STRIKING DIVERSITY AND STRANGE UNANIMITY. THE WORKING MAN’S MILLENNIUM. It is said that ‘Variety is the spies of life, 1 and that ‘it adds to its flavour.’ Tho poet (Isaac Watts, or Cowper, we forget which) was not vtry far- wrong when he penned this couplet, for certainly life would bo but a dull monotonous thing were it not for its pleasing and relieving contrasts. In the animal world we have the graceful and shy deer and the bold and ferocious lion, the huge elephant, and the diminutive though destructive mouse; there is the plain, humble looking thrush, with its rich song, and the beautiful humming bird whose musical talents (and he has sense enough to know it) are conspicuously absent ; then there is the monster whale and the tiny shrimp on which it feeds. Whilst in mankind the contrasts are still more marked and numerous, for not only are their * physical features,’ so to speak, different, but they differ intellectually and morally also. In some countries certain acts are considered dishonourable and even criminal, and in others the same acts would be looked upon as legitimate and honourable. In China and India, for instance, we believe, lying is a virtue—we won’t say a rare virtue ; while among the Negroes of Amorioa chicken-stealing is considered one of the favourite nocturnal pastimes, and perfectly praiseworthy, too—provided they ‘don’t get caught in the act.’ In this country our tastes differ, and our ambitions carry us higher. We don’t believe there is a single bank-teller in the whole of the country mean enough to lay violent hands on a poor unprotected fowl. As to varying opinions/ on political naat»fcßrß they are legion, everybody has an opinion of some sort 5 some think that Rallance and his party are the willing instruments of the evil one ; others think them the only men capable of ushering in that era of unexampled prosperity termed by some enthusiasts the Working Men’s Millenium ; others, again, are loud in their praises of the author of tho Public Works Policy, whilst others clamour for Sir Harry Atkinson ; but one and all are unanimous in pronouncing Buchanan’s House of Commou’s Whisky ‘ the Purest and Best a the Market,’
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18920526.2.9.1
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Mail, Issue 1056, 26 May 1892, Page 6
Word Count
367Page 6 Advertisements Column 1 New Zealand Mail, Issue 1056, 26 May 1892, Page 6
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.