LIFE'S FITFUL FEVER ODD SYMPTOMS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 09, 11 January 1908, Page 9

LIFE'S FITFUL FEVER ODD SYMPTOMS.

ißv Dr. F. H. Charitj.) A *erw weeks ago Mr. J. Keir HaTdie ■went among tho 232 millions of India, (be did not speak personally to each inhabitant), and uttered words which were translated into Hindoo for the blisses. The speeches were reconverted into English in British newspapers, and thesa are the only records available to help us to learn what Mr. HaTdie said. He declines to 1 tell us the things which he mentioned: to those natives. He wiJl go down with a , - Through the ages' loflgf and weary ; We wiU never know exactly what he said. Whe!n we'r^ grey *nd old ana bleary, Wo will still bo asking Keirie • If it's true, 'if it's ngnt— what ws rtad. This eicitincr Labour Lender Made nimrfeff a special pleader, And he said a. lot- of things to Ghunga. Din, And tho simple' Hindoo reader Ban about and •yelled-"W ere freed. f A Cod hta com© to save vs 1 and our "tin. That last line will not scan. The perpetrator made several attempts tc* get in a better effect, , and c\\mb on to dizzier heights of the Parnassian slope, ' but Pegasus rudely bucked him off. >Mr. Keir Hardies explanations will not scan, and the Muse struck in sympathy. ' Various "persons ate wondering whether they hare "the right to' work," and they aje committing columns of corres : pondence about it. They are really more concerned to know whether they have 'the' light to shirk." While' they are inanely and ineptly splashing ink here, tho wind is shaking out the com on tho plains of Canterbury, and flicking out the grass-seed on tho hills of Banks Peninsula. There is not only "the right to work" down there, but ll a bob an hour and tucker" as well. Generally, however, the people who have time for dialectic- about "the right to work" m a •new country which is clamonring for workers flunk sweat, on the brow is a horriblo thing, too unspeakable for words. As usual, th 9 revenue, shows a large gaiii foT the nine months which closed on 31st Decerabei. "Ihe increase," says the Premiel, "is exceedingly satisfactory, and indicates the remarkable buoyancy in the revenue." Therefore another sinker will be attached td the beautiful revenue floater to keep it from bobbing about too jauntily on the sea of prosperity. "We've a lovely surplus," say the rulers of the country every year. "Let us borrow a million just to keep k company." Next time there is an agitation for changing bhe name of this country the claims of , Old Oland should not be overlooked. , i "If you will pardon a criticism,"' wrote Mr. J. It. Hardie to the Labour leaders here, "I would say that too ,much importance is attached to programmes, and not sufficient to the- essential principles winch should underlie the political Labour movement." The visitor touched a very conspicuous trait in the New Zealand character. The people do indeed Jove lofty . programmes. A handful of Political Labour Leaguers the other day built up a programme big enough for a teeming race of giants with brains in proportion to their bodies. Not long ago & White Race League wail founded hrWellington; its object ' was ito conserve the purity of the white race throughout the wide" world. An Anti* Opium League has been, formed in -JEasjijngß br,Napier t or, somewhere about there, apd its ambition ,is" by prrfyeT or by,i threat to stop England. from sendbg opium into China. *£h&^politicians arc just 4 tho $a,me. Subtext" the programme, ' i-jid 1 there nor thing left but a scare heading. , 1 It. is a 'cheerful' religion thaV Mrs. Georgia Gladys Cooley , teaches. *She preaches the joy. of the large faith. She nolds tip a religion which,, she.clainis, is, superior to, all others. "The others do not lift the veil which hides the mystery of ,the (dead,';' she • declares, and therefore they ' cannot supply the consolation which 'spiritualism gives. In this twentieth century it is quaint to hoar of personal conversation with the dear departed. The " development of spiritualism is further evidence that all things go in cycles, last to first, and firs* to last. In the ( beginning man was a spiritualist. It was spiritualism which furnished the cloth from which most of the world's religions were cut. Later the raw material^, at least much of it, was despised by man, and-tnow »ome of him is ripping Up the seaias of bi.- garments, ' and is clothing himself with the tatters. Is' he better or worse fo" it? The enthusiastic spiritualist actually believes that nil tho souls of all tho dead are ready, at the proper call, to ivhisper for those who care to hear. It requires a very large bump of faith, but how happy the, faithful must be ! When we were toddlers the world was full of lovely realities. No world of romance conjured up by a weird brain was more wonderful than (.he fields and the gullies in which we roamed!. We had a faith as great as . the faith of the spiritualists, and peace wai ours. The trumpets 'have sounded, and the front ranks of the liquor and no-license ' a.rmio3> oW plashing togwther. Although the next local option-poll is Vyear away, the air is beginning to ring .with the clatter of bottles. News -comes from Invercargill {hat "since the inauguration of prohibition. . - - it, is found that there has been a remarkable decrease of -crime generally in Southland with tho exception of offences of arsorf, false pretences and thefts from dwellings." The , "excepts" are fairly formidable, but they 'are explained- away to some extent. A counterblast comes from the brewers. One of their apostles, a rev. '|r.entlera<tn, has, just returned .from the (Jnited States, ,and he announces that prohibition thurr his spelled ruination ror everything. The people of New _ Zealand are in for sad times. The "sly g/OEtgery" and the "gin-drinker's liver r< will be hurled at them,; the shadow of the bottle will be thick upon the landscape for a twelvemonth. -'Could not b Homeric combat between the leaders of the rival armies • be' fought in some wide open space to decide the issue for ever Fair weapons would be empty bottles for the brewer braves and wads of statistics for the 'knights of nolicense. , Such ,a conflict would be much more enjoyable for the public than the avalanches of talk which are pending. ■ i The spirit of uofqnism has spread among gamblers, confidence men, and' other criminals in Sydney. It is pioverbial that there is always good fellowship among thieves, hut hitherto tho camaraderie has been on *a more or less informal basis. Now the men meet regularly to exchange nd,vice and consult about methods of working., -Shall wo read presently that ' tJi© Crib-crackers' Industrial Union of WoVkers has, asked the Arbitration Court to define "reasonable thickness!' for steel used in safes? It is fondly hoped that the minimum rate of "'swag" to which a burglar considers he is' entitled will not be fixed too high.