Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1384235

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®îte ISrtakMie 9m\tt.

iPOULisnno DAILY i

Friday, November 13, 1875.

Ur to tho present timo tho Good Templáis Oulei his not eflected much m tho way of compiehcnsivc lcfoiin of the detestable excesses to which the dunking customs of the time aro cauicd eveiy whete in the colonies, peihapstveiyvvhcio in the civilised world Broadly i eluded, then position his been mci ely conseiva tiv o of existing temperance A nuinbei of persons who object to dunking and who have already ni ide up then minds not to drink feimcnted 01 spnituous liquors at ill, hive combined togethei to foi m m the midst of society m associa tion foi mutual encouragement Wo aie fir fioin asseitmg that then objects have at any tune been confined to an endeavor to arrive at tins stage, but that this is, it the piesont time, i fair general description of their position will piobably not be challenged lhat they have exerted themselves in the direction of making pioselytes may bo admitted, and even that they have iddressed themselves to the reformation of individuals, but in neithei of these objects has their success been such as to bcuously qualify the do scnption we have given Then numbers have, no doubt, incieased year by ycai, but that nicreaso has been at a steadily diminishing tatio when tho simultaneous expansion of tho population of the colony is taken into account, and gradually seems to approach stagnation With re gard to tho reformatory ispect of their v\ ork, there is not much to show, except in the sense that c\eiy siuiici that io penteth should bo a cause of jubilation After all, the piopoition which confiimed drunkauls-or e\en of poisons who in dulgc in a degico short of diimkenness, but yet sufhcicnt to intcifcrovuththcii tem poial vv oil being-bear to the popul ition u not large Members of the ordei who desue to magnify its monts aie somewhat pi one to speak as if every leciuit wcic a brand plucked from the bin nmg-a pio bablo drunkaul pi iced out of tht w ly of destruction lins st} le of assumption "wall not hold water" In the fust place, tho older does not hold ill it gams in the way of îeciuits 'ilieie is a coi

tun-and not au lnconsideiable-number of jouthful persons who join its tanks mulei the influence of \uy tiansitoij sentiments, not a few, indeed, who look no further than the amusement to be do nved ftom the evening gatheiings which are held under its auspices Even son sideling icstnctively the contingent who lomani permanently faithful to tho ordei, it will haidly bo deliberately maintained

that each individual was an undo

\eloped drunkard The law of ave rages has as much applicability to these persons as to the test of humanity,

and nil that can be chimed ia tho <* viv a tiou by anticipation of a %cry small poicentage Ihe ordci would knidly thank any of its advocates who will claim for it tho distinction of bonig nu associa tiou of reformed tippler? 01 of embry otic

diunkards cured ni the bud If the correctness of this valuation of the pi osent position and influence of the Good lemplars requires fuithoi îllustiation 01 support, it is not diihcult to adduce patent nnd mcontiovoitible facts m coiroborahon Iho most cnsunlobservei, 01 the most enthusiastic abstainer, will nlil c bo compelled to tdmit that the institution and progress of the older has failed to make appreci iblo impiession on tho liquor traflic in the colony Taking Busbane itself for an example-nnd we concciv e that, as the bend quai tors of the order m Queeiibland, the selec tiou is a fair one-what one fact can be alleged to encouni0e the idea that any practical results have as yet been due to the combined eûorts of total abstainers ? The convictions foi diunkenuess at the Police Com t have show n no iota of abate ment since Good leiiipliiisin appealed among us The public houses aie neithei diminished as to numbei, less floimshing as to business, nor one whit altcied in the stylo m which they are conducted The lowest drinking hells nie as many, as un dis0uised, and as de^tiucttve as ever Poisonous and drugged hquoi is still dis pensed to wreck mind md body w lthout lestnction, and not a single lcfounatoiy step has been taken which could be ad vanced with any prospect of acknovv ledgnient as a claun upon the ¿latitude and future co operation of the geneial public

