Current Comment.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIII, Issue XIX, 4 November 1899, Page 814

Current Comment.

THE 'FRISCO MAIL RIVALRY.

The Aucklanders have rejected, and by political combination defeated, one compromise. There is, however, another which has on a previous occasion been supported in these columns (says the Wellington “Post”). It is that Auckland should be made the port of arrival for the incoming mail, and Weliiugton the port of departure for the outcoming steamer. Such an arrangement would give Auckland, it is true, more than her fair share of the service, but it would be a dis- . tinct. improvement on the present system. The Southern districts would at least have the chance of answering by return mail. This compromise also Will no doubt be opposed vigorously by the Northerners, who are gradually forcing a conflict upon the question whether they are entitled to the mail service at all. Is all the rest of the colony to be sacrificed to the selfishness of Auckland? If Wellington were made the distributing centre altogether, Auckland merchants would still have time enough between the incoming and outgoing mails to reply to their letters, whereas at present Dunedin people never have any time to spare, and more often than not have their outward mail closed before- the inward one arrives. It is unnecessary, however, to repeat the many arguments that can be, and have been, advanced in favour of Wellington. We would only ask our own people to make common cause with those of the South Island in compelling a reconsideration of the position, and a re-arrangement of the mail service in the interests of the many and not of the few.

A TIMELY WARNING.

The dredging boom, so much in evidence at present, is beyond question based on a solid foundation (says the Dunedin “Star”). The returns in certain fortunate claims reasonably indicate that there are rich deposits to be exploited in the beds and on the banks of the rivers, and that the field for investment is, at the least, distinctly: promising. Where, however, the carcase is, there will the vultures be gathered together, and we find the speculative promoters to the fore with all sorts of schemes, offering attractions to the sanguine of making much out of little, and sketching visionary prospects of big dividends and accumulated wealth. The temptation to gamble in shares has taken hold of all classes of the community, from the staid merchant and the substantial tradesman to the clerk and the office boy. Shares are consequently being taken up with no idea of meeting the inevitable liability of calls, but in the certain hope of selling out at a profit. There will beyond question be a rude awakening when the day of reckoning arrives; when calls come thick and fast, and there is no chance of unloading; when everybody wants to sell, and nobody is particularly anxious to buy; when the statements of flaming prospectuses arc tested in the fires of experience, and it is found that all is not

gold that and realisation falls’ very short of anticipations based on the reports of mining experts, who always- have such a wonderful knowledge and appreciation of ground which they hhve never succeeded ia utilising io'Their own advantage.

OVER-WORKED PREMIER AND UNRULY HOUSE.

In habts and behaviour the House has not during the past session shown any sign of improvement. The hours kept were scandalous; the conduct of members was frequently very bad (thinks the N.Z. “Times”). This too, despite the fact that the Speaker was more than usually alert to suppress personalities and uphold the dignity of the Chamber. Perhaps some of the responsibility for disorderly “scenes” must be placed upon the Leader of the House, who was all the session suffering from over-work. However, with two Ministers absent, one an invalid hardly able to address the Chamber, and another struggling half the time to rebut charges made against his administration, Mr Seddon’s achievement in leading the House so well can only be described as wonderfuL There ie not another man in the colony who could have

filled the position half so well; happily, perhaps, there is not one so rash as to make the attempt. Those who incline to birune the Premier for tactical mistakes and occasional lapses from the highest standard of political tact and temper, should remember the herculean nature of the task he set himself before they judge or condemn. Taking all the circumstances into account, the Premier deserves to be warmly congratulated upon the ability with which he managed the House during a period when personal and party feeling ran higher than it has done for ten years past. By achieving what he has done, almost unaided, with a small majority, and with followers made restive by the nearness of a general election, Mr Seddon has proved that he has not deteriorated in force of character, tact, and ability to handle men.

LIBEL LAW AND PRESS PRIVILEGES.

Commonsense would suggest that the newspaper giving an accurate report of statements made at a public meeting should be privileged (says the “Southland News”), but againfct this it is urged that were such the case evilly disposed pers ms possessed of means might be able through the medium of “men of straw” to gratify their malice or spite. There is not much, however, in this view. A scandalous or libellous statement made in a crowded meeting is so far public property that it becomes the topic—• probably with embellishments —of the “man in the street.” And, a quite possible contingency—the absence from the meeting of the person assailed or maligned—he is placed Ln the awkward position of having to hear half a dozen or more contradictory versions of what really vyas said about him. For it is an. established fact that after the lapse of a few minutes, to say nothing of hours or days, uo. two persons will give exactly the same version of what they both firmly believe to have heard. The person aggrieved is. therefore, placed at a disadvantage—that is if their discretionary power of elimination has been exercised by reporter or editor, in that he has no positive legal evidence. Were reports .privileged he would have at best, the least questionable, proof in the reporter’s notes. As to suppositious immunity of the “man of straw.” there is already the recourse of criminal action for libel. The procedure under this may be somewhat cumbersome, but it should not be difficult to simplify it so as to make punishment swift and sure.

MODERN JOURNALISM.

It is vulgar in its mendacity, vulgar in its catch-halfpenny scares, in. its thoughts, and in its way of expressing them (says a writer in the London “Referee”). And the mournful truth is that in the aneient cant of the trade it supplies a -want; its existence is an answer to a popular demand. It is at once a consequence and a cause of ignorance, of sensationalism, of vapid incapacity for thinking. It reflects the modern mob as in a mirror. It images the greedy passion for emotion which has no reference to justice and reason, as when it transforms the figure of a sordid murderess into that of a tragie victim to a brutal Law. It is no less true to the popular vice of unreasoning feeling in its occasional clamour for war. It plays, in short, to its own audience, and if its audience were of a different sort would play other tunes. Like everything else, it acts and is acted upon. It could not exist without the existence of certain lamentable elements in the character of the people, and it constantly tends to augment the characteristics by which it lives. “My sons," said the preaching friar to Pannartz and Sweynheim, when he found them and their elumsy printing press by the wayside, “you carry i ere the very wings of knowledge. Oh, never abuse this great craft! Print no ill books! They would fly abroad countless as locusts and lay waste men’s souls." And the chronicler of this episode—real or imaginary—adds: “The workmen said they would sooner put their hands under the screw than 10 abuae their goodly craft." But those were 'days of much simplicity and little competition, and there was then no gren t beast of a populace to roar for garbage.