CALAMO CURRENTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7008, 3 May 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

CALAMO CURRENTE.

Awtjsing stories are being told of the frantic efforts that were made by some people to obtain cird3 for Lady Jervois' ' At Home , on Monday night. Excessive modesty and a retiring disposition are not qualities that are always thought much of at this end of tho world; but to ieel or to betray disappointment at not being invited, even to Government House, cannot be thought the mark of very high spirit; while to pester those in authority by going inperson and asking why you_have mot received an invitation, after yon hare taken the trouble to write your name in the visitors' book, this, if it is not something very near the limit of social indecency, is certainly a kind of behaviour whiob is not likely to give' the party at Government FTouse any very pleasing ideas of the breeding of some members of colonial aociety. Whether the successful mendicants found the game worth the candle is a thing which theso gentry must decide for themselves. Those to whom, without solicitation, Lady Jervois was pleased to be 'at home,' will console themselves with the reflection that probably the experience of people inviting themselves to Government House is one with which colonial Governors and their aides-de-camp have long been familiar. The present cases are neither peculiar, nor.by comparison, remarkable, and they will bring no kind of reproach on the community as a whole. '

The Premier's epeech at Danedin last week was chiefly remarkable for the spirit in which it was delivered. Major Atkinson seemed like a man rejoicing in the fray, and he went for his adversaries with undisguised' delight. Possunl quia posse videntur is a good motto in politics, as well as in love and in war, and the confidence with which the Major made his attack will help to secure him the victory. Hia statement that the expenditure of public money in the North and South Islands during the last 10 or 15 years has been in exact proportion to population, describes only part of the truth. There is another side of the question which is worth looking at. Granting that the population of the South and North Islands has been as 3 to 2, what, it may be asked, will be the position of things when the proportion of population is reversed ? The population of the South is now nearly stationary ; that of the North has been, and is rapidly increasing. If our numbers continue to increase at present rate, the ratio of population in the South and North Islands will very soon bo not as 3 to 2, but as 2to 3. On whom, then, will the responsibility of paying the. public debt chiefly lie ? It is admitted that out of every £5 already spent, £3 have gone to the South, acd only £2 to the North. In a few years, when the burden of debt makes itself felt, and the money has to be paid, for every £2 which the South will be called upon to pay, it will be our privilege to be responsible for £3. Future historians will be able to Bum up the policy by which public works in this colony were carried out, by saying, 'The Soath got many things which the North afterwards had to pay for.'

Mr. Mo3s", who addressed his constituents in Newmarket pn Monday last, dealt with many subjects 6f practical and theoretical interest. With the latter class we have no immediate concern, but it is important and satisfactory to know that Mr. Moss, like MajorfHarris, will support the Government in the coming session, on all questions relat? ing to the welfare of the North Island. A determined effort will ppon-be made to defraud this part of the colony of the rights to which it is entitled. In view of this, it may safely be predicted that no candidate for a Northern constituency will have any chance of a seat in the Home unless he is prepared to support by his vote the Government by whom these rights are most likely to be recognised and satisfied. The sooner this truth is understood the better it will be for everybody concerned. With regard to the education question Mr. Moss expressed views or rather made statements which might naturally have been expected from him in his present position. That education should be ' free, secular, and compulsory' is a watchvoid that was once good onough, but it has served its purpose, and is now little better than an empty platitude or a piece of political 'gag;' __