It is gratifying to notice that among Good Templars themseh es the necessity for piactical action has not escaped notice It does not at all follow that because up to the present time the public aspect of the order has been of the "great ciy and httlo wool" description, such must alwiys be tile case The association is young in Queensland, and it may be fmly sup posed that all their time and exeition lntheito may have been îequired to collect recruits, consolidate then ranks and ac quire the solidity of b ise necessary for eftcctive exterior actiou Even althou0h they may have made a clamoi dispro poitiened to their eflective powers, it

must be borne in mind that it has been part of their business to ndveitisc themseh es by every available means, and leavo no resource untiled to acquaint sympathisers with the cucumstanco that such an association existed, and invited their adherence and co opeintion lu the last issue of the oigan of the oidei, a note of piepaiation foi active scivico is sounded, and menibeis aro aroused from

the gaudy íeviews and comfoi table e\ci i -t cises of peaceful times to look in tho face tho necessity of maishallnig them

selves foi their steinei duties Thus far

they have only been c\eicised in îegi

mont ii drill, as it were At last they aie invited to unite, m anticipation of com bincd mauceuvics 'Ihe Queensland Good Templai says to its readeis in the ordei, that to accomplish then -warfare they must, of necessity, go outside then lod0cs and icsolvc to bo a0gicssive Hie advice is timely and practical so fal, but wo aie not so clear that the plan of the campaign is quite so sagacious That tho Lcgishtme should be millionced to L,I\ c cficct to the aspirations of theso social lofoimcis is a self evident pioposi

tion but it is possible that a du cet cftoit to cllcct this by combining to storm the polling booths and place in Pailiament total abstameis as candidates may be attempting too much, while at the same time any amount of success which is possiblo would îesult in too little Gool Icmplais cannot îeasonably hope to secure moie thin one 01 two seats md the influence of one or two members in the

Lc0islative Assembly will really amount to nothing when the 1 irgeness of the aims of the order is eonsideied A majoiity ot the lepiesentatives of tho people will nevei be secured to sup port the piououncod social changes contemplated, until a majority of the people themselves call foi theso changes Hie advisers of the Good Templáis appear to bo going tho wiong way to woik i hey seek to command the people thiough Parliament instead of t > command the Paili uncut throu0h the people Even weie such a pioccs-. possible, which we do not behove it is, the punciple is constitutionally vicious and smacks of despotic mtolciance llieic is we think, much lnteimediate work befoie total abstameis before they can ni mc at tins stage of their labois Theie is a vciy extensive fund of latent sympathy with their objects-at any late up to a ceitain point-which should fiistbe di awn out and secured Befoie they attempt to cftect everything they should place befoio tho public a sample of then reforms, and let that speak foi itself Moie support would bo gained by ono reform actually accomplished by their own effoits and self deni ii, however tnfling m extont that reform mifclit be than by a thousand lodge meetings, a thousand lectures, or a thousand empty

dcmonsti itions Mere theories make httlo

impiession upon the general public The httei resembles Mi GRADCMNI), what it wants aie ficts ! iho influence the Good iemplais desire, and which a vciy great nuinbei of poisons not Good Templáis would be glad to see them attain, is not to bo giasped by i dash Nothing but patent, sensible md persistent activity will secuie it to thom Let the public sec in tho stiects one oflicoi of then ap pointing told oft" to check such ille0al piactices as the soiling of dunk to inebriated persons oi aborigines, let n fow licenses bo foifcited owing to the watchfulness of tho organisation, let adulterators be by their means punished foi poisoning the public, and there will

then be i distinct movement tow irds them of a c1 iss who as yet hold aloof and icgard them as dieamors Mere absti

n6iicc w ill not alone mako a member of

the Assembly icspectnblo m that capacit), noi give weight to his utterances The choice of suitable candidates must of necessity bo extremely lcstnctcd, and bhould it bo the ill fortune-as itv.ciy possibly may-of the older to send into the House as their ieprescntnti\c a weak man, no amount of well meaning on his

paît would pieseivo lum nom a political insignificance which would recoil upon tho heads of those who had elected him

