Oxford and Lust Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, August 31, 1889.

Oxford Observer, Volume 1, Issue III, 31 August 1889, Page 2

Oxford and Lust Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, August 31, 1889.

Last week we directed pur readers' -; attention to our title, and once more it . becomes necessary to make a few remarks on this point. The words- : which we erased on the 24th ult. haye: now disappeared from our title-page . • altogether. The negotiations ' into whioh we had entered with the proprietors of the North. Canterbury Titties were at last abandoned, and that journal is not incorporated with-our-selves. We remain 'exactly what ; we .' were at first — " The o__tfbiw and' Gust [ Observer, and the Canterbury; Liberal." , .;■■. . -„,,,..". • 7.. y y ■■■■■: i-y ■■. .■■j 1' ■■ • But, even if things had turned out otherwise, we ourselves; should'^ ta,ve V, been unchanged, except as regarded a. slight addition to our title. We aimed ! at being— and we feel .that we^at^ilasfi x , 1 ycoming-^the .organ olßnhlic. opMbii/ .. 1 itf the district. We aimed ?-_teincq^ •;.

porating something of far more moment thaifr another^ weekly papet; for we j sought to embody m our little sheet the thoughts mi wjshe^ gjhe hojes and troubles, %f *oui_^ iiei|fhbors m ' .-Oxford and Cust and the surrounding - country. Such was our aim, and it is passing day by day from the region of . mere aspiration to that of achievement. Cjntributions are pouring m upon us ; £ Jlfis w^jwe c ) th^H^^f ") \ m^i tale of gravel, specially IVwfitfon for "The Observer" by a ""."•■ffl'fe being sought7by cbrre^ohdenti on ?X : various topics of jip^e^te-ihteiiast/; .reports of the doings of the district are " T^tv r - . y w^sfi^^om thsr ojjf^ the v.^^ i^^v^ a %^ e .^o«id be • V 4iLM®mite ns as Chroniclers^ of Small Beer,, or Pur-*-vcy(.& of/Bii^Cp^^ gladly plead guilty to the charge of. I „ exhi biting^uvfcere^ %a^t£r£g t^Jir •. concerns biir hiends^ fellow- ;i> ;^settlers. -X-^ - X XI /vf., 'h-\l. X'^f^XKf •''.'■■' . : % -' -, •■ i ..i.".iu sJs.W if? And so we say, with Juliet of old— arose ; V 'By imy bttifer na^woi-ia^BM^sweel!*^ ,7 iitvia true that, witfytlte fe^ljtf&ftiofc-ji U . yin-the world, we cannot make ourselves • : e__piclaUy while we are . stUl young and growing. When our ■:•■ :Kew : vpiothes arrive :TtheTg l^^*- : : d6uht. that W shal^ W-poss4sse-l» ; '^considerable personal attractions,". ,so unhappily, does Nature owe: to Art. At present we must be content -J '■•■ to;show^ ;g 6oa?spkti^ modest mien, . and a homely face.

:-/ : '*^fl : tcu_rt I ;tp .be.ahTays.foiind Bp(>a^ng.8 p(>a^ng.. \ ' tlie fongua^e o£|,obriet£ iand^covfm^y ":■ sense oh "the ' questions which 'en^Tge"" - public attehtion}in our day. Aronnd-one:- --_ question^notless important now . ..... .^ than •& ti^es gone ;by-^ co^tr^ersy has been raging, for sbhie three hundred : . yearsf. and itjwould [seem that a settle ".' ment . of^Z^Pvtei. js. distant still. 5% f unetipnlof Jtoe4&ma, its value or • its vileness, has^ been the theme 'of preachers aiid i thCit^limg^ho^.or^bbating clubSVanbt in our own time it Xa s „ passed jfroin-thpse abstj^ct'r realms and ... beconie a-' Very real question among •Othough#ul 'ihoit ahd'wiidieif/Greatnames of the Stage, and names no less notaMe ard borne by those vrlio woul<l nojt only r - X (deny to> it.any_ po^er for-good biit4-scntf_i ...<.. . . , to its •oriejatipns almost every maleficent influence...-,. . . „-... . ... V .. iV.:_j-. LXXfYVW i.X _ ™c ?onot, °" cpqrae, presume to think '. B*¥ a NZ??*J L . of ° ms U ttin i the scale : of. thought; ; bu3t,we_Hce wej| within our " P^hce jn .offering r our"^plhiohS; and. '*J"y ™P^"7 jhst that weight with our readers which should attacfr to aU L honei_t '■ , opinions carefully^ thought out. „: Let us, then, begin by saying that we arei steady Jao^cait^ 6fJ;tl|e f^£^n£y] v staunch beiievera'in 'the aa^antagei ©/* i Wmoderf- S^em&x^oM cleared the. ground(a?d shown our colours, we are prepared for ajrgunjeiat. f Tn'e'pol^' , dF]_^ti^;-Vi 1 i 0 i li ever . viince tlp£^^j>f^^ smj larg6 „ . : : n ? m 7^ Sf r " ?ssm £ People have pursued "towards "ihe 'Sage * and its I a^i|t^|i || pclpif *f ; 7 r aJtegedg^i^has epfe to be asso- r

