Topics of the Week.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVII, Issue XXII, 30 November 1901, Page 1021

Topics of the Week.

Royal Visits. Our Governor has written a letter to the “St. James’ Gazette” describing the Royal visit to Australasia as of inestimable and far reaching value, and adds that more frequent visits are desirable. While we would not seem to deprecate Lord Ranfurly’s hospitable expressions, we would modestly suggest that Royal visits, it too often repeated, might become somewhat serious visitations. Like those Royal progresses which in some countries leave empty larders and hungry stomachs in their train, if we had to entertain Princes every year or so it would come to be a rather heavy item in our expenditure. No one grudges the money we spent on arches, decorations, fireworks, reviews, etc., when the Prince of Wales was here, though a good deal of it was badly spent, but if we had to do the same sort of thing periodically it might really affect our loyalty, while it would certainly interfere with the everyday work. Besides, I am not at all so sure that a Royal visit does not. gain n ore than it loses by being, like angels’ visits, few and far between. We appreciate most what we see least of. But it is probably quite unnecessary to discuss the matter, for the fact is that however cordially we might invite or entertain the invited, Royalties are not likely to be seen a great deal in this part of the world. More urgent duties and pleasures that are duties too keep them nearer home, and if they wish the rest and relaxation which their peculiar position rarely’ allows them they can find it incognito in some foreign country. A visit to Australia must st necessarily be a formal State affair, invested with all the publicity, pomp and circumstance which the v. eary Prinee is anxious to escape. The beau ideal of an Australasian tour, if Royalty could only accomplish it, would be for His Majesty King Edward, or His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to drop down “promiscuous like” on Australia, as the Caliph Ilaroun Al Raschid used to do in Bagdad’s back streets. As plain Mr Smith or Mr Jones they would probably have a much better time and get to know a great deal more of the country than now, when their going forth and coining in, sitting down and rising up is trumpeted all over the land. But such a trip, open to the meanest of his subjects, is denied a Prince nowadays. He can’t escape from the shadow of the Throne, which must occasionally lie rather trying, even to one born under it. Who’s to be Next? Why the earthquake should have singled out innocent little Cheviot as the special object of its fury not even the geologists can tell us. No one presumes for a moment that the people of McKenzie on whom the chimneys and roof trees fell were more deserving of such treatment than all they that dwelt in the cities of that coast. It might fall to the lot of the proudest of our centres to suffer in the, same way with a thousand times more disastrous results, for the very humbleness of Cheviot was its salvation. It is the old story of the sapling and the oak. The simple tenements of the township succumbed to the rude shock of the earthquake without doing any great harm to anyone. Had a Christchurch or a Dunedin or an Auckland stood on the same place consider the terrible havoc which would have been caused by the

toppling brick edifices. Cheviot’s fate reminds us of our instability. Whoever dreamt of an earthquake on the Cheviot estate? The most unlikely places may be among the first victims. Now if it had been Auckland the world would not have been so much surprised, for of all likely positions the northern city would seem to ha’-e taken up the likeliest as far as any chance of terrestrial disturbance. is concerned. She has deliberately sat down in what was undoubtedly one of the hottest corners

