BY THE WAY

Evening Star, Issue 20428, 8 March 1930, Page 2

BY THE WAY

[By Q.V]

“Tiie time lias come,” tlio Walrus said,, “ To talk ,o£ many tilings.”

A public meeting with some unusual features was- held recently under the auspices' of most of the .more or less, learned societies of Dunedin. Called to protest against tho wanton slaughter of penguins by callous youths armed with pea rifles, it began by putting up a strong plea for the preservation of the sites of ancient Maori villages and camping grounds, from the ravages of unscientific “collectors” intent only on acquiring curios. After briefly sympathising with tho penguins, the meeting found itself discussing the depredations of pukaki and paradise ducks in tho farming districts, but it did not get really into its stride until His Worship the Mayor brought up the menace of deer, hundreds of thousands of which, ho said, infested the country and might ultimately prove a danger to human life.. What would happen if an army corps of deer, say 250,000 strong, invaded Dunedin? One can imagine the headlines in the papers: “Red army, after ravaging the Taieri Plain, crosses Saddle Hill ”; 44 Mayor of Green Island urges citizens to remain calm ’ ; “ Labour leaders will declare Defence Forces black unless paid full union rates, with overtime and dirt money “ League of Nations declines to intervene, says no casus foederis 44 Minister of Defence states casus foederis mislaid by Coates Government ”; “ Ramsay MacDonald advocates making magnificent (gesture, suggests burning naval u flits off Ocean Beach”; P Local branch of Navy League dissents, and is declared deep brown by Seamen’s Union”; “President of league retorts, ‘ Meteor flag of England shall yet terrific burn.’” Later, stop press: “Red army routed by, Johnnie Wilkins, aged fifteen, who drove it into the sea at Brighton by throwing road metal at advance guard. League of Nations Union points out Johnnie member of Caversbam Junior Red Cross Circle League (Inc.). Ramsay MacDonald cables: 4 Principle of eternal right once more vindicated without resort to armaments.’ ” _ 44 Freezing companies working overtime and venison quoted at ten pounds for, sixpence, f.o.b. Green Island.” , '*♦ $ . • A film producer named Goldstein has cabled to 44 William Shakespeare, care of the Mayor of Stratford-on-Avon,” asking for more of his plays. —Cable item. I’m certain Mr Goldstein must Have had to face a lot of chaff From chaps who think the thing was just A good excuse to have a laugh At anyone who didn’t know That good old Will of Avon died Three hundred years and more ago— A fact which cannot be denied.

Of course, it’s funny, I’ll admit. When any film promoter makes So obvious a, comic hit By chronological mistakes; And all the world’s most learned folk Wore naturally very quick To treat it as the hugest joke When poor old Goldstein “dropped his brick.”

Ami yet, and yet I wouldn’t say That something decent can’t bo said About tliis marvel of our day Who didn’t know that J3ill was dead. 9 Ho only knew the plays were good. And sent away to order more, Winchvslidws a proper attitude, And ti|sto which no,one can ignore.

For many cultured people praise The Bard because, for countless years . , The reputation of his plays Has sounded in Creation’s ears. If they were bad as bad could he, As feeble as a cheap revue, They’d praise them still, because, you It’s°quito the proper thing to do. But worthy Goldstein started clear, Without tradition on his side. And found the merits of Shakespeare Unaided, and without a guide. For William might, for all he knew, Be inexperienced enough; But Goldstein’s taste was good and true; He felt he liked the fellow’s stuff.

Ah, could we high-brow folk, indeed, Judge well enough to do the same, And find old Will so good to read Without an inkling of lus famef I think there’s not the slightest doubt That any man who, quite alone, Can find old Shakespeare’s merits out Ts absolutely “ on bis own.”

Soma years ago jin American professor started an animated controversy by suggesting that after forty a man is only lit for the boneyard. ihe lutilc discussion has been revived by gm students of tho London universities, who, however, nought to reduce the ago limit to thirty. They finally decided that a man might be of some service after that advanced age, if only to provide the dross which pays the weekly bills. This view will be increasingly popular among them as they approach thrty themselves. Thackeray, you remember, put forty as tho age of wisdom.

