Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 8 May 1924, Page 18

Current Topics

The Forger <• A correspondent wants to know the reason we made no reference to the latest offensive outburst of "Civis." Whyshould anybody bother about the rage or the joy of a blackguardly detected forger? Then, have we not had evidence in the past that cables sent out here to the sort of papers that want anti-Irish and anti-Catholic stuff are not reliable Have we not also evidence that the said papers are at times guilty of manipulating the cables to suit themselves? Granting, however, that the cable which elated the forger was true, it amounts to this. One Irish Bishop spoke strongly in denunciation of certain' females who were wanting in modesty, or, rather, who fell short of the high standard set in Ireland. Thereupon the forger gloated and shrieked that the Irish women were after all on as low a level as the sort of people he is accustomed to. It was one of the usual exhibitions of gaiters and gas on the rampage. That was not worth bothering about. The Strike In one week the strike began and ended. Some people say it was a victory for Mr. Massey; others say he engineered it; others say that he said, as wisely as an owl: "There's a power behind it." He may not have said so, but it is the sort of thing he would say. Then he said that occurrences of this kind discredit us abroad. Perhaps they do, but certainly not more than some of our touring politicians do by their words and gestures. We cannot think he promoted it because we cannot think the strikers would be foolish enough to play into his hands. But, on the other hand, they were certainly foolish in striking at a time when they put considerable sections of the public to inconvenience and expense. Most people took it with great good humor, but one traveller was heard to say: "This is costing me a tenner to get home and you don't catch me voting Labor until they repay me." Foolish, but such is human nature. Perhaps tin tactics were faulty, perhaps the public will remember it when the elections come, but on the whole we are inclined to think the victory was to the workers. By returning to their places quickly they made up for passing inconvenience, in large measure; their conduct was uniformly admirable during the days they were out; and they succeeded in concentrating public attention on their grievances, which was their obejet. In spite of efforts to prove the contrary, they are not well paid. There is much reason to believe that the railways are over-staffed there is even more reason to agree that we could do without several of the highly paid officials who are supposed to manage the business. The man in the street would be pleased to see large sums shorn from the salaries of Messrs. McVilly, Coates, Massey, and others, and the resulting funds given to the men who have large families to support on small pay. The Oentle Proselytiser There are ways and ways of doing it. From the rough and ready methods of Mick McQuaid who wrote to his patron on "Friday morning after a 'mate' breakfast" to the inhumanity of the London Times which rejoiced at the extermination of.the Celtic papists by hunger, nothing has been left untried. In Wellington a reverend signor whose notepaper is headed "St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church" adopts the suaviter in modo method. We have before us a typed letter written by him to a Catholic boy at the .University. Here is the way he has with him: , Dear " ■% ■- . I Understand that you have just come to Wellington 1 to study at the University and I am writing to you in the name and by the direction of the officebearers of St. Andrew's Church, and in ray own name, to welcome you into our midst. 'V ';•

x We want to assure you that as a Church we will always welcome you to public worship. Of course, I do not know to what section of the Church Universal you" belong, but if your convictions and desires permit - you to worship with us, you are a welcome guest. At the same time I would suggest to you, if I dare, that you try all the Churches in Wellington and see where you worship God best. If it should be in St. Andrew's Church again welcome. Wishing you a happy and successful winter's work, Yours faithfully, (Signed). I * Not bad, is it? It rather makes one lose respect for the Elders who have had hitherto a reputation for being Scotch rather than fools. It seems to us that only the latter could finance a minister who runs to nonsense like the foregoing. However, it is their own funeral. Sacred Heart College Successes Sir Robert Stout ought to sit up and take notice of the manner in which Sacred Heart College, Auckland, continues to prove that he said the thing that was not true when he let himself go, far away from here, on our schools. The leaflet which gives us the list of distinctions gained last year by the College is evidence enough .that Sir Robert's opinion on our schools is worth about as little as it is on law and other matters. S.H.C. students gained two University Entrance Scholarships, which was more than any school in New Zealand did, excepting Auckland Grammar School and Otago Boys' High School, which have rolls about seven times greater than that of the secondary department of S.H.C. And out of thirty-nine schools competing in this examination, only three surpassed the Catholic College in the total number of passes.. In Matriculation,. Higher Leaving Certificate, Senior National Scholarship, Junior National Scholarship, etc., the College successes were a credit to teachers and pupils. For these examinations seventy candidates were presented, and of that number, .sixty-nine passed while the students, in competition vith the pick of the Secondary State Schools of-the Dominion, won seven scholarshipsa result higher proportionately to numbers than was secured by any other school in New Zealand. We congratulate the Brothers and wish tbevn - still greater successes in the current year. Perhaps ihey\ would invite, poor Sir Robert up there for a course of \ studies. He has a lot to learn and they could teach him many things, even if they should fail to give him common sense and a sense of justice. It is unfortunate for tno Dominion that we seem unable to secure public men win can travel without bringing discredit on us all by their foolish statements and gestures. "/ The Dairy Control Board Some time ago we published some comments on a Form of Application for the position of secretary sent out by the Dairy Control Board, a semi-Government concern, working in with the Department of Agriculture, of which the head is the notorious bigot Mr. Nosworthy, whose in- ' elusion in the Cabinet by Dr. Massey was a deliberate insult, to every Catholic in the Dominion. Letters continue to reach us asking for copies of the Form. We have no copies: we have one copy which we intend to keep for several reasons. First because we cannot send our „one and only sample to our numerous petitioners, and secondly ,- because it is our experience that documents of this kind are rarely returned to us if lent. However, as some of. the requests almost amount to threats, while others are grotesque in their impertinence, we are willing to turn the other cheek to the extent of reproducing here the text of the Form which came into our hands. : : First-there is a covering letter:, • "New Zealand Dairy Export Control Board. ' ;, : "Box 866, .'' . •V ,-■ - • "Wellington. "Dear Sir, ; , ',, " . ' -- "In answer to your enquiry for further particulars re

