NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 112, 13 May 1911, Page 13

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

A PROFESSOB AND HIS CRITIC. "Professor Salmond's Blunder. Prohibition : An Effective Social Reform. A Reply." By A. S. Adams, Dunediu. Wellington : New Zealand Alliance. Important though the function of tho critic may be, he works under a certain disadvantage. His treatise, large or small, exhaustive or fragmentary, must always have the appearance of being in the nature of adjunct or appendage to the work or another, and the writer who engages in a controversy, instead of essaying a complete structure, can only contribute a portion, even if indispensable, to an edifice. When Professor Salmond, of Dunedin, early this year, published his pamphlet, "Prohibition a Blunder," it was a somewhat ambitious task he essayed. While the views he controverted have been advocated with great energy and ability for two generations, it has been only during the last twenty-five or thirty years that they have been noticeably embodying themselves in the legislative enactments of self-governing countries, and, last of all, the world had become aware that a majority of the electors of New Zealand had affirmed them at the polls, and had in considerable areas endorsed them by a majority sufficient to make them the law of the land. It was flien that the Professor denounced the "blunder" the people had made, and in no halfhearted manner. Beginning at the root, he condemned the theories of democracy which made the exercise of this "op tion" possible, and the prohibition itself as contrary to policy and ethics, further maintaining that the argumont that it was in the interests of hoalth or morals .was fallacious; also that the supposed reform was contrary to the principles and explicit teachings ot Scripture. All these things had been said before; but never before in this country had they come from a quarter that could command such attention, nor from one who could stato his case with such ability. As Mr. Adams says, "his position and reputation in the community entitle his arguments to consideration and respect." Further, in the preaent stato of publio opinion, and the direction in which it is tending, some courage was required to take such a stand. In March last, at the request of the Otago Daily Times and the Weekly Outlook, Mr. A. S. Adams wrote a criticism of the pamphlet, which appeared at the time, and now, expanded to a pamphlet of ninety-six pages, appears in a separate form. As to the general principle* of democratic self-government, it is not necessary to follow Mr. Adamses argument ; most people have made up their minds on the subject, and take advantage of such self-governing facilities as they possess, and the critic uses Professor Salmond's own admissions with considerable effect against himself; he holds 1 him to a distinction which, he admitß, but is not careful to observe, between moral considerations which' sliould rule the individual and questions of pure State policy; the public itself deciding, on the professor's own canons, whether ' the danger to the public arising from drinking and drunkenness is so great as to justify and require such prohibition." Rhetorical references to history are examined in detail, parallels declared to be imaginary on the authority of chapter and verse, and the Scripture argument investigated. ' This latter work was very thoroughly done more than forty years ago by Dawson Burns and Dr. Lees m a book which has since gone through, many editions, and Farrar Fenton, whose scholarship is unquestioned, has lately gone over the ground independently. Mr. Adams does not profess to contribute any new light in this . quarter, but no one who cannot find better authority than those who now hold the field is entitled to ignore them. . "The Sinister Note-." By A. Whisper, author of "Black Mark," "King and Captive." Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons. Former novels from the same hand met with a cordial reception, which must have been gratifying to the author, who has broken fresh ground in a romance much in the spirit of medieval days, though it is a tale of contemporary Spain, and the characters are English -tourists and aristocratic Spaniards. Two English ladies are brought into contact with the members of the family of Don Miguel, Marques de Azucenas, a handsome young man, who, with his mother, inhabits a beautiful Moorish house, the oldest in Cordova. It is a family proud of its lineage and old traditions, though impoverished by a long-standing lawsuit. The hero, who keeps his title in abeyance while his claims are in dispute, and is far too poor to live up to it, has much more than a dash of the fiery Moorish blood, and falls passionately in love almost at sight with Susan Willoughby, the younger of the ladies, an English girl of great beauty, who, a good French scholar and with an imperfect knowledge of