THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15649, 1 July 1914, Page 12

THINGS IN GENERAL.

THE BEFEBENDTJM.

Gbabtjaixt, and; almost, unconsciously, we are moving towards embodying the referendum as a part of our legislative

machinery. Wo have tr'>nnially a reierendnm on liquor license, and now < Parliament will bo ? ; "en an opportunity

cf deciding whether ii sfall shuffle the responsibility of deciding the Bible in schools question on to the electors themselves With each additional referendum the public will get mow into the habit of dscidiaff things, and it will bo increasingly difficult to refuse fresh demands for it national decision. The introduction of the referendum seems, likely to prove an important- Mage in our constitutional evolution, and is certain to have marked results on Parliament and people alike. Ultimately it may lead to the abolition of party government, but for a start it will probably soften party feeling and blur party lines, because if the most difficult and controversial questions are referred to the people to s/etUo, there is BO much less for the politicians ■to Bquabbla over. Personally, if I were a member of Parliament I should be opposed

to tie referendum on the ground (though,

! j of course, I should provide anchor more :] heroio one for public consumption) that lii once the people got th» habit of deciding i|| things for themselves they world decide i • to dispense with me. We are drifting I ; into the practice of the referendum with|.j out having consider ed the theory. Engf't land, on tho other hand, has been dis- '! '] cussing the theory ever since Mr. Balfour i| j made it a live topic, but is no nearer the ?■'■ practice. Which simply illustrates the ,';! difference between England and New Zea- !;"; land. We care little here for the theory I I of anything: we are all for its practical 11 effects. It would still be a damaging I] criticism in England, appealing to many ii ] ihous.inds of electors, to describe a II measure as. socialistic. But in New Zeals'j land we care little for abstractions about I'l socialism and private rights. • We have |fi gone so far on certain lines in State M- socifSisro that we liaro lost our nervous-

[1 ness about theory. We are not convinced j when, a man tells us a measure is • socialistic- or that it is non-socialistic. ljj We say to him: "Well, tell us specifiIjj cally what yon propose and we will con-

sider how it will work out."

And our

II judgment an ic its practical results deterJul \ mines our decision rather than any a theoretical considerations of State and |l | private sights. if ■ i T A Municipal " Sipooaery." fjf If ' The latest suggestion for gaining the $ suffrage for women is tjhat there should ||; be an anti-love strike. As regards the m militants I am sure it is wholly unnecesW sary. None of us love the militants when I they carry hatchets and bombs in their || hats and under their furs. But apparently ||| the anti-love strike is regarded as a new II form of militancy, for this is what the I American lady who proposes it says:— \m "Broken hearts are better than broken. [at windows, If women -would refuse.to cook lift or wash for their husbands, and refuse

to kiss or even look at. them, I beDfeve

m they wotdd get the vote in a verv short m time. In Cornwall, my home, I once 'ftl asked an old farmer what be thought of m this plan. He replied : 'Good gracious! m (Women would get the vote wil in a fortl':| night.'" 'New York suffragettes do not i| endorse- .this plan. Mrs. Boissevain ffl|--'BrSlge» who has been, called "the most 111 "beautiful suffragette," and before her reifjft cent marriage was wdl known to up1| holders of "the cause"- as Miss laezMiljMnollnnd, eays:'"l would join such a !j|..6trifce i! it were practicable, I would If adopt any feasible method to get the ( holders of this cause" not practiholland, eays : " I would join such a strike if it were practicable, I would adopt any feasible method to get the vote, but this suggestion is not practicable." Just so. We should soon have !the saffrageltes singing: You made me" love you. . I didn't - want to do it!" Meanwhile, as we nave no militants in Hi New Zealand, I would suggest to the M Mayor, who is returning from Australia [If with one new honour and a lot of new JH ideas, that convenieat spooning grounds vm should "be prepared in Auckland. Some lji| year?, ago, it may be remembered, an ill English clergyman announced that the ij| church hall would be {eft open every |f| evening with the lights . at half-mast for

lit the use of spoolers. 'Now the ComI missioner of Property* in Denver, ColoI rado, U.S.A., is suggesting tliat a number

M of places should be sak aside where, wide? gf proper municipal EUjtervision, young men m and women might, meet and become |] acquainted. , Thei'e is reason in the If cchenifi when yon, come to think it out. if Wo hare private, matrimonial bur^x,

why not a municipal one.: Agaijj, a healthy marriage rate is desirable. 'Most young people deem a certain amount of what is called "spooning"' a necessary

preliminary to -marriage. Why not, therefore, provide the accommodation and so bor«vj the marriage rate? X am certain the mara»ge rate most be suffering terribly through the inclement weather we have had in Auckland, lately. We are told by poet? and comic singers that soma pale moonlight is desirable as a sort of relish to spooning. We cannot provide that to order, but the municipality could at least provide a simple building that would keep out wind and rain. As it is oar young people do tolerably well, as

