LOCAL GOSSIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21876, 11 August 1934, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP

BY ;UEIICUTIO

It was a regrettable a flair wlien the Hauraki lost her way in the fog last ' week-end, and ran aground some four miles outside the limits of the Waitemata Harbour. Be very particular in noting that point about it being well outside harbour limits. No aspersions can bo east upon Auckland's harbour over this affair. The whole thing, in fact, is a distinct tribute tq the Port of Auckland. There are not many places where it would bo possiblo for a sk'p to go ashore that far beyond harbour limits and to be towed off again as the Hauraki was, without any

damage being done. It just shows the advantago of having the gulf, as well as die harbour, for the better reception of nhips from overseas. But why should the Hauraki Gulf not havo been good to tho Hauraki anyway. Once upon a time an ocean-going ship, known as the JLaipara, struck: an uncharted rock

within harbour limits and suffered considerably. then the Waitemata could not be expected to show consideration to a ship named after a rival harbour. The spirit of the Waitemata

could be imagined murmuring, " Go to Kaipara"—when;, by the way, there is a river port called Helensville. It should / have been different with the Hauraki Gulf and the ship Hauraki; and so it was. Incidentally, there will be no justification, ever, for any legend that the gulf has been so called because the Hauraki went aground 'there and came off again unscathed. Stranger things than that, have happened, but in this instance it must not happen.

The real joke about the freedom of speech movement which has been carried to the courts is that each Sunday afternoon for a long time the political party most excited about the matter meets undisturbed in Victoria Park —on the west side of one of the buildings on the south side, to be exact. It is unfortunate that some of the advocates of free speech did not know about this forum, a forum which used to fly the sickly red flag. Possibly this forum does not provide the publicity some of the academic gentlemen desire. Possibly a pieeei of perfectly good turf on Victoria Park is not to be compared with a place where brick-bats might be found. It is deplorable indeed that Auckland should not throw open its streets and its halls to every bird of passage. New Zealand must be very narrow-minded —as narrow in fact as sergeant-majors and subalterns of Leeds, 'uddersfield, 'alifax and Bradford, by""* their .°tupid barking, used to make tbeir men, much to the consternation of soldiers from this lone group of islands. There were moments when the people responsible for the discipline of some of the Home units, God bless them, were most angry about the influence of' Australians and New Zealanders. Now we of the Antipodes are getting back " some of our own," so to speak. The old Digger and the most of his relations believe in ordered liberty. The old Digger learned a thing or two, not perhaps within the curriculum of a lot of colleges. One was that academic attainment does not necessarily - bestow balance. And as sSen Junior remarked to Ponsonby Minor the other day, after he was caned, " This freedom of speech seems to be only for dictators."

Somebody has suggested, with good reason, that the governor of the Reserve Bank sets a eood example to the community as a whole by the legibility of his signature on the new bank notes. It is refreshing, if a little surprising, to find that someone has been able to keejSL a note long enough to observe the signature; but having achieved this, he has made a perfectly just observation, There is an old suggestion that some folk seem to think words were given them to conceal their thoughts. On occasion it seems as though others sign their names in order to preserve anonymity. Why is a signature evolved or cultivated that nobody/ on this earth could decipher, if he had not a clue in advance? Is it modesty, or an assertion of superiority? It may be either. When, as often happens, businessmen adopt the practice of having the name typed underneath th 6 signature to leave no doubt about it. the decision becomes all the more difficult. It disposes of any idea that the signatory considers everyone ought to know him, whether his signature can bo read or not.

There is an old story about a man who received a letter above a name he Was utterly incapable of deciphering. An answer was demanded, and he had no idea of tho name to which it should be addressed. So he adopted the ingenious device of cutting the signature off the letter, pasting it on an envelope, adding the address and hoping 'tor the best. That was certainly one way out of the quandary, even if it was a little hard on tho postman. But tho original idea from which all these observations sprang is quite right. The example set by Mr. Lefeaux is thoroughly well worth following. If any man protests he cannot do it, he is confessing that he is incapable of writing bis own name clearly. Well, let him confess that if he likes.

There have been complaints in Parliament about New Zealand's lack cf official interest in the League of Nations. One member said <this country paid its subscription promptly and then didn't do another thing. It is very deplorable, 110 doubt, but one can well imagine the Treasurer of the League sighing; for other members to be uninterested in the same way. Thero havo been occasions in tho past when certain nations, after being very vocal, not to say vociferous, at assemblies, Were posted as defaulters when tho lists Vent out. Here was an instance where money may have talked, but iiupecuniosity/' had the louder say. At the pame time it came as a bit of a shock When the very day after this debate the name of New Zealand appeared in a cable message as being a member in arrears with its contributions to tho League. It has already been pointed out that this is not fair to a country which does pay and always has paid. In fact, it was distinctly unkind, just after tho. claim the other way had been made.

" Can a- Sunday municipal organ rental lie classed as a concert?'' was a fonundrum put before the civic authorities in/' Punedin a few days ago. Jt is | a delicate question. The answer might he expected to turn 011 the nature of the programme submitted. Even that •■riterion is hardly satisfactory, because there is no programme standard which determines whether an affair of this kind i£, or is not. a concert. Actually the question was not as well phrased as |l| 't might have been. ]f it had been asked whether a Sunday municipal J. organ recital was to be classed as an entertainment or not, there would have bepn something to judge by. Then it inight have been decided that the re--1.,, eitals could bo allowed to continue "ntil it was proved they were entertaining, after which they would be banned—no pun intended. Such k decision, somehow, woidd not seem Wholly out of character with Dunedin a Sunday.