TOPICS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue V, 24 July 1897, Page 130

TOPICS OF THE WEEK.

THE WANDERERS’ RETURN. TIS not so very long ago since the British Colonies throughout the world despatched their Premiers to the Motherland to testify, at the great Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Colonies’ loyal devotion to the Head of the Empire. Yet the time will not be many weeks of age more than it is when each Premier will be back among his own again with the gratifying feeling that his duty has been done —all the more gratifying since the duty in this case was so very effectually disguised as a pleasure. But, while it yet may be a matter of speculation, might it not be well for the Colonies to ask them selves if the Premiers who are returning to them, will indeed be the same Premiers whom they sent forth ? Each Colony knows, of course, the man she sent to represent her in the great gathering of the Empire in London, but can she feel assured that it will be in very truth the same man who will come back to her ? Ido not mean to suggest that, in the course of a few short months, much change will have taken place in the outward appearance of the Premiers beyond what the machinations of the Bond-street tailors may have effected, but all my mind is troubled with a doubt that their inward men will be strangers of whom the respective Colonies will have to make the acquaintance for the first time. Perhaps it is a pity that each Colony, before it responded with such loyal cordiality to Mr Chamberlain’s insidious invitation, had not sat down and counted the cost of sending its Premiers to London —the cost not in filthy lucre of course, but in the possible loss or damage which the principles, prejudices, traditions, etc., etc., of its said Premier might sustain by such a visit. ‘ Show me a man's company and I will tell you what he is,’ says the proverb, which, like all other proverbs, is the pure crystallised wisdom of the ages. It does not take an extraordinary amount of acumen, then, to comprehend that the Premiers cannot have been consorting during their visit to England with princes, potentates, and chiefs without undergoing radical changes of thought that ere not likely to have left them Radicals. The Colonial Democracies, that flourish so bravely under the protecting shadow of the great British crown, sent Home untainted Democrats to represent them ; but, as I have said before, it may be that these will return no longer Democrats, but the upholders of ultra-monarchical principles which will presently lead to the establishment of ‘ Star Chambers ’ in their respective Colonies. The Premiers went to London filled with a proper pride in their own countries—except the representative man of New South Wales, whose pride was something highly improper, even indecent — and each man of them prepared to assert that the true site of the Garden of Eden lay in that portion of the earth’s surface which called him its Premier ; but it may be that, after having feasted their eyes on the pomp and glory of the older world, they will come back and look disdainfully on the lands of which, erstwhile, they were so proud.

BUT, no ! such blind ingratitude could not surely dwell in the breasts of mortal men. Far easier is it for me to believe that, though the Premiers may return deeply etnbued with monarchical views, they will still

retain their former love and admiration for the countries that have had the good taste and discrimination to make them their Premiers. Still, I can foresee possible complications that may arise ont of this combination of affections. Suppose the Premiers, anxious to give their beloved colonies a more intimate acquaintance with the grandeurs of royalty, should, by the execution of various clever coups d'etat, set themselves up as kings, each in his own Colony ? Little chance is there of the bulk of the population of New Zealand being able to set eyes on their sovereign if that sovereign be Queen Victoria sitting on her throne at the other side of the globe, but every man, woman, and child in the Colony may surely cherish the hope of getting a smile or a nod from King Richard I. of New Zealand. It has always been laid to our Premier’s charge that he was a trifle too autocratic, but that trait, which might show ill in a Premier, cannot but show well in a king, and Richard Seddon, autocrat of all Zealandia, would, I doubt not, insue his nkases with right royal peremptoriness. Strange, indeed, would it be if Mr Chamberlain’s master stroke of policy, that was intended to strengthen the affection of the Colonies for the British throne, should lead their representative men to admire the institution of the throne so much that nothing less would serve them than to give their colonies and themselves thrones of their own 1 However, I am quite willing to admit it likely that the ardour of the Colonial Premiers’ monarchical principles may stop a good way short of this ultimate expression, and I will further admit it pos sible that the Premiers may have been more strongly influenced by their contact with men of notable thought and action than by the dazzling state of princes and royal potentates. We shall, in that case, probably see them returning home bearing marks on their outward man of the change that contact has wrought on their inner. One of them, on whom that afternoon tea at Hawarden has left its effect, will wear the Gladstone collar and talk in well-rounded periods with the sonorous eloquence of England’s Grand Old Man. Another, on whom Lord Rosebery has not exercised his fascinations in vain, will unconsciously strive to reproduce his lordship’s irresistible tact and sprightly humour. Another, by that imitation which is the sincerest flattery, will show his appreciation of Sir William Harcourt’s clear good sense and clever practicality. But I am certain that none of the Premiers will venture to affect the eyeglass and mannerisms of Mr Chamberlain lest they should in any way infringe the patent of Mr Geo. Hutchinson, who, by use and wont, has surely earned for himself the sole right of the reproduction of the great Colonial Secretary in the Colonies.

