PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 3

PASSING NOTES.

(From Saturday's Daily Times.)

The angei of Europe, and in particular of Russia, at Lord Roberts's proclamation annexing the Transvaal is surprising and at first incomprehensible. Annexation came in due and logical sequence to other events ; everybody not a fool must have seen it coming ; what was there in 'it whenit did come that should throw the whole Continental press into hysterics? The answer, I suppose, is, that the Continental press had been hoping for a miracle. Something might happen, they didn't exactly know what — war, intervention, a ruinous British reverse — something in the nature of a slip 'twixt cup and lip. To give time for such slip it was all-important that annexation should be delayed, delayed, and still delayed. That being the Continental point of view, the iniquity of Lord Roberts as patent. He proclaimed annexation before the happening of this desiderated something that might make annexation impossible. And so, according to one Russian editor, " Lord Roberts's proclamation is morally the most revolting document ever issued " ; and, according to another, " Lord •Roberts has falsified truth and completelylost his fair renown." Why didn't he wait •and give time and chance and the chapter of accidents a show? The thing he has clone with such scandalous promptness can aiever be undone — even a Continental journalist is able to see that ; and hence these &ears. How are you going to wrench away territory that has become a constituent part of the British- Empire? How, indeed! »Wh.at exasperates the Russians in particular is the remembrance of their own calamity iivhen they were on the point of annexing (Constantinople. After a war that had cost them 120 millions sterling and 80,000 men they were just about to do it when ■Lord Beaconsfield cried " Hands off !" and gwiered. ujp the, British fleet. It is a, pity

that he did ; but that's neither here nor there ; "the point is that the Russians, thanks to British intervention, suffered •an unforgettable 'slip ",'twixt- cud and lip, and now are beside themselves Avith vexation that they cannot pay us back in kind.

After' all, we could hardly expect that our absorbing of the two Boer Republics would put Europe into a good humour. British bigness was already a crime ; amongst the nations we were what Mr Seddon would call " the fat man." And now we are to be fatter. Consider these figures : - Transvaal .. 119,000 square miles Orange Free State . . . . 41,484 160,484 Compared with these : New Zealand — North Island .. .. 44,736 square miles South Island .. .. 55,264 100,000 There is a suspicious roundness about the total ; but that is how the books give it. To come near the area of the two Republics we should have to take the ■ South Island twice over, and' should then be 5000 square miles short. Compare the British Isles : England and Wales .. £8,265 square miles Ireland .-. ... .. .. 32,393 Scotland „ *. „ .. 30,463 -, 121,121 Here we should want another Ireland, and over 6000 square miles as well. Take one other comparison: Italy .. .. .. .. .. 114,410 square miles i Switzerland 15,964 I Belgium -.<■ 11,373 ! Holland.. „ .. 12,741 i 154,488 Three European kingdoms and one republic ; and still we are 6000 square miles short of British gains this year in South_ Africa. Should it surprise us then that we are hated? Is it wonderful that Russia, Germany, France, the rivals we have distanced, greet Lord Roberts's ! proclamation declaring the Transvaal British with a chorus of hooting? For my own ; part I hold that this greatness has been j thrust upon us ; virtually we had no alter- j native. But we can't expect our European j friends to take that point of view. Their | affection for us must closely resemble that ! of the labour unions for a multi-millionaire. ;

Mr Seddon, as is fitting, will represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Inaugural ; as is also fitting he will take care to appear there in due pomp and state. Though we don't choose to belong to the Commonwealth we consent to smile upon its espousals with sisterly affection and kindly patronage, remembering always that in order of importance we come first, or, as Mr Seddon puts it, that " New Zealand leads and will continue to lead." These being our sentiments, it follows that Mr Seddon, who will be there to represent us, must appear in full fig. He would be present at the inaugural ceremonies of the Commonwealth, and, in addition to the sending of a contingent of fifty men as a guard of honour, it was intended to send a band of Maori warriors in chaige of the Hon. J. Carroll, also the finest band of Maori pipers south of the equator. "Maori pipers"? — he must mean Highland pipers; but that is a detail. Sufficient is it to know that Mr Seddon with his pipers, his tattoed warriors, his guard of honour, and his attendant Ministers will easily cut out the Australian Premiers. Let us hope 'that there will be no difficulty about precedence — no painful contest with the Duke of York, for example. At the Christchurch Jubilee banquet there were certain persons who improperly took precedence of the Premier — the Governor for one, the Commodore, and even the Mayor of Christchurch as being " first in his own city." The Christchurch Press, defending this principle, remarks : Even her Majesty the Queen does not enter the City of London in state without first receiving permission to do so from the Lord Mayor. That may be; but her Majesty the Queen isn't a democratic Premier. To prevent any recurrence of the Chri&tchurch scandal the Press suggests — ironically, I am afraid — that Mr Seddon should introduce a bill. A short clause to the effect that the Premier is ex officio to take the chaiv at every gathering at which he may be present, and to head all processions in which h.e may take part, would perhaps meet the case. In New Zealand it would ; unfortunately the Commonwealth Celebration occurs in Australia. We must hope for the best ; bub it is quite on the cards that oux first telegram from Sydney after Mi 1 Seddon' s arrival will be headed " Que&tion of precedence."

