PASSING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18754, 6 January 1923, Page 4

PASSING NOTES.

The Quakers of Philadelphia, 0.5. A.. an old Quaker centre, are broadcasting the wide world over their conscientious objections to war. In the sprinkling that has descended through tho post upon New Zealand wo are exhorted to tho “complete rejection of war, and of all preparations for it, for any purpose and against any people.” We are not to ho “misled or coerced by argument or by force into participating in any kind or degree of preparation for warwe must “condemn the whole system of war unequivocally and finally, relying not upon armed preparedness, but upon the awakened conscience of mankind.” But it is not in reliance on the awakened conscience of mankind that these Philadelphian Quakers sleep quietly in their beds at night; their reliance is on the preparedness of a more or less efficient police, whose methods aro not limited to moral. suasion. And if tho same Philadelphian Quakers were amongst the harried Christians who just now are in flight from Constantinople they would he glad of the preparedness of a few British warships. The conscientious objector always does his objecting from behind' a protective screen of bayonets. This high-stepping propaganda paper has at its head “An Appeal from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of tho Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)”; and at tho end : Adopted and directed to lie signed by Philadelphia Yearly .Meeting of tho Religious Society of Friends in session at Fourth and Arch streets, Philadelphia, Third Month 31st, 1922. . Here comes in George Fox. For it was George Fox who discovered idolatry in tho names of the months; —to talk of March, for instance, was to worship the bloodthirsty god Mars; and so at this hour, ns wc see, the. Philadelphia Quakers avoid tho name March and write instead tho “Third Month.” How about the days of the week? It will be awkward for a Philadelphian Quaker—presumably a good business man (the “Philadelphian lawyer” is a proverb of ’cuteness), if ho may not talk like other people because bis founder discerned in the names Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and the rest an idolatrous homage to the sun and the moon, and tho gods of the Norse mythology. Fox laid under taboo “Good morning” and “Good evening” because of the sinful implication that God had made bad mornings _ and bad evenings; also, it had been divinely revealed to" him that there was falsehood and adulation in using the second person plural instead of tho second person singular—“you” instead of “thou.” Do the Philadelphian Quakers “thee” and “thou” each other? And do they keep on their hats where other people take their hats off? This was a strong point with Fox. Asked for Scripture warrant, he cited the passage in which it is written that in the presence of King Nebuchadnezzar, when all worldly hats would he off, the pious Shadrach," Meshach, and Abcdneeo wore thrown into the fiery furnace with their hats on; and, “if his own narrative may be trusted,” says Macaulay, “tho Chief Justice of England, was altogether unable to answer' - this argument except bv crying out, ‘Take him away, gaoler.’ ” Quaker virtues aro many, as we know; but after two centuries some absurdities still linger. Worst of all possible absurdities is the suggestion that you may expect Christian forbearance from Turks, who have never Accepted Christianity, or from Russians who have repudiated it. Moral appeal is wasted on a man-eating tiger. You need a rifle. It were a hard case had civilisation no weapon wherewith to bail up tho truculent Turks. Resolutions passed by Synods and Presbyteries won’t do it; pious advice, whether from Quaker meetings or the League of Nations, is wasted breath. But if America, Britain, France, and Italy showed a solid front and spoke with one voice, the menace of war would pass. Peace raav bo had at the mere word of the Big Four. Pitv that word is not spoken! Blessed are the peacemakers. And the way to this blessedness just now is to threaten war against the peacebreakers. The much-reviled maxim that preparedness for war is the best guarantee of peace—si vis pacem, para helium—holds good to-day, The British were not in the least prepared for war when Mr Lloyd George reinforced General Harington and appealed to the dominions; but he put up a good bluff, and that served .the purpose. Kemal Pasha nnieted down. A correspondent (below) reminds me of the music-hall couplet which in days gone by, half a century back, was in everybody’s mouth ; We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if wo do, We’vo got the guns, wo’vc got the men, we’ve got the money, too, A true statement of the case, we may suppose. And if so, whatever the occasion, this “by Jingo” readiness may have helped to avert a war. New Year messages of good will to all and sundry, being usually from persons of station, are to be received with meekness. The King (whom may Heaven preserve) has greeted with royal brevity and terms of kindness the people of the Empire. Mr Cosgrave encourages Ireland to believe that as head of the Free, State he will stand no nonsense, and that obstinate rebels may expect a short shrift. Mr Massey, backed up by the chairman of our Big Bank—l had almost said our State Bank—assures us once again that New Zealand has “turned the corner.” And Sir Robert Stout, in one of those familiar lay sermons which at an earlier lime suggested that he had missed his vocation, tells us our faults and yet bids us hope. Equally impressive is tho New Year message of Captain Pearso, whoso theme is frozen mutton and chilled beef (Tuesday’s Daily Times). An expert in tho marketing of these commodities, Captain Pcarse has come from London to show us How Not To Do It. Thus, about chilled beef ; In ■ Argentina (our chief rival) all cattle are dehorned when young, and there is no horn-bruising in the trucks. In Australia especially, bruising by horns ruins probably 20 per cent, of the beef and damages the rest more or less. In Argentina, in hot weather, cattle receive a shower bath every ICO miles, running under a tank in a siding, and each truck gels its bath as it goes past. 5 In Australia cattle are often three days in a temperature of over ICOdeg., without fond and water, and the owners suffer a loss of over 30 per cent, jn value. At Sydney tho other day a mob of cattle yarded without .shelter from the sun died of thirst and heat-stroke while awaiting the slaughterman. Then, on tho New Zealand coast : Ships have- to go to too many porta for small lots, paying high port and pilotage dues at each, and taking as long to pick up a cargo as a vessel can go to Buenos Aires and hack to London, this naturally keening freights np.-' At some ports in Now Zealand meat still lias to he lightered, and rope and canvas slings used to hoist meat on board. This causes much damage, as the slings bump against the sides of the ships and hatchways. Every carcase, of Argentine meat, if soiled outside, has the wrapper torn off and a clean one put on before it is hung in Srnithiichl. Men aro specially appointed to do this. Australia and New Zealand don’t; care. Our mutton goes into market with a worse 'appearance to bn sold at a lower price. Captain I’carsc's .story should cause some heartsenrehing. It will bo pondered with painful interest both in tho loading ports and in the producing backblocks. Faith-healing miracle-mongers come and go; the .succession of sick in the hospital goes on for ever. Thus lias it always been Ambuhaiarimi collegia, phnrniacopolas. Momlici, niirnae, bahitroncs, hoc genus oinne. ... * writes Horace, classing “pharmacopolao,” quack'drug vendors, with public dancing girls, mimes, mountebanks, and mendicants. Our own Maori healer, native to the anil, little in evidence of late, has perhaps faded away in company with tho Bulgarian Ting that a bit ago raged its hour. But another Maori healer is prompt for the vacancy, and tho usual phenomena will follow. In addition, a Church of England healer is coming along, at whose hands we may expect to see what we

