PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 3

PASSING NOTES.

(From .Saturday's P,iily Times.)

The- Ward Budget', it is said, may ba summed up cc a faint and distant parody of the ' liiioyd-George Budget. Which means, I Suppose, that the one is to the other as moonLight is. to sunlight and as wa-l-er i^ ,to wine. Very likely. Even as" a surprise the Ward Budget is but poor parody. In New Zealand politics a genuine' surprise is impossible. Such are the "shifty ways of men in power that you may expect anything and be surprised at, nothing. It is certainly' no surprise that Sir , (Joseph would wLsb ,to be as LloydGeorgey as he cam But his opportunities aye- narrow. Though I have not read his Budget — and am und* no obligation to read it, 1 thanks be — I have grasped its ruling principle ; which is, simply — all things to all men. The Prime Minister in the role of Johnny All-soyts presides in CaJbinet over a fortuitous concourtse of incongruities, each of whom has put in something — his own peculiar quiddity. The] result compares with the epitaph com-" posed on the principle" df joint and several by a (i donimittee of the Town Council of Dundee--eaeh. man in 'succession contributing his line. Here' - li«s John Dunn,.- Provost of Dun•dee;- / IJere j,lies him, here lies - be ; ! , Hallevujah,, Hallelujee, , , . | In "harmony, symmetry,- logical coherence, | this "graceittl little poem nvais the Ward' r Budget '

".These- kindly wishes and genial remembrances are all nice, to receive, and in tact constitute one of the chief pleasures of getting the honours," — wrote a newHedged baronet to me some time back In leply to a letter of mine. As a formula of acknowledgment, the same words might serve the turn of Sir George M'Lean. I do not doubt that Sir George's chief pleasure in finding himself to be Sir George lies in the knowledge that his frlonds are pleased. And a man's friends, as often a man's fo=s, are first aid chiefest tfocee of his own household. But the^e is the community as well. As everybody knows, Sir George M'Lean's haifcentury record in this community has made him rich in friends, and they are all delighted that " Geordie " M'Lean is now a b?lted knight. Speaking from another point of \ iew, I like the decorative effect of a few knighthcods scatteied about. So do we all, and it is of no use pretending otherwise. Mr Seddon misunderstood the temper of democracy in this particular. He had the common human liking for personal distinctions — the feather in the hair, the tattoo mark, the dab of paint. — the brevet rank of "jedge," or "cap." or " perfessor," as in the democracies of the Wild West; — Mr Seddon ha/1 a iL'ting, 1 cay, for this sort, of thing, or he would n-ever have permitted himself to be made a Right Honorable, a P.C., and a D.C.L. Hut a handle to his name, which handle everyone addressing him must i:<=e — no thank you ! " Dick Seddon " would poll better than " Sir Richard "' every time.

So he thought ; and, ?s I think, thought wrong. Not even the Socialist is indifferent to decorative effects. The Socialist will not thank you for addressing him as Noakes or Stokes. He is Mr N'oakes, if you please, and even Noakes Esquire. Quite right, too On the other hand, we have Sir James Mills, upon whom ha? been thru.-t a new honour which few Deople und°istand the nature of. and which fewer still will think twice about. Why? Because it adds nothing to his decorative effect, which is the one effect outsiders are interested in. Notwithstanding hV advance in the peerage, Sir James's visible halo is no bigger than before All we know is that only two honours were allotted to New Zealand, and that by some immediate and peculiar dispensation of Providence both have gone to the Union Company.

The knighthood that has descended upon Dr Robertson Nicoll and • th« British Weekly is a political reward well earned; , Nowhere- lias the battle .for the Budget been < fought more valiancy than in the. 'Columns df this Nonconformist newspaper. ,'Agtvisl thd Lords-,' if tifgr ' vote "No, Dr*