15) w hatev ei method the order of Good Templai-3 elect to proceed in entering upon a more act» e career than heretofore, the} may be seeuio of the good wishes of a lu0e and rcspeetable portion of the community, and while wo feir that they do not vety clculy seo the best wax, no one would be nioicgiatificdthan ourselves at the success of any steps they may take to abate the evils which thej aieassociated

to rcfoim

lire atmosphere of Ameiican political life may be hoped to become purci as the

foul abominations with which it is tainted are biought to liDht, for there is little îeason to suppose that tho bulk of the people aie cou apt, and the piobablo result of rev dations w Inch i eflect dishonoi upon the whole community will be to aiouse the large better class, who ha\ e been too much in the habit of holding aloof from politics, and causo them to take a truer Mew of their public obligations One of the latest scandals with which the New Yoik journals are occupied, is that connected with the Red Cloud Agenc), and although the statements mado aie at piesent ra ))ct) te, and the subject of investigation, yet as Piesident GRANT IS aven ed on un doubted authonty to have íequested his implicated Seoietary foi the Intonoi, Ali

DELANO, to quit Ins post in the Cabinet pending the euquny, and has thought it necessaiy to change the composition of the commission which Mr DEUA o had ap pointed to investigate the mattei, there seems no reason why charges which main festly have something in them should not be íepeated

lhere have long been rumors of great frauds piactised both on the Indians and on the United States Government in con nection with supplies allowed to the former by the latter, and it appears that recently a certain Professor MARSH was despatehed, or pioceeded of his own accord, to the head quarters of the Hod Cloud Agency, in the Tar West, to e\a

mine into the truth of these statements

The report of this gentleman is most cir cumstantial and voluminous, and the testimony of numeious and apparently vcraeious witnesses constitutes a veiy stiong fase against the persons impli

cated Professoi M uisii accuses the agent in chai gc of the supplies with cer tifying that he issued 271,2481bs of beef on a certain date, when he issued nono at all till some time aftoi, although the Indians were suffering scvciely fiom hungei That lie gave the number of Indians receiving lehef as 15,117, wheicas they were only S100 One band given as 2000 or 3000 weie counted and consisted >f 280 That of 1850 paus of bhnkets certified as issued, the Indians only got 900, "the ung

got the lemainmg 950 That SUILLE ccitified to tho Depaitment that he had îcceived and issued, and that he got paid foi,cattle aveiaging 10401bs each,wheicas, Piofcssoi MvKsn and his companions weighing two lots at the agency, found thom to aveiagc 3G01bs and 7501bs io spoctively, while S WILLI, only claimed, when questioned by theso gentlemen, an aveiage of 8501bs That the piobablo annual theft in this paiticulai amounted to about §75,000 That cattle re ceived from the contractai have been allowed by tho agent to escape back to the conti aetoi s heuls, and to bo resold to the Govern mont Tint piovisions of goods issued to the Indians have been of " infamous '

quality lhat the fleight contractor has been lllowod to chaige foi carnage of supplies by waggon 212 miles, whet eis \ir) miles was tho distance travelled, the ovei pavmont being $15,000 a year

Hie J'lofessot fuifcher states his belief

that Societal y DILVNO aud the Indian Comniissioncis at Washington must have boon accomplices ni these frauds The sccretaiy, it is said, has gradually filled his depnfcment with ofheers subservient to himself The caiecr of one of these, a Mi T H SMIIH, is thus telatod by the

