JOTTINGS BY THE WAY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3823, 19 October 1936, Page 7

JOTTINGS BY THE WAY

By

lAN ROSACH

The alleged move by Labour supporters to boycott—for that is what the intention really is—shops in Auckland on Saturday mornings, recalls an incident that occurred during the Waihi strike of 1913. The miners, numbering in those days over 1000 men, were incensed at the attitude adopted by Auckland’s morning newspaper towards the strike, and at a fully attended meeting they solemnly pledged to refrain from taking the offending journal. The first week of the boycott saw the circulation in Waihi drop by 50, and the following week it resumed normal delivery. So much for “labour solidarity,” and the ieported move in Auckland is likely to be just as successful. I was fortunate enough to be one of the many Hamiltonians who were present at the first concert of Richard Crooks, the American tenor. There was an audience of 3000, and they gave Mr Crooks a most hearty welcome. He is different to the usual run of tenors, in that he is virile and has a unique personality. His voice is glorious, and he ‘ excelled in the singing of ballads and popular songs. In his operatic numbers he lacked the fire of Italian singers. I liked his singing of a poem by Ben Johnson describing the death of William Shakespeare, which, occurred between three and four o'clock in the morning. It showed Crooks as a wonderful interpretative artist. He sang “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere” to the great delight of the crowded house, and it was the only song that the artist did not know from memory. He followed the words from a small notebook. Not the least thrilling part of a memorable concert was the singing of the National Anthem, led by Mr Crooks. The pianist, Dr Frederick Schawecker, evidently has a penchant for Brahms, for he is featuring that composer on his programmes. 'He was satisfying both as an accompanist and as a soloist. It is a satisfactory feature of our political life that when a member of a Government leaves New Zealand in an official capacity, as has the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, party distinctions cease and the good wishes of all sections of the community go with the ambassador. Mr Nash has carried away such good wishes, and no one has earned them more, for he has borne the major portion of the work of the Savage Ministry, and it is generally conceded, especially by opponents of the Government, that Mr Nash has followed the dictates of his own common sense more than has been welcomed by some of his confreres. The.result of the Manukau by-elec-toin was as most people expected, as were the comments that followed the return of Mr Osborne. In my opinion the result has no political significance—only the defeat of the Labour Party nominee could have such significance. The decline of Mr Osborne’s majority as compared with Mr Jordan, is quite likely accountable for as being purely a personal matter —the preference for the former member being the factor. In whatever respects the political outlook in New Zealand has changed the good old game of party politics is still played in the same old orthodox manner. In .view of the important changes that have taken place in the broadcasting activities of the Dominion, and the still more important changes that are impending, the following extracts from discussions before the exstitute of Public Affairs University of Virginia by Raymond Gram Swing, are apropos. He is asking: “ Will radio kill democracy ? ” And he refers to the fact that the political conventions this year (in America) were not deliberate bodies, but were gigantic studios for broadcasters with the delegates yelling their heads off to provide that great counterfeit for enthusiasm called noise. I quote:— “ I feel that democracy is in danger from radio in two particulars—one is that the radio is still very badly unedited and hence presents public affairs in such a muddle of confusion that listeners are unable to cope with the flood of material. The other danger is in the sale of radio time for political purposes. If the radio is not to destroy democracy we must have editing, and we must have the absence of commercialism in political broadcasting.” After referring to the fact that those in charge of both national and private broadcasting stations are not Experienced in editorship, he goes on to conclude:—• “ Private broadcasting will not be saved without a first-class job of editing. This America is not getting; and if we lose a genuinely independent radio we lose the spoken word in the service of democracy.” The words are worthy of earnest consideration by New Zealanders in view of the gradual assumption of control by the Government. Thought for the week: Before we can bring happiness to others we must first be happy ourselves, nor will happiness abide unless wei confer it on others.