If the Southern members combine, as it i 3 expected they will, to refaee the loan for the North Island Trunk .Railway, and if they succeed in their patriotic attempt, members of the !North Island, unless they are prepared tamely to submit to this injustice, will have only one course open to them. They also Trill have to combine and block all legislation affecting the South Island. A political dead-lock is never a very satisfactory state of things, even |at the best of times, bat there are circumstances in which, as the leas of two evils, it becomes a political necessity. The stoppage of all colonial legislation, though it would be a serious irjury to the colony, would teach some useful lessons; especially ta that party which, if rumours of commercial-depreseion are true, could least afford, to wait. The construction of the trunk railway is not only a matter of political justice, but is necessary to ihe opening and commercial development of the North M.ind. We have had to wait for it while the wants or supposed wants of the South were being satisfied, bat the time has now come at which the railway will have to be made. There is no other measure before the Honse which is of such vital importance to our interests as this. Minor differences, then, and questions .of merely local interest will have to be sunk or left in abeyance, and Northern members, if they are wise, will see that it is for the best interests of "all, including themselves, that they ahould go to the House prepared to speak on this snbject with one heart and one voice. The conduct of the late Opposition candidate for the Thorndon seat, who has recently changed his opinions, and the voluntary pledge of Major Harrie at Otahuhn, that he would in the coming session, vote with the Government, are evidence that, the tide is on the turn, and that no candidate in the future will have much chance of a seat who does not bind himself to support the Government by which-the Trunk Railway is to be constructed.

A correspondent writes to complain that lie lives. next door to a piano that is always at work, and that he can neither read by day nor rest by night. It is difficult to adviee this gentleman how to act. He might, however, try what effect it would have if he were himself to practise the cornet or the cow-horn for a few hours every day, when the heavenly maid next door ia just at her best. If that fails, he might invite to his house the gentleman who uged to practise the trombonein the Choral Hall of an afternoon some time ago. If he would come up, and the two of them were to play duets together, it is difficult to believe that the desired effect would not be produced.

We can quite understand that our correspondent is not always merry when he hears sweet music. Songs about sparrows: building, or the love that lasts for 'a we-week, a day' (whatever that may me-hean), or that other love, which, alas ! '10-ho-hove3 alway,' and similar compositions, are apt to pall after their repetition two or three hundred times ; and, .on the whole, nre less likely to melt into sorrow than to madden to crime. At the same time we must expect to pay some price for the privilege of being the most musical people ia the colonies.

It is hardly correct to say that on, Thursday last pheasant shooting began, for in many places the pastime is pursued all the year round. The inevitable result of this process is that birds are becoming scarcer and scarcer every year. It is customary to explain the scarcity of game, by saying that the birde have 'gone back into the bush;' but as it is certain that where , the food is there will the birds be, and as the food which the bush supplies is not to be compared with that which is to be found on cultivated lands, it is clear that the explanation commonly offered is not the right one. A more recondite theory is that the peculiar kind of insects on which pheasants : thrive best has been all cateu up by them, and that, like the dainty creatures ; they are, they aro now languishing and dying out, sooner than betake 'themselves ' to coarser and more vulgarfood.: Buttbis theory seems a littlefarf etched, and is certainly riot easy of proof. A more simple and probable explanation' 5b that they are shot down,'in season and ont of- season, faster than'-"they: can breed and multiply. .A journey by train toOnehunga and - back * on any Saturday - afternoon • in ■winter, will giv a very .fair idea of the humber and character of the 'sportsmen' who

flourish in and aronnd onr centres of. population. What these gentlemen do not kill, they maim ; and, under the circumstances, it is not surprising that the heroic days, of pheasant shooting, when a man could securely reokon ou his 15 to 20 brace a day, are past beyond recall. -A a landowners who could, and might be expected to preserve them, never think of doing ao, the real wonder is that there are any pheasants left at all.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has already done much direct aud indirect good; whereat we all greatly rejoice. Brutal and savage drivers have been brought to justice and puoished, and their fate has served to warn those who would be ' brutal with brutes' if they dared.' These gentlemen have - probably not suppressed, but only transferred their delicate attentions to their wives and other mooibers of society; but these, unfortunately, there is no society to proteot. It would be interesting to know whether the horse 3 and other animals recognise the change, and, if so, what they think about it. Horses, however, Hike dogs, though they can do many wonderful things, cannot yet talk or express their opinions ; and this, it may be thought, is one reason why men are so fond of them. The animal that can neither ask questions, nor criticise and find fault, is obviously meant to bo the companion and friend of men—or, at any rate, of married men. Accordingly Socrates, it is said, who, like St. Peter, was himself * married man, went so far as to swear by his dog. The worst of a dog, Sir Walter Scott said, is that he dies so Boon ; but if be were to live twice as long and then die, oh, dear, what would become of ns ?

