BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 16135, 11 January 1913, Page 6

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

A NEW ZEALAND VOLUME. MISS B: 15. BAUGHAN'S WORK. Quaintly named, and charmingly illustrated by Mrs Dagmar Huio, Miss B. E. Baughan's latest book, "Brown Bread from a Colonial Oven," is equally quaint and "folksy" in its contents. It is a collection of stories and sketches, of which many have appeared in fugitive newspaper form already, and which, while varied in therao and locality, all possess tho samo fidelity to lifo and purpose which marks all of Miss Baughan's work with a literary reality which is precisely tho element usually lacking in the writing of a young country. Miss Baughan is never afraid to bo herself, and having tho invaluable gift of spontaneity, she does not at any time agonise for effect, rather preferring an ultra-sim-plicity that is photographic, and never impressionist, in style. Yet there is, on the other hand, nothing of photographic severity in the warmth and delicate freedom of her nature-descrip-tion, which brings to tho surface the latent reserve-power of tho true poet employing the alien medium of proso. In her modest and pithy preface the author gives the key to the whole book. It i 3 a retrospective tribute to a nation in the making and a hardy, breezy pioneer lifo already passing or vanished. The writing has been a labour of love, and while most sinking herself in her theme, tho writer unconsciously most reveals her own robust and intensely responsive vitality. , , ~ ~ Though tho sketches, only partially cast in tho story mould for tho most ■ pr.rt, are widely located all over i\ew Zaaland, Canterbury, especially the Peninsula, claims a large share of the book, and thoso who would look once moro on tho old, resourcerul, rough and readv, generous life of the lilrrims and their forerunners will find Oolirht in theso kindly discursive folkstudies of the fifties or after, as well as in the pages reflecting New Zealand country lifo to-day. It is home life in the open that attracts Miss Baughan, who is no armchair theorist, but paint 3 what she has herself seen and known. One of tho most arresting of tuese studies is "Aboard a Coasting Schooner," which combines a practical, lightly humorous account of tradmgin the littlo Auckland bays, with a passion for 'the sea and sea-going craft that is half-idvllic and half Viking-like. Ihe whole sketch may ho taken as an -amplification of Kipling's poem, Ihe Liner She's a Lady." Two very diverse and very delightful vignettes are "Pipi on the Prowl" and "Cafe Au Lait." The first describes the stolen day of an ancient Maori dame, a trueBohemian of tho old school, released from tho guardian eye of a dutiful but sternlv conventional grand-daughter and the gentle realism and iridescent humour of the whole makes the reader Ion? for more of this style from an author who knows her material so well, and can handle it so deftly. Oate Au Lait" is another triumph of atmosphere of a sadder, softer turn, dealing with the homesick longings of two old French people stranded away from all that made the happiness of other days, and dreaming 'amid tho blue bays of the Peninsula of a quiet mountain canton far over the sea. The quaintness, the pathos, tho fidelity to scene and'typo of every line, would give this simple tale high place anywhere. Miss Baughan's humour is unforced, and so is her patho3, both blending into the mellowness of cun and shine that ripons character like fruit. ohe has no love of the bisaxro, the problematic, the blase; soul and body, her story-folk are dwellers of the open, doers, but when doing is done, intermittent dreamers too, as befit 3 our manifold nature. The book is admirable, whether as a study of sweet and wholesome humanity, as a' memento of early days that it behoves the youngor generation to keep green in memory, or as a faithful picture of New Zealand, and so a most suitable book-gift to those who " only England know." The publishers are Messrs "Whitcombe and Tombs.

