THE CHANGING SCENE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 805, 30 April 1910, Page 6

THE CHANGING SCENE.

A BIRD'S-EYE YIEW.

(Br M.OK.)

!A! great many people must havebcei disappointed at tho small part playe> by tho Socialists in tho recent scboc committee elections. It was only u Christchurch that thoy. became .evei faintly articulate, and even there tho, failed 'to carry their motion, whicl was: "That, in tho opinion of thi meeting, pictures of bloodshed, mnrdo and war are not fitting to be displays on the walla of the schoolroom." L the"hope that next year will find ou Socialist friends in better form, th. following suggestions may bo pu forward •as suitable for adoptioi into tho Socialist education policy. Fo example, it is most unfitting that th< walls should be defiled with pictures o men at work. Tho children must no be allowed to become familiarised witl the disgusting spectacle of toil and its brntalising effects. The reading booki are also in urgent.need of revision ♦The Vfllago Blacksmith" is only ow of many objectionable poems tending to encourage the falso idea that hare work is a suitable occupation for hu man beings. Dr. Watts's poem, "Hot Both the Busy Little Bee,'* must b< either deleted or altered to' suit .tix more enlightened ideas of to-day. Th< law of gravitation should be eliminatet from tie science primers, as tending first, to perpetuate the hateful notioi of law, and, second, to encourage th< 'belief that there are mstrbutkms incapable of, change. The teaching ol bodily' hygiene ought to bo restrictcc to a demonstration (not practical, bni theoretical) that perspiration is th< fosA cause of oil disease. . Ha "Manaacatn Dafly Times" hsu steadily kept before the pubHe, in t series of brilliant editorials, the essen. tial fact concerning PoweTka, which is iha±' you should spell it Pawelka "Some of'my coiitenuxnaties," the editor complama in an article on. pag« ✓4, in which Lord Kitchener, Marl Twain, "Peter Pan," tie local roai roller, and Councillor Sfcubbs are al used to point the moral—"some of mj contemporaries still retain tho V foi the 'a.'" The terrible istrain of being iihe only unit in the journalistic company to keep in step has unfortunately been too much for the Palmerstoi paper, which, on page 5 of the issue quoted, gets the "a" . all, right, but crosses its legs' and comes down heavily Jater.on. It tiiere calls him 'Tairokla." It refers also, in the same issue, to to the "stupendnoris" Hwai of the tar crossings, the "reta'eemw" of the police, .the "rocenf' very ; faouhled period, the Commonwealth and the "informatioan" used by Lord TTifc-hanAr. it observes also thai at the 'local theatre "the spoctablo was to be soon of two characters soEloqmsmg 1 at tie top of then -voices shnultaneoosiy" We are aba itold that. copies of the paper brought es ranch as 6d. apiece "in places like IDannevxrke." , Daamevirko obviously knows a good .tiring when it Bees it: progressive speffing, we; believe, is no-! •where more warmly appreciated than in Dannevirko. At-the same time, the price "of spelling Powelak correctly— land &is not unimportant thai PwcOeka shonld bo. spelt correctly—seems ' rather a high one. Of com-st, no more stimulating spectabte—may we say, no more.; stuponduons . spectable—can be imagined than tho determination of the "Manawatu "Times" to concontrate the whole of its speffing force on Pol'weka. Others may boast of tins.- and that, but of how many can it be; said '•"He rtßowelka"?, B» Good fbmplais purchased tho ■booth.rights of the Maclean Show', at Tsinch no Ikpiorg,were obtainable. The tench Tefused a puhEcan a booth Eloense. —Sydney cable item. i Hay tub stoefcoidp 'ere beside menace 'tho botfls In, ma "and, i mo spurs an'. Batflß-botae on tie i ttaSiz atsr mo 'ear* *as read the manage ol the v ladder osi the land, i &s? me stomach it eoirobozstea the tail Btaop a telegram to "Banjo,"unter Lawson tell the truth; Ebst old Qancy.'- is Uu Bbaddcr wr a afaado— fEhat tie old Bomanco is ended, that the . old, romantic booth , la iKgpiMnrin' fiftflpai*f»H' - AT?'- ?MTymftdft [SoEtar taintly I have : ffttt it, I figured op me cheque; Boxtßr dimly, that tiw end. was dxoEia' • ' nigh— fs3ai the , golden ago was passta"? W me facer was. cones' , iJaf there's Eothin' left tar (Baaay tat ter die. ■lain . ne low tor \'ixrr Jiswuoa, aster 7Banjo" giie mo love; i*""iv lima 'oariy lor too tesmiy songs 2bey will drop a tear'to poor old blank? (Saucy up above, Asf'iltiQ tTrHofr 'andhv.'out the lamonado. 2 am eora", eour'. goin'. ter the deeps wr . iethfi's pool, ] Wtaro drought an*..saatdy are alien iiyere the rtnn to tmm&j nectar, w"ero the sheop 'as eolden wool. Were the "esses are a-fittjd op vdUl wings. Well,' I've 'ad me Manx? epoch, I *aw> *ad me share xur fun, I 'ave 'ad me bleodin' share or sMne an' shade— IXol another race arises! Now me earthly course is done! .'Jfcrki Tho . shrill triumphant uss of lemonade! Jawn," said Mr. Docdey, after 'reading this paragraph, "it's jtiungs lilfrt ' this here that r fV ** Tl ftil n g one t' not. bein' mo. frind Joe. It mast •be .turyhlo, ,t' have th' habit iv seein' da th' XFjiwerrse nothin' but proofs iv Ith' prosperity iv-this young counthry, it must bo worrse: thin bein 1, th' man Sth'poto Bracken told of." "Th' 'feller that' was-.'' not ondherjjtud?" asked Mr. Hennesay. "N<j, Jawn, th' r feller that had no eon]. 'A primiose,' says th' poto, 'be it' river's brim,-' ho says, 'a yellowprimrose was to him, an',' he says, 'nothin' more,'' says ho. But it's not even a primrose t' Joe. 'Tis nawthin' but a proof iv th' excellence iv th' «nl an' iv th' graciousness iv th' climate. Whin, goin' home at sunset, ye see Joe staudin' in a wakin' thrance ■an' gazin' with dreamy eyes at th' western sky, yo might think he's takin' a soul-bath.' But if ye jog his. elbow ho will starrt. off with a burrst iv oratory that will show ye he was" only thinkin' what a gran' refutation th' gunset was iv th' slandhorous statements that sunsets .is leavin' th' counthry. .Ho 'doosn't oat ' food—at Jasto ho doesn't raygarrd it as food, but as statistics. What impresses him •as he reads th' maynew is th' exthraordinary productiveness iv th' Dominion, He laves his soup go cold while ho .wurrks - out in his pocket-book th' amount iv capital, invested in hotel properties, takin' as th' basis iv his calculations th' r prob'le • cost iv th' cookery.: Perhaps he will go t' th' theayter ,t' see 'Peter Pan.' an' at sup-

