be first-class. Fowke played steadily, and obtained his runs by sound cricket, while Stemson and Gardiner hit well and freely for their scores. In the New South Wales second innings Robinson gave a fine exhibition of batting, hitting everything very cleanly, and Youill again demonstrated that he is a sterling batsman. Joe Davis, the skipper, played a remarkably free innings, not-withstanding the fact that he was indisposed. His leg hitting was favourably commented on, and Auckland cricketers should profit by it. J. Cottam batted in taking style, while McClinchy and the genial Sid Callaway, although they did not obtain double figures, shaped nicely. In bowling Cowper and Newell were the most successful for the visitors, while McClinchy and Callaway were at times very difficult to play. J. Shepherd, although not so showy a wicket-keeper as Fowke, was very smart and safe. H. B. Lusk was by far the most successful with the ball for Auckland, and also made a fine right-handed catch off his own trundling, for which he was deservedly applauded. The Auckland first innings closed for a total of 113. The Cornstalks lost 7 wickets for 116, and then Davis declared the innings closed in hope of putting the local men out in the second innings for a small total, and thereby winning the match, however, in this he was unsuccessful, and at the call of time the Auckland men had lost 4 wickets for 70, having 6 wickets to fall, and being 102 behind the visitors. Had time per-mitted the game to be concluded, there is not the least doubt the match would have been very exciting.
As New South Wales' eleven took the field they were greeted with a cheer. Yates and Fowke, the not outs of the previous evening, resumed their positions at the wickets. Yates took the strike from Callaway, who changed to the Hospital end. Off the third ball the United veteran scored two by a pretty cut, and followed up by putting the next past point for 2. Newell's first over from the Brewery end was a maiden, while Callaway followed suit, and Newell did ditto. In Callaway's next over Yates got a fluky 2 off the first ball, and drove the last for 1. Yates brought 50 up by driving Newell for 1, and Fowke got 1 on the same bowler by an off drive. Yates hit out at Callaway, but was beautifully caught by Clarke at forward cover. Telegraph: 54—5—35. Stemson was the incomer, and scored 1 off the first ball by a snick off Callaway. Fowke hit Newell to leg for 5 and brought Go up. In Callaway's next Fowke got 3 by a fluky cut. Newell nearly bringing off a catch, the ball going a few inches too high Stemson drove Newell hard to long-off and Cottam missing it, he obtained 4. A hit for 1 by Fowke off Callaway brought 70 up, and then Stemson drove the Carlton man for 5. The United man hit Newell to long-field for 2, and followed suit off the next, bringing 80 up. Cowper relieved Callaway, and off his first Stemson scored 2 by a leg hit. McClinchy bowled in place of Newell, and sent down a maiden. Cowper bowled a maiden, and in the first ball of McClinchy's Stemson's timbers were scattered. Telegraph: 83—6—18. Gardiner filled the breach, and scored one to square leg off the last ball of the over. Fowke skied a ball of Cowper's, which fell between the bowler and Clarke. Fowke hit McClinchy to long leg for 4, bringing 90 up, and saving the follow on. After a couple of maidens. Fowke found one of Cowper's too good ana had to retire. Telegraph: 91—7—Rees appeared in place of the wicket-keeper, and broke the ice by a short run off the Newcastle man. Gardiner skied one to short leg, but Cottam and Callaway both rushing for the catch the Carlton bowler lost it. In Cowper's next over Rees was clean bowled. Telegraph: 97—8—3. Hawkins filled the gap, and after a couple of leg-byes were run, Cowper caught and bowled him. Telegraph, 99—9—0. Kelly stepped into the vacancy, and a leg-bye brought 100 up amidst applause. Gardiner skied one from McClinchy to long on, but Robinson dropped an easy catch. Gardiner cut the Newcastle man hard for 4. and then hit the same bowler hard to square
In the evening the team were the guests of the Auckland Cricket Association at a smoke concert given at the Imperial Hotel, Fort-street. There was a very large attendance of cricketers and lovers of the game, and a most enjoyable evening was spent. Mr. W. L. Rees was in the chair. The toasts honoured were as follow:—"The Queen." proposed by the Chair-man; "Our Guests," coupled with the name of Mr. J. Davis, captain of the New South Wales players, by Mr. A. E. Whitaker, who made a most appropriate speech, stating that he had enjoyed the match greatly, and only regretted that the attendance was not larger; however, he hoped the New South Welshmen would play a return match, and that they would be better patronised. Mr. Davis, in a few words, returned thanks. The game had been a very pleasant one, while he was sure all his team were enjoying their stay in Auckland. "The Auckland Team," coupled with the name of the captain, Mr. H. P. Kissling, was proposed by Mr. Shepherd, who said that the most princely hospitality had been extended to the New South Wales cricketers since their arrival in Auckland. With regard to the form shown by the local team, he ventured the opinion that there was very little to choose between the two teams, and if the same merit is possessed by the cricketers in the South, a New Zealand eleven would make a remarkably good show against the picks of New South Wales. Mr. Yates, in the unavoidable absence of Mr. Kissling, replied very briefly on behalf of the Auckland team. "The Scorers and Umpires," was proposed by Mr. H. Rees George, and responded to by Messrs. McCormick and Kenderdine. Mr. C. Davis, manager of the New South Wales team, in a short speech, proposed the health of Mr. F. C. Cheeseman, and the latter replied, saying that he hoped this visit of our cousins from across the sea, would prove the forerunner of many others.
The toast of the "New South Wales Cricket Union" and "the Southern Associations of New Zealand" was allotted to Mr. McKinney, who stated that it gave him great pleasure to meet the New South Wales players, and he was sure that their visit through this colony would be an enjoyable one. Mr. Shepherd in a happy speech replied for the New South Wales Cricket Union, while Mr. Holle returned thanks on behalf of the Southern Unions. "Cricket," coupled with the name of His Worship the Mayor (Mr. Upton), was proposed by the Chairman, and replied to by Mr. J. H. Upton. Mr. H. Robinson gave the toast of the "Auckland Cricket Association" coupled with the name of Mr. McKinney, who replied in a very happy manner. During the evening comic and sentimental songs were contributed by Messrs. J. Knox, S. Callaway, J. Cottam, R. J. Yates, E. Davis, G. Reid, Holle, and T. S. Sandes. Three cheers were given for the respective teams, and after singing "Auld Lang Syne" and "God Save the Queen" the concert broke up.
The Jubilee festivities were concluded today, when the athletic sports for the officers and men of the squadron, the members of Friendly Societies, and local amateurs, were held in the Domain Cricket Ground. Beautifully fine weather prevailed. The demonstration was in every respect a success beyond the highest expectations of its promoters. There was present the greatest concourse of people ever seen in the Auckland Domain, and it is estimated that the attendance exceeded in numbers that at any fete previously held in New Zealand. Looked at from a point on the low ground opposite the pavilion, the spectacle was a very impressive one. The centre of the picture was the beautiful green carpet of well-kept grass, at the outside of which was the racing track completely bounded by thousands of the populace. On the slope at the southern end of the ground there overlooked the field an immense throng, so deep that those in the rear were lost to view against the high trees growing in a long line on the side of the hill, and forming a most appropriate background to the animated scene; and in the immediate centre of this serried mass was the pavilion, its front almost hidden by the numbers of people crowded onthe verandah and stairway. The cool and pleasant shade given by the belt of pines was gratefully claimed by many other thousands, whilst the high hill at the north-eastern corner of the field had also fringes of humanity, as well as knots of people dotted here and there, and onthe flat there were great numbers, many of them standing under a canopy formed by innumerabl a umbrellas used as sunshades. The scene was one which in itself fitly celebrated the Jubilee. It is estimated that about 20,000 people were present, and the good order which they observed was a striking feature.
At about 3.15 p.m. His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand and party arrived at the Domain gates. There were with Lord Onslow, Rear-Admiral Lord Charles Scott, Lord Carrington, Sir John and Lady Thurston, Miss Thurston, Captain Savile, Captain Trench, Hon. D'Arcy and Mrs. Lambton, Captain Barlow (H.M.s. Orlando). Messrs. Meysey-Thompson, Fitzgerald, and Pullen. The party were received at the entrance to the ground by His Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. Ii. Upton), Mr. Devore (President of the Jubilee Committee), and the members of the Entertainment Committee, and were escorted to the pavilion. Here they were met by Mrs. Upton (the Mayoress), Mrs. A. Devore, and Mr. J Coates (president of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Club). Seats had been reserved on the pavilion for the visitors, who were presented with programmes of the sports, beautifully printed on satin. A choice luncheon was provided for the party by Mr. M. Gallagher, Imperial Hotel. Lord Onslow expressed himself charmed with the beauty of the Domain and the surroundings, and agreeably surprised at witnessing the many thousands of well dressed and orderly people. His Excellency and party, with the exception of Lord Carrington, left the ground about five o'clock, not waiting for the Maori war dance, as they had seen it that day at Orakei. Lord Carrington, however, remained until the close of the sports, and watched the dance with much interest; and at its close he asked Mr. Porter to convey to the Maoris a message from him to the effect that he was much impressed with their noble bearing and good behaviour, and that he thanked them for their performance.
The meeting was under the managements the Auckland Amateur Athletic Club, and the arrangements were of the most complete character. The racing ground was marked off with a post and wire fence, in order to prevent encroachment by the public, and all the races were started punctually to time. Special praise must be given to Messrs. J. Halyday, A H. Cotter, T. F. Upfill, H. H. Davy, and P. Edwards, and the judges, Messrs. R.Garrett J. F. Logan, and Coupland. The starting by Mr. Edwards was excellent, and Mr. J. E. Cooke, who was time-keeper, was indefatigable in the duties of his office. The committee, in conducting the sports in which the men of the squadron took part, were assisted by a committee comprising Captain Barlow, Lieutenants Lambton, Tyrwhitt, and Risk, and Paymaster Campion, The gentlemen named, and all the other authorities of the meeting, worked well, and deserve every credit. The Friendly Societies sports were conducted by the following Committee:—Messrs. J. Jamieson, Pigott, Cole, Hughes, Garratt, Carr, Massey, Beehan, Le-Rov, Duthie, and Niblock.
The amount of money taken at the gates was £509, but this does not represent the total number of people present, as many entered the ground without paying. This sum, with the £42 realised by the tender for the progaammes, makes £551, or £350 more than the estimate given by the Amateur Athletic Club to the Jubilee Committee.
There were two bands on the ground—that of H.M.s. Orlando, twenty members, under Bandmaster G. Bird; and the Artillery under Bandmaster A. R. Hunter. The performances of both were exceedingly good. The Orlando band contributed the following programme:—"Bohemian Girl," Balfe; waltz, "Daddy," Bucallosi; fantasia, "Folk Songs of Italy," E. Rampezzoti; quadrille. "Merrie England," Williams; grand selection, "Attila," Verdi; galop, "Tourism" A fine programme was also submitted by Mr. Hunter's band, a notable item being the "Maritana" fantasia.
A staff of police, under Inspector Broham and Sergeant-Major Pratt, rendered good service during the day.
The sports throughout were well contested, and some of the races for the members of the Amateur Athletic Club, especially the 150 yards handicap, were very exciting. The officers and men of the squadron entered heartily into the spirit of the gathering, and showed the greatest interest in the events which they decided. Besides Captain Barlow, Captain Felly and a large number of other officers of the squadron were present.
One of the most novel features of the proceedings was the Mongolian Race, the competitors being 25 Chinamen. They appeared in new running costume, purchased for the occasion at a total cost of £7 4s. When they trooped on to the ground they were received with great applause. The details of the race were arranged by Messrs. Ah Kew and Ah Chee, who presented a large consignment of Chinese crackers (costing £7 10s), and these were placed in the centre of the field and fired at the moment of starting the race. The sound of the exploding crackers was almost deafening, and as packet after packet was thrown onto the heap, a great volume of smoke arose, accompanied with a noise like the discharge of artillery, which continued whilst the Chmamen were running, and for some time afterwards.
The day's proceedings began at half-past ten o'clock with the sports for men of the Friendly Societies; and after the adjournment, at half-past twelve, the squadron sports began. The details are as follow:—
100 Yards Handicap.—The starters were:—Purdy, scratch; Parsons, scratch; Mc-Donnell, 2 yards; O'Hare, 3 yards; Duflin and McPhail, 4 yards; Jones, 5 yards; Bain and Harvey, 6 yards: Markes and Wilson, 7 yards; Miles, 8 yards. This was a very good race, the three placed men finishing almost abreast. Harvey, 1; Jones, 2; McDonnell, 3.
Quarter—Mile Handicap.—In this event the starters were:—Purely, scratch; Mc-Laughing, 10 yards; McPhail, 15 yards; Bailey, 15 yards; and Harvey 16 yards, Bailey took the lead from the start, and was never headed, winning easily. Bailey, 1; Harvey, 2; McLaughlin, 3. Time, 58s.
Half-Mile Handicap.—McLaughlin, 20 yards; Bailey, 21 yards; and Wilson, 22 yards, were the starters. Bailey came to the front at the back of the course the second time, and won easily. Bailey, 1; McLaughlin, 2. Time, 2m. 21¾s.
One Mile Handicap.—There were post entries for this event, as follows:—Bailey, scratch: McCormick, 35 yards; Beachem, 25 yards; and Wilson, 40 yards. Won rather easily. McCormick, 1; Balley, 2; Wilson, 3.
150 Yards Handicap.—The starters were: Purdy and Parsons, scratch; McDonnell, 3½ yards: Duflin, 6 yards; Jones, 7 yards;Harvey 8 yards: Marks, 9 yards; and Wilson, 10 yards. After a good race Harvey won, Parsons being second, and Duffin and Jones running a dead heat for third place. Time, 16s.
100 Yards Handicap (for men over 40).—The entries were received on the ground, as follows:—E. O'Hare, scratch; Andrews, 18 yards; C. Bater, 20 yards; and Miles, 25 yards. Won by a few yards, O'Hare running well. Bater, 1; O'Hare, 2; Miles, 3.
150 Yards Hurdles.—The starters were:—O'Hare, scratch; Parsons, 3 yards; Jones, 4 yards; and McLaughlin 8 yards. Parsons won easily. O'Hare stopped at the first hurdle. Time, 22s.
Wheelbarrow Race, 100 yards.—J. McDonnell, 1; Shaw, 2; Cole, 3. These were the only starters.
100 Yards Handicap.—This was one of two races promoted on the ground for members of fire brigades. The starters were: Parsons, scratch; Jones, 4 yards; Jenkins, 12 yards. Won easily. Parsons, 1; Jones, 2; Jenkins, 3.
150 Yards Handicap.—The starters were the same as in the last event, the handicaps being: Parsons, scratch; Jones, 8 yards; Jenkins, 30 yards. Won by about a yard. Jones, 1; Jenkins, 2; Parsons, 3.
100 Yards Race.—J. Lydon (Orlando), 1; F. Stimpson (Orlando), 2; W. Keleher and G. Raynor, dead heat for third place. Seven started. Time, 11½s.
150 Yards Handicap.—This race, for the members of the A. A. A.C. Club, was run in two heats and a final. A good Held of seven started in the first, and after a good race it resulted: A. Smith, 11 yards, 1; J. Hill, 13 yards, 2; R. Jeffreys, 17 yards, 3. Time, 15¼s. The second heat was also a good contest. The limit man, Barton, led for most of the way, but Hutchison came at the finish and won with something in hand: J. P. Hutchison, 5 yards, 1; N. Barton, 14 yards, 2; M. H. Laird, 2½ yards, 3. Time, 15¼s. In the final all six placed men started, and a fierce struggle for victory resulted. When 100 yards had been traversed Smith had a good lead, but Hutchison came at the finish in a most determined manner and just beat him on the tape by a couple of inches, Laird being halt a yard away third, and the field well up: J. P. Hutchison, 5 yards, 1; A. Smith, 11 yards, 2; M. H. Laira, 2½ yards, 3. Time, 15s.
Quarter Mile.—Eight men from the squadron started for this event all from scratch. They went away at a very merry pace, and J. Lydon got a good lead, which he held till the back of the course, when G. Raynor displaced him, and running strongly won rather easily by about eight yards: Gr. Raynor (Opal), 1; J. Lydon Orlando), 2; W. Keleher (Opal), 3.
One Mile Bicycle.—This was a first-class race. Eleven started. Rollo fell when he had gone 10 yards. The limit man, Hoffman, led the first round, but the scratch division were closing up rapidly. Selby displaced Taylor, and at the back of the course in the second round Lecky came up, and getting on terms with the leader passed him in the straight. Howard then spurted strongly, and was leading in the last lap, Buchanan and Short both passed Lecky, and the former drew up to Howard's hind wheel, but the
220 Yards Veterans' Race.—This was for all-comers from the squadron, and a good field started. A spirited contest ensued, but on turning into the straight A. Gunn took the lead, and leaving his field rapidly won by 10 yards: A. Gunn (Orlando), 1; Stanzon (Lizard), 2; W. Warburton, 3.
120 Yards Hurdles.—A most amusing event took place for this contest. Nine started, and at the first hurdle several fell, and nearly every one of the ten flights was tumbled over before the race finished. F. Stimpson, who jumped well throughout, won after a good finish. F. Stimpson (Orlando), 1; W. Martin (Orlando), 2; W. Payne (Orlando), 3.
Wheelbarrow Race (100 Yards).—This event, for bluejackets, caused great laughter. The competitors, eleven in number, were blindfolded, and each drove a wheelbarrow in which was seated another sailor who guided his mate as to the direction he was to take by his voice. The start had barely been effected when several collisions took place, causing much diversion, and the erratic courses described by those who were fortunate enough to escape upset was equally amusing. The winner turned up in Loch and Torr, who managed to keep a fairly straight course, and a close fight for second place ensued between two other pairs, the result being: Loch and Torr (Orlando), 1; J. Bissett and mate (Orlando), 2; Leach and Sherman, 3.
Professor Carrollo's Display.—The exhibition of dumbbell practice and formations to music, by about 80 of Professor Carrollo's pupils, was one of the most pleasing items on the programme. All the party filed out in neat black and white costumes, and taking up their positions in squad opposite the grand stand, under the direction of the Professor a variety of graceful movements were gone through in splendid style and with great precision, the whole concluding with a mazy march at the double. At the conclusion of the display the performers were accorded hearty and lengthened applause.
Quarter-Mile Handicap.—This event was for local amateurs, and produced a splendid contest. A fine field of 17 were despatched to an even start, and Clarkson, Goldwater, and Atkinson were the first to show in front, but at the back of the course all had drawn up into a bunch. Turning into the straight Taylor was ahead, but Kilfoyle, coming on full of running, quickly displaced him, and though Hutchison came on the outside in grand style he could not get on terms with the leader, and only beat Taylor for second place. The result was: A. Kilfoyle, 16 yards, 1; J. P. Hutchison, scratch, 2; T. W. Taylor, 30 yards, 3. Time, 54s.
Three-Legged Race.—A great field of blue jackets contested in this event, and though many fell a keen struggle for victory took place. The result was: W. Smith and W. Sherman (Opal), 1; F. Wilson and W. Stevens (Orlando), 2; A. McKinlay and J. Lydon (Orlando), 3.
Obstacle Race (officers only).—This was a race which caused great amusement. The obstacles which had to be surmounted in a course of about 500 yards were:—First, a triple hurdle; next, a boom, erected horizontally about 15 feet from the ground, had to be climbed over by means of dangling ropes attached, then a large sail pinned securely to the ground had to be crept under, a greased inclined plank had to be scrambled up, and last, but not least, the competitors had to crawl through suspended barrels. Eight started and all got safely over the hurdles, but at the boom Baird got a good lead and running well, scrambled under or over all; the succeeding impediments, and won with a bit in hand. The result was, Baird (Opal), 1; Armstrong (Opal), 2; Corbett (Opal), 3
Half-Mile Mongolian Handicap.—This was quite a novelty to the spectators, and the sight of 25 well-built, wiry-looking Celestials filing on the ground in orthodox athletic costume was one that has perhaps never before been witnessed in any athletic meeting in Australasia. All started from scratch, and the field began to straggle rapidly. At the end of the first round Ling Chung had a good lead, and running in good style, won by about 20 yards. The result was: Ling Chung, 1; Ah Hing, 2; Ah Yuk, 3 The following were the competitors:—Ling Chung, Ah Hing, Ah Yuk, Yuh Fung, Ah Wong, Sing Him, Ah Mung, Yuk Lee, Ah Hee, Li Yung, Kong Ting, Ah Won, Sun Foo, Ah Quong, Ah Chow, Ah Kwoang, Ku Hing, Ah Ling, Ah Gang, Ah Wing, Kow Kee, and four others.
Tugs-of-War.—There were five teams entered for this contest. The first heat was between 12 stokers (Orlando) and 12 bluejackets (Opal). After a brief struggle the former hauled some of their opponents over the line but then desisted, ana the Opals taking advantage of the halt took them by surprise and reversed the verdict. Orlando's marines and Opal's bluejackets, No. 2, next measured their strength, and a good tussle resulted in favour of the former. The next heat was between Orlando's bluejackets and Lizard's bluejackets. A tough pull ensued, but the former wore their opponents down and won. After an interval the Orlando's bluejackets and Opal's bluejackets met, and a desperate struggle ensued. The former had the worst of the first portion of the tug, but clinging to their work with great tenacity at last out-stayed their opponents and won the contest amidst great cheering. The effect of their great exertions was apparent, however, when they met the team of marines from the Orlando. The soldiers were a stalwart lot of fellows, and pulling with a will, carried of the prize. They were heartily applauded by the spectators.
Three Mile Bicycle Race.—This was one of the most interesting events of the day Ten started, but Ashton fell in the first lap Selby led for the first half-mile, but Boord after running second time, displaced him, and Taylor drew up, while the field closed on the leaders, Howard and Buchanan going very strongly, and cutting down their opponents Boord shortly after ran to the front and led the field at a merry pace, and Buchanan, with Howard in close attendance, spurted
1000 Yards Race.—H. N. Goldwater was the winner, leaving his field early in the second round, and finishing well in advance of his opponents. H. N. Goldwater, 45 yards, 1; R. Jeffries, 10 yards, 2; E. Clarke, 33 yards, 3.
Sack Race.—Eleven men started, and many tumbles ensued, the race eventually being won by a seaman from the Orlando.
Obstacle Race, Allcomers.—For this event over a dozen started, and all went well until the greasy inclined planks were encountered, at which many of the competitors came to grief, and Raynor, who was leading, was displaced by W. Payne, who got over at his first attempt, and securing a long lead, won easily.
Owing to the fiasco which occurred at the Devonport Racecourse, in the failure of the public to see the war-dance, Mr. Devore and the members of the Jubilee Committee determined that no stone should be left unturned to have the dance repeated in the Auckland Domain, where the natural amphitheatre surrounding the Cricket Ground would enable 20,000 people to see it performed with ease and comfort. They, accordingly, arranged with the natives to give it immediately after the sports of the day on Saturday. The result was a magnificent success, and the Auckland public have seen the Maori war-dance, as performed by a large body of natives, for, perhaps, the last time they will have the opportunity of witnessing it. At the close of the day's sports the natives, who had been marched up late in the afternoon, and were kept in reserve in the bush near the Government gardens, came up in regular formation, preceded by Mr. Porter and Mr. E. T. Dufaur, and were greeted by the immense assemblage with enthusiastic cheers. The Maoris were all stripped to the waist, and armed with paddles. Two or three of the chiefs had taiahs, or meres, and led the dances, which were given with great vigour and precision. The first dance, the Ngeri was one of the hakas which is performed when a tribe has had a meeting and decided to fight, believing their quarrel to be just. The performance of the dance was greeted with great applause. Then followed the dance when they had conquered the enemy's pa and were victors. This was a haka or dance of delight. The third dance was when the victors went out of the pa and were eating the bodies of their enemies. These dances were given with tremendous energy, and elicited great cheering from the spectators. But the feature of the programme was the Kokiri, or charge, when the Maoris getting into formation, gave a tremenduous war whoop, and brandishing their paddles charged right down on the immense assemblage in front of the grand stand. The effect was electric, hundreds of the spectators believed they were going to burst in on the packed assemblage, like an avalanche, but with great agility and dexterity, the leading files pulled up at the very feet of the spectators, and then charged round the cricket ground, so as to enable the spectators on all sides of the amphitheatre to see the Kokiri, or rush, or Maori charge. This spectacle completed the delight and satisfaction of the spectators, and was an excellent ending to the day's amusement. Lord Carrington directed Mr. Porter to thank the natives for their performance of the dances, with which he had been greatly pleased.
The days of a genuine war dance are past. The Maoris now do not practice it in earnest, and so it tends to degenerate into a somewhat spiritless performance. Those who saw a war dance thirty or forty years ago, when the Maoris meant it, and when perhaps 1000 warriors took part, could not help making comparisons. But what we saw is probably the best we can expect to see in Auckland.
We may quote from Dr. Thomson his description of a war dance as it should be:—"The whole army, after running about 20 yards, arranged itself in lines, five, ten twenty, or even forty deep, and then all squatted down in a sitting posture. Suddenly, at a signal given by the leader, all started to their feet, having weapons in their right hands. With the regularity of a regiment at drill, each man elevated the right leg and right side of the body, then the left leg and left side; and then, like a flash of lightning, jumped two feet from the ground, brandishing and cleaving the air with his weapon, and yelling a loud chorus, which terminated with a long, deep, expressive sigh, and was accompanied with gaping mouths, inflated nostrils, distorted Faces, in which nothing was seen but the dark pupil surrounded with white. Every muscle quivered. Again and again these movements were enacted, and time was marked by striking their thighs with their open left hands so as to produce one sound, and by old naked women daubed over with red ochre acting as fuglers in front of the dancers."
Here is the translation of a war chant which obtained considerable celebrity at one time, having been sent down by Rewi to Taranaki when the war first broke out there It was sung by Wetine Taiporutu (who was afterwards killed at Mahoetahi) and those who went with him from Waikato to assist the Taranakis:—
We give four other chants of different kinds:—
In the forenoon the events of the Jubilee Regatta which had to be contested again in consequence of the numerous protests that had been lodged, were decided. There was a light breeze for the sailing races, and in the majority of cases nearly all the competitors who had taken part in the races on Wednesday again faced the starter. In consequence of the alteration in the course, however, the exact amount of the time allowances could not be properly calculated, and the results of the races below are therefore given as the craft finished, but probably several of those who came in first will not be the ultimate winners of the prizes when the apportionment of allowances is taken into consideration. Mr. J. F. Haultain proved an efficient starter, and Mr. J. 13. Graham, as usual, was a painstaking and impartial judge. The details of the races are appended:—
Second Class Yachts.—This was the race for craft between 4 and 7 tons. Only three vessels started, the Mapu, Which came in first on Regatta Day, had carried away her gaff the day previous, and came to the post too late to have any chance. The Spray was ahead for the most of the first round, but was eventually passed by the Tawera, which came in an easy winner, the positions at the finish being as follows:—Tawera, 2h. 56m. 30s., 1; Spray, 3h. 6m. 28s., 2; Juvarnia, 3h. 11m. 30s., 3. The Tawera therefore wins the valuable cup presented by the Colonial Insurance Company, as well as the announced prize money.
First-Class Fishing Boats.—All those who had contested on Regatta Day again came to the start, which was an excellent one, all being sent off on very even terms. The Foam with her small sails was out of the race. The May was the first to round the North Head, but as she had not a great spread of canvas, her owner evidently calculating on a stiff breeze, she was afterwards passed by both the Christina and the Caprera which were better prepared for the light wind. The Foam gave up early in the race being distanced. The order in which the boats finished was:—Christina, 2h. 54m 1; Caprera, 2h. 58m. 45s.,2; May, 2h. 59m. 30s 3; Laurina, 3h. 5m. 30s., 4.
Third Class Yachts.—Six craft answered the starter's signal, and were sent away on even terms. The Manola soon asserted her superiority, and repeated her performance of the 29th, but the other craft made repeated changes in their positions, the yachts which; had any chance with the Manola being the Matea and Tangaroa. The Isca was late in starting, and was considerably handicapped thereby. The result was: Manola, 3h. 33m. 20s., 1; Matea 3h. 34m. 21s.,2; Tangaroa, 34m. 55s., 3; Isca, 3h. 40m. 30s., 4; Maia, 3h. 42m., 5.
Small Fishing Boats.—Nearly all the competitors of Regatta Day again came forward, and though the breeze was very light, a fair race ensued. Owing to an alteration being made in the time of starting, the May Queen was about six minutes late in starting,: and at the finish was well up with the leaders, the order being: Venice, 1h. 39m, 1; Mignonette, lh. 45m., 2; Lita, lh. 48m., 3; May Queen, lh. 51m. 45s., 4; Mary' 1h. 52m., 5.
Fourth Class Yachts.—This was a very good race, but would have been more exciting had there been a stronger wind, The result was: Italy, 2h. 39m., 1; Maud, 41m., 2; Doris, 2h. 48m., 3; Malvina, 2h. 53m., 4.
Junior Whaleboats.—This race was one of those which had to be re-contested. St. George's, which won so easily on Regatta Day, did not compete, the starters being North Shore. Hauraki, and City. A good contest ensued for half the distance, when
Gig Race.—A match between two four-oared gig crews from the Poverty Bay and Auckland Rowing Clubs took place. A very fair contest ensued for a mile, when the visitors drew away, and won at the finish somewhat easily by a couple of lengths.
As showing the masses of people which have been handled durine the Jubilee week, and transported to and fro without a single hitch or accident, we give the returns of the Devonport Steam Ferry Company and the Auckland Tramway Company. The ferry steamers carried 51,332, and the Tramway Company about 50,000. The 'buses and cabs must also have carried about 20,000, and the railways must have carried some 20,000, making over 140,000 persons in all, or the population of Auckland and suburbs shifted more than twice over.
In the morning His Excellency Lord Onslow, by invitation of the Waikato natives, proceeded to Devonport to receive an address of welcome. His Lordship was accompanied by Admiral Lord Charles Scott, Sir John and Lady Thurston, Miss Thurston, Captain Savile, A.D.C. to Lord Onslow, Hon. Messrs. Mitchelson and Hislop, Mr. Clendon (R.M.), Mr. Lewis (Under-Secretary for Native Affairs), Mr. Upton (Mayor of Auckland), Mr. Devore (President of the Jubilee Committee), Mr. M. Niccol (Mayor of Devonport), and a number of officers from the warships in harbour. The party were met and welcomed by fifty young Maori girls, led by Te Rawhiti, and they accompanied them to the Naval Depot, where the main body of the natives met them with great cheering. Lord Onslow was introduced to Major Te Wheoro, who presented him with an address from the Waikato natives, which was read by Te Rawhiti, as follows:—
Kia koe e Anaro, te Kawana o Nui Tireni. Tena koe,—Ko matou ko nga Rangitira me te Iwi o Waikato, he tangata Maori no Nui Tireni, e powhiri manuhiri atu ana kia koe, i runga i tenei Hupiri i Rarangatia ai te Kawana, me te pakeha e o matou tupuna Matua, kia noho ki tenei whenua, ki Waitemata i te tau
The address was interpreted to Lord Onslow by Mr. Clendon, R. M. The following is the translation:—
Wi Te Wheoro.
His Excellency the Governor replied as follows, Mr. Clendon again interpreting:—"To Te Wheoro and people of Waikato,—To be the first Governor who has received an address of loyalty to the Queen of England from the natives of the Waikato is a great pleasure to me. Englishmen believe their institutions and their forms of Government to be the best in the world; at any rate, it has enabled them, where other nations of Europe, with different forms of Government have failed, to people every part of the globe, and to bring Christianity and civilisation to countless native tribes. In bidding you share with us on equal terms in these forms of government, and by opening to you our law Courts and our Parliament Houses, we believe we are doing
After His Excellency's reply, Te Wheoro uttered some words of welcome, and a war dance was given by the natives. The Whakataua, or principal war canoe, was then prepared; and Lord Onslow, Admiral Scott, Sir John and Lady Thurston, Miss Thurston, and the rest of the party embarked in it to proceed to Paul Tuhaere's settlement at Orakei. The large canoe was followed by the second canoe, the Whakatiwai, in which the Hon. Mr. Mitchelson was seated. On arrival at Orakei it was found that the principal canoe could not approach the shore so near as to allow the party to land from it, and the Governor and the other gentlemen who were with him were taken ashore on the backs of stalwart Maoris, whilst the ladies were carried by natives whose arms were extended in a chair fashion. The Maoris at Paul's settlement welcomed their distinguished visitors, and the Maori? who had accompanied them from Devonport, and all of the natives, then assembled together and gave the war dance with great spirit and enthusiasm. Another address was shortly afterwards presented to Lord Onslow on behalf of the Hauraki natives by the Chief Paul, Mr. Clendon interpreting. His Excellency having replied, the visitors were shown through the settlement by Paul. A number of Maori maidens them danced the "poi" dance, and the vice-regal party returned to the city shortly after twelve o'clock.
Mr. W. Wildman having telegraphed to Mr. W. Colenso, of Hawke's Bay, inviting him to come to Auckland at the time of the Jubilee, received in reply the following interesting letter:—
Dear Mr. Wildman,—I can scarcely tell you in a few words how very greatly your kind telegram of yesterday affected me on receipt thereof. It was so unexpected and so very generous on your part. As I don't benefit by the town delivery of letters I did not receive it until late this day, and then by chance; but I replied by wire (briefly) as you wished.
The chief causes of my not accepting your invitation are: my chronic rheumatism (often severe), my age (nearly 80) preventing my undertaking the long and rough overland journey, and my being always such a great sufferer at sea from mal-de-mer; at the same time my general health is fair if I keep quietly within my old gearings.
For many reasons I should like to be there with you at Auckland on this occasion: (1) From my having both witnessed and assisted at the creation of the colony in the Bay of Islands (Auckland province) in
The Government undertook to publish my authentic account of "the signing of the treaty of Waitangi" (written entirely at the time, and also corroborated by Mr. Busby, then the late British Resident), and as I read the proofs (revise) a fortnight ago I hope you may have some copies with you by the Jubilee day.
I venture to think that not a few Aucklanders (by this term I mean of the whole province) will find it interesting, as well as historical and correct.
I much regret, however, the Government declining to publish with it my two appendices pertaining to the formation of the colony (on the score of not wishing to enlarge the little book). The first of those two was of public matters prior to
Heartily wishing you every possible success—without a flaw!—and trusting that much future good (though it may be for the present hidden from view) may follow this Jubilee year and commemoration to Auckland and to her whole province, and to the colony at large.—I am, &c..
P.S.—Be very sure to send me an Auckland paper containing a full account of your doings.
On the motion for going into Committee of
Dr. "In the history of Parliament only a very small space is occupied by party government,
Hodgkinson said,—I beg to move the following resolution: That a Committee be appointed to consider and report as to the possibility of devising a system of appointing the Executive Government such as may be free from the evils of the present system; to report in a fortnight: the said Committee to consist of Mr. Saunders, Mr. Tanner, Major Steward, Mr. Samuel, Mr. Verrall, Mr. O'Conor, Mr. Monk, Dr. Newman, Captain Russell, and the over. Any one who looks impartially at what has taken place in this colony must recognise that the present system is a great curse, and has indirectly led to ruinous expenditure and indebtedness. The part of this subject which I wish to deal with chiefly is the historical part. I am aware that the great difficulty of getting fair consideration for this subject is that the minds of honourable members are prejudiced, and they have foregone conclusions upon the subject. The impression upon the minds of most honourable members has been that this proposal is a great novelty, and that the present system of party or Responsible Government is necessary to the existence of parliamentary government and institutions. There never was a greater fallacy than that. If we trace back the origin of this system, we shall find that it is of very modern origin, and, in fact, has only been in operation about a hundred years, and that in the great and most glorious times of English history, when the liberties of England were secured, this system of Responsible Government was utterly unknown, and is also utterly unknown among the greater part of the English-speaking race at this present time. It has never existed in the old American colonies or in the United States—and we know that the centre of gravity of the Anglo-Saxon race is now on the western continent, and not in the little island of Great Britain. If we go back to trace the origin of this system we must go back a considerable number of centuries—to the first origin of Parliaments, which has been traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period. But that really was not the origin of Parliaments. There was then a national system, but not a representative system. True Parliaments did not come into operation until the close of the thirteenth century, and at that time the Kings had no Ministry, such as we have, but they had a Council, which came to be called the Privy Council. Now, this modern system of Cabinet did not come into operation until several centuries afterwards. It commenced in the days of the Stuarts—the days of James I., Charles I., and Charles II. The Kings at that time, as history shows, instead of taking the advice of the whole number of the Privy Council, selected a few of their own particular friends, in whom they had the greatest confidence and for whom they had the greatest liking, and separated them from the rest of the Privy Councillors so far as this: that they only called this select number together. And that is how the name "Cabinet" came into use, because they were assembled in a cabinet. I may add that this caused a great deal of jealousy and dissatisfaction, as we are told by Clarendon, the historian, that it was considered a sort of precedence of certain Privy Councillors, which created ill-feeling. Those who are readers of history will recollect that was in the time especially of Charles II., and that was the origin of the word "cabal," which is so well known. The initials of the names of a certain number of these Councillors gave that name. This system went on, and there was nothing like Ministerial responsibility until the time of William III. In the time of William III. it came about that the King, being a constitutional King, did not insist on appointing Ministers who were not acceptable to the Parliament. I may say that at that time, and for some time later,
Now, another matter in connection with our present system of parliamentary government which is of some importance is that of asking questions in Parliament. That is also of modern date. It only dates back to the times of Sir Robert Walpole. As for precedent for this institution of an elective Executive, which a great number of members are in favour of, there are to a certain extent precedents for it even now in Europe. In the Kingdom of Norway, though they have not an elected Executive in the sense in which we speak of it, at the close of Parliament the House elects a Committee to look over the public accounts and the welfare of the realm. That is very much such a body as we wish to see appointed to conduct the business of this country. Then, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as I have said, though they have a Responsible Ministry, they are not required to be members of the House; nor are they in Denmark—as regards the great institution called the Rigsrad, the Ministry are not required to be members of that body. Then, in the German Empire there is no such thing as Responsible Government to this day, and yet the Germans consider that they have a Parliament and that they are a free people. The system of Responsible Government exists in the Kingdom of Prussia and in some of the other States of the German Empire, but it does not exist in the Constitution of the great German Empire itself. They have a system there very much resembling that of the United States of America. I do not wish to say much about the Constitution of Switzerland, as I hope other honourable members will deal with that part of the subject. In Switzerland, when the Legislature meets, an Executive Committee or Council is elected by the Legislature for the term of the Parliament, and it remains in office during that Parliament. There are no votes of no-confidence and so forth, over which an enormous amount of time is wasted under our system, which leads to great evils. In fact, I feel quite justified in saying that our system, after all, is not really government by party, but government by faction. Under the peculiar system in America the President nominates his own Ministers, and they are really superintendents of departments of State. They do not sit in Congress, bat convey all information by letter to that body. Under the United States Constitution the power of the President is counterbalanced by the Senate, which is the most important institution in the American Union, and has no doubt been the salvation of it. And I should very much like to see our Legislative Council Improved so far as to have some resemblance to the American Senate. If the Constitution of New Zealand, as originally provided for and introduced by Earl Grey, had been carried out in its integrity, we should have had a Legislative Council closely resembling the American Senate; and I am bold to say that if that had been done New Zealand would not have been in its present deplorable state of indebtedness and bad government. I am not finding fault with our present Cabinet: I believe they are the best we can get. I contend, however, that modern Responsible Government is bad at the best, under any circumstances. Now, with regard to the individual States of the American Union, they have a system closely resembling that of the Swiss Government. For instance, we will take the State of Maine, whose Governor is chosen by the legal voters of the State on the second Monday in September, and holds office for one year. He is assisted by a Council of seven persons, who, with the remaining State officers, are chosen by the Senators and Representatives in Joint Convention. In Indiana the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney-General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction are chosen by the people at a general election held on the second Tuesday in October. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor hold office four years, and the others six years. I shall leave to other members who wish to speak to enlarge upon the evils of party government. I will only say, myself, that I believe, instead of being essential or necessary to parliamentary government, it is quite the reverse. I may say, to sum up in a few words, that, whilst the Parliament, or a large section of the Parliament, are continually thwarting the Ministry, harassing them, and trying to destroy and mutilate their measures on the one side, the Ministers themselves sometimes, owing to the system and not to the men, overbear their own followers, and compel them to vote for bad measures or else to submit to what they consider a greater evil—that is to say, a change of Ministry, which would result in a much greater number of bad measures. In fact, there are innumerable trains of evils connected with this system, which I hope other members who intend to speak will bring out. I think I may conclude my short discourse by another extract with regard to the evils of this system. Its instability is one of its greatest evils. As a matter of fact, in the present Kingdom of Italy there were twenty-live Ministries within eighteen months. That shows the operation of it. We know that in England they occasionally last four or five years, but it is a rare thing; and in New Zealand the changes have been very frequent. I believe, some sixteen or eighteen years ago there were about five Ministries within a year, or a very short time. I am not speaking merely from any peculiar views or theories which myself and others have adopted, but I am only saying what are recognised facts, even by those who admire this present system of Responsible Government and are considered great authorities upon it. Cox, who has written a book which is considered a class-book on this sub-
"Party diminishes responsibility by dividing it; subjects the Executive Government to sudden and dangerous changes; it confers office upon the wise and the upright together with the incompetent and the corrupt, and in turn ejects them from power simultaneously; degrades politics from a science to a warfare, assigning public office not to the ablest men necessarily, but to those who have the greatest political power."
That last sentence tells a great deal. Now, what did we find when we met here three years ago? We were ninety-five members. We found ourselves as helpless as a flock of sheep. We were told there were only two men we could follow, and we were compelled to follow them as a flock follows a bell-wether, because of this system. These two men were both men of considerable talent and ability—Sir Harry Atkinson and Sir Julius Vogel. Now, though they were, under the present system, the only men who could lead the House, or whom the House would acknowledge as leaders, yet I do not believe they were the best statesmen by any means. I believe some members of this House holding very humble positions, and who do not come to the front, would really manage the affairs of the country, as Councillors, much better than either of these two gentlemen. Under the present system the leader of the Ministry or of the Opposition must be a sort of oratorical gladiator, but it does not at all follow he should be a statesman. I admit there have been examples where men capable of leading the House, such as the great Chatham and his son William Pitt, have been great orators and leaders, and, at the same time, statesmen; but Nature is not lavish in that way. It rarely happens that a great statesman is a great talker, or fit to be a leader under the system we have here. For instance, take Bismarck. He would not have been looked on as a parliamentary leader. Take Washington, Franklin, Oliver Cromwell, and others.
Mr. W. P. Reeves.—Bismarck was a parliamentary leader.
Dr. Hodgkinson.—He was not a great talker. He had a great contempt for talkers.
Mr. W. P. Reeves.—He was a great talker—a first-class orator.
Dr. Hodgkinson.—We know that under this system of government a man must be a talker. I know Beaconsfield got a great name, but for my part I must confess I have not much respect for him. There are exceptions: John Bright was an orator and a statesman.
An Hon. Member.—What about Gladstone?
Dr. Hodgkinson.—Gladstone I do not say anything about.
An Hon. Member—Sir Julius Vogel.
Mr. W. P. Reeves.—Sir Robert Peel.
Dr. Hodgkinson.—I would just allude lastly to a passage in Cox, to show the working of this system: that a Parliament may meet as we did, and be comparatively helpless—that is, for want of a leader having certain qualities considered necessary in a leader of the House; but these qualities do not involve statesman ship. But I will leave it to other members who wish to speak to deal with the question in into various aspects.
Major Steward.—I propose to second the amendment. The question which has been submitted to this House by my honourable friend is a very large one, and is one which, although it may be received with incredulity and opposition by members of this House, will be hailed throughout the country: because I feel satisfied public opinion from one end of the colony to the other is best represented by a quotation from Shakespeare—"A plague o' both your houses!" I do not refer to the two Houses of Parliament, but to the two houses of party in this case. Sir, wherever you go, from the North to the South, travel in railway-carriages travel in stage-coaches, meet people upon the street, and what do people say? "Why do you waste so much time in Wellington? Why do you go up there and have abortive plus two or three, being the majority by which a want-of-confidence motion has been carried, which places that Government in office. But if we take off the number of the Ministry themselves it will be found that the party which has the choice of the Ministry is perhaps in itself a minority of the House. But, even, Sir, supposing there were an absolute majority of two or three on the one side which is in charge of the administration of the colony's affairs, what of necessity happens? The other side of the House, who have had no voice in the choice of these gentlemen, from that moment range themselves in opposition, for the purpose of doing their very utmost to turn the Government out and have the selection of a Government themselves. Take the position of the gentleman who is sent for to form a Ministry. He ought to have the whole House from which to make his choice: any honourable gentleman who is best suited for the administration of lands, any gentleman who is best suited for the administration of the Justice Department, or for any other department he should be able to take that gentleman with him, irrespective of whether he sits upon your right or upon your left. Instead of being able to exercise that choice, however, he is restricted to the one-half of the House, the party that has supported him. He has to leave out gentlemen who would be admittedly the best to join him; and from that moment there is weakness in his Government. Under the system of an elective Executive what would happen? The whole House would nominate, on a date fixed by you, Sir, when it came from the country after an election, candidates for election as members of the Executive Government. On the following day a ballot would be taken, and then the gentleman so appointed would have the opportunity seeing whether they could act together. Any gentleman, if he did not wish to act, could decline to do so, and a fresh ballot would be taken. And then, say, within forty-eight hours, or seventy-two hours at the outside, you would have a selection made just as effectually and infinitely better than, could be made from the party on one side of the House or from that on the other. They could go into office and remain in office during the life of Parliament, though, if it were necessary, any one Minister, or the whole of the Ministers, might be removed in a very simple way without the process of a want of confidence motion. With an Executive thus appointed, the House could deal with measures as brought down, on their merits, without the question behind as to confidence or no confidence in the Ministry. As matters now arc, every one of us in this House is frequently, constantly, put into a false position, because we have to vote upon confused issues. A measure is presented: upon its merits you dissent from it, but the Ministry, as it is said, puts its foot down, and, if a member of the Ministerial party, you must vote for the measure because it is a measure of the Ministry. Under such a system as I propose that would not happen. Ministers' seats would not depend upon their carrying measures. Ministers would be free to vote upon measures individually, just as members of the House would be; the good sense of the whole House would be brought to bear upon each measure, and everything would pass or be rejected upon its pure and simple merits or demerits. Is not that an intelligible position, and is it not a possible position? With regard to party, some honourable gentlemen may say you cannot do without party. I say, Sir, that with an elective Executive you will have a party, but you will have a party of principle, a party of the occasion, a party of the hour, a party for each measure when it comes before the House. Take, for instance, the Local Option Bill. Those honourable gentlemen in favour of the principle of local option would rally round the measure and do their best to carry it, while those who disapprove of local option would be equally united, but for that occasion only. That measure disposed of, whether carried or rejected, when the next measure came up these honourable gentlemen would be differently divided. They would be divided again upon the merits of the measure, and so on. It would be a party of the occasion—not, as we now so often see, a party of general average, a party absolutely divided by principle. What do I mean by "a party of general average"? I mean this: Every honourable gentleman knows that he is on one side or the other not because he is opposed to all the measures of the one side or approves of all the measures of the other, but because, on the average, he is more nearly agreed with that side on which he is. Then, too, he has to vote for the party to which he has given his support, and when it becomes a question of party he has to vote for or support, or abstain from voting against, the party to which he has allied him-self. That there is a great difference of opinion on this subject I have not the smallest doubt—that is to say, as to what is the best remedy for the evils of party—but there is a growing public opinion that a remedy must be found. A writer in a Dunedin newspaper of large influence says this:—
"The colonies to which free institutions have been granted wisely adopted the constitutional principles which rule in England, and established parliamentary government—so far so good—but under conditions essentially different. They adopted, further, the party
* * * * *
"Whenever a Ministerial crisis occurs the honourable gentleman who is called on to form a new Ministry finds himself at once restricted, in the selection of the best men, by the necessity of having to take his colleagues from his own side of the House, although on the other there may be the men notoriously best qualified for certain important administrative offices. He is tied and bound, however, by the exigences of party, and, moreover, cannot even exercise his judgment among his own supporters: considerations of locality have to be attended to, and each provincial district demands representation in the Cabinet. The consequence not infrequently has been a weak Ministry, constrained to maintain itself in power by concession and political bribery—unable to effect required legislation and thus forward the progress of the colony."
Well, Sir, it is not alone in this colony that we find such opinions expressed: in England the same things are stated. A writer in the Circle says,—
"It seems to me that party government has come to be a vehicle for self-seekers' ambition. It is a snare and an antiquated delusion. Political programmes of party are snares also. True men should owe allegiance to measures, not to party. . . . Government by brag and shout cannot be tolerated for ever.
"If that hateful fiend party could be slain, political warfare might be carried on under far less debasing conditions. In every political struggle there would be a nearer approach to true unity on either side, instead of a false and forced cohesion of chance particles. A party man discovers his advocacy is compelled to measures distasteful or even hateful to him. If he break with his party, and join the opposing camp, the same lot will be his fate. To be minus party is, under the present baneful system, to be minus political influence. Party allegiance results in a want of force and heartiness in political life. A man compelled against his will to vote and to think in the same way as his leader is a man robbed of the power to use his faculties. What is the result of this blighting influence but a political deadlock? Let us revert, as Sir Bartle Frere once said to earlier, simpler, and purer methods. We have had enough of government by party. . . . Our present system of government in eating into the very marrow of our national life; it is making all men think, with the cynie that the very words, 'patriotism,' 'honour.' 'truth,' 'earnestness,' and the like should be relegated to a glossary of obsolete phrases.
"Lifelong allegiance and subordination a party or to a chief mean to the thinking man lifelong intellectual enslavement; for the thoughts of men are diverse. It is impossible to conceive of a man, not being a drone
* * * * *
"It is an undoubted fact that our political procedure—not our political life—is . . . . tottering to its grave; it is more than festered and rotten—it is in its death-throes."
That, Sir, is the opinion of a writer at Home Now, Sir, under present conditions, rail-sitters and free-lances, the so-called independence men, are regarded as little short of nuisances and while there is party in this House I shall always be found with the party which in nearest to my political views, and to be a staunch party man. But if I could get rid of this wretched thing, so that we might vote according to right, according to principle, and range ourselves in the parties of the occasion of the hour, that is what I should like to see But honourable gentlemen say, "Yes; but there be any remedy for the present state of things devised? Show us where anything such as you suggest is in operation." Well, Sir, I hold in my hand a standard work on the Swiss Confederation, written by Sir Franca Adams, late Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Berne; and I will read two or three short extracts from that work, which are of an exceedingly interesting nature. In Switzerland they have two Houses, as we have; and, by-the-by, I may say that in Switzerland there are certain points of similarity, as there are pointed of dissimilarity, with New Zealand. There is a similarity of position—that is to say, there is isolation from other countries; though in the case of Switzerland it is divided from others countries by mountains, while in our case the division is by sea; and Switzerland is marked by the same instincts of freedom, and his the same love of free institutions, as we have. It
"The members of the Federal Council are re-eligible, and in point of fact the same individuals remain in office for a number of years, withstanding differences among themselves, and between some of them and a majority in the Assembly. . . . The Federal Council, having been elected by the Federal Assembly for three years, cannot be dissolved by that body in the interim, any more than it can itself dissolve the Assembly. It does not in any way depend upon the majority in the Assembly. Its members, each in his own department, prepare Bills and resolutions, either suggested by one of the Chambers or of their own initiative; and these measures, when agreed to by the Council, or even a majority of its members, are submitted to the Chambers."
Ministers are free to vote upon these measures though brought down by Ministers, just as members of the House are; and Sir Francis Adams says,—
"Perhaps the most remarkable sight is that which occasionally occurs when a debato arises in either question when the difference of opinion of members of the Federal Council is very marked, and it has happened that two of the body have risen in succession to support, dissimilar views. The debate once over, no particular friction results between the two colleagues; both victor and vanquished may spend the evening together in the same continue their discussion amicably or not at all, and they will sit serenely together on the morrow in Cabinet Council as if nothing particular had happened."
There is another very convenient expedient. All the legislation passes through the hands of the Ministers. There are none of what we call private members' Bills; but members of the Assembly bring in what is called "The right of initiative, exercised particularly as to Bills and motions of various kinds, belongs to each Chamber and to each member. Thus, either Chamber can recommend to the Federal Council that it shall draw up and present a Bill on a particular subject to the Federal Assembly, or a member can suggest one to his own Chamber, and, if accepted, it will then be referred to the Federal Council, with a request to draw up the necessary Bill for the consideration of the Assembly, or the Federal Council itself presents one upon its own initiative. The Cantons can also exercise the right of initiation by correspondence."postulate a motion or resolution affirming the desirability of a measure, and, that being agreed to, the Executive Government introduces the measure. The writer proceeds,—
And the Government can make a proposal, and the House may not only dissent from it, but may carry something diametrically opposite, and the Executive Government carry out that proposal. Thus,—
"When it became necessary to pass a law respecting railways, and the Federal Council proposed that they should be constructed by the State, the Chambers decreed their construction by private enterprise; and, again, in the case of the law passed by the Chambers granting a monopoly to the Confederation in the manufacture and sale of spirituous liquors, they adopted quite a different principle from that originally proposed by the Federal Council. Nevertheless, in both instances, the latter accepted the measures of the Chambers as a matter of course, framed the necessary Bills, and loyally executed their provisions after they had come into force."
Therefore the Swiss Parliament is really a representative Parliament with greater powers than ours, because it governs the country according to the will of the country which it has been elected to represent. I have only one more short extract to read, and then I will pass on. It is this:—
"Collisions between the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly do not exist. If any measure proposed by the former is rejected by both Chambers, or by one, and thus does not become valid, . . . the Federal Council accepts the rejection; it asks for no vote of confidence; nor docs anything ensue in the shape of what we should call a ministerial crisis. Similarly, there is no question of a dissolution of the Chambers when the people reject measures passed by them. The Federal authorities, whether legislative or executive, being chosen for a fixed term, remain at their posts during that term."
Now, this system has been in operation since the proclamation of the new Constitution in
The best-laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley.
The House did not do any work the first night of this week, though owing to no fault of ours; the next night it did a little, and last night we were anticipated in our endeavour to move the resolution owing to the honourable member for Sydenham having been more successful in his effort to secure the right. The resolutions which I put on the Order Paper two years ago I will read, and then I will wind up with a few remarks. I will read the resolutions because I wish to put them in Hansard, and also to show honourable members that we have thought out this scheme—that, though we do not bind ourselves to every word of it or to every proposition, we have submitted something which we think would be a workable scheme. It was this:—
Now, to consider that scheme, and any other scheme that members of this House may wish to submit, we ask for a Committee to be appointed. That Committee could search for precedents in the history and Constitutions of other countries, and see if it be possible to devise any better state of things than the present system of party government. No harm can come of it. The report can be laid on the table of the House, and the country will be able to judge whether there is given therein any indication of any new departure which might be taken to the benefit of the country. I am not at all surprised that a large number of members view this question with indifference. I am surprised that so many members sit listening as are now listening to me. Nor am I surprised that there are a number of members who regard this matter with incredulity or offer strong opposition. Nay, Sir, let me say that I am neither to be dismayed by ridicule, nor overborne by the prospect of opposition to come. What is the history of all reform? That it is born in ridicule and nursed in opposition, but grows in strength until it is finally accepted. It is so, and has been so, with every reform that has ever been initiated in the history of the world. Time was, some nineteen centuries ago or thereabouts, that the Temple of Diana was one of the wonders of the world, and there came forth a humble preacher who taught a new religion, the religion of the Nazarene, and there was a great rushing-together of Demetrius and the silversmiths, and a clamant cry, "Our craft is in danger!" Aye, Sir, the craft was in danger, for the new evangel triumphed, and the temple and the craftsmen have gone down into oblivion. It may be that our numbers to-night are few; it may be that our voice is feeble; but, Sir, the finger of the child can move the starting-bar of the thousand-horse-power engine, and there are places in the world where the clapping of hands is carried from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, until the gathering echoes resound like the roll of the thunder, or the roar of a park of artillery; and I venture to predict that the voice we shall wake to-night will grow louder and louder until it will come into I this House with an imperial and imperious demand for reform that can no longer be I resisted. I beg to second the motion.
Mr. Tanner.—Sir, I fear that the very few remarks I shall make on this subject will fall rather flat after the eloquent address of the honourable member for Waimate. This has been for some time his great measure of reform, and I very much regret, for the sake of those who are absent, that there were not many more here to listen to his remarks. I feel satisfied that his concluding remarks bore the impress of truth, and that they will be received with attention from one end of the country to the other. Seeds have to be sown before the plants will grow. The seed of this reform has been sown to-night, and I think the honourable gentleman's prediction will come true, and that in the near future some reform of the kind he advocates will be forced upon this House by the country. To avoid travelling over the same ground that the honourable gentleman has so well travelled over, I will confine my remarks more particularly to an aspect of the question which has not been largely dwelt on, and that is the moral aspect. One would naturally shrink from referring to this view of the case, because in doing so one is bound to refer to the unhappy state of things which has existed. We have witnessed on many occasions, and, I may say, particularly in the present session, the bitterness of party strife, which, as the honourable member for Waimate has said, has led to bitterness of feeling, to the sacrifice of time, and to the sacrifice of the money of the country. These are matters which have been brought before us in a very emphatic and a very unpleasant way during the present session, and I am much afraid that we are not yet through with them. We notice it on every question. Whether it be finance or whether it be some Government Bill, we still sec those bitter party feelings displayed to such an extent that the real merits of the question at issue are lost in them. Sir, we have seen a great deal and heard a great deal under party government which otherwise we should never have seen or heard. We should never have had the charges and counter-charges which we have so often heard on the floor of this House were it not for the bitterness of party feeling. But I will not dwell longer on our experiences in this matter. I prefer to illustrate what might occur. A circumstance such as this might occur: that an Opposition, having failed, after several trials of strength, to oust the Ministry, might make up their minds to so damage the estimates as brought down by the Ministry as to provoke the Government to say that it is impossible for the government of the country to be carried on with such mutilated finance, and to decline to proceed with them. Then the Opposition might seize the reins of power; and what would they do? They would at once take up the estimates of the outgoing Ministry and rein-state all the reductions, and say that, after looking into them, they found it was absolutely necessary to reinstate them in order to carry on the work of the country. Sir, such a state of things is possible, but I will give this House the credit that I do not believe the members composing the Opposition would descend to so low a piece of trickery as that. Then, there is another view of the position which an Opposi-
Mr. Speaker.—It is not in order to read newspaper comments on what takes place in this House during the current session.
Mr. Monk.—Hear, hear. We want original matter.
Mr. Tanner.—You shall have original matter. I am aware, Sir, that it is not in order to read anything from a newspaper in reference to debates in the House, but I wished merely to give an illustration.
Mr. Speaker.—The honourable member cannot read comments from a newspaper on what has taken place in the House in the present session.
Mr. Tanner.—Then I will not read it, but will simply state that a reporter, who is known to be very correct, had an interview with a member of the Opposition, who stated that, though the retrenchment party were assisting the Opposition to reduce the votes, it was not retrenchment that the Opposition cared about, but to get rid of the present Government. Then, Sir, I myself heard a remark which corroborated that. One honourable member asked a member of the Opposition how far he intended to go with retrenchment, and the answer was, "Bother retrenchment! It is not retrenchment we want, but to turn out the Government."
Mr. W. P. Reeves.—Do you believe it?
Mr. Tanner.—I do believe it. I am glad to hear the honourable member for St. Albans deny it for himself; but he cannot deny it for the whole of his party. As a further illustration, I may mention that an honourable member said last night, during one division,——
Mr. Speaker.—The debates of last night cannot be referred to in the present debate.
Mr. Tanner.—I am not referring to a debate—it was not during a debate that this took place; but an honourable member said that, although he was very much opposed to a vote, he must go into the lobby with the Opposition in support of his party. I am mentioning these things as illustrations of the moral aspect of party government; and it is important that we should see it in all its aspects, so as to estimate the value of any efforts which are
Mr. O'Conor.—I regret very much that a subject of such importance as this undoubtedly is should be brought on for discussion in this House in this way. It appears to me very unfortunate that we are discussing a matter of this kind on a motion to intercept Supply. I believe that there is no question which has been brought before this House this year or for many years past in which the country at least takes a greater interest. It is acknowledged from one end of New Zealand to the other that there is some screw loose in connection with the business in this House. People ask themselves in every electoral district, "How is it that we send intelligent, reliable men to the House, and that they give us such results upon their appearance in Wellington?" We meet here year after year and endeavour to deal with the public business, but very often the scenes in this House are such as should bring a blush to many of our faces, and the business we do for the country is of the smallest possible dimensions. And why is that the case? Cannot our strong common-sense tell us? It is our system of government: although we endeavour to make it as pure as possible—for instance, we have a Disqualification Act, and that is drawn up expressly to take away all personal incentive to the actions of honourable members, guarding, as it were, the Government of the day, or the party in power, from being able to offer any bribes or inducements to honourable members to vote otherwise than as their consciences direct them. We have a very eloquent invocation daily recited by yourself, Sir, in order that we may guard against party affections and prejudices. Rut all that is of no avail. The fact remains, the "apple of discord" has been thrown in amongst us in such a way that there is no resisting it. The moment any young politician enters the arena of this House he is at once tainted with it. As soon as a member is elected to represent a constituency he finds on his arrival in Wellington if not even before he leaves his district—that traps are laid by one party and the other in this House in order to get him to support their side. He comes up to Wellington with high aspirations, thinking he is going to leave his mark on the records of the country and do some good for his fellow-colonists. What docs he find? He finds that he must enlist upon one side or the other. If he goes under the flag of the Government—no matter which Government is in power—he is told that the first object of a Government and their party is to preserve the existence of the Government. If he goes to the Opposition side he must be enrolled under their banner, and is told that the first duty of the Opposition is to turn out the Government. He must vote with his party; he must renounce his conscience and his individuality; his aspirations must be renounced, and he must be as a soldier. That was strikingly impressed upon me in the early days when I was first elected to this House. A question arose wherein a well-known politician—one who took a prominent part in the affairs of this country—questioned me in consequence of some votes which I had given.
Well," he said, "you were returned to support the Government." I said, "Yes, I shall give the Government a discriminating support." "What!" he said, "a discriminating support! Who ever heard of a soldier in an army giving, his general a discriminating support? Our opponents are supposed to vote for us when we are in the right; we want our party to vote for us when we are in difficulties—when we are in the wrong, in fact." I said I could not follow him to that extent. That has been the secret of my action since I have been in this House: I have refused to be entirely bound by party lines; I have supported that which I thought for the good of my constituents and the colony, and which commended itself to my judgment; and I have voted against proposals when I did not approve of them. Certainly, sometimes we are obliged to compromise, but in all great matters a man who takes the straight course is looked upon as a free-lance—a term of contempt—or an independent member, which, strangely, is also a term of contempt. The Government of the country is frequently in the hands of a set of men who often differ from us very materially, and who lead us wrong. It is a very well-known thing that, in order to preserve their power, extraordinary things have been done by Governments. A seat on the Supreme Court Bench has been filled in order to keep a dangerous opponent out of the way. We know that seats in the Legislative Council have been filled over and over again to retain party power, and also that the Civil Service itself has been actually gorged in order to give some reward to those pressing for a return for their support. What of the immigration and public-works policy? What of the way in which our great loans were expended? Is it not acknowledged on all sides that the greater part of those loans were spent on political works? What does that mean? It means, really, in bribes given to members of this House to support a party. I can well remember when
Sir J. Hall.—Sir, I will not detain the House more than two minutes. If I vote for this resolution it is not that I am very sanguine that it will bring about any great result, but I shall vote for it to testify my profound dissatisfaction with the working of the present system. The outcome of the present system is increasingly to prevent questions from being considered upon their merits. Year by year we find this to be more and more the case. We see honourable members day after day voting against questions which we cannot believe they really are adverse to, and, on the other hand, voting in favour of proposals which we cannot doubt that they themselves disapprove of. A still greater misfortune is the terrible—I may say the awful—waste of time which takes place in this House. This has increased, is increasing, and in the present session has reached a climax. I was a member of this Parliament sooner than any other member now in the House, and I say without hesitation, and I am sure the older members will agree with me, that there never has been in the history of New Zealand a session in which so much time has been wasted as there has been during the present session. Recently, Sir, I had the opportunity of ascertaining public feeling in the part of the colony in which I live with respect to our proceedings, and I never remember a time in which there was so universal a feeling amongst all classes of disapproval and, I may say, disgust with the proceedings of the House as there is at present. Under these circumstances, I think we ought not to say "No" to a proposal which invites us to appoint a Committee to inquire whether a better system cannot be devised. Party government in times gone by was a system under which men agreed to subordinate minor differences of opinion for the purpose of promoting great principles on which the party were agreed. But is that the case in this colony at the present time? Who can say what are the great principles which divide the side of the House from that side? We are not divided by principles at all, but rather by personal combinations; and to the interests of these personal combinations the time
Mr. "I mean to lay before you the truth,—the unexaggerated truth, but to conceal nothing. I do this, first, because in great financial difficulties the first step towards improvement is to look those difficulties boldly in the face. This is true of individuals; it is true also of nations. There can be no hope of improvement or of recovery if you consent to conceal from yourselves the real difficulties with which you have to contend. . . . The deficiency in the last five years amounts to £7,502,000, and to that actual deficiency I must add the estimated deficiency for the year ending the Saunders.—Sir, I have been
Sir, I read that because I think it is one of the best examples we could possibly have before us as to the manner in which we should face our difficulties now. The contrast with our Treasurer's conduct reflects the greatest possible censure upon the conduct of this Parliament during the last twenty years, and shows in a striking light how Responsible Government might do well in a country where the Ministers could and did address the Parliament in these terms, although it cannot do hero in a country where we have been demoralised, where we are really governed by Civil servants and tax-receivers, and are expected to scatter borrowed money, to the ruin of those who will come after us. In Sir Robert Peel, too, we have one of the best samples I could bring before this House to show how a truly great man is prepared to give up party. If you look at Sir Robert Peel's greatest and noblest actions you must be struck with the courage with which he followed his conscience, even to lose his party support, preferring honourable obscurity to dishonourable distinction. He had been opposed for years by Cobden; he had listened to Cobden's arguments, and he had listened to them attentively and fairly; and the result was that year after year he saw that the Radical Cobden was right and the Tory Peel wrong, and he gave up the Tory; he became the Radical in all but the name, and took taxes off no less than seven hundred and fifty articles, and put on an income-tax, which caused the Parliament of England to watch carefully over the expenditure of the country ever after; and the result of that tax has been that from that day to this England has never
Mr. Taylor.—What about a Governor?
Mr. Saunders.—A Governor is an
Mr. Taylor.—No, no.
Mr. Saunders.—We want a great deal more power to say that our discussions have reached the amount of deliberation which is advantageous and beneficial to the country. We do want power to prevent two or three honourable members from occupying two-thirds of the time of this House, and that without contributing the smallest possible amount of information or knowledge upon any subject. Then, I think, Sir, there is only one other thing I need mention. It is an opinion which I offer with some hesitation, because I know from experience that my honest advice to my own class will be misreported and misrepresented. But, still, I wish to say that, at a time like the present, we particularly want a Government who are secure in their seats, or so secure that they are not obliged to hoist or pull down their policy to every breeze that blows, and to destroy the prosperity of the country with panic-legislation. We have seen a great deal of this. We have seen how every Government, for twenty years, has been obliged, whatever their own convictions may have been, to advocate, support, and carry out what was called the public-works policy. We have seen a Government not long ago obliged to enter upon much useless expenditure in the way of defence, simply because there was a panic throughout the country, and they were obliged to follow it. We have seen a Government ready to sacrifice all the lands of the country, without any proper restrictions, because the Midland Railway was popular for a time. And now we have a time when the labour of the country is entering into unions and combinations which frighten the Government and the members of this House. At such a time the working-men of this country want, not flattery, not sudden and panic compliance with all that they ask—no, Sir, they want good advice; they want good honest action; they want good information from persons who know something of the great laws which can never be violated with impunity. They do not want any pandering to them, they do not want panic-legislation at a moment's notice, but the knowledge that they should have before them as to the way in which our legislation affects the industries of this country. We have politicians in this country putting on taxation here and taxation there, and pretending that by that means we are going to foster the industries of the country. Sir, what we want is a knowledge of political economy on the part of the legislators and the Governments of this colony. We want to enlighten the working-men of this colony, to show them what their real interest is; because their interest is the true interest of us all, and if we can do what is best for the working-men of this colony we shall do what is best for the colony itself. Even if I were not a working-man myself, if I were not one of the poorer men in the country, I would still say, Do not pander to, do not flatter the working-man; do not run into panic-legislation because we have a certain amount of unionism in this country. It is your duty to find heads for those who have none, it is your duty to show them what is really best for their own interests, it is your duty to advise them when they go wrong; and it is not your duty to follow them in a panic. That is why I think it is so much better to have a strong Government, a Government placed in such a position that it will not be obliged, as I said before, to trim its sails to every breeze of popular opinion, but will be able to show sound brains, exercise sound judgment, and act in honest disinterestedness in order to deal
Mr. Taylor.—What about a Governor?
Mr. Saunders.—A Governor is an
Mr. Taylor.—No, no.
Mr. Saunders.—We want a great deal more power to say that our discussions have reached the amount of deliberation which is advantageous and beneficial to the country. We do want power to prevent two or three honourable members from occupying two-thirds of the time of this House, and that without contributing the smallest possible amount of information or knowledge upon any subject. Then, I think, Sir, there is only one other thing I need mention. It is an opinion which I offer with some hesitation, because I know from experience that my honest advice to my own class will be misreported and misrepresented. But, still, I wish to say that, at a time like the present, we particularly want a Government who are secure in their seats, or so secure that they are not obliged to hoist or pull down their policy to every breeze that blows, and to destroy the prosperity of the country with panic-legislation. We have seen a great deal of this. We have seen how every Government, for twenty years, has been obliged, whatever their own convictions may have been, to advocate, support, and carry out what was called the public-works policy. We have seen a Government not long ago obliged to enter upon much useless expenditure in the way of defence, simply because there was a panic throughout the country, and they were obliged to follow it. We have seen a Government ready to sacrifice all the lands of the country, without any proper restrictions, because the Midland Railway was popular for a time. And now we have a time when the labour of the country is entering into unions and combinations which frighten the Government and the members of this House. At such a time the working-men of this country want, not flattery, not sudden and panic compliance with all that they ask—no, Sir, they want good advice; they want good honest action; they want good information from persons who know something of the great laws which can never be violated with impunity. They do not want any pandering to them, they do not want panic-legislation at a moment's notice, but the knowledge that they should have before them as to the way in which our legislation affects the industries of this country. We have politicians in this country putting on taxation here and taxation there, and pretending that by that means we are going to foster the industries of the country. Sir, what we want is a knowledge of political economy on the part of the legislators and the Governments of this colony. We want to enlighten the working-men of this colony, to show them what their real interest is; because their interest is the true interest of us all, and if we can do what is best for the working-men of this colony we shall do what is best for the colony itself. Even if I were not a working-man myself, if I were not one of the poorer men in the country, I would still say, Do not pander to, do not flatter the working-man; do not run into panic-legislation because we have a certain amount of unionism in this country. It is your duty to find heads for those who have none, it is your duty to show them what is really best for their own interests, it is your duty to advise them when they go wrong; and it is not your duty to follow them in a panic. That is why I think it is so much better to have a strong Government, a Government placed in such a position that it will not be obliged, as I said before, to trim its sails to every breeze of popular opinion, but will be able to show sound brains, exercise sound judgment, and act in honest disinterestedness in order to deal
Dr. Newman.—Sir, the persistency with which the honourable gentleman who has just sat down acts the Jeremiah of this country is really wonderful; and he never rises without one calling to mind that verse in Scripture, "I am like a pelican crying in the wilderness." He seems to think that this world of New Zealand is everlastingly going to ruin because of the extravagance of a few years ago. Now, I do not believe that any particular change of Government is going to work a revolution in this country, but I do believe that very considerable changes ought to be made in this House and in the manner in which it conducts and manages its business. But, before I go on to that question, I should like to say that I think it would be a very good thing if the honourable member for Lincoln could only get rid of that idea of his which he has been dinning into our cars for years, that no good thing can come out of this City of Wellington; and let me suggest that before the honourable gentleman gets up to talk about the institutions of this city he should at least get up the facts. For instance, he comes here this evening and tells us that the Wellington College and Girls' High School are £10,000 in debt, and this expenditure has been incurred by institutions which educate only a couple of dozen children. In repeating that statement time after time the honourable gentleman is scarcely doing himself justice.
Mr. Saunders.—I did not say it before tonight. I did not know of it until yesterday.
Dr. Newman.—I do not know how long the honourable gentleman has known of it, but he said it twice to-night. The fact is that the Girls' High School is the second largest institution in the colony, and has within it over one hundred and fifty pupils; and if the honourable gentleman had taken the trouble to inquire or to look at the statistics he would have seen that in the boys' college there are one hundred pupils. So that the honourable gentleman's couple of dozen amounts to two hundred and fifty. It is part and parcel of the honourable gentleman's usual way of looking at things in Wellington, and unless he is a little more careful in his facts he must not blame us if in future we do not place very much reliance on his statements. Now, I believe that this country will never be satisfactorily managed and governed until we have radical changes in the arrangements and methods of this House. It has been well said that this House itself is a growth,—that the laws which govern the management of this House are a growth; but, Sir, they have passed beyond the period of growth. They have become cast-iron, which does not grow; and what I feel and complain of is that we have grown into a system of worshipping as a fetish and retaining rules, forms, and ceremonies in this House that are utterly absurd, and are a burden rather than a help to us. I maintain that the House cannot properly do its business until our rules are altered. Look how referendum and put it in their platform. No one can read that admirable book of Sir Francis Adams on the Swiss Constitution without recognising how valuable a thing the referendum is, what large powers it places in the hands of the people, and what a convenient thing it is to the Government working under it. I believe it is a wise provision. If the Government bring down a measure which is unsatisfactory, it is referred to a vote of the people, and the people vote Aye or No; and the result of that is that you can keep a Government in while throwing its measures out; and that is a very convenient thing if you have a Government that is not overwise in its measures: and I think that most of our Governments are unwise, because they will not take the trouble to consult honourable members and find out what are the wants of the country. I hope that this resolution will be carried, and that the Committee will set to work, and that the country will be educated in this matter, because, although there are only a small number of members in the House in favour of this motion, if we can get half the people of New Zealand in favour of it the movement will be successful.
Mr. Taylor.—I intend to vote against this amendment, for this simple reason: I have listened to the arguments, and what does the honourable member for Thorndon wish to inculcate? That we should have government by squattocracy. I cannot understand why honourable gentlemen have dealt with an important question in this way. I am astonished that an honourable gentleman representing a Liberal constituency like the Wellington District should advocate that a Ministry of four or live should be fixed in office for three years without any control and without liability to attack. I am surprised at this waste of time. As to the Liberalism of the honourable member for Lincoln, if I may be allowed to use the term, he is as full of egotism as an egg is full of meat.
Mr. Speaker.—I cannot allow the honourable gentleman to use that expression.
Mr. Taylor.—I simply say this: that we are constantly told that the gentlemen who are supporting this amendment are the only men who have common-sense or knowledge. I entirely demur to that. I can say this, and I can prove it: that I can give as conscientious a vote and can make as good a speech as he can. The honourable gentleman is too fond of using other people's brains, for he is always full of extracts and quotations from authorities. I do not do that. I like to deal with questions as they come up, without going outside to find information I do not possess. The honourable member for Lincoln is a very able gentleman, but I was sorry to hear him running down unionism in the colony, and to hear him saying that the working-men had no right to use unionism to protect their interests. What do we see in this House? I do not want to particularise or to indicate any member of the House; but I say that unionism is rampant here, and especially in connection with the Union Steamship Company. We all know the control that the chairman and proprietors of that company have over this House, and in another place that I will not mention. I trust the honourable member for Lincoln will by-and-by come to realise this fact: that the working-men of this colony have as perfect a right to join together to protect their labour as the Union Steamship Company, or capital, or the Bank of New Zealand. Then, there is the honourable member for Selwyn, who is not in his place. We know that there is an election coming on, and that the honourable member for Selwyn is a very large factor in a question of the kind. So far as the honourable member for Lincoln is concerned, I should not have said a word had it not been that the honourable member was simply, if I may use the word, offensive to people like myself.
Mr. Harkness.—Who?
Mr. Taylor.—The honourable member for Nelson is very fond of interrupting, which was never done by the late member for that city when sitting here. The present honourable member is not very fond of making speeches or of telling his constituents of what is going on in Parliament. He is one of those persons who might just as well stop at home, and the Government could save the whole of his honorarium and telegraph the news over to him. Then, we find gentlemen like the honourable member for the Buller and the honourable member for Waimate getting up and talking about morality, and absolutely wanting to gull honourable members. The honourable member for Waimate, if he is returned at the next elections, is coming down as an independent member; so we can quite understand why all this—I was going to say twaddle, but I will withdraw that term and say—very valuable information is given to us. The honourable member is paving the way for sitting on a rail; and why? Because he thinks that, if he is returned again, he will have a chance of having a seat on those benches. I am satisfied that no system of government will please many members in this House unless they are placed on those benches, with £800 a year and travelling-expenses and house-allowance. It is quite time now we got into the estimates. This motion emanates from the honourable member for Waimate, and the honourable member for Wallace was only the instrument for wasting four or five hours. I intend to vote against this motion, and hope the Government will raise their power and voice against this continual obstruction that is brought in their way.
Mr. "Marlborough tried to work with a mixed Ministry, but he failed just as William had done; and, Tory as he was, he found it necessary to change his colleagues for Whigs, for that party alone could maintain a majority. From his time the principle was fixed, not by choice, but by necessity, and it became an axiom of English politics that the party which has a majority of the House of Commons Harkness.—I should like to inform the honourable member for Sydenham that I am not at all ashamed of my particular opinions, and not afraid to make them known if there is occasion to do so. I desire to record my vote against the resolution proposed by the honourable member for Waimate. While giving to him and to those who have supported him to-night every credit for honesty of purpose in bringing a resolution of this character before the House, I think every one who has given the matter any consideration must realise at once that it is a very abstract question, and one that is entirely beyond the present region of practical politics. The honourable member for Wallace, who introduced this resolution because he happened to be the first to catch the Speaker's eye, tells us that party government is of very modern growth—in fact, that it has only existed for a hundred years. If you will allow me, Sir, I will read an extract from Ransome's "Rise of Constitutional Government in England," wherein it is stated,—
Now, Sir, that is considerably more "It is only mock philosophers who are always lamenting about political and party divisions and strifes. Looked at rightly, these political strifes and parties are the workshops of our national liberty and our national prosperity, and from the heat and hammering of political strife and political opinions there come form and temper and strength."
The great change we need is not so much to do away with party as the change pointed out by the honourable member for Thorndon in the forms and procedure of this House, and, when we have that, we shall find our party government will be of advantage to all.
Mr. Ward.—I do not think that the time of the House has been wasted in considering the motion which has been submitted to us for consideration to-night. It was not my intention to speak until I heard the honourable member for Nelson address the House. I am sorry the honourable gentleman is not in his place, but I mentioned to him that I should perhaps traverse a few of his statements during the few remarks I intended to make. I was very much struck, when the honourable gentleman was addressing the House, by what I conceived to be the very sarcastic speech he delivered. His arguments were entirely opposed to the way in which he said he was going to vote. He elaborated his arguments in fine and polished sentences, and he made a very nice speech, and he quoted Burke in support of some of the statements which he made. He talked about the present system of party government causing a cohesion of principles, and he went on to affirm that those who followed the party system here were likely to get fixed ideas into their minds and to advocate them outside the House. If the honourable gentleman did not intend this to be sarcasm, then I do not know what sarcasm is. I asked myself, while the honourable gentleman was addressing the House, could he possibly have considered what the present system of party government had caused him to do time and again in this House? Why, the honourable gentleman is a Free-trader, and yet he has, in following out party lines, as he necessarily must do under our present system, time and again voted on Protectionist lines! The honourable gentleman, in theory, is an economist, and I have no doubt if he were to give effect to his ideas in the House and apart from the party system we should find him voting in that direction; but he has frequently had to vote opposite to his views. Taking his own experience of the party system, the honourable gentleman ought to support the motion of the honourable member for Wallace, for under the existing system he certainly has had to vote straight against some of his professed principles. As I have said, it is not my intention to go at any length into this question. The honourable member for Wallace and the honourable member for Waimate have very ably placed their views upon this very important question before the House. I do not commit myself to the amendment, or to the series of proposals which the honourable member for Waimate has submitted to the House. I support them because the present system is not at all satisfactory. There is something undeniably radically wrong, and which requires to be altered. On entering this Parliament I very quickly discovered that it was quite impossible to have the business of this House, no matter how anxious honourable members might be to do so, conducted upon anything like business-lines; and every session since I have been here we have had, day after day, a great deal of time wasted. I attribute the blame entirely to the system under which we are working. I am not at all sure that a referendum, which some honourable members advocate, is the right thing to take the place of the present system. I should be sorry to see the party element entirely displaced. My idea is that it should be improved, with a view to the more expeditious despatch of business. That a change of some kind is necessary there is no doubt in my mind. I shall heartily support those honourable gentlemen who are endeavouring to bring about some change, and I feel sure that this discussion will be productive of some good.
The House divided on the question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the question."
Ayes, 27.
Noes, 25.
Majority against, 2.
Amendment negatived, and motion agreed to.
George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.—
The object which the compilers of this pamphlet have in view is to set forth a few facts in connection with the Primacy election and the subsequent proceedings, which, they believe, are not so generally known as they should be, or, at least, have not been sufficiently emphasized in the discussions which have taken place on the question. They are of opinion that Bishop Suter has been most unfairly treated and completely misjudged throughout. Anonymous opinions, it may be urged, are not entitled to much weight. Possibly so; but the facts upon which they are based may be well deserving of consideration. These facts will be stated as briefly and concisely as possible. The readers are asked to form their own conclusions.
To begin with, the Primacy had not been vacated when the Synod proceeded to the election. Had the vacancy been created previously, as it should have been, Bishop Suter would have been President of the Synod. This was carefully guarded against. The election was in direct contravention of the Synod's laws. This is admitted, indeed it cannot be denied. But it is argued that this is a matter of no importance—that the Synod is supreme and can act as it pleases. It is not stated in which capacity it is to be regarded as supreme, whether as lawmaker or law-breaker. Clearly supremacy cannot be claimed for it in both capacities.
The Canons provide against any competition or rivalry amongst the Bishops for position of Primate. There are to be no avowed candidates offering themselves for the office. The results of the ballots as they proceed are not to be made known. In the late election what was the course of procedure? It was known beforehand that Bishop Suter was the favourite of the laity, and if their vote could not be changed, that he, as Senior Bishop, would succeed to the Primacy in the absence of a majority in all three orders. This would not suit the Clerical element, so two Bishops (Wellington and Melanesia) and the Dean of Christchurch interposed, and obtained the sanction of the Synod to the results of the ballots being declared. Then, when it was seen how matters stood, and that Bishop Suter had received a larger total of votes than any of the other Bishops, the Episcopal influence was again brought to bear upon the laity, and successfully. They were told it would be exceedingly unsatisfactory if the Primacy were allowed to go by default, and on this ground they were persuaded to support Bishop Hadfield, whose election was secured by a transference of their votes. It does not appear to have occurred to those who made use of this argument, that it must be equally unsatisfactory that the Primate should be elected by the votes of those who had previously declared their opinion that he was not the most suitable of the candidates for the office. Thus, from beginning to end, the election was in direct violation of both the letter and spirit of the Canons, and was, moreover utterly unfair to Bishop Suter.
After the session had closed, Bishop Suter was advised that irregularities had taken place which might lead to future complications of a very grave character. Being impressed with their importance, he wrote to bishop Harper informing
Two days after the receipt of the resignation. Bishop Suter wrote to Bishop Hadfield again placing before him the view which he took of the position of affairs, and suggesting either that the matter be referred to the Standing Commission, or as "a speedier method" To have a Special Meeting of the General Synod Convened at Wellington for the Purpose of Validating me Proceedings of the Synod. [See extract below] Bishop Hadfield, in his
The Senior Bishop and the late Primate, conjointly, then submitted a case to the Standing Commission.
The Commission decided that the election was illegal, and that the Primacy devolved upon Bishop Suter.
Two or three days later, Bishop Suter received a letter from Dean Jacobs, addressed to him as Primate, requesting him to proceed with the arrangement for the appointment of Archdeacon Julius as Bishop of Christchurch. This Bishop Suter did, and has since done everything in his power to facilitate the
Later on, Bishop Suter received an informal intimation from Bishop Harper to the effect that it was probable that two Bishops would request him to
A torrent of abuse has since been poured upon Bishop Suter. Has he deserved it? Not for his actions, for Dean Jacobs in a letter to the Christchurch "Press," dated 18th February, says:—"It is not his action which requires explanation. "His alleged sins, then, are not those of commission. But some excuse must be found by the Clerics, to whom Bishop Suter is unacceptable as Primate, for attributing blame to him, so the Dean proceeds to say—"it is his inaction in taking" no steps for the convening of a special session of the Synod, which require "explanation," and he goes on to ask "why his Lordship, under the circum "stances, did not immediately on the decision of the Standing Commission being" given, move two other Bishops to request him to convene it?" But why should Bishop Suter 'move the Bishops'? Why have not the two Bishops, if it be so essential to hold a meeting of the Synod, requested him to convene it without waiting to be moved thereto? It is perfectly competent for them to do so; it is in fact their manifest duty if it is so important that the Synod should meet. Wherein lies the fairness or the justice of blaming Bishop Suter for the neglect of the "two other Bishops"? Can it be that the Prelates with whom the motion should originate, are afraid to make the request, lest by so doing they should be deemed to have recognised Bishop Suter as lawfully occupying the position which the Standing Commission has adjudged him to be holding?
Let it be distinctly borne in mind that, according to Dean Jacobs—who may be accepted as an authority on such a subject—the only blame to be attached to Bishop Suter throughout the whole of this painful affair is for not moving two Bishops to do that which they were entitled to do, and should have done, on their own motion. In the light of this admission of the Dean's, the readers this pamphlet are invited to say whether the discourteous articles from the "Press" quoted therein, and similar outpourings which have appeared elsewhere are in the smallest degree justified; and whether public opinion upon the merits of the dispute has not been formed upon a misconception of the real facts of the case.
The Lay-members of the Church, who are certainly respecters of the law, however regardless of it the Bishops and Clergy may be, are invited to carefully read the extracts from Bishop Suter's letter to Bishop Harper, the then Primate, which appear in the article re-published from the "Nelson Evening Mail." They can then say whether Bishop Suter, acting with a full knowledge of the misinterpretation which he felt sure would be placed upon his actions, was not inspired solely by a spirit of loyalty to his Church in upholding her laws whether, by his appeal to the Primate to stay his hand in the matter of his resignation and to consider the position before sending it in, he did not clearly and unmistakeably show that his object was not to temporarily gain for himself an empty title, but that he was actuated by the single desire of asserting the laws of the Church?
These are a few considerations which have not hitherto been placed prominently before the Laity, who are now respectfully invited give to them their earnest and unbiassed attention.
The following is an extract from the letter addressed by Bishop Suter to Bishop Hadfield two days after receiving Bishop Harper's resignation of the Primacy. Having stated his belief that the office of Primate was now vacant, the General Synod having had no power to elect a successor to Bishop Harper until the vacancy had been created, he proceeded to say:—"I suggest, therefore, that the matter be referred to the Standing Commission, as it is a question of interpretation of various Canons, especially of Clause 28, Whether "until the General Synod shall make other provision, is to be constructed to mean unless the General Synod shall have made," &c. For this I am prepared to state a case for the consideration of the Standing Commission; or, which I venture to think a speedier method, to have a special meeting of the General Synod convened at Wellington for the express purpose of validating certain proceedings in connection with the election of a successor to Bishop Harper as Primate. * * * As it can easily be set right where there is no disposition to disturb the express will of the General Synod, I have the less reluctance in proposing this, as it is most desirable that there should be a Primate without delay, and that his title to the position should be unquestioned."
