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"What care I for caste or creed?It is the deed, it is the deed;What for class or what for clan?It is the man, it is the man;Heirs of love, and joy, and woe,Who is high, and who is low?Mountain, valley, sky and seaAre for all humanity.
"What care I for robe or stole?It is the soul, it is the soul;What for crown, or what for crest?It is the heard within the breast;It is the faith, it is the hope,It is the struggle up the slope,It is the brain and eye to seeOne God and one humanity."
Since this pamphlet was first issued, the Trades and Labour Councils of New Zealand held their annual meeting in the city of Auckland, when a Name, an Objective and a Platform for the New National Party were adopted. A request was made to embody the Objective and Platform in this pamphlet for the convenience of the public, consequently extra pages have been added and the Platform, etc., as adopted, will be found on the last pages. It will be seen that good work was done at the conference. The interests of the agricultural part of the community was not overlooked, although there is no specific mention of what is intended to be done for that class. A State owned plant, mainly for the manufacture of the farm implements and machinery now imported, is, we believe, contemplated, and which would double the number of farm produce and other commodity consumers in that industry alone, and effect a very large saving in prices, for the primary producers, in comparison with the prices they now pay. Special attention is called to page 13, dealing briefly with Importation, Combination, Competition, etc. Also to the explanatory comments on Pages 29 and 32, relating to New Zealand's Industries and Banking. The Premier, on meeting a deputation from the Labour Conference recently, showed his helpless position in regard to State banking, and the real or imaginary grip the
The Australian Labour Party's proposed note issue for the Commonwealth can only be looked upon as a preliminary move. A genuine Competitive State Bank is the goal. The proposed referendum granting an extension of Federal industrial powers, which we now have, will, when carried, open the way for the establishment of Competitive Federal Works, which will regulate wages and conditions for the workers, and quality and prices for the consumers. The abortive new Protection has proved (and must always prove) disappointing to the Federal Labour Party. The Federal Parliament of Australia has the diversified interests of twelve Houses in the six States to consider. Fortunately, New Zealand and her interests are very compact, and we have only one Parliament and a Legislative Council.
There are a great many "texts" in this little pamphlet relating to various phases of urgent economic questions, that are crying out for solution, and the author hopes that, at least, some of the people will be stimulated to further thought and action by its perusal.
The object of this pamphlet is to show in a measure the evils of the Private Profit System, and the remedy that the Independent Labour Party may easily apply when the Party has a majority in Parliament. The limited progress made by mankind throughout the ages has been made in spite of cruel and prodigious waste, and the continual retarding influence of individual selfishness. In our daily intercourse we associate the payment of Rent with Land, Interest with the medium of exchange, and private profits with manufacture, trade and commerce.
Politically, we conclude that when the land, the medium of exchange, and the industries, are eventually owned by the State, the annual profits and benefits accruing therefrom, will belong to all the people for their use, pleasure and convenience in proportion to the total product and the population. So long as we permit the private ownership of the land, the money and the industries by a few people, we must be prepared to pay excessive rent, interest and private profits. The great masses of the people are beginning to understand
We have had legislation intended to restrict the rate of interest charged, a Fair Rent Bill has been proposed, but not a word is said about the enormous volume of private profits taken from the people in connection with manufactures, trade and commerce. The reason is that the industrial and commercial fields are guarded with vigilance as a special preserve for the small employing class engaged in private enterprise. Under Private Enterprise every one so engaged is allowed to charge what the trade will permit. There is no restriction or definite check on the taking of profits. Our neighbours' necessity is the only limit to the imposition of this class of taxation. The charge of private profits is in reality a private tax, customary no doubt, but nevertheless it is a tax imposed by a few of the people on the many, without serious consideration on the one hand, or protest on the other. The ratio stands at about one taker of wealth for every ten makers of wealth. The miseries of the wide, wide world are caused mainly by this
special unrestricted private taxing privilege in the form of Rent, Interest and Profits.
Under private enterprise all the profits are absorbed by the private owners. Under State or Municipal enterprise, the limited surplus profits are returned to the people.
Under Socialist enterprise, using a National medium of exchange, every penny of the profits would be saved for the enrichment of the whole of the people. Which do we want: No profits, some profits, or all the profits?
However, as the land, the medium of exchange and the industries are gradually nationalized, the taking of private rent, interest and profits will be reduced proportionately. The redeeming feature is that the masses of the people are coming rapidly to a realization of the fact that the control of the "means of life, liberty and happiness," by a few of the people for private and selfish purposes, is not in the best interests of either the people or the State, consequently, we unhesitatingly assert that this private control must be curtailed and finally abolished.
The following facts are well established, viz:—That all classes who work for salaries or wages in New Zealand have practically reached their limit in earning and spending power under the present system of conducting our industries for private profits.
That when wages are advanced, the prices of all kinds of commodities are advanced proportionately.
That this advance in prices is owing to association agreements, and the federated status of the employers.
That private enterprise has proved wholly inadequate to the task of finding steady and remunerative employment for the people.
That capitalist employers aim at having a reserve of labour in this and every country.
That when production has been great, owing to the use of modern machinery and improved methods, then labour suffers most.
That the workers must then take an involuntary rest, seek other employment, work part of the time, or accept a reduction in wages.
That the private profit system is contrary to true Christian principles, sound ethics and common justice.
That the workers need never expect any appreciable betterment of their condition under the system.
That the basic principle and injustice involved are the facts that capital is permitted to take, not only large salaries for ability, interest, rent, upkeep and all expenses, but also all the surplus profits made possible by the combined, direct and indirect productivity of Capital, Labour and the Consumers.
That labour is the real producer, and capital value is the thing produced.
That capital never produced anything without the application of labour.
That the capitalist system lives and thrives on the surplus profits kept back from the producers.
That the system has been handed down to us by our ancestors, and has been accepted tamely, without serious protest.
That labour is not much better off, in a permanent sense now, than it was before wages and conditions were fixed by Conciliation and Arbitration.
That arbitration awards are localised and governed by the bare cost of living.
That it is not possible or intended that labour shall ever receive, under the private profit system, more than a bare and precarious livelihood.
That most of the workers under the system are seldom removed more than a fortnight from absolute want and destitution.
That the workers have not fully comprehended this important fact.
That the workers and most of the employers seem to think, in a vague way, that the Private Profit system must continue, with possibly some slight modification.
That this view is erroneous and wholly unwarrantable.
That the whole advancement of mankind, as well as our industrial advancement, has been and is now, evolutionary.
That Collectivism must succeed Capitalism just as Capitalism succeeded Feudalism, and as Feudalism succeeded Slavery.
That the private profit system must eventually give way to the humane and rational system of collectiveism or public ownership.
That the great work of ample production for all humanity has already been achieved by the use of modern machinery, organisation and improved methods.
That in the most productive countries all their home requirements can be fully met by running the factories from seven to eight months of the year.
That under united intelligence the productive power of the people could be greatly increased.
That the capitalists in all industrial countries are seeking expansion and new markets for their surplus products.
That capitalist disregard for the interests of the people is clearly shown in the fact that
That capitalist private profits are the real cause of nearly all the extensive and expensive national armaments, the supplying of our "so-called'" enemies with arms, all wars, and the consequent misery and degradation inflicted upon the human race.
That the gunmakers and shipbuilders, assisted by the navy and other leagues, are now working the oracle successfully and raking in the profits.
That under the profit system the lowest wages possible are paid, and that there the private employers seek to avoid further responsibility. That the little private employers who are competing for profits are doomed.
That the private profit system disregards every law of the Decalogue, knows no patriotism, and is satisfied only with concessions, subsidies, bonuses, cheap labour, low wages, interest, rent and profits.
That very little more can be done in New Zealand by way of legislative palliatives. This is admitted by the Minister of Labour.
That a Liberal-Conservative Government can never give the people Industrial emancipation because of allegiance to the private profit system of exploitation.
That a small percentage of the people are growing richer, while the great masses of the
That a large majority of those who engage in competitive business fail, and that failure means blasted hopes and blighted homes.
That the interests of humanity demand absolutely that the mental, moral and physical welfare of mankind must be considered before private money accumulation.
That the welfare of the whole community must be placed before the personal gain of the small percentage (say 10 per cent.) of the people who take profits and are now privileged to give uncertain and irregular private employment.
That enforced idleness and want under the system is a disgraceful crime against humanity and the State.
That this year's surplus profits will be added to the capital now used for further exploitation next year.
That an Independent-Labour Government in power would meet the wishes of the people, while a Liberal-Conservative Government stands for stagnation and private enterprise.
That when the people realize the difference between Private Ownership for private profits and Co-operative Public Ownership in the interests of all, they will not cease demanding the change until it has been actually attained.
That the exploitation of the people by way of private profits must be abolished.
How Wages, Conditions, Importatation, Quality and Prices may be effectually regulated by active State Competition.
The most direct, simple and surest way to regulate and control wages, surplus labour, conditions, and the prices charged to the consumers, is for the Government, the people, to gradually purchase the monopolies and the Trusts outright (when possible), and conduct them in the interests of the whole people.
