OPINIONS FROM ABROAD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22712, 26 October 1935, Page 4

OPINIONS FROM ABROAD

A MIRROR FOR NEW ZEALAND "Without Reserve.” By F. A. Hornibrook. London: Hclnemann. 11s. The title of this book is more than justified, but not in the sense one might expect. There is no suggestion of literary exhibitionism, and the author of “The Culture of the Abdomen” does not reveal the secrets either of his own or his clients’ lives. Instead, he has told the story of his life in a quite normal, though interesting, fashion, and has used many of his experiences as pegs on which to hang reflections on the mentality of mankind in general, and on the way the world is heading in particular. Doubtless the spectacle of file impotence of the individual before the desires of vested interests is an exasperating one, but it is unfortunate that it has provoked Mr Hornibrook almost to a state of hysteria. His diatribe against armament makers quite ignores the fact, so clearly pointed out by Sir Norman Angel!, a much saner and wiser pacifist than Mr Hornibrook, that it is the attitude of John Citizen, quite as much as the interest of the armament maker, that makes recurrent war inevitable. And though it is unfortunate that the author’s experience of army chaplains during the war seems to have been confined largely to the more bigoted and unpleasant specimens of that profession, his obvious bias against the churches detracts from the force of his remarks, while causing one to suspect that there must be something in Mr Hornibrook to rouse the mildest parson to warm intolerance. The Church failed in the last war, in every country, but it failed out of, the very excess of its chief virtue, a common humanity with the rest of mankind. It has failed in every war to raise itself above the war spirit, and will doubtless fail again, for all Mr Homibrook’s invective. But it has survived its past failures, and will probably survive its future ones. There is sound sense in this book, and shrewd comment. The chapters on Fascism, the cult of the supernatural, and war’s aftermath all contain evidence of a sane point of view. Possibly the most controversial part of the book is that dealing with birth control and divorce. Here again Mr Hornibrook is mostly on the side of the angels, especially in the plea for easier divorce, wherein England lags far behind New Zealand. What makes the book of particular interest, however, to New Zealand readers is the criticisms and comments on our own country and Australia. Not everything is designed to please. The following comment is uncomfortably true: — The colonials, like the Americans, are fond of titles; even to-day, years after the war. the number of business men who still retain their military rank is very large, whereas the same class of man in England has dropped hie. When one reads in a colonial paper of a reception given by any of the Governors, the place seems to be one mass of colonels and majors—reminding ohe of Dickens’s description of his visit to America. . . . Again:— The colonial slavish respect for a title is largely due to their simplicity. The colonial men are not so very keen on titles, but what they lack in enthusiasm their wives more than make up for. . . . though one hears that even in England there is a lingering respect for a title, and a certain hankering to be addressed as “ Your Ladyship ” among the wives of the well-to-do. The description of how colonial politicians on a visit to England are “ managed ” is quite delightful. The author evidently likes New Zealanders, and he certainly knows something about us. A wide overseas public for his book seems very probable. P. H. W. N.