Topics of the Week.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXV, Issue XVI, 20 October 1900, Page 722

Topics of the Week.

Art and Art Unions in New Zeeland.

Il is a regrettable fact, but one which few who have knowledge of the matter will coot revert, that art in this colony is not advaneiug as those who love it best could wish, or had hoped it might. As fbe years roll by, bringing round the annual exhibitions of art societies, we are aecnstomed, to to hear in the conventional speeeftes of those who open them, comfortable praise concerning “an advance on last year,’* or words to that effect. If'the falling-off in the matter of exhibits has been so manifest as to tnakf reTerence thereto necessary, we are usually asked to believe that the lack of quantity is more than compensated for by an increase in-.quality. Now. however much we might like to believe these pleasant things, however hard we try to persuade ourselves and others of their truth, are we not in our heart of hearts aware that it is all humbug, that art is not advancing as it shr.uld. that the exhibitions do not show any general step forward year by year, and that there undoubtedly does seem to be a continual falling-off in the number of exhibitors. It is so much ea-'iev, so much more pleasant to insist on seeing, or pretending to see. everything through rose-coloured glasses of fatuous optimism, that one cannot but feel a rather cowardly disinclination to easting them aside ami inviting other people to do so too. But after all. if one cares more tor art than for agreeable pretence, and a temporary wounding of individual vanity, it is worth while to admit the truth, to attempt to find out the cause, and to consider if we can help in the remedy. Let me make my contt ntion clear. In the first place. I do not deny that isolated cases of individual improvement are to be found at the annual exhibitions of the art societies; but neither are these nearly so numerous as they should be, nor is the average run of work increasing either in quality or quantity. The older artists are with rare, exceptions showing nothing better than they did five, six, seven, or even, ten years ago. In many cases ha|f the canvases tliey exhibit betray positive deterioraticn.. New arVrsts are not coming forward w they should, and the army of -these whose canvases are On one dead Level of a tolerable-, .or intolerable, mediocrity. is yearly swelled by those who have done better work in the past, ami those who ought now to be improving. 1 he causes are to my mind obvious. In the case of the older men, it is an absence of incentive. "Art for art's sake" attracted them in their earlier years, but as life drew on, as illusions were trampled under the remorstle s iron-shod hoof of every-day life, as material responsibilities and cares and worries increased, it was impossible not to feel that "Art for art's sake" was monstrous fine, bnt no good as a bread-winner. To devote the time and thought, to provide fbe models ami properties demanded in the creation of a fine genre picture, to travel and reside in new neighborrh o s f :r the securing of fresh subjects for land or sea scapes—these things require money, and are money out of pocket. If the picture is not sold, it is not merely that income is not added to. and time is lost, but money has been uselessly expended. It is a lesson whose bitter results enforce promp* attention: in after years the money is not spent. The pictures do not, and cunnfit make their appearance. The remedy which has been tried is the art union. I have not the smallest hesitation in saying, not merely that it has done more harm than good, but that the harm done by the art unions as conducted in Auckland and elsewhere is almost incalculable and irreparable. The art union is a direct, and apparently irresistible temptation to the production of potboilers. The prizes are arranged from about two guineas upwards. The highest sum is, if 1 mistake not, .£lO. Hut if the holder of a winning ticket for say £5 likes, he can buy two pictures for £2 10/, or one for £3 and another for £2. This leads naturally to artists painting what they think will have most chance of selling, and instead of sending one good canvaa, showing care and thought, having in it a lesson, or showing hope« of bigger

things, we get half a dtscen mediocrities, "dashed off’ things, which in his heart of ' hearts no one despises more heartily than the artist. Municipal encouragement of art is a duty. If is indeed an much the duty «f an enlightened municipality to provide the public with the best they can get in art. as well as the . best they can get in books. And a portion of the funds they devote to this purpose should l>e earmarked f< r '. the encouragement of colonial art. As for the art union, if it must live, why, let there only be two, or even only one prize, and let it .not be permitted to > divide the money Itetwren two pictures. The lack of improvement in younger artists must lie left for another article, but it seems to me. briefly, to Im* due to lack of self-criti-cism and a tendency to self-satisfac-tion. There is too little learning too little humility, too little capacity for taking pains, and too great a consciousness of their own talents. We are not free from these faults in other professions, but in the case of arti-ts. annual exhibition- render them mo:e obvious.

The Church's Tenth.

