SAYINGS AND WRITINGS OF THE TIMES.

Kaikoura Star, Volume XLV, Issue 73, 11 September 1925, Page 3

SAYINGS AND WRITINGS OF THE TIMES.

THE NEWSPAPER MAY. f “To open a newspaper is to be res I cued from the sense of the vanity, stab ncss, and unprofitableness of life. Th. i newspaper man has his eye on the perpetually happening dawns of things, cl dynasties and revolution.", of ar-s anil careers. He can never fall into that routine which is the canker of rntis careers and most philosophies. He it constantly rousing others to the eagoi observation of now things under the •sun. Because he writes only about the moment, nevertheless, like the poet, he lives in that moment completely. Like the best of the Epicureans, he crowds the instant with intensity ami meaning For the general populace, he is th: true and universal minnesinger; he is the freshener and vivifier of the moments as they pass in the market place.and tumults of the world. He is writ ing the daily epic of his generation though, like all other epic poets, ho is absorbingly concerned with one epi sode at a time. —Mr Simon Flint. THE AMERICAN WOMAN. “Beautiful to look at and elegantly dressed, with an open mind upon whatever topic is discussed, adaptable, available, rich,- and good-humoured, the American woman as I know her is the last word in worldiness and fashion. In my own country she is not only a popular but a privileged person, and having started by being what is called ‘natural’ she becomes more and more so every day.’’ Mrs. Asquith in “Places and Persons.’’ THE NEW OVERSEAS SECRETARIAT. “Since the creation of the Board of Trade and Plantations in .1695, tin history of Imperial administration has been one of developments which proceeded on unique and incalculable lines, determined by changing circumstances, and incapable of being reduced to ani logical system. Many admirable jdans have been formulated, but the more symmetrical they were the loss likeii hood was there that they would ever take concrete shape. Topsy-Jike, the British Empire has just ‘growed.’ Ils future development will be on the ; ante organic and therefore unpredictable lines. But the creation oi Cue Dominions Office will undoubtedly assist in the progressive solution of many of those problems of Imperial functioning that have baffled the theorists. It will form the centre and the medium for consultation, and will thus contribute to a greater measure of effective unity among the self-governing peoples that constitute the British Commonwealth of Nations. ’ ’ THE MAGIC OF PHRASE. “The power of phrases to produce mental ami emotional attitudes, and hence to influence action, is not a discovery of politicians or physicians ioday. It. was known to the ancient, makers of tribal cries such as the ‘shibboleths’ of Western Asia mentioned in the Biblical story of the Children of Israel. It has been used from the earliest phases of Aryan civilisation an 'the ‘mantric’ systems which recognised the potency of reiterated formulae not only to evoke the latent powers of the individual but also to invoke reinforcement from the invisible regions of the cosmos. But whether such formulae

‘raised a mortal to the skies’ or ‘drew an angel down,’ their essential power and secret lay in the attitude that they established in the individual or community. That is their value to us to!ay; not their words and accents, though these have their importance, but their direction.”—Dr J. 11. Cousins in It has been said that New Zealand buys more Canadian motor-cars—by which is meant, of course, motor-cars made in the United States and assembled in Canada to dodge preferential tariffs—than any other country, and it is a market which the Canadians arc anxious to develop. But there should be reciprocity in these matters, and one of the soundest ways for the development of trade is to make it mutually beneficial. In 1923, the last year for which official statistics arc available, Canada purchased New Zealand foodstuffs to the value of £392,263, and raw materials worth £259,318, and it is under these headings that there is room for expansion. New Zealand has been a more consistent customer of Canadian manufactures than the northern Dominion has been of New Zealand produce, and, while there is no reason to cry a halt to the importation of Canadian goods, the levelling up of the trade between the two countries is desirable.—-Lyttelton .Tinies. Tn Britain there is a surplus population in the rural areas going to the towns am! a great problem of unemployment. Here there are broad acres •rying out for occupation and improvement to make them productive. For its credit’s sake, as well as for the service <that can be rendered both to (he Homeland and the Dominion, the Government ’should bestir itself. It is useless to treat the question as relatively unimportant, by tacking it >n to other portfolios as a sort of make-weight in distributing Ministerial responsibilities and duties. There s scope and urgency n it sufficient to justify a minister being given this as his one particular job and-keeping him at it until something adequate is done. —New Zealand Herald.