of the planet in bygone days. A hundred volcanoes look down upon or towards her. She snuggles under their arms, builds her villas beneath their noses, and disembowels them to make her roads. Where the hot ashes fell and the streams of molten lava rolled she grows her flowers and vegetables and cuts the stone for her houses. The timid stranger asks ot the Aucklander does he not feel nervous in elose proximity to such things. But he pins his faith to that one word “extinct.” If one knew as much in regard to what is going on a thousand or two feet below the ground, as of what is happening on the surface, that faith would be worth a good deal more than it is. The old folks in Pompeii and Herculaneum regarded Vesuvius in the same way. for history contained no record of its ever having been in eruption. It was as peaceful as Mt. Eden. Mt. Albert, or Rangitoto all the hundreds of years that Pompeiians dwelt under its shadow. And then with comparatively little warning it played up, to the terrible astonishment and consternation and destruction of the place. Now’ I don’t wish to disturb the harmony of Auckland bv suggestions, but I would like to know if there is any scientific grounds for believing that neither Mt. Eden nor Rangitoto could follow the example of Vesuvius. There is none, and for aught we know’ or can do to prevent it the colony might waken one day' to hear that half a dozen volcanoes were concentrating th" ! r fire on Queen-street, and lava st’vnms were wandering over the country. o o o o o RSnro ArolO’V'Obh. Why this recrudescence among* the Germans of loud-tongued hatred against Great Britain? We know that we are the worst hated nation in Europe, for we have abundant evidence of the fact. But we do not. understand such intermittent demonstrations of passionate enmity among certain sections of the people as we hear of from Berlin. If our German cousins are determined to hate us, we are sorry: but what can we do? But we would prefer that they went on hating us in a quiet gentlemanly sort of way. instead ot filling the Fatherland with shrieks that wax hysterically loud and vehement on no particular occasion. As a nation we are much more selfrespecting in our hatreds. We do not get frantic and foam at the mouth. We hate decently. But perhaps we wrong the Germans in attributing to them as a people an agitation that has its beginning among the student class, and no doubt among the beer drinking, swaggering, duelling section of that. \ Oil th is proverbially rash and irresponsible, university students from China to Peru are peculiarly so; and probably for rashness ami irresponsibility the German student is as bad as the worst. A harder worker, when he is a worker, than his brother students of Edinburgh or Loudon, he is also a “harder” character generally than the lai Ter, when he takes to mischief. Student escapades generally take the line of most resistance; when authority is to he defied, the typical freshman defies it. There is so much political freedom in Great Britain that British students are rarely a dangerous element in politics. There is so little political freedom in Germany or Russia that the universities very frequently become a hotbed of revolt against existing conditions. Thus the Continental studen* is nursed in a political atmosphere of a rather unhealthy kind; and while the F.<linburgh* boys give vent to their high spirits by wrenching off door knockers and making night hideous, the German burche consume the rawest of politics with their beer. They are impressionable lads, with an car for any demagogue, and a sword for anybody’s quarrel. The Duer emis-

saries, one can easily brie found them the most tindery of material, and liente all this commotion. There. I warrant, •s the secret of it all. But. as the “Times” insists, it is tin* dul\ of the German Government, if ’he\ do not actually mean Io eount< nane«- these demonstrations of hatred, to put them down. The leniency they show them is their greatest encouragement. No foreign Stale would suffer such internal exhibitions against itself to pass unchecked; and in tinsame way it should not allow them against any other State- with whom it professes Io bp on friendly terms. o o o o o A Timely Loan. ft is not very complimentary to the Government’s finance that the public generally should have all« ilnil<* I i he dismissal of the nun from the North Island Main Trunk Railway works to the Treasury chest running low, and should have felt relieved by the announcement of the floating of the million and a-half loan in London. The public are evidently quite persuaded that we are living in a xrry hand-to-mouth way. in spite of Mr Seddon’s assurances of plenty of cash; and the wonderful thing is that they accept the position with the utmost equanimity. There is nothing to equal the easy-going indifference of t he average New /. *.l lan.!* c in this respect. It is in vain yon t ry to alarm him by pointing out the moon tain of debt rising higher and higher. He rejoices in the How of ready money, and takes no count for Unmorrow, when the loan will be s'Wht. and the interest on if still remains to be met. and the principal to hr repaid. Mr Seddon flatters himself that this contentment is the sign of an absolute confidence in his administration. But he is entirely mistaken. If it springs from confidence of any particular kind, it is confidence in 1 he eountry itself and its resources. But our attitude is mainly one of indifference. We do not trouble ourselves about the cost, bill deliver the matter into the hands of our rnh r to do as they see lit. It rest ■< with them whether we are an econoinically or extravagantly managed colony. If good men get into power, it is well with us; if bad men. then 1 he reverse is the case, but Io a much smaller degree, for the count ry w ill throe even despite bad management. If Mr Seddon is extravagant, if h«- is atitor rat ie. it is our indifference that is chiefly to blame. In another community he might have been a very dificreni individual; and in yrl another hr might never have been heard of. We a re not fools; we are not deceived. 11 i f he Premier w ho is tin* fool it he thinks we are. We are just a careless, happy-go-lue.ky colony, spending while we have Ihr money Io spend, and hastening to borrow again when the last Joan is exhausted. That million and a-half which comes in the nick of time to replenish a deplettd Treasury will go just as the other millions went, and not go very far. Then we shall hie us to tin- lender once more. Bow long lhi> s«»rt of thing will go on depends precisely on how long 1 he lender will lend. Our ability In pay Hie interest does not necessarily affect the position. lor we can borrow the wherewithal Io pay that. 1 suppose there must hr an end to it some time, but before that time there will have been an cm! of Mr Seddon, the king, and us. his obedient servants. o O o O O The Business Cabinet. I am not surprised to sec that someone in political authority has taken exception to Lord Rosehe’-y - ideal Cabinet one composed of Imsine-s men of the Sir Thomas Lipton ami Andrew Carnegie class. Sr 11. Campbell-Bannerman pronounces » Cabinet of business men impracticable. and my ow n opinion be it worth little or nothing is the -ainr. Nor do 1 believe that Lord ously meant what he <aid. Probably his remark was merely a hit nt what hr rrgards as unbusinrsslik«' n Lord Salisbury’s Cabinet. ’l’hc noble l.or l. when himself head of an Vlinin .--t ration, was oner railed “The But tri fly Premier,” and the impress ion that hi-

