FLEET, FLUMMERY.

NZ Truth, Issue 165, 15 August 1908, Page 1

FLEET, FLUMMERY.

A Ridiculous Waste of Piiblic Money>

Kcvir since that memorable day some few years back! when! the new V.was w,ired' round the Empire, that the; might- ofBritain "ha* raised the siege .of llz*c!:ing\ an* iriven off a f|W iSoer farmers, has the northern, city of Auckland ; had such an .excellent excuse for getting wildly,, hilariously, and hoggishly drunk as that Dffered by the arrival of the American Pacific fleet under Admiral Sperry on Sunday morning last. And let it be said that Auckland made the most of those, oppprtunKies; and acquitted; herselfin this respect 'rigiit" royally -'and well. 'And let it also be said tiiat tive home visitors and the American visitors held up iiheir end . of the pewfer pot withequal Enthusiasm. Auckland's . drink bill for Fleet Week ; will be big enough to claim ' equality, with the national debt,. ajidmaVe next year's surplus look like tiree trays m a collection /plate. It is Bnid'-that tße height of an. janglishman's (hexpitality is to make his. guest drunk. Hltig be so, tlien verily Auckland extended the glid hand ,to the. Yanls with a wbole-kearted , sincerity that deserves, all .praise. l When' Auckland, m common with otfaer cities: throughout the. : Em-; fire, went "" as mad over the relief of Mafckiig as a Trafalgar or a -Wa^rloo Had been won over again, there w.as little enough/ cause for jiipilation. la iact, there Was, more reason for tears •t "sbamr^tbas^or; joyous laughter. Was tkere any great cause for jubilation over tk« American Fleets-r ecent visit?

Let us see what the visit of this fleet means : The Yank, it must be admitted, Is an observant 1 kind of animal, besides, bting a cute cups, and just chockful ol enterprise. We have welcomed him with ope* arms^and. shbwn him just what fiue^ opportunities this country oilers for his 'trading enterprises aod- what vast possibilities it holds as a market for his expensive shoddy. -He has seen^ our helplessness, and will, no doubt, report, upon his return, as to what a fine country New Zealand is and how much ' better it would be .'.'under the direction o! enter- * prising Americans. < Not that there is much/c hance of America becoming embroilbd. m \&[ war with Britain rf.or • the sate of grabbing Mew Zealand, . put<, if, at.«iny. time,, trouble should arise,.' it.; must not be forgot;t,a that America has seea- our hanq^ down here and knows that we *jiold no tm'mps, and also^ knows, that ire possess v a rifeh country;- Knowing the strength of our hand and: the pool Jbeing a gqod dhe, would America be America if she didn't raise us ' 1 : limit ? True only' one City has been visited, and m a weelci not a great deal can be. learned of •tfce. Value, pit a country, but with pur tool celebrations, free guzzles, .fireworks,, and flapdoodle,^ the show has been entirely -given away. Admiral Sperry, m replying to the toast to the American Navy, said that New Zealand -had no poieity a»d no want. A silly statement lifcir that might reasonably be put down to. aiter-dinnpr sentiment. .v.NVhen a man fe».s-_' dined well and,. fiUe'd . himself up with; champagne, he 'has to . -say something pretty and pleasing a"bout. his. hosts.. Anyhow, v/hat else/ could the "Admiral say, imtJaen our fool -\ government is spending money as "though' , vrasn'ti. a , Strug '^ gliug, settler inv^eed of 'assistance m t^i? «ountry nor a family m. the. city suffering under the pinch, of poverty^ and when our citizens declare, the Jwek. -a .holiday and indulge ie a.^carnival of 'booze. Apart from what the American .officers jsay at after-diniier ; back-scratcnings,, and from what .the men think-.^when s full, , ,'to the bA^k testh with colonial j. beer, .J.t, is very doubtful whether they rwiii hava such a high opinion of New Zealanders as -citizens when . they come .to think matters over m their calm and sober moments. 'It is all very well for Admiral Sperry to talk about th« absence of poverty. That, of course, can, always be put down as so much flam, just the same as the words tof the High Commissioner at the banquet m London a few days since, when he had the hide to ■telj^. an audience of allegedly intelligent .British statesmen and commercial representatives that there Was robjn and work for thousands of ; .English emigrants m New Zealand what time air Joseph Ward, right here m Wellington; was promising to see what could toe done re the unemployed question, and deputations of unemployed were appealing to the Mayors ol Christ* church and Timaru for succor. These after>dinner speeches are not to be takes seriofasly, because there is hot, one public man : m ten thousand that has Hie moral courage to rise during the progress of . c : *;:■■■ ' ■■'■.;

a, banquet and speak his mind. In 'Australia, on more than one occasion, Mr John Norton has! done so, and had John Norton, been speaking m ; : Admiral (or ■Rear-Admiral to; be correct) . Sperry's place, he \vould/haye told New ers some .home' truths that might have made them feel piutlcuiarly' small pota--toes indeed. , : But Sperry is not a publicist. His business is to control the Pacific squadfoh, and.; to spekk m ■ public only with that diplomacy [and tact that international courtesy demands. He spoke of this! i country as th 6 newer America and referred to our great natural resources. "Great natural resources!" Good, old gag. Considering that Sperry •had been ml the country two days only when he spoke' these words, and that such -.time as he. had been .away fr,om liis ships wlas cntirfely taken tip- /with social and; public functions, it was .ratb^r difficult to see how he //was entitieil to speak ahout 'the "great natural resources" of, a' country he hadn't seen. If pur "great .natural resource^," whatever^ that may m^an,' . consisted of hop-grow-ing, fceer-bfewing;-, atiii wnisky distilling^ the Admiral could ha Ve 'spoken feelingly and with CQnvicuon from personal observation. / , ,

