ON THE WATCH TOWER

Evening Star, Issue 16195, 17 August 1916, Page 2

ON THE WATCH TOWER

[By_ Arox.] ' I suppose our two political chiefs will soon be on thcii way to London. They will labor under two drawbacks itseems to me. Tho first,-that Air Hughes has just skimmed the cream off the Overseas Dominions' fervor, which 'welled so full during his visit. Tho second disadvantage is that there are two of them, instead of one. Neither can be altogether Sir Oracle, nor can either eay "I -will do it," with the old Seddonian emphasis. The impression will therefor© be bad, and our men will be voted weak and hesitating as compared ■with Mr Hughes. Under" the best of conditions neither of our two representatives can rival Mr Hughes on the platform. However, tho representatives of tight little Now Zealand will never fail of a very heaTty, welcome, though thoy may ".not be "able to make any Tecord. The late Mr Seddon told me that his great innings at Home after the Boer War was due to the fact •that he was an Englishman. "Lanrier was French, Barton was Australian, etc., etc., but I was English." Perhaps he was only talking to fill in time, and I confess that I was surprised at his statement, but that is what he said. Now, Sir Joseph is a Victorian of tho Irish blend, and Mr Massey hails from the north of Ireland, with a strong smack of New Zealand; hence they ought to be in touch with a fairlv wide circle, though not Englishmen. 'Will it not be a bit awkward for Mr Massey that Sir Joseph has been Home several times before, has cut a great figure in Imperial matters, and is we'll known to many of the leading characters on the 7X>liticaJ stage, while Mr Massey himself is a new man from the bush? Besides, a captain does not want to be led round and introduced by his chief mate. I said it would be awkward for Mr Massey. On second thoughts, I add that it will also be very awkward for Sir Joseph; for if he should drop a patronising word now and then . There, I won't enlarge! *******

The British war expenditure rose suddenly the other week by a million a day. We had been told that £5,000,000 a day was likely to be sufficient. Then it is said that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had a long interview with the Russian 'Minister of Finance, and that immediately afterwards £6,000.000 a day was asked for. The obvious inference is that, while Russia has unlimited men, she cannot go on without financial support. If that is to, then the extra million a day is a loanto Russia, and will ultimately "be repaid. .But even if it had to be a gift, Britain, could not Tefuse, for no money spent on the war will produce larger results. However, whether gift or loan, Britain's credit has to beaT the strain for the present. Our own little loan is therefore the more timely. It is true that the eight millions asked for would only mean. 32 hours additional war to Britain! Still, it will be « further proof of the willing min<l and ot the determined marshalling of all the resources of the Empire in the great cause. A friend of mine was mentioning to me the other day that he had to anpear as God-father at a christening, and he wondered what he should give 'the kiddy. I said : '< Give him some loan scrip maturing 20 years hence, or, if you don't want to plunge so deep, give him some of the 16s certificates that will return 20s five years hence." He quite / jumped at the idea, and went off a happy patriot. I throw out the suggestion to others and hope it will brW a -few hundreds into the war chest, • *. **. ,* * * *

The Overseas Club is an excellent institution, and its tobacco fund is a happy inspiration in a way, but liable to do a vast deal of damage by its extravagant ideas of the amount of .smoking that is good for men. The club offer to accept money from anybody for tobacco to bp sent to a specified person ; but thev will not receive less than £l, and will not send the weed purchased by the £1 in less than 10 lots. That is. the club will send 2s worth every week' for 10 weeks, and the quantity sent is double what can be obtained in New Zealand for the money. Now, the King, who is a patron of the clubhand Lord Northcliffe. who is president, arid Lord Liverpool, our Governor, who is vice-president, and their class may have large notions of the proper cost of smoking; but I submit that to accustom our working men and our youths, who had scarcely begun to smoke when they left home, to half a pound of tobacco a week or to 100 cigarettes is to do them a deadly injury. Half the amount is twice too much. Of course, they are not compelled to smoke it all in the week; but as the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done, so the access to means of foolish indulgence leads to the cultivation of indulgence. There is no doubt that the high price of tobacco in New Zealand is a sensible restraint on the growth of the smoking habit; whence it follows that a superfluity of free tobacco will tend to produce a race of tobacco-poisoned younc men. I observe that the club deal espec£ ally in cigarettes, supplying 100 for Is. It seems to be the club's ideal that everv man shall receive 100 free cigarettes a. week. Now, to buy that many when he comes home will cost him about 5s a week ' Add to that the fact that the cigarette is the worst form of smoking, most injurious to health, most wasteful of time, and most dangerous for fire. It may be the most convenient form of smoking in the trenches, but that is not the only thing to be thought of. I trust that the Overseas Club will not kill our young men with kindness, but they are certainly heading that way just now. ■ * * *' * * * *

Tobacco is not the only direction in which our soldiers are in danger of bein* led into excess by the hospitality of the good people n Britain. The other day I asked a neighbor about his son. "I Hear he has a girl at Home; is that ?°'' .» " ** e eou W have married dozens of em! said tho proud father. " They came and sat round him when he was ill like fliesj The chairs were never cold. No sooner d one gone than another was there. j He had to fix on one in self-de-fence.' From all I can gather this Adonis is no exception to the rule. The English girls are taking an unfair advantage of the lassies of New Zealand, though I suppose all's fair in love, if not in war. I was told the other day that 600 New ZeaJanders had married in Britain, and I know that a good many have done so. * °, w „ of a case in wl »ch a raw chump of a fellow married a girl in London and sent her out to live with his mother on a 10-acre farm in New Zealand! Do the English-girls, like the fellaheen of E<*ypt imagine that every sawney from the" colonies is an unsophisticated millionaire? *******