If unable to purchase the monopolies satisfactorily, then the Government must
It is manifestly the duty, as well as the privilege of the citizens of every part of the Empire, to first develop their own natural resources, encourage and render stable their own industries, and thereby ensure progress, contentment and continuous remunerative employment for their own people, and then (and not before) to extend as much benefit as possible over the seas, by preferential duties or otherwise. An industry firmly established in
It is proposed to establish, gradually, a system of self-supporting public enterprises, that will embrace all the means of life, also all that we need for use, pleasure and convenience, without, say, 90 per cent, of the people being compelled to pay the other 10 per cent., a special class privilege tax by way of private profits.
The national profits from our State Banking and Industrial undertakings, should and would, when established, be ample for moderately rapid expansion purposes.
The people may easily, by united Parliamentary action (there is no other way), transform most of our industries from private to public ownership during the life of the present generation. This is no Idle dream, as the Independent-Labour Party will surely and speedily undertake that pleasant task. The Liberal Conservatives will not move in a matter so important to the people. Their policy (as often repeated) is to encourage private enterprise and to maintain industrial conditions practically as they are. The few must still be permitted to exploit the many by way of private profits, and chaos and cut-throat competitive methods must rule, where order and harmony might, prevail.
Many of the local businesses and indus-
A trade association agreement, a combine or trust, that is not regulated by active State competition, completely nullifies any possible benefits that might be derived by the people from either Freetrade or Protection, as the prices charged to the consumers are made and adjusted as desired.
Many of the industries of importance in the United States and Canada, and many of the industries of Great Britain, etc., are now controlled by a combine, trust or business association, that regulates employment, wages, output and prices.
The manufacturers in the countries from which New Zealand's competitive imports are drawn, have had, for many years, established facilities sufficient for producing, as before stated, all their extensive home requirements in seven or eight months of the year. Our rivals have also taken full advantage of modern combination, complete organization, abundant capital, convenient raw materials, long working hours, comparatively low wages, cut-price piece-work, extensive factories and the latest labour-saving machinery and appliances.
As the ability of the people to supply their daily needs and the payment of interest, rent and profits, depends upon their steady employment, industry and wages, it follows that an intelligent and permanent settlement of the industrial question is of more importance at the present time to the great masses of the people than either the land or the money questions, which, however, will not be neglected. We know that our industrial system, as now conducted, is accountable for our haphazard production and distribution, extensive importation, lack of incentive to the workers, fictitious values, sweating, low wages, strikes, broken Arbitration Awards, industrial unrest and make-shift legislation.
The industrial question will never be settled "until it is settled right," and we respectfully submit that the way to settle this problem permanently is:—
To stop wasteful local competition by encouraging the modern combination of our scattered industries in each line of production.Stop by tariff protection foreign competition and the unnecessary importation of the goods that should be made in New Zealand.Stop capital, when combined and protected, from taking advantage of the consumers by genuine State competition. The consolidation and Protection, of our industries, when rendered harmless by genuine State competition, would greatly increase employment, and at the same time absolutely protect the public as consumers, by limiting private prices to those charged by the State.
An example, showing the necessity for this proposal, was cited by the Acting-President of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce recently, who stated that: "the excess of imported boots and shoes over local manufacture was 96 per cent., while the excess of imported woollens was 57 per cent., and of machinery and implements 95 per cent." If all the factories in New Zealand were consolidated, modernly equipped and specialized in each line of industry, they would be very effective in production, and only medium in size when compared with foreign competitive factories.
New Zealand's markets are flooded with foreign-made goods because they are profitable markets, even when prices can be obtained which are lower than the catalogue prices charged for locally made goods. We should remember that the prices charged in New Zealand for foreign-made goods are regulated
If the prices of locally-made goods are high, then the prices of foreign-made goods are also high.
Competitive State factories, in all the leading and monopolized lines of industry, assisted by extensive State farms, carefully selected for the production of cereals, fruits, vegetables, flocks and herds, would add immensely to our prosperity and population, develop and create an active demand for our raw materials and all kinds of factory and farm products, and provide sure employment for every citizen able to work. The sweaters, adulterators and shoddy makers would be compelled to go straight; otherwise, the workers, whom they are depending upon, and their trade would gradually go over to swell the people's own industrial enterprises. It will be found that this system of State competition, conducted on business lines, will be infinitely better as a regulator of wages, conditions and prices, than any form of Conciliation or Arbitration, as the latter have practically reached their limit of usefulness.
Cotton goods, iron, steel, hardware and numerous lines of goods, wares and merchan-
by State competition, the returning ships would be loaded mainly with immigrants, who would be required, and who would be of more service and profit to the Dominion than needless cargoes of foreign manufacture. New Zealand could support a population of many millions, but not under the private profit system, as we would then have a repetition of all the horrors of poverty that disgrace the old world.
The reductions in railway, telegraph, Telephone and postal rates have been mainly in the interests of the commercial and employing class, and are of little use to the wage earners. The workers get only casual employment, or, at most, steady employment, which will not return, in any case, more than a bare living. Under the private profit system the workers never have had and never will have any interest in the surplus profits; they may rely upon that as an absolute fact and as a fixed certainty. Competitive State factories, works and farms, will insure agreeable employment for all, better conditions, better wages, fewer hours of toil, better and cheaper
It remains to be seen if the working classes, which include all who work for salaries or daily wages, actually have the good sense and business foresight to look after their own affairs, personal interests, and the interests of those depending upon them, by thorough organisation, economic education and united action in the selection and election of municipal and State representatives, pledged to work for their emancipation.
To use the public credit in procuring funds for any kind of needful reproductive public works is good business, and this is our proposal, in party, for the present, in the establishment of competitive State factories, farms, etc. The establishment of State competitive plants and works for producing the necessaries of life is a humane proposal, and quite as legitimate as the use of the public credit for the purchase of lands for closer settlement, the building of railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, roads, bridges or any other public works required in the interests of the whole community.
When the demand for our surplus products is curtailed from any cause in foreign markets, the workers cannot buy from the employers any appreciable part of the surplus, as that is the time when employment is scarce and wages reduced. This is what capitalists call a "crisis, over-production, lack of confidence," etc., and the numerous, but untutored careless, toiling masses and their innocent wives and children suffer patiently all the torment of the private profit system, till the glutted warehouses have been emptied and "confidence" restored. After another helter-skelter season of prosperous times for the profit-takers, made possible by labour working for a bare livelihood, the same farce is repeated again. We may ask with wonderment how long will it take 90 per cent. of the people to discover that their united votes are worth more at the ballot box than the remaining 10 per cent. that represents their oppressors?
The Hon. Dr. Findlay recently called attention to the Registrar-General's estimate of the people's average annual earnings as per census returns for The average annual earnings of a man were £94 8s., and of a woman £42 3s. It is evident that these earnings have not permitted
they were able to find a profitable foreign market for their surplus, a large percentage of which could have been used to advantage by our own people, even though they had to pay, as they do now in some instances, London prices; but our people did not have, and have not now, the wherewithal to spend in this manner. The above estimate includes the earnings of professionals, and also the highest paid managers.
The capitalist class manipulate the wealth when produced, and direct it into the channels of interest, rent and profits, leaving only a bare subsistence for a large majority of the producers. This high-handed, though legal and customary in justice, must be terminated. It is an incontrovertible fact that the toiling masses will never participate to any appreciable extent in any kind of increased production so long as any form of the private profit system continues. All the people, and not a few of the people, must own our productive industries before the workers receive their due.
We must select, and then elect to Parliament, representatives pledged to work for public ownership, viz:—the acquirement of the complete public ownership of every important
class privileges and customary private profits, no matter how fair, reasonable or just; such considerations do not count in business, consequently there is only one course left for the people, and that is to elect a majority of our representatives to Parliament, pledged to support the idea of extending the functions of the State as indicated.
We can leave no better legacy to posterity than a liberal education, a right to steady and agreeable employment for every citizen, and the right for every worker to receive the full products of his toil, whether performed by hand or brain, or both. The widows, the orphans, the aged and the infirm must receive special care and humane treatment.
We believe in united and helpful cooperation in the interests of all, including friends and oppressors, but if we must sanction wasteful competition in some of our industries for a time, we propose to compete intelligently as a majority of the people, pledged to right, honour and "the golden rule." We believe that what is best for the whole community is also best for all the leading and individual members of the community.
The payment of a National minimum living wage to all able adult workers, male and female, would be an effective Short cut to the permanent establishment of a White New Zealand, simply because employers would not pay a living minimum wage to inferior labour. A national minimum living wage as above would be more effective against undesirable aliens than all our huge expenditure on armaments and Dreadnoughts.
Genuine, but sympathetic, State competition, when any monopolized line of production cannot be purchased satisfactorily by the State, will effectually and beyond a shadow of a doubt, regulate wages, conditions, and surplus labour for the workers, and prices and quality of goods for the consumers in every line of industry to which State competition is honestly applied. The reason is that private employers would find it necessary to follow the example and standard of excellence set by the State, by paying similar wages, by providing agreeable surroundings, by abstaining from adulteration, and by charging reasonable prices to the consumers for their products. Otherwise the workers and their trade would gradually, but surely, drift to and expand the people's State enterprises. The State factories, farms and works would no doubt be handi-
the final solution of our industrial, labour, monetary and other national problems.
