The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1934. William Morris

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21122, 24 March 1934, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1934. William Morris

| The centcnarv of "William Morris—- ! he was born on March 24, 1834—is an occasion for something more than a solemn weighing of virtues. Morris does not need rehabilitating or de-bunking. He. has not been either unjustly assailed or wildly over-praised; and among critics of art and literature there is no serious disagreement over his i qualities. They would agree, per- | haps, that he never quite achieved | greatness, either in literature or in ; the manual arts, that even the poor- : est of his work is redeemed by its j sincerity and its fervour, and that Ihe always thought more of the j cause he served than of his own J personal contribution to it. The ! reputation of Morris has been dami aged, not by frontal attacks, but by i the depressing inhibition —perhaps j snobbery is a better word —which prevents the English people ltom I using the word " art" in ordinary j conversation. No man has ever j done more than Morris to refoim the aesthetic standards ot his coun- ! try; but it was just because he j taught so many of his countrymen | to seek beauty and truth in the ordinary surroundings of lite, in their houses, their furniture, their | printing, that they have aUva\s \ been a little ashamed ot him. He j lias incurred the vague but uumning j reproach of being "arty. He is. remembered for his archaisms of stvle and for his romantic medievalism: he has been taken at his j own valuation as " tlie idle singer ' "of an empty day." The popular! estimate of his artistic achievement

:s contained in a few l'ecble jest

about Morris chairs. His name new connotes something to be smiled at, an artificial simplicity, a pretty but insignificant oasis in the dreariness j of an industrial civilisation. Such j a view is perverse and unjust. The \ influence of Morris was great in j his day: and it has endured. Mod- j ern printing, furnishing, and archi- 1 tecturo are heavily in his debt. It ; must always be a mystery why Rus- , kin, who had the same zeal lor aesthetic reform as Morris, has become a venerable and respected memory while Morris is taken seriously by only a very fow. It is instructive to compare their services to architecture. Ruskin wrote The Seven Lamps of Architecture I and revealed himself as a talkative ; ignoramus. By becoming the pro-1 phet of the Gothic revival he j helped to enslave his generation to a movement which did almost as j much to make England hideous as | the growth of industrialism. Morris ! commissioned and assisted Webb to ; build the Red House on Bexloy heath; and from then on there was ! a new note of health and vigour in English domestic architecture. A i first blow had been struck at the j monstrous tyranny of arched win-1 dows and stucco and spiral staircases. The Red House has its questionable features; but by any standards it is beautiful and genuine, the work of men who believed that beauty, convenience, and the right use of materials combined naturally. Compared with it, all that Ruskin ever wrote or said about architecture is barren scholasticism. And what the Red House did lor architecture the firm of Morris. Marshall, Faulkner and Company did for furnishing and decorating and the Kelmscott press for printing. The success of tiif-se practical ventures is the real measure of the contribution made by Morris to the development of the applied arts in England. In one other respect the influence of Morris has been seriously underrated. Because most of his political writing seems at first sight remote and visionary, because of his association with that curious body, the Democratic Federation, and because his socialism was grounded in emotion rather than in economics, it is sometimes assumed that his political views and activities are negligible from the point of view of subsequent development. The Fabians have regarded the socialism of Morris and his friends as romantic nonsense; and by rational standards it may have been nonsense. But the judgment reflects the almost complete failure of the Fabians to understand the emotional, almost religious basis of the English Labour movement. Though intellectual socialists like Bernard Shaw and the Webbs have, by sheer adroitness, been able to formulate and direct Labour policy, they have never really belonged to the Labour movement and will have no abiding influence on it. Lord Passfield knows his Marx; but it is hard to imagine him leading the hymn with which most Labour meetings in England are opened. Morris confessed that Marx gave him a head- , ache; yet he could appeal to the unexpressed spirit oi fellowship that is the Labour movement's permanent source of strength and the foundation of all its thinking. That is why Mr Lansbury, in his inspired moments, speaks as Morris used to speak. And that is why The Dream of John Ball, which is misty rhetoric to most middle-class readers, will be an inspiration to English working men long after the industrious pamphlets of the Fabians are forgotten.

