The Week in Review

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 9, 26 August 1908, Page 1

The Week in Review

I Ilia decision of the Arbitration Court in the Canterbury farm laborers’ dispute lias elicited some intemperate attacks by Southern labour organisations upon the President of the Arbitration Court, Mr, 'Justice Sim. Yet it is obvious that the farming industry cannot be regulated On the same lines as factories. Harvests must be gathered in, cows must be milked, crops must be sown under conditions that defy any system tof “eight hours’ work, eight tours’ play, eight hours’ sleep and eight bob a day.” It can hardly be disputed that the conditions under which farm hands work in New Zealand are infinitely better than those obtaining in any other country iu the world. Farmers are no fools; they recognise the work of a good man when they get one, and treat him accordingly. •1 A* jS ' Sydney has laid itself out to give a right royal welcome to the American fleet. Over half a-million people assembled to view the arrival, and the iAdmiral said he had never before seen cliffs lined with so great a crowd. A regrettable feature was the large number of accidents. Two people were killed and over fifty injured in the crush. Auckland may well congratulate herself that in spite of our crowded streets we had no accidents of a serious nature. One result of the visit of the fleet to Australia will be to impress on our American cousins the size and vast resources of oui" colonies. Sydney alone is larger than many European capitals, larger even than their own great towns of Baltimore, Boston, or San Francisco. It will be a surprise to more than one visitor from the States to see that John Bull, in spite of his good-natured traditional corpulency, can be quite as energetic as Uncle Sam. jX JX "■ < Clubs in London are as plentiful as blackberries in autumn. There are clubs for all tastes and purses, and for the furtherance of every possible object from the eating of beefsteaks or asparagus, to the encouragement of spooks. The Imperial Colonial Club, which, it is cabled, Opened its new premises in Piccadilly last week, should, however, fill a niche hitherto vacant. A first-class, well conducted and, above all, central club, where Colonials visiting London, can be reasonably sure of meeting or hearing of frineds in the Metropolis, at the same time, will certainlyy be both popular and genuinely Useful, and will save a good deal of routine work at the High Commissioner's office, where the clerks are often worried Tvith inquiries for visiting New Zealanders, by friends who wish to make appointments to meet them. Also, it will afford a refuge from the intensely kind but mistaken persons who, when wo visit Britain, not only persist in taking us under their Protection, and) making all sorts of inconvenient arrangements for our amuseWen, but, worst of all, insist upon our (?) their well-meaning hospitality. The irritation of having to live with Persons whose acquaintance one has only just made, and whose rules of domestic Management one cannot without rudeness bpset, has been experienced by most of who have travelled. To refuse flatly jni to say you prefer the freedom of Mel life is best, but it is brutal, and! ths Club leaves an excuse of ” meeting blends,” not so easily put forward in the ®*e of an hotel. We, wish the 'lmperial Colonial ” every success.

Mr. Bryan’s “campaign smile” has beoome proverbial. He is a born canvasser, and is said by his admirers to possess “a ploughboy’s handshake that has become discriminating through long practice, and a smile as pleasant as a harvest moon.” Besides these superficial qualifications, he is admittedly one of the most honest and upright men who have ever entered politics. His personal character has never been assailed by even the most bitter of party opponents. But he lias been twice defeated, and Mr. Taft, » his opponent in the Presidential campaign, is known as a successful man. fie has, moreover, the great advantage of Roosevelt’s support. Both men are possessed of undoubted ability, and the struggle bids fair to be a keen one. At The Venezuelan trouble is about as perennial as the Eastern question used to be, and to most people, it is quite as unintelligible. Boundary disputes are almost as common as disputes about fences are with our own settlers. Columbia, Brazil, British Guiana have all taken a hand in the game, and in 1895 it was freely asserted that war between Britain and America over disputed Venezuelan territory was only averted by the aetion of the Rothschilds in making lieavy withdrawals of gold from New York. Just now the Dutdi are embroiled, De Castro having expelled the Dutch Minister from Caracas. Venezuela has a free and easy method of treating financial obligations that is not as profitable to its creditors as it is to its own exchequer. The representative of Holland allowed himself the luxury of putting into print his private opinion of Venezuela in general, and of its finances and its President in particular, and this opinion was not flattering. Hence his expulsion. JX JX Venezuela has only a small army of some 10,000 men with which to fight the foreigner. The militia are too much occupied with civil war to be able to spare much time to repel alien aggression. Yet De Castro defies all the Powers of Europe. He evidently relies on tue known dislike of the Americans to any interference on the part of Europe in the affairs of the Southern Republics. The United States have helped before, why not again ? The Monroe Doctrine and the Drago Doctrine are both opposed to any European Power gaining a firm foothold in South America. The Washington Government does not love De Castro or his troublesome little Republic, but, having undertaken the heavy responsibility of checking Europeans from acquiring vested interests in America, it may feci impelled once more to intervene. jX jX We hear so much about the increased cost of living that we have come to accept it as a fact, without troubling ourselves to make any further enquiry. But it is doubtful if there has been any material increase during the last two years. Butter is certainly dear just at present, but then people used so much of it during the recent visit of the fleet; rents are slightly higher; fowl feed has advanced in price. But eggs, sugar, oatmeal, meat, and most tinned goods are slightly cheaper than they were in 1906. It is ridiculous to say that ten shillings in England goes as far as a sovereign in the colonv. There is no country in the world wnere a man of moderate income can enjoy more of the actual comforts of life than he can do in New Zealand. Luxuries are dear, but the necessaries of life are cheap.

