The Press SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1937. The Literary Tradition in Politics

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22135, 3 July 1937, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1937. The Literary Tradition in Politics

The death this week of the Hon. G. W. Russell invites consideration of the decay of the literary tradition in New Zealand politics. Mr Russell—with the notable exception of Mr J. A. Lee in the present Government —is the only Dominion legislator of this century to make distinguished use of the pen. As a journalist and author, Mr Russell spent the little leisure left to him during his political career, and it is probable that had he cared to devote more time to letters and less to politics, he would have won a substantial reputation in literature. However, his one novel, "The New Heaven," has considerable merit and it possesses qualities of thought that should assure its lasting interest. In a cursory weighing up of Mr Russell's cultural service to the country, it should also be remembered that he was among the first to discern the potentialities of David Low, who since those far days on the " Spectator " in Christchurch, has developed into one of the world's greatest cartoonists. The David Low, whom Mr Russell discovered as a boy, has grown into the man who can break statesmen; whose thoughts en British politics are liable to become those of the masses, and who is enshrined in one of Mr Winston Churchill's books as " the green-eyed Antipodean radical." At the turn of the present century, however, there were no new politicians in New, Zealand capable of following the fine literary tradition established for them from 1860 onwards. Among the Premiers in those decades was Alfred Domett, whose sustained narrative poem " Ranolf and Amohia," although not reaching the rare heights, is, nevertheless, starred here and there by passages of -nobility and beauty. Legislators of more recent times, whose acquaintance with verse has probably gone little beyond the simplicity of the limerick form, should respect the memory of a predecessor who could be so prodigiously industrious as Alfred Domett. Then there was Sir William Fox, whose book, "The War in New Zealand," gives a fine account of stirring pioneering days. Sir George Grey found time to write his " Polynesian Mythology " a classic of its kind. Sir Charles Bowen, the Minister for Education who sponsored the famous Education Act of 1877, was a poet. William Pember Reeves is remembered primarily for his industrial legislation, but he too was a poet, and " The Long " White Cloud " is one of the two or three great books written about New Zealand. There are other men who to a more limited extent were able to mix literature in one form or another with political careers. Of course, it must be admitted that many of them were heirs to the finest things in English culture, and it was only natural that they should bear some of the traditions of the homeland to their new country. They had come from the great English schools and universities, and, perhaps, it would be unjust to suggest that the men of later days, who lacked their opportunities, should equal their accomplishments. There is also one New Zealand Premier, Sir Julius Vogel, who is able to take his place in the small group of literary prophets who have had their prophecies fulfilled. In 1889 he published a novel named " Anno Domini 2000, or Woman's " Destiny." To the people of that time it was regarded as an extravagantly romantic book. He was carried away in the first place by enthusiasm for Imperial federation; he was carried away also by a sentimental feeling that women would attain equality with men; and he put forward the preposterous contention that men, whether they worked or not, deserved from the State a share of food and shelter. Most fanciful of all was his notion that it would, by the year '2OOO, be possible for men to travel the world-in air-cruisers. A reviewer of the day was not impressed by Vogel's heroine, Hilda Richmond Fitzherbert, who was Under-Secretary of State in the Empire of Britain, and who had also the social pleasure of being created Duchess of New Zealand. The reviewer's sour comment was: "No " rational person, be fhey ever so free from " old-fashioned prejudices, will fail to feel that " this erring damsel would have done much " better to have confined her attention to mend- " ing socks and sharing the other duties of mild, "feminine domesticity." Readers who have moved without much surprise through three decades of the present century, will be astonished more than anything else by the lack of venturesomeness in Vogel's prophecies. To the people of his time he seemed to be peering into remote distances, but those of these days will feel that he was merely looking over a fence. In describing an attempt to settle the Irish question in the year 2000, Vogel wrote:

At the instigation of the Premier of Canada, a confidential intercolonial conference was held. In consequence of the deliberations that ensued, a united representation was made to the Prime Minister of England to the effect that the Colonies could no longer regard without concern the prolonged disquiet prevailing in Ireland. They would suffer should any disaster overtake the Empire, and disaster was courted by permitting the continuation of Irish disaffection. The message was a mandate, and was meant to be so. The Prime Minister of England, however, puffed up with pride of old traditions, did not, and would not so understand it, and returned an insolent answer. Within 24 hours the Colonial Ministers sent a joint and respectful address to the King of England representing that they were equally His Majesty's advisers with his Ministers residing in England, and refusing to make any further communications to or through his present advisers. The Ministry had to retire; a new one was formed.

Following this unhappy disagreement, a federated Empire was formed; the King became Emperor of what was known as Britain, and the remarkable thing was that he could travel "in utmost comfort from end to end of his " dominions in 12 days." The question of air travel presented difficulty to Vogel. He could see that craft lighter than air could not carry loads successfully, so dipping deep into his imagination, he discovered that " aerial travel " was practicable in vessels considerably " heavier than air, by use of quickly revolving " fans working in directions that were found " to be suitable to the progress of the vessel." There is scarcely a prophecy made by Vogel in 1889 to be fulfilled by 2000 A.D., which has not been fulfilled in less than half a century. In these days, when statesmen cannot even be certain about the events of the morrow, Vogel's oracular touch should provoke envy.

Finding Employment for Boys The Christchurch Boys' Employment Committee's proposal that its work should in future be carried out by officers of the Education Department working in co-operation with the Labour Department is a wise confession of the limitations imposed by its lack of resources and official standing. For several years the committee has been rendering a magnificent service to the community by assisting boys who have just left school to find a place in the economic system. That is, it has been attempting to provide both vocational guidance and some sort of placement service; and it is no reflection on the capacity of members of the committee to say that the attempt has been only a partial success. Vocational guidance can never be a matter of a few routine psychological tests; if it is not to do much harm as well as good it must be conducted by speciallytrained officers working in close conjunction with teachers and with employers. The training of such men cannot be financed and supervised by a voluntary organisation; nor can a voluntary organisation provide them with the necessary facilities for their work. Again, it seems clear that a placement service for youths is best undertaken as part of the placement service for adult workers recently organised by the Department of Labour. But although it seems desirable that the main functions of the Christchurch Boys' Employment Committee, and of similar organisations in other parts of the country, should become part of the regular work of the Department of Education and the Department of Labour, it is certainly not desirable that voluntary effort should be completely eliminated from vocational guidance. The danger of an exclusively official organisation, particularly in New Zealand, is that it may fall into routine methods which have little relation to the general economic life of the community. Local advisory committees will still be necessary to ensure that vocational guidance officers and employers understand one another.