have seen before. Pity that a ward of the hospital is not assigned to theso transitory hakims; the shorter the stay the wider should be the opportunity, hi London, M. Cone (two syllables] is still reported, but satirically. Thus the Evening Standard ; Through a. fog which lay gently over the audience at the Kensington 'Jmvu Hall last night, and which came possibly from outside, or possibly emanated from tho brain of tho speaker. M. Cone delivered another of his celebrated addresses, successfully invited n few inernlicrs of the audience to demonstrate tho remarkable fact that you can only open or shut your hand when yon want to, and told the old story in the old way witii tho same old illustrations, practising a mild form of hypnotism, and that is why lie is so much more effective in French than in English. If you say, ‘‘lt’s going away, it’s going away, it’s going away,” yon don’t get any particular satisfaction out of tho proceeding. Put if you say in French, especially with M. Cone’s rapidity, a pleasantly sibilant sound like "ca passe,” you get a mildly agreeable sensation, and. if you fancy it, possibly it does you good. Again, at Grcsvener Gardens: A little grey-hoarded man, with elllnlike features, was standing before an audience sealed in semi-circular formation, and, while passing his hands over the forehead of one of their number, droned almost with the unbroken rapidity of’ the hum of a circular saw this strange incantation : Zabnzabuzabazabazabazaba. M. Cone’s full-speed iteration of “ca passe,”—“it’s going away.” Nine-tenths of those present were women, mainly well dressed. Presumably they had conic (o' ho cured of some ills, but they looked the healthiest lot of invalids ever assembled under one roof. ' Ah! What wo should havo expected. Mainly women, mainly society women, neurotics all. From far away Euatorca, East Coast, North Island, a lady Pussyfoot, who, as I suggested in comment on’ a former letter, was to write me jubilant or depressed after the polling; Dear “Civis,” —As to tho result of the polling, though not jubilant, I don’t feel hopelessly depressed, because prohibition again came in tirst of the three issues, though not with so largo a majority as in 1919. I know, of course, that tho Stale Control votes were to he added to those for Continuance, but I still await an explanation why this was so. It seems a most unfair arrangement, and would ho so regarded if applied to a parliamentary election contest in which throe candidates look part—tho two losers to combine to defeat tho winner. Can you, “Civis,” give mo tho wherefore? Tho issue submitted by the voting paper was a choice between “wet” and “dry.” That those who voted against “dry”—■ and incidentally against a violent revolution, social and financial—might choose between alternate forms of “wet”—Continuance and State Control —-is a detail not affecting the fact that “dry” was left in a minority. Thousands of anti-“dry”' voters still want reform. Dear “Civis,” —The phrase “Put the comether on him”—meaning to master, to subdue —is it Irish or Scotch? And how explain “comether”? Also I wanted to ask about the word “Jingo” ; we say “by jingo!” as if Jintro were a saint to swear by. Nobody likes to he called a jingo, or to be accused of jingoism. I suppose that comes from -i the fire-eating bluster of “we don’t wont to fight, but by Jingo if wo do. . . You need not quote; the reprobated rhyme appears elsewhere in this column. But I will quote a Somerset folk-song, published by Novello (hence classical), the earlier verses omitted: Tho miller ho bought him a barrel of ale, And called it right good Stingo. Bang her and bop her, and kick her and kop her, •And Stingo was its name, sir. You sing bang her, and I’ll sing bop her, And you sing kick her, and I*ll sing kop her, And bang her and bop her, and kick her and kop her, And Stingo was its mono, sir. Now is not tins a pretty tale? I say it is by Jingo. Bang her and bop her, kirk her and kop her—as before. So it would seem that ‘Jingo” as a name to swear by is rooted in English folk-lore. But if you turn up Barham in his Ingoldsby Legends you will find that he makes “Jingo” to bo English for a St. Genulphus, whoso lamentable story he tells in farcical verse. As to “comether,” T should say at a guess that it is Irish, that possibly it represents “come hither,” and may be the talk of a man who is trying to catch and bridle a perverse horse. But this is holiday time, and it is permissible to be where" dialect dictionaries are not. That is my case. Civis.