It is not, however, so much a question of the actual price paid for “butter and eggs and a pound of cheese,” as it is a question of social conditions. We are free from that senseless love of display that characterises society in other lands. Wo entertain our friends because we wish to sec them, not because we want to impress them with the length of our purse. A shilling meal at a restaurant serves to satisfy us quite as well as a guinea dinner at the East Room of the Criterion. The Londoner lives in a hansom cab; we use tiie penny tram, which is quite as comfortable, and far quicker. Some few years ago the London “Daily Telegraph” started a discussion as to whether it was possible for a professional man to marry on £7OO a year, and most of the writers thought that it could only be done by the exercise of cheese paring economy. Many thought marriage on such a pittance was out of the question. To us such a discussion seems ridiculous. Many marry and live well on half the sum named. jX JX Colour-Sergeant Friar, the New Zealand cadet, bids fair to become quite a popular hero at Home. Lord Roberts has presented him with a match rifle in memory of his visit, and his excellent shooting at the Empire Cadets’ rifle meetifig, and many other distinguished officers have given him high praise for his brilliant performance. He has also been presented to the Lord Mayor of London. At the review in fleet week, nothing attracted more attention than the splendid display given by our public school cadets. Men could not have done better than these lads did. There are those who object to our cadet system as fostering a spirit of militarism in the young. Wc believe, on the other hand, that the early training of our boys in habits of discipline, endurance, and self-reliance is one of the greatest factors in building up the prosperity of the country. To bo prepared for war is the best guarantee of peace, and spartan training is the best corrective of the softness engendered by Papuan luxury. 'jX JX Horace tells us that men change their skies, but not their tastes, when they cross the sea. The truth of this is strikingly illustrated by the affection that New Zealanders who have gone Horae always retain for their native land. Like the Germans, of whom Tacitus tells us, they miss the freedom, the social ease, the open-air life of the Dominion, and the pomp of Loudon attracts them as little as did the pomp of Imperial Rome attract the dwellers on the confines of Sarmatia and Dacia. These exiles love to meet and talk over old times. One of the pleasantest of recent gatherings was a dinner at the Holboru Restaurant, organised by old students of S. John’s College. Ten of them were present, and the Bishop of Auckland and Mr Anson, the former* Warden, also attended. New Zealand is, perhaps, more renowned for football than for classical scholarship; it is therefore interesting to learn that the old S. John’s men at present in residence at our English universities are holding their own in the schools as well as in the playing fields. JX jX It is very fitting that at a time when local manufacturers arc drawing attention to the excellence of New Zealandmade goods, the English Royal Horticultural Society should have given one of its highest "awards to n local product. The Bnnksian medal —named after Sir Joseph Banks, the famous naturalist—has been awarded to Ulnrk Bros., of Whangarei, for the beat exhibits of canned peaches and pears, and those who knbw the excellence of the fruit grown in this favoured district will feel that this much-prized distinction is thoroughly deserved. Some people manifest a strange prejudice against anything produced by the country in which they live,