The new time is coming when all the means of production, distribution and exchange will belong co-operatively to the whole people, and private or corporate profits will be unknown. Production must eventually be for consumption, use, pleasure and convenience, and in no case for private profits. Private enterprise has fleeced the people long enough. It is unthinkable in this twentieth century that, say 90 per cent, of the people should permit 10 per cent, of the people to tax them by way of private profits. Individual and National progress depends upon the elimination of Private Profits.
To enact comprehensive measures, and establish such conditions as will foster and ensure equality of opportunity, also the moral, material and educational advancement and the general comfort and well-being of the whole people, based upon the gradual public ownership of all the means of production, distribution and exchange.
Plank 4. The capitalists dearly love cheap labour—indent or coolie labour, permit labour, female labour, child labour—" equal pay for equal work" will stop unfair competition between the sexes.
Plank 6. (Industries). This is the most far-reaching Plank in the Platform, as it deals with monopolies and trusts, and the much needed extension of the industrial functions of the State. It has been proven conclusively that as a class the capitalists will not deal fairly with the people in regard to profitable productive works until compelled to do so. Once a genuine start is made by the people to actually control production trade and profits, the balance of the road to a glad new time will be comparatively easy. Sir Joseph Ward, at Winton, reminded the country that "Competition is the Life of Trade"—State competition is the only kind of competition in which the people can hope to benefit permanently. When a monopoly exists, the most effective plan for restoring the industry to the people is for the State to purchase the business outright as a going concern. If the holders are
Plank 7. The land can only be acquired by the State gradually. However, "what we have we will hold," and not an acre of land shall be sold hereafter.
Plank 8. (Banking). We all know that banking is a very profitable business. An examination of the Bank of New Zealand balance-sheet, in which we are interested, will satisfy on that point. Our State Bank plank must be explicit, broad and firm. The Redemption Clause in paper money and the complete control of gold have done good service for the bankers for many years, and it is now time that some of the profits of banking should accrue to the people. The outcry of the banking corporations about making a paper medium of exchange that is not redeemable in gold, is not well founded. The Independent Labour Party can have no objection to keep a gold reserve, equal to say 25 per cent, of the proposed State Note Issue, for
Plank 10. It is not always recognised that 50 feet frontage on a main street in one of our cities may pay more taxes than many hundreds of acres in the back blocks. The revenue derived from our Competitive State Industries would be very considerable and quite enough to meet the cost of the proposed Humanitarian Pensions, also to enable the rapid extension of other State enterprises.
Plank 11. (Coastal Shipping). This Plank covers all that can be reasonably expected at present, and would be a great advance on what we now have. It means more State competition and our full due so far as the express business and the carrying of our coals are concerned.
Plank 15. A pension at the age of 65 years, after having resided in the country 25 years, is not good enough. There are many worthy citizens badly in need of a pension who will not live to the age of 65 years. After proper investigation, if the actual need is established, we as a Christian and humanitarian people cannot justly shirk our plain duty.
Plank 16. (Birth-rate). Complaint is made about the shrinkage in the birth-rate,
When the workers and our progressive citizens understand the situation and elect a majority of Independent-Labour members to Parliament, the ruinous conditions that now prevail will be removed, but they will not be removed till then.
The Independent-Labour Party should comprise: The Labourites (meaning all who toil with hand or brain or both), including the Progressive Liberals, the Socialists, the Prohibitionists, and all Humanitarians. The Party must stand for the complete realisation of a broad and comprehensive national plat-
There is well founded political unrest in every country, and this unrest is seeking expression through the Labour and Socialist political parties which have grown so amazingly during the past decade. The workers in New Zealand have been fairly content heretofore, owing to favourable climatic conditions, a sparse population, comparatively few working hours, factory and other Acts, and an effort to ensure better conditions and living wages by Conciliation and Arbitration, which satisfied the workers in a measure, and enabled the control of the Labour vote by the late Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, under whose Premiership many humanitarian and useful temporary measures were enacted. It has, however, been clearly demonstrated that halfway measures in the economic field are of little use and will not satisfy an enlightened people. The signs of the times point to a fusion of the Liberals and Conservatives at no distant date; indeed, there is only a paper wall
know the truth about modern scientific socialism by a careful study of modern literature, and every Socialist should be a trades unionist, or an honest sympathiser and supporter of trades union principles. The gradual, well organised, National Ownership of all the means of production, distribution and exchange in New Zealand, will be a comparatively simple task, and this is the National Party's goal. The private profit system has failed lamentably, and its votaries have no permanent substitute to offer. We advise every worker to support and read his own class papers and printed matter. Those who can afford to read both the Labour and Capitalist publications should do so, but on no account should they neglect their own class papers. During the present transition stage, we Strongly urge every worker to give the best
firmly established Capitalist Trust. That, however, is impossible, but It is not impossible to become permanent shareholders in the People's New Zealand National Trust, which will, when established, assure every citizen against want, and the fear of want. Let us work "all for each and each for all and patiently "bear the burdens of the weak."
The people of New Zealand need good Independent-Labour Papers, modern economic education, agreement on essentials, thorough organisation and united use of the ballot.
Adopted by Annual Trades and Labour Councils' Conference, at Auckland,
To maintain upon our Statute Books all the Progressive Legislation that has already been enacted and to insist upon its sympathetic and proper administration.
To enact comprehensive measures and establish such conditions as will foster and ensure equality of opportunity, also the moral, material and educational advancement and the general comfort and well-being of the whole people, based upon the gradual Public Ownership of all the Means of Production, Distribution and Exchange.
Printed by the Lyttelton Times Company, Ltd.
A General meeting of members of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce was held in the Chamber Rooms, Swanson Street, on Wednesday evening, October 19, when Dr. W. C. W. McDowell delivered a highly important address upon "The Functions of the School of Commerce." The public being cordially invited to attend, and members of the Chamber being specially requested to urge the clerical members of their staffs to be present, as well as to attend themselves, there was a large attendance, upwards of 50 gentlemen being present. The President of the Chamber, Mr. J. H. Gunson, presided.
The Chairman, in the course of a few introductory remarks, said that, as those present were aware, the Executive of the Chamber had had under their consideration for some time past the advisability of doing something financially to further the work which the School of Commerce had now in hand. The Executive felt that if the Chamber was to worthily uphold itself in this direction, it must do something more than had been done in the past, and at the meeting held a quarter of an hour previously had presented the following amendment to the Constitution:—Resolved, that the Constitution and Rules of the Chamber be amended by the addition at the end of Clause 2 of the following:—
"The Chamber shall also have power to take steps to improve and elevate the technical and general knowledge of persons engaged in, or who desire or are about to engage in commerce or in any industry, and with a view thereto to provide for the delivery of lectures and the holding of classes, and to test by examination or otherwise the competence of such persons, and to award Certificates and Distinctions, and to institute and establish Scholarships, Grants, Rewards, and other benefactions, and to use and apply the funds of the Chamber accordingly."
This was adopted. The Executive felt that if the future of the City commercially was to be what it should, that those embarking on commercial lives should receive a sound commercial education,
Dr. McDowell, who was received with applause, spoke as follows:—"—Mr. President and gentlemen,—I face a difficulty to-night in that a few months ago I had the pleasure of addressing members of the Chamber on the same subject, and I was not quite sure whether there would be practically a new audience here to-night, or whether there would be a number present who were here previously. The Chamber has been very kind in inviting the clerical staffs of its members to be present, and as this is the first occasion upon which I have had an opportunity of addressing them, I wish to say that if I repeat anything I said on the previous occasion I ask those who may have heard what I said before to make due allowance. I desire, before discussing the functions of the School of Commerce, to refer to the history of the School, brief as it is, and, in order that I might safeguard myself from any charge of presumption in addressing commercial men on the subject of commercial education, I desire to explain how it is that my interest in commercial education has been aroused. In
"My interest in this work," proceeded Dr. McDowell," was furthered by my visit to the Old Country in
"Now that I have explained how it is that I have become so interested in and enthusiastic about the subject of commercial education, I propose to tell you how in the last decade, or 15 years past, Great Britain has been aroused to the necessity for the education of its commercial men. The starting point goes back to
Compulsory Subjects:
Optional (two subjects in one group):
Practical work also.
"That examination," said Dr. McDowell, "was intended to apply to youths who were in their last two years of school life, from 13 to 15, when they were preparing to enter upon business life, and it was agreed among a number of leading London merchants—between 400 and 500 of them banded together—to give preference of employment to all applicants who had gained the certificate for the junior examination. Then they established the senior examination for those actually engaged in business As it
That the Council is in favour of constructing a scheme for a diploma specially suitable for candidates contemplating a commercial career, the subjects for which shall be mainly those of the Diploma in Economics and Political Science, with the addition of a modern language and other subjects, the diploma course to be under the control of the Committee for Economics and Political Science.