Grizzling hair the brain doth clear; Then you know a hoy is an ass, Then yon know the worth of a lass, When you have come to forty year.

Other authorities have no difficulty in instancing works of transcendent genius done by men and women long alter even that age. In our own dominion wo have seen men well over sixty go through the Bankruptcy Court for quite large sums and live happily ever alter, and men of seventy or more have been married. If any career requires tact, ability, and character to make it a success it is marriage. The ancients attributed wisdom to grey hairs, and it is doubtful whether wo are so much wiser than our forefathers. The girl graduates however, may have considered man as purely a flirtatious animat, in which case wo admit that the younger and more callow the better.

We notice signs of a somewhat virulent correspondence developing in the Press' on the subject of evolution. ] b is like an echo from the remote past, or a report of a Fundamentalist meeting in Baytown, U.S.A. Fifty years ago the newspapers had as much, or nioro, than they wanted of such copy. tVc suppose these things come in cycles like the sunspots or depressions in tracle. By the way, what seems 1o us one of the strongest prod's of maids descent, or ascent, Irom the beasts that perish, is never, so far as our reading goes, mentioned. We all know the tenacity of racial memory, witness the persistence of the legend of the lost continent of Atlantis, our fear of the darkness and so forth. In man this is strongest among the least sophisticated, whose minds are not overburdened with the perplexities ct modern life, or choked with book learning. It is precisely in those simple souls that the remembrance of evolutionary stages is most clear. How

often have wo heard some shrewd, but unlettered, agriculturist describe bis employer as a “fair cow”? Others preferred to suggest kinship with the pig under various names, such as “hog,” and even “swine.” Heine, the 'Gorman poet, in an allied train of thought, spoke of the delight it gave him to visit the Zoo, because so many of the animals reminded him of Ids acquaintances, and instanced particularly the hippopotamus, which a later writer, Mr Dooley, of Chicago, says, “ conceals a warm and loving heart beneath a cold and sloppy exterior.” Darwin and also Huxley appear to have missed tho significance of these facts, but they seem to us worth following up. Pcrnaps Professor , but we have not the temerity to make a suggestion.

The curse of unemployment seems to have fallen on the world at large, the latest nation to confess its presence being the TJ.S.A. Everything in that land' being on a gigantic scale, it? unemployment figures far surpass those elsewhere'. Fifty million dollars are aslnd for by way of assistance, and President Hoover, “ the greatest administrator of relief in history,” is to direct the spending. Strangely enough, this nation, regarded as a model of efficiency, has not, up till now. kept any official statistics of unemployment, whether fearing that they might, be regarded as a slur, or for some other r&gxqu. H was, however, well known in England months ago that this problem was even more pressing on the western side of the Atlantic than in Britain. In most countries, including our town, it is considered that a solution on an economic basis is desirable, if not always practicable; but in tho U.S.A. it is still thought to bo a matter for charity. “There is something in the misfortunes of even our friends, not wholly displeasing to us,” said the French cynic, and if it is any comfort to our unemployed to know that there are others as badly, or worse, off than themselves, they are welcome to the information. ,n • a » An action is being brought against members of a diamond syndicate, charged with making agreements to restrict the sale of diamond,s.—Cable item. A diamond ring Is a lovely thing On a maiden’s JiugEr truly. It’s a sign that’s staged By the tender-aged When they get engaged Quite duly. When the vows are vowed, And tho match allowed, Then the maid’s quite proud To show it; And the world may be Assured that she Will let them Bee d know it. And I truly hold (Tho’ I’m getting old) That there’s joy untold lu feeling That the thing is done, And the ring is on, And the girl is won, Past stealing. Now that’s the sort Of ring that ought To be sold and bought. It’s proper, That the happy day Should bo marked this way; And I’m sure I’d say, “Don't stop her.”But it’s not so fine When a ring’s the sign Of a Great Combine, Who’s trying To form a Baud Of the Clutching Hand To annex the land By buying. For Solomon (’Tis alleged) is one Of the chaps whose fun Seems to go well; And liis friends in crime Are OppenheimEr, with (what a rhyme!) Jack Joel. Bub whatever tliey May prefer to say, I dislike the way They’re showing; And if their job Is to grab and rob. Then it’s time that mob Were going.