LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 15, 17 July 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The First Wellington Military Service Board (Messrs. D. M'Laren, actingj chairman, A. O'L. Considine, and Guy ! C. Williams) concluded its sitting yester--1 day afternoon. The adjourned appeal of Ernest Albert Stevens, stoker, Miramar, was again considered by the board, which decided that it could not accede to the application for exemption. John Ed- < ward Dawson, a freezing works em. j ployee, applied to be placed on home seri vice. Appellant said he was a widower, j with one child, and was 36 years of age. j The decision was adjourned till the next sitting of the board.

Something akin to hostility to New Zealand was encountered by Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., during his stay in Australia. The people whose opinion was worth having, Mr. Wright told a Post reporter, were decidedly friendly to the Dominion ; but among others there was the hostility ho mentioned. It was based, he judged, uppn New Zealand's adoption of conscription. The people referred to "were accustomed to say that New Zealand while fighting Prussianism was adopting Prussian methods; that there was lawlessness and so on all over the country. They would not listen when told that this was incorrect. Mr. Wright considered that the unlimited license allowed to speakersl in public places, who said almost anything they pleased, was mainly responsible for this" feeling arising.

Amongst the Maori tribes of old there were no Second Division Leagues. "In regard to military duty," said Mr. Elsdon Best last night, "every man was reiady at a minute's notice to defend the commune. Let but the signal fire gleam on a far range, or tho doleful booming of war trumpets resound through the forest, and every able-bodied man seized spear or patu, girded up his loins, and, in single file, the group contingents swung out upon the war trail that leads to victory, or the broad way of Tane to the _ spirit world. Nor did the Second Division man stay to claim another 3s a day. He jumped right into it. And what is more, Mrs. Second Division went along too. She went to cook the dinner. And you.know what the dinner was."

"Public opinion" was a powerful in* fluence among Maoris of other days. "One of the strongest forces in the preservation of order in a communistic state is that known as public opinion," remarked Mr. Elsdon Best at the Masonic Hall last night. "The powers of this force in the Maori community were remarkable and far-reaching. So'marked was the interdependence of the people, so interlocked were the ramificatiQns of social life, so greatly lacking were individual effort and true family life, that no man could endure the frown of public opinion, nor for long set himself against the wishes of the community. He could not escape censure for wrong-doing by returning into the privacy of his home to let the world go hang, for his neighbour would stalk into his house, without knocking at the door, and tell him what he thought of him, while the rest of the family group would assemble on the plaza- hard by and discuss his shortcomings with cheerful candour and vigorous denunciation. No member of the commune could long endure it."

In the course of a tour in Australia, Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., of Wellington, was greatly impressed with the prosperity which was everywhere in evidence. Statistics gave solid proof of the wealth of the community in the value of products exported, and the people and places of business confirmed the evidence of the statisticians. "If the spectre of drought does not loom up," said Mr. Wright to a Post reporter, "Australia is in for & boom time; but already the absence of rain in New South Wales is creating an uneasy feeling. There'has been no rain for five months, and people are recalling the signs and experiences which preceded the big drought of 1895, and the seven lean years following:" Some New Zealand farmers who had taken stud sheep to New South Wales w-ere nnable to sell them for a quarter of the price they were fetching a year ago, just because the dryness of the season had caused the farmers to become cautious, and had depressed the stock markets.

Old-time Maoris had a system of "compensation for accidents" exactly the opposite of the present" statutory scheme. Instead of the individual obtaining compensation from the community, the community took toll from the individual. The Maoris believed in the Socialist lines

—"an injury to one is an injury to all," and the "right to work." If a man, by his own or another's'fault, injured himself, and thus reduced or checked his "right to work" .for the community, he was punished by the custom of muru (a plunder raid}. The whole of his portablo property, even growing crops, might be earned off by his neighbours. "For example," said Mr. Elsdon Best last night, "if a man's wife decamped with some man, the hapless bereaved husband might -'bo plundered of his property. If a man met with an accident, thus depriving the group of his services for a period, he was robbed. If a man came and took your daughter as a wife, rob him down to the ground-line; he has deprived you of a worker in the field and cook-shed. Thus any person who committed, or suffered, any act, voluntary or otherwise, that injured the welfare or activities of the tribe in any way, was liable to be robbed ; The individual might suffer, but the welfare of the tribe was paramount."

In formally opening the new workroom at the Auckland Hospital Annexe, His Excellency the Governor-General alluded to the success that had attended the efforts of the Joint Committee in New Zealand. In the future, ho said, they were going to divide their interest into three definite channels of Red Cross work; first,_ in the direction of working for our soldiers in Great Britain and the various theatres of war, and, second, in the direction of providing functional treatment for the men who had returned; third, they wanted to help, as far as possible, tha parent society in the many activities it had taken up since the outbreak of war. The people in Auckland would probably have thii largest, orthopaedic institution in New Zealand, which would be established at Rotorua. He congratulated those present on the commodious room that had been provided.

A smile—was it connected -with Government Buildings?—flickered across some faces at the Masonic Hall last evening when Mr. Elsdon Best was referring to the different grades of gods in old Maori times. "The second class of gods," he said, ''may be. described as departmental deities. In most cases these wern personifications of natural phenomena, earth and sky, war, peaceful arts, etc."

"Dry up, you fat-faced old baboon!" Such an interjection as this in the N-ew Zealand Parliament (which may not always be a model of decorum) would certainly create a sensation, with unpleasant consequences for the interjector; but in the New South Wales Parliament, Mr. R. -A. Wright, M.P. (of Wellington), heard the remark made, and the Speaker was content with calling the member-to order.

