Books or Benevolence.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6266, 12 July 1890, Page 3

Books or Benevolence.

(HaioJces Bay Herald.) The references of our correspondent at Waipawa to the library there, and the condiinteresting question. On the one hand we hare the -view of the book-lover pure and tion of the Napier Atbecceum, open up a rather simple, and on the other that of the benevolent person. The book-lover would put his case somewhat in this way :—“ I am not a rich man, and a good deal of the literature I would like to read would be inaccessible to me if I had to purchase it. But suppose that I can find forty or fifty other persons, likeminded as to books and similarly placed as to finance, could we not by together, and each contributing ten shillings or a pound yearly to a common bookbuying fund, purchase more new books each = year than any single one of us could read in the leisure time we got in that period ? If that be so, and we all agree not to fight for possession of any given book at one time, every one of us may indulge our taste for literature at a very cheap rate.” As a rule it is the sentiment revealed in this imagined soliloquy which lead to the formation of book clubs under various titles— athenreums, • institutes, libraries, &c. Also as a rule the philanthropist steps into the concern, after it is a concern, and he or she suggests that in addition to finding reading for themaelvrs with their own money, it is the duty of the members to extend the privileges they enjoy and pay for to others who will not or cannot pay for them. With regard to the class who will not pay the philanthropist is wrong without tho need for debate. The idea that it is anybody’s duty to buy them books or papers aud grant them access to this literature gratis, is simply too absurd to require any consideration whatever. There is then the, class, whose existence the philanthropist is prepared to swear to with whatever solemnity the occasion may demand or political exigency suggest, who are consumed with a desire to read but cannot do so, because they have no funds. Hero we get something worth reasoning about. To start with, the yearly subscription to gthe majority of book clubs does not exceed ten shillings, but in a few cases it is as high as a pound. To avoid putting the philanthropist into a tight place, let us suppose the minimum yearly payment to be one pound sterling. That comes to 4|d and a small fraction per week, or less than the cost of a pint of beer or a glass of spirits. Are there in New Zealand people so poor that they cannot pay sixpence a week for access to a good library ? At the first blush one might be tempted to answer in the affirmative, because we have heard of people who will steal daily papers with clockworklike regularity rather than go without them, or pay sixpence a week to come by them in the usual manner. But we are incline dto think that this is due less to impecuniosily than to -deranged nervous function, and that this small class should not count in tho discussion; There are people in refuges ia receipt of outdoor charitable aid, and obviously they cannot afford even 4£d a week. But are their numbers so largo that book clubs ought to make special provision for them ? We think not. They are legitimate objects for pity, and we honour all who think so in the practical way—that is, by assistance—but we do not think that booklovers as a class are any more bound to be pitiful in such cases than are other classes. And even if there were a special duty on the part of book-lovers (on the altruistic ground that being more cultered they should have wider sympathies) it does not follow that tho performance of the duty should be expressed in granting ing free access fo the shelves of tho bookclub, but rather by the judicious expenditure of a few shillings now and then in cheap books to give away. On the whole we are inclined to think thatthore-is a great deal of humbug talked on this subject by “ lovers of the people,” real or alleged, and that, outside the happily limited domain in which charitable aid boards work, there is probably not one grown man in tho colony who could not easily afford sixpence a week for literature.