Although an ominous noic — a note as of gathering tensest — xws. throuflh. all am 1

Chinese news, the comedy element is seldom wanting. It is the nature of events in China to be as inconsequent as a pantomime. For example : "By mistake they (the Germans) dragged Wang, President of the Treasury, into the streets, flogged him with a rope and broke his nose before the error was discovered."' Again: "A force of Bengal Lancers, under Colonel Richardson, met 500 Imperial troops under General Fan. Parleying commenced, but an Indian trumpeter shot General Fan dead, through a mistake. Regrets were tendered and accepted." Where but in China, or on the comic boards, could such things be ! The demands of the Allies, now definitely formulated, are such as Gilbert and Sullivan I wouldn't be ashamed to have had a hand | in. The Chinese are to put up a monument to Baron Kettoler, the German Ambassador, whom they murdered. Very good ; there can be no difficulty about that ; ! the Chinese will be at liberty to understand the monument as attesting the thoroughness with which they did the unfortunate German to death. Then, " Aie Prince Imperial and family are to be sent to Germany, there to apologise for the murder." What better material for a first class comic opera of the "Mikado" type? No one can desire that poor Baron Ketteler's name and memory should be made ridiculous ; but assuredly the spectacle of the Chinese Prince Imperial and his family in Berlin kow-towing their apologies to the Emperor William would set all Europe laughing. It would be better, I should say, if the Prince were required to compose an ode in the Emperor's honour, and to transmit it through the ordinary diplomatic channels. Every educated Chinese writes verses. Thus the Chinese Ambassador in London, just to show that there is no ill feeling, has turned " God save the Queen " irlto his own monosyllabic vernacular; e.g., Chi shan pi yu yvi kiang Shan Ts'ang chiang fu fang chang Wan Shou wu chiang Yung Shih Shen Jen yu yu Shon fa pao pang yu wu Eo kung sung teh wsi yang Tien yu Chun Chu. It is a misfortune, seeing we must needs have much to do with the Chinese, that their vocables, like all things else belonging to them, seem to us not only ugly but absurd.

The November meteors, time-tabled for the 14th and 15th, have not been reported, nevertheless maj- not with propriety be set down as " overdue." They may yet arrive, and, if they do, will arrive strictly t.o time — their own time, that is, which is not necessarily the time of the astronomers. Last year they were said to be several days " late," but in the processes of the heavens nothing can be either late or early. Things happen when they ought and when they must, and whatever is is right. The meteors of last year had been detained by engagements in another part of the solar system. During the 33-years interval since their previous appearance they had gone " rather near to Saturn in April, 1870, and still nearer to Jupiter in Augu&t, 1898 ; this had delayed them several days ; and, besides this, they had been pulled out of their course." I am quoting from an article by Profes&or Maclaurin, ol Victoria College, Wellington ; as I make out neither lhe Professor nor anybody else knows or can know when precisely these meteors are " due. " They are said, to be seen in three successive Novembers, and nob again until after an interval of 33 or 34 years. Thus -star showers occurred in 1866, 1833, 1799 ; but, curiously enough, there seems to be no observation on record of older date, although the theory is that the comet of which these meteors are the fragments came to grief by collision with the planet Uranus as long ago as a. d. 126. In the present state of human knowledge, then, only a conjectiu'al time-table can be made for the November •star showers, and I wouldn't recommend anybody to bet upon them. That is a pity. A phenomenon so awe-inspiring might be made of use in the Chinese war. The 1833 display spread panic through all the negroes in America, and amongst not a few of the whites. The sky everywhere was alive with fire-balls and rockets. Says an observer : " The -scene was truly awful, for never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell towards the carth — east, west, north, south, it was the same." Remembering the sensitiveness of the Chinese to eclipses we must regret that we cannot surprise them with a star shower. That is the misfortune of not having a trustworthy time-table. If we knew exactly when to expect the thing and judiciously worked it in, we might bring universal China lo its marrowbones.

