"PUNCH'S" IDEAS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 617, 1 February 1916, Page 6

"PUNCH'S" IDEAS.

- GENTLER WAYS WITH THE 1 1 PRESS. 1 j "In Ihe House of Commons, I other day, some questions were be",ing asked about the police raid on the offices of the "Globe," when the , | honourable member for the Pacific -1 (Sir William Byles) asked whether ' j there was not some gentler way of ''dealing with erring newspapers. "We deplore the burst of laughter ' i which greeted the question", says j "Punch," "because we are quite sure j that several less drastic expedients i might have been tried before the sudden intrusion of the police in j force. '"The gentle word has been known jby some of our picturesque writers to break down the most stubborn reI solve of even the hardened wrongdoer. To have its full effect it 'should be spoken by a sweet-faced I white-haired old lady, or some frail land fair young thing with moist I eyes. "Surely somebody at Scotland Yard has a mother or a sister who i could have entered the 'Globe' office timidly, and, placing her hand on | the arm of* the editor or the foreman !of the machine-room, or whoever it I was, appealed to him affectionately to stop it. Or a fair-haired laddie lof six summers might have done it I if properly coached, without all that trampling of heavy police boots 'about the place. Surely the heads of Ithe police have had brought to their notice the potency of the little innocent child in melting the heart—the curly-headed boy and the burglar, little Stephen and the wife-beater, being cases in point. "Then, again, birds or white mice might have been tried. Surely it would not have been beyond the [powers of Scotland Yard to introduce a robin into the 'Globe' office, iEre now strong men have wept at 'the sight of the little red-chested ; fellow, and have resolved thenceforth to lead better lives. "Art and poetry should have been I brought to bear. Is there no policeman artist who would have lent his masterpiece, 'Sunshine in the Home' or 'Telling the Story to Mother,' to be placed in the editor's office for a while to exert its silent influence? And, if it was not convenient for a policeman-poet to turn out a few rhymes at the moment, the works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox can easily be obtained at reasonable prices, and would have had some effect/ "And there is music. The message of musicreaches the heart even more swiftly than the spoken words of a barrister. Gouldn't the police band have gone round to the office and played a few selections?"