THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9096, 23 May 1908, Page 6

THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON.

! (By Frank Morton.)

8 The Buying of Books —Farmers and Socialism —Peakson's Piteous Plea— Advertising Alcohol. j ""here was a big book sale in Wellington a day or two ago. and many people puid more for many books than the sum for which the books can be oDtained from English second-hand dealers Still, everybody was pleased; and tnore's an end of it. When you atund a book sale, it is always well to keep steadily in mind that almost ail books of a strikingly special or permanent value can be purchased in England at exceedingly low prices a few years after publication : and books of strikingly special or permanently value seldom get into our auction-rooms. Most books lose steadily in market value from the date of their publication; and only a "Very few books increase in value. The prevalent idea that all verj old books must be valuable is merely one Df the prevalent fallacies. You may find scores of books centuries old in the twopenny boxes in English bookshops. In short, if you would buy books to jojrown advantage, you need to acquire something of the art of bookbuymg. ****** Once you have acqu'rad that, you shail find bookuuying a very charm jog sport. . You will haunt out-of-the-way places rather than auction rooms. At this sale this week, 1 was not tempted to spend a pound; lu: I scarcely dare go in to an oldbook shop with money in my pockets. In the course of my small book-buy-ing, 1 h ive got my choicest prizes in ' tie likely places. It is not for nothing that the true bibliophile is a haunter of odd corners and back streets. 1 got a large paper Dodsley in a little shop at Hobart. I found the rare first edition of "The Shaving of Shagpat" in an unlikely Sydney suburb, I got a choice example of the Plantin Press for sixpence in Launce3ton, and sold it for conisderably more than six guineas in London. ltd a great game, but when it becomes a passion one needs an in,c«me bigger than Rockefeller's. *****%

The Provincial Conference of the Wellington District of the New Zealand Farmers Uniirn meets at Feilding on the 26th. 'Of the remits, one from Makuri and Gladstone urges upon the Government the desirableness of giving Crown tenants the freehold; and there is a remit virtually to the same effect from Kimbolton. There will also be some discussion as to the ever-vexed matter of the Arbitration Act. Motions to bring the Union into cloaai touch and kinship with the Employers Association will be considered. In this matter of Arbitration, Hunterville shines extremist. Its remits run: "That in view of the failure of the Conciliation and Arbitration Acts to prevent strikes, and the unfair and weak manner in which the Acts are administered, it would be to the best interests of everybody concerned if the Acts were repealed." Another motion affirms the undesirableness of granting preference to any union of farm labourers. But, after all, it is the motions directed against State Socialism that are the most emphatic. The general feeling of farmers seems to be fairly expressed by the remit from Waituna West: "That the time has now arrived when the Union as a whole must take a firm stand against the Socialistic party, and that all farmers' candidates shall pledge thtmselves to oppise a measure detrimental to the farming community, whether it is a Government measure'or otherwise, and that where more than one candidate pledges himself to do so, a meeting of delegates,from each branch in the electorate shall be called by the premier branch to decide which candidate shall receive the support of the union;, representation to be on the same basis as for Provincial Conference." The farmers as a community always have opposed Socialism, and a'.wayswill; but the present general revolt against Socialism strengthens their hands. The attitude of the Government is encouraging. It is not always easy to see just what Ministers mean, but their distrust and suspicion of Socialise there is now no mistaking. Meantime, it is well that the Farmers' Union should remember that nothing was ever accomplished by the mere passing of resolutions. An inordinate and apathetic (or pathetic) faith in speech-making seems to be an inalienable part of our British heritage. It is at the polls that the farmers can mi)St effectively make their opionions operative; and it is only as they go to vote on broad issues, disregarding parochial fads and prejudices, that they can make their views effective. Neither the Government nor the Socialist will ever be greatly moved by empty resolutions.

