TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 7, 8 July 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Wellington citizens have an opportunity to assist in the doing of Three Birds three good deeds simulwith taneously. By contribOne Stone, uting funds for the unemployed they will avert suffering from families threatened with if not actually afflicted now, and will benefit Victoria College and the Wellington Hospital. In response to a request by the Citizens' Unemployment Fund Executive, the Government has agreed to grant a subsidy of £ for £ up to £2000 for the improvement of the Victoria College by cutting away high clay banks. The "spoil" will serve to fill in a gully owned by the Wellington Hospital Trustees, and will accordingly increase the property's value. It was thought that technical legal difficulties stood in the way of a subsidy to the funds subscribed by the public, but Cabinet has mastered them. Thus there is no suggestion of charitable aid about the venture. The Government has wisely voted for the cheaj)er plan of " Prevention better than cure." Apart from the worthy case of the unemployed, Victoria College has a claim on the community. It has long been a reproach against the citizens of Wellington that they have been indifferent to the appeals on behalf o' an institution which is doing remarkably good work in intelligent citizenbuilding. The people have now a chance to make amends for past neglect, and by making reparation lor a sin of omission they will find employment for nmny hands sadly needing it. There is no excuse now for private generosity to hang coyly back on the plea that there n no definite plan presented. An admirable scheme is before the city, and the city should prove worthy ol the scheme. The members of the committee should now make a vigorous campaign among the more wealthy and less wealthy sections of the community to ensure a good beginning for the - canvass. Experience has shown that if a subscription movement drags at the beginning, it drags all the time. The fund needs a good send-off, and will then keep goin# largely by its own momentum. Questions ofonore than ordinary importance have occupied the Church attention of the preConstitutions. sent meeting of the Anglican Synod. One of these, the "Brotherhood" scheme, which raises questions requiring very careful consideration, has been postponed to next Synod ; but another, of fundamental importance, is still under consideration. It was brought forward by the Rev. T. H. Sprott, of St. Paul's Church, [ in a resolution setting forth that " the unalterable character of the provisions in the Constitution, called fundamental, is injurious to the best interests of the Church, and a hindrance to its progress," and requesting the General Synod "to secure, by Act of Pai'liament, the right of complete self-government for the Church." Our report will show in what directions Mr. Sprott suggested that the desired freedom should be used. An archaic and very imperfect version of the Psalter is still in use ; it is desired to eliminate from the daily service some thirty psalms which a too literal interpretation hai made a cause of offence,

