Striking Diversity and Strange Unanimity.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 3122, 12 May 1892, Page 4

Striking Diversity and Strang e Unanimity.

. THEWOEKINGMAIPaMILLENimjM. It is said that ♦' Variety is the spice, of life," and that. 'fit adds to its ftevotit.?, - The poet (Iflsac Watts, or- Co-wper, tre' forget which) -was not very far 'wrong .. when lie penned this couplet, for ceitainly ife would be but a dull monotonous thing r were it not for its pleasing contrasts. In '■'■' the animal world we have the graceful and J -shy deer, and the bold and ferocious lion, the Huge elephant, and diminutive though destructive mouse; there is the plain, . humble-looking thrush, with its rich song, and the beautiful humming bird whose " musical talents (and he has sense enough Ito know, it) are conspicuously absent; tten there is the monster whale and the tiny l< shrimp on which' it^feeds. Whilst in mankind the contrasts are still more marked and numerous, for not only are their features," so to Bpeak, different, hut they differ intellectually and morally also. In some countries certain ' acts axe considered dishonourable and even criminal, and in others the same actß would be looked upon as legitimate and onourable In China and India, for instance, we believe, lying is a virtue — we won't say a rate virtue ; while among the Negroes of America chicken-stealing is considered one of the favourite nocturnal pastimes, and perfectly praiseworthy, too— provided " they " don't .get caught in the act." in this country our tastes differ, and our ambitions carry ns "higher. We don't believe there is a single bank-teller in the whole of the country mean enough to If y violent hands on a poor unprotected fowl. As to varying opinions on political matters, they are legion, everybody has an opinion of some sort; some think that - Ballance and his party are the willing instruments of the evil one; others think them the only men capable of ushering in -that era of unexampled prosperity termed by some enthusiasts the Working Men's Millennium; others, again, are loud in ' their praises of the author of the Public Works Policy, whilst others clamour for Sir Harry Atkinson ; but one and all are unanimous in pronouncing Buchanan's House of Commons Whisky " the Purest SII -Mid Best in the Market."