THE EFFECTS OF THE JUBILEE. THERE is no doubt that the loyal celebrations ot the Record Reign promoted Imperial unity in a very marked degree, but it is to be regretted that this gratifying result has been procured in some places at the expense of local nnion and brotherly agreement. This appears to have been particularly the case in Auckland, where a certain ebullition of loyalty determined the citizens to erect some fitting memorial of the great occasion. Unfortunately, however, when it came to decide what the memorial should be public opinion was found to be hopelessly divided. One party advocated a statue of Her Gracious Majesty to adorn some public place and to be an ever present reminder to the citizens of Auckland of the lady who has so long and ably filled the highest office in the Empire. Another party objected to a memorial of the above nature. They were loud in their advocacy of a scheme to establish and endow some charitable institution as a memento of the glorious reign. Finally, they decided on a children’s hospital. The statue party was numerically much weaker than the other, but it included among its adherents a good many moneyed people, while the hospital party was composed of the great mass of people to whom half-a-crown has a very definite and distinct value, and every halfsovereign represents a considerable fraction of the income that cannot be trifled with. Very soon it became plain that there was no hope of any agreement being come to between the aesthetic and the benevolent factions. Both were obstinate, and while the aesthetic side pooh-poohed the hospital as unnecessary, the benevolent side ridiculed the statue. The natural result was that no love was lost between them. The statue faction being the richer of the two, to extract subscriptions from it was naturally easier than to extract them from the poorer, and perhaps more refractory, element which composed the bulk of the Hospital faction. The promoters of the former scheme had this great advantage in their favour, and they turned it to good account by at once opening lists among their friends. When the fund had assumed respectable proportions they triumphantly pointed to it, and no doubt hoped that the practical step they had taken would commend itself to the public, and that citizens would cheerfully forget *ll about their hos-

pital and give their subscriptions for the proposed statue. But the citizens were in no such mood. They obstinately refused to have anything to do with the statue, and noted with amused interest that the subscriptions to the statue fund were falling off. The little claim had been worked for all it was worth, and now it was giving out before one-sixth of the sum necessary for the statue had been extracted from it. The statue men had hoped to collar for their fund some £too odd, the money collected at the Tournament and Sports, the receipts of which, it was clearly understood, were to go towards the carrying out of any scheme for the permanentcommemoration of the Jubilee that the public might decide on. But the organisers of the sports declared that they must have some clear proof that the statue was the memorial the public had fixed on. Of course no proof could be given. Up to this time it looked as if the statue faction were to have it all their own way, but at this point the Hospital faction, which had been lying on its oars, came to the front and petitioned the Mayor to hold a public meeting to decide what form the permanent memorial should take. That meeting comes off to-day, and although it would be impossible to predict the issue, popular feeling has been so stirred up that it is not unlikely that the Hospital faction, which has the populace with it, will carry the day and transfer holus-bolus to its banking account the proceeds of the tournament and sports, which will furnish a nucleus of a fund, and a nucleus as large as the whole of the amount which the statue promoters have collected with infinite labour. With that nucleus they can start fair with their opponents, and we shall witness a fine race indeed. Whichever side wins, whether a statue or a Children’s Hospital is the result of the fight, or whether both are the outcome of the struggle, the memorial or memorials will really be quite as much tributes to civic jealousy and strife as to the virtues of Victoria the Good, and men when they look at either will rather call to mind the battle royal out of which they were evolved than the peaceful and benevolent qualities of the Princess to whose honour they were supposed to have been erected.