"The details of the scheme are still under consideration, and the report suggests that while 'the concrete study of commerce can hardly be undertaken at Oxford,' it will probably be necessary to J appoint a Lecturer in Accountancy. That resolution shows how 1 even the ancient Universities are all coming to see the importance
"Now," said Dr. McDowell, "I come to the main subject of my address—' The Functions of the University School of Commerce The functions of the School of Commerce must be the functions of the University itself, and there has been no more concise description of these functions than that given by Lord Curzon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, when he said: 'The University is A Focus of Culture, A School for Character, and A Nursery for Thought.' These are the functions our School of Commerce aims to fulfil. Let me deal with the first—A Focus of Culture. At the Universities there should be provided a course of liberal education suited for students who devote, or intend to devote, themselves to business careers. It has been realised long since that culture means the development of all the intellectual faculties, not only of the receptive and reflective powers of the mind, but also a quickening of the reasoning faculties, a stimulation of the powers of observation, and a kindling of the imagination.
"From days of old the basis of University education has comprised a knowledge of Greek and Latin, History and Philosophy, grouped together under the title of 'The Humanities.' The study of such subjects was supposed to afford the best means of developing the powers of the mind, and conduce to the attainment of the I highest intellectual culture, which Matthew Arnold has defined thus: 'The acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.'
"Such studies, being conducted through the medium of Greek and Latin, not only opened up the storehouse of the history and philosophy of these ancient races, but laid bare their splendid literature and poetry, thus giving suitable training to the imagination, and the process of translation not only gave excellent mental exercise but also had the advantage of training the student's powers of expressing thought, and leading him thus to appreciate more fully the niceties and aptitudes of his mother tongue.
Keeping these principles in view the Senate of New Zealand University laid down the following course of study:—
First Examination (six subjects)—first two years after Matriculation.
Mathematics (Algebra); or one of the following Sciences:—
Physics (Sound, Light, Heat), Magnetism, Electricity, Inorganic Chemistry, Geology.
Second Examination (six subjects)—one year after first.
"If you will now kindly direct your attention to the course of study prescribed for the Bachelor of Commerce Degree, which I have placed in outline upon the blackboard, I think you will be convinced readily that such a plan of studies, comprising subjects of practical importance in commercial life, provides the means for obtaining an intellectual culture of an excellence comparable in almost every respect with that provided by the University for the B.A. Degree or for any of the other professional courses.
"The wide range of subjects gives abundant scope for an all-round development of the mental faculties. The knowledge oil modern languages, such as French and German, begets an acquaintance with national literatures rich in materials for the culture of the imagination, and carries with it all the advantages to be derived from translation from a foreign tongue. May I here parenthetically observe that I hope that Spanish will be shortly added to this list, for its knowledge would be of especial value to commercial men in view of possible developments in three years to come of close trade relationships between New Zealand and the Spanish-speaking peoples of the Western Coast of South America
"Part of these subjects are taken at the first examination, two years after Matriculation, and then at the end of the third year there is the second examination. That is the course of study set down for the Degree of Bachelor of Commerce, and I think you will admit that it is a very useful course for anyone who is destined to devote himself to a business life. Of course, educationists do not claim that such training is all that is necessary for success in commercial life. There are gifts of character, integrity, industry, readiness of resource, and steady pursuit of high ideals, that all make for success in business life, but it will be admitted that, all things being equal, the man who has had the benefit of this study possesses an incalculable advantage over one not similarly educated, because he has a knowledge of the principles upon which his business is based. Besides, such knowledge gives an added zest to work. It is the same in our medical life. I can assure you and you must-all realise it, how interesting it is in our professional life to see how the laws of Physiology, Pathology, and Therapeutics, upon which everything is based, work out so wonderfully in the individual cases that come before us. The same truth, I am sure, applies to commercial life. In this course, every provision is made for a thorough acquaintance with the great principles that underlie economics, finance, and the mechanism of business, and when a man knows these it must give him an additional attraction to his business to see how they work out in everyday life. If a man is interested in his work, as a rule he will be successful in his work.
"The classes, I may say, are held after business hours, and if a man wishes to undertake the course it does not necessarily mean that he must be separated from his business life. But while this is so, to complete the course would make great demands upon him and it is primarily intended for students who intend to go to the University, say, from their 16th to 19th year, giving all their time to qualifying for the degree.
"In view of the great tax it would make on the energies of youths fully engaged in business to attain the degree, the Auckland University College Council decided to institute a course of study for their special benefit; a course which, while not so severe, covers much the same ground, and will help those undertaking it greatly in their after commercial life. This course was established three years ago, and entitles the student passing it to a certificate of Associate of the School of Commerce. It covers a course of two years, and to gain the certificate it is not necessary for the student I to matriculate. It embraces six subjects, three of which may be taken each year. These subjects are:—
"It is a good all-round course of study, a study which would acquaint any young man engaged in a commercial house here with an intelligent following of the principles of finance and economics which are the basis of his business. Last year about 40 students were engaged in the various classes connected with this course of study, but the School is in a very primitive way yet, and we are very anxious to have the aid and interest of all associated with this I Chamber of Commerce to help us along. 'There is no royal road to learning.' That is a true saying, and unless our young men are I prepared to take up these studies, and sacrifice some hours of their I leisure and pleasure, they will not succeed. Young men, however, I need and deserve encouragement, and I appeal to members of the Chamber to urge their employees to take up this work. In doing so, I wish to say how gratified I am by the motion carried to-night, which shows how you, as a Chamber, have interested yourselves in this great educational work. It can be furthered by encouraging your employees to take up this course and by clearly showing that you value the certificate. As I said before, education may not be I the only requisite in business, but, all things considered, I ask you, when you are making promotions and advancements in salary, to help us by recognising the holders of these certificates. Your proposal to found two annual scholarships of £10 will help us greatly. I might say that the fees and books for a year's study for the Associate Course at the School cost, on an average, between £4 and £5, and the scholarships would pay for these, and be ample encouragement to study and to take up this work.
"I look forward to the day when, either through the liberality of the University, or, better still, through the generosity of some of our wealthy merchants, there shall be established a 'Commercial Travelling Scholarship,' on the lines of the Medical Travelling Scholarship, which was instituted by the University Senate last year. This scholarship is granted to the best qualified medical candidate of the year, and entitles him to the receipt of £150 for one year. The Orient Steamship Company, and the Union Steamship Company generously provide the scholar with a free passage to and from England. Such a scholarship, for enabling the most distinguished commercial student of each year to travel in some foreign country and report upon the prospect of trade developments, would surely be of very great benefit to the commercial community in this country.
"I have said that the function of the School of Commerce is to provide a liberal education suitable to youths entering upon a business life. I have, I think, demonstrated that the course laid down by the School of Commerce provides for this. Another function, however, is that this school should encourage research, that it should teach men how to use their brains in solving business problems that come up for solution. A University would be doing only half its work if it was not doing that. It is because she has done this that Germany has made such great progress. About the beginning of the month a cable came from Berlin stating that they were celebrating the centenary of the Berlin University. They had a great gathering there, and at this gathering no less than £500,000 was collected in the room for University purposes. To what object is this sum to be devoted? It is to be devoted, as one might naturally suppose, to scientific research, and it is through this scientific research that Germany has been able to accomplish such great things. As an instance of this, I might mention the growth of the sugar beet industry, which, perhaps, will be of interest to many of you, seeing that a Sugar Beet Bill is before the New Zealand Parliament at the present time. The sugar beet industry was established in Germany in
"But the essential requisites for successful research are a Commercial Library and a Commercial Museum, and, owing to lack of funds, the University College is utterly unable to provide these institutes so necessary for its work. Is not this a matter in which we may confidently appeal to the members of this Chamber for their generous aid? The importance of establishing a Commercial Library in connection with this Chamber was dwelt upon by our veteran member, Mr. Samuel Vaile, in an address to the Chamber early this year. I would most strongly endorse all that he has said in this connection. The Law Society and the Medical Association find it to the great advantage of their members to place at their disposal adequate libraries, and surely a library devoted to commercial subjects would be of inestimable value to the members of this Chamber. No great financial outlay would be necessary to obtain the great text books upon Finance, Accountancy, and Political Economy, and Consular and Board of Trade Reports, especially dealing with trade conditions in the countries flanking both sides of the Pacific Ocean, and a good selection of the best current periodicals, journals, and newspapers relating to trade and commerce.
"If a beginning on a small scale were once made, the general appreciation of its value would soon quicken its growth. The great-library to which I have already made reference as being connected with the London School of Economics and Political Science, has grown from small beginnings, and there are now, literally, miles of shelves ladened with books and other publications dealing with every conceivable branch of Economics, Commerce, Finance, and Political Science. Consequently, its reading rooms are thronged with earnest students from every nation in the world eager to ransack its treasures in pursuit of some special piece of research work, mainly relating to industry or commerce.
"Second only in importance to a Commercial Library is the existence of a Commercial Museum attached to the School of Commerce. Someday I hope to see the Chamber in a position to aid the School, by establishing a first-class Museum displaying the principal natural products of the country, and illustrating the various processes of manufacturing the articles wherewith we trade.
