ETCHINGS FROM IN EMPIRE CITY

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIII, Issue VIII, 25 August 1894, Page 182

ETCHINGS FROM IN EMPIRE CITY

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THE AUTOCRRTIC IDLER.

The Journalists* Institute Bill.

The only person who can see anything really interesting in the Journalists’ Institute Bill is the editor of the Post. I noticed the place of the Bill to-davon the Order naner. I don’t know

inenui vo-uay on inetrruer paper. iaon [Know who put it where itis, but it is at the very bottom of the legislation of the whole country—there are seventy or eighty bills, motions, questions to be settled before this bill can be made law or sent to limbo. An oppressive weight of measures of all kinds weighs the Journalists’ Institute Bill down and keeps it down. It is like a chest, * wanted on the voyage,' at sea, but which, somehow, has got deep down in the hold of the vessel, with 2,000 steel rails and some thousands of fish-plates on top of it for the Main Trunk Railway. A gentleman pointed out the Bill on the Order paper to me yesterday, and was much perplexed by the figures ‘ 71—1 ’ immediately following the last word of the paragraph referring to the Bill. I said it was merely a note of the present state of the odds regarding the Bill—7l to 1 against its ever getting on the Statute Book. This explanation relieved the gentleman’s mind. I won’t say anything more about this Bill, although there’s lots that could be said about it were one that way inclined.

Not Responsible for Her Actions.

The present demand tor detailed information regarding Corea is much to be commended, but the craving cannot well be satisfied, for a very good reason. We do not know a great

deal about Corea, for certain. We believe learning is held in high estimation in that country. I can state positively that in Corea woman is looked upon as a being quite irresponsible for her deeds, words or actions—and this, perhaps, is the proper point of view from which to regard woman. Anyhow, it suits the Corean woman very well—when she does amiss. / Poor thing : she couldn’t help herself !’—so says the Corean man, and that ends the matter.

Contrary China.

We know somewhat more about China. In China roses have no fragrance; women no petticoats ; labourers no Sabbath ; magis-

trates no sense. The magnetic needle in China points to the South. A puzzled Chinese scratches his feet—not his head. The Chinese seat of intellect is the stomach—but some Englishmen have the seat of intellect in the same region. 11 is an insolent gesture to take off one’s hat to a Chinese lady or gentleman, and to clothe one’s self in white garments in that queer land is to go into mourning.

~ . Nobody yet, that I can see or hear of, has I he State and

courage to say out, so that all men mav the Railways. hear, that the railways in a democratic country should be controlled altogether by the State. The control of the railways by the State may not be a perfect system of management, but it accords with the trend of opinion in these days—to give the State as much to do as possible. We hand over our letters and telegrams to the State and no one complains, or indeed can complain of the management of our postal matters. The State, to some extent, arranges our labour market, and does various other things for us, which nobody else could do so well. It does seem utterly ridiculous now, when we are asking the State to interfere with so many of our concerns, and when the wave of opinion everywhere is in favour of the State doing still more in the management of even domestic affairs than it does—it seems absurd, I think, to say that the State is well qualified to do all this for us, but not at all qualified to manage for ns the most considerable by far of all our interests? In the Australian colonies they would be quite glad if the State were to reserve the Railway control. The feeling in this country is probably not so strong in the same direction ; but all logical democrats must be in favour of state management—there is no possible doubt about that. Political control, of course, is quite a different thing to State control, and I would point out that in Victoria political control was not superseded by the appointment of Railway Commissioners. In fact,

political influence was exercised just as before :in the end it was even stronger than ever. If the State is to do so many things for us, it is simply reasonable to say that it is the most capable, also, of taking full charge of the vastiest property that the State has next to the State area itself.

The Newspaper Man Unmasked.

