THE CHANGING SCENE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 158, 28 March 1908, Page 6

THE CHANGING SCENE

j J .V- V '' A BIRD'S EYE VIEW. >' (Bl A CASUAL CnnONICLEB.) Although only a month has; passed since the.Blackball strike bogan,-tho Premier has already , broken, silonco upon'tho subject.: • Why-thisvblind, unsoomly,\andvprecipitous: • haste? "1 don't know but what thoy're too.hard on those there strikers," said an old lady; ■ when'she saw the following heading in the i - evening paper: -; , HUNG >IN COURT. ' "Onco'a strike is begun," said the .even-; ing - journal •on .Wednesday, "tho first., stop' • lends- to a second, 1 and tho second to a third." That; is' the careful, and- well-con--ij .'sidered'.meth'od;.of argument that I like.;' It : is also a very strong piece_of arithmetic. ..Might I ! ,hero'suggestUhatVin ; this 'tlemoc'ra- - tic, self-governing country, where; every adult 1 ■ has-'a vote, which ought to be 'exercised with • •. : knowledge and discretion,'' every. -youth ,in ;ou r • schools-ought'to bo'taught, his - arithmetic on' -the -figures of, the 'publicL'accouritsP-'-Ih -the . various , -departments . all manner of J- calcula-; . "titms..'arise, .'and,-they.;-'would>assist -to .-intro-' ' '\ diice .the' student to'.the'practicAl application's ; • v of., these, otherwise uninteresting .'arithmetical ■: rules, and would also':give him an introduction; •••: tD 1 -. important features deeply , affect- , .> >ins>.:tho public ; andvwhich in ,-after ■ life.-/many-would, followi up.—Mr. Duthie.; "...Mr;, Duthia may bo- glad to learn,- on the .worst authority, that-his' proposal has already been long under discussion by Cabinet, aud \an arithmetic - book and • key has -, - been prepared -by Sir Joseph cW&rd.'. v ßy the courtesy'.of|-tho' printiar)'' we aro' _epabled ; .tp' ■ givo some examples of ;tho questions.-, and • ' answors in this useful volume.'' ■ . 23D.:—If tho revenue is .£lO and > tho ex- '.; penditurp £IS, find ...th'eysiirplosi« ! j£• ::v . . Answer:—Tho sum borrowed"was £9, and N as 9 plu3 10 is equal t0,19; -the.surplus is . equal. to. the cxcess of 19 over 18, which is , .1;,; The surplus es'therefore £1. 5;.; 240:—1f there are. BQVmemb'ers'';in' Parlia-, >ment, and'2o ,are Oppositionists, how .much •'>. will;, it. cost :to • secure. the replacement , cf ~ ;• theso. 20 by; straight-out Government" inem- . bers * < : Answer:—94o ;roads,■-; 816- briJgcs,-:'.60 )3Co;speeches,,;iooo'; pillar'. ! ■; boxes, 1: letter. 'carricr, IS coats of: paint ' for • post:offices; ' . -.241:—1f a Premier delivers 45 speeches in--10 days, and threo other Ministers deliver 3 ■ .speeches a. week,, how.:many will be made'; to'■'the -Blackball strike ? ; .-. ..;.,;.7,'i 1 Answer.—o. Speaking to tho pupils of the Girls' Dio- - .- cesan;'High School .in', Auckland, on 'tho occa- ; ' flion of. the, prize-giving function,'' Sir, Robert ; , Stout impressed. on his young audience, tho- . delights of;the .'valuelof goodi,reading!;.Did ; they;not think,;ho asked, that.listening to -.Tonnyson's -lament over his dead friend->in . "In:. Memoriam" was worth more' than ' ■ listening to..a< society lady, bemoaning tho servant trouble?. That is all very well, but , would Tennyson have',.had :the. leisure to ; write."ln Memoriam" if v- Lady" Tennyson oame' t every third;:day. and said, "Alfred; my dearyi tho\new cook has gone"? ■•. There are two sides to'the question. 'Sir Robert gives , one.. Hero is tho .other: '" i' • ' ■ matu quote : your Keats and ■ Browning, .|. i Gasp, Shelley's "white ideal," . , And:, Byron's -fire, you -may admire; - But—are their'- rhymings real r- H ', , Would- Swinburne's 7 rolling '-.dactyls';. ■ ;'v, v , ■,;;4Jid,';.tlie! pensivo strains; of 'Gray \ '.. ExLst to please Chief justices ; . If'they had Bung-to-day?' ' .-.