"A Commercial Laboratory, provided with microscopes and other means for minute examination of structure and tests of quality, would be invaluable for the determination of standards of purity or detection of adulteration in various articles of commerce.
"Now, Gentlemen, this review of its pressing needs should suffice to show how entirely does the future well-being of our School depend upon the kindly sympathy and generosity of the prominent business men of our city.
"I want now to refer to the third function of the University, namely, the development of the character of the student. I think this is a very important feature of University life. I do not know any training that is more helpful in developing the character of a man than that which is afforded by the social life of our University College. A man goes there, and, even if not a matriculated student, he has his name entered on the books, and he joins the different sports clubs, and in playing their games he develops character. He learns the laws of the game of life in learning how to play football and cricket and hockey. The common-room life is also of very great value. The student meets there men of his own age, who are studying for the medical and legal, teaching, and clerical professions, and by mixing with them he learns how to hold his own intellectually, and recognises what are his own powers and limitations. Then in the debating contests he learns how to express his views. It is most important to business men that they should learn how to handle men, how to speak to them, and how to persuade them. The debates in the College Hall all help to bring out these qualities, and when a student emerges from the University life he is thus, with the educational and moral training he has received, much better fitted for the struggle that is to come in the battle of life.
"I have, said Dr. McDowell, "now given you an outline of the functions of the University School of Commerce, but, before ending my address, I desire to say one or two things more. We can do a great deal with our School of Commerce that has not yet been done; and I may say how anxious we are to confer, at this stage of our short history, with the leaders of the mercantile community, so that we may bring the School into closer touch with
"I will conclude by most heartily thanking the Chamber for carrying the resolution to-night, empowering it to give such splendid support to commercial education. I also desire, on behalf of the University College Council, to thank the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Warehousemen's Association for their kindness in already founding two scholarships for the School of Commerce, and I hope that their good example will be followed by other commercial bodies in Auckland, and by the heads of private firms. May I, finally, ask you all fully to realise that this question of a sounder and more complete commercial education does not merely concern the raising of the standard of business efficiency; it has a most important bearing upon the development of our city,
and of our Dominion as well. For to our mercantile community must we look for experienced leaders and prudent guides if our civic and national life is to advance upon sure and safe lines."
Dr. McDowell resumed his seat amid prolonged applause.
The President said that when Dr. McDowell delivered his last lecture they were greatly indebted to him. "To-night," he proceeded, "we are placed under further indebtedness. The Doctor needs no assurance from me that we will take this matter up. One thing I think he has illustrated more than anything else, is that we must turn our attention to the youth of this country, for it is from them that our future citizens are coming. I move, 'That the thanks of this Chamber are due to Dr. McDowell for his instructive, interesting, and masterly address.'"
Mr. T. Peacock seconded the motion, which was put and carried by acclamation.
Dr. McDowell, in returning thanks, said: "I hope that the outcome of this meeting to-night will be a conference, such as I have suggested, for considering in a reasonable and practicable way what can be done to promote commercial education generally in this city of ours. I think a very great deal can be done by such a conference. It is only in this way that we can save a lot of unnecessary expense. The Secondary Schools are in danger of overlapping the Technical College, and the Technical College of overlapping the University, and if we could get such a conference I feel we should arrive at a decision that would be of paramount importance to our commercial life. I need hardly say that should anyone wish for further information regarding the work of the School, a communication addressed to the Director, care of the University College, will receive a prompt and willing response." (Applause.)
"This short treatise on Economics will, I fear, be understood only by the advanced student who has mastered the initial lessons in public management of Modern Capitalistic Society. I claim that it reduces to practice the lessons of Adam Smith, J. S. Mill, Prince Kropotkin, and Mr. Fleurscheim.
These writers present to the imagination a house with all its useful and ornamental furnishings; with suggestions for improving the internal and external arrangement of each article or item, with some improvement in the design and construction, but the windows are too small, and the door by which the investigator should enter has been overlooked and omitted.
Labour the Average Fixer of Values.—Before dealing with the Arbitration Act, it will be necessary to explain that every commodity and service is bought and sold at its average necessary and unnecessary cost in labour in production, conveyance, and distribution, but to fully comprehend this we must trace every commodity through all its useful and useless stages, not only to the land on which the rude material of which it is composed was produced, but it must include the original labour cost of clearing the land and rendering it productive.
The rent of land is the superior productive power of that particular land over the poorest or most inconvenient in use; but even the privilege of levying rent has been originally purchased by labour, conquest, or fraud.
All capital is accumulated labour (though all accumulated labour is not capital). If we trace the average capital cost of a commodity, which may be a sixth of the total, we must recollect that it was produced by labour, and in a well-managed community, when only necessary labour is exerted, we shall find that the labour cost will be about a half of what our commodities and services cost us at present in New Zealand,
Professor Le Rossignol, an American economist, has, however, just discovered that the price of commodities depend first and chiefly on their utility, and their labour cost is only a secondary consideration. The Professor has arrived at this conclusion by too restricted a view, by omitting many factors which govern the cost. It is true that a commodity urgently wanted will on rare occasions command a price out of all proportion to its labour cost, while a commodity laboriously wrought will have no exchangeable value.
The Professor quotes intangible things, such as conscience and honour; as when a citizen sells his vote or an alderman his conscience for gold, these people have neither conscience nor honour to barter, and if they had, it has cost as much in labour to procure votes and to mount the alderman's chair for all voters and aldermen as the honour is worth to the honourable or the gold to the knaves. When an honourable man aspires to the Mayoral robes
Again, Professor Rossignol quotes the varying recompense of authors to prove that the labour has no relation to the recompense. Here he is selecting extreme cases instead of taking the average of all authors. Every author does not write for money; a popular novelist can make more money than Shakespeare. Many professional men do not work for money, but for love and esteem.
The Professor quotes curiosities as having an exchangeable value out of all proportion to the labour of procuring them. If, instead of selecting an extinct bird's egg, he will take the whole value of curiosities, and compare them with the whole labour exerted in collecting them, he will find that the two will balance, or nearly so.
He next selects an empty town allotment as being worth a high price, though no labour has been spent upon it; but if he will enquire what all empty lots cost when purchased from Government and add the annual rates and the usual interest, he will find that its high value has been purchased at a proportionate labour cost.
Some evidence can be brought against every theory. I am told it can be proved the world has not the curve the globe theorists claim for it; yet no reasonable judge would find for the flat theory while we have such overwhelming evidences in the globe's favour. The Professor can no more prove that commodities exchange at their utility price than Henry George could prove that capital was unnecessary as a factor in production while a labourer could subsist on nuts and berries provided by Nature while he worked to provide his own capital, or that a lazy landowner could cause a trade depression by consuming the produce of the labour of others.
We may take it for granted that no proprietor will pay for the exertion of labour on a commodity unless he thinks it will not only be useful when finished, but, further, that it will sell at a paying price. Capital oft becomes obsolete, but labour never, as the wants of man always exceed his ability to produce. We often do see labour hawking itself in a capitalistic community, but that is because those who want it cannot pay for it, and those who can will not employ it.
Arbitration Act.—The Conciliation and Arbitration Act was passed to prevent strikes and sweating, but I could see from the commencement, in
I sent a letter to the "Auckland Star" explaining that when the Court advanced the wages in one employment other incomes would be reduced in proportion; that the Court had no more knowledge of the laws which governed wages or the justice or injustice of differing recompenses for the various employments than they have of the laws of nature. I asked one of our M.P.'s, who was a member of the Conciliation, if he had seen my letter, and what he thought of it. He replied: "I think there is much truth in it." But I noticed he acted as if he had never seen it.
When the Arbitration Court first opened, the working classes were delighted; the wages of each trade were advanced from 3s. to 6s a week, and the week's work shortened a few hours. Mr. Seddon became the object of their gratitude, if not of their worship; the Court was regarded as an institution which could cure all industrial troubles, and make the working classes prosperous, contented, and happy. A doctor who had discovered a remedy for a universal disease could not have been more anxiously awaited. Every worker felt that he was working for many shillings a week less than he need to do, if only he could get the Court to operate on his case. They felt that if the great Seddon ever erred, it was in not appointing 20 Courts instead of one.
I attended one of the Court's sittings; one could easily distinguish the employees from the employers—while the workers were cheerful and happy, like a victorious army in the hour of victory, the employers were crestfallen, careworn, and gloomy. The Court had not only charged them with their own desperate defence, but that of the general public. One of the labour leaders said something about the workers having captured the legislature. This sent a thrill of terror through the defence. I seated myself
Political economy is, with the medical, a dark science. We do not know what are the causes of most of the bodily diseases from which we suffer, and still less do we know how to cure them. I consider the political the second in importance of all sciences to civilised capitalistic society. Though I believe I understand more of its principles than any other person in this colony, I believe there is far more unknown to me than what I know. I would seriously ask our employers of labour and intelligent business men, who have watched the Arbitration and its consequences for
The Butchers.—I regard the Arbitration Act as the cause of the formation of the Employers' Associations. These associations have reduced wages considerably. To explain how they have been reduced, and to be understood, we must take it for granted that everything is sold at its labour cost. I will first take the Master Butchers. On the establishment of the Court they looked
In
Though I am promising our trade unionists and scab workers double wages, if they have patience to follow me through all the labyrinths and intricacies of our modern capitalistic industrial system I think there are few whose interest will be sufficiently sustained to follow me to my journey's end, and if they do they will not fully appreciate what has been procured so easily without a battle with its consequent wounded and defeated combatants.