The Hon. John McKenzie, in his new Libel Bill, proposes amonstg other things, to make all persons who write leading articles for newspapers, and individuals who address

correspondence to newspapers, append their names at the foot of their articles or letters. The latter proposal may be dismissed as immaterial. Perhaps, indeed, on the whole.it would be as well were the whole army of * Constant Readers,’ ‘ Indignant Ratepayers,’ and * Disgusted Liberals’ obliged to reveal their identity. The ladies also, who under the names of ‘Ophelia,’ ‘Ruby,’ and ‘Phyllis,’ hide themselves completely, would have to stand forth and describe their own and their sisters’ dresses in their own proper persons — to the great surprise, no doubt, of many, whose ideas as to who ‘ Ophelia,’ • Ruby ’ and ‘ Phyllis ’ really were, ran in a totally different direction. The ladies can settle this rather delicate matter with the Hon. John, as best they can. It isn’t of much consequence whether press correspondence is signed with the writers’ real names, or printed in assumed ones. But with leading articles the case is entirely different. It is not an individual who speaks, when a leading article is given to the world. Take the case of the London Times, the Melbourne Argus, or let us say the Auckland Star or the Wellington Post. Would not leading articles appearing in these journals, in any journals, lose all their power and force, and influence almost, if individualised ? I hope we aren’t going to France for newspaper, or any other laws. In France men speak always, and the newspaper, (the real power or what ought to be the real power) never. As a consequence, the French press has no influence worth mentioning. As I understand it, the alterations required in the existing laws relating to libel require very little meddling with. A slight alteration is needed in the direction of protecting newspapers making bona fide and accurate reports of what may be said or stated in public assemblages, but, beyond this, one would be unreasonable to ask for a change. The Hon. John McKenzie’s project, small as it seems, would revolutionize the whole journalistic firmament and create infinite disorder and confusion where before there was at least a semblance of harmony. It would simply and altogether destroy such influence as the press now has in these islands.

The Church and the People.

The re,ations between the Church and the socialistic movements and aspirations of the . , present day were discussed by the Citizens’ j nBl itute recently at the Exchange Hall,

when the Rev. T. H. Sprott dealt with the subject, which was afterwards warmly, and indeed most intelligently (at the same time) discussed. The interest taken in the question was manifested by the crowded attendance, and the outspokenness of various speakers was very curious and suggestive, when one remembered that the meeting was not a chance or haphazard one, but, on the contrary, represented no small share of the thinking portion oi the community. Of course the views expressed as to what work the Christian Church had done in the world to benefit humanity during nearly 2 000 years, and what work it was now doing in that direction, were by no means in accord. It was, on the one hand, claimed that every gain made in the direction of progress, and all advancements that have been achieved by the race, were directly traceable and due to the influence of the Christian Church. On the other hand it was contended that the Church—and, more especially, in the Old Country, the Church of England—had invariably opposed all movements giving greater knowledge, privileges, or comforts to the people. Mines Acts, Facto lies Acts, the extension of the Franchise, the question of temperance, education and half a score of other matters and things vitally affecting the social welfare of the masses were referred to ; and it was stated that in all these, the opposition, often fierce and always influential, of the Church

had invariably to be reckoned with, and, in fact, that what had been won in any of them, had been won in the teeth of clerical opposition. The condition of Europe at the present time was instanced by one gentleman as a wide spread evidence of the want of sympathy between the Church and the people: but another gentleman cast his eyes towards the United States, and asked whether anyone could doubt the immense social work the Christian Church has accomplished in that country ? It is my private opinion that, whatever the social condition, speaking generally, of Europe may be, the social condition of the people of the United States is infinitely worse—even admitting (as one must admit) that the Yankees possess advantages and even means beyond Europeans. The whole social fabric in the United Statesis about as unpleasant a piece of human warp and weft as one could look at; and it is to be hoped that the Church has had little or nothing to do with the weaving of it! Of course, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his £15,000 a year, together with a palace (while his ‘ brother ’ man outside the Park fence hadn’t a sixpence to buy a loaf), was brought into the witness box to testify that the alleged * brotherhood ’ was more bunkum than brotherhood. ‘lt is absolutely impossible,’ said one speaker, ‘ to be a real Christian, with such an income!’ These rather pronounced views did not, however, go unchallenged. Cardinal Manning, Canon Farrar, the present Bishop of Durham, John Wesley, and half a score other illustrious Christians were instanced, as very good salt for the saving of the earth. In reply, Mr Sprott (who, I may remark, exhibits uncommon good humour and cheerfulness under somewhat depressing circumstances) rather warmly, and with some force, defended the Church generally, and the Church of England especially. With regard to the latter he said that although some stipends paid to bishops and incumbents might, in some instances, be very large in England, these incomes were not usually official, but were, in many instances, private means. And he gave us to understand that persons whose knowledge of what the Church of England was doing when they were at Home, twenty or thirty years ago, is quite useless as a guide to what the Church of England is doing in the year 1894. No vote was taken on the question, but I am compelled to say that notwithstanding the eloquence of Mr Sprott and several other speakers on his side, the sense of the meeting seemed to be markedly in a direction hostile to the Church as a factor of much assistance in the Socialist movements of the present age. And I think that’s a rather mild way of putting a very unpleasant truth.