When this is taken in conjunction with Bishop Suter's letter to Bishop Harper prior to the resignation by the latter of the Primacy, it may confidently be asked, what more the Bishop of Nelson could have done to meet the difficulty.
To gum up the facts, which are given at somewhat greater length elsewhere—Bishop Suter was treated with deliberate unfairness at the illegal election of Primate by the Synod in the manner in which it was conducted:
Upon his attention being directed to the irregularity and illegality of the election, he warned Bishop Harper of the probable consequences of his sending in his resignation of the Primacy; pressed him to postpone it and to consider the position; and at the same time informed him of what he, as Senior Bishop, should deem it his duty to do if his resignation were forwarded to him. A similar communication was sent to all the other Bishops prior to the Primate's resignation:
This warning was disregarded:
Bishop Suter then wrote to Bishop Hadfield suggesting that the matter should be referred either to the Standing Commission or to a special meeting of the Synod to be convened at Wellington for the purpose. Bishop Hadfield preferred the former:
Acting in conjunction with the late Primate, and with the knowledge and approval of Bishop Hadfield, Bishop Suter appealed to the Standing Commission to decide upon the legality or otherwise of the election:
He has done all in Lis power since the decision of the Commission, to facilitate the election and consecration of' the Bishop elect of Christchurch:
The sole fault with which he is charged by the Clerical authorities is, that he did not move two other Bishops to request him to convene the Synod, whereas it was the "two other Bishops" who should have taken the initiative:
He has not refused to convene the Synod:
Bishop Suter has been freely charged with allowing himself to be actuated by base and unworthy motives:
In ignorance of the facts, the public have been disposed to accept the charge as true, and from this standpoint have viewed the whole of his actions:
The charge is proved by his letters to Bishops Harper and Hadfield to be utterly groundless.
It has not been been without considerable hesitation that we have decided to reprint a couple of articles from the Christchurch "I deeply regret that any such difficulties should have arisen, because my motives are in danger of being-misunderstood, but I should never forgive myself if, from fear of being misunderstood, I allowed what, as far as I know, was contrary to the laws, to be done with my acquiescence. I have by Mr Pitt's advice made similar communications to the other Bishops."Press on the Primacy dispute, but believing that many of our readers, other than the members of the Church, of which Bishop Suter is the head in this diocese, take an interest in the matter, we think it well to let them know how shamefully he is being maligned on account of the action he has taken in the direction of upholding the laws of the General Synod, which is the governing body of his Church. Before proceeding to read our remarks thereon we ask those under whose notice they may come to be good enough to peruse the articles in question, which will be found on another page, Presuming that this request has been complied with, we will now go on to show how utterly unfair and unreasonable are the comments passed upon his conduct, We do not propose to enter into all the details of what the Press rightly calls the "disgraceful dispute" about the Primacy, but we cannot stand quietly by and see an estimable gentleman, a true-hearted Christian, and a hard working and popular dignitary of the Church thus grossly calumniated, and will therefore in as few words as possible put the matter in its true light. What is it then that this "vain," "obstinate." "grasping," "self-opinionated," "masquerading," prelate—we have merely culled a few of the choicest epithets from our hysterical contemporary's vocabulary—what is it he has done to bring all this storm of abuse and vituperation on his devoted head? The story we think can be very briefly, told. In was made Upon Bishop Suter returning to his diocese in March his attention was called to the irregularity by Mr. Albert Pitt, the Chancellor of the Diocese, but at that time the Bishop paid little attention to it. In the month of August, the Canons, which had been printed in Dunedin, were circulated among the members of the synod. Then the Bishop saw, as everybody else must see who reads them, for they are so plain that they cannot be misunderstood, that a very grave error, which might lead to future complications, had been made. The Primate had not yet carried out his expressed intention of resigning, and Bishop Miter, anticipating that he might do so, wrote informing him of the irregularity that had been pointed out to him by Mr Pitt, and showing the very difficult position in which he (Bishop Suter) would be placed upon receiving his resignation, and begging him to consider the position. He added:—
In September the Primate sent in his resignation to Bishop Suter, who there upon decided to refer the question to the Standing Commission for their decision thereon, and-again in accordance with the Canons which provide that two parties interested must unite in submitting a case to the Commission—he obtained the consent of Bishop Harper, the late Primate, to join with him in doing so. Some of our readers may want to know what the Standing Commission had to do with the matter, and what was their right to interfere even upon being invited to do so. We will quote Title C Canon IV. Section 9 for their information:—"All doubts which may arise in the interpretation of any Canon or Statute already passed or hereafter to be passed by the General Synod or by any Diocesan Synod, shall be submitted for final decision to the Standing Commission and to no other Tribunal whatever. "That is plain enough. That doubts had arisen was admitted by Bishop Harper, as shown by the fact of his agreeing to prepare a case in conjunction with Bishop Suter for submission to the only Tribunal which the General Synod recognised. Bishop Suter communicated to the other Bishops what he and the late Primate were doing, and in the reply he received from the Bishop of Wellington were the following words:—
"I yesterday received your letter enclosing an opinion on its subject matter by Mr Pitt together with a copy of the Bishop of Christchurch's resignation of the Primacy. As you say you are 'prepared to state a case for the Standing Commission,' I write to say that I agree with you that it is very desirable that this should be done 'without delay.'"
Thus it will be seen that neither the late Primate nor the Primate (illegally) elect offered the slightest objection to the course Bishop Suter proposed to adopt bat, on the contrary, that they both encouraged him in following it. The case was duly submitted to the Standing Commission, presided over by the Bishop of Auckland, and including among its members two lawyers of high standing, one of them being Sir Frederick Whitaker, In due course their decision was made Known. It was as follows:—
"1. That there was no vacancy in the office of Primate in
2. That a Primate cannot be elected by anticipation of a vacancy in the office.
3. That on the resignation of the late Primate (the Bishop of Christchurch) in September, the senior Bishop by Consecration (the Bishop of Nelson) became Primate to hold office until the General Synod shall make other provision in that behalf. Bishop Suter has therefore been declared Primate."
Now, we desire to call attention to a letter recently addressed to the Press by the Very Rev. H. Jacobs, Dean of Christchurch, an extract from which appeared in our Saturday's issue. To day we will content ourselves with giving the following quotation: "The Church's only resource, I think, is to turn to the Bishop of Wellington and say, 'To you we look, under God for deliverance from our terrible embarrassment. We implore you to take the decided step of convening a special session. If your Lordship is known to be ready to take this J action if called upon to do so, we doubt not that two at least of our Right Reverend Prelates will come forward to make the request.' "When our readers have contrasted these words with a letter addressed to Bishop Suter immediately after the decision of the Commission was published, they will know what to think of Dean Jacobs' consistency, and the full extent of the reliability that is to be placed upon his opinion and advice. In a letter addressed to "The Most Reverend the Lord Bishop of Nelson, Primate," he enclosed certain documents relating the the election of Archdeacon Julius as Bishop of Christchurch by the Synod of that Diocese, and mentioned the day when he should like the consecration to take place, and then there occur these words which are deserving of special attention:—"It is a matter of congratulation to us all that the suspense in the matter of the Primacy is ended, and the question settled for the present." Then, after again referring to the papers: Will your Lordship kindly let me know your views and wishes in the matter,"
Has Dean Jacobs been loyal to his acknowledged head since writing these lines? Has he endeavoured to shelter him from the storm of abuse, the calamities, and misrepresentations to which he has been subjected? Has he done all in his power to uphold the decision of the Tribunal appointed by the General Synod to adjudicate on the occasion of such a difficulty arising as that which has been magnified and tensified by those whose business it was to reduce and remove it? Has he sought to show that he was honest and earnest when he said that it was a matter of congratulation to us all that the suspense in the matter of the Primacy is ended)" In fine, has he sought to set his recognised Primate right with those who have concocted and circulated, and those who must have been influenced by, the gross falsehoods that have been told about him? We leave the answer to Dean Jacobs' conscience, and the columns of the Press.
We think that we have very clearly shown by a relation of the facts of the case that up to the time of the publication of the decision of the Standing Commission the Bishop of Nelson had not been guilty of any impropriety, and the question will naturally be asked, "But what has he done since?" To this we reply—absolutely nothing except to endeavour to the utmost of his power to facilitate the necessary arrangements for the confirmation of the appointment, and the consecration, of Archdeacon Julius as Bishop of Christchurch, thereby giving the lie to the scandalous imputation to which publicity is given in one of the articles we reprint to-day that he has been actuated by "a desire to
In appealing to the Tribunal constituted by the General Synod, for their judgment on a certain action of that body, the Bishop made a bold and a manful and against an attempt to ignore the Canons laid down by the Synod for its own guidance, and showed a commendable determination that, for his own part at least, he would not allow it to go forth that the New Zealand branch of the Church of England was an utterly lawless body, which made laws one day only to break them the next. By their action the Bishops and others who have striven hard to show that the Church's laws need not be obeyed except when they suit those who are supposed to be bound by them, have done an irreparable injury to the Church; they have struck it a blow under which it will stagger for many years to come, if, indeed, it ever recovers its previous firm footing, and for the mischief they have wrought they have endeavored to lay all the blame on him who would not acquiesce in their illegal actions. With the example that has been set by some of the Bishops and Clergy before their eyes, it is scarcely to be expected that the Laity will conform to anything like Church discipline, except when it pleases them to do so. Naturally enough they will ask, "If our prelate and priests acknowledge no law, why should we?" Bishop Suter alone appears to have foreseen this inevitable effect of the Synod setting its own laws at defiance, and because he would not be a party to bringing about that result he has been vilified and calumniated in the most shameful manner, and has had the most unworthy motives imputed to him. As the Press says—"As the Primate is really nothing more in this colony than the titular head of the Bishops and the Chairman of the General Synod, it is not of much consequence which of the Bishops is Primate," and yet it accuses a man of the highest character, than whom, by the Laity at least no Bishop in New Zealand is more honoured and respected, of acting in a manner nothing short of scandalous" in order to obtain this empty honour. Our contemporary says, "We tell His Lordship, that outside his own Diocese, public opinion is dead against him" This we take leave to doubt. Many correspondents in various parts of New Zealand, some of them men of excellent reputation and of high standing in the legal profession, have heartily upheld Bishop Suter in the action he has taken. And we add to this that in many places where public opinion may be dead against him now, it is because the real facts are not known; because he has been scandalously misrepresented. It would be well if some of those who are not ashamed to c st stones at Bishop Suter, were to remember that there is another and very powerful order in the Church besides the Bishops and Clergy, and we make bold to say that when the Laity understand the true position of affairs, as they will one of these days, there will be an expression of "intense indignation," not with Bishop Suter, but with those who have for the last few weeks been so busily engaged in hounding him down. Ay, we undertake to pay that even in Christchurch itself, where the mud has been most actively and persistently stirred, if it could be so arranged that Bishop Suter could address a meeting of the Lay members of the Church, there would be a revulsion of feeling that would astonish and make exceedingly uncomfortable some of the mischievous wire pullers whose delight it has been to bring a grate scandal upon the Church they pretend to love.
We have a few words to say in conclusion. The Press "deeply regrets that the closing days of Bishop Harper's episcopacy should have been embittered by this unseemly dispute and we are glad to bear testimony to the fact that he is to be acquitted of all blame in the matter". We, too, are sorry for the venerable Bishop, to know whom is to revere and respect him, but we sympathise far more deeply with Bishop Suter, who has been so disgracefully treated. And, moreover, we cannot acquit Bishop Harper of all blame in the matter. It was to the error he first made in not resigning prior to the meeting of the Synod that the difficulty was primarily due; it is to his refusal to "consider the position," as advised by the Bishop of Nelson, who warned him of the difficulties looming in the near future that the "very disgraceful dispute" which has arisen is owing. Of course he could not foresee all that was going to happen, but the outlook was sufficiently serious to cause him to pause, and at least to consult his brother Bishops before resigning the Primacy. Whatever may be said of some of the other Bishops, he at least is devoted to the service of the Church of which he has for so many years been the honoured head in New Zealand, and we feel sure that it must bitterly grieve him now that he did not pay more attention to the warning conveyed to him in Bishop Suter's letter.
All persons who care for the welfare of the Episcopal Church in this colony, and, indeed, all who are even well affected towards religious organizations of any kind, must sympathise with the tone of the letter from Dean Jacobs, published by us yesterday, relating to the disgraceful—the very disgraceful—disputes about the Primacy. The conduct of the Bishops of Wellington and Nelson is nothing short of scandalous. That is by no means too strong a term to use, and we are sure that we only echo the general feeling of the community when we make use of the phrase. We are not concerned to enquire which of the Bishops is the most to blame. The general public, both the religious and the irreligious, care but little about the merits of the dispute, if indeed a shameful quarrel about technicalities can be said to have any merits at all. Ecclesiastical lawyers and Laymen of an ecclesiastical turn of mind may find it a labour of love to discuss the pros and cons, and argue upon the interpretation of Canons, but we are sure that the vast majority of persons anxious for the welfare of the Church of England in this colony fee nothing but shame and anger in watching the progress of the struggle between these two Christian prelates for the possession of an empty title. If any men more than others in the Church are expected to set an example of Christian charity and unselfishness, surely two aged Bishops, neither of whom can expect a much extended lease of life, are those men. But, as it is, there is no half fledged curate in the colony who would not be ashamed to have caused such embarrassment to the Church as they have done. The Bishop of Wellington forfeited much of the respect due to his long services and high position when it was discovered that he was the secret slanderer of Mr. Bryce; and the Bishop of Nelson's love of political controversy has, ere now, got him into hot water. But we certainly never expected that these Bishops would, in this manner, raise their hands against the Church which they have both for so long served. We do not agree with those who attribute the conduct of the Bishops to even the meaner motive of a desire to impede the acceptance of office by Archdeacon Julius, fearing that his reputation for vigour, eloquence, and well directed zeal would cast their own into the shade. But it is, perhaps, as well that the Bishops of Wellington and Nelson should know that there are many uncharitable persons who give them credit for no higher motives than this, and it must be admitted that the Bishops' conduct lays their motives open to this misconstruction. We see in their action nothing but a proof that Bishops are but mortal after all, and have their full share of vanities and follies. Still it is distressing to find that the vanity of two Bishops should have been brought into such bold relief by this unhappy quarrel. We entertain no doubt whatever that the Bishop of Wellington, morally, at all events, had originally the best of the dispute. He can at least claim to have been the chosen Primate, and his claims to assume that dignity are, if invalid, invalid only on technical grounds. Had the Bishop of Nelson not endeavored to take advantage of these technicalities, no trouble would ever have arisen, and we think that his action was wholly unworthy of his position as a high officer in the Christian Church. But, of course, the action of the Bishop of Wellington, in disputing the action of the Standing Committee, again on technical grounds, and still claiming to be Primate, and endeavoring by the suggestion of further technical difficulties to impede the consecration of the new Bishop, brings him quite down to the level of Bishop Suter. We are simply amazed that the Bishops do not see the error of their ways. The contention that they are only asserting their claims in order to avoid confusion hereafter is akin to the excuse which some men make for going to law or doing other harsh things when they claim to be acting on principle. The only safe principle for a Christian Bishop to act upon in matters relating to his own position is the golden rule of the Divine Head of their Church.
We believe that the Bishops have very likely been led astray by that little knot of satellites and parasites who always surround persons in high office with high-sounding titles, and they may possibly have been induced to believe that the public were anxious that the dispute should be settled by a binding decision as to who is legally in the right. But if so, their Lordships have been most woefully misled. In the first place, it is a matter of very little consequence who is primate. It is of some consequence who should be a Bishop, but as the Primate must be a Bishop, and is really nothing more in this colony than the titular head of the Bishops and the Chairman of the General Synod, it is not of much consequence which of the Bishops is Primate. Nor does it matter to anybody but persons with a diseased appetite for argument as to the construction of Canons, whether the Bishop of Wellington was rightly or wrongly elected Primate, But
The question then is, How is the matter to be settled? for as the dispute has arisen some decision must be arrived at. The Bishop of Nelson's proposal preposterous and insulting to everybody of intelligence. One suggestion which found a considerable amount of favor was that the three Bishops should call together the General Synod, An alternative proposed by Dean Jacobs, which has a great deal to be said in its favor, is for the Bishop of Wellington to resign the Primacy. If he will do so, he will have made the best amends now in his power for whatever ill he has done, and he will earn the gratitude of all who are anxious for the welfare of the Church. If Bishop Hadfield takes this course, then Bishop Suter will, beyond all doubt, become the acting Primate, or, at any rate, become entitled to call together the General Synod, and if he should then decline to summon it for the election of Primate he will deserve universal condemnation, and will render it most manifest that his only object is to grasp, by an accident, a position and power which he feels he would never acquire in the proper way by the suffrages of the Clergy and Laity of the Synod.
There can be no doubt that this is the course which the Bishops will follow it they have any regard for their Church. But we do not think it is well to proceed on the assumption that the Bishops have come to their senses, and will do what is right without pressure. We think, therefore, that Churchmen, both Clerical and Lay, should take care, either by public meetings or petitions, to let the Bishops know at once what is expected of them. If, unhappily, the Bishops or either of them should still prove obdurate, we feel sure that their conduct will lead to large secessions from the Church. The Constitution of the Church will have been proved to have been too autocratic for this democratic age, and there will be many Churchmen who will desire to worship God in some other Church, where their endeavors for its progress and welfare cannot be thwarted by the high handed and autocratic conduct of any vain or arrogant Bishop.
We deeply regret that the closing days of Bishop Harper's episcopacy should have been embittered by this unseemly dispute, and we are glad to bear testimony to the fact that he is to be acquitted of all blame in the matter. It is a pity that the Bishops of Nelson and Wellington had not more regard for their venerable colleague than to bring all this trouble about his head just as he is closing his long and useful career as a Christian Bishop.
We have received the following telegram from the Bishop of Nelson:—
"To the Editor of the Press, Christchurch.—Having received the necessary sanction of the Standing Committees, I have communicated with the Venerable Archdeacon Julius that I am making arrangements for his consecration to the Bishopric of Christchurch, and expect him to be present at the Cathedral on April 25th for that purpose. The responsibility of any delay must rest on the right parties.—(Signed) A. B. Suter, Bishop of Nelson, Primate.—Nelson, February 10th."
While the Bishop of Nelson has thus taken the matter into his own hands efforts are being made in other quarters to arrive at a settlement of the difficulty likely to be satisfactory to the Church at large. We have received information from reliable sources to the following effect:—The Bishop of Wellington is earnestly considering the several courses of action he has been urged to take and wishes a short space of time for deliberation and counsel. He is to meet the Bishops of Auckland and Waiapu at Napier on the 17th instant, the Bishop of Auckland being en route for Dunedin to attend the special meeting of the University Senate. It is probable also that Dean Hovell, Archdeacon W. L Williams, and Mr. Arthur J. Cotterill, the Chancellor of the Diocese of Waiapu may be present and take part in the conference. The Bishop of Wellington will be prepared unreservedly to take any course which may appear to the majority of his right reverend brethren to be best for the Church at the present crisis. Is is understood further that the Bishop of Auckland has a plan to propose at the conference on the 17th, which he confidently believes will lead to a solution of the difficulty without entailing the necessity of a special session of the General Synod being held.
We have heard of the obstinacy of the Bishop of Nelson, but we were hardly prepared to find His Lordship at the present stage taking up the attitude disclosed by the telegram which he has addressed to us, and which will be found in another column. The Bishop of Wellington is taking counsel as to the course he ought to pursue, and, we are informed, "is prepared unreservedly to take any course which may appear to the majority of right reverend brethren to be best for the Church at the present crisis." The Bishop of Nelson, it would seem, is prepared to take counsel with nobody, but intends to usurp a title, his claim to which the Church at large will never acknowledge, and peremptorily to call on Archdeacon Julius to present himself for consecration on the 25th of April next. "The responsibility of any delay," his Lordship adds, must rest on the right parties." The sole responsibility, not only for the delay, but for the deplorable scandal which must follow such a course, will rest on the Right Reverend Dr. Suter, Bishop of Nelson, and nobody else, and will unquestionably be to his Lordship a cause of obloquy, if not of remorse, to the end of his career. The Bishop of Nelson may have the avowed support of his own Clergy, who, hidden away in the sequestered valleys of the Nelson Province, probably hardly realise the magnitude of the interests at stake. We tell his Lordship, however, that outside his Diocese not only is public opinion dead against him, but his conduct has caused the greatest amazement, as well as intense indignation. This is not only the case in New Zealand, but, as will be seen from the extract which we publish from the Melbourne Argus, his Lordship's conduct is condemned in equally emphatic terms outside our own colony. That any Bishop could be found so utterly regardless, not only of the interests of his Church, but also of his own reputation, as to act in the grasping self-opinionated way which Dr. Suter has apparently mapped out for himself is absolutely astounding. We trust that his Lordship will even yet see the wisdom as well as the propriety of altering his steps before it is too late. If he should be so ill-advised as to persist in behaving as if he were the unquestioned Primate of New Zealand, there is only one course, and that is a very painful one, for the authorities of the Church to adopt. They must be prepared to act independently of the Bishop of Nelson. It is hardly to be supposed that Archdeacon Julius will be satisfied with the logic which has apparently convinced the Bishop of Nelson as to the claims of the latter to be Primate, and the general legality of the position. It is the duty, therefore, of the ecclesiastical authorities of the Church as a body to take prompt and energetic steps, at whatever sacrifice, to relieve the Church and Archdeacon Julius from the present unseemly entanglement. To the Bishop of Nelson two courses are open. He may either join in the efforts which are being made to remove the reproach which rests on the Church, or he may persist in a course which may bring about a worse scandal than the Jenner case. We shall have on the one hand a misguided prelate masquerading as the head of the Church, and on the other practically the whole communion, from his Right Reverend brethren on the Bench downwards, repudiating his authority and scouting his pretensions. As to how this unhappy diocese in particular is likely to fare during the indecent wrangle we hardly like to imagine. We cannot even yet believe that the Bishop of Nelson will blindly persevere in a course which will be productive of the greatest heartburning and strife, and will bring the gravest discredit on himself, bis Church, and even on the religion whose fair name it is his first duty to shield from reproach. At present his Lordship bids fair to deal that religion the most deadly blow which it has received in this quarter of the globe.
By Title A., Canon I., Section 28, it is provided at in case of a vacancy in the Office of Primate, by death, resignation, or otherwise, the Senior Bishop for the time being shall be and act as Primate until the General Synod shall make other provision in that behalf.
Yet another right, too, is conserved to the Senior Bishop under similar circumstances, namely, that of succeeding to the Primacy after certain trials to elect have failed. This right was seriously interfered with during the proceedings at the election in February of last year.
The rules laid down for the election of a Primate provide (by Clause 23) that the election of a Bishop to fill the office of Primate shall be made by ballot in manner hereafter provided; also, (by Clause 24) on the motion that the Synod
There are two intentions clear in these instructions. First, that the Church desired to avoid an unseemly struggle for supremacy by the mention of names, or any interference with the individual members of Synod; Secondly, that the Church wished to prevent the array of Synodsmen into rival camps.
Thus the spirit of the Canons was violated when it was resolved on the motion of the Bishop of Melanesia, seconded by Mr. George Joachim, after the scrutineers had reported "no election" had been made, "that the scrutineers declare the result of the ballot taken." The Clerical Secretary then read out the number of votes given, but not the names of the Bishops voted for.
It was then moved by the Bishop of Wellington, seconded by the Dean of Christchurch, "That the names of the Bishops, with the votes recorded for each, be read aloud.'
This, too, was done at each step of the election, and it is reported in the English Guardian of
The distinct intention of the Church was deliberately ignored. That such a breach of its own laws could be committed by such an assembly seems inconceivable. It is a transgression of rules that would not occur in the election of a Borough Councillor nowadays, if the conditions of the ballot were similarly laid down; and if such a thing were attempted under similar conditions of ballot in the Lodge of any Friendly Society, the common sense of the members would revolt against it.
The scrutineers had, so far, fulfilled their duty when they reported that no election had been made, and beyond this the Synod was not entitled to any information whatever.
The claims, the rights, and the interests, of the Senior Bishop for the time being are tacitly recognised by the Church, yet they were all alike disregarded by the action of the Synod. Under a legal election of Primate, the Senior Bishop would have presided and conducted the election. He would thus have had the opportunity of preventing such an infringement of the rules, and from an analysts of the ballots there can be no doubt that, had the election been legally conducted, he would have succeeded to the Primacy, for the Bishop of Melanesia would not have been permitted to make his appeal to the too accommodating Laity.
A daring defiance of the letter, and a deliberate disregard of the spirit, of the Canons were the prominent features of the so-called election which has brought such a scandal upon the Church of England in New Zealand. And for that scandal a too successful attempt has been made to cast the sole responsibility upon the Bishop of Nelson.
This pamphlet is issued as a protest against the discourtesy and disrespect displayed towards Bishop Suter in certain quarters, and the gross injustice with which he has been treated from the time of the opening of the Synod up to the present day.
As in most of the colonies, all the more important public works of New Zealand are in the hands of the Government and other public bodies: comparatively few have been undertaken by private enterprise.
The initiation of public works in New Zealand is coeval with the founding of the colony, and in the early days they simply kept pace with the spread of settlement. But in
The first public works initiated in the colony were roads, for without them no regular settlement could take place. New Zealand ft is well intersected by roads of various kinds, from bridle tracks among the mountains to macadamised roads in the older settled districts. All the main roads have been made by the General and Provincial Governments, but the maintenance is done by the counties, except in a few isolated cases where a main line of communication runs through sparsely settled districts. The district roads are under the control of small local bodies, who make and maintain them out of their own funds.
It is impossible to give even a rough estimate of the number of miles of roads and tracks constructed in New Zealand: they comprise many thousands. The portion done by the General Government since
Nearly all the larger rivers on the main roads in both Islands are bridged. At first the bridges were all constructed of timber, but latterly stone and iron have been extensively used, and in a few-cases the ironwork has been manufactured in the colony. There are a number of drawings and photographs in the Exhibition illustrating the different types of road bridges in New Zealand.
At the end of the last financial year,
The New Zealand railways are equipped with 272 locomotives, 512 carriages, and 8,156 wagons.
The expenditure on the 1,769 miles of Government railways open last year has been £13,472,837, or an average of £7,616 a mile: this includes all charges connected with the construction and equipment of the lines.
The revenue from the Government railways for the year
Prior to
The main lines in the South Island have ruling gradients of 1 in 50, the sharpest curves being 7½ chains radius. Some of the principal lines in the North Island have 1 in 35 gradients and 5 chain curves; and in crossing the Rimutaka Range there is an incline of 1 in 15 on the Fell central rail system, two miles and a half long. The gauge of the railways throughout is 3ft. 6in.
Some of the formation works on the New Zealand railways are very heavy, particularly at the Rimutaka Range and in the Manawatu Gorge, in the North Island, and on the lines leading out of Dunedin and the Otago Central Railway, in the South Island. Bridging also is a large item on the Canterbury Plains, where the other works are exceedingly light. The largest single work on any of the railways is the Moorhouse Tunnel, nearly a mile and three-quarters long, between Lyttelton and Christchurch, which was carried out by the Provincial Government of Canterbury.
Most of the bridging on the railways first made was of timber, but now all the principal bridges are iron girders on masonry or iron abutments and piers. Latterly all the bridge ironwork has been manufactured in the colony, everything from heavy castings down to bolts and rivets being done locally. Since the initiation of this system in
Prior to
The New Zealand telegraph system up till
The Government has expended about £510,000 on the construction of reservoirs, water-races, and sludge-channels on the gold-fields; and extensive works of a similar character have been carried out by private enterprise.
All the cities and principal towns in New Zealand are supplied with water at the cost of the Corporations. Auckland, Napier, and Lyttelton have pumping schemes, but the others are supplied by gravitation. Christchurch and Blenheim have no public scheme, but each individual can have an ample supply on his own premises at a trifling cost by sinking an artesian well.
Ordinary tramways have been established in all the principal towns in New Zealand, and Dunedin has in addition two cable lines leading to high lying suburbs. The ordinary tramways are in some cases worked by steam motors, but horse power is more generally employed. The cable tramways are practically the same as those in San Francisco.
There is a horse tramway between Greymouth and Kumara, the leading feature of which is that passengers and goods are taken across the Teremakau River in a cage at a high level. The cage is suspended and steadied by wire ropes, and worked by a stationary engine.
All the principal towns in the colony have gasworks, some of them belonging to private companies, but the majority to the Corporations. The native coal from Greymouth is stated to be one of the best in the world for making gas. The streets of Wellington and Reefton, and the harbour of Lyttelton, are lighted by electricity.
All the ports in New Zealand are provided with wharves and jetties in proportion to the trade. Important works to afford shelter and increase the depth of water have been executed or are in course of construction at eight places—namely, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Lyttelton, Greymouth, Westport, New Plymouth, and Napier.
The harbours of Oamaru, Timaru, New Plymouth, and Napier are practically in the open sea. They are enclosed by concrete and rubble breakwaters. Two of these only are completed, Oamaru and Timaru. Sixty acres are enclosed at Oamaru, and fifty acres at Timaru, and vessels of large draught can be accommodated at the wharves.
The works at Dunedin consist of dredging a channel in the Upper Harbour, so that vessels of larger draught can go right up to the city, and the construction of a mole at the Heads to increase the depth of water on the bar. The channel is finished, and the intercolonial steamers and ordinary Home ships now go right up to Dunedin. The mole at the Heads is carried out to a distance of 1,100ft., and the bar is greatly improved, so that the largest Home steamer can go up to Port Chalmers.
Lyttelton Harbour is an inner basin in a sound, which naturally was greatly exposed to certain winds. About 110 acres have been enclosed by rubble breakwaters and dredged out, so that the largest Home steamers can be accommodated.
Greymouth and Westport are coal harbours at the mouths of the Grey and Buller Rivers. The works consist of training walls and breakwaters intended to concentrate the current across the bar, and thereby increase the depth of water. The principal works at Greymouth are nearly finished, and they have proved a complete success. Steamers up to 1,345 tons burden and 16ft. draught are now trading to the port. The works at Westport are still far from completion; but they have already effected a great improvement in the harbour, and promise to be as successful as those at Greymouth, and, in consequence of the river being larger to commence with, larger vessels will be accommodated.
Models and drawings of the Greymouth and Westport Harbours are exhibited in the Public Works Court.
There are four graving-docks in New Zealand, the following being their leading dimensions:—
Wellington has no dock, but there is, instead, a patent slip capable of taking up a 2,000-ton ship.
In addition to ordinary harbour lights there are twenty-six lighthouses on the coast of New Zealand. Five are built of stone, six of iron, and fifteen of timber. The lights are of various orders and descriptions and of the most approved type. The first lighthouse in the colony, that at Pencarrow Head, was lighted in
Prior to the war scare in
Model of Westport Harbour (now under construction).
George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.
As far back as the Diomedea exulans, one of them being highly variable in plumage, and the other distinguishable by its larger size and by the constancy of its white head and neck (see Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xvii., p. 450). But, although that was the conviction on my mind, I did not feel justified in setting up the new species and giving it a distinctive name till I could produce incontestable evidence of its existence.
I have recently had an opportunity of examining sixteen beautiful examples, of both sexes and of all ages, and I have no hesitation now in giving this new species the rank to which it is entitled. It is undoubtedly the noblest member of this group, both as to size and beauty, and I have therefore named it Diomedea regia. Of the sixteen examples mentioned above, two (an adult female and a full-grown fledgling) came from Campbell Island, one was brought alive from the Auckland Islands, and the remaining thirteen (most of which were female birds) were taken by fishermen off the New Zealand coast, in the vicinity of Port Chalmers.
In my "Birds of New Zealand" (second edition) I treated this bird as the mature condition of Diomedea exulans; but that I still had my doubts on the subject will appear from the following paragraph on page 192 (vol. ii.): "We cannot suppose that the Albatros is first pure-white, then dark-brown, and, after passing through several intermediate states, pure-white again in extreme old age. Nor would it be altogether safe, from the materials at present before us, to construct a new species. I am inclined rather to account for the differences I have mentioned on the supposition of the existence of dimorphic phases of plumage, as in some other oceanic birds."
In the plate facing page 188 I have given the two forms, the swimming figure representing the fully adult condition of Diomedea exulans, and the standing one being the bird now described as new, which is thus referred to in the text
The two species having been confounded, it may be as well to explain, before proceeding further, that the description given on page 192 of "The Birds of New Zealand" of a "perfectly mature example," received at the Canterbury Museum in Diomedea regia, as do also the notes contained in the last three paragraphs of descriptive matter on page 193. The description of the young on page 190, and of the ten successive states of plumage in the progress of the bird towards maturity (l.c., pp. 190-192), relate, of course, to the old-established species, Diomedea exulans.
As to the specific distinctness of the two birds there can no longer be any reasonable doubt.
I have much pleasure in submitting to the meeting a series of both species. On one side we have three specimens of the common Wandering Albatros (D. exulans). No. 1 is in the grey plumage of immaturity, with a well-defined white face; No. 2 is in a transitional or progressive state of plumage; and No. 3 represents the fully adult state, with the white plumage prettily speckled and vermiculated on the back and sides. On the other hand we have three specimens of my new species, No. 1 being a full-grown fledgling, with remnants of white down still adhering to the plumage; and Nos. 2 and 3 representing the adult male and female. The latter, I may state, were both taken by fishermen off the Otago coast, whilst the young bird was brought last season from Campbell Island, where it was captured on the nest.
It will be observed at once that the two birds are readily distinguishable. Diomedea regia is appreciably larger than the common species, with a far more powerful bill, which differs further in having a broad black line along the cutting-edge of the upper mandible. In Diomedea exulans even the adult birds are more or less marked or mottled with brown on the crown; in Diomedea regia the head and neck are pure-white from the nest. In Diomedea exulans the bare eyelids are greenish-purple; in Diomedea regia the eyelids from youth to maturity are jet-black. In all other superficial respects the two species are alike; but they keep quite apart on their
Diomedea regia, from Campbell Island, alongside of the egg of Diomedea exulans, from the Auckland Islands. There is a manifest difference in size, as might have been expected. I do not, however, attach any special importance to this, knowing how variable the eggs of the Albatros are as to size. Nor, indeed, can we look for anything very remarkable in the habits of this bird to distinguish it from the common species. There can be no doubt, however, that this royal Albatros is the one singled out for special mention in the following passage in my "Birds of New Zealand" (vol. ii., p. 195): "On my last voyage from the Antipodes, by direct steamer by way of Cape Horn, I made careful observations on the albatroses that followed us. During the first few days from the New Zealand coast (middle of March), and in lat. 56° S., some twenty or more of D. exulans were in daily attendance. Nearly the whole of these were in the dark plumage characteristic of the young birds, the foreneck, breast, and upper parts of the body being of various shades of chocolate-brown, and the face, throat, and abdomen pure-white. In some the brown on the breast was very pale, and in one or more of them was reduced to a mere cloud of speckled markings. One bird, however, and the only one in the white body-plumage mentioned above, was conspicuous among the group. It had the head, neck, back, and all the under-parts of the purest white; and the upper surface of the wings blackish-brown, with a broad white patch at the humeral flexure. It was a bird of considerable size—larger, indeed, than any of the others—and seemed to take much wider sweeps over the ocean, and often approached so near to the stern of our ship that I could detect the pinky flesh-colour of the beak. Its tail was white, with what appeared to be a terminal band of black. In long. 126°, the weather being bitterly cold, all the albatroses had left us. But three days later, lat. 56° 22′ S., long. 107° 9′ W., a pair of young birds (in brown plumage) came up to us about noon; and on the following day (March 21), with a stiff gale blowing, an old one appeared in the midst of a flock of petrels, but did not remain very long. The last appearance of this species was on the 22nd March, lat. 56°, long. 88°, when two birds (one of them in the young plumage) joined us about noon and followed our ship till dark. At this time we were steaming before the wind at a great rate, our log having registered a run of 320 miles for the previous twenty-four hours."
Captain Fairchild, of the "Hinemoa," who has for some years past made a close study of the Albatros on its breeding-grounds, has long maintained that there are two species. Till very recently he was of opinion that the large white-headed form was only to be found breeding on Campbell Island and other places to the south of the Auckland Islands. Until his last cruise, indeed, he had never found it breeding anywhere but on Campbell Island, whilst the common species appeared to have exclusive possession of the Auckland Islands, Antipodes Island, and the other islands to the north; and he had always found this species nesting four or five weeks earlier than the other—that is to say, the Campbell Island bird commenced to lay about the end of December, and the Auckland Island bird about the first week in February: in other words, Diomedea exulans was commencing to lay in the Auckland Islands just when the larger species was hatching out its young further south. On his recent visit, however, to the last-named group, Captain Fairchild found a colony of Diomedea regia nesting there, but occupying a separate locality, and quite apart from Diomedea exulans. Here, too, in the Auckland Islands, the same difference in the breeding-time was observable, for, whilst the nests of Diomedea regia contained young birds, the other species was only just preparing to lay. On the 7th February a nest of the latter was discovered containing two eggs (a most unusual occurrence), but all the other nests were empty, or occupied by the young bird of the former season. Marvellous as it may appear, it is perfectly true that the young birds never leave the breeding-ground till their parents return to refit their nests for another brood. This is the account of it, amply authenticated, given by Mr. Harris, as quoted by Professor Hutton: "At a certain time of the year between February and June—Mr. Harris: cannot exactly say when—the old birds leave their young and go to sea, and do not return until the next October,: when they arrive in large numbers. Each pair goes at once to its old nest, and, after a little fondling of the young one, which has remained in or near the nest the whole time, they turn it out and prepare the nest for the next brood. The deserted young ones are in good condition and very lively, frequently being seen off their nests exercising their wings. When the old birds return and take possession of their nest, the young one often remains outside and nibbles at the head of the old one until the feathers between the beak and the eye are removed and the skin made quite sore. The young birds do not go far from land until the following year, when they accompany the old ones to sea." The fact is that when the young are left in the nest at the close of the breeding-season they are so immensely fat that they can subsist for
Captain Fairchild has described to me from personal observation the coming-home of the Wandering Albatros after its long absence from its island sanctuary, and the peremptory manner in which the young bird in possession is ordered to quit the nest, so as to make room for its successor. The ease with which the old birds find their way to their own particular nest among so many is not the least wonderful thing in this marvellous romance of island life. And when I ponder on these strange facts I can only ask, as I have done before, "Birds of New Zealand," vol. ii., p. 197.
Diomedea regia, sp. now
Ad.—Albus: tectricibus alarum nigris vix brunnescentibus, majoribus interioribus plus minusve albis, margine carpali albo et brunneo vario: remigibus brunnesceuti-nigris, apicem versus pallidioribus, scapis flavicanti-albidis: scapularibus albis, ad apicem nigris: supracaudalibus caudâque albis, hac nigro apicata, rectricibus exterioribus basaliter brunneo irregulariter marmoratis: subtus pure albus: rostro albido, carnoso vix tincto, ad apicem flavicanti-corneo: pedibus corneo-albicantibus: iride saturate brunneâ: annulo ophthahnico nigro.
Adult.—General plumage pure-white; upper surface of wings blackish-brown, varied with pale-brown and white along the edges, and with an extensive patch of white on the humeral flexure; primaries brownish-black, with paler tips and
Young.—Similar to the adult, except that there is less white on the upper surface of the wings, although all the coverts have white margins; the interscapular region is traversed longitudinally with club-shaped marks of greyish-black, increasing downwards, the larger feathers having their apical portion completely covered; upwards, towards the shoulders, these marks diminish till they become mere arrowheads; on the mantle and on the upper tail-coverts there are sometimes marginal bars, but there is no vermiculation. Bill yellowish horn-colour, with a bluish tinge on the upper mandible.
Nestling.—Covered with pure-white down, thick and woolly in appearance.
Obs.—In the extremely-old male specimen exhibited the tail is entirely white; there is an unusual amount of white on the upper surface of the wings, all the coverts being more or less margined with it; and the scapulars are obscurely marbled with greyish-brown. The feathers composing the mantle are faintly vermiculated.
Eggs.—Yellowish-white, sometimes with a darker zone at the large end; ovoido-elliptical, and measuring 5in. in length by 3in. in breadth.
For the purposes of this present paper, I ignore it be; I self-denial in the interest of others; and
But permit me now, at the outset, to define
Our first claim is a very simple one. It is that them and their posterity through all time. it enters as a welcome guest, love flies away in shame, and selfishness ascends the throne of empire. We teach them that it destroys wealth; that it hinders individual, social, and national progress; that it dethrones virtue, exalts vice, and is even a destroyer, and never a builder. We do not merely make these assertions to be believed without test or inquiry; we give you our authorities, and our working motto is, "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." We claim also that multitudes of children have adopted our principles during the past half-century, and that to this fact it is largely due that the death-rate is a diminishing ratio; that the average of life is higher; that the wealth of our nation is greater, its social privileges more numerous; and that labour is gaining a hearing for its complaints, and such a hearing as it has never before received. Believing that nothing has so hindered the righting of social wrongs, and impeded the social legislator and reformer, as the drink, we denounce it as the foe to the workman and his family, and as the very spirit of hard, narrow, relentless conservatism, which, for the upraising and enrichment of the few, would crush, grind, and torture the many. Our principles are all instinct with democratic liberty, and make a grand provision of means towards that gracious work of self-help, by which the citizens of a free nation may achieve a position of exaltation and honour.
Having presented our claim for a hearing, we now continue with an earnest claim for a social status. We ask to be placed in such a position by your citizen suffrage of good-will and fair play, that we may get a wider area for our work, and a larger audience to appeal to. We claim to rank as progressive educators of the young, and we further claim that, without the education our principles are calculated to impart, your children cannot benefit as they should from the ordinary curriculum of the common school. For a generation of educated men and women will be a bane and a shame to our civilisation unless the principles of our union and movement underlie their lives, and are the motives of their actions. We do not ask you to tax yourselves in support of our educational system; we make no direct appeal in any way to your pockets, but we ask that our standing shall rank with that of other educators, and we ask you as citizens to guarantee this to us. We do the work, and, very largely, the workers provide the necessary funds. Adequate finance and untiring labour are the legitimate offspring of the spirit of our movement. In the abstract it will appear singular that we should have to claim from you who will benefit by our work, at no cost to yourselves, what you are ever ready to give to your system of common school education, which costs you so much. We claim that, if you interest yourselves in this movement in recognition of its importance, that then we shall find it fairly and amply represented by the Press of the colony, by the Churches and societies of the land, and its sanctions will ramify and touch all parts of our social order, and make themselves felt as does the labour question, or the position of capital in its relation to labour. We claim this, from the immense social results that will flow to you from the successful working of our movement—results so great and beneficient that, before they cease to act, society shall have reached a higher plane, and life have become a nobler gift than ever before. We contend that our touch of social life is always blessed in its results. We aim at making sober citizens, order-loving citizens, patriotic citizens, independent citizens, citizens far above the bribery made possible by liquor lust, and equal to every duty, however exalted. We claim that our movement will diminish your paupers, your lunatics, your prisoners, your police and magistrate charges; that a marked and singular reduction will take place in the votes for gaols, asylums, hospitals, refuges, and kindred institutions; that peace will rule, and not the police, and plenty will disarm the needy and disorderly. We do not merely speculate and theorise on these things; but we point to districts in Great Britain, to States in America, and to isolated patches in our own New Zealand home, where the conditions of life are in accord with this claim. In order to hasten the consummation we desire, we ask you as citizens to allow the facts as they exist, as to the nature and operation of intoxicating drinks, to be fairly and properly taught in our common schools. You commend the teaching there of sanitary science; you glory in the fact that physiology is now a part of the common course. You an anxious for the children to learn and understand the laws of health; yet here in the drinking
Oh! friends and fellow-citizens, the time present opportunity is yours! Use it a once, and give to us the stalwart social support you give to many burning questions of the
We claim your attention to the fact that nearly two million pounds per annum are spent in drink in Now Zealand alone; while public works halt for moans, and schools and asylums are all overcrowded, because money is not available for new and larger buildings. We claim that, as a result of that outlay, there are thousands in New Zealand arrested for drunkenness, not to speak of the thousands who also get drunk, but are never cited before our courts. We claim that, of the 25,000, more or less, who are proceeded against for crime in this colony every year, that at least three-fourths are in that position through drink. We claim that, of the nearly 2,000 lunatics that crowd our asylums, a considerable percentage are there through drink. We claim that the nearly 2,000 vagrants dealt with every year are mainly made so, and kept so, through drink. We claim that the thousands of children in our industrial homes, and who are worse than orphaned, are so largely because of the drink. We claim that every year hundreds of deaths occur in a variety of sudden shocking and terrible forms through drink, and drink alone. We claim that drink curses all conditions of men; that it is the curse of the priest and of the people alike; it is the curse of the home, the Church, and the nation wherever it appears. It is impertinent in its claims; its ill-gained wealth has given it unseemly prestige; its votaries are greedy of gain, and so greedy that they will break the laws of the land in order to get it. They sell liquor to young children, contrary to law; they sell in prohibited hours, contrary to law; they offer inducements to decoy the unwary and make them drunken, contrary to law. "The trade" ignores law as it ignores right, and aims only at enrichment at any price. We claim that the same law that binds you should bind also the liquor trafficker; but it does not, and it does not because you are apathetic and make no sign. If a man, in a passion of madness, slays his fellow, you cry aloud, and rightly, for the punishment of the guilty; but if a man, by slow and deliberate steps, seduces your husband or your son until he dies a sot, you turn from the doer of the evil to the victim, and, if any power of blame is left in you, it is the victim, and not the drink, that you charge with folly and iniquity.
Oh! fellow-citizens, awake! awake! it is worse than sacrilege to be supine in the presence of such a foe; it is worse than blasphemy to be silent as to its devilish work; it is worse than
Oh! let not this fell doom be yours, but, rising in your might, with your face to that foe of your race and country, lift aloft your arm of warning and cry in every drink trafficker's ear the appealing words—
D. J. Wright, Printer, "Leader" Office, Albert Street, Auckland.
The audience to whom this lecture was delivered expressed at its close a unanimous wish that it should be printed for general circulation. I hare, therefore, much pleasure in complying with their request.
I am aware that by doing so much indignation will be felt and expressed by the class which has so long misgoverned this magnificent country; but the time has arrived when the real truth of the position we are in should be plainly told, and until it is plainly told and intelligently understood by the people there is little hope of reform, and no hope whatever that the social position of the toilers of New Zealand will be materially improved.
I have noticed of late years a strong and increasing tendency to praise and glorify the human intellect; some go so far, indeed, as even to almost deify it. Now, to such I would ask, where did the founders of our New Zealand laws and institutions exhibit the greatness of the modern human intellect when they deliberately saddled us with laws and institutions far inferior in some respects to those in force amongst uncivilised savages? As a matter of fact, it could be proved that in some instances the untutored natural instincts of savage races have evolved for their own use laws and institutions infinitely better adapted to the wants of the people, and more conducive to their happiness and well-being, modern times, produced from the greatest and mightiest of human than many laws that have been brought into force in either ancient or intellects.
I have been the more confirmed in this opinion from reading, in an Auckland newspaper, an account of an interview which took place, only the other day, between a reporter of that paper and the Premier of Rarotonga, a native of that island, of the name of Tepou o te Rangi. This man and his people were yesterday, so to speak, savages, but you will see, from the account I will give you of the interview, that the social conditions of the islanders he speaks of are in some respects far in advance of those of people supposed to be in the highest stage of civilisation. He also clearly explains how this has come about, and we shall do well to carefully mark his words, for he is undoubtedly right in every particular.
In the first place he eulogises his country and its resources. He says: "We have thousands and thousands of acres of land waiting for people to come and cultivate them. Not one-twentieth of the land is tilled, and yet it is like the Garden of Eden for luxuriance and natural beauty. Nature supplies men there with every good thing."
You will observe that what this man says of his country can be equally said, or rather said with ten-fold more force, by us of i New Zealand. We have millions of acres of the very best land in the world waiting to be cultivated, but not one-seventieth is cultivated; and yet our land is as the Garden of Eden for luxuriance
He goes on to explain how and why it is his people enjoy these happy, social conditions. He says: "We have no lawyers and no wilderness of laws." For this these islanders are certainly to be congratulated, and though he does not say so, the reason that there are no lawyers there is clearly because they have no use for them. He says: "Every man has a just right to the produce of that land which he alone cultivates (less tithe in kind paid to the chief). No man owns land as private property, but as leasehold under the chief, who is trustee and guardian for the whole tribe. The land cannot be bought and sold as under the English law. This is our ancient law, as old as the time when the islands rose from the sea. Neither the chiefs can sell the land, nor all the people combined. If they could sell their land, and did so, that would be confusion indeed. No; buying and selling the land is a bad law—a very bad law (and thumping the table energetically with his fist)—an extremely bad law!
Now, these people have had this admirable custom from the earliest times, as Tepou said, "from the time when the islands rose from the sea." They were not guided in this matter by studying political economy as expounded in the literature compiled by the great intellects of this or past ages; they arrived at the grand and true result entirely from their natural instincts. And mark, when they emerge from barbarism and come in contact with the mighty intellects of the highly cultured races, do they see the folly of their custom, and begin to follow the lead of the intellectual race? By no means. On the contrary, they take upon themselves, these savages of yesterday, to unsparingly condemn the institutions evolved from the mighty human intellect of modern time, and say "they are bad, very bad, extremely bad;" and, moreover, they can also triumphantly point to the fact that in consequence of this law and these customs nature's gifts are freely enjoyed by all, and "no one is ever hungry with us as with you, and we have no senile class, as with you."
The subject of my address this evening is "The Industrial Depression in New Zealand: its Cause and its only Cure." Before entering into the particulars which I propose to put before you, I feel it my duty to make myself perfectly clear upon one point. I am accused of being a "pessimist," and that I take a warped and narrow view of the position of this colony, and that anything wrong about it rests entirely in my own imagination; that if I and others find a difficulty in making a living in this country the fault lies with us and not with the country. The country, they say, is right
Now, so far as that is concerned, I wish here to emphatically assert that it is my honest belief there is no country on this earth containing superior natural advantages, capable, if rightly used, of supporting an immense population in ease, luxury, and comfort, than New Zealand. It is because matters are so ordered with us, that the people are debarred from taking full advantage of those opportunities and advantages, that I consider I am justified in raising my voice against existing laws and institutions, and doing my level best to supply a remedy, in the hope of getting our affairs managed in a more satisfactory manner.
Let us now take a glance at our present position, and endeavour to ascertain, if we can, how it is that in this fair land, the small population that is in it is unable to exist in comfort. We have now entered upon what is called the year of jubilee, or the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of this colony. It will be found interesting to dwell for a moment on the signification of this word "jubilee." It is taken from a very merciful law, which was one of the institutions of Israel of old. It was with them a year of great rejoicing. In that year each man restored to his neighbour any land he might have taken from him during the previous fifty years, and every man who, because of debt or any other misfortune, had become servant or slave to another, was allowed to go absolutely free; the debt was cancelled, and each man enjoyed his own again.
The wording of the command, as given in the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus, is as follows: "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you, and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family."
And this is the year of New Zealand's jubilee, our great year of rejoicing, in which we are called upon to look back with pride and thankfulness upon our glorious history in the past, and rejoice in the glowing prospect of the future. Well, I for one, so far from rejoicing at the past, look back with pain, sorrow, dismay, and positive disgust at our past record, and I would ask concerning what, in all that has taken place in New Zealand in the last fifty years, are we called upon specially to rejoice? Are we to rejoice that one absentee New Zealand landowner draws an income from this country of £85,000 a year, and lives in ease and affluence in England? Are we to rejoice that there are 1,140 of these absentees, all living in ease and luxury in England and elsewhere, all drawing large sums from this colony, and positively draining its life-blood, whilst they contribute nothing hardly to the national revenue? Are we to rejoice because we allow ourselves to be robbed of our small and hardly-won earnings, and be brought to poverty and destitution in order that the wealthiest class in this colony may escape their share of taxation? Are we to rejoice over that huge debt which, though spent entirely
Now for the cause of the social and industrial depression in New Zealand. This, I think, is easily found. New Zealand is about the youngest nation in existence, and one would have thought that those responsible for making our laws and shaping our institutions would have taken advantage of the ages which have gone before us, that they would have noted the causes which led to the decay and ruin of past nations, would have also noted where the laws of those nations increased their happiness, prosperity, and caused their progress; and being in possession of all this wisdom, gained from the experience of past history, they would have said, "Come and let us provide such laws for this young nation that it shall be a model to all others. We will so order our affairs that there shall be no special class with special privileges, as has been the case in all other nations, but will provide that all the great natural opportunities of this good land shall be free to all, and that none shall have advantage over his neighbour." Did they do this? They did not. On the contrary, they deliberately introduced into this new country all those conservative and aristocratic laws and institutions which experience has shown to be the main cause of all the fearful misery, poverty, crime, and destitution in older countries, and which, as a matter of course, has resulted in a very similar state of things here, although we have accomplished our national social degradation in the short space of fifty years, whereas it has taken centuries to develop the same thing in other countries.
It must not be supposed that the founders of the laws and institutions of this colony started on their work entirely unassisted. This was not so; in the year bona fide settlement would stagnate, and the masses would be pauperised. It seems rather a singular thing that a committee of Englishmen, chiefly landowners, who it is to be supposed fully realized the comfortable position that they themselves were in through land monopoly, should have strongly warned this colony against the same thing. But they did so in the most emphatic manner, though nothing came of it. I claim that the neglect to impose this land tax was one of the main causes of the trouble from which we have for years been suffering, and from which we shall continue to suffer and go from bad to worse until such a tax is imposed.
Few people are aware of the extent to which land is monopolised in this country, but I will show you, from authentic figures given in the Government official returns, the position in which we now stand with regard to it.
There are, it appears, in this colony, 346 private owners and sixteen banks and companies who own between them 7,348,713 acres of land, the unimproved value of which, according to the same Government return, is £15,153,630 sterling. The average size of each estate is 20,300 acres.
It must be remembered that these are all freehold properties, how acquired does not matter, although some of them have passed into their owner's hands without his parting with a sixpence on account of their purchase. Of these holders thirty-four are permanent absentees. They own between them 721,897 acres of an unimproved value of £1,041,984. Thirteen companies own 1070,900 acres of land of an unimproved value of nearly £2,000,000 sterling, and one bank, the Bank of New Zealand, owns a quarter million acres, of an unimproved value of considerably over half a million pounds sterling. Forty-eight of these holders have their properties still in a state of nature; they have spent no money upon them whatever. They hold amongst them 1,400,668 acres, of an unimproved value of nearly a million pounds sterling.
To go a little further into detail, we find that there are twenty-four holders of land, the unimproved value of the holdings of each of which is from £100,000 to £1,000,000 sterling. There are three holders, the unimproved value of whose land is between £90,000 and £100,000; there are six between £80,000 and £90,000: there are eleven between £70,000 and £80,000; there are twelve between £60,000 and £70,000; and twenty-one between £50,000 and £60,000; or a total of seventy-six persons who own between them land of the unimproved value of £8,498,541.
Now the value of the improvements made upon these valuable properties is in many cases of a very trifling character. We have seen that forty-eight are still absolutely in a state of nature, although their actual value is over a million pounds sterling. But on looking through the return we find that one owner acknowledges to having spent £75 upon an estate of 7,000 acres, and another has spent
The total number of holders of these freeholds and leaseholds, comprising in the aggregate nearly eighteen million acres, is 1,615.
It is only by encouraging a large and settled agricultural population in this country that it can ever make satisfactory progress, and this at the present time is practically an impossibility, as all the best, all the most available, and most accessible land is monopolised by these 1,615 large landowners.
The statement frequently made by some New Zealand newspapers and some public men that there is no country in the world where land is so equally distributed as in New Zealand is most atrociously false. The agricultural returns show us that the largest number of settlers living and supporting themselves on their own land are actually existing upon from one to ten acres each, and they number in all 9,172 families; then come a smaller number, 7,507, who are existing upon plots of from ton to fifty acres, or a total in all of 16,679 families, and these represent the bulk of the settled agricultural population of this colony. And how much land is occupied by this goodly number of families, 16,679? Taking them at the lowest estimation they must number, all told, upwards of 80,000 souls, and what is the area of land occupied by them, think you? It is something under 300,000 acres! just enough, in fact, to make one good sized sheep run. But what a contrast, and if it be true that the land is the source of all wealth, what a catastrophe to find in this young country that fifteen hundred people monopolize between them nearly 18,000,000 acres of land, whilst seventeen thousand families are vegetating upon 300,000 acres.
Take another view of the case, that is, the question of taxation. The amount contributed by the 1,500 large landowners towards the national revenue would be barely one-tenth of what the others would be called upon to pay, although those who paid the least would be occupying and monopolising 18,000,000 acres of the only
The Auckland Herald had a wonderful leading article on Monday morning. It commenced with noticing the recent competition of the reaping and binding machines at Mangere, and then launched out into a lecture on political economy from a Wyndham Street point of view. The writer said: "Can we possibly create a prosperous peasantry, cultivating its own land, unless a flourishing city market be at hand? Must we not keep step with the existing order of things, and leave both large properties and small to arrange themselves naturally? The former are the only properties on which purely exportable products can be profitably raised to any extent."
Now I would ask you which should come first in a new, rich, agricultural country such as this is, the flourishing city with the market, or the prosperous peasantry? Surely, if the land is the source of all wealth, the cities to be flourishing shall become so as agricultural and other operations connected with the land are proceeded with. The contrary is the view taken in New Zealand, and here we have large cities with magnificent buildings and institutions, and the bona fide occupation of the land is, and always has been, disgracefully conducted by those who have had the guidance of the destinies of this country. "But,' says the Herald writer, "let us leave the large and small properties to arrange themselves naturally." How very pretty and how beautifully simple! As a matter of fact the owners of the large estates have always had the arranging of matters, and the way they arrange it is to monopolise to themselves millions of acres of the best agricultural land in the colony, to the exclusion of the bona fide occupier and cultivator, and to shift the heavy burden of taxation off their own shoulders on to the shoulders of those who hitherto have had matters arranged for them, being absolutely powerless to help themselves.
As regards the statement made also by the writer, that "the large estates are the only properties upon which purely exportable products can be profitably raised to any extent," let us see how this works in New Zealand. What is produced chiefly upon these large estates comprising an area of 17,987,507 acres? Why, wool, of course. And if we turn to the exports of the colony for last year, for instance, we find that the value of the wool export was nearly four million pounds sterling, or just about one half the value of the total exports of the colony, which amounted to nearly eight millions. This is the purely exportable product for which the writer in the Herald thinks it is a good thing to keep the large estates going. But what becomes of the money? The wool goes home and is sold in England, and the principal part of the money remains there, going to the credit of the Welds, the Staffords, the Cliffords, the Tolle-maches, and the 1,140 other permanent absentees, together with the financial companies and money lenders who are living away from this country, yet drawing princely revenues from it.
I mentioned just now that the large landowners ruled this country,
In another debate, this same gentleman, alluding to the influence of this party in Parliament, said, "Now, whom and what does the Government represent? The answer is, it is kept in office merely to give effect to the desires and wishes of the Tory-Conservative party (that is, of course, the big landowners' party). There exists a political advisory body, composed of Mr. Ormond, Sir John Hall, Captain Russell, and Mr. McArthur, together with two member from another place, who exercise a more potent influence on the political affairs of this country than do any members of the House. This advisory body gives him (Sir Harry Atkinson) full liberty to speak as he chooses, but he must do as they tell him." These words were uttered by Mr. Fisher last session. He had been a colleague of Sir Harry Atkinson; he had had a seat in his ministry, and he Knew from experience what he was talking about.
This is how we are governed. This is a matter, I presume, for jubilee rejoicing; but, I think you will agree with me, it is not good for the country, and ought to be altered.
There is another reason for the depressed condition in which all classes of workers in New Zealand find themselves, that is, the extremely unfair manner in which the incidence of taxation is laid. It is laid down as a leading principle in fair and just taxation by all political economists of every shade and degree, that
Our system of taxation is diametrically opposed to all of these leading principles, there is not a man in New Zealand who knows how much he pays in taxes, or when he pays it, neither would it he possible for him, let him be ever so clever, to calculate it. For he pays it indirectly and with it is also combined wholesale merchants' and retailers' charges, all of whom charge as a matter of course for the trouble and expense they have been put to in paying the tax in the first instance. It has been computed that, although the Customs revenue may be a million and a half, yet the people pay, in consequence of the extra charges, nearly half a million more.
Customs duties do not fall upon all alike, as it stands to reason a
The great bulk of our taxation is drawn through the Customs, and the wealthiest men in the colony need pay no more than the poorest. Our absentees, of course, pay no Customs duties, and as according to an official return laid before Parliament there are 1,140 of them, all drawing large incomes from the colony, the making the Customs duties our principal source of national revenue is shown to he outrageously wrong, and a robbery of those who do pay it.
Sir Harry Atkinson was asked in the House if it was not possible to frame a tax that would reach the absentees, and he said he could not see his way to do it. Some people innocently imagine that the property tax catches them, but it doesn't. The property tax after all only returns £380,000 a year, and this is presumed to be a tax of a penny in the pound on all the land and all the wealth of every conceivable description in New Zealand.
But if these rich men pay a property tax in proportion to the value of their property and the wealth they get out of the country, where do they appear on the property tax return published by the Government? In that return the property tax payers are divided into classes; the lowest, numbering 10,362, pay under £1 7s. 6d., the highest payers number 548 and they are described as paying £67 14s. 2s. and over. The number of property tax payers in
It is popularly supposed that those who came under the £500 exemption escape the property tax. Sir Harry Atkinson stated in one of his financial statements that such was the case. He divided the colonists of this country into two classes, those who paid the tax and those who entirely escaped. The second class, he asserted, were not touched by it. That is absolutely not the case. The
An Auckland merchant gave a cheque last year for £2,000 for his property tax, but do you suppose for one minute that he made the public a present of it? Hardly; he charges the retailer with it, and the retailer charges the consumer, and you, the consumers, pay it, notwithstanding your £500 exemption. It is virtually a double tax on dutiable goods, for it is levied upon goods that have already paid one tax to the Customs, and positively those who presumably escape the tax through the £500 exemption, in reality contribute more than half of the tax.
Is this fair and honest taxation? I think you will agree with me that this is not a matter for jubilee rejoicing, and that it is high time an end was put to it. Land monopoly, as it exists at present in New Zealand, is primarily responsible for the general industrial depression, inasmuch as bona fide settlement is strangled by it, and in the absence of a prosperous, energetic, agricultural population, it is impossible for this or any other country to progress. The other cause is the robbery of the toilers of such a large percentage of their earnings through the medium of the Customs duties and the Property-tax, by which its spending power is so greatly curtailed, that all the industries of the country suffer therefrom. These are what I imagine to be the chief causes of the trouble in this country.
We will now, however, turn to the only remedy. To explain this clearly it will be necessary to look at the matter first from its political aspect. You have all heard of what is termed the Continuous Ministry. This is, I think, a slight mis-nomer; it was not so much a continuous ministry as a continuous policy. It is true that although new men of confirmed conservative views were every now and again admitted into a new ministry, yet the same men were continually taking office year after year; there was always a sufficiently strong element of the old stagers to make the policy continuous. Take, for example, the case of Sir Harry Atkinson. This gentleman was a prominent member of a New Zealand ministry over a quarter of a century ago. Since then he has always taken a very prominent part in politics. He has been in thirteen different ministries, in seven of which he has been Premier.
Sir Harry Atkinson has been so long and so frequently in office, his powers of intrigue are so great, that at last, not without good reason, he assumes that he is master of the position, and that by continuing to play the same old tricks, he and the privileged class whom he serves will continue to sway the destinies of this country. This is made very clear by two short extracts from his speech which I have clipped from last session's Hansard. In one he says, "What do honourable gentlemen expect to gain by a dissolution? What the country wants is rest—political rest. No wiser thing could be done by this Parliament than to say 'We will not meet again for a couple of years.' That an election can do any good at the present time I fail to see: the difficulty is that there is no such thing as party in thin House or in the country."
Please mark this, "There is no such thing as party in the House or out of it." That is, the Government have no fixed policy, the so-called Opposition has no fixed policy, and the electors are dummies; they neither know what they want, neither, if they did know, have they the intelligence or the energy to try and obtain it. That is our leading statesman's view of the political position of the country.
Further on he emphasises the matter more strongly by saying, "I say that a fresh election during the coming year will not give the relief that is expected. True, we shall come back twenty men less, but I venture to say we shall come back in much about the same proportion of parties so-called as where we are at present."
What does this mean? If I understand the English language, it means this, that he takes it for granted that there is no intelligent political life yet in the people, that they are absolutely ignorant of their wants, to say nothing of their rights, and that at the next elections the same men, or at all events the same class of men, will be returned, and he will continue to reign triumphant, the cause of the land monopolists shall prosper, the people shall continue to allow themselves to be robbed for the benefit of the wealthy, and what he terms "political rest" will be attained.
But to return to the Continuous Ministry or the continuous policy. This policy, which is a conservative policy, a policy that favours class privileges and creates class interests and grinds down the toiler, has been the policy of New Zealand from the earliest times to the present, with one, and only one, brilliant exception—that was the short interregnum of Sir George Grey.
If this country has anything to rejoice at in its year of jubilee, it is entirely owing to the earnest, persevering, in-season and out-of-season advocacy of the people's cause by Sir George Grey. That gentleman blew the smouldering embers of liberalism in this country, when they had almost died out, into a living flame, and in
Therefore Sir George Grey imposed his land tax straight off; he then went to the country with three liberal planks in his political platform—manhood suffrage, triennial parliaments, and representation according to population. This, as a matter of course, took well with the country, and he was returned to Parliament with apparently a strong following. Put what happened? In the interim the landowning or Conservative party had discovered the full and glorious (not to them, however,) significance of a land tax, and they put their heads together and worked out a plan, which ultimately succeeded in removing Sir George Grey from power. They made overtures to some of Sir George Grey's strongest supporters, arguing that Sir George Grey was insincere in his promises to support and pass those liberal measures upon which he had gone to the country, but that if they would support the Opposition and put Grey out, then when the Opposition got in, they would introduce those measures and carry them. The bait took, Sir George Grey was beaten, and had to leave the Government benches.
But what was the first step taken by the new Government: Why, as a matter of course, holding as they did Conservative views, they repealed the land tax and substituted a property tax, and then with wry faces and very much against the grain, they redeemed their pledge, and passed Sir George Grey's liberal measures.
Sir George Grey thus even in his fall was triumphant, and the people's cause was greatly advanced. After weary years of waiting and fighting, Sir George Grey, last session, passed his "One Vote One Man Bill," and this event perfected the electoral system of this colony, and the glorious democratic arch of freedom and liberty was then completed. On the one noble pillar is emblazoned the mottoes, "Manhood Suffrage" and "Triennial Parliaments," on the other, "Representation by Population," and "Payment of Members." This was not complete without the keystone, and that was fitted in hist session with the "One Man One Vote."
Now I want to ask you seriously one important question. What do you think was Sir George Grey's motive in so earnestly and for so long fighting the battle of Liberalism? How came he, in his advanced years, to step out from his retirement and his well earned ease, and leave his beloved books, and subject himself to the insults of his opponents, the treachery of his supposed friends, and the gibes and sneers of the Press? Had he personal ends to serve! Von know well he had not. Did he raise his world-wide reputation
"Who would be free, Themselves must strike the blow."of himself and by himself, free you and give you your liberty, but he could and he did secure you the means whereby you could work out your own freedom. You know,
And thanks to Sir George Grey, you are now provided with armour and weapons of war absolutely invulnerable; all you have to do is to take them up and make use of them.
I would also earnestly and seriously point out to you that never before in the history of civilized man has any nation had it absolutely in its power as we have to work out its own salvation, and cause those reforms to be made in our laws and institutions, which must be made if all class privileges are to be abolished, and perfect freedom, justice, and equality reign throughout the land. The ballot of America is still so grossly faulty that many years must elapse before she can make use of it with success. In England they have neither manhood suffrage, payment of members, nor triennial parliament; popular representation there is at present impossible. What shall we do with it? Shall we, as Sir Harry Atkinson suggests, again return the same class to Parliament, and continue to suffer the ills of which we so loudly complain? Shall we fold our hands and do nothing, and make no use of those high privileges which are now ours? Rather, indeed, do you not think the time has arrived when an entirely new people's party should be formed and our House of Representatives swept clean of its conservative members, and candidates chosen and members elected from amongst those who will earnestly and conscientiously work for the good of the whole community, and not of a privileged class.
To my mind the time has arrived when this should be done, and this is what I meant when I said in the earlier part of my address, that we in New Zealand had indeed something to be grateful for and rejoice over in this year of jubilee, namely, that in that year the people had for the first time a perfect electoral system, and in that year for the first time—what?
The reply to that question is for you to fill in. The answer is yet in the future, and the next elections will have to give the correct reply. But if such a party is formed, as I hope and trust it will be, I would suggest it should be called the "Jubilee Party," and when in future years the question shall be asked, what is the meaning of the Jubilee Party, the answer shall be, "because it was in the year of New Zealand's Jubilee that the toilers of that country emancipated themselves from slavery and proclaimed liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants, and established a model Government which was shortly afterwards copied and followed by all of the civilized nations of the earth." The cure for the political diseases under which we are suffering rests entirely in
he power to grant or renew licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors has, ever since the foundation of the Colony, been invested, first in the ordinary Justices of the Peace, then in Boards nominated by the Government, and latterly in Committees elected annually (now triennially), by the ratepayers of every licensing district, into which the whole Colony is divided by the Central Government.
The colonial law has never recognized any right to compensation for refusal to renew licenses, and from time to time a considerable number of renewals have been refused, on the simple ground that they were in excess of the requirements of the district. In none of these cases has any compensation been paid or even asked for. For more than 50 years, the public mind has been familiar with the fact that the law provided no compensation for the refusal to renew publicans' or any other licenses.
When the existing Licensing Act was passed in
In the session of
The above resolution, and the Bill introduced in furtherance of it, contain no reference to the payment of compensation to the publican or any one else, in the case of the refusal to renew any license. It is, however, by no means improbable that interested parties may raise the question when the Bill comes on for discussion. The object of the present memorandum is to shew that, whether tested by reason or by the experience of Great Britain and Ireland, of the other British Colonies (with one exception), or the United States of America, there is no precedent, and no reason whatever why compensation should be paid to anybody for the refusal to renew a license, which on the face of it shews that it was granted only for one year, and which on the expiration of that term is in law and in fact absolutely null and void. It is proposed to examine such pleas as have been urged in behalf of compensation.
It is contended by the friends of the liquor traffic, that whenever the Government, for the good of the State, takes from a man something which legally belongs to him, it is bound by custom, if not by law, to pay him the value of the thing taken. As a rule this is true; but it only applies to cases where the Thing Taken does Belong to the man from whom it is taken. If the State, having granted to a man a license to sell alcoholic drinks during a specified year, were to put an end to his license before the year was over, no doubt it would be just and equitable that he should be compensated for the loss of his business for the unexpired months of the year. But if after the year had expired, and his license had run out by lapse of the time for which it was granted, the State refused to grant him Another license for Another year, what claim would he have to compensation? The State has taken nothing from him. He would have no more right to a new license than any member of the community who had never had one. On the day when his license expired it was irretrievably gone. The State did not take it away from him; the State simply did nothing, but left him in the position in which he and all other unlicensed persons stand, that is—prohibited by law from selling intoxicating liquors without being licensed to do so.
That such is the position of the publican when his license expires has been decided many times quite recently in the highest Courts by the best Judges in Great Britain. Judge Field, of the Court of Queen's Bench, in the case of Sharpe v. Wakefield, in there cannot be the smallest doubt, that no such thing as a vested interest exists, and that the magistrates can refuse to renew the license of the largest, most useful, and best conducted hotel In England. I dare say that this will stagger many owners, but it is high time that they recognised their position. The mere tern: vested interest infuriates every court of law from the Queen's Bench downwards."
As a matter of fact, every year, for centuries past, the Licensing Justices have refused renewals of licenses in England, Scotland and Ireland, very often on no other ground than that they were not required for the good of the place where they were. In one town alone (Newcastle-on-Tyne) about 100 renewals were refused in about seven years, and similarly in other cases. Innumerable licensed beer shops have also been suppressed. But in no case has any compensation been either granted or asked for. The same has been done to a considerable extent in New Zealand under the existing Licensing Law. Why, when a power of that sort already exists, and has always existed, should a change be made, and a new vested interest be created in the publican's favour, merely because it is proposed to transfer the power now entrusted to the elected Licensing Committees, into the hands of the people themselves at the ballot box? Why should a mere change in the machinery make a fundamental change in the relations between the State and the licensed victualler? Why should he be allowed the opportunity of slipping in at such a chink as this a substantial claim to enormous grants of money, the right to which the existing law entirely ignores?
But, though the legal right to sell absolutely ceases at the end of the year, it is contended that the publican has a sort of "equitable" right to a renewal, whatever that may mean. It is said there has always been an "understanding" that so long as the licensee conducted his house properly, if he was refused a renewal he had an
or any customs entitling the publican to renewals, either in theory or in practice. No Licensed Victualler has ever, in the United Kingdom or in New Zealand, been paid a shilling for the non-renewal of his license on any grounds whatever, though hundreds of cases of such non-renewals have occurred.
A more plausible plea, however, is that Committees have in some cases compelled applicants for licenses to erect palatial houses, and that they are therefore entitled to perpetual renewals, or compensation if at any future period a renewal is refused. As far as can be ascertained no such cases have ever occurred. Committees may, in many cases have refused to grant or renew licenses on the ground that the house did not provide the accommodation required by the 38th section of the Act. Knowing this, applicants for licenses may consequently have gone before Committees with elaborate designs for palatial houses and asked if those would satisfy the Committee. Of course they would, as they were far beyond what the section referred to directed the Committee to insist on. But in such cases the Committee did not require the magnificient structure to be erected; all that they could, or it is believed ever did, require was that the accommodation prescribed by the Act should be provided. Beyond that the Committee had no power to require anything, and probably never did so. If the house did not provide that, the Committee had no power to grant a License at all; but if the applicant (not in reality being the intended publican, but some wealthy brewer or other capitalist), chose to go beyond the laws' requirements and build a palace, with the view of making it attractive, doing a big business and getting a large profit, knowing all the time that the license was only a yearly one, he certainly did it solely at his own risk. If, however, there ever was any such "understanding" as the liquor traffic claims, let the compensation be paid by the members of the Committee who were parties to it. The people have certainly a right to protest against being saddled with the consequences of the act of the Committee.
But against these plain common-sense arguments, the liquor trafficker sets the fact that in a number of what he calls parallel cases compensation has been given by the State to the person deprived of some privilege or advantage previously enjoyed under State sanction. Such cases as the disestablishment of the Protestant State Church of Ireland, when the clergy, whose livings were taken from them, received compensation for their loss. Officers in the army also, who had, according to a well-established custom, purchased their commissions, were compensated when the system was abolished. So, also, when the owner of tolls or markets, bridges or ferries, was by law deprived of his right to charge, then he, in many cases, was compensated. And finally, the slaveholder, when slavery was abolished, was awarded twenty millions for the loss of his property in human flesh. But the answer to these cases is that in every one of them the party compensated did lose something that had been his; he had either a life, a freehold, an hereditary or perpetual interest. The State took this from them. In the liquor trafficker's case, his interest is only for a single year, and when that has expired he has nothing more, not even, as the law has repeatedly decided, so much as a right of renewal for another single year. When the renewal is refused, the State takes nothing from the previous licensee; why should it compensate him?
The chief of these precedents relied upon is that of the twenty millions paid to the slaveowner. A moment's consideration will show that it has no analogy whatever to the case of the licensed victualler. The slaveholder held his slave, not for a year only, but in perpetuity; the slave was his to live or die, his wife was his, the children and remotest progeny were his; he could work him without wages; he could rend asunder the domestic relations of husband and wife, father and child; the slave was his as utterly as were his ox, or his ass, or anything else that was his; in life he could sell him, and, on his own death, he could bequeath him to whom he pleased. Emancipation actually took away altogether, and for ever, the owner's property, guaranteed to him by laws which had been in force for some hundreds of years. What analogy is there, between his case and that of the publican, from whom nothing is taken away, not even an imaginary vested interest in a year's renewal?
It has been the fashion to boast of this compensation given to the slaveowner, as a noble and liberal act; but if it was really due, where was the nobility or liberality in giving it? In my opinion the giving it was a weak, and even a wicked thing. For nearly 300 years the negro had been robbed of his liberty, worked without pay, reduced to the condition of a beast; all this being made clear, the conscience of the nation decreed his emancipation; but before he was freed the man who had inflicted all the horrors of
But if he must be compensated, why treat the matter differently from any other business transaction? Every account current has its two sides, its Debtor and Creditor. Would any trader think of paying the one without balancing it by the other? Suppose it were decided to give the publican ten years' goodwill of his business when the renewal of his license was refused. Set off against this all the evil he has inflicted on society during the previous ten years. Let the widow, the orphan, the criminal, the lunatic, the street-walker, and his other customers send in their accounts for that period. Let him also refund the cost of all the institutions which the State has had to maintain in its dealings with these classes. Then he will be in a position to ask for whatever compensation may be thought due to him for the non-renewal of an expired yearly license.
Before leaving this part of the case, it should be observed that in the United Kingdom numerous instances have occurred in which the State has refused to grant compensation. For instance, only thirty-five years before it abolished slavery it abolished the slave trade, in which large amounts had been invested by the commercial and shipping classes of England and Scotland. The great London, Bristol, and Glasgow merchants, who were deeply engaged in it and made great profits by it, put up their cry in Parliament for compensation, estimating the amount of their losses at one hundred millions. The Prime Minister, William Pitt, refused it, and not a shilling was ever paid. But in a great number of other cases directly affecting the liquor traffic there is a long list of precedents where the traffic was restricted, or dealt with in ways which largely reduced its profits; yet no compensation was ever given. Some of these go back as far as the time of Edward III. (all distilleries were prohibited; and again in In not one of these cases, though all largely affected the profits of the traffic, was compensation granted. They certainly altogether outbalance the weight of authority attributed to the payment made to the slaveholders.
The Tory Government, which was placed in power, and is kept there, very largely by the votes and influence of the liquor traffic, when it proposed, two years ago, to transfer the Licensing power from the Justices of the Peace to the County Councils, also proposed to give compensation to publicans whose licenses might be refused by those bodies. A deep and widespread burst of indignation, from one end to the other of the Kingdom, compelled them to abandon the attempt. During last session of Parliament, however, it was renewed in a very adroit way, by making it part of a financial measure, which had no other connexion with the liquor traffic, and which was otherwise approved by all the parties in the Legislature. But the country again rose almost as one man, and notwithstanding all that the friends of the traffic could do, the Government had, at the last moment, to drop the obnoxious clauses. It is believed that no Government will again dare to make the attempt.
Numerous States of the Union have passed prohibitory laws, in some cases absolutely, as in Maine, Kansas, and Iowa; in others by local option, as in Massachusetts, Michigan, parts of Pennsylvania, and others. In Canada absolute prohibition is in force in the Great Western Territory, and local option in the rest of the Dominion, under which a large number of counties and cities have put down the sale of intoxicants. Now, in not one of these has the right to compensation been granted, and the traffic has not even dared to ask for it. In the Australasian Colonies, Queensland
The weight of the above facts consists in this, that large and important sections of the same race as ourselves, speaking the same language, acting on the same moral principles, holding the same religious faith, and having up to a recent date held the same relation to the liquor traffic as we do, have deliberately asserted the moral and constitutional right of the people, by a majority of I votes, to suppress the liquor traffic. In only one single instance has the right of compensation been recognised, and in only one single case has the interest, supposed to be injured, had the audacity to make a claim to it. Is our moral sensibility so much more powerful than that of the countries mentioned, that we must demand that the people shall pay several millions of pounds to the liquor traffic before they shall be allowed to suppress it, and to withdraw; the gratuitous monopoly with which they have so long endowed it?
But if after deliberate consideration it should be decided that compensation must in equity and good conscience be paid to somebody, three questions arise:—(i) To whom, and (2) by whom is it to be paid? (3) Where is it to stop?
Is it to come out of consolidated revenue, or by loan, or how? If not the Central Government, is it the ratepayers of the district in which the houses are suppressed? This simply means that no houses shall be suppressed, for we know how eagerly the County Councils stick to the licensing fees, which, most injudiciously, have been handed to them. Is it likely that they will not only
The above is a summary of the principal arguments on this subject, bringing it down to the present date. The late Rev. J. Edgar, of Auckland, and Mr. Jago, of Dunedin, both ably discussed it some years ago in pamphlets, but I believe both are out of print and rather out of date. Mr. Joseph Malins, Chief Templar of England, wrote an admirable and exhaustive paper on the subject, which was read at the Convention of the National Association in London in
Since the publication of the above, the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords has decided (on
The National Education Bill of the Colony is about £400,000 a year. The National Drink Bill is yearly £2,000,000. We spend, therefore, nearly five times the amount on beer that we spend on brains—yet there is an outcry as against the cost of Education.
The adult male and female population amounts to about 280,400. If every adult would give the cost of a quarter of a glass of beer a day it would cover the whole cost of National Education, and nearly half as much more!
In the Gaols, Lunatic Asylums, Refuges, Reformatories, Hospitals, and other institutions, mainly supported by the taxpayer, there is a floating population of between 2,000 and 3,000 persons of both sex. Most of them have got where they are through drink!
The total consumption of intoxicating drinks per annum in the Colony amounts to £3 4s. per head—men, women, youths, girls, and sucking babies. You ask what have "babies" to do with strong drink? In the Children's Hospital in England hundreds die from hob-nailed liver—the last development of alcoholic disease in a confirmed drunkard. Thousands more, no doubt, die of it outside the hospitals. Of course, in these cases, it is the result of drinking in the parents.
The enormous evils which flow from intoxicating drink surpass those inflicted on the world by war, pestilence, and famine combined. [W. E. Gladstone quoting Charles Buxton, the great British brewer]. The experience of centuries has proved that there is no remedy for this evil, as for most others, except the removal of the cause. Enact and enforce prohibition by the will of the people, or absolutely as is being done in many countries, and in a few years all these evils will disappear. There is no other method. Education, moderation, and even religious teaching are all powerless as a National remedy in the presence of the Licensed Liquor Trade.
Wilsons and Horton, Primers, Auckland.
To all
Who Combine
The Quenchless Thirst for Truth
With
A Spirit of Profound Reverence
These Lectures
Are Dedicated.
The following pages have been written as a humble contribution to the sorely-needed work of Theological Reform in Australasia. They have already served as oral lectures on more than one occasion in these colonies, having been delivered last year at Dunedin and Invercargill, and again, on two occasions in the present year, at Sydney, N.S.W. They are now published, in the form in which they were originally composed—an arrangement from which it was found necessary to depart somewhat when delivering them orally from week to week. In other respects, they are left pretty much as they were last delivered, and the reader is accordingly requested to kindly excuse any allusions to time and place which this circumstance may involve. The theory here discussed is at present exciting great interest in Europe, and not least in England; and it is hoped that the colonies also may have some little attention to bestow on a theme involving, whether logically or not, some very grave issues.
We move rapidly in these days. In the fourth of the following lectures I ventured on a prophecy to this effect: That in another quarter of a century the origin of the post-captivity date of the Pentateuch will be as generally accepted amongst biblical critics as that of Darwin is now amongst biologists. This prophecy was made in the first draft of the lectures, written two years ago, and the event now shows that the prophet was deficient in faith. Not twenty-five years, but twenty-five months, would have been amply sufficient time to allow. As these pages are passing through the press a copy of the work which has recently created so much alarm in theological circles at Home, "Lux Mundi," has come into my hands. It is a new manifesto, or text-book of doctrine, written by distinguished members of the High Church section of the English Establishment. In this elaborate work the Rev. Mr. Gore, Principal of Pusey College, Oxford, acknowledges the substantial correctness of the new criticism, both in respect to the Old Testament generally, and the Pentateuch in particular. (See pages 352-353). Doubtless the first impulse of the rationalistic critic at sight of such admissions on the part of the ultra-orthodox is to raise the pæan of
x Orients Lux! "From the East comes Light." That is an utterance which expresses a very old, a very general, and a very deep belief of the European heart; the West has always turned to the East for wisdom,—to the East, with its philosophy, its ancient writings, and its lonely deserts, "where man is distant but God is near." There are few who can hear of the East without interest or even emotion.
And, of all the treasures of the East, the Old Testament is at once that which is best known, most valuable, and most loved. Long after study and reflection have dissipated all traces of belief in supernaturalism from our minds we still find pleasure in poring over the pages of the Old Testament, sacred now, not because of its miraculous inspiration, but from its primitive modes of speech, its intrinsic human wisdom, and its associations with our own childhood. When will the story of Joseph's sojourn in Egypt ever lose its pathos for us? When will the Book of Proverbs cease to afford wise counsel to young men, "to save them from the strange woman, whose house inclineth unto death?" And when will the 103rd Psalm no longer express the gratitude and adoration of the servants of God?
Whatever concerns the Old Testament therefore is sure to be a subject of interest to all thoughtful people, and whatever promises to render it more intelligible to us, and to open up its meaning to us better, will always find a ready welcome on the part of cultivated religionists. There is also another reason why reading people will gladly give their attention to any new discussion of this ancient Jewish literature. The Jewish race has filled a large, if not the largest part, in the history of humanity. Many of the foremost men in all departments of human activity
Nor was this the result of indifference to them and their history on the part of scholars; on the contrary, probably more time has been bestowed on the study of the antiquities of the Hebrew race than on that of all other early nations put together; nor can I say that there has been any lack of hardy assertion on the part of theologians in providing the Jews with a history, or in coining facts for it when they could not find any. Egyptian records have been twisted and wrenched beyond all recognition to make them say what orthodoxy demanded; but all to no purpose. The Sphinx was as silent on this as on all other subjects; not an Egyptian King would own himself a Pharoah in all the long succession of dynasties, and the Hebrews still remained without a natural history or a secular record of any kind. Poor Hebrews!
Within the last quarter of a century, however, a discovery has been made in Old Testament criticism, which has completely revolutionised that science and placed us on a standpoint from which the natural development of Hebrew history becomes perfectly clear. The recovery of the ancient Assyrian language, and the deciphering of the cuneiform inscriptions on the ancient Assyrian monuments, have shown that it is in Assyria, and not in Egypt, that the key to the Jewish history must be sought. A new impulse was thus given to the study of the Old Testament records, especially those of the Pentateuch, a study which, in consequence of its thoroughness, soon revealed the astounding
Nor is this the only important consequence resulting from the development of the new hypothesis. Almost every other great question involved in Old Testament criticism is affected by it and requires to be studied afresh. The age and authorship of the other books of the Old Testament have new light thrown upon them from this source—a fact which may, perhaps, in some cases, necesitate a revision of opinion with respect to them also. Nor is this all. The most startling outcome of the new view is found in the circumstance that it destroys the foundation of the evangelical theology which has oppressed and debilitated the minds of men so long, and which has imposed on Christians the study of the Jewish rites and ceremonies in all their wearisome minuteness of detail, by representing these as divinely appointed means for teaching to mankind the doctrines of the Gospel—divinely appointed types of the future Messiah. God, it is said, imposed them on the Jews by the mouth of Moses, because that nation was the favored race through which the Messiah was to come. The Temple ritual was to teach the Jews, and through them to teach all mankind, the doctrines of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the philosophy of the plan of salvation. It's a scathing commentary on this evangelical dogma that, although according to the orthodox view, the Jews had been the subjects of this divine teaching for no less than thirteen or fourteen centuries, they, nevertheless, with scarcely an exception, failed to recognize their Messiah when he did come; so unanimously, indeed, did they reject him that they could not possibly have done worse had they
centuries but after thirteen months of teaching. It is strange, indeed, that evangelical divines should so long have been blind to the dishonor their blundering hypothesis reflects on the All-wise Administrator of the Universe. But as you will see this mass of error is now doomed to irremediable fall by the removal of the structure on which alone it has rested. If we can show that the elaborate Jewish ritual contained in the Pentateuch is just the work of Ezra and his fellow-priests after the return from the captivity in Babylon we shall do three good things—we shall explode the assumption that the Jews throughout their long national history were the subjects of a vicious system of education, we shall vindicate the honor of the Divine Teacher of us all, and we shall save the little Sunday School children of the future from the repulsive task of learning some very burdensome, some very useless, and some very stupid lessons.