The Baker.—The next distributing trade which I will tackle is the baker's. The waste of labour in this trade is not so great as that of the butchers, which amounts to at least 2d a pound over what it could be delivered at by the method I will explain; while that of bread could not be delivered at over Id for 4lb cheaper. An Auckland baker, Mr. Dough, of Hobson Street, hearing that I could double wages in New Zealand in about five years if the people would follow me as faithfully as they did Mr. Seddon, waited on me to know how it could be done. I said: "You are a baker, an expert in the trade, and ought to know all about it, and you have come to me, who knows nothing about it, to instruct you how it should be managed in the public interest." This, mind you, is a successful business man, a man who would be chosen for a public position before me, because he has been successful. I mention this to show our electors that the last men they should choose to manage for the public is a successful business man. You might as well elect a baby, and a vicious one at that. He has spent his whole life in trying to best his competitors and grow rich at the expense of his fellow-man, and keep within the four corners of the law. These are the men you honour and respect, on which you can rely and put your trust. They have managed their own business successfully, and will do the same for you, and being already wealthy they have no axe to grind; they are above bribery. Public management is so different to private, and the necessary qualities are so conflicting that the same person cannot be reasonably expected to excel in both.
Well, now, Mr. Dough, if I map this part of the town out for your driver to serve every house, go up one side the street and down the other, and forbid any other baker trespassing on your round, you will have no bad debts or dilatory payers, when all must take your bread or go without; how many times as much bread could your man, horse, and cart serve with the same amount of labour as he serves at present? After some calculating and consideration, he said five times. I intended next to have questioned him about economies in the bakehouse, but he did not want any further evidence. He was quite satisfied it could be done. He had lived till his head was grey, but he would not have believed such economies could be effected in his own trade in the public interest. I am told bread can be baked as well as it is now with about two-thirds the labour, with best methods and machinery which are now known. I do not think I need to say more about the baking trade, only to remind the reader that it is about time we all thought more of the public interest and less of our own. We should then have a thousand men and women looking after our own interest, while now we have only one or two at most.
The Milk Trade.—The milk trade is economically so similar to
Groceries.—Personally, I do not know much of the grocery trade, but I think that very considerable labour saving could be effected in its distribution if competition was eliminated, with some economies in its production and preparation; the fancy labels, papers, and general get up of many packages cost as much or more than the article they contain. This may be said to attract and please the eye, but it is often intended to allure and deceive. A fancy package may please a rich lady, who has several men and women patiently working to support her grandeur, but the poor women, who are in the vast majority, are forced to pay for a package which has little or no attractions for them. The contents are so inferior to the package and get up that they lead only to the disappointment and vexation of the man who married a worthless woman because she was beautifully attired. At present it costs 6d. to distribute a pound of tea, but a pound of sugar is distributed, and, under certain circumstances, as profit-
It is no uncommon thing to see an Auckland grocer delivering goods at Onehunga, one customer in this street and two in that, or a Ponsonby grocer delivering goods at Parnell, and vice versa. These four are our chief, steady, constant, and universal food distributing trades, if not every day, at least every week, and the reader will see what perhaps he never even dreamt of before, that labour and not time is money, and that more than a third of what has been exerted on it has been worse than wasted from a public point of view.
The Fruit Trade.—The fruit trade may be reviewed as belonging to our food supply. While the greater part of the four preceding are delivered by cart, the greater part of fruit is carried by the consumer from a shop. It is only hawked when the supply is excessive and the wholesale price is at zero. The fruiter, fruiterer, or fruitererers' expenses at Queen Street or Karangahape Road, Auckland, are, when fruit is cheap, more in rent than in fruit, so that it never could be sold very cheap if it cost nothing wholesale. It is one of the puzzles and contradictions in the character of the average woman that she prefers to pay a greater price for the same fruit in a front street than in a back one, while she would climb up a sooty chimney for a bargain in drapery, and will exultingly point to her sooty dress to excite the envy or admiration of her acquaintances. A hero would not be prouder of exposing his scars. The purchaser of fruit at a shop has to pay first the wholesale price of the fruit, then the labour of the seller, next the wholesale price of the fruit that is unsold and decays, the cost of its removal by the scavenger, and the paper bag in which it is carried away. The waste of labour in the fruit trade is a scandal to our industrial reformers. The major part of the fruit is sent by the producer to the railway station or wharf
If fruit was delivered at the residences of consumers in the city and suburbs with as little labour as possible, instead as with as much as the cleverest and worst enemy of our industrial system could invent, it would be delivered at less than half the cost. As those who condemn a system ought to be able to suggest a better, I will here and now describe one. That it may be improved upon is but to be expected, as nothing human is perfect. Arrangements could be made with reputable carters on the stand who drive their own carts, say, each Tuesday and Friday, to fetch the fruit from the wharf or railway direct. The fruit cases should be made with hinges to fold up when empty, so that each case would last a season, and the cases empty should be delivered to the carter by the consumer when they are replaced by full ones. The districts for each carter must not overlap. The cases should be made in at least two sizes, so as to suit large and small families. By this means each carter with one horse would distribute about 30 cwt. in a day, and draw the money and forward the producer his share. I am not going to anticipate all possible casualties or difficulties to the execution of my plan, any more than other inventors, reformers, and economists have done. Our capitalistic system, as we now see after centuries of experience, experiments, and improvements is so faulty that its best friends admit that it ought to be improved as soon as possible; and this is what I am trying to do, as far as I know. J. S. Mill is our standard authority on the subject, and I am following his advice. If I did not think I knew more of the branch of the subject on which I write than any economist I have read, or than our greatest politicians, from President Roosevelt downwards, my writing would be useless.
Summer Drinks.—I have not a list of all our food distributers, but those I have examined are the chief. As to our summer drink distributers, you can see every establishment's waggon running all over the town and suburbs, and are spending three times as much labour in distributing as is necessary. I have no doubt considerable improvements and economies could be effected in the making of these drinks if its managers would study the subject from a public instead of a private point of view.
A publican is a necessary supplier of drinks. He is also a lodging-house keeper. He is also a public entertainer, or rather the public entertain themselves on his premises; that part of the
Bootmaker and Saddler.—The bootmaker and saddler both work upon leather, and the tanner makes hides into leather. These are allied trades. I had once a set of harness, the leather part of which, with very little repairing, lasted 12 years, or four times the average. The cost was only a third more than a common set. I could soon see they were going to wear well, so I went to the saddler for another set, made from the same leather. "You are too late," he said," that leather was tanned for exhibition at the Agricultural Show, and no more can be got in Auckland equal to it." The lasting qualities of this leather, I am told, is not so much due to the native qualities of the hide as to the process of tanning. Now if a hide can be made to last four times as long with a third more labour or cost, there is something rotten in the state of Denmark. Where are the defenders of the capitalistic and condemners of socialism now? Here are our hides reduced to one-fourth their utility through accursed competition, which John Bright would have said is another name for adulteration, and John Ruskin, robbery by deception. These tanners are classed by the "Herald" newspaper as men of resource and self-reliance, and on a higher plane than honest paupers. I suppose he means they are nearer heaven. Our Ward-Seddon Government has appointed graders to prevent our flaxmillers from defrauding each other and the colony, but it has never occurred to them it was necessary to protect the public against our resourceful and selfreliant tanners. In bootmaking there is great temptation to defraud. The ordinary purchaser can scarcely distinguish between a good leather boot and a brown paper one. Even if paper shoes are sold as such it is against the public interest that they should be made and sold to such as want low priced shoes. They are not worth to the purchaser nor to the public as a whole the labour expended on their construction. In a well managed community the simple must be protected against the fraud of the cunning. I do not know much of the boot and shoe trade, but I believe if they were made and mended in the public, instead of private, interest, a considerable saving in labour could be effected.
At the time I am writing this (
The Draper and Clothier.—We are told our lawyers and land agents are the Devil's own. If this be true, our drapers and clothiers are the disciples of Beelzebub, inspired by the Serpent. We are told drapers pawn their consciences every Monday morning, and redeem them on Saturday night. To ascertain the truth I interviewed a pawnbroker. He fetched me a divine opera glass and pointed to a row of bottles, or, rather, pure transparent jars. I noticed some of the consciences were plump and active, while others seemed shrunk and withered and remarkably quiet. The pawnbroker gave me a feasible explanation. "The plump consciences," he said, "belong to drapers who have just entered the trade; the shrunk and withered ones belong to drapers of middle age. You see," he explained," one day's exercise a week is insufficient to keep them plump and active. If you carried an arm in a sling for years, it would shrink and wither. When a draper retires from trade, loaded with riches, as they often do, his conscience after such a long rest grows active and vigorous, and often prompts him against his will to perform noble deeds of charity, and he founds hospitals and endows homes for improvident and ruined women, and is knighted and honoured by the nation, sanctified by the churches, and embalmed in the hearts of the people."