During June the New Zealand Division had a comparatively quiet time on the Western front. A.report from General Richardson states that the men remained in the Hebuterne sector until the 17th of the month, -when they were removed into reserve. The change and the good weather have been very beneficial to the troops. The divisional sports and horse show -were held, with large attendances.

"What is the average life of usefulness of a horse on the city streets?" a witness was asked at the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon. "Seven or eight years generally, if the animal is well looked after," was the answer, "but its useful life is by no means ended then, for it is good for several more years of farm work on soft ground." Witness added that lie did not hold a very high opinion of some of the City Corporation's horses. "It is all very well to bring them up to prize-winning condition," he said, "but they founder, and are no use afterwards. If half the Corporation's horses were to be sold the ratepayers would be saved a lot of money."

A Press Association telegram from. Christchurch states :—The German bells that have hung in the towei of the old German church at the corner.of Worces-ter-street and Montreal-street for many, years will be taken down in. accordance with 'the instructions of the Acting-Prime Minister. They were obtained by Mr. Ruddenklau, formerly a prominent citizen of this city, and at one time Mayor, about 40 years ago, when he visited Germany. It was a comparatively few years after the Franco-German War. A German Church had been established in Christchurch, and the bells were made out of French cannon captured during the war. The bells were presented to tho church by the Emperor William, the grandfather of the present Kaiser.

In a sermon delivered at Auckland in connection with the annual church parade of St. John Ambulance Brigade, Dr. A. W. Averill, Anglican Bishop, said that whatever might have been the experience of New Zealand soldiers with regard to the clean fighting of the Turks, they could never forget the Turk's devilish treatment of the Armenians and the inhabitants of Palestine. The future of Jerusalem would be the concern of the whole Order, and they should pray primarily that it might never again fall into the hands of the Turks, whose rule at the best was one of robbery and oppression. Personally, he hoped that Palestine would never cease to be under the protection of Great Britain. . He believed that Jerusalem was yet to be the centre of a great world mission, and possibly the rallying point of the great United. Church of God.

Having been closely associated with municipal government in Wellington for many years, Councillor 8,. A. Wright, M.P.j kept his eyes open for features of interest during his recent tour in Australia. To a Post reporter yesterday he lemarkoi upon the excellence of the plan of Ada" aide, with its wide streets and well-laid-out suburbs. Trains were not .permitted except in the wide streets, and one section of line had been taken up because the thoroughfare was regarded as too narrow. Concerning milk supply, a question in which he is particularly interested, Councillor Wripht noted that in Victoria the supplies from the country are carried in trucks -with ice, and are kept in cool storage in the city. This was certainly an impn>v«ment on the methods obtaining in Nev.- Koaland, but in other i-espects the principal cities—Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide—appeared to be no better off than the Dominion in. the matter of control, even if they were as well provided for.

Pear of punishment by his goda in this ■world for wrong-doing helped to keep the old-time Maoris in the right path. "Wo know," said Mr. Elsdon Best last evening, "thai under onr system of belief, ths wicked are sup-posed *t be punished in the next world, wlic-ie, we are told, there is a warm, if ,not comfortable, place prepared for them. We also know that the fear of such punishment in the spirit world ifs not effective in curbing the actions of man in this world. Hence all civilised communities are compelled to rsly upon civil law in order to restrain evil-doers and preserve the stability of the social system. With the Maori it wae different. He was never taught that the souls of erring persons were punished in another realm after the death of the physical basis. To him there is no punishment nor suffering in his two spirit worlds. To him, when he has committed an offence against the gods, the punishment comes in this world, and it comes swiff and certain. That is why a stalwart, robust Native, in the prime of life, when he believes that he has given mortal offence to the gods, can turn his face calmly and in silence to the "wall, and die in twentyfour hours."

Traffic on the Eaafc-Wesfc railway has developed' to a marked extent since tha withdrawal of large passenger vessels from the Western. Australian service (saye the Melbourne Ago). The resources of the Commonwealth Railway Department are being taxed to the uttermost, and as. soon-as the necessary rolling stock is available the question- of running a daily express >ver the transcontinental line will be considered. At present a tri-weekly service is maintained, but this is found inadequate for requirements. The Minister of Works and Railways (Mr. Groom), who has just returned from an inspection of the railway, siiated that he was highly pleased with the service provided. Though a considerable section of the line, has still to be ballasted, an- average speed of 35 miles_ an hour is maintained' with easy running. When the whole length of track is completed the speed will be increased _to 45 miles an hour. The Department has received its first order for a complete stock train. Since the opening of the line sheep and cattle have been transported to Port Augusta from the far-back stations, but within a few days a- full train load: of sheep is to be brought east from Loongana, 740 miles west of Port Augusta. At Woocalla .mining operations have been encouraged by the opening of the line, and considerable quantities of manganese and baryta are being mined, while 40 tons of salt a day are being recovered from Lake Hart.

Private advice has been received in Christchurch that Lieutenant-Colonel John Findlay, C.8., D.5.0., who left with the Main Body, has had conferred on him the Egyptian decoration of Order of the Nile.

At a meeting of representatives of the various local bodies in the Hciowhenua County on Saturday it was decided to nominate Messrs. S. A. Broadbelt,. E. Law, and F. Perm as candidates for the coming Palmerston North Hospital Board election.