Of course in the short time at our disposal this morning it will be impossible to indicate the full proof of the theory just propounded, all that we can do will be to sketch the line of argument adopted, and illustrate our contention with a few facts such as can be exhibited by brief description.
First then, the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, commonly called the Five Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, themselves contain many statements and allusions which unmistakably imply an authorship far later than that of Moses; they are statements that Moses could not by any possibility have written. Indeed, there is one very strong argument against the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch, in the fact that the last chapter of it contains the particulars of the death of Moses. Now, I have heard of men preparing the inscriptions for their own tombstones, but I never yet heard of a man writing the account of his own death, not even by help of a miracle, that great resource of orthodox people. Our opponents try to get over this diffiulty by regarding this last chapter of Deuteronomy as a supplement to the book, a supplement written by a later band. But isn't this rather a dangerous admission for orthodox people to make, that the infallible narrative has been supplemented, nobody knows when, nobody knows by whom? Can we be sure of the rest of the book under the circumstances? Was it worth while writing a book by miracle if after all it differed so little from other books as to admit and require a supplement? Does it not look as if in early times people regarded the Pentateuch as
may contain, uninspired chapters is of no use at all as an authoritative guide; we are thrown back at once on our natural intelligence and reason to determine which part is authoritative and which is not, and so we may just as well be content with our reason in the first place. This one fact, therefore, that orthodox people are shut up to the alternative of either renouncing the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, or admitting that there are in the Bible sections of unknown and unauthoritative authorship really settles the whole controversy and makes the orthodox position utterly untenable.
But, indeed, there is nothing to justify the hypothesis that the last chapter of Deuteronomy is a supplement, and not an integral part of the book; there is no evidence that it is so; the assumption is purely arbituary, and made simply to get out of this difficulty. If you turn to the chapter you will see that the commencement of it, the way in which Moses is spoken of, and the style throughout, are exactly similar to those of the preceding chapters of the book. We are bound to conclude, therefore, that whoever wrote the last chapter of the work wrote the preceding chapters also, and hence could not possibly have been Moses.
But again, not in this last chapter only, but throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, and indeed all through the Pentateuch, Moses is spoken of in the third person. The writer says: "This is the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death" (xxxiii. 1.); not," This is the blessing wherewith I blessed the children of Israel;" and similarly in a hundred places. I am aware that this argument does not amount to demonstration; that cases might be cited in which men have written of themselves in the third person; but take what has just been said in conjunction with such an expression as this, in which the writer of the Pentateuch speaks of Moses in a way that no man would speak of himself: "Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were on the face of the earth" (Numbers, xii. 3.). Is there any man, let alone any very meek man, who would speak of himself in that way?
But there are plenty of other expressions in the Pentateuch which indicate its post-Mosaic origin. Take this for instance from Genesis, xiii., 7: "And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land." The Canaanite dwelt then in the land, did he? That certainly implies he is not in the land now at the time of writing; it would also seem to imply that it is many generations since he was in the land, many generations, i.e.,
shall be the writer of the Pentateuch, and in consequence find themselves put to all sorts of shifts to explain away the many indications of a later origin scattered throughout the books. But such a lame explanation as the one before us convinces nobody—the words I have qnoted are evidently an integral part of the Book of Genesis in which they occur, and hence Moses cannot have written that book at all events.
And now, to put the question beyond all doubt, here is another sentence supposed to have been addressed by Moses to the Israelites in the Wilderness, but evidently a sentence that Moses could not possibly have uttered at that time, since it again refers to this occurrence that did not take place till a good time after his death, viz.: the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, which I mentioned just now. "That the land spue not you out also when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before ye"—Leviticus, xviii., 28. Why, how could Moses possibly have uttered such words as those? You might just as well represent Oliver Cromwell reminding his Puritan soldiers of their conquest of India.
And just once more. Not only was the Pentateuch not written by Moses, and not written for some generations after his time, it was not written until monarchical government had been set up by the Israelites; i.e., not till the time of Saul, or possibly much later. Listen to this from Genesis xxxvi., 31, "And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel." Evidently when these words were written the children of Israel had long been accustomed to the government of kings. After this a man must surely be very ignorant who talks of the Pentateuch having been written by Moses. Between the era of the Exodus and that of the establishment of the monarchy in Israel plenty of time had elapsed for the creation of all the legends we find in connection with the early history of the Israelites, and the Pentateuch itself teaches us that it was not written earlier. The natural origin of the stories of magical occurrences with which its pages are crowded is thus satisfactorily made out.
But now I am going to look in quite another direction for my next argument, and I wish you to turn your attention for a moment from Hebrew literature to that of England. Students of English literature are well acquainted with the works of a poet, by name Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote, amongst other pieces, a
little now from generation to generation, because the production of books by the machinery of the printing press has stereotyped the language. A standard of language is thus set up to which all strive to conform, and so the ordinary influence of the lapse of time fails of its effect upon the language, and if any changes in it do occur they are necessarily very few. If then the lapse of 481 years has
Thus, then, in the case of a book written in our own language, it is easy to determine the approximate date of its composition by the character of the language it contains. No one would suppose for a moment that an English book written in Edward III.'s reign was the production of a writer living now, or vice versa. But how about ancient literature? Is it possible in the case of a dead language to distinguish the different stages of its development, and to make these throw light on the date of composition of any work written in that language? Undoubtedly it is; and but little difference of opinion arises amongst scholars in connexion with this test where no theological dogmas are at stake, This, of course, is a subject not easy to make plain to a popular audience, but still I think it may be done, and the argument from language is of such great worth, that I shall try to present it.
Take, then, as an example, the literature and language of ancient Greece. A school boy learns his Greek grammar, we will suppose, thoroughly, and after that he finds that by the help of a Greek dictionary he can make out the meaning of an ordinary Greek writer, such as Xenophon, pretty well. The inflexions of the words in Xenophon's "Anabasis" correspond exactly with the inflexions he has been learning in his grammar, and he comes to the conclusion that after all it isn't difficult to read Greek. After a time, however, his teacher puts a copy of Homer's "Iliad" into his hands, and tells him to prepare twenty lines of that against next day, but the poor boy comes back to school next day without a line prepared. He hasn't been able to make out a single sentence of the Homer. How is that? What is the great difference between the Xenophon and the Homer? The boy has found out that not only are many of the words in Homer quite new and strange to him, but that some words he has seen before are not used in the sense he has been accustomed to, and that most of the word-endings are so different in form from anything he has learnt in his grammar, that he will need to learn a new grammar before he will be able to make any sense out of his Homer. Later on, he discovers also that the inflexions in Homer are the inflexions of his grammar book in the process of formation, that, in fact, he has got into an earlier stage of the language, and therefore into a much older book than any he has hitherto been reading, and that not only has he to learn his grammar over again, but he can, if he likes, purchase a dictionary expressly prepared for this particular author alone. And after this you will never persuade that boy that Homer is not much earlier author than Xenophon; the drudgery of the new
portions of the poems had been reduced to writing before, or that the antique form of the words and the ancient spelling had been perpetuated in the memory of the rhapsodists who used to go about reciting the ballads. We may thus add even a couple of centuries to the age of the poems, and even then the interval between the Greek of Homer and that of Xenophon will be a shorter one than that between the time of Chaucer and that of Scott, yet the difference of language between the two Greek authors is so marked as to require a special grammar and special dictionary to make the earlier one intelligible. There is no difficulty, therefore, when two ancient authors have lived at an interval of two or three centuries, in determining the fact from the diversity which exists in the language they employ in their writings; even a schoolboy can distinguish it.
Well then, bearing these facts in mind, let us return to the Old Testament. As the age of Xenophon was the classical age I of Greek literature, so was the century of the Babylonish Captivity the productive age of the Hebrew mind. Amongst the books written at that time by Jewish authors are the Books of Kings. These are by some anonymous author; nevertheless, in the judgment of orthodox and heretical scholars alike,: they date from this era. Now between the era of the Captivity, and the time when Moses is supposed to have lived and written, nearly a thousand years elapsed, not four or five centuries only, as in the case of the two previous literatures we have been considering, but something very nearly approaching twice that period. If then in the case of Chaucer, and the still more analogous case of Homer, the difference in language is so great between the authors in question and those of classical times, that a scholar requires special grammars and special dictionaries to read the earlier ones, what must the peculiarities of the Hebrew of the Pentateuch be when compared with the language of the later Hebrew writers, such as the anonymous author of the Book of Kings? Why, the difference must be so great as almost to constitute two different languages; anyway the variation from the classical style must be twice as great as appears in the works of Chaucer and Homer. It must not only be such as no scholar can mistake, but such that even the merest tyro in Hebrew cannot but be conscious of, such
But now what is the fact? Why, that a man may read a chapter in the Hebrew of the Book of Kings, and a chapter in the Hebrew of the Pentateuch, and hardly be conscious of any difference at all in the character of the language. The one author is just as easy and just as difficult as the other; and as far as the testimony of grammar and dictionary goes, there cannot be much difference in the date of composition of the two books. In the Book of Kings you may find a few more Aramaic forms than you find in the Pentateuch; but, generally speaking, in both works the inflections are the same; to a large extent the vocabulary is the same; and the tone of thought and degree of culture are about the same. As far as I am aware, no one has ever written a Hebrew Grammar, or a Hebrew Lexicon, specially adapted to the Pentateuch; no one has ever felt the need of them; for all that appears from the language, the thousand years of interval has never existed; nor has it ever existed, except in the imagination of ignorant ages. Moses had been dead and buried many centuries before the Pentateuch appeared. Indeed it is very doubtful if the Hebrews, a pastoral nation, and slaves to the Egyptians, had a written language at all in the time of Moses.
Now, if these were my opinions alone I should hardly have ventured to mention them to you. But listen to the words of Dr. Samuel Davidson, formerly professor of Biblical literature in Lancashire Independent College, and one of the ablest Hebrew scholars that English dissent has ever produced, who wrote one of the volumes in "Horne's Introduction to the Scriptures," and was turned out of his professorship for his share in that book. This writer says: "There is no important difference between the language of the Pentateuch and that of the other books written shortly before the return of the Israelites from captivity in Babylon." But a greater than Davidson may be quoted to the same effect. Undoubtedly the greatest of all modern Hebrew scholars is the German Hebraist Gesenius, whose Hebrew lexicon is used by all students who are able to grapple with it. And what does Gesenius say? This is what
Of course this assertion of the critics, that the grammar and vocabulary of the Pentateuch palpably betray its late origin, has not escaped the notice of orthodox scholars, who have divided themselves into two groups in their replies: some boldly denying the fact that there is any lack of diversity between the language of the Pentateuch and that of the other historical books, and others admitting the truth of the statement we have made, but endeavouring to account for it by the argument that, in the East forsooth, nothing changes—neither customs, nor circumstances, nor civilization, nor language!! The two classes of orthodox critics thus neutralize one another, and might be left to fight the matter out between them; but, as the great majority of persons interested in theological questions have no Hebrew, and so feel themselves unable to form an opinion on what is plainly an argument sufficient to settle the question of authorship if it could be grappled with, I will endeavour to throw a little further light on the subject, only asking your very dose attention to what I shall say.
Critics of all schools are agreed that the most important difference between the Hebrew of the Pentateuch and that of the Captivity consists in the use of the third personal pronoun feminine, i.e., the Hebrew word for the English pronoun she. I may say that the Hebrew pronoun for our word he is h—u, as we may spell it, and the ordinary Hebrew word for our pronoun she, is, strangely enough, h—i pronounced hè. So that in classical Hebrew hu is he, and hi is she. Now, in eleven instances this distinction is observed in the Pentateuch also, but in all the other cases in which the feminine pronoun she occurs the word hu is employed in the Hebrew, i.e., the masculine form is used to express both the masculine and feminine pronouns, only one form is employed for both; just as in English we only use one form, thou, by which to address either man or woman. And that slight peculiarity in the use of one pronoun is the greatest I difference that the Hebrew has got to show for one thousand years of change, when only 431 years has wrought such a revolution in our English language that the words of Chaucer look and read like a foreign language by the side of the English of to-day. But that is not all. Even in classical Hebrew, when the two pronouns for he and she are written down, the difference in the written characters is so slight that by lengthening a stroke in one letter of the feminine pronoun it at once
hi becomes hu. So that it is quite possible that the use of the masculine form for both genders in the Pentateuch may be due to nothing more than the carelessness of some early transcribers, who made one stroke a little too long. And this appears to have been the opinion of the Masoretes, a school of commentators, who added the vowel points to the Hebrew letters in the sixth century of the Christian era; for they appended to hu, the vowel point for hi, whenever it stood for the feminine pronoun.
Well, that is about the only peculiarity there is in the grammatical forms of the Pentateuch, and any person can now see for himself whether I was justified in echoing the statement of all the greatest scholars, that the language of the Pentateuch is substantially the language of the Captivity; whilst to suppose that the book was written one thousand years before the Captivity is to outrage not only the whole science of philology but common sense as well. It would be superfluous to say more on this branch of our subject.
One great objection to regarding the Jewish books as miraculously produced is this: That we are thereby unable to look upon them as a national literature, the component parts of which show a regular development of thought and culture. That they are a national literature is undeniable, and as they cannot be this, and at the same time a supernatural product, the baselessness of the orthodox claim becomes at once apparent. The true view of the Old Testament I take to be this: That it is a literature exhibiting the characteristic genius of the Hebrew mind; that just as the Greek mind developed and perfected the idea of æsthetic art, just as the Roman mind cultivated the ideal of law, and gave to the world the fundamental principles of equity and government, so the gifted Hebrew mind naturally excelled all others in religious contemplation, and exhibited insight into the lofty speculations of theology, The one growth is just as natural and just as non-miraculous as the others. The Jewish books themselves show us that the national development was gradual and slow; that in its early stages the religious ideas of the nation were as crude, its gods as numerous, fierce, and local, as those of the surrounding peoples, and that it was not until the nation had gone through a season of severe mental and moral discipline that it rose to the sublime and lofty heights of monotheism and spiritual religion. That the Jews were and are far ahead of the majority of the human race in the region of transcendental thought we readily allow—the Christian Church at the present hour being a living proof of it, content, as it is, with that degrading doctrine, that dishonest polytheism which it calls Trinitarianism. But there's nothing supernatural about this Hebrew development, it's simply the spontaneous outgrowth of the gifted Hebrew mind. No doubt to people with an inborn bent to polytheism, like the Christian races, the idea of monotheism appears one so lofty and difficult of attainment as to suggest the theory that only a race miraculously dealt with could have attained to it; and this explanation has been still further strengthened by the anachronism we are combating in these lectures, viz., the blunder by which some of the books have been antedated, and a literature which really belongs to a late age has been attributed to a generation a thousand years before. The natural development of the national mind has thus been obscured and lost sight of, and then the miracle of inspiration has been invoked to explain the apparent anomaly. But this
It is now a recognised axiom in the criticism of profane literature that chronicles of supernatural occurrences are never written by an author contemporary with those occurrences. Reason, however, compels us to apply this principle universally, to Hebrew literature not less than to Latin, an application which at once brands the Pentateuch as certainly non-Mosaic, whilst it raises a high probability of an origin in far subsequent times. In our lecture last Sunday, we endeavoured to confirm the high probability thus suggested, first by examining several statements or expressions scattered throughout the books, all implying that they could not have been written by Moses, but must have been composed by someone living in far subsequent times; and, secondly, by drawing attention to the significance of the extraordinary fact that the words and grammatical forms employed in the language of the book were identical with those of books avowedly written at the time of the Babylonian Captivity or later. We now propose to go further and show by reference to some details of the narrative that the books could not have been written by Moses on another account, since the narrative is evidently a compilation, containing the writings not of one, but several authors, living at considerable intervals of time from one another.
I daresay in reading passages in various parts of the Pentateuch, especially if you have read them carefully, you have often been puzzled by the writer giving you a second account of an occurrence, apparently forgetful of the fact that he had already given you a previous account, whilst the two narratives differ more or less in details. Many instances of this occur in the Book of Genesis. For instance, the whole of the first chapter of Genesis and the first three verses of the second chapter are a continuous narrative of the work of creation, telling us how the earth and heavens, the herb of the field, and man himself, both male and female, were brought into existence. But, now, at the fourth verse of this second chapter the writer starts again with a new version of the creation, as if he were unaware that he had already given one account of this stupendous series of occurrences. Thus, in Gen. i., 12, Revised Version, he says, "And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind." And in the 27th verse, "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them." But in the fifth verse of second chapter, in utter contradiction to this, we find, "And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground." He then goes on to relate
again, and the subsequent evolution of woman out of the man's rib, and that is a more wonderful evolution than any Mr Darwin tells of. What then can be the meaning of these two contradictory accounts of the same occurrences in the same narrative? If you read the two accounts a little closer you will notice this difference. In the first it is always God who per-performs the act of creation, in the second it is always the Lord God, i.e., Jehovah God, who does it. I say "Jehovah God," not "Lord God," for I am sorry to have to remark that neither King James's translators nor Queen Victoria's revisers have been honest enough to express this matter plainly, but have altered the proper name Jehovah, the proper name of the national God of the Jews, have altered this into the word "Lord," so making the phrase "the Lord God" instead of "Jehovah God," as it is in the original. Well, in the second account it is always "Jehovah God" who does everything, and now you see at once that the narrative we have in Genesis is not an original narrative at all, but merely two very ancient documents pieced together. Let us take another instance: turn to the account of the Flood, and notice first what God tells Noah to do, and then what the Lord, or Jehovah tells him to do, and you will see that here again we have, not one document, but two. Turn to chap, vi., 5—13: "And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me," and so on until the 19th verse, where it says, "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female." Here you see God, not the Lord or Jehovah, commands Noah to take two individuals, or two pairs of every living thing, into the ark with him—two, and only two. But, now, in complete contradiction to this, in the second verse of the next chapter, not God, but the Lord, i.e., Jehovah, commands him thus:—"Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and men, the male and his female." Here again we evidently have two different versions of the same story, which we might call God's account and the Lord's account respectively, but which biblical scholars call the Elohist's narrative, and the Jehovist's narrative, because Elohim is the Hebrew word for "God," whilst Jehovah, as we have just seen, is the word that has been mistranslated "Lord." And as this point is a very important one, and enables us to clear up many obscure passages in Genesis, we will take one or two more instances of these double accounts. And we will look for a moment into the History of Abraham. The 12th chapter of Genesis evidently belongs to the Jehovistic document, because in it Jehovah and not God speaks to Abram. In this chapter Abram and his family leave Canaan and go down into Egypt on account of a severe famine that happened in Canaan, and in the course of the journey Abram persuades his wife Sarai to pass herself off to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as his sister and
And yet once again. In the history of Jacob we shall find two incidents in his life, each represented as occurring twice over and under entirely different circumstances, whilst with reference to both events, the writer of the second account seems to be quite unaware that the circumstance has been mentioned before, and the inspired editor, whoever he was, not quite so smart as uninspired editors, failing to see the identity of the occurrences. You doubtless remember the beautiful story of Jacob journeying to Padan-Aram to obtain for himself a wife, and how on the first night after leaving home be had a wonderful dream of a ladder extending from earth to heaven, on which angels seemed to be ascending and descending, and how the narrative tells us that next morning he was so much impressed by the vision he had seen that he set up a stone on the spot and changed the name of the place to Bethel. Well, twenty years pass away and Jacob returns with all his household, and all the flocks and herds he has acquired by cheating his father-in-law, Laban, from Padan-Aram, with the intention of settling in his native land of Canaan. Now the narrative of this return contains one strange and obscure paragraph. Jacob, remembering the mean wrong he had perpetrated on his brother Esau twenty years before, is filled with alarm when he learns that Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob has reached the banks of the Jabbok, a tributary of the Jordan on its eastern side, and at evening he sends all his people across the stream at the ford, whilst he himself waits behind. All that night he is engaged, according to the story, in a mysterious wrestling, but at dawn his opponent, whether human or divine, leaves him; not, however, till he has changed the name of the Patriarch to Israel. Now, so far, all is plain sailing. We have one long continuous narrative, of which the two incidents I have just mentioned are parts, a narrative extending from chapters 28 to 84, at the end of which Jacob and his sons are left, as settlers of old standing, at Shechem in the
west of the Jordan. But then at the 9th verse of chapter 85 the writer appears to make a new start altogether, and represents Jacob as only just just arrived west of the Jordan from Padan-Aram, ignoring the long narrative of the details of the journey home immediately preceding. "And God appeared unto Jacob again when he came out of Padan-Aram and blessed him, and God said unto him, thy name is Jacob, thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name, and he called his name Israel." And the passage then goes on to narrate how God made him great promises after having thus changed his name from Jacob to Israel, the writer being apparently quite ignorant of the fact that this change of name had already taken place under quite different circumstances east of the Jordan. But, still further, when the divine communication ceased Jacob sets up a pillar, anoints it, and calls the name of the place Bethel, quite unaware, it would seem, that he had given that name to another place twenty years before. Now, these peculiarities in the history of Jacob were, until recently, quite inexplicable. But the difficulty is at once solved when you come to see that the long-detailed narrative extending from chapter 28 to chapter 84, or farther, is a section of the Jehovistic document, whilst the second account of the change of name, as well as the second account of the origin of the word Bethel, are supplements taken from the Elohistic document. Thus referring to the ladder that Jacob saw at the commencement of his twenty years' exile the writer says (c. 28, v. 18), "And behold Jehovah stood above it and said I am Jehovah." And, again just before the passage of the Jabbok by Jacob's people, and the change of name after the mysterious wrestling, he prays (c. 32 v. 9), "O, God of my father, Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac, O Jehovah." Indeed the whole narrative is continuous, and is plainly Jehovistic throughout. On the other hand when the new start occurs in the narrative, at the 9th verse of chapter 35, and the second version of each incident is given, the term Lord, or: Jehovah does not once occur. Thus we read (c. 35, v. 11), "And God said unto Jacob, I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply. . . And God went up from him in the place where he spake with him." Here we have only God, i.e., Elohim, and the passage is plainly an extract from the Elohistic document.
These instances will be sufficient to show that at all events in this first book of the Pentateuch we have two narratives woven together, but not cleverly woven, so that it is very easy to detect i the places at which the pieces join. Moreover, scholars have of late years subjected the Pentateuch to very close scrutiny, and, as a result, have succeeded in relegating every part of the narrative to its original document, and have then made the extraordinary discovery that when the Elohistic sections are arranged
Until quite recently scholars were in the habit of regarding these documents as the oldest elements of the Pentateuch; and, indeed, with respect to one of them (the Jehovistic) that opinion remains unaltered. It was supposed that the Elohistic document might have been produced in the schools of the prophets, which seem to have been established by the Prophet Samuel, just as in early English history we know that the chronicles which furnish us with our knowledge of Saxon and Norman times were composed year by year by the monks in the monasteries of Glastonbury and other places. Many, indeed, have suggested that Samuel the Prophet may himself have been the author of the Elohistic document. But, as we shall see later on, the continued and more profound study of the subject, in conjunction with the revelations that have come as the fruit of the recent investigations into Assyrian antiquities and literature, has forced upon scholars the conviction that a far later date must be assigned to this Elohistic document, which, so far from being the oldest component of our present Pentateuch, is actually the latest of them all, and did not come into existence till after the return from Babylon.
For the present, however, we will leave the Elohistic document and turn our attention to its fellow—the Jehovistic—narrative, which still maintains its reputation for antiquity, though, even in this case, it is not the remote antiquity to which critics were at first disposed to assign it. In the early days of Biblical criticism, to which we have already referred, whilst the Elohistic narrative was referred to the time, and even to the hand of Samuel, the Jehovist was thought to have lived and written in the first days of the monarchy, say the end of David's reign, or the beginning of that of his successor, Solomon. It
earlier than Samuel's time, and the end of Samuel's time, and that from the following circumstance. In the first book of Samuel that prophet is represented as sending the newly-made king of Israel (Saul) on an errand of extermination against the Amalekites. Here is his commission—we ought to say his divine commission, but diabolical would be nearer the mark:—"Now, go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" (1. Samuel xiv., 3). Saul, however, fails to carry out this ruthless command in its integrity, and spares the Amalekite king, whose name was Agag; but the latter is subsequently hewn in pieces by the hand of the fierce prophet himself. Now, strange to say, there is a reference to this very King Agag in the prophecy uttered by Balaam in the Pentateuch. How Moses should know anything about this man Agag, who lived so many centuries later than himself, we need not stop to inquire. We have already seen that Moses may be left out of the question when discussing the real authorship of the Pentateuch. But this "prophecy of Balaam" in the Book of Numbers is part of the Jehovistic section of the Pentateuch, and the reference in it to Agag—the words being, "His king shall be higher than Agag" (Numbers, xxiv., 7)—this reference evidently proves beyond all cavil that the composition of the Jehovistic narrative was subsequent to the time of Samuel, as well as subsequent to the creation of the monarchy; and, as I said just now, it has been usual to consider that the author of it lived either at the end of David's reign or the beginning of Solomon's. But, bold and reckless as these early critics were thought to have been by their contemporaries, it now turns out that they were not bold enough, but antedated the actual time of the origin of the document by some two and a half centuries. This, at all events, is the opinion of the latest writers on the question. Instead, however, of referring to their works, perhaps I may be allowed to put before you the steps by which I had myself already arrived at the same conclusion.
There is a name of awe occurs not once, but several times, in this Jehovistic document—the terrible name of Assyria. How is it that the writer should be so strangely familiar with this dread name, and should even talk of Assyria carrying the Kenites away captive, as he does in the concluding verses of Balaam's prophecy (xxiv., 21, 22, A.V.): "And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said: Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock; nevertheless, the Kenite shall be wasted, until Assyria shall carry thee away captive."
Assyria, you will remember, was the great empire that arose on the banks of the Tigris with Nineveh for its capital, and you
But now compare this thought and this evidence for it with the popular notion, that not only David and Solomon, but even Moses, several centuries before their time, were familiar with Assyria; nay more, remember that the orthodox theory about the earliest chapters of Genesis and the Garden of Eden is that these chapters contain the first traditions of our race, 2000 years before the Flood, and from 3000 to 4000 years before Israel was carried away captive; and that Moses, under Divine guidance, adopted these traditions and recorded them in the Book of Genesis. Well, one of the very earliest of these is the description of the Garden of Eden, which, the writer says, originated four great rivers, whose names he gives us. One of these is the Euphrates, and another the Hiddekel, which we know to be the Tigris, and which the Jehovist declares is "that which goeth towards the east of Assyria." Why, what in the world did the Antediluvians know about Assyria? According to the biblical
Frat, letter for letter with the name of the present day. What do you think of that? The name has never changed, to the people living on its banks. Doesn't that bring you pretty close to the origin of these documents? Doesn't that give a sufficiently modem air to this second chapter of Genesis? You hardly thought you were so close to the Garden of Eden as all that. Don't these early chapters of Genesis begin to smack a little of the Captivity, or at latest of a century or two before that event? And, how, any one with such words as Assyria and the Frat sticking out in the narrative could imagine it was a primeval tradition, or even a Mosaic writing, I am utterly at a loss to understand. It only shows that people have been reading these so-called sacred books for ages without thinking at all of what they were reading. The holy sounds buzzed in then-ears, and that was sufficient for them.
Thus, you will see, even those scholars have some show of reason for their opinion who believe that the Jehovistic document was composed considerably later than David or Solomon's time. And, besides what has already been said, we must remember that, since the cuneiform inscriptions of Ancient Assyria have been deciphered, it has come to light that the Assyrians had many traditions almost identical with those we find in the Jehovistic document. For instance, we find that they have a series of early legends entitled the "Gisdhubar Epic," in twelve books, and that the eleventh book contains an account of the Flood very similar to that we have in the Book of Genesis, so that the myths we find in the latter seem to be mere selections from a larger collection in the Assyrian antiquities; whilst it is well worth remembering that the Assyrian language, though differing as widely as possible from the Hebrew in written characters, is as closely allied to that language in reality as English is to German. "I speak that I do know."
We will now conclude this branch of our subject by saying that the date which the New Criticism requires us to adopt as the birth-date of the Jehovistic document is the middle of the eighth
So much then for the origin of the Jehovistic element of the Pentateuch. The origin of the Mosaic law contained in the Book of Leviticus, as well as that of the Book of Deuteronomy we will, in accordance with the announcement I made at the commencement of this lecture, reserve for future mornings.
"The Ages of Faith "—how sweetly sounds the phrase amid the wordy warfare of the years in which we live. And if things were always what they seem, and a superficial glance always saw correctly, and poetry were prose, and fiction fact, who would not, at least for a time, gladly exchange our boasted "Age of Reason," with its surprises, and wrangling, and general unsettlement, for the happy carelessness of the past, when men's brains were less active than now because Dr. Hunter had not yet made the blood to circulate, and the right of private judgment had never been heard of, and the Sun went round the Earth, and the marine fossils in the rocks were a sure proof of Noah's Deluge, and there was only one Church, and nobody was troubled with doubts because nobody could read, and would have found reading a useless accomplishment if they could. In those blessed days the universe took care of itself, and got along fairly well, too, although Sir I. Newton had not yet invented the principle of gravitation. Now, alas, we have to look after the universe ourselves, and Sir W. Thompson is making the earth revolve more slowly every day, and we are all, getting very anxious as to what will happen some billions of years hence, when the retardation has become apparent to the senses, and Dr. Maudsley is anticipating the time when degeneration shall have taken the place of evolution, and the whole human race shall at last be represented by just a few families of stunted, shivering men and women living in snow-huts in the neighbourhood of the Equator. Aud, in view of these puzzles, there are not a few gentle, anxious souls amongst us, even in the highest walks of culture, who find the burden of the nineteenth century too much for them, who sigh for the return of the Ages of Faith, and who even attempt to realize what they sigh for by retirement within the fold of the Ancient Infallible Church. Only thus can we explain the perversion of distinguished men, such as this generation has witnessed again and again—men of imperial reputation, like the Earl of Ripon and others—who, to the pain and regret of their countrymen, have sought repose by mental suicide. Sympathising with their spiritual conflict, we make excuses for them even whilst we blame them.
There is, however, another and much more popular method of keeping a quiet soul in one's bosom and doing all one's thinking by deputy than by joining the Church of Rome, and that is by
en bloc the opinions of some distinguished man, such as Canon Liddon, or Professor Drummond, or even Mr Gladstone. This saves time and trouble, and leaves all the energies of the mind free for the real business of life—for money-making and social pleasures. But, perhaps, a slight modification of this method is even still more popular—I mean the plan of arranging in your mind all the famous names known to be favorable to any given opinion, and, again, all those whose owners have expressed themselves as opposed to the view in question, and then taking your own decision from the majority. This is thought to be an infallible method of arriving at truth, and can be strongly recommended as particularly suitable to this nineteenth century—a century in which an infallible church is not considered quite fashionable.
Still it must be acknowledged there are one or two objections even to this method, Learned men are unfortunately very much like unlearned men, liable to be influenced by early training, by prejudice, by self-interest, and, above all, by the tone of public opinion in the church or association to which they belong; the consequence being that authorities are about equally balanced on most questions, or, at all events, that a large number of great names may be urged on either side of almost any question, so that it is difficult to determine to which view the majority inclines. And a still further objection to any truthseeker adopting this method for furnishing himself with a set of opinions ready-made is this, that truth has always shown a settled dislike for majorities, and is almost invariably found consorting at first with minorities, for instance with the twelve fishermen in the upper chamber at Jerusalem about 1800 years ago. Whilst a crowning objection to it in the eyes of all brave souls is its thoroughly un-Protestant character, undermining, as it does, the Protestant principle of the right of private judgment.
I have been led to make these remarks in justification of the somewhat argumentative, or rather pragmatical discourse I have to address to you this morning in continuing my remarks on the Pentateuch. A literary controversy is not a theme particularly well suited to a popular audience on Sunday morning, and seems almost to call for an apology under the circumstances. But, unfortunately, the authorship of the Pentateuch is a question which, by the irony of events, has come to lie at the foundation of the prevalent religious beliefs of the present day. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that we should know the truth about it, and, as I have just shown, there is nothing for it but for each man to weigh the arguments for himself. The divine gift of reason which we enjoy lays this obligation upon us. But now to our subject.
We showed, you will remember, last Sunday morning that the Pentateuch is not only of post-Mosaic date, but is before all
composite work, consisting of several distinct narratives incorporated together; the oldest of these, the Jehovistic document, we affirmed had been traced to its origin in the last years of the existence of the Northern Kingdom of the Ten Tribes; a second factor, the Elohistic document, we have yet to provide with a parentage; but before doing so it is necessary to consider a third section of the work, a section the individuality of which has always stood out in bold relief from the rest of the Pentateuch, as if itself challenging the traditional view of its authorship; I mean the Book of Deuteronomy. Even the most superficial student notices the Book of Deuteronomy is complete in itself, and seems to be independent of the rest of the Pentateuch. Who then was the Deuteronomist, and when did he live? These are some of the most interesting questions connected with the discussion of our subject. It must be remarked, too, that Rationalistic critics have long been agreed on the answers to be given to them; so that, startling as these answers are, they are not, properly speaking, any part of the new discovery made in Pentateuch criticism. A discussion of them, however, is quite indispensable to our purpose at the point at which we have now arrived.
You are, doubtless, aware that ancient historians frequently introduce into histories the public orations made by famous men of antiquity at critical periods of their lives or of the national history. These speeches are often very long, and profess to give the identical words used by the orator. Now, when you come to reflect upon it, this is a very wonderful circumstance. For, in those days, there were no shorthand reporters to take down the speeches, many of which are represented as given under circumstances, such as immediately before an impending battle, when the speaker would be thinking of anything rather than making memoranda of what he had said, or even of making a fine speech at all. And, more wonderful still, there is a remarkable similarity of style in all the speeches that occur in the works of the same historian, and that always happens to be the style of the historian himself. In other words these long speeches were elaborated, not by the speaker, but by the historian, who put into them what he thought the orator ought to have said on the occasion in question; and his countrymen, when they read his bonk, knew perfectly well that the speeches were fictitious, as far as historical reality went. In this way the historian, Thucydides, puts a grand speech into the mouth of the great statesman, Pericles; and the Latin author, Livy, makes the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, utter some fine Roman sentiments to his soldiers in the Second Punic War, which occurred at least two centuries before Livy wrote. This was thought the correct thing for a historian to do in ancient times.
If now you turn to the Book of Deuteronomy you will find
all Israel beyond Jordan in the wilderness." And, again, the first verse of the fifth chapter says, "And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak in your ears this day." Well, then, I suppose it is pretty plain that the occasion of the speeches was a mythical one, as mythical, indeed, as the long speeches themselves must be, and the writer of them must have lived sufficiently long after the time of Moses to be able to speak of him and his doings in this mythical way without seeming to say anything extraordinary, just as Lord Tennyson can now make King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table do and say without impropriety some very wonderful things. Moreover you will notice that the preceding Book of Numbers in its last verse seems to conclude the story of Moses and his connection with the children of Israel. "These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, at Jericho." That appears to end the story, but instead of that the Book of Deuteronomy immediately follows on in a fresh style, thus—"These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond Jordan in the wilderness." And the book then proceeds in this series of long speeches to give again a history of the wanderings of the Israelites in the Wilderness, and also a second edition of the Ten Commandments, the Covenants, and the Ordinances, similar to those already given in the preceding books. Now anybody who will shake off the prepossessions he has received from childhood will see at once that it is unreasonable to suppose that the same man will give us two accounts of the same series of events, and evidently we have here a separate document, by a different hand, of an unhistorical character and very late date. Well, then, who was this Deuteronomist who had so much to say to his countrymen, and thought it well to make Moses say it all, and, having made him say it, gives an account of his death?
Of all the significant passages in the Bible, perhaps the most significant to the intelligent and impartial critic is the 22nd chapter of the Second Book of Kings. A young man was on the
one shrine was left at which men could offer sacrifice, viz., the Temple at Jerusalem. Now, all this was done to comply with the book of the law, which Hilkiah, the High Priest, said he had discovered in the Temple. It was evidently a law directed especially against idolatry, and a law of the most stringent character; a law also that plainly required everyone to render religious worship in one place only.
What, then, was this Book of the Law which now saw the light for the first time? Plainly it must either have been the Pentateuch or a part of the Pentateuch. But, before we attempt to identify it exactly, let me call your attention to this astounding fact, that whether it was the complete Pentateuch as we have it now, or only a portion of that voluminous work, this 22nd chapter of the Second Book of Kings shows to demonstration that, so far from Moses having written it, the book, in whole or in part, had never been so much as heard of in Jerusalem up to the date of King Josiah's reign, i.e., up till a century after the Northern Kingdom of Israel had ceased to exist. What do you think of
But now what, after all, was this book of the law which Hilkiah, the high priest, said he had just lighted upon in the Temple?
Of course it is quite conceivable that it might have been the Jehovistic document, which we know had been in existence now in the northern kingdom for a century or more, but we will at once show from its contents that it could not have been that. The Jehovistic document knows nothing of the necessity of worshipping at one shrine only. Thus in Exodus, xx., 24, a passage from the Jehovist, we read: "In all places," observe, not in one place, but in all places, "where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." In fact, as long as the Hebrews inhabited the whole of Canaan they could not possibly all worship at one shrine only; and we know they did not. For instance, when Joshua had completed the conquest of Canaan (Joshua, xxiv) he gathered all the tribes of Israel, not to Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was, but to Shechem, "and they presented themselves before God" (1st verse). "And Joshua took a great stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord" (26th verse). You see there is evidently a sanctuary of the Lord at Shechem as well as at Shiloh, where the tabernacle was; and plainly the Jews in these earlier times were not restricted to one place of worship. Hence the newly-discovered book of the law could not be the Jehovistic document. But there is a portion of the Pentateuch that imposes the obligation of worshipping in one spot only; a portion, therefore, that must have been of late date—after the Northern Kingdom of the Ten Tribes had ceased to exist, and the territory of the one small tribe of Judah was all that was left of the Hebrew nation. Compare now the Jehovist and the Deuteronomist. In Exodus, xxiii., 17, of course a Jehovistic passage, we have the command: "Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord God." That is all: you must go to church, but it does not say you must go to the metropolitan cathedral. But in Deuteronomy, xvi., 16, this reads: "Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose"; there is only one place now. Or, if you are still doubtful, here is a passage still more explicit, taken from the twelfth chapter and thirteenth verse of the same book of Deuteronomy: "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest, but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings."
But again. At the first institution of the Feast of the Passover, as given by the Jehovist in Exodus, xii., that feast is evidently meant to be a private domestic festival; every family is to eat it at home, each in his own house separately. "And none of you," says the Jehovist, "shall go out of the door of his house until the morning" (verse twenty-two). But the Deuteronomist alters the character of the festival entirely, and requires that it shall be celebrated by the whole nation collectively in one place. "And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover in the place which the Lord shall choose to cause his name to dwell there" (Deuteronomy, xvi., 2). . . . "Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth; thee, but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover" verses 5 and 6). So that you see under this Deuteronomic law the private family feast had become a great national festival at Jerusalem, to be conducted on a stupendous scale, and likely to make a great impression on the minds of men. Well, now compare with that the account we have in the twenty-third chapter of the second book of Kings, of the way in which King Josiah caused the nation to celebrate the Passover, after the newly-discovered book of the law had been read to him. "Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah, but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this Passover kept to the Lord in Jerusalem" (xxiii., 22, 23). And now we begin to see what was the book of the law which Hilkiah, the high priest, told Shaphan, the scribe, he had just found in the Temple. It was a book that taught men to worship God in one place only, and to keep the Passover in an entirely different way from what they had ever done before. Well, then, it must have been the Book of Deuteronomy; that is getting pretty clear.
But I think we can make this conclusion still more certain. The expressions used by the King do not throw much light on the contents of the book, save that terrible curses were denounced in it on the nation if it should fail in obedience to the injunctions of the book, whatever they were. Judging, however, by the action which the King immediately took we should infer that the tenor of the book was a denunciation of idolatry, that it consisted of repeated and strict injunctions to the Hebrews to worship Jehovah alone, and to abstain at the peril of their national
i.e., Jehovah, and have burnt incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched." (Verse 17.) Hence we see that the crime denounced in the book was idolatry, and the punishment threatened was national destruction. Now, does that correspond with the general character of the Book of Deuteronomy? It marks out the book with absolute precision, Those three long speeches put into the mouth of Moses are full of magnificent exhortations to the children of Israel to serve the unseen Jehovah, and to abstain from the degradations and immoralities of heathenism; and the exhortations and injunctions are driven home by promises and threatenings vital to the nation, The constant refrain of the orator may be summed up in the words of the eloquent Greek of far later date, "Disobey at your peril as a nation for Philip is at the gates." "Obey," says the Deuteronomist, "and live; disobey, and into captivity you go." And we do not wonder that the writer spoke so plainly of captivity, especially if he was the man we suspect he was, for his quick ear had caught the thud of the Chaldean horseman in the desert. A vision of Nebuchadnezzar's advance had passed before the mind of the prophet Jeremiah; Jeremiah was the Deuteronomist.
But we are anticipating. Where are those curses that made the young Josiah tremble? Well they may be found in more than one place in the Book of Deuteronomy, but after you have read the last fifty verses of the 28th chapter I think you will feel pretty certain you have got hold of the passage that harrowed up the feelings of the King. I don't propose, you may be sure, to inflict the whole fifty upon you; we will only take a specimen here and there. But it shalt come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the Lord, thy God, to observe, to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and shall overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy kine and the young of thy flock. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out," and so on. Here, too, the ominous word "captivity" comes in:—"The Lord shall bring thee and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee unto a nation which thou hast not (known, thou nor thy fathers; and thou shalt there serve other gods, wood and stone. . . Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they
captivity." And a little further on the cruel Assyrian is described almost to the life:—"The Lord shall bring a nation from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand (and they would say so when they saw the cuneiform inscriptions); a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young." And then come the horrors of the siege:—"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord, thy God, hath given thee; in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall straiten thee. The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he hath remaining; so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter . . . and toward her children which she shall bear, for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly; in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in thy gates." No wonder the young Josiah was driven nearly frantic with fear, for I suppose there is not one of my audience now that does not feel sure that we have got hold of the very passage which Shaphan, the scribe, read to the king that day, in the eighteenth year of his reign, in the palace at Jerusalem. We can see it all as plainly now as if we had been present at the reading.
These, then, were the circumstances under which the work of the Deuteronomist first saw the light; but many scholars think that they know, not simply the date of publication, but the very author of the book; they hold that the Deuteronomist was, as I said just now, the prophet Jeremiah. And there is much to be said in favour of this hypothesis. We know that Jeremiah was living at the time, and had been prophesying in Jerusalem, or its neighbourhood, for the last five years. We know, too, that his father's name was Hilkiah, a priest, and that this new book was found somewhere in the Temple at Jerusalem by Hilkiah, the High Priest; so that, unless there were two priests living at this time of the same name, this Hilkiah, the High Priest, who found the book, was Jeremiah's father. These particulars you may glean by comparing the chapter in the Second Book of Kings with the first verses of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. "The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, King
aunt. You see it's all in the family. But that is not all. For there is no getting over this fact that the Book of Deuteronomy is not only written in the same spirit as Jeremiah's prophecies, but contains their characteristic words and phrases—that is acknowledged by all critics, orthodox and otherwise—and that brings the authorship very close home to Jeremiah, because the Deuteronomist could not have copied from the prophecies, seeing that most of them were not uttered till some time after the discovery of the book in the Temple, so that either Jeremiah in his prophecies copied from the Book of Deuteronomy or he wrote both books. And once again. Many critics, both orthodox and heterodox, are strongly of opinion, that independently of Deuteronomy, Jeremiah wrote more than the prophecies that go by his name. You know that most of the historical books of the Old Testament are avowedly anonymous, we can only guess at their authorship, a fact, one would think, that would make the inspiration of those books rather difficult to prove, were it not that nothing is impossible to faith. There is very little doubt, however, from the tone of the two books of Kings that they were written by a priest; they were certainly written after the fall of Jerusalem, and they trace all the evils that befel the nation to its disregard of the law of Jehovah. These and many other circumstances have led scholars to think that they can trace the spirit and handwriting of Jeremiah in the Books of Kings, that he in fact is the author of those two books as well; so that this very pretty story of the discovery of the Book of the Law in the Temple is itself also the handiwork of Master Jeremiah. Take such a phrase as this for example: "I brought thee forth out of Egypt, out of Eqypt that furnace of iron." Well, this remarkable phrase is found in Jeremiah xi., 4, in Deuteronomy iv., 20, and in 1. Kings viii., 51. Is it so very difficult to believe after that that, as Jeremiah certainly wrote one of those books, he wrote the other two also? And this conclusion that Jeremiah wrote the Books of Kings will be less startling to those who remember that the century of the Captivity was certainly the most productive age, the Golden Age, of Hebrew literature. And this thought again affords an additional proof of the late authorship of the Book of
Now, I think it is not to be doubted that some few nobler spirits of the nation had reached this elevation of thought and feeling even before the Captivity, and strove hard to educate their countrymen up to their own level. That amongst these, and probably the foremost of these—perhaps, indeed, the only one of these—was the Prophet Jeremiah, and that his prophetic soul mourned over the moral degradation of his idolatrous countrymen, whose consciences he sought to quicken, if so be he might yet rouse them by his exhortations and warnings to discipline themselves for the great struggle with the Chaldeans and Assyrians, which he saw was impending. Under the impulse of these feelings, it may be, he determined to write the life and work of their first great national deliverer, Moses; to give them his idea, by means of the speeches he would put into the mouth of his hero—his idea of their first great prophet, and of the charge, which, as he believed, Moses had laid upon the nation. It was a kind of work which the times demanded—the trumpet-call of a pious patriot to a corrupt generation—a call that failed of its effect, but remains to this day one of the choicest contributions which a most gifted race has made to the sacred literature of the world.
The Book of Deuteronomy then was found where, of course, it had been "planted," the finder being in all probability the father of the man who wrote it, his aunt also being privy to the little ruse. So it would seem; but whether Jeremiah wrote the book or not, there is no gainsaying the assertion that if he was not himself the author, it was a contemporary of his who wrote it, and that this Book of Deuteronomy was undoubtedly the book that frightened King Josiah and all his court. In view of these facts one loses all patience with the obtuseness of orthodox people who point to the prophecies of the Babylonish Captivity contained in this book, and then, assuming the Mosaic authorship of it, argue from this to the miraculous inspiration of the
The present age is often spoken of as sordid in spirit, and mercenary, or worse, in character; as an age of low ideals and selfish lives, the motto of which is "each one for himself and the devil take the hindmost;" an age which, devoted to money-making and frivolity, is dead to great interests, heroic impulses, and divine calls. Such is the judgment often passed upon this century of ours, nor am I prepared to say there is not a good deal of truth in it, or that men of business have not good reason to endorse it. As the age recedes into the azure of the past, however, and in its turn comes under the scrutiny of the philosophic historian, I do not think that will be the final verdict which he will pass upon it. On the contrary I think it will assume an entirely new aspect to him; to him it will appear as the age of great controversies, honest enquiry, high thought, painful perplexities, heroic decisions, daily martyrdoms. He will compare it with the sixteenth century—nor will it lose by the comparison. Like the sixteenth it is an age of religious reformation, of theological change; an age, therefore, when human minds have again had to face the nightmares of the soul—the doubt, the perplexity, the agonizing conflict, between old and new opinions, between affection and duty, or, still worse, between one duty and another; when men—aye, and gentle women, too—have had to brace themselves up to renounce the church of their youth, the friends of their early love, perhaps the parents and home that will no longer acknowledge them. That is the life history of many a man and woman to-day, alike the famous and the unknown; possibly of not a few in this very congregation, men and women who have been faithful to the call of the nineteenth century, even the high, stern, call that bade them take as their life motto, "Renunciation for conscience' sake." Ours is pre-eminently the century of new knowledge, spiritual conflicts, painful duty.
These thoughts are not unsuitable to our subject of this morning, and the radical changes of thought which the modem science of Biblical criticism involves; but they have been forced upon my mind in the course of the past week "This lecture was last delivered in Sydney, N.S..W., on Sunday morning, this man was once the mightiest orator, the most influential dignitary in the English Church, who swayed the realm at his will, who was the Church of England, and whose defection from that Church, it was believed at the time, would carry with it the irrevocable ruin of that great, historic institution. Of course it would be altogether incorrect to say that this famous ecclesiastic embodied in himself, or even represented, the spirit of the nineteenth century. The spirit of the nineteenth century is that principle of Liberalism which was the abhorrence of the great cardinal's soul—the one thing he loathed, the one thing he fought against from youth to age—and hence we of this congregation are utterly out of sympathy with his intellectual principles, we differ from him by the whole heaven; but none the less would we do honour to his memory for the splendour of his gifts, his extraordinary force of character, the great position he once filled, the mental struggles, so long continued, through which he passed and of which he has left us such a pathetic record, his unfaltering allegiance to duty and conscience, his long eclipse. Foeman though he was, and radically and fatally mistaken as we believe him to have been, we cannot withhold from him our tribute of respect, and even affection, as one of the noble army of spiritual soldiers who, in a worldly and frivolous age, deliberately chose for himself the iron crown of duty.
I have said that John Henry Newman, in spite of his splendid talents and great career, can scarcely be said to represent in any sense the century in which he lived, but he undoubtedly represents one conspicuous feature in it, viz., the reactionary current of thought and feeling set up by the progressive spirit of the times—a progressive spirit of which his own illustrious brother, Francis William Newman, is one of the ablest apostles. Par nobile fratrum, a noble pair of brothers, who, starting together from the same standpoint—the Evangelical Protestantism of the English Church—equally learned, equally conscientious, and equally gifted, were yet the subjects of influences so diverse that, ere they had reached middle life, they became, both of them, representative men of principles eternally contradictory. It can hardly be doubted that future generations will point the moral of the nineteenth century by reference to the phenomenon that the author of "Tract 90" and the author of "Phases of Faith" had in early days played together as brothers in the same English home, and said their prayers together at night at
We have not yet exhausted the Pentateuch. Besides the Elohistic element of the book of Genesis to which we have already referred—besides the Jehovistic document which we have seen was in all probability written in the northern kingdom of the Ten Tribes during what may be called its Assyrian period, i.e., whilst it was attempting to fend off the inevitable destruction that awaited it from the Assyrians; besides the book of Deuteronomy of which the Prophet Jeremiah, or at least one of his contemporaries, was in all probability the author, there still remains more than half the work, viz., the collection of minute directions respecting the forms and ceremonies to be observed by the Jews at all times, but especially in their public worship, and which is contained in the Book of Leviticus and adjacent portions of the Pentateuch. How shall we learn the real age of this Mosaic ritual, as it is popularly called—this priestly legislation, as the critics call it?
But, in order to mark out very definitely the particular subject of our inquiry this morning, and to show how easily it separates itself from the portions of the Pentateuch we have already considered, so that a different source from that of the rest may with the utmost propriety be attributed to it, let me here give a short summary of the Book of Leviticus, the book in which the larger part of the ceremonial law is contained. Commencing with the rules about the burnt offering, whether ox, sheep, or bird, it goes on to treat of the meal offering of flour, oil, and incense, which, strangely enough, in the obsolete English of King James' translators, is called the meat offering. Again, in the third chapter, with a wearisome pettiness not very suggestive of Divine inspiration, we are introduced to all the minutiæ of the peace offering with "the fat thereof and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the back-bone, and the fact that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them which is by the flank, and the caul above the liver with the kidneys, it shall he take away" (iii—9, 10). In the same way follows the unmeaning distinctions of the sin offering, made for sins of ignorance, although an uninspired person would imagine that a sin done unwittingly was no sin at all. This, however, is not half the business, the fifth and successive chapters following with all the mysteries of
Well, speaking generally, we may learn it in this way, that the Hebrews themselves, down to the time of the Babylonish Captivity, seem to pay no attention whatever to the injunctions of this book. That is a circumstance which strikes most readers of the Old Testament, who read the books consecutively in the order in which we have them in our English Bibles. After wading through the long list of minute and unmeaning observances which we find enacted for the Jews in this portion of the Pentateuch we are made to feel that the nation must have lived under most teasing restrictions—restrictions calculated to make the Hebrews wretched formalists and even hypocrites; that they were being trained to substitute ceremonies and outward observances for moral principles and obedience to the moral law; that, in fact, the Pharisee of the New Testament is the type
them. For instance, the priestly legislation of Leviticus requires that every man who has a sacrifice to offer to Jehovah shall repair to the tabernacle and get one of the priests, the sons of Aaron, to celebrate the solemnity for him; he must not do it himself under penalty of death, as you will see by turning to the 17th chapter of Leviticus. But now, as a commentary on this, when you read the historical books I have just mentioned, you find the Old Testament worthies paying no attention whatever to this injunction, in spite of the death penalty attached to it; not only do they dispense with the services of the sons of Aaron, the priests, they do not even require the assistance of the Levites, but Gideon, of the tribe of Manasseh, and Manoali, the father of Samson, of the tribe of Dan, and Samuel, of the tribe of Ephraim, to say nothing of David of Judah, and Elijah, the Tishbite, from Mount Gilead east of the Jordan, all these themselves offer sacrifices to Jehovah at their own sweet will, whenever and wherever they think fit, and they don't appear to be at all aware that they are transgressing a divine command by so doing, and incurring the death penalty. In fact it is very plain that the writers of these historical books know nothing of this Levitical legislation whatever. It had no existence in their time, still less in the times of which they write.
But the instance I have just given is only one of many similar examples that might be quoted in proof of our proposition, that from the days of the Exodus to those of the Captivity the Hebrews were entirely ignorant of the religious ceremonial improperly called the Mosaic ritual. In the whole round of the Jewish institutions prescribed in this ritual there are none more prominent, none more characteristic, than these three, viz., the Great Day of Atonement, the Sabbatical Year, and the Year of Jubilee, yet not the slightest reference to the celebration of any one of the three is to be found in any of the historical books of the period I am referring to, viz., as I mentioned just now, the Books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings.
The Day of Atonement was, as you know, the one great national fast of the Jewish year, when every Jew was expected to present himself before Jehovah "to afflict his soul" and witness
This solemnity also is distinguished from all others by the circumstance that in celebrating it the High Priest was required to select two goats, one of which was to be slain as a sin offering, and the other turned loose into the wilderness as what has been called the scapegoat. It's this unhappy scapegoat who was supposed to bear away on his devoted head the accumulated arrears of national guilt for the past year. Remembering how useful this idea of a scapegoat is sometimes found among ourselves—although with us the goat is usually the cat, or at least Mr Nobody—remembering this, it seems a pity truth should oblige us to affirm that the name and whole theory of the scapegoat, as part of a Jewish ceremony, is a gross delusion, the outcome of an ignorant mistranslation—a fact which becomes apparent at once when you observe that in the Revised Version of the Old Testament the scapegoat has disappeared altogether. In fact in the light of modern scholarship the proceedings of the Day of Atonement assume a much more superstitious air than in the A.V.; and, although the correction in question is not absolutely necessary to our argument, it will be well to give it a passing notice.
The ceremonies, then, of the Day of Atonement are intended to propitiate not one, but two deities, an evil as well as a good principle, the good principle being Jehovah, and the evil principle Azazel or the Devil. Jehovah, we know, dwells in the Temple at Jerusalem, and Azazel, the Devil, it is equally well known, haunts solitary, barren regions—the wilderness and the desert. Hence the goat intended for Azazel was to be driven out into the desert, and there let loose to die of starvation. Now, let us read the Revised Version of the proceedings, which you will see involve ideas of a superstition far grosser than that implied in the mere casting of lots—a custom which, of itself, indicates an order of mind sufficiently dark and stupid. "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the the Lord, and offer him for a sin-offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before the Lord to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness" (verses 8 to 10).
But it was not to call attention to this correction of the
heard of such an institution. Nor must we omit to notice that both the Book of Exodus and the Book of Deuteronomy are equally silent on the subject, so that we are shut up to the inference that not only was this great annual fast an innovation of the priests subsequent to the return from Babylon, but the whole body of ceremonies of which it forms such an important part was so also.
It's a recognised axiom that silence gives consent, but lest it should be supposed we are drawing too large an inference from the silence of Old Testament history on this annual celebration, we must notice still further that the Day of Atonement is by no means the only great institution imposed in the priestly ritual of Leviticus that remains utterly unnoticed in the historic books, so that even orthodox theologians are obliged to confess that many of the so-called Mosaic laws existed only as idle legislation that was never carried out into practice. I refer in particular to the two somewhat similar institutions already mentioned, the Sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee, both of which are enjoined in Leviticus, 25th chapter. This chapter of Leviticus prescribes that every seventh year the Hebrews shall cease all agricultural operations, shall neither sow their fields nor prune their vineyards, but allow their lands to be entirely fallow. Well, we can readily understand that where the principle of rotation of crops was unknown, it might be proper that the fields should have rest one year in seven; but the priestly legislator was not content with this reasonable provision, he wanted to make the whole life of the Hebrews revolve round the number seven, and so goes on to prescribe the fanciful injunction that after a week of Sabbatical years, i.e., after the lapse of forty-nine years, another year of rest shall be imposed upon the farmers, and an institution called the year of Jubilee shall be celebrated by these much-pestered and hard-used men. The characteristic of the year of Jubilee, however, is this, that not only shall the fields again lie fallow, but all landed property which had changed hands during the previous fifty years shall return unredeemed to its original owners, whilst all Hebrew slaves shall recover their freedom on the same liberal terms. These provisions show what a joyful event the Jubilee year would be to the whole nation, what an era its occurrence would be in the national life, what a sensation in fact it would
But, besides the historical books, we have another source of information as to the real condition of things and the mode of life of the Hebrew nation throughout the centuries preceding the Captivity, and that is the works of the earlier prophets, the remonstrances which Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, and others addressed to their countrymen. What is the character of the wrongdoing of which these great prophets complain? Is not this the one thought that runs through all their utterances, that Jehovah hates forms and ceremonies, that sacrifices are an abomination to him, and that what he requires of his worshippers is the love of their hearts, and the obedience of their lives? And so absolutely is this the case that Reformers of to-day when they wish to expose the errors and shams of modern orthodoxy, and to insist that no mere belief in somebody else's righteousness will avail a man before his God, but only a hearty, cheerful obedience to the law of conscience—these Reformers turn instinctively to the burning words of the Hebrew prophets for their inspiration and guidance. When a Hebrew prophet rebukes his countrymen he doesn't use the words of a modern ritualist, or Presbyterian formalist who says: "O wicked man! you shaved yourself on Sunday morning instead of Saturday night," but he says (Joel ii., 18) "Rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God." Or, still better, "For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings "(Hosea, vi., 6). Or, even better still, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah, vi., 6, 8). But an extract from Isaiah will be most instructive of all: "To
who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations, incense is an abomination unto me, the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons, and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth, I am weary to bear them. . . . Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow" (Isaiah, i., 10—17).
This burning eloquence of the early prophets confirms the conclusion drawn from the historical books, that down to the time of the Captivity of Judah there existed no code of ceremonial laws recognised as of Divine authority. Some ancient customs there doubtless were, but no written Levitical law claiming the authority of Moses and of God. Had there been such, the prophets would never have made light of these sacrificial and ceremonial observances as they did. Indeed, it is most unfortunate for the proper understanding of the Old Testament prophets that the Levitical code should in our Bibles precede the writings of the early prophets, whose words will have ten times more force when it is once perceived that they are to be taken in their most literal sense, and that the speakers knew of no authoritative book of ceremonies claiming their respect.
Well, then, we have seen now that neither from the historical books nor from the prophetical books should we ever have learnt that there was extant through all these centuries of Jewish national existence, a priestly code of ritual as we have it in the Book of Leviticus, claiming divine or even Mosaic origin. Why, then, should we suppose there was such a code? Let us rather ask, under what circumstances did it really come into existence?
It must not be forgotten that when, after a siege of two and a half years, the city of Jerusalem was at last sacked by: Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldæans in the year 586 B.C., a great part of the city, including the Temple, was destroyed by fire. Further, there is a tradition, which has been handed down to us in one of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament (the Second Book of Esdras), that on the occasion of this great calamity such copies of the Pentateuch as then existed were all destroyed, and the writer goes on to say that at the return from Captivity the book was entirely reproduced by a miracle. Now, amongst the leaders of the returning exiles was a son of Aaron, the priest Ezra, of whom we read in the book that bears his name. The tradition is that a divine communication was made to this man, who was thus enabled to re-write the Pentateuch
additions. But, as you are aware, all historical documents have of late years been subjected to a scrutiny far more severe and searching than the scholars of previous times thought necessary. The Pentateuch has shared in this scrutiny, and many scholars are now, in consequence, of opinion that Ezra, the priest, did far more than merely edit the work; and it is believed that he and his fellow priests introduced into it the whole of this priestly ritual which now forms so large a part of the book. Let us see.
A cursory examination of the Book of Leviticus and the allied books is quite sufficient to show that one object of the Levitical legislation was to magnify the priestly office and to exalt the descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses. Now we have in the second chapter of this Book of Ezra a sort of table of the families who returned to Jerusalem to re-build the city and temple, and from this table we learn the astounding fact that one in every ten of these returned exiles was a priest. Think of that. We are not badly off for parsons here in New Zealand, but think what our unhappy condition would be like if one in every ten amongst us was a parson of some color or other. We should then, indeed, be a priest-ridden country—worse than Spain or even Scotland. Well, that was the condition of the Hebrew nation at Jerusalem at the time of the return from Babylon, and I ask, could any circumstances be more favorable for the introduction of a vast ceremonial system than the condition of society at Jerusalem in the time of Ezra? Depend upon it Ezra and his fellow-priests edited the book to some purpose on that occasion. It was not a mere re-issue you may be sure.
But, again. The nation was now reduced to very small dimensions indeed, and consequently many of the Levitical directions that seem to us utterly impracticable, and that would have been utterly impracticable addressed to a nation that occupied the whole of Palestine, would involve no difficulty at all when enjoined upon a few thousand people only, living in Jerusalem and its immediate neighborhood. These could all assemble in the Temple three times a year without any hardship
of whom we don't hear till now.
There are several discrepancies in the priestly sections of the Pentateuch that betray their post-captivity date, but these are for the most part too minute for general discussion, and to one only will I refer. According to the Levitical law whenever a Hebrew offered sacrifice, certain portions of the victim, viz., the breast and hind leg, became the perquisites of Aaron and his sons, the sacrificing priests. Their other perquisites were the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and the first-born of all the sheep and oxen. Now it is so important that we should be accurate in our statement of these particulars that I will read one of the passages in which the statement occurs (Leviticus, vii., 31—34.) "And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'. And the right thigh shall ye give unto the priest as a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion. For the wave breast and the heave thigh have I taken of the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron, the priest, and unto his sons as a due for ever from the children of Israel." Notice it doesn't say "unto the Levites," or "the whole tribe of Levi," but "unto Aaron, the priest, and unto his sons as a due for ever." And still further, that there may be no mistake about it, let me quote the 8th and 9th verses of the 18th chapter of Numbers. "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, I, behold I, have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings, even all the hallowed things of the children of Israel, unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sous as a due for ever. This shall be thine of the most holy things reserved from the fire; every meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every guilt-offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons." Also from the 11th verse, "And this is thine; the heave-offering of their gift, even all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee as a due for ever. . . All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the corn, the first fruits of them which they give unto the Lord, to thee have I given them . . Everything that openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord, both of man and beast, shall be thine. Nevertheless the first born of man shalt thou redeem," etc. Now remember that at the time of the wanderings in the Wilderness, when this communication was supposed to have been made according to the orthodox view, the children of Israel numbered about 3,000,000
Let us, however, bring the matter to the test of calculation, though only in one of the smallest details, and let us determine by this ordeal whether the orthodox hypothesis is at all fair and reasonable, or whether the supposition that these laws were framed for the circumstances they profess to fit is at once impossible and absurd. And we will take the case of the offerings to be made by the Hebrew women after childbirth.
In the year day in London for the year in question may be put down at 250 (see Colenso's Pentateuch, part I., p. 128), and we may assume that the rate would have been about the same in the other case. Well, according to Leviticus xii., as soon as a Hebrew mother had recovered from childbirth she was required to make atonement for the exercise of her most holy function by presenting to the priest, as an offering for Jehovah, either two young pigeons, or one young pigeon and a lamb. We will suppose, in order to make the case as favorable as possible for the orthodox hypo, thesis, that each Hebrew mother was wealthy enough to afford the larger offering, viz., the lamb and one young pigeon, so that only 250 pigeons would be offered per day. Well, 250 pigeons per day are 90,000 per year; and 90,000 pigeons therefore is the number that would have to be eaten per year by the priests alone, in the Holy Place, as provided for in Leviticus xviii., 10. And, then, remember that at the time of the forty years' wanderings in the wilderness the priests consisted of just three persons, viz, Aaron and his two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, that's all; so that each of the three would have to consume no less than 30,000 pigeons in the course of the year; to say nothing of the tons upon tons of wave breasts and heave thighs from the larger flesh animals! ! Does not all this then amount to a demonstration that the priestly legislation of the Pentateuch is altogether misplaced as to time, and cannot possibly be made to fit into the conditions given in the Pentateuch itself? The whole thing is absurd in the highest degree. But now on the other hand look how well these very directions fit into the condition of things at the time of the Return from the Captivity. The 3,000,000 people
The arrangements, in fact, fit the new conditions so exactly that one can only infer that they were made for them. The key fits the lock, therefore it is the key that was made for the lock, at all events if it is a complicated lock, like the present.
Some will say, however, Does not this hypothesis that Ezra and his fellow-priests were the authors of the Levitical legislation, does not this imply conscious fraud on their part, and that of a very heinous character, inasmuch as they claimed a divine origin for that which they knew proceeded from themselves? Granted, such persons will say, that the Jehovist reported in good faith the mythology of the past, and that the Deuteronomist, whether Jeremiah or somebody else, was only following a well-understood device when he put unhistorical speeches into the mouth of Moses, neither of these pleas will avail the priests of the return when they drew up a vast scheme of ritual and palmed it off upon their countrymen as divine communications to Aaron and Moses. The phrase repeatedly adopted in the Book of Leviticus is: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying," or else this: "And the Lord spake unto Aaron." How do you meet this difficulty?
I reply, in the first place, the hypothesis is none the less probable, even if it does imply dishonesty on the part of the priesthood. Are we so ignorant of the spirit that has animated priesthoods in the past as not to know that again and again they have resorted to deception in order to accomplish their ends and maintain their power over the minds of men? Have even all Christian Churches been free from this stain? Nay, are all free now? Does not the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius take place at Naples once a year still? I fear, therefore, that it is no fatal objection to any hypothesis that it involves duplicity on the part of the priesthood.
In the second place, however, I am not quite sure that we are obliged to attribute deception to the Jewish priests in this matter. You must remember especially that we are very ignorant of the conditions under which Ezra and his friends wrote—of the state of mind, that is, both of writers and readers, such readers as there were. Above all we must remember this, that the most fruitful source of all the theological errors of
may be in reference to the phrases adopted in this portion of the Pentateuch we are considering. It may be that they were never intended to be taken literally, and that the writers of them never dreamt they would be so taken. It can hardly be supposed that all these rites and ceremonies that form the Levitical legislation were originated suddenly on one occasion by Ezra and his contemporaries. Many of them, at least, may have been common custom previous to the residence in Babylon, and there may even have been a vague tradition that Moses originated them, just as old English institutions, whose real origin was unknown, used always, until recently, to be set down to the credit of Alfred the Great. When the pilgrims returned from exile, and Ezra found it necessary to issue a new edition of the Pentateuch—as all critics, both orthodox and heterodox, acknowledge he did—he may have thought it judicious to introduce into it these old ceremonial practices, accompanied by large additions which he thought desirable, and to give them in writing the authoritative character which tradition had already given them. They came
More than one of the arguments we have just adduced seems to demonstrate beyond controversy the conclusion that we have really hit upon the true era of production for this remarkable law-code. Nevertheless, I can well believe that some few of my hearers may feel even yet an involuntary unwillingness in their minds to make so complete a revolution in their ideas of the Old Testament as is involved in the new theory. The mind, familiar from childhood with the supposition that the Jewish ritual originated in the Exodus from Egypt, almost refuses to believe that it was really the Exodus from Babylon that gave it birth. This not unnatural scepticism will perhaps, however, disappear in view of the one indisputable historical fact I am about to cite, viz., that the priests of the Captivity certainly employed themselves in Babylon in providing Rituals of Worship for the future use of their countrymen. And perhaps the most extraordinary fact in connexion with this subject we are discussing, as illustrating the thoroughness with which traditional views close the minds of men to the clearest evidence, is the circumstance that until recently scarcely anyone seems to have noticed that the prophet-priest Ezekiel, who lived in Babylonia early in the Captivity, himself furnishes us with a code of ceremonies similar in many respects to that of the Pentateuch, as you will find by referring to the last nine chapters of his prophecies. First you have the description of an ideal Temple in all its parts and dimensions, corresponding to the Tabernacle of the Book of Exodus, and given with all the minuteness of a modern architect's specifications; next the general account of the Temple is supplemented by a more particular one of Halls to be devoted to the accommodation of "the priests, the sons of Zadok," a feature which finds its parallel in the dresses and functions assigned to "the sons of Aaron, the priest," in the so-called Mosaic ritual. Further, we find mention made of "a Holy Place," holy garments, meat-offerings, sin-offerings, burnt-offerings, "year of liberty,"—mention, in fact, of all the para phernalia with which the Pentateuch has made us so familiar; "and the glory of the Lord fills the house," in Ezekiel xliii., 5, just as in Exodus xl., 34. In fact, we find we have here got into just the stratum of thought and phrase to which the Book of Leviticus belongs; and so close is the correspondence that at
I must not linger longer on this topic, but I do not like to pass away from it without calling your attention to the wonderful analogy there is between the condition of the Returning Pilgrims from Babylon and that of their forefathers in the Exodus from Egypt. Oppression and suffering lay behind them both, the desert had to be crossed by both alike, and the promised land lay before the wanderers in each case. Surely the thought of the great similarity between their circumstances and those of their forefathers must often have passed through the mind of Ezra and his companions, so that he might often have thought of himself as, in his measure, a second Moses, and one who might without much impropriety give a new version of the story of the first national deliverance; it is even possible that he may have been aware how much there was of the mythical in the story as it already stood, and he may have felt that he was doing no great injustice to the past by engrafting upon it all that he now wished to enforce upon his countrymen. Anyway, the analogy between the two situations could hardly have escaped the notice of the Returning Exiles.
We have now pretty well completed our investigation into the component elements of this famous work, the Pentateuch. Of course, the kernel of the new criticism is this, that that vast body of minute observances and ceremonies that has hitherto been called the Mosaic law, or the Jewish law, has been antedated nearly 1000 years, and that in reality most of it had no existence, and certainly no written existence till after the Return of the Jews from the Babylonish Captivity. It is the law of Ezra, not the law of Moses, it is the law of the small Jewish church which was founded after the Return, not the law of the Jewish nation, as that nation had existed in Palestine previous to the Captivity, it's the final result of the Jewish mental life, not the foundation of it. In future, if you want really to understand aright the development of the religious idea in Palestine, you must unbind your volume of the Old Testament and remove the Law to the end of the historical books, not leave it at the beginning. If this idea seems a startling one, even to scholars, a very little further study and
But I have kept the best morsel for the last. You will remember that in our lecture two Sundays ago we showed the existence of at least two documents even in the Book of Genesis, the Elohistic and the Jehovistic. We also assigned a highly probable date as that when the Jehovistic document was written, viz., the final years of the existence of the Northern Kingdom. But what about the Elohistic element, which gives us an account of the Creation on the first page of our Bibles, crops up here and there all through the Book of Genesis, and is continued into the remaining books, though it seems to terminate at the sixth chapter of the Book of Exodus, where God formally assumes the name of Jahveh or Jehovah? We have said nothing yet of the date of this writing. For some time, indeed, there was a schism in the ranks of the new school of critics on this subject, but all have now come to this startling conclusion that this Elohistic document of Genesis is due to the very same writer to whom the priestly code owes its origin, i.e., that Ezra or one of his contemporaries wrote it; that it is a sort of narrative introduction to lead up to the Ritual; it's the priestly version of the Creation prefixed to the Jehovist's narrative of the same event, and is, as I have said, by the priestly authors of the Code. Just as in two of the Synoptic Gospels,—Matthew, and Luke,—later and grosser legends of the Conception and the Birth of Jesus of Nazareth have been prefixed by a more recent editor to the more historical parts of the original gospels; so here a preface has been written to the Jehovist's account of the Creation, a preface which was not composed until the Jews by their residence in Babylon had become familiar with the Assyrian legend on the same subject.
Nor do I think that this old friend of ours, the first chapter of Genesis, loses anything by the new view we are compelled to take of it. For no unprejudiced person can read that chapter without feeling, that, in spite of all the errors it contains, there is a certain grandeur and eloquence about its utterances that compares very favorably with the absurd stories of the Jehovist in the second and third chapters of the same book. It's as if the writer was a man of far more advanced culture than the Jehovist, he writes as one who has seen other lands than his own, and knows of other gods than Jahveh or Jehovah, the national god of Israel. Nay, he refuses to ascribe the work of the world's creation to any local god at all; he doesn't say, "in the beginning Jehovah made the world," but, "in the beginning Elohim, the Mighty One, the Universal God, made the heavens and the earth." You see he has been to Babylon and has learnt wisdom; he writes as a philosopher, and seems to think that his sacred book ought not to begin with foolish legends about Adam's rib, and Eve's partiality for an apple. Now that our eyes have been opened a very slight comparison of the documents is sufficient to show us how vast have been the intellectual gains in the three centuries that divide the later writer from the earlier.
The Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch means, of course, its miraculous, divine origin as well. On the other hand the theory of its late date involves also the supposition of its natural, human origin. Hence, as we have already in our previous lectures discussed the literary and historical features of the book, we will attempt now, in this our fifth and concluding lecture, by passing in review the intellectual and moral teaching of the work and the influence of this on the present and past of humanity—we will attempt to show the strong confirmation which is thus afforded us of the conclusion at which we have already arrived, viz., that this marvellous and interesting document is the workmanship, not of a divinely enlightened Moses, but of Jewish scribes, dark and fierce, a thousand years later. Although the book is not of the hoary antiquity hitherto ascribed to it, it still belongs indisputably to the early world, and bears, stamped indelibly upon the face of it, the crude and cruel ideas of ancient times, when evil rather than good, Ahriman rather than Ormuzd, was the source of inspiration for humanity. The picture we have to draw is a gloomy one, with infernal rather than celestial suggestions; one, too, the first glance at which will convince us that the subject of these lectures is no mere idle question of literary curiosity, but touches the most vital themes and the highest well-being of man.
I. We remark then, first, that the popular views as to the authorship of the Pentateuch are a hindrance to the diffusion of scientific knowledge, inasmuch as they put two great sciences under a ban—those of geology and biology; and men and women—aye, and even youths and maidens—who have not studied these or any other sciences, but who are strong only in the prejudices, ignorance, and errors of the past, are not ashamed to speak of these sciences, and of the great students and teachers of them, with contempt and undisguised scorn. Thus the noble sciences to which I have referred are kept in the back ground, and the great majority of men and women never come under their ennobling influences, remaining content with the childish story of the origin of the world and its inhabitants contained in the first two chapters of Genesis. And so, although the true history of the world is well known, and although the account of it makes the grandest hymn that science has yet composed, the great majority of men live and die in entire ignorance of the subject, through the discredit that religious teachers throw on this branch of science. It is impossible to over-estimate the loss such people
And for what does the orthodox man thus beggar himself of all the privileges of the advanced age in which lie lives? In order that with the flood of scientific sunlight streaming down upon him, he may yet continue to believe, if he can, that in spite of all the accumulated evidences of its extreme antiquity, this globe has existed for no more than 6,000 years, at which period it and all its inhabitants were suddenly and magically produced out of nothing in the course of six days, with all the other arbitrary statements of the first chapter of Genesis. How arbitrary and erroneous those statements are we may judge from this specimen of them, viz., that whilst light, the glorious daylight, was created on the first day, the Sun itself, the source of light, was not brought into being till the fourth day. But if the statements of the first chapter of Genesis are arbitrary and erroneous, by what adjective shall we characterize some of those in the second chapter? If the geology of the Elohist is faulty, what shall we say of the biology of the Jehovist? We know what is the biology of science, how that all animal and vegetable existences have got impressed upon them two great principles, that of fertility and that of variability; that as the product of this
There are men who laugh at that theory; they declare it contrary to common-sense, absurd, nay, comic in its absurdity. They are somewhat doubtful of the sanity of the thinkers and philosophers who hold it, and venture to suggest that it is just as well that there are lunatic asylums in this world. Ah! well! And what do they believe? These champions of common-sense, what is their account of the origin of the human race, or at least of the better half of it? How was woman created? In this way, if you please. A gentleman of the name of Adam felt himself rather drowsy one summer afternoon, and ventured to indulge in a siesta. On coming to himself again he felt a strange vacuum in his inside, and poking about under his waistcoat he found one of his ribs gone, but at the same moment became aware of some object standing by his side, something vastly like himself, too, and yet so different, what could it be? What could it be? Why, it was his Rib! Don't laugh, if you please, because that is the true account, the divinely taught account, of the origin of woman; there's nothing absurd in that story, nothing incredible, nothing unlikely; the people that believe that feel themselves quite at liberty to ridicule the scientific principle of Evolution.
Those, however, who are dissatisfied with the biblical account may explain it either by a comical or a rationalist interpretation. In the latter case, the explanation would be that as the Hebrew
(ish), and that for woman is (ish-shah), the legend of the origin of woman was just an attempt of the Jehovist to explain the manifest connexion between the two words; in this way, that just as ishshah is evidently formed from ish, so woman must be regarded as formed out of man. If any one is not satisfied with that explanation, he may suppose that before Adam lay down to sleep that warm summer's afternoon, he took something for luncheon that disagreed with him, perhaps an apple, that in consequence he suffered from nightmare, and when he woke up wrote an account of the horrible dream he had had, which Moses afterwards mistook for a scientific statement of fact.
One of the most humiliating chapters in the history of the human mind will be that which shall record the unscrupulous attempts of orthodox teachers to twist the simple meaning of the expressions in the first chapter of Genesis into harmony with the results of geologic science. When the vast antiquity of the earth first became manifest through the labors of Mantell, Buckland, Lyell, and others, the erroneousness of the biblical account of the Creation at once became apparent to honest minds. It was seen to be not only inadequate, but false and absurd as well. And a farther consequence followed. Impartial and unprejudiced persons perceived that the new discoveries were fatal to the dogma of biblical infallibility, and that in whatever perplexity a change of belief on this great subject might involve them the change must be made. This, I say, was the mental attitude assumed by conscientious and strong-minded men, who felt that loyalty to truth was their first duty. But these were heroic souls, and there were many men who, though good men in their way, could not rise to that high order of mind; men to whom abstract truth was a cold virgin without attractions; men who were better pleased with the smaller good to which they were accustomed than with the more philosophic wisdom of the new age. But to refuse high duty is a sin, and to run away to Tarshish when you are ordered on a disagreeable errand to Nineveh emasculates the man unless retribution overtake him, And so these weaker brethren found it; they found, as many have found in other connections, that the only alternative offered them was that between the heroic on the one hand, and the dishonorable and mean on the other. Either change your theology as the new knowledge requires you to do, said Providence, or—tamper with truth, make the worse reason appear the better, put a forced meaning on words, act unscrupulously. You may deceive yourself, if you like, and maintain you are fighting for religion and God, but the generation that succeeds you will be under no delusion respecting you and your doings. You will stand convicted before it of misleading your contemporaries, throwing dust in people's eyes, and hindering human progress. To what lengths men will go in
shall mean incalculable ages, black shall mean white, before we will relinquish the beliefs of our childhood. But, you reply, not only does the Hebrew language possess a word for age (in), which is not the word used here, but the writer has made it impossible for you to put this extraordinary meaning on the word day, he has defined .his day. He says "the evening and the morning were the first day," or, more literally, "the evening was, and the morning was, one day." It's a day of twenty-four hours with an evening and a morning to it. How, then, can it be "incalculable ages?" "No matter," says Dr. Pye Smith, "no matter," says Hugh Miller, "the old beliefs shall be defended, even though we risk our character as reasonable or truthful men."
The fact is, and every day enforces the conviction of it, that the number of those who have formed the idea of abstract truth is very small, and the number of those who have schooled their souls to recognize the claims of abstract truth is still smaller. Most men, and some of them are found in the pulpit, are content with more petty thoughts and lower ideals. They profess loyalty to the beliefs of their forefathers, or to the creed of their church, but to any higher claims they are blind or insensible. We often hear from the pulpit of the infidelity that exists in the world, but I venture to retort the charge, and to call attention to the spirit of infidelity that exists in the church and the pulpit—infidelity of the worst kind—the infidelity that distrusts the power of truth—that would rather believe an old lie than a new verity. How many are there, clergymen and laymen both, who make it their boast that they never read what is called sceptical literature in order that they may never lay themselves open to change of opinion. Yet what is this but to acknowledge that they refuse to look at both sides of the question, and that they do so through fear that the sceptical arguments may prove the stronger? Thus, they show first that they don't want to know the truth, and secondly that they have no belief in its inherent power. This is the crying sin of the churches of to-day—this is the cancer that is eating into their vitals. We are told we must not attack the theological errors of our day because they are the defence of virtue. Was treason more flagrant ever uttered? Each earnest and noble soul knows that error alone is pernicious, and that good and not harm must ever attend the presentation of truth. Belief in the inherent worth of truth is the most fundamental
II. But again. For generations past men's views of their own nature and destiny have been largely moulded by the opinions they have held on the ancient Jewish books of the Old Testament, and, not least, by their views on the Pentateuch. These theories, it is now becoming very plain, are false theories, and cannot therefore be without an evil influence, alike on the individual and the race. No true views on Psychology, and no true views even on Social Science can possibly prevail as long as these ancient Jewish legends maintain their usurped sway. I observe therefore that the knowledge of the late origin of the Pentateuch destroys the foundation of that false theory of human nature known as the Fall and Total Depravity of Man, and opens the mind to the scientific study of man's nature and life, the most important of all knowledge. The geology of the first chapter of Genesis we have seen to be erroneous, the biology of the second chapter we have also seen to be absurd, but the psychology of the third chapter is poisonous. It is important that men should have correct views as to the origin and history of the material universe, but far more important that their conceptions of human nature should be accurate. The proper study of mankind is man, says the ancient philosopher Thales, and error here is a practical evil. If then on this vital subject tradition be substituted for science, not only may mischief be done, but mischief of the most fatal kind, on the most colossal scale, affecting for ages human character and happiness, and all that is of most worth in the creation of God.
Man is a part of nature, and nature is one vast order. Everywhere is development, from the inanimate to the living, from the automatic to the conscious, from the animal to the human. The
normal product of the forces of nature, part of the original plan, if one may so speak; he occupies his proper place in the great scheme of things, he is the fruition and crown of the whole. So says science.
And, indeed, his function is the highest conceivable. It is to develope social life from selfish life, and this is true alike of the race and the individual. The race at the commencement of its history, as we see in the lowest tribes of savages now, was endowed with principles whose object was the preservation of the individual alone; and the duty imposed upon it has been, from these lowly beginnings to develope a nature that shall subordinate the welfare of the individual to that of the society as a whole, to crucify all the self-seeking instincts, or rather to transform them into principles which make for the welfare of the race. Many groups of the human family are engaged now in working out that problem, and with varying success, whilst the most advanced of them are far enough yet from the realization of the ideal. Yet undoubtedly progress has been made. Mutual confidence has been established between the members of the same community, and that is the one condition of social life. I don't carry a loaded pistol about with me, because I have reason to believe that the man I meet in the street will not attempt to take my life. This is true in all great cities, though in the deserts of Central Asia, and in some parts of the backwoods of America, and other places, even this stage has not yet been reached. Indeed, in the most advanced communities there are individuals who attempt to prey on the others, more or less secretly, and some of these we call the criminal class and deprive of their privileges as members of the community, granting them at the same time board and lodging at the public expense. But, speaking generally, war between individuals of the same society has ceased to exist, and a state of permanent peace has been reached. This is evidently a great advance on the first stage, "When wild in woods the noble savage ran." And we see that it has been reached by the cultivation of the principle of mutual trust and confidence. Whatever tends to promote the growth of this principle we call virtue, whatever tends to destroy it we call vice and crime, whilst the voice of public opinion distributing praise and blame supplies the motive to action, or what we call the sanctions of morality. People sometimes lament the wickedness that prevails in society, and affect to regard every-
But, whilst it is plainly false to say that men are wholly bad, i.e., wholly selfish or self-seeking, it is true that individuals vary greatly as to the degree of self-denial they are capable of exercising; some have been so disciplined by what they have passed through in the course of their lives, as to be now entirely under the dominion of altruistic principles, whilst others seem almost to forget that society has any claims upon them at all. Of the first class was the engine-driver in New York State who sprang into the scalding steam of his engine to turn the tap and stop the train, which had already taken fire, and would soon have enveloped all on board in one vast conflagration. His poor scalded body lies in the cemetery in New York City, but his name liveth for evermore. He and thousands like him are proof positive to all theological gainsayers that there are good men in this world. But the main proof of what I have just been saying lies in this fact, to which I have already once referred, that the daily intercourse of life between man and man involves the exercise of mutual confidence which can only exist on the supposition that men generally are, on the whole, not bad, not totally depraved. Society itself is a standing proof that that is a fact; when it ceases to be a fact, society will break up. That is the true philosophy of human nature, as it relates to individuals.
And what has thus taken place amongst the units of each national community, has also to some extent been achieved by the various national communities in their relation to one another. The primitive condition between two nations is that of war, violence, each for itself to the utmost, even to the destruction of the other as a community; and this is the normal condition of barbarous tribes, they are in a chronic state of war. When they make an agreement with one another to respect one another's rights they establish a state of peace, they rise to a higher platform, they enter on a more advanced stage of existence; a state of peace, as long as it lasts, is a higher order of national life than a state of war. The highest and perfect state of international existence will be when peace is permanently
Now this holy struggle of humanity from the selfish to the social—this struggle so profound, so glorious, so fraught with vast issues—is that into which every human being is thrown at birth; in this each is to share; to the grand, the infinite result, each is to contribute. The duty of each in this world is to check and restrain all the selfish impulses of his nature, and to develop all the benevolent impulses, until he becomes a blessing to his race, and finds his own happiness in the fact that he is such. That is the work and destiny of man as revealed by science—a noble work, a lofty destiny. To subdue the evil in his own breast, however fierce his passions; to work for the public benefit, however faint and insipid the pleasure at first, until at last he rejoices in the sympathy of all the good as his highest reward—a sympathy expressed in the approval of his own conscience, which is in fact the voice of society, the voice of nature, the voice of God in the soul of man.