v :'." ' .the position of Secretary to the Dairy' Export Control §&' Board, I beg to inform you that the Secretary will be !l required to - Attend all meetings, keep records of all transactions,., and give effect to all decisions of the Board. ; . '"* ' Control and supervise office and staff, organise account- ;;;;;' - ancy "requirements. '?.' Supervise financial affairs to the satisfaction of Government Audit Department. Have knowledge of Export Produce business, including Shipping, Customs, Banking, Insurance, Exchange, and V the general proceduce of Public Bodies, etc. He will be responsible to the Chairman of the Board .-- in New Zealand. j A Fidelity Bond for £IOOO at the expense of the Board will be required. Application Form enclosed. r>. "Yours faithfully, "W. Grounds, .•■■..■ "Chairman." Attached is the following Form: "To Chairman, Dairy Control Board, "I beg to apply for. the position of Secretary and Chief Executive Officer. "Name Address Age "Married or 5ing1e......... Family Responsibilities ~... Religion "Education—Primary, Secondary, or University "Evidence of Physical Fitness "Expeditionary Force Service "State all positions occupied and.salary obtained in each case (Table for names of employers, addresses, dates, years of service, salary, etc.) "No. of references enclosed "I certify that the above is a true and correct statement. "Note. Applications should be enclosed in an envelope marked 'Application for Secretary.'" Autumn Days Autumn clays have the sadness of summer evenings. Whan the golden harvest has been garnered and the fields are tawny under setting suns there is a brooding melancholy over the landscape, in harmony with the sere and yellow leaves and the violet shades in the hills. Once upon a time it 'seemed that nothing in the world could surpass the loveliness of Irish rivers and lakes on autumn . days. / Painters have tried in vain to put on canvas the riot of .../ color in the woods that hang over the waters of Lough Lene, the wonderful scale of green and gold and russet and purple . along the banks of the Barrow, or the magic >'l. fires of a Wicklow hillside in a. September sunset. They can never produce a picture equal to these well-remembered scenes which once seen can no more be forgotten, and Irishmen are rightly proud of the glories which are inseparable from the poetry and the patriotism of the Celt. In time the writer had to admit that the Irish scenery, with all its claims on affection, was far behind that of New Zealand in grandeur and majesty. That may not be patriotic, but arnica Hibcrnia sed magis arnica Veritas. As the result of .:.".'■■ fairly considerable globe-trotting we give the palm to this country for variety and extent and grandeur of landscape. There is no need to enumerate the famous places on which our claims chiefly rest. Time and again we have in these £', ; .pages dwelt lovingly on the panorama of the "West Coasfe > . woods and hills, on the beauty of Taranaki's snowy sentinel, '£ V on the rugged majesty of the Wakatipu; and, even the : \ \ Tourist- Department seems to know something about these :' •-_ localities. But there is another charm in New Zealand v , landscape, not so well known to the public, and certainly > never dreamt of by the illustrious Mr. Nosworthy: the ;; \ charm of the vast plains in the heart of the Dominion, |'v V-' away from the railways and the track of the tourist. More ? >: than once, in different parts of the country, the wonder

of it and the enchantment of - it have come home to us, hut never more forcibly than when spending a few days in the Mackenzie Country recently. To describe the landscape or to record our impressions of it we would need the brush of Claude, or the pen of Ruskin; realising our limitations, wo shall do no more than try to give our readers a faint notion of a beauty that is at their doors.

Going westward in the afternoon, from Temuka towards the ranges, under a sky which the Nor’Wester had swept of clouds behind the mountain tops, was a delightful experience. The little rain that had fallen was enough to make vivid here and there some splashes of emerald green in the brown fields. Every clump of trees showed autumn bronzes amid the deep verdure of the pines, and now and then the fronds of the larches gave a richer variety to the view. In the distance the shadows were chasing one another along the slopes of the hills which lifted their giant wall to the sky. As the sun descended towards the crests the hues of the mountains changed like the colors of a kaleidoscope, and greens, and purples, and deep blues melted into one another along a background that was like a great drop-scene, a hundred miles from north to south. Above it the sky was clear along a narrow fringe that held changing hues, from opal in the south to violet in the north, with deep gold in the middle to mark the path of the westering sun which was still hidden in clouds that burned like woods on fire.