,The only excuse he could have had for speaking m the., manner m which lie! did was the f acU that -it was patent -to the most casual * observer that vast sums of money were being squandered to -make*' a holiday show. The principal streets of the city were festooned with . greener y ; flowers and flags. The old Christmas. I^ye foolishness was out-fooled completely> Every building , might ' have • been taken for a glorihed shop, so much m evidence was tne stars and stripes. Bannerettes flapped" On every side, mostly about three square, yards' of comrjion white cafico,. bearing the legend, in-' glaring' red. letters, "Welcome Irdrn Pukipuki," or some other tin-pot mUnicip'ality. Even good, old, cold-tea . Ashburton; was , represented, although their device' was not a broken bottle on a field ' of. blue, as someone suggested. ; But then Ashburton has no sense of humor, except, m., returning Jock McLachlan to/ Parliament.^ What 'tlie Yanks thought of these .tawdry' '■" messagW of welcome is, difficult to imagine, Tjut the chanceS : arer that they are Wondering; wha% sized: tick's the mayors of those 'Various towns' possess. Then," of course, .there had to, be a procession^ but iith'e ladies were^disi gusted because the officers"- : were conductied through the -streets' in<vtramv cars *and they; cbuldrt't_, see l their- uniforms. How. ; the pppr' dears do'\ love' the gold braid,' and 'gaudy insignia ! of 'office: , ; A pretty nincompoop" in* : lace and feathers is ahero, wh'ilc the plain r dressed hero ffiaf pass by" unheeded. 'And the inevitable' nrew'brks... Mien is the British iiiteUect going' to devise some- form of public en-tciit-ainmcnt that -'Won't necessitate the blowing pi good money into, the air to. provide a ' siglit f6r a giggling girls and hobbledehoys to gaze at for a few seconds.and'say^ ' "Aw." Fireworks are all very' well' fbr : children and the child-, like minds of Chinamen and kindred effem-. inate^and'semi-barbarou^ races, but they shpjild hardly form part of a programme, for . '. the ' entertainment of shrewd nay al officers ani rough Jack Taics, ; pr Sam Tars?, or Hank Tars, or whatever they pall them m the States. But the Government had voted money to burn 5 so why riot burn 'it . prettily and give the fireworks man a show ! The intelligent .citizen, together with the intelligent visitor ' niust have'/ felt "sorry for the tlam, and the flummery, and the foolishness of it %U. No bne took the thing seriously. It wax a grand opportunity for a N holi- ■ day and, a drunk, arid a holiday and a drunk they had. *■'■■''.■.• '.'■ * "•-■■■" \ ■'■■ m - ■ -, _ ; 0■• Put the most serious aspect ;of the .whole tin-whistle show is a point that we have not yet dwelt upon, although m these columns, . some weeks -back, a reference was made -to it — the moral aspect of the question. Unless one walked about with his eyes shut he 'must have been appalled at the conduct of the hundreds of young girls— some of them mere youngsters — who paraded the crowjied streets arid Practically threw them.' selves at the American; • sailors, and judging by the appearance of the sailors themselves and their general ..conduct "• he morals of the lassies wouldn't, be m any way improved by the acquaintanceship. The British man-o^wars-man is rougli enough stuff at all times, but he can't compare with what Sir Joseph Ward declared to be his "nearer, than cousin—

his brother.'.' when it, comes to a matter of hooliganism. This Yank crew are just the toughest lot 'yet.; They appear to be of. all nationalities, and to be gleaned from the scum of the jear,th. They are /fhp.il,stuff ? l'.»U''riglit.'-li7riiet saw two of them indulging m a little pleasantry at, : . the rear of an notel. - JBpttles " were •IShe weapons 'used.". One got his, forehead practically bashed open and he went .down like a hog. His oponent was on .him with both feet m an instant, and with a N ginger beer bottle m his . hand ; had his arm poised to bash his brains out on the flagged yard. Sut forturiate.ly, before he could carry out his murderous iii tent comrades intervened, and he was dragged off. His Victim was picked up and carried, a "bleeding mass, ! : to his ship for' repairs. Scenes/ of this L description were not uncommon. These [fellows have been spoken of as part of the Anglo-Saxon race, : but this is a libel ■■upon Anglo-Saxons. They are of , all -nationalities, many of them niggers,: and •when maddened by drink— and they seem ,to like drink— are capable of any.devilitry. Truly, they are a nice lot 'to be introduced/ to our Northern citizens and their maidens, and the Government should 'be proud of the money it has wasted to give these fellows a good time. . courtesy which is due to the representatives of a friendly nation could, have been more properly met with- a less* pretentious, but more dignified reception. 'The ' prestige of New Zealand could .have been far more properly upheld had the Government, the Auckland Council, and the citizens generally, stoutly refused to sanction instead of encouraging what their own . common sense must haye told them could only result m a drunken orgy. ■'_ '.