Well, if that is the destiny of humanity, it's a grand thing to be a man, to take part in a holy conflict like that. But mark. If the third chapter of Genesis is divinely-inspired truth, the scientific view of human nature which I have just put before you is erroneous. If man is a fallen being he's no part of the grand order of nature, he's not as God created him, he's a corrupt thing; he's not one with the bright sunshine, and the flowers of the field, and the birds that sing in the air, and the glorious unity of nature. He's out of harmony with it all—an evil thing. The universe is a glorious creation, full of marvel, and beauty, and grandeur, and to be a normal part of it might well swell the soul with joy and hope; but if the petty fable of the Jehovist is true, the sunshine is gone out of human life for man. And it is because men have substituted these childish traditions for knowledge and reality that human life is to-day the petty, dull, unmeaning thing it is to so many. When men's best ideas, their deepest convictions, are derived from an ancient Eastern fable about a talking serpent and a magical tree, what dignity can there possibly be about such lives? When their only theory of life is the false one founded on the ridiculous myth of the Fall, how can the tone of mind of such men be other than grovelling and dull? Of course shrewd men of the world do not really believe such rubbish, though many try to do so and fancy they do so—the dogma only exists as a sham in their minds, aud really
But mark, it is not the only curse they have inflicted on humanity in the past, when men really did believe the horrible dogmas of the Pall and Total Depravity of Human Nature, and when these dogmas were in consequence active germs of mental and moral disease. Think of the mental confusion that must have existed in men's minds when they actually believed and taught that they themselves were culpable on account of Adam's transgression, and that for each sin they themselves committed they deserved to suffer endless torments; so that good men have passed their lives in ceaseless anxieties and black despair because they would ascribe to idle tradition the authority which science alone may justly claim. Yet all that mental suffering, to say nothing of the general evil that has been wrought through men's holding an entirely false theory of human nature—all that has been entirely gratuitous, it is all based on a lie. Moses never recorded that old legend under divine teaching; Moses never wrote it at all; it was not written till centuries after his death, by some anonymous writer, who never claimed inspiration for himself, or ever dreamt it would be attributed to him, but who was simply trying to explain to himself and others the cause of the phenomenon of death. Had men used their faculties on his narrative they might easily have seen that if it was an inspired narrative it was the inspiration of ignorance and error alone. The serpent creeps on the ground, not because of a curse pronounced upon him, but because he was originally constructed to creep on the ground; he was never sentenced by the Lord God to eat dust, because from the beginning until now he never has eaten dust, and never will eat dust as long as he can get a nice fat missionary to eat; every line of this old legend betrays its human and mythical origin, and marks it out as an idle story of a barbarous and credulous age. But remember this, that every man who maintains the inspired character of the Pentateuch nowadays stands responsible before society for whatever false
The revelation of Science is a nobler revelation than that of Hebrew tradition, the dogma of evolution lifts man up from the despair into which superstition had plunged him; it teaches him that the motto "Excelsior" is stamped upon his inmost being; the history of the past is a record of progress, and from it we may deduce the equation to the curve of man's unlimited improvement in the future. For—
III. And once more. If any one wants to know how inferior is the teaching of the Pentateuch to the teaching of the enlightened conscience of the present day, and how mischievous, therefore, it is to impose this lower teaching on men as of divine origin; if, in fact, anyone wants to know how base are the commands, how immoral the morality which the upholders of these books would have us believe to be God's commands and God's morality, let him turn to the injunctions of the Pentateuch on the subject of slavery. This morality, which, we are told, is of such a lofty order that the unaided human mind could never have attained to it, is consistent with the full recognition of the institution of slavery, of property in human beings, of the right of one man to exercise unlimited ownership in his brother man. This institution, which reveals the wild-beast side of human nature; this which is the disease, the open sore of humanity, which has filled the world with groans, and tears, and horrors inexpressible the wide world over throughout all ages; this, which has turned earth into hell; this, according to the Pentateuch, has been fully recognized, if not expressly authorized, by the Deity himself. The Deity has authorized slavery, says the Pentateuch. I brand that assertion as the foulest falsehood that has ever passed the perjured lips of priestcraft, and I throw upon those who maintain the inspired character of these ancient books the responsibility for that foul, that blasphemous slander on the Most High. Either surrender the divine origin and authoritative character of these books, or bear, as best you may, the odium of betraying the divine honor. You cannot blow hot and cold with the same breath. Nay, it should be a relief to every truly pious man that the claim for inspiration made for such books as these has been challenged. Indeed, if I wanted further argument to show that the Books of the Pentateuch were of human origin, and not miraculously inspired of God, I would point to its injunctions on the subject of slavery.
But what are these injunctions? In the first place the Hebrew
but only on one condition—only on condition of showing himself a base, heartless wretch—only on condition of abandoning the wife and children he had acquired in slavery; these must remain the slave-driver's prey. Remember this is a divine code of laws we are considering. They are headed, "And the Lord spake unto Moses." Again I say, it's a blasphemous falsehood. The Lord never said such a word to Moses, never enjoined such atrocious crime. Who is the infidel now, I'd like to know? The man who will not be silent whilst such slanders are uttered against the Most High, or the man who has the effrontery to maintain that the Pentateuch comes from God? But I havn't reached the worst yet, and I hardly know how to brand as it deserves—the inhuman, the fiendish cruelty of the next "divine command," although the command is hardly more loathsome than the reason given for it. It is enjoined that the Jewish slaveholder shall, if he likes, flog his slave to death, provided only the poor bruised and battered creature lingers on for two or three days! And the reason given why the slaveholder shall in this case not be punished is, for the slave is the slaveholder's money. 0 ye Christian ministers, who dare to say that the God of Heaven and earth, the Great Creator, the God that created you and me, ever gave such a command as that to Moses, repudiate the horrible doctrine in your pulpits next Sunday, as you are righteous men, and own up boldly that you have been in error in teaching this dogma of the divine authorship of the Pentateuch. Ask pardon of God and man for your black sin; say that it was in ignorance you did it—the ignorance of your fathers before you.
Those of my hearers who are familiar with their Bibles will know that I have not misrepresented the teaching of the Pentateuch in what I have just said, yet for the sake of others who cannot recall the passages I will recite them here. Exodus, xx., 22, opens thus, "And the Lord said unto Moses, thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel." Then follows an injunction about the building of altars, which occupies four verses, and after that the Lord proceeds to say: "Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, i.e., bondman, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. ... If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself." And again, further on, the same Divine Speaker says: "And if a man smite his servant or his maid, i.e., his bondman or bondwoman, with a
he shall not be punished, for he is his money." (Ex xxi, 20, 21.)
And, now let us see how these injunctions of the Deity respecting slave-holding were carried out, or how they are represented to have been carried out. We have just seen how this book, whose origin we are considering, represents the Author of the Universe as sanctioning slavery, and condoning its worst cruelties; but it does even more than that, it represents the Author of the Universe as himself a slave-holder, exercising his ownership through his deputies, the priests. The prominence given to the priests in this connexion will suggest to you that the portion of the book which contains this representation of the Divine Being belongs to that later section of it which, we have seen such good reason to believe, was composed after the Captivity, and this is the case. It is the 31st chapter of Numbers. In this chapter the Lord is represented as commanding Moses to go and exterminate an Arab tribe called Midianites. "And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites. . . . And they warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they slew every male." That's how the Lord commanded Moses. These bloodthirsty Jews, however, were less bloodthirsty than their Leader, Moses, and refrained from slaying the women and children of their enemies; this was too much for the fanatical Leader (fanatics are always cruel), who at once made his soldiers butcher the women and children as they had already slaughtered the husbands and fathers. But one exception was made by special direction of the divinely appointed Leader. All the young virgins among the captives were to be retained alive in slavery. Says Moses, "But all the women children that have not known man keep alive for yourselves" (verse 18). And further on we read that these young women, thus saved alive for slavery, were 82,000 in number. But the Lord commanded Moses now to "levy a tribute unto the Lord," of all the booty that had been taken, including the female captives, and the Lord's portion of these female captives turned out to be thirty-two in number. So that now, according to this precious story, the Great God of Heaven and Earth is a slave-holder to the extent of possessing 82 young virgins; but, as he doesn't want slaves himself, he commands Moses to make them over to Eleazar, the priest. That you may see the account is as shocking as I am representing it, I will read the verses (40, 41): "And the persons were 16,000, of whom the Lord's tribute was thirty and two persons. And Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses."
And this representation of the Deity as a blood-thirsty savage, and an owner of slaves, is the one that religious teachers of the
or from hell, but certainly not from heaven. Yet this is the morality that the orthodox parsons of the present day desire to inculcate in our schools, this is the book that they wish to stamp with the divine authority; these are the horrors they would impress upon the minds of the bright little boys and sweet little girls who sit on the school forms and imbibe the school teaching. God forbid.
The institution of African slavery in the U.S. of America has ceased to exist; it has been swept away in oceans of blood which only fitly represented and avenged the martyrdom that millions of negroes endured in that land for two centuries. The slaveholders of the Southern States of America were held responsible by the world for the crime of slave holding in which they persisted; but we may not shut our eves to the fact that they found the justification of their institution in the Jewish literature, and therefore that every man and woman who holds the doctrine of the divine origin of that literature is personally responsible to humanity for the horrors of the Middle Passage, of the Cotton Plantation, and the Rice Swamp. You orthodox ministers, and you laymen the disciples of such, you shudder at the fiendish cruelties of Mrs. Stowe's Legree—"thou art the man," thou who mis-callest the barbarous laws of a savage Arab tribe the gracious injunctions of Infinite Goodness and Wisdom.
There are other sufferings than those of the body; there is the perplexity, the anxiety, the mental agony of men and women now-a-days whose minds are distracted by the first approaches of doubt, misgiving, and scepticism; who, after believing for a lifetime the orthodox dogma of inspiration, meet in their Bibles
IV. Fourthly and lastly. We have shown how little reason there is to regret the loss of the historical and inspired character of the Pentateuch. And still we have not even yet sounded to its depths the barbarous and degraded ignorance of the authors of this book. There are, as you are aware, forms of stupidity that have prevailed amongst men in the past but have now ceased to exist in every civilized country. I allude more particularly to
they repudiate the summons of the Religious Reformer of the 19th century whose forefathers listened to him in the 16th? The absurdity of the dogma of transubstantiation is not one whit greater than that of the miraculous inspiration of a lot of old Jewish books; and the claims of truth will be paramount with all honest men. By scouting as it deserves the present habit of attempting to reconcile the irreconcilable preachers will once more become earnest men, to whom enthusiasm and high endeavour will be possible, men who will sweeten and sanctify human life by their high example and lofty exhortation.
This, then, is the sum of what I have to say on the great theme of the origin of the Pentateuch. I have put before you my own view of the subject, but the view, I need hardly say, did not originate with me. It is the result of the higher criticism and scholarship of Holland, Germany, England, and, I am glad to say at last, Scotland also; it is set forth in the works of Kuenen, Wellhausen, Colenso, and Robertson Smith. But let no one be unduly influenced by great names; great names may be found on both sides of every question, and it is too late in the history of the world to hope to settle important controversies by appeals to the opinions of famous men. Each man must do his own thinking now-a-days, and not ask John Knox or John Wesley to do it for him. A school-boy or school-girl of to-day may easily know far more than John Ivnox or John Wesley knew in his day. It is the duty and high privilege of every man and woman to think out great principles for themselves; that is the true Protestant spirit, though I am sorry to see that some Protestant ministers are renouncing this spirit, and adopting the Roman Catholic one of bidding people accept their creed from their minister and their Church, enforcing their injunction by the very plea which is urged by the Church of
in spirit, whatever they may be in name, true disciples of his Holiness the Pope. But I am well pursuaded such persons will find but a feeble response in the British mind whether at home or in the colonies; the true Protestant spirit amongst us is too vigorous for that; the very multiplication of sects that exist and flourish amongst us is plain evidence that, tho' scientific truth in theology has not yet been found, the determination to seek for it, each for himself, is native to every Briton. The British mind has an unconquerable aversion to passively receiving a creed from a priest; and "new Presbyter" we have been told on high authority is but old "Priest" writ large. It is only necessary that those with aptitudes for study should make known the results of their studies to their fellow citizens, to procure acceptance for the new Protestantism of to-day even as the leaders of the Reformation in the 16th century obtained acceptance for its principles from their generation. I hold therefore there is no difficulty in each man settling for himself the question discussed in these lectures. The test of a true hypothesis is the completeness with which it explains the phenomena under discussion; as I said before, the key that opens the lock is the key that was made for the lock, at all events if it's a complicated lock; and the question of the late origin of the Pentateuch may be subjected to a very practical test, provided always the inquirer is free from prejudice and loyal to truth. Let each of my hearers with the hypothesis and arguments I have given him present in his mind read carefully and critically through the earlier portions of the Old Testament, including not only the Pentateuch, but the books of Judges and Samuel, and he will be surprised as he goes along at the wonderful way in which the hypothesis I have submitted to him clears up the difficulties that present themselves in such endless succession in the pages of the Bible. Just as there is no royal road to learning, so there is no royal monoply of it, and a man only requires an intelligent mind, an impartial spirit, and a courageous heart, to study profitably the great controversies of the day.
But the courageous heart is a very essential part of the qualification; we must not be daunted by fear, either the fear of hell, or the fear of what people will say; the man who trembles at the thought of hell may give up the pursuit of truth at once; truth is not for cowards. But be well assured God does not punish the courageous spirit, or reserve his heaven for cowards; it's only the God of superstition who does that, not the God of Luther, and Knox, and Latimer, and the brave and the great of old.
Theological reformers of to-day, like the theological reformers of all preceding ages, are represented by their opponents as the adversaries of religion and the destroyers of all that is sacred. But thoughtful. people will distinguish between those who destroy the building and those who seek only to remove the scaffolding. The errors of one age are the stepping stones to the truth of the next. The follies of astrology introduced us to the grandeurs of astronomy, and the dreams of the alchemist to the scientific facts of chemistry. The Roman Catholic Church prepared the way for Protestantism, and Evangelical Protestantism must in its turn disappear before a larger faith. The world has discarded the views of the apostolic age in all the lower departments of human thought; the geography of the early church has been found to be childish error; its astronomy has been utterly exploded; the science of the present day has annihilated its philosophy; the very ideas of to-day are of a higher order than those of Christian antiquity, and make its thoughts impossible to us. How ridiculous then it is to suppose that its theological theories can hold their ground in this nineteenth century, or that the same change which has taken place in all other departments of human thought will not be made in the most fundamental of all. The theology of Evangelical Protestantism is avowedly the theology of the first Christian centuries, and to say that is to pronounce its doom. Men cannot think the thoughts and therefore cannot hold the beliefs of those days of childish ignorance. The nineteenth century must have its own religious theories, and a philosophy of life in harmony with its advanced knowledge. But why should that be destructive of reverence and virtue? 1 know I am uttering a sentiment that the old orthodox Calvinism will repudiate, but it a truth none the less, when I say that piety and religion are natural to man, are a part of his moral nature, and are, therefore, principles that nothing will destroy. These principles have manifested themselves hitherto amongst us on the lines of orthodox Christianity, and hence religion and orthodox Christianity have been regarded as synonymous terms. But they are not so. There have been religious men in all ages (the pious utterances of Socrates before his judges being one illustrious example of this) and good men will continue to be good under the new theories as under the old. The spirit of reverence, the consciousness of human insignificance will even increase, and men will still stand
" Oh, priests, who mourn that reverence is dead ! Man quits a fading faith, and asks instead A worship great and true. I know that there was once a church where men Caught glimpses of the gods believed in then; I dream that there shall be such church again, O dream, come true, come true."
. . . . .
Lyon & Blair, Printers, Lambton Quay, Wellington.
Pyrites and other Sulphides.—The great question at the present day, to miners in New Zealand and other parts, is the economic saving and treatment of the metallic sulphides, as although in new districts lodes consisting of quartz and free gold are occasionally found, still they are getting scarcer and scarcer every day, and even with these, after a certain depth is reached, this free milling character changes. The quantity of gold that can be saved by quicksilver is only a fraction of the assay value of the whole mass, as it is only the free gold present in the quartz that can be amalgamated with the mercury, all that is combined with pyrites and other sulphides being lost. To get the full value from the ores requires a systematic working by which "low grade ores" (ores containing less the six pennyweights of gold to the ton of 2240lbs) can be cheaply and quickly concentrated; when this is done they are ready for treatment, and can be easily converted into ingots of pure metal, the so-called base metals with which the ore is combined being at the same time brought into use and made to yield their proportion of profit.
The loss of working gold ores, even with our most modern appliances of milling and amalgamation, is still enormous, not more than one-half of the gold contained in the ore which is worked is saved. The actual average yield of ores milled and smelted, calculated from Fossett's tables of seven years' work in Colorado, showed the average value of the ore by assay to be £7 18s. per ton, the average value per ton saved by milling and smelting £3, showing a loss of £4 17s. per ton, or more than 60 per cent. The gold caught on the copper plates, under the most favourable circumstances, is only 50 per cent, of the assay value of the ore; the gold from the blankets does not amount to more than 5 per cent.; so that when treating the most tractable of these ores, battery amalgamation does not secure more than 55 per cent, of the gold.
Concentrates, containing pyrites and other sulphides, have been sent from Otago to Sandhurst, and yielded from 80 to 70 ounces of gold per ton—a fair average is about 9 ounces gold per ton. Roughly speaking, it may be taken that the quantity of gold lost in the tailings is equal to that saved.
'Concentrates, Concentrators or Vanners.—After .the pulp leaves the blankets, it is in many modern mills dis-
Hendy's Concentrator.—Figure 1, Has this great advantage, that it is not usually necessary all the particles or grains of ore should be of the same size, but can be treated as they come from the blankets. Hendy's concentrator consists of a shallow pan 5 or 6 feet in diameter, supported in the centre by a vertical shaft, and made to oscilate by cranks on one side; these are joined by connecting rods with the side of the pan, which turns upon a vertical axis through a short distance for every revolution of the crank shaft. The bottom of the pan is raised in the centre to nearly the height of the rim, in order to facilitate the movement of particles towards the circumference. The tailings direct from the blankets are delivered by a trough to the hopper C, from which they pass through the pipe K and distributor D into the pan near the outer edge; and the rotation of D by means of two pawls attached to it, and acted on by teeth on the rim of the pan, causes this delivery of tailings to take place evenly at all points of the circumference; rake-like arms M rotate with D in order to stir the compact mass of sand, &c., which settles at the bottom. The crank makes 210 revolutions per minute, and the accumulated sulphides are discharged through the gate E, while the amalgam and mercury collect in the depression J. The machine concentrates 5 tons of tailings in twenty-four hours.
Frue Vanner.—Figure 2. The principle of this machine is a revolving india rubber blanket with high flanges, and having a side-shaking motion, so that the motion closely resembles that given to a shovel in vanning by hand. The rubber blanket moves against the flow of water, and the sulphides are removed by dipping into a tank of water underneath the machine. The pulp as it leaves the blankets is fed with the water by means of a spreader on to the rubber belt, and thus uniformly distributed across it. To the main shaft sufficient motion is given to impart from 180 to 200 revolutions a minute, with 1 inch throw. The uphill or progressive motion varies from 2 to 12 feet a minute, and the inclination is from 8 to 6 inches, in 12 feet, varying with the ore.
The capacity of a Frue vanner for concentrating is about 0 tons per 24 hours, passing through a 40 mesh sieve (= 1600 per square inch), so that two vanners are required for every five stamps. No sizing of the material is needed, the pulp passing directly from the stamps on to the copper plates and thence on to the vanners. One quarter horse-power is required for each machine, and one man can attend to sixteen machines without difficulty. When six machines are used, the cost of treating the ore is estimated at about tenpence per ton, when ready to flow on to the machine. The side motion of the belt throws off
The concentrates after leaving the vanners will contain from 9 to 70 ounces of gold to the ton, value £33 to £250, less the cost of extraction.
Methods for assaying and proportions of fluxes required will be found at pages 12 and 13.
The next process is roasting the concentrates, and for successful working the ore requires to be free from lumps. The roasting, and further treatment, could be done better in a town, as chemicals, coals, labour, &c., would come cheaper, the cost of carriage upon the concentrates is but a small matter, and with a good supply of material the process is continuous.
Roasting Furnace.—Figure 3, plan 4, section. Single roasting furnace. Figure 3 is the plan of a roasting furnace for 1 ton of sulphides at a charge. A is the hearth bottom, about 12 feet square. It is made of the hardest bricks laid edgewise, close together, forming a bottom 4 inches thick. There are four working doors C, which enable the roaster to reach all points of the hearth conveniently with light rakes. In the middle of the length at the bottom near the doors is a square discharging hole B, which is kept shut by a slide D, during the roasting. Below the floor (fig. 4) is an arch running the whole width of the furnace, through which the hole B passes. An iron car on rails receives the roasted ore, when discharged, and wheels it to the cooling place. The bridge E is from 10 to 12 inches wide and from 8 to 10 inches high; it separates the hearth from the fireplace; if possible, it should be built of fire bricks or fire lumps. The outside wall F is often made 12 inches thick, but it is better to make it 20 or 24 inches. The roof is generally 20 inches above the bottom at its greatest distance; if it is less, although the form of the furnace is improved, it is not so likely to be durable, unless the work is perfect. The length of the bricks gives the thickness of the arch, that is 8 inches. There are three openings H in the roof, each 10 inches in diameter, communicating with the chimney by the flue I, opposite to which is a small door K, for the purpose of cleaning the flue I from time to time. For the same purpose an opening must be prepared in front. The best way to regulate the draft is by means of a cover N on the top of the chimney. The sulphides are charged through the roof by means of a hopper.
About 24 hours is required to roast a ton of sulphides. Other furnaces are in use which will put through 15 to 20 tons in 24 hours.
Test for a Perfect Roast.—The object of roasting is to get rid of all the sulphur, arsenic, antimony, &c., that can be
The roasted ore when thrown up with the hoe or shovel should show but few brilliant sparks, and a portion taken out should not smell like burning sulphur (sulphurous acid); also when a portion is added to water in a glass and either filtered or allowed to settle, the clear liquid should not give a blue precipitate with ferrocyanide of potassium, showing the presence of sulphate of iron, nor a reddish brown precipitate from the presence of copper sulphate; when both are present a greenish precipitate is produced. Sulphates are very injurious to successful chlorination.
A little hydrochloric acid added to some of the roast should not give off the well-known smell of sulphuretted hydrogen, showing the presence of sulphides, as these if present, would be acted upon in the subsequent process and precipitate the gold as sulphide at the wrong time.
A practical test of roasting can easily be made in an ordinary frying-pan, first coating the inside with a mixture of chalk and water and well drying. Mix the finely powdered ore with about its own bulk of fine charcoal; this is needful only when arsenic and antimony are present; still it helps to get rid of the sulphur and can do no possible harm. If the ore contains much sulphide of lead (galena) or sulphide of antimony (stibnite, antimony glance), add some fine sand, as without this addition the mineral while roasting would soon fuse, cake together, adhere to the pan, and ruin the assay. When all is thoroughly mixed, put the pan on the fire; stir well with an iron wire till the glowing ceases and no more sparks are given off; the assay will then appear of one colour, yielding to the stirrer like dry sand. Guard against too high a heat at first. If the roasted mineral is then examined with a magnifying glass or panned off in the usual way, a quantity of gold will be found free, ready for amalgamation.
Amalgamating Pans.—Figure 5. The object of the amalgamating pan is to combine the mercury and the free gold, with the smallest possible loss of mercury. Several kinds are in use—The Wheeler, The Hydrogen Amalgam (Molloy's patent), The Knox and Attwood's, &c.; but the "Combination" pan, fig. 6, appears to be the most successful. The bottom is of cast iron, steam jacketted, with wrought iron sides; the false bottom and mullers are of cast iron, and easily replaced when worn. A pan 6 feet in diameter will treat from 1 to 2 tons pulp at a time.
The roasted ore is introduced in quantity of about 20 cwt., with water sufficient to make the pulp adhere to a stick dipped into it without dropping off, and a slow motion imparted to the machine. After three hours grinding, or longer if found neces-
Settler.—The pulp from the amalgamator is run into the settler, fig. 6. This is a circular vat, in which revolves the central axis, with arms attached; the object is to keep the heavier parts of the pulp thoroughly stirred. Water is introduced during the operation, and the pulp is then drawn off into tanks by the plugged holes as required, and allowed to settle. It still contains, in many cases, a considerable quantity of gold, and is added to the coarser sulphides from the final cleaning up, and is then ready for the chlorination process.
The amalgam is put into the amalgam safe, fig. 7. It consists of a vessel with sheet iron body and cast iron top and bottom. The cover is provided with protected perforations to admit the amalgam, and is usually secured with a padlock. Inside is a canvas strainer.
The Amalgam Retort and Condenser.—In order to lose as little mercury as possible, the amalgam, which contains from 86 to 40 per cent, of gold, is put into cast iron cylinders or retorts (fig. 8). The amalgam is first moulded by hand into cakes, about the size of an egg, and placed in the retort, the lid is secured, and the fire lighted. The mercury condenses in the tube A, which is surrounded by water contained in the tube B, and drops into the tub C, placed ready to receive it. When the retort has been at a cherry-red heat for two hours, the retorting is considered complete. As the retort cools, the water in the tub C would be forced over into the retort: to prevent this, a small tap is placed at D, which, by equalising the pressure, prevents any back flow.
The Newbury-Vautin Chlorination Process.—The apparatus first required is an iron, lead-lined barrel or drum, revolving upon its axis, and capable of holding 20 or 80 cwt.
The chlorinator, upon being stopped, is first connected by the smaller valve with a rubber hose which leads outside the building, the compressed air and gases are discharged, and the valve closed. The cover of the larger valve is next removed, and the barrel again set revolving; at each turn, it delivers a portion of its contents into a shoot leading to the leaching vat or filter; when nearly empty, a few pails of water are thrown in, which quickly remove any remaining ore.
The Improved Filter.—Figure 9 consists of two round cylinders A and C placed one within the other, and both provided with bottoms. They are fixed together, air-tight, by a horizontal hoop or flat ring of metal; the inner cylinder A is lined with stout sheet lead; the bottom is pierced with fine pin holes slightly enlarged on the side B; at D is an opening which is attached to a pipe, so that a partial or intermittent vacuum can be produced in the space between the cylinders from an exhaust-pump or by other means, thus ensuring rapid filtering. When all the liquid chlorides have run through, the tap E is opened, and the contents allowed to flow into a vat; a slight but continuous stream of water is kept playing upon the mass in A, by which all the chlorides are washed out. The solution can be tested from time to time as it runs away at E, and when the washing is complete, the water is cut off. The stuff in the filter is removed to the tailings heap, unless a sufficient amount of silver is present to pay for leaching out, which can be readily done by a solution of calcium hyposulphite or a strong solution of common salt.
The gold and other chlorides are now in solution in the vat, at the bottom of which is a tap; through this the liquid slowly runs on to a filter of charcoal. Gold is precipitated, in the metallic state, on the charcoal, the iron, lime, magnesia, zinc, Ac., passing through unchanged. The charcoal, after drying, is burnt, and the gold collected and melted into an ingot, which, if the various operations have been carefully conducted, will generally be over 970 fine.
The importance of obtaining the "gold contained in pyrites and other sulphides" can hardly be over-estimated. It would, if well and carefully carried out, increase the yield of gold, upon the quantity of ore at present mined, at least 70 per cent.
The value of gold exported in
The following opinions of well known men are worth attention:—
Mr. A. B. Paul (California) says: "The fact is, we are not working to save gold, but to crush rock."
Professor Egliston says: "In all the methods for the extraction of the precious metals there are considerable losses. These losses are greater than is usually supposed, because, as a general rule, systematic assays of the tailings are not made."
Mr. Eissler says: "From what has been said, it will be seen that the problem of gold milling is not the easy matter which some may imagine, but that there is a wide field open for investigation. Much has no doubt been accomplished (speaking of California and Nevada), but there is plenty of room for improvement yet in the methods and appliances for securing the much-coveted metal."
Mr. H. A. Gordon, M.A., F.G.S., speaking in his report (
"I drew attention in my last annual report to the fact that not only is the gold and silver left in the tailings, but in ores where there is a quantity of sulphur and arsenic; a considerable percentage of the precious metal is carried away with the water and never settles in the tailings at all. In crushing raw ores containing a large percentage of sulphur and arsenic, it is simply throwing away money by pretending to save the precious metals by amalgamation with mercury, as arsenic sickens the mercury, and so does sulphur; but the sulphur being a very light mineral, and possessing a great affinity for metals, a certain proportion of them floats on the surface of the water and is carried away.
"To carry on mining on an intelligent basis, any company of any note should have a person who is able to assay the ores; and if these assays are taken from a fair average of the stone, the company is then in a position to see whether the mode of treatment is saving a fair percentage of the gold or not; also by making assays of this description they are fully acquainted with the different metals and minerals in the stone, and in a position to know the best method of treatment to adopt from the class of ore they have to deal with."—(Reports on the Mining Industry of New Zealand,
All the processes and apparatus described have been practically worked, generally with good results, giving 93 to 95 per cent, of the assay value of the stone; in those instances where they have failed, the failure can invariably be traced to bad management or want of the requisite knowledge. At every stage it is absolutely necessary that assays should be made. Four assays of an ore or concentrates can be made in a couple of hours, and should never be neglected. When the gangue, oxides, &c., leave the amalgamator, it becomes a question, Will they pay for chlorination? When the roasting and grinding have been well done and the gold is in a sufficiently free state (after roasting), it is very nearly all removed by amalgamation. It must not be forgotten that it is very easy "to buy gold too dear," and this should be constantly kept in mind.
Of the many books on Metallurgy, &c., the following may be consulted with advantage:—Percy's Metallurgy, Kustel, Makin, Egleston, Randall, Phillips and Bauerman, Mitchell's Assaying, Eissler, Brown, Kerl, &c.; much information has also appeared from time to time in the 'Otago Witness,' of all of which the writer has gladly availed himself.
As assays both of the ores and tailings are of frequent necessity, in place of a regular assay furnace, the following, named after the inventor "Sefstrom's furnace," will be found extremely useful, and leave nothing to be desired. The fuel used is coke, charcoal, or a mixture of both. Figure 10 consists of a double cylinder, exactly like the improved filter, without the taps; the inner cylinder is lined with a fire-resisting material about an inch thick, consisting of 1 part fire-clay and 3 to 4 parts sand, mixed with water and laid on thinly with a brush, drying between each application, till the required thickness is obtained. To hold 4 Battersea triangle S crucibles, the diameter of the inside cylinder is about 14 inches, the height 8 inches, and the distance between the two cylinders at the sides 1½ inches, at the bottom 2½ to 3. At O, about half-way up the inner cylinder, are eight holes pointing towards the centre; these are plugged with wood, when the clay is put on and can be easily removed,
The Re-agents employed in assaying are not many, and need not be particularly pure; ordinary commercial quality will do.
Bi-carbonate of Soda.—Grind free from lumps.
Carbonate of Potash, not bi-carbonate.—Pearlash will do.
Cyanide of Potassium.—Not often required; the cakes of commerce powder in the open air, as it is very poisonous, and keep in a well-closed bottle.
Borax, for making Borax Glass.—The ordinary borax of the shops contains 30 to 47 per cent, of water of crystallization, which must be got rid of, thus: Carefully coat the interior of an S crucible with either dry chalk or chalk-wash, and dry. Place in hot fire, and drop in small pieces of borax, letting the swelling subside somewhat after each successive addition. It is well to fill the crucible only one-third full, as the borax is liable to attack the crucible and run through. When thoroughly fused pour into a frying-pan, coated with chalk; let cool, and then powder.
Black Flux Substitute,—Ten parts of bi-carb. soda (usually called soda) and three of flour.
Common Salt.—Dried and crushed, free from lumps.
Nitre or Saltpetre.—Pulverise finely and keep dry.
Wood Charcoal.—In fine powder.
Silica.—Powdered sand or quartz, if free from minerals, will do.
Litharge of Commerce.—Generally contains a trace of silver.
Lead, granulated.—Melt lead in a crucible, and when it is just hot enough to char a splinter of wood, pour into a tight square box; shake gently at first, and then vigorously from side to side. Sift through a 20-mesh sieve, and remelt what remains in the sieve. It can be assayed for silver, but this is not generally necessary.
In order to test gold or silver ores, or ores which are supposed to contain these metals, and to apply to them their proper treatment, a knowledge of the important art of fluxing is required. The nature of the gangue is important in determining the nature of the flux necessary to change it into a slag. The gangue may be acid, basic, or both acid and basic: consequently the rule for fluxing a gangue is: An acid gangue requires a basic flux; a basic gangue requires an acid flux. An acid gangue, as silica, forms salts with a basic flux, as litharge or soda, producing a slag which is composed of the silicates of lead or soda; and a basic gangue, as lime, requires an acid flux, as silica and borax, forming a slag composed of the silicate and borate of lime.
The first thing requisite is to determine the reducing power of the charcoal; mix well, and sample carefully.
Weigh out in the following order:—Soda, litharge, charcoal, and place on a sheet of glazed paper; mix slightly, and after adding the potash, mix quickly but thoroughly, and pour into an S crucible; put some dry salt on the paper, and dry-wash any adhering particles into the crucible. The salt should form a cover of about half-an-inch thick; it should be invariably used, as it helps, when fused, to wash down the inside of the crucible, taking with it all metals or fluxes. Put the crucible into a hot fire; remove when thoroughly fused; cool, break crucible, detach button from slag, and weigh. The weight, divided by 15, will give the quantity of lead; 1 grain charcoal (if well mixed) will reduce from litharge. It varies between 22 and 80. The trouble of making this and the next experiment will be amply repaid in the subsequent operations.
Determination of the oxidizing power of nitre (saltpetre)—
Use an S crucible, and treat exactly as in the previous operation. The difference between the weight of the lead button obtained in the first assay and in the above, divided by 75, gives the oxidizing power of 1 grain nitre. It is about 4 parts.
With the aid of these two experiments, we are enabled to control the size of the lead button. When 480 grains of ore are
Preliminary charge to determine the reducing power of an ore.—This only requires to be done once, unless the character of the ore changes.
Use W size crucible and cover, have the fire quite hot, bank round with hot coals, and heat quickly till contents are in quiet fusion, which requires fifteen to twenty minutes; pour into iron mould (figure 11; price 19s) when cold, tap away slag, and weigh. In an actual trial the button weighed 6 grains, the twentieth part of 480 grains having been taken, multiply 6 by 20=120; as the button should weigh 210 grains, we are 120 grains short. The reducing power of the charcoal used before is 26, therefore 120 divided by 26 gives say 5. Five grains charcoal will have to be used with 480 grains ore. Had the button weighed 12 grains, 12 multiplied by 20 gives 240; no charcoal will be required, sufficient reducing power being in the ore. Suppose the button weighed 40 grains, 40 multiplied by 20=800, button too large; 800 less 240, leaves 560 grains lead required to be kept oxidised. The nitre in the previous experiment had an oxidizing power of 4¼, and 560 divided by 4¼ gives 132; therefore 132 grains of nitre will have to be used.
Should the assayer decide to roast the ore, it will not be necessary to make a preliminary assay to determine its reducing power, as the roasting will drive off the reducing elements. The roasting converts the sulphides of iron, copper, manganese, lead, and their lower oxides into the higher oxides of the same metals. It will, therefore, make their ores highly oxidizing, requiring a greater amount of reducing agent in the actual assay, and perhaps necessitate a preliminary assay to determine their oxidizing power.
Preliminary charge to determine oxidizing power—
Use a W crucible, cover and treat in the usual manner, and weigh the resulting button. In an actual trial the button weighed 6 grains. 6 multiplied by 20=120; 240 the quantity required less 120=120; 120 divided by 26, the reducing power of the charcoal gives say 5. Five grains more charcoal, or a total of 25, will have to be used in the assay of 480 grains ore.
We have now all the data required to make the assay, and the following charge will be found very good proportions for ordinary ores.
Mitchell's charge for all gold and silver ores—
Nitre or charcoal, as determined by the preliminary assay, and always a cover of salt; or—
For ores or tailings containing but little sulphides—
Glass, ordinary window glass, heated, then suddenly quenched in cold water and powdered. The reducing power of flour is about 15, and the lead button required 240 grains; therefore increase or decrease as required.
Powder the ore very fine, and weigh all ingredients; without this good work is impossible.
To ascertain the presence or absence of sulphides, try the following very simple test:—Powder a little of the sample and heat it in an iron spoon on top of a good fire, and note its behaviour. If, shortly after heating, star-like sparks are quickly thrown off, particularly noticeable when the powder is stirred with a wire, then the mass begins to glow around the edges, while closely above small blue flames appear, and finally the entire mass becomes red hot, with fumes and an odor of a burning match is perceived; then sulphides of iron or copper, or both, are present, and so the ore will be decidedly reducing. If, in addition, an onion or garlic-like odor and whitish fumes are noticed, arsenic is also present, probably as arsenical iron pyrites. Antimony and zinc give white fumes and no odors, Zinc blende and galena are not so liable to glow and to scintillate as are the iron and copper sulphides, but the smell of a burning match should be perceptible upon heating them or any other ore containing a fairly large percentage of sulphides. It will also be noticed that after the mass has been thoroughly heated and allowed to cool, it will have lost its metallic shimmer, and become of a dull, dead color, indicating oxidation.
A simple chemical test for sulphides may be easily and quickly tried:—Place a small portion of the finely-ground ore in a test tube, pour in a little water, shake, add a few drops of hydrochloric acid, and warm gently. If the smell of rotten eggs (sulphuretted hydrogen) is perceptible, sulphides are certainly in the ore.
Iron pyrites (sulphide of iron), one of the most widely distributed of minerals, is found in rocks of every age, and is a common and abundant source of gold.
Charge for pure pyrites (not roasted, free from gangue; and for concentrates—
No. 1.—Use J crucible, 6¾ inches deep, 4? across outside; cover. Time, about half-an-hour.
No. 2.—Use J crucible; begin with a very gentle heat, and gradually bring up to a full red heat. Time, about 35 minutes. When in full fusion add charcoal wrapped in as small a piece of tissue paper as possible; weight of paper and charcoal, 15 grains.
No. 3.—Heat gradually; if iron matter is formed, instead of free flowing lead button, the assay must be repeated, and the proportion of nitre increased.
No. 4.—Bind with iron wire 6 four-inch wire nails, and push into the charge points down; remove them when the mass is in quiet fusion; if iron matte is formed, repeat adding a little nitre.
All these can be poured into the iron mould (fig. 11), and when cold the slag broken away.
Many assayers insist that from unroasted sulphide of iron ores no gold will be obtained by crucible fusion. This extraordinary idea, which, however, seems to spread, is entirely unfounded, or, at best, is based upon botchy experiments. The student may rest assured that he can, with careful working, extract all the gold from an unroasted ore by any of the nitre methods.— (Brown's Assaying, page 295.)
Charge for roasted pyrites—
Use an S crucible. The charcoal is calculated upon a reducing power of 26. If a little sulphide has remained unoxidized during roasting, push into the charge one four-inch nail, and remove immediately after fusion.
Having obtained the lead button, the next operation is to cupel it. First, hammer to get rid of the slag, and shape to a cube, rounding the corners to prevent them injuring the cupel.
The Cupel Furnace (fig. 12).—It is hardly worth while attempting to make a substitute for this, a useful size taking muffles (fig. 18), 7 inches long, 3½ wide, and 2½ high, can be landed for about £5; the muffles two shillings each.
The object of cupelling is to get rid of the lead by oxidation, the litharge formed by the heat being partly absorbed by the cupel and partly driven up the chimney, leaving the gold and silver together as a bead upon the surface of the cupel. Other metals that may have remained in small quantity from the previous operations, are also oxidized and got rid of.
Having heated the muffle to a good red heat, put in the cupels, and when they are well heated, by means of the tongs place in them the lead buttons, close the muffle door, and in a minute's time or less all the lead buttons will have quietly fused and on opening the door each will be seen as a little lake of molten metal, from which arise fumes of oxide of lead. The door is closed simply to melt the buttons, by the increased heat and absence of air. Do not have the heat too great, so that the cupels are whitish, or the melted lead bubbles, on the other hand for gold ores it is better to have it too hot than too cold; with silver ores too great a heat should be carefully avoided, or some of the silver will be volatilised. The buttons get gradually smaller and smaller, changing from flat liquids to convex ones, and this reduction continues until the point is reached when nearly the last of the lead leaves the bead. This is known as the brightening or flashing. As the button of gold, silver, and lead arrives near this stage, it appears to revolve with great velocity, and rainbow colors succeed each other all over its surface. Finally a film passes over the bead and then no more action is visible. Increase the heat by closing the muffle door, that the last traces of lead may be driven off, let cool gradually and remove.
The apparatus required in addition to the furnace and muffle, are tongs and cupels; the latter are better purchased. No. 5, costing two shillings per dozen, are a convenient size; the button weighing 240 grains should be divided, and two cupels used.
Parting the assay consists in removing the silver present and leaving the gold in a state fit for weighing. It is necessary that the silver should be present in the proportion of at least two and a-half parts to one part of gold, otherwise its particles will be so enveloped and protected by those of the gold that the nitric acid will be prevented from exercising its solvent action. The necessary quantity of silver can be added before the button is cupelled or after, if the quantity of silver as well as gold present is required; the button should now be weighed, the requisite quantity of silver added, the assay and silver wrapped in a little piece of sheet lead, and the whole cupelled as before. The button after cooling is removed, hammered upon any flat surface, taking care that nothing from the cupel is hammered in, and put into a small clean porcelain capsule or crucible; then fill about a quarter full with water, add four or six drops of strong nitric acid. No exact rule as to the amount of acid
Suppose the quantity of concentrates taken was 1 ounce (480 grains), and the gold weighed 2 grains; 32,666? ounces Troy are contained in a ton of 2240 lbs, therefore 32,666 multiplied by 2 = 65,332 grains, or 136 ounces, 2 pennyweights, 10 grains. Although the exact assaying of bullion requires great care, experience, and costly appliances, still a fair idea of the value of an ore, can with a little practice be obtained by the above methods.
The present high price of platinum, about 85 shillings per ounce, makes it worth looking for and saving. Platinum is generally found in small grains, of a greyish white colour approaching to that of tarnished steel. These grains are commonly flattened, and appear to have been polished by friction against other bodies. Their size usually varies from that of linseed to that of hemp seed, but fragments of much larger dimensions have occasionally been discovered.
It is frequently met with, especially in Otago, in alluvial deposits, associated with gold and being one of the heaviest of all known substances, heavier than gold, it is left behind with the gold and black sand; the latter can be partly removed with an ordinary magnet, and the residue tested for gold and platinum, thus:
The finely-powdered mineral is heated in a glass flask or porcelain dish to near boiling for some time with aqua regia, a mixture of four parts strong hydrochloric acid and one part
To the liquid from which the sand and silica have been removed, a solution of carbonate or bi-carbonate of soda is added until no more effervescence takes place; all other metals, except gold and platinum, will be precipitated, and the solution when filtered can be tested for these. If we wish to reduce the gold first, it can easily be done either by adding a solution of oxalic acid until it ceases to produce effervesence and has a sour taste, and then boiling; if any gold is present it will be precipitated as a dark powder, or by adding a solution of sulphate of iron (green vitriol) and letting stand for a few hours. Upon now filtering the liquid from which the gold has been precipitated, and testing a small portion with a solution of stannous chloride (commonly known as salts of tin), a dark brownish purple precipitate shows there is still some gold in solution, which must be got rid of by adding to the bulk of the liquid more oxalic acid or sulphate of iron, and, after boiling or standing, again filtering; if in a small portion no precipitate is produced, but a reddish brown colouring appears, platinum is present. Evaporate the remainder of the solution, add about three-fourths of its bulk of spirits of wine, and then a saturated solution of sal-ammoniac. The platinum will be thrown down as a yellow crystalline precipitate.
Or the platinum may be removed first by evaporating the aqua regia solution until it is much reduced in quantity, then adding about three-fourths of its bulk of spirits of wine, and after that a saturated solution of chloride of ammonium (sal ammoniac). By these reagents the platinum will be thrown down as a yellow crystalline precipitate, while the solution, filtered from this and treated with sulphate of iron or boiled with oxalic acid, deposits the gold.
Avoirdupois Weight (the ordinary weights of the shops).
Note.—The grain is the same in all.
Caxton Printing Company, Manse Street, Dunedin.
Mr. To line a box Or curl a maiden's locks.Hutchison.—I am not sure, Sir, that the members of the Ministry will feel very much obliged to the honourable member for Waipa. In the first part of his speech he certainly must have given them some hope. He came, if I may use the language with reference to settlement which has been frequently heard in this House within the last few days, as "a free selector" to mitigate the rampant "dummyism" of the Ministerial benches. Nor am I sure that the present disposition of honourable gentlemen on those benches is such as to give us much hope for the future. We see the honourable member for Akaroa in the seat usually occupied by the leader of the Government, but we cannot even consider him as "a bonâ fide squatter." I regret to have to say that the honourable member for Waipa imported a tone of acerbity into his references to the honourable member for Wanganui. I do not know that he was exactly just even in quoting the utterances of that honourable gentleman, or those of the honourable member for St. Albans. The honourable member for Waipa treated their arguments as if, after endeavouring to show that there was no surplus, they yet were in favour of reducing the revenue of the country. Now, I think that the honourable member for Waipa was wrong in supposing that any arguments addressed to the House by those honourable gentlemen went in J the direction of reducing the proper revenue of the country; for I take it that the primage duty, which we have by resolution of this House temporarily imposed, cannot properly be considered as part of the revenue of the country for the current year: Our sole object is to prevent that resolution passed in Committee of Supply being other than a temporary provision, and the arguments, as I understood them, of the honourable members for Wanganui and St. Albans were that we should decrease the taxation of the country, or—as the honourable member for Waipa puts it—the revenue of the country, and that we should address ourselves to a systematic reduction of the expenditure. I noticed throughout the speech of the honourable member for Waipa a vein of sadness—almost of despair—as if there were no grounds for further retrenchment. I think he is mistaken. I have looked through the estimates which have been in our hands for the last few days, and I think that an attentive perusal of them will enable honourable members to entertain considerable hope that they may be materially reduced. What do we find, for instance, under the head of "Contingencies"? Taken together the items for "Contingencies" total up no less than £100,292. These are votes which this House is asked blindly to pass, but I should think that honourable members will not be doing their duty to themselves or the country if they do not scrutinise these votes more closely than is usually done. I think it would not be an extravagant thing to say that at least half that amount could be knocked off. Then, we have another branch of the expenditure, which I will recur to later on, that of Defence. The permanent force of this colony costs £40,000 a year, and, unless we are prepared, as fore-shadowed by the Statement, to make considerable further expenditure, that which is now going on will be useless. Then, there are the mail subsidies, part of which has gone and the rest should follow. These three items alone, reckoning only half of the 44 Contingencies," indicate an amount of at least £100,000 which could be saved. I am not in the secrets of the leader of the Opposition, if he has any, but I do protest against the honourable member for Waipa, or any other honourable gentleman, judging the results of any change in the administration of the Government by what has occurred in the past. I deprecate these acrimonious references to former faults. Some of us here, at any rate, have nothing to do with them. Let the dead past bury its dead. We have surely something better in the future than anything in the past, and unless we are to be overwhelmed with despair we must not consider, and we are not called upon to suppose, that there is no room for further retrenchment. In support of that argument, let honourable members bear in mind that the money spent on the Civil Service of the colony has increased during the past financial year. The figures will be found in these estimates. Putting aside altogether the country Postmasters, the members of the Government, the Governor and his staff, and those who may be included in "Contingencies," the number of officials this year, according to these estimates, is 7,506, as against 7,393 the previous year—an increase in twelve months of 113 officials, and this with our population not increasing, with a depression which has not appreciably lifted, and with notes of warning uttered, as the honourable member for Waipa has admitted, throughout this Financial Statement as to the future. That honourable member has described the Statement as able, but he has proved it to be disingenuous. It is a Statement apparently made for the purpose of arming followers of the Government during the session, and their candidates at the general election,—a Statement which will probably be indexed by-and-by for the benefit of the supporters of the Ministry, who may thus be able to turn up the particular passages they require as the gospel of politics in this colony. I say the Statement is not the fairest that could have been given. It is not at all an honest Statement—I use the word, of course, in a public sense—and it deserves a use little better than
We shall find, as we look through it, that, while it suggests that the finance of the colony is sound, it yet introduces us to, I believe, a difficult future, which this Ministry is unable to adequately deal with. First, let me refer to something which occurred this afternoon when the honourable member for Ponsonby was speaking. He referred, as I understood, to a table attached to the Financial Statement No. 29, page 57—which is evidently intended for use at the general election. It purports to show the expenditure in "In Defence there is a small increase; but the Government are of opinion that the provision made is not sufficient for such a force as our defence works require, and it is the intention of my colleague the Defence Minister to bring the matter before the House, and, if his proposals are approved, further provision will have to be made. In connection with this matter is the question of our contribution under the Imperial Act. It is possible that a payment may during the year have to be made on this account; but, as it is uncertain, I do not propose to ask a vote. The amount can only be small this year, and if anything has to be paid I propose to make the payment out of 'Unauthorised.'"
What does that mean? If it means anything, it must mean that the report of Major-General Edwards, from Hongkong, is to be, in some respects at any rate, adopted. That report indicates that the permanent force is too weak, and that the Volunteer Force must be reorganized on lines which will require a considerable increase in expenditure. He speaks, not very felicitously, about a "partially-paid force." I do not know whether he means that those who are promised £12 a year shall be paid only £6 or some other sum less than £12; but, whether they are to be paid on the composition principle or not, I trust they will not be "partially" clothed, but that, if the proposals are adopted, the new force will be wholly clothed and be paid in full a reasonable sum for their services. Even if we are not prepared to launch into the increased defence expenditure indicated by Major-General Edwards—equivalent, he says, to that which prevailed in
It will thus be seen that in Hansard for
An Hon. Member.—To whom do they belong?
Mr. Hutchison.—They belong to the Colonial Bank. I believe the Government claim that they made a very successful financial operation by the floating of these debentures two years ago, although the gilt has been taken off that statement by the publication, after last session, of the information that we had to pay £500 as stamp duty in London. However, these £400,000 of debentures will have to be met. And then there are the loans j to local bodies, which at present amount to £250,000. No provision is indicated for that debt. With reference to these loans to local bodies, I, as a country member, have a complaint to make against the Colonial Treasurer. I speak feelingly, and I say that I and many other honourable members in this House, and certainly many of our constituents, have been rated specially to meet loans advanced under the Loans to Local Bodies Act, succeeding the Roads and Bridges Construction Act. Settlers in various parts of the colony have had to repay advances so made at the rate of 5 per cent., of which 1 per cent, should have gone to form a sinking fund. But nothing has been devoted to that purpose. Let it be told the Colonial Treasurer that he has collared our sinking fund!
Mr. Kerr.—What has he done with it?
Mr. Hutchison.—He has put it in his surplus! Then, Sir, there is the deficit in the Land Fund. There is no prospect of that being met in the ordinary course, and we must, I fear, look forward to there being a further deficit within the next two years. If we put down £70,000 as representing the deficit of the Land Fund as it will be in
George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.
Gentlemen,—I beg to intimate that I am a Candidate for the honourable position of one of your representatives in Parliament.
My political opinions having been fully reported in the newspapers, you will be able to consider whether, on the whole, they are such as to commend my candidature to your favourable consideration. It cannot be expected that the views of any candidate upon all questions will be acceptable to every elector. I have therefore to ask you, when reviewing the merits and demerits of the several candidates, whether, all things considered, you deem me one who is worthy of support and may be trusted to represent you in Parliament.
As some of you may not have read a report of my meeting on November 7th, I append a reprint of the address I delivered on that occasion, to which I invite your kind attention, and also to the following
The remarks I made on this question were intended to express my opposition to the continuance of the huge loan policy. There may be, and probably are, objects of colonial importance and necessity for which money must be found, and if by further retrenchment in the public expenditure we, cannot provide the required funds out of ordinary revenue, we must increase to some extent our permanent indebtedness. I should, however, scrutinise very carefully any proposals in this direction, and, before assenting to them, satisfy myself of the necessity for the expenditure, and that the money could not be found out of the ordinary revenue. Every proposal should be considered on its merits, and I must ask you to allow me to exercise my judgment after careful consideration.
The position I take up on the
is not, I think, correctly understood by some of my friends, who seem to think that I advocate the substitution of a denominational for the present system; that, of course, would mean abolishing the State schools. I do not propose that, nor am I opposed to the free and compulsory system. I am quite willing that the present system shall continue, but, believing as I do, that no satisfactory arrangements can be made for imparting religious instruction in the State schools, and that there are a very large number of parents who deplore the
The plan I advocate would enable parents of my way of thinking to combine in establishing schools in which the high moral lessons to be found in the Bible may be inculcated. I am persuaded that there is no unsurmountable difficulty in the way of a common understanding being arrived at between most of the religious denominations as to the course of religious instruction to be given. Controversial points can be avoided, and they could all agree that the children should be taught to believe in God the Great Architect of the Universe, and their accountability for their deeds. Such a lesson must exercise a restraining influence on the rising generation, which would most assuredly tend to make them better citizens.
I may offer as a reason for my candidature on the present occasion that I consider the people should have an opportunity of declaring whether or not the vicious policy of setting class against class finds favour with them.
I am convinced that the success of the attempt now being made to foster and perpetuate class distinctions would result in placing what are commonly called Capital and Labour in hostile camps, and that the struggle for supremacy must result in serious loss to both without doing good to either, and cannot fail to retard our prosperity as a people. There can be no question that the greatest sufferers by such a conflict will be the wage earners of the Colony. A long study of the problem of the relation of capital to labour has led me to the conclusion that what is best for labour is also best for capital in the long run, and that there is no necessary antagonism between the two.
I am one of those who recognise the right of all classes, and believe that by carrying cut the golden principle—"Live and Let Live," and dealing oat even-handed justice to all we shall best promote the welfare and prosperity of the whole community.
Please understand that I do not make any distinction between the Candidates because of any difference there may be in their social position. I have not the slightest objection to being represented by a sensible working man, but I do most strongly oppose the election of any man, whichever class he may belong to, who may be put forward specially in the interest of one class.
I present myself to you as an independent candidate who, though his sympathies are, and always have been, with the workers, is determined, as far as lays in his power, to see that justice is meted out to all classes, and that legislation and the administration of our affairs shall be in the direction of securing the greatest good to the greatest number of people.
Unscrupulous politicians, at election times, always adopt illegitimate means for securing their ends. They do not hesitate to malign and misrepresent their opponents in the expectation of attracting support to themselves.
I am being misrepresented by those who are masquerading in the character of the working man's friend. They are endeavouring to poison the minds of the working men in order that their natural common sense may not have full play. Amongst the many things that are being said to my disadvantage is that I am the representative of the capitalist class, and am therefore not worthy of the support of the Labour party. That is lie number one. I am not the representative of any one class, and should emphatically decline to be nominated as such; and so far from being a representative of the capitalist class, I know that my known sympathies with the workers of the world has on more than one occasion recently aroused the enmity of the few but powerful men in our midst who take up a hostile position to labour.
It is well known that at the meeting called to establish an Employers' Association in Dunedin I attempted to get a resolution passed as an indication of policy, to the effect that the meeting recognised the right of wage-earners to combine for the protection of their interests, and that the principal object of the Association should be to form a recognised body to represent employers in I negotiating with the labour unions for the peaceful settlement of disputes on the lines advocated by me in a letter to the Daily Times which I wrote at the time of the Shag Point trouble.
Mine is no newly-born sympathy with labour, paraded for the purpose of attracting votes, and I should not have alluded to the matter were it not for the misrepresentions that are being industriously circulated by my opponents with a view to damaging my chance of election.
I am also accused of being a "Tory." Now, such a word is meaningless in connection with New Zealand politics. There are really no political parties, properly so called, here. In Great Britain the term "Tory" is applied to those who are opposed to the "Liberals" in politics. I ask you, after perusing the report of my political opinions, whether "Tory" is an appropriate designation for any man holding the views I have expressed.
I ask the working men of Dunedin to consider well, before recording their votes, whether it will not be more to their advantage to be represented by a plain man of business like myself than by men of shattered reputations who, for their own purposes, loudly proclaim their pretended sympathy with the labour party, while secretly laughing in their sleeves at the gullibility of the working men. Look into the character of such men and see whether their actions in the past square with their present loud-mouthed professions, and ask yourselves which of the candidates before you are most worthy of your confidence, and likely to serve you faithfully and bring no discredit upon the important constituency of Dunedin.
As it is against my principles to make a personal canvass, I must ask my friends to aid me with their influence to secure my return, assuring them that I shall highly appreciate the honour of being chosen one of the representatives of a city in which I have passed the greater part of my life.
Note.—Every elector may give one vote to each of three candidates, and he may give one vote to any less number, but he may not vote for more than three, nor give more than one vote to any candidate.
At the Oddfellows' Hall, Rattray street, this evening, Mr Leary addressed a meeting of electors in favour of his candidature for one of the city seats. There was a good attendance, and Mr A. Mouat was voted to the chair.
The Chairman said he had pleasure in presiding on the present occasion, as he had town Mr Leary for about 30 years, and spoke in the highest terms of his personal character.
Mr Leary said that he was pleased to see before him men representing every class in the community, and he was not surprised at that, because he had on many occasions been elected to the highest position in the gift of his fellaw citizens—a position he could not have attained were it not that he had been fortunate enough to secure the confidence of all classes; and he hoped he had given them no cause to say he had done anything to forfeit their good opinion. Having referred to the request of a deputation that he should become a candidate for one of the city seats, he said: I think it Would be unfair of me, Mr Chairman, to accede to the flattering request without letting you know what are my views on political questions, as I am conscious that some of them may not reflect popular opinion. It is well, therefore, that you should know what my opinions are; and if, after hearing them, you are prepared to accept me as a candidate, I shall place myself in your hands. I believe I may, with confidence, ask you to accept my assurance that the opinions I am about to express are not adopted by me merely for the purpose of the present election, but are the honest expression of my real sentiments. Not being identified with any class interest, I think I may fairly ask you to take it for granted that I approach the consideration of the various questions without the bias begot of self interest. My desire is that legislation tad administration of public affairs shall be in the interest of the people as a whole, and I am persuaded that this can be accomplished, and without doing injustice to any class, if we only secure as our representatives men of pure motives and lofty aspirations. I may say, that although I hold what may be regarded as Utopian views on some social and political questions, I trust I have sufficient sense to recognise that such views cannot be considered in connection with practical politics; they must simply be regarded as indicating a lofty ideal, the realisation of which is far off. I will therefore merely indicate them by saying that as the people generally become better educated, more thoughtful, and take a more intelligent interest in political and social questions, the nearer we shall approach an ideal state of society in which the brotherhood of man shall be practically recognised and the principle of Christianity dominate human affairs. There are, however, one or two planks in my ideal platform which may, I think, be considered as probable of realisation in the near future. For example, the more equal distribution of wealth. I do not think it to be the true interest of the State that wealth should be monopolised by a comparatively few people who, by the possession of it, shall be in a position to dictate terms to the rest of the community. Acting up to these views, I favour a large increase in the legacy and succession duties, sufficiently large to induce rich people to divide their wealth during their lifetime, and if they neglect to do so let the State succeed to a large portion of it. I am one of those who believe that
and not to individuals; and that the people, through their representatives, should determine the conditions of its occupation with a view to its being put to the most profitable use by the larger number of people. Were such a system in operation, numbers of people with moderate capital could profitably settle upon the lands, because, instead of having their capital sunk in the purchase of the freehold, and having to call upon the mortgagee to supply them with funds to improve and
bona fide settlement cannot be satisfied, it will be necessary in the interest of the community that the Government should have power to compel the owners of large blocks to surrender them on reasonable terms.
The taxation consists principally of Customs and stamp duties and property tax; and, dealing with the incidence of taxation, we have to consider whether the substitution of some other form of taxation would be beneficial. As regards the
it would be idle to talk of any substitute for them, as the colony is committed to a policy of Protection, and we may consider the question as settled for some years; but there is a probability of a proposal being made for the free interchange of products between the colonies. I should, if the question came up, favour an alteration of the tariff in that direction, so manifestly to our advantage. Now, as to the respective merits of
Let us start with the proposition that the people of a State should contribute to the cost of its government in proportion to their ability to do so. I venture to say that this is a proposition most people will assent to. Let us now examine whether a property tax or an income tax most nearly agrees with this canon in political economy. I will take the income tax first, and see how it would operate in practice. Let us assume for the sake of argument that a tax of 1s in the £ is levied on all incomes of £200 and upwards. An unmarried man with an income of £200 and charged with the maintenance of none but himself, and whose expenses amount to £120, pays £10, leaving a balance of £70 to the good. A family man with an income of £400 having a wife and 10 children to maintain at a cost of, say, only three times the expenses of the single man—viz., £360—would have to pay a tax of £20, leaving a balance of £20 only, and we may fairly assume that he contributes three times is much as the batchelor to the customs revenue. This illustration will serve to show that such a tax would not be in accordance with the proposition we started with. Take the case of a professional man, whose earnings are £1000 per annum, and that of a person deriving the same income from his invested capital. In the one case the source of the income ceases at death, and in the other it continues. It cannot, therefore, be said that each pays according to his ability. As to the operation of the property tax. In the first place, let us clearly understand what is taxed if a man is possessed of property, or assets of any description, of the value of £10,000, and owes nothing, he pays on £10,000; but if he owe £9000 he pays only on £1000, minus, of course, the exemption in both cases, so that it is a man's surplus assets, or capital, that is taxed. Under the existing act, persons possessed of surplus property of less value than £500 pay no tax. Now the greater the stake a man has in the country, the more he should pay towards the cost of protecting his interest, that interest being protected by the good government of the country. So to my mind the property tax seems equitable on two grounds—namely, that just mentioned, and because one pays according to his ability. It may be argued that a person may own property valued at £10,000 from which he gets no return; but it may fairly be presumed that it is owing
and very few of them, according to my experience, recognise what they are committing themselves to by such advocacy. In the first place a land tax pure and simple for revenue purposes is a class tax, and therefore objectionable. But such a tax is objectionable on other grounds also. I presume it will not be denied that the fund for our maintenance comes from the land, and that it is to the farmer and the miner that we have to look to keep the rest of us going. As we are not in a position to manufacture to any extent articles for export, it is obvious that the inhabitants of the towns could not exist but for the settlers and the miners, who are the real wealth producers in this country, We all know the widespread depression that follows a fall in value or shrinkage in quantity of the natural products of the country, the price of which is not governed by the local, but by the foreign markets. The prosperity of this colony may be said to depend almost entirely on the profitable occupation of the land and the development of the Mineral resources of the country. Such being so, it appears to me that, so far from singling out the farmer for special taxation, we should make matters as easy as possible for him, so as to make country life attractive, and offer the greatest inducement to people to settle upon the lands of the colony, and not, by specially taxing the farmers, to make it still harder for them to supply the rest of the community with the means of subsistence. Just imagine for a moment that, by reason of the burdens placed upon those who occupy the lands, they were unable to make both ends meet, and consequently were forced to abandon their farms. We should awake to the fact that we had been ignorantly administering slow poison to the goose that laid the eggs necessary to our existence. In my opinion, therefore, a land tax, pure and simple, and imposed for revenue purposes, would not only be manifestly unfair to the struggling farmer, but would be disastrous to the whole community. This brings me to the question of the
It would be good policy, in my opinion, were the railways managed in the interests of settlement, and with a view to the development of traffic, rather than run on purely business lines with a view to a large profit. If our policy be merely to make the railways pay interest on the cost of construction, we might relieve the consolidated fund to the extent of £200,000 or £300,000 per annum by selling them; but I regard the railways as one of the best colonising agents we possess, and apart from the danger of establishing a huge monopoly, which we should incur by parting with the ownership of the railways, there are other good reasons in favour of retaining them. I consider the Legislature should instruct the Railway Commissioners as to the policy they should pursue, without hampering them with details as to management, of which they may be presumed to be better judges than unskilled persons can possibly be. I should instruct them that the railways are to be managed in the interest of settlement, and that the tariff of rates should be adjusted so as to stimulate traffic, and with a view to equalising, as far as they reasonably can, the cost price at the port of export of the produce of the country, no matter what distance it may have to be hauled. Such a policy would, in my opinion, give a great impetus to settlement, and would in time so greatly augment the traffic as to makeup, in part, if not wholly, the loss during the process of development, and would largely increase the area of land profitably occupied, and thus increase our prosperity as a colony.
I am of opinion that borrowing should cease for some years at any rate, and that the colony should adjust its expenditure according to its revenue; and with that object the cost of government should be reduced. I am persuaded that this can be accomplished if your representatives earnestly desire it. It is of course very easy to preach
but not so easy for a man without official knowledge and experience to propound a practicable scheme; but I may venture to indicate how, in my opinion, expenditure could be considerably reduced without detriment to the public service. It will be generally admitted, I think, that we are indebted to the huge borrowing and public works policy for a costly departmental system and the general extravagance in public expenditure. It should be our endeavour to apply the pruning knife wherever possible, and to give up luxuries that are beyond our means and inconsistant with our position. Being of opinion that large sums of money have been expended unproductively and on objects unwarranted by the circumstances of the colony, in response to the demands of members whose support was necessary for the retention of the Government of the day in office, and by the system known as "logrolling." I should put an end to that state of things by abolishing the present system of party government, and thus at the same time admitting of every question being determined on its merits, and of members voting according to their judgment, instead of, as at present, in many cases at the call of the party whips. The Government should be appointed for a fixed term, and should only be removed on a vote of want of confidence in their capacity for administration, and should not, as now, have to retire from office on rejection of policy measures. We should thus be spared many protracted and costly debates and obstructions to the free course of business which take place with a view to harassing the Government of the day, and securing the sweets of office to those opposed to them. The cost of legislation can be largely reduced by shortening the duration of the sessions, and this desirable reform can be achieved by abandoning the system of party government and abolishing the system of fully reporting members' speeches, and also by a reform in parliamentary procedure in the direction of overcoming obstruction and putting a stop to unreasonably protracted discussions. I believe that several thousands a year can be thus saved without the slightest disadvantage. Members of the House can tell us, as many of them have told me, that a very small percentage of the speeches has any influence on members. The interchange of opinions in the lobbies has far more effect upon the legislation than the long-winded speeches have. They will also tell us, at least those of them who are honest will, that the most useful and influential members are not those given to speech making, but those who are respected for their earnestness of purpose, good sense, and honesty. If a return were tabled showing what party government had cost the country, in the way of unnecessary expenditure, during the past 20 years it would prove a very startling piece of information, and serve as an overwhelming argument against the system.
Any reform in the constitution of the Upper Chamber should include the abolition of life membership and the substitution of the election for the present system of appointment Personally I rather favour the election by the House of Representatives than by distinct constituencies, but have no strong views either way.
This is a very difficult question, and it cannot be expected that I should formulate a practicable scheme on the present occasion. I will therefore content myself with saying that I should favour a system somewhat on the lines of our former provincial system, but divested to a large extent, if not wholly, of its legislative character.
I look upon conferring the franchise on women as a logical sequence to manhood suffrage, and as a reasonable extension of the principle already affirmed by Parliament in the Municipal Corporation Act. I am convinced that the intelligence of the average woman is quite equal to that of the average man, and that the exercise of the franchise by women would be highly beneficial to the State.
On this question I believe I hold the opinions of a minority of the electors, but it is duo to you that I should state my views on this important subject in unmistakeable terms. In the first place, I am of opinion that it should be the duty of the State to insist that the children are educated up to a certain standard, and that it should contribute largely to the cost, but I object to the schools being used as nurseries for infants, and should therefore be in favour of raising the "school age" to six years, were it not that such a step would have the effect of closing many of the small country schools. As a parent, and also as a member of the community, I deplore the absence from our schools of that
Believing as I do, that the temptations and pities offered by the existence of public houses to the over-indulgent in intoxicating drinks is a bad thing for society, I should support measures in the direction of reducing the evil. But I should leave it to the people of each licensing district to determine, by their votes, whether the traffic should be limited or entirely suppressed.
I am in favour of legislation in the direction of securing to workmen payment of their wages and compensation for injuries sustained in the performance of their duties, thus imposing on the employers the duty of taking all reasonable precautions against accidents, and particularly in the direction of limiting like hours of employment of boys and girls and of securing that they, and the adult workers also, shall work under health conditions. I am in favour of eight hours being declared the legal working day and of the appointment of a standing commission, or board of conciliation, to which may be referred all differences between employers and employed with a view to their adjustment and the prevention of strikes and their attendant hardships, inconvenience, and loss. In this connection I may say that in giving exmission to my opinions I am not truckling to a section of the community or making a bid for their support. I am not a man of that sort, as the people of Dunedin should know by this time. For years past I have by voice and pen, in my small way, stood up for the dignity of honest labour and the rights of the workers; and although the recent unwise and unreasonable action of the leaders of the labour bodies in endeavouring to cause a general strike and paralysing the trade and industry of the colony, just when it was recovering from severe depression, has for the time alienated public sympathy with trades unionism, I do not recede from the position I have taken up regarding it, and I still believe that the trades unions, properly conducted, will benefit alike the employer and employed. But I object to unions that limit their membership and practically claim a monopoly of the work in any trade, regardless of the fate of those outside their ranks. Whilst I concede the right of every man to join a union, I claim that he should be allowed to follow his lawful calling un-molested, whether he belong to the union or not. To deny such a right would be to outrage the liberty of the individual in a free country, and an exercise of tyranny which must be resisted by every lover of freedom. I cannot help admiring the loyalty of the men in obeying the call of their supreme council, but I consider the leaders are to blame for raising a false issue and for not recognising that a general strike that does not carry public sympathy with its object cannot be successful. There was no attempt made by the so-called capitalist in this country to crush labour or to put down unionism. Generally the relations between employer and employed were of the most satisfactory character, and in most, if not all, cases I venture to say the men who came out at the call of the Maritime Council had no genuine cause of complaint against their employers. Such being the case, is it surprising that the general public, almost to a man, outside the ranks of unionism, should have resented the attempt of an irresponsible body to paralyse the trade and industry of the colony without any justification. In this country employer and capitalist are not convertible terms. I speak with some knowledge when I say that a large proportion of the employers of labour are practically little more than managers, and many of them get very little remuneration. The capital employed in their business is borrowed from the banks, and where do you suppose the banks get the money from? I am informed on good authority that of the number of interest-bearing deposits in the banks those of the working class far outnumber those of any other class. So you will
Rely upon it that the interests of both capital and labour will be best promoted by their working in harmony, each respecting the rights of the other.
I may express the hope and belief that respectable working men, having had time to reflect, will, on the polling day, show that they can distinguish their real friends from those who, presuming on their credulity, expect to secure their election by raising false issues. I think, Mr Chairman, I have dealt with the various questions of interest to the electors at the present time, and hops I have succeeded in my endeavour to conver my opinions upon them.—(Applause.)
Having replied to several questions to the evident satisfaction of the meeting, Mr Leary retired, whereupon the question as to whether! he should be asked to become a candidal was put to the meeting. There was a difference of opinion as to his views on the education question, the large majority appearing to hold opposite views, but the general opinion appeared to be that the point should be waived, and a resolution proposed by Mr Haynes, and seconded by Mr Hardie, that Mr Leary be requested to become a candidate for one of the city seats and expressing entire confidence in him was carried unanimously, amidst applause.
Whether or not the evidence offered in any particular case is sufficient for proof, is generally in modern law a question for the discretion of those with whom the decision rests. It is a matter to be determined not by rule of law but by natural reason and sound judgment. In early law, on the other hand, there is a well-marked tendency to set up an external or objective measure of evidence and test of proof; to make the relation between evidence and proof a matter not of sound discretion but of strict law. For example, we are told that, amongst the Saxons, cases of conflicting testimony were settled by fixed rules as to the relative value of the oaths of different classes of persons. So also if an accused person could procure in his favour the oaths of a fixed number of compurgators he was entitled to acquittal; such evidence constituted proof by rule of law, and whether it satisfied the court or not was a consideration completely irrelevant. Trial by jury itself is another example; for the verdict was taken not as mere evidence for the discretion of the court but as conclusive proof; whereby jurymen naturally ceased to be mere witnesses and became judges of fact.
See Fleta II. 63. § 9 ad fin., for some detailed rules as to proof that supply further illustrations.
'Averment' is used elliptically for averment by the country, or in some other manner than by record or deed.
That a deed was originally merely a species of evidence is a fact obvious enough, though we have come to look on a sealed instrument rather as a formality incident to certain contracts and other
Of the rule in question there are two leading applications: first, that where matter in writing and matter of averment are opposed to each other the former must prevail; secondly, that where matter in writing is available matter of averment is inadmissible instead thereof. In other words, inferior matter is admissible neither in opposition to nor in substitution for superior. Each of these rules will be separately discussed, but before doing so there are two remarks of general application to be made.
In the first place, it is to be noted that when these rules were established a writing meant a writing under seal. When therefore sealing ceased to be the usual method of authenticating a document, it became a question whether the ancient rules were to be extended to all writings or restricted to deeds. As we shall see, this question has been answered differently in different cases, the guiding principle being that if a rule was beneficial it was to be extended to all documents, while technical and antiquated rules were to be restricted to deeds. The accident of the substitution of signature for sealing as a method of authenticating documents gave in fact to English law an opportunity for one of those new departures that have proved so common a method of legal progress.
In the second place, it is to be remarked that although the general principle of the superiority of matter in writing is a rule of evidence, particular applications of it have passed over into the domain of substantive law, and have in many cases become so disguised that their origin is no longer recognised. The extent to which the law of procedure has moulded and modified the substantive law is a noticeable point in the history of our legal system. The remedy has often determined the right rather than the right the remedy.
The first general application of the principle that matter in
I. The first of these is the rule that a deed cannot be annulled or altered except by deed. This is clearly the result of the general principle of the superiority of matter in writing. If the plaintiff proves his claim by a deed, the defendant (if he admits the deed) must prove his defence by deed also; otherwise it would be averment against specialty, and the latter would by rule of law prevail. Thus in 20 Edward I Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 64; see also Y. B. 32 & 33 Ed. I. 8o & 136. D. 50, 17, 35. Jenk. 2 Cent. Case 40; see also Shep. Touch., by Preston, 323.be proved to have been released or altered except by deed, has naturally passed over into the rule of substantive law that a deed cannot be released or altered except by deed. This rule is commonly expressed in a more or less modified form of Ulpian's maxim: 'Nihil tam naturale est quam eo genere quidque dissolvere quo colligatum estper aes et libram must be released per aes et lib ram, a stipulation by acceptilation, and consensual contracts by simple consent. There seems no evidence however as to whether the Roman rule originated in any principle of evidence, or was merely deduced from jus naturale by the ingenuity of Roman jurists. The English rule on the other hand is, in its most important applications, clearly deducible from the principle of the relative value of different kinds of evidence.
This rule has not of course been extended beyond deeds. It is well settled that at Common Law a simple contract, even though reduced to writing, may be rescinded or modified by parol.
II. The second result of the superiority of matter of specialty
Y. B. 33-35 Ed. I. 330; see also 20 & 21 Ed. I. 304; 21 & 22 Ed. I. 410: 32 & 33 Ed. I. 184. Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 330. Doctor and Student, I. 12. Blake's Case, 6 Rep., 43b. Y. B. 12 Henry IV. 23. pl. 6; see Y. B. 21 & 22 Ed. I. 540.Doctor and Student we are told that the rule in question 'is ordained by the law to avoid a great inconvenience that else might happen to come to many people; that is to say, that every man by a nude parol and a bare averment should avoid an obligation; wherefore to avoid that inconvenience the law hath ordained that as the defendant is charged by a sufficient writing, that so he must be discharged by sufficient writing or by some other thing of as high authority as the obligation isin pais, namely the breach of the covenant, and therefore matter in pais is admissible in answerin pais. 'Sans acquitance home pledera payment de money paiable sur endorcement d'un obligation
III. The third application of the rule that matter of specialty must prevail over matter of averment is the doctrine of estoppel by deed.
Co. Litt., sect. 667. See Horton v. Westminster Commissioners, 7 Ex. 791.
'Estoppel against estoppel puts the matter at large.' Where there is a conflict of evidence, the higher prevails by rule of law; but where the evidence on each side is in the eye of the law of equal rank, there the matter is at large, that is, is left to the discretion of those with whom the decision rests. Therefore specialty against parol raises an estoppel; the former necessarily prevails. But parol against parol or specialty against specialty leaves the matter at large.
Estoppel by deed is a doctrine established from the earliest times. In 22 Edward I Y. B. 21 & 22 Ed. I. 436. Y. B. 21 & 22 Ed. I. 318.
In certain miscellaneous instances estoppel has passed from a rule of evidence into a rule of substantive law. It is obvious that such a principle has a tendency to alter the substantive law. For if 'En dette sur contract le plaintiff monstra in son count pur quel cause le defendant devient son dettour. Autrement in detto sur obligation, car l'obligation est contract in luy meine.' Bellewe, 8 Rich. II. III (ed. Bracton, f. 100A is the legal consequence of B, and C is made conclusive evidence of B, there is a tendency for the element B to be lost sight of, and for C itself to be regarded as the legal antecedent of A. A bond is an undoubted instance of such a process. Originally a bond did not itself create a debt, but was merely evidence of an already existing debt. The debt was constituted by a loan of money or other similar transaction, and a deed was executed whereby the debtor acknowledged that he owed the amount. But by virtue of the principle that matter of averment cannot prevail against matter of specialty, the debtor was precluded from going behind his written acknowledgment. He was therefore bound whether the money had been lent to him or not; the bond ceased to be merely evidence of a debt and became a mode of creating oneb.acceptilatio, which in effect was a method of discharging an obligation, whilst in form it was a solemn acknowledgment of having received performance.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that the principle of estoppel by deed has not been extended to simple writings. An acknowledgment in writing not under seal is not an estoppel but a mere admission; and in the case of unsealed writings the bond has degenerated into the I. O. U. and the release into the receipt. So in Roman law the It is worthy of note that a deed of feoffment never raised such an estoppel as to exclude an averment that the grantee did not obtain Beisin. 'A charter is worth nothing without seisin.' Y. B. 33-35 Ed. I. 50. The allowance of such an estoppel would have constituted a revolution in our early law of real property. See Y.B. 21 & 22 Ed. I. 404.chyroyraphum became the cautio and the acceptilatio the apocha
IV. The fourth and last application of the rule that matter in writing must prevail over matter of averment, is found in the doctrine of the inadmissibility of parol evidence to qualify the effect of written instruments. When a contract has been reduced to writing by the parties thereto, the contents of the writing are conclusive evidence of the terms of the contract, and no parol evidence is admissible to vary the contract as expressed in the writing. 'The law,' says Lord Bacon, 'will not couple and mingle matter of specialty which is of the higher account with matter of averment which is of inferior account in law Maxims of the Law, Reg. 25. Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 366. See Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 430.
We have now discussed the various effects of the conclusiveness of matter in writing; it remains to examine the effects of its exclusiveness, the effect, that is to say, of the rule that when matter in writing is available matter of averment is inadmissible instead thereof. It is a familiar maxim that the best evidence must be produced. It is obvious that this maxim can be applied in those cases alone in which some kinds of evidence have obtained legal recognition as being better than others. One of these cases, and indeed the most important of them, is that of written and parol evidence. Consequently where any contract or other act in law has been reduced by the parties thereto to a documentary form, no evidence thereof is admissible save the writing (or in certain cases secondary evidence of its contents) This rule is of course distinct from the rule that a document is the only admissible evidence of its own contents. The latter rule is another and distinct application of the principle that the best evidence must be produced. A document is the only instance in which what is sometimes called 'real' evidence has obtained legal recognition as the best. The modern rule is merely the old one as to profert, freed from its character as a technicality of pleading. Fleta III. 14. 2. Dr. Leyfield's Case, 10 Rep. 92 Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 406. See Y. B. 33-35 Ed. I. 452. Y. B. 17 Ed. III. 24. pi. II; cf. Y. B. 21 & 22 Ed. 1. 62 & 78. Y. B. 11 Henry IV. 79. pl. 21. Y. B. 9 Ed. IV. 50. pl. 10. See Y. B. 3 Henry IV. 17. pl. 14.b.
The rule that written evidence of a contract or other act in law is exclusive evidence has of course been extended to unsealed writings. In the case of such writings however it has maintained more completely its character as a rule of evidence, there having been for example no such distinct transformation into the substantive doctrine of merger as we have seen to have taken place in the case of deeds.
It remains to consider the principle of the highness of matter of record. Such matter may for our present purpose be divided into three kinds, the first of which is the record strictly so called. A
Laws of Henry I, c. 31. Glanville VIII. 8 (Beames). 4 Co. Rep. 71 Glanville VIII. 9; Bracton, ff. 156 Y. B. 33-35 Ed. I. 528; sec Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 406.a; see Plowd. 491 a.b & 336 a; Y. B. 32 & 33 Ed. I. 376; Co. Litt. 260 a.
To pass on to the second species of matter of record. It has been seen that a deed is an admission which by reason of the solemnity of writing cannot be contradicted. There is another species of admission which for an analogous reason is likewise conclusive, namely admission made in a court of record. 'It is a consequence,' says Glanville, 'which naturally results from acknowledging a fact in the King's Court in the presence of the King or his justices, or undertaking to do any particular act, that the party should be compelled to abide by or perform it Glanville VIII. 5 (Beames). Y. B. 20 & 21 Ed. I. 308; see also Y. B. 21 & 22 Ed. I. 32 & 146.
Judgments constitute the third and last species of matter of record. Such is the authority and dignity of a court of record that a judgment thereof must by the parties thereto, and sometimes by all the world Bracton, f. 420. § 17; Glanville, XIII. 17. D. 50, 17, 207. Glanville, II. 3. Y. B. 5 Ed II. 149. See Y. B. 21 & 22 Ed. I. 100 & 430; Y. B. 33-35 Ed. I. 8 & 64. Dialogue de Scaccario, I. 4. Stubbs's Sel. Ch. 176 (ed. 2).A is such cogent evidence of such being the fact, that no averment to the contrary can prevail against itRecordum and sententia are coupled together in the early authorities as matters admitting of no contradiction
The effect on substantive law of the conclusiveness of a judgment is worth noting. It is plain that in its origin and essence a judgment is merely declaratory of rights, not creative of them. An action is a dispute as to the rights of the parties; a judgment is the decision of an arbitrator on the point at issue. By virtue of its conclusiveness however a judgment has come to be regarded as creative of rights instead of declaratory of them, just as a bond has come to be regarded as creating a debt instead of merely proving it. Merger by judgment is a secondary result of the same quality of conclusiveness. It is the substantive form of the rule of procedure that two actions cannot be brought for the same cause. When a judgment by virtue of its conclusiveness comes to be regarded as creating a new right instead of declaring an old one, the above rule of procedure becomes transmuted into the rule of substantive law that the right created by the judgment merges and destroys the right on which the judgment is founded. Thus in 9 Edward IV Y. B. 9 Ed. IV. 50. pl. 10.res judicata.
"Best American Thought" is intended to consist of a series of short articles on the topics of the day that are most exercising the mind of the public. The selection will be made from philosophic American periodicals that are but slightly known in this colony, and in consequence the writings of some of the most distinguished leaders of thought are practically "caviare to a multitude" of Australasians. This is the more to be regretted, as our colonial temper is more in accord with America on many social questions than it is with our mother country.
The present article is taken from a late number of the Atlantic Monthly, a magazine that has long been at the head of the best class of American serials, but its circulation in Australasia is almost nil. The unprecedented sale of Bellamy's fascinating presentment of a new Socialistic theory, and the fact that a number of enthusiasts are seriously contemplating shaping their lives according to his fancies, renders this moment opportune for the publication of some sound and sensible views "on the other side." It is fortunate that such an eminent and trustworthy writer as Professor Walker should have addressed himself to the task. He has written extensively on Political Economy subjects, and his works are looked up to both in England and America as authorities.
very great increase of human power, every marked advance in the material conditions of society, is followed by an access of optimism, in which men, for the time, lose the capacity nicely to measure difficulties, if, indeed, they do not altogether fail to distinguish between what is possible and what is impossible. Most men can keep their heads only when the rate of the social movement is moderate. Let that rate be greatly transcended, there is certain to be generated in the public mind a hopefulness of feeling which takes small account of obstacles to further progress. Let the improvement of social conditions continue at a rapid rate through a: considerable period of time, and we shall see society visited by a series of quickly succeeding flushes, under the influence of which almost any illusion can be produced.
Some seven or eight years ago, great popular excitement was caused by Mr. George's crusade against private property in land. Large numbers of intelligent persons were found who were ready to accept Mr. George's promise that in this way he would abolish poverty, and bring back a golden age. Three years ago, the rapid growth of the order of the Knights of Labour stirred up all the manufacturing regions of the United States. A universal Federation of Labour was to be formed, with a parliament and
And, since I shall not have much sympathy to express with the propositions of the party platform, and may have to speak somewhat less than tenderly of the representations contained in the hook, let me say that I have, in truth, no spirit of hostility toward those who are undertaking this propaganda. The more attention is turned upon questions of economic and social organizations, the better I like it. So far from thinking that the world is coming to an end because projects which would destroy alike industry and society are, for the moment, a popular craze, I regard the phenomenon with satisfaction. It is the rapid movement of humanity along the lines of social and industrial improvement which makes men, now and then, lose all measure of difficulty and all sense of proportion, in contemplating bright and alluring pictures of approaching social and industrial regeneration. These pictures are all
The Knights of Labour, again, of course announced that the sufferings of the down-trodden masses had compelled a revolt against the oppressor. That which gave their ambitious scheme a chance for a very partial and a very temporary success was the fact that the movement originated among the most fortunate part of a labouring population, which, as a whole, was more fortunate than any other the history of mankind had known; and that the initial enterprises of the adventurous Knights were undertaken for raising the wages of the best paid labourers in the country, not for the relief of overworked shop-girls or underpaid sewing-women.
The latest access of optimism among us has been due to the publication of a book, in which the author sets forth his views of the next, now swiftly approaching, "stage in the industrial and social development of humanity." In
Looking Backward, page 89.res angusta domi, which, in our present civilization, presses all the time upon all but the few most favoured, even among the so-called wealthy classes, there is, in the case of every citizen of Mr. Bellamy's world, a greater likelihood
The first impulse of the reader of this description of the society of 2000 A.D. is to cry out: "How can any man, the most optimistic, assume that such a change in the forces and relations of human life can possibly take place
When one thinks of the wretchedness, the shame, and the anguish of the human condition through these uncounted centuries, it is impossible not to feel a little impatience at this gentleman for not turning up earlier. Those who believe that the experiences of mankind, bitter and thrice bitter as they have been, were ordered in mercy by an all-wise Being; those, on the other hand, who look upon the human lot, hard has it was, as affording the essential conditions under which, through the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest, the evolution of
It is to be said that, while the hero of the book goes to sleep in
What is the political mechanism which is to change the face of the earth from universal gloom and terror, as Mr. Bellamy is pleased to describe it, to universal joy and gladness? I answer, All this is to be effected by the organization of the entire body of citizens into an industrial army. All persons between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five are to be mustered in by force of law, women as well as men. This vast body is to be formed into companies, regiments, brigades, divisions, and corps, constituting in its aggregate the grand army of industry. Officers of appropriate rank are to be assigned to the command of the several subdivisions. Every member is required to serve in whatever place and at whatever work may be prescribed, When the nation becomes the sole employer, all the citizens, by virtue of their citizenship, become employees, to be distributed according to the needs of society.
One would be disposed to think that a work like this, in which a mere man should take the place at once of Nature and of Providence, would call for abilities of the highest order, an almost inconceivable energy, an almost inconceivable prudence. But, again, Mr. Bellamy corrects the first mistaken impression of the uninitiated reader, and assures him that the business is so easy that it could not fail to be successfully administered, and that it is not at all essential that the ablest men should be chosen for the highest positions in the new state. Indeed, he declares the system to be so simple that "nobody but a fool could derange it."
The greatest difficulty which occurs to me in the practical application of this principle would be in equalizing the advantages of country and of city life. Under our present competitive system, the great majority of country people do not go down to the city, simply because they know that
I confess that at this point I have been obliged to give up the quest, finding the difficulties of the subject too great for my unenlightened intellect.