and to introduce other reforms without waiting for the example of the Home Church. Those who know the Rev. Mr. Sprott best will the most readily recognise how needless it was for him to disavow any ulterior object; and the Anglican Church is not alone in the experience of the hampering effect of a MedoPersian Constitution. Past history has shown that slavish devotion to a constitution devised lor other ages and conditions has even destroyed the vitality oi churches, and left them mere shells. The difficulty of making necessary changes is always found in regard to the trust properties of a church, which it is the lunction of the State to protect. Hence the necessity of an Act of Parliament. The United Free Church of Scotland affords the typical instance of tha danger of making changes, however desirable, when the trusts are associated with dead and obsolete conditions. But there is a danger of another kind, which makes all churches chary of touching the foundations. There is always the possibility of leaving the way open for changes ! which the.reformers never contemplated, oy which a party temporarily dominant ! may destroy the historic continuity of the body and alter its essential relation to the world. The Eev. Mr. Sola pointed out some possibilities — as, for example, " the cutting-out of the miraculous element" from the lectionary, which a L\Ji-tuiu party in the church has already ; suggested. A meteoric preacher, with | great personal magnetism, might quite toaceivably impress" k'3 o v, n idiosyncrasy injuriously on tho vGiistjtution. The Matter requires consideration from all sides, and demands :i:oie than ordinary -.aution. Fastidiousness m language is evidently not confined to literary A Lingual men— tome of whom, by Purist. the way, are admittedly a little deficient in that quality. At the special meeting of the Harbour Board on Tuesday, exception was taken to an innocent technical term, well understood and correctly applied, i "Mr. James objected to the term 'dumpj ing.' It might be convenient, but it had j a nasty flavour." Tho "nasty flavour" j apparently refers to a very recent applij Jiuoa of the term in political metaphor, i The word is 'oi ancent lineage, older than Anglo-Saxon, and is found in Icelandic and all the modern Teutonic tongues. It means "to fall hea.vily," and a "dump," once a favourite toy, was an irregular counter of lead, poured from a ladle, with which boys played "chuck-farthing." In the United States, where much old English is retained, the term "dumping" is in daily use. Ballast, rubbish, "spoil" — which Americans perversely call "dirt"— -anything discharged by gravitation from a cart, is j "dumped." In Britain it is "shot," j hero it is usually i,.»id io be "tipped." I A "tip," a "uiimii," and a "shoot" (sometimes mis-spelt ''oh.,te" or "chute") | are synonyms, .and even as political : phrases there is no association in either term that ran fairly be called "nasty." It is curious how ts'chiiicnl words, change in meaning — how they sometimes pass into the general currency, and, agaiu, into slang. It would be a pleasant thing to read that some trade union meeting had condemned as "nasty" the use of the opprobrious term ''blackleg." which half a century ago had the veil-understood meaning of a cardsharper or racecourse cheat. Ip this country the name "blackleg" has been transferred to the much-abused free labourer. The language of slang was, one would think, already rich enough in equivalent terms— "scab," "knobstick," and others, besides special epithets confined to particular trades. "Blackleg" in its latest sense is not yet accepted ; it still creeps furtively into print under cover of apologetic quotation marks. It is a good sign when people are critical in their choice of words — a sign of a desire for clear thinking. Some day, perhaps, we shall have a "Purity of Language League," to put down slang, that bacillus of decay in languages, conducting a crusade against the split infinitive, and imposing a fine, say, of a shilling for the misuse of "phenomenal" and "demise," and of five shillings for the American atrocity "electrocute." Mr. T. E. Taylor, free lance for tho town, is at war with Mr. Town Hugo tfriedlander, heavyv. armed knisht for the counCountry. try. A " telegram from Christchurch to-day indicates that Mr. Taylor was indifferent, about the kind of mis&ile that he threw at his opponent. He used a word which, the Speaker of the House of Representatives rules very much out of order. Two 'men, who are responsible members of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, glared at each other across the table, and may bethankful that looks do not kill. Each man may be seeking to humble the other in the eyes of the public, and it is 'all because the town, months ago, was pitted against the country. The squabbles had their origin in the canal scheme to give the city direct communication with the sea via Suninc. The canal was made an issue at the general electiont, and occupied much spate in the Christchurch papers. The city members of the Harbour Board are "canallers," but the country section is content with Port Lyttelton, and the country party commands a slight majority. With a board sharply divided on a question involving anything up to £2,000,000, fragments of bitterness have not been scarce. Unhappily Mr. Taylor and Mr. Fried! an<i°r (the chairman) engaged in bouts of perscnalities, and thus a matter which should have remained ons of cold finance and business calculation is tending to degenerate into heated persona' debates, in which reciimination= <ake the place of logic. It is only one of a number of cases in which town and country have foolishly gone to war to their mutual discomfiture and loss. Happily the battles between parties which should be in friendly co-operation for the general good of New Zealand are becoming less frequent, and less fierce, but there are some men t.till to be convinced that they cannot benefit either city or country by sweeping denunciations of their opponents' motives. "Oh, in that little word, how many thoughts are stirred, that "^S T o!" whisper of —?" "The late Mr. ifcieddon," are the words supplied by the Hon. G. ITowlds. at 'Auckland. "When it was urged," said the Minister for Education, "that he should go further and further, and he ■did not approve of it, no one could say 'No' more emphatically than the lat© Prime "Minister," and 'Mr. Fowlds hinted that tho present 'Ministry had lo be mindful of Mr. Seddon's care "not to go ahead of public opinion." There was one member of Cabinet — still alive, but no longer in, the inner <SoVQrnment circle — who enjoyed the reputation that he could "sit tight and ,say 'no,' " with an. emphasis and a regularity that won the admiration, of ■even, the disappointed depntationists. •But the average iMmister finds "no" a very difficult word to utter. It is deemed to be an unpolite, impolitic syllable, and is therefore usually paraphrased into several or several dozen sentences. The Minister, who' may have ."no" in his heart, suavely says : "I shall be glad to make enquiries and place your representations before my colleagues." Then the deputation, rather .ruefully (if the members are old hands), thanks the Minister and withdraws. {Poor little difficult "no!" What a world of memories the two letters spell wut ! Tho mind is ehot back to the 'Sunday-school days and mother*, knee, .und. tho kind caution that tho little

one should be always brave enough to say "No" at the light time and place. But the tongues of most folk have at times stuck at the "n." It is an awkward letter. The tip of the tongue has to 'be pressed to the junction of teeth and palate, and how easy it is for the tongue to stop at that. That "n," is an obstacle in Germany, in France, in. over a score of languages. It goes back to Aryan, the remote parent of modern English, and perhaps further. Why did not our remote ancestors pick a consonant easier for Ihe tongue, or a vowel? How much better might the world have been if "ayo" had meant "no" at the beginning.

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