THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12529, 4 June 1910, Page 3

THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON

BY FRANK MORTON

The winter is upon us, but so far there lias been no reason to eon>plam of the weather. We have had little ram, and no long oontinued downpour. The days are warm, and the nights not unpleasantly cold. Of the general lack of employment of which there was so much talk last winter there is no sian this. A few people are out of work, as is usual at this season, hut there is no great or conspicuous distress. Politically, we are in the throes of a. typical before-the-session dulness, Mr. Massey has assailed the Government,, and Sir Joseph Ward has emitted his rejoinder ; but no one is much the wiser, and Pew people pretend any grave concern. This is the slack season. LABOUR'S MISTAKES. The Labour crowd "in Auckland that has censured Mr. Rosser for sending homo a note of sympathy touching the death of King Edward seems to have made a pretty complete fool of itself. A man may be a thorough-going republican, and still feel no shame in expressing some natural human feeling on 'the death of a great King. There is another, and snore important, aspect. Under the present system, the King of England is the visible symbol of all that we levere and enjoy in the matter of British freedom and security. To fail in dnle respect for bhe King is to fail in1 respect for "all that is best and noblest in our British heritage. This behaviour of the little Labour crowd in Auckland is an offensive absurdity. But I do not think that it has been deliberately offensive. Labour is the creature of its prejudices, and these prejudices differ somewhat in almost every locality. Or- j ganis3'l Labour must be for ever niak-' ing a noise, and it is -too apt to make whatever sort of noise first suggests itself.| Its dream- are too chaotic to be lealised. It should hang a text from ' Carlyile in. all its meeting-places: "Be no longer a Chaos, but a World, or even Worldkin. Produce! Produce! Were it but the pitifulest infinitesimal fraction of a Product, produce it in God's name! 'Tis the utmost.thou hast in thee; out with it then. Up, up! What- ■ soever thy hand fmdeth to- do, do it with thy whole might. Work Avhile it is called To-day, for the Night cometh wherein no man can work." DR. HOCKEY. Therel is> no suspicion of cheap flattery in the statement that the late Dr. Hocken was .one of the - best men in New Zealand, alike from the public and the private standpoint. It was my privilege to see something of him during a considerable period when I first came to this country, and I never caught him doing anything for advertisement or anything for effect. He was a humanist without guile. He loved his fellows, not because it was the right and fitting thing to do, but just because he couldn't help it. He gave

lionest advice, without any .affectation of superiority. In a somewhat narrow community, he was always wonderfully tolerant. His disposition, and character were of a wholesome sweetness. All r sorts of meanness and charlatanism he n instinctively despised, but he was never c harsh to the erring, and the common , instinct of charity to smash a broken man was foreign to his nature. Ho k loved New Zealand, as he would have o loved any other country in which it kl might have.,been his fortune to live and s work. He was untiring in .his efforts 0 to promote the good of the Dominion •_ while he lived, and he has so bequeathj ed his possessions that the good he had 'in his heart to do will continue y r actively now that he is dead. Essen- . tially a just man, his justice was uny tainted by any savour of self-righteous-s ' ness. A staunch friend to, his friends, he made no enemies. He died at a good J age, but he was a man New Zealanu [ could ill afford to lose, 5 THE OPERA. c .•■■• c I went one night recently to see Mx. :- : Williamson's Grand Opera Company in --"Madam Butterfly," and found charm- - ling- entertainment. The orchestra is a the finest that has ever travelled with s a company in New Zealand, and is- ad- -. ' mirably conducted by Signor Hazon. f The company, -a little thin in places, ia t pleasing. I saw Mdlle. Bel Sorel, who f is very effective and chic, and who acts 1 ( wiith fine duscrietiori. Incidentally, 1 1 am more than ever convinced tha.t it t is a stxipid mistake to sing these Italian r operas in English versions. Some of 1 the principals in this company only t know English well enough to murder it - most execrably. In any case, the lan--5 guage is foreign to the " note and ati" ( inosphero of the opera, and it doesn't ■ ('matter, so far as the public is con- - earned, what language is spoken. Most J of the time, it is impossible to follow - the words. However that may be, I J earnestly advise you to see this comi pa-ny, if the chance comes your way. i LORD PLUNKET. \ New that Lord Plunket is nearing 3 the end of his stay amongst us, it is l decent to note that, as governors go, - j Lord Plunket has been a very good -> governor indeed. He' is- not what you -j call a brilliant man, and ho has never i pretended to be anything of that sort. But he has taken a constant interest in New Zealand; he has given virtually all his time to his official duties; and he has otherwise proved himself a good > man'and a worthy representative of the . British power in these islands. I have l known brilliant governors do vastly mll discreet and troublesome things: Lord ' Plunket has been a model of discretion. ' ■ I have known brilliant governor* who • have been arrogant and overbearing in * their social and official reflations: Lord - Plunket has invariably been agreeable ) a.nd amiable. Lady Plunket has en- - deared herself to everybody. We may i have more notable governors yet, but iwe can never hope to have one better > esteemed. -I