In one respect, Mr. Bellamy, who keenly enjoys military terms and images, makes a wide departure from the usage in ordinary armies. In Mr. Bellamy's army, all are to be paid alike and are to enjoy equivalent physical conditions. Officers and privates are to fare in all respects the same, the highest having no preference whatever over the meanest, absolutely no material consideration being awarded to the greatest powers in production or in administration. Now, the rule is very different from this in the real armies of the civilized world, and Mr. Bellamy would do well to be careful lest, in leaving out the principle of graded rewards corresponding to gradations of rank, he
Such is the mechanism which Mr. Bellamy proposes for carrying on the industry of the nation and providing for its material wants. What are the advantages which, in his view, would result from thus organizing the productive forces of the country? These may be grouped, in a general way, as follows:—
(1.) Since no man is to be allowed to enjoy more of good things than others, those who stand at the lower end of the scale of industrial efficiency, moral energy, physical force, and technical skill would obtain a dividend from a body of comforts, luxuries, and necessaries of life to the production of which their own force or industry would not be competent. Here, of course, is clearly seen an opportunity to improve the condition of the less unfortunate members of the community, as at present coustituted, provided only and provided always that this ravishing away of the fruits of exceptional intelligence, industry, and skill should not diminish the zeal with which those qualities will be applied in future production. Should the latter prove to be the case, the less fortunate members of the community would not be better off, but worse off,—indeed, indefinitely worse off, by reason of such a confiscation.
But while Mr. Bellamy's scheme thus offers an opportunity (subject to the important proviso just now indicated) to divide up the superfluity of the rich, the author has to admit that, with so largo a divisor as the total number of the people, the addition made thereby to the income of each man, woman, and child would, at the most, be but a few cents, a day. Whence, then, is to come that abundance of good things which is depicted in this romance?—an abundance so great of all the comforts, decencies, and wholesome luxuries of life, including the best of wines and
(2.) In meeting this exigency of his argument, the author indulges in an extravagance of exaggeration which is hardly to be equalled in the myths of any people, from Scandinavia to the Indian peninsula. According to his exhibit, only an insignificant portion of the labour and capital power of a thousand million of toilers, the world over, is now really-applied to the satisfaction of human wants. His statement of the evil effects of excessive competition and ill-directed enterprise rises into the realm of the marvellous. All this is to be saved and turned to the most beneficent use in his industrial state. There is to be no waste of substance and no duplication of effort. No man or woman is to be obliged to labour after the age of forty-five, with exceptions too inconsiderable to be noticed, and no child before twenty-one; yet all are to have enough and to spare.
(3.) Having thus shown that much can be added to the good things to be enjoyed by the community, through what he regards as an improved system of production, Mr. Bellamy proceeds to show that, in the consumption of what we now call wealth, a vast saving is to be effected. Property having been virtually abolished, all crimes against property disappear, by the necessity of the case. As no man has anything of which he could be robbed, and as no man has any wants unsatisfied which could lead him to robbery, a very beautiful order of things is immediately instituted. Moreover, in such a happy state, all vicious
Such are the three modes in which Mr. Bellamy proposes to afford the world that abundance of good things which is depicted so appetizingly in his now famous novel Looking Backward.
I do not know that I could give, in a brief space, a better idea of the degree of discretion and moderation with which Mr. Bellamy deals with obstacles to his scheme than by saying that he settles in a single line the greatest of human problems. "We have," says this light and airy human providence, "no wars, and our governments have no war powers." Is it wonderful that a novelist who in one line can dispose of a question which has baffled the power of statesmen, diplomats, and philanthropists through the course of centuries, should in a few chapters put you together a social order from which vice, crime, pauperism, and every form of human selfishness altogether disappear?
Yet, even after such a masterly disposition of the problems which have taxed the powers of the greatest minds of the race, even after the tremendous assumptions which he permits himself on his mere fancy to make, Mr. Bellamy is well aware that he has still to deal with a difficulty of colossal magnitude. Conceding all he would be disposed to claim for his system, if erected and put into operation, it still remains to be shewn how this industrial army shall be officered; how "the administration" which is to set and keep millions of persons at work, each in the place and in the way best suiting his capacity, to order and control this gigantic industrial machine, without friction, without waste,
I have said that Mr. Bellamy is aware of this difficulty. Ho proposes a scheme for the choice of those who are to exercise these tremendous powers, which may safely be claimed by his admirers to be without a parallel in political speculation. This is, in truth, the great original feature of Mr. Bellamy's plan. The analogy of an industrial to a military army has been suggested by other writers; many philosophers have risen to the conception of a comprehensive socialism, in which the state should be all and in all; hut Mr. Bellamy alone has undertaken to show how seeking and striving for office can be entirely eliminated, and how an "administration" exercising a hundred times the power of an ordinary government, can be secured so purely and so peacefully that demagoguery and corruption shall become words of an historical significance only. Such a discovery constitutes his chief claim to distinction as a social and political philosopher.
Mr. Bellamy's project is unique and grand in its simplicity. It consists solely in bestowing the choice of the officers of the industrial army upon those who have already
Mr. Bellamy's notion of the composition of an electoral constituency has an interest and a value for us, as citizens deeply concerned in public affairs, even under the present benighted organization of society. We need not wait for the complete realization of the scheme to put this feature of it into operation for the improvement of current politics. The choice of legislators and governors now causes a great deal of trouble: gives rise to office-seeking and offensive partisanship; provokes intrigues and cabals; generates demagoguery and corruption. It is not clear that we need to seek some constituency within the commonwealth whose members are free from interest in the government and can derive no personal benefit from the choice of officials? It is in this view that I venture to supplement Mr. Bellamy's suggestions. Is there anywhere in Massachusetts such a constituency, to which might be entrusted the selection of our governors and legislators? Clearly, there is. We have certain highly populous institutions in which are to be found no inconsiderable number of persons who are definitively relieved from further participation in public affairs. Sequestered for the remainder of their existence, by act of law, from activity and agency within the commonwealth, why should not these persons, familiarly known as Con-
Such is Mr. Bellamy's scheme, as completed by the mechanism be proposes for the choice of officers for his new nation. I am sanguine enough to believe that the simplest statement will answer most of the purposes of a labourious refutation. I will only touch upon a few points.
In the first place, the constituency which Mr. Bellamy would create for the choice of "the administration," under his system, is about the worst which could possibly be devised. A more meddlesome, mischief-making, and altogether pestilent body of electors was never called into being. It is a mistake to suppose that a man's selfish interest in a service ceases because he has himself retired from it. There was a time, after the war, when it was almost impossible for the Secretary of the Navy to administer his department, on account of the intermeddling of twenty or thirty retired admirals living in Washington. Men may still have friends and relatives and dependents to promote, leaders and champions to push, not to speak of enemies to punish, long after they have themselves gone upon the retired list.
Equally unreasonable is it to assume that the great mass of ordinary people would be free from selfish, sectional, and partisan impulses in such a system as Mr. Bellamy proposes. Instead of politics being abolished, it would be found that, with five millions of men over forty-five years in the United States, having nothing else to attend to, politics would become the great business of the
For example, Mr. Bellamy represents his favourite characters as using wine freely. Can any one doubt that within the first few years the industrial army would be convulsed by contests between a prohibition and a license party; and that when this question was settled, if it ever should be, tea, coffee, and tobacco would come in for the passionate attentions of the Miners and Faxons of that day? Mr. Bellamy's "open theatres" contain all the possibilities of a whole century of active politics.
Secondly, Mr. Bellamy's assumption that, were selfish pecuniary interests to be altogether removed as a motive to action, the sense of duty and the desire of applause would enter fully to take their place, and would inspire all the
Thirdly, like Mr. George's great work, Looking Backward shows, through its whole structure, the perverting effect of a single false notion, having the power to twist out of shape and out of due relation every fact which comes, in any way, at any point, within the field of its influence. It is the notion that military discipline applied to, production would work miracles, both in gain and in saving, which has led Mr. Bellamy astray. In sooth, Mr. Bellamy did not turn to the military system of organization because he was a socialist. He became a socialist because he had been moon-struck with a fancy for the military organization and discipline itself. So that, in a sense, militarism is, with him, an end rather than a means. A very funny end, one must admit.
It would be difficult to prove what has been asserted, were one left to his book alone, though the domination exerted over the author's mind by this "fixed idea" would suggest that it was the passion for militarism which had
The opening scene, ho tells us, was a grand parade of a departmental division of the industrial army, on the occasion of the annual muster-day, when the young men coming of age that year were mustered into the national service, and those who that year had reached the age of exemption were mustered out. "The solemn pageantry of the great festival of the year; the impressive ceremonial of the oath of duty, taken by the new recruits in the presence of the world-standard; the formal return of the thanks of humanity to the veterans who received their honourable dismissal from service; the review and the march-past of the entire body of the local industrial forces, each battalion with its appropriate insignia; the triumphal arches, the garlanded streets, the banquets, the music, the open theatres and pleasure gardens, with all the features
Observe: this is the real germ of Mr. Bellamy's social scheme. He goes on to tell us that, enraptured by the contemplation of the grand review, he began to dwell more and more on the feasibility of applying the modern military system of Europe to the industrial life of every country, by turns, and finally of the world. More and more, as he dwelt on this scheme, the possibilities of the subject expanded before him; the difficulties vanished; the time for such a consummation drew near "Instead of a mere fairy tale of social perfection, it [Looking Backward] became the vehicle of a definite scheme of industrial reorganization."
Fired, as well he might be, by a discovery so momentous, Mr. Bellamy, like Archimedes, rushed from his bath into the streets, shouting Eureka. The date 3000 was incontinently dropped, and that of 2000 substituted; the details of the new scheme were wrought out, even at the
I have dwelt thus at length on the genesis of this book, because it is by this path we shall best approach the finished work, for the purposes of examination and criticism. Mr. Bellamy, who is a modest gentleman, does not claim any supernatural powers in thus banishing, at a stroke, poverty and crime, base appetites, sordid ambitions, and mean motives from human society. He does not pose as a wonder-worker; he does not even put on the airs of "a master-mind," as if he had the capability of discovering what was beyond the range of ordinary intellects. "Something in this way it was that, no thanks to myself, I stumbled over the destined corner-stone of the new social order."
But while Mr. Bellamy is thus modest as to his own deserts as a social philosopher, he is sure that there can be no doubt of the virtue of his scheme. He will admit no question that his political and industrial mechanism (for, be it remembered, he distinctly disavows the introduction of any new forces into human life or any change in human nature) will work indefinitely larger effects for good than all the efforts of men and nations, all the planning and
What is the purpose of war? It is to overwhelm and destroy. Such being the purpose of war, what is the problem in war? It is to concentrate, for a time, perhaps a very short time, superior force, at a critical point, for a supreme effort. This is the single object of all strategy, the end of all tactics. For the purpose of securing such concentration of forces, and the capability of supreme efforts in decisive moments, military organization and discipline are introduced. That armies may be promptly marched and may desperately fight, to the last drop of their blood, through the few fearful hours which are to decide the fate of nations, the soldier must give up his will, his power of choice, his freedom of movement, almost his individuality. Is there anything corresponding to this in industry? I answer, No. The purpose of industry is, not to destroy, but to create. Even in exchange, where competition is accentuated and intensified to the highest point, destructive antagonism is developed in but a slight degree, and then only as the result of ignorance and greed.
And if the purpose of industry differs thus widely from the purpose of war, how does the problem of industry differ from that of war? The problem of war is, as we saw, to secure a momentary concentration of superior force, at a critical point, for a supreme effort. The problem of industry is to occupy a vast number of widely separated points, where labour and capital can be employed, not for a single supreme effort, not for a series of spasmodic efforts, but for quiet, orderly, continuous, progressive work. Such a problem presents conditions very different from those presented to an army, crouched for its deadly spring upon an antagonist. Doubtless industrial forces require to be organized and administered, both firmly and judiciously; but it is not necessary that discipline should be carried so far as to deprive the individual of his initiative, to take from him all freedom of choice, and to subject him to an authority which shall have over him the power of life and death, of honour and disgrace.
We see, then, how utterly fallacious is the analogy which Mr. Bellamy has set up. For the sake of success in war, when war, with all its tremendous consequences, has become inevitable, the men of our race will cheerfully submit to the sternest discipline; but for the conduct of their daily lives, in profound peace, no, thank you! Liberty is too much the law of our life; the traditions of personal freedom, the aspirations for a still larger freedom, are too dear to be surrendered, even for the acute delights of an annual review, with triumphal arches, garlanded streets, banquets, and music.
Nor, while dismissing thus Mr. Bellamy's scheme, can the social philosopher even admit that the object which that scheme proposes is itself desirable. Were the fantasy of a state in which every one should have enough and to spare, in which the conditions of life should cease to be
Quite as little can we approve of the fundamental law of Mr. Bellamy's military republic, that there should be no distinction of material condition among its members. Mr. Bellamy tries to place this prescription on high ethical grounds; but all his fine phrases "His title [to credit on the national shopkeepers] is his humanity. The basis of his claim is the fact that he is a man." That claim is recognized by most Christian nations as valid to the extent of necessary subsistence. To carry that claim further is not only to violate equity, but to set in motion the gravest social and economic evils; witness the history of the English Poor Laws. Again, Mr. Bellamy says: "The amount of the resulting product has nothing to do with the question [how much a man shall receive], which is one of desert. Desert is a moral question, the amount of product is a material quantity." It would be better to say that a man's effort constitutes his moral desert, which should have a moral reward,—that is, the approval of his conscience, his fellow-men, and his God; while his achievement constitutes his economic desert, which should have an economic reward—that is, wages or profits.
But the flagrant dishonesty of the proposition to destroy all distinction in the material condition of members of the community is, I make bold to say, the least objection to it. Such a levelling downwards would bring a speedy end of all intellectual and social progress, to be followed, at no late date, by retrogression and relapse. It is only by the distinction of some that the general character of the mass is to be raised. There are plenty of tribes and races among which Mr. Bellamy's great creative principle of absolute equality of conditions is and has immemorially been in full operation. Unfortunately for his case, they are all miserable embruted savages. Even the fact that among some of them the additional principle of the selection of chiefs by the elders of the tribe is of unknown antiquity has not served to lift them in the scale of humanity. They are still poor, squalid wretches, in spite of the adoption of both those prescriptions for turning the earth into a paradise without any intervening change of human nature.
So much for the book. I should have spoken in a very different tone had the author carried out his original purpose, and presented his industrial army avowedly as an ideal. To offer ideals to the contemplation of mankind is well. Even although recognized as utterly impracticable under present conditions, or conditions likely soon to arise, they may have the effect to make men nobler, braver, sweeter, purer. They often serve to exalt the aims of the loftiest minds, and to inspire the humblest and the poorest with renewed courage for their struggle with the actual and the present. But Mr. Bellamy has not chosen to offer his sketch as an ideal. He insists that it is practicable and immediately practicable; and that nothing but incomprehensible folly and stupidity stands in the way of its realization. Not only so, but he has chosen to stigmatize the existing order in the most violent terms. No epithet short of "wolfish" will fully satisfy him in application to that state of society in which all of us live, and which most of us cordially support, though always in the hope of steady improvement and progressive amelioration.
It remains to speak, very briefly, of the party to which the book has given rise, calling itself the Nationalist party. The size of this party is altogether unknown. We read one day of a hundred and fifty, and another day of a hundred and eighty Nationalist clubs; but the word club has a highly elastic meaning. A club may consist, we know, of only president, secretary, and treasurer; and indeed the Nationalist party, thus far, seems to run mainly to officers. While no one objects to women taking their proportional part in this movement for the regeneration of society, there is yet a suspicion that the Nationalist party of the present time comprises an excess of non-combatants. It is also suspected that, while a large amount of intellect has gone into the movement, comparatively little muscle
At first, as I understand the matter, the platform of the new party was Mr. Bellamy's book, pure and simple; but, more recently, the organ of the party has set forth certain propositions under the title of a Declaration of Principles, as follows:—
"The principle of the Brotherhood of Humanity is one of the eternal truths that govern the world's progress on lines which distinguish human nature from brute nature. The principle of competition is simply the application of the brutal law of the survival of the strongest and the most cunning. Therefore, so long as competition continues to be the ruling factor in our industrial system, the highest development of the individual cannot be reached, the loftiest aims of humanity cannot be realized. No truth can avail unless practically applied. Therefore, those who seek the welfare of man must endeavour to suppress the system founded on the brute principle of competition, and put in its place another founded on the nobler principle of association. But in striving to apply this nobler and wiser principle to the complex conditions of modern life, we advocate no sudden or ill-considered changes; we make no war upon individuals; we do not censure those who have accumulated immense fortunes simply by carrying to a logical end the false principle upon which business is now based. The combinations, trusts, and syndicates of which the people at present complain demonstrate the practicability of our basic principle of association. We merely seek to push this principle a little further, and have all industries operated in the interest of all by the nation, the people organized, the organic unity of the whole people. The present industrial system proves itself wrong by the immense wrongs it produces; it proves itself absurd by the immense waste of energy and material which is admitted to be its concomitant. Against this system we raise our protest; for the abolition of the slavery it has wrought and would perpetuate we pledge our best efforts."
Of the seven paragraphs of which this declaration consists, the larger number are devoted to denunciations of the principle of competition, which it is declared to be the purpose of the party to suppress. The small remainder of the "platform" is occupied by declarations in favour of the "nobler principle of association." Even of the space devoted to this part of the declaration, a half is taken up by a disclaimer of any purpose to effect sudden or violent changes, or to attack individuals who have prospered under the existing system. So that all which remains devoted to the constructive purposes of the party is to be found in these lines: "The combinations, trusts, and syndicates of which the people at present complain demonstrate the practicability of our basic principle of association. We merely seek to push this principle a little further, and have all industries operated in the interest of all by the nation, the people organized, the organic unity of the whole people."
Brief as this is, it will be observed that one half, again, is taken up by an argument, or what was intended for such. The positive part of this declaration of principles is therefore confined within the lines last quoted. Leaving out a considerable part of this as surplusage, we have the purpose of the party expressed in these words: "We seek to have all industries operated in the interest of all by the nation."
It will be observed that there is here no statement of the means by which this is to be accomplished; no details
But I cannot proceed to the defence or competition against the attacks of the Nationalists without pausing a moment to call attention to the very absurd character of the sole proof they offer as to the practicability of their scheme. The lamb-like innocence shown in the declaration that "the combinations, trusts, and syndicates of which the people at present complain demonstrate the practicability of our basic principle of association" is, I venture to say, not surpassed in the literature of economics, or even of the comic stage. The essential conditions of a Trust, it ought hardly to be necessary to state, are, first, a small inside ring, to profit by the restriction of production and the raising of price; and secondly, a large outside public, to be plundered. A half dozen men gather in a New York hotel, and, over their champagne and cigars, agree to raise the price of their product two cents a pound, which sixty millions of people will be obliged to pay, to the full extent of their consumption. For the sake of dividing such a prize, which may amount to millions of dollars, perhaps to millions a year, these men are able to forego their rivalries
I have said that by far the greater part of the declaration of principles set forth by the Nationalist party consists in the denunciation of competition. "The principle of competition," says the Nationalist platform, "is simply the application of the brutal law of the survival of the strongest and the most cunning." In propositions of such weighty import, it is impossible to use words too carefully; and, I trust, therefore, I shall not be deemed hypercritical in asking, What is the significance of the word brutal as thus used? Inasmuch as it is the law of the survival of the fittest which developed men from purely animal conditions into the capacity for civilization, it would seem that that principle might more properly be called the human, or anti-brutal principle. There is an old proverb that says, Speak well of the bridge that has carried you safely over. Mr. Bellamy and his friends should be slow to revile the force which has brought it about that the skulls contain more than thirty ounces of brain-matter, and their foreheads slope backward at an angle of more than forty-five degrees.
It is too often the method of the critics of industrial competition to charge upon that principle all the evils that men suffer under that principle. They neglect to enquire whether these evils are due to the proper force of com-
The true remedy is to be found, not in having less of competition, but in having more of it. Perfect competition, equally exerted on both sides, like the pressure of the atmosphere, would result in absolute justice. That would be the ideal economic state in which no man should ever fail to sell his goods or his service in the highest market, or to buy the goods and the services ho requires in the cheapest market. Mr. Bellamy declares that competition is but the expression of the "devil's maxim, 'Your necessity is my opportunity.' "It may be so, for his Satanic Majesty is reputed a very sensible and sagacious gentleman; but it is God's maxim as well. When I sell my service or my product at the highest attainable price, what does this mean but that I have found the very person, of all the world, who has the greatest need of it, who can make the most out of it, to whom it will bring the largest satisfaction of wants and desires?
1. Your Committee have the honour to report that, in their opinion, many and very serious evils are inseparably connected with, and spring from, the system of party government here; that it is unsuited to such a colony as New Zealand; and that in other colonies, and even in England, similar evils have been felt, varying only in degree, consequent upon surrounding circumstances and different phases of the system.
2. Your Committee, having consulted various standard works enumerated in the records, have made numerous extracts, a few of which are annexed to this report. The works referred to generally condemn party government as demoralising and wasteful not only in a financial sense, but also of the time and energy of electors and their representatives.
3. Even in England, where party government has grown up by degrees and under peculiar circumstances, reforms will be required before it is accepted as satisfactory, and therefore it should not be regarded as the best model upon which to form a Constitution for the government of a new country. A variety of circumstances exist in New Zealand which do not exist in Great Britain, and which make it desirable that any system of government adopted here should rest upon well-understood law, and be adapted to the peculiar circumstances and requirements of the colony.
4. The vast difference in the population and importance of the two countries must be duly appreciated before we can justly estimate the suitability or unsuitability of British usages for adoption in this country.
5. This is especially manifest with reference to the parliamentary rule by which a government is dependent for its existence from day to day upon being able to secure the support of a majority of the people's representatives for every one of its more important measures; a system which offers a constant temptation to the members to struggle not for the common good of the nation, but for the possession of place and power. In a country like England, where there are over six hundred and forty members of the House of Commons, and where only exalted station, strong influence, or transcendent ability can place a member within reach of a seat in the Cabinet, this demoralising feature is not so injuriously felt as it is in New Zealand, where a large proportion of members will probably believe themselves to be quite eligible for office.
6. Even amongst the millions of Great Britain it is not every
7. The rule that a Ministry must be unanimous in all its decisions, that each member is responsible for the actions of the whole, and the whole for the actions of each member, is calculated to destroy independence of thought and action, and not unfrequently results in the exclusion of valuable men from a Ministry.
8. The constitutional practice of a Ministry resigning when any important measure which it has introduced has been rejected has led to the mischievous practice of allowing Bills to drop whenever their passage becomes doubtful, thus compelling the Ministry to become followers, rather than wise and courageous leaders; "and, it almost necessarily compels a Ministry, under the instinct of self-preservation, to pander to any popular delusion of the hour, instead of making a stand against shortsighted popular impulses.
9. But what the colonies have most to deplore is the fact that each Ministry is tempted to entrench its position and to buy off opposition by the expenditure of public money, a proceeding which has been felt to answer the double purpose of making the work pleasant at the time, and difficult to any succeeding Ministry taking office with the intention of pursuing a more prudent and honest policy.
10. In the opinion of your Committee the most suitable model for our imitation will be found in the present Government of the Swiss Federation. After twenty-six years' experience, the Constitution accepted in
11. The recommendations which your Committee offer under the head of "Executive Reform" are intended to secure the following advantages:—
I. That the Parliament may be enabled to exercise a real supervision and control over all legislative and administrative action.
II. That the executive may be selected by the Parliament itself in a manner likely to secure the services of the men best suited to the work, and at the same time so place them that they can seek the public welfare, untrammelled by party considerations and undegraded by the practice of stratagems to secure their own positions.
III. That the representatives of the people may have freedom to vote according to their unbiased opinions, without the necessity of supporting what they believe to be wrong or opposing what they believe to be right for the purpose of serving party interests.
IV. That the people of the colony may be able to look up to the Ministry as men engaged in watching over their interests, and not as men waging party warfare.
V. That the people of the colony may have confidence in the administration of public affairs, take an intelligent interest in the proceedings of the Legislature, and thus create a healthy public opinion on public affairs, and the part taken by their representatives.
With these objects in view, your Committee submit the following outline of the Constitution which they have agreed to recommend:—
I. Upon the assembling of Parliament after each general election, and as soon as the Speaker of the House of Representatives has been elected, he shall then, for the twenty-four hours next ensuing, receive nominations for seven members of the Ministry. Any person qualified to be elected to the House of Representatives shall be eligible for election to the Ministry. The nominations shall be signed by at least six members of the House of Representatives and by the candidate, or the consent of the candidate may be sent by telegram.
II. The Speaker shall notify the closing of the nominations and fix the time for the election, such time being not more than seventy-two hours, nor less than twenty-four, from the time of closing the nominations, provided that the Speaker may remedy any irregularity of form therein.
III. The voting shall be taken by ballot, and upon the principle of proportional representation, each member having one transferable vote, exercisable in the alternative for as many candidates as he pleases, by writing a figure denoting the order of his choice opposite each name, as illustrated in Schedule A.
IV. The Speaker shall preside over the election, and may appoint such assistants as he may require. Each candidate shall have the right to appoint a scrutineer. The counting of votes shall be proceeded with as prescribed in Schedule B, and the Speaker shall declare the result, which shall be final.
V. Any member of the Ministry may vacate his office in such manner, or for any such cause as may vacate a seat in the House of Representatives; and the House of Representatives may at any time, by resolution, declare the appointment of any Minister cancelled, provided such resolution be carried by a majority of two-thirds of the whole House.
VI. Vacancies in the Ministry shall be filled by ballot taken in the House of Representatives. The vote of an absolute majority
VII. The Ministers shall each year elect one of their number to be their Chairman and another to be Vice-Chairman, and shall determine the department which each member shall preside over. No Minister shall be Chairman for two successive years.
VIII. At meetings of the Ministry, if the Chairman be not present, the Vice-Chairman shall preside; but no action shall be valid unless four Ministers are present and concur.
IX. The Ministry shall make regulations for the conduct of business, keep minutes of their proceedings, and present copies of such minutes and regulations, attested by the signatures of the Chairman and at least one other Minister, to each Chamber of the Legislature upon the first day of the meeting of each session of Parliament.
X. The Ministers shall have full control over the different departments of State, under the authority of law; but the appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, members of the Legislative Council, the Agent-General, and such other appointments as may hereafter be declared by law shall be subject to the sanction of Parliament; nor shall the Ministers recommend His Excellency the Governor to dissolve Parliament without like sanction.
XI. The Ministers shall, if directed by a resolution of either Chamber, or may of their own motion, cause to be prepared and introduced for the approval of Parliament any legislative or other proposal.
XII. Ministers shall submit to both Chambers as soon as possible, at the annual session, full and explicit returns of the expenditure and receipts for the past year, and also the estimated expenditure and receipts for the ensuing year, and shall be responsible to Parliament for the economical and efficient administration of the public service, and such other duties as Parliament may impose.
XIII. If any member of the House of Representatives or of the Legislative Council be elected a member of the Ministry his seat in either Chamber shall be ipso facto vacated; but Ministers shall have the right to be present to speak and initiate proposals in either Chamber, but not to vote.
I. To illustrate the foregoing proposals, a comparison should he instituted with the Executive as it is at present selected, principally to meet the exigencies of party, where inexperienced and unfit persons have frequently been included, where Ministers are necessarily under the dominance of a Premier, where the Executive is frequently governed by expediency and party considerations, where the very existence of the Cabinet is dependent upon its retaining a sufficient number of partisans in the House, with the conse-
II. Next take the House of Representatives, where discord reigns; where party struggles obscure and obstruct the discharge of parliamentary duties; where Government is supposed to lead, but really is itself driven by any combination strong enough to overthrow the balance of power; where members may be coerced by a threat of dissolution or corrupted by patronage—almost powerless for good—practically denied the right to initiate—where, with great waste, so much is commenced and so little finished—where so many abuses flourish under the vagaries of a system which leaves the representative a shadow of power, but a real discredit. Compare this also with a Parliament supreme, with a political atmosphere purified, with free scope to each member to exercise his privileges and vote honestly upon the merits of every question submitted to him. The people, too, would have issues simplified. The accretions of the past have left our political machinery clogged, encumbered, and disconnected. The voters' aspirations should lead to true and direct action; nothing less will satisfy their common-sense. When an election takes place now, the people learn but little of the Legislature, and less still of the administration of public affairs; all is filtered through the bias of partisanship, and so obscured by personal considerations as to reduce public affairs to the second place.
The voter is required to denote by figures the order of his choice:—
I. The ballot-papers, having been all mixed, shall be drawn out in succession and stamped with numbers, so that no two shall bear the same number.
II. The number obtained by dividing the whole number of good ballot-papers tendered at the election by the number of members to be elected plus one, and increasing the quotient (or, where this is fractional, the integral part of the quotient) by one, shall be called the quota.
III. Every candidate who has a number of first votes equal to or greater than the quota shall be declared elected, and so many of the ballot-papers containing those votes as shall be equal in number to the quota (being stamped with the lowest numerals) shall be set aside as of no further use. On all other ballot-papers the name of the elected candidate shall be deemed to be cancelled, with the effect of raising by so much in the order of preference all votes given to other candidates after him. This process shall be repeated until no candidate has more than a quota of first votes, or votes deemed first.
IV. Then the candidate or candidates having the fewest first votes, or votes deemed first, shall be declared not to be elected, with the effect of raising by so much in the order of preference all votes given to candidates after him or them; and Rule III. shall be again applied if possible.
V. When by successive applications of Rules III. and IV. the number of candidates is reduced to the number of members remaining to be elected the remaining candidates shall be declared elected if they have the quota of votes.
VI. When the voting results in a tie between two or more candidates, or in the number of candidates required having less than the quota, then a fresh ballot shall be immediately taken, under the. provisions of Clause 6, and limited to those candidates having the number of votes nearest to the quota or affected by the final tie.
The theory on which a party is constructed is this: A special line of policy is considered to be the best for the country. Certain men are deemed capable of giving effect to that policy. To enable them to do so, they must be got into office. To get into office they must have a majority in their favour in the House of Commons. To secure this majority, there must be organised co-operation amongst the supporters of the policy in question. This plan is plausible,
Joseph Cowen's "Speeches," p. 145.
I seriously submit to you that parliamentary government is not allowed to have its most complete development in consequence of the frequent and, in many cases, quite unnecessary changes of Ministry, which, so far from constituting or obtaining responsible government, have the effect, in my opinion, of establishing the most thoroughly irresponsible system of administration with which I am acquainted. If greater public evils have not happened than any which have been disclosed, you have to thank the character of the men who serve as Ministers of the Crown, and especially the character of your permanent Civil servants—not the character of the system under which they work.—Speech of Sir Anthony Musgrave, January, 1878.
The drawbacks to the party system are so palpable, and have been so repeatedly set forth, that we may content ourselves with a very general statement of them. One, of course, is that Ministers who look to the support of a great political connection are obliged to pay for it in the distribution of patronage, and cannot select the most competent men for the service of the public. Another equally patent objection is that no leader of a party can venture to be very much in advance of the opinions of the rank and file. He must often be obliged to relinquish or modify schemes which he believes to be for the public good, and be satisfied with settling questions for a quarter of a century, when otherwise he might settle them for generations. Such a system is not favourable to the growth of political foresight, and leads to the habit of "patching up," as fatal in public as in private affairs. . . . Party naturally gravitates towards faction, and this tendency is only kept in check by the honourable feeling and political sincerity which for the most part distinguish English gentlemen. Even within the limits thus imposed upon it the exigencies of party do occasionally carry statesmen into measures which, however necessary in themselves, are not recommended to the public by the source from which they proceed; while, whenever it does happen that these limits are transgressed, and that the hatred of rivals or the thirst of power becomes the primary or sole motive of party action, we see wild
T. E. Kebbel, "Nineteenth Century," 1882.
The life of a legislator, who is earnest in his efforts to faithfully perforin his duty as a public servant, is harassing and laborious to the last degree. He is kept at work from eight to fourteen hours a day; he is obliged to incur the bitterest hostility of a body of men as powerful as they are unscrupulous, who are always on the watch to find out, or to make out, anything in his private or his public life which can be used against him.—Practical Politics (Roosevelt).
Is there any sane reason why want of confidence, expressed by a majority of the House, in any single Minister, or in the conduct of his department, should involve the downfall of a whole Administration? Can there be anything Utopian in the proposition that the Ministry should retreat within the old lines of strictly executive service, each Minister being directly and individually responsible, not to the Cabinet, or the Prime Minister, but to Parliament?—Matthew Macfie, "Contemporary Review," 1884.
The long familiarity of Englishmen with this institution, and with the copies of it made in the European countries which possess constitutions, has blinded them to its extreme singularity.—Popular Government (Maine).
When an appointment is necessary in the Supreme Court it is made nominally by the Governor in Council, but in reality by the Ministry in office at the time. Is there any guarantee that the Ministry of the day will select the man most fitted for the judicial seat? There is none whatever. There is a check—that of public opinion. But this check is so weak that it will hardly ever be sufficient to prevent a bad appointment, especially in view of the inducements to make appointments in the interests of the members of a Ministry rather than in the interests of the public. The appointment by the Ministry, therefore, practically means leaving it with the Attorney-General, with power to appoint himself if he should so please. He will naturally be desirous of the office. His colleagues will be not only disposed to give, but afraid to refuse, it to him. Appointing him means another ministerial office at their disposal, the judicious filling of which may quicken the zeal of friends or disarm the hostility of opponents. Refusal means the secession of a colleague and the future opposition of the slighted Minister.—Jeremiah Dwyer, "Melbourne Review," 1877.
The partisan who abandons his own judgment and blindly follows his leader is despicable enough, and may be a peril to the State.—Thomas Burt, "Contemporary Review," 1890.
In party contests, men do not battle for measures; they fight for candidates. . . . Politics, from being the science of Govern-
"The Co-operative Commonwealth" (Gronlund).
Where there are no real politics, office has few responsibilities, and its freedom from these and the chances it affords to the unscrupulous give intense keenness to the contest for it. Angry men hotly in earnest are not usually meally-mouthed. So we have assertion and contradiction; the lie direct given and retorted; charges of corruption hurled backwards and forwards between the Treasury and the Opposition benches.—Fronde, "Edinburgh Review," 1886.
The working of the system is at variance with the true principles of representation and free parliamentary government, tending to the prostitution of public interests to unworthy party ends, throwing the legislative machine out of gear, and involving administrative affairs in utter confusion. . . . War to the knife should be declared by the constituencies against the present corrupt excrescence of party organisation; for unless this is done, the evils complained of will in the future be intensified rather than reduced.—Matthew Macfie, "Contemporary Review," 1884.
Party obstruction, legitimate and otherwise, causes such a loss of time in the early part of the session that numberless useful Bills are thrown out towards its close.—"Monthly Review," Vol. I.
The liberty to throw out bad Bills without involving the necessity of throwing out the Government, too, would be one of the greatest advantages to be derived from the abolition of party government. In the second place, if men were not bound together by party ties, there would be no reason why they should all attack and defend the same measure; reason and conviction would have fair-play, while in great emergencies the leading statesmen of the House would have less difficulty in coming together, and making it impossible for a really bad Minister to retain office. . . . The spontaneous agreement of men not compelled to act together by the force of party discipline, and each one coming forward on the strength of his own convictions only, would certainly carry more weight that a majority composed of men who are bound by the roles of their system to stand shoulder to shoulder and obey the commands of their leaders, whether they approve of them or not. . . . In the eyes of the independent public we fear the antagonism of parties has latterly seemed little better than a fight for place, to which everything else is sacrificed. What did even Mr. Cowen say on the subject not two months ago? "I am indifferent," he said, "to party organizations I think the objects which lead men to union very paltry. They bring out the worse features of human nature. We may depend upon it, the feeling is spreading very widely. Place! Place! Place! That is the sole meaning which large masses of the nation are beginning to attach to politics." . . . The party system can no longer be conducted on those terms which compel honourable men to stoop to evasions and subterfuges, which in any other walk in life they would despise, and
Quarterly Review," 1886.
The Opposition has lately shown itself willing to make bargains with the Government. If the Premier will make a small concession on some petty point, like, perhaps, the granting of uniforms to the police, to some private member of the Opposition, then the leader of the party will be prepared to vote for important measures en bloc.Parliamentary proceedings have become a traffic or a species of barter. The leader of the Opposition seeks the Premier in some small room behind the Chamber, and says in effect, "If you will consent to do this or that, I shall accept your measures as they stand."—"The Australasian," 22nd December, 1888.
The paralysis of the House of Commons is frightful, and threatens the very existence of representative government in this country. —Sir Mountstuart E. G. Duff, "Nineteenth Century," 1887.
The constituencies have elected a House of Commons, but it is not allowed to work. They have appointed a Government, but it is not permitted to transact even the most ordinary business of the State. A minority of the minority organises, and the whole minority tolerates or approves a plan of misusing the forms of the House of Commons, under which no business can be got through. Representatives are too deeply disgusted to attend, and Ministers are worn out with work about as useful as polishing shot or picking oakum. Under cover of exposing grievances during the debates on supply, a band of members consume the whole of the time of the House in discussions which, were it not an object to paralyse the Executive, would never be raised, or would be concluded in as many minutes as they now occupy hours.—"Spectator," 1889.
Politicians of every shade had long agreed in regarding the British Constitution with pride, until the veneration of many had degenerated into fanaticism.—Erskine May, "Edinburgh Review," 1854.
Pure party feeling demands the prostration of the reason and the will. It requires that a man should not only believe in the infallibility of his leaders, but also in the mortal errors and delinquencies of his opponents. He must not only defend and follow his party, even when they are wrong, but he must attack and resist the opposite opinions even when they are right. He is bound by ties almost as strong as those of military obedience; and he dreads the consequences of deserting his flag, even when he condemns the policy to which he is bound.—Maine, "Edinburgh Review," 1886.
I think it is evident that the people are tired of the system, and that it will have to be got rid of by one way or another in the course of time.—T. E. Kebbel, "Nineteenth Century," 1888.
In —Churchill.
About the reform of the House of Commons there is absolutely no difference of opinion. Everybody agrees that it is a worthless and a useless House of Commons, and that a reform which takes place in it cannot possibly be a reform for the worse.—Churchill, speech, October, 1884.
Mr. Bright has added the weight of his authority to the general protest against political servility. What will be the value of party, he very truly asks, when its whole power is placed at the disposal of a leader from whose authority no appeal is allowed? This principle of absolute obedience is the principle of Jesuitism—a principle which secures wonderful results in the success of a particular set of interests, but is fatal to that individual freedom which is the soul of English political life.—"Public Opinion," 25th June, 1886.
Parties strive to engross the prizes of office by the means which faction everywhere employs. The consequences are, the increasing ascendency of the worst men, and the political demoralisation of a community, which, if a fair chance were given it, would furnish as sound a basis for good government as any community in the world.—Goldwin Smith.
Settlement in legislation depends upon the perturbations of the balance of conflicting interest. . . . Take the desire and faith of mutual help, the virtue of avowed brotherhood, for the accomplishment of common purpose, without which nothing great can be wrought by multitudinous bands of men. . . . Let the devil put a few personal interests into it, and you have all faithful deliberation on national law rendered impossible to the Parliaments of the world by the antagonism of parties. . . . The taunt of personal malignity and studied disrespect ignore the decencies of debate and lower the dignity of the House.—Ruskin.
Those who are not in the House of Commons cannot realise how the members must feel when, night after night, they see devices tried which entirely check their activity, and which not only defeat the measures which are being proposed, but degrade the great Assembly of which every member of the United Kingdom ought to be proud.—Goschen, speech, 1885.
These feelings of distrust and disapproval, if I do not mistake, are generated and maintained by this accursed system by which the party here strive to murder the reputation of parties on that side, and leaps over the dead bodies of murdered reputations to the Treasury seats. That these fruits of party government are not of mere local growth, but are natural and universal products of the system could be shown by evidence from all the countries which are ruled under it.—E. G. FitzGibbon, "Melbourne Review," 1887, speech by Mr. Higginbottom.
Each party, when in opposition, must assist in bringing Govern-
Froude.
Probably no member of Parliament quite knows how scandalous and intolerable the present state of the House of Commons appears to the great body of quiet reasonable people throughout the country. . . . The actual truth is that people outside the House of Commons regard the confusion into which it has fallen, and its apparent helplessness to extricate itself, with ever-deepening disgust and shame.—Matthew Arnold, "Nineteenth Century," 1887.
The time of Parliament is, beyond all comparison, the most precious possession of the people of these kingdoms. Whether we consider its mere money value, as measured by the earnings of its professional and mercantile members, or its potentiality for good to the nation, this is demonstrably and obviously true. Notwithstanding this, it is notoriously wasted as nothing else is wasted; worse than this, its waste is attended by an amount of mental discomfort to all patriotic men, and a loss of health and energy to members of the House which it is impossible to exaggerate.—Samuel Plimsoll, "Fortnightly Review," 1886.
The oldest and noblest representative Assembly in the world is unable to control its own proceedings; the intentions of the majority of its members, representing the opinions of a majority of the nation, are deliberately and successfully defied; time—invaluable time—is wasted with childlike folly; and measures which the community desires are arrested at the will and pleasure of one or more influential members. Scenes of disorder, which would not be tolerated in any other body of elected Englishmen, have become one of our parliamentary institutions, and the deterioration of the tone and character of debate is rapidly deteriorating the estimation in which our representative government is held. Disloyalty to the House of Commons is treason—high treason—which the constituencies will rightly regard as a capital offence.—Henry II. Fowler, "Nineteenth Century," 1885.
It is an essential function of a representative House to control the finances, but the New Zealand House of Representatives has for years past abandoned this duty, and simply voted the sums of money which the Government has asked it to vote, notwithstanding the fact that a wide divergence of opinion existed in the community respecting the wisdom of the financial policy that was being pursued. . . . The utter inability of the Assembly to perform the functions appertaining to a Parliament is further illustrated by the manner in which it worships the Ministry of the day.—E. W. Purnell, "Political Pamphlets," Vol. XX.
The party system, whereof the strangeness is concealed from modern Englishmen only by the force of habit, leads, it has been well said, to this result: The sixteen cleverest men in Parliament are set to govern the country, whilst the sixteen next cleverest men are employed in hindering the work of government; the talents
"Edinburgh Review," 1890.
Party feeling is probably far more a survival of the primitive combativeness of mankind than a consequence of conscious intellectual differences between man and man. It is essentially the same sentiment which in certain states of society leads to civil, intertribal, or international war; and it is as universal as humanity. It is better studied in its more irrational manifestations than in those to which we are accustomed. It is said that Australian savages will travel half over the Australian continent to take in a fight the side of combatants who wear the same totem as themselves. In Southern India a series of dangerous riots are constantly arising through the rivalry of parties who know no more of one another than that some of them belong to the party of the right hand and others to that of the left hand. . . . It is through this great natural tendency to take sides that the wire-puller works. Without it he would be powerless. His business is to fan its flame; to keep it constantly acting upon the man who has once declared herself a partisan; to make escape from it difficult and distasteful. —Maine, "Popular Government."
It is patent to everyone who studies political affairs that the maturity of sound opinion upon all subjects has been materially retarded by the animus which is a motive largely actuating both sides in the prosecution of their contests. The primary desire is to get into office—to enjoy power, with its attendant prestige and benefits. Human nature being what it is, no opportunity is lost of the "Outs" discrediting the measures brought forward by the "Ins." However good a Bill may be in itself, and however loud may be the call of the people for its being passed into law, it always has to run the gauntlet of the rival jealousies of the two parties. This, on the surface, may seem to be a very good thing, and in one sense it is; but could not more than the ultimate results achieved be secured if a body of legislators were so constituted as to insure the elimination of those elements which give rise to such continuous personal conflicts and to such bitter party hatred, which at times, and in no times worse than our own, bring the whole system of government into that sort of contempt which is now and again felt for the deliberations of a local vestry? How are the people outside the walls of Parliament to form their opinions of particular measures brought forward if the men in Parliament do their utmost in many cases to misrepresent the intentions of the framers of the Bill, with the object of discrediting the party in power and getting them turned out? This is literally the chief business which the party out of power devotes its energies to.—Crump, "Formation of Political Opinion."
An editor, for instance, conceives a violent dislike for a certain Prime Minister who has perhaps criticized his paper in an uncom
ad nauseam, is wearisome and ennuyant in the highest degree, even if spicely done.—Crump, "Formation of Political Opinion."
I believe that party, instead of being a machinery necessary to the existence of free government, is its most dangerous foe, and that in order to get anything which really deserves the name of Republican Government we must destroy party altogether.—Stickney, "A True Republic."
In John Stuart Mill's "Principles of Political Economy," on the last page of the second volume, we read: "Even in the best stage which society has yet reached, it is lamentable to think how great a proportion of all the efforts and talents in the world are employed in merely neutralising one another. It is the proper end of government to reduce this wretched waste to the smallest possible amount, by taking such measures as shall cause the energies now spent by mankind in injuring one another or in protecting themselves against injury."
One of the great blots upon our system of government is the sustained obstruction practised by those out of office against legislative or other measures proposed by those in office.—Crump "Formation of Political Opinion."
"How," asked Mr. Gladstone, "is the time of the House of Commons to be economised?" The answer is simple: Let the House of Commons mind its own business—thoroughly and exclusively.—
Donisthorpe, "Individualism."
The individual may be both honest and prudent in himself, but as a member of the Assembly he is liable to be carried away by the passions of the crowd, and to consent to resolutions which, a short time before, he would have unhesitatingly rejected. The orator can only influence by playing upon the popular passions, and when once the storm has been raised no feeling of shame can check its violence. . . . The populace gives the rein to its evil passions; it envies and oppresses the nobler and better minority, whose existence is a standing reproach and protest against its own rule. The worst qualities of the demos come to the surface—pride, arbitrary caprice, the love of frequent and useless change, brutality: the less it rules itself, the more oppressive is its rule of others. Parties are formed whose mutual hatred is stronger than patriotism, and whose mutual struggles distract and ruin their common country. The State is endangered by incessant changes, and brought to ruin by the want of stability.—Bluntschli, "Theory of the State."
There is urgent need to form public opinion independent of Parliament and of all electoral machinery whatever. The fierce rivalry of parties, and the way in which party absorbs all political
Members of Parliament feel it a duty not to embarrass their party leaders by discussing any question which their leaders do not sanction, or even criticising anything they do or omit to do. Party men and politicians outside Parliament follow the same cue, and encourage the members in silent discipline. The journalists and publicists usually have their party side, and make it a point of honour to stir no awkward topic, but with their whole force to support the party side. Thus, as the whole political energy of our clay runs into parliamentary channels, and is organized with military discipline to secure party victories (and the same thing is even more conspicuous in the United States), the free formation of public opinion is almost as difficult as under the despotism of a Czar or a Napoleon.—Frederic Harrison, "Westminster Review," 1886.
If, on the contrary, popular election hands over the people's government in their name to an agency of unprincipled chicanery and self-interested intrigue, the result must be popular corruption and governmental meanness. The people will be only debased by the flattery of solicitation, and national interests will be sacrificed to individual or party jobs.—Lord Norton, "Nineteenth Century," 1860.
It necessarily limits the field from which they are drawn to those who have promised absolute subservience to the party. Independence is thus excluded, but independence is certainly one of the qualities which the nation ought most anxiously to cherish. It cannot but be of evil consequence that the nation should ostracize its most original and honest thinkers in order to secure a voting-machine that can be trusted to give out whatever verdict its managers require.—J. B. Kinnear, "Principles of Civil Government."
It seems to me that party government has come to be a vehicle [or self-seekers' ambition. It is a snare and an antiquated delusion. Political programmes of party are snares also. True men should owe allegiance to measures, not to party. . . . Government by brag and shout cannot be tolerated for ever. If that hateful fiend—"party"—could be slain, political warfare might be carried on under far less debasing conditions. In every political struggle there would be a nearer approach to true unity on either side, instead of a false and forced cohesion of chance particles. A party man discovers his advocacy is compelled to measures distasteful or even hateful to him. If he break with his party, and join the opposing camp, the same lot will be his fate. To be minus party is, under the present baneful system, to be minus political influence. Party allegiance results in a want of force and heartiness in political life. A man compelled against his will to vote and to think in the same way as his leader is a man robbed of the power to use his faculties. What
The Circle.
The word "politics" has gradually acquired a double signification, but nothing is more distinct than these two meanings. In the more vulgar sense politics is a struggle for personal power by party contests; they breathe defiance to opponents; the passions are stimulated by platform oratory and by party organisation; a shortlived social war rages through the land; wild theories are broached; false promises are made; and it would seem as if the most solemn and important act which the nation can be called upon to perforin was to be accomplished by noise, excitement, and intemperate language. But the word "politics" has a higher import. It is not so much the conflict and the triumphs of one set of men over another, as the trial of the principles which govern States and Empires.—"Edinburgh Review," 1885.
It is needless to say that our public servants cannot possibly do their work thoroughly; they cannot give it their best thought and effort. They will necessarily and certainly give their time to election work; they will put their best work where it will do the most good—in the management of caucuses and conventions. In short, we can lay it down as a law of politics. Tenure by election certainly destroys official efficiency, and turns government into an election-machine.—Stickney, "The Political Problem."
Party diminishes responsibility by dividing it; subjects the executive government to sudden and dangerous changes; it confers office upon the wise and the upright together with the incompetent and the corrupt, and in turn ejects them from power simultaneously: degrades politics from a science to a warfare, assigning public office not to the ablest men necessarily, but to those who have the greatest political power.—Cox, "Institutions of the English Government."
The advantages of party discipline are almost insignificant beside
Williams, "Party and Patriotism."
President Hayes not only saw the magnitude of the evil, but he pointed out the difficulties in the way of reform with great clearness. "The most serious obstacle," said he, "to an improvement in the Civil Service, and especially to a reform in the method of appointment and removal, has been found in practice under what is known as the 'Spoils System,' by which the appointing power has been so largely encroached upon by the members of Congress. The first step in the reform of the Civil Service must be a complete divorce between Congress and the Executive in the matter of appointments."—Charles Kendall Adams, "Contemporary Review," 1889.
It is impossible to lay down M. Scherer's pamphlet without a conviction that the opinion is held in France by the public men who direct the public affairs of the French Republic that the party system cannot continue without corruption. The account which this writer gives of the expedients by which all French Governments have sought to secure support since the resignation of Marshal Macmahon, is most deplorable. There is a scale of public corruption, with an excessive and extravagant scheme of public works at one end of it, and at the other the open barter of votes by the electoral committees for the innumerable small places in the gift of the highly-centralised French Administration. The principle that the "spoils belong to the victors" has been borrowed from the United States and receives a thoroughgoing application. Every branch of the public service—even, since M. Scherer wrote, the judicial bench—has been completely purged of functionaries not professing allegiance to the party in power for the time being.—Maine, "Popular Government."
Freeman writes: "The United States are regularly convulsed at fixed intervals by the personal question, 'Who shall be President?' England, Italy, every constitutional kingdom, is irregularly convulsed at uncertain intervals by the personal question, 'Who shall be Prime Minister?' So is the commonwealth of France, with the further chance of another personal question, 'Who shall be President?' in other words, 'Who shall be temporary King?' turning up unexpectedly. Switzerland, on the other hand, is never convulsed by any of these questions; for it has a form of executive under which none of them can ever be put.—"Universal Review," July, 1890.
The Victorian legislators and colonists adopted what they intended to be a close counterpart of the British Constitution with sanguine anticipations of its proving worthy of like veneration. But, the
E. G. FitzGibbon, "Melbourne Review," 1878.
If free government can be carried on in no other way, the prospect is dark, for party is apparently doomed alike by morality and by the growing tendencies of the age. But there is obviously one other way at least in which free government can be carried on. Instead of making office the prize of a perpetual faction fight, the members of the Executive Council of State may be regularly elected by the members of the Legislature for a certain term under such a system with regard to the rotation of vacancies as may at once secure sufficient harmony between the two bodies and a sufficient continuity in the executive government. The responsibility of the Executive for the decisions of the Legislature, and its obligation to resign upon every legislative defeat, which is a mere accident of English history and devoid of rational foundation, would then cease.
The Legislature and the Executive would be at liberty each to do its own work. The Executive would be national, and would receive the general support of the community instead of being an object of organized hositility to half of it; it would be stable instead of being, as it is now throughout Europe, ephemeral as well as weak. Responsibility on the part of its members instead of being diminished would be increased.
It would become individual, whereas now it is only collective, the whole Cabinet and the party majority being bound to support
Goldwin Smith, "Contemporary Review," 1885.
He said that the principle of government by party will some time or other come to be put to the challenge in English political life.—Justin McCarthy, "Contemporary Review," 1887.
Hume says: "As much as legislators and founders of State ought to be honoured and respected among men, as much ought the founders of sects and factions to be detested and hated; because the influence of faction is directly contrary to that of laws. Factions subvert government, render laws impotent, and beget the fiercest animosities among men of the same nation, who ought to give mutual assistance and protection to each other. And what should render the founders of parties more odious, is the difficulty of extirpating these weeds when once they have taken root in any State. They naturally propagate themselves for many centuries, and seldom end but by the total dissolution of that government in which they are sown."—Hume's Philosophical Works.
We believe that if the nation once fully realised the position, it would introduce some form of referendum in regard to constitutional Acts which no Parliament, however anxious to do so, would dare to repeal.—Lord Har tington, "Spectator," 1889.
At first they would probably wonder that it could ever have succeeded at all; and that a system, by which the Empire had been brought to the very verge of ruin, before statesmen could be roused to discriminate between their major and their minor obligations, should have been tolerated for a day by a nation which prides itself on its knowledge of the art of government. . . . Party has, by many great statesmen, been considered only an accident, not an essential, of our English form of government.—Speech by Lord Hartington, "Quarterly Review," 1886.
The party system betrays in Canada the same fatal weaknesses which it betrays elsewhere. In the absence of organic questions, the list of which must everywhere in time be exhausted, no
Goldwin Smith, "Contemporary Review," 1887.
Palmerston, in a speech made in the House of Commons on the Lord Palmerston, "Opinions and Policy."
Cobden, in a speech made on Cobden's Speeches.
As a rule Ministers profess great consideration for the opinions of Parliament: it is only the Opposition that they treat with contempt. Where an important vote is pending they first try to make sure of their majority. If there are any signs of disaffection in the Ministerial rank and file, they rally their party, an appeal is made to party feeling, the disaffected have to stand out, all the influence at the command of Ministers is employed to conciliate them, and, when all else fails, a threat of resignation or of a dissolution of Parliament will generally bring them to terms. The Ministerial ranks are then closed, and the reunited majority behind the Treasury benches are used to crush the Opposition majority. To the outside public all seems fair and square, but none the less effectively have Ministers exercised their influence and authority to silence the voice of the majority.
Is it really desirable that Ministers of the Crown should exercise authority over Parliament? Is it not desirable rather that Parliament should exercise authority over Ministers? Is it not an essential principle of parliamentary government that Ministers should be held responsible to Parliament instead of Parliament being held responsible to Ministers?
According to Earl Grey party government has had the happy effect of enabling Ministers to obtain "authority" in the House,
I contend that it is solely because Ministers exercise their authority that it is so difficult to get any legislation out of Parliament. So far from being of any assistance, in my opinion party government is a positive hindrance to legislative action.
Party warfare is peculiar to parliamentary life—I might almost say to English parliamentary life, for it has not fairly established itself in any non-English speaking races; and even in England itself it has found no place in any other departments of public or private service.
Had government by party not come into existence under exceptional circumstance; had it not been the slow growth of generations; had it not been associated with the names of our most eminent men, and with some of the proudest events of our history, and had almost become a part of our national life, it would find few defenders amongst us at the present day. The system is tolerated because of old associations, and because we have come to think that it is in some way an essential part of our time-honoured Constitution; but if it were now for the first time proposed for our acceptance, I venture to say that it would not recommend itself either to the intelligence or to the moral sense of the community.
When Government by departments was in operation, the heads of departments were controlled by the sovereign; we have not yet had government by departments directly controlled by Parliament; yet this is precisely the kind of government that the Constitution provides for. The functions of Ministers are, or ought to be, simply administrative. Ministers are the executive committee of Parliament. It is their duty to carry on the departmental business of government, and nothing more. And there is no more reason to anticipate that the members of a committee of this kind would meet only to differ and dispute than would any Select Committee of the House appointed for any other purpose. If a Select Committee do not agree, the minority may submit a separate report, setting forth the reasons why they differ from the majority, and when the question submitted to them comes up before the House, the fullest light will be thrown on the whole matter in dispute. There is no reason why Ministers should not follow the same rule.
Government by party necessitates the existence not of one but of two leaders; not of one party, but of two parties; and these two leaders and two parties are supposed to be in direct oppo-
The dread of Ministers resigning if defeated on their measures will, it is true, induce their followers to support them; but their support will be of an indiscriminating character—that is to say, they will support the bad measures as well as the good ones. The argument, therefore, proves too much, unless we are to assume that Ministers are infallible.
What would be thought of a bank manager, for instance, who, whenever he made a proposal to his directors, insisted that they should either accept that proposal in its entirety or his resignation? Would the directors not say that they were entitled to his best advice in any case, and that it was for them to accept or reject that advice as they thought proper? Suppose the manager went further, and said, "I have a scheme to lay before you which, I believe, would benefit the institution, but that scheme I decline to carry out unless you tell me beforehand that you will not alter it in any way whatever." Would not the directors consider it was time to get rid of such a manager? Yet this is exactly the attitude which the Cabinet assumes towards Parliament, if we are to accept the arguments put forth by the advocates of the present system.
The nomination of the Executive by Parliament would, in my opinion, bring about a vast and beneficial change in the government of the country. It would put an end to the dominating influence of the Premier, and destroy the unity of the Cabinet. Parliament could then remove at pleasure any Minister whose conduct it disapproved of. It would have the selection of Ministers in its own hands, and the best men from both sides of the House would be eligible for office in the same way as the Speaker is now. The selection would not be from one section of Parliament, but from all sections, and the Ministry would represent all shades of opinion. At present one-half of the best men in Parliament are permanently excluded from office. There would also be a possibility of differentiating the functions of administration and legislation. Both kinds of functions are now exercised by the Cabinet. Ministers attempt too much when they undertake to administer the affairs, and at the same time to provide legislative measures for a great empire. The functions of administration are sufficiently onerous and important to engage their undivided attention. By relieving them of the business of legislation, which properly belongs to Parliament, there would be some chance of obtaining an efficient system of departmental supervision, while by leaving Parliament unhampered by considerations of changes of government it would be able to devote itself zealously to the work of legislation. If the heads of departments found it necessary to recommend legislation, their proposals would, no doubt, be impartially considered by Parliament. In this, as in other matters,
I do not imagine, however, that we shall ever get rid of party altogether; nor is it necessary or desirable that we should. But it is desirable that we should do away with party as it is; that we should get rid of the bitterness of party feeling, the dishonesty of party tactics, and the evils inherent in the system of party government. It would be a gain to society if we could divest politics of its mean and mercenary character. But wherever men have strong convictions, and are earnest in the propagation of them, they will always combine and organize in order the more effectually to secure their adoption by the public. We shall still have party, therefore; in politics, as in other departments of human knowledge, there will always be at least two parties—the party for things as they are, and the party for things as they ought to be. The spoils for "the victors" would, however, be no longer the motto of party warfare. The victory, to whichever side it turned, would be one of principles; the prize of contention would not be place or patronage, but the favour and gratitude of a great nation.—David Syme, "Representative Government in England."
A Cabinet Government—that is, a government chosen by the King out of the party which has the majority in the House of Commons—is only one out of many forms of representative government. It suits us because it is like our other institutions, the growth of our own soil; but it by no means follows that it can be transplanted whole into other countries, or even into our own colonies.—Earl Grey.
If a man could shake out of his mind the universal noise of political doctors in this generation and in the last generation or two, and consider the matter face to face with his own sincere intelligence looking at it, I venture to say he would find government by a party a very extraordinary method of navigating.—Carlyle.
Under our present parliamentary system the average member is, in truth, seldom called on to exercise a perfectly independent judgment on particular questions of importance, He exercises his judgment once for all when he decides whether he will support or oppose the Ministry; by that division his subsequent votes are for the most part determined. Whether this is a high state of political morality may well be doubted. . . . True men should owe allegiance to measures, not to party. ... A party man—whether a member of the Government party or of the Opposition—has to support measures of which he does not approve, and to oppose measures of which he does approve. ... No man worth calling a man can be in accord with any leader on all points, for every man thinks differently from every other man.—Freeman.
Art I. The Federal Council is the directive and highest executive authority of the Confederation. It is composed of seven members, appointed for three years by the Federal Assembly, and chosen from amongst all the Swiss citizens who are eligible for the National Council. There must not be more than one member from the same Canton. The Federal Council is appointed after each election of the National Council. The vacancies which take place during the three years are filled at the first session of the Federal Assembly for the remainder of the term.
Art. III. The parents and relations both in a direct and collateral line, the parents and relations to the degree of cousins-german inclusive, and also the husbands of sisters, cannot sit at the same time in the Federal Council. The same degree of relationship must not exist between a member of the Federal Council and the Chancellor, his substitute, the Keeper of the Records, the Registrar; nor between a member of the Federal Council and the secretary of his department and their high subordinate Federal functionaries. As a rule the Federal Council cannot nominate as secretaries of departments or as high Federal functionaries any persons who are in the above-indicated relationship to one of its members. A member of the Federal Council or a high official who enters into a marriage contract which is within the prohibited degree of relationship must resign his post. A special Act will designate the functionaries to whom the above regulations are applicable, and until that Act has become law the Federal Council shall decide.
Art. IV. A member of the Federal Council cannot, either by himself or proxy during the continuance of his duties, take any other employment, neither in the service of the Confederation nor in a Canton, nor follow any other calling or profession.
Art. VI. The Federal Council is presided over by the President of the Confederation. There is also a Vice-President. The Presi-
Art. VII. In the absence of the President of the Confederation, the Federal Council is presided over by the Vice-President, and, in the case of the latter's absence, by the member who falls next in the order of nomination. The members filling extraordinary vacancies take rank from the date of their election, and remain in office for the remaining terms of their predecessors.
Art. VIII. The Chancellor of the Confederation is present at the meetings of the Federal Council with a secretary. The Chancellor records the Acts and decisions which have been passed, and ihe secretary keeps the minutes.
Art. IX. The Federal Council grants to the several departments the necessary number of secretaries and of copying clerks within the limits of the law respecting the appointments of officials and of the annual Budget.
Art. XI. All the employés and the people attached to the service (with the exception of the officials, of which the nomination belongs to the Federal Assembly, by virtue of Art. 85, No. 4 of the Federal Constitution) are nominated by the Federal Council after the notification of the vacancy. Each member of the Federal Council has the right of presentation.
Art. XII. The prerogatives and duties of the Federal Council within the limits of the present constitution are, among others, the following:—
1. It directs Federal affairs according to the laws and decrees of the Confederation.
2. It gives a watchful care over the due keeping of the Constitution, as well as over the terms of the Federal compacts; it undertakes by its head, on receipt of a complaint, the necessary measures for the due carrying-out of these terms, when the remedy is not of the nature of those which ought to be laid before the Federal tribunal in the tenour of Art. 113.
3. It guards the rights and privileges of the Cantonal Constitutions.
4. It presents drafts of laws and decrees to the Federal Assembly and gives its advice upon the propositions which have been addressed to it by the Councils or by the Cantons.
5. It provides for the execution of the laws and the decrees of the Confederation and of the judgments of the Federal Tribunal as well as of the results of arbitrations in settlement of disputes between the Cantons.
6. It makes the appointments which are not the prerogative of the Federal Assembly or of the Federal Tribunal or of any other authority.
7. It examines the treaties of the Cantons either between them-selves or with foreign Powers, and it approves them if they are constitutional.
8. It is responsible for the interests of the Confederation outside, notably in the observation of international reports, and it is in general charged with foreign affairs.
9. It is responsible for the external safety of the Swiss, for the maintenance of its independence and its neutrality.
10. It is responsible for the internal well-being of the Confedera-tion, in maintaining tranquillity and order.
11. In case of urgency and when the Federal Assembly is not in session, the Federal Council is authorised to raise the necessary troops and to dispose of them, under the obligation of calling together immediately the Council if the number of the troops raised exceed 2,000 men, or if they remain on foot three weeks.
12. It is charged with the Federal military revenue, as well as all the other branches of the administration which belong to the Confederation.
13. It examines the laws and ordinances of the Cantons, which must be submitted for its approval; it exercises supervision over the branches of the Cantonal administration, which are placed under its control.
14. It administers the finances of the Confederation, submits the Budget, and renders an account of the receipts and expenses.
15. It supervises the conduct of the officials and employés of the Federal Administration.
16. It renders an account of its actions to the Federal Assembly at each ordinary session, presenting to it a report on the situation of the Confederation both home and foreign, and recommends to its attention the measures which it believes useful to the well-being of the commonwealth. It makes also special reports when the Federal Assembly or one of its Chambers demands them.
Art. XIII. The President opens all the documents addressed to the Federal Council, sending them to the respective departments which deals with them, or submits them to the Federal Council and sees that the business is expedited. The President submits every session to the Federal Council a list prepared by the Chancellor of all the Acts promulgated. He decides when the voices are equal—i.e., he has a casting-vote. In elections he votes like the other members.
Art. XIV. The Federal Council can only deliberate when there are at least four members present.
Art. XV. All decisions are taken by the absolute majority of the members present. In order to carry a question there must be a majority of four members at least.
Art. XVI. No member can absent himself from a sitting of the Council without leave. The President can grant leave for a week; for a longer leave the permission of the Council must be obtained.
Art. XVII. The voting is open on all matters under consideration, with the exception of the elections. In this case the elections are made by ballot. The minutes of the meetings show the members I present or absent. Each member has the right to place on record that he has not voted for a decree passed by the Federal Council, but for another relative proposition on the same subject.
Art. XVIII. When a member of the Council or one of his relations in the prohibited degree has a personal interest in a deliberation this member is obliged to withdraw.
Art. XIX. All the decrees and the decisions emanating front the Federal Council are signed on behalf of the Federal Council by the President of the Federal Council and by the Chancellor, or by those who are acting in their stead.
The electoral franchise is based upon manhood suffrage; general election every three years. There are two Chambers: (1) The National Council, 147 Deputies, one for every 20,000 electors; (2) the Council of States, which consists of forty-four deputies, two from each Canton. In general they sit separately, but for some special purposes they deliberate in common. The Federal Council is the executive authority, and is chosen as shown in the articles on that behalf, which vide. The Referendum, which provides for the revision of the Constitution, can be called into requisition by either Chamber, by eight of the States, or 50,000 Swiss citizens. If the majority of citizens pronounce for, then the Chambers are renewed to frame the desired measure, which when formed is referred to the popular vote before becoming law.
The most remarkable part of the Swiss Constitution is that which is also most notorious—that is, the institution known as the Referendum. All Federal laws, as well as resolutions of a general nature which are not declared to be urgent, after having been passed by both Chambers, are submitted for adoption or rejection to the Referendum, if the demand is made either by 30,000 vote-possessing citizens, or by eight Cantons. All measures accepted by the people become valid upon being published by the Federal Council. There are also Federal resolutions declared—perhaps in some instances rather arbitrarily—to be of an urgent character. These come into operation at once, and are not submitted to the popular vote.
The Swiss Constitution, in which the Executive has no negative voice, simply gives to the people the power which the American Constitution gives to a magistrate chosen by the people. To
The debates of the Swiss Parliament are carried on with much decorum. There is seldom a noisy sitting, even when the most important subjects are being discussed; interruptions are few, and scenes, such as have unhappily of late been painfully frequent in our House of Commons and in the House of Representatives, New-Zealand, do not exist.
The Federal Council, having been elected by the Federal Assembly for three years, cannot be dissolved by that body in the interim any more than it can itself dissolve the Assembly. Its members take part in the debates of both Chambers. It does not in any way depend upon the majority in the Assembly. Its members, each in his own department, prepare Bills and resolutions either suggested by one of the Chambers or of their own initiative, and these measures, when agreed to by the Council or oven by a majority of its members, are submitted to the Chambers, who deal with them in the manner already described. The Council does not consist, as is the general rule in the English Cabinet, of a body of men all holding similar views.
The initiative is the exercise of the right granted to any single voter, or body of voters, to initiate proposals for the enactment of new laws, or for the alteration or abolition of existing laws.
The Swiss Executive is an elective Council, or Ministry of seven persons. No one can doubt its ability. It transacts a mass of business, such as falls to few Cabinets. It guides the policy of a State eternally menaced by foreign complications; it preserves harmony throughout a Confederacy made up of twenty-two Cantons, each jealous of one another, and sympathising only in common jealousy of the Federal power. Peace and prosperity prevail throughout Switzerland. This is strong proof that the Confederacy is served by Ministers of marked ability and of sterling character.
The Swiss Parliament gives the strongest proof of its own wisdom which can be demanded from any legislative body. It maintains in office a practically permanent Executive, which in point of stability stands in the most salient contrast, not only with the ephemeral Ministries of France, but also with the short-lived Cabinets of England. No American President has ever held office for so long a period as have many members of the Swiss Council.
The excellence of the educational system in Switzerland can best be judged by its results. That "every child in the entire Confederation, who is not mentally incapacitated, is able to read and write" is no mere idle boast on the part of the Swiss, but a well-authenticated fact. The poor value the right which their children possess to be educated at the cost of the State as one of the most treasured privileges conferred upon them by their constitution, and
"Defence not defiance" might well be adopted by the Swiss troops, for they are essentially a force of militia intended for defensive purposes to secure the neutrality of the country—an army framed upon the strictest economy. Great Britain, approximate cost per soldier, £64 10s. 4d.; Switzerland, approximate cost per soldier, £7. Population, 2,933,334 (or three millions roughly); imports (
The Swiss Council are not the leaders so much as the experienced agents of the Swiss people. The Councillors are selected for capacity; hence the continuance in office of men recommended by the possession of experience. The Swiss Council is never permanently at variance with the Assembly, and never retires on account of a parliamentary defeat.
When a Minister failed, in "Edinburgh Review," 1890.
In Switzerland the national finances are prosperous, and the country is not overburdened by a national debt. Education has permeated every class. . . . Among a people traditionally disposed to lawlessness, complete liberty has been made compatible with order, and theological animosities, which for centuries have been the special bane of the Confederacy, have been assuaged or removed by the healing influence of religious freedom and equality.
Switzerland has an army of 200,000 men, which is enormous if measured by the resources of the Confederacy.
Switzerland contains all those sources of division which have dismembered greater States. The Swiss are from one point of view not so much a nation as a league of twenty-two nations. They t possess no common language: German, French, and Italian are each in official use.
Swiss democracy has met and triumphed over all the obstacles to national unity arising from differences of race, from religious
With the matter of education, wrote Mr. (now Sir) Horace Rumbold, when Secretary of Legation at Berne, the Swiss people manifest a veritable passion, and it is a thing worthy of sincere admiration—though but natural, perhaps, in the land that gave birth to Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Fellenberg, and others—to note what heavy self-imposed pecuniary sacrifices they cheerfully make to the cause. The public foundations, the private gifts, the State contributions devoted to education by this otherwise thrifty, close-fisted race, may be truly said to be noble in the extreme. The Swiss parent looks upon the schoolhouse not merely as the place where his children are educated and fitted to make their way in the world, but as a political nursery where many of those doctrines cherished by the staunch republican are developed and fostered.—"Edinburgh Review," 1890.
The President of the Swiss Republic said in a public meeting, "Facts and not persons are what interest us. If you were to take ten Swiss, every one of them would know whether the country was well governed or not. But I venture to say that nine of them would not be able to tell the name of the President, and the tenth, who might think that he knew it, would be mistaken."
It is impossible to define with any clearness the party lines, the political complexion of the National Council being about eighty Radical Democrats, forty Conservatives, and twenty-five Ultramontanes. These party divisions seldom appear in the deliberations of the Assembly, there being a substantial unanimity on most public questions and general policy of legislation. When in session they impress the observer as business men consulting informally about the common interests with an entire absence of oratory, questions of privilege, points of order, or parliamentary tactics; they talk and vote, and there is an end of it. . . Considering the scope of the powers exercised by the Swiss Federal Assembly very little popular interest seems to be taken in the election of the members, for it exercises a power far greater than that which belongs probably to any Legislative Assembly. . . . There is no other country where the direct popular vote has the same authority as here in the choice of its representatives.—Mr. Winchester to Mr. Bayard, re Government, Swiss.
By Authority: George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.—
I have the honour to submit to you my annual report on the dairying section of your department. I also attach for your information the report of my Assistant Dairy Inspector, Mr. Dons.
Since furnishing you with my official statement of last year I have visited thirty-six dairy-factories and twenty-two private dairies, giving in each case, as far as the time at my disposal would allow, practical demonstration of the best processes for the manufacture of cheese and butter compatible with the appliances and appointments of the various factories. In these factories and dairies I have worked, on an average, four days in each, the maximum period of instruction in any dairy being eight days, and the minimum one. During the same period of time I have also given twenty-five lectures in different centres, eighteen of these addresses being on the benefits of co-operative dairying, three on the manufacture of butter, three on the manufacture of cheese, and one on the influence of food in determining the character of milk of cows. These lectures have invariably been published in the local papers, and I believe they proved of great benefit to the settlers. The lectures have also been copied largely by other newspapers, thus widely diffusing the information given in the first instance to comparatively a few of those most directly interested in the dairy industry.
The names and number of dairy-factories and private factories visited can be seen from an examination of the following schedule, viz.:—
While the dairying industry has not yet developed into anything like the importance it is destined to assume, I think we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that during the past two years a considerable forward movement has been made, more especially during the past year. I have myself been repeatedly complimented from various sources for what was, perhaps undeserved, benefits received from my instruction, not only from dairy-factory operatives, but from merchants dealing in the commodity. Notwithstanding the fact that some of our dairy-factory companies have had to succumb through financial difficulties, and some, through mismanagement, even forced into liquidation, still, the future of our outlook is very hopeful. A more practical acquaintance with the nature and the handling of milk and its products on the part of factory-managers, and a better knowledge of commercial principles on the part of the managing committees of the factories, will inevitably secure our desired ends. This can only be brought about by continued steady instruction, combined with experience attained in the actual working of dairy-factories. The complete revolution necessary in the industry cannot be effected in a day, but changes must be made by degrees. But that the industry is being founded on a more certain basis there can no longer be any room for further doubt.
From communications received from some of the principal London brokers, I learn that they recognise a marked and sustained improvement in the quality of both cheese and butter shipments of recent manufacture; at the same time, they express the opinion that finality in the matter of improvement has not yet been reached. The chief complaint among the London brokers is the absence of uniformity, and this cannot easily be remedied while there is throughout the colony such an extensive system of private dairying at work. Uniformity cannot easily be engendered without the establishment of the factory system. It is worthy of note that several of our dairy-factories have now earned a desirable distinction in the London market for the quality of their products—both butter and cheese. Brands of butter which were last year quoted at from £1 10s. to £2 under the Danish brands have during the past season been quoted at about the highest figures realised on the London market. Cheese from our best factories has successfully competed with the best Canadian brands, which seem to dominate the market. But, unfortunately, this distinction is only earned by a few of our best factories. Towards showing the benefits derived from the factory system as compared with individual dairying, it is satisfactory to note that, out of an even line of three shipments of butter sent Home, the factory brands realised from £5 15s. to £6 3s., while that from
It is also pleasing to note the rapid development which the dairy industry has undergone during the last ten years. In
As you are already aware, the greater part of my time during the past working season has been devoted to Taranaki Province and Banks Peninsula, Canterbury. With reference to Taranaki as a dairying section, I can speak in the highest terms of praise, and I believe this district is destined to become the principal dairying district in the colony.
It is generally conceded that no country possesses greater natural advantages for dairy pursuits than New Zealand; this, at any rate, is true of Taranaki. Any one acquainted with the large areas of splendid pasture-land in Taranaki must have had the conviction forced upon him that this locality is pre-eminently fitted to become a great centre for manufacturing dairy-products. In soil, climate, seasons, and settlement Taranaki has every natural advantage. Winter pasturage is generally abundant, and so the farmer is to a great extent relieved of the labour and expense of storing up much winter feed. Little or no housing is required for the cattle throughout the winter, and so the farmer can carry on his business under the most favourable circumstances, as very little of the profits of the season are consumed in maintaining the cows from one season to another. At the same time, I have endeavoured to impress upon the farmers of this district the desk-ability of growing a little winter feed; likewise the benefits of some better means of shelter during the cold season. I could see that it was the practice of the farmers there generally to allow the cows to wander over the bare pastures and find what shelter they could get under the lee of a few trees during the cold season. The result of this negligence is that the cows start the season under the most unfavourable circumstances, many of them being nothing but a complete rack of bones. Indeed, in most instances the winter management of dairy cows in Taranaki is conducted in a very primitive manner, no other food being provided than what the cows can pick up by grazing on the cold, bare pastures day and night. Under such a system the largest profits cannot be secured. It is true that every cow has a limit of milk-production, but, at the same time, it lies with the breeders' and milk-producers' skill to obtain that maximum. There is no doubt that the farmers would derive great pecuniary advantage from pursuing a more systematic method of feeding dairy cows during winter. But
Very little cheese is made in Taranaki. Cheese-factories have been erected from time to time, but, through want of skill in management, they have proved failures, and so the attempt to make it has almost been abandoned.
I have seen a few fairly-good cheeses in this district, but none were of superior quality, all of them lacking that nutty, buttery quality which so much characterizes good Cheddar cheese. Towards the end of the past season, however, I am glad to report that a considerable improvement is manifest in the quality of the article, due to the light which has been thrown upon its proper manufacture.
A considerable quantity of good butter is now also being produced which will not, I think, suffer much by comparison—all things considered—with that of Ireland or northern Europe. This only shows what can be done by proper system and skill in manufacture, and even in the best of these dairies and factories there is room for much improvement, especially as regards uniformity.
If the soil and climate of Taranaki were not favourable for cheese making one could understand such an unsatisfactory state of things existing, but, in my opinion, the soil and climate are eminently fitted for the production of first-class cheese. Soil and climate are certainly thoroughly suitable, the district being more favoured with moisture than most parts of New Zealand. This constant supply of moisture from the atmosphere is very favourable to the growth of grasses, and of green crops generally. Most of the soil being of a light friable loam, with the rock not far from the surface, this moisture is just what is required. There is a constant fresh spring of grass, and not many hot days. These circumstances are conducive to the exigencies of cow life, and, in a secondary degree, to the manufacture of butter and cheese. Probably nowhere in the colony can better butter and cheese be produced, coupled at the same time with large flows of milk.
Yet, with all these advantages, much of the butter and cheese produced is of an inferior quality, wholly resulting from the habits of settlers generally. Indeed, in looking at the dairying industry in Taranaki to-day from a certain standpoint, it would be difficult to point to any other branch of human industry of anything like similar magnitude carried on in such a slipshod and slovenly manner. This state of things will continue to exist until closer and more thorough co-operation takes firm root in some parts of the district, and so compel the others to follow on the march to success.
In spite, however, of defects, the lax system of making, and the lack of skill in manufacturing, dairying is the most profitable manner of dealing with the land in Taranaki, and accordingly the number of cows in the district is constantly increasing.
Towards showing the vast importance of the dairy industry to Taranaki, it is worthy of note that during the six months ending the 31st March last something like 600 tons of butter have been exported. This we can safely estimate as having netted to the exporters 8d. per pound, giving an aggregate value of £44,800; yet the industry there is capable of immense expansion.
The reason why so large a quantity of inferior butter is produced is not far to seek:—
There are other minor difficulties to be contended with, but these are the principal causes whereby a large percentage of inferior butter gluts our markets, and at the same time interferes with the demand among local consumers. This also, when exported, accounts for ruinous rates being returned to producers, and at the same time acts prejudicially to the sale of good butter in the Home and intercolonial markets.
All these items affecting so much the production of a higher-priced article are receiving due consideration from my hands, although it is a difficult matter to overcome—especially among private makers—the fancied superiority of their skill in the production of fine goods.
Like many other zealous advocates for the extension of dairy farming in New Zealand and reform in dairy practices, I place exclusive reliance upon the establishment of the factory system as being the only means whereby the ultimate success of the industry can be assured. What the refrigerator has done for the grazier cheese-factories and creameries will do for the dairy-fanner if properly carried out. What would the frozen-meat trade be to-day if every farmer could refrigerate his own produce and trifle with it according to his own peculiar notions, as he does at the present time with his dairy-produce? Were there not such a division of labour in the frozen-meat trade it would, in my opinion, very swiftly come to ruin. The dairying industry, like the frozen-meat trade, has many features peculiar to it which seem to characterize it in a general way from almost any other known industry.
It is true that the character of the people engaged in it may be as
In order to cause the necessary revolution in dairy practices throughout the colony I have therefore—seeing no other solution of the difficulty—been a persistent advocate of the factory system for cheese-making and the creamery system for butter-making. If these were established on a purely co-operative basis, all shareholders being milk-suppliers, and no outsiders pecuniarily interested, I am of opinion that there would be created among the farming community a spirit of good-will and friendly emulation which would bring about a better state of things. There are certainly a great many obstacles to overcome in carrying this out, but that is always the case in all new departures, and in this instance the difficulties are not insuperable.
Some critics go so far as to say that first-class produce is being made in very few of the factories, and that therefore the factory system in this and other respects has not proved a success. I admit to some extent the correctness of the premise; but to the charge that the factory system has proved itself to be a failure I give a most emphatic denial. Had the old system of "every man his own maker" yet prevailed in New Zealand, I ask, if anything approaching the result which the industry has at present reached would ever have been attained? The results arrived at by many of our dairy-factories during the past two years could not have been produced from a system which was doomed to be a failure. What one factory can do another may do. Results hit hard upon those whom experience fails to educate; and so the failure of some of the factories has been, and is, making itself very unpleasantly felt, for no system can be a success if the known principles upon which success depends are either intentionally or unintentionally violated.
As I have already stated, I believe in all cheese-factories or creameries being operated upon a purely co-operative basis: that means that all shareholders should be milk-suppliers, and the milk of no others but that of shareholders should be admissible into the factory. From former experience of the subject, and the experience gained during my sojourn among the New Zealand factories in my present official capacity, I am of opinion that when established under an adverse foundation factories will seldom work satisfactorily. In this particular I am somewhat self-opinionated. When not operating on a co-operative basis discontent is sure to pursue the shareholders, the non-milk-suppliers claiming their dividends and the milk-suppliers higher prices for their milk. This seems to go on until the milk-suppliers, on whom the success of the venture depends, become disheartened, and a combined desire to see the concern flourish becomes in time totally unknown. Therefore I think it is a cardinal point in the establishment of factories to see that they are floated on
During the year I have not confined myself wholly to districts which contained factories, but visited and lectured in many other sections where there were none. In several of the latter at the present time negotiations are being carried on for the establishment of factories.
At Cardiff a factory is in course of erection, to be operated on a strictly co-operative basis. For this company I suggested and sketched the plans of the buildings, and prepared specifications, articles of association, and by-laws, specifying the conditions under which milk will be received. I also procured for the company the services of a first-class manager.
At the present time I am engaged in securing suitable machinery and plant, so as to start the factory at the minimum of expense. This factory will be capable of dealing with 1,400 gallons of milk daily. The estimated cost, including land, buildings, and plant, is £664 10s. Article No. 9 of this company's constitution states, with reference to dividends and payments to contributors, "Subject to such dividends as may from time to time be declared (as a remuneration to shareholders for the capital paid by them to the company), the whole of the net profits of the company shall be divided amongst and paid to the contributors of milk to the company (such contributors being also shareholders) in proportion to the milk actually contributed or supplied by them to the company."
From this you will gather that all profits accruing from the factory pass directly into the hands of the milk-suppliers, who are the only shareholders.
It is my earnest desire to see similar institutions multiply, being sure that their influence for good will be great. Appended is a copy of by-laws, also estimate of cost of buildings and plant furnished to the Cardiff and other proposed dairy-factory companies for their guidance. These by-laws I have culled from various sources, chiefly from the works of Professor Brown, but I have revised them to suit altered circumstances.
Plans of factory-buildings have been drawn and specifications and other necessary information issued for the establishment of similar institutions in several other sections, which, it is to be hoped, will be in course of erection before long.
What I have stated concerning Taranaki is equally true of Banks Peninsula.
Dairying in this district constitutes a most important object of industry among the farming community, where you occasionally find as many as sixty to seventy cows in one dairy, although the majority do not possess more than from twenty to thirty.
Here also, as in Taranaki, the winter management of dairy cows is very defective indeed, mainly due to the antiquated method of dairying in vogue. However, I believe of late years more attention has been paid to the winter treatment of cows. About three-fourths of the milk produced in this quarter is made into cheese, the remainder being used for household consumption, or made into butter. About 800 to 900 tons of cheese are produced annually. The most prominent among the evils which exist here at present is the empirical knowledge and "rule-of-thumb" method of cheese-making. That it is the fault of the system that they are making bad produce is not true. Instead of gaining ground in the making of a good article they have gradually been retrograding in their practice by a departure from the primary principles and inattention to details. Little do those engaged in the industry in this district know that they are pursuing a system of manufacture which if carried to its entirety has not yet been improved upon. If they only knew how to reduce into practice the laws which nature has enacted to govern the process they would see it was the only process from which much practical utility can be obtained.
Here every farmer runs his own factory according to his own peculiar notions, and disposes of his produce as he sees fit. While such a system as this is pursued there are many things which leaves the seller comparatively at the mercy of the buyer, and, indeed, such in years past has been the case on Banks Peninsula. No factory system being carried out there, it was necessary for me, in order to effect any improvement in their dairy practices, to call the settlers together at various centres and show them, by ocular demonstration, the manner of reducing the laws of cheese-making into practice. Accordingly, as arranged among themselves, a route was planned out for me so as to distribute the benefits derivable from my instruction evenly over the district. The committee in whose hands I placed my services gave notice each week through the medium of the local Press of the place at which I would impart the necessary instruction the ensuing week, and requesting all interested to attend. By this means it transpired that I was met each working-day by most of the makers from the surrounding section. Towards showing the great interest taken in the work, I may state that the number of people I thus met ranged from sixteen to twenty-seven daily. Many came long distances to watch my movements, to listen to my instructions, and to ask questions bearing upon the work in hand, at my suggestion. Believing, as I did, that very little good would accrue from entering into any lengthy statement of theoretical or technical exposition, I considered it more in keeping with the itinerant system of instruction to place before the public the simplest and most practical instruction to begin with.
This method of instruction in this and other districts furnished me with a very instructive commentary or the system of "every man
Alike in Taranaki and Banks Peninsula is there need for improved dairy-utensils, and more careful treatment of milk, cream, and butter. The dairy accommodation and equipments of the farmer in general may be described as very bad. Sanitary matters are at a very low ebb, pig-styes, manure-heaps, cowsheds, and dairies generally being in far too close proximity to each other. The general surroundings are at the same time anything but conducive to cleanliness. In going about from farm to farm I found great diversity in the kind of dairy appliances used, the most of them being of an obsolete type. The buildings employed for the treatment of the milk were also very primitive, and anything but suitable for the manufacture of cheese and butter. Indeed, I found some of the buildings in a state of absolute dilapidation. The walls of some of the buildings were so open that, when standing in the make-room, one's view was scarcely obstructed in any direction, so open and broken were the walls. It is probable there are days when it is possible to make fine goods in such places, but, in nineteen cases out of twenty the result is failure, and, even if successful, the product is very liable to be spoiled in curing.
That there is a chemical process going on in every well-made cheese, and that this process progresses best under certain atmospheric conditions, is a fact which no farmer I happened to confer with seemed to know. In the use of rennet and other prominent points in the manufacture the makers of Banks Peninsula showed a like want of knowledge. In none of the dairies I visited in this quarter save one did I see what I would term a near approach to a first-class article. In fact, the accumulated results of the cheese industry of this section is one very much calculated to damp the ardour of any sensitive observer in dairy practices.
During the past two years, and since the factory-cheese has begun to dominate the market, the dairymen in this district can perceive that they are being excelled in the manufacture of a good article, and are now starting to look around them for means of regaining their lost ground. During the past season, as a step towards the accomplishment of this result, a dairy association has been formed. Through the agency of this society since its foundation excellent work has been done, and through the same medium I have myself diffused a good amount of information relating to all branches of the business. This body is now resolved that whatever intelligence, perseverance, and money can do in the way of improving their productions shall be done, and, if the observations I made during my stay in the district are correct, their chances of success are excellent.
