Sayings of the Week.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 22, 22 November 1911, Page 3

Sayings of the Week.

An Approaching Crisis. I, the land question, our national destinies are more vitally involved than in all other publie questions put together, and a crisis in it is approaching. The magnificent national endowments of Crown lands handed over io representative government in this country some 60 years ago have now nearly all gone into private occupation under different tenures —amt now only 135,000 acres —some of it inaccessible—of what can be called first-class land remains iinalienated. the balance being mainly remote from access, and poor in quality, as a remnant after, years of selection must necessarily be. — Sir John Findlay.

The Decay of Tripoli. Just after the death of Mahomet there were 10.000,000 people in Tripoli and 25,000.000 in Egypt. In those days North Africa was the most civilised part of

the earth. There were 1600 bishoprics in North Africa. Then came the blight of Islaaniisin; the schools and colleges disappeared, and the population of Tripoli. instead of 10,000,000, now stood at 500,000. It might be asked how this was permitted. He could only think that with civilisation came wealth to North Africa, and wealth was always a narcotic to religious enthusiasm. The churches of South Africa not only slept, but died. — hr. Karl Kumm. His Ambition. His ambition .was to-reach the top of the tree by honourable methods, and if anything happened to Sir Joseph Ward he would present himself as the natural successor to the leatlersliip 'of the party. —Hon. J.Millar. An Age nt Co-operation.

This'is.an age of cooperation and of associated work, and our presence here to-day is .a proof that .we: recognise the jnsed for mutual help and, ..combined effort. In every branch' of. our. trade yvo are faced with strong, and active trade societies,- ami are. subject to strict rules and regulations in the form of Arbitration Court determine tii'e precise terms ou wliich-busuiess shall be conducted; and which tend to weaken individual powers On the part of employers of labour, and to render a union of einplqyers all the more necessary.— J/r. A’, /. Clarke, President Builders’ Association. 1

Sport and Gambling. I. believe as strongly. as anyone in manly., healthy sport, and in all forms ’of desirable amusements, but 1 will resist with all my force, any attempt to restore certain phases of gambling which have either been entirely suppressed or greatly limited by recent legislation.— Sir John Findlay. :

Our Timber Supply. We are fast approaching the time when our really valuable building timbers will have vanished, and it is'bevbnd dispute that other ‘countries' which arc relying on natural resources only are in the same presitiit position, and- will lie in the same future plight as ourselves. It may be that the magnitude of this question makes our Parliament hesitate to grapple vvith it, but its very magnitude constitutes its first claim to immediate attention, and it will probably be found when it comes to actual experience that the difficulties which at present appear So great, will prove to be more imaginary than real.— Mr. S. T. Clarke.

Labour Leaders. At the present time the Labour movement was led to a very large extent by men whose principal qualification for leadership was the gift of speech. Many m these leaders had acquired only a superfioiul knowledge of those principles which «>e believed, if properly applied, must result in the uplifting of the race, but in consequence of their lack of knowledge jhe great masses of the workers were too ‘fluently led into strikes, which, instead Of bringing about the desired result, led greater poverty nn<k distress, and the •innest workers often looked in vain for *uan who would assist them in their desire

once and for ever to banish the gaunt spectre of poverty from the lives of those who were willing to work.— Mr. J. .4. I'rost ick, Ch ristrhureh. The Birth Rate. \\ itliin the past two decades man has become feminised as never before, and woman has occupied man’s place to such an extent as to lose a greater part of her femininity. This, together with the continuous process of maternal drugging and limitation of families, must produce the serious effect of entirely obliterating maternity in the majority of our females.— Mrs. /*.’. \ieot. Money Lost. As regards cycling on footpaths, T could at 10/ per head place upwards of £2 per day to the credit of the Court, yet it is carried on to t-he danger of life and limb, and nothing is said. — Mr. Walter Lcreston, Avondale.

The Church and Liquor. The churches which did not oppose the liquor traffic were required to justify the position they adopted. As the liquor trade did lucre damage to human kind than any other evil, it should be dealt with by Christian nations. The principle dominating, the Church should also dominate the State. Legislation to suppress the traffic was .just as logical as that affecting sanitation, factories, anil other matters for the welfare of tTie. people. — /’<■/•. /*. X. Gray, Christchurclr.-- ♦ * * * The Dean and Socialism. The was unable to join in the chorus of the advocacy of the churches’ co-opera-t ion with the Labour movement. Socialism might suit a country like r New Zealand until the British fleet ceased to safeguard it. After that the yellow men would make short work of the pampered trade unionists. — The Dean of St. Paul’s.