and always seem to think that an imported article must be in some way superior. It is to be hoped that the recognition of the excellence of our progo far to remove this prejudice. JX Mr. Haldane has signally failed in his efforts to find recruits for the territorial army. Employers have been begged, entreated, beseeehed to allow their young men to join; but in vain. They will none of it. It was an evil day that duets by competent judges at Home will prompted the Secretary for War to disband the old volunteers. He did not realise how very conservative we are in anything that touches the nation’s army. The old volunteer force was a recognised thing, employers thought vol unteering good for young men, and gave the movement every encouragement. Associations clung round the name, and honourable traditions were being built up. The territorial army may be the same thing under a different name; but it lacks prestige and tradition, and no amount of logical reasons for the change can ever atone for lack of cherished associations. d* JX This holds good in every walk of life. It takes years, and often centuries, to build up a tradition, and zealous reformers often shatter these traditions at a single blow. They produce something brand new, free from what they call stupid and antiquated customs, aud commending itself as more rational and logical than the old method. Then they stand aside to watch the success of their patent, reformed prodigy', and wonder why it does not succeed as quickly aud obviously as it should do. Sentiment is more than logic. We are creatures of habit and feeling, rather than of reason. The heart still overrules the head. No one realises this more than the masters of our large schools. When Dr. Butler went to Harrow someone said to him: “1 suppose that the first thing you will do will be to abolish the absurd swallow-tail coats worn by the boy's of the upper forms. They are absolutely ridiculous, and you, as a well-known advocate of educational reform, will be looked to to introduce something less grotesque and more modern." The future Master of Trinity replied that he hoped to introduce many changes, but the last thing in the world that he would ever change would be the swallow-tail eoat Mr David Goldie, of Auckland, is well known as one of the most clear-headed men of business in the Dominion, and his speech before the Auckland Employer-, Association is well worthy of the careful consideration of both employers aud workers. Industrial peace depends on mutual goodwill existing between capita! and labour. The head of a business does not merely sit down and rake iu the shekels, as is popularly supposed. Ils has to plan and devise, to find new markets for his wares, to ceaselessly' watch for any' change in the public taste. The market for labour is found by the employer. The worker may be quite sure that his own prosperity is bound up with the stability of the business in which he is employed, and the stability of the business depends quite as much on the brains of the heads of the firm as on the honesty, skill, and integrity of the workpeople. All employers are not grasping monsters of greed, and all workers are not saints with halos round their heads, both are human, with more or loss of human frailty. What we- want is not men wlio make a fat living by fomenting discord aud playing on the ignorance of the workers, but men who see things steadily, and see them whole, and who can advise what is for the permanent good of both parties.

The splendid list of winners of prizes and certificates at the recent Sunday School Union examinations bears eloquent testimony to the good work being done by those responsible for the religious training of the young. Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian all sat side by side, competing in friendly rivalry for the much-coveted distinction of being a prize winner. This is as it should be. Differences we nmst have, but wc arc all united in one common aim, wc all work for one common end. Nothing ean be more important to a community than the training of its children in the fear and love of God. The men and women who so nobly and devotedly give their time and their talents to this great work can indeed claim to have deserved well of the republic. Like the mother of the Gracchi, they can claim to be possessed of the best of all riches, for, like her, they can proudly point to their children and say, “These are my jewels.’’ We sincerely hope that the efforts being made to raise the necessary capital for deep level mining at the Thames will meet with success. The returns down to 500 feet have been phenomenal. The Queen of Beauty- shaft and the borings on the Kuranui-Caledonian ground show indications of similar richness at the depth of 1,000 feet. Of course, the cost of deep sinking is considerable, but in view of the enormous interests at stake it is probable the Government would offer some assistance. A thousand feet is by no means an excessive depth. Ages ago the Chinese had sunk bore-holes of 3,000 feet at Schladebach, the Prussian Government sank 5,834 feet in search of coal, While the Adalbert silver-lead mine shaft is 3,432 feet, and the famous Calumet shaft in Canada is close on 4,000. The Success of the scheme would put new life into the Thames fields, and everything points to a rich harvest. J* JX Germany would seem to be the one uncertain factor in European politics. All the other great Powers are forming new alliances, and so far Germany has held aloof; she lias succeeded to the “proud isolation” for so long the peculiar heritage of Great Britain. Ten years ago we had France and Russia on one side, and Germany-, Italy and Austria on the other. Now the entente cordiale has united England and France, and with "France goes Russia. Italy and Austria have praetially withdrawn from any close relations with Germany. The Kaiser pretends to defy the lot—" Let them all come. We are ready.” But this is only his way of putting things. Germany cannot afford to stand alone. Tho question is, Which Power will she join?