Spanish, is travelling in company with one Mrs. Fairfax, whose linguistic acquirements are slender. The single lady pays she has a passion for scenery, cathedrals, palaces, and pictures; Mrs. Fairfax is indifferent to all these things, living in the hope of "meeting someone nice." It is to her younger companion, however, that this experience falls, for she swiftly reciprocates the Spaniard's passion. She is herself poor, and has but to speak a word to become the wife of a very wealthy but unattractive, though good-hearted Englishman ; but she speedily dismisses' him. Mutual affection, however, is in itself inadequate to clear away the initial difficulties, of which poverty is not the greatest. In the first place, tho lovers know little of each other; they are of alien faiths,' differ in race, in their point of view, their customs, and even to some extent in moral code; and the Marquis has, moreover, to obtain his mother's consent, which she denies. She hates her son with a hatred second only to that with which she regards heretics, and yields implicit obedience to her priest, who, for reasons of his own, inflames her hatred to liaison. There is much tribulation for all concerned, and the position is complicated by the Marquis developing furious jealousy, and not only trouble but tragedy is more than once imminent. 1 ,story.', story .' tn ough sometimes improbable, is developed with unfailing skill, but it has a further attraction in its admirable vignettes of Spanish life and character, not only in the patrician but in the humbler classes ; and the vivid pictures of the city of Cordova, of the wonderful Mezquita, and of old-time palaces more than four centuries old, and including Moorish work of the tenth century, are alone better worth reading than most of the recent novels. "Account Rendered." By E. F. Benson. London : William Hieiiemann. Time was, when in the novel or on the stage it was enough that the hero and heroine should be noble, spotless, and unfortunate, the villain or confederated villains as black as could be depicted, and after incredible complications Vice should come to a bad and spectacular end, Virtue emerging triumphantly, vindicated, crowned with all the riches and unexpected honours that earth could bestow. But, save that they linger in melodrama, these old conventions have practically died out. Tho public, that. once would accept nothing else, has learned to ilemuuci qualities less primitive, and a realism that bears some colourable mcmblanco to actual

life and its rewards and penalties, which, as wise men have always taught, sire* .tot invariably dispensed on the principles of "poetic justice." We cannot say that the newest bcliool of fiction, much of which has gone to the opposite extreme, strikes us as preferable to the old, or will be less, ephemeral ; w<H/hink that oven among some of the most carefully elaborated studies by popular and prolific fictionifcts comparatively few will live — or deserve to live — to their first quinquennium. Many of them are tainted by a cynical pessimism t'rom which the cruder fiction was happily free ; there has come into fashion a minute analysis of sordid and worthless characters who could not even, in Luther's sturdy phrase, "sin mightily," but always pettily, meanly, and furtively. Concerning a certain work of -fiction years ago, a critic said that it was as if an artist of exceptional gifts had devoted his powers to the painting of a .pair of worn-out boots. In any picture of life the reader surely may reasonably look for at least one worthy charactei, but may sometimes look in vain. In a book wo noted last week, the work of a gifted lady, the one unselfish figure has little- strength of character save to suffer and to renounce. Mr. Benson has fine gifts ; but his last novel is an example of a work admirably begun and disappointingly "tapering off." Anything Detter than -the opening chapters one does not often meet. Mr. Winthrop and his tempestuous wife, tho "imps" and their charming governess Violet Allenbv, with her stories of her "goblin uncle ; LadyTenby and her son Ted — a good fellow who in the sequel is shamefully treated, but is not man fiilough to face adversity — all the foun-dation-work is admirable — but we confess that we were disillusioned and tired before we were half through. Lady Tenby, who promises well, proves to be a mendacious hypocrite; any traces of principle the characters at first appear to possess gradually vanish, and finally the heroine develops a selfishness which manifests itself in refined cruelty. There are in all 320 pages. The first hundred-and-twenty or so well repay the reader ; the rest will probably disappoint him. "Canadian National Economy" is the title of a pamphlet of 180 pages by James J. Harpell on the "caußes of hisjh prices and their effect upon the country," published at fifty cents by tho Macmillaji Company, of Toronto. The essay, originally published in the