To retnrn to the subject from which this digression started : What is the meaning of "coats, £5," which is bo large ran item in the penalty that men convipted of cruelty to animals have to pay ? In ordinary cases that come before the Court, costs are thought to be the pittance which is granted to the lawyer for hia invaluable services. \ The society for the prevention of cruelty, however, pnblish a list of honorary attorneys— i.e., presumably mcD who do the society's work in Court for nothing. If these gentlemen really do their work on these occasions, as the angsls, ' all for love and nothing for reward, , what is the meaning of attorneys' costs 1 If the supposed ' costs' go as a.con-tribution-to the funds of the society, it would be better that the fact should be' generally known. It would be a very proper retribution no donbt, and suitable to the irony of jnstice, that a ruffian who had half-killed some harmless beast should first pay a fine for his offence, and then make a handsome donation to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bat it is also as well to call things by their right names, especially in the management of a benevolent institution.

And now to return to the digression again. An intelligent interest in the welfare of dumb animals, though not an entirely modern feeling, has yet acquired greater strength in this generation than in any preceding age. Probably nothing has had more to do with the creation, or development, of this feeling than the works of the late Sir Edwin Landaeer. Even a German engraving cannot rob these pictures of their tenderness and force ; the original paintings are nothing less than a new rerelation to everybody who has ever seen them. Perhaps when the Art Gallery is built, steps will be taken to procure a few pictures of this sort, such as ordinary minds can understand and rejoice in.

In a community which is at once commercial and democratic,. like our own, where Jews and Gentiles, Turks and Infidels, etc, all meet for once on common ground and on an equal footing, the possession of money is, almost of necessity, at once the basis of, and the passport to, social distinction. It is true that even in Auokland there is a growing tendency to have come orer' with the Conqueror, even among' some whose names betray a more modern origin; but, on the whole, the advantage is on the side oE money, and the wealthy have the sinews of war. In consequence, everybody is making haste to become rich. There are various ways of achieving this desirable end ; as ■by discovering a gold mine—though that is not always easy; or by ' salting , it, and selling the shares—but that is often attended with some risk ; or by keeping a store—though it is true that the palmy days of that trade are now over ; or by swindling the Maoris ; or by. acting as their legal adviser, with a fee of £100 a-day; or by buying up land which a dilatory City Council will one day be compelled to purchase. But of all the ways of acquiring money, the moat sure and certain is that of lending small sums of muney to poor men at a high rate- of interest. How much may be done by this method was clearly shown at a recent bankrupt's examination. ' A poor devil, very hard up, wanted a few pounds to meet his bills, and in despair, went to " the Jetfß "to borrow £15. The £15 was readily lent; all that was required of the borrower being that he should give a receipt for £18, and agree to pay the debt at the rate of £3 a-month. In this way the money would be repaid in six months. £3 for the use of £15 for six months is 40 per cent, per cent, per annum, and a good deal besides —seeing that the .principal is being paid back together with tha interest. There are very few ways of investing money and becoming rich that can b* compared with this.

Men fall into debt in various ways : many by living in a reckless and extravagant style, and by attempting, or allowing their wives to attempt, to make a display of wealth whioh they neither possess nor have ever been accustomed to ; but with some it is the result of accident and misfortune, which they could not foresee or avoid. But in all cases, where a man has enongh moral principle left to desire to sat himself right, he never has recourse to a usurer, unless he has first ' lost his head. . The firet step taken, however, at each successive move he becomes more and more involved, till at last, in the words of the 'Wise Man, , the borrower becomes the servant of the lender. Such a man is an object for pity rather than contempt. The man to be treated with contempt is the creature who"grows fat on the misfortunes and miiery of his fellow-men. Perhaps when society is more firmly established in this country, people will not think so much of what a man has, as of how he got it, and those who have made money in discreditable trades will be compelled to form a class by themselves, and will be branded with some sort of ignominy by right-thinking and honourable men.