If we could. plant the ( bard m ■ - The , present year-of gracO ' i v ■ Who. dreamed'in-some old garden ' ' •In pie-Trades Union days, • . . i Not'r.through a world of f dreams and Are' M • His fancy's stream would flow— ■' In angry .wight, he'd. letters write : Signed "P.B. Publico." ■ Hr-r ; (Jo,. "West "Wind" tinmders sliould we hear;... No odes to, Grecian; Urns; ' • • . ; .No.-daisies / cMt/ no ladies left,". : / v : Would thrill tho soul of Burns; " The .grief thatva'ncient'poets' spent On "In Memoriams" ,* 1•• ' M Would burn: in ragings. impotent"...- '• •>.. At tweenies/ taxes,- trams. .■ 1 r, • , When. Mary;. Ann packs up, alas! . , <5old : comfort is to. know ■ \ :'V; . ,f hat' Milton' wept for. Lycidas Some,centuries ago... •' . Our-.woes iare. great as. his. was small: . . Deeper his i soul, were stirred;- .~y . . \ If weekly Kates, had smashed the plates . '.' :And left.without a word. , <..- ' r Tho strike of ihteParliamentary-Press l reporters in Berlin has-ended as. suddenly as' it began,' but it \will liavo left manyy people , reflecting vupon ■ it. according to tbeir.-bent. To "A Casual Chronicler" the; really'curious thing.;about-tho affair isyits-revelation of Ithe, ...J thih-skinnedncss' of. the ' German -journalist;-, To stnko, because, they were, called "piggish louts" I Pampered. pets! -To the Now' Zealand ■ journalist < who lias • heard - the - rich—not . to: say , the ranb—epithets that Mr. Hornsby reserves for the degraded scribblers who sum himup v with an "also spoke;" and who has I heard the - Premier speak ■ trippingly of traitors,. "piggish/lout" sounds- almost'hko a compliment.,/' The striko illustratcsaclrnir- . ably the dependence of tho politician on the : journalist —in Germany., -' Count .yon, I Bulow. .. would .not-'.' speak '- in:' .tho . absence ; . of. tho )'■.; offendedreporters, and 1 if tho offending ; politician 'had - not - apologised, . the German Empire would practically: be at -a standstill. In New Zear land, of course, the politician is independent of the reporter. When ho has something tb 6ay lio says itj 'and does - not keep an eye' upon the Press- gallery-or. "the--reporters' - tahlo.He prefers,' indeed, not - to be -'re- ■! jorted. He submits; to publicity from a - ' tense of duty, for ho realises that the public, • will.:-bo- disturbed if it cannot have a,fiill .oport of his ipews upon the necessity for a J new post-hole; in '.Lone-Dog Gully. Tho ad- : ! vertisement which-.he receives is distasteful to his shy habit, of mind, but he -rarely com-j . plains, y. Ho would welcome*a journalists!; strike. lie is at the present moment con-, sidering. the advisableness of following Herr Gro'eher's example. Unfortunately for him. —and for the public—he- is "-'experiencing difficulty in finding an epithet which will piorce,,, : the;-.- armour of the New' Zealand pressman, who,'after his experience of Mr. Hornsby's rich—not so ; say rank—' . denunciations, and Sir Joseph 'Ward's taste; in abusive terminology, can bear almost any-, thing without emotion. •

"I see by th' pa-aper," said Mr. .Dooley, ■* "that me frind Joe Warrd has been blaatin' ' th' Opp'sition f'r th'. ninety-ninth. time in three weeks.An' though Joe is a Vizard iv : finance, an'-can prove t\> a . willia' - aujience-. that wan and wan is a half or nineteen accordin' as it'i a debtjlor.th' number; iv hatpins woro^be^^htdie^cn^ej^^heMf'ceHl,