New Yoi I liibune -

Mi Smith ia president of the \oung Mena Chri8tnn vssociation <f Washington He was also otliuil lqutcr £ the House of Represen tatives but n t finding that position sufficiently lucí fttiv o he obtame la p iv ing und fencing con ti net fi om tho District Bourd of Public \\orks

jutting foi« ud olio H V Colton to appeir for him iv lilli, lia stood back and drew the pro tits Ile built nn astonishing amount of fence in 11 ud man «lions quantities of pav cment uj on v try stn ill ti icts of giouud and nalised fr in lu« opentions between ?2r 000 and 530 000 Ulien the Congiissional Investigating Cora lmttoo began to enqune into the matter too elosely, Mr Smith felt n grciit dcEire to aid in Christianising tho Indians, and Socretary Delano H | mted him to a v ai mcv on the Board of Commissioners Singularly an 1 unfoi tun itelj in iit.il hi wai absent in the Indian countrj when the committee wislud to ask lum a few quotions, though he afterwards returned aud gavo an account of Ins pavement and fence trans ictions lotako this Indian appointment with i S.1I111} of $3000 ho icsigned his position 111 tho House of Representatives, the salary of

wliieh was (>r000

Othei members of the commission ap pointed by Mr DELANO aie shown to be unfit foi thou position, because as Pacific Hathoad men thoy have au interest in creating trouble with the Indians whose grounds their line traverses, and their land grants becoming more valuable as the aboriginal occupieis of the couutij are dispossessed Complaint is also made that Mi T H SMITH has been appointed bj Mi Di L v\o one of the commissioners for enquirj into tho Professor s charges

ïhe oui) ofhcial loply to these grave iccusatious at present foithcommg is scai eel) talculuted to allay the common apprehension that things hav e been going wrong It eonsists of a statement that eighteen months ago charges "quite as sen ousand mole bitter" weiemade agamstthe Agenc) , that theso weie mvcstigatcd by 1 commission, " of w Inch Bishop HARE w as chairman, tho othei members being a well known nusstotiai) to the Indians, a United States Indian Inspector, and Mi

P II SMITH, President of the Young Men's Chustiau Association " Agent ISVMLLL was theieupon " completel) exonerated of wrong intent," and the charges woio declared to bo "mean ni origin and spirit" The transactions which weie not justifiable were reported to hav e boon " not wioug doing, but the mistakes of men 111 an oflicc where, pecu liarly, tho incumbent can learn only by experience " Hence, the authorities have ever since " acted on this report "

The public are promised, howevev, that the Commission of Enquiry now appointed, and the constitution of which has been, as above stated, modified by the interposition of President GRANT, shall investigate the whole aftair, and at the proper time make their proceedings fully known There seems to be ground for hope, therefore, that sooner 01 later it will be seen w hether, as it is only fair to say some dechie, these v cry serious alle gâtions aie the invention of disappointed applicants for contracts, or whether they arc based upon unanswerable facts In the latter case theie is also ground for hope that the exposure of these practices will render their repetition moie difficult

WE know not what the Municipal Council may be preiared to adduce in justification of their resolution to close the Kangaroo Point Ferry, as a point of transit for vehicles The grounds of their action, as contained in the report of the committee upon which this pro ceeding is based, aro certainly ridiculously insufficient The withdrawal of tho punt, and consequent cessation of heavy traffic, cannot-in anyway that can be comprehended-"help to remove existing obstructions to the traffic of Queen street at this pomt, as that loport alleges There is a Bharp corner thereabouts, from the apex of which the approach to the ferry branches ofT, but the traffic round corners is not focditated by making the angles more acute, as vv ould bo tho caso were any portion of tho ferry approach thrown into the roadway By cou turning to cut dow n the bank on the inner side of the corner, ns is already being done, the sharpness of the turn will be sufficiently re duced, and ample width given to the road But even if sharpening i corner were the proper way to accommodate traffic, it is not appai ent how any part of the ferry approach at this place could be included in Queen street without at the same time blocking the access to the Commer end w hart It is, how ev ei, useless to dwell on an assertion which anyone visiting the spot can see at a glance to be untenable, and which there can bo little doubt is not the cause but the result of the détermination to accede to the request of the lessee of tho ferry, and authonso the w ithdraw ii of the punt The other reason adduced in the report for recom- mending the withdrawal stands pretty plainly upon the same footing ns to its origin rho punt is to cease to ply forsooth because more traffic will thereby be directed to the bridge It wouldappear that somealdermenaredense enough to desire that the public should suppose that they consider a statement of this sort worthy of notice It must be at onco apparent, at any rate to anyone but an alderman, that no v chicle will be despatched on Buch i round as will bo necessary to reach Ivang u oo Point vui the Bndgo e\ccpt m case of unavoidable necessity, and that ni licit of there being a gain there will bo a positive loss to the revenue of the city The rent paid by the ferry lessee ia to bo reduced by £200 per annum Aro any of the advocates of the alteration prepaicd to asseit that the bndgo receipts will be in creased in consequence by an equal amount ? Will the inconv enience of tho longer route have no appreciable effect.