The following letter addressed to the editor of the Witness has been 'passed over to me : The Decadence oj? Abt. Sir, — Hay I, a novice, be perhiitted to question the opinion of so august a personage as tlio chairman of the Otogo Art Society re the rleca4fiuce of jwt and its cause. Demand, in

'my opinion, does not create supply. Had we wailed on a people to demand the genius of a Dante, we would, methinks, have been waiting yet Again, art is no paid seivant! What aitist, inspired by high idea!, 'would stifle his genius by painting booths for people's money.? (Milton got something like JES for " Paradise Lost.") If we were in a positioi! to offer for such an inspirational work as that created by the imagination of Marie Corelli, think you would that fact give birth to the inspired artist? I venture an emphatic No! I grieve, with Mr Joachim, the fact that we , are living in a petty age. But money is not the way out" of the slough — fire is what we need — something to make us realise the mighty atom. "We may, after our fashion, pay the artist, hut genius is a gem far removed from the influence of the brightest guinea ever coined. We are in j a state of cosmos, because we are too satisfied . with ourselves, and the present age seems satisfied with itself when it is making money. i 'Tis only now and then we hear the voice of a disappointed president or an angry " Old Iconoclast " as of one crying m the wi'derness. Iconoclast No. 2. i I have improved the spelling of this comI position — seeing to it that " august " has 1 a v in the first syllable, that " disapi pointed " has two p's, that " Paradise Lost "' has a capital L, and so on. I ■ mention the fact in a spirit of love, as Mr Chadband would say, and in order that I may add a critical remark. In philosophical writers, particularly when they write to the newspapers, bad spelling is usually a sign of foggy thinking. This wellmeaning letter is a good example of mental ■ fog. To the writer of it all outlines are J indistinct ; one thing is blurred with ani other ; men are seen as trees walking. He is caught by phrases, half -understood and uses them to express ideas that are only half-defined, even to himself. This is " a petty age," he laments, a " state of cosmos" (alas!) — O for somebody "to make us j realise' the mighty atom."! Demand, he I sagely affirms, "does not create supply." No — would that it did! — I should be a richer man this day ; also a wiser. Supply, on the other hand, according to this oracle, is independent of demand, so that — as I infer from his illustrations — Dante might have written his Divine Comedy for the Choctaw Indians, and Raphael might ' have painted for a community of the blind. It isn't money that is wanted for the de- ; velopment of art, but genius, genius, always genius — and if there is one subject upon •which, more than another, people of foggy minds will talk rot, it is the subject of genius. Thus, to listen for a moment to j Mr A. W. Maurais in Wednesday's Daily Times : Genius is the reflection on to the brain-mind of certain exceptional individuals of the wisdom of higher splieres", and the* extent of a man's genius is bounded by thp extent of the power and certitude wherewith he can reproduce the impressions received in a rarer atmosphere. Jest so ! — genius may be that ; or it may be only an unlimited capacity for taking pains ; in either case it Avill depend for its bread and butter on money, that is on the public demand for its productions. There must have been a demand for " Paradise | Lost," or Milton couldn't have sold it ; clearly, also, there was money in it — to the J extent of £8. Here I may dismiss " Iconoj clast," remarking, apropos of his signature, that he ought not to trust himself with club or hammer. Nc man is entitled to set up as an Iconoclast — the smasher of ether men's idols — till he has learned -to spell " disappointed " with two p's. But an if he must write- to the newspapers, by all means let him discourse on philosophy and art. Taking to politics he might easily develop into a pro-Boer or some similar monstrosity.

The Stiiart street site has been definitely fixed upon for the new railway .station. The Hon. J. G. Ward, Minister of Railways, telegiaphed to us on the 13th inst., as follows (a similar telegram being- received by his "Worship the Mayor of Dunedin) :—": — " The difficulties that presented themselves regarding the Stuart street site have nqw been overcome. The Otago Harbour Board has met my representations in a fair spirit, and I have given directions that the new station is to be erected on the Stuart street site. Of course there are details which require to-be arranged, but I have no doubt the arrangements will be carried out without further' hitch. I feel sure the site selected will meet the requirements of the public as well as of the Railway department. I hope that any differences of opinion that may have been entertained by different sections of the people of Dunedin will pass away. Throughout I have been actuated by only one desire, and that is to do all possible in the best interests of the colony. — J. G. Wabd." We understand that at a special meeting of the Tramways Committee of tho City Council on the 13th inst. ''all the necessary details in connection with the agreement with the Tramway Company for Ilia piirchase of the city aad suburban lines and plant were satisfactorily arranged as between the company and the cpjmnitlee, on behalf, of the