A REAL DANGER. THE somewhat wide system of local government under which primary education is conducted in this colony gives rise to amusing complications. A frequent ground of contention in out-of-the-way districts is the management of the school building itself. As often happens, it is the only edifice that will answer the purposes of a public hall, and it is used for meetings of all kinds. It is at once the school, the church, the lecture-room, and the ballroom, and is in request by half-a-dozen religious sects, and the utterly ungodly to boot. Under snch circumstances it is not surprising that friction should occasionally arise, and that the party which carries the day should be the one which has most friends on the committee—for the committee is omnipotent. In one district where the religious element is in the ascendency yon will find that the schoolhouse is strictly reserved for services, soirees, and as a rare concession an itinerant phrenologist is allowed to show his charts and read the heads of the most youthful part of his audience. In another locality again you will find the building given over weekly to dancing, secular concerts, and such like frivolity. And you may be sure that in every case there is a party, generally the minority, inveighing against the regime of of the existing committee, denouncing their management of school affairs, and the nses to which the school building is put. The Board is frequently appealed to by the dissentients, but as the powers of the committee are extensive, it is very little that the Board can do. An amusing instance in point occurred the other day at Whakapuaka, in the Nelson province. The residents of the district sent a representation to the Board complaining that the School Committee gave the use of the school building to certain Mormon elders who had come along preaching the gospel according to Brigham Young. The signatories, some forty odd in number, looked upon that doctrine with no kind eye, and took grave exception to its teachers being sheltered by and permitted to disseminate the tenets of their faith in a respectable public building, so they appealed to the Board. But, alas! the Board, whatever views its members might hold on the subject of polygamy, were powerless in the matter, and they told the petitioners so. The Committee, it appears, had full control over the building, and were at liberty to lend or let it to whomsoever they pleased. This conclusive evidence of omnipotence on the part of a school committee suggests what terrible things might be perpetrated by a committee that was wickedly inclined, or careless and irresponsible in its character. They might lend the school to the propagation of the most awful heresiesthat were ever taught, and change an honest and upright community into one just the reverse. Who knows what the Whakapuaka Committee may not be answerable for

in the future ? It is not impossible that the seed ot Mormonism, which they have indirectly helped to sow, may grow into a great tree and bear bitter fruit. A belief in the plurality of wives, if put into practice, might not be such a regrettable thing in the present depressed state of the marriage market. At least I know many fathers who, I am sure, would rather welcome it. But as the law of the land does not permit such Oriental uxoriousness, there would be nothing for the converts to the new faith to do except to leave the country, which of course would mean depopulation. Now, that is certainly a thing we cannot afford. We are a small enough number already to bear the burden of taxation, and we do not wish to be further reduced. Indeed, any attempt to lessen the population should be treated as a capital offence, and for that reason I think the Government should have come to the aid of the petitioners of Whakapnaka and upheld them, or at least it should amend the administration of the Education Act so that seven men may not have it in their power to imperil not only the religious convictions of a community, but also to introduce new ideas that may detrimentally affect the whole colony.

A SABLE ARTIST FROM NEW ZEALAND. THE Maoris are apparently so impressed with the gracious reception Her Majesty has accorded to the New Zealand Premier and the New Zealand contingent that they are contemplating the despatch of a special ambassador of their own to lay before the throne the grievances of the Maori people. Mr Hone Heke is spoken of as the man who is to have the job, and the old story of the violation of the Treaty of Waitangi is to be the burden of his song. Hone is perhaps the best native ambassador that could be chosen, and I have no doubt that if he goes Home he will do the work as well as such work can be done. For a native he has decided fluency in the English language, and the natural gift for oratory common among the Maoris. He has pleasing manners, a far from unpleasing appearance, a certain inborn dignity and altogether is naturally well fitted out for the ambassadorial function. That he will succeed in his mission to the extent his supporters would like, and may even anticipate, does not, however, follow. lam pretty sure that so far as the mission goes both he and they will be disappointed. But I should not wonder if Hone himself turned out a big success in the social line. If he goes soon while the furor colonial is still raging at Home he may find himself the lion of a London season, and mingle with the blue bloods quite as freely as Mr Seddon has done. Indeed, he might accomplish higher flights into the aristocratic ether than even that gentleman has managed, and return to New Zealand as big a man as the Premier. The temporary apotheosis of the Colonial Premiers has been a marvellous thing, but Hone might do just as well as they if he managed his cards rightly.