Ihe Auckland Diocesan Svnod carried a resolution last week a'sking the Primate and clergy to urge the members of the church to adopt the ancient law of giving one-tenth of all they receive towards the funds of the church and charitable purposes. Ventilated in the odour of sanctity, the suggestion was most appropriate, breathing as it did the self-denying spirit of practical Christianity, but brought into the harsh light of mere worldly criticism how different it looks. Two thousand years ago, in Judea beyond Jordan, when the Master said to the rieh young man: "Sell all that thou hast ami give to the poor, it was, to ns looking at it from this distance, a natural enough thing that the young man should have complied. and he is still under the ban of Christendom because he did not. But who is there among us to-day who so roundly condemn him that is prepared to give even a tenth of all we possess. Their number is small indeed. 1 question whether there are many pastors who would have the courage to carry out the Synod's injunction to the letter, or many members in their congregation, who would be grateful to them if they did. We are all willing enough to listen to general exhortations to charity, but when it comes to defining with precision the proportion of our income that is to go by way of contribution, the matter wears a very different complexion in our eyes. It is a consolation to know that though the giving of tithes is often referred to in the Bible as if it were the general custom, investigation seems to show that full payment was seldom exacted, and was perhaps not common. Jacob evidently thought he was doing au extraordinary thing when he vowed to give to the Lord a tenth of his belongings. And the legal enforcement of tithe payment in the early church seems to show that even in the spring-time of Christianity the voluntary contributions were not so large as was necessary for the church. I question whether we are so much more generous and charitable than our forefathers that it will be possible to revive as a voluntary custom what in their day it needed the arm of the law to enforce. The descendants of Ananias and Sapphira are numerous as the sands of the seashore, and the number of those who at their Bishop’s or clergyman’s invitation willingly disburse a tenth of their annual income will be easily counted. Just what the average contribution of the churchgoing colonial is to the church I hesitate to compute. Reckoned in pieces of silver, the smallest current, they might reach a total of a hundred in the year, and if you take bazaar tickets and other subscriptions, another twenty-five shillings or so, it comes to something under three pounds. Three pounds is a teuth of thirty pounds, and as there are few incomes which do not reach twice or three times that, it is pretty plain that the average church-goer gives no tenth.

Unwelcome Visitors.

The intimation cabled from the Old Country that a number of expert cracksmen are on their way to this colony, eombiniag business It is presumed. with pleasure, is rather dieturbing. We shall be inclined to look with suspicious eyea on every new arrival for some time to come, and the more prepossessing the new ehum the more reason will we feel for being careful; for your expert c-racksman as I gather from the modem detective stories, is no uncouth Bill Sykes, but a man of most presentable, appearance. Innoeent globe-trotters who meditate depriving us of no more than a native curio or two, or a piece of Rotorua terrace formation, are in imminent danger of being mistaken for some of these enterprising gentlemen, and given the cold shoulder by wary colonials, which is a pity for them and for us too. But what are we to do? Unless we are on our guard we may be entertaining burglars unawares, and harbouring vipers in the bosoms of our families. 1 ■ can quite imagine a first-class bank-breaker of the new style, up to every trick of the profession, foisting himself by means of false credentials on some of our cities; being put up at the club; dined and feted, introduced to society, and making himself most agreeable to everybody; turning the heads of half the girls; and finally walking off with the contents of several private and public safes and strong boxes. It seems rather odd that a colony like this should be honoured with a visit from men so well up in their profession. Surely there are infinitely more promising fields of labour for them than a small colony like this. But perhaps they may have information to lead them to suppose that the harvest here though not so rich as elsewhere is particularly easy to reap, and are glad of a spell of light work, even if it should not prove so remunerative. You see, having had no great experience of burglars and their ways, we are apt to be little prepared against them. Yet another supposition. The visitors may be coming simply for the sake of the trip, and with no intention of touching a tool while here. That suggestion is reassuring, but on the other hand, one doubts whether acquired habit is not so strong as to make it impossible for a cracksman to forget his profession for a long time if a strong temptation offered to engage in it.

A Nice Point. The idea prevails throughout these colonies that "swear language’’ is privileged in the case of bullock-driv-ers. It is understood that in Australasia the wayward ox. when amenable to neither lash nor logic, will yield obedience to ungrammatical and irrelevant cursing. This is an unquestioned tenet of the Australian bushman's creed, and many are the stock stories which are told in support of it. Even clergymen are represented as haring been won over to that belief after having endeavoured to get a team out of a particularly tight place by the most persuasive of invocations and threats couched in irreproachable English. The bullocks, totally indifferent to the pastor’s voice, rallied to the profane outpourings of the driver himself. If it is then, indeed, the fact that the yoked ox in this country only understands "swear language,” and is unworkable where such is not • used, it becomes a delicate question to decide how far the industrial welfare of the country warrants the disregard of the divine law. From the moral point of view there can be no question at all, of course. But from the bul-lock-driver’s standpoint the matter wears a different aspect. If he cannot get his bullocks to work without swearing at them what is he to do? A driver in Balclutha recently found himself in a predicament somewhat similar to this. He was fined .£5 for swearing at his oxen by a Magistrate, who apparently would not admit as evidence in the offender's favour the fact universally vouched for by Australasian bullock-drivers, that the animals must be sworn at. Now, what is the unfortunate man to do? Possibly he knows no language but the profane by which to urge his team, and if he does the chances are that they do not, and are too old or too stupid to learn a new one. If you understand anything about the breaking in of bullocks, gentle reader, you will also understand that it takes time for their slow bovine brains to comprehend the meaning of every word and tone which their driver makes use of, and that if they have been brought

