TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 85, 10 April 1926, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Whatever one may think of "Hamlet" in modern dress, it is difficult to imagine "Faust" in a similar setting. But this has been attempted in Berlin. Faust, we are told in to-day's cable messages, is robed as a university proctor or wears a dinner-jacket, and Mephistopheles waves an opera hat. Perhaps it was to be expected that, when Shake- x spearc was compelled to submit to this modernising process, the lesser German dramatist had small chance of escape. But the show must surely" have been grotesque, fur tho whole atmosphere of "Faust" is medieval. -It does appear that the craze for novelty is being carried to extremes, not justified by the plea that the poetry and dramatic strength are better appreciated when the, attention is not diverted by period costumes. If people wish'to hear the words of "Faust," without a "Faust" setting, there is the reading circle method, adopted successfully by many Shakespearian societies, and similar in effect to concert platform presentation of grand opera, Gounod's "Faust" has been thus presented and appreciated. But if this search for something unusual persists we may expect shortly to see "II Trovatore" adapted "to current Italian politics, with a chorus of Black Shirts, or perhaps Macbeth in a shooting suit or plus fours, conducting a political campaign on the Clyde, witK a shingled Lady Macbeth canvassing for votes.

Waitomo Caves has long ■ been distinguished as a Government-managed tourist resort which pays.its way and yields a profit. Yet it has probably received less attention than some other resorts which have always been a loss and always will be. ! Now a new ' and enlarged hostel is being erected, j but it may not be ready for next season. Surely this delay is not good business. A year ago workmen were oxcavating the site for the extension, but no extra accommodation is yet available, and, according to a report from Auckland, booking for the Caves Hostel closed six weeks before Eastei. There is scope here for a little moro enterprise. For many years there has been only limited accommodation at the Caves, and visitors in the tourist season have been allowed to stay only one night. It would surely be more profitable for tho Government, as custodian of the Caves and owner of tho hostel, to encourage long stays, and to provide tennis courts, golf links, and other attractions. The business pays now, and could be made to pay more. If the. improvement is much longer delayed the business will go to Te Kuiti. F; would probably have gone there long before, this if the.road had not been one of the worst in the world for i motors. j

Diogenes preferred s tub for^ his dwelling; the late Mr. Bayard Brown, a wealthy American, favoured his steam yacht. For thirty years, it is reported, I the yacht Valfreiya was a miltfoneire's I home. She lay all that time in the security and smooth waters of the Blackwaterf Estuary in Essex. The locality, if picturesque, is not sublime, but it suited Mr. Brown's mood, and he was evidently, like Diogenes, a gentleman of philosophic turn of mind. After all, there is nothing irrational in his choice of a yacht instead of a house; indeed, a floating habitation of this sort has many advantages over one of brick or stone. It would be a quiet home, free from intrusive sounds of dancing late at night, of vulgar motor horns, piano organs, and early and late practitioners on piano, violin, or B flat cornet. The cabled accounts of Mr. Brown's personality suggest that he was eccentric. He "was; but was no fool to like living afloat. He was indubitably constant to Valfreiya by all accounts, and she served him /ell; he probably knew every rope and stay, every panel, bolt, and nut in the vessel, for the cables tell that "she is in splendid condition." Being a man of ample means, he could defy convention and live as he pleased. There was nothing really peculiar about him in preferring a boat to a house. Many other modern philosophers would do likewise if they could. No sympathy then need be wast-'l on Mr. Bayard Brown; in-many respects, apart from his wealth, he was to be envied. ■ , . . . ,

If Mr. M'Leod lias been correctly reported, he has made a serious charge against New Zealand farmers in saying that the Dominion is twenty years behind other countries in agricultural development. For this, he holds provincialism to be 90 per cent, culpable. So far as organised education is con-

cerned, this may be fairly correct. All the districts have been squabbling for the College, and so none of them has got it, though most of them have had something by way of a sop. But twenty years lost is a heavy bill to debit to provincialism. Would it not be fairer to admit that a share of the blame must fall upon the men who have waited for the Government or the University or someone else to do something for them? The organised primary industries are strong —quite strong enough to arrange a system of research and education for themselves if they consider the Government slow in meeting the demand.