General News * The Fishing Rivers j Reports have been received by I the secretary of the North Canter- ! bury Acclimatisation Society that 'the Hurunui. Ashley, Waimakariri, Rakaia. and Rangitata rivers are in good fishing order. Two Riders, One Bicycle, Two Fines An unusual case was brought in the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning when two youths were charged with riding the same bicycle at the _ same time without a light. Senior-Sor-geant J. Fox. who prosecuted, explained to the magistrate that one youth had been on the bar of the machine and the other on the seat. Unfortunately for the second youth, the owner was the youth on the bar and this position brought them both within the scope of the law. Had the owner been propelling the cycle, his companion would not have been charged. The magistrate inflicted fines of 7s Cd and costs, these amounts being half the fines usually imposed for such an offence. Olympic Anniversary The fortieth anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games will be commemorated at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Athens in May. _ After the Games had lapsed lor 15 centuries their revival was proclaimed by Baron de Coubertin on June 23. 1894, in the great hall of the Sorbonne. France intends, aecoidmg to the latest bulletin of the Olympic committee, to pay special honoui both to the ideal of the Gaines and !o the man responsible lor then revival bv the creation of an Olympic chair at the Centre Universitaire Mediterranean. The chair has been offered to Baron de Coubertin. Petition Withdrawn Recently residents of the Hunlsbury district petitioned the Department of Internal Aftairs tor pel mission to join the city. A meeting of the Heathcote County Council last night received a letter Irom the Huntsbury Residents' and Ratepayers' Association, stating that it had been decided to withdraw the petition, and to co-operate with the council in everv way. A letter trom the department' stated that in view of the withdrawal of the petition no action would be taken.

More Telephones in I'se A sign of improving times e-_to be found in Christchurch m the increased number oi telephone subscribers during the last tew months. Mr J. C. Fairbairn. District Triegraph Engineer, slated yesterday that there had been a steady 111irease in the number of telephones in use. There were usuallv pome <1 isconne\ions when the halt-ycarlv rentals fell due, but the loss was quickly made up again. Road lin pro vcmcnt.s Considerable road improvements are being earned out by the Ileathcote County Council. Bitumen :> a!mg (if the \\'a:noni highway, the Sumner road from the bridge to the foot of Mount Pleasant road and •part of Hills road, in the Hcalhcote Valley, will bo completed to-day. weather permitting. Subscription Refused •'There is no neeesMty I'.ir petition. In my opinion i!,o Free Ambulance should jom up with ihe Si. John Ambulance said Mr A. C. Williams, at a ineeting oi' the Heathcote County Council last night. The council decided to decline an invitation Iron; the Christchurch Free Ambulant e to make a gift of money. Electric rower Costs The recent proposal of the ftawke's Bay Electric Power Boaid to have ti;t? North and South Island electric power supply accounts readjusted to run the Mangahao. Waikaremoana. and Lake Coleridge schemes through one account, was protested against by ihe Mid-Can-terbui'v provincial executive el the New Zealand Farmer:.' Lnion at Ashburton vesterday. Mr (I. 11. B. Lill said that Ihe proposal would have the effect of reducing _ the charges for supply in the North Island, but la 1 diel not .agree that this should be done with moneys accrued from Lake Coleridge. _ Lake Coleridge showed a profit ol £200.000. while the Mangahao scheme showed a loss ol .L 500.000. The profit of the Lake Coleridge scheme coulei lie used to bolter advantage to cheapen the supply of power in the 1 South Island. It was resolved to forward copies ol the protest to the Minister for Public Works and to the Dominion executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union.

Migratcry Stoats and Weasels Stunts mid weasels, which were reported to be showing a tendi ney to travel north, were discussed at a meeting of the Auckland district council of the New Zealand InsiiUitc of Horticulture. A letter was, received from Mr E. \ r . Sanderson, president of the New Zealand Bird Protection Society, staling that the animals wery migratory. and that thev had let't his district in the Wellington province. Members said that the animals were protected. except in forest aieas of more: than 10 acres. and that their increase was believed to be largely due to the incessant war carried on by sportsmen on the harrier haw!;, a bird which had done much in keeping down the numbers oi stoats, weasel:', ar.d rats. A Maori Herbalist The Maori people still have great faith in the curative properties of certain roots and leaves to be found in the native bush, and as many inhabitants of Ihe pa are not in a position to seek expert medical advice or can alTord to buy medicines, they arc ready to try the old cures of their forefathers. .Recently a Maori •'doctor" arrived at one of the Wanfjanui river pas to examine patientsuffering from asthma and other complaints common among the Maori race. He is said to have an expert knowledge of the old Maori medicines, and gives his advice gratuitously to those who need it. His travelling expenses arc paid by the community, but apart from tha' he receives nothing in return. The "doctor'' stays at a pa until he has examined everyone with an ailment and has given his "prescription." ancl then passes on to the next vettlemon t. going as far as Tukaami before he returns. The be.-t ami cheap; s' !axi.- in Chri.-t----church are the Geld Band Taxis. They hi ought the fare.-: down and everyone should support them. Lowest tare !'■ and 4d a mile for trips over 10 miles out for live passengers and luggage. 1 During March P. and D. Duncan, Limited, are paying the railage one way cn all ploughs and other implements sent in to their Christchurch Works for repairs. Farmer? are ad- : vised to take advantage of this offer and have their Machines repaired by experts. P. and D. Duncan. Limited. 191), Tunm street, Christchurch. —1