BURDENS OF LIFE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6488, 7 April 1908, Page 9

BURDENS OF LIFE

OVEKWOKK IN HIGH 3'LACKS. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON. February 21. Ifc i r not only tho paio victims of Ujo sweater who «ufT«r from overwoik. Some of tho highest m tlio land, *onm oi the 'voaUhicfti. capt-aius of imlmtUy, dnvo LhuuißCivw to tho verge oi c-xiuiusiuon-point in fchoir efiortH to croud ns much, work as Ih humanly pueblo into tno twenty-four hour.-*. due 3uniator’n breakdown in iu-aira js ouo iaigtuy to overwork. Tho doaui ol Urn Chief Inspector of KspUA-ivcu was due to a mental bicakdown brought on ny overwork. Sir A. Baldwin, M.i'., whoso death itlfio occurred this week, may truthfully l>o said to have died oi overwork. In addition to his legislative duties ho w a# ohai nnitn of the Great Western I'Cailway and of a number of other public companies, ami literally gave himHelf no retd, Why did ho work «o luuu? ilo had plenty of money; ho was not ifidisponsablo; other business nieii could have been found equally capable of attending to the allairs ol .some ol his directorates. They will have t<i bo found now that ho in dead. Why not have taken life a little Ima strenuously, a littlo more philosophically? Probably it i« largely a matter of environment. A man brought up to a business life, und determined to make a success of that life, too often shuts out all other interests except business. Work_ becomes tho only thing that interests him; mudo, literature, travel ho finds tedious, and hik only excesses nro a eerioß ol debauches of overwork. It iuay bo .sad. it may bo futllo, but it i« his iilo, ami tho only sort of life he believe© in, or understands.

POLITICIANS' LABOURS. Tho strain of modern life lias > developed tremendously in London of recent years. In ail departments of public work tho leaders -appear to be terribly overworked. Tho “Daily Mail hiUA been collecting some interesting cnees which may bo regarded as typical. Amongst tho members of the Governincut, Mr Haldane is working fifteen, or sixteen hours u day. nud Hr Asquith, Mr Herbert Gladstone, Mr John Lunin, Mr Lloyd George, and bir W. Xtobeou are each at wont for fourteen Jiouro a day. All the Labour members aro especially hard-worketl, for in addition to thoir Parliamentary duties they maintain a continuous political crusade in tha country. They seldom got even u Sunday oif, being booked to speak m nil parts of tlie kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays. The chairmen and directors of railway companies uro amongst tho most hard-worked men on tho line. In tho legal world tho pressure is equally great. Mr Balfour Browne, the well-known Parliamentary counsel, is at present at work sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen hours a day. Mr Rufus Isaacs, K.C., is frequently up at 4 a.m. His legal and Parliamentary duties, exacting as they aro, have been added to by his work on tho Police Commission Report, now nearly ready. At be. Paul’s Cathedral it was elicited that tho Bishop of Stepney is engaged fifteen and sixteen hours daily. Canon bcott Holland, between services, sermons, public 'mootings, duties connected with tho business of tHo cathedral, and other calls, in‘equally busy. The late Bishop of London (Dr Mandell Creighton) succumbed to the multifarious calls of the metropolitan eeo. Tho present bishop works equally l hard, but attends less to detail.

OTHER BUST MEN. Nor is the case of tbo actor any better. Mr Cyril Maude played six nights last week at the Playhouse, took a matinee on Wednesday, paid a Hying visit to Manchester lyith "I’ido," attended rehearsals, and is preparing for his new play. Mr Geb'fge Alexander, playing nightly in "The Thief." is also attending committees of the London County Council and rehearsing a now Pinero play. Mr H. Bcorbohm Tree is working fifteen hours a day. The pressure in the music-hall world is equally great. - At tho offices' .of tho .London. County Council a prominent official said; We necessarily have many committees and Bub-oomnuttoes. It is humanly imposfihle for any alderman nr councillor to fulfil the duties allotted to hum Iho pressure is very great all round. The strain of public life is responnible for a terrible toll of victims every year. Living at high pressure so affects tho brain that minor troubles cause worry -and so load on to ili-hdalth and perhaps) to fmicido. Aa Mrßomsay Macdonald expressed it the other day, "Men and women aro dying to-day because they do not -have enough leisure to onnblo them to replace the mental \nd physical wear and tear of Ufo.