LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 138, 10 June 1905, Page 10

LITERARY.

The literary advantages -which we enjoy under the system of colonial libraries is well illustrated in the case of Mr. H. G. Wells' new book "A Modern Utopia." This work, which continues the author's series of clever sociological studies, was published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall seven weeks ago at 7s 6d, and it is immediately . available in Mr. Fisher Unwin's Colonial Library, with reproductions of the original illustrations by Mr. Edmund J. Sullivan, with good type and paper, for 3s 6d in cloth, or 2s 0d in stiff paper covers. In a brief note to the reader, by way of preface, the author says that in ' his two preceding books entitled "Anticipations" and "Mankind in the Making." the treatment of social organisation had been purely objective; but here his intention has been a little wider and deeper, in that he has tried to shape an ideal, but an ideal in reaction with twoj personalities. He further states thatj he has written into it the heretical mcta-| physical scepticism on which all his] thinking rests, and lias inserted certain: sections reflecting upon the established methods of sociological and economic, .-cience. He warns the reader that, while he has endeavoured to make the book as entertaining as its matter permits, na one who is not already a little interested and open-minded with regard to social and political questions need expect to find interest or pleasure therein. By an I ingenious device. Mr. Wells, through the agency of a lecturer on Utopia, enable* the reader to take into his view the Utopias projected in the past by Plato and More, Bacon and Morris, together with his newer Utopia, located on another planet than ours, but corresponding with the earth in all its topographical features. The author's view is that the law of evolution, as propounded by Darwin, ended for ever any conception of Utopia not founded on thi? principles of progression. "Modern Utopia" commences with a universal language, greart facilities tor travel, including the flying machine, also with remarkable developments in machinery. It is likewise blessed with universal peace. The doctrine of work finds no favour with Mr. Wells. The plain message physical science has for the world, be tells us. is this: that "were our political and social and moral devices only as well contrived to their ends as a linotype machine, an antiseptic operating plant, or an electric tram-car, there need now at the present moment be no appreciable toil in the world, and only the smallest fraction of pain and fear, and the anxiety that now makes human life so doubtful in its value. There is more than enough for everyone alive." In the "Modern Utopia," the private morals of an adult citizen are no concern for the State, and it is only as regards the. bearing of children, for which the community wiil become responsible, that the lawtakes any cognizance of the relations of the sexes. Marriage is a limited contract, and one. readily terminable. But the highest ideal set before the people is represented by a body of ascetics called '"Samurai."' who, denied •wine, tobacco, theatres, music, and all other sensuous pleasures act as the police of the model State. Mr. Wells provides for dealing with the. criminal and unfit who are the plague of all governments: but, forcibly stated as his theories are, they rest on no solid basis in human nature, a controlling factor which, after all. makes the earth we know just what it is, and what it will continue to be until changed by slow evolutionary processes, and differing, we .believe...entirely from anything Mr Wells has conceived.

In the '■Cornhill Magazine- , Tor May Admiral Sir Cyprian Briftge, G.C.8., criticises "The Redistribution of the Fleet." Mrs. Frederic Harrison gives some recollections of the *'French Refugees to England in IS7I-72," and Mr. Richard Barry, the American war correspondent, describes the "Siege and Fall of Port Arthur." An anonymous wri%»r begins a series of articles of the eauserie type entitled "From a College Window." Professor Bonney writes, apropos of the recent discovery in the Premier Mine, of "A Home of Diamonds," and there are several other readable articles on current topics, while the. pages devoted to fiction are, as usual with this magazine,' particularly well.filled.

A volume of short stories by Morley Roberts is always welcome, and the collection issued in Unwin's Colonial Library undi- the title ''Captain Balaam, of the Cormorant," is well up to the level of that most amusing of nautical yarns, "Tbi3 Promotion of the Admiral." The volume is made up of six nautical tales, all with a full flavour of sea-life—plain tales of Jack and his womenfolk, and a form of "life on the ocean wave" that - is much closer to the reality than the seductive but illusory view of it suggested in the song bearing that faimliar°title.

