PASSING NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26625, 22 November 1947, Page 2

PASSING NOTES

I always voted at my party's call And I never thought of thinking for myself at all. —W. Gilbert: “ H.M.S. Pinafore.”

The perfect form of government has not been discovered. Perhaps there is no perfect form, or, if there is,* human beings, being what they are, can never put it into practice, even were they to become aware of its existence. The elections just concluded in Dunedin are proof of this. More than one-third of the electors did not vote. Ostensibly the object of democratic elections is the choice of the best representatives by the people • for the people. But where block voting is the accepted form of choice, election of the best becomes impossible; for, no matter which block may be victorious, there will necessarily result an exclusion of some of the best. In all the extravagances that mark the claims of blocks to electors’ acceptance, no claim appears to have been made that any one blocic has all the best, and that.the opposing block consists only of the unfit. Ideally a democratic election aims at securing the best; practically it nullifies its own ideal. Again, in voting for membership of boards, it is patent that many electors know nothing of the boards or their personnel—they vote blind on the block. Some sporting bodies elect one selector of teams. How would it do for the community or the council to elect a selector of Harbour Board members—the selector being charged to appoint men of experience, integrity and public spirit—quite apart from ail political liaisons? That may be regarded as chimerical. Yet many electors would feel more confidence in a chosen selector of a board than they can possibly feel in their own blind vote on a block group. To make board elections political is like choosing your doctor because of his sporting prowess

That light whose smile kindles the universe.—Shelley: “Adonais.”

H. F. Lyte, hymn writer, died in 1847 a few weeks after writing "Abide With Me.” Of all hymns I have been attracted by only a few, and one especially, "Abide With Me.” The reason in this particular case is partly literary and partly religious, and partly philosophical. The literary interest derives not only from the immediate quality of the poetry, but from its lineage, so to speak. It is always a great pleasure to a student to trace a stream of thought back to the fountain head. The line in Lyte’s hymn I have in mind is Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s ’ vain shadows flee. I have always believed that Lyte consciously or unconsciously (a little thing will start a stream of thought) imitated the lines in Shelley’s • “Adonais,” that famed elegy on the death of Keats, truly denominated by Swinburne as one of the glories of English literature. In this poem Shelley writes: The One remains, the Many Change and pass; Heaven's light forever shines. Earth’s shadows fly. The parallel in rhythm, phrasing and sentiment is very close. But go further up the stream. Shelley was a confirmed Platonist by temperament and by study—as Lyte may also have been. Plato writes when near the end of his life: “ Man is a heavenly, not an earthly plant,” and earlier, had written of earthly life as lived in a cavern of shadows, and also of “that city of which the type is laid up in heaven.” The mysticism of the old philosopher and the vision of the inspired bard, meet in the conviction and the revelation vouchsafed to the Christian hymnist.

Mr Attlee protested against the constant stream of abuse in the Russian press.—Cable news.

Are you opposed to Mr Molotov? Then you are a Nazi. Are you opposed to Mr Vyshinsky? 1 Then you are a warmonger. Do you object to Soviet domination of Eastern and Central Europe? Then you are an imperialist. Do you look to American goodwill for help? Then you are a greedy capitalist. Do you object to Russia’s use of the veto? Then you are undemocratic. Do you believe that England has sought to act fairly to Palestine, India, Burma? Then you are an exploiter of backward races. Do you believe the U.S.A. is justified in keeping to herself the atomic bomb? Then you are a traitor. And if by any chance you have any regard for Mr Churchill, you are an aggressive militarist. To correct all your false convictions you must use autohypnotism by repeating the magic incantations in all the ritual about imperialism, warmongers, Nazi, capitalism, proletariat, ideology of class, religion (dope of the people), and exploitation of the undeveloped peoples. In Russia is hidden the secret formula to make the international panacea. All we have to do is to 1 accept the guidance (and the domination) of Moscow. We shall then be rescued from the iniquitous tyranny under which we are suffering. We shall then have speakers and writers uttering only what should be uttered—so that controversy will cease and the glory of complete regimentation may be revealed. And then the final dead march of the free human spirit will be played over all the earth.

