COLONIAL REALING

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 14042, 28 October 1909, Page 3

COLONIAL REALING

A SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT. A colonial correspondent of the London "Times" writes>—ln almost every colonial home you will find books, sometimes few, sometimes many, and among them a varying percentage of "standard authors." But as an old colonist myself I am bound to admit that both in auantity and in quality the average collection does a good deal Ujss than justice'to the really high mental capacity and undoubted need of their owners. As a rule, the books have come toeether m a haphazard sort of way. That ia so in most parts of the world; hut in, no part is it more true than in a sparsely peopled country, where the ordinary householder, though he would like to be better sup-

plied, lias Bomo natural distrust of bis own judgment in selection. He feels out of his depth when he gets beyond a "short list of familiar books by a few noted authors, and is peculiarly at the mercy of the "book agent.''

I There are booksellers in some of the larger centres whom it is a pleasure to meet —men carrying a varied and wellchosen stock, and capable of advising their customers; and there are in the largest cities great "department stores" doing considerable business especially in the most popular wwks and in books that attract the eyo and appeal to the bargain-lover's instinct. It is also true that travelling canvassers sometimes push works of real value. Nevertheless, after making all the admissions and exceptions that accuracy demands, the fact remains that an enormous mass of rubbish has been and still is palmed off on farmers all over the countryside, and on townsfolk too. Moreover, the book-agent, to cover his travelling expenses and make a good profit besides, charges prices high out of all proportion to the real value to compare the price with. There is a great opportunity in the Colonies for some literary supply organisations, frankly commercial if you like it, but actuated also by a 6ense of •esponsibity to its customers. If the neople get to know that they can always depend on some such organisation, with its wide variety of good books at easy prices, for reliable advice ss well as economical supply, I believe that the baying and reading of books will go up by leaps and bounds, and that life in the average colonial home will become much more interesting and alive than it is to-day.