Journalistic Jottings.

I began this journalistic trouble myself, and

I ain’t a bit sorry. My views as to journals and journalists, etched out recently in the

Graphic, concentrated attention on the subject; it was that story of the doings of the journalist at Ban which impressed the Hon. John McKenzie with the necessity of knowing who the writer was of all such outrageous narratives. Hence the introduction of the Limitation of Libel Bill, and the copious articles, comments, and conversations on newspapers and newspaper men, ever since, throughout New Zealand. The hon. gentleman’s Bill has, I regret to say, been pulled to pieces in a most relentless fashion, and theMinisterhimself has been dealt with most unhandsomely. He has been called all sorts of names: despot: tyrant: autocrat; ;worst of all, Tory. The hon. gentleman isn't a Tory : be would make a very bad Tory indeed, did he try to be one. But too far east, you know, is west—and I daresay Mr McKenzie’s Bill is somewhat to the westward of Liberalism. Anyhow, there isn’t any sort of need to call names, or to throw stones. First of all because the Bill will never become law : I don’t for a moment suppose it was ever intended to. It is a Scotch joke : a truly ponderous and clumsy thing, always. Secondly it isn’t absolutely certain that any national calamity would eventuate, were newspaper writers obliged to affix their names to their articles. Many prominent men, and foremost amongst them Mr Gladstone, have favoured this journalistic method, which, I must admit, seems to me altogether un English. The idea does not commend itself to the British mind, at all —and this for several reasons. It is well known, for instance, that writers of leading articles frequently express opinions and views not only not their own, but absolutely at variance with their own. They express the views and opinions, not of themselves but of the institution they guide and direct. Again, it is sometimes the case that the journalistic production of the newspaper writer is not, properly speaking, his own at all, even though he agree with every line of it. Other persons may have suggested whole paragraphs of the article, which is indeed frequently the joint outcome of the thought of two or more minds. Under such circumstances no one man could sign the article as his. The insuperable objection to the signing of articles, however, is that the most weighty and influential name is not so weighty and influential as the impersonal * we ’ of the leading columns of any journal forming, leading, or following public opinion and instructing the public mind.

Zola.

tine hardly knows what to make of the journalistic controversy, when one sees and hears

the sentiments of M. Zola on the subject quoted—as one so often does. We shut out the man’s books from the New

Zealand public, as utterly unfit literature for respectable communities to take into their hands. We treat his works just as we treat improper photographs, and refuse to pass them at the Customs. If Zola’s books are really so bad as this, or bad at all, and if we han the author’s works in the country, why do we make use of him and quote him when it suits our purpose to do so? And what value can the reading public—the public, I mean, who read the newspapers which quote Zola —attach to the opinions of the blackballed Frenchman, anyway?’ I really don’t recollect now who it was that blackballed Zola in New Zealand, or what Minister or Ministry it was that Zola shocked. The only thing I ever saw wrong with Zola’s stories was their ghastly, naked, shocking truth ! But the truth isn't invariably quite proper—sometimes it isn’t even altogether decent. But it’s truth all the same.

Unwritten Leading Articles.