[Robertson Nicoll at the latest mail date 5 ; was breathing out threatening and slaughter,— litexall^, not in mere r figures of speechi ' •/_>'? ii f .-'^ ''^%\"i The great revolutionary meesurea ' pro- L ! posed by the Protectionist parity—^« ,<■ enthronea^ent of the Jipuse of Lords aii^r ttie imposition of food 'ta^es^ — if {£3htey • -we're carried, would iii all- probaffility provoke a counter, .revglution T If _,th» . . Houae of Lords were _, to win it' wou^d ' be 'a victory Vhich' would 'end in 'a ' l signal triumph.-o£ the vanquished. But we pray that'jtheir triumph may not -come in blood and havoc by the -'kindling -of the flames 6i » ciyil t Vfar-^ , " .";. Deprecation is ifiaeriT^li^ ibmg j a^f. iniprecation. -;'^ JTi ?44g#. j jou • "riia^ vnoti? ■.have cause to ife^x%4, ; 3, : '^s be' ;rfad by the . itt% of -'ebiiit^ry. ' "Z. hoppi ' j-^u niajn't "'" ' rnea«&^'4' 7 4-^° ♦ c^rtaijt $~J»fS will. 1 "' But, yv.hyfM|;taril4»ie9ce:X *J£f>€h«> Lords do their^s«di'|§s|h]eitnit<^t isioß^'T what the Radicals are incessantly asking i — the Referendum. Say the Lords, ".\Pe-t 1 are asksd to vote Yes, and don't like flic" responsibility. Let the country ,vote Yes.L ; and there is no more to be saidj We-re-mit the decision to the country." .Aijd , because the Lords may take this' attitude thi British Weekly ' threatens " civil'%Jff t4 ' The raging rocks , . And shivering shocks ' ' - * •- Shall braat the 'locks ■■• ' > Of prispp- gates; And Phibßus' ea* '■ Shall shine from Tar, And make and mar The foolish. .Eatee, , „ Ministers themselves/ «V^a ih'e'least-tlis-.-creet of them, stop short of this Ercles*,. vein. But. like a good partisan, Dr Robert--ton Nicoll is more, royalist than the King.

When a minister; *! -i'eligiotHs knighted-, what becomes of thfivionqj 1 ifjc^ i/'llev.", pr«V '^ fixed to his name?"' -^ill" the knigKt of.< the British Weekly' Jbfe '"poth' " Sir " -and • "Rev," and " Dr.i' as-wetU?, It is Worth* remembering that in^feHzabethan 'English * "Sir " belongs of-ireht',Jtb the cloth; Wt**' ness Sir .Hugh Bv^6s;'ih " The "Merry J Wives," and Sir Oliver Martext in' ''As-' You Like It." If it should occur to our clerics to make life more picturesque by. styling themselves Sir John This and Sir James That, there is nothing to stop them. Precedent would -bear them out. "But" " Reverend," .though- now of obligation, •has -no historic standing-, and may be suspected as a Popish intruder. In the , Established Church,, where clerical barar nets and the like are not unknown, they •contrive to make- " Sir IJ and "Rev." run 'in double harness. . I haven't an example • handy ; but the English papers are meni tioning the death of a Canon Brodriek, who, because the younger son of a lord, was the Hon. Canon Brodriek. One oi' them has a story about him that bears on 'the subject of -names,, titles, and rative*' effects. -. v:tH- ■-'- He was standing- .-at 7 the gate of bis ?b<&utiful gatden atf* Arverstake, when a Tather rough-!ooking lUan lounged up and , aaid, ' I say, us f . this' Brodrick's?" , ' Yes," said the rey^'jind hon. gentlemen, "it is. I'm ~i*rodrick." "Ah!* said his vi^d'tor. " then ' perhaps you can teH me if Mr Brown is "in?" 'Now, "Mr i Brown was the gardener. %"• ,

