AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING

Mataura Ensign, Issue 1416, 26 November 1904, Page 2

AN EYE FOR EVERYTHING

Uy Cyclops. At the time of writing the (lore | Young Men's Society had made no pronouncement upon the question : "Js the standard of literature declining?" so that in case our views o\erlap 1 have my alibi ready to hand. 1 am not one of those who believe thut anything said or done in the good 'old da>s must cousivptently possess some inhennt merit simply be cause it has been handed down to us shrouded in the cobwebs of antiquity. Human nature has not changed very materially in the years that have elapsed since the plan of creation v. ns executed. The same process of reasoning that determined the actions of our forefathers (who, feeliny the pant;* of hunger upon them donned their sl.u.'pskiu flounces und sullied lorth with the family stone tack-hummer to stalk the meat prowling in the vW-in-ity of the old log cabin in the doll) prompts tho sobered savage of to-day to turn his mental or manuul labor into the equivalent of, a loin of mut ton and a crinkled cabbage. Nor, on the other hand, am 1 prepare,! to concede that the present -gvneralion has markedly advanced beyond the limit attained by its predecessors. All have heard the common enough suggestion thut such und such tin individual is not the man his lather was, and is not likely ever to be. Also we all of us cherish childish recollections of certain notable patriarchs who delicd the grip of advancing years, anil, toiling valiantly through the gloaming of life. furiiUhed indubitable evidence thut hard work was never yet known to kill. Wc look in Vain for siieli rugged veterans today und lament the strenuous times of the past when men and women filled o a ch hour to ovi rllo.ving with something attempted, something done. The testimony on both sides is conflating and of i'|iiul weight, so we are fairly safe (o assume that bitweeu the institutions of olden times and of the present there is little or nothing to choose so far as all round merit is concerned. The past his improved in the keeping, and the present, being mre snriiy new, is perhaps a trifle woody und harsh. Ibit I maintain once again that human nature is as good und as bad as ever it was ; thut it is no better than it should be, and nexer will lm_so 1.-ng us we remain under the domination < t instinctive desires or until we develop some hitherto unknown traits of character.

-My alibi still holding 14001!, I am prepared to face both ways 011 the i|iie tion, which, by the time of writill;,' this, the Young Men's Society l as doubtless firmly settled. The iiiwratnre of the olden days was written by the few for the few. That of to-day is written (alas j by the many for ll', inuny. The spread of education has brought to the masses an apji"(ite for an indefinite something anil a capacity to assimilate it when that something is slammed down upon the tuble by a slatternly attendant. Ileice the works of popular fiction - the bi-dizened dm el upon which the intellects of our people are fed almost to bursting point produces only a Clop of mental boils. liiinbauo anil gout. Allured bv (he attractive appearance of (he fare all are (em s*■.l to par(ukc of (he veriest husks, their i'}'lility to turn from such to the ic.illy S'llid victuals prepared by the of litters being undnrmimd and Mill fuit'xr incapacitated by each sneiv*.sivc orgie at the swill-tub of litir.trv ineffectiveness. The standard of literature is not declining. New stand.i:\ls have lalterly been set lip which mark a lower plane ; but there is no connecting link between tile new and the old. That which is good and- I est still conies from t!-.e few iijto the hand,s of the few. und by iheni (lie standard of excellence is maintained. But much of the so-called pop il.ir literature is a thing apart—an 'lyly. disreputable growth, the tough anil (uwny tail which is mistaken for the dog. Outside its nndosirable influence upon (lie tastes of the community, its ghastly obvionsni ss stands for its greatest condemnation. Given the cast of characters as set forth in the prologue one can without effort construct the scenes. Little inaccuracies may occur, such for instance as assuming the villain will die by ratpoison. instead of. as the author p'o vides. by a stirring fall over a | r.ripiec lasting three puges and ii'iu.irter ; or figuring it out dial (lie hero breaks his leg in the fourteenth lin;>(er. whereas it is two ribs anil a collur-lionc in the fifteenth.