The naked truth, however, whether it be set forth by M. Zola in a novel, or by a writer of leaders in the Ever-so Free Press, is a thing of which most people, and perhaps all Minis-

tries, are heartily ashamed ; indeed, with regard to leading articles in general, the naked truth is almost invariably well clad and covered with appropriate drapery. If the unwritten leading articles and comments of literary men were written down and handed in to the printer just as they were thought, there wouldn’t be any to-morrow’s paper—for the simple reason that every blessed journalist would be in gaol and perhaps undergoing hard labour, which, of all things, is the thing that journalists most abhor. Several laws, in short, besides the law of libel, have to be borne in mind by the journalist, when writing a leader. Suppose, for instance, he sets out with the fixed intention of • slating ’ Mr Saddon ? It is undeniable that the British public is not at all averse to the slating of almost any man, in moderation ; and a fair proportion of the Mew Zealand public would rather enjoy the slating of Mr Seddon, or Mr Anybody, within certain rather narrow limits. The thing, however, must be done cleanly and cleverly, and be done with, when it is done. The moment that it is seen that the limit of criticism has been exceeded, either with regard to time or language, that moment every word written against Mr Seddon or Mr Anybody, produces a diametrically opposite effect to that, intended. Adverse comment, in such a case, does the individual commented on, all the good in the world : the more there is of it, and the more bitter it is, the more does the man grow in public esteem. The leading articles in the Wellington Post, with reference to Mr Seddon are perhaps severe just now. Bless you ! they are mild as milk, as compared with the unwritten leading articles of the same powerful organ, against the same powerful potentate ! These daren’t be printed:—not because there is a libel law, but because they would elevate the Minister to such a height of popularity as would be dangerous for the community, and awfully dizzy even for the redoubtable Kichard John.

Northern Penmaship.

The most extraordinary specimen of penmanship that ever came under my observation is now on view in the lobby of our colonial

House of Commons, whither it has been sent by Mr Harry Wrigg, of Auckland, a gentleman who was long an officer of the Public Works Department, but who some time since retired from the service. The exhibit, framed and glazed, is five feet in length, and nearly three feet wide, and is altogether a most perplexing thing to look at. The headings, for instance (amongst other things), and portions of the printed advertisements underneath of various home and foreign journals appear in different parts of the exhibits promiscuously ; and it is most difficult to believe that these are actually written with a pen and not printed by the newspaper press. The bold beading, and small and somewhat uncommon type of the Auckland Star, and even the particular tone of the paper is so faithfully copied that Mr Brett couldn’t detect any dissimilarity between his own journal and as much of it as Mr Wrigg gives us. The same remark applies with equal force to fully a score of other examples. The colour, dirty condition, engraved letters, pictures, numerals, and signaturesofa Bank of New Zealand note are there, and I defy the Inspectors and Managers of this Institution to point out in what particular the counterfeit differs from the note issued by the bank itself. In fact, if Bank notes can be made in this way by Mr Wrigg, one fails to see why one shouldn’t make Mr Wrigg’s acquaintance ; or why he himself shouldn’t feel quite easy (as regards money matters at all events) for the rest of his life. I am badly in want of a Bank of New Zealand note myself, and should make good use of any Mr Wrigg may feel inclined to send me. The Editor of the Graphic can furnish my present address—after the note comes to hand it is likely that my address will be different, and I will, perhaps, be located in more extensive premises. A variety of other illustrations of what can be done with the pen are given : ink erasors, quills, envelopes which have been through the post, duly franked ; blotting bits of paper of different shades, and so on. There is a razor in one part of the exhibit, its edge glistens in the light, and I would recommend any of the sundiy persons who are heartily tired of the struggles and trials of this life, and who aie courageous

enough to launch out on a new career—to send to Mr Wrigg for one of these razors. A great amount of attention has been bestowed on this remarkable work of art, which I may mention is valued at one hundred guineas. The drawing has been exhibited at Government House, and His Excellency was good enough to doubt whether so unique a work was executed by the hand of man. He was quite delighted with Mr Wrigg’s work. A prior and smaller, but somewhat similar, work by Mr Wrigg is now, I believe, in the possession of H R H. the Duke of Edinburgh.