The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1910. AN AMERICAN PICTURE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 837, 8 June 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1910. AN AMERICAN PICTURE.

Taken in small doses is a gobd deal of amusement to be derived from the extravagant style, of writing to bo iound in some of the lower-grade American magazines and newspapers. The quaint* "Americanisms" and the extremes of language indulged in give a distinct flavour to the most co'mmon-plaeo topics and convert into glowing pictures incidents and events which, to the qrdinary eye, are drab' and colourless. A very admirable.'illustration of this partiality of a certain class of American writers for those extravagant flights of fancy, and one which ' should prove of especial interest to New Zealanders, is to be found in a recent issue of the Twentieth Century Magazine. Some idea of the class of magazine this is may be gained from the fact that it is edited by _ a Mr. B. O. Flower, .'formerly editor' of the now dofunct Arena, which a few people may remember as having numbered amongst its occasional contributors Mr. Tregear. It is through .Mr. Tregear that Mr. Flower has obtained- most of his ideas concerning this country, and the Secretary of the Labour Department is his chief .authority in the article under notice, which is entitled "New Zealand after Twenty.. Years of. Liberal Rule." The article is intended as a counterblast to. "the amazing hys-. terical stories" of "tainted newsmongers," phrases which indicate that its author has more than one point of resemblanco to certain wellknown politicians in this country. Tho New Zealand which, Mr. Flower paints is so unlike, the rdfil New Zealand that, if the name Barataria were substituted for New Zealand throughout, not a single New Zcalandcr would have noticed any resemblance between Barataria and his own land. But any. New Zealander' ' possessing the saving grace of humour cannot fail to derive a great deal of genuine entertainment from a perusal of the article. Wc draw attention to it not with the -object of correcting its truly amazing absurdities, but with another object," which will becomo clear \at-er on. In New Zealand, says Mr. Flower, "we fijid, in a larger degree than anywhere else, a Government marked by the fraternalism of the Golden Rule." The "great sour.ces .of corruption" have been removed, and as a result tho nation has become "a magnificent illustration of progress based on justice and fraternity." New Zealanders must not .suppose from these opening observations that Mr. Flower has'cast all restraint to the winds: he admits that New Zealand has not be--come "a full-orbed example of social, economic and political-justice." At the same time "no Government on the face of the earth to-day evinces in so large degree as does New Zealand the three things that are hall-marks of true civilisation —wisdom, justice and humanism." We would not'attempt to controvert thoso people who 'no doubt honestly believe Mfi. Buddo to be possessed of great stores of wisdom, who credit Sir Joseph Ward with a very high sense of, justice, and who regard 'Mr. R. M'Kenzie .'as a gentleman and tender humanist. These are matters upon which there are bound to be differences of opinion. But there - is no longer any. great division of opinion a's > to the unsoundness of the railways administration during the past fifteen years. And even that is perfect, to our American eulogist. Tho State, he says, conducts the railways '"in a business-like way, but the net profits, instead of going as with us to further, swell fortunes already Swollen to dangerous proportions, arc in the case of the railways re-, turned to the people . chiefly in reduced rates and passenger service; while in addition to this they are also ma.de to serve to raise tho poor from a condition of dependence to that of independent and prosperous citizenship." But this is only one .of a thousand directions in which our Liberal statesmen have laboured to bring about a heaven upon earth. "The Now Zealand Government holds that it is'the august, solemn and inescapable duty of a civilised State to bond every effort to preserve the citizcn from losing his self-rcspoct or becoming a human derelict." Hence, we are told, "the progressive democratic party organised an employment bureau," and "never did the good offices of a fraternal' Government shine so luminously in the poor man's night-time as during last year!" Mr. Flower says that the Government obtained employment for over 10,000 persons last year, 4000 of them securing permanent positions in private works. If lie is correct, "luminously" is not the right word, for we who are on the spot know only that, the Government was chiclly concerned with its "august, solemn and inescapable duty" of -denying very vehemently that there was any distress. . If it did what is claimed for it, it did it by stealth. We need not follow Mr. Xlower .very, much further. It is

enough to add that his "facts" arc of such a sort as enable him to credit the Government with reducing city rents by erecting model dwellings, and that some of his opinions are that "nothing in modern government is more inspiring or beautiful than tho sleepless vigilance and interest of the democratic statesmen of Now Zealand," and that "the enrichment of ail the people" has been "the master conccrn of the people's representatives." It would spoil the situation to . treat the amusing fancies of Me. Flower seriously. Our only object in noticing his article is to point out that, absurd as it is, it is really nothing more than the average Ministerialist speech treated a la Amcricninc. In substance it does not differ from Silt Joseph W.-igiD's manifestoes: the■ difference is only in the treatment-, in the intensifying of the high lights and the deepening of the contrasting shadows. Examine Mr. Flower's' picture and Sin Joseph Ward's picture of "Liberal" achievement, and they will bo found to be tho .same, although Sir Joseph affects a foggy manner, while Mr. Flower puts his staring blacks and whites in a fl'ame of gaudy American hyperbole. That is why even thosc'to whomUhe Prime Minister's manifestoes do not appear absurd can see the ludicrous and extravagant nature of Mr. Flower's defence of "the party of the Golden Rule."