i CORKHILL. ? AH men being fallible, and most of' - us being born with some sort of bad 1 . twist, 1 believe in mercy. But, things ) J being as they are otherwise, I think : | that the sentence of six months' simple i ' imprisonment passed on the bailiff i Corkliill is dangerously lenient. The > facts will be remembered. Corkliill ) went to a house of which he was to i take possession for a creditor, and there I had trouble with n man named Smith. I Smith pushed Corkhill out of the house, l and Corkhill drew a revolver and shot - Smith, who was killed on the spot. At I .the trial, Corckhill admitted that for • two years he had \ieen iv the- habit of ■ cfalrrying .a revolver: only, however, • with the intent of frightening anybody. who made trouble. For the purpose of causing fright, it is not necessary to carry a revolver loaded in every chamber. Corkhill is an old man, but age is a poor excuse for manslaughter. So light a sentence will pass with ignorant and thoughtless people as an excuse for the offence. In the minds of bailiffs, it will seem to reduce the risk of carrying firearms, and to that extent it must brin,g the law into contempt. It is perfectly true that it is wrong to assault bailiffs; but, human nature being as we knew it, the temptation to assault bailiffs must always be especially great in the case of hasty or hot-tem-pered men. Bailiffs discharge a humiliating and. highly disagreeable office; they are not , pleasant men to have about a house. The law as it stands gives them ample protection". If they are encouraged to carry firearms, the position -will become altogether intolerable. FOOTBALL FATALITIES. 'Two football fatalities of a somewhat unusual sort were reported on Saturday. One spectator dropped dead in Wellington, and one- iv Palmerston North. Both were men of advanced age, and both were keen enthusiasts of the game. |It becomes necessary to inquire whether men of advanced age and excitable temperament should attend football matches. In New Zealand I have seen no other excitement to compare with the excitement that prevails among the spectators of football matches. I have seen respectable young fellows and young women of good class howling like lunatics. I have heard elderly mothers of families shouting with* all the strength of their lungs. This lungexercise may be a good thing when it is not overdone, but the excitement may prove dangerous or fatal in special cases. Over-excitement is bad in all j cases. DUTCH AND ENGLISH. A lady who has just travelled to the East in a Dutch boat writes me in these terms: "If ever the wandering mania takes you again, and you think of tra-. veiling on a Dutch boat, remember the advice of a saddened woman, and— ' don't. It all looks so nice and tempt-

j ing in the advertisements, and it is all iso very different. The ships are not a scra,p cleaner than English ships travelling in those waters, and they are in i some ways far less comfortable. That is, if you happen to be English. If you i aro Dutch, 1 suppose it is all right. There is no getting away from the fact that the Dutch—or, at any rate, the Dutch of the East Indies—hate the English, and make very little attempt to conceal their feeling. One feels that very keenly on these Dutch boats. One knows that one is not of the family but is regarded with the hostility due to an interloper. There is nothing of that on French or German boats, but the Dutch aro different. English peo})lo resident in Java feel just the same way about it. Dutch and English are nationalities that don't mix well." WOMEN AND ADVICE. The English suggestion that six women should serve on every divorce jury is very interesting in some aspects. It is not at all likely that the system would tend to lesson the number of divorces, the average woman (whatever her own practice) holding kjhat Mie sooner an unhappy sister is divorced, tho better. On general grounds, it should be a good thing to have women on juries in all cases where a woman is concerned, since women will sometimes understand a woman when nobody else can. Anyhow, in common justice, a v/oman should be tried by her own sex, if she wishes it. I don't think that in the average case she would wish it; but that proves nothing. ' _ The other proposal—that facilities' of divorce should be increased in- the case ! of poor people has naturally aroused strong antagonism among the clergy of the Established Church. And yet that I proposal also seems to be merely com- { ■mon jujsjtice. If divorce is /pitoperly granted to well-to-do people, it cannot ! properly be denied to poor folk. The ' Catholic Church does not recognise divorces; and that, controversial matters all apart, is at least a logical course for a church to pursue. Dealing with men of all religions, and of I none, the law must always look upon warnago as a civil contract, determinablo when the contract is broken by fithor party. The law can have nothing whatever to do with the religious aspect of the business.. And there can be no doubt that the difficulty of securing divorce in the case of poor women leads to countless miseries and great suffering. DEADLY WAR. . The latest invention, Mr. Martin jHales's "flame-killer," entirely eliminates the flash at the muzzle o*f a rifle, without diminishing the velocity of the projectile. Tf that is so, another terror is added to the grim business of war.- i JSmokeless powder added a daylight terror, but flashless rifles will be an awful horror in the dark. Nothing could well be moro fearful than a hail of death from an unknown direction. Darkness, in any case, takes much of the heart and courage out of man. Panic comes more easily in the dark . than in the |' daylight. Death is a direr menace when death stalks unperceived in the i shadows. . ,