you may judge by visiting the-' picture

j stows. But I am sure a municipal i' •"spoonery" meet a long-felt want, as t the auctioneer says. Girls who live with j their parents would probably still prefer [ the best, parlour, but surely the girls who K, live in, lodgings., and cannot monopolise I a 'test parlour, .-are entitled to some con- [ sideration. f. •<- .' F * The Last Loneliness. ! p The Last Loneliness. ['■=•• I Sir George Reid referred recently to \ the isolation and loneliness many colonials | feel in London. 'Whether that is tie experience of many colonial visitors to ! Lcsidon may well be doubted. The . average colonial who visits London has money in his pocket, usually . makes ! friends at his , hotel, and is engaged in a whirl of jdgjat-seeing that does not 1 leave time for a ;'.' feeling of loneliness. Then he. has a number of organisations which exist for the benefit of colonial visitors to help him on his way. The visitor to London from the provinces is rosily in a worse position than the colonial, for ho has none of these Empire organisations and clubs to help him. London is a lonely place. It can be lonelier than the prairie, lonelier than too mountain or the sea or the forest. .Bat the person who feels the real loneliness of London is the resident, not the <£*■ al vistvi.-' The bride who goes from ths CO-cWy to. a Lotion suburb is lonely ih» fast &*fi * lonelier still ut the kM of 'eighteen' months, when she has bawdy go& m speaking terms with the -4fflt>la next door, and ■ beyond that stitches un unknown continent. By comparison with some London suburbs the statues in the British Museum are friendly. '.They at lear ' l carry an inscriptiXo3i» " YicUago scandal is abominable

enough in its way,' but after all it is only an exaggeration, as running-to-weed of the genii! interest in tho communal life. It h infinitely preferable to the silence of a London suburb. Of course this is precisely the aspect of London that appeals to some temperaments. They like the vast solitude of the big city where nobody knows and nobody cares. There are thousands of London bachelors who do not visit private houses and have no relatives or close friends, but who would smile if you pitied them. They have thciv theatres, clubs, favourite restaurants, and they have the great throbbing heart of London J ways with them. They agree with Dr. Johnson that the man who is tired of London is tired of life. The lonely folk of London are mostly women and people of small means. Tho loneliest of all is the poor gentlewoman dependent on herself, for woman is not made for solitude. To most women loneliness is the most terrible thin? life has to offer and the loneliness of London gnaws the heart as the loneliness of N'ew Zealand bush could never do. This Teddy River. There is no • denying the tremendous energy and vitality of Mr. Roosevelt. He has been filling a flat interval in politics with exploration in South America and after being reported lost several times, suffering from fevers and bad legs, he has reappeared with the announcement that he has discovered a new river 1000 miles long. But Mr. Roosevelt has not the ideal qualities of an explorer. He has too much imagination and some of his statements are regarded by experienced travellers as being tremendously good jokes. Mr. Roosevelt ■ has announced his intention of giving a lecture in London to defend his assertions, in which case we shall probably have an interesting controversy. In the meantime the weight of expert opinion seems to be against' Mr. Roosevelt and his river. Mr. A. H. Savage Landor, who made a' famous coast-to-coast journey of 13,750 miles across South America, says :— I do not want to make any comment as to the so-called! scientific work of Mr. Roosevelt, but, as far as I am concerned, he makes me laugh very heartily, and I believe that all those who have a little common sense will laugh just as much as I do. Everyone knows of Mr. Roosevelt's discovery of Africa, and of the great dangers he encountered .while exploring the railway line from Mombasa to Lake Victoria, not to mention his perilous crossing of the lake in a first-clans steamboat We will not speak of the hardships he met with in his trip down the Nile, also in a magnificent steamboat, while he was discovering Egypt." Dr. Hamilton Rice, a famous South American explorer, who is well acquainted with the interior of Brazil, said :—" Mr. Roosevelt is a very impatient, impetuous, impulsive sort of man who jumps at conclusions without giving due, regard to all 'the facts— very unfortunate qualification for an explorer to possess. It is only the most careful and painstaking work that makes surmises established facts. Years of training is necessary for the work. It would bo easy to eunfuse these Brazilian rivers and very difficult indeed to recognise them without expert knowledge. I notice that Mr. Roosevelt had rio topographer with him, and there is no mention of the delicate and complicated instruments which are necessary when making such calculations as that of the length of a river. We' are told that this unknown river flows into the River Madeira and accord-. ing to the description it is as broad as the Rhone. F<;r many years steamers have been goin£ tip and down the Madeira, and it is absurd to suggest that a junction exists without ever being noticed. It so baopens that the River Ariphanani joins the Madeira at sdeg. 30min. south— latitude indicated by Or. Roosevelt. This is a broad, wellknown stream which perhaps the exPresident imagines that he has discovered for the first time. Most certainly there is no river 1000 miles in length of which at least one portion is not already known, I should like to ask the following questions Who was the topographer? How were the observations taken? How was the journey accomplished in' the time? How* were canoes obtained at the source of a river where only 'wild Indians exist? If only two canoes were left, how did the party «sch home?"

■Uniformed Policewomen. .We may, a few years hence, see stalwart .policewomen parading Queen Street. The experiment of employing a number of women in the police force has been tried experimentally in America, and is now extending rapidly throughout American and Canadian cities. Chicago hap a corps of 10 policewomen, six of whom are married. They wear a uniform, and patrol parks, Bathing resort* and steamers for the special protection of women and children, end have power to make arrests. The innovation has •worked very successfully, and the Mayor oi ( . Chicago is credited with, the intention of appointing a woman Chief of Police in the person of & prominent social worker, who is a member of the police examining board of the Civil Service Commission. Germany has for some time had policewomen on duty in Hanover, Breslau, Strasburg, and other cities. Denver (Col.) has a police force which has among its officers a girl who gave up a luxurious social position to serve her native city in thii way, and is popularly known as "the lest man in the force." Fortunately the number of women arrested in Auckland is n't large, but it would probably be found that here, as in other cities, policewomen could do valuable preventive work. Tire General;