LIFE'S FITFUL FEVER.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 18, 20 July 1907, Page 9

LIFE'S FITFUL FEVER.

ODD SYMPTOMS. (By Dr. F. H. Charity.) PEACE AT ANY PRICE. This treatise is going to amiably wander, liko a Governor's Speech, from East Indian spices to Trust kerosene, ■with this difference. Tha Governor's Speech is designed to conceal tho ical thoughts of tho Government, and mino is intended to reveal them. Lives there an animal, a beast moro to bo dreaded than a spoilt baby? If there is one, we would run far to avoid, it. The spoilt baby is a domination' in tho eyes of its adoring parents, end ' an abomination in tho opinion of everybody olse. Of course, the baby doss not spoil itself ; tho parents do lhe ovil. The youngstor tries out for the clock ; it receives tho clock. It bellows for an indigestible piece of meat ; it gets the melt. In the end it yells incessantly just for the lovo of making a hideous noise. Toys, sv/cets, arc showered upon it to sootha it; tho audience considers ,thr.t peaco is cheap at any price. Well, that baby seems to have been dragged in mercilessly by the cars, bu* tho baby in tho writer's eye is tho New Zealand people. Wo were a sturdy people once, and mre stiy for that matter, but we have been spoilt by a paternal Government. "Spoon-feeding" wa3 a word once much in uso to describe tho Government's .attitude towards favourite localities, - " oit iho process has progressed ; it is now. Like birds intended',for tho gourmand's table tho people are fattened up with borrowed money, and in return they must lay eggs of gold — three million iof them every year — for tho London capitalists. Sops have been spattered about the colony in such profusion — except in the far away backblocks where the voice of the votar is hushed — that the sweetness must have palled on tha crcat baby, n baby in npite of the b.ig name of Dominion. Tho Southern Cross has been adopted »s a heraldic sign for Xcw Zealand. Four silver 6tars are set in tho corner ox a flag, but the <to3s wants a point knockiong off to make i,he design moro appropriate ; three golden balls would fit us nicely. "When in doubt borrow money," has become the guiding principle <of this country. There is" virtue, there is magic in tha word "borrow," for it ryhmes with "morrow," a lovely word, as anyone who has heard a contralto sing it knows. _ Besides, borrow and to-morrow are very closely related. New Zealand's policy is : '"Eat. drink, and bo marry, on borrowed money today ; to-morrow we shall not pay back, but shall borrow moi-s." j To-day- in New Zealand a man counts iimseif a statesman if he can (successfully negotiate a loan. The ship of Stntn should pre-eminently be a comfortable passenger boat, but it has been converted into a tramp, with a cargo of coins. Wo are lovely, loanly islands in the. Pacific. The indebtedness bits mounted up tn over £60,000,000— more than £60 for every man, woman, end child on the land — and millions are being added cs fast «i>3 the paliticnl persons fit the head of the country can cajolo the financiers jntp. makin^j,[fjpiUi'pr ; pd,yancps. Thoru seem i to be an ambition to scoro a ceiitnry of millions, and the runs will not take many years to compile a.t the present rate of hard hitting. To-day the people bury their hands ingoMon sand — other persons* sand — and fancy that tomorrow's reckoning will never come. The other day lhe Premier hinted that the string of the public pume was 'ok drawn a little tighter. When the nsual scramble came for the loives and fishes, he indicate! that fit was going to pjeaerve the food for more needy days. Beit there are points in the Budget to show that it is considered sound jiolhy to be extravagant eimply because tho finances of the colony (aiTsiated by loaub) are described lib buoyant. The idea reems to be that if a man is fat he .should be made fatter. If he is making profits let him of! with a caution aad a bonus, but if he is losuig money give him words of good cheer and si tax. The farmers arc prosperous, and i.'iereforc they have thnir iiheep tax remitted. This sum. only £20,000, wastoo trivial to be felt by the combined •anncra of Xew Zealand, but was sufficient to pay all tha Cabinet Ministers' salaries, tvith soraetßing to spare. The merchants and businesn, men in general were waxing fat, and therefore, on the ■«vorld-"old 'principle of giving to tho6e ■who have, they wero assisted by cheap postage^ — four ounces' for a. penny and a half-fenny for the nrxt two ounces. Wuat one of the workers ever sends a letter that weighs anything like 4ozs? Praise has been giTen to the Budget j proposals in many quarters, but a close analysis shows that the detai's make for peace at any price. . The Government loaded its gun with strong powder 3nd shot for the demolition of the freeholders-, but thase gantlemen had merely to '.vag their ton^uss a little, and the Government artillerists fled without firing a round. "Those fe'lows will make our heads arhe •vrith their none," the Government said. 4r Let as have peace; let U3 give thtm what they want." Wherever a dog was heard barking, a bone was thrown to the arsirr.aj- What a poor tEing of shreds and patches thr ouce great fabric of tlic Lnnd Bill has become ! All that bolker about limitation of vast estates. What hot air, as the Americans say, that has becom; atone cold. About all that remains now .is a funny suggestion that vhen a man is rolling in so many acres that ho does not know what to do with them, he will be subjected to a meek and mild graduated tai on the unimproved value, w,hicli does not become formidable till a man is so wealthy that he i& in-diffenr-t about the impost. At a tirna Tt hen the country needs courtijreous slatesAmen, its destinies are controli&d by V tinker*.

Never ttbb there a better opportunity for a strong, jest man to come to the front in Xew Zealand and preach a policy of sanity. Tho people have not been trained to look beyond the fence of their Garden of Eden, which h?.a been planted with borrowed money. Individuplly, tho reople have consciences keen enquch. but - -ffiibliciy they regard their obligations lightly. They are too impatient to put up with the slightest inconvenience; money must be borrowed "to save them from the least annoyance. They forcret that "beggars cannot bs choosers." Politicians preach economy, but practise ex-travii-ranee. Ir Auckland economy ia good for Wellington, Canterbury, ar.d Otago, fant Auckland must have its dues. A similar cry (iocs up in cash of tlie other centra. It doe 3 not occur to the people that i.icy should po without flash railway stations and palatial post offices till thoy can j.GoTd them. Everybody wants tho Qoveinmer.t to lctrtncu with one hand and borrow with the otaer, and tho Government lends a willing ear to eveiybody's advice. -

Tor CliiMron's Hacking Cough at night, .aTcoU*' Uieat Peppermint Curo. le od. — Advt.