' City Corporation. The poll of the ratepayers on the question of borrowing money for the purchase will' be "taken, about the 21st December, full particulars as /to the purposes of the loan and the amount to be borrowed will be given by advertisement" in a few clays. 'lhe Premier announced at the banquet to the Hon. C. H. Mills at Wellington on the 13th inst. that he intended to endeavour to get the Duke of York to open the next session of the New Zealand Parliament. There would be no difficulty, he said, in getting Parj liament opened a month earlier than usual if this were desirable. Colonel Penton, Commandant of the Forces in New Zealand, proceeded to the Head.* on j the loth, and made an inspection of the forts j there. It is unfortunate that the colonel iu&t j arrived too late to see the battalion in camp, when an admirable opportunity would Lav* been afforded him of witnessing the work of both new and old companies. The dispensation of what is jocularly termed " justices' justice " is not always the outcome of the idiosyncrasies of the gentlemen who fcr the time being occupy the elevated position c. a seat on the magisterial bench. The law has been described by an oft-quoted authority as ' a hass," and its asinine qualities were responsible for the uneven distribution of justice at the Police Court on the 13th. Three offenders againsj; peace and order we're "before the bench — the inevitable case of drunkenness, a person whose horse strayed through th& negligence of vsome pirsons in leaving Hs gate open, and a young man who made use of obscene language in a public place. The bibulous individual's first indiscretion was, as usual, overlooked. The man whose horso strayed was fined -2s 6cl; .while the third individual, whose offence was the most serious of the three, was convicted and ordered, to come up for sentence when called upon, lie was guilty of using very disgusting language within the hearing of a number of people in. a tramcar, but the bench were loth to seiul him to prison for the first time, and, as thelaw did not permit the alternative of a fine, he got-off lighter than the man whose havnle^s old horse started off on a peregrination! clown the street. The severity of the la*v dealing with the use of obpeene language in. the public streets has the effect, as has often been pointed out, of causing offenders to be leniently dealt- with, and much more oalisfactory Tesults would be attained if discretionary powers were given to magistrates to inflict a monetary penalty. Mr C. 0. Graham, S.M., held a sitting oi the Pension Court on the 13lh, when 25 new pensions were granted ; also one at £15, one at £12, and one at £11. Two applications foi pensions were refused — one on the ground that the applicant had been absent from tk» colony part of the year immediately preceding the passing of the original act, in accordance with subsection 1 of section 2 of the amended act of 1900. In addition to the new pensioni granted, eight full pensions were renewed, a. also were one at £15, one at £13, and one aj £8. Our Alexandra correspondent telegraphed on the 13th inst. that W. Smith, late a restaurant keeper there, is missing. He left a note addressed to a waitress as follows : — "Deai Nellie, — When this reaches you I will be dead." An Adelaide telegram in the MelbourneArgus of the" sth inst. says: — "A telegram from Alice Springs states that Allan A. Davidson, leader of the Central Australian Exploration Syndicate, arrived on Thursday, en route to Adelaide. He states that during the pas!; three years he and his party have- tried all the country for about 350 miles west of Tennant's Creek and 150 miles west of Kelly's Well, and then prospected north-west to Hooker's Creek, tlw whole of the country being a drought; stricken desert. From the head of Hooker's Creek he proceeded along the Western Australian border, and met with a tableland formation of sandstone and "quartzite, with, patches of auriferous country. Mr Davidson has now explored an area of 30,000 .square miles, which previously was the largest block of unknown country in Australia. He states that he found only one patch of pastoral country, about 200 miles along the Western Australian border. He saw only one live kangaroo, for, owing to years of continual drought, all animals were practically extinct in that part. On one occasion his camels were without a drink for 12 days, and twice subsequently for nine and eleven days. The syndicate spent £10,000 in searching for precious metals, and discovered gold covering largo areas, but not oi sufficient value to pay working expenses under the present wretched conditions,. So it was decided to go into liquids tion."' "Old Pupil" forwards a ilonat'on of 10^ towards the Mrs Thomas White fund,.

Tn connection' with the Commonwealth inaugural ceremonies it is proposed to collect £10.000 for street decoration and £5000 for" the relief of the poor. The Roolyn Council apparently desire to assist the other boroughs i;t beautifying tho Sandhill?. At iast night's meeting the clerk was instructed to as-certain the cost of carting iiightsoil to the Sandhillfio

I Applications have been lodged with the Agent-general of Immigration at Fiji for the introduction oi 2261 Indian coolies, to arrive during next year. ' The annual retreat of the clergy of the diocese of Dunedin will (says the Tablet) beam on January 21, and will be conducted by the Very ]lev. A. Boyle, CM., of St. Viui cent's, As'ufioldj New South yiaias*.