per he is asked, 'Wasn't it just lovely? Wasn't. Pether . th' , duckiest boy?', 'Pother ?' he says, looking puzzled; 'Pether? Who was Pether? It was a gran' evenin', certainly. 'Tis foolish,' he says, 't' say that th' money marrkot is tight whin th' public can spen' two hundhred poun's and three shillin's at wan, theaytcr on wan night,' he says. 'But'what did ye think iv. th' play?' they says. 'Well, t' tell ye th' thruth, I wiiz countin' th' aujience all th' time.' Clothes, Jawn, are not clothes t' poor. Joe. He doesn't realise he's dhressod. He only knows that he's covered,with proofs iv th' gr-roat progress iv tailorin' ondher th' Arbithration Ac'. A lady in a stnnnin' frockj is not t' him what she is t' mo an' you an' Hogan an' th' rest iv us. She is a statistic indicative riv th' comforrt an' pr'osper'ty iv th' people. An' I'm only another statistic, an' I have no doubt me frind Joe will be able V toll ye just how I disprove th' villainous' reniarrks iv Bill Massey. As t' th' comet, Joe's worryin' as much as anny iv us. He doesn't say much, but he's out in til' frosty starlight morrnin'. While I'm dhreamin' iv th' collision, he's also grb'win' haggard betuno speeches." ■ "What'she worryin' about th' comet fr?" asked Mr. Dooloy. , "He can't quite make up his mind as t' how it shows th' richness an' prosperty' iv th' counthry. No, Jawn. I'm not a child iv luxury an' pleasure. I have me harrd bumps t' meet. Th' wurrid is a vale iv tears, so far as I'm concerrned. But : at army rate I'm happier thin Joe, f'r t' him 'tis a,vale iv political argymints an' statistics."