The return of what may be called the ' Art season' in Auckland gives the present writer an opportunity of relieving hie mind of, some ideas on art which have long troubled him. He has heard Auckland called the Corinth and the Athens, and even the Carthage of the South, but he has never discovered in what respects his own town resembles those histories cities. (One reason of this may be that he has never seen these latter places.) But he is quite willing to believe these statements, and will probably succeed in doing so, if only they arc repeated often enough. There are times indeed when, as ho takes hie walks abroad, at sunrise, or at dewy eve, it seems to him that JRangitoto and Motutapu, the Barriers and the Coromandel range are worthy to rank with Salamis and /Ejjina ; that the waters of the Waitemata and the Hauraki are surely not less lovely than those of the Piraauß and tho Saronic Gulf ; and that the setting sun lingers -with not lesa gorgeous splendour on the heights of Waitakerei than alpog the purple hills of the Morea. If there were but the everlasting snow- on distant mountains, then would there be everything to gladden the eyes that imagination could suggest, or the bounty of nature could bestow. But where nature has already done so much it Booms lamentable that art should have done bo little and that little to such poor purpose. The arts of music and; painting are in their infancy ; those of architecture, gardening, sculpture, etc., do not exist. There are many things to be said about. these arts, but they must be fitted to a better time. ' 'On this occasion' the writer of these columns wishes to speak only of the art of painting and some of its uses. And he is of opinion that no paintings worth looking at will ever be produced'in this city, Athens or no Athens, until students are provided, not only ; with competent teachers, and outline studies and sketohes by old masters, to show them what the human hand' can really do, but with examples also of the finished and complete work'of both ancient and modern' painters. For it is only by the faithful and constant study of what great painters have already done that ainyono of less than superhuman powers,' can learn what painting can, and ought to be; . To obtain the genuine works of old painters, such ae those of the Italia and Flemish schools, ia now neither an easy nor an inexpensive undertaking; but it

would' be comparatively easy to obtain examples of the work of the great British painters of this arid the last ceatury. _ Such paintings, and collections of such paintings, are constantly changing hands-, in the London market,"and it is only a few weeks since the Victorian Government, net an example which we ought to follow, in buying Mrs. Butler's famous: pictare of the 58th at Quatre Bras. Some time ago a number of gentlemen in Auckland expressed their willingness to subscribe each a considerable sum of money towards the cost of a public art gallery ; and when tho City Corporation took iato their own hands the responsibility .of that undertaking, these gontlemen stated that they wero still willing to. give their proffered snbscription towards buying pictures for tho gallery when it was built. If these benofactors would carry out their promise, and give directions for the purchase of one or two pictures by English masters, they would be.conferring a boon.on the people of Auckland that could not easily be over-estimated. What is wanted is not a collection of rubbishy pictures by unheard-of (because inferior) men, but examples (if it were only one of each artist), of the work of such men as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Eomney, Constable, Turner, Chambers, Landseer, Bonhear, Millais, Long, Hunt, Fielding, etc., etc. Five-and-iwenty pictures by men of this calibre would be of more real service to art than fivo-and-twenty thousand of an inferior kind.

To yawn with listless indifference over a picture like Qaatre Bras would be simply impossible. Paintings like that, as everyone who sees them well knows, appeal to the highest and noblest sentiments of the human breast. To be ready, at the call of duty, to face fearful odds, and, if necessity arise, to lay down his life in the cause and forthe honour of his country, is the supreme heroism of war; and it has at all times commanded the admiration of the world, for bravery is etill the: greatest of the virtues. Tho spectacle offtbis sacrifice transforms and ennobles even base men, and its representation, whether in sculpture,, poetry, painting, or muaio, is the highest achievement of art. The history of the English people contains many-scenes of noble action and tragic suffering, and a gallery of pictures in which these scenes were represented would do more than all the sermons that were ever preached, and more than all the books,ever written, to make us proud of the nation to which we belong, and worthy of its imperishable renown. Index.