"New Zealand."

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 1670, 14 December 1911, Page 2

"New Zealand."

This is the title of the latest book about our Dominion, its authors being a father and son —a most unusual collaboration. In .this case the literary partners are Sir Robert Stout and Mr J. Logan Stout, LL.B. No one is better qualified than the Chief' Justice to write such a book, for he has been a dweller in the land of his -adoption since ho-was a young man, no has been in turn school teacher, ■coach, journalist, lawyer, politician, -nj.ini.stor of the Crown, Premier, and Chief Justice. His son who has assisted him in the writing of "New Zealand" is native born, and his degree was won at our own University. And it is in a spirit of patriotism that the book has been produced, with its dedication to James Edward "Fitzgerald, our first Premier. The authors say in their Foreword: "Many hundreds of books .'have been written on New Zealand, but none

of them has attempted, in a short; t space, to dealjjwith all the matters h ou which wo have touched in this * book. Our object has been to present New Zealand in her different i phases to those who have not seen a our Dominion." And certainly they *- have suceoded in getting much into little, pleasantly written. The mini- _ ature book —it is No. 24 of the Cam- i bridgo Manuals of Science and j-ii-ter- i ature, handy enough to carry in the *■ pocket, cloth-bound, well illustrated, J 180 pages, all for ls net —tells the _■ area of our Dominion,- gives geographical and statistical data, particularises, our products, refers to the Maoris and other folks who have settled herein, rehearses early history and form of government, explains the judiciary aud educational systems, and deals with our social, labour, and fand legislation, and the Chief Justice has kept very close to historical lines 'In the treatment of subjects that are still in tneir controversial stage. He devotes a chapter to the rise and development of the. land question, from the signing of the treaty of Waitangi, the adoption of tho Wakefield system of settlement, to -tho rise of restrictive measures to prevent land monopoly, and the present state of the question is explained in an impersonal manner. "The book should prove a good thing for New Zealand, and the Cambridge University Press, tho publishers (our review copy conies through Messrs ! Whitcombe and Tombs, Wellington) as well as the authors are to be congratulated upon their joint enterprise. After the historical portion of the work, it is to the last chapter, "The Outlook," that New Zealanders will turn most eagerly, for it is impossible for Sir jctobcrt to put pen to paper without imparting the personal impression. He opens the chapter with the very interesting , question*. "What is to be the future , of New Zealand and her people '■" — a, people whose health "is far above the average of other countries,'- and ' the race to come "should be physically strong and mentally keen," a i people generous, "but not -without thrift, their accumulated wealth is great." Tho Chief Justice has come ' to tho conclusion that New Zea landers "are more readily iniluenccd by ; new ideas of social duty than those who live under the domination of ■ ancient institutions . . . apparent in the social legislation. The great organisation of the State is being * used to give an equal chanco to all. ... They may fail, and their experiments may show that the ever-pres-ent danger of a true democracy lies in the deadening of individual ens crgy and enterprise by the growth of an all-embracing State interference. But if they fail, their strivings will not have been in vain, though humanity be the poorer by "" their failure. For tho present, they S feel that State control is better than to be the slaves of monopolising companies or autocratic millionaires or to be strangled in the grip of allr powerful trusts." Turning to another view of the outlook, Sir Robert says: "Already there aro many portents. Literature of the soil is being produced. Poets kindled with the fire of genius have arisen. In music and in art tho native-born talent is forcing recognition. The second and third generations of New Zealander.; arc now coming to the front. . . .

These true New Zcalanders, when the opportunity offers to go abroad and c-omuete with th" world's best . ... -

hold their own. They are alert and intelligent." Optimism is the keynote of the book's peroration, and in these concluding phrases and lines it may be that the New Zealand spirit is typified by the joint authors: "Optimistic and cheerful, they (New Zcalanders) are armed with the sword of hope and the shield of faith. Trials will no doubt obstruct them and evils baulk them, but if they tail many others will be routed. No, we who have lived long in New Zealand have hope in her and in her people, and believe that when the books arc closed and her history written there will bo said of her, ' Well

done' !

"These things shall a loftier race Than ere the world has known shall rise, With flame of freedom in their souls And light of knowledge in their eyes."