np on “cuss” words, polite language must be quite unintelligible to them. It is, indeed, awkward for our Balclutha friend if this was the case with his team. Obviously unless he determines to defy the law and risk a £3 fine every time he goes to work, or to evade it by “curses not loud, but deep," his occupation for the present is practically gone. I feel inclined to advise him to sell his bullocks for butcher meat, for they are of no use to himself or anyone else if the legal prohibition is to hold good with regard to all drivers. Having done that, let him secure an unbroken team of young steers and train them to answer to Christian names. Thus alone can he hope to get over bis difficulties in any satisfactory way. But he will probably adopt the evasive policy, and addressing his team in honeyed words when anyone is about, let loose the pent-up river of his profanity when he gets them into a secluded spot. Is it not questionable whether his enforced hypocrisy, plus his secret swearing, is not worse than his aforetime open and above-board misuse of language? Ten Little Legislators. The addition of ten more members to the House of Representatives which the Chamber last week decided on is one of those assumed benefits to the colony which it certainly never asked for or desired. If we are not satisfied with the representation we have it is not on account of any deficiency of quantity but of quality, and we do not see how- the value of our legislation is to be improved by a mere numerical increase of the members. The danger is rather that we shall be better misrepresented. Ten more tongues set wagging in that chamber is no hopeful augury for more wisdom in the debates. The only certainty it conveys is of more noise and more waste of time. For my part 1 should rather like, to see the principle of subtraction instead of that of addition applied to the Chamber. The people of Great Britain have one representative for every fifty or sixty thousand persons. We here have one for every ten ththrsand. -But- we are not six times better governed on that account, are we? the.; House itself should seek this augmentation in its numerica'lstrengthmay seem strajjge. One might imagine that meifibers would rather prefer the smaller number. since it means a more numerous constituency and consequently a larger field of influence. But as against that there is to be considered the cares and worries of a large electorate which is somewhat like a large family hi that respect. To attend to the numerous requests, petitions, complaints of a big electorate, to deal politely with its legislative cranks, to contribute to its charities, football clubs, etc., entail burdens on a member’s time and mind and purse which he might diminsh were his constituenev less extended-

Tailors. The arena of the correspondence columns of the newspapers has seen several shrewd battles, where hard knocks have been given and received, and the wordy warfare now proceeding in the Auckland Press on Single Tax, rating on unimproved values, and topics of a similar nature- is partieu, larly lively. The chief combatants have so far been a venerable nut irrepressibly active land agent, Jlr Vaile, of railway reform fame, and a tailor named Mr King. In what must surely have been an unguarded moment Mr Vaile allowed himseH to introduce the calling of his adversary in the letter, and as the latter thought, to sneer at it. Whether Mr Vaile did or did not sneer is a matter of trifling moment. Mt King remarks with some passion that it has always been the fashion to contemn the trade of tailoring, and to regard the tailor as an inferior human animal. “Why is it?” asks Mr King, pertinently enough. We all say carelessly that it takes nine tailors to make a man! For what reason? The land agent may well pause and consider if he or any of us do such essential and such useful work. Intermediaries and go-betweens of some sorts can easily be done without, but without the breeches where should we be? A man may do forever without a laud agent or a journalist, or a lawyer, but if he goes without a tailor he will sooner or later be lodged in gaol. Several explaMtions of the origin at the saying con

ceraing nine tailor% etc., have at different tisles been given, but one which I came across the other day in Brewer, is. more honourable to the knights of the yard stick than moat. It is said that years upon years ago (once upon a time, in fact) a poor orphan applied to a rich tailor for alms. There were nine journeymen in the shop, and each gave the lad a trifle. With these he purchased a fruit barrow. This did excellent business, and tn due time the lad amassed a vast fortune. Then he adopted for his motto: “Nine tailors made a man,” and from this was evolved the sentence as we know it. Old Colonists. The interest attaching to such gatherings of old colonists as that which took place in Auckland last week increases rather than diminshes with time; for as the ranks of the pioneers get thinner those of them who still remain gain prominence in our sight as living links with a past in which most of us had no part. The mere names of the ships which conveyed the early Aucklanders to these shores, the Duchess of Argyle and the Jane Gifford, sound quaint in our ears, and take us back, in imagination, if we cannot travel in memory, to those distant days when instead of punctual and frequent steamers arriving at our wharves from the Old Country, the settlers looked out expectantly for the comparatively rare and often uncertain coming of the sailing vessel, dependent on wind and weather. We can see again — a vision the old pioneers love to recall—the tide lapping against the ground on which this office now stands, and the Maoris lazily supuing themselves where the traffic of Queenstreet is now busiest. We can imagine —or can we?—the privations and inconveniences of those early days and trace the gradual development of the city from serub-covered hill and valley to the fair appearance it now presents. And inseparable from the pictures of our fancy are the men and women who played a leading part at a time when practically every part was more or less a leading one. It is miost appropriate that we should have these real fathers and mothers of Auckland, not merelj- in our mind’s eye, but in our actual vision so long as that is possible. Their gathering together for rejoicing and thanksgiving is as much a profit to us as it must be a pleasure to themselves. They keep us in touch with a past that hps not a few lessons to teach us, the very lessons which young colonials should lay to heart. And. a less important, but yet not unimportant point, the reunion will certainly help to keep alive that interest in and sentimental attachmen to our early history which is perhaps apt to grow weak in a country where everything is so new.