You will have noticed drapers are generally as enthusiastic and active in the Lord's service on Sunday as they are in the devil's during the week. They are chiefly of the dissenting persuasion, and by their persuasive skill and charm over the hearts of women have won for the Lord many converts. There seems to be a strong affinity between a woman's heart, a shining bonnet and silk dress, and the rich golden pavements of heaven.
Let us now proceed to the draper's shop and see how honours are won. This worshipful respect, this devout reverence of the people. I am told when drapery is landed at the shop it is usual to charge 100 per cent, profit, or double cost price. This is while new and fashionable. What remains in stock for a while and goes out of fashion is sold as such at special sales at from 10 to 30 per cent, over cost. This gives an average all-round profit of about 40 per cent. Anyone who will examine how the trade is carried on, and then how it could be managed in the public interest if competition was removed—when one comes to consider the small weight and bulk in proportion to value—the inquirer must con-
Between the drapers and the three ladies, not less than a week's labour for one person was expended in the selection of this apology for a hat.
I wanted a strong serviceable coat. Being conscious of my ignorance of cloth, and knowing how easy it was for a tradesman to cheat and impose on women, I engaged an expert man to as-
When the last customer left the shop the clothier said, "Well, my man, what can I do for you?" "Give me a good coat in lieu of this bundle of rags." After my explanation he replied, I never guaranteed the coat; the lady took the tickets between her fingers, and asked how long will this wear, and knowing it was Irish linen I replied two years."
I have selected from many others these two purchases to expose not only the enormous waste of labour direct, but indirect, in making clothes to sell, or defraud the purchaser rather. The cloth was not worth half the tailor's labour in making the coat. It might have been worth making into a bed cover and lasted for years. This is one of those cases in which J. S. Mill deplores the general dishonesty of mankind, and is as much a fraud as passing a dishonoured cheque, but our present law does not treat it as such.
There is a moral as well as an economic aspect in this abominable calling. The surplus goods, which are the result of the enormous prices charged in this trade, are advertised at the end
It has always been a puzzle to me how the City Council tolerate drapers' shops in busy streets. If the Council were honoured by Nature with a spark of chivalry, or even common respect for the weaker sex, they would not allow drapers to tempt and allure women to impose their persons as impediments and even nuisances in the unwelcome presence of busy men following their necessary occupations. In view of this conduct, who can wonder that the marriage and birth rate is falling off.
I called a meeting of six ladies for whom I had a profound respect. They were all sensible and intelligent women in every other way. They led and controlled their husbands by the golden cord of love; they kept warm in middle age the youthful devotions of their husbands. Their husbands seemed happier than men who ride manly hobbies, such as racing and football. They were free from ambition. They avoided quarrels and contentions. You see, love will not fight except in defence of its object. These men toiled at hard drudgery employments without a murmur the whole
These six ladies were all infected with the base and degrading distemper of bargain hunting. I told them they should see themselves as others saw them. Your imaginary bargains fill your houses with moths. At this time a great sale at ruination prices was advertised at the Beehive, Karangahape Road. This, indeed was an appropriate title for a bargain sale, where the purchasers were to build their fortunes on the ruins of the seller. It was fortunate that the Beehive, or hive of bees, was on the tramles part of the road, or the road would have been converted into
The six estimable wives, from 30 to 60 years, of whom
I have said these six wives are the guiding angels of their husbands. They all requested me to ascertain the measure of their husbands' affections for them, in obedience to which I adopted a novel method. You see, love is so light it cannot be weighed, and too elastic to be measured, and too glowing to be registered, and so strong and fervent we cannot compare it with other temperatures. The reader will have noticed, when he is forced to carry anything against his will, it feels much heavier than a pair of scales would register it, but if it is something you want to carry it feels much lighter. If I owned the substance you wanted to carry, and said, "No, no, don't carry it; it is too heavy for you," but did not actually prevent you, it would seem still lighter.
I went to these six husbands and requested each to guess the weight of his wife. They all guessed them to be much lighter than the scales weighed them. One of these husbands was a butcher. A cruel butcher is the last man you would think could love a woman, as he must kill innocent and inoffensive lambs. This butcher was an expert at guessing the weight of sheep and pigs at agricultural shows by feeling and carrying them, and had often won prizes. I had often noticed him carrying his wife over a muddy length of road in their evening walks. She always said, "Don't, John, don't. I am so heavy you will strain yourself," and this she repeated all the stretch, as if she wanted him to drop her in the mud. Each repetition invigorated him. Now, this butcher, who could tell the weight of a sheep or pig by lifting it and carrying it a yard or two, could not tell the weight of his wife to 30lbs, though he carried her a furlong through thick mud. This was the loveliest woman of them all. If you will notice a man and handsome woman of about the same weight walk over a lawn or plot of grass, the grass will be much flatter where the man trod than the woman's footprints, but when it comes to a dead, feelingless, iron weight on a pair of scales they are both the same.
On this woman the Divine Sculptor and Artist had exercised His highest skill, and had purposed her as a medium between the terrestial and celestial, to edify and awaken in men an exalted, enthusiastic adoration of the Omnipotent. Is it not grievous to contemplate such a woman being allured and seduced by the cunning machinations of a sordid, iron-hearted draper into the degraded ranks of bargain hunters?
For persuading her to reform she was grateful indeed; in fact, she regarded me as her earthly savior, She said, "I am so happy now. I feel I have two hearts, or my heart has two open-
Coal, Mining, Wood, Shipping, and ’Bus Trades.—I have reviewed and to some extent investigated several of our chief manufactories and distributive industries. This is more than our trade unions or their Parliament have done. They look superficially with suspicious eye on the butcher, baker, coal dealer, and builder, but all other trades have so far escaped their notice. They want high money wages and short hours. This was all they asked for at first, but finding they can neither eat or wear the money, they want cheap meat, bread, and rents. A reader of our newspapers abroad would never think the working classes of New Zealand wore clothes or used milk or groceries. They never think the bushman or shipbuilder have anything to do with the rate of wages, much less our prisoners. If I undertake the examination and exposure of the shortcomings and bad management in every trade and occupation which affects the rate of wages and hours, I shall have a more difficult task than Mr. Ward or Mr. Asquith ever had, or I think will have. The task of raising and supporting 100,000 soldiers to defend the colony, and at the same time building all the bridges, roads, and railways required without increasing taxation, would not be greater; but supposing I make the colony more secure with 1,000 men than Mr. Ward can make it with 100,000, this ought to count for something, and I believe this can be done.
Suppose I now tackle the coal and firewood trades. I have been in these, and ought to know something of their secrets. "We are told there are secrets in every trade, but they are not taught in our schools. Our smart youths are sent to a commercial school to learn its scientific principles, and others the industrial, but they are not taught their secrets. You must actually practice them to learn. Our newspapers teem with instructions how to manage a farm, a garden, or orchard successfully, but never a word about managing a distributive, manufacturing, or mining concern If one of our gold mines strikes a rich reef, or one runs out, the
As I do not know much of shipping or 'bus management, I will make a few remarks on their conduct of private versus public interest. Most of my readers will recollect that the Union Steam Ship Company some years since, believing they had a secure monopoly of the intercolonial trade, charged too high a price. A small shipowner first started in opposition to them, which they decided was beneath their notice, but when Huddart Parker entered into competition, a shipping war commenced. Passenger fares from Auckland to Sydney were reduced to £1, and the sailing times of steamers were fixed not to suit the public interest and convenience, but at such times as was thought would be most inconvenient and harassing to their competitors. The public and our merchants said this shipping puts us to inconvenience, but the reduced freights and passages will about pay us for our extra trouble; one of them must soon be ruined and yield the field to the other, and old freight and passages will follow. But what are the facts? The contending companies agree to work in unison, instead of competition. Charges were fixed at first on a fair paying basis, and have been advanced constantly, slowly, almost imperceptibly, until for many years past they have been at a considerable premium above a paying price. If we could get at the truth we should find that both companies have far more than recouped themselves for losses during the competition period. If another company was to enter into the trade now they would have to fight both. During such competitions the risk of shipwrecks are increased, and much unpleasantness and ill-feeling is engendered between what ought to be units of one community.
My readers will also recollect that a similar shipping war was
Many old Aucklanders will recollect many ’bus wars. For
There is an economic law of averages laid down, I think,
Though this chapter is under the title of coal and wood
I have placed these three impositions on the public in succession, because they all amount to the same thing, and illustrate and shed light upon each other. They are all a great public waste of labour. These shipowners, ’bus proprietors, and merchants are all protected by the public in the due performance of their several callings, and ought to perform them in the public interest. After I have exposed such maladministration and mismanagement as is within my limited knowledge in a few more trades and callings, if life and health permit I intend, as far as I am able, to explain how each should be managed in the public interest, and the surplus labour which we now have in the country with other larger numbers-which you see I propose to displace by economy and good management, may and can be all profitably employed at an annual advance of about 20 per cent, in wages to all, if the absence of blights and pests over which we have little or no control do not intervene to prevent the results which I expect.