Iho effect 01 the war on the morals of the people is certainly as important a matter as t-hat of after-war trade. Are we going to be a better and more efficient nation, or are we to be more addicted to indulgence than before? Have wo. not just got a new law on the Statute Book to check the drinking of women? That, surely, is a very ominous fact, and one that quite startles us in our smug selfcomplacency. There must be serious grounds for such legislation, or the present government would never have passed it. i\o doubt some women drank before, the war, but it appears that the evil has been increased by war conditions. Thero is, first, the money which comes in reguthe form of separation allowances; and then there is the lack of the regular routine of household duties, which are a valuable moral force. Add to these the worry and anxiety which many good wives reel for the safety of the absent breadwinner, and we have the main incentives to the folly which it is hoped to restrain. ii our men come back with a greatlyincieased craving for tobacco, and find the women much more addicted to liquor, and a many of the men are smitten with that-fell disease which has of late been discussed, with such wholesome frankness, then indeed we will have something worse . than a huge National Debt to remember the Kaiser by. # • >' * * * * Thera is, however, another side to the . shield. : I beiievo that if some moral evils r - emerge from the smoke of war, there will also be «om© yejrv_jj.roriouiiced advantages.

We have acquired a vast ma-ssof new knowledge, and have twisted many strong cords 1 of international sympathy." We nave toned up our manhood, and -we havo stirred all tlio better' qualities-" of our womanhood to their depths. Our peoplo hava learned how to give largely, freely, ahd often. Our citizens were not, on the whole, remarkable for their public spirit before the war. . There were, of course, the usual exceptions, but New- Zealand was not a good example in tho matter of legacies and private endowment for public utilities. The war has openedher heart, and her patriotic funds may well be her pride and boast. Perhaps even more important are the organisations of women which the war Tias prdduced, and the vast amount of work that they have founds time to do.. It would -be .a good, departure for these organisations to' seek out anji set to work some of the womeh who are suffering 'special temptation just now from lack of interest in life. Much has already been done towards breaking down walls of partition. Let a little more be attempted. It is to bo hoped that when the war is over many of these fine organisations, while .relaxing somewhat the present strain, will not be disbanded, but will be continued as a step towards the better organisation of our nation and as engines of relief in pinches that may come with the conclusion of hostilities. *******

Mr P. A. M'Hardy, of Palmerston North, who lias given many thousands to the patriotic funds, has hit on a novel method of stimulating the sale of ticketa for tho Anzac art union to raise fuiidn for the soldiers' free club. He is announced to visit Wellington and to perambulate the streets of ~the Empire City. giving a half-sovereign to "everyone who, on being challenged, is able to produce a ticket for the art union. I imagine the' interested hopes with wliich thousands of shillings will be invested in tickets. I imagine the mental debates that will take place as to whether it. would be best to put ono's self in the way of tho dispenser of gifts, or to seem to try to avoid him. Mr M'Hardy, on the other hand, will have made up his mind that he has to part with a given sum, and will simply seek to do it in such a way tluit it will all come back to the fund. He wilj see with an. amused smilo the 66H'-conscious behaviour of those who wero anxious to arrest his attention, and tho pretended indifference of those who are anxious to be accosted but do not wish to betray their anxiety. He will also take a note of certain ones who meet him a second and a third time within a block or- two, being determined to give him every chance. He will also notice that he ie being constantly pointed out a-s an object of interest, and that discussions of an animated character take place, while both parties keep their gaze fixed on him. Ho will even note that some of these newly enlightened people hasten to tho ticket" shop —such is the hope of petty gains. Of course, Mr M'Hardv will meet not a few who have tickets (three such have already claimed «nd obtained the promised halfsovereign, one being a policeman). But some will probably have left their tickets on the piano, for they buy so many tickets that they have to empty their" pockets every evening, don't you know. In short, I quite envy Mr M'Hardy his eplendid opportunity of studying human nature. I hope lie- will be interviewed bv a good journalist and the marrow of tile exploit be extracted from him. *******

There are some men in every community who do not fail to carry with tkem some ticket, bill, card, block, or voucher which gives some account of them. FatetarY had the bill for his ha'pot'h of bread and an incredible deal of sack in his pocket. I think Mrs Micawbcr always had a supply of pawn tickets on whi!e«Mr Micawber's pocket book contained the dates at which hj» promissory notes fell due. Very often men killed in a railway accident have been found to have some papev in their pocket which entitled the heirs and assigns to claim a considerable sum of insurance money. The other day I was told that 27 men were arrested one Saturday aiight in a city north of Dunedin for the complaint which it is the special business of licensed houses to prevent. Wei!, 26 of them had a notorious newspaper in their pocket. I am not reflecting on the company it keeps, nor upon tho fate of it's readers. I am simply stating facts. Of course, it may have l>een the obituary number, though truth never dies. Well" there was no fairy godfather going round offering half-sovereigns, or even an insurance against arrest, to those who weie found in possession of this special brand of veracity. I have not even heard that the presiding Magistrate on Monday made the least allowance for the literary pursuits of the studious 26. Yet it ia surelv a question whether evidence that men intend to spend their Sunday in improving their minds ought not to count for something.