ELECTION "HUMOUR."

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 378, 27 April 1915, Page 6

ELECTION "HUMOUR."

To the Editor of THE SUN. Sir, —When I.read my Sun sports edition on Saturday evening my estimation of my literary ability went up like anything. My criticisms of the speeches at the coronation of the Festival Queen had actually been accorded the honour of a reply per interview. Still, I do not think that Mr Cardston's version will carry much weight with my able seconder,' "Spectator," and the hundreds of others who will always hold the opinion that nonsense of the silliest kind was put into the mouths of Messrs Holland and Acland. All that Mr Cardston's interview conveys to me is the crushing intelligence that he was responsible for the effusions, and—it is a solemn thought—that the said wails of fearful "humour" have already been inflicted on the good people of Napier, Masterton, Palmerston North, Hawera, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Nelson, and Tiinaru. lie must be a brave man, or a very humourless man, who dares make such a confession in cold print as that which Mr Cardston poured into your reporter's ear. Surely, Sir, the "professor" does not seriously ask us to believe that the Avords were "taken from the Coronation speeches used many, many years ago at Home?" I can quite believe that there were "days when the displeasure of a monarch almost involved the decapitatiou of the offending subject, and frequently did result in that." Yes, Sir, I can quite believe that if any of the Court digni-' taries had stood up at the Coronation of good Queen Bess and informed her that "Thou art the one, thou art the< one; yea, O Queen, thou a at the one," there' would very shortly have been something doing in the department of the Lord" High Executioner. Anyway, Vfo don't nowadays hang Mayors and

others who make siily speeches. If we did, there would be a remarkably high death-rate amongst public men at election times.—l am, etc., MORE IN SORROW THAN IN ANGER. • P.S. —Mr Cardston is especially funny when he defends tlje wording of the speeches because they have on occasion been uttered by that master of -oratorical English, Sir Joseph Ward.