Tammany, as a miracle of vice, may be thought, like other' miracles, to" lack credibility. When we read thatf Tammany, make* New York^tne^most lawless city on earth, yet has just bjf6n >et up again and granted a hew lea^ of. life' "by the New York municipal elections* we hesitate to believe But it is all true enough. In : the National Review, October number, \^ ceived by tire week's mail. Tammany- is explained and expounded by Brigadiergeneral Bingham, a retired officer of distinguished service, who 'in 1905 was appointed Commissioner of Police for New York and in a year or two was removed* for doin^ his duty — simply that. No Bishop Commission sat upon him, but he was removed ail the same. The Mayor of New York i« »n autocrat, with powers that the .Czar might envy, and the Mayor it was that got rid of General Bingham. According to .this expert witness New York pays in graft, blackmail, and brokerage on crime probably a "hundred million dollars a year. ! I recently happened into one of the criminal courts during the hearing of a liquor case. The patrolman who had made th« arrest was testifying. "Do you know whisky?" he was asked. "Yes." , , " How do you know it ? Ever drink

it?" " Yes." " Was tY.p whifky in this case fermented or distilled?" '• Distilled. I think." "Did you see it dib-tilled ?" - Xo. • * "Have ycu had it analysed?" " No." " No evidence," interrupted the court. And. addressing the defendant, " Discharged." After thepe humorous proceedings the would "eceive from the defendant its " accustomed dues." There are New York policemen at £240 a year who live at the rate of £1000. F-om the leaser official judtre the greater — sx pede Herculem. It is by popular vote that Tammany '"« kept where it is and what it is. We may .«M>e in it for our warning the bright consummate tlr-wer of pure democracy.

The amusement to be get out of an acrobat and contortionist need not keep us from savin? that hia performances fall short of hi§fa art. 2sow and again I have Veritured a remark of this tenor on the literary posings and pbsturings of Mr G. K. Cliesterton. and ns^yhere mention that I find myself kept' In countenance by a \ reviewer of Mr Chesterton in t^je' Literary 1 Supplement of The' Times. September 30. <For " kaleidoscopic .fecundity, high spirits], and .jovial egotism '-' Sir Chesterton gets due .credit. ... But after any sustained attention to his talk— for, viewed ms literature; 'these ■' eStays h«7» -little style,' 1 or proportion, or atmosphere>^hi# '.repetitions, contri- ■ i»' dictions, xnd circumlocution* become >

/ ; more evident than bis sincerity and ex- - cellent spirit: Which is.tq^ay that 3klr XJheßterton comsa 6hon|b bf|thytjri^|sotwiadmirers would makje c |vm.t S*o as?«MJesieot tun, bui his . pulgife us not the laurel and tripod of AroUo. , rjot to^ut too v -fine a $p\pt *upon -. ft-, ifis fi»n;iscocoas^)nH@J sttaine^. j His .humqur. carries; ijm^ so f«r as ; to enable/him to recall.' thV dumber of 1h« • apoetlea vnth ±> pareiitJrdtical. '"'lf -I remember right." And he 'solemnly relates the fact that on hearing that the ! train in which he was travelling up to ;town **$£&{ >Bi^raetfeb^^&a' £ with^ r -corpse 'he .VihfW^^y'h^rf^f? " Something ; that \ ■ §is.|ss lojo. Ast anan.<tsto€[ has to do- with ; ; jtat liiouT^ißrg andirctefatoionial told me to fFof my<4'*^'iparij.|[,"read all of Chesterton •tSa-t. conjes e na"y- J\%^l s -Thej paradox, chef I \&&ijjll ii !b3* ;iia£. bl.sricks,' may be {merely *a ! liiVid-of grinhin£"lthrough a hor&e^cpHar ; but I am still -rustic enough to 'laugh. *Th«n; there is Bis: splendid ife3 ' scandalous exaggeration. Por exaanple : — _„ ' Bernard jEfjiaw' argues that ■when ;,the tales giye.Japt the, Giant Killer » : ' coat -'©I daffcriefci iwr % rnlg-c sword" it removes, all .credit .from Jack in the > . 'S common moral" ssnse; h3 won. as Qasar won pcly.. because he waa superior. ■ j *\nll ' confess-; in 'passing.' Hb the. convictrlon that Bernard Shaw in the "boureo ■of his whole .simple, and Btreuiiovie' life ' ■was'ileVer quite' so to 'hel* as when he wrote down these words. This is the kind oi thing we should all : like tjO. imitate/ tfut no one of us h&i th« -fjrifci: ' ' • ""■ - \

