The Time that Passes

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7871, 5 August 1911, Page 11

The Time that Passes

I>Y .Sblwtn Hidkb. This X har« kn.cr.vn and have learned while the talo of my days luus jronc hy— Malico is clamorous always, while Monti is ssimpkj and thy. . , Quiet. is bho who looks up ana to Allah for wisdom entreats, iiuiet and *rravc: hut lho fools maho a deafening noise in the fctrccte. til, let me where tho Wine are at rest and these clai/iou/v all ceascl Viiero the Fools roar not nor squeak there imi=?b be wonderful peace. —-Syed Alim bin Joud. Overdoing It. THERE is rebellion brewing in this liousn. It is nil very well to lovo v-our enei/iies. but the thing may bo overdone. Tim Editor of the ‘Times is a sound Radical and a good Christian, but he's overdoing it. Un Thnrsday ’ morning I found him throwing bouquets to -Mr Massey. Now, a shock like that might easily kill Mr Massey outright when lie’s in his present parlous state. I’m a bit of a Christian myself; but when I’m tempted to overdo it and throw my pearls liefore the remote and rural, 1 practise moral restraint. Mr Massey, 1 take it, is plainly ia somewhat of a hole, 'filings nave not gone well with him of late. Still Mr Massey does his best. He urges in condemnation of the lateral Government of New Zealand that “within the past year of two there have been soupkitchens iu Gisborne and at the capital." 1 know nothing about Gisborne, except that unbiassed friends assure me that it is one of the most progressive towns and districts in Australasia. -Vs to Wellington, the talk of soup-kitchens is the merest fudge. J 1 ad the Opposition hud its way, there would have been many kitchens, and very thin soup. It is so in other countries whe.ro politicians ■of this typo have sway. Take, for example, the case of Tasmania. There you have a country governed after Mr Massey s own heart —a naturally rich and resourceful country that limps along in stagnation merely because for many years the dominant party in politics been the party of wait-a-wbile. The land is full of abominations of the sweater. It has a Legislative Council that firmly refuses to believe that tho world has made a step forward since 18-10. In Hobart the Benevolent Society gives away quantities of coals and flannels and soup and groceries every winter*, and has done so for twenty years to my knowledge. In proportion to population, there is far more abject poverty in Hobart and Launceston than there is in any other Australasian town. Wages arc lower there' than anywhere else, and industrial conditions are less advanced. The country is dying of starvation simply because it can never keep awake long enough to sit up and Lake food. It is even conceivable that Mr Massey might have been Premier of Tasmania at some time had his lot happened to be cast there. Even now, if ho could be jrerauaded to emigrate, he might have a chance. But there is - little hope of that. He knows quite 1 well what sort of country ho is in. Ruin. That is the pieculiar thing about tlteso glib people. They are for ever declaring that things are going from bad to worse, and that capital is being driven out of tho country. Por years they have been predicting ruin. They are frantic cryors of stinking fisb. But they all keep fat and comfortable on it, and show no disposition to leave. If Mr Massey and his snoring organ aro to bo trusted, this country is in such a parlous state as miglif well make the whole world weep. But year follows : gladly on the heels of year, and nothing unpleasant happens. Instead of ruin, we have the most extraordinary degree 1 of prosperity. The Savings Bank carries - huge deposits. Statistics abundantly 1 prove that we spend, in proportion to ; our population, more money on amusements than any other country-does. A 1 visiting American manager I knew went j into tho matter, and declared that we wore at least 30 per cent, better theatre- ; goers than the Americans,; and he told ‘ me that up tiU then he had nursed an idea that tho Americans were the Best theatregoers on earth. The churches ] multiply, and they all seem to pay their J way. The farmers in many districts heap up big balances and buy motor - cars. On the whole, ■ the people dress < remarkably w p ell, and have money to 1 spend on their private hobbies and I whims. The national credit is remark- 1 ably good. Export trade flourishes. 1 ’ don't know .any other community of a ] million pcopie that has so many thriv- 1 ing manufacturing industries. We have 1 magnificent mineral resources, so far 1 barely scraped. . t This is a perfectly moderate state- I meat. There are many queer things

and strange growths in Mow Zealand / that I, as a conscientious anarchist, don't like at all. As to abstract poli- ' Sical principles, I suppose that Xam far more closely in accord with Mr Massey than Sir Joseph Ward; if you will permit me for a moment try pretend that Mr Massoy has any political principles at all. Only, X do like a roan to go into the field with presentable fighting .facts. Unhappily Mr Massey’s facts have a dreadful habit of crawling across . the land blind and spavined—long-' eared objects of suspicion and a pitying son tempt. Mew Zealand is a happy place, on the whole; though I admit that it might easily bo much happier. I view with the greatest concern one big public movement which appears to me to bo essentially a frightful public menace. But I don’t go out into the suburban highways and places where they snuffle and cry out that the country is going to the dogs and that the tioyeminent is responsible for it; because X don’t believe that the country is going to the dogs at all, and in those matters in regard to which tho country is in a bad way I can’t discover that tho Government is in any sense to blame. I don’t pretend to ho an independent in politics; lam an intransigent. I would cheerfully wave a flag for Mir Massey if I could convince myself that ho is at all worth while. As it is, I think that tho panegyrics that occasionally 'get loose about him in Auckland and other remote northern towns are the most humorous things in all our journalistic literature. * The Mails. Mow that the people in Auckland have pome round iu part -to admit tho expediency of landing oversea mails in Wellington for distribution, tho 'Wellington people seem rather to have cooled off in regard to tho business. That is one of the defects of this driving city. While a subject is new, it arouses enthusiasm. but enthusiasm has a deplorable tendency to stale, in a week. As

regards this matter of the mails, that is a very regrettable thing. Under- tho present system of- landing mails in Auckland, the whole business community of tho Dominion south of Hamilton is often put to grave inconvenience and loss. The matter is surely one of importance. and agitation should not cease until the desirable end is gained. Auckland’s steamer connection with Sydrley is a matter quite apart, a matter between Auckland and tho Union Steamship Company. Competitions.

There is one suggestion as to the forthcoming competitions in Wellington that does not seem to have received any consideration: the suggestion, X moan, that for ■ this first year’s event people interested might offer hospitality to some of the young people who will come to compete. X have seen a good many competitions of the kind in Mew Zealand. and been actively concerned with some. I give you my assurance that tho competitors are all of good 'class and perfectly respectable. When Dr. Harriss came along with his groat choir and took huge sums of money out of tho country, citizens throw open their homes to tho singers. Mo one will complain of that, although in fact it was Dr Harriss who benefited, and not the singers themselves. But our own people have surely just as good a claim. To many of the young people we want for this occasion the cost of board,and lodging for a week in Wellington is a serious consideration; but it is probable that if something were done to tempt them specially this first year they would be impressed by the extraordinary list of special prizes and make a determined effort to come again in 1912. It is more than likely that the hotels would co-operate and make some allowance in the case of competitors billeted with them. , I am told that there is a difficulty owing to the fact.that so few Wellington people have spare rooms; hut that difficulty told against tho reception of Dr. Harriss’s folks just as much us it would against the reception of these Mew Zealanders from north and south.' Meantime, Wellington has good cause for congratulation in the excellent general promise of the competitions. The

“Times” advocated the establishment of such contests very warmly before any definite step was taken. Tho response of the - citizens has been characteristically cordial. Even this first year, tho Wellington Competitions will be the most successful and influential ever held in the Dominion. And that, when you come to think of it, is saying a good deal.