PASSING NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26033, 22 December 1945, Page 3

PASSING NOTES

“The God of War hates those who heslta te. ” —Euripides. Mr Churchill embarrassed his followers when he called on them to abstain from voting on the AngloAmerican financial proposals. In fact, about 70 of his party disregarded his appeal, and only about 90 followed his example. This split is not surprising. To abstain from voting on an issue of such far-reaching 'national importance seems like sitting on the fence —an unusual course for a man of so resolute a character as Mr Churchill. One could understand a member saying, .“ I am financially interested in American banks that will operate this scheme”; or “The problem is so complex and technical that my opinion is valueless, and therefore I abstain from voting.” But while he con.pjained oi “indecent haste,” Mr Churchill lully discussed the measure. In fact, the only reason he gave for his strange attitude was that the Opposition “ refused to accept responsibility for the transactions.” But men are not sent to Parliament to refuse responsibility. If every member followed that course Parliament would collapse. To refuse to vote is often to vote. Perhaps not in this case, as the Government had so large a majority that the abstention made no difference. But if the Bill had been defeated oy a small margin the absence of the Opposition vote would be responsible for its defeat, and, in effect, they wouid have voted against the Bill. For not to choose is often in effect to choose. For example, if a conscientious objector abstains from fighting he cannot say “my attitude is. negative—l refuse to say yes or no,” for in effect he says “ no,” and has made a choice. Perhaps some professor of moral philosophy could explain to us when the act of abstaining is a positive or negative choice or no choice at all.

“ Some to church repair, Not for the doctrine, but the music there.”—Pope. Hermann Goering, on trial for his life, says he cannot reconcile himself to attending divine service if there is no organ music. Surely this difficulty can be overcome. If there is no organ in the prison chapel, could he not be solaced by organ music from a radio or gramophone? If his German friends refuse him this service perhaps our own popular and ever-willing city organist, Dr Galway, would make out of charity a special broadcast to Germany, and thus make the church service more palatable to Goering. But what would be suitable items? “ Civis ” is not a musician, but no dcubt Goering and his Nazi friends in the heyday of power revelled in the varying types of “trumpet tunes” and “ trumpet voluntaries ” with which organ music seems to abound. His silhouette suggests “Roll out the Barrel,” but is this organ music? Wurlitzer perhaps, but certainly not city organ. The people whose property Goering looted might appreciate Bach’s "Sheep may now graze in safety,” but my choice for his present plight is an “ Epilogue.” with an appropriate “In Memoriam” looming in the distance. Goering might be so touched as to leave a large benefaction for the promotion of organ music in this faraway city.

“Here once the embattled farmers stood , „ And fired the shot heard round the world."—Emerson. As if there was not enough fighting still going on in various parts of the world we in this country seem to have several domestic battles under way. Our farmers are busy building up a vast federation to protect their rights. They aim to link up the sheep men, the agriculturists, the dairymen, the fruitgrowers, the beekeepers, and in fact all primary producers. This has set the tom-toms of the Federation of Labour beating to arms against the Federated Farmers, who, in their turn, are shouting a war song of defiance against the Labour camp and Mr Nash. But on the whole this is a long-range war like street boys making faces at each other. For Labour says with a cold and supercilious air that it is “ merely amused ” at the farmers’ campaign against Socialism; and the farmers declare that they are “merely amused” at Mr Nash’s threat to take over a stock and station firm. So their shots pass by like harmless wind. Perhaps more serious are the fratricidal quarrels within each camp. For the farmers’ president, Mr Mulholland, is accused by the farmers’ Action Committee of venting his spleen on it while he ignores hundreds of telegrams and “ sits twiddling his thumbs ” in shameful inactivity. They jeer at him as the Scottish people did at General Cope, who marched and countermarched, but never fought at the battle of Dunbar—- " Hey, Johnny Cope, are ye waulkin’ yet? ' Are a’ your drums a-beating yet?’ In the Labour camp the .engine drivers are busy dressing down their _ colleagues whq want to abolish hiring and firing. Meanwhile the man in the street indulges in derisive laughter at these family squabbles and regards them as futile examples of open diplomacy. !

My object all sublime I shall achieve in time— To make the punishment fit the crime. —“The Mikado.” Day by day sensational reports reach us of crime waves sweeping over Britain and America. Owing to our sparse and scattered population we are not cursed by organised professional gangsters. But in a minor degree there are symptoms of systematic crime that may well cause us uneasiness. Last week the Minister of State Housing drew an alarming picture of wholesale pillaging of State houses by criminallyminded people. He says that when a house is nearly completed marauders make .a clean sweep of all fittings, such as taps, basins, hinges, and doors, and walk off with the workmen’s tools. Then come along youthful vandals who wilfully break hundreds of windows “ Some drastic remedy is called for,” says the Minister, but he did not suggest any. Perhaps the depletion of our Police Force by resignations of discontented policemen leaves us too few men to check the criminals. In Britain,' Scotland Yard has called in the Home Guard to help. Could we not resort to the good old practice of “ Hue and Cry” which proved so effective before a Police Force was thought of? Under this system the citizens banded themselves together to watch for and pursue felons and criminals on the principle that any injury done to one citizen was a wrong done to all. The hand of every man was against the wrongdoer, who was an outlaw, History shows that “Hue and Cry” was a highly effective deterrent against crime. As most of our State houses are in groups it would be easy for a band of citizens to watch them and pounce on the thieves. That this is no fanciful idea is shown by the fact that in 1918 an eminent judge, Lord Parker of Waddington, urged the peace-loving nations to join in “ Hue and Cry ” against any aggressor nation owing to the lack of any form of international security. Christmas Life still has one romance that nought can bury— Not Time himself, who coffins high romances— For still will Christmas gild the year’s mischances If childhood comes, as here, to make him merry. —Watts-Dunstan. Civis,