In some parts of this section, on account of the rough and hilly nature of the country, the factory system is impracticable, and there a diffusion of a knowledge of the art of cheese- or butter-making among the individual farmers is necessary. In most parts of Banks Peninsula, however, it is possible to introduce the factory system, and to this end I have used persistent efforts, and I have good reason to believe that three or four factories will be established at no distant date. Plans and specifications of buildings, articles of association, by-laws, and other necessary information have, at the request of the association, been forwarded by me.
The advantages of a well-organized system of co-operative dairying, not only to this section, but to all the dairy districts of New Zealand, would be difficult to estimate. Such a system, if properly governed, would, in my opinion, solve many of the difficulties which now beset the small farmer. Co-operative dairying is a matter fraught with considerable benefit to all, and in no less a degree to the farmers of Banks Peninsula, and is a consummation highly to be desired; and I hope neither individual nor local jealousies will be allowed to interfere with the carrying-out of the project, but that all will give it their hearty assistance.
The faulty construction of butter-factories erected in the past, and the absence of some cheap means of cooling, are defects which have caused great destruction to immense quantities of butter; and the matter of cooling is an obstacle not easily solved. The Victorian Government during the past season offered a premium of £300 for the best means of reducing the temperature of butter-factories, without the aid of chemicals or machinery. This offer induced sixty competitors to come forward, but, on examination of designs, the judges did not think any of them of sufficient merit to earn the premium.
As a means of reducing the temperature in butter-factories, I have suggested a process which may now be seen in operation at Messrs. J. and R. Cuddie's factory at Mosgiel. I have examined this method of cooling during the year, and find it both cheap and effective. The system consists of an underground air-drain 200ft. long, from which coiled tin piping is carried to the well. The air is drawn through this drain and coiled pipe inserted in the well by means of a small fan driven by a one-horse-power engine. By this process the air, in passing through the underground drain and coiled pipe, is cooled to near the temperature of the water, which stands at a temperature of about 52°. The cool-chamber is half underground, the walls being double brick, with air-space between. It is well roofed and lined, and a thickness of 2ft. of sawdust is placed on top of the ceiling, so that the building is not affected by the fluctuating temperature of the outside atmosphere. Since the Messrs. Cuddie have introduced this system of cooling the butter-product of the firm has materially improved, and, in my opinion, it has not many
Wherever it can be successfully adopted I mean now to advocate it. Of course, the want of ice or very cold spring water is a great obstacle against butter-making in New Zealand, especially in the North Island, in the summer time.
However, refrigerating-machines can now be had at a nominal price, and by the creamery system of butter-making, which I advocate, the price would not be a serious item. I am sanguine that some such means must be brought about before the manufacture of butter on a large scale in New Zealand can be conducted successfully and the export made assured. At the present time I am experimenting with another means of cooling butter-factories and creameries, and, if successful, will make it known for the benefit of the industry. During the year I have made experiments with a view of proving the most suitable package for the exportation of butter.
Shipments of mixed packages have been sent Home from several of the factories, with a view to proving the superiority of the packages. I myself sent a small trial shipment consisting of three tawa kegs, three totara kegs, three enamel-lined boxes, and three white-pine boxes lined with vegetable-parchment paper. This was all consigned to William Semple, Esq., 224, Gresham House, London, E.C., and when consigning I requested him to procure the services of two other experts in the line, so as to test thoroughly the quality of the various packages.
In reply, I received the following report, viz.: "White-pine boxes, lined with vegetable-parchment paper, decidedly superior to any of the other packages. Butter sent here in these packages will always command a premium."
In every instance where these packages have been tried replies to the same effect were received, some of the brokers stating that butter sent in such packages would always command from 4s. to 5s. per hundredweight more than the same quality sent in kegs. Since the receipt of this information large numbers of the boxes have been used, with the result that exporters have effected a considerable pecuniary saving. These white-pine boxes, with a capacity of from 56lb. to 60lb., can be obtained wholesale at from 1s. 3d. to 1s. 6d. each, whereas tawa and totara kegs of a similar capacity cost 3s. to 3s. 6d. each, and enamel-lined boxes 4s. to 4s. 6d. each. These white-pine boxes will, in my opinion, yet be universally used, and if so their use will effect a saving to the butter-factories already in operation of from £5,000 to £6,000 annually in the cost of packages only, not to mention the saving in shipping-space, and the higher value on reaching the Home, or other markets. The box is also very
The much-disputed point of freezing versus chilling butter has been settled during the year in favour of the system which I have always advocated—viz., chilling salted butters, while fresh may be frozen. From repeated experiments during the year I have proved that the lower the temperature of the room in which butter is kept—if that be above freezing-point—the better will the butter keep while there, and the better will it keep when brought into the warmer temperature of stores and warehouses. The same applies to its treatment before shipment and during transit.
During the year, also, two small trial shipments of fresh butter in ½lb. prints have been made to England, the result of which I will make known on receipt of the information. I look forward to being able to establish a large trade in this commodity.
Towards showing the present extent of the factory system, it is gratifying to be able to show that there are now sixty-two large cheese and butter-factories in operation, the buildings and plant showing an aggregate value of upwards of £70,000.
Some of the cheese-factories are now turning out from 100 to 160 tons of cheese annually, and the butter-factories and creameries 50 to 140 tons of butter annually.
I have during the year kept well in touch with most of the managers and managing committees of the dairy-factories throughout the colony by correspondence, it being impossible to personally comply with the demands for my services. In this way a large amount of knowledge has been disseminated.
Being a member of the committee of the South Island Dairy Association, I have made a point of attending, when practicable, meetings of this society, especially when very important business was being considered.
This organization was established last year, full information as to its objects being given in my last annual report.
Although this society has been at work only a short time, yet to it I give the credit of having brought about much of the success which has attended the past season's operations. So sanguine am I of the benefits accruing from such organizations that I hope er? long to see more of such institutions in our midst, as I am sure their influence for good is at present unthought of. By the aid of such societies is solved to a very great extent the difficulty of direct Government intervention; knowledge bearing upon the improvement of the produce is by their means more easily disseminated; better means of transit and disposal are obtained, and the interests generally of the industry better looked after.
Nothing, in my opinion, is better calculated to promote the well-being of the dairying industry than an organization of this character.
Now that the factory system has been successfully established, and the capabilities of the colony for the production of a good article fairly put to the test, and knowing that the keenness of competition which is now and will be more so experienced in the dairying trade will become quite prejudical to the interests of individual factories, I think the time has arrived when some general move ought to made to organize the dairy-factories.
This seems to me to be a most salient point when considering a solution of the difficulties with which the industry has to contend.
It seems to me that no better and cheaper system of fostering the industry can be brought about. The future prospects of the industry in New Zealand is bright in the extreme if only we initiate and carry out a vigorous and systematic policy of encouraging. If the present method of shipment and distribution in the Home and Australian markets be perpetuated the dairying community cannot expect much improvement on present prices. Neither will the demand largely increase, as it undoubtedly would do if a different means of dealing with it were adopted on arriving at its destination. While the produce floats through so many channels as at present the largest profits cannot be secured. Not only this, but the trade cannot easily be cleared of any impediments, the fluctuations of markets cannot readily be known, nor the causes of detriment so accurately anticipated. This has been graphically illustrated by the success which the Middle Island Dairy Association has met with during the past season, and, if only this and analogous organizations were encouraged, great good would be accomplished.
Something must be done so that the theory of trade can be more looked to. We must seek to extend our markets, and look more to the quality of the article—the condition and style in which it is shipped, adaptability to the English palate, and the ease and facilities with which it can be taken more direct to the consumer. In these considerations lie the main elements of success of the New Zealand dairy-produce trade.
By organizing the industry in this way the factory system is also encouraged, and the shipping and marketing placed in the hands of a business committee—men who have a better knowledge of com-mercial principles than the general run of the managing committees of dairy-factories can possibly have.
The extraordinary prosperity of American and Danish dairying is the result of two influences—viz., the factory system and organized instruction.
The encouragement of factory combinations could, I think, be successfully brought about in the following manner, viz.: On the receipt of information from the secretary of an association formed
Definition of Cheese-factory, Butter-factory, and Creamery.—A "cheese-factory" shall mean an establishment where milk is taken in from the surrounding settlers, and manufactured into cheese. A "butter-factory" shall mean an establishment where milk is taken in from surrounding settlers, and the cream separated by mechanical means, and manufactured into butter. A "creamery" shall mean an establishment where cream only, which has been separated by mechanical means, is taken in, and manufactured into butter.
By means of such organizations the much-disputed question of the classification of dairy-produce shipments before leaving the colony could be settled. When a certain standard of excellence and uniformity is reached, then a special brand could be registered, for the purpose of branding and protecting all the cheese and butter manufactured by each cheese-factory, butter-factory, or creamery, to be used only by those joining the association. Such associations could also confer with the Government and professional experts, and, by holding periodical conferences, would be of essential service in promoting the welfare of the industry. In such bodies I am strongly of opinion the Government would find safe guides. This scheme I submit for your careful consideration, in the hope that some practical effort in the direction indicated will be brought about.
I would also suggest for your careful consideration the necessity which exists for some authoritative means being devised for educating and certifying as to the abilities of dairy-factory managers. This might be made one of the functions of an agricultural college; if not so I have no doubt some practical and reliable means could be devised whereby such could be undertaken by whoever may be your dairy instructor.
In my opinion, this is a completion highly to be desired, as, if some authoritative means were contrived, it would greatly assist dairy factory companies and proprietors in the selection of men. In the management within the factory lie the foundation of the industry's success or the chief cause of its failure.
It is not to be thought for a moment that the enthusiasm of promoters of dairy-factories should long outlive the earnestness of purpose which called them into being, and therefore it is necessary something should be done to keep alive in the makers the elements
In Victoria a dairy-school has been established, on a very liberal and practical foundation at least, if not so much scientific as many think desirable. In this school, under the indefatigable guidance of Professor Brown, dairying is taught from a practical, theoretical, and chemical standpoint, and the pupils certified as to their abilities. This is excellent and creditable work; but I am of opinion that it is a costly system, and that an effectual and cheaper method could be devised through your dairy instructor. A scheme for the purpose I am prepared to indicate whenever you so desire.
Assistance has also been rendered to the industry by a frequent correspondence with some of the principal dairy-produce brokers in England and Scotland, who offer inducements to send out representatives for the purpose of buying dairy-produce. Already two large firms are represented, and next season another will, I hope, be in the field. Good has been done in other ways, but which I prefer at present to remain a nebulous entity.
During the year it was found necessary, from the frequent demands for my services, to appoint an assistant, in the person of Mr. Dons. Seeing the importance of the dairy industry to Taranaki, I instructed him to spend the greater part of his time there, and I am pleased to be able to report that on my last visit a considerable improvement was apparent in the industry in that district.
I would also ask that provision be made for the engagement of two assistants for the ensuing working season, as I am sanguine that one cannot, for a few years to come, overtake the work.
In concluding this report on my work during the year, and of the present position of the dairying industry, I must admit that it is a more pleasant duty than what has hitherto fallen to my lot.
Milk-suppliers and factory-men now see that the industry is a progressive one, and that to enable them to climb higher they must recognise unity—that each has a common interest with another, and what will benefit one will do so to the other, and the industry generally. Our leading dairy-factories have now, by a cash demonstration, solved the difficulty of producing an article which, when exported, will return a profitable price.
The industry is now assuming dimensions which justify the belief that we have at last succeeded in establishing it as one of our most important industries. I am of opinion that in a few years hence,
P.S.—Herewith I attach copy of annual report of New-Zealand Middle Island Dairy Association, to be embodied in this report, and for your information.—J. S.
The annual meeting of the New Zealand Middle Island Dairy Association was held on Wednesday at the association's offices, Walter Street, Dunedin. Mr. John Stevenson, of Henley, occupied the chair, and a considerable number of members were present. The report and balance-sheet were read and laid before the meeting.
On the
On the same date a secretary (Mr. J. R. Scott) was appointed, who, with a sub-committee, was instructed to draw up rules, and issue a circular pointing out to dairy-factories and others interested the advisability of forming an association, and the benefits likely to arise therefrom. This was done, and at a meeting of the committee held on the 29th August, the secretary having reported that sufficient support being now forthcoming, it was resolved that the association as proposed be now formed and commence its work.
Fourteen of the leading factories, extending from Ashburton to Woodlands, became members of the association. The first matters to come before the association were those of steamer-freights and railway-charges, and these the association have used their best efforts to have reduced. The shipping companies reduced their freights 1/8d. per
The committee and the secretary have done what they could to get the Railway Commissioners to reduce the rates on cheese for shipment to London to grain rates, but as yet without any effect, although the Commissioners have the matter still under consideration and are making inquiries as to the extent and prospects of the dairy industry.
The committee have also given a great amount of attention to the question of improved cool-chambers in the steamers, and are prepared to submit plans for the proper ventilation of the cool-chambers, and to make a shipment early next season in a cool-chamber fitted with a plan of ventilation they recommend. Great attention has been paid to the shipment of cheese and butter, and the Railway Commissioners have instructed all Station masters to provide covered wagons for all shipments. The secretary has personally seen to the prompt shipment of each lot of cheese, and, the association being able to take the whole or a large portion of each ship's cool-chamber, shipments have been so arranged that both cheese and butter have been promptly transferred from trucks to cool-chamber, and the delay and damage caused by goods having to remain in trucks for some considerable time has thus been avoided.
The matter of packages has also occupied the attention of the association, and they issued a circular, with a lithographed plan of the case for cheese they recommend, and feel sure that its adoption will lead to a saving to factories in freight, as the weight of wood per ton of cheese is much less, and, the measurement being less, we shall be in a position to show shipping companies that less space is required to carry the same weight of cheese, and consequently that we are entitled to a reduction in freight. The cases are strong and approved in London.
This association has also before it the matter of cool-storage, and they are prepared to give support to any company or person erecting cool-storage at the shipping centres.
The committee have also arranged with a first-class company to insure their associates' factory-buildings, stock, and plant at a low rate—viz., 19s. per cent, per annum, and marine insurances to London at 12s. per cent.
The committee have also given an order for all the dairy materials
The Government have assisted the association, and they have been able to appoint and send Home in the s.s. "Doric" in February, an expert to watch and report upon the cheese and butter in transit, and the treatment on arrival. Mr. Cox, of the Geraldine Dairy-factory, was appointed, and has arrived in London, where he is now pursuing his investigations. His report will come to hand shortly no doubt, and will be published and circulated.
Mr. Cox reported that the "Doric" shipments arrived in good order, and one of our friends in London also says, "The large shipment ex 'Doric' has been landed in as good or better order than has hitherto been the case, and no doubt, with Mr. Cox on board, special attention has been given to the temperature."
The first shipment by the association was by the "Ruapehu," on the 19th December, and the last by the "Duke of Buckingham," on the 22nd May. There is a further shipment to go by the "Nairnshire" on the 20th June.
The association have already shipped 9,394 cases (623 tons 19cwt.) of cheese to London during the season, in the following vessels: "Ruapehu," "Matatua," "Doric," "Fifeshire," "Mamari," "Pakeha," "Oterama," "Rimutaka," "Ionic," "Duke of Bucking-ham."
The association have also shipped 279 packages (10½ tons) butter, with most satisfactory results.
Primage to the extent of £122 16s. has been received by the association and handed to the shippers. The reduction of one-eighth on the amount of cheese already shipped means £716 6s. 8d. saved.
London brokers generally report a marked improvement in the quality of New Zealand dairy-produce during the past season, and the results of sales of the produce sent Home through this association have proved very satisfactory so far.
This association have in view the appointment of their own broker or brokers in England and Scotland to deal with New Zealand produce, and they are now considering this matter, which they deem to be one of great importance to this industry, but which demands a considerable amount of consideration, and which must by no means be hurriedly gone into. In the meantime the best and most reliable information on this point is being collected by thoroughly-qualified persons. The membership of the association will be largely increased this year, as many dairy-factories, both in this Island and in the North, have intimated their intention of joining. The secretary has visited all the factories at present associated, and they all expressed themselves well satisfied with the results of the association's work and with its aims and objects.
The manufacture of butter for export has not been given much
The question as to whether London is to continue to be the place to which all New Zealand produce is shipped is an important one, and will be watched by this association with interest. Liverpool people are giving the matter attention, and it is a fact that it is the large population in the northern and midland counties of England who consume our produce—butter, cheese, and frozen meat; and our wool also goes largely to the north of England. There are better, quicker, and cheaper facilities for quick discharge of vessels in Liverpool; and as at present the railage between the northern counties of England and London comes out of the pockets of New Zealand producers, and in view of the fact that the great bulk of our imports come from the north, and could be more cheaply shipped at Liverpool or Glasgow, the question of direct communication with either of these ports is one of great interest to New Zealand producers. In conclusion, your committee hope that this association will have the support of all the butter-and cheese-factories in New Zealand, because its aims and objects are for the good of all who have an interest in New Zealand dairy-produce; as it aims at having a strong union of the whole dairy industry, co-operating to reduce the heavy freights and charges which have in the past and still continue to almost strangle a young and growing industry which with fair treatment will be a source of prosperity to New Zealand for ever, and will to a large extent be the means of settling a happy and prosperous population on the land; because it wants all to cooperate in imparting information and instruction that will lead to increased excellence in manufacture; because it desires to secure for all co-operating the best and cheapest mode of putting our New Zealand produce on the best markets; because it has no motive but the welfare of all co-operating, and is not in any way carried on for any one's benefit or profit, but for the good of all.
The statement of income and expenditure laid before you, duly audited, shows that the income for the past year, including £125 from Government, was £190, and leaves at the end of the year a balance of £58 17s. 3d. to the credit of the association in the Colonial Bank. There is £125 to come from Government when the dairy-expert report comes to hand, and there is also the expense of the dairy expert to meet. Your committee, however, feel quite sure that the expenditure will be within the income. The items of expenditure up to end of year are—
The Government have shown a great interest in the dairy industry, and have also approved of the aims and objects of this association, and we think that by all joining this association we shall be able to lay before them in a proper and united way the matters that we deem needful to the furtherance of this great industry, which we know has the Government's best wishes; and we feel sure that any help we need from Government will be forthcoming, either in legislation or otherwise.
I hereby certify that I the above statement with the bank book and vouchers, and find it to be correct and sufficiently vouched
Return of Cheese and Butter (the Produce of the under-mentioned Dairy-factories shipped to London by the New Zealand Middle Island Dairy Association from
Mr. Stevenson moved, and Mr. Pryde seconded, the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Carried.
Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Cuddie, the retiring members, were reelected. Mr. W. Heenan, Maungatua, was elected a member of committee; and it was resolved that the committee appoint another member if required. Mr. T. Brydone was re-elected president.
The question of the heavy railage charges on dairy-produce was discussed, and it was resolved to bring the matter before the members of Parliament, as during the past year the efforts of the association with the Railway Commissioners had proved unavailing. What was wanted was that cheese for shipment in four-ton lots and over should be carried at grain rates.
It was resolved that the secretary be requested to ask the Minister of Lands to place facilities in the hands of the dairy-factories to have their milk analysed free of cost by the Government analyst when required.
The members present expressed their satisfaction at the work carried out already by the association, and letters were received from several factories wishing to join during the coming season.
It was shown that the expenses on shipments of cheese sent through the association, including everything, from the factory-door until sold in London, amounted to 1 1/5 d. per pound. This includes cartage, railage, harbour dues, freight, dock charges, exchange, stamps, discount to buyer, commission, &c.
The amount drawn as advance against the shipment was 3¼d. per pound, and the exchange as mentioned covers the whole. Taking off shrinkage or net weight in London, it leaves 4 11/16d. net at factory-door.
A vote of thanks was passed to the secretary and committee.
A vote of thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings.
1. All milk or cream supplied to the factory shall be subject to the approval of the manager or other competent person appointed to act on his behalf.
2. All milk intended for the factory shall be passed over a Lawrence cooler or other approved cooler, without the addition of water, for aeration purposes, before being canned.
3. The milk or cream of each contributor shall be valued according to its productive quality, as ascertained by the manager or those employed by him, upon a method or methods approved of by the directors, and all such records shall be kept in a book, and may be made, if the directors think fit, the undisputed standard for payment upon the respective quantities of milk or cream furnished.
4. Producer shareholders shall be required to send the whole of their milk and cream to the factory, or the milk and cream of so many cows to be specified, except that which they require for home use, and the milk and cream to be delivered twice a day if at all convenient, or if found necessary by the manager or directors.
5. No person shall send, and the manager shall refuse to receive, any milk that is diluted with water or other fluid, or that is mixed with the milk of the previous evening, without authority from the manager, or that is adulterated with any material whatsoever, or is sour, or tainted, or dirty, or otherwise impure, or from which any cream has been removed. Cows must be thoroughly stripped at every milking.
6. The milk from unhealthy cows must not be taken, and the manager has authority to visit the dairies supplying milk, and report to the directors on any suspected cases, and also to report to the directors and furnish information to suppliers as to care and management of milk at the farm.
7. If the factory be making butter only, and any cream sent, it shall be that only which has been removed by a separator immediately after milking.
8. In the case of newly-calved cows their milk or cream shall not be sent to the factory until at least three days after calving.
9. Cans will be supplied by the factory for the conveyance of milk or of cream, and these alone will be allowed, for which a charge of £ per will be made in the patron's account. All cans or other utensils connected therewith must be kept thoroughly sweet and clean.
10. A correct account of milk or of cream, as the case may be, received at the factory, with the weight of curd or butter, shall be kept by the manager, such account to be at all working-hours open for inspection by any shareholder.
11. Should the manager suspect any contributor of wilfully sending any impure milk or cream to the factory he shall report the same to the directors, and in case the offence be proved the contributor shall forfeit all his shares and be expelled from the factory in every respect.
12. It shall be optional for patrons to supply milk and cream on Sundays. If any desire to do so notice shall be given to the manager, and in that event none will be received after 8 a.m.
13. Any complaint against the manager shall be made in writing addressed to the chairman of directors.
14. The manager shall have power to prohibit the use of intoxicating liquor and tobacco in the buildings or on the adjoining ground of the company.
15. All persons supplying milk or cream to the factory are clearly understood to be doing so subject to the foregoing laws.
A printed copy of these by-laws shall be supplied to each shareholder and patron, and no plea of ignorance concerning the same shall be entertained.
In this estimate I have put down nothing for an engine, believing that in many cases gravitation water is easily procurable, thereby saving immensely in labour and fuel.—J. S.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your memorandum dated the 18th June, concerning the advisability of appointing experts to grade dairy and other agricultural produce before leaving the colony.
My own experience goes in the direction of proving that a certain amount of equality may be secured by such inspection, but there are so many difficulties to be contended with in carrying out the scheme that I do not think it would prove of much practical utility. I am of opinion that if dairy-produce is to bear inspection and grading that it cannot be undertaken at the port of shipment in the colony, but must be done either by associations or on its arrival in the Home-market. Even with inspection at the port here dairy-produce may not arrive in the Home-market in good condition. Our remoteness from that market, and the consequent length of time the produce is on the journey, is sure to change it somewhat.
Different makes of both private dairies and factories will cause different changes, although our factory article is becoming more uniform, and would not, therefore, suffer so much in this direction.
To do grading at the port of shipment in the colony would necessitate the erection of the necessary cool-chambers at the various ports, and the appointment of a staff of duly-qualified experts, involving, in my opinion, a quite unnecessary large expenditure.
Considerable expense would also be entailed on the exporters by the additional expense involved in discharging the produce from the railway-vans and coastal-steamers into the cool-chambers for inspection, and in the handling there, and again in putting it on board the Home-steamers.
But what would be worse is the injury which would be done to the produce. Butter packages cannot be opened, and the contents exposed to the action of the air, and holes pierced in it, without seriously affecting its keeping-qualities. Neither can cheese be inspected without severe injury being done to the cases.
Some parties, in order to enforce their arguments in favour of inspection at the ports of shipment, quote the cases of Denmark and
I am of opinion that any inspection and grading which might be done at the ports of shipment here would be of very little value, and in many cases the reverse of beneficial.
It is to be regretted that many of the recommendations made to me to induce me to favour this scheme being carried out have evidently been intended to benefit certain individuals rather than the industry at large.
I beg to refer you to my annual report on dairy industry just furnished you with reference to a scheme there indicated to solve this much-disputed question.
I think it is now an undoubted fact that the success of the dairy industry in New Zealand, and reform in dairy practices, depends almost exclusively on the establishment of the factory system. This being so, I would much prefer to see some authoritative means being devised for the education examination, and certifying to the knowledge and competency of managers and intending managers of dairy-factories.
The encouragement by a small subsidy to dairy associations composed of factory memberships only, for mutual instruction and assistance, such as the present New Zealand Middle Island Dairy Association, would do good. When a certain standard of excellence and uniformity was reached among the associated dairy-factories, then a brand could be registered and given to each of such factories, the same to be under immediate Government supervision. This brand could be used with the factory brand, and would be very advantageous in engendering a certain uniformity of product, and in guaranteeing the buyer that the product was manufactured under skilled supervision, and that the cheese was full milk, or what is called "graded cheese."
The secretary of the Middle Island Dairy Association is now I authorised by the Committee to pay strict attention to the produce when being placed on board the Home-steamers, and to draw attention to any irregularities or defective casing from any of the association factories.
I have also made it my business when practicable of visiting the steamers when loading at any of the ports, and drawing the attention of the shippers to any irregularity in their produce or casing.
To my mind, the encouraging of such organizations as a means of I fostering the dairy industry is of the first and greatest importance to consider, and one which I trust will receive due consideration from I your hands.
The classification of dairy-produce at the ports of shipment is a matter to which I have devoted much consideration, and I have used my best endeavours to gather the views of the farmers on the subject when lecturing throughout the colony.
I am safe in saying, although they can see the good which would result from a well-organized system of inspection, yet they see no solution of the difficulties herein mentioned other than what I have advocated.
By Authority: George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.—
Friends—
For nearly half a century, with hut one short interval, New Zealand has been governed by an oligarchy composed mainly of English capitalists or their nominees, land monopolists, and colonial plutocrats. The laws which have been enacted have, in consequence, conserved and promoted the interests of wealth, without simultaneously safeguarding the interests of the poor. A system of taxation has been devised by which the weight of the burdens of government has fallen upon the working classes, while the possessors of princely incomes have almost wholly escaped the payment of taxes. By this system of indirect taxation, the toilers have had to pay heavy duties upon almost every article of food they consumed, and every garment they wore. The effect has been that the great mass of the people have, through the unequal pressure of taxation, been kept in a state of poverty, and have been unable to avail themselves of the great opportunities of bettering their condition which a new country fairly governed would necessarily afford.
For many years a great and large-hearted statesman—Sir George Grey—has endeavoured, by the instrumentality of his matchless oratory, to awaken the people to a sense of their power, and to their duty in the interests of; themselves and their posterity to rightly exorcise it, but the unsparing and unscrupulous use of money, artifice, intrigue, calumny, and other weapons of the plutocrat party thwarted him at every step, and delayed the fruition of the hopes with which he began his career as the tribune of the people. His teaching, however, was not without result, and, at length, at the General Election, held in December last, the Democracy of New Zealand vigorously asserted itself, and returned to the House of Representatives a large majority pledged to overthrow the old monopolist regime, and to place in power a Ministry of the people. The Parliament met the continuous Ministry was ejected from office, and the present administration of Mr. John Ballance entrusted with the reins of Government. When it was seen by the Plutocrats and their entourage of hirelings and hangers-on that the defeat of that hybrid thing, Colonial Toryism, was real and smashing, their first feelings were those of consternation. They stood aghast. They believed that their day for plundering the masses was over, and that henceforward the colony was to be governed for the people, and by the people. But, from the effects of the blow received by the Liberal victory, those, whom I shall, for the future in these Letters, call the Tory party, are beginning to rally. They are not ready to admit the permanency of a popular triumph. They think they can re-organise and consolidate their shattered forces and make a determined effort to recover their lost position, and to restore the reign of a privileged and pampered Plutocracy, and a minority composed of the slaves of financial corporations. Hence we see throughout the colony that coteries of Tories have formed themselves into associations and societies, with vague and colourless programmes, which do not avow the real object or purpose which their originators, have in view, but are designed to hoodwink and entrap the unthinking and unwary. Here, in Auckland, the Tories have established what they call the "National Association." To the published programme of this Association every Liberal could subscribe, as it deals in vague generalities with regard to the principles of Legislation. But no Liberal is, or can be deceived as to
Now to my task. I start with the proposition which is now admitted even by the most pronounced Tories (see Mr. Balfour's speech at Plymouth, on August 10th last) that the true end and object of all human Government ought to be "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." That this has not been the object aimed at during the long domination of the Tory party in New Zealand is but too painfully evident by the political, social, and economic wreckage with which the country is everywhere bestrewn. This magnificent colony, the Pearl of Oceania, unrivalled in the possession of all the gifts with which bountiful nature can gladden the heart of man, has been blighted, and stricken well nigh unto death, by a misrule as grievous as that of the Negroes of Hayti, or the Turks in Europe, and if the "bag and baggage" policy which Mr. Gladstone would, if allowed, apply to the latter, were adopted with regard to our land sharks and their dependent political quacks, the relief to the country would be immediate and incalculable.
When the blood and treasure of England were poured forth like water to subdue the aboriginal races of these islands it was intended that the conquered country should be the heritage of the whole people of the United Kingdom; that here in a free atmosphere, unhampered by ancient traditions, there might arise a great nation of free men among whom the terrible contrasts of the extreme wealth and abject poverty of older nations might be unknown. But, firstly by cunning English Tory adventurers imbued with the idea of transplanting and rejuvenating here the obsolete and tottering institutions of the old land, and afterwards by colonial nouveaux riches, the best soil of the country was monopolised in areas equal to European principalities, and the bone and sinew of the country had to go and battle with the wilderness remote from civilization to eke out an existence, or floe from the country as a plague spot, and seek other climes whereon the shadow of the land cormorant had not yet fallen. The poet says:
Weath has accumulated abnormally in New Zealand, owing to land monopoly but it has been concentrated in the hands of the large landholders and their progeny, and the growth of the country's wealth has not been indicative of any general prosperity among the people. To exemplify the manner in which the soil of the colony has been appropriated by a few, I will give one or two instances. One man who lives in Europe, rarely visiting the colony, draws a revenue of £85,000 a year from land here. He pays but an insignificant sum in taxes and employs but a few labourers and shepherds on his runs. It is stated on official authority that there are 1140 absentee large landholders. There are 346 individuals, and 16 banking corporations and companies, who own among them 7,348,713 acres of the soil of New Zealand the unimproved value of which is £15,153,630. The Bank of New Zealand (now I suppose the Estates Company) owns a quarter of a million acres. Forty eight landholders have locked up and kept cut of cultivation 1,400,668. acres upon which they have not spent a single shilling. Sixteen hundred persons hold nearly 18,000,000 acres. Are not these appalling facts? Reflect for a moment how many prosperous families could be maintained on these 18,000,000 acres if they were available for settlement! And what an impetus would be given to trade and commerce in the cities and towns of the colony if thousands of human beings, with all the wants of civilized existence, were located on those fertile expanses, where now the solitude is unbroken save by the bleating of sheep and the lowing of cattle. Moreover, not content with monopolising the heritage of the colonists these Tory plutocrats have adroitly managed to shift nearly the whole cost of Government on the working classes. It is calculated that every man, woman, and child in the country has to pay £2 2s. 11d. every year in customs duties, or about 10d. per head per week. Therefore a working man married and having say five children, pays about six shillings a week in taxation through the customs. If we add to this the local taxation, by means of rates, which even if he owns no property he pays by accretions to his rent, we can form some idea how grievous is the burden under which the main body of the people are now groaning, and which is driving from our shores those who can by hook or by crook obtain the means of
Forum, Thomas G. Shearman shows that by indirect taxation the richest class in the United States gains upon all the other classes of the community at the rate of £200,000,000 per annum. "Nine-tenths—he says—of the rates and taxes in the Union are paid by the poorer classes. One tenth is paid by the very few and the very rich." How truly in respect of these statements might we apostrophise New Zealand and say Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur.
In addition to disinheriting the people and eluding the tax-gatherer by heaping the cost of Government upon the masses, the Tory party in this colony have, until quite recently, kept their power by means of the plural vote. By this infamous device the large property owners were enabled to place their nominees in the greater number of constituencies, and the voice of the people was stifled and unheard. It was not men who were represented, but property. For many weary years your great leader, Sir George Grey, endeavoured to remove this gross abuse, but he was ridiculed, buffeted, scoffed at, until at length at the end of the last Parliament he succeeded by
It is therefore absolutely demonstrated that the Tory party have in the past, during their long and almost unbroken tenure of office since the earliest day's of the colony, not had the interests of the masses at heart, but their whole policy and aim has been to reproduce a facsimile of England, with its very rich and its very poor. They have sought to establish here a nation of serfs and beggars, ruled by an irresponsible and insolent plutocracy, whose domination the "inarticulate masses would be helpless to overthrow.
Now, what is the mission of the Government to whom you have given your mandate by your votes last December? The primary, the fundamental object of that mission, the one that overshadows every other object and desire, is to secure by law that the legally expressed will of the majority of the people shall be the law of the land. This is the first work to be accomplished by the Liberal party, for until it is accomplished our energies and strength may be frittered away and exhausted in achieving but the most meagre legislative results. Now what is the state of things at the present time? You have elected a majority of members of the House of Representatives pledged to carry out a policy of justice to the people, a policy based on the principle that "the object of politics is the common good not the advantage of sections." A number of measures have been sanctioned, and as far as they could do so passed into law by those representatives. Why then are the measures not in the Statute Book? Because a chamber of persons representing nobody, most of them of feeble intellect through age and infirmity, many of them ignorant and unlettered, and almost all very strongly imbued with intense selfishness and devotion to the interests of wealth, have without apology and almost without comment, contemptuously rejected the measures which the constitutionally chosen representatives of the people with great labour and at great monetary cost had enacted! You must therefore resolve that this obstruction shall henceforward cease. You are not children, but full-grown self-governing citizens. Is it not therefore an absurdity and an anachronism that an irresponsible coterie should exist which by the exercise of its mere will can stop all reform, ignore your wishes and most cherished aspirations, render useless and unworkable your Parliament, and plunge the country into agitation and turmoil unnecessarily. The Legislative Council is an institution suitable only for nations in the infancy of representative government, and it is as obsolete as the thumb-screw and "Traitor's gate." It must therefore be abolished root and branch, and the government of the country entrusted solely to a single Chamber. Why is the government of cities by Municipal Councils not subject to review by a second Chamber? Or the government of counties by County Councils? If there were only one Chamber your representatives would have a stronger sense of responsibility, and greater care and caution would be exercised than at present in passing laws. To satisfy the very timid but honest and well meaning people who have fears of rash and empiric legislation from a tingle Chamber it might be enacted that
When you shall have made your legislative machinery workable and secured true and complete representation, then there is a herculean work to be done by your legislators. Firstly, as to great questions of policy, your Parliament will require to exert its highest intelligence and power. The system of taxation must be completely overhauled and re-modelled. The present system of indirect taxation through the Custom House is not only radically unjust in its incidence, but it is the most wasteful system of levying taxes that blundering incompetence could devise. It is wasteful in the enormous expense of collecting; it is penal in its effect on the working classes. If an importer pays 20 per cent, duty on an article it is safe to affirm that that amount is doubled as an element of cost to the consumer; because the importer has to pay the duty to the Customs before he can get delivery of his goods, and he adds on a large sum to compensate him for being out of his money from the date of its payment until he disposes of his goods. The correct adjustment of the tariff will however tax all the skill of your, statesmen, because the exemption of imported goods from all taxation, though correct in theory and suitable of application in certain given circumstances, would not be practicable or expedient here at present. Industries in a now country require a fostering hand from the Government, and city populations of artizans must be kept in the colony to afford a ready market to our farmers for their produce. There are however multitudes of articles in the tariff which are not and could not be manufactured in the colony, and the cheapening of the cost of which would do much towards increasing the comfort and sweetening the life of the masses of the people, and such things should be admitted free of duty. Everything having an educational tendency should also be admitted free, such as books, pictures, and works of art of all kinds. The same may be said of articles which alleviate suffering, such as medicines. An outrageous impost is now levied on the medicines which are most extensively used by the workers, and many thousands of pounds annually are under this head exacted from the offering poor. The land tax imposed in the last session of Parliament must be judiciously developed and extended so that the future unearned increment of the value of land shall belong to the whole people who create such value. In the time of George III. in England the land tax was 4s. in the pound, and from time immemorial war taxes (which formed the chief element of expenditure), were always levied upon the land. The ignorant Tory critics of the present Liberal Government raise a howl that confiscation is intended when a proposal is made to revert—though in a very attenuated form—to the most ancient English tax, and a tax which in all ages of history has in nearly all civilized nations been the method by which Government has been carried on. It will further be the duty of Parliament to resume possession of large blocks of accessible land now held as great sheep runs. Compensation, to be assessed by a proper tribunal, must of course be paid to those dispossessed; but the land is urgently required for settlement, and the interests of the squatters must give way to the public necessities.
The laws against combinations must be thoroughly revised, so that all shall possess equal freedom to combine for lawful purposes. The criminal law is the most chaotic and almost the most barbarous of any civilized nation, and complete revision is absolutely essential. The question of the means of transit by land and sea, a question which vitally affects, and I may say is
The possibilities which are open to a true democratic Government in New Zealand are stupendous and far-reaching. If you choose level-headed men, devoted to the popular cause, as your representatives, a complete transformation in the present conditions of life among the great body of the people i; possible of accomplishment in a future by no means remote. As a distinguished writer recently observed, "Government is only a machine to insure justice and help the people, and we have not yet developed half its powers. And we are under no more necessity to limit ourselves to the governmental precedents of our ancestors than we are to confine ourselves to the narrow boundaries of their knowledge or their inventive skill." There does not appear to me to be any well-grounded reason against the State doing its own banking, and receiving for public uses the immense profit now made by private financial corporations by a paper money circulation. A State guarantee for a five pound note would surely be as good as that of a company with limited capital. Then again if it be right for the State to carry its people and produce in railway trains, there does not appear to be any â priori reason against carrying them if necessary in steamships. When the time is expedient therefore the colony may well engage in the carrying trade by its own steamers on its own coasts. But it is unnecessary to further dilate upon the reforms and undertakings which are practicable in the interests of the people by a capable Liberal Government. Whatever can be demonstrated to be feasible, and will promote the comfort and well being of the whole population, may reasonably be adopted and carried out. The concerted action of the whole people exerted through their legally appointed executive is capable of carrying out works of a magnitude impossible in the past, even to the most powerful combinations of capitalists. And it is certain that the sphere within which the State may employ its almost limitless capacity and power is rapidly
laissez faire has been absolutely and irrevocably discarded. The success which has attended Government Post Offices, Telegraphs, Life Insurance, &c., but dimly foreshadow the benefits which the people as a whole will receive in the future from the great enterprises of the State.
Now, the Tory party will strenuously oppose any extension of the sphere of action or influence of the State in civic and social life. The Tories are the staunch upholders of individualism, fierce competition and non-intervention by the State. The watchword of Toryism is "self," the battle-cry of Liberalism is "brotherhood." It matters not to the Tories that you point to the blessings of concerted action by the people as evidenced by magnificent Free libraries, Free Art Galleries, beautiful Public Parks and Gardens, cheap Postage, safe Life Insurance, and other advantages: they will tell you the Government—that is the people collectively—ought to leave such things to what they call "private enterprise" and benevolence, and that it destroys the manliness and the self-reliance of the people to provide such intellectual and physical advantages for them at the general expense. Every step you cause Government to take in advance will be fiercely and determinedly opposed by the Tory party. It is therefore of the highest importance that you should thoroughly organise yourselves, for in your union lies strength. The reason why the masses of the people have been kept in a state of serfdom through so many centuries is that they had no organisation and no means of organising. Your power collectively is irresistible, but unorganised you can be beaten in detail by the well organised capitalist class, among whom even without any formal organisation there always exists a strong esprit de corps. Combination therefore in societies, or a great federation or association, is the talisman, the "open sesame," to a complete and triumphant democratic political victory. Every worker ought to belong to a society, an organisation under whatever name, where his influence as a unit in the commonwealth may be usefully employed when the occasion arises. There can be no great success without organisation and the discipline which that necessarily entails. Therefore the workers ought to unite in a great political association, outride of their own special trades unions. The liberal Association which was established last year in Auckland seems at once to offer a rallying point for all true democrats and to be the nucleus of a great and powerful association which might ensure at future elections in this part of the colony the success of Liberals in every constituency. I would suggest therefore that you should all join or be represented in this energetic and growing society. Remember that your enemies have organised in the National Association, though they have not the candour to avow their true principles, but seek to achieve success by borrowing Liberal plumes and imposing on the artless and guileless electors. It appears that this Tory National Association refused to identify itself with the honest and outspoken Conservatives, who were not afraid to publish their principles on the house-top and to stand by them. The crafty leaders of the Association thought they might imitate the exploit of the Greeks at the siege of Troy, and capture the citadel by assuming a harmless disguise. But no one is deceived, and the true colours of the National Association are just as well known to everybody, and specially to Liberals, as if they were emblazoned on their charter. The National Association people would perhaps do well to think over this extract from La Bruyère: "Cunning leads to Knavery; it is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery; Lying only makes the difference; add to that cunning, and it is Knavery."
The Tory Press of the colony has sot up a howl that the policy of the present Ministry in imposing a Land Tax has the effect of frightening capital from the colony, and all sorts of dismal forebodings are indulged in as to the future. These vapourings need not cause you much uneasiness. We do not want hero capitalists owning large tracts of land, and thereby having practically the power of life and death over their fellow men. Capitalists did nothing for the settlers north of Auckland. And where will you find a hardier and, all things considered, a happier race of men than those whose homesteads are dotted round the bays and inlets on our northern coast? And in the main the settlers in the north had to be content with moderately fertile, and, in many cases, poor land, while the capitalists swallowed the rich plains of the south. We can find ample capital among ourselves to clear, fence, and cultivate the soil of the country, and Nature will supply the crops in superabundance. It will be an unmixed blessing if English land speculators are for ever effectively warned away from the colony. They are of no more use to the country than locusts. The absentee capitalist, especially if he be a land cormorant, is a perpetual drain upon our resources. He levies a tribute upon the labour of the people here, and disburses that tribute in foreign lands. His capital pauperises instead of fructifying the colony. What possible benefit, for instance, is it to us that Mr. Balfour, the late Secretary for Ireland, should own, as he does, a large tract of land in Canterbury? But there are those who unflinchingly contend that the colony should encourage the growth of great estates, and welcome the money of English nobles and plutocrats to be invested in our lands. What would be your fate in the near future if you, were deluded by the specious arguments of the Tories on this subject? If the Land Tax were repealed, and unrestricted monopoly in land permitted, the evils which have followed from the great estate system in England would be renewed and intensified amongst us. Listen to what Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., says in his "Unauthorised Programme," with regard to the state of the English peasantry, "The hard lot of our peasantry is, as a rule, accepted by them in silence, and their sufferings are but little known outside their circle. The life of the labourer may be said to be one long grind of human toil, unrelieved by holidays or recreation. Happy if he escapes sickness and loss of work. With no pleasures in the present, and the horizon of the future bounded only by the workhouse and the grave, he works on to the end to escape "the parish," which he dreads. Strength, however, fails at last, and he then has to rely on a scanty "out-door relief," or he goes into the "House." In duo time he is reported dead, and so ends a long life of toil in which he has added, who shall say how much, to that stock of national wealth so small a portion of which has fallen to his share."
Now is this a picture which you would like to represent the agricultural population of this free land? But the Liberals who repealed the Property tax cannot even by the most mendacious of their adversaries, be said to be the foes of capital. The National Association and all the other Tory upholders of the Property tax are the real enemies of the capitalist, because they taxed him whether his capital was earning anything or not. But the Liberals allow him to go scot free unless his capital is producing an income, or unless he be a large land-holder. Another reform that the permanent interests of the people call for, is the abolition of the power of what is known as the "Settlement" of landed
If the democracy of New Zealand cannot work out its own destiny, and that a high one, then truly must faith in mankind be despairingly given up. You have, such as no former people had, the experiences and examples of the nations of the past made common knowledge by the unprecedented expansion of literature. The disasters which have befallen the peoples of old through allowing the political power and the land to be monopolised by the wealthy are painted in lurid colours in the pages of history. Let the lessons which they teach be ineffaceably impressed on your minds, and operate to prevent you from allowing a criminal apathy with regard to public affairs from paralysing your power. Take your rightful place in the Constitution,—that is to govern! Every man should as a matter of simple duty take care that he is registered on the roll of electors. Every man of 21 years of age and upwards can now be registered as an elector. No qualification by property or house-holding is now necessary. We have manhood suffrage. Therefore every man's name should he on the electoral roll. Any qualified person can get his name registered on the electoral roll by applying to the Registrar of Electors, whose office is in the Resident Magistrate's Court building in High-street. No fee is payable. I would strongly urge upon all the necessity of registering your names as electors. At election times it frequently happens that large numbers are unable to vote through not having applied in time to be placed on the electoral roll. Now your adversaries take great care that every vote they can rely upon is safely registered. Therefore take a leaf out of their book, and be in time. The trouble is slight and the advantage incalculable. Then when an election comes around do not allow any business whatever to prevent you from voting. The vote which you hold is a sacred trust which every individual should conscientiously fulfil by voting. No one should think or say, as too often unfortunately happens, "Oh! a single vote won't make much difference. I cannot conveniently go to the polling booth." If many act in this way it is evident a large number of votes are lost. Every one who abstains from voting when he is called upon to do so, except physically incapable, is guilty of a grave breach of duty, and his abstention might be the means of bringing great evils upon his country. The heads of societies should get supplies of application for registration forms, and see that all the members of their body are correctly registered on the electoral roll of their proper district.
If the democracy of New Zealand does its duty a magnificent future is before the colony. Her position enables her to dominate for the purposes of peace and commerce the great archipelago of the South Pacific. Her resources and climate combine to furnish the materials to make a great and happy people. Nothing is wanting but good laws and just government. Let the democracy frame laws which will promote the acquisition of moderate wealth and discourage the accumulation of excessive riches, which will extinguish monopoly of natural advantages, which will preserve the freedom, the independence, the health, the manhood of its workers, above all their manhood, for as the immortal bard says, "He is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man." If only these things be done then in truth an auspicious future is before you, a nobler fame than that of Greece awaits you, and priceless indeed will be the heritage of your descendants who shall inhabit these islands in the coming time.
W. Wilkinson, Central Printing Office, 177 Queen St.
Secularism and Christianity defined.hat is Secularism? It is a philosophy of sœculum). It is hostile to religion, and considers Christianity to be a groat, if not the greatest, hindrance to a happy life.
I. Timothy iv. 8. Luke ii. 14, ix 56.What is Christianity? By Christianity we understand the principles and precepts taught by Jesus Christ for the guidance of the human race. It is a practical philosophy that claims to have "promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
Christianity and Secularism are therefore rivals, and naturally we Christian people ask, "What cause brings Secularism into the field?" I answer, (and the answer is mingled with sorrow and shame) the principal causes are two:—
I. The failure of the Christian Church to reach the ideal of Christianity.
Some of you Secularists in your new enthusiasm
Inconsistencies of Christians. Gesta Christi.Jesus," and that Good Queen Bess knighted the captain, John Hawkins, for his success, and his crest became a manacled slave.
And I know a darker deed than that. At the siege of Rouen, the governor of the city, sorely pressed by famine, expelled 12,000 non-combatants. Henry refused to let these pass through his ranks, so they perished by degrees under the walls. During the few weeks that they were there, infants were born, and—O God! is it possible!—the newly-born babe was raised in a basket to the top of the walls,
English Men of Action. Henry v.
These deeds and darker still have been done in the name of the Holy Child Jesus.
But why will you be so unjust, unjust even to Christianity not to be judged by Christians.
I am not a Freemason, and am therefore ignorant of the theology, morality, and purpose of the Craft. But I know the names of several Freemasons who are intemperate, unkind, and impure. Will the Freemasons present this evening justify me therefore in condemning their Brotherhood? But it is replied, "We expect all these human institutions to be liable to distortion; but if Christianity be a heaven-born philanthropy, sent by God himself, brought by God himself, and maintained by a living inspiration of God, such as is claimed for it, it ought to be, it must bo, incapable of the horrible abuses which are constantly taking place, or else deny its boasted origin." Friends, is Freedom of Thought a human institution? You will all permit me to call that a heaven-born gift. It is this power that makes us men. Bees may think, and think truly, but not with liberty. They may not make a square or circular cell, however expert they may be with the hexagon. But we are free to think as we like. And oh! how frightfully has that liberty been abused. Witness the endless list of treasons, con-
Language is not a human institution. It is a necessity. Deprive us of it, and the next generation will be a mob of half-naked savages. But it has been terribly abused. For men have spoken lies instead of the truth, cursed instead of blessed, and have used it as a vehicle of endless slander, calumny, and malignity.
Life is not a human institution. And life itself has been abused. And the unjust conqueror, the libertine, the drunkard, the harlot, a curse to themselves and a blight to all that they touch, prove that in every generation there are some men and women for whom it would have been better never to have been born. Yet, I hear of no man advocating that for this reason the brain action should be reduced, the tongue cut out, or life annihilated. Why then do you advocate the abolition of Christianity, or deny its utility because of its perversions? The fact is that our peculiar and wonderful Freedom of Will makes us capable of abusing anything and everything, even ourselves, and even Christianity.
But there is another great cause for the existence of Secularism, or to speak more correctly, for the opposition to Christianity, viz:—
II. A determination to get rid of everything supernatural, and to explain everything mysterious.
Objections to Mystery considered. Literature and Dogma, p. xii.
But lest you should be allured by this apparently short and easy road to truth, let me point out that these leaders have proved that there is only one way of getting rid of mystery, and that is by shutting your eyes: for when we remind them that the historical testimony for the truth of the Gospels is irrefragable, they say, "We have nothing to do with historical testimony, but only with scientific demonstration:" for, "It is contrary to reason that these things should be true, but not contrary to reason that testimony should be false." Now let mo respectfully point you Secularists to mysteries which you do not escape by rejecting Christianity.
I. The greatest mystery of all is Jesus of Mystery of Jesus. Mill's Testimony to Jesus. Three Essays on Religion.
Well then, Jesus lived. Rejecting the Christian explanation of his Divine nature and mission, explain Him! Bushnell's Nature and the Supernatural.
(a.) You know that the Jews were a most bigoted and exclusive race, and He was a Jew; yet he had a heart as wide as humanity, and founded a religion which is acceptable to every nation under the sun. Buddhism and Mohammedanism number their millions, but are confined to the East; what chance would these religions have in Europe, America, and Australia? but the religion founded by an exclusive Jew is accepted among every known people. It is a mystery.
Farrar's Life of Christ, pp 164, 271.(b.) You know that when He came into the world, manual labour had not the dignity which
Mark vi. 31. John iv. 31.(c.) Look at His character. You know that virtues are of two classes, active and passive: and that he who excels in one class does so because he is deficient in the other; so much so, that we have a proverb to the effect that every virtue has its corresponding vice. The active man, if baulked, becomes irritable: the gentle passive sufferer fails
Mark xiv. 9. Life of Napoleon by Abbok.(d.) Consider finally the mystery of his success. He, when he was poor, despised, and unknown, calmly talked with the utmost assurance of the time when His gospel should be preached throughout the whole world.
But even were there no Jesus, and no Bible to explain, Science is daily proving that we live, move, and have our being in mystery. In our own day, as never before, we witness great men peering into the dark with keenest vision, hoping to find some solution, and everywhere with aching eyes turning away,—baffled. For who has solved the mystery of Mystery of Life. Mr G. H. Lewis. H. SpencerLife? Its conditions, its phenomena, we know, it? Would you like to know? Then, you shall. A most clear-headed Secularist has solved the mystery: "Life is the connexus of the
And who has solved the mystery of our Mystery of Creation.origin?
Whence is matter?
It is eternal.
Do you consider life, as we know it, progressive?
Yes.
Looking backward, therefore, we shall see a narrower, smaller, and less perfect life?
We shall.
Then, if we recede far enough, we shall come to a time when there was only inert matter, which though it might possess "the promise and potency of every form of life," was inactive, and chaotic?
Yes.
I ask then in the words of Dr. Dallinger, "What gave matter that rhythmic throb which has produced from chaos the larynx of the nightingale and the mind of man?" I wait for your answer.
It is true that 23 years ago, Professor Huxley thought that he had found the connecting link between organic and inorganic matter, that is the origin of life, "In a shining heap of jelly at the bottom of the sea." Cook's Biology.
Mystery of Freewill. Methods of Ethics.Freedom of the Will as great a mystery, as these already mentioned? Henry Sidgwiek, a champion against Christianity, says: "The Freedom of the Will presents itself to me as an unsolved problem; the question must be set
But why do I dwell on these things? Not only to shew you that the rejection of belief in a Creator involves thinkers in hopeless confusion; not only to shew that he who rejects Christianity has rejected but one mystery out of a legion; but chiefly to shew that Christianity, if Divine, ought to have its mysteries. Seeing that our claim is that both the book of Nature and the Bible have the same author, it is to be expected that as the former abounds in mystery, the latter should not be rejected because it does the same. Absence of mystery would be a probable proof against its Divine origin.
And now, after this, perhaps, too lengthy introduction, for I was anxious to try and remove preliminary obstacles, let us enter the heart of our subject.
Secularism is a rival of Christianity. It desires True Christianity is best Secularism.therefore desires the death of Christianity. But I undertake to shew that Christianity leaves no room for Secularism in the world. That is, that it already occupies the whole programme of Secularism, and can do the work better, infinitely better, than any rival philosophy: in short, I will prove that Christianity is secularism par excellence. And will therefore ask you to view Christianity in its relationship to the present life under the three following heads:—
Value of the Individual. Matt. xxv. 14 Brotherhood of Man. Matt. xxv. 40 Acts, xvii. 26. x. 34. Acts, xvii. 30. I. Tim. ii. 6. Rev. xxi. 19.individual life. At the time of His advent, the world and the teachers thereof, were unconscious of any such truth: a man was valuable only as our fingers and toes are valuable, that is, not intrinsically hut relatively: he was valued only as an appendage to the State. But Jesus for ever raised him above a mere marketable commodity by His startling and revolutionary question, "How much better is A Man than a sheep?" His view and value of human life he declared in the parable of "The Talents," in which, while he recognized the inequality of men (for to each was given according to his several ability), he shewed that fidelity to their trust was the common standard, and so taught "individual responsibility to God."the least.Brotherhood of Man. "God that made the world hath made of one blood all nations of men, and He is no respecter of persons."All sinnedall men everywhere All redeemedAll welcome.Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely.
The sacred rite by which the Christian world calls to mind the sacrificial death of Christ is a living and abiding testimony of the same truth, "Seeing that there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body."* And the Duke of Wellington was just, when seeing a peasant hesitate at kneeling by His Grace at the Lord's table, touched him on the shoulder and bade him kneel, saying, "This makes us all one."
But Christ is condemned by some for not denouncing Christianity and Slavery. In Defence of the Faith, p. 278. Luthardt's Moral Truths, p. 335.only effective denunciation of slavery? Christ told the Jews that his teaching was a seed-sowing: and his work was leaven. The leaven of the above truth has abolished slavery. Do not stop me by reminding me of my anecdote about the first English slave ship: remember the answer given then: for abuses of itself, neither Christianity nor Christ is responsible. But I repeat that Christianity by the above truths necessarily abolished slavery. Hence the Boers bitterly opposed Dr. Livingstone's efforts to establish Christian Missions in the Transvaal, for the benefit of the natives. They did not fear that Dr. Livingtone's teaching would harm the natives, but they objected to a religion which taught these wretched savages that they had rights, God-given rights, and were made and redeemed by Him who made and redeemed their masters. But whilst slavery has been a violation of Christianity: slavery was the necessary outcome of the philosophy and
Politics. There he calls slaves "animated instruments," compares them to utensils, and proves by the received philosophy of the time that a "slave is a portion of his possessor."† The number of the slaves at the advent of Christ was enormous. In Rome itself, according to Gibbon, of every five persons, three were slaves. And if we take the whole of the empire, then Gibbon's deliberate opinion is that the "slaves were at least equal in number to the free inhabitants of the Roman world." He estimates the population of the world at 120,000,000, and the slaves at 60,000,000.half the population of the world when Christ entered it, had no value whatever, beyond that of sheep and cattle. And the non-value of life is perhaps more forcibly shewn by the amusements of the great city, by which innocent men where butchered to make a Roman holiday. Julius Ceasar gave a show in which 320 pairs of gladiators fought; Trajan gave a show in which 10,000 fought, the brutal sport lasting 123 days; and Domitian amused the city by instituting a bloody contest between dwarfs and women.Through the Dark Continent," then com-
Christianity has likewise exalted woman. It is Christianity exalted woman. Gal. iii. 28. Eph. v. 25.every unchristianized land, degraded; even where "The Light of Asia" has been shining for centuries, a light that some enthusiasts declare to be as clear as "The Light of the World," even there woman is horribly degraded. In the Public Hall, at Cambridge West, I asked Dr. Hooper a question concerning morality and the position of woman in Asia, and he was unable to reply before a mixed audience. With pathetic simplicity, a young Asiatic wife asked the Zenana Missionary, who was reading the Bible to her, if that book had not been written by a woman, "for," she continued, "it contains so many kind things about us; our Shastras say nothing of us but what is hard and cruel."
Time forbids my dwelling at length on what Christ has done for children and for home, but I Christ and the children. Social results of Christianity, p. 29. Mark x. 16. Matt. xviii. 10.
This, then, is the Secular teaching of Jesus on the value of human life: but his Theological (to use an objectionable term for want of a better) teaching crowns us with glory and honour. Some of you, I know, repudiate such teaching as worthless: but with this you will surely agree, that whether true or false, its whole tendency is our exaltation.
The whole Gospel tends to our exaltation. Phil. ii. 8.Christ's Incarnation. God had already honoured
Ps liii. 2. Gal. iii. 4; Phil. ii. 7; Heb. iii. 9.Christ's Atonement. If I should walk unexpectedly into your drawing-room one morning and find you on your hands and knees carefully gathering up the thousand fragments of a shattered vase for the purpose of making an effort for its restoration, I should conclude that that vase was very precious to you: that it was no twopenny article you had recently bought: but was invaluable, either for hallowed memories or its intrinsic worth. May I
Secularists declare that Christianity is inimical to the present life.Our Future. Christ taught the immortality of man: that death was but a sleep, or rather a transition; and righteous men shall go away into eternal life; even their bodies shall be ransomed from the power of the grave, and shall be conformed to the body of his glory; and to all men, both small and great, shall justice, hero so often denied, be at last meted out. What better view of life, what higher value than this, does Secularism give? Ask its apostles if there be a Divine Father, and
Secular Tracts you will see how strongly they preach this. They are united as one man only on this, point—"Christianity must perish—it has spoiled, it is spoiling still, what otherwise would be a happy existence." Some few months ago, on the railway, I had a long conversation with a well-known Secularist of this district, a gentleman above the average in intelligence, and of kindly disposition. He was repeating the usual condemnation of Christianity, when I replied—
"Why, what evil hath it done?"
"Much, everyway, he answered," but specially in its fatal teaching that men must despise this present life in order to inherit a better, after death."
"And where does it teach that?"
He repeated: "Take no thought for this life, what you shall eat and wear, and so forth; but set your affections on things above and lay up treasure in Heaven."
"And what is treasure in Heaven?"
"Well,—saying prayers, and going to church, and getting ready to die, and all that sort of thing."
I said, "My friend, your quotation of Scripture is fairly accurate, but you are quite at sea as to its meaning. Jesus, who bade men lay up treasure in Heaven, told us most clearly what that treasure was when he said that even a cup of cold water given in a right spirit to the thirsty, was a deed which was valued in Heaven. He told us what He meant when in his picture of the last day the Judge rewarded the unselfish, and condemned those who had selfishly neglected the needy. We need have no doubt as to the meaning of the "Kingdom of Heaven" when we read—" Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. I. Cor. vi. 9. Literature and Dogma, p 81.here and now: and the wealth he bids them accumulate, because of its abiding worth, is Character. His words, in their strong Eastern expression, simply mean, "Let every man make his moral being his prime care, and all other things necessary will necessarily come. And, Sir, is not that teaching of Jesus the very thing that the world requires to put it right, and the only thing capable of putting it right? If every man, every rich man, every poor man, following the
Yet Secularists unblushingly aver that Christianity is a hindrance to human progress and happiness: that the belief in immortality, and the general teaching of Jesus are inimical to our earthly interests: their whole literature declares it, and a lecturer has come to our little town for the specific purpose of delivering men from its baneful influence. I do heartily wish that these good men would be more specific in their teaching, and let us know how, and in what department, our cherished religion causes us to suffer. For, having searched, in all honesty, every department of life, I have failed to find the slightest vestige of evidence, justifying this libel, beyond the abuses of fanatics and hypocrites, for which Christianity is as much responsible as is the sun for the evil deeds done in its light. Will you Secularists tell me where to look that I may find one man, living or dead, who would have been a bettor man had he not been a follower of Jesus Christ? For I have looked into the annals of war and found that vital Christianity did not shrivel up
A cloud of witnesses. Soldiers
Patriots
Explorers
Scientists
Was the administration of British affairs under Wm. Pitt, Sir Robert Peel, or Lord Palmerston such Politicians
The roofs and windows of Christian Cathedrals, and our Sacred Oratorios prove that the Messiah has Artists
And what shall I say of Philanthropy? Merely
Christian philanthropists, if you leave out the names of Mrs. Josephine Butler, Sister Dora, Florence Nightingale, Mrs. Fry, and all the noble women that they have inspired: if you drop the names of Samuel Plimsoll, General Booth, Father Damien, Bishop Patterson, Lord Shaftesbury, Wm. Wilberforce, John Howard, John Wesley, Martin Luther, St. Vincent de Paul, and all their brethren and asters who, in every century have laboured under the inspiration of Him who was the author of the parable of the Good Samaritan, you will find it a difficult task, even to fill a leaflet with a description of the philathropists that remain.
Are you still unconvinced? Then suffer mo to suggest another proof. Select from among the living any ten average Secularists, and any ten average Christians you please; and compare their lives in honesty, in sobriety, in purity, in cheerfulness of disposition, in contentment, in the beauty of home life, and in the integrity of business and civic life, and I shall be happy to publish the result.
Is the teaching and influence of Christianity moral? Let these men, men whose testimony all Witnesses to the morality of Christianity
Essays on Religion, p 255John Stuart Mill: "It would not be easy now, even for an unbeliever, to find a better translation of the rule of virtue from the abstract to the concrete, than to endeavour so to live that Christ would
Literature and Dogma, pp x and 190.Matthew Arnold: "Try all the ways of righteousness that you can think of, and you will find no way brings you to it except the way of Jesus, hut that this way does bring you to it." "For in Christianity is to be found the firm foundation for human life, and the true source of strength, joy, and peace.
Luthardt's Moral Truths, p 278.Schopenhauer, (a fierce opponent of Christianity), "The ethical portion of Christianity is unassailable."
Descent of Man p 114.Charles Darwin: "The love and fear of God are needed before the highest moral level can be attained."
It is enough. We have asked our question of men whose bias is not in our favour, and they have given a decidedly affirmative reply. The Christian, recognizing his responsibility to a Moral Governor, and obeying His vicegerent,—a conscience enlightened by Jesus Christ—has a firm basis, a high standard, and a strong motive power for his moral being.
Is Secularism moral in its teaching and tendency? I want to pause: the question is a grave one: I want you to remember that Secularism undertakes to make the world better than Christianity has done, or can do, and then to lay due weight on our answer. Secularism is not moral in its teaching and tendency; it is immoral.
Here again I will summon to the witness box
Secularists have no basis of morality.
Calderwood's Moral Philosophy p 283.David Hume: "Virtues and vices are but likes and dislikes of society."
Fernley Lecture for Jeremy Bentham, the father of Utilitarianism, agrees with Hume: "Pleasure and pain are the masters in the field of morals: we find in these a plain but true standard for whatever is right or wrong. Vice may be defined as a miscalculation of chances, a mistake in estimating the value of pleasures and pains."
Supernatural in Nature, p 13.Thomas Hobbes: "There is nothing simply and absolutely good and evil, but whatsoever is the object of any man's appetite, is what he calleth good, and the object of his aversion, evil. Right and wrong are mere quibbles of the imagination."
Lord Bolingbroke: "The chief end of life is to gratify our passions."
Bain's Emotions, p 254.Professor Bain: "There is no personal obligation whatever, save in those actions which are enforced by external authority and punishment."
Service of Man, p 284-9.Mr. J. C. Morison: "No one makes his own character. This is done for him by his parents and ancestors. A man with a criminal nature and education, under temptation can no more help committing crime than having a headache under certain conditions of the stomach."
It is therefose no wonder that Mr. Morison, in his work, "The Service of Man," insists that "fellows of a baser sort" ought to be dealt with as "curs, screws, and low breeds of cattle"—extirpated.
North American Review, Colonel Ingersoll: "The quality of an action (that is whether it be right or wrong) is determined by its consequences; if consequences are good—so is the action."
That is—because the offspring of an adulterous woman became a benefactor; the adultery of his mother was right.
That is—because the murder of Garfield did good in cementing England and the States, and in bringing before the world the career and character of one of the noblest of men,—his murderer was morally right.
That is—seeing that we are indebted for our English liberty to a noble army of martyrs, we must equally commend the men who suffered, and those who inflicted the pain.
But perhaps you say, "I thought Utilitarianism was the standard of morality to the Secularists." So is it. Having abolished an absolute "We have in each case to compare all the pleasures and pains that can be forseen as probable results of the different
right and wrong, and denied a personal responsibility to God, they have hit upon the attractive basis and standard of morality in the words, "The greatest happiness of the greatest number." Whatever conduces to the greatest happiness of the largest number is right. But who is tall enough to look over the heads of the crowd and count the number of faces made happy by his action? Besides, how can you judge whether you ought to do an action, until after it is done? I will read you the answer from one of its strongest modern advocates:
The writer recognizes the "But it is highly important to bear in mind that this method is liable to the most serious errors, and the comparison must generally be of the roughest and vaguest kind. Yet we seem unable to find any substitute."difficulty of the operation, and so continues with a warning:
Before he concludes Mr. Sidgwick confesses its impracticability.
"Of course in an ideal community of enlightened Utilitarians difficulties will vanish: but in the meantime we may reasonably desire that the vulgar should keep aloof from the system as a whole, as the inevitable indefiniteness and complexity of its calculations render it likely to lead to bad results in their hands."
The Methods of Ethics. Henry Sidgwick, M.A., 428-453.
Just so: it is the only standard of right and wrong Secularism has: and yet it says to you poor men, "keep clear of it, it will get you into trouble: you that have no time to read and study, can't understand it; you must wait till your grand-children are grown up and they will teach you how to act; in the meantime do as we tell you." But whom will you obey? Have you considered the hopeless confusion and mutual contradiction into which Atheist and Secularist leaders have fallen?
Secularists cannot agree in their teaching.Charles Bradlaugh, in the National Reformer,
Bradlaugh and Voltaire. Defence of the Faith, p 313.Voltaire says: "If the world were governed by atheists, it might as well be under the rule of infernal furies. Atheists would be as mischievous to the human race, if they had the power, as superstitious persons: their principles will certainly not be opposed to assassinations and poisonings when such things seem to be necessary."
Bain and Spencer.Bain, in his Emotions and Will (p 273), says: "Morality is utility made compulsory."
But Spencer, in his Data of Ethics (p 128), says: "The truly honest man is not only without external compulsion, but he is without self-compulsion."
Comte, in his Positivism, says that we cannot know anything of a power above us: but he nevertheless, originated a worship to the God "Humanity," and appointed priests.
Comte and Spencer.Spencer says that Comte's worship is useless, that his philosophy is insufficient, and that we do know of an "Eternal energy."
Contemporary Review, Carlyle called Spencer "an immeasurable ass,"
Carlyle and Spencer. Contemporary Review, Spencer said: "I am afraid that Mr. Carlyle has done more to propagate error than any other writer of the century.
Fernley Lecture for Renan says: "Goodness, beauty, science, these three: and the greatest of these is science."
Renan, Goethe, and Arnold. Fernley Lecture for Goethe says: "Goodness, truth, and beauty,
Arnold says: "Goodness, beauty and literature, these three: and the greatest of these is literature."
Which is right?
Franck and Spencer. Thoughts at Fourscore, by J. Cooper, p 378.M. Adolphe Franck says of Herbert Spencer:
These are some of your shepherds "moving in a negative direction under the boasted banner of freedom," but quarrelling at every corner; they agree to caution you against the pastures of Christ; but when any one of their number suggests another pasture, all the rest immediately pounce upon him and beat him without mercy.
Ah! friends, Peter's question to his Lord is not yet an anachronism—"To whom shall we go but unto Thee?" For they have fallen into a piteous and hopeless plight who cannot say: "The Lord God before whom I stand—whoso I am, and whom I serve;" who have ruled out of order the clear cut definite question: "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" and who have rejected the supreme authority of the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." This Secularism has done. And it has gone forth on its mission to renovate the world with a philosophy that is dubious as to
I know that the world is still wicked, very wicked; but let imagination picture what would be its condition if every Christian motive were withdrawn from the human heart.
I believe that many of you have a great respect for Ernest Renan, whose interesting novel called "Vie de Jésus," you accept as your gospel. Renan's idea of Molality. Je m'imagine que si l'humanité acquérait la certitude que le monde doit finir dans deux ou trois jours, l'amour éclaterait de toutes parts avec une sorte de frénesie. Le monde boirait à pleine coupe et sans arriere-pensee un aphrodisiaque puissant que le ferait mourir de plaisir.He will let you know what Secularism will do for a dying world. M. Renan, in his comparatively recent work, "L'abbesse de Jouarre," has shocked even his own countrymen, who are by no means squeamish in the matter of morality. In this work, an abbess and a marquis are condemned to death: the latter persuades the abbess that to those about to die, no moral or social law is binding; and they therefore spend the night previous to their execution in giving
Thereon the N.Z. Herald, Liberie remarks: "Here is a groat mind, a deep thinker, who, in presence of the terrible problem of death, not only believes, but teaches, and justifies an orgie of sensualism as the last consolation and final joy."
But for the tendency of Secularism (which practically is Atheism) we have no need to wait for such an imaginary catastrophe: we have already seen it in the history of Renan's countrymen, when the National Assembly of France in the year
But some of you say, "We are not such horrible creatures; although we are pronounced Secularists we are as moral, and intend to remain so, as the other members of our community."
I readily and gladly acknowledge it: but beg you to remember that you owe it all, or, at any rate, the best of it, to the Lord Jesus Christ Secularists indebted to Christianity for their morality.
It is easy (but scarcely honourable) for you therefore to pluck the moral flowers produced by Christianity, and wear them thankfully in your dress, whilst you curse the root that bore them. Suffer me to apply the gentle rebuke contained in Lord Tennyson's:
And now Christianity and Secularism must part company. Hitherto we have endeavoured to bring them together, and have found in the two important walks considered that Secularism lagged halting behind. But we must go on; for we have not yet touched the whole of life: inadequate wages, shelterless homes, want of food, are not the sum of human miseries: when these evils are remedied, as, in the name of God, they shall be, there yet remain the stern realities of Sorrow, Sin, and Death.
We enter these cheerless chambers, and bid Secularists accompany us. But they linger at the threshold and refuse to come in. Some indeed mockingly laugh, others are silent in their impotence, the better few shed tears—but all turn away. In the face of these facts and problems which occupy so much of our thought and life—Secularism is absolutely dumb. Its repertory is empty. No wonder that the infidel, Hume, exclaimed in a time of sorrow. "I am confounded with that forlorn condition in which I am placed by my philosophy. I see on every side dispute, contradiction, and distraction. I turn my eye inward and find nothing but doubts" Scripture Doctrine Illustrated, p 15.
Christless philosophies fail the human heart in the night of sorrow.
Auguste Comte, fifty years ago founded the philosophy of life called Positivism; in which he taught that the scientific interpretation of life had forever
so he invented a religion; dedicated it to a Being called Humanity; and sought solace in the worship of Moses, Homer, Julius Cæsar, Charlemagne, and Shakespeare. Whether he found it I have been unable to ascertain.
The late Letters of Princess Alice, by Mary Gladstone.Princess Alice had for some time been listening to Strauss and yielding to his atheistic philosophy. But when her sorrow came, (for her son Prince Fritz fell from a lofty window on to the pavement below, and, a few hours after, died in his mother's arms) then Strauss was even as a broken reed. For she writes, "The whole edifice of Philosophical conclusions which I had built up for myself, I find to have no foundation whatever nothing of it is left; it has crumbled away into dust. What would become of us if we had no faith in God?"
Is not that philosophy of life then fatally deficient which, leaves out of its scope human sorrow? for sorrow, unlike wealth which comes to a few, or poverty which comes to many, is as universal as the race. The nineteenth century has outstripped its predecessors by every conceivable superiority: yet is our present Laureate forced to sing, or rather sigh,
Never morning wore To evening, but some heart did break.
But how shall I show the sufficiency of Christianity in the time of sorrow? For the evidence is bewildering by reason of its wealth. I can only appeal to your own observation, memory, and reading. We have sufferers in this district, whom I need not name, but known to you all, whoso religion has sustained them for long years in bodily pain, with a fortitude and cheerfulness which have excited the wonder of many, and the admiration of all. In the realms of suffering, other than bodily-pain, he who needs proof that Christianity is "a very present help in time of trouble," many have it daily. Held down in cruel, wicked poverty, thousands of Christian men have heroically suffered rather than sin, and have, during a whole life-time, possessed the spirit of Bishop Hooper, who imprisoned in Gloucester gaol for conscience's sake, spent the last week of his life in writing a commentary on the twenty-third Psalm, and walked to the stake singing, "Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."
Christian ministers, specially in other lands, see
Two days after this sermon was preached, and thanked God that death was not for her a cold leap into the dark, nor for her relatives the blackness of despair.Ada Parker, the daughter of one who was in the congregation, passed away at the age of sixteen. I saw her three weeks before her death, when she had realized that there was no hope of her recovery—and observing that she was very bright and cheerful, joining in laughter with some friends present, I said: "Ada, you must have a great deal of common-sense philosophy to make you so merry?" She replied in a tone almost of reproof: "I've something more than that, Mr. Garland." On my last visit, the day before she died, she was in bed fighting for breath; but between her paroxysms of coughing and panting, she showed the same buoyant cheerfulness, and spoke with a quiet self-possession of her departure nigh at hand. Twenty-four hours after, her parents, brothers and sisters stood by her, saying farewell. She had ever been a dutiful daughter and kind sister, and her relatives were cut to the heart as they saw her life flickering like the dying flame of a candle:—they could only weep, and she said, with broken breath: "I don't like—to see—you—crying. Jesus—is taking-care of—me—and he will—take—care—of you;" and almost immediately expired. We looked on the placid face of the dead and sang,
Sir Walter Raleigh to say to his executioner, who suggested another position for his head on the block, "It matters little how the head lies so long as the heart is right."
What think you is the most exquisite agony of which a human being is capable? To my mind it is Injustice. There is no tragedy on earth equal to that of a good man imprisoned, beaten, and sentenced to death for a crime of which he is innocent; and who goes down to death gagged, unable to move the brand of guilt from his guiltless name.
Every student of history knows how often Christians have figured in that tragedy, and knows how they behaved. Even like unto Paul and Silas, who, thrust into the inner dungeon of a Philippian gaol, with their feet fast in the stocks, with their hacks bruised by the lictor's rod, "at midnight sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them."
Yea even like to the patriot who was condemned as a traitor, and calmly faced the opprobrious death with the truth:
Three Essays on Religion, p 120.John S. Mill says that "The one grand loss endured by the Sceptic is the hope of Futurity."
I must tax your patience a little longer and ask you to consider the problem of "Sin." You know-how much crime in many forms there is in the world, and the suffering arising therefrom: and nothing exists without a cause: the cause thereof is sin. "What shall I do to be saved?" is a question as relevant therefore to every thinking man, as, "What shall we eat and drink and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" We ask Secularism if it can suggest a remedy for sin, and it replies:
(1). Intellectuality will produce morality. But
(2). Sin is the result of surroundings; improve these, and sin necessarily ceases. But we reply that in surroundings of equal wealth there are good men and bad men: in surroundings of equal poverty there are likewise the both.
(3). There is no remedy. This is the ultimatum of Secularism. Mr J. C. Morison, a late brilliant sceptical writer, says in his last book that the world is divided into two classes, good men and bad men; and that it is as impossible to make a bad man into a good man, as it is to turn a goat into a sheep. He suggests, though he does not enter into particulars, that bad men must be treated like a bad breed of cattle, that is, exterminated.
What a hopeless, helpless thing is Secularism.
Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and to save the lost. And he has done it. I point to men and women in every section of the Christian church, who have proved that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation: I point to the Salvation Army and to similar organizations for the saving of the "submerged tenth," and find the drunkard has abandoned his cup, the harlot her shameful course, and the outlaw his unlawful practices, and by tens of thousands testifying what the grace of
I point to Thoughts at Fourscore, by T. Cooper, p 326.Foreign Missions, to which already reference has been made, and content myself here with an anecdote of Charles Darwin. When he visited Tierra del Fuego in the year dispose the heart to seek it.
"We can do nothing against the truth: but for the truth," wrote the Apostle Paul long ago. And I encourage any here who may feel timid concerning the future—Truth is tough: it won't burn; it won't drown; you cannot strangle it. I think it is O. Wendell Holmes who says that "Error will die of lock jaw if it but scratch its finger, but Truth if run
Secularism has no message to the world: it but criticises the message that we bring: but has none to substitute.
Christianity has a message for all. I urge you to treat it with a consideration worthy of its origin and of your unmistakeable need.
J. S. Bond, Printer, Cambridge, Waikato.
I do not consider that the fact that I am not now, and never was, "in politics," necessitates any apology for my temerity in addressing you on the subject of this little pamphlet. It is a true old saying that "lookers-on see most of the game"; and it is a well-known fact that, in order to see a large picture in its true light, it is not well to stand too near it. Moreover, if politicians will not lay bare the secrets of the prison-house—whether from a feeling of esprit it corps, or for some less worthy reason—the work must needs be done by an outsider; for there is no doubt that the most crying evil of the day—some would say, the only crying evil in New Zealand—is, the way we are governed. Party Government blocks the way; not only to any useful reform—that would be a small matter—but to any decent, honest, management of the affairs of the country. There are no natural "parties" in New Zealand, and, consequently, members of Parliament spend most of their time, which should be devoted to promoting the welfare of the Colony, going about among the people trying to stir up ill feelings and class jealousies; doing the best, by exaggeration and misrepresentation, to create, and widen, and crystallize slight differences of opinion; and, in short, striving to build up these antagonistic and artificial parties without which this precious system would not work. The abolition of Party Government is the necessary precedent to any really useful legislation or reliable administration. Stern necessity has brought this subject "within the scope of practical politics," and it now only rests with you to affirm, and reiterate, and insist that Party Government must be swept away.
A specially-appointed Committee of the House of Representatives came to this conclusion last session. (You will find their resolutions on the subject in the Appendix to this paper.) The composition of this Committee was itself a good omen. Proposed by a member of the Ministerial side of the House, it contained one member of the Ministry and three of the ablest men in the Opposition. "Party" was temporarily abolished, we may reasonably surmise, during the consultations and deliberations of this Committee. And their finding—that Party Government must be abolished—was unanimous.
Nevertheless, you must not expect much assistance from the Legislature as at present constituted. In the first place, there are a large number of members on both sides of the House of Representatives who look on politics solely as a "game"; who thoroughly enjoy the intrigues, and the fighting, and even the personal recriminations, and would take no interest in politics without them. (It might, by the way, be as well to casually abolish these politicians along with the system which has created them.) Then there are "vested interests" to fight against. There are the members of the Ministry,
You may possibly be amused at my assurance in thus calmly taking your own opinion on the subject for granted; but I am confident of this: that if you have thought over and studied the subject, you are already on the right side; and that if you have not done so, nothing more than that is needed to place you there. The sole object of the following pages is to induce you to take the subject into your serious consideration, and, many and great though their deficiencies be, I think they should suffice for this simple purpose. They are not as lively reading as they might easily have been made, because I have carefully tried to avoid all personalities. I have deliberately refrained from giving many telling illustrations of the evils referred to, partly for the sake of brevity, (I know you read your daily paper, if not your 'Hansard,' and so can easily recall such illustrations for yourself), but chiefly in order to try and avoid rousing ill-feelings and enmities from either of our existing political parties. One would like to see this great question of the day fairly argued on its merits alone, with all extraneous and personal considerations put on one side. This is perhaps a Utopian wish, but nothing more is needed to ensure this great reform being carried—nothing, that is excepting a little enthusiasm and a certain amount of care in your choice of representatives at the next general election.
In case you should object that I am advocating the formation of a party, in order to get rid of parties, I should like to point out—as you will find further explained later on—that parties are not only inevitable but extremely useful features in politics; that, in fact, no great reform was ever carried without the aid of a party. It is Party Government, not parties, that must be abolished. A legitimate party is a combination of men, united by some great principle or common bond of action, and ready to disband as soon as the object for which it was formed is achieved. In order to abolish these artificial parties of unscrupulous place-hunters, a legitimate party is absolutely necessary. So discuss this subject with your friends, and in your debating societies, and in the public Press, and make the rallying cry at the next elections, "Constitutional Reform, and the Abolition of Party Government."
here can be no doubt that Parliamentary institutions have fallen sadly into disrepute of late years. In England complaints have been plentiful, in the Press, that the House of Commons is fast becoming an object of contempt; and even Ministers of the Crown have admitted themselves unable, even with the aid of the closure, to make any head way with the business of the country. In France successive ministries have endeavoured to retain their seats by such wholesale bribery of the constituencies that the financial position of the country has steadily deteriorated during the last twenty years. In the United States of America we see even a more lamentable condition of affairs, the generality of men of good character and position avoiding politics as unfit to be touched by anyone who would keep clean hands and an honest name. Then if we look at the Australasian colonies, and our own colony of New Zealand in particular, it can hardly be denied that there has been of late years a growing impatience in the public mind with the annual spectacle of the people's representatives deliberately dividing themselves into two hostile camps, and then fighting for office, when they ought rather to be minimising their differences and working together, as harmoniously as possible, for the good of their country.
It would almost seem as if the nearer we approach a pure democracy, the farther off we are from governing ourselves with wisdom and sobriety, or even with common honesty. There are, no doubt, many who believe that this is due to evils inherent in the principle of self-government by the whole people; but those of us who consider democracy, with all its faults, the best principle of government, for a civilised race, that the world has yet seen, must look elsewhere for the cause of this threatened break-down of Parliamentary institutions. It would be difficult to exaggerate the danger of this growing contempt for our system of Government; and when we see the present condition of affairs used by economists and philosophers—such as Herbert Spencer—as a strong argument in favour of confining the functions of Government to mere police duty, it especially
If we examine the subject carefully we shall find the fountain and "The Election of Representatives."Cause of Political Evils.
Our best hopes for the abolition of Party Government in England are founded on the occasional outbursts of frankness on the part of the more honest of her public men. It is interesting, for instance, to find the leader of the Tories pleading for the abolition of the Party system as far as concerns the Foreign Office. In his speech at St. Andrew's Hall, Glasgow. 'The Times,'
It is not to be wondered at that a Tory leader should consider this Indictment of Party Government.
and, finally, I propose to give some brief particulars of a more suitable and saner alternative.
It would be well, perhaps, to clear the way by stating briefly what is meant by Party Government. It should be clearly understood that there is no objection to parties—that is, to men of similar principles combining to work for some common cause. It has been truly said that "No great reform was ever carried without party organisation, because in every country there is an inert mass of humanity who are opposed to all change whatsoever, and who can only be moved by the united and persistent efforts of the party of progress." Even what is known as the "party-spirit" in politics, though not in itself either very useful or meritorious, is probably, for some time at least, inevitable. It is founded on the national fighting and faction-loving instincts of mankind. As Sir Henry Maine says "Historically speaking, Party is probably nothing more than a survival and a consequence of the primitive combativeness of mankind. It is war without the city transmuted into war within the city, but mitigated in its process. The best historical justification which can be offered for it is that it has often enabled portions of the nation, who would otherwise have been armed enemies, to be only factions." But Party Government, as we know it, has no such respectable claim to antiquity. It is comparatively a thing of yesterday. Its origin dates only from the passing of the Septennial Act. It was founded on the greed of place-hunters, and the superstructure is worthy of the foundation. Its main features are: the choice of Ministers from one side of the House only; the collective responsibility of Ministers; the initiation of all important measures by the Cabinet; the obligation on a Ministry to resign if one of its "policy measures" is defeated; and the power of the Premier to hold the threat of resignation or even of a dissolution over the heads of his followers. These are the features which have degraded Parties into fortuitous combinations of men united only for purposes of gain; which have caused Government by Parliament to degenerate into Government by Party, this again into Government by Cabinet, "to be further resolved into Government by a Single Person"—an alternate despotism, tempered by abuse and vilification from the other side of the House.
There is no need to dwell on the intrinsic absurdity of such a system "Popular Government." "Representative Government in England," by David Syme. Like the dogma of the divine rights of kings and passive obedience, Party Government came to the front during the stormy period of the Revolution. The system is indeed so monstrous that it could only have found acceptance at a time when national animosities ran high, and the people were in an abnormal state of excitement. Under no ordinary circumstances is it conceivable that the English people would have tolerated a political system so entirely different from that to which they had been so long accustomed, and so opposed to their practice in the affairs of everyday life. To the mass of the people it was and always will be, a matter of utter indifference as to who were in office, or who out of it, so long; as the country is well governed. They had been accustomed to send their representatives to Parliament to confer together and co-operate for the common good of the whole community. It must, therefore, have shocked their moral sensibilities when they discovered that their representatives, instead of attending to the business of the country for which they had been elected, were devoting themselves to far other purposes; that no sooner did they come together than they immediately ranged themselves on opposite sides of the House; that they openly avowed hostile intentions towards one another; that they at once proceeded to open acts of hostility; that they spent their time and energies in vilifying one another, in misrepresenting one another's motives, opinions, and actions, and in attempting to ruin one another's reputations, to defeat one another's plans, and to delay and mutilate, when they could not reject, one another's measures And that men, eminent for their talents, their eloquence, and even their uprightness in other relations of life, should do all this without any sense of its impropriety and its injustice, was a sight not calculated to raise Parliamentary institutions in the estimation of right-thinking men. Had it been the design of its authors to demoralize the public mind, to impede the public business, to create natural animosities and general anarchy they could not have better accomplished their end than by the introduction of such a system as this. Nothing can be more obvious to common sense than that the representatives of a great nation could be bound together by the same interests, aims, and aspirations as the people themselves, and that they should co-operate with them for the common good of the whole country; and nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that the common good could be achieved by a system that tends to create and perpetuate party strife and national animosities. We might as well create discord in order to produce harmony, or provoke quarrels for the purpose of promoting friendship and cordiality. The most extraordinary part of the matter is that there are still men to be found who believe such a vicious system is essential to Parliamentary Government.Absurdity of the System.de novô to form a democratic Government, such a ridiculous farce as our present method would never suggest itself to any rational mind; and, also, that nothing but long custom could make us put up with it for another session. Even with regard to England, where some of the reasons which make Party Government
The affairs of New Zealand are, however, of such limited compass that they are perhaps more comparable with those of a large commercial and land-owning company than with the politics of Great Britain. Imagine, then, what would be the fate of a company—say the Loan and Mercantile Agency Company—if its board of directors were permanently divided into two hostile camps, with small differences of opinion deliberately magnified to create party feeling, each division, under the command of a chief, spending its time and energies thwarting, misrepresenting, and slandering the other side, instead of working together for the best interests of the company; and each side at election time trying to bribe the shareholders, by promises of larger dividends or fewer calls, to give their particular camp a majority on the board? This is the way New Zealand has been governed, and it speaks volumes for the country that we have so far managed to avoid bankruptcy. When using the phrase "small differences of opinion deliberately magnified to create party feeling," I did so advisedly; for it is a matter of common knowledge that the real differences between
Let us turn now from the absurdities to the immoralities of this Its immorality.