" THE ROUND TABLE." The new number of "The Round Table" contains several interesting and important articles, as well as the usual 6urvey of Imperial affairs. Tho writer of an article on " Arbitration and War" describes the various devices which have been used in the effort to secure peace and abolish war, and discusses arbitration as a substitute for war. His' conclusion is that it cannot under present conditions put an end to war. " Arbitration is open to one fatal limitation," he says. "Just as in the case of diplomacy or mediation, arbitration depends for its success on a purely voluntary agreement, the agreement in this case being to submit the subject of controversy to the judgment of a third party, and to refrain from attempting to win by recourse te war. We cannot say that arbitration is a oure or preventive for war, since arbitration, as known to-day, is only possible after the disputants have decided against war." After reviewing the modern history ' of arbitration the writer points out that tho term " international law" is really a. misnomer. The sanction of law is force, justified by a sense of right and international law does not possess Buch eanction. Moreover, differenes_ of opinion and disputed claims, of a kind amenable to law, are "far less fruitful causes of war than the more fundamental conflicts which arise from the clash of irreconcilable policies or ideals, 63 in the case of colour, tho pressure of national growth or development, which can only bo satisfied at tho expense of otlior nations, or the impulse to replace a lower by a higher form of civilisation." Tho conclusion of the whole matter is that tho only security for a nation's peace is strength for selfdefence. . An article dealing with the Balkan situation mentions that for the British Empire tho importance of the war, apart from the danger of an Armageddon, lies Tn tho attitude of its 80,000,000 Mohammedan subjects. Tho effect of the victory of the allies will bo to drive the Turks back on Asia, and to turn the outlook of their policy south and east instead of north and west: 'lslam is not dead. It is a vigorous and militant religion. . • • The importance &f these facts cannot bo ignored. The defeat of tho Turks, little as it may seem to concern us at> first eight, will make the task of government in India and Egypt no easier, and will create difficulties of foreign policy in Arabia, in the Persian Gulf and on the Egyptian and Indian frontiers, such as we have not experienced before.'" Austria's interest in the strugglo is explained in some detail. "Austria-Hungary is vitally affected," says the writer. " For strategic reasons she cannot . look with indifference on the ! territorial changes in the Balkans, which will create a larger, more powerful, and moro ambitious Servia on her flank, and which may mean tho appearance of a Servian navy in tho Adriatic. For nolitical reasons sho is even more profoundly affected by the Balkan I settlement, for it may end the prospect of eventually bringing all her Southern Slav territory as "a third autonomous kingdom within the monarchy, and it may precipitate a far-reaching revolution in her own system of governi ment." V An article on Indian affairs and one lon Australian hanking aro followed by I notes on tho domestic politics of tho I dominions. It is disarmointing to find I in connection with this feature that New Zealand's recont change of Go-

vernment is treated in a partisan tone. Tho review suggests that the Governor should have insisted upon the Mackenzie Ministry meeting Parliament at once, and it omits to mention that tho point was discussed hv Parliament, with the result that tho House of Representatives, by a majority of two votes, decided in favour of an adjournment to the usual time of meeting. But this lapse from impartiality is a small blemish in a valuable issue of the review. NEW ZEALAND'S BOOKS. "Tho Australian importation of books for 1911 was valued at £693 429," says the " American Publishers' Weekly." r 'lf we deduct £61,166 sent to New Zealand, we have £629 263 as the approximate net import'of books to Australia, compared with New Zealand's £230,069 (deductin"- £49-18 sent to Australia). Tho white population of Australia in 1911 was 4 455,000 i; of Now Zealand, approximately 1,000,000. So that while the Commonwealth is importing books to the valuo of 2s lOd per head per annum, New Zealand's importation is to the valuo of 4s 7d per head per annum. . . . " There are some minor points to take into consideration, but tho goneral accuracy of tho comparison is undoubted. We should be surprised to hoar of any other country in tho world spending so much on books in proportion to population. New Zealand, of course, has always had a literary tradition, and literary communities, sprung from excellent British Stock, that set a high value on culture, ihe standard of education is good, and the climate does not give all the year round so many temptations to outdoor life as in Australia. So there- are proportionately more serious readers in New Zealand, and . they devote moro time to reading. ,_,.,, , "It mitfit bo added that the value of New Zealand stationery imports is also notable—£2o9,ooo for a population of a million I"

NOTES. The Christmas number of the "Windsor Magazine" is an especially fine one. It° contains fifteen coloured pictures and nearly 120 full-page and other pictures in the text. It is printed on good paper and produced in admirable stylo. Many of the leading black-and-white artists aro represented, while there aro stones by \». J. Locke, Maurice Hewlett, H. U. WeUs, Max Pemberton, E. F. Benson, Eden Philpotts, Justus M. Forman, Robert Ban-, Keblo Howard and other prominent novelists of the day. Among the articles, there is a long and important survey of "The Boy Scout Movement," by General Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, K.C.8., another on the Royal Academy of Music, another on Horso Fairs and. a beautifully illustrated sketch of the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. The issue contains no fewer than 250 pages. Tho Oxford University Press is publishing the novels of Sir Walter Scott in twenty-four volumes, with notesand illustrations. There are three editions, ranging in price from Is 6d to 3s 6d a volume, including an India paper edition in pocket sizo. Mr Frowdo has published a Jiew penny Prayer Book, which contains all that is required for ordinary services, namely, Morning and Evening Prayer, continuously arranged with the Litany, collects, the Holy Communion. Athana6ian Creed and tho Psalms. There are ninety-six clearly-printed pages.