THE CHANGING SCENE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 170, 11 April 1908, Page 6

THE CHANGING SCENE

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW.

(Br a Casual Chronicles.)

Tho Gisborne Technical School Committee !■ - tfl Initiating .cooking classes for youths as well* as girls.—Press telegram. Full of..menace is the project of the Gisborno ■ . ' School Committee, .- And a flood of grief and pity . Is avowing in my heart. We shall loss our golden future in a course V of cooking classes, v And our destiny, alas, is That our glory shall depart. • • The /youth who might have beaten all' the records with'a'rifle ' Is : engaged in'making trifle, . And the gun is thrown nway. An embryo Chief Justice, wit and wisdom very rich in, ' •, Wears nn apron in tho kitchen .*. As ho stirs a now puree. . • >. The. boy • whose lofty forehead promised brilliance* as a bishop— ' ; Ho' is learning how to dish up And to carry in the'trays. . . The brain that mado us hopeful- of a savant celebrated, ; Alas, is concentrated - t - - .1 On,a lobster mayonnaise. ;• Fat and healthy in the future, and. immune, from indigestion, , . Will our Conscience ask no question? •. Won't our victuals lose their taste, ) 1 ' '.When we see,that fat"is folly, that, our happiness'.is hollow, . ' .-' '- : V. . ■ When each' 1 morsel that we swallow ; ;lleans some glory'gone to wasto? "Mr. P. O'Callaghan, a member of the Denniston Union Cojrtmitteo, - also condemns tho Act because there are two represents-' ■!. .-tiyes'of-;capital, the judge being drawn from , ■ tho capitalist class." l'orfcct impartiality can only bo obtained by having two repre l sontatives of Labour to one.of Capital. Mr. O'Cnllaghan's shrewd perception of this , axiom should go far to dispose of the charge I,; ': :;: ' of want of logic so frequently brought against Labour agitators. . Boxing Note.—A , cable mcssaso . reports _ that "Mrtf. Pankhurst has declared that Mr; i - Asquith's Premiership meant for tho suffrag- ; ists 'a. fight,to the bitter.end,": and. that tho "Standard" says/.thafc.':"ii.,wili'(beNecessaryfor Mr. Asquith to rely, on the centre, andnot on the: left." Feinting with the loft,' and swinging. a half-hook with tho right, will simply be .useless, ■ . According to Southern" newspapers ; "a . lengthy j and animated discussion occurred at yesterday's meeting .of .tho Conciliation X: Board at Leeston, the question at issue be-' :-- ing apparently, 'When are a man and his wifo a marriedcouplo?' ". Dr. Findlay, who gained so much kudos for his decision that a "••• striker is not a striker when ho is on'.strike, i„ is understood to hold tho opinion -that a man and his wifo arc a married couplo when they 1 * aro a ? Mayor. . "What absurd things they do write to the : papers I''; exclaimed Wifey. • "A man has . been objecting to Mr. Hislop's friends for ; urging' that ho should be! elected' because he j,'--;- is married." , ff!!-' • 1 'It/•' is -! absurd,'! ; said ! Hubby'.-.. • f'Anybody [ can see that the worker —or, as ho calls him-!' self, the 'wuckin' bloke'—wants no better reason ; for supporting Mr.', Hislop , than tho i guarantee which .ho gives them of afternoon ".'' teas',and ; gardei/partics. The wharf, labour-, ■/ ers are solid on tho point." - ' !;' J} ! "That is not what I. mean," spid Wifey. ; "It is the man's silly arguments that irritate ; mo. Why do men try. to work 'out things logically? They always fail. Now—" !■• • "It was'silly," admitted/Hubby. "To say' ; ;, that' wo' want -the strongest -. man, when ; , everybody knows; that wo want,the strongest' man and woman.. What is want-od is not a . ■ Mayor, but what - the registry office 1 calls a married couple." . , ' "l3ut that is not j.'hat I' mean," said • Wifoy. ,• "The idiot wrote that 'Suppose both . , candidates were married, ! and were equally qualified to fulfil tho'dutiosj.'tlicn; logically, !,. we should find tho result of tbo poll to turn ' .upon! the.'question which- of tbo .two. bad the • • prettier or more handsome.'; wife.' It * wouldn't, Hubby." 'a ■ "Of course it wouldn't, dear. It would turn, of course, upon which of tho two had tho most amiable wife, though how; two abr ' solutejy .equal men .could fail to have two absolutely equal wives-:—." ' '"What a "pitv if is you aro a man," said Wifoy scornfully. "In such ii case, tho election would turn on which' of tho' 1 two had the wifo .with the prettiest hat." : 'Ar member : of the 'Denniston. Union Coin-': juitteo bas : declared that Arbitration is -'worse :-y.- r -than''useless.;;!. "It:is!' obsolete; itsj- day. is v. dbne...!\Tho, question is'.not how much of our labour's products we shall Teceivo, but that ■'( wo shall the whole; then-wo shall not be - bothered .about! arbitration and strikes; , m fact, wo aro becoming Socialists." v : A liorny-handed eon of. toil, he shouted to tho J - . passing crowd; -! .- His,blood was plainly on the boil; short ' : shrift- to H's lie allowed. .. ,: 1 "Good wuckin'-bloke," I . said, "explain: 'No doubt I'm just a bally ass,'. But—give your arguments again. How will 1, this Eden come to pass?" V '■ t '"It's like this 'ere," he said'to me.. '"Ero's [V: -.!.- me, a 'amble sou of toil, ' . ' r"An' w'en the wrongs of blokes-1 see, it makes - rae bosom fairly boil. 'Oo causes wealthr 'The wuckia' man! ,'Oo fattens on the v/ucker? W'y, 1 yVile 'Capital! -lve've a plan ter alter . matters by and by." " .;, ! "Good- wuckin'-bloke," I said. "Reflcct: Sup- - '-- poso the manufacturer '■ i '.:' Should"' in '.the! last '"resort elect 'to 'close his .works and live elsewhere,. ..' '. ; : . Suppose the soulless rogue! declined to help . the : workin? of your, plan, ' , - - In such v. case,- where would you find the . ' wages for the! wuckin' man ?" '■' : '■ "Them's economic 'errin's, mate, wot people draws across tho trail; .: V.' I scorn -them notions I treats .'em ' as a hidle tale. . The point is this: Shall-wuckin'men be satis- [! ; fled with wot they've got, .. 1 W'cn by a stroke of Millar's pen, they'll get J', .., tho lot, the blooniin' lot?" ! "In them glad days there'll bo no strikes, an' : ' wuckors all shall equal bo; [■! Each .blokb willjead tho life 'e likes, an' beer* | an', things will all'be. free; " • The Nvucker in 'is landaulette will make perj petual.'oliday; • i , So great the profits we will get, we'll ,never i:. . work,' but alius play." I . ~;!'. ... } "But who will! find tho profits, friend?" I : further ventured to remark. . '"Oo.cares?", he said. "Let Ward amend th' I .. Ac' an' hend- this hage so dark. . | , No fog o' theery ; clogs our brain, we've got our j.: iingor'on.tlio spot: ! Our haim is 'Eden coma again'; our motter, |;' 'Labour, wants the lot.'". ;