On this subject I may quote a few remarks from Sir Henry Maine's essays on "Popular Government;" though I should perhaps preface them with the admission that he uses the evils of which he speaks as arguments against democracy, a quite unsound view if we can show that democracy can exist and flourish without any approach to Party Government. In an imaginative sketch of "Party Heroes," as seen by some intelligent stranger from a different civilisation, Sir Henry Maine says:—
He (the intelligent stranger) would infer, from actual observation that the party hero was debarred by his position from the full practice of the great virtues of veracity, justice, and moral intrepidity. He could seldom tell the full truth; he could never be fair to persons other than his followers and associates; he could rarely be bold except in the interests of his faction. The picture drawn by him would be one which few living men would deny to be correct, though they might excuse its occurrence in nature on the score of moral necessity.
Sir Henry Maine goes on to say—
Party strife, like strife in arms, develops many high but imperfect virtues; it is fruitful of self-denial and self-sacrifice. But wherever it prevails, a great part of ordinary morality is unquestionably suspended; a number of maxims are received which are not those of religion or ethics: and men do acts which, except as between enemies, and except as between political opponents, would be very generally classed as immoralities or sins. Party disputes were originally the occupation of aristocracies, which joined in them because they loved the sport for its own sake; and the rest of the community followed one side or the other as its clients. Now-a-days Party has become a force acting with vast energy on multitudinous democracies, and a number of artificial contrivances have been invented for facilitating and stimulating its action. Yet, in a democracy, the fragment of political power falling to each man's share is so extremely small, that it would be hardly possible, with all the aid of the caucus, the stump, and the campaign newspaper, to rouse the interests of thousands or millions of men, if
This was in the time of the Georges, but, as Sir Henry Maine goes on to say,—after a brief sketch of the progress of Party corruption in the United States,—buying votes in Parliament was, in England, superseded by buying votes at elections.
There are (he adds) two kinds of bribery. It can be carried on by promising or giving to expectant partisans places paid out of the taxes, or it may consist in the director process of legislating away the property of one class and transferring it to another. It is this last which is likely to be the corruption of these latter days.
This, of course, refers to England, where roads and bridges, public buildings, and "political railways," hardly offer sufficient scope for wholesale bribery.
The forms of immorality peculiar respectively to legislation and Essays by S. S. Nicholas, of Louisville, The present vitiated state of the public taste admits of no neutrality, no lukewarmness. The mangling of the public and private character of political men, the debasing of the motives of action of the loftiest and purest to a level with the meanest, the fomenting of party rape and party hate, these are the dishes that are devoured with most avidity. At this day no politician cares for the boldness, frankness, or integrity of an individual editor. He buys a paper because it is an agent of his party, to promote or preserve its elevation. Whenever an editor undertakes to think for himself or differently from party dictation, the party ceases to sustain him. The editors do but imitate our leading politicians, who themselves imitate the lawyers. They handle all political questions like fee'd advocates, and consider themselves as standing in that attitude before the country, and as such, feel justified in making the most of the cause in which they are enlisted—good or bad. All this is most pernicious, when we consider the immense influence they exercise over public opinion and public morals. Though a politically debased public Press is rather the consequence than the cause of a vitiated state of public morals, yet such is the influence of the Press in augmenting such a state of morals, that nothing is better deserving an anxious care than the preserving it pure, independent and respectable, and the removing from our institutions everything that bears upon it with a contrary tendency.Effect on the Press.
Is not this picture sufficient to make us decide on removing from our institutions these artificial parties of place-hunters who are the direct cause of such a state of things? When we consider what a large proportion of the people read hardly anything else than their daily or weekly newspaper; and that, in a vast number of eases, the Press is their pulpit as well as their platform-their only teacher in morality as well as in politics—the disastrous results that must needs follow such demoralisation become at once apparent. The argument will force itself upon even the dullest mind, that if malice, hatred, and lying are allowed in the most important matters, and are practised by our leading men, there can be no harm in comparatively insignificant folk employing such tools in the minor matters of everyday life. And so it comes about, to use the words of John Morley, "that the coarsest political standard is undoubtedly and finally applied over the whole realm of human thought."
We come now to the injurious effects of the party system on legislation. "Compromise." On the one hand, a leader is lavishly panegyrised for his highmindedness, in suffering himself to be driven into his convictions by his party. On the other, a party is extolled for its political tact, in suffering itself to be forced out of its convictions by its leader. It is hard to decide which is the more discreditable and demoralising sight.Injurious to Legislation.
The nature of the legislation proposed would not, however, be a matter of so much moment if every measure introduced were sure of an honest discussion on its merits by both Houses of Parliament. But how often, if ever, is this the case? And how often is it likely to be the case so long as Party is the uppermost thought in every member's mind; so long as the downfall of a Ministry, with its wide-spreading consequences, is hanging on the result of the debate, and so long as the power of forcing a dissolution is in the hands of the Premier? A man who would dare to disregard his Party and give his vote on a mere consideration of the right and the wrong, would be regarded with indignation, suspicion, and contempt by other public men. He would be termed dishonourable, or, at the best, very conceited, and would be henceforth looked on as quite "unfit for office." So fixed is this idea in the minds of our politicians, that even the "candid friends" of the Government who dare to speak against their measures, yet follow their leaders into the lobby nevertheless. The
Mr——was diametrically opposed to the bill, but as he had annexed himself to a certain extent to the Government party, he should vote for the second reading. 'Otago Daily Times,' Mr——had full confidence that the present Minister of Lands would not abuse the power placed in his hands by this bill, but at the same time he did not like the principle of it, and if he were on the Opposition side of the House he should no doubt protest strongly against it.Ibid,
The hopeless immorality of such a state of things as this is hidden from men's eyes by the supposed political necessity of considering one's party first, and one's conscience and country afterwards—if at all. As Thackeray sagely puts it, "We do not call it lying; we call it voting for our Party." And it The evil of which we have to complain arises from this—that each member of the House of Commons has at the same time to perform two different duties. When you are voting here for a measure for the City of Glasgow you only think whether the measure is a good one or a bad one according to your judgment, and you give your votes, whatever they may be. But when you are in the House of Commons voting for a measure, do you also think, "How will this effect my principal object, to turn out the Government to which I object if I pass this bill, and give the Government the credit of passing a useful measure which may confirm them in their seats? I had better oppose this bill; I had better vote for any amendment which may throw out the bill, or I had better make a long speech which will occupy the time in which the bill would otherwise pass." That double object pursues, and necessarily must pursue, all party men, to whatever side they belong, but it has a most disastrous effect upon legislation.is almost a political necessity under our Party system. The cause and the effects are the same in England and in every other party-ridden country as they are in New Zealand. Lord Salisbury, who is liable to occasional fits of frankness, said, in his Glasgow speech already quoted:—
An interesting comment on this quotation occurred not very long after the speech was made. The spectacle might then have been seen—a spectacle that would have been ludicrous if it had not been so demoralising—of a large number of honourable and worthy old Tories, hating the very idea of free education, and yet deliberately voting against their consciences and following their leader into the Tory lobby with the sole object of keeping their party in power, and "dishing the Whigs."
It has been objected that the abolition of the Party system would prevent that sharp criticism which the best interests of legislation and administration alike require; that it would destroy that "eternal vigilance" which "is the price of liberty." But this is an unwarranted assumption. Abolition of Party Government does not imply the abolition of parties, still less of differences of opinion. Instead of the present style of criticism, the main object of which is to injure the other side as much as possible, both in the House and in the country, with any weapons that come to hand; we might then hope for the honest expression of each member's own views on the subject. Instead of the misrepresentations, the ad captandum arguments, and special-pleading speeches, which aim at making a point at the expense of the other side rather than at getting to the bottom of the question at issue,—a style of debate which makes the tone of
We have not yet touched on the great waste of time, ability, and energy, due to our present method of legislation. It has become the regular custom, in the Lower House at all events, for the greater part of the day and night to be spent in rabid attacks by one side on the other, in mutual recriminations, in raising points of order and questions of privilege; and often it is only when the physically speaker members have been obliged to retire to bed, and when those remaining are in body, brain, and temper, absolutely unfit to carefully criticise the simplest bill, that the real business of the country is approached. Both sides of the House keep their "eternal vigilance" merely for watching each other—like cat and dog; they use the best of their brain power and their animal vitality for party free fights, and when at last they come to legitimate business, they can only bring to its consideration disordered tempers and jaded intellects. In consequence, we have a protracted and expensive session in which much ill-blood is roused, but very little good work done. Acts are passed, the meaning of which can only be decided by much fighting in courts of law; and, even when the meaning is clear, they are usually so ill-considered that an amending act is absolutely necessary the next session Much of the most important business is left to the last few days of the session, when an unscrupulous Government will often attempt to rush, through a worn-out and inattentive House, measures of very doubtful character—measures which would have had no chance whatever before a House alive to its real duties and responsibilities. The choice of bills to be thus rushed through is entirely in the hands of the Government. However useful and important a bill may be, if its passing is of no immediate interest to the members of the Government, it is ruthlessly sacrificed; it is added to that long list of failures—of witnesses to the folly of our system of legislation—which are abandoned in a mass at the end of every session. So regular has this system become that the "Massacre of the Innocents"—as the newspapers call it—is now one of our best known phrases of political slang.
Such, though but briefly touched upon, are some of the worst of the evils directly due to the fact that legislation has been taken out of the hands of Parliament, where it rightly belongs, and placed in the hands of Ministers who should be devoting their whole attention to what is still their main, and should be their sole, function—administration.
It has been said that "bad laws well administered are better than good Effect on Administration.
In addition to inexperience, corruption in administration is also inseparable from the Party system, more especially in a young country with a Public Works Fund to administer, and with several departments of a more or less socialistic character on its hands. Self-preservation being the first law of nature, a Party Government is actually obliged to reward its own supporters or their constituents. We need not go to Canada for "dreadful examples;" they can be found much nearer home. It is quite unnecessary, however, and might seem invidious to mention particular cases. We have all heard of roads and bridges, new gaols, political railways, loans to local bodies, harbour board acts, and so on. This necessity of buying party support is one of the main reasons for that steady deterioration, both in character and ability, so noticeable among the men from whom our rulers have to be chosen. On the one hand we see the welfare and prosperity of New Zealand entrusted to men whom we should be sorry to trust to manage our own small business affairs, or even to invest for us our few hundred pounds of savings; and on the other hand we all know good business men—born administrators—who absolutely decline to soil their fingers with politics, who will not condescend to the intrigues and immoralities, and the dirty work inseparable from our party system. It is unnecessary to enlarge on the immense loss that New Zealand suffers, both directly and indirectly, from such a state of things as this.
It is worthy of note, as showing the intimate relation between the Party system and corrupt administration, that the latter seems to increase
See 'Fortnightly Review,'
To the mind of a stranger, unacquainted with the working of our Responsible Government.
Ministers cannot be punished for wickedness of policy, however great, for folly, however disastrous, except if it should be in violation of an express statute—a circumstance never likely to occur. They are not punishable, even by solemn personal censure, for any wrong use of the enormous power committed to them, so long as they act together as a Party, observing the forms of routine. The fundamental idea of a Party is, that after they have collectively agreed on a policy, each individual is publicly to adopt it as his own, even though he dissuaded it previously in private, and is both to act for it, and to argue for it, as if he sincerely approved it. . . . . Out of this fundamental subjection of individuals to the corporate vote rises a necessary inference, that
it shall be concealed how each voted in the Cabinet. The Ministry could never show their faces publicly, as unanimously promoting a certain measure, if it were known which of them had previously opposed this very measure. Of course that is kept in profound darkness. Not only so; but each one of them, being liable to the humiliation of having to argue: in solemn Parliament against his secret sentiments, demands thatno record shad be keptof the reasonings and votes in which his sincere judgment was testified. This is the essential difference between a Cabinet (which is nothing but a cabal), and a legitimate Privy Council, like that of Queen Elizabeth. In the latter, a register is kept of every proceeding which leads to practical result; the presence of all is enforced; and each member signs his name for permanent record of his vote. It is then open afterwards to demand of the Sovereign the names of those who have given pernicious advice; hence to enforce responsibility, though always difficult, is not wholly impossible. But so long as it is uncertain which of them opposed in secret Cabinet the baneful acts which they collectively carried out, no legal punishment is imaginable, nor indeed any strong ban of Parliamentary opinion. On the ministry collectively no worse punishment can possibly fall than than of losing office temporarily; a lot which ordinarily befalls the m st innocent of cabinets' from mere accident, as from the death of a leading man. And the contingency of such temporary displacement is called Responsibility!Ejectable, notresponsible, is the word which describes the fact. Moreover, when they are ejected,' the indignation which ejects them is cumulative: the final act is an occasion, not the cause: hence their worst deeds avoid any public stignia and often any Parliamentary discussion.'Westminster Review,'
April 1858 .
This "collective ejectability," which is our modern substitute for responsible government, is of great advantage to Ministers. They decide on some course of action, and then ask Parliament to confirm their decision, knowing that Parliament has no option but to accept the policy and condone the action whatever it may have been, or to turn out the whole Ministry. Every question thus becomes a Party question, and, as such, is discussed, not on its merits, but with an eye to the fall of the Government. An erring minister is defended by the rest of the Cabinet, and they in their turn are supported by the whole strength of their Party. "If," as Mr Syme says, "Reprsentative Government in England."
Before leaving the subject of administration, it will be well to briefly Local Government.
Our next subject is the great expense incidental to our present absurd Expense of Party System.but for Party Government. The "exigencies of Party Government" changed it into a curse. The bribing of members and their constituents by the reckless spending of public money on unreproductive if not absolutely useless works, has demoralised the country, and brought it within measurable distance of financial collapse. If we could arrive at an approximate total of the amount uselessly, and worse than uselessly expended in this country during the last twenty years, solely on account of the "exigencies of Party Government," we should be astounded at the result.
We now come to the last plea in this indictment of Party Government, The Party System Anti-Democratic.i.e., that it is "essentially anti-democratic." In the first place, it will be generally conceded that one of the main principles of democracy is that the majority shall rule. Now, under Party Government the majority does not rule, except as it were occasionally and accidentally. Secondly, it is opposed to the spirit of democratic institutions for the representatives of the people to be under the control of a Ministry, who should rather be the servants of the House. And thirdly, democracy implies a certain, or an uncertain, amount of socialistic legislation and administration, and it is obvious that socialism, run on party lines, is inevitable chaos, if it is not indeed a contradiction in terms.
To begin with our first contention; the following is a fair statement of the case as given by a thoroughly competent observer in England:—
Government by Party is usually spoken of as if it were the same thing is government by the majority. This is a great mistake It is true, as I have said, that the Government of the day is now chosen from the majority in Parliament, but it by no means follows from this that the Government is carried on by a Parliamentary majority; on the contrary, we know that Government by Party is not government by the majority, but government by the majority of the majority—that is to say, the majority of the party which has a majority in the House. And this majority of a majority may be, and often is, really a minority of Parliament. Let me explain what I mean by an illustration. . .The Government introduce a bill, some of the details of which are not acceptable to more than a bare majority of their supporters. The ministerial minority wish to amend it, and the amendments which they desire would also be acceptable to the whole of the Opposition. But ministers refuse to give way, and the bill is eventually carried, the whole of the ministerial following voting for it rather than break up the ministry. In this ease the majority of the majority would be a very small minority of the whole House. Government by Parly and government by the majority are therefore two very different things. Indeed, party interests are often antagonistic to Parliamentary government, or government by the majority. "Representative Government in England," D. Syme.
The balance between the two sides of the House in this country being usually very even, say within three or four votes, it becomes a very easy matter for a third party, compact and unanimous, though numerically weak and insignificant, to bargain and intrigue with both rides—playing off one party against the other—until it discovers which is the more amenable to pressure—that is to say. Which is the least conscientious and the most anxious for office. Such a third party as this, though it may only consist of half a dozen members, is said to "bold the balance of power," and by the skilful use of ordinary party tactics—by giving support in exchange for concessions—it is enabled to keep one side of the House in power so long as its demands are acceeded to; and thus it practically imposes its will on the majority, and so governs the country. That this is no fancy picture will be at once evident to any student of colonial politics, and that it is an essentially anti-democratic state of affairs no one can deny.
With regard to our second point, The advocates of Party Government do not indeed deny that their system is it variance with the principle of representation. Nav, more they frankly admit
i.e., that for the representatives of the people to be under the control of a Ministry is opposed to the spirit of democratic institutions, I will again quote from Mr David Syme. He writes thus:—
It is only necessary to add to this able discussion of the position that in the Colonies, where members are paid, and where professional politicians abound—men, that is, who go into politics in order to make a living by it—the power of (political) life and death which a Ministry holds over its followers (by means of threats of resignation or dissolution), is a far more formidable implement of coercion than it is in England.
It is however, when we find Party Government brought into contact The "Auckland Herald," referring to the co-operative works at Pahiatua, says:—"A number of men were employed at Pahiatua, who were to be paid according to the measurements of the proper officer of the Public Works Department. That officer did his work, and as he had no interest in defrauding th men we have no doubt that his measurements were accurate and fair. But th men, knowing this to be a Liberal Government, disputed these measurements, an
The Party System and State Socialism.
There are of course many other ways in which this incompatibility between Socialism and the Party system shows itself; but it is perhaps unnecessary to dilate further on such an obvious theme. To show, however, that the dangerous nature of the situation is widely recognised, I will conclude with a quotation from the "Speaker" (the ablest English Liberal weekly) of Apart from the sweetening of public life, what seems to me to specially recommend the abolition of Party Government is the near advent of 'Collectivism.' The combination of State Socialism with Party Government in a purely democratic state can lead but to one goal national debauch, ending in national collapse. We see the thing working out before our eyes in Australia—a reck ess piling up of debt to create wages, each party outbidding the other in the evil competition, no party able to hold power for many months without sending to London to procure the sops with which to quiet its Cerberus. . . . .But there are other ways of reaching disaster besides bankruptcy. If the struggle for place and the rancour of political life (in England) were to maintain their present level at a time when 40 per cent, of the electorate were in state or municipal employ, it would be impossible to maintain any order in the finances, any discipline in the services, any method in administrative business. In struggling madly for the votes of the state stokers, the municipal milkmen, and the district dentists, the politicians would outbid one another in promises of high pay, short hours, easy tasks, and early pensions, until the whole fabric of English life came down in one mighty crash. We see a foretaste already of what would happen in the sordid manoeuvring for the police vote, the postal vote, and the school-teacher vote in constituencies where such votes are potent."
We have now finished our indictment of this system of Party Government.The Present Political Position.
In the old world the Government was composed of Ministers of the Crown in fact as well as in name. They were Ministers of the Crown and masters of the people. Now, although retaining the old name, they have become ministers of the people, but this simple fact with its wide consequences is not yet fully realised, still less accepted. Professor Huxley has hit off the present transition period very happily by a characteristic definition of what he calls "The Modern Coach-dog Theory of Premiership—i.e., that "the whole duty of a political chief is to look sharp for the way the social coach is driving, and then run in front and bark loud—as if being the leading noise-maker, and guiding, were the same thing." The fact is, the, political chief is
The only question that now arises is, what form our political institutions In my judgment, the institutions of Parliament and the institutions of the municipalities of this country are rather running a race against each other. They both of them have to provide laws for the government and comfort of the people. To the municipalities undoubtedly are assigned the less important laws, and to Parliament the more important, but that is not the only difference between them. There is another difference—that the laws which the municipalities, within their powers pass, are quickly despatched, carefully considered, conceived in a workmanlike shape and effect the results for which they were designed. The laws that Parliament passes are only passed after infinite and heart-rending delay. They appear in a crude and mutilated form. Every salient point is rubbed down in order to enable them to pass through the narrow channel that is open to them, and the result at the end is that they have been so well arranged and so well conceived that an amending act is necessary next year.The Remedy.
And this is from the article in the London 'Speaker' mentioned above:—
A British Ministry is an executive committee chosen by the House of Commons to carry on the government of the country. The House of Commons differs from every other public body in choosing its executive exclusively from the majority, assigning to the minority no share of either the pleasures or responsibilities of office. In a model Town Council the various executive departments are managed by committees on which the majority and minority are represented roughly in proportion to their strength in full council. The result of thus associating the minority with the work of administration is to beget good-feeling and loyalty, and to minimise factious obstruction. The Councillor feels that his first duty is to the Council, his second to his party within it. The town presents a proud and united front to outsiders. Progress is continuous and assured. Why not extend this system to the highest of all Councils—the House of Commons? No one can study English politics for a week without being convinced that there is something fundamentally wrong in a system which forces men, members of the same State, bound together by the strongest and most sacred ties of history, kinship, and interest, to revile one another as traitors, cowards, tyrants, and pettifogging, cozening knaves. If our political opponents were what we say they are, we should go forth and hang ourselves for very shame at the thought that they are our brethren. What fiend is it that thus impels us to these insane orgies of slander? Briefly, it is the thirst for place and power.
We must first consider what are the reforms we want. We want legislative and administrative functions separated, so that Ministers shall not be liable to be turned out of office owing to the passing or not passing of any particular measure. We want an Executive experienced and pure. The former we can insure by having the individual Ministers irremovable except by effluxion of time or a direct vote of censure. The purity we cannot absolutely guarantee, but; we can have great hopes of it when the main source of corruption—the Party System—is abolished. Then we want to be able to select our Executive from among the whole of the ablest men in New Zealand, and not only from among less than half of them; and, when they are selected, we want to be able to claim their services for the good of their country, and not let them "give up to Party what was meant for mankind." We want to stop the corruption of constituencies, and of members of the House, and also the dangerous outbidding of each other for the popular vote, by taking away from governments, not only the alleged necessity for, but even the slightest temptation to, such corruption; and from members themselves the fear of a dissolution if they do not vote according to orders. We want to make for ever impossible such scandals as the Judge Edwards case, or the spectacle of Ministers of the Crown actively electioneering for a supporter at bye-elections in Taranaki and Wellington; not to mention such minor disgraces as the unseemly squabbles between Ministers and ex-Ministers, and the general lying. "hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness," that pervade the political world. We want to raise the tone of the House, as a deliberative assembly; to shorten the Sessions by one-half; to make the position of the representatives of the people more independent, and at the same time to take away from them all temptation to speak or vote against their consciences. In short, we want to make the Ministers of the Crown the servants of the House, and so to substitute Parliamentary for Party Government.
In order to effect these reforms there is no necessity whatever to go beyond the present methods of our secondary representative institutions, and the traditions of the English political constitution
The nomination of the Executive by Parliament would, in my opinion, bring about a vast and beneficial change in the government of the country It would put an end to the dominating influence of the Premier, and destroy the unity of the Cabinet. Parliament could then remove at pleasure any Minister whose conduct it disapproved of. It would have the selection of Ministers in its own hands, and the best men from both sides of the House would be eligible for office in the same way as the Speaker is now. The selection would not be from one section of Parliament, but from all sections, and the Ministry would represent all shades of opinion. At present one-half of the best men in Parliament are permanently excluded from office. There would also be a possibility of differentiating the functions of administration and legislation. Both kinds of functions are now exercised by the Cabinet. Ministers attempt too much when they undertake to administer the affairs, and at the same time to provide legislative measures for a great empire. The functions of administration are sufficiently onerous and important to engage their undivided attention. By relieving them of the business of legislation, which properly belongs to Parliament, there would be some chance of obtaining an efficient system of departmental supervision, while by leaving Parliament unhampered by considerations of changes of Government it would be able to devote itself zealously to the work of legislation. If the heads of departments found it necessary to recommend legislation, their proposals would, no doubt, be impartially considered by Parliament. In this, as in other matters. Ministers would take their instructions from Parliament, not Parliament from Ministers, as at present. Probably it might be necessary, in order to prevent the time of the House being wasted in discussing the various proposals which might be introduced by private members, to appoint a Legislative Committee to examine and report, as is now done in France and in several Continental States, where Parliamentary Government exists. The whole system of Party Government could, in this manner, be quietly and effectually got rid of. There would be no striking at Ministers through their policy; no rejecting of good measures in order to bring about a change of Government. Members would be in a position to discuss measures on their merits, or, at all events, without permitting party questions to influence them. There would be no weak Governments, and no danger to the liberties of the people from too strong ones. As Ministers would not be appointed because they belonged to a party, there would be no motive for turning them out of office. They would be in deed and in truth the Ministers, not the masters of Parliament. "Representative Government in England."pro rege lege grege: Brougham's old erratum.") The mere alteration of the mode of selecting our Executive would effect a great deal—as Mr. David Syme points out in the following passage:—
Still, there is a large number of worthy people who cannot believe in The Swiss Constitute.
In order to draw attention to what are, for our purpose, some of the most important features of the Swiss Constitution, I purpose quoting a few words from the "Swiss Confederation," by Sir F. O. Adams and Mr. Cunningham, the most recent and most reliable authority on the subject. I should premise that I am responsible for any italics used in these extracts. Passing over the local government of the Communes and the Cantons, which is however well worth study, as perhaps the most thorough system of local government in the world, we will come at once to the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council, the two powers by which the federal sovereignty is exercised, the former being the Parliament, and the latter the executive government.
The Federal Assembly consists of two chambers, viz., the National Council and the Council of the States. The former emanates from the people, the latter from the Cantons," and together they form the legislative government of the country. "The National Council is elected for a period of three years in the month of October. After the commencement; of the session at Bern the following December, the two Chambers meet together and elect the seven members of the Federal Council, or executive government of the Confederation, chosen, also for three years, from among all Swiss citizens eligible for the National Council. . . . If during his three years of office any member resigns or dies, his place is filled up for the remainder of the triennial period by the Assembly at its next meeting."It is noticeable that the choice of members of the Federal Council is not limited to members of the Assembly. Still, "the constant though not invariable practice since
1848 has been for each member to be chosen out of the Assembly. . . . This previous election is considered to be a proof of the confidence and attachment of the voters to a fellow-citizen, and he takes his place in the executive government, holding his office indeed directly from the Assembly, but at the same time vested with popular confidence equally with the other deputies. Supplementary elections are then held in order to fill up the seats vacated by those deputies who have become Federal Councillors,as they cannot, during their tenure of office as such, be Deputies an well."
It is unnecessary to give details of the mode of electing the President and Vice-President, but of the former it may be worth noting that the authors of the book from which I am quoting, after describing his special duties, conclude with the remark that "He may, indeed, without any disrespect, be likened to the chairman of a board." To continue:
The business of the Federal Council is divided among seven departments, each presided over by one of its seven members, who probably keeps his particular post for several years, and who has for his substitute, during absence, another
but they cannot vote. Perhaps the most remarkable sight is that which occasionally occurs when a debate arises in either Chamber upon a question where the difference of opinion of members of the Federal Council is very
(That our authors should consider such a simple occurrence as this a "most remarkable sight" speaks volumes for the virulence which the Party system has artificially created in the minds of English politicians.)
The members of the Federal Council are re-eligible, and in point of fact the same individuals remain in office for a number of years, notwithstanding the existence of well-known differences among themselves and between some of them and a majority in the Assembly.
There have been hitherto only two instances of a member wilting to nerve not being re-elected. . . . The Federal Council, having been elected by the Federal Assembly for three years, cannot be dissolved by that body in the interim any more than it can itself dissolve the Assembly. It does not in any way depend on the majority in the Assembly. Its members, each in his own department, prepare bills and resolutions either suggested by one of the Chambers, or of their own initiative, and these measures when agreed to by the Council, or even by a majority of its members, are submitted to the Chambers. . . . Federal Councillors do not represent the majority in the Assembly, otherwise they would now be all either Democrats or Radicals. There is a certain understanding, one might almost say a certain feeling of fair play, which leads the majority in the Chambers to concede the principle that other parties should at least be represented in the executive government; and, again, a conservative vice-president, who is almost certain in any case to be elected president for the ensuing year, often succeeds to that office by an almost unanimous vote. . . . The practical harmony between the members is secured by the minority giving way to the majority, if the whole body cannot agree among themselves to a compromise.Collisions between the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly do not exist. If any measure proposed by the former is rejected by both Chambers, or by one, and thus does not become valid, the Federal Council .... accepts the rejection; it asks for no vote of confidence, nor does anything ensue in the shape of what we should call a Ministerial crisis. Similarly, there is no question of a dissolution of the Chambers when the people reject measures passed by them. The Federal authorities, whether legislative or executive, being chosen for a fixed term, remain at their posts during that term. In
1882 a measure relating to education, . . . which was avowedly the work of one member of the Federal Council, had passed both Chambers with some modifications, but was nevertheless rejected when submitted to the Referendum. There was, however, no question of its author giving in his resignation, as might well have been expected by many foreigners. So far, indeed, from this being the case, an influential Swiss newspaper, totally opposed to him in politics, remarked that it was lucky the Parliamentary system did not exist in Switzerland, as otherwise there would have been an immediate resignation of a capable, honest, and devoted administrator.
(It is very suggestive to compare the tone of that remark with the style of comment we should find in a "party organ" under similar circumstances.)
I will conclude my few brief extracts from this book with the author's summary of the character of the Swiss Executive:—
The members of the Federal Council, we will venture to affirm, yield to no
This is but a slight sketch of this energetic, honest, and thoroughly Race Prejudices Deprecated.
But such a line of defence of the Party system is as unworthy as it is childish and futile All that we need can, as already pointed out, be evolved from purely British precedents, if we so desire it. There is no need to slavishly copy Switzerland or any other country. Consideration, for instance, of what are supposed to be purely Swiss constitutional characteristics—such as the Referendum and the various modes of Initiation—could be postponed indefinitely; though the Referendum, which is after all in principle merely a custom of our Teutonic forefathers, might possibly some day be adopted with advantage. But, even if all the proposals suggested were of foreign instead of British origin—if their adoption is shown to be distinctly advantageous to us—why, in the name of common sense, should we refuse them? Why not "take our goods where we can find them," as the French say? When we find a democratic country where "the sessions usually last about three weeks," and where the members of Parliament treat each other as gentlemen, why should we not study this phenomenon, and see whether it be not worthy, and possible, of imitation? Fortunately the "Constitutional Reform Committee," appointed by the House of Representatives last session to consider this question, adopted this sensible view of the matter, with the result given in the Appendix. I have not yet touched on the report of this Committee, for the simple reason that most of these pages were written before the Committee was appointed. The Committee was a thoroughly representative one, and their unanimous report, though brief, contains the gist of the whole matter. The only pity is that it was not circulated in every constituency in the Colony in hundreds instead of in units.
More light on the subject is really all that is needed to insure this constitutional reform being insisted on by the electors. It is a commonplace—and a true one—not only of visitors to our shores, but of New Zealanders also, that New Zealand is "a grand country ruined by bad government." No profound political physician is needed to diagnose the disease, to
A little study and thought are alone required to prove to any man of average intelligence that all our political evils have sprung from our radically unsuitable and unsound system of government. And, the nature and causes of the disease in the body politic once ascertained, the logical remedy is obvious. Let us adopt it without hesitation or delay. The evils and errors of the past cannot be undone; they must prejudicially affect us, although in a gradually lessening degree, for all time to come; but let us at least take the only adequate means to prevent our adopted country—perhaps the most liberally endowed by nature of all the lands of the earth—from sinking still further in the mire, from sinking, indeed, to such a depth as to make recovery problematical and national disgrace inevitable.
Ordered "That a Committee be appointed, with power to call for persons and papers, to inquire into and report as to the form and working of Executive Governments elsewhere, with a view to such modifications of the existing system of government in New Zealand as will diminish the evils of the present party-system: the Committee to consist of the Hon. Mr Bryce, Mr Palmer, Captain Russell, Dr Newman, Mr Buick, Hon. Sir J. Hall, Mr Saunders, Mr J. W. Thomson, Hon. Mr Ward, and the mover; three to be a quorum."
1. Your Committee have the honour to report that, in their opinion, many and very serious evils are inseparably connected with, and spring from, the system of Party Government here; that it is unsuited to such a Colony as New Zealand; and that in other colonies, and even in England, similar evils have been felt, varying only in degree, consequent upon surrounding circumstances and different phases of the system.
2. Your Committee, having consulted various standard works enumerated in the records, have made numerous extracts, a few of which are annexed to this report. The works referred to generally condemn Party Government as demoralising and wasteful not only in a financial sense, but also of the time and energy of electors and their representatives.
3. Even in England, where Party Government has grown up by degrees and under peculiar circumstances, reforms will be required before it is accepted as satisfactory, and therefore it should not be regarded as the best model upon which to form a Constitution for the
4. The vast difference in the population and importance of the two countries must be duly appreciated before we can justly estimate the suitability or unsuitability of British usages for adoption in this country.
5. This is especially manifest with reference to the parliamentary rule by which a government is dependent for its existence from day to day upon being able to secure the support of a majority of the people's representatives for every one of its more important measures; a system which oilers a constant temptation to the members to struggle not for the common good of the nation, but for the possession of place and power. In a country like England, where there are over six hundred and forty members of the House of Commons, and where only exalted station, strong influence, or transcendent ability can place a member within reach of a seat in the Cabinet, this demoralising feature is not so injuriously felt as it is in New Zealand, where a large proportion of members will probably believe themselves to be quite eligible for office.
6. Even amongst the millions of Great Britain it is not every century that produces in any one individual that rare combination of administrative and controversial power which the greatest English statesmen have possessed, and therefore we should not adopt any system under which the less important power of controversy is sure to be preferred to the far more essential qualification of administrative ability.
7. The rule that a Ministry must be unanimous in all its decisions, that each member is responsible for the actions of the whole, and the whole for the actions of each member, is calculated to destroy independence of thought and action, and not unfrequently results in the exclusion of valuable men from a Ministry.
8. The constitutional practice of a Ministry resigning when any important measure which it has introduced has been rejected has led to the mischievous practice of allowing Bills to drop whenever their passage becomes doubtful, thus compelling the Ministry to become followers, rather than wise and courageous leaders; and, it almost necessarily compels a Ministry, under the instinct of self-preservation, to pander to any popular delusion of the hour, instead of making a stand against shortsighted popular impulses.
9. But what the colonies have most to deplore is the fact that each Ministry is tempted to entrench its position and to buy off opposition by the expenditure of public money, a proceeding which has been felt to answer the double purpose of making the work
10. In the opinion of your Committee the most suitable model for our imitation will be found in the present Government of the Swiss Federation. After twenty-six years experience, the Constitution accepted in
11. The recomendations which your Committee offer under the head of "Executive Reform" are intended to secure the following advantages:—
With these objects in view, your Committee submit the following outline of the Constitution which they have agreed to recommend:—
I. Upon the assembling of Parliament after each general election, and as soon as the Speaker of the House of Representatives has been elected, he shall then, for the twenty-four hours next ensuing, receive nominations for seven members of the Ministry. Any person qualified to be elected to the House of Representatives shall be eligible for election to the Ministry The nominations shall be signed by at least six members of the House of Representatives and by the candidate, or the consent of the candidate may be sent by telegram.
II. The Speaker shall notify the closing of the nominations and
III. The voting shall be taken by ballot, and upon the principle of proportional representation, each member having one transferable vote, exercisable in the alternative for as many candidates as he pleases, by writing a figure denoting the order of his choice opposite each name, as illustrated in Schedule A.
IV. The Speaker shall preside over the election, and may appoint such assistants as he may require. Each candidate shall have the right to appoint a scrutineer. The counting of votes shall be proceeded with as prescribed in Schedule B, and the Speaker shall declare the result, winch shall be final.
V. Any member of the Ministry may vacate his office in such manner, or for any such cause as may vacate a seat in the House of Representatives; and the House of Representatives may at any time, by resolution, declare the appointment of any Minister cancelled, provided such resolution be carried by a majority of two-thirds of the whole House.
VI. Vacancies in the Ministry shall be filled by ballot taken in the House of Representatives. The vote of an absolute majority of the whole House shall be required in the case of one vacancy; any greater number shall be elected after the manner prescribed in clause 15.
VII. The Ministers shall each year elect one of their number to be their Chairman and another to be Vice-Chairman, and shall determine the department which each member shall preside over. No Minister shall be Chairman for two successive years.
VIII. At meetings of the Ministry, if the Chairman be not present, the Vice-Chairman shall preside; but no action shall be valid unless four Ministers are present and concur.
IX. The Ministry shall make regulations for the conduct of business, keep minutes of their proceedings, and present copies of such minutes and regulations, attested by the signatures of the Chairman and at least one other Minister, to each Chamber of the Legislature upon the first day of the meeting of each session of Parliament.
X. The Ministers shall have full control over the different departments of state, under the authority of law; but the appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, members of the Legislative Council, the Agent-General, and such other appointments as may hereafter be declared by law shall be subject to the sanction of Parliament; nor shall the Ministers recommend His Excellency the Governor to dissolve Parliament without like sanction.
XI. The Ministers shall, if directed by a resolution of either Chamber, or may of their own motion, cause to be prepared and introduced for the approval of Parliament any legislative or other proposal.
XII. Ministers shall submit to both Chambers as soon as possible, at the annual session, full and explicit returns of the expenditure and receipts for the past year, and also the estimated expenditure and receipts for the ensuing year, and shall be responsible to Parliament for the economical and efficient administration of the public service, and such other duties as Parliament may impose.
XIII. If any member of the House of Representatives or of the Legislative Council be elected a member of the Ministry his seat in either Chamber shall be ipso facto vacated; but Ministers shall have the right to be present to speak and initiate proposals in either Chamber, but not to vote.
I. To illustrate the foregoing proposals, a comparison should be instituted with the Executive as it is at present selected, principally to meet the exigencies of party, where inexperienced and unfit persons have frequently been included, where Ministers are necessarily under the dominance of a Premier, where the Executive is frequently governed by expediency and party considerations, where the very existence of the Cabinet is dependent upon its retaining a sufficient number of partisans in the House, with the consequent temptation to abuse resources of State, to preserve Ministerial existence, and to all these considerations we must add the interested misrepresentations and vilifications of the other side. Then we shall be prepared to appreciate an Executive specially selected to exercise definite functions and responsibilities—individually free—untrammelled by party considerations, secure in its position, and elevated above the whirl of political debauchery.
II. Next take the House of Representatives, where discord reigns; where party struggles obscure and obstruct the discharge of parliamentary duties; where Government is supposed to lead, but really is itself driven by any combination strong enough to overthrow the balance of power; where members may be coerced by a threat of dissolution or corrupted by patronage—almost powerless for good—practically denied the right to initiate—where, with great waste, so much is commenced and so little finished—where so many abuses flourish under the vagaries of a system which leaves the representative a shadow of power, but a real discredit. Compare this also with a Parliament supreme, with a political atmosphere purified, with free scope to each member to exercise his privileges and vote honestly upon the merits of every question submitted to him. The people, too, would have issues simplified. The accretions of the past have left our political machinery clogged, encumbered, and disconnected. The voters' aspirations should lead to true and direct action; nothing less will satisfy their common-sense. When an election takes place now, the people learn but little of the Legislature, and still less of the administration of public affairs; all is filtered through the bias of partisanship, and so obscured by personal considerations as to reduce public affairs to the second place.
Dunedin: Caxton Printing Company, Manse Street.
he Committee of Management has pleasure in laying the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Institute before members. Five Ordinary and three Special Meetings have been held during the year, and the attendance has been very satisfactory, the average attendance being eight.
Mr. G. H. Smith, for several years a member of the Committee, left for Victoria last month. The Committee regret Mr Smith's departure, as he was an active and useful member of the Committee, and one who always took a lively interest in the affairs of the Institute.
The Meeting of the Council of the N.Z. Educational Institute was held at Auckland on June 6th and following days. The Delegates from the Otago Educational Institute were Messrs W. S. Fitzgerald, G. A. Simmers, James Jeffery, C. Mahoney and W. J. Moore. Copies of the report of the meeting of Council will be supplied to Members of the Institute at the Annual Meeting.
As the travelling expenses of Delegates were much heavier than usual this year, the Committee made a special effort to raise a fund to pay part of the expenses. A circular was issued to each member of the Institute asking for a subscription of 5s. towards Delegates' expenses. In response to this circular, the sum of £16 10s. was forwarded to the Committee, thus enabling it to pay to each of the five delegates the sum of £4 8s. Delegates this year also received a share of the £60 granted by the Minister of Education for travelling expenses.
The attention of members is particularly directed to the amendment of the constitution of the Educational Institute of New Zealand
The Education Board, in the early part of the year, proposed to make considerable reductions in teachers' salaries by the abolition or reduction of bonuses.
The Committee of Management drew up a report on the working and incidence of the bonus system and sent it to the Board for their consideration. The report referred to is printed as an appendix to this report. As a result of their deliberations the Board, while disavowing any intention of reducing teachers' salaries, resolved to alter the system by cutting off the bonuses from all teachers below Division II. of their class, and by reducing the amount of the remaining bonuses by one-fourth. Considering that the reductions have very seriously affected many teachers whose salaries were already small, the Committee hope that the Board will make some arrangement whereby those salaries will not be permanently reduced.
The extent of reduction in the smaller salaries by the abolition of bonuses is shown approximately by the following figures:—Four teachers lose £30 each; six teachers lose £20 each; sixty-seven teachers lose £10 each Almost all the salaries affected as above are under £200 per annum.
The Committee of Management hope that teachers who are interested in this matter will make a point of attending the Annual Meeting, when this matter will be discussed.
In connection with these financial arrangements, the Committee cannot overlook the fact that whilst teachers' salaries have been considerably reduced during recent years, it has at the same time been deemed advisable to increase the salary of some of the Board's officers.
The Committee do not call attention to this fact in any spirit of dissatisfaction with the increase itself. The Institute, however, is of opinion that any policy of increase or retrenchment should be made to apply to every branch of the service.
A communication was received from the Hon. the Minister of Education, drawing the attention of the Institute to a leading
a) That since its inauguration the New Zealand educational system has had a wide and lasting influence for good on the youth of the colony; and that, though not perfect in all its details, it compares very favourably with the educational systems of Great Britain and the neighbouring colonies. (b) That the criticisms in the article referred to are expressed in extravagant language, and are based, not on a wide and intimate knowledge of the educational system, but on supposed facts of a more or less exceptional nature."
The Executive of the General Institute being about to interview the Minister of Education on business transacted by the Council, Mr White, a member of the Executive, went to Wellington at the urgent request of the Committee and at considerable personal inconvenience, to take part in the interview with the Minister.
The Executive brought under the notice of the Minister the question of the Standards, a Court of Appeal for Teachers, and the alleged appropriation by certain Education Boards of the capitation allowance for the purpose of erecting school buildings.
It is understood that the Minister of Education has in preparation an amended syllabus, which it is believed will be to hand in time for discussion at the Annual Meeting of the Educational Institute of Otago.
The Committee of Management consider that the influencing of public opinion in matters connected with the Education system is a very important part of the work of the Institute. During the year a Sub-Committee was appointed to watch the interests of education at the time of the general election.
This Committee issued a circular to Otago candidates for a seat in Parliament, and had the replies sent by candidates published in the local newspapers. A copy of this circular is printed in Appendix B. In this and in other ways the Committee succeeded in bringing the education question prominently before electors.
Branch reports from Dunedin, Waitaki, Milton and Balclutha are attached.
The Committee are pleased to note that the Balclutha Branch has been re-opened, and that increased interest has been taken in the work of some of the other branches. In some cases joint meetings of two of the country branches have been held, and the Committee think that an extension of this plan would be very beneficial in maintaining a cordial feeling among teachers, and in increasing the usefulness of the Institute.
The Committee has fixed the Annual Meeting for the
Four meetings have been held in the year, at which matters of interest to teachers were discussed. The last meeting was in conjunction with the Balclutha Branch at Kaitangata. This meeting revivified languishing interests in both districts. The roll of membership is greater than it has been for some years past, the ladies of the profession in this district showing a particular interest in the welfare of the Institute. The coming year can be confidently looked forward to as a successful one.
During the year the Branch has held six ordinary and two special meetings, the average attendance being twelve, or one better than last year. A paper was read early in the year by the Rev. Mr Parsonson on "The Position and Functions of School Committees," which was well received by the members and led to a good deal of discussion. During the year several questions of importance to teachers were discussed and a certain amount of action taken thereon. A petition was drawn up for presentation to Parliament in favour of Major Steward's Bill, and this was signed by 51 teachers, or practically unanimously from Kurow to
Circulars were sent to teachers regarding the desirability of forming a Teachers' Union, to which, in most cases, favourable replies were received, but owing to the lack of enthusiasm, nothing definite has yet resulted.
A discussion, opened by Mr Piper, also took place regarding the Board's proposed alteration in the Bonus System. After much debate, an amendment by Mr Fraser "That if there is a financial necessity for altering the present system of bonuses, it should be based on the principle of reducing bonuses on the higher salaries, and leaving them as at present on the smaller ones" was carried in opposition to Mr Piper's motion "That the Branch, while recognising the necessity for an alteration in the system of bonus giving, strongly deprecates making any alteration retrospective." A copy of the amendment was sent to the Education Board.
The Branch suffered considerable loss by the departure of Mr D. Ross from the district, Mr Ross having taken great trouble, as secretary, in forwarding the objects of the Institute.
I have to report that this Branch, after languishing for a considerable time, was resuscitated in
The following were the officers appointed:—President, Mr John Nicholson. Kaitangata; Secretary, Mr Chas. R. Smith, Stirling; Representative on Committee of Management, Mr John-Nicholson.
Four meetings have been held. At one of these the members of the Milton Branch were present, when a short paper entitled "Corporal punishment in schools—its necessity for dealing with one difficulty in school work" was read by Mr Chas. R. Smith. At the same meeting Mr C. Mahoney, of Milton, gave a resumé of the work done at the Council Meeting in Auckland last year.
This Branch, believing that periodical conferences are of the utmost value to those taking part in them, would like to see the teachers of the district take a greater interest in the work of the Institute.
During the session of
The number of members of the Branch is 58 at 7s. 6d.. and 15 lady members at 2s. 6d.
During the year the following programme was carried out:—
A special meeting was held on October 11th to consider the action of the Board re the proposed abolition of bonuses. The matter was discussed by those present, but it was eventually referred to the General Committee of Management, as was also the matter of the 'New Zealand Herald's' article on "Education." The amount standing to the credit of the Branch is £2 16s. 10d.
At a meeting of the Committee of Management of the Otago Educational Institute, held in the Normal School on 1st November, the bonus system was fully discussed. The subjoined statement was formulated and agreed to, and the Secretary was instructed to forward a copy of it to each member of the Education Board:—
The Institute wishes to lay before the Education Board the following statement showing the incidence, extent, and increase of the bonus system.
To understand the effects and working of the system, it is necessary in the first place to know exactly the number of teachers in the various classes and divisions. The following table shows the:—
1. Classification of Teachers, giving Approximately the Number in Each Class and Division (
Div. 1—58 Div. 2—109 Div. 3—113 Div. 4—61 17
Though the bonus system has undoubtedly been largely instrumental in stimulating teachers to enter on a university course of training, it is very evident from the figures quoted that the number of graduates is still small compared with the whole body of teachers in the Board's service, there being only 22 graduates out of a list of 358 teachers (
2. The Number of Teachers in each of the classes A. B, C, D and E.
The number of teachers in each class is (approximately) as follows:—Class A, 6; Class B, 16; Class C, 37; Class D, 157; Class E, 140.
In speaking of the present bonus system, it is very often assumed that nearly the whole of the amount given for bonuses goes to the two highest classes of certificates (A and B), whereas, in fact, Classes C, D, and E get something like £4000 out of a total sum of £4879 paid as bonuses in
3. The amount of the Bonus Fund falling to classes C, D and E:—
It has been slated that the money paid yearly in bonus should be given as an addition to the fixed salary of teachers of long experience, irrespective altogether of literary qualifications. In reply to this statement, the Institute would draw the Board's attention to the following figures:—
4. The Sum Paid as Bonuses to Divisions 1 and 2 of each Class.
The following table shows the sums paid as bonuses to each division of the various classes:—
Divisions 1 and 2 thus receive £4000 out of £4879 paid as bonuses. A teacher's division in his class is determined solely by length of service and inspectors' marks for efficiency. The figures quoted above show that nearly the whole sum paid as bonuses is given to those teachers whom the Board's inspectors have placed in the two highest divisions. Nothing could show more clearly that the bulk of the bonuses as at present distributed goes to the most experienced teachers.
It is proposed to make an all-round reduction on bonuses. The Institute wishes to point out:—
5. The Effect of the proposed Reduction in the Amount of Bonus paid to Each Rank.
As there are 227 teachers in receipt of bonuses out of a total
Besides the reduction in the amount of each bonus, it is proposed to retrench still further by cutting off the bonuses altogether from Division 3.
6. The effect of the Proposal to Abolish the Bonuses for D3.
From the table already given, it will be seen that there are 47 teachers holding D3 certificates. Of these, 26 are males, 16 of whom are employed in small schools with an average attendance of 41; average salary £170, with a house valued at £35 per annum. The 21 females have an average salary of £110. To abolish the bonus in this class means a reduction of from 6 per cent, to 10 per cent, in their salaries.
7. Have Teachers in the Third Division been Sufficiently Long in the Service to Entitle them to a Bonus?
It is true that a few young teachers of exceptional skill, who have also served as pupil teachers, have got into D3 soon after leaving the training college. In such cases, however, the inspectors must have given very high marks for efficiency. An examination of the list of D3 teachers as given in the Board's report for
It has been urged as a reason for reducing or abolishing the bonuses that many of the teachers holding the lowest certificates are inadequately remunerated, and that there should be:—
8. A Readjustment or Increase of Salaries in the Case of those Teachers not now receiving Bonuses—viz., E3, D4, E4, and Lower ranks.—There are 131 teachers not receiving bonuses. Of these 131, 35 are males employed in small schools with an average attendance of 32, average salary £143, with a house valued at £30 a year. Of the 95 females, the great majority are employed in small schools, with salaries ranging from £70 to £110, in many cases having a house provided.
It is often said that the class in which a teacher is placed should count for little or nothing in determining the amount of his salary, because teachers in the lowest classes get as good results as those in the higher classes, if not better. The Institute has no sympathy with this cry about percentages, as if they were an essential feature of a teacher's work; still it is well to know what the actual facts of the case are, not in this particular school as against that, but in a very large number of schools, thus eliminating exceptional circumstances. The Board's reports furnish most convincing data on this point.
9. A comparison of Schools with regard to Percentages.
An examination of the results obtained by nearly 80 of the schools taught by teachers holding E3 or lower certificates shows that (1) in passes, (2) in class subjects, (3) in additional subjects they fall much below the average results of the schools of the province. In the Board's report for
10. The Annually Increasing Amount paid in Bonuses.
To understand the rale at which promotion has been going on, and the consequent increase in the Board's expenditure, it is necessary to follow the system for some years past. How frequently do promotions occur, and how have these promotions been brought about? The following table shows approximately the cause of promotion and the number for each year from
It will be seen that there are fewer promotions by examination than from any other cause. This is a very significant fact: three-fourths of the promotions arise from length of service and increased practical skill, and only one-fourth from examination. This year, out of a total of some 59 promotions, 10 only are the result of examination.
The Institute expresses the hope that the Board's finances will, without embarassment, continue to meet the increase arising from the annual promotions.
11. Principles Underlying the Bonus System.—In any system of fixing salaries it is well, in the opinion of the Institute, to recognise these three principles—viz.: (1) Average attendance, (2) practical skill, (3) scholarship. Under any method that the Board may be pleased to adopt, whether as in the system at present adopted, or by classifying schools and appointments, it is, in the opinion of the Institute, most desirable that the principles underlying the bonus system should find a place.
In thus supporting the bonus system, as in advocating a scheme for classifying schools and appointments, the Institute has proceeded on the principle that to aim at securing a high standard of scholarship, as well as a high degree of excellence in the art of teaching, is to do the best thing possible for education.
The Institute respectfully submits the foregoing statement in the hope that the facts brought forward may be of some service in discussing the question at present under consideration.
Signed on behalf of the Committee of Management,
As you take considerable interest in the political affairs of the colony, you are no doubt aware that the education question is likely to occupy a prominent place among the many important subjects coming up for consideration in the next Parliament. In view of this fact and believing that you have given some considerable attention to the subject, the Educational Institute of Otago would gladly receive from you an expression of your opinion on the following points:—
The following correspondence has been compiled and published by the Executive of the United Millers, Engine Drivers and Mill Employees' Society of New Zealand, for presentation to Members of both Houses of Parliament, and for the consideration of its own members, to enable them to form an opinion as to the action of the Mill Owners and N. Z. Millers' Association with regard to the proposed alterations in the hours of labour, &c. It will be seen that when first approached on the subject of the Saturday's half holiday, the principal Mill Owners in New Zealand acquiesced in the proposal
It will thus be seen that the employees, during the whole eighteen months in which this parleying has been conducted, have approached the Masters with every courtesy and respect; they have only sought to obtain their rights, after calm deliberation and with the experience of the older Colony to guide them; yet on
We believe that the chief value of any organised Trade Society is in formulating and emphasizing demands, the justice of which by continued and legitimate agitation has at last been impressed upon those charged with making the public laws, and in this belief we respectfully ask your perusal of this pamphlet, and your support in legalising eight hours as the standard of a day's work in New Zealand flour mills.
As far back as
Those millowners who replied "they would fall in when the half-holiday became general," made this firm's refusal the ground for objecting to give the half-holiday asked for.
On
Millers and mill employees in other milling centres on learning what had been done, wrote, asking information, which was given, and resulted in branches of the Society being formed at Auckland, Christchurch, Ashburton, Oamaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill. On August 4th, delegates from the branches met, when rules were drafted and an Executive appointed to see them carried out in accordance with the objects for which the Society was formed.
On October 1st, following the precedent set by the Victorian United Millers' Association, the following Letter, Proposed Agreement, and Scale of Wages was sent to twenty-five of the principal millowners of New Zealand.
Dear Sir—On behalf of our Society we beg leave to submit our Rules and Proposed Agreement for your consideration. A Scale of Wages is also presented, which it was thought necessary to draw up in order to place all master millers on the same footing respecting wages. In support of the agreement submitted we may state that over 90 per cent, of Victorian millowners are working their mills under the same agreement that we now place before you; while in New South Wales the principal millowners employ only Society men, and have agreed to introduce the Eight Hours system with the New Year; and we may also state that at the present time there are two mills working on the eight hours system in New Zealand. We trust you will not think we are approaching you in anything like a dictatorial manner, in submitting our rules and proposed agreement, and should anything contained therein meet with your disapproval, we feel assured that you will be quite willing to meet and discuss the matter with us in a friendly spirit, in order that an amicable settlement may be arrived at.
Hoping for some indication of your action with respect to what we have placed before you, at your earliest convenience,
Proposed agreement by mutual consent, between the United Millers, Engine Drivers, and Mill Employees' Society and Millowners of New Zealand, for the purpose of regulating the uniform working of flour mills, best calculated to faithfully carry out the Eight Hours principle.
1st.—In all divisions of Mill Work the whole of the Employees to be members of this Society.
2.nd.—The recognition of the Eight Hours system in its entirety.
3rd.—Overtime rate—Time and a half.
Holidays—First and second day of each year, Good Friday, Queen's Birthday, Demonstration Day, Prince of Wales' Birthday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day; if worked, double rates to be paid.
Sunday Labour to be strenuously avoided, except in event of extreme necessity, and in all cases to be paid for at the rate of double time.
Millowners agreeable to work their mills on the above lines are requested to return this statement with the signature of the firm attached.
Signature of Firm...................................
First Shift—From 7 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.; two hours meals, except Saturday, 6.30 a.m. till 1 p.m.
Second Shift—5.30 p.m. till 3 a.m., one hour meal; Saturday 1 p.m. till 7.30 p.m.
Three Shifts—12 midnight till 8 a.m., 8 a.m. till 4 p.m., 4 p.m. till 12 p.m.
Overtime only to be worked in case of emergency, not systematically, and to he paid for at the rate of time-and-half.
In all divisions of Mill work, Union labour to be employed.
Any Millowner working on Union lines, requiring the services of competent workmen for any division of Mill work, can obtain the same by applying to the Secretary, Millers' Society, Timaru, who will promptly send to the Employer applying, Roller Millers, Stone Millers, Engine Drivers, Packers, &c., &c., as the case may be.
United Millers, Engine Drivers, and Mill Employees' Society of New Zealand.
The following Scale of Wages was drawn up and approved of at a Conference of Delegates representing the Trade from the various Milling Centres of New Zealand:—
The foregoing Scale of Wages applies to both Roller and Stone Mills.
Dear Sir—We are in receipt of your letter of the 1st inst. with its various enclosures. We will consider the matters you have laid before us.
Dear Sir—On behalf of our firm I beg to acknowledge receipt of yours of 1st inst with enclosures. As the suggestions contained
Dear Sir—We are in receipt of yours of the 1st inst. with enclosures, for which we thank you, and the same shall have our consideration at an early date.
Dear Sir—Yours dated 1st inst. duly received, and will be laid before next meeting of Millers' Association for consideration.
Dear Sir—I am in receipt of your letter of October 1st, covering rules, &c., of your Society, and same has had my careful attention. As the whole matter will be brought before the N.Z. Millers' Association at their next meeting, for approval or otherwise, I think it is unnecessary for individual firms to express any opinion theron. I may, however, state that I am in favour of Trade Unions, and believe great good will result therefrom if well managed. I was also in favour of the affiliation of Trade Unions up to the time of the present strike, but watching carefully the operations of the present strike, has caused me to somewhat modify my views on the subject of affiliation, and I am driven to the conclusion that "Affiliation" and "Boy-cotting," has acted disastrously to those engaged in the cause of labour in this struggle.
Hours and Wages—If all the millowners in New Zealand are placed on the same footing with respect to these, personally, I cannot discover any reasonable grounds on which they can object to your proposals. All I contend for is "a fair field and no favour:" this granted, if I cannot make a living at milling, I must turn my attention to some other calling; and if the present margin of profit is not sufficient to meet the extra demands, then clearly the margin must be widened and the burden cast upon the general public.
Rule 48—I understand you have amended this Rule in the direction of allowing Unionists and Non-unionists to work together; if so, I think you have removed grounds on which objection could be founded.
Dear Sir—We beg to acknowledge receipt of your favour of the 1st inst., with enclosed. We have always been able to get on very well with our hands without the intervention of others, and we trust we shall always be able to do so. You are probably aware we have for some time past worked our mill on the eight-hour system, and the rate of wages we pay is about equal to your scale. If our hands have any grievance we are always willing to discuss the matter with them.
Dear Sir—I duly received your letters and enclosures, and would have replied sooner, but for some time I have intended to resign my position as Manager for the firm of Robert Anderson & Co., and I did not wish to commit my successor to any course he might not approve of. I have now handed in my resignation, but my successor is not yet appointed, and I will give you my opinion of your proposals without prejudice.
I have had very little talk with the employers about them, but I believe they are to be discussed at a meeting to be held here 011 the 18th inst., and I do not think that they will be agreed to. You
"That the N.Z. Millers' Association approve the principle of eight hours being considered the standard of a day's work in flour mills, and recommend its members to bring the same into operation on 1st January next. "That the New Zealand Millers' Association as such does not recognise the question of Unions or Non-unions, but reserve to each millowner the right of individual and independent action."Dear Sir,—Referring to yours of 1st inst. and mine of 4th inst., I have now to inform you that the matters therein referred to were laid before the meeting of the N.Z. Millers' Association, held on Thursday last, when the following resolution was duly carried:—
That this Association approves of the principle of eight hours being considered the standard of a day's work in flour mills, and recommends its members to bring the same into force on the 1st of January next. That this Association as an institution refuse to recognise the question of the employment of Labour, whether "union" or "non-union," but reserves the right of individual and independent action in this matter.Dear Sir—The proposals of "The Operative Millers' Union" were under discussion at a meeting of this Association, held on Saturday last, the 18th inst., and I have been instructed to inform you:
While this correspondence was passing the eight hours system was introduced in the Riccarton mills, Christchurch, and a little later in the Canterbury mill, Ashburton. It was believed from the resolutions passed by the N.Z. Millers' Association, and the Otago and Southland Miller's Association, that the eight hours system would become general in their mills at the new year; however, such was not the case, as only another mill was added to the list of eight hour mills (the Belford Milling Co., Timaru) after the advent of
It was resolved, in consequence, to send two delegates to visit mill-owners personally on this matter. Mr. F. J. Bidmead, Secretary of the Canterbury Trades and Labour Council, and Mr. William Houston, President of the Timaru Branch, were chosen. The following is their report:—
During the course of the conversation Mr. Aspinall stated that he was a member of the Master Millers' Association. He had been instrumental in the formation of the Society. There had been and still was a great deal of cutting. His mill was not so favourably situated as Rollitt's of Ashburton, or indeed other mills; the larger mills of Timaru and Oamaru had the advantage of premises being nearer the sea and upon the line of railway. He did not see how he could work his mill upon the eight-hour system, there would be a difference, he worked twelve hours and his men were satisfied.
In reply to further questions, he stated that he would not commit himself to say positively, without consulting his partner, that the eight hours or the weekly rate of forty-eight should be adopted at their mill. He quite understood that the men would be fresher and do good work. He did not know that the system had already been adopted by some millers; on the contrary, he understood that it had not. Was aware of the movement in Sydney, but did not know that it was in force there. Was glad to meet the Deputation to talk over the matter. There was a meeting of the Master Millers in Christchurch on the 15th inst., and would suggest that a small deputation meet the employers there. Quite understood that it would be of advantage to all concerned that there should be an amicable understanding as between employers and employees, and was pleased to know that an attempt was now being made to bring this about. Thought there was an over production taking place, but that was a matter the employers would have to arrange among themselves. If the employees would assist the masters to prevent cutting he would be glad. The whole matter would have to be put on a good and sound footing, and he for one would assist, as he had already done, to bring it about.
After further discussion of a technical nature, with Mr. Houston, upon the relative position of his mill with regard to working arrangements, meal hours, railway and shipping facilities, stone mills, eating during work, Mr. Aspinall again affirmed that he would not place any obstacle in the way of adopting the eight hours system, with the understanding that he should consult his partner before committing himself definitely upon the subject; moreover, the matter would be brought up at the coming Conference of Millowners, and if those gentlemen approved, he would of course follow.
In reply to the deputation Mr. Ibey stated that he would adopt the eight hour shifts, as soon as the other millowners did so. He would rather not give a letter to that effect as he thought it unnecessary. So far as concerned his mill, he would carry out the promises he made, and was prepared to do so. Thought that a given date should be fixed, say for instance 1st March next; and also suggested that the men should fix the date when the alteration should come into force. Upon it being pointed out that this would be outside the province of the employees, without an agreement upon the subject with the employers, he admitted that it would be better for both interests to fix upon a date, in conjunction one with another. Regarding Sydney his information was not of a recent date, but was aware that arrangements had been made there. In answer to further questions he again affirmed Yes, I give you the promise that forty-eight hours are not to he
Mr. Houston also discussed a few minor points of a technical nature upon which there was no disagreement.
The interview was of a cordial character and did not occupy very long. Mr. Ibey personally appeared to have a strong leaning in favour of the movement, and a desire to see it in successful operation. Almost the last words he gave expression to were:—"Yes, you can rely upon me, and I give you the promise." The delegates then withdrew.
Said he had no objection to adopting the eight hours system, and so far as it went it would make no difference to him. There, however, would be a difficulty with regard to the water-rate. He had to pay at present for two classes, day and night, each of twelve hours. There was no intermediate price and the cost of running eight-hours would be the same as twelve, and sixteen the same as twenty-four. (The Corporation By-laws were here produced and gone into). It may be possible to get three classes of payments instead of two, but on that the Council would have to be approached. If he could work the eight hours, of course extra payment would have to be made for the remaining four, and that gave rise to the question of wages, which he thought would be necessarily affected. He would adopt the eight hours system, if the matter of water could be arranged, although he believed that had he steam power, the cost would be about the same—all things considered—as he now paid. Mr. Ireland was in the same position regarding cost of power as himself, probably only the two mills in the Colony affected. However, if the general body of millowners adopted the eight hours, he would also go in with them. Thought there would be some trouble to place an extra amount on the price of a ton of flour, generally the increase in the market was either 5s., 10s. or 15s., and perhaps millowners might not see their way to make such an addition to the price. There was a good deal of cutting, and he hardly saw how it could be obviated. He would gladly work the twenty-four hours if he could, but that was not possible except upon special occasions. He would obtain and forward a copy of the by-laws to Mr. Houston.
The interview lasted about a quarter of an hour, and a good tone prevailed throughout.
The interview with Mr. Ireland was of such a satisfactory nature that there is really nothing to record of an objectionable nature to the movement. Indeed, he has already practically adopted the system, and unless the new machinery was in, the mill would still he carried on the principle. He mentioned the number of apprentices engaged by some owners, and thought some method should be devised to limit them, but this and other matters of detail would necessarily have to be arranged in the future.
Mr. Meek, upon the deputation making known the object of the visit, said he did not care if the eight-hours system came into force or not, providing that the question of wages is arranged. Nor did he care if his men belonged to a Union or not; he did not enquire any more than he would if they were Freemasons. He would have preferred that his own employees had come to him upon the subject, but did not suggest a better mode of procedure.
The interview was short and chiefly confined to the matter in hand.
Mr. Steven said he did not see why the mills should not run on the eight hours system. The question of wages, he thought, would adjust itself. Had worked in the interests of the employees himself. The deputation could rely upon him and his support to the movement. He was a member of the Millers' Association, and moreover, his sympathy upon the matter of the eight hours was with the men. If the promises of the owners of the bigger mills were obtained, the smaller ones would fall in. The Operative Bakers' Society could materially assist the movement if' necessary, and there was no doubt of that. He knew that opposition from that Society would be immediately felt.
The interview was short and cordial
Mr. Mullin stated that he saw nothing to prevent the movement coming into operation. There were certain difficulties some millers would have to encounter, and his mill at Woodhaugh would be some-
Mr. Harraway said he was a working miller himself, and understood the confining nature of the trade. Was in full sympathy with the movement, and was quite prepared to adopt it. The subject would be brought up for consideration at the coming conference of millowners.
Mr. Christie said he was one of the first to mention the necessity of the eight hours system. Mr. Harraway, who was upon the line as himself, supported him. He did not see why millers should not have the eight hours, but thought for country (water) mills there must be some concession, because the water, in many instances, might be short for days, and at other times there might be plenty. Regarding the proposed conference between employers and employees, he thought five from each side would be better than three. At a meeting of mill-owners it had been decided that the movement should come into force from the
Mr. McGill, after the deputation had made known the object of the interview, said he had no objection to the movement at all, but it should be general all through the Colony. There were mills (two) belonging to him, and sometimes they could not be worked in consequence of the want of water. This matter would have to be arranged. The men were always paid whether the full time was put in or not. He (Mr. McGill) was going to attend the conference of millowners, and as to the proposed meeting of employers and employees he would try and get the affair arranged. He was pleased to see the deputation to talk the matter over.
The interview was short and exceedingly cordial, and afterwards he took the deputation through the mill.
The deputation in the first instance waited upon Mr. Gilkison, who affirmed that he had no objection to the introduction of the eight hours system. The rules which had been forwarded him he thought would have to be modified, as some men were worth more than others. He would carry out the system if other millers did so, and could see no objection. There was to be a meeting of millowners shortly, and the matter would come up. The idea of delegates from either side to meet and act in the affair was a good one. Mr. Fleming at this juncture entered the room and took up the conversation. He stated that he believed in the system. Thought millers should have the eight hours as well as other trades. "Indeed," he added "it must come sooner or later." He felt for men working twelve hours on a night shift. Would give the system his support, but it must be general. The firm knew that the country mills were often pushed for water. The Saturday half holiday would hardly work, as that day was a busy one for farmers.
The deputation, after further expressions of a favourable nature from Mr. Gilkison and Mr Fleming, withdrew.
Dear Sir—Our Delegates have returned from their mission throughout this Island, interviewing all master millers and managers of mills, and in every case they found employers ready to adopt the eight hours system, provided it is universal. We most respectfully suggest to you as a means of settling the question finally, that the Canterbury Millers' Association co-operate with the Otago and Southland Millers' Association, and appoint (say) two, three, or live delegates with power to settle the matter: to meet a similar number from this Society, at any time or place you might mention. We would also suggest that the Conference take place as early as possible in view of the busy season being close at hand. We may state that this mode of settlement is at the suggestion of the majority of employers.
Dear Sir—Our Delegates have returned from their mission throughout this Island, interviewing all master millers and managers of mills, and in every case they found employers ready to adopt the eight hours system, provided it is universal. We most respectfully suggest to you as a means of settling the question finally, that the Otago Millers' Association co-operate with the same Association of Canterbury, and appoint (say) two, three, or five delegates with power to settle the matter: to meet a similar number from this Society, at any time or place you might mention. We would also suggest that the Conference take place as early as possible in view of the busy season being close at hand. We may state that this mode of settlement is at the suggestion of the majority of employers.
Dear Sir—I have to acknowledge receipt of yours of 21st inst. In reply, I have to inform you that I have forwarded it on to Mr. Thos. Meek, the President of our Association, for his perusal and instruction. On receipt of his reply I will communicate with you again.
Dear Sir—I am directed to say, in reply to yours of 21st instant, that the matters referred to therein have already received careful consideration at the hands of our Society, and that at the meeting at which they were considered it was unanimously decided that every miller should be at liberty to work his mill and make arrangements with his men as he should think fit. Under these circumstances, our Society can see no benefit to be derived from a conference as suggested by you, but must leave it to each millowner to work his mill as he thinks best.
Dear Sir—I am in receipt of your communication of the 21st ult., and have been instructed to call a special meeting of our Association, to be held on Wednesday next, the 4th February, for the purpose of considering the suggestion contained in your letter. Whatever may be the result of that meeting, you will be advised as soon as the meeting terminates. Wishing your Association every success.
Dear Sir—A meeting of my Association was held this afternoon, and I was instructed to write to you for the purpose of asking you to forward me a list of the names of those millers who have signified their willingness to adopt the eight hours system. As you say nothing about the millers in the North Island, would you let me know if you have visited them also. For, unless the system is adopted throughout both Islands, those who adopt it will be at a disadvantage and the old arrangements will have to be reverted to. Two of the millers present at our meeting stated that they never saw your delegates, and we know of several others. It seems a pity that they did not see all the millers personally, they certainly called at nearly every mill, I believe, but the employees can hardly express the opinions of a master.
My Association think that you are hardly acting fairly to them in putting the onus of a refusal to agree to the eight hours system upon them only. To do the thing properly it would be necessary to have delegates from the North Island also, for we have to compete with them in business and wish to be placed on an equal footing.
As the further consideration of the question has been deferred till the 19th inst. when we have our usual monthly meeting, would you kindly let me have all the information at your command before that date.
Dear Sir—I am in receipt of yours of the 4th inst. Enclosed please find list of those millers who have signified their willingness to adopt the eight hour system. Re North Island, the latest communication we have from there is, "That the employees of the Auckland mills have waited on their employers, who have also stated that they are willing to introduce the same system." In your letter you mention that two of the members of your Association were not waited upon by our delegates, but you don't mention either of their names. We may state that our delegates waited on Messrs. Webster and White, and made an appoinment with Mr. Webster to meet him at his office between 10 and 10.30 a.m., on 17th ult. On calling at his office at that time, Mr. Webster had gone out, leaving word with his clerk to the effect that he would not see the delegates, as he declined to give any definite answer until after the regular meeting of the Association. Mr. Runciman was not called upon, but we had the assurance of his son that he was quite agreeable to the eight hour system.
Our delegates called at the office of Mr. Hay, in Oamaru, but he had gone out of town, and we don't know of any others who were not visited, but would like to get names of those firms you refer to. We cannot see how we have treated your Association unfairly in any way, as it has always been our strongest desire to bring about an amicable understanding without any friction, hence our suggestion for a conference to be held, which we think is the most satisfactory way of settling the matter. We would again urge you to use your best endeavours to bring about such conference, so that the whole matter may be thoroughly discussed. I enclose you a copy of reply from the Canterbury Millers' Association to our letter, which you will see
Dear Sir—At a meeting of the Otago and Southland Millers' Association held this afternoon, your letter of the 16th ult., was considered. I have been instructed to convey to you the result of the discussion which took place, and which is embodied in the following motion:—"That the Mill Employees' Union be informed in reply to their request for a conference to consider the eight hour system, that this Association cannot see that a conference would be of any benefit, as it is of opinion that it should be left to each millowner to work his mill and make arrangements with his employees as he thinks best. But that the Association is of opinion that it would be for the benefit of all concerned, if arrangements could be made by which all the mills in the Colony should commence work at 6 a.m. on Monday morning, and close down at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon."
Trusting that any arrangements that will be made may prove eminently satisfactory to both masters and men.
Messrs........................
Dear Sirs—Enclosed please find copies of our letters to Secretary New Zealand Mülers' Association, and his reply to same re our suggestion proposing a conference to consider the introduction of the eight hours system in New Zealand flour mills.
When our delegates waited upon you personally, you expressed yourself favourably towards the proposed conference, and we would like very much to know if such is still your intention, as we have reason to believe you were not consulted before the original of the enclosed copy was written.
Dear Sir,—We beg to acknowledge receipt of yours of 17th inst.
As we started eight hours on the 1st January, and were forced to stop on account of the extra expense we were put over our neighbours, and as we told our employees, that when other millers start eight hours we will again revert to that practice; we do not wish to be mixed up in any way with meetings on the subject.
Dear Sir—We are duly in receipt of yours of 17th inst. and note contents. We have informed our employees of our intentions regarding the eight hour system; and seeing the aggressive action some of the members of your Society have taken against our mill, in interviewing our customers and requesting them to refrain from purchasing our flour, we must decline the conference you propose.
Dear Sir—Yours dated 17th inst. duly received, contents noted. In reply, the writer consulted some of the large roller mill managers in this and the North Island about the desirability of working eight hours, and they all gave me to understand that they intended to work their mills on the same lines now as in the past, viz., two shifts. This being the case, and in order to be enabled to compete successfully with our opposition, our Directory have decided to work the Atlas Mills on lines satisfactory to themselves and their employees. Any man in our employ who does not feel at liberty to accept our hours of labour and rate of wages, will have a perfect right to retire from our employment.
Dear Sir—We have your favour of the 17th inst., and as we are not members of the N.Z. Millers' Association, we were not consulted (as you correctly suppose) before the answer of Mr. Aspinall to your letter was sent.
We are still favourable to the eight-hour system being adopted provided it is so universally, but regarding holding a conference on the subject we do not think it would be of any use, unless all or nearly all the mills were represented; and as the N.Z. Millers' Association represents such a large amount of milling power, and have through their Secretary intimated their decision as adverse to holding a conference, we do not see how any resolutions come to at a conference from which they were absent could be made applicable.
We may just add that an equitable arrangement of payment per hour is what we think would be found to suit best.
Dear Sir—As some mills are differently situated to others, I think it advisable to carry out the N.Z. Millers' Association's idea: every miller to be free At the same time I quite agree with you, eight hours is long enough for any man to work.
Dear Sir—Your letter of 25th ult. with enclosures duly to hand, both of which have had our consideration. As the Millers' Association have apparently decided not to take part in a conference, we cannot see any good would be obtained by holding one.
Dear Sir—Tours of 17th inst. to hand regarding proposed conference to consider the introduction of the eight hour system in New Zealand Flour Mills.
We understand the proposed conference is not likely to be held, and, under these circumstances, it is scarcely worth while our expressing any opinion upon the matter.
Gentlemen—I have much pleasure in forwarding to you the following resolution passed at a meeting of this council on February 19th.
"That this Council gives a general support to the Millers' Society, in their endeavour to obtain eight hours as a day's work, and that we do all we can in every legitimate way to assist them."
Hoping you will soon be successful in obtaining this and other reforms in connection with your trade.
Dear Sir—Your delegate to the above Council having mentioned the fact, that there is likely to be trouble between the millowners and your Society over the eight hours movement, I have the honour by direction to request you to furnish the Council with all the information you possess, in order to enable the Council to take steps to assist your Society. Awaiting an early reply,
The exigencies of the approaching ministerial holidays, or some other reasons which I do not now desire to enquire into, have brought my opponent early into the field, and thus made me appear to be late in addressing the electors, though the writ was only issued yesterday. However, I stand here to-night alone, a Wellington man asked by Wellington electors to come forward at this crisis, content to stand or fall by the principles which I avow, supported only by Wellington electors, and having none but myself to speak for me. (Applause.)
The issue, ladies and gentlemen, has been somewhat confused. We have been told that the function of a member of parliament is one and one only—to vote for or against the Government; that the business of parliament is only to determine who shall administer the affairs of the country. That is, no doubt, a very important part of the business and the duties which Parliament has to perform; but not ten per cent, of the measures which come before Parliament, and only a very small part of the committee business involve any party issues. What you are now called on to do is to elect a fit and proper person to represent the City of Wellington in Parliament. That is the issue between myself and Mr. McLean, which I am content to leave to the people among whom I have lived so long. (Applause.) I say the issue has been confused, because the electors have been led to understand by speaker after speaker (though very little, I must admit, has been said by my opponent himself) (laughter) that the legislation and the business of the country are in no way part of the questions you have to consider. Not at all. You have to consider for whom the person whom you will send will vote, and if he be content to be silent and to obey his party's call, that is all this great constituency is to require of him. Why, Wellington is the first constituency of the colony. We are living in the Metropolis; as the colony grows so will Wellington. As the rest of the colony has grown so has Wellington increased in a far greater proportion. We ought to be proud of the city and to have a care that the man whom we send to Parliament as its representative is able to speak with the power and weight and influence
that the voice of Wellington ought to carry. Are we to be represented by men recommended to us by outsiders? Have we no say in the matter? Is the choice ours or theirs? I will not believe that any class of this community will accept dictation. I say that the choice ought to be by Wellington, and if so I am content, as I have just said to stand side by side with Mr. M'Lean and await the determination of the Wellington electors. (Applause.) Now I have been referring, as you will observe, to the interference in the affairs of the city by Ministers of the Crown. I do not say—I do not pretend—that the Ministers of the day have not a right to exercise political influence. Not at all; but I deny their right to turn the ministerial residences into the committee rooms of party organization. Perhaps the appearance of a Minister on the platform at elections elsewhere may be justifiable; but in this city, the capital, where the members of the Government reside—not that the present ministers reside here much, by the way (laughter),—it becomes a matter of grave and serious importance. If the members of the Government are to become election agents, and undertake election contests for their supporters, and if the man whom they happen so to support is to be returned as a matter of course, then we may as well give up the pretence of choosing our representative, and Wellington may be regarded as the mere appanage and pocket borough of the Government of the day.
The Government are the largest employers of labour in the country. Let me read to you a portion of the speech which my opponent addressed to the electors in this building. He said,—"The Government—(cries of "Go on.") I beg your pardon; I have got to a place in the speech where he propounded a scheme for the increase of our population by scientific means. Laughter.) He said: "He was told that the working men would not stick to him—that their employers in many instances would not allow them to do it. If that was the case, were they going to be dictated to by their employers when they had the ballot box before them? He hoped they were net, and that they would exercise their privileges. He warned the employers that if they unduly interfered, the time would assuredly come—though it might appear they were somewhat stronger here now than in other parts—he could assure the employers of this colony that there was a wave rising within the world at the present time, and whatever steps the employers might take it was still rising up."
I believe that the Government are the largest employers of labour in the colony, and I ask those who support Mr. M' Lean whether they practise what they preach. (Laughter and applause.)
I now wish to say a word, if the Labour Councils will allow me, with regard to them. I deeply and sincerely regret that the organisation of labour has been turned into a political caucus. That of course is their business and not mine. I repeat I so much sympathise with the organisation of labour, and so sincerely recognise the good it has done, and join so much in the hope of what it is to do, that I strongly deprecate and regret the circumstance that it had been turned into a political organisation, which cannot but alienate a good many sympathizers from it. That, however, as I said just now, is their business and not mine. But there is one thing I have to say to
But to return to the Government. This is what appears to be the Government position in this election. They say—We want a man who will vote, not think. Good heavens! where should we we next session if our supporters began to think! What we want is a man who will follow us as a waggon follows a locomotive round every curve (and he will have to take some pretty sharp curves too). (Laughter). Opinions! Why, what business have the Wellington electors to ask for his opinions. We have none of our own. (Laughter). You have no right to ask for his! We are Liberals. You are Conservatives. And who ought to know, if we do not, who are the high priests of the cult of Liberalism? (Applause and laughter). The Government speak for Mr. M'Lean. My opponent was heard first, for a short time, at his first meeting, and was followed by Ministers of the Crown. Hut at subsequent meetings Mr. M'Lean occupies a secondary position, and a Minister speaks first and tells the electors what Mr. M'Lean ought to say, and Mr. M'Lean doubtless says it. It reminds me of what took place when Master Slender went a-wooing, and took Justice Shallow with him. Shallow led Slender by the hand and told sweet Anne Page what he would do and what were his qualifications. She said: "Good Master Shallow, let him woo for himself." Then she turned to Slender: "Now. Master Slender, what would you with me?" "Truly," said Slender, "for mine own part I would little or nothing with you. If it be my luck, so; if not, why, happy man be his dole. They can tell you how things go better than I can." Just so comes Mr. M' Lean a-wooing the Wellington constituency. (Applause and laughter.
I deny the right of these gentlemen to define a Liberal to be a man who happens to support the administration of Mr. Ballance, and to define as a Conservative a man who happens not to do so. There are many men in this city, in the colony, throughout the world, who have devoted thoughtful study to the problems which the political enfranchisement of the masses, and in a greater degree the education of the people, have brought to the front; who hope to lend their aid to the solution of those problems in
In respect to many matters which Mr. Ballance's Government advocate I am at one with them. I am at one with them, if they are at one among themselves, upon the question of the female suffrage. (Applause). I believe that one half of the human face has no right to exclude the other half from legislation, or at all events from the right to elect legislators to Parliament. I am at one with them in their belief that in the perpetual lease system may be found the solution of the great Problem of the land. I am at one with them also in their desire to aid the organisation or labour in everyone of its legitimate objects; and those who Know know that I speak the truth when I say so. (Applause). I believe that I am at one with them also in the idea that wealth of every kind (I do not know that I ought to say wealth of every kind, for they exclude many forms of wealth) that wealth should bear its share of the burden of taxation according to the ability of those who own it. And I am not at an separate from them in the idea that a graduated system of taxation may be the right one; but it does not follow, as I am about to attempt to show (so far I have been dealing with facts, very shortly I shall come to arguments) it does not follow that the present Taxation Act is in any sense a liberal or a just measure.
Mr. Bruce, speaking at Christchurch the other day, compared the Government to the itinerant vendors of patent medicines, who describe the occasional symptoms of dyspepsia, to which we are all subject, as the premonitions of a fatal disease, and who, when they have succeeded in sufficiently arousing the patient to a sense of discomfort and danger, proceed to administer their worthless and nauseous nostrums, with the result that if the sufferer escapes death, he does so only with his purse depleted and his constitution impaired. The Government represent to us that the exodus, monopoly, money bags, capital, speculators, and so forth, are diseases. It is prescribing, and attempting to administer, its specifics; and if they are not discarded by the body politic, it will very soon be in a condition similar to that of the unfortunates who, having taken the patent medicines, are, as parson
Let me ask you what are the measures which Mr. Ballance says, and the Government say are the specifics which they have applied—the Liberal measures which they, as a Liberal Government, have passed, and upon which they claim your support in future. Well, they refer to the Factories Act, the Truck Act, the Employers Liability Act. The Legislative Council Amendment Act. And who introduced these? Mr. Ballance's Government had no more to do with their introduction than I had. They were brought into Parliament by the preceding Government with the approval of the Trades and Labour Council, who approached the Government and induced them to bring those measures forward; and this of itself proves that no Government and no party in the colony is hostile to the organisation of labour. Mr. Ballance's Government can take no credit for these measures. That credit belongs to the administration which they displaced. The measures were introduced into Parliament by the late Government, and passed by the present Government in the following session.
I do not know what is the position which the Government of the day take now upon the Shop Hours Bill. If they say still that they stand by it, then there is one Bill which they claim as a Liberal measure and which I take to be a most illiberal proposal. No man in Wellington has proved himself to be more in sympathy with the shop assistants in their desire for a half holiday, and in their desire for shortening their hours of labour than I have. So much, I think, the shop asssistants will admit. But if it comes to this, that for the purpose of granting to the shop assistants the leisure which I hope to see them obtain, and which they are entitled to if they can get it in a legitimate way, every small shopkeeper who keeps no assistant is to be obliged to close his shop at a fixed hour, whether he likes or not,—then I say such a law is not a liberal measure, but a re-establishment of the Curfew of the Normans and the Plantagenets. After all, the working classes have the matter in their own hands. The larger shops, where the shop assistants are employed, might shut at any hour and the custom of the wealthier classes would not go elsewhere. The small shops do not keep the articles the wealthier classes require, and the only reason why the larger shops keep open in the evening is lest that portion of the custom of the working classes which they can command should leave them. If the working class want to see the shop assistants relieved, all they have to do is to abstain from shopping after a certain hour, and the thing is done already. For all I know it may be a necessity that the small shops should be kept open in the evening, for the convenience of the working class. But whether that be so or not, we cannot, without an injustice to the small shopkeeper, close his shop compulsorily and perhaps, ruin him, for the sake of any advantage to the assistants in the larger shops. I do not know what position the Government now take. I should like to hear from Mr. M'Lean, or the Minister who, I suppose, will accompany him at his next meeting (laughter), what their position is at the present moment with regard to this matter. I am told they
But they say,—"Look, we have passed a new taxation Act." And so they have. Well, they have led the people to suppose that in some way or other the incidence of taxation is by that Act shifted from the shoulders of the poor on to the backs of the rich. No such thing. There is not one single item of taxation paid by the poorer class of which they have been relieved. On the contrary, the taxation which was previously paid by the property owners is still paid by the same class; the large land owner pays a little more, and the smaller property owner pays a little less. In no sense has the incidence of taxation been shifted from the shoulders of the working class. What was wanted, and what I think was earnestly looked for at the last election, and what the people are looking forward to and hoping for now, is a relief of the taxation upon the necessaries of life. (Applause.) Not one penny of such relief has been granted, though a large surplus was in possession of the Colonial Treasurer. Not one penny of it was applied in the reduction of such taxation, unless the postage rate was reduced as a convenience and a relief to the working classes. (Loud laughter and cheers).
Gentlemen, I deny that this taxation bill is a liberal measure, and I propose, if you will allow me, to explain why it is not. According to true liberal ideas, taxation is not a good thing but a bad thing; taxation should be used for the purpose of raising revenue only, and for no other purpose, and the tax should fall upon those best able to boar it. It is not for the purpose of raising revenue that this Act has been passed. Mr. M'Lean himself told you—speaking, I suppose with the authority of the Premier, who followed him, or perhaps with the authority of the Minister for Education, who followed the Premier (laughter)—that no more money was raised by the Land and Income Tax, or was expected to be raised by that tax, than was raised by the Property Tax. Therefore it was not passed for the purposes of revenue; but the incidence was changed, the new burden was imposed, in order that there might be "bursting up." That being so, it contravenes the liberal principle I have stated—that taxation should be used only for the purpose of raising necessary revenue, and not as an engine for any other purpose. It is intended to be an engine in the process of "bursting up" the rich. But even in that it will certainly fail, because you cannot, by any process of taxation which you devise, "burst up," anyone except the man who is already on the verge of ruin. The taxation which you apply sufficient to ruin him will only go a little way in reducing the income of the man who is better off.