ad with theatricals. " There are pays/ Yes ";' who support them ? .rt-tin class of theatre-goers. And i-denouncetherh? People who do goto the theatre. . If all our " relics '^ and wSuld-be religious people %d regularly go to; see good plays stay away from bad ones, f, they would'absolutely control the Itre. But, instead of this, they fyplf sta)| .away from good and bad e/^i condemn 'both. If/then, cc is blemish on the one side, there ugptry on the other,; and m the r^ucljama^of jbigotry it is ; a iderlhat there" is comparatively so B blemish. r p %} $,} IjY bnsider the theatre, now, as a ns .of_. «ducation,_ Think how * our nature m its iest parts ; how, even m the good 'Surrey melo-drama, " the great ciples of m&aliiy; are being made lent- coin;"-- how Comedy and je a%shp\dng r us our own foibles, ling usjlo,d|spiso what is despicable im-sllves, us often the thy pleasure pf a hearty laugh, lazlitf says, ""The stage is the K|and most intelligible picture of eems to us that the jhonest Chrisis almost bound-to take an intelli- ■ interest m r Stage. Unless it be shown thai dramatic represent to is abstractedly wrong, which is rd, Christians are surely bound |eme^nb^r|t£at| .Christianity -is., m ■worldof common social life*. not ffohibit it or to look on, but to ence-'ifcand <make it - better. The is>of sdeiai' Entertainment cannot, wsslbTHtjvbe sauk to lie-Qptsid^-lhe tions ' :Oi* Hhe^ sympathies of the ■ stian religion. -Strong, then, m 'conviction, we appeal _to Ministers fligion to guide the taste and deepen rcharity of their respective flocks. Appeal to them not to play into lattd^of the Sensualist, by r«solv. W let evOrythii-galone.which might . Burned to,.eviL JSo urge that ; we fold told 'sur hands because we k we can do nothing to purify the sations- of the people, . tp say that j&i-St ieave theni as we find them, ihe maxim 'of- a prudent despair ; >it is not the truth. By accepting i instinctive enjoyments, as well as qf life, ? we can jail do jj— if we will^-to elevate, the stan- : of men's amusements. X Xn-ryyr- <Z\ .[_. . ': . * -, x Henry Irving said once m an ;ess to f 6lergyv "If you, gentlemen, Ld but change yotfr. attitude towards Stage, believe me, the Stage would 3 you half-way;''' We believe him ; 1 events^ no one should pronounce !.to be wx'ohg till at least the experib has been tried. 7 < jhave^been made by y Hgh-minded managers, actors, actresses, to the drama of day, its. exponents, and its surbdings. Nor have these . efforts |d. the representajs 'of ' religion to do their part, to ke friends <with that profession ich ministers to. the lighter needs of r. They who' ? are- at one m- seeking ibenefit Athens fellow-men cannot R^fl-ay-^howtol ..reason, be foes to § others :: , ZZ''- r Z

Our ably conducted Christchurch contemporary The Age of Saturday last, contains a well- written letter . from a correspondent on the subject of "the unemployed." The writer suggests the employment of the surplus labor of the cities m developing "the mineral treasures of "this Colony. We heartily sympathise with the philan^ tliropy of his views, but we fear that there are many serious difficulties m the wajr of the scheme. Gold-digging, m the sense of the early days, is nearly .played out; gOld-mining hasbtecome. ahnost an art, and the saving" of gold is quite so; and a large amount of scientific knowledge is really requisite, to make, some auriferous earth payable, not to 'say profitable. . Great care would be necessai*y : ; m; selecting the' men, and still greater care would be needful; m: selecting; an overseer, for even with the ' best or men, an- indifferent overseer would.. spoil, the; whole thing. ' V' . ; Speaking of goldfields, we may state that we have reason to. believe that' the mountain ranges which push their lower spurs almost into •■ Oxford are richer with mineral * treasures than many persons suppose. We have seen a piece of weather-stained quartz, m. . which the color was plainly visible, which had been picked, out of the rock by. a gentleman who. was m, Oxford not long since: Mr Hodges, too* and some friends, very recently found good indications of coal on the' - Ellis, estate. It persons who have accumulated a little wealth were to unite m organising one or: two good exploring parties, the cost to each subscriber would not bemuch, and the advantages. to themselves,- as well as" the general benefit to the whole community, would, be great. ; There is another source of profit which we think it is the duty of the Government to attend to. There are thousands of acres of bush near Oxford,, on which there are thousands of tons of timber, fit for no other purpose than firewood... Much of it has already been wasted by : fire, and much remains which is simply rotting where it fell. ,Two or three gangs Of men could be organised to cut, stack, and convey it to the railway,stations at West and East Oxford, by which means the fuel could easily be sent to town. The Hospitals and Charitable Institution's could be supplied direct by the Government with nearly all the iuel they "require, and the .' public might be allowed" to purchase for cash. We think there are many married men with wives -and .families who would be glad to work m the bush. The Government could .allow them as much firewood lor their own use as they required, and they might build themselves slab whares, which they should be allowed to occupy for a pepper-corn rent, say sixpence or a shilling a week. Each man might be encouraged to fence m and cultivate a small plot of ground, the Government supplying the seeds, and even tools, if necessary, upon such terms as would be a real help to the poor man, and a benefit to the State, by materially checking the downward progress of our labouring population to a state of pauperism. Let us blot

out of our vocabulary tile beria".i-exit!i works," let vus help those, who are willing to help themselves, but let it be done as : a duty to our poorer brethren, without branding them with the detestable name of " pauper."