NEW BOOKS

Evening Star, Issue 19745, 21 December 1927, Page 15

NEW BOOKS

4 — i A POLITICAL STALWART ALFRED SAUNDERS The two youngest daughters of Alfred Saunders have done well in putting on record, from a memoir prepared by him in his later years, and from articles written by himself and others, an account of the career and qualities of their father, who died twenty-two years ago. The present generation, not to speak of those that will follow it, is in much danger of not knowing enough about the pioneers and makers of New Zealand, and Alfred Saunders was in many respects a remarkable man. He was possessed of an individuality and assertiveness of character which are more rare in those days, when democracy tends to mould all to the same pattern and compromise is more highly valued. And in the shaping of the public life of this dominion he played no insignificant part. The first immigrant to land on the site of Nelson, six years before the first settlers came to Otago, he became Superintendent of the former province. For thirty-seven years he was a member of the House of Representatives, refusing Ministerial rank when it was_ offered him; but in his first session his vote as a Radical Independent caused a change of Government, and he was the leader of the group of seven Independents who kept the Conservative Sir John Hall in office on condition of his passing laws for manhood suffrage and triennial Parliaments, which were duly enacted. He was a leader of the temperance movement in his day, converting to that cause one of its greatest advocates, Sir William Fox. His private life vas well filled with vicissitudes. His _ forbears had been prosperous flour-millers in Wiltshire, “grave livers,” religious, men of stubborn character like his own. After four years in Nelson he went to Sydney, and with a young wife travelled overland from there to Adelaide in a tilted cart, meeting many adventures on the way. Returning to he made a fortune there as a flour-miller, which ho lost when he removed, in the early seventies, to Canterbury and became a landowner. His last years were spent in tho West Melton district, and-he was defeated finally for Parliament by the late Mr Wason, who sat afterwards in the House of Commons. Ho wrote a ‘History of New Zealand’ in which his prejudices ran rampant, and he was chairman for some years of tho Canterbury Board of Education when education boards had more power than they have to-day. ‘Tales of a Pioneer,’ or ‘Episodes in the Life of Alfred Saunders,’ should provide a tonic for newcomers to and natives of New Zealand who complain of their present lot. The early days in Nelson were the severest ordeal. The Now Zealand Company could not employ the immigrants 'it brought out. An inordinate time was required by it even to provide them with their land allotments, still in a state of Nature. The Maoris were a continual fear. Wellington was as far away as Sydney now is. Even food, after a time, was hard to come by. “ Some of the people had a little flour, and made flour gruel of it to make it spin out. Some gathered sow-thistles and boiled them; others dug up the potatoes they had planted, peeled them to eat, and planted the skins; others planted only the potato shoots.” Alfred Saunders writes: “ Yet, taken as a whole, I very little regret passing through those days of privation cither for myself or for my neighbors. There is much to remember about them that is pleasant and instructive The poor men and

women who had grown only enough potatoes for themselves and their children seldom tried to forget that there were poorer, or weaker, or, it may he, less industrious neighbors who were not so well supplied as themselves. Not a crumb was wasted, not a rag was burned, not a ribbon was worn that would lessen their power to feed the

hungry. . . . Cases of concealed and patiently borne privation and distress —the starving mother resolved to feed her children though it should be at the cost of her own life, and the stricken father reproaching himself for the past —may be hidden even from the benevolent rich, but are sure to attract the first attention of the poor, who also know how delicately such cases must bo handled if the anguish is really to be lessened and not aggravated.’’

When Saunders first went into Parliament he went there from gaol. The incident was typical of the man—his downrightness and his fearlessness. Judgment had been given against him in a civil case in which he thought ho was in the right. District Judge Travers, who tried the action, wrote a report of it to the Nelson ‘Examiner,’ with which he disagreed fiercely. Saunders wrote a letter to the ‘Examiner,’ proclaiming the authorship, and concluding : “ If it docs not suit His Honor the Judge to give a verdict according to evidence he can hardly expect that a number of Englishmen will allow him to distort their evidence to make it accord with his verdict.” There was nothing for Travers to do but to bring a libel action against his defamor. Ho did it, as Saunders acknowledges, most reluctantly. But Saunders would not allow him any way of escape, and the case was heard by Judge Johnstone, who showed a savage vindictiveness against the and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment. All Nelson at once protested, and the sentence was set aside, without reference to the judge, by Governor Gore-Brownc; but before that could bo done Saunders had spent three months in gaol. A parliamentary election was in prospect, and ho was overwhelmingly returned. Saunders and Travers were good friends afterwards, and no extreme resentment seems to have been cherished against the judge. Some of the chapters of the record, throwing light on earlier political manners and pioneering vicissitudes, were originally contributed by Saunders as articles to the Christchurch ‘Press,’ and a few have been written by friends. He was much honored by the House of which he was a veteran before his end. It could truly be said of Saunders, in the words of another temperance zealot, the late T. E. Taylor, that his life was a challenge, not a truce. Doubtless the inflexibility of his opinions and his inability to regard any viewpoint except his own had their grave disadvantages when ho was in the wrong. But it would he a loss to any generation of his successors not to know something of Alfred Saunders. Published by L. M. Isitt, Ltd., Christchurch. PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL. With ‘ Jalna,’ Mazo do la Roche won the ‘Atlantic Monthly’ prize novel competition for Canada, and no one can question the judge’s decision. It is a brilliant work, full of vitality and character studies. ‘ Jalna ’ is the story of a family founded by two English people on an estate in the Canadian wilderness. The old grandmother—a belle of her days—is still living, and has around her numerous descendants and relations. What a splendid character the author has portrayed in_ this old lady_ who, dozing and tyrannising, is eagerly awaiting her hundredth birthday. As a contrast is little, Wakefield, precocious in the instinctive wiles of childhood, and llcnny, the present master of Jalna’s quarrelsome but cohesive clan. A story of contrasts, but all fitting os perfectly into the plot that the completed picture does not lose any of its appeal, but rather becomes more attractive and interesting. If the author can maintain the high standard achieved in ‘ Jalna,’ success as a novelist is assured. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs Hodder and Stoughton (London)..