In the "Monthly Review" for May, Mr F. 11. Barrow pleads the cause of free meals for underfed school children on tlie broad grounds of necessity and justice. He points out that, by forcing children into schools, the State'increases the difficulty which poor parents experience in maintaining their offspring. Further, that it will pay the community to care for the physical health of the young. And he contends that if the existing state of things, which gives to 1,000,000 rich persons more than twice as much as is received by the 20,000,000 who form the manual classes, can be justified at all, it will only be by those who are thus favoured discharging their duty to the masses of the community. Jn the same issue. Mr Artlnir Somervell discusses the question of "Miisic as a Factor in National Life." Mr David Maeßitchie. under the title of -'The People of Little Egypt,"'gives an interesting account of the Gypsies in Europe. There is a good article on the automobile by Mr Greatbead, and another by "An Irishman" on '"'lrish Education —Primary and Secondary," besides several other able papers, literary and political.

Mr P. J. Troelstra, leader of the Social Democratic Labour Party in 'the Netherlands Parliament, discusses very frankly in the May issue of the "National Beview" German designs on Holland. He shows that, with its population of five millions and army of only 100,000 men, the Netherlands Government could make no stand against Germany, and the commercial interests of that country are a constant incentive to an appropriation of the land through which the Rhine flows to the sea, an eventuality which lie strenuously opposes. The "National" has also two thoughtful and well-informed articles on the condition of Russia, one describing very forcibly the religious persecution practised there, and the other examining at length" the influences at work which must lead to the downfall of the autocracy. Mr Arnold White advances some facts about thenew gunnery, "A Transvaaler" describes the condition of political parties in the annexed Boer States, and the American and colonial budgets are full and well compiled. The question of "The Policy of a White Australia"' is discussed at length by the "National's" own correspondent there, who distinctly adverse to the policy of the Commonwealth.

It is now pretty generally agreed that Mrs Humphrey Ward, in. ''The Marriage of William Ashe," tells the story of Lord Melbourne and Lady Caroline Lamb.'the former filling the title role, and the latter playing the part of the irresponsible and flighty Kitty. Lord Byron is thinly disguised in the portraiture of Mr Cliffe. The book is reported to have sold at the ratt of 1000 copies a day for some time after its issue by the publishers.

NEWSPAPER PRESS DIRECTORY.

The "diamond jubilee" issue of Messrs C. Mitchell and Co.'s "Newspaper Press Directory" is altogether a notable publication. For sixty years this great London advertising house has supplied a want felt by all business men doing an export trade. The "Newspaper Press Directory" contains in the first place a complete guide to the newspaper press of Great Britain and her colonies. For several years past it has been customary to include also many special articles oi interest and value to business men generally. In the colonial section considerable space i= allotted to a special series of articles on "The Import Trade of the Colonies," giving information presented in a form to be of practical use to the British exporter, and a reliable guide to the advertiser iv the colonial press of the Empire. There is, this year, a long and interesting article on "The Early Struggles of the Colonial Press," which is profusely illustrated with the portraits of notable men in the colonial journalistic world. That able authority, Ernest E. Williams, also contributes a valuable paper on V'The Empire and the Tariff Movement." The . colonist will find in this book not only complete lists of newspapers, magazines, and periodicals published in 'the various divisions of the United Kingdom and that Greater Britain which is represented by the colonies and India, but also a list of the leading newspapers of the United States, and much valuable and well-condensed information with regard to the import and export trades of the countries dealt with. Among the special articles is one by Sir Alfred Harmsworth on "The Daily Newspaper of To-day," and another'by the Hon. W. P. Reeves on "The Australian Labour Party." The labour involved in getting together such a mass of accurate information from all parts of the world will be generally appreciated, and the importance to advertising firms of this careful revision cannot be over-stated, as successful advertising depends so much upon a correct estimate of the nature and advertising value of mediums, a practical method of classification, and a knowledge of the districts covered. As to the Litter feature, tho gazetteer sections relating to Australasia. South Africa, India, etc.. brought up to date as they are, must be of the greatest utility to British advertisers in colonial publications.