MAORI CONGRESS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 247, 11 July 1908, Page 12

MAORI CONGRESS.

■ —: —* — THE ORDER PAPER. A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME, A great deal has been written about the awakening of Japan and China, but there are indications that the awakening of tho Maori is at hand. The present week has seen ono Maori Congress in session, under tho auspices of the newly-formed Maori Association, when various matters affecting Maori interests have been discussed. Another Maori Congress arranged by tho leaders of tho Young Maori Party at'tho Town Hall will commence its deliberations on Tuesday next. Tho following will give an ides of the comprehensive character of matter! to bo discussed:— Tuesday. 10 a.m. to 12 noon.—Meeting of the Execu« tive and selected delegates to make final arrangements as to programme. 3 p.m. to 4.15 p.m.—Official opening ceremony in the Town Hall. His Excellency tho Governor will open the ceedings.7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.—Subject: General scope and objects of tho Young Maori Party movement. Wednesday. 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.—lndustrial: Maori Farming, Agricultural Education, certain aspects of the Native Land question. Address by. Hon. R. M'Nab, Minister for Agriculture. 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.—Employment: Trades, Commerce, and Civil Service, Professions. 1 Evening.—Entertainment in Town Hall, by Rev. Mr. Bennett's party from Rotorua, at 8 p.m. ■ . ■ . " Thursday. 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.—Health: Maori Councils and Sanitary Inspectors, Resolutions from Official Conferences of. Address by Hon. J. Carroll, Native Min- ' istor. 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.—Education: the Native School System. Address by Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister for Education. 7.30 p.nr. to 9.30 p.m.—Religious Work and Missions: Review of past work and present position. Friday, 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. —Ma-ori Representation in Parliament: Has the time arrived for removing legislative distinctions between Pakeha and Maori ? Ad,dresses bv Messrs. A. L. D. Fraser and W. H. Herries, M.P.'s. 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.—Maori Antiquities, Customs, Language, etc. (Representatives of tho Polynesian Society and Philosophical Institute invited to; attend). 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.—Local Option to Maoris on the Liquor traffic. Saturday. 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.—Any business uncompleted at previous meetings. Afternoon.—No meeting, but arrangements will bo made for tno entertainment of tho visitors. Evening;—ln tho Town Hall. Rev. Mr. Bennett's party from. Rotorua will giva second entertainment. Sunday. In tho morning and evening the visiting . Maori .missionaries and clergy will occupy'the chief City and Suburban pulpits. (Announcements in Papers.) Afternoon.—3 o'clock—Mass Meeting for men in the Town Hall. Evening.—B.ls o'clock—Meeting at the Wellington Y;M.C.A. Monday. 10 a.m._ to 12.30, p.m.—Formation and Ex- ' pressjou of: Maori National Opinion: Maori Newspapers. Paper by Dr. Hocken (Dunedin) on "Maori Journalism." . ... Afternoon.—Meeting' of the Executive. Evening.—Social. and Farewell Meeting Maori waiatas, etc., invitation only. A conference of BanitaTy' inspectors will at tho Primitive Methodist Schoolroom, Sydney Street, at 10 a.m., on Tuesday, and the result of its findings will be presented to on July 16. The . Visiting Clergy and Mission Section are to meet m the committee room (Town Hall) on Wednesday, July 15.. The Education Department representatives, principals of colleges and secondary schools, and representatives of To _ Ante Association are to meet in tho committee room (Town Hall) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July. 16. A confercnso of sanitary inspectors will meet on Tuesday and Thursday, July 14 and 16, and special women's meeting in the Hotel Windsor at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday, to consider matters affecting Maoi£ women. ITALY'S GREATEST MUSICIAN ♦ ../ ■ Who is the greatest musician in Italy to» ' day? According to the eminent German critic, Paul Marsop, who is as much 'at home in Milan as in Munich, Arturo Toscamni, who is to bo conductor at tho' Noit York Metropolitan Opera Houso next season. is that person. "There is no one,lis s&7s. '"'who could begin to fill his place. Hf. is an artistic educator of. tho first rani. It' lta y has been obliged, since Verdi's clo'iuh,, '.o ,get along with composers of mero talent, it can boast of having in Toscanini at; any rate a conductor who now and then • emits sparks of genius. is one of thoso rare individuals who unito recreative power with energy and the organising faculty.' Intuitively ho bccame as closely associated with tho Wagnerian tendencies as one of the Latin temperament can well be! _ Mightily moved by this spirit, ho began his work as a reformer. He 'is a sort of southern, brunet Hans von Bulow. Fiery, nervous, as excitable as a woman, inexorably strict toward himself as well as toward others, a flash in his eye, an imprecation on his tongue, ho translates what in a German conductor would be called conscientiousness into fanaticism." ; Marsop grants that something_ is lost when Wagner's operas are sung in Italian, yet ho has' found Toscanini's Wagner interpretations instructive and in many ways enjoyable. "It must be frankly admitted that Toscanini's orchestra surpasses in precision of attack and in tho delicacy and evenness of phrasing the royal orchestras of Vienna, Borlin, Munich, and Dresden. . . . It is sad to have to admit that to-day wo must travel to Milan if wc would hear the Brunnhildo turn (Doppelsijhlag) executed equally by the'strings and wood wind, and to hear tiio tubas absolutely puro in pitch and in- • stantaneous in attack." Even without tha advantago of a lowered orchestra, Toscanim further secures a proper balance of tho vocai and the instrumental factors. _ Ho conducts everything from memory—"Tristan" as wol) as " Faistaff," "Salomo" as well as Buttorfly"—all with absolute certainty. Ho keep? .in eye on the stago management, and .insists on dramatic propriety. Ho compelled til tho mechanicians to go to Bayreuth, Munich, and Paris to study the most advanced appliances in lighting, stage setting, and machinery. Ho tram-id tho chorus till it was transformed from a clumsy, stupid mass into an aggregation of individual actors, and lie taught tho soloists not to sing at the audience. "Woo to him who disobeys his orders! Ho brooks no opposition; he,is . feared, and tliAt, in tho theatre, is worth ten times more than boing liked." Tho audienco, too, has, been obligod to bend to his Wagnerian dictates. Once, wlion it insisted on tho repitition of a scono in 'II rrovatoro,' he threw away his baton, took tho train to a point fiftv miles away, and refused to return to Milan till he had in • hispocokt tho permission of tho directors to inn ore in future nil demands for encores. Notwithstanding tho protests of ■ th« boxholdors, ho ordered tho auditorium to bo larken'ed from tho moment the overture be;an.