lint the general tenor of tin' story , may usually be ganged by a glance at its title, the picture on the iront i page, and the author's name. And in a less pretentious sphere—thut |'ertuinilig to the humorous short tales-- | how plainly evident the theme is made. Nothing is left to the iniu-i.ev tion ; one is not even permitted to anticipate speculatively what is going 1 ( to happen when the policeman comes., i If the principal character is 11 .uned Bloggs we all know instinctively (|, u t ho is a wheezy old idiot of cons;. ' able re-spc-.'tability, with an acidulous I and eloquent spouse awaiting his I c • luted return to home and duty. If ' his name be Snooks he is certain to I be several rungs lower on the social , ludder than Hloggs. lie will nevertheless prove an idiot and will be : landed in all sorts of ridiculous si rip--1 es before the pitiful tale lias conn' to ' a standstill. -lobson is usually u much sat upon cler!t in the '.'ily : : Sprig-gins a jaunty bounder with troubles ahead ; Porklcigh a millionaire ex-butcher with a stout wife and ' no "liV' to speak of ; Doljbs a -ciioconiic bachelor with thin hail' and an ■ aversion to babies ; Podgett a sm!i ir- ; bun alderman—pompous, arrogant nil uneducated. And so on, ad nuus'am. Xo. the standard of literature is not declining. The standard of its imitations was never high, and if it were to fall at all it would be through (he sub-stratum of hopeless inferiority into absolute and perpetual oblivion. Hut so long as space is found in tools for the swishes and rustlings of the stately Ermyntrudes for the I'.iry S "allocs of the Percys and Cecils . fir the casual (loppings, hat-bashings and clothes-losings of the _ Bloggs s. Snookses. Porkleiglis, Sprigginrs, and the rest of the farcical gang, so long will there be need for someone to arise and warn the public that its bread is spread with turnip pulp, and that it is consuming timber for nutmegs. To jump from literature to journal ism. T might suv that certain fume and possible fortune await the person who can rescue the craft from the iron jawa of conventionality, lie who gets his paper fresh and fragrant from the press and finds nothing to growl at except the smell of the ink, knows little or nothing of the difficulties confonting those ''oncerncil with its product :o'itlie daily struggle to tell old rows in a new way ; the crushing effort to say something 110 one else lias said within the past few days. Our English language seems nil innde.'pmtc for the pin-post's of newspaper work. For example, those who live in Kew Zealand can be describe only as the people, the public, the

community, tlie inhabitants, the colonists. Two paragraphs will bankrupt the stock of appellation* and the weary pressman must needs dodge und duck umong the most pitiable ux|x!(licnts to avoid palpable rej>etitu>n, which is a cuitlinal Kin of the trade. The | .'Orson who plays accompanying instrumental music at a concert or other function in almost invariably said to Imvc "pr,-Hided ut" the ;,i u no or organ, as the case may l>e. liecause why? Nothing else can be *aid. '-Mi s played the piano" would not look workmanlike ; "Hiss . was nt the piano" would lie too vague, and if you cut -Miss t .„t ultog-i tlier there in trouble usually. In detailing the circumstances of a v«|ding of any note, the reporter muhl su.v "The presents were numerous and costly, ' "were many and handso'ne," thut the happy couple received "a largo numljer of beautiful gift*," or else leave it- severely alone. "Est.wmed resident, ' "well-known townsman,'' and "prominent citizen" exhaust another little lot of much used phrases ; "splendid programme," "capital programme," "excellent programme'' another. The journalist is hedged .with close-set limitations on every side, He must needs trick out everyday trull's in Sunday summer garine'its ; lie must remember thut tjie public reads his paper not to see what is in it. but what is not, and that his mode of expression must tickle the uppreiiutiveness of the most inteilv,tual of his clients ns well as bo |wrfeetly understandable to the most ignorant. A worker amid such conditions is worthy of tlie best (food fortune that run befall, and whenever I hear of some craftsman (aUrt'it »f tho riiiht color) receiving a C;ovcrnm"iit appointment of dog-tux collector <; r stock-enumerator, I feel (no mutter how muuy wires ha\o been pulUl ut Wellington) that he has deservnl his luck.