Like Caesar’s Wife. That, judges of the Supreme Court should be above suspicion, open to receive neither reward nor punishment from the Government for any art in connection with their official duties. The Chief Justice received £2OOO per annum with travelling allowance and expenses, and the other judges £lBOO and the same privileges, and if those salaries were not sufficient for the responsibilities of their positions they should be increased.—j|fr. Massey.

No Leaders. We will lie content to be ruled by the working classes as a whole. New Zealand has had the experience of a good many leaders, and we have all been led into a blind alley.— Mr. Heanlon, Petona.

The Mineral Continent. Not only were the richest guld and diamond mines in the world to be found in South Africa, but there was also gobi in East Africa, the Congo, the Nile Valley, ami in many other localities besides. The largest tin deposit in the world was at Bukiiru, in Northern Nigeria, and this had only been worked for the past, three years.* The deposit, however, was so rich that 50 companies, with £7,000,000 capital, were now working it. The backbone of the continent was an enormous iron deposit, consisting of an entire plateau of ironstone, in which there were vast untouclied beds of coal.—/Ar. Karl Kumm. • * • • A Plea for Latin. After all even in these prosaic utilitarian days much is to be said for teach-

ing one thing thoroughly, even if it be Latin. The laborious hours spent at Latin are, after all, not wasted. I am more and more realising that this one thing well done does not tend to narrow the power of the intellect, but rather braces it up and makes it more efficient, and at the same time disciplines character also.”— Mhes Gillam, Napier Girls* MS>gh School.

Good for Lawyers. A great many business people had an extraordinary dislike to reducing their agreements to writing, and when they did chance to have a written agreement it was often unstamped, and a fine of £5 had to be paid to the Stamp Department before the agreement could be used in evidence. The absence of written agreements was a fruitful source of misunderstanding and inevitable litigation, and often led to a serious conflict of evidence as to what was the real agreement (if any) between the parties.— Mr. (*. (■. Kettle. S.M. « « « • Courage and Conscience. A man’s conscience grew stronger as its dictates were obeyed, but if not followed, then the guiding of conscience weakened, and the man's judgment became warped. To follow out the dictates of conscience required courage to resist daily temptations, to enable a man Io do his duty rightly both in private, civic, and national life. — Mr. Fouhts.

The Yellow Peril. 1 he Pacific M|ua<lr<>n bad been re. .died to Home waters, ami the shadow of a great- coloured nation was looming over our own country, and if we were not reasonably equipp'd within our o«n ■■orders, and had not the protection < f the British navy, we would find ourselves at the nierey of China, which had been equipping during the last 10 years. a, jd "K* expected by authorities to be within the next 10 years even greater than Japan. Would anyone contend that if Cliina were as well equipped as Japan there was mi danger to New Zealand?— Xfr Joseph \\ a r<l. • « • • Methodists and Morals. I lie Methodist t’liurcli had no connection with party politics, but with moral politics she had everything to do. At the forthcoming poll, ii true to the principles of (he ( huivh, all Methodists would “strike out the top line” on both issues. From the Christian standpoint the liquor traffic* had no right to exist. Its fruits were evil, and always evil, and it must go before an enlightened Christian conscience.— Rev. G. liontl.

A Free Hand. Neither a magistrate nor a jurv is bound to regard eviden e in any prescribed way. He can select what he believes, and disregard what does not seem probable.— Mr. -lust-ice ('hapman. * •* * » Useful Subjects. This is rather a critical time in (he educational world in France. Newspapers, are crying out against the modiern system. Business men object that the clerks they get are not nearly so well trained as heretofore, ami big engineering firms are de daring that the boy who has learnt his “small Latin and less Greek” is much more capable in that branch of work than the boy who has gone through the school taking only those subjects as are “useful.”— Miss Gillam, Napier Girls’ High School. • • • • Customs Duties. Last, year the amount collected in Customs totalled £2.945.989, whereas had the old tariff’ been enforced the amount would have l>een £3,645,424, an annual reduction of £699.435. in 1891 the Customs duties on the absolute necessaries worked* out 20 per cent of the whole collections, but in 1909 it was reduced to 3.93 per cent. He believed in taxation being imposed on the people able to pay, and not on the poor men.— Mr J. IL. McLarin. Papakura.

Not ludependeut. Last year I was elected as an Independent Liberal, ami I did not attend a caucus or go into the Government Whips’ room except on one occasion, when I left my umbrella there. But I observed that so long as you have a party system it is futile for a member to stand altogether aloof —he must lean towards the party with which he is mostly in sympathy. Personally, I can assure yon. after my brief experience, that I am more in sympathy with the Liberal party than ever, and that is why I standi before you in the interests of the Liberal platform. — Mr. A. M. Myers, M.P.