But there is always the possibility

that these new inventions, by increasing the terror of war, may diminish the probability of it. Men and ministries move more carefully when they have to face the risk of annihilation, and the greater the risk the greater the care. INHUMAN MOTORISTS. _ Thero are disquieting rumours of the inhumanity of occasional motorists who run over clogs. It is probably impossible to avoid running over a dog at times, but to leave the poor animal to die a lingering death by the roadside is a thing altogether brutal and abominable. But that is what some of the motorists in Wellington have been doing. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should see to it. When a dog is fatally injured, it is not a difficult thing to make an end of it. In any case, a motorist should wait to see what injury has been done. In the i cases as to which complaints have been I made the motorists have not waited. I —: j THE WHISPERERS. J We all of us suffer more or les,s from the insidious onslaughts of slanderous tongues. But the open slanderers are the _ least dangerous of all that evil family. The law provides ways of dealing with them. Far - more dangerous are the whisperers, the "confidential" vermin, the writers of anonymous letters. There has been a .pest of anonymous letters in We 1" :.^ion for many i Uiontlis past. Some m them have been taken to the police, Imt it does not seem that the police have been able to do much. It was not to be expected that the police could. It is as a rule exceedingly difficult to discover the author of one of these venomous ef- ! fusions^ and work so delicate scarcely1 falls within the province of ordinary ! polieo duty. Of course, the proper I tiling to do is to treat anonymous letters with contempt and take no notice of them. That is all very well as a counsel of perfection, but human nature is credulous and otherwise full of flaws. If you ';hrow mud enough, and keep on throwing long enough,. some of it is sure to stick, and if you throw cleverly from behind a fence it is probable that no one will notice the condition of your hands. Slander is the ' weapon of the meanest, sort of man and j tho cheapest sort of woman, and it is to i bo feared that the women are the worst J offenders. Often enough, there is no intention to do specific injury, but in the case of women what may be called the conversational temptation iis lalAvays very great. It is a matter on which tho public conscience needs to be aroused. Slander is really a much worse and viler offence than the ordinary sorts of theft. Ruined reputations mean ruined homes and ruined prospects, far-reaching misery and shame. '• Many a man has gone to the wall merely because prattling fools have told idle lies about him, and many a woman has .suffered nameless degradation for1 tho same cau.se. As a general thing, if I can find nothing good to say of a : man, I prefer to say nothing at all . lhats a good working rule. That is, of course, as -to a, man's private actions. His public actions are i proper matter for criticism, and if need j be condemnation. No man i< fm-rwl in. i

to public life, and when lie enters it lie knows the rules and the risks. But the public has nothing to do with such of any man's private actions as are not criminal. THE WANDER LUST. A man who has lived and laboured under many skies confided in me the other night. He said : « The worst of it is that if you keep moving too long thero comes a time when you can't settle, lnat time has com© to me I could not live all the time in one place now if I were offered a million of money to do it. Directly I" get comfortable I grow fidgety. As sure as things go well with me and I'm making money, I have to shift; and whatever money I may have made goes in expenses before I decide on the next halt. Getting married is quite out of the question, and thero aro times when I want to get married pretty badly. But no man has any right to tie a woman on the end of a tow rope and be for ever dragging her about tho world, even if he can afford to do it. What a woman wantsf ?. a safe nest in a snteg~ corner. She wants to live among the same'scenes and tho same people. She likes to strike her anchor good and deep. Whenever I've wanted to marry a woman 1 ye always liked her too well to ask her. Ive been afraid she wouldn't forgive me afterwards. So I have to go on by myself. I'm grey now, and soon 111 be white; but I'll have to play a done hand to the finish." It's bad to be parochial and rooted sometimes. But there you have the other side of the subject. The man who wanders long keeps on wandering because he must. It's a small world, and , new places soon lose their essential j novelty to him; but lie "has to keep on I the grim round, like a fellow on a treadmill. PAWELKA. In Wellington there is a general fueling of satisfaction that Pawelka/ has been acquitted on the murder charge: I here has been an idea- on all hands that the evidence was too thin. And with that there has been a sort of unexpressed sneaking sympathy with the man himself. It is always so when the ■ behaviour of any offender develops a [certain picturesqueness. The public | overlooks the squalour in its haste to I see the show. In this case there has been a strong disinclination from the outset to believe that Pawelka shot McGiure, and the feeliny of the public generally represents the feeling- of' a jury that forms part of the public In so far as Pawelka showed picturesquely the public is inclined to make a pet of him. That is the public's way. It's no ■ us® reasoning about it. ; . WITH A GUN. __ "We haven't, had any pea-rifle tragecues this last week or two, but when a couplo of men were, out rabbiting on b'unday last one .of them accidentally f;hot the other. The man shot was in ■ front, and the man behind swung his gun round with his, hand on the trigger. He was excited, and . the gun went off. Tho man in front died shortly afterwards, living long enough to mi c a Pjlain statement of the facts. Ihe oftener I see men out with guns, the more I marvel that accidents are not more frequent. When out rabbiting, nine men out of ten seem' to carry their guns with their hand on the triggers. And still, by some Providence,accidents are rare, for thousands of men co rabbitine- ev.pvv h-poL-

as buzuki "in Madam Butterfly.