It is supposed that the proposals of the Government have in a great measure relieved manufacturers, and so benefitted them and the class which they employ. On which side do you find the manufacturers at this election? Why, gentlemen, they do not feel any relief, and for this reason (though the Premier denies it), that the rate of interest is slowly increasing on account of the feeling of insecurity which has arisen, and the advances of the banks and monetary institutions are gradually being drawn in. Can the manufacturers be
You would say that sounds like the prediction of some Tory seer. The quotation is from a speech delivered by Sir Robert Stout at Napier, on the eve of the last general election. (Loud applause). Now let me read you one proof of the accuracy of Sir Robert's forecast:
"There is no denying the fact that these possibly unnecessarily timid creatures are alarmed at what they term "the revolutionary character of New Zealand legislation," meaning thereby, more especially, the attacks upon capital which seem to have characterised the regime of the Ballance Ministry. I hear this, not from one or two quarters, but on all sides; and, what is worse, condemnation is rapidly being translated into action, which cannot fail to be most disastrous to the colony. I have already indicated that orders have been sent out to withdraw capital invested in the colany, but hitherto the amonuts were not alarming. But it has come to my knowledge within the last few days that the scare is spreading, and that one company, with large interests in the North Island, has decided to withdraw no less than £250,000 of its capital. I near that other companies intend to follow the" example thus set, and it is notorious that other investors distinctly decline to increase their stake, even if they take no steps to withdraw it. This state of things, coupled with the cessation of loan expenditure, cannot but produce a state of things that must react sorely upon the well being of the wage-earning classes. One of the most influential of the public companies operating in New Zealand has decided to withdraw all the money it can, and has at the same time ceased to receive English Capital that would be gladly invested in the developement of New Zealand, if public confidence had not been so severely shaken of late."
The Premier says, and 'writes, or the statement that money is being withdrawn from New Zealand, and the rate of interest rising, that it is a cry raised by bankers and money lenders, financiers and capitalists, who, I presume, are the last people likely to know what is doing or about to be done in the money market. (Laughter). That class of the people does not, it may be assumed, comprise a greater percentage of liars than the rest of the world. Is it likely that the business men of this place, and of other places would be standing ranged against the present Government if the thing were not true? The extract I just now read was from a letter written by the London correspondent of the Auckland Herald, a gentleman who
The Financial Times is a London journal of weight in the City, and I will add a reference to an article which appeared in its columns:—"The Financial Times, while finding much that is admirable in the policy pursued by the New Zealand Government, is simply horrified at the drastic character of its recent attacks upon the landed interests and joint stock companies. It gravely cautions the Administration that it is pursuing a policy which will prove most hurtful to the best interests of the colony at large, and disastrous to the welfare of 'the pampered labour party' which controls the elections."
When I said just now that the alarm felt by Capital is known to every person who has direct information of the state of the London money market, I heard a cry from the back of the theatre—"A good thing too." How can we get on without money, without foreign capital? The greater part of this island is covered with bush, and that bush has to be cleared from the land by the settlers. With whose money? Certainly not with the settlers'. They have not the money to do it, and unless we can borrow from outside we cannot get the work done at all. We want capital and cheap capital.
I do not know that there is any other so-called liberal measure to which I need refer. I will come shortly to their land policy. But with regard to their legislation, I understand Ministers to say: Look out for what we are going to do. I heard a politician, in the course of a speech in this hall some years ago, tell a story of a man who stood on the bank of a wide and deep river, offering to bet each traveller who came by that he could throw him safely across. One traveller, foolish enough to take up the bet, was duly seized, hoisted into the air, and pitched—of course into the water. Half-drowned, he scrambled out and claimed the bet. "Oh no," said the other, "I did not bet I would do it the first time. Come along, try again, I'll do it sooner or later. I think of that story when I hear Ministers boasting what they will do next year if we give them another chance. (Laughter and applause).
Now, I understand that a very great deal has been made, and properly made if it had been true, of a statement of Mr. Ballance's to the electors, when he followed Mr. M'Lean on the occasion of Mr. M'Lean's first meeting. I will read you the passage which I understand has been so much relied on. He said,—"The present Government were dealing with the settlement of the land in an eminently satisfactory manner. Since they took office last January thirty-six Special Settlement Associations had been formed with 1200 members, and the area applied for was no less than 250,000 acres, of which 97,000 acres had been taken up in the Wellington district. None of the sections was more than 200 acres in extent, but if the policy of their predecessors had been followed, the whole of the area would have been taken up in sections of 2000 acres and more."
There can be but one answer to Mr. Ballance,—that his statement was not an ingenuous one; and I shall shortly ask you whether we
In
According to another return, for the two years ending
These figures are, as I have said, taken from Parliamentary returns prepared by the Crown hands officials, and their accuracy cannot be questioned.
And yet the Wellington electors are told that if this present Government had not come into power, the whole of the land would have been disposed of in blocks of over 2000 acres Why, no Parliament would permit such a tiling. Any Government would go out of power in less than a month who dared so to part with the land. The Acts under which this Government are working are precisely the same as the Acts under which the last Government worked. And by whom was the Act of
The regulations issued by this Government are supposed to be regulations in promotion of settlement. Well, is that so? They are the regulation of the last Government with this exception,—the purchasing clause is not included. Does that alteration promote settlement? Does that encourage men to go upon the land? How they can declare that their exclusion of the purchasing clause from the perpetual leasehold conditions, and a limitation of area to 200 acres, is a special inducement to men to go upon the land I cannot understand.
Mr. M'Lean said that there were 84,000 people owning land in the colony, and 450,000 who were landless; but his computation
Gentlemen, I have dealt with the measures of this Government; I have referred to their land administration, and now I come to their general administration. I can only select a few examples, but I shall endeavour to show thereby that that administration is not such as to entitle the Ministry to your respect for the past or your confidence for the future. First, look at the way in which they have dealt with the civil service. When Mr. Ballance was in opposition, a coterie of gentlemen met together, at his invitation, in his room, and resolved that the estimates should be cut down by certain amounts; and cut down they were, by the force of the majority, which Mr. Ballance brought from that private meeting. When he came into power he restored the salaries which had been so reduced,—and rightly restored
Next take the way in which they dealt with the question of the Chairmanship of Committees, and contrast it with their methods in dealing with this present election. Then it was their duty to lead the House on the question of who should be Chairman of Committees. It is no business now of theirs to interfere with this election. The gentleman who made the speech I am about to read is not now a supporter of the Government, and doubtless for very good reasons, but he made this speech from the Government side of the House: "Who is responsible for the humiliating position the House is in, and the Government is in, with regard to this Chairmanship of Committees? It is undoubtedly the duty of the Government, in my opinion, to lead the House in so important a matter as that of the Chairmanship of Committees. They understood from common rumour that there were two or three of the party desirous of occupying the position. Instead of calling a caucus of their own party, and endeavoring to lead that party, they refrained from calling a caucus. They allowed a caucus of their own party to be summoned, and determined themselves not to attend that caucus at all. They practically threw down the appointment to be worried over like a bone of meat by a lot of hungry dogs."
What a description by a member of Parliament of a scene in Parliament! The member's name is Mr. Fish. (Groans.)
There is another matter I ask your earnest attention to, because it really affects us in this city. The Wainui-o-mata water supply is a matter that ought to give us all, and it certainly gives me now, a great deal of anxiety. We have to take care that nothing shall be done to injure that supply. In and around the watershed of the Wainui stream a considerable forest reserve has been proclaimed, and it is of vital importance to Wellington that nothing should be done to remove the restrictions created by that proclamation. Now, I want to call your attention to the action of this Administration in regard to another forest reserve, to enable you to judge if we are not in danger while they have the reins of power. In the statute there is a clause which allows the Governor, by proclamation, to withdraw a forest reserve from the forest reservation for the purposes of settlement; but the exercise of the power is limited by these words: "Provided always that no such Proclamation shall be issued in respect of any land on the ground that it is no longer required for State forest purposes until a plan showing the extent and position of such land, and a statement of the reasons why it is no longer required for State forest purposes, shall have been laid before both Houses of Parlia-
There was a forest reserve at Hokonui, which (I am reading from Hansard) the Minister of Lands wished to withdraw for the purpose of settlement. I do not of course accuse Mr. M'Kenzie of doing anything improper in the matter. It question of administration, not of impropriety of his conduct. Three days before the close of the session the Government laid upon the table of the House a proclamation withdrawing this reserve. The statutory safeguard of thirty days was disregarded, the Administration over-rode the Act of Parliament, and the forest reserve ceased to be a forest reserve by this method of procedure, without Parliament having the opportunity required by law of considering the question. I say it is not safe to leave the administration in the hands of men who so disregard the law, and deal with safeguards which ought to be sacredly observed. Who can say that our own reserve at Wainui may not next be seized in the same way?
Again, is it right that the members of the Government should altogether abstain from doing the work which the country supposes them to be doing, and employs them to do? They are in every part of the colony except the Government offices. The only thing that brought them to Wellington in a body was the resignation of Mr. Macdonald and the issue of the writ. But for that, they would still have been endangering their digestions in various other parts of the colony. (Laughter).
Let me take another illustration of their method of leading the House. Look at their ungenerous treatment of the late Minister of Lands, and of Mr. Bryce. I venture to say that there is no man in the colony who stands higher in the estimation even of those of you who are against me to-night than Mr. Bryce; and I do not believe that any supporter of the Government who has read that debate can have done so without a sense of shame. There never has been so grave an instance of ungenerous treatment on the part of the Government towards a leader of the other side than was displayed by this Government towards Mr. Bryce.
I have said already that in showing you how I differ from the present Government I have practically stated what I think myself.
There is one matter which I wish to specially refer to. It is the question of education. I have not changed in the slightest degree the opinions I expressed when I last had the honour of trying to address you in this house. Let me interject that I am very much obliged to my present audience for having given mo so fair an opportunity to-night of making my views known. I now cay as I have said before, that is quite impossible for this colony to lend financial aid to the denominational schools.
Electors of Wellington, it is in your power on the 15th of January, by returning me to parliament, to sound the first note in the dirge of this administration. (Loud cheers).
The candidate resumed his seat amid applause which continued for several minutes.
When I rashly replied in the affirmative to the telegram which I received from our Secretary in Melbourne, asking me to undertake the honourable and responsible duties which I have to commence this evening, I fear I did not fully realise the difficulties of the position; but since then the sense of my unfitness for the task has become very oppressive. To address an assembly of this kind on general science must involve unusual difficulties, owing to the audience being largely composed of those who, only taking a casual interest in scientific discussions, look chiefly to the results; while, at the same time, there are present professional specialists in almost every branch of knowledge. How is it, then, possible for any one who, like myself, has never enjoyed opportunities for gaining experience as a teacher and public speaker, so to balance his words as to avoid offending the specialists with crude and imperfect statements, and, at the same time, escape wearying the general audience with the discussion of matters that will find a more fitting battle-ground in the sectional work of our Association?
I feel that on this occasion I must be ruled by the interest of the majority, and claim the forbearance of my fellow-workers in science if I have to refer in a sketchy way to subjects in which they are deeply interested, and far more learned than I profess to be.
Seeing that I am addressing a Christchurch audience, I hope I may be permitted, in the first place, to say a word concerning one whose scientific services should, without doubt, have obtained for him the position of first President in New Zealand of the Australasian Association. We naturally recall the name of Sir Julius von Haast on this occasion, and mourn for the loss the colony has sustained by the death of one who for thirty years occupied a most prominent position. His early researches in the North Island, in company with Von Hochstetter, were followed by the exploration of the remote districts on the west coast of Nelson; after which Canterbury secured his distinguished services, and enabled him to leave that monument of his varied scientific knowledge, shrewd capacity, and indefatigable industry, which is to be found in the Canterbury Museum.
There are others of our fellow-colonists whose wide range of experience would have peculiarly fitted them to act as your President, and I am able to say that had our veteran colonist and explorer, Sir George Grey, felt more assured in health and strength it would have been your pleasure this evening to listen to a flood of eloquence on all scientific topics that relate to the future development of Australasia. There is another name I feel must be mentioned as one who should have been in this position had his health permitted. I refer to the Rev. William Colenso, who is recognised as the greatest authority on the folk-lore of the Maoris, on whom he was among the first to confer a printed literature in their own language. His long-continued work as a field naturalist, especially as a botanist, is exceedingly interesting, seeing that it forms a connecting link that has continued the early spirit of natural-history research in New Zealand that commenced with Banks and Solander, and was continued by Menzies, Lesson, the two Cunninghams, and Sir Joseph Hooker, prior to the arrival of colonists. Thus we still have in my esteemed friend Mr. Colenso an active veteran naturalist of what we may call the old school of explorers.
It is wonderful to reflect that little more than fifty
This is now the third annual gathering of this Association; and New Zealand should feel honoured that it has, at so early a date in the Association's history, been selected as the place of meeting from among so many divisions of the great Colony of Australasia. The two volumes of the Transactions of the Association already in the hands of members are quite sufficient to prove that the hopes of its founders—or, rather, I may almost say, the founder, Professor Liversidge, of Sydney—have been amply fulfilled. The papers read before the different sections, and the addresses delivered, have, in my opinion, to
A vague idea, simmering in the brain of one scientist who thinks light of it because it has no special application in his particular environment, may, by personal converse, flash into important results in the mind of another who has had the difficulties facing him, but without the happy thought. It would be rather interesting for some one with leisure to endeavour to recount how many great discoveries have eventuated in this manner.
In casting my thoughts for a particular subject on which to address the Association I felt perplexed. Presidents of similar associations in the Old World, who are in constant contact with the actual progress in scientific thought, feel that a mere recital of the achievements during their previous term is sufficient to command interest; but in the colonies most of us are cut off from personal converse with the leading minds by whom the scientific afflatus is com-
To endeavour to describe, even briefly, the progress made in the science of a new country is, however, almost like writing its minute history. Every step in its reclamation from a wild state of nature has depended on the application of scientific knowledge, and the reason for the rapid advance made in these colonics is chiefly to be attributed to their having had the advantage of ail modern resources ready to hand.
As in most other matters in New Zealand, there is a sharp line dividing the progress into two distinct periods: the first before, and the second after, the foundation of the colony in
The history of how the country, under the mixed influences for good and for evil which prevailed almost without Government control until
The next great scientific work done for New Zealand was the Admiralty survey of the coast-line, which is a perfect marvel of accurate topography, and one of the greatest boons the colony has received from the Mother-country. The enormous labour and expense which were incurred on this survey at an early date in the history of the colony is a substantial evidence of the confidence in its future development and commercial requirements which animated the Home Government.
On the visit of the Austrian exploring ship "Novara" to Auckland in
Since then the work of scientific research has been
In the epoch of their development the Australasian Colonies have been singularly fortunate. The period that applies to New Zealand is contemporaneous with the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, which has been signalised by enormous strides in science. It has been a period of gathering into working form immense stores of previously-acquired observation and experiment, and a period marked by the escape of the scientific mind from the trammels of superstition and hazy speculation regarding what may be termed common things. Laborious work had been done and many grand generalisations had been formerly arrived at in physical science; but in the work of bringing things to the test of actual experiment investigators were still bound by imperfect and feeble hypotheses and supposed natural barriers among the sciences. But science is now established as one and indivisible, and such subdivisions as physics, chemistry, biology, are only adopted for the convenience of study. The methods are the same in all, and their common object is the discovery of the great laws of order under which this universe has been evoked by the Supreme Power.
The great fundamental advance during the last fifty years has been the achievement of far-reaching generalisations, which have provided the scientific worker with powerful weapons of research. Thus, the modern "atomic theory," with its new and clearer conceptions of the intimate nature of the elements and their compounds that constitute the earth and all that it supports, has given rise to a new chemistry in which the synthetical or building-up method of investigation is already working marvels in its application to manufactures. It is, moreover, creating a growing belief that all matter is one, and reviving the old idea that the inorganic elementary units are either simple or aggregated centres of motion specialised in a homogeneous medium, and that these units have been con-
The doctrine of the conservation of energy is a second powerful instrument of research that has developed within our own times. How it has cleared away all the old cobwebs that formerly encrusted our ideas about the simplest agencies which are at work around us, how it has so simplified the teaching of the laws that order the conversion of internal motions of bodies into various phases which represent light, heat, electricity, is abundantly proved by the facility with which mechanicians are every day snatching the protean forms of energy for the service of man with increasing economy.
These great strides which have been made in physical science have not as yet incited much original work in this colony. But, now that physical laboratories are established in some degree at the various college centres, we shall be expected, ere long, to contribute our mite to the vast store. In practical works of physical research we miss in New Zealand the stimulus the sister colonies receive from their first-class observatories, supplied with all the most modern instruments of research wielded by such distinguished as-
Of course I am quite prepared to admit that the reduplication of observatories in about the same latitude, merely for the study of the heavenly bodies, would be rather a matter of scientific luxury. The few degrees of additional elevation of the South Polar region which would be gained by an observatory situated even in the extreme south of New Zealand could hardly be expected to disclose phenomena that would escape the vigilance of the Melbourne observatory. But star-gazing is only one branch of the routine work of an observatory. It is true that we have a moderate but efficient observatory establishment in New Zealand, sufficient for distributing correct mean time, and that our meridian distance from Greenwich has been satisfactorily determined by telegraph. Also, thanks to the energy and skill of the Survey Department, despite most formidable natural obstructions, the major triangulation and meridian circuits have established the basis of our land-survey maps on a satisfactory footing, so that subdivision of the land for settlement and the adoption and blending of the excellent work done by the Provincial Governments of the colony are being rapidly overtaken. Further, I have already recalled how much the colony is indebted to the Mother-country for the completeness and detail of the coastal and harbour charts.
But there is much work that should be controlled by a physical observatory that is really urgently required. I may give a few illustrations. The tidal movements round the coast are still imperfectly ascertained, and the causes of their irregular variations can never be understood until we have a synchronous system of tide-meters, and a more widely extended series of deep-sea soundings. Excepting the "Challenger" soundings on the line of the Sydney cable, and a few casts taken by the United States ship "Enterprise," the depth of the ocean surrounding New Zealand has not been ascertained with that accuracy which many interesting problems in physical geography and geology demand. It is supposed to be the culmination
With regard to the local variation in the magnetic currents on land and close in-shore, the necessity for exact survey is even more imperative. Captain Creak, in his splendid essay on the magnetic observations of the "Challenger" Expedition, quotes the observations made by the late Surveyor-General, Mr. J. T. Thomson, at the Bluff Hill, which indicate that a compass on the north side was deflected more than 9° to the west, while on the cast side of the hill the deflection is 46° to the east of the average deviation in Foveaux Strait. He remarks that if a similar island-like hill happened to occur on the coast, but submerged beneath the sea to a sufficient depth for navigation, serious accidents might take place; and he instances a case near Cossack, on the north coast of Australia, where H.M.S. "Medea," sailing on a straight course in eight fathoms of water, experienced a compass deflection of 30° for the distance of a mile. A glance at the variation entered on the meridian-circuit maps of New Zealand shows that on land we have extraordinary differences between different trig, stations at short distances apart. In close vicinity to
In view of the fact that increased attention has been recently directed to the marked effects on the direction and intensity of the terrestrial magnetic currents of great lines of fault along which earth-movements have taken place, such as those which bring widely different geological formations into discordant contact, with the probable production of mineral veins, this subject of special magnetic surveys is deserving of being undertaken in New Zealand. In Japan and in the United States of America the results have already proved highly suggestive. A comparison between this country and Japan by such observations, especially if combined with systematic and synchronous records by modern seismographic instruments, would be of great service to the physical geologist. There are many features in common and many quite reversed in the orographic and other physical features of these two countries. Both are formed by the crests of great earth-waves lying north-east and south-west, and parallel to, but distant from, continental areas, and both are traversed by great longitudinal faults and fissures, and each by one great transverse fault. Dr. Nauman, in a recent paper, names this transverse-fault area in Japan the Fossa Magna, and it corresponds in position in relation to Japan with Cook Strait in relation to New Zealand. But the Fossa Magna of Japan has been filled up there with volcanic products, and is the scat of the loftiest active volcano in Japan. In Cook Strait, and its vicinity, as you are aware, there are no volcanic rocks, but there and southward through the Kaikouras evidence of recent fault-movements on an extensive scale is apparent, and it would be most interesting to ascertain if
I can only express the hope that the improved circumstances of the colony will soon permit some steps to be taken. Already in this city, I understand, some funds have been subscribed. As an educational institution, to give practical application to our studies in physical science, geodesy, and navigation, it would clearly have a specific value that would greatly benefit the colony.
Another great branch of physical science, chemistry, should be of intense interest to the colonists in a new country. Much useful work has been done, though not by many workers. The chief application of this science has been, naturally, to promote the development of mineral wealth, to assist agriculture, and for the settlement of fiscal and sanitary questions. I cannot refrain from mentioning the name of William Skey, Analyst to the Geological Survey, as the chemist whose researches, during the last twenty-eight years, have far surpassed any other in New
awaruite in the ultra-basic rocks of West Otago, which is highly interesting, as it is the first recognition of this meteoric-like iron as native to our planet; the discovery that the hydrocarbon in torbanite and other gasshales is chemically and not merely mechanically combined with the clay base; the discovery of a remarkable colourtest for the presence of magnesia; and the isolation of the poisonous principle in many of our native shrubs. His recent discovery that the fatty oils treated with anilines form alkaloids also hints at an important new departure in organic chemistry. His suggestion of the hot-air blow-pipe, and of the application of cyanide of potassium to the saving of gold, and many other practical applications of his chemical knowledge, are distinguished services to science, of which New Zealand should be proud.
In connection with the subject of chemistry, there is a point of vast importance to the future of the pastoral and agricultural interests of New Zealand, to which attention was directed some years ago by Professor Thomas, and Mr. Pond, of Auckland—that is, the rapid deterioration which the soil must be undergoing by the steady export of the constituents on which plant and animal life must depend for nourishment. Mr. Pond calculated that in
I have already referred to several great generalisations which have exercised a powerful influence in advancing science during the period I marked out for review; hut, so far as influencing the general current of thought, and almost entirely revolutionising the prevalent notions of scientific workers in every department of knowledge, the most potent factor of the period has been the establishment of what has been termed "the doctrine of evolution." The simple conception of the relation of all created things by the bond of continuous inheritance has given life to the dead bones of an accumulated mass of observed facts, each valuable in itself, but, as a whole, breaking down by its own weight. Before this master-key was provided by the lucid instruction of Darwin and Wallace, it was beyond the power of the human mind to grasp and use in biological research the great wealth of minute anatomical and physiological details. The previous ideas of the independent creation of each species of animal and plant in a little Garden of Eden of its own must appear puerile and absurd to the young naturalists of the present day; but in my own College days to have expressed any doubt on the subject would have involved a sure and certain pluck from the examiner.
I remember well that I first obtained a copy of Darwin's "Origin of Species" in San Francisco when on my way home from a three years' sojourn among the Red Indians in the Rocky Mountains. Having heard nothing of the controversies, I received the teaching with enthusiasm, and felt very much surprised on returning to my alma muter to find that I was treated as a heretic and backslider. Nowadays it is difficult to realise what all the fuss and fierce controversy was about; and the rising school of naturalists have much cause for congratulation that they can start fair on a well-assured logical basis of thought, and steer clear of the many complicated and purely ideal systems which were formerly in vogue for explaining the intentions of the Creator and for torturing unfortunate students. The doctrine of evolution is the single-minded acceptance of the invariability of cause and effect in the
A rough test may be applied by comparing the number of species of animals and plants which had been described before the foundation of the colony and those up to the present time. In
When we turn to botany we find that Dieffenbach, who appears to have carefully collated all the references to date
But, quite apart from the work of increasing the local collections which bear on biological studies, New Zealand stands out prominently in all discussions on the subject of geographical biology. It stands as a lone zoological region, small in area, but on equal terms, as far as regards the antiquity and peculiar features of its fauna, with nearly all the larger continents in the aggregate. In consequence of this, many philosophical essays—such, for instance, as Hooker's introductory essay in the early quarto edition of the "Flora Antarctica," the essays by Hutton, Travel's, and others in the colony, and also the New Zealand references in Wallace's works—have all contributed essentially to the vital question of the causes which have brought about the distribution and geographical affinities of plants and animals, and have thus been of use in hastening the adop-
Further close and extended study, especially, of our marine fauna is urgently required. We have little knowledge beyond the littoral zone, except when a great storm heaves up a gathering of nondescript or rare treasures from the deep. Of dredging we have had but little done, and only in shallow waters, with the exception of a few casts of the deep-sea trawl from the "Challenger." When funds permit, a zoological station for the study of the habits of our sea fishes, and for the propagation of such edible species as the lobster and crab, would be advantageous. I observe that lately such an establishment has been placed on the Island of Mull, in Scotland, at a cost of £400, and that it is expected to be nearly self-supporting. With respect to food fishes, and still more with respect to some terrestrial forms of life, we, in common with all the Australasian Colonies, require a more scientific and a less casual system of acclimatisation than we have had in the past. One must talk with 'bated breath of the injuries that have been inflicted on these colonies by the rash disturbance of the balance of nature. Had our enthusiasm been properly controlled by foresight, our settlers would probably not have to grieve over the losses they now suffer through many imported pests, through small birds and rabbits, and which they will in the future suffer through the vermin that are now being spread in all directions.
Speaking of geology, I may say that the early explorers seem to have had only the most vague ideas of the geology of the countries they explored. Indeed, the whole science may be said to have been almost entirely developed during the last fifty years; and this is very natural, as it is perhaps
In ethnology and the study of the Maori race there is an ample field for research, and it is a very great pleasure to me to state that, at the sectional meeting dealing with the subject, will be presented the proof sheets of a great lexicon embracing the languages of the Polynesian races compared with that of the Maori. This important work is in an advanced state of preparation, under the hands of Mr. Tregear, known as one of the most profound students of Maori mythology.
There is another subject which I should have liked to say something about, and that is the great Antarctic Continent; and to a purely scientific man, utterly devoid of all considerations of expense, the exploration of that little-known region appears a matter of great urgency. I understand, however, that Baron von Mueller wishes that the discussion on that subject should be reserved for the special sectional meeting on Saturday morning.
I may say, in conclusion, that I have the most perfect confidence in the success of this Association. It is twenty-four years ago since Mr. Travers got an Act passed constituting the New Zealand Institute, which was in a small way an "association for the advancement of science." It was in an endeavour to combine the efforts of the workers in the cause of science in all parts of the colony that the Institute was formed. How it succeeded is known to you all. Baron von Mueller has attributed this success to me. I must disclaim it; it is due to the manner in which, despite local jealousies, the Institute has been supported by the public, and to the zeal and enthusiasm of its members throughout the colony. This Association is an extension of the principle of the Institute to the whole of the colonies. I think it is necessary for these colonies, if they are ever to become a nation, to apply the principle still further, and to federate. I have again to thank you, and to hope that you may have a pleasant sojourn in New Zealand. If I have succeeded in showing our visitors from Australia that New Zealand has great capabilities for scientific research, then I have not altogether failed to justify the choice of New Zealand as our place of meeting for this year.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
That I distinctly recognise the high honor conferred upon me by the "Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science" when they appointed me President of Section F, is testified by my travelling the distance of nearly 2,000 miles from Adelaide to this city to take part in the proceedings of the Association. That the subject chosen by me would be of interest in New Zealand, I was informed by Professor Hutton when he courteously acknowledged my acceptance of the proffered Presidentship in March last. I have done my best to make the study of the subject simple, so that the general public who are most affected by the want of a State Bank of Issue should to some extent understand the practical bearing of this most important economic question.
The very able and conscientious gentleman who last year filled the chair that I am called upon to occupy to-day closed his presidential address with the following deeply significant words:—"Popular favor is a terrible task-mistress for she refuses bread to those who fail to work her pleasure—but the evil time draws too near for delusive teaching. It is now necessary that those who see the rocks ahead should speak out faithfully." Most of us have heard of the "rocks ahead" referred to by the late Mr. W. R. Gregg, but Mr. Johnston was more farseeing in his treatment of his subject
sequamur sed non æquis passibus. We hope when the great British foundation has advanced beyond our more humble achievements that we shall keep it well in sight.
and not to be put down till it is satisfactorily answered, is: Does the direction given to labor by capitalists and other non-workers under present conditions induce greater production in its broadest sense, than if labor had free and direct access to the soil, combined with an organised co-operative system of its own? We cannot dissociate the various branches or classes of society. An American publication truly says:—"In these days of labor trouble, society is tempted to forget, in the duty of saving itself, that the poor are also society." A Leipsic journalist wrote:—"The working people are forced to fatten the more fortunate one, who by accident, bad laws, or by unscrupulous spoliation of his fellow-man, has possessed himself of the means necessary for the production of capital." The object of economics is first to discover if such testimony is true, and if so to correct the cause of the wrong. Every individual is a member of the same commonwealth, and if any one class suffers, all others suffer with it till the wrong is removed. From such premises I conclude that we are here for the purpose of considering how the good of the whole community may be promoted, our care being that none are left to want. It must not be supposed that the shortcomings of social and political relations can be rectified at once. Those enamored of a Fabian policy adopt the ancient dictum—Natura non facit saltum. However, during the current century, Nature, aided by the skill of man, has, at his suggestion, made astonishing leaps and bounds. Instead of taking six months to convey by the breath of Eolus the voice of science to the antipodes, the lightning speed of the
ex fumo dare lucem. From the smoke that I raise to-day I encourage myself to believe that some light may be evolved.
I ask at this stage of the proceedings to be allowed to overlook the
sometimes called "money-making," in which the uppermost, and so often the only, question is:—"How much shall I gain in this transaction from the labor of others?" I propose to consider, briefly as I must, and as clearly as I can, that essential question in social economics, the
as contributing to the comfort and well-being "of all sorts and conditions of men." With this view, I must not raise myself, as if to the apex of the social pyramid, by means of a balloon, only to descend more quickly than I went up; but begin where the builders do—on the bed-rock—and, by a steady aim, raise the superstructure. I must discover where the use of money first comes in as an aid to labor and in the necessary distribution of the products of labor. It goes without saying that the sole source of human activity is the food supply, and the maximum of result is obtained when every member of the human family is usefully employed, each one according to his ability—a quantity continually to be increased by the exercise of proper technical instruction. I ask that the total food-supply of the population of the world shall be taken as a unit, and that the sources whence it is obtained shall be noted. This total supply is gained from the soil and from the sea by no other means than by the output of human labor, and ought, from year to year, to be equal to the sustenance of each individual for the entire period. If each individual were so located that he planted upon and gathered from the land or gained from the sea his own food and no more, and was content to make his own clothing and construct his own dwelling from materials raised or gathered by himself, there would be no place for money, as no exchange of commodities would be needed.
ad infinitum. The only condition is that it was an honest debt to begin with; in the case supposed the exchange was a token for a day's labor for some commodity that took the same time to create.
it is of no consequence of what material it is made, provided that (1) the supply is easily procurable, (2) that it is durable, (3) that it can be easily carried, and (4) that it cannot be counterfeited; in itself money is only the tangible sign of some article of use or desire in terms of the labor put forth in its creation. What, then, of a golden sovereign? This trinket has cost at least the putting forth of from twice to ten times its value in labor to produce it! Little wonder is it that a gold mining country is always recognised as being a poor country. Manifestly to raise gold as a medium of exchange is a great waste of capital, i.e., of labor, the basis of all capital. True economy consists in expending as little labor as possible in producing any article desired for a given use. Hence the advantage of so-called labor-saving machines. The article under consideration for the moment is the medium of exchange—money. In the passing from hand to hand of this medial agency there is the danger that some person possessing a token, say for a day's labor, may take it into his head that it would be much easier to foist a money token into circulation for which he had not expended an honest day's labor, so he starts in the evil business of a counterfeiter or forger of money. The value of gold as coin, if any, is that in consequence of its costing a good deal more in labor to get from the earth than it will represent as money, it is not likely to be over-issued; whether there is enough of it to afford a regular supply is not often thought of.
If the revived doctrine of the alchemists should prove to be practicable, viz., that "indications point to the near discovery by scientists of methods by which to transform the
"The King Never Dies,"
and that the State never becomes insolvent. The issue of representative value cannot be entrusted to any person or any body of people whose shoulders are less broad than the State itself. Money, as the representative of food—the support of labor as it passes from hand to hand, must be sure of conjoined food and labor being given in exchange for it whenever it is presented. This leads to the question that the issues must be adequate to the requirements of the State, i.e., of each person within its limits. Mr. Del Mar crystalizes, what I think no one will doubt the truth of, into these words:—"An expanding traffic needs an expanding money, one that by regulation can be made to keep even pace with increasing exchanges"; but must not be liable to "increases, without regulation, either from the adventitious production of mines, the obtaining of the money-metal by conquest, the unlimited emission of Government notes, the licence of private coiners, or the greed of private banks of issue." In another place Mr. Del Mar says:—"Pieces of money only need a mark of authority impressed upon them, and a Government virtuous enough to restrict their issue and strong enough to prevent the money mark being counterfeited." Some persons allege that such a Government cannot exist in Australasia, then shall we put ourselves in the hands of associated banks and their outside confederates—shareholders and other traders in money? As your late Mr. Bathgate remarked, "We have put our head into a noose, and let the banks turn the twitch-stick." As an illustration of the working of a medium of exchange let a single instance be given,
It is allowed that the term nummus, once used by the Romans for money, came from the Greek nomos (law) in this case meaning the exact science of numbers; so that number and not "intrinsic" value is the synonym of the circulating medium of exchange—money. On the banks of the Nile are found small pebbles flat and thin like money, giving sizes from a sixpence to a crown-piece; these are believed to have been used by the kings of Egypt for money, hence the scientists have dubbed these nodules of limestone nummulites. Now, as there was an unlimited number of these ready-made pebbles, anyone might easily get a stock and oiler them in exchange for whatever he wanted, without having expended as much labor for each pebble as the commodity he proposed to purchase with it had cost the producer of that article for use. It is thus seen at once that the pebble-money must be restricted in its number, as the original form of nummus from nomos (law) implies—else like the over-issued paper money in Argentina, it would become greatly depreciated in its representative value—in other words it would take a great deal of the over-issued currency to purchase a very small quantity of goods. As the Pharaoh was the only person who was entitled to be supplied with food without having worked for it—he had the right to decree a fixed value upon each white-stone—he caused a certain number to be branded with the royal mark which none might imitate, this therefore became the pebble currency of the land of Egypt. The Pharaoh having gathered his tribute or labor-tax of food by the emission of his marked pebbles, maintained his court, his army, and his employes in public works as other Governments have done, each in its own particular way. The pebbles thus emitted became the currency of the country and enabled exchanges to be made among his subjects. If, as was likely to happen, the Pharaoh wanted further supplies he would make a new issue of marked pebbles, "watered stock," a process which would depreciate the currency; or he would make an enforced levy upon his subjects for some of the previously issued pebbles, and thus "corner" the money market, by which means the price of the food that he wanted to purchase would be rendered more favorable to the buyer. Judging from the financial tactics of later ages, if Pharaoh had surplus stores that he wanted to sell, he would emit his newly-branded pebbles freely, so that he might sell at a profit. This latter course might be State jobbery, but the kings of Egypt, like the Bank Associations, had not the
we read that by his victories he amassed so much gold and silver in Jerusalem, afterwards added to by his son's wisdom, that it is said "silver was not anything accounted, of in the days of Solomon"; plainly showing the absurdity of gold, or gold and silver—bi-metallisin, being reckoned as a "standard of value." From what has been said, I hope it has been made plain that an honest Pharaoh could, by regulating the issue of his ear-marked white stone currency, produce greater stability in finance than could be contrived by any uncertain influx of silver or gold. Food may be cheap for either one of two reasons—Because there is more of it than can be consumed (in which case no one ought to go short of it); or money may be so scarce that there is not enough in circulation to enable many would-be consumers to purchase as much as they require for their sustenance. In both instances the growers of wheat equally suffer, but it is in the latter ease that nobody benefits—the cause of the whole misfortune rests with those who have permitted a deficient money circulation to exist.
that the thimble-riggers of finance will continue to play in the game of picking the pockets of the public, and of keeping bread from the mouths of the poor, until the regulation of the currency passes out of the hands of private persons and becomes a matter of public policy.
I will now refer to the dynamics of money, as exemplified in modern times by "moving" food, as the Americans call it. In
the oatmeal, and the pork, and the butter, raised in Ireland, went to feed absentees and their dependents, while the producers at home were left to starve. The co-operation of labor to-day is effected by means of money moving wheat from the elevators of Chicago, from the grain heaps of India, and from the ports of the Baltic and Black Seas, to wherever it is wanted to keep labor going. This result is accomplished by what is known as "capital"—the dynamics of money in the hands
capital means just so much of the result that labor has gained from the soil as has been exacted from the toilers by middlemen, who, while distributing that product, not only kept food enough for themselves and their immediate helpers, but who retained enough of food-value in their own hands to create a new class of persons to produce food specially for the advantage of themselves. These persons are known as tenants, or borrowers, of the very money that the lenders had abstracted from the actual producers in the exchange of commodities that had been placed in their hands. They thus practically say to themselves and their Children by their accumulations,
for by the eternal fitness of things you have provided for yourselves an income of food for all generations to come." Nemesis is not, however, to be evaded. To escape ennui, the child of luxury, by etiquette and custom, has invented for himself toils peculiarly his own. Science itself cannot escape the never-ceasing contagion of custom. That cynical woman of genius, "Ouida," who, by her satire, preserved that relic of the past, the Cathedral of Venice, from demolition, twits the devotees of science with the keen eye that they keep upon the "main chance," the salary they must receive for their labors; "not for love alone," but "because there is money with it."
Capital may be said to be the system of dynamics which rules in this world of individualism, and is an agency by means of which the few are able to augment their possessions at the expense of the labor of the many, in contradistinction to the energy that should be begotten of the perfect organization of the labor of the whole community. It may not be supposed that the present state of social existence can at one bound leap into the improved condition shadowed forth in this paper. We have to do with a period of transition. What I have undertaken is to show that one mode by which progress is to be achieved is by the State taking entire control of the currency of the country. With the more advanced thinkers of the age I cannot overlook the circumstance that Mr. Del Mar points out, viz., that though "reform in the institution of money would remove many causes of popular discontent, it
because the subject is one usually beyond the scope of popular agitators, and who, besides, may fear to risk the popularity of their own remedy by acknowledging the existence of another." He sums up his contention by stating what all ought to know, that "money," i.e., the whole system of the currency, "unheard, unfelt, almost unseen, has the power to so distribute the burdens, gratifications, and opportunities of life, that each individual shall enjoy that share of them to which his merits entitle him—or to dispense them with so partial a hand as to
and perpetuate a succession of social slaveries to the end of time." Ladies and gentlemen, which track is our course of social life travelling upon? Few persons will, I apprehend, take objection to the abstract lines I have so far laid down. The self-conscious dishonesty of those who possess ill-gotten booty always apologises for itself that it has by its own acts prevented greater wrong being done, and we teach ourselves to look upon the mass of moral and physical human degradation induced by the glare of what we call civilisation as a better position of affairs than that which preceded it. If this progression exists there maybe some hope. Probably, few doubt that the present condition of France is better than that which obtained under the ancien regime. Then let us not talk about finality. Again I refer to the history of the past, to show how ready human nature is to take the shadow for the reality. A block of wood has been prayed to as if it were the divinity it is supposed to represent. A king is treated as reverentially as if he were the "all sorts and conditions of men," whose interests he is pledged to conserve, till at length, not being unconscious like the idol, he forgets that the homage addressed to himself is only respect paid through him to the millions over whom he reigns; nor are democratic rulers free from the danger of a similar misconception.
instead of being thought of and treated as the representative of labor, passing from hand to hand, is looked upon as something possessing intrinsic value of its own. Money itself is not a sacred thing at all, it is the labor for the life-sustaining food that it represents, that is the holy thing which, sanctified by inspiration and intelligence, is brought into practical usefulness by the "sweat of the brow," a type and a precedent to that labor which is unto life eternal, and the issue of which is encysted in the words
"."Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
This misapprehension of the nature of money has caused the greater part of the troubles of human existence, because the overwhelming fact that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" has been lost sight of. As a consequence war, rapine, murder, aggression, dishonesty by strategy, and by overt action, have prevailed, till the doctrine that might makes right is accepted far and near, the frequency of the wrong having obscured its enormity not only in the eyes of those who inflict it, but also of those who suffer from it. It was found that to toil, though healthy, was tedious, and the results of toil, however honest, were too tardy to satisfy the ambitions of those who, forgetting the thing signified—the labor—fell down and worshipped the eidolon, the money, so that he was a true witness who summarised "covetousness" as "idolatry." Whether this fact were written in the Bible or no, it is as the frontlet on every eyebrow emblazoned by the wealth begotten of the ill-requited labor of others, till at length a Huxley could with truth aver that "it was better to have been born in heathen Fiji than in the slums of Christian London." The ethics of the misuse of money are graphically set forth in the story of the unjust steward. That worthy, unwilling to avail himself of the fair distribution of food by labor, alleged that he could not dig, that it was
to beg—he therefore introduced the still practised "division of the spoils" between himself and those who became his willing tools. We have before us the food and the pebbles—the one the prime factor of life, the other the agent of distribution—each awaiting the performance of its office. Food is more heavy to move, pebbles less so, especially when their number is certified on a strip of papyrus—similar in effect to the silver certificates of to-day. Let it be supposed that when the Pharaoh, had, by means of the pebbles, taxed out of his fellaheen the corn that he wanted for himself and his retainers—such as public works, civil service, army and navy, etc.—these pebbles then became the currency of Egypt, by means of which symbols his subjects might distribute the remainder of the food among themselves more readily than by direct barter. It has pleased the moneychangers of the age to pass into slang, for the use of those unacquainted with the methods of commerce, that "Barter would be
When the masses of the people are better informed they will remember that all the business of the world is transacted by one kind of barter or another. There is
know what was understood in King Solomon's time—that immense quantities of available silver cause its purchasing power to diminish. Hence they have set all their ingenuity to work, aided by all the political influence they can command by bribery and other means, to persuade the public into the belief that, in spite of the vast quantity of silver that is now being raised in excess of its economic uses, that it is possible to maintain for it the same purchasing power, which means, from their standpoint, the same selling price that it formerly possessed. To this end, the general taxpayer of the United States pays for all the labor of the persons engaged in silver-mining,—in fabricating the machinery engaged therein, down to the last person who earns his living from the industry of silver for coinage, instead of these hosts of workers being engaged in the production of some useful article of food or commerce. But these silver-men conjure up for justification the immensely overissued paper currency of Argentina. The over-value these men put upon their silver stands on no better basis than the inflated price put upon copper by the French syndicate or the over-issued face value of the Argentine paper. The worth of gold, silver, copper, paper, as money depends solely on its total volume, and on the rapidity with which it circulates.
has been purposely kept in the background till those who ought to know better have come to overlook its existence, in order that the public might, through not understanding the true doctrine of the currency, more easily become the victims of the money-changers. Hence the cry was put forth not long ago in New Zealand with respect to the financial project of the late Mr. James Macandrew, and doubtless repeated with parrot-like satisfaction by an uninstructed public, viz., "that Mr. Macandrew would put everything right with a pile of paper and a printing
triumphantly laughs at his neighbor who possesses a note of the collapsed bank; but the man with the gold does not reflect how many pounds he has been done out of in his business by the fluctuations in the value of his property caused by the see-sawing of the financial wirepullers when they have alternately expanded and contracted the currency for their profit and his loss. It is asserted that Sparta, the first Roman Republic, Carthage, and every country while working under a numerary system of the currency has been prosperous. A purely numerary system is incompatible with a despotism, whether the tyrant be a king or an oligarchy. The Roman emperor, Octavius, it is said, wished to return to the numerary system of the first republic, but who was to control the emission of the currency? "To entrust the Senate with the tremendous powers would be to deliver up the government to them. The power would probably be abused. To regulate the currency himself would expose him to the attack of every dissatisfied class." No government in Australasia has yet arisen that could affix a sign on every money-token sent into circulation equivalent to the brand S,C of the Roman republic. The numerary brand of the famed iron currency of Lycurgus was, it is believed, the secret of its value. The famous William Pitt, like Augustus, quailed before the capitalists of his age, who were the masters of the Government debt. Mr. Pitt, with the Rom an emperor, saw that a numerary paper emission was a system of taxation equable in its incidence—the very thing the capitalists dislike. Thwarted in his object of fair play, he petulantly exclaimed that a national paper currency was to the bankers what a policeman was to a thief. I find that your Mr. Verrall, like Augustus Cæsar, has found
magna est veritas et prevalebit. The present system, backed up by the gold and silver delusion,
because it appeals right along the gamut of human covetousness, from the shrill scream of the cheap-jack to the guttural bass of the millionaire, offering to each and every a means of over-reaching his less informed neighbor. I have already indicated that I propose to relegate gold and silver to the position of commodities, to be bought and sold for what they are worth, as men, women, and horses still continue to be. I would like
—not by proxy of some of its members, but in a grand procession—every now and then to pass along the slums and into the dens of each abode of poverty in these islands; this done, that afterwards every outcast because of his poverty, with his wife and his children in their garments soiled by labor, or tattered for the want of its wages, there being nothing for them to do, should go in procession along your gayest thoroughfares and into your wealthiest churches that civilization might become better acquainted with the totality of its present outcome. This better acquaintance with the state of the case might lead to the aggregate of the people taking the management of their affairs out of the hands of the few into their own. Is it a hopeless task for these colonies, in the freshness of their youth and in the honesty of their purpose, to form a Government that shall emit such an amount of representative value as shall be
This emission by the Government once established and understood by the masses, the descensus Averni of over-issue would be checked by the knowledge gained from observing the financial effect of each succeeding issue on the trade, commerce, and agriculture of the country. In half a generation the public danger of being harmed by the jugglery of bankers' associations, with closed doors, assisted by their confederates outside, capitalists of every grade would have passed away, because the people would have become sufficiently enlightened to testify their wishes through the ballot-box. I may be told that I am very dogmatic on a subject that is very deep. Permit me to reply that among students of other schools of finance I might not
was so potent that my paper on "Small Holdings of Land the Mainstay of Individuals and Nations" was only noticed in the just published "Transactions" by its title. I freely admit the feebleness of my attempt to deal with such a great question; the importance of the subject was the same, nevertheless. Often has my attention been directed to the progress of assisted settlement on small holdings in your beautiful islands, inaugurated I think by Sir Robert Stout and the Hon. John Ballance. The profound theorists who prosper under the present condition of finance may ask how is the State to discover what is an adequate emission of State paper! These querists will desire elaborate calculations and bewildering columns of figures. These are the receptacles of dust that they ever have at hand to blind the eyes of the public; but is not this the section for statistics? Not long ago a banker before a meeting in Melbourne, at the Bankers' Institute of Australasia, broadly asserted that banks' elaborate figures were
While long before that an English financier had stated that public opinion has been proved by results to be more reliable than the arguments of experts trained to think in particular grooves. Of this the operation of Sir Robert Peel's Act of
be thought of. The question arises how many millions of gallons will it take to cover the plain a foot deep in the shallowest place? The mathematicians have measured its superficial area, and calculated the inequalities of its surface they have allowed for the supposed differences of the soil in respect to soakage; but after all the only exact test of
ponderata, the moneta, and the numerata, or the weighed, the minted, and the numbered—that at the present period the nations of the world have harked back to the system of Juno moneta, the minted, with
My reply is chiefly because, as the late Mr. Walter Bagehot remarked, "those who best know many of the facts of banking will not tell them or hint at them." I presume he meant they were trade secrets. Science now disclaims these tricks of the dark ages. In the history of the world it is recorded that human power had too often exulted over those lying at its mercy. The victors left off eating their captives when they found it was to their advantage to employ or sell them as slaves. Under a partially enlightened national conscience, those in political or social power took advantage of the ignorance of those less informed than themselves, and do up to this hour propose that capital should have the balance of might on its side, and the food of the world within its grasp with which to enforce its power. Thus to-day, no matter at what expense in labor any property real or personal has been brought together—if merely one-half of its cost has been pledged for money—the mortgagee takes the whole of it and leaves the unfortunate borrower penniless. So glaring is this hardship that even the Law Times awhile ago revolted against its infliction, and said "the notion of sanctity of contract is outside the question, when the enforcement of the contract is practically impossible, or only attainable at vastly exceptional cost." The heaviest part of the indictment is that by tampering with the currency of the country these bankers bring about the very catastrophes that place the borrower at the mercy of the lender. It was given as a jeu d'esprit, in an American paper, that
over his copy-book sentence "Honesty is the best policy," and submitted to his money-lending father whether it was so? "Yes, sonny, the senior affectionately replied—"if people had not been honest, how should I have got on as I have done?" The contention of the near future is between
moneta, the minted money of the usurer, will give place to the counted volume of the numerata under the regulated control as to its emission by the Government of the people who have to get their living under its potent influence. But this being so, how is it that the vast edifice of progress has been reared during little more than a century? Certainly by means of co-operation, of which up to now money, i.e., capital, has been the only efficient agent. The despotism of a single mind could build a pyramid or found an empire. This power having passed away, on its ruins has arisen capitalism, that is, the concentration of the results of other men's labor in the hands of a few. This oligarchy by the use of the lever of wages has exacted from the laborer a large proportion of the reward of his work. Then, if capital ceases to be the bond for co-operation of labor, some power must take its place. Economists look to the combined action of a State Bank of Issue and the organization of labor to replace the iron hand of the taskmasters' wage-power. The progress will be slow, but the reason why a Government which is said to be of the people, for the people, and by the people, should not begin to be welded into a great cooperative power, by the aid of a State Bank of Issue, it is difficult to pronounce. Because the management of State finance falls into the power of money-forgers like the late President Celman of Argentina, the robbery perpetrated, or the financial ruin brought about, though not peculiar to paper money, is laid at its door. The supposed reserve of
when looked for was found to have been spirited away, and when the disturbing ideas attaching to the importance of gold and silver coinage are banished for good and all, we may expect to have a currency founded on a true basis, and one that, as knowledge extends, will be "understanded of the people." We might as well repudiate the use of either fire or water because of the destruction wrought by a conflagration, or the devastation caused by an extensive inundation, as condemn the use of paper money because its excessive issue has brought about financial disaster. Then what of the constant practice of these colonies in borrowing foreign capital? Mr. Bagehot averred that what will be the effect on incipient civilizations by the facility with which these loans are asked for and granted "no untutored mind can say."
whose bonds should be a convenient mode of investment and opportunity for mild speculation, it is difficult to divine. The Chief Justice of South Australia the other day, in a State correspondence, recognized the want of a "local market for Government stock." If the insatiable bent for borrowing outside capital was checked, We might set about discovering how we might help ourselves, and probably should find that a measure similar to the Bill of Mr. Macandrew, passed in the Upper House of New Zealand, for an Act to be entitled "The Public Advances on Land Act of
than the English—and for a very good reason. A Frenchman can purchase Government bonds called rentes for as small a sum as £4 each, upon which he receives interest—he therefore feels that he is somebody, and that he has a stake in the progress of his country. In vice versa. A well-regulated State Bank of Issue should so far minimise the fluctuation of value as to assure a borrower of money that the interest agreed upon, as it became due, and the principal sum, when to be repaid, should be met by the sale of about the same quantity of produce of live or dead stock that the money borrowed would have purchased at the time of the loan. Everybody will know that under the existing system of a forced expansion of the currency at one time and the
of it at another, that the borrower of £1,000 at 5 per cent, when money is abundant may, when money is scarce, have to sell 50 per cent, in quantity more produce than the money would have purchased when he borrowed it, when wanted to pay his interest or repay the loan. Of course I shall be told that this "arises from financial depression";
This is the very, thing I am trying to get at—the providence that sits in bank parlors—and I want to see God's good Providence, as of old, turn the money-changers out of His temple of justice and fair play, which shall no longer remain "a den of thieves." How just my contention is, let anyone refer to a paper read by Mr. Matthew Macfie, on the
If I have succeeded in shaking this false confidence of "credulity" and dispelling this ignorance in any degree, I submit that I have, in however humble a manner, aided in forwarding the objects of this Association.
(1.) That a condition essential to the currency of any country is that it must be of such a character, that by regulation, its total numerary volume may be adequate to the business requirements of the community.
(2.) That a so-called metallic basis for a currency is a delusion and a snare, and only plays into the hands of those who seek to avail themselves unduly of the results of other people's labor.
(3.) That for the social and political welfare of any country it is indispensable that the emission of its circulating medium, money, must be in the hands of one party only, and that party must be the State.
(4.) That as the power of capital, at present, is the only efficient bond of co-operation there must be substituted for it the united force of organised labor, and of a State Bank of Issue, before any permanent change for the better is possible.
(5.) That while this change is being effected, the increase of knowledge in social science afforded by the correlated facts of statistics will hasten on, I hope peacefully, the revolution that I have tried to briefly set forth in this paper.
It will be doubtless be conceded that the true province of science is to utilize the lessons afforded by the study of the past, whether in time nearer or more remote, till at length "all things shall work together for good" because the finite and fallible science of man shall more nearly run co-ordinate with the infinite and not fallible purpose of the Supreme Mind. This result cannot be while civilization and science leave out of their calculations "the least of these" who bear the human form. If I am correctly informed, even the Maories surpass ourselves in caring for every individual in their community. As I think, it is time that money, the means of the distribution of wealth, should be made to more efficiently perform the office that pertains to it, viz., that "he that gathered much had nothing over, while he that gathered little had no lack." Political and social science may be considered as the object and end of all discovery. "Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost" surely applies not less to humanity and to each of its units than to objects whose main title to our consideration is that they minister to man's sustentation and well-being. As noticed in the address of Sir James Hector, the distinguished President of the Association last evening, science should teach how, in prospect of a vastly increasing population upon these islands, the elements for their support should not be deported without practical science providing for a renewed supply of plant-food to the soil. It is to be hoped that no considerable portion of the surface of beautiful and picturesque New Zealand shall be rendered useless for all time by mining operations, like vast tracks in Nubia, California, and elsewhere—when the disinherited classes shall become the special wards of science—and when the civilization of the future may boast as did the Incas of Peru in a past age, that not a single person of all their subjects was not provided for.
Adelaide: Hussey & Gillingham,
Notwithstanding—indeed, I should say, in consequence of—the advent to office of the present Government in January last, returns show that the excess of departures over arrivals for the following six months (ended
There is, moreover, rapidly increasing depression, which must result in further emigration—the inevitable consequence of a plundering and blundering policy.
It behoves us, therefore, to search carefully for the causes of, and the cure for, such disastrous circumstances.
The Premier, on the 10th of last July, in the House, stated (Hansard p. 124), "I have always said, and I repeat, that the principal cause of this exodus of population is that there has not been land in small areas in sufficient quantity on which the people could settle." . . . . . . . Again, "Many people are leaving New Zealand for other shores because they cannot get land here. Sir, unless the big estates are dealt with, I firmly believe—honestly in my heart believe—that the exodus of population must continue."
But, as it seems to me, this is either ignorant, reckless, or dishonest, talk; the kind of dangerous jargon which is bringing ruin upon us all.
For neither land, nor the want of land, is a primary, a nearer, or a proximate, cause of the exodus; as any able statesman must know.
The primary cause of the exodus is our ignorance and selfish apathy, and especially the apathy of our educated men; in ignoring that the welfare of the individuals who compose the State is dependent upon the welfare of the State.
We forget that personal happiness—individual prosperity—is not distinct from, but, on the contrary, is expressly dependent upon, wise laws and prudent administration. Therefore, even on the most selfish principle of self-prosperity, it was, as I urged prior to the elections in not, not a philosophy of thorns; i.e., to insure our urgent needs, financial invigoration (involving restoration of confidence) and increased suitable population: and then (but not before) to insure further measures to secure permanent prosperity.
Of course, incidentally to those further measures, just steps might be taken to prevent and remedy large land-holdings; although not, not by a land tax, or by any other method of class spoliation, or injustice. (See, for instance, Mill's Principles of Polit. Ec.,
The natural result of our ignorance and selfish apathy has been the election from time to time of a House, of whom the very very large majority have been, and are, ignorant and dishonest. For instance, they are ignorant in respect of even the first principles of political economy, i.e., ignorant of what would render us happy, or miserable; and therefore treat measures as they arise, or are forced upon them only in an ad captandum, haphazard, manner; and they are dishonest, because even if they happen, on any particular occasion, to know what is right, and therefore best, in the interests of the Colony, and therefore in the interest of the individuals who compose the Colony, their main efforts are to toady to the public opinion of the hour, and thereby to obtain, or retain, personal prestige, or plunder, in the shape of office, or otherwise.
Thus, I fear that the number of members who are likely to have, like Socrates, to drink poison, as the penalty of their superior wisdom, is small.
How appropriately do the words used by Disraeli over 56 years ago apply ("Times,"
Truly human nature is now the same as it was nearly 2300 years ago and therefore history must repeat itself.
Such then has been the natural effect of the original cause; i.e., of our ignorance and selfish apathy.
Then the effect, i.e., the ignorant and dishonest, very large majority of the House, became, in its turn, a cause—a promotive of the exodus; by passing unwise laws, and by permitting imprudent administration: as shown in (1) neglecting constitutional reforms, (2) allowing Treasurers to violate the primary canons of State finance, (3) permitting unfair legislation, and in (4) the non-promotion of wealth production.
Unwise laws, and imprudent administration, in natural sequence (even before the present Government came into office), produced want of confidence—indeed, deep-seated distrust—amongst capitalists, and virtual stoppage of immigration; the distrust meaning not only no inflow, and a disastrous lack, of cash in general circulation, but also a forcing of outflow.
Thus the primary cause of the excess of exodus is ignorant apathy,; and the proximate causes are natural results immediately arising from unwise laws and imprudent administration: namely, (1) want of confidence—deep-seated distrust (indeed, now, fright) amongst capitalists—and (2) virtual stoppage of immigration.
These natural results have, necessarily, in their turn, produced cessation of the investment, and of other expenditure, of money; and thereby stagnation with its inevitable consequences—destruction of values, paralysis of trade, scarcity of employment, and cheap prices of labour and wares in the struggle to live.
Hence, in natural sequence, widespread misery; and, in a very large number of cases, necessarily bankruptcy, death, or exodus.
For capital and people are the life-blood of prosperity; and how can enterprises—productive or manufacturing—flourish if the main arteries be dammed? [Note also what "The Sydney Morning Herald" says, as reprinted in "The New Zealand Herald" of
Indeed, before prosperity can again dawn it must, as I wrote in "The New Zealand Herald" of a sensitive plant.
The working man has been deluded to forget—whilst it is he above all others that should remember—that industry is limited by capital, that labour cannot prosper without capital, that capital, by whomsoever supplied, is just as indispensable to State prosperity as labour, and that capital is absolutely requisite to found and support industries, which are what the working man mainly depends upon for his daily food; and therefore that it is suicidal for him to promote, or support, any movement, Ministry, or man, that advocates, or pursues, a policy to oppress, harass, or frighten Capital: and, moreover, of the utmost importance not to otherwise alarm the propertied classes by wild talk—such as land nationalisation, or single, or graduated land, tax.
Instead of sound political economy, the working man has been deluded by specious talkers to believe that labour and capital are necessarily antagonistic; that all wealth
The working man has thus been humbugged out of his votes, and his hurrahs. Alas! alas! disastrous delusions. But humbug and credulity are twins.
It is truly marvellous, as I have repeatedly pointed out from time to time, that the Colony (and especially the working man) has permitted the Legislature for years past to play, and still approves of the Legislature playing, such ruinous antics, as have been and are now in vogue; and, indeed, wonderful that Labour has been so hood, winked as to send members to power whom capitalists, be they great or small, must view with the utmost distrust. For instead, every exertion should, as, of course, have been made, and particularly by Labour, to inspire Capital with confidence, and to secure an increase of suitable population; and every regard had to a lesson that history teaches—to Disraeli's prophetic words: "You will in due season, with a democracy, find that your property is less valuable, and your freedom is less complete. I doubt not when there has been realised a sufficient quantity of disaffection and dismay, the good sense of this country will come to the rally, and that you will obtain some remedy for your grievances, and some redress for your wrongs, by the process through which alone it can be obtained—by that process which may make your property more secure, but which will not render your liberty more eminent."—(See Kebbel's Beaconsfield, p. 100.)
It is under such circumstances of unwise laws, and imprudent administration, that withdrawal of money from circulation, and emigration, have been forced upon Capital; and exodus upon a large section of the population who are especially and directly dependent upon the smiles of Capital. Nor can want of confidence and emigration stop until we become sane enough to institute the necessary measures to restore confidence amongst capitalists, and to promote prudent immigration; by electing wise men to the Legislature having the confidence of Capital as well as of Labour. For, as even Mr. Buick admits, "By wealth we live." (See Hansard,
The way to promote further stagnation, and therefore additional disaster, and especially for Labour—that is markedly dependent upon Capital feeling contented, not discontented—is to insist upon such legislative enactments as will still fur the oppress, harass, and frighten land-owners, and capitalists, and render the investment of money here yet more unremunerative and insecure.
Thus, rigidly carry out the proposed land and income tax: and also enact laws (a) whereby free labour is to be suppressed, and Union men only are to be employed; (b) whereby every man who applies for work must be employed, and whereby no man shall receive less than, say, £4 a week, for say five days, work, of, say, six hours a day, regardless of quality, or sale prices; (c) that compulsory Labour Courts of Arbitration (i.e., involving compulsory references) be established; (d) that New Zealand shall be only for New Zealanders (see Premier's speech reported in "The New Zealand Herald' of shall invest their money, if called upon to do so, at, say, five per cent, per annum on such personal, or other, security as may be approved by a public valuator appointed by the Trade and Labour Councils, with a penalty as against the capitalist for non-employing an applicant for work, or for not investing when called upon; (f) that there be immediately a further loan of, say, ten millions, to insure employment to all at good wages; (g) that the Government undertake, as a State function, the employment of all needing work, that is when the private employers, who are in the first instances to find work for applicants, have become bankrupt. ("The policy of the Government is to relieve as far as possible the artisans, and to try and find employment for them in the colony."—Hon. J. G. Ward, must employ and pay him, whether or not B needs a clerk; (h) that all Customs duties which do not specially touch capital be instantly repealed; and, above all, (i) that such an amended land tax be enacted, including confiscation of the unearned increment (See Sir George Grey's Parliamentary speech of
The main result, necessarily, would be wholesale emigration, retail humiliation—a further folding of tents and flitting, and a further withdrawal of money from circulation, on the part of Capital; i.e., further fright and flight on the part of the employer, the chief friend of Labour, and
not, certainly not, the attainment of the Socialist's goal—cloak it as you may—i.e., the equal re-distribution of wealth.
The working man must be mad to think that by class legislation, by legislating, as he thinks, specially for himself, he is benefitting himself. Thus, for instance, in the matter of wages, it is idle to think that Capital can, or will, permanently pay such remuneration to the labourer as leaves it no margin. Indeed, legislative regulation of adult labour is a short-sighted unwholesome delusion; as shown very plainly in the recent article in "The Nineteenth Century Review," by the late Mr. Bradlaugh.
It is significant, also, that the British Association now sitting have arrived at the same conclusion; and, in this connection, it may not be irrelevant to remark that, even in England, where wages are so much lower than here, the late Trade Commission decided that remuneration was almost even between capital and work.
If, however, the working man must have a special political goal let him—instead of risking the denunciations of the Pope as an impious barbarian whose pretentions are ridiculous and insane (see cablegram "New Zealand Herald,"
I must defer comment upon the Land Tax for the next section of this article.
Meantime, to Labour, I—who in my youth was engaged in manual toil, who have always worked and still work for far more than 8 hours a day, and who am forced to believe that the working man has been a miserable sinner towards himself—would say:—Wear your follies loosely like your clothes, not like your skin; as you will have to change them for wisdoms from time to time; and believe me that although this article may seem like a tocsin of war, it is indeed written in the interests of peace.
Further, meantime, to all workers in the cause of promoting our prosperity, I commend, as a supreme basis, The Sovereignty of Wisdom; and, as maxims, not merely " "It's dogged that does it."Omnia Vincit Labor" but, pre-eminently, the Disraelian-Gladstonian precept—
Let us now turn to the Land Tax; especially in relation to large land-holdings.
The Premier, as already quoted in Part I. of this article, has stated (Hansard,
He has, therefore, inaugurated the land tax bursting up policy as a panacea for the exodus.
As, however, I hold it to be a sinister scheme, without any sound basis of reason for its inception, and in its scope and principles, dishonest, and otherwise inherently vicious, and otherwise most impolitic, and otherwise a huge mistake, I now comment fully upon its inception, scope, and principles.
But for an analysis of its details in respect of injustices, inequalities, and anomalies, I cannot do better than commend to my readers a speech made in the House by
Nor do I dwell upon the vicious principle of taxing improvements over £3000; because that is admitted even by the Government to be a serious blot.
Now, first, although, where land is needed for cockatoo settlement, such holdings may possibly be prejudicial to general prosperity, yet a Land Tax, levied in excess of the due proportion of taxes which should be paid by land, is dishonest; because confiscatory in its nature.
Thus Professor Fawcett in his Manual of Polit. Ec. (It would now, however," (the italics are mine) "be an unjust confiscation of property to increase the land tax; such an augmentation of the tax would be paid out only from the rent of landowners, and would therefore be as indefensible as any other impost laid upon one special class." (See also, J. S. Mill's Principles of Polit. Ec.,
Similarly, a tax primarily levied for other than revenue purposes, or even levied with a subsidiary purpose, other than a revenue purpose, is also considered by Professor Fawcett as inherently vicious. (See, for instance, Manual Polit. Ec., et seq., and p. 573; and mark the speech of even the Legislative Councillor chosen by the Government to second the Address-in-Reply; and also note addresses by Mr. M. J. S. McKenzie, and the Hon. Mr. Rolleston.—Hansard,
Such a tax, therefore, as imposes upon large landed estates a levy of 1¾d per acre, in addition to the normal levy (see schedules A and B to the pending Land and Income Assessment Bill), for a purpose avowedly other than revenue, although revenue be one of the purposes, is distinctly confiscatory in its nature, and therefore, distinctly dishonest, and otherwise inherently vicious.
In illustration, it should be remembered that the confiscatory principle of such a tax-would not be more true, but would only be glaringly evident, if £1 per acre were substituted for the 1¾d. Indeed, the principle, or, rather, the unprincipled character of the tax, was unblushingly announced by Mr. Rees in the House (Hansard,
Such a tax, therefore, must prove ultimately disastrous to the Colony, even on the ground of patent inherent vice alone. For dishonesty means disaster.
But I fear—worse still—not only that there is patent dishonesty, but covert also. For in turning to the Governor's Speech (Hansard, p. 2, present session) I find the following sentence:—"Moreover, the time seems to be approaching when the immense task of repurchasing parts of the large private estates which now bar settlement in some of the more fertile parts of the colony must be entered upon, and undertaken," etc.
So that, apparently, a bursting-up tax is imposed with the covert intention also of forcing owners to sell to the Government at such low prices as could not otherwise be hoped for; the Government buying, I presume, by means of new State loans obtained for the purpose. Indeed, as I hereinafter point out, who else is there that could be found to buy?
Moreover, the tax is otherwise vicious; for it not only aims to effect its purpose in a sinister manner, but, forsooth, punishes a man for being more industrious and thrifty than his fellow colonists.
I go further, however, and hold that even if such a tax were not dishonest, or otherwise inherently vicious, it must be most impolitic for us, in our present condition of urgent need for yeomen; as a land tax, of whatever nature it is, Must tend to deter the immigration we especially require, and dishearten the small farming class that we ought above all others to foster: to say nothing of the proposed graduation being looked upon as most unjust and oppressive by the capitalist class—a class which Labour is most foolishly, but most evidently, resolved to oppress and harass at all costs.
Indeed, to encourage yeoman settlement, I would long, long ago have offered, and would still offer, good land, free of all cost and of All rates and taxes up to a certain acreage, to induce immigration and the settlement of small farmers; subject only to certain residential and cultivation conditions, and to restrictions against mortgaging.
Assuming, however, for the sake of my argument that the proposed tax is not dishonest, or otherwise inherently vicious, or otherwise impolitic, I am convinced that,
But all this assumes premises to exist which are not proved to exist. For it has Not been proved (1) that big estates have any connection herewith industrial misery, or general prosperity; and, therefore, it has Not been proved that the bursting up—even if effected in a simple straightforward manner—would prevent, or cure, any such misery here, or would promote hero general prosperity.
Nor (2) has it been shown that there is a lack of good land now available here for general settlement; both which premises it is, of course, necessary to prove before you can urge that big estates here are causing, or perpetuating, misery, or preventing, or retarding, prosperity.
Indeed, in respect of the first premiss I have already pointed out in "The New Evangel," No. VIII., Part 2 ("The New Zealand Herald," not the effect contended for; as testified, strange to tell, even in the socialistic publication, "The Labour Movement in America," by E. and E. M. Aveling (Swan, Sonnenshein, Lowry, and Co.,
Ergo, it cannot be contended that the existence of such areas available for small settlements, prevent industrial misery, or promote general prosperity, in The United States.
Indeed, not only has no connection been proved between big estates here and industrial misery, or general prosperity, but even Sir George Grey so lately as testified to the protection and sympathy, that owners who have honestly acquired such estates are entitled to—and to the valuable use to the State of such properties.
It will be seen that his words go much further, in favour of such estates, than for the purpose of my present argument, there is any need for me to go in this article.
Thus the Hansard reports (they deserve every protection and every sympathy from us. Again, in the same debate (p. 175): "I believe that capitalists are to a certain extent like great lakes in mountain districts, which supply water to streams in time of drought, and are the reservoirs for which the whole of the country, at periods when otherwise it would be a barren waste, is fertilised. I believe that, if you do not allow money to take its true course, and flow into those channels in which it can be used, you will inflict a great injury on the country, and, what is more, you will not succeed in your effort. The money will find its own level. Pass what laws you will, some means will be found of evading, and I think it is unwise to attempt to legislate on such a subject in the direction I understand it is proposed to do."
But the evidence respecting the second premiss is even more startling, and also supplies an additional doubt whether the cry to burst up big estates is not solely, and essentially, a dishonest outburst of malice against landowners and capitalists—because they are so; or distinct evidence of an intention to plunder them by what is, practically, confiscation.
For, notwithstanding the Premier's statements quoted by me at the commencement of this article (Hansard, alone; representing, at the present average rate of absorption in acreage, over 21 years' supply: and, of this (1,734,715 acres), 425,000 acres are 1st-class lands, amounting to over forty years' supply—calculating the present yearly average of absorption of 1st-class land in this provincial district to be, as I am officially informed it is, about 10,000 acres. Of course, these lands being in the hands of the Crown, are directly under the Premier's control, and Are therefore available to be sold in small areas to suit purchasers.
Indeed, the Premier's Financial Statement, mirabile dictu, admits (Hansard
Nor must it be overlooked that these figures do not include fresh supplies periodically accruing from new purchases, or leases available to be made by the Government from the Maoris: and which are contemplated. [See, for instance, the Governor's speech, Hansard,
So that, in a most startling and notorious measure, it is not land that is needed for the population, but population that is needed for the land; and, therefore, to say, as the Premier is reported to have said (see, for instance, Hansard,
Moreover, it is well known that thousands of private owners, large and small, would be only too glad to sell land, in areas to suit purchasers; aye, and in many instances at such a price as, including buildings and other improvements, would be less than its original cost price from the Crown.
Thus, first of all, the premises do not exist; i.e., there is no honest ground for, or honest reason in, any bursting up policy; and second, even if the premises were proved to exist, the cure, like the cry, is (a) sinister and dishonest, and otherwise in-herently vicious, and (b) otherwise most impolitic, and must, therefore, eventuate disastrously for the Colony.
Indeed, it is well known to impartial investigators of truth, that the cry comes not from persons who, in good faith, are needing, or seeking, land for settlement; but from agitators, or fanatics, moved by the love of popularity, or gain, or by idiosyncracies, or from those who are inspired with hatred against, or dishonest intentions towards, property owners, because they are property owners: i.e., the cry proceeds from persons who crowd the cities, and who would not go upon the best of land if it were given to them for nothing, subject to residential and cultivation conditions.
But the whole Land Tax scheme is other-wise a huge mistake. For our urgent needs, as I have over and over again pointed out, and in this article have already indicated, are Financial Invigoration (involving restoration of confidence) and increased suitable Population. We are dying of inanition; and therefore need immediate. tonics. Consequently, supposing the Land Tax scheme were the grandest tax project devisable by human ingenuity—instead of being a miserable clap-trap delusion—surely its most ardent advocates would not dare to assert that its effects will be sufficiently speedy to supply us with either of our urgent needs immediately, or, indeed, for a long, long time hence.
Thus, it can't be conceived that large landholders, however much they might like to do so, can sell, or could sell (except, possibly to the Government at forced sale prices), and thereby break up their estates, forthwith; and that, even if they could, the lands—plus those now available for settlement—could be settled for many many years thereafter: and even then a considerable period must afterwards elapse before settlement could affect materially the general prosperity of the colony.
For (1) the population to settle such lands is not here; and (2) the Colony's insane policy has been for a long time past, and still is, to discourage immigration, as shown by the Premier's recent remark—"My policy is New Zealand for the New Zealanders" (New Zealand Herald,
Indeed, the Premier's reply to the question (see Hansard, immediate settlement can be hoped for. For his reply is reported in Hansard (
So that before the settlement takes place, and before the relief comes for our immediately urgent needs, to save us from dying of inanition, we have to wait for the Premier's yeomen to breed and rear sons, for the purposes of our salvation.
Thus, even apart from the admitted tax-upon-improvements blot, and apart from injustices, inequalities, and anomalies in detail, and apart from its having no sound basis of reason for its inception, the whole land tax scheme is, in its scope and principles, so bristling with absurdities, and so profoundly dishonest, and otherwise so inherently vicious, and otherwise so impolitic, that if a veteran philosopher like Sir George did not support it, I could not understand how it could even be arguable for us.
Nor is there even any need of such a tax on revenue grounds.
For, as I have exhaustively shown (see, for instance, "The New Evangel" in "The New Zealand Herald" of very small proportion of the immense retrenchment available were made, the amount estimated to be obtained from the proposed land tax would not be needed; and, if any such amount were needed, a very different tax should, in our present condition, be imposed, as I have fully pointed out in one of my articles upon taxation (see "The New Zealand Herald,"
But I fear to weary; and therefore must postpone my summary of the situation for the concluding section of this article.
Meantime, it may possibly be a comfort for us to remember that truth must eventually prevail—that Providence decrees our future to be in our own hands—that everything has happened, and will happen, in natural sequence—that, as the present Holy Father's motto says, nothing is to be feared unless it be from God—and that (as I wrote on is passable.
Erst wägen, dann wagen.
"False ideas may achieve a more or less extended, a more or less durable success—they can never extirpate their God-like assailants. Truth is patient—it does not easily surrender its hold 'on society—it never abandons its purpose—it even exercises some sway over that region where error reigns most despotically."—Guizot, Representative Government,
1852 ed., p. 68.
Let me now summarise my arguments against the Land Tax; and especially in relation to large holdings.
1. As its main primary purpose is avowed to be not revenue, but to burst, up big estates, it should, of course, be first proved that big estates have some connection with industrial misery, or general prosperity; which has not been proved.
2. Even supposing that had been proved, it must also, of course, be shewn that there is now a lack of good available land here, and therefore that the existence of big estates is retarding general settlement; which also has not been shown—but the contrary is fact, and well recognised fact.
Thus, first of all, the premises are wanting; and thus there is no honest ground for, or honest reason in, any bursting-up policy.
But even if the premises were proved to exist, and if, therefore, a remedy should be sought for, then—
3. What is proposed, i. e., the land tax, is not a straightforward remedy, but merely a scheme, in its scope and principles dishonest—patently and covertly—and other-wise inherently vicious; because it is in the form of a tax in its nature confiscatory, and
Moreover, it aims to effect its purpose in a sinister manner; and, forsooth, punishes a man for being more industrious, or thrifty, than his fellow colonists.
4. Further, if the tax were not dishonest, or otherwise inherently vicious, it is most impolitic for us, in cur present condition of urgent need of yeomen, to impose a land tax of any kind; i.e., to do anything which might deter such immigration, or which may dishearten small farmers: and of the utmost importance to inspire capitalists with confidence—not to oppress, harass, or frighten them.
5. Moreover, even assuming, for the sake of argument, that such a tax is not dishonest, or otherwise inherently vicious, or otherwise impolitic, it, as a lever to burst up big estates is not only a sinister, but an absurdly clumsy expedient; inasmuch as such bursting up could be effected simply, straightforwardly, and far more effectively by direct prohibitive enactment: under such special circumstances and conditions as might not render such prohibition open to the charges of dishonesty, or other vice, or other impolicy.
6. But the whole Land Tax scheme is otherwise a huge mistake—a miserable clap-trap delusion. For we are dying of inanition, needing immediate tonics, not purges; which inanition cannot be remedied, and which immediate tonics can't be supplied by any such a tax, even if it were the grandest tax project devisable; because it can't supply our immediately urgent needs—Financial Invigoration (involving restoration of confidence) and increased suitable Population.
Moreover, who (except the Government at forced sale prices) is to buy the big estates, and when bought, where is the population to settle upon them, in addition to the land now available for settlement? because (a) it must take some little time for the Premier's yeomen to breed and rear sufficient sons for the purpose, and (b) because the Colony's insane policy has been for a long time past, and is still, to discourage immigration; and (c) because our legislative acts are not likely to encourage any such population to come. Further, even if such settlement could be made, a considerable time must afterwards elapse before settlement could affect materially the general prosperity of the Colony.
Nor must it be overlooked that if the Government intend to buy the estates in order to retail them, the purchases can only be effected by loans, involving, of course, the annual payment of a huge sum for interest additional to that now paid.
7. Finally, supposing that the main purpose of the Land Tax be revenue, then, as I have exhaustively shown (see, for instance, "The New Zealand Herald," no need for any such a tax; and even if any need existed for any tax in place of the property tax (which, of course, I deny), then a very different tax, in our present condition, should be imposed. (See "The New Evangel," "The New Zealand Herald,"
Thus, the whole Land Tax scheme, apart from the admitted tax-upon-improvements blot, and apart from injustices, inequalities, and anomalies in detail, has no sound basis for its inception; and is, in its scope and principles, bristling with absurdities, profoundly dishonest, otherwise inherently vicious, and otherwise flagrantly impolitic.
Truly, the ideas and pranks of the Premier respecting big estates, and the alienation of Crown lands, are past understanding; not only in view of the facts and arguments that I have adduced, but in view of the connection of the Stout-Vogel Ministry with the grant of the huge area of 2,500,000 acres to the Midland Railway Company, (in which Ministry the Premier was Minister for Lands and Immigration)—to say nothing of the immense quantities of Crown lands sold by the same Ministry for cash, and of their having maintained the property tax through the whole term of office, and of the Meiggs' negotiations. (See also the Premier's speech on the third reading of "The Land and Income Assessment Act," Hansard No. 21, p. 325; and Mr. Fisher's speech on the Land Bill, Hansard, et seq.)
Before, however, leaving this (Land Tax) subject, let me warn those unacquainted with standard writings on political economy against being misled by the misapplication of principles, or by quotations without the context; such, for instance, as the misapplication of the misleading passage that I give below.
For the superficial reader might suppose that the passage in question referred to a "graduated tax on land values," and would naturally presume that it is to be read without qualification; whereas it is patent, even upon the face of the quotation, that the passage has no reference to a "graduated tax on land values," but only to the taxation of unearned increment: and, moreover, is so subsequently qualified by J. S. Mill, that he, evidently, would not apply such a principle here, except in respect of future accruing increment—which, of course, involves entirely different considerations.
A cause which requires such artifices to bolster it up, must indeed be indefensible.
I now append the passage in question; and then add the context, and Mill's qualification—
1st. The passage, as follows, appeared in a letter in "The Auckland Star" of "Now, as to the justice of a graduated tax on land values, Mill thus expresses himself: 'Before leaving the subject of equality of taxation, I must remark that there are cases in which exceptions may be made to it, consistently with that equal justice which is the groundwork of the rule. Suppose that there is a kind of income which constantly tends to increase, without any exertion or sacrifice on the part of the owners; those owners constituting a class in the community whom the natural course of things progressively enriches, consistently with complete passiveness on their own part; in such a case, it would be no violation of the principles on which private property is grounded if the State should appropriate this income of wealth, or part of it, as it arises. This would not properly be taking anything from anybody; it would merely be applying an accession of wealth created by circumstances to the benefit of society, instead of allowing it to become an unearned appendage to the riches of a particular class."
2nd. The context (see Mill's "Principles of Political Economy," "Now this is actually the case with rents."
It would, however, be most disingenuous for any writer, quoting the sentence, to stop there. For Mill goes on to say:—
"But, though there could be no question as to the justice of taking the increase of rent, if society had avowedly reserved the right, "For the expectations thus raised, it appears tome that an amply sufficient allowance is made, if the whole increase of income which has accrued during this long period from a mere natural law, without exertion or sacrifice, is held sacred from any peculiar taxation. has not society waived the right, by not exercising it. In England, for example, have not all who bought land for the last century or more, given value, not only for existing income, but for the prospects of increase, under an implied assurance of being only taxed in the same proportion as other income?" &c., &c.From the, present date, or any subsequent time at which the Legislature may think fit to assert the principle, I see no objection to deciding that the future increment of rent should be liable to special taxation; in doing which all injustice to the landlords would be obviated, if the present market value of their land were secured to them, since that includes the present value of all future expectations."
Mill, moreover, further says (p. 469):—
"In laying on a general land tax . . . . there would be assurance of not touching any increase of income which might be the result of capital expended, or industry exerted by the proprietor."
The italics are mine.
I give the quotations pretty fully, so that it may be known that no colour is given by Mill to the confiscation theories now openly advocated; and which he is quoted as countenancing.
In view of the facts and arguments adduced, it seems almost needless to state that it is beyond my intelligence to realise how the Land Tax scheme can by any possibility benefit Labour, or any other class in the Colony.
But the absence of any sound basis of reason for its inception, and the sinister character of the scheme, and its patent and covert dishonesty, and its other inherent viciousness, and its otherwise grave folly, including its needlessness, are no mysteries to me; but patent, melancholy facts, which must result disastrously for the Colony, and especially for Labour.
Nor can I understand how strikes, or any compulsory statutory acts can permanently aid the working man. For class legislation, whether in the form of unjust land, income or property tax, impositions, or exemptions, unfair charitable aid provisions, protection of local industries, absurd bankruptcy laws, or statutes for the special advantage of Labour, must, as a natural consequence, discourage the main springs of national prosperity; and therefore be not only ruinous to general prosperity, and therefore to individual prosperity, but react disastrously Against the favoured class.
As Disraeli said upon a memorable occasion:—
"It may be in vain now in the midnight of their intoxication, to tell them that there will be an awakening of bitterness; it may be idle now, in the springtide of their economic frenzy, to warn them that there may be an ebb of trouble. But the dark and inevitable hour will arrive. Then, when their spirit is softened by misfortune, they will recur to those principles that made England great, and which, in our belief, can alone keep England great."
Meantime, no impartial person can read the very able article by one of the leaders of Labour, Mr. H. H. Champion, in "The Nineteenth Century Review' for February last, and the reply in the March number by the Australian labour delegate, Mr. J.
Such are some of the indications that Time, that brings all things, will bring the conviction to Labour that the idols she has worshipped, and the oracles that have deluded her, are not the true ones.
She will also find out, in respect of those leaders, that she must not contrast too strongly the hours of courtship with the years of possession.
It will be interesting to watch the result of the recent laws enacted in The Great Republic for the protection of wage-earners; especially The Weekly Payment Act in New York, and the other cognate enactments there, and in Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Dakota. (See "The Review of Reviews,"
The cure for the exodus is not, not the quack remedies intended to be applied by the Premier, viz., the putting in hand of public relief, i.e., of public plundering, works (see Hansard,
It consists in that we must, as I repeatedly, and alas! in vain urged last year prior to the election, all make common cause, and take an active part, even at this eleventh hour, in first educating aright public opinion; and then in returning such a reform phalanx of representatives to Parliament as will insure fruit, not thorns—general prosperity, not class legislation.
All must be wise men, who will insure the constitutional reforms needed, financial economy (including sweeping retrenchment), fair legislation (involving of course justice for all classes and persons alike), and wealth production.
It is only thus that confidence amongst capitalists can be restored, and immigration promoted: and thus the exodus stopped. For Capital is now so frightened that it can only be reassured by placing in power men whom it can trust.
Indeed, "The Sydney Morning Herald" says (see " "It may be profitless to speculate on what she end of all this will be. That it will frighten capital from investment in the Colony will probably be scarcely questioned by those who are forwarding this legislation. It is obvious that no person having all the rest of the world before him from which to choose would deliberately invest in real property, whether by purchase or mortgage, or other interest, where, it is plainly declared, such investment will be burthened with exceptional and even prohibitive burthens; and it must be that the party promoting: such taxation believe that this capital can be done without, and that their individual interests can be better served by the compulsory expropriation of landowners, and the partition of their lands among the smaller holders. This is the objective point at which such legislation aims, and the results have no doubt been weighed by those who are determined to carry it through. It is a daring venture, such as no other colony has hitherto attempted. It has been generally accepted that imported capital has been the very life-blood of colonial enterprise, and that when it was withdrawn, or when doubt or distrust made capital shrink within itself, industries and development and enterprise of every kind languished. The party now in power in New Zealand propose to teach a different lesson to the colonies; and the colonies will be content to wait and learn."The New Zealand Herald" of
So the "Australasian Insurance and Banking Record" for "Legislation of this character must tend to drive capital away from New Zealand, for, if one impost is made retrospective, what security have debenture-holders that they may not find their interest further clipped? As to the relations between companies and their British debenture-holders, it cannot be believed for an instant that, unless the contract expresses that the debenture interest is subject to New Zealand taxation, the deductions authorised by the New Zealand Government will be made. The English law courts, if appealed to, would have something to say upon the subject which would overthrow the permission given by the New Zealand Government to companies to deduct the tax, "whether coupons for such interest have been issued with such debentures or not. If the deduction could be made, it would be pro tanto an act of repudiation. In view of the new taxation described it is idle to deny that the principle of repudiation has been recognised in New Zealand. From the attempted taxation of existing debenture-holders in companies by a retrospective provision, to an attempt to tax interest payable to public creditor, the step is easy and consistent."
My facts, arguments, and conclusions are all now before my readers.
It is clear that the cause of the exodus is ignorant apathy, and that its cure is intelligent vigour.
But I have written of all this in full detail, over and over again in "The Political Situation" ("New Zealand Herald,"
The New Zealand Herald" of
In concluding, I can pen nothing more pertinent to the present situation than what I wrote in "The Auckland Star" of November 15 last, just before the election:—
"No, the crisis involving increased suffering, the consciousness of the insidious advance of despair—must first come.
"The pudding must yet be found to have fewer plums, and more suet.
"As time glides on it will make us wiser and sadder.
"Then, but not till then, we shall realise the folly of ignoring truth.
"Then, but not till then, we shall recognise that the loss of moral sanity must sooner or later entail disintegration and decay.
"Then, but not till then, we shall, like Bassanio in the play, turn from the specious casket, which contains only the death's head and the fool's head, and fix on the plain leaden chest which contains the treasure.
"Then, but not till then, after the invitable pain and patience, the present angels and demons of the multitude will change places.
"Meantime, I stand alone, but not ashamed, confident that although sound principles may be borne down for a time by senseless clamour, yet that they are strong with the strength and immortal with the immortality of truth; and that, however they may be flouted for the present, they will assuredly find appreciation at no distant date."
Democracy, in its truest principle, is not fulfilling the expectation of its early years. It must be so, so long as we prefer apathy, dishonesty, and humbug to effort, honesty, and truth—a fool's paradise—a paradise of castles in the air—not a paradise of facts.
Indeed, in any event, I fear we have sown in folly too long for our days of sorrow to be yet over; and that a much greater term of suffering must yet transpire before our sin of selfish apathy can be expected to be wiped away.
But, of course, our time of delivery will come; if we meantime cultivate sound judgment and sane action; and, above and beyond all, if we are most careful to lose no opportunity to—
Wilsons and Horton, General Printers, Queen and Wyndham Streets, Auckland