NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12279, 25 May 1903, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

WHAT IS A BRITICISM?

" Tiaj'k was, no doubt, five hundred years ago and more (says a writer in Harper's Magazine), when it was not only advantageous but absolutely necessary for the future of the language that there should be a standard of speech which might fairly be called local, and that the vocabulary and the syntax of the inhabitants of the other parts of England should conform to the usage of those about the Court of the King in Loudon. But the utility of any merely local authority has long since departed With the world-wide expansion of the race. New words are knocking for admission at the portal of th© language. 'Fad,' for example, was, first of all, a piece of British slang, which came rapidly into general use in Great Britain, and so established itself as a Briticism; but its utility has made it acceptable in the United States also. There is a group of related diminutives to be found in the literary gossip of certain London weekly papers, no one of which is, perhaps, widely enough employed to entitle it to rank as a Briticism, although there is evidence that one or another of them may be creeping into local acceptance. They are ' essayette' (used by Coventry Patmore); ' sermonette'; 'playette' (a little play); 'leaderette' (a brief leader—and 'leader' is a Briticism, closely corresponding to an Americanism, ' editorial'). The Times., in a book review, recently asserted that the lettering on the backs of the volumes of a popular series had been ' horizontalised' (made horizontal). The Field described a method of repairing a bicycle tire, by which strips of canvas ' are solutioned on.' An advertisement of a magnificently-timbered residential and sporting estate asserted that it was 'centrally positioned.' The Times, in reviewing a- - book on the Origins of Christianity, asserted that much depended 'on the historicity' of a certain narrative. The Spectator, not long ago made use of ' continuativeness'; and the Athenaeum remarked that a story was ' told in what might be called the diaiogical style.' In the Morning Post Mr. Andrew Lang declared that if you want to write good Latin verses you must be watchful, resourceful, and 'dodgy' (up to ever dodge). Perhaps the most curious verbal novelty is a Briticism which has been deliberately invented to balance an imported Americanism; in the United States every lawyer is familiar with the meaning of 'betterment'—which has served as a model for 'worsement,' a word apparently made out of hand by the lawyers in Great Britain." CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.

Mr. Julian Hawthorne writes a paper in the North American Review .upon Legal Penalties and Public Opinion, ill which he argues against the punitive method of dealing with Criminals. He would abolish executions, and even imprisonment, altogether; and, as the object of the law is not to punish but to prevent crime, he makes the startling suggestion that criminals should only be branded and set free: " The mark need not be branded on his flesh with a hot iron; it might be tattooed ; it ought to be indelible. It need not necessarily be placed where all could see it at all times ; but it would be fixed Upon him where, should he ever repeat his offence, it could always be found by the officers of the law. In not more than one case in a thousand, perhaps, would he ever repeat his offence; but should he do so, ha might be again branded, this time where all •could see the mark. This seems, at first sight, but a slight punishment for murder; but we are to remember that punishment is not the object which our enlightened public sentiment demands, but the reformation of the criminal discouraging him from further iniquity; and if we think of it well, we shall find that few devices could be imagined more apt than this to render overt iniquity undesirable. The secret consciousness of bearing that indelible, mark—the dread of its revelation to the public eye— would operate to make the man hesitate many times before doing evil again." Why should it? A tattooed murderer set free under this system could repeat his crime next day in the full assurance that the worst that could overtake him would be a second process of tattooing. Mr. Hawthorne declares that in American murder trials the "flowers and sympathy all go to the dock," the animosity of-the audience being directed solely against the prosecuting counsel.

OUR CABLE NEWS. The Old Age Pensions Bill, with an age limit of 65 and a pension of 5s a week, has been read a second time in the British Parliament, and. referred to a Select Committee. Mr. Chamberlain made an important speech, in which he stated it would not be impossible to find the necessary funds, though there would no doubt have to be that review of the fiscal system which he had already indicated as desirable. Sir. Chamberlain's remarks have created a sensation, and are looked upon as an indication that he intends pushing his fiscal proposals. I It is stated that 250 Albanians were killed I prior to the occupation of Ipek by the Turks. The majority of the Albanians now appear to be cowed, the ringleaders having been arrested. The language question has caused fierce riots in Croatia, in i Hungary. The soldiers wounded many riotera, and several hundreds have been arrested. The situation in China is serious. The rebels invested Luingan, south of Yunnan, and killed the prefect. They are also in possession of Lilianju. The siege of Tetuan, in Morocco, litis been abandoned. The Johannesburg Chamber of Mines has resolved to recommend the Government to import indentured coolies for the construction of railj ways. It was pointed out that if the Go- : vernment encroached on the present labour ! supply of the mines for public works the im- • portation of cheap coloured labour would be j necessary. The aim of £86,000 collected for ; a woman's memorial to Queen Victoria, has I been presented to the King and Queen for i the endowment of an institute, for district 1 nurses. ;