rogimo, yet I didn't know they wnz so manny figures in th' wurrld till I read his Onohunga speech." ; "What wuz he provin'?" asked Mr. Hen- ' nessy. . "I dinnaw, Jawn, but he knockod th' liver out iv th' Opp'sition.. .-'What's this,! .he says, whin ho - hears ■ that th' pa-aper tol'. him lie wuz onduly optimisticj 'what's this?' : says he. 'Th' Opp'sition pa-aper in : ton edited, be Bill Massoy,' says lie, .'has • said -1 shud liavo said' th' counthry wuz 1 rooned. -T' that;', says he, 'I wud.reply that ; .th'-.latitude.is wan-million poun's, an' the i number iv microbcs in a cubic fut iv. th' atmosphere;at'Ngahauranga is four billion,'; lie' says, 'whereas in"lSl6 it was only ono. gallon an' a quarther,' says he. ' 'Th' num- ■ ber iy nicals'et per. day is n'ow four million,' , .riot't!; count;;th?.-' odd snack's, an' 'twill be evident that-1-wud- be a. thraitor if. I had- : follied -th' -advice'.iv th'' Opp'sition,'- says' ho, 'an' tol' th' public that there's only jiine- : pencein th!; bank— says. : -.'Now,':'says' he';' 'wan wurrd in reply t' th' 1 statement, that there is ,anny public ' debt. . In sixteen -years' we have borrowed twinty millions, but in th'vsame period th' assets, not'-includin'-th', fish in Cook Sthrait or the harrv'6st'' : in 1986,- lias increased' bo wan bil- : libir'sterrling," which' means,' says he, 'that so far fr'm borryin',' .says ho, 'we've actu- . 'ally lent a-vast; sum',(loud cheers),' he says! ; 'Npw;f'r' wari wurrd.in reply t' John Dutliie, an' his;allegation that it's.savin' money t' •borey .at jth'reo van'. a half. instead'; iv four per. ciiit'. ,base.;insinuation,' ho says, discloses Ills jgnorauco iv th' thrue position an' ;his traitorous attempt' .roon th' counthry. be stabbin'-.me iri. th' back,' lie says. 'These .-prcachcrs* iv funk ignores an' per;vei^,ts...th',/facj;;thaj;,.,th',, .'average wage iv-. th' throusorS han'-is. wan. .hundhrcd poun'. every while or so. ■ They ignore th' fac' that while th' debt per head is increased, th'.popylationihas.increased an' thoro's more, iv us t' share : eaclf'others' 'biifrdons (applause),'ho says. As th' pote sayS) Jawn,: ye can prove ; annything with" figures", an'; yo can. con-, vinco annywan but >tii' man y' owe th' debt to'." " .- ■ "I'.m ' glad . things us so good," said;. Mr. Hennessy. ; "But :I!vo not got th' hundhred poup' that Joe. says I earrned las' year.'!; "But y' earrned it, Jawn". The counthry's safe. 'It's claro that, we all owe'each other' enough ,t'; live on in, comforrt providin' thai '.-th''. Sporiey-lender--leaves'- th' Primeer's' figures aloAe.". ■ "The Government had every confidence in the Dominion." (Cheers.)—Tho Premier in the North." - • . Gqho" tho" fears lliat racked my-bosom when ; ."/tho -Opposition; critic '- In a. manner analytic ' >• ' ' '.a' leader on finance;..! Void'lof.tbrrpr,;.'any,',longer is tho caustic, critii.^ismj"^.'!V'. : Of 'the •■gulf,--.of; Sooialism' . .'. .' l : .,':. ; That'-US..ya'viTiing in, advance.. For; Sir. JosepK has .expressed as his deliberate • . opinion' .. That.^.t^ : 'state''of' the' Dominion ..' T'Has.,; his warmest... .confidence.: ; Despite its,-imperfections, it is not devoid; of _•'•''._merit-r ■ i-' 1 - '. i • In his kind- and generous spirit ; We.; have, found':our .recompense. > With a statesmanlike acumen he \ias stopped the idle-chatter . ; ' ■ ■ -r., .. Of the things that do ,not matter,; i '• . .''And I'-oheerpd the verve and vim . •Of ; his; statemeht, :. and the . splendour of its ■ 'luminous-suggestion■' V-i'-; That it's;;quite;beside, the question ./ . VV' v-What the public .'thinks of, him! '. When-a,shattered money, market and erratic . legislation. ■-/ > -. - . ;j ...Causes.grief and.agitation And a running'to and fro. And likeMeaves in Vallombrosa aro the unre- : deemed debentures, -.; ; : .'And , the-'howling public's censures . ' Rise in: wild.fortissimo,, . , I shall, cast .my vote unswerving for the man ! who's showed' his fitness . . .;? (Lefc.'his speech, be-read as -witness). ;Tov direct .-the ship of Stato; . i JHe has "signified approval;'so he ends all con- i trov'ersy:' : . . : . ' ■ '■' ■ .i ;x':- : Deeply; grateful for his mercy, , We resign ourselves to 'fate.