Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 7 May 1914, Page 34

Notes

French Disgust lor Parliament \\<j^\-'*'.''; - The Paris correspondent -of the Times -sends proofs of the general contempt -which is arising throughout France for the politicians and their Parliament. He says he has been travelling all over that country, and V everywhere I was struck by the public : apathy towards the elections, and by the growing feeling ol disgust for - Parliament. -;^ \y "• '£ /' In the Parliamentary debates, interest has been,idly sacrificed upon the altar of personal and' party ambitions.' And so on:: The murder of the editor of the Figaro has now" added the sordidness of , assassination to the heap "of unsavoury garbage which lies in the courtyards of Parliamentary institutions. * The result will be/ says the Times, * that the French will almost ignore the coming election, and will leave it to the ''politicians who will direct the combat in order to divide the spoils." ' Judging by the cabled results, this prophecy has-been fulfilled. ■ I Mr. Lloyd George's Question and Answer : Mr. Lloyd George, answering Mr. John . Galsworthy's recent complaints as to the apathy and inactivity of Parliament in regard to social problems, made a remarkable appeal % and furnished j an overpowering argument for the settlement of the ; Irish question. 'There was a great literary man the.'other day reproaching Parliament with doing nothing,' wasting time,' he said. ■'* 'Well, there is /one element of truth behind a great deal of exaggeration.' I say it as one who has been in Parliament for twenty-four years. We have spent too much time oh some things, and God knows we have spent too little time on-others" of greater moment. Why have we done it ? : A "generation has passed away since 1885—a generation that expected deliverance from penury, misery, wretchedness, privation. They wait in vain : Why ? The great leaders of the- people on both sides—Gladstone, -with his -magic power; Chamberlain, with his great ■ power! and- skill such •• as few men have acquired "4n this generationl believe, with a real desire to lift the ; wretched; Balfour, Morley—great names— was it that they did not open the door to this wretched throng the door of hope?' .'WtiZ * ■ ■'•'■ - - . ■" ~ Mr. Lloyd George's answer is instructive: '-I will tell you why. Heart and brain were concentrated on this wretched Irish controversy. . Let us settle it in order to get rid of it. Has another generation to pass away in wretchedness Not if'we can help it..... Is England so poor - that "she cannot afford to feed, to shelter and to clothe her own sons and daughters? Is Britain so mean that she will not share her wealth to do so? Is Britain so callous and hard-hearted .that she is indifferent to the wretchedness of her own household? : These -are the questions which, above the din and -clang: of partisan and sectarian fury, I mean to continue to ask until the proud flag of. Britain shall no longer be shamed by waving over squalid homes, and hungry children.' 7 -L; *:; t ; The Hero of Panama -» Colonel Goethals, the man who was responsible for the engineering and administrative work in connection with the cutting of the great canal, bas already ,f ou*h"d his panegyrist. In England, he wouldg doubtless have been made a peer of the realm, but that is not the American- way. -; He -has-been presented, s \ instead, : with a Civic Forum medal; and at the presentation a poem, jwritten for the occasion, was read by its author, Mr. Percy Mackaye.? That it was worthy of the subject and of the occasion may be - gathered from • the "following ; stanzas'. <;./..> -x. *«--.: "■ _'-, ..- -*» • -^^„. v 4 '.&•*:.'*' * A man went down to Panama .^'-^.'tr. •;,'*«s/ Where many a man had died r .*} f f£ ■(/ ';■*}*:£-''■ i -To slit the 1 sliding mountains ;_: / '/■; r ;.--> •>.■ i And lift the i eternal itide '.pi'.' : • " s£&?■£> -// A man stood up in Panama, ~'-'."--'.-•-.'■ - " •/;-"" And A the mountains stood aside.------ -.;;-;._,.

! For a poet wrought ;in Panama *fe—r . With a continent for his .theme, ~ -: . V And he wrote withf flood and fire '.£'.'.'% ■-'■': To forge- a planet's dream,. ■\ i And the ■ derricks rang his : dithyrambs 1? - j c{. • And his stanzas roared in steam. * % -, ~'- Where, old Balboa bent his gaze ;.„-V";' i> ' rvt f,: ~ V. s, He leads the; liners through, .: , '**■ -;'!"''" And the Horn that tossed Magellan ' "' v Bellows a far halloo, ;';;'- 1 " ' I ; '. ' For where the navies never sailed "'' '. ' ■sii i"■!■. - Steamed Goethals "arid"his crew.* '; " ' v . , 'So nevermore the tropic . routes '*. "V * >: ; -;•:.. Need poleward warp and veer Jv ' f; '["., *.', But .on through the Gates r of Goethals The steady keels shall steer, ;. Where the tribes of man are led toward peace ;' ..[ '*_._, By t*Be prophet- engineer?,../,*''