The Passing Show.

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18619, 23 April 1932, Page 11 (Supplement)

The Passing Show.

(By “Fre NEW ZEALANDERS were startled out of their complacency last week by the outbreak of vandalism in Auckland. It was a rude awakening, for wo had persuaded ourselves that as a people we had respect for law and order and for the lives and possessions of others. The events in Auckland would, however, indicate that there is a considerable leaven amongst our populace for whom the old-time standards have little appeal. The scene of ravage and loot staged in Queen Street and Karangahape Road on Thursday and Friday of last week betokened the work of baboons and orang-outangs rather than human beings. Possibly the worst feature was the impassivencss of the crowd which should have contained a large percentage of respectable people. Had these been animated by the right spirit they would have rallied to the support of the police to prevent the disgrace which has been placed upon their city. It is, or has been, a treasured tradition that there were always sufficient men in a British crowd to uphold the law. Last week’s demonstrations would seem to prove that this is not the case In Auckland. * • * • An official of the New Zealand Educational Institute, writing from Wellington, endeavoured to show that the Auckland riot- was due to ignorance, and that it constituted an argument against any further “cuts" in educational expenditure. It is a rather farfetched contention, and it would be interesting to know upon what it is based. " Free Lance” is credibly Informed that those who were responsible for the outrage were extremists and hoodlums. Are not the hoodlums the products of our State schools? For nearly half a century the Dominion has had what it once prized—a free, secular and compulsory system of education, and those hoodlums whom the secretary of the Educational Institute classifies as ignorant have been through the schools, for comparatively few of them were over 2o years of age. Despite the contention of the official, “ Free Lance” feels that our educational system is not giving us value for what it costs us, and that it needs a thorough overhaul. Some of the frills could well be dispensed with and a little more attention devoted to the moral side of the child. We may be turning out mental prodigies and physical giants; at the same time they may be moral and spiritual starvelings, whose standard of right and wrong is a very low one. Educational systems, as well as other things, must be judged by their fruits. # * * • The school committee elections are over for another year. This week’s proceedings were unusually slow. Districts where a few years ago large numbers of parents a n d guardians attended and took a keen ini crest in the halls of learning barely provided a quorum on this occasion. Such lassitude is not good. As one chairman remarked it betokens either lassitude or satisfaction, and he was Inclined to think that in the case of his colleagues and himself the small assemblage betokened satisfaction. He was possibly right, but It would have been far more satisfactory if the satisfaction had been, shown by a larger gathering with a few commendatory sentences from those whoso work the committee had so faithfully and efficiently discharged. , Public men do not undertake duties for kudos, but all the same a pat on the back is frequently a stimulant to greater effort. * « * * The public, however, are hard task masters. They are liberal with their kicks, but sparing of their halfpence. They meet perhaps annually to select a number upon whom they confer the honour of carrying on the wrnrk of this or that organisation—and then they leave them to It. They will condemn and criticise galore, but religiously refrain from helping. They expect the officers to bear the full burden and In addition lo dance attendance upon them. This is not the right spirit. Officers and committeefnen have a right to look for the hearty co-operation and assistance of the rank and file in the discharge or their often onerous duties. Members should seek as well as lie sought. Especially Is this the case with regard to dues and subscriptions. Joining a church, club, or any other organisation entails obligations as well as privileges. There Is no compunction usually about claiming the latter, but discharging the former Is often another story, and the officials have to Issue constant reminders and often re-

Comment and Criticism.

ie Lance.”) sort to dunning, which greatly detracts front the honour of holding office. The ideal is for the member to realise that he is as much a part of the concern as the official and that it is up to him to discharge his obligation* with as much alacrity as lie claims the priv-* ileges. Such a spirit would ease the lot of the officers and make for peace, contentment o*d good fellowship all round. It is not fair to expect the officers to attend to the whole patch; each member should strive to hoe his row. * * # * Movie fans were much interested this week in the excellent pictures of that magnificent horse Phar Lap, whose premature death at the height of his fame caused such widespread lamentation. Slow motion pictures snowed in detail the superb action of this wonderful animal, and his perfectly-pro-portioned frame and the alertness and intelligence were seen to advantage in the lifesize photographs. Somehow, Phar Lap’s attendant proved rather a contrast to the famous quadruped. Wizened and weakly, with a thin voice which did not produce well, he seemed, so far as one could judge from first appearances, rather a poor specimen, physically, of humanity as he stood reiterating “ Phar Lap was a phenomenal horse —the best horse I have ever rode." To at least one member of the audience occurred the thought that if as much time and thought as are devoted in some quarters to breeding and training racehorses were given to the physical, mental and spiritual development of human beings, there would be a quick improvement in the calibre of our race.

Maybe the writer was unreasonably hypercritical of Plnr Lap’s attendant. Unnerved by the occasion and unused lo appearing before the public he could scarcely be expected to appear at Ids best, and what we judge to be illiteracy might merely be an excusable slip of the tongue. The faults were, more glaring, however, because of the fact that, with very exceptions, New Zealanders speak well. Partly, probably, on account of the advantages of modern Invention, which brings people Into touch with those whose speech is fluent and whose enunciation Is good. We rarely hear a person constantly dropping consonants and aspirates. There is no reason why New Zealand should not lead the world In speech as in other respects. She has developed no dialects like the English have. Her people are usually too sensible to cultivate exaggerations such as the Oxford drawl, or the distortions which used to be encouraged in young ladies’ seminaries, and so far she is immune from the offensive American twang. By avoidance of these ridiculous innovations and slipshod inaccuracies may she long continue lo be an example to the rest of the world.

Concerning writing, apparently we do not enjoy such a good reputation. Only th« other day the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce drew attention to the poor standard of penmanship amongst juniors and school children. The Chamber need not 'have confined their remarks to the young people, for often adults arc the worst offenders, and there are instances of professional men in responsible positions whose writing is sometimes quite illegible. In a newspaper office more than in any other perhaps one comes into contact with handwriting of all kinds, and one cannot help coming to the conclusion that the letters written for the Children's Page are by far the best copy. Correspondents, whose thought is quicker than their pens, will send in an excellent exposition of the economic question in handwriting which disgraces their intelligence and training. Sportsmen will scribble out the names of their Saturday team in faint load pencils and think the sub-editor has committed nothing short of a crime if he consigns their contribution to the waste paper basket. Probably the reason there Is so much slovenly handwriting in evidence is that we live in an age of speed. In order to save time sacrifices are made in many directions. Whether some of these sacrifices arc really worth while is debatable. Further, the prevalence of this tendency to scrawl and scribble leads many <o ask whether until there is an improvement in this direction we are reaping the returns we should from our large expenditure on education, and inclines us lo agree with those who suggest that when less money is available for luxuries, more attention will be given to necessities.