Contemporary Review of January last year, attracted bo much attention that the author has expanded it A and supported its contentions by a long array of facts brought up to date. He gives a history of the respective tariffs of Canada and its larger neighbour, whose fiscal policy it has followed, and of the various negotiations over many years to arrive at some commercial understanding, which should be of mutual advantage. He adduces figures to chow that with rising tariff walls the productive industries have steadily languished, while tho smaller traders and bankers have been driven out of business by the growing trusts. Legislation specially devised to check the monopolies and the increasing cost of the necessaries of life lias been ineffective. Attention is given to tho position of the reciprocity discussions. In both countries, the author maintains, tho protective tariffs ha\ie been the cause of the present commercial and industrial problems. In the Lone Hand (Sydney) for May, Mr. J. H. M. Abbott writes on> "Sir Francis Drake and Australia : How but for him Australia might ha.ye been Spanish," and Nprman Lindsay supplies vigorous illuotrations. "The Problem of the Servant Girl" receives further consideration, and among a number of short stories, "Bill us Big," by J. D. Fitzgerald, illustrated by Norman Lindsay, narrates an episode in the history of a circus, wMcfi proved to be the turningpoint of its fortunes. In a, page of -sketches of dog and parrot life, Mr. Norman Lindsay gives another example of his skill in depicting animal character. Two school magazines have reached us. The Wellingtonian (Wellington College) contains the initial records of school work and progress, groupo of college elevens, rowing crew, nnd shooting team; holiday snapshots from lads on vacation, and letters from Old Boys all the world over. The Boys' High School Magazine (ChrLatchuvch) sends ,us its summer term issue, with a photo group of its ten monitors foi tlie current year. There is also a group of the First Eleven for the year. The magazine contains some very creditable literary work; but the editor deplores the chronic state of debt which precludes the school record from "launching out" as its promoters might in better circumstances be encouraged to do. The Newspaper Press Directory. (London : C. Mitchell and Co.) This very useful publication, which has now reached its sixty-sixth birthday, contains a mass of information indispenßablo to journalists and business men. It comprises not only a list of the newspapers and magazines published practicably all over the world, but in regard to most of them adds their politics or fading features, the districts in which they circulate, price of issue, aud other details. Thus it is, besides being a directory, a gazetteer of newspaper towns. In the case of India and otW oversea Dominions, each division is preceded by a comprehensive review of its trade and resources, Customs tariff, etc., revised to _ the latest date available. Special articles are contributed by Mr. Alfred F. Bobbins, on "Newspaper Ideals"; Mr. J. E. Charter, on "The Advertising Field To-day," nnd by Mr. Hugh Fraser, LL.D., on legal decisions of the yeai > relating to the press. Tho last is specially interesting to newspaper nien. There are also obituary notices, with portraits of prominent men who have (passed away during the year, including Sir William Agnew (of Punch), Mr. Frederick Greenwood (Pall Mall), Mr. 4rthur Walter (Times), and others. Altogether the volume, which is published at a very low figure, is a most creditable production, and it ib especially valuable to advertisers seeking to exploit foreign fields. In the Vosges department in France the little town of Saint-Die is preparing to celebrate the fact that in a book printed there the name Amexica was first given to the Western world. M. Pichon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is to preside at the celebration and to represent tho Government. Saint-Die had a printing shop in 1507, and there was printed an account of Amerigo Vespucci s voyages a» an addition to .Ptolemy's treatifco on geography. These lines are the beginning of the introduction: — "There la a fourth quarter of the world which Amerigo Vespucci has discovered, and which for this reason we call 'America,' or the land of America." Further on appean. : "We do not see why the name of tho man of genius, Amerigo, who has discovered them should not be given to these lands, as Europe and Asia have adopted tho names of women." SaintDie has long been called godmother of America. CONSTIPATION. The most persistent and troublesome human ailment known, and the foieI'unner of many other dieeatses, ie now most effectively cured _ with Chamberlain's Tablets, and then meet of the other ailments vanifch because uatuic has a lico chance U> work, flutmberlain'b Tablets are a/bimple and leliabl-e .remedy and one that conLiims no hareh injiuioue drug.— Advti