E. V. KNOX. Readers of ‘Punch’ will meet some old friends in ‘Awful Occasions,’ by 15. V. Knox (“Evoe”), but there are several new sketches which arc written with the same whimsical humor as the reprints. 15. V. Knox is a stylist, and although on occasions his humor inclines to the farcical it is always entertaining, has a host of admirers/ It is just a book for the holidays. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs Methuen and Co., London. THE LATEST IN NOVELS A KNIGHT AND A DAY. K. 11. G. Brown is a writer who has the power of combining thrills and humor in his stories in an irresistible manner, and in ‘ A Knight and a Day ’ MossrsCasscll and Co., Ltd.) he is undoubtedly at his best. The characters are everyday sort of people, such as one may meet any time. His story is well conceived, and becomes almost hopelessly complicated as. it goes on,_ but the tangled threads are at last straightened to everyone’s, or nearly everyone’s, satisfaction. The chief characters, Peter Cardinal and Jane Craig, go through “lire and water ” to rescue a stolen Old Master, the property of one Sir Walter Bellsrly, who, when the picture is secretly replaced in his gallery, attaches the blame of the theft to the two young rescuers. No one can possibly read of the dignified Sir Walter Bellerby, M.P., without a smile, or imagine young Peter Cardinal careering round Sussex early one Sunday morning, clad in _ gaudily-colored pyjamas, without giving .way to laughter. Mr Brown has a find 1 ' style which has an instant appeal, and bis work is distinctly fresh. Ho also has tlio happy knack of leaving out all unnecessary details, and keeps closely to his plot. ‘ A Knight and a Day ’ is sheer entertainment from cover to cover. MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE. ‘ Tine Mystery of Undo Bollard ’ (Cassell and Co.) is another thrilling yarn from the prolific pen of H. de Vere Stacpoole. A .young Englishman embarks upon a mission of hunting down the murderer of his dearest friend, an expert in artificial pearl culture. The pearl formula falls into the hands of the murderer, a master criminal, who exploits it to the fullest advantage. A strange quest leads the reader through America and the South Seas, and many exciting complications ensue before the miscreant is apprehended and brought to justice. In the background is the mysterious figure of “ Uncle Bollard,” a power in San Francisco, who takes up tho hunt with his nephew and tracks his quarry relentlessly. A love interest is cleverly woven in, and adds the necessary touch of romance to an absorbing tale of mystery. SUNSHINE AND SALT, Some writers, anxious for now-look-ing titles, overlook the first requirement of a title, that it should serve as a finger-post to tho subject. _ Jean Oliver Riddell has made that mistake with her latest novel, ‘ Sunshine and Salt,’ and it is the duty of responsible reviewers to mitigate as far as they can the penalty that follows the mistake—the penalty of having this book passed by in the shops and libraries. For it is one of tho sweetest romances of late years. Its tale of Scottish, ilfe of to-day may not be as dramatic ns Walter Seott’s best, nor so pungently witty as J. M. Barrio’s 1 Little Minister,’ hut it is as unaffectedly true to type as some that those authors have given to the world. There is not an atom of forcing in the narration nor in the characterisation; the points are made without the least inflation; tho local color is artistic, and all the more telling because of. being in its just use as an accessary instead of taking up too much space, as is a common makeshift with novelists whoso themo peters out. Tho title is really a condensation of New Testament teachings: “Ye are ihe light of the world: ye are the salt of tho earth”; yet in delineation and in subject generally Jean Oliver Riddell is by no moans goody-goody. Hattrick Dalrymple is a nigger-driving millowner, who imposes upon orphans afc his works, and there are in the story other characters who are not classified with the saintly. Tho hero, too, Robin Dalrymple, is only a man, and, represented as ono who refuses to inherit his great-giandfather’s ill-gotten riches, and to become a missionary, ho is not unduly magnified for his renunciation. The grave-digger, Hewison, is limned to the life, ranking with the cleverest of his type in fiction. Tho book is just the kind that one might choose for a Christmas present. Our copy is from W. S. Smart, of Sydney. The publishers are Hodder and Stoughton.