Japan had not been conquered.— Japanese Minister. A new problem is obvious in Japan. Mr Roosevelt said, “ It will be necessary to keep a guard over Japan for ever.” That is hardly possible. Is Japan to become a bulwark against Russia—that is the real problem. If Japan is kept under, her armament works abolished, her quota of air machines and submarines strictly limited, and further her poverty unrelieved or even augmented by a necessary control, will that eventually drive the Japanese into the Soviet camp? If, on the other hand, Japan is allowed to resume her strength, the old status will return. At present it looks as if American policy aims at making Japan a protection against Russia. But then can the leopard change his spots so readily? Will the Japanese abandon emperor worship? When Sir John Latham was Australian representative in Tokio amid fine peace talk he was presenter by Mr Matsuoka with a book of Japanese poems, one of which he later found looked to the day when ‘‘the divine mission of Japan would be accomplished and the white race completely exterminated from the whole earth.” There is at present no evidence that this evil spirit has left the Japanese soul. A dilemma confronts America. World leadership entails difficulties. The cable news indicates that “Japan is a co-partner with the United States in the struggle against Communism.” What will the Australians say? They know Japanese clemency.

The statements was interesting, but tough.— Mark Twain: “Huckleberry Finn." The secretary of the Otago Labour Representation Committee is reported to have attributed the defeat of his party in the recent elections to the abstention from voting of those who normally support Labour candidates, but who' on this occasion, possibly due to the cold and disagreeable condition of the day, were indifferent whether they voted or not and he added that unlimited car transport played no unimportant part in the Citizens’ victory. This explanation will naturally be accepted by all those who always accept what they are told from their guardians. Great sympathy will be felt for the popr, weak Labour electors whose fervour was so intense as to be chilled by the cold so dreadfully that indifference resulted. Of course the Citizens’ electors are never chilled —they always roll up en masse even when Dunedin so far departs from its normal meteorological conditions as to turn on a cold and disagreeable day. And then, further, poor Labour had too few cars to bring the cold and indifferent to the polling booths—no Labour candidates could possibly own cars—oh dear, no, that would be capitalistic And as Dunedin has no trams, the normal supporters of Labour who did not vote would have had to walk—in some cases nearly half a mile to the booth. Outrageous! The Government must see to it next time that all electors, that is all normal Labour supporters, shall be given a motor car, and further.' the Weather Bureau must be called on to see to it that there will not again be a cold and disagreeable day.

There is a time to every purpose.Ecclesiastes. There is some conduct which, while it is legal and not immediately injurious to the common weal is yet offensive. This may be noted m many of the younger generation. Doubtless the young people did fine deeds in the war-time. But either their proved capacity to act for themselves or the spirit of the age moves them to ignore and often to flout some of the old-established decencies of society. For example, on a Sunday morning, five minutes before 11, a a young girl attired somewhat like a kewpie, accompanied by a young man hardly better clad, except that he wore a scarf, both carrying tennis rackets passed along the street amid people making for the church door. And in order to make their presence still more obvious they crossed the street and passed beside the church gate. Harmless, of course, and yet an offence to the older and more staid people going to worship. Such conduct betokens either ignorance of the days of old or complete disregard for the serious reticences of the elders. In bygone days when some old men entered the theatre at Athens, the Athenian young men held their seats: the Spartans stood up and vacated for the old men. Commenting on it an observer said: ‘‘The Athenians know what is. right, but won't do it." That little scene was symptomatic of a decay in public standards of conduct at Athens. Tennis is good, and sports clothing (not too scanty) is good, but the appearance at such a time at a church front of young people dressed in such a way that more is revealed than hidden—this is not good. No doubt the younger sort will regard this censure as the fogeyism of a 'killjoy. Not so—the writer has ruffled with the best on the sporting field. Clvis.