> TKe curativ^clfeatme||C"-.to b derived f bjol' sea>V&fts baSnsl*hus received a -'striking "'illustration: during Ihe rhort time . tnaV*the baths ; has be3n open; states the , Napier DailyV Telegraph. ..Mr TO., Clark, '.who' has. been "eriiptoved m. the Eailway and v w&» is a jSaniei? res:d«uit : of.Bs^ats?*£tajndih^^fl^£yis''|^e past fiv* ' mi)n4hst'%eeii laid -jis jdji »f rom his work by a severe attack of 'muscular rheumatism. .The opening of the municipal baths enabled him, on medical advice, to undergo a treatnjeni by a series of hot salt-water baliw. The effect has b?en wonderful. For month* Mr. Clark had been uivable to dress himself but after his first hot salt-water bath he found his limbs sufficiently swpp'.e to 'enable &.:m to dbn some -of his garment* himself. At the end of a week he found' himself almost rejuvenated, and able to walk Tiis home and " take his bath without; the slightest assistance. M* C'iark .considers , himself a "walking ad'vortisi'nii&nt" of the good that the baths hr.ye done him, aiid for the bonefit of o.her I sivffjerer3 hi« case- cannot, he. too __ widely known.

At a meeting of the Un.'t«d TenVpersrrce 'Refbrn Council, hcid on 'Monday. 7th irwt.. the folfowing resolution* * was passed : - " This council desires to express its grat ideation that the New Zealand Government is at present teaching the public «chooi children (ses Sehvol Journal, Ootobe/. 1909) 'thaJ/^aicoholis a pbisonconryto lx> com- • pared 'to ophirn, and_ tS.jj\ 'c might with Juffr :as unuch. reasen,^ aslc^a, friend vbom he met in fhV city to smoke » pipe 1 of opium at his exp<yiss as ask him to pour a ' nobbier of whisky down h's throat ' ; also that the Otago Daily Time* has made fh'e following important statement —viz. : ' Even scientists are coivmenc- '■, jn^ to fcmp-haa>« tho fact that a!cohol is .on 3 : -o£ ..the few deadlj -racial - poison* transmissible from generation to p.-fK ration.' In view of these important faC.* _whic-i. are now generally re^gnis^d by th« medical -profession) -, xfcis.l t CQi;ncil Is >t opinion that rhe e!aim of the No-;-c-c-r..«» party that an early opportunity o.i fair terms be given to the people* to banish rhi 6ale of this drug, for bcvei-ag^ purposes, fiorn t.ie Dominion is muen''stre?igthenec*, ar/d cannot longer be resisted by tho?c wio have tha best interests of this Dominion ut liaait." We understand that the movement to establish a olerk'e urriou in Dunedin •"» meeting with rr.ost encouraging support. Some li-ttlc time will ekvree before somrthing definite is accomplished, but in *h« interim material is being obtained wit! respect to the union which has , recenUj been formed irr Auckland, aaid tho sirmsn* moven-.anjs in Ohristchurch and Nelsoi It has, we understand, not yet been decided whether Government clerks are»to be admitted to tho union, lfj however, eruiployers meet the propouTi'ons which iv;!! be made by the union with the assertion that girls are just as capable as the mal« sex, it is probable that they will be asked to pay girls the same wages as are paid to men. Apparently the movement is one of considerable magnitude throughout New Zealand.

At the meeting of fbs United Temperance Reforan Council on Monday, 7Uh. net., th secretary read a sub-leader from the Wairarapa Daily Times, of MasWuton, of November 3. which said that' while it was

I as yet early to form a deliberate njonclusion I as to th<» result of no-l ; cehse, certain gains wre fairly obvious " The town is more sober and money is beginning to accumulate. . -. . For the three month*, which preceded the coming of no-license thei* were 65 sonviotions for drunJpeDODfi?. but for the three months which followed. -lh« ■coming of no-license there were but 15 'This ohan<»e is a great' gain as far' as Mi happiness and comfort of the' community are concerned, Last month tHere were bit two' convictions for drunkenness recorded in t.. l r a town. Masterton has changed from .a drunken town to a "sober/ fcow'r.." Th» was received with applause,,, and pleasure was expressed that 30 gepd a vepcrt should oorae- to hand so early.