is not in dead earnest in his political convictions waxes rather than wanes the more one studies him. Invested with Mr Gladstone’s mantle for a brief period he was never the serious character on the stage that the Grand Old Man was. Out of the hurly-burly of politics the position he takes up and his public utterances never entirely convince one of his seriousness of purpose. With all his undoubted talent and eloquence, he suggests the dilettante and the coquette. Happiest of phrase-makers among our presentday politicians he undoubtedly is; and I honestly believe he thinks far more of the literary value of the phrase than its practical truth or applicability. These later letters and speeches of his with regard to Liberalism make splendid reading for friend and foe alike, but I fear they rather conceal the absence of strong political purpose than reveal its presence. I am greatly mistaken if he stands selfpledged in any deep sense to any great party or national principle. His suggestion for a Cabinet of business men was probably nothing more than a rhetorical inspiration. No doubt in practice he would be prepared to qualify it till it lost any originality it may possess. Business qualities, the qualities which make men successful in the ordinary affairs of life, must also be of value to a Minister of the Crown. For him to be a mere dreamer would of course be out of place. But it is quite another matter to contend that the best men to manage the national estate are the men who have made fortunes in trade by shrewdness, industry and lucky speculation. After all, running the British Empire is not quite the same thing as running a gigantic retail pork and tea combine, or mammoth steel works in America. The men who could do the first well might be dead failures as dry-goodsmen or ironmasters; and, on the other hand, the drygoodsmen and ironmasters, though self - made millionaires to boot, would probably be as unsuccessful out of their proper sphere. This is the day of the apotheosis of the success-

ful business man, when the foolish worshipping world assures his Highness that “he would have been equally successful in any other walk of life.” That is an idle presumption. Do you suppose that any combination of circumstances could have made a Tennyson or a Shakespeare, of these two Scotch urchins—Tommy and Andie? They might have made money as’butchers or bakers or candle-stick-makers; but making money is one thing, and controlling the affairs of an Empire is quite another. Special School Holidays. During- the last two years or so the schools have rejoiced in a larger number of special holidays than they have ever known in any previous period of their existence. What with victory celebrations. Royal deaths. Royal receptions, flag unfurlings, and similar functions, the monotony of school life has been frequently relieved, and as a rule the power to grant these holidays has been exercised by the respective committees. In the full tide of our Royal or patriotic, enthusiasm it would, of course, have been churlish on the part of the Education Board to deprive the committees of this privilege, but now the former body, apprehensive that the privilege may be abused, has issued an intimation to the effect that in future committees must not grant, special holidays—an order which the committees rather resent, contending that it is another attempt to deprive them of every vestige of authority and responsibility. But I feel disposed to side with the Board in this matter. There is a distinct danger of the committees going too far in this holiday matter, and coming by degrees to regard every trivial local circumstance as a fit occasion for shutting up the school. It would probably l>e safer to leave to the. judgment of a committee the selection of the course of study than the* granting of holidays; for throughout the whole community the holiday hunger is more pronounced than ever,

and the tendency to throw work aside in favour of play finds an ever-in-creasing indulgence among all classes. In the smaller country districts committees would be even more untrustworthy distributors of holidays than similar bodies in town. Not merely would they be inclined to close the school on local festival occasions, if they had the power, but the chances are that they would frequently be tempted to do so at seasons when the help of the youngsters would be valuable in the work of the farm. To vest a committee with full holiday giving powers is to lay the whole system of education open to the interference of local influences and prejudices in a way that is altogether undesirable and dangerous. If it were only to instil into the youngsters’ minds a clear appreciation of the duty of work it is very necessary that holidays should not be. granted on every trivial pretext. If they are, our children will grow up to regard pleasure making as the main business of their lives and work as a disagreeable and rather unimportant incident therein. Some o« us, 1 fear, have almost got to that stage already without any special training in our youth. Doh't let us begin to plant those ideas in dur youngsters' heads. They will acquire them only too soon. •