“J. O.” AND HIS STATUES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 804, 26 October 1929, Page 8

“J. O.” AND HIS STATUES

Sir,— That great champion of the enslaved and downtrodden masses, bounces well. Is he real flesh and blood, or just a special treat you are putting on for my amusement? Rooting round among the chaff, I discover several golden grains of wisdom. product of his own pure brain. I will present them to you in the form of propositions:—Unemployment is very widespread. Intellectual persons like myself should be thoroughly cut up about it. While unemploy-

ment exists, nothing else matters a ' tinker’s cuss; children should leave their play, old men emerge from the : chimney-corner, women leave the i wash-tub, nursemaids desert their per- j ambulators, and artists throw down their brushes. That, it seems to me, is the attitude adopted by our humanitarian friend. Now what, in the name of Allah, does he expect me to do? Does he want me to relinquish all my artistic (and other) interests, order a suit o£ sackcloth, and rush up and down Queen Street uttering infuriated yells and calling on the rulers of the people to provide work for the starving masses? Does he consider that because the powers that control our economic destinies have made a blithering mess of things we should therefore cease to think about anything else but unemployment? "J.O.’s” mind, it appears, will accommodate only one-way traffic. It can't hold more than one idea at a time. Strangely enough, mine can. I have said nothing whatever in this controversy to convey the impression that I am not interested in solving the unemployment question. But I am interested in other things as well — tor example, public statuary. If I am to relinquish my interest in this and kindred matters, and devote 24 hours a day to meditation on the sufferings of humanity, then I call on “J. 0.” to drop his needlework and meet me outside the G.P.0., keeping his hat on so I’ll know him. We shall then proceed up the street and execute a tribal dance outside the Mayor’s office. Has it occurred to “J. 0.” that there may possibly be some deep and mystical connection between the sorry state of affairs that exists in regard to unemployment and other economic ills in this country, and the rather scornful attitude toward the arts which the average New Zealander adopts? A.R.D.F.