A QUESTION OF DECENCY

Observer, Volume XXIX, Issue 27, 20 March 1909, Page 3

A QUESTION OF DECENCY

The Press and Lord Ranfurly

THE good taste of the " Herald " and " Star " in publishing the nauseous details oi the Stilling divorce case can be challenged on more grounds than one. Because a ;Scottish laird sought and obtained a dissolution of his marriage with a skittish young actress, and because the son of an ex-Governor of New Zealand was joined in the suit as corespondent, the two Auckland dailies have lately vied with each other in raking up all the spicy particulars and setting them forth in articles that have extended to column upon column. That the journals in question do not rate the literary appetites of their readers very high was already known. At the same time, it is pretty certain that but for the note of personal interest it would not have been thought worth while to publish all the minutiae of the slangy correspondence between the parties and the sickly partimilars of the intercourse between " Fatty " and his friend " Clare," and bo forth.

Were it not for Lord Northland's •connection with the case it is fair to assume that so far as the Auckland public are concerned all that would have been heard of the matter would have been the baxe result, if, indeed, so much. And here, apart from the insult to the tastes of the newspaperreading public, comes in the principal question of taste. Lord Northland is a youth practically unknown to New Zealanders. If he were not -the son of Lord and Lady Ranfurly, he would be a person of no interest whatever. And it is because Lord and Lady Eanfurly are n-

fortunate in having a giddy young «on that the skeleton in their family -cupboard is exposed in the columns of leading daily papers in all the of scare headlines.

Now, Lord Ranfurly was admitt > ily one of the best Governors c cr ■sent by the Crown to New Zealand. When he quitted our shores r-ome five years ago, it was amid the .e---grets of the whole colony. We iiuard nothing from the press but praise ,or tactful administration of our affairs, and for the deep interest which he nad shown in the welfare of the people. In that chorus of admiration for and gratitude to the departing

Governor the " Herald " and the "Star" raised their notes as loudly and enthusiastically as any other press organ. It might hare been supposed from their tone that for so staunch, a friend of New Zealand, and for his wife and family, the press of this country would never have other than the most kindly and generous feelings.

Recent events have shown, however, that twentieth century daily journalism, as exemplified in Auckland, is actuated by other feeligs than those of gratitude and friendship. No sooner does the breath of scandal touch the household of New Zealand's staunch and tried friend than the daily journals rush with indecent haste to gloat over the fact. Neither the "Herald " nor the "Star" was under any kind of obligation to dish up the unsa.voury details of Lord Northland's relations with the fair but frail Mrs Stirling. For our own part., we think more highly of the reading public of Auckland than to believe that they desire to have such unseemly revelations inflicted upon them. If a similar scandal had occurred in Auckland, and had concerned a friend of the " Herald " or "Star," it is pretty certain that nothing more than the essential points would have been reported. Yet in such a case there might have been more ground for claiming that a duty lay rnxrn the press to report the hearing than in regard to aoi action tried 16.000 miles away, and more than sufficiently dealt with by papers on the snot.

Lord Ranfurly may well say that he. has been wounded in the house of his friends. And to what end ? To none whatever that deserves consideration. The decent-minded section of the public certainly do not hanker after the gross details of sensational divorce cases, and the conductors of the " Herald " a.nd the " Star " should be above catering for the people whose tastes do run merely to highly-spiced reading matter. There remains another class, the young and inquisitive, whose minds would assuredly suffer by the ne.ru sal of matter of the kind. If the "Herald" or "Star" have no respect for the feelings of a. man and a larlv to whom the Dominion acknowledges a debt of gratitude and kindly remembrance, it might be hoped that they would, at any rate, hesitate at nollutine the minds of their juvenile ro-aders for the mere sake of gratifying an idle and vulgar curiosity.

There can be no question but that it would pay the State handsomely to provide free' passages for a few thousand domestic servants, provided they are really competent. — Gisborne "' Times." The present tendency is to overload fehe syllabus with subjects that are entirely useless to the scholar in after life, and the sooner a return is made to the more solid and utilitarian methods that prevailed a few years ago, the sooner the schools will assume their rightful place in the social organisation of the nation. — Pal raer st on ' ' St andard . ' ' ■ B Captain Naylor's offence was at lmxst an error of judgment for which he has already paid dearly, aaid the suspension of his certificate for a year is but a formal record of a penalty that could not logically be withheld. — Gisborne "Times." It seems as if a financial crisis was a more effective temperance advocate than all the organisations which are at work in the country. Within certain limits the dependence of the oonsiimption of liquor on the general spending power of the country seems clea.rly made out. — Napier "Herald." " There is a spirit of pessimism in the air, nurtured and fed principally by that interested party the moneylender, who is to be found in the bank parlour, in the investment offices, or at the sign of the three golden balls, as the case may be. — ; Grey town " Standard."