CANDID COMMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 183, 1 August 1908, Page 11

CANDID COMMENTS.

By "HILDA. 3, '

Open defiance of statutory law and order seems to be quite the approved thing jus', now, and "when even clerics, who might reasonably be expected to range themselves upon the side of authorised right, have to be numbered with the re-volters, there seems little hope of popularising ]j/».il enactments among the laity. The >/jle has made us acquainted with the fact that a certain Canon of the Established Church of England took it upon himself, recently, to refuse the benefits of communion to a husband and v.ife, because it chanced that the lady was a sister of the gentleman's deceased ■wife. This, surely, is a bad example to put before the many who are already only too well disposed to set the laws of their country at defiance, and the cleric in question will strengthen his case in no wise by urging, in support of his action, the advice given by the Archbishop of Canterbury to his eli-rgy upon the passing of the lcng-con-j tested Deceased Wife c Sister Bill. It may< be remembered that the premier prelate of England said in this connection that "We shall, in my judgment, serve best the interests of the Church and people by not solemnising such marriages or ; furthering their solemnisation in church," j but it is possible that few sensible perI sons see aught else in this pronouncement of the dignitary than a harmful incitement to lawlessness. Were a point of actual morality involved in this matter of marrying one's deceased wife's sister, the clergy might possibly be entitled to resist the law; but as no one can urge with justice that any moral delicacy is offended by the. act." the Church, in opposing such unions, is just openly and without sufficient cause defying the law of the country which has established it. And if we cannot look for the law-aniding spirit amorijsr the expounders of the divine law, how can we hope that la,w, either divine or temporal, will have much attraction for an unregenerate people?

There is little profit, possibly, in discussing the various wilful violations of the established law which have been -witnessed recently in this "land of promise" —we hope it may also prove to be of fulfilment!—but the intelligent hucaaii bein? who. studying the history of past ages, realises how the safety of person and property in civilised lands has been laboriously built up by the enactment and enforcement of wise laws of restraint, cannot but view with apprehension the marked distaste for laws, written or unwritten, that begins to be a distinguishing feature of all civilised peoples. The Society, which is usually spelled with a big S. has of recent times cast to the winds the restraining influences of dignity aud self-respect so that it may, quite unhampered, pursue its own erratic way: the rlerzy, as wo hnve seen, throw in their little pebble of revolt to help widen the far-reaching circles of rebellion; politicians cheerfully deny their own laws where some party policy may bo strengthened by so doing; and the nlways imitative proletariat blithely set aside, statutes far from tyrannous which have been compiled for the benefit both of Capital and Labour. Of all these various classes, the proletariat is undoubtedly the least blame-worthy, since by the very nature of their straightened lives and surroundings they must be expected to look at everything that touches themselves from a very personal and perhaps narrow point of view. But there is no such e.xcuw from those whom Fate, has placed in the -seats of the mighty," and from these we have the right to expect an example of subjection to the laws of their country. When the good example is not forthcoming, we have reason to fear what the future may have instore lor the civilised world. !

11 is very refreshing to see that someone can proceed direct from New Zealand to England, and yet manage to find something kind to say about the latter poor old "played-out" country—vide sundry

"impressions" of New Zealanders which have, from time to time, recorded!

'"Pierrot" will be doing good work for both ' countries if he can but manage to foster j a more friendly feeling between the mo- : tlver and her far-away children. There ' is, curiously enough, a marked spirit of antagonism exhibited by quite a number , of New Zealanders against England, and ' English people, newly arrived in the Do- ' minion, and this is the more difficult to understand when w< , remember that what j New Zealand is, England has made her. British blood runs in the veins of her people; British precedent has guided Eer in the construction of her social laws; British jurisprudence has pointed the way for her statute-makers; British gold has devclo]>ed her resources and given her power; and yer. with all these close tits of blood and interest, the New Zenlauider can manage to harbour a very definite antagonism against the. British: an antagonism which finds expression in a dislike of the newly-imported Britisher— a sentiment that, in tne nature of thimgs, is probably quickly returned with interest—and a certain amount of gibing at British ways and methods. It may I>e laid down as an axiom that the Britisher in Britiin has nothing but the best of good feeling for his Antipodean cousin: so it is devoutly to be desired that the New Zeala'nder may for his part be led gently but firmly into the paths of friendship with his British relatives.

'Twixt love and duty we bid fair to be sadly torn during the approaching busy weeks! The New Zealand industries exhibition ijrgcs uj on -us the claims oi love and patriotism, and the expedience of confining ourselves to the purchase of home-made, products alcnic; while, on the other hand, the duty of hospitality requires us to give prominence to American goods—which, by-t'he-way, already enjoy a considerable popularity in this country. "We are passionately adjured by a local advertisement that now or never is the time to purchase a tobacco rejoicing in a typicalh- American cognomen, and certainly, to carry tho suggestion to a logical conclusion, we ought to be eating nothing but American tinned meats, wearing nothing but American-made shoes and boots, buying nothing but American inventions, and reading nothing hut American magazines. But if we exhibit this extreme hospitality, what is to become of our local industries, our nicely tinned fruit, our well-made foot coverings, our admirable woollen fabrics, our well-equipped publications? It is quite possible that even the most New Zealand New Zealander fails to realise how splendidly well-equipped ar-e his local factories, how admirable is the mer- i chamdise manufactured in the Dominion; and this impending exhibition will serve the very good purposo., we may hope, of popularising home products with the homo consumer, while proving to our American visitors that we arc not quite so small and insignificant as we look on the map.