CONSEQUENCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 6 (Supplement)

CONSEQUENCES.

}IY EDNA GRAHAM MAf.'lv V.

,& § CONSCIENCE. <a I 3p.' : _ I K To lie satisfied ".villi t Jio ,g § acquittal of tho wot til, though {J |jv accompanied with ;l,e secret con- <g 0, damnation of conscience, this is 0 £) the niaiji, of a little mind; hut it -3 1 <g, requires a sou! of no common 3 : <O. stamp to be satisfied with its own 0 <B> acquittal, and to despise the con■B> denination of the world.— Oolton. y? £>

We cast a pebble into the sea but we take no thought of the vibrations which spread in widening circles across the surface of the water. We breathe a sound into space, but our minds have little contern with "the eddying ether waves thus set in endless motion by our voices. The law of consequences operates, it seems, on all planes of existence, physical, mental and spiritual. Indeed, our slightest action, our "vaguest, desire is fraught with tremendous potentiality for good or evil. I read an article some time ago which undertook to show how the telephone conversation of a humble maid of all work in a Bloomsb'ury flat led by deiinite stages to ft national crisis. The idea was developed in this wise: The maid and her lover had a quarrel over the telephone. The maid, feeling upset., served her master with an indigestible lunch. The badly ' cooked ' food caused the man, who ay as a clerk in a large business firm, to become irritable. His bad temper that day provoked a sudden dismissal from his post. Owing to the absence of the clerk, t.he manager of the firm overlooked an item which involved a considerable amount of money. Bankruptcy ensued and the failure of the firm precipitated the suicide of a prominent financier. The publicity t'ms given to the affairs of the financier caused a panic in the hanking world, which in the sequence of events shook the v hole nation to its foundation !

The written word is just iis much subject to the law of consequences as the spoken, word, a fact brought home sooner or liitei to every wielder of the pen or thumper ot the typewriter. In this column some weeks aero I wrote an article entitled " Good Women." in which 1 lamented man's neglect and apparent inapprecfation of the old-fashioned " Sweet Alice"' type of womanhood. 1 contended that modern men were prone to pass over the, claims 01 truly " pood" and noble women for the flaunting charms of socalled " vamps ' and " unconventional ladies." To-day 1 have received a letter from a romantic North Quecnslancler commenting on this article and as a proof that there are still some men in the world who prefer the modest, self sacrificing girl, he offers to marry, provided the object of his admiration is willing, one of these neglected " Sweet Alices" and to give her as a reward for living up to her highest ideals some two thousand pounds, worth of property The law of consequences may be at, work in this. Say, for instance, this gallant Australian revives the demand for the old-time heroine to the. utter confusion of all the " vamps" and ' Sweet Alice.' experts who have for so long monopolised the imagination of our menfolk just think of the effect it will have on the drapery stores, the cabarets, the cigarette factories, the cocktail brewers, who will be forced to cater for a different set of ideals altogether. Much of the literature of recent years will have to be scrapped. I am being- continually brought, face to face with consequences. Another short artical I wrote, entitled " Growing Old." caused quite a strained feeling in my own circle. o In contrasting the grandmother oC yesterday with the grandmother of to-day 1 dre(v two imaginary pictures of old age. I referred to the grandmother of yesterday as my grandmother, merely to fix the period of time and generation, never dreaming that the statement would be taken literally. To be amusing I used the, phrase " somewhat bovine" in describing the facial expression of yesterday's grandmother. Unfortunately, this was taken literally also. I do hope the southern newspaper which did me the honour to quote my article will strive to counteract the 'relentless law of consequences by recording my public statement that tiie words " somewhat bovine" were in no sense meant to apply to my own grandmother, nor to any of her descendants (myself included)!