The most striking note in all the landscape was the gold of the poplars, standing like guardian angels at frequent intervals among the plains. Once we came upon a grove of them, with the leaves just beginning to fall. It was like a fairy palace, all gold, from the golden roof to the golden carpet of leaves on the ground. Had we retained the Celtic gift of seeing the Good People we should have returned in the moonlight to hear the fairy piper and to see the elves come forth and dance among the trees. Surely they come to that wood if they are in New Zealand at all!

The second afternoon in the district was showery and all the colors were softened as by a veil on which raindrops that shone like jewels held the light. Mists gathered on the mountains, and sun and shadow marched among the valleys, making a series of pictures completely different from those of the day before. The night came in cold and the air had the first bite of frost.

Follows a memory of a Sabbath morning, with the air like champagne, and skies and hills washed clean by the showers overnight. God’s good rain and the touch of frost were things to be thankful for. They had worked a wonderful miracle. The ranges were white with purest snow and the sky was cloudless. And in a world of glorious sunlight we travelled still farther west, amid the fresh fields, under an Italian heaven, with that long white line of mountain ramparts ever facing us. On the right was Butler’s Pass, historic now because of the fame of Erewhon; and behind the Pass was the country into which he went like another Gulliver. All around was the Erewhon scenery ; and a short distance away was the station where Butler wrote his remarkable book. Attractive all this if you like Butler and if you are prepared to believe that his work is a great piece of literature, which, for our part, we certainly do not. Straight ahead lay Burke’s Pass (They are everywhere, those Kellys, Burkes, and Sheas!), and through it our road.

At the top of the Pass we paused a moment to read the inscription to the Irishman after whom the place was named. He was a graduate of Dublin University and the first man to walk among these hills. And the stone set up to his memory contained, to all those who passed this way into the Mackenzie Country, a touching appeal that they should plant trees in those wild spaces, for their own sates and for their children’s. Then we turned westward to enjoy the splendid view before us. Away to the slopes,of the distant mountains stretched thousands of acres of tussockcovered downs gently undulating and looking like a vast,

heaving, saffron lake. And beyond were the mountains! Like an army in battle array, an army of giants indeed, that grand line of snowy peaks ran north, and south as far as the eye could reach; Peak rose over peak, and mountain overshadowed mountain —giants shouldering to the fray. And above them all, saluting the sun, were the crests of Mount Cook, the King of the ranges. It was not a view of one mountain but of hundreds of them, monarchs of the solitudes, clothed in white and crowned with the gold of the sunny skies of autumn. If there be a more stimulating and awe-inspiring panorama in the world we know nothing of it. And, the wonder of it! these snowy mountains were nearly all volcanoes. For the wind was fresh and the newly fallen snow was caught up and blown from the peaks, looking in the distance like clouds of smoke. There were, • then, these giants, with smoking crests, silent and grand above those lonely plains where hardly a sheep was visible and where few human feet trod the paths: Jienedicite Monies et Colics Domino ' Farther west still and we came upon the first of the lakes, Tekapo. sheltered under the slopes and reflecting the contour of the peaks in its blue waters. A foaming river drains it, and little islands break the mirror of its surface. It is in its place here: its cold splendor is the final note in the perfect harmony of all this magnificent scenery. And farther still lies Pukaki, from the level of which you may climb to Mount Cook and thence pass on to the silence and desolation of the country between here and the distant Wakatipu. You probably have forgotten; but long ago we told you a little about an autumn tour through that country, and we are not going to cover old ground again. , Sunset and twilight brought new delights. There was a gold fringe along the mountain tops now, and the higher snows blushed to a delicate rose. ' Below their white mantles, the hills presented varying hues of browns and rods and purples; there was a richer gold among the poplars, and it was black as night among the trunks of the pines. Uel'.irning eastwards we passed through a glorious wooded valley that might have been a bit of Norwegian forest transplanted hither. Only it had more color than Norwegian woods, for, with the pines, were fading fawn oaks, ruddy rowans, brown sycamores, and slender poplars like bars of gold against the green background. A mile of that was a sight to be cherished long in memory; and the delight of it lent a fresh pathos to the words of the Irish wanderer, who begged those who might come hither to plant trees for their own sakes and their children's. , During the evenings spent in that beautiful district it was our good fortune to hear much good music of a kind not too often heard nowadays: Beethoven and Bach and Handel; and the golden voices.of Caruso and McCormack and Melba. Surely only such befits that landscape which . is so full of splendid harmonies, so eloquent in canticles of praise to the Creator of the earth and of all the glory thereof. One must be only fit for stratagems and spoils could he pass through the Mackenzie Country during these , autumn days without being moved by thoughts too deep for tears; and surely only a New Zealand Cabinet Minister could stand on Burke's Pass and look upon that army of mountains without adoring the good God whom they are praising day and night across all the centuries.