BOOK NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 304, 21 November 1936, Page 7

BOOK NOTES

“MARSDEN AND THE MISSIONS.” PRELUDE TO WAITANGI. All who have studied New Zealand’s early history, and many who hnve not, will find in Erie Ramsdcn’s “Marsden and the Missions” one of the most fascinating historical books dealing with this country yet published. There has been much written about New Zealand covering the period subsequent to the Treaty of Waitangi, some of it literature of a high value; but not enough with historical accuracy has been placed on record about the prelude to Waitangi, and in this latest contribution many of the gaps that have hitherto existed are filled. Mr Rnmsden, whose book contains an admirable foreword by Dr. Peter Buck, the noted Maori ethnologist, lias lmd access to many official and private papers dealing with the earliest days of the white man in New Zealand, when this colony was under the administration of New South Wales, and he Ims done full justice to the knowledge thus acquired. Furthermore, his narrative, which runs to close on ?C0 pages, is Splendidly annotated with extracts from the innumerable sources of authentic information mentioned. While, of course, the central figure is Samuel Marsden, whose later life and great problems of missionary enterprise form the basis of the book, Mr Rumsdeii’s researches have enabled him to give the veador a very close contact with, and understanding of. the difficulties that beset die administration of James Busby, ;he Resident, whose name is iorevei inked with Waitangi. In many places he descriptive powers of the author ire such that Marsden, Busby and tlicrs seem to live again. The deploy .ble conditions which existed ni till) Jay of islands when the winders muuo .heir first contact with the natives—a : alit.net over which ( the curtain should sow be drawn in shame—are strongly et out; the exasperating position of a Jovei'iinieiit functionary, Busby, without functions or legal protection; the debasing of the Mtiori; land ( plunder and alf its accompanying evils; and the jealousies among the missionaries themselves—all go to make up a marked reflection of lio.v the Maoris met the impact of civilisation. The tragedies of early missionary activities and lack of Government support for the reputed Government representative; Busby’s remurkable strength of character and patience; and Marsden’s steadfast aim for the uplift of the native to Christian practices, are enough material on which to base such a contribution, and others have been content with tlmt, but the author of “Marsden and the Missions” has done more—he has thrown a new light on the happenings of the decade 1930-40 because of the large amount of new and authentic material made available to him. Mursden’s greatness will be readily appreciated by all who read this splendid account of how the Maori people were won to Christianity and adapted civilisation to their own benefit, despite the fact that, in their first contact with it, they iiad the earnest work of the missionaries oil the one hand contrasted Vivldiy with the sordid, vicious degradation of the other white men—the whalers and early seafarers —on the other. How the better influences succeeded in the iace of such difficulties can only be understood by understanding . tile character of such men as Marsden and his missionaries, and Resident Busby. Tile publishers are Messrs A. H. and A. IV. Reed, Dunedin and Wellington.

“PALESTINE ON THE EVE.”

At the time when the Royal Commission appointed by the British Government to inquire into the conditions determining the recent unrest in Palestine has just assumed its duties, it would appear that a Ho more timely publication could appear than that of the Britisli-Hungarmn journalist, Mr Ladislas Farago—“Palestine on tho Eve.” Only off the press in September, it is a thorouglily-up-to-date and illuminating volume, coveriqg events as recent as June, and exploring in a manner probably without parallel the underlying causes of the present tension. Straight from Abyssinia, the author visited the storm centres in Palestine to observe and write—and what he has written in an amazingly entrancing style sheds brilliance on hitherto unsuspected factors. He has traversed the infamous Nablus Road under gunfire and mingled with the leaders of both factions. Nablus is the head of the Arab movement —the old Palestine untouched by Jewish immigration, which is the principal point in dispute. The Arabians claim that, having developed the nation—and they have done so rigorously in certain respects—the fruits of success should be theirs; a Jewish leader has declared that “the movement is aimed neither against the English nor us. It aims merely at the creation of an independent Palestine.” On the other hand, the Jews stake their faith on Britain’s Balfour Declaration that Palestine shall be the national home of Jewry. Backed | by millions in capital from “the City,” tneir industry had brought into being remarkable business centres. The bloodshed lias resulted from the respective fanaticism of the leaders. Farago, after his most exhaustive survey, leaves it to an Englishman to declare that a filial solution is “truly a task for a Messiah”—but he hints interestingly at the path the Royal Commission will tread. The publishers are Messrs Hicks, Smith, and Wright, Wellington, our copy from Messrs J. H. Bennett and Co., Ltd.

“THE BROTHERS ASHKENAZI.”

Curiously enough, Jewry occupies the principal place in this historical book from the pen of L. J. Singer, but it is partly of an earlier period that he writes. Himself a Pole by .birth, ancl a Talmudic student, the author is particularly well equipped to portray as frankly as he has done here the lot of the Jews in the European cavalcade. The setting is Lodz, whence hundreds of German weavers trekked to establish the “Manchester of Poland.” Came the industrial revolution and the almost mushroom appearance of factories driven by machines, followed by swift decay when war and revolution cut oh' the markets of Russia and the l 1 ar East. In moving language, using this background, is unfolded the story of the file-long struggle of twin brothers. Max and Yakob Ashkennuzi, sons of a wool merchant of the strictest school of Pharisees. Max, the elder, had as his ambition the ultimate overlordship of Lodz's weaving industry, rising by sheer effort towards his goal. On the other hand, the younger, relying on his more pleasing personality, and| more of a dreamer, accidentally went from peak to peak. Skilfully their egotistic progress is painted ; ruthlessly is portrayed the state of the society they trampled and ignored in their mad progress—mutually hateful of the other. If there is a predominant influence it is that of sadism, a philosophy ultimately encompassing' present-day Europe with the interplay of Communism and

anti-Semitism. Powerfully is the story indicted, and candid »is the author in his. revelations. Concentration camps are exposed in all their cruelty; hate and hope curiously intermingle as the veil is lifted off the face of Europe. Generously proportioned, “The Brothers Ashkenazi” is definitely one of the most arresting books of its kind. The publishers are Messrs Hicks, Smith, and Wright, Wellington;, our copy from Messrs G. H. Bennett and Co., Ltd.