THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12768, 1 July 1911, Page 2

THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON.

BY tfRA-NK MuilTON

'At last^ we are in the grip of. tho winter. Un exceptional spell ot. ,pleasant- -weather, tho cold has set in raw and; gripping, witn cnance giim- . n,ers of sunlignt througii weeping masses of grey. Wellington is its typical winter self, and whenever Wellington is'like that 1 take leave to hate it. Easiness is reasonably good, with no trace of special bustle. The exhibition still draws crouds, and the folk still havo money in plenty for their amusements. " Booking for the Sheffield' Choir's concerts has been enormous. In point of fact, chore are no moro seats to bo had at any price." Next week. &, Meynell and Gmin Company, will open in "The Aieadians." Thuf will ha the best show this firm h«u* t'^er introduced, and there is already ovidenco that the Company will play to bumper houseo. Wellington, in short, fully maintains its reputation 4s a "good show town." In the winter there is little to do or to see in the open, and the citizens are gratefully glad to get under cover and be amused. DEMOCRARCY. Mr, A. R. Barclay, sometime M.P., in making a fuss in Dunodin becauso certain ministers of ours have recently zeeeived honours at the hands of tho King. Mr. Barclay wants tho Labour Party to make no end of a big noisn ,'ibout it. Why ho worries I don't know. But I do know, and Mr. Barclay knows, that the King has nothing whatever to do with the business, s> far as the conferring of knighthoods are concerned. It is well to keep up tho tradition and delusion that a Km& icigns in Britain; but we know quite well that in most matters he is merely a figure and a symbol, often giving his Royal assent to legislation that his soul abhors. He does not bother aboui. selecting recipients for tuppeny knighthoods. These knighthoods, against which Mr. Barclay (in the name of Labour) protests, are conferred by the cabal that -now stands as the most " democratic" Government that England has ever known. What, then, has Labour to grumble about? It is truo that Mr. Fisher of Australia has not received a knighthood; but that is probably because he daren't. In Australia it happens that the reigning democracy is xeally rather democratic. But even Air. Fisher has accepted a I\C, which means exactly nothing if you turn to tho practical side of things. . Perhaps'Mr. Barclay has Sir Joseph Ward in his mind. One may swallow ii" knight-, it seems, and stick at a •baronet. That is silly. Tho distinot.ion conferred on the Premier is tho only genuine honour that has been granted to Australasia in connection with this ■ Coronation ceremony. Wo should have no evidence that the King (God bless him!) carod a snap of the fingers for us if a bushel of knight-, hoods camo. suddenly, this way. But a baronetcy is quite another matter. The man who is made a baronot, unless he has great social influence, must have been and hava done something. Li any' case, what better evidence caTi the "democratic" cabal give that it. understands and fain would please us?—what better evidence than this flinging of tin-pot decorations? We may talk about the dignity of Labour and all tho rast of that rubbish till our tongues split; but we can't talk out of existence the plait' and obvious /fact that we are at all times prepared to lick .the hoots of any passing aristocrat. \Vhcn>ii.ncw Governor is sent to ;us'j"jt vj.ne-eessary that .he shpnld. first feceivo a peerage,-' or we. would none [of him. When the princeling of Bartchberg come along,- we stood around .fpr-Jiours'in;tho.,rain<.trying,"to«>get '^, squint of him—though he was a pretty cheap thing in princes, goodness! ,-knows! ■ If Sir , Joseph.. Ward had ■ only f boon made a 'Duke, we should .havo [ grovelled ourselves to.death, and tho-f»o-cal!ed dt;inocrat» -would -have beon tho worst- grovellers, as. usual. I know and Hke Mr' Barclay. He is ' a straight and sincere man, and lm convictions are honest. But why ho should persist in mixing; himself up with thfit queer crowd I am at a loss to imagine. MORMONS. [ j I am glad to note that there is at last a movement to dea 1 with tho MorI mon propaganda in the North. 1 don't object to Mormons on the groiind of , their religion; becauso I bold that every man has a perfect right to believe or refuse to believe whatever ho chooses, and that the behaviour of any man who would force his belief upou another only be characterised fis consummate impudence Having clear-: ed the way by that statement, I frankly kdmit my conviction that it would be a very good thing rif those Mormons were turned out of tho country. These fellows are a menace to white civilisation. In tho United States the people are again awakening to tho imminent menace of the Mormon cancer. Having won their state-hood by subterfuge and hypocrisy, tha Mormons are again throwing off the mask and talking favourably of plural marriage. They are' I roselytizing all over the world, and thousands of girls are being cleverly drawn intq- Utah. They do all things to a definite end, and their ultimate aim is invariably for evil. They are a pestilence that is being slowly disseminated among the peoples of the oarth. ;