Herman Sigurd Pearson, fruiterer, convicted of sly grog-selling at his shop in Manners Street, pleaded, through his counsel, that the cause of his fall was Chinese competition and Chinese combination in the fruit traJe.. A white man had no chance. He got only the "speckled ones" after the Chinese had done buying at the auction mart. Now, it cannot be prjtended that Chinese competition even in its groaest form, justifies a wh.te fruiterer in sly grog-selling; bjc the pldu of Pearson is none the Idss interesting and significant. In all tneir tradj relations and methods, t.u Chinese are extremely unemotion-' al an! ex'remely systematic. In their OvVn protection, the Wellington C.iinetie have decided that it is not ciesiia ita that white men shall compete in trie jruit and vegetable business; so th-jy have laid their plans t) hamper anJ defeat the white in:*n. Whsn a white bids for good fruit at tlie auctions, the Chinese stolidly tntbi 1 him Su long as he do;M not gvt tne fruit, they arc quite prepar-.il 10 'pay more than its wnolesali vtlue; the more readily btstiime two/ can always pass on 1 the c.j.-?t t-j Che public. It is a positive faot, well worthy of the consideration of the Government, that the Chinese Fruit and Vegetable Trust in the capital city has made it virtually impossible for a white man to buy fruit to advantage in

the open market. Just how far the organisation of the Chinese has gone j it is not easy to say. Apart from trade, they probably "have a secret society, because it is Chinese human nature to form a secret society whenever the thing is made reasonably possible. In other parts of the world, these' Chinese secret societies have been proved exceedingly dangerous and vile; and as the society (assumI ing that i*. exists) is strengthened by every new Chinese arrival in the country, the whole matter is one into which the Government might reasonnbly inquire. The absolute apathy of New Zealand politicians in face of tbs signficant invason of yellow aliens is one of the most extraordinary things'l ever heard of. * * * *

The prohibition party in New Zealand and Australia makes constant objection to the advertisement of alcoholic bevarages on railwaystations, in tramcars, on tram-tick-ets, and by other channels controlled by the public service. This objection (leaving the whole vexed matter of License or No-Licer.se completely aside) always struck me as extraordinary, and sometimes a little ridiculious. It is not yet criminal either to manufacture or to sell alcoholic liquors, and it would be preposterous tor the public services to attempt to boycott men engaged in any legitimate or permitted industry. The method of boycott, in any case, is of. the nature"of a vile anachronism. Also, if there is to be a boycott of alcohol, why should not the prohibition party be reasonable and consistent. Why does thi party not demand of all newspapers that support it that there shall be no advertisement of hotels or of alcohol? Why should the State alone be required to start and support a boycott in the interest of any private interest? If concerted action is to be taken in restraint of trade, why should the State be first lawbreaker? Will the prohibition party fall back on a forsaken citadel, and tell us that the end justifies the means? ******

I am really quite in earnest in my protest regarding thia matter. 1 have nothing to do with the manufacturers or purveyors of alcohol. Personally, I should not care a straw if there was not an ounce of alcoholic stimulant to be* bought from Auckland to the Bluff. I admit that it would be an excellent, even a glor.ious, thing for the State if drunkenness were for ever, put an end to. But I never saw a good fight won yet with unclean weapons. I don't believe that dubious methods cure an evil, though they may upon occasion force it in. I daresay that there is an effective method of combating intemperance, but I don't believe that the prohibition party has found it. In France and Italy there is strangely little drunkenness, but the whole spirit and feeling of both those countries is opposed to what we know as the prohibition policy. It seems to me that common sense is. the first and strongest weapon in the hand of any true reformer. I hold that vastly much could be done for tha cause of temperance now —much that is left almost altogether undone—if the prohibition party would fight for the proper administration of the law as it stands. I would, to start with, impose most drastic penalties for che benefit of any licensed victualler I discovered selling adulterated liquor, or liquor not true to label — say, a fine of £IOO for the first offence, with loss of license for the second, 110 discretion of mercy being left with the magistrate in either case. You might not do away with the curse of drunkenness by doing away with the adulterated muck that is now sold all over *he country, but you would straightway achieve a very great measure of reform. Next, I would insist on the removal of all njeretricious aids or inducements to drunkenness. The barmaid would have to go—she first and foremost. Women is a noble and exquisite creature in her place; but she is out of place in a bar, and often becomes an exceedingly dangerous and malign influence. Again, as far as possible, I would remove the legal penalty for drunkenness from the drunkard to the publican. Every drunken man found in or about a hotel should count as a black mark against the license. Whether an evil can be abolished or not, there can be no douot that to limit its operations and restrict its scope must be a task of the highest patriotism and utility.