But, apart from merely financial considei ations, it is evident that the Municipal Council have other things to consider Whatover may be their ideas on tho Bubject, everything cannot bo weighed by the measure of sixpences Even should a pecum iry sacrifico bo im olv ed-w hich, in this instance, is certainly not the case-tho convenience of tho cituonB demands to bo put in the balance Ibis alignment about enhancing the bndgo receipts holds equally good when applied to passongci traffic, and would as much justify the withdrawal of tho boats, and the entn e abolition of every ferry w ithiu the mum cipahty, as it does tho stoppago of the punt ti ailie at Kangaroo Point It is curious to enquire by what ideas tho Councd is gov em ed in this matter Is tho amount of bridge receipts a pai amount consideration to which all other questions must, of necessity! succumb? Is tins a supremo principle with the Corporation 1 If not, why is it brought forward in this particular instance ? If so, why is it not fully adopted ? By closing every ferry, thoro is no question but that tho bridge receipts would be gieatly augmented Although dray triflic may be diminished or mci cased according to tho conveniences afforded, it is quite otherwise with passenger ti affic ov er the river m the majority of coses Busniesspeoi le resident on the South side must pass and re pass daily It id true, of course, that the rentals leceived from the ferries would cease, and w hat w as received in the one baud w ould have to bo disbursed with the other, but that is a trifling eccentricity connected with tho subject Tho same fact is apparent with regard to the withdraw d of tho punt-apparent at least to ordinary mortals Tho Corporation do not appear to see how it can affect the matter There is, however, among sonio of the present dignitaries of the city, an idea that the poBition they hold confers soino sort of distinction upon thom The idea appears reasonable enough, for it is very evident ti» it they confer no distinction on the position The threat of vvitbdnw>l of support winch was made on Monday night at tho meeting of ritcpayei» in the Kangaroo Point ward, may, under theso circumstances, touchsomeof thealdermensomowhat sharply, and result in a rev creal of the ridiculous resolution taken by tho Municipal Council

BY courtesy of Mr G J Browne, we hav o been afforded a private view of the pichiró painted by him for presentation to the success

ful competitor at the forthcoming musical tournament Mr Browne bos chosen for his Bitbject a viow on the Low er Herbert River, near Cardwell Tho scene depict« the river, sur mounted by two abrupt rocky banks m the fore ground , the middle distance intimâtes simply a continuation of the foiegrouud, vvhnst m the extreme distanco the Hinchinbrook Mountains recede into space The treatment of the whole subject displays a careful regard to harmony and breadth, judicious coloring and handling Mr Browne has given us a fair idea of what great beauties Queensland possesses in her landscape scenery, especially in the North, where grandeur of subject is marvellously enhanced by tropical v egetntion and aerial powers To critics nu acquainted with Northern Queensland the paint- ing undci review would appear over effective from the great contrast it piesente in almost ex treme chiaroscuro, but who that ever saw our glorious skies, our lovely foliage, could find fault with an artist who Bimply transcribes nature The committee of St. John's Peal of Bells Fund are to be complimented upon their zeal in having mduced Mr Browne to transfer this haudsomo gift to them We learn that a good many competitors aro already to the fore, and the promoters of the Bcheme are now moro than sanguine of success The picture will be ixhibited at Messrs Hav ello s from to morrow

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