LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20076, 13 October 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BY MEECUTIO.

Tlio All Blacks have come back. Tho glory of their return was not all that it might havo been for a number of reasons. After all when the party separated in Sydney, some coming one way and some another, it was bound to interfero in somo degree with tho reception. It was very different when tho original All Blacks landed at Auckland after having made football history all over tho United Kingdom. Then tho whole town turned out, children were given timo off from school, and altogether it would havo been apparent to tho least observant stranger in the plnco that something was happening. It may bo recalled, as ono of those littlo jncidonts sticking fast in tho memory, ihat several members of that team came ashoro carrying leeks, which they waved lin tho faco of the crowd at moments when tho enthusiasm threatened to run jjoo high. It was a timely reminder of the diet administered to the team at Cardiff by Teddy Morgan and his merry men. Tho Auckland quintetto returning from Sydney could not very well have brought » wild unbroken Springbok with them as a, visiblo confession that thoy had not done all to tho South Africans their most enthusiastic admirers expected. It would have been a troublesomo travelling companion. Besides it is not easy to disembark gracefully, waving a Springbok at tho welcoming crowd. Still it can be granted that tho way tho hosts of the team settled very early the question .whether the All Blacks were to havo an unbeaten record or not was adequately remembered in tho welcome ceremonies. Tho team as a whole and tho individual players have no need to apologise for their record abroad. What if a few matches were lost? Tho game goes on all the samo and that is ail that really matters. There need be no undue regret. # therefore, that it would not have been* altogether appropriate to havo played " Seo the Conquering Heroes Come " at tho official welcome. But half of it might perhaps havo been played.

Thore is one thing to bo said about iAuckland's long-drawn transport controversy. When the fruit of much negotiation came to be embodied in an Act of Parliament tho affair ended in a perfect fltorm of congratulations, eulogies and bouquets, in fact, in a spirit of amity that was absolutely touching to read about, and must have been infinitely more affecting to witness. Everybody's readiness to compromise, ardent desire to help, and ability to seo the other chap's point of view contributed to tho achievement of tho desired result. Without these things nothing could have been done. So they all said, and as they were the people who displayed such admirable qaulitics, it must have been all true. Tho only thing that bewilders tho plain, ordinary mortal with no cast-iron prejudices about transport is this: H the parties to tho whole affair represented such an immenso reservoir of good-will and sweet reasonableness, why was not a little more of it displayed earlier in the business, so that tho necessary legislative .action could havo been taken a little earlier in the session, and not made possible only by suspending practically every standing order Parliament has ever known ? It is .Teally very puzzling.

It is a notable fact that a candidate for Parliamentary honours, contesting an Auckland seat, has thought it necessary to' proclaim very definitely that he is not a member of the City Council. A similarity of names threatens to make people imagine he is, but tho impression will not live long if ho can help it. This is a very sad and depressing reflection indeed on tho estimate some people have made of City Council popularity. Tho proclamation, in fact, is first cousin to the advertisement you sometimes seo running thus: "Tho John Bloggs, who was fined nt tho Police Court on Tuesday for parking his car in Queen Street during prohibited hours is not John Bloggs, of Gasworks Avenue, Freeman' 3 Bay, who does not own or drive a motor-car." That is not the type of offence that usually provokes tho advertisement, but you will recognise the idea none the less. Is it coming to this, that non-mernbership of ono public body is to be claimed as a qualification for another ? If so the candidate who can show he is not a member of the City Council, Harbour Board, Drainage Board, Power Board, Education Board, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the Point Chevalier Ratepayers' Association, and is never likely to be, should he in a very strong position for contesting, say, Auckland Central. But this tendency to disclaim membership can bo carried too far to suit tho candidate's purposo. Suppose, for instance, after all his pains, he can announce on November 15 that he is not a Member of Parliament either! Will he bs any happier then?

A correspondent forwards a reproachful comment on the paragraph that appeared in this column pointing out how Rewi Mauiapoto never at any time stood on the parapet of Orakau Pa to hurl the historic defianco at the attacking pakeha. The correspondent is sufficiently in earnest to send his letter all the way from New Plymouth, and was in such apparent taste that ho forgot to sign it. lie was not aggrieved at this attack on a fanciful story which has interested so many peoplo since that historic fight. Not at all. lie is no supporter of the legend that Rewi stood up in full view and sent liis defiant reply ringing out over tho investing lines. His complaint is merely that " Mercutio" did not go quite far enough, for ho says Rewi never used the words at all. It is quite truo that though there seems general agreement that somebody at Orakau did say " VVe will fight on for ever and ever," it has also been categorically denied tha', it was Rewi who did so. "Mercutio" knew that quite well, but did not want to bo too much of an iconoclast all at once. It is not wise to disprove or to deny too many accepted statements together. A warning ori this point was once given to certain mornbers of a new and agrespive school of historical thought at Oxford. Its members delighted in attacking all sorts of things which had been generally accepted concerning the history of Oxford itself. There was, for instance, a favourite legend to the effect that a rertain college had been endowed by King Alfred. The new historians satisfied themselves they had shattered this story when t.hoy established that tho endowmerit land in question had never belonged to King Alfred. This brought on their heads a mild rebuke from an older and wiser historian. " These new historians." he said, " seem to mo to prove too much. They provo so much that they disprove their own case. For instance they say that as this land had never belonged to Alfred, he could not have given it to tho college. If ho had owned the land ho would have had very good reason for sticking to it. As it belonged to somebody else ho very naturally gave it to tho college." Now there is a mountain of wisdom and good sense in that observation, and tho soundness of at tacking ono historical delusion at it time is indisputable. However, now that tho question ha 3 been raised it can bo conceded that neither was the accepted " Ako, eke, ake " shouted from the parapet, nor did Rewi himself actual I v uso tho words in reply to tho demand for surrender. Otherwise of courso tho phrase js quite Appropriately, know as pewi's defiance^.'