The coal trade, as now managed in Auckland, is incapable of so great an improvement as many others. Very little improvement can be made upon steam coal, because the purchasers and users are nearly all good judges of what they buy, and know which quality is most suitable to their purpose. The fraud and deception practised is therefore confined to the purchasers of household coals. I have known a case or two where brickbats have been mixed with coals by hawkers, and where 12cwt have been palmed off for a ton, and payment made at about 2s below the standard price for a ton. I have known an inferior class of coals palmed off for a superior at a little below the price of the better coals. These tricks of trade are practised almost solely by hawkers upon the very class of women who are bargain-hunters. A sensible housewife will never risk purchasing from a hawker any more than she would purchase Doctor Williams' pink pills. Neither will she, unless under exceptional circumstances, ask a tradesman to take a less price than he asks, or to make a reduction on a bill, but pays all in full without delay or fictitious comment, and seldom or never looks at what you bring her, and never disputes the bill. You will see that such a woman can be served at a less price than those who put the tradesman to so much trouble. A honest and reasonable woman is a jewel, who is respected by all who know her. It is only the lowest and the most vile who would try to
In looking where economies can be effected in the coal trade in the public interest, I will suppose that at Huntly mines the coals are mined with the least possible labour consistent with the safety, health, and comfort of the miners; that they are carried by rail with the same good management. This brings them to the sheds at the town stations, and from here the chief economies must begin. The districts should be mapped out for each coal deliverer, and housewives should be forced to take them in quantities, and at such time as the supplier shall think fit and convenient; in fact, the housewife seldom or never ought to need to order coals. The coal deliverer should know under all ordinary circumstances when her coal bin will be empty, and he ought to be the best judge of when it will be most convenient for him to deliver it; and here I must reproach the engineers who laid out Auckland, and our past and present City Councils, for by their negligence or incapacity in increasing to citizens the price of coals. At the top of Upper Queen Street a number of houses are built upon a bank, and are approached at the front by about 50 steps. About 100 feet behind is Liverpool Street, on a level with these houses. A 4 feet passage from Liverpool Street and a like passage at the back boundary of the allotments, with, say, a public wheelbarrow at the end of the passage, would enable these houses to be supplied with coals at 2s a ton less labour. Between Gladstone Street and Upper Queen Street the same thing should be done. I have seen an old rheumatic woman come from Symonds Street, past Gladstone Street, and walk up 50 steps, a task which took her 10 minutes to accomplish, though she could walk on the level at two miles at hour. To get a ton of furniture up and down these steps would cost almost as much in labour as it costs to take a ton of gum from Auckland to London.
Flitting.—While on this subject, I will make a short
The mill wood trade of Auckland is capable of about as much fraud as the drapery and some of the grocer's goods. I have seen a load of this wood divided into six loads, and the silly women who purchased it could scarcely tell the difference. I have known rotten wood saturated with salt water sold for sound wood, and totara for ti-tree. A mill hand forbid his wife to buy a hawker's load of wood, but a serpent, I might say an insurance agent of a hawker, tempted her, and she lost over half a day's wages of her husband over it, which nearly resulted in a separation. I have known a woman offer a carter 2s if he would take her load of wood away, but he durst not tip it on the side of a back street, the city by-laws preventing. I have known a man buy an honest load of wood, and when the carter began to throw it over the fence his wife protested, she was so frightened her husband might beat her.
Timber Commission and Building Trade.—We have just had a commission of inquiry on the timber trade, but its members are either interested parties or know very little about it. Evidence was given by one expert that it would take a 1,000 years for a kauri tree to mature, and by another at about 50 years. About
To complete a work of this kind, every occupation should be critically examined, and where a saving of labour can be effected, either in the production, conveyance, or distribution, it should be pointed out, even to domestic economy, which in many cases is most wretchedly managed. Then there is the making and mending of streets. There is, I believe, great waste of labour and want of forethought in this department. Many will have noticed that when a new street is cut and metalled, as soon as the surface is in good order the authorities will suddenly find that they had forgot to drain it. A few years since I wanted our Mayor and Council not to permit the owners of shops at the top of Symonds Street to build on what should be the street. This I consider a criminal blunder, which our press would not permit me to expose.
A considerable amount of labour and annoyance could be saved if sellers of working horses and dairy cows were compelled when they sent them for sale to give with each beast a true written character. I have known people who wanted a horse for a given purpose put to much trouble in procuring one, and when they tried him he was unsuitable, often useless. Dairy cows, which have the appearance of good milkers, when they are known to be poor milkers, should not be sold without a true character. Frauds and deceptions of all kinds should be punished. The ultimate results of these frauds are lower wages for the working classes, as I have already explained under the title Merchants' Frauds.
The following anecdote may amuse and instruct the reader as to how John Ruskin's thefts are sometimes perpetrated. A Mrs. Moore wanted a cheap second-hand tax cart or light vehicle. As she was no judge in carts, and had so often made mistakes, she resolved not to risk a purchase without expert advice. Would I advise her as to value, etc. You see, she had so often made mistakes. It was not so much the money loss she dreaded as the after vexation and mortification. On the Sunday evening following, on her way to church with her daughter, she had to pass a place where there was a second-hand trap for sale. She was seized with a sudden impulse to see this gig, and notwithstanding her daughter's protests that they would be late for church, in she went. The man showed her it, and told her governors and princes had been driven in it, that it had an historical as well as a utility value, that it was worth double the money he asked, that an intending purchaser was coming in the morning and would snap it up. She had a strong and impregnable resolution not to purchase without expert advice; in fact, she had made a solemn pledge. "Am I not an expert?" he roared out, "and as capable of giving advice as any other?" And then he pointed out the trap's qualities in detail, and seemed so convincing an arguer that she could no longer doubt
Insurance and Property Agents.—Every calling in the community should contribute to gratify a human want, and its advantages as a contributor should be greater than its drawbacks. An insurance agency is not one of these. The Arbitration Act was intended to diminish labour disputes, strikes, and sweating, but in practice, on the whole, these have been increased. A fire insurance agency was established ostensibly to diminish fire risks, and to sooth the community's dread of fire, and when a fire did happen to distribute its loss over so great a field that it would not be felt. If we critically examine its results, it has not only failed, but aggravated the sores it promised to soothe. When I read Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," and examined his theory and practice of European society, I was astonished that he had entirely omitted fire and marine insurance. I have been told by an old chum that during the first year after an agency was established there was more fires than during the previous 10 years. I have known a house of furniture insured for 10 times its market value. We have good reason to believe old ships are often wrecked for the purpose of defrauding honest insurers. When a fire results from over insurance, and a death occurs, would not the manager or directors be guilty of manslaughter? I have often wondered how an honest capitalist could invest in an insurance company. A travelling insurance agent is a pest to the community. All other company insurance, such as life and provident associations, are equally guilty, and ought not to continue.
I have shown in previous chapters how the service rendered to the community in some occupations could be as well done by from half to, say, about one-sixth, the labour, but here are a profession of parasites to be wiped out altogether, and removed from a vicious and destructive to a beneficial calling. We boast that we are an enterprising and speculative people, who shoulder risks with visionary prospects of success. We are addicted to gambling in land values, mine values, and horse-racing. How, then, can we be so timid that we live in fear our house will be burned down, and other people cannot be saddled with the results of our own carelessness or folly.
Very near allied to our insurance managers and agents are our land, property, mining, and stock agencies. There are said to be more rogues in this employment than any other in Auckland, and some of them are said to be very shrewd. That there are a few fairly honest I am willing to believe. The dishonesty is no doubt chiefly due to the temptation the calling offers. They effect dealings and transfers of land and shares, the value of which the purchaser has but little idea. If all transactions were conducted
Cabinet-making.—As far as our cabinet-makers are concerned, I would suggest that the furniture in which they put the most and best work should be of durable timber, and that there should always be a due relation between the quality of the work and material, and everything should be what it is represented. I have seen a costly piece of furniture in walnut crumble to pieces in 15 years, and I have seen an oak sofa quite sound after being in constant use 150 years.
The instruction given to cabinet-makers will apply to wheelwrights and blacksmiths. The quality of the timber and iron used should always be in proportion to the quality and finish of the work. Every vehicle should be made so that it will carry the greatest load on the least tare. Every limb should be in proportion to the strain to which it is likely to be subjected, so that all parts would be equally likely to break, and except for a temporary purpose, no jerry work should be undertaken, even for a woman. This advice will apply to all our clothing and other factories, and the work should be subdivided as far as the work and shop is capable.
Lawyers and Magistrates' Prisons.—Our lawyers are said to be the Devil's Own, and, with our magistrates, are classed by J. S. Mill amongst the parasites of civilised society. They are employed to argue, judge, and settle quarrels, disputes, and contentions, and adjust punishment to crime. They may, in fact, be said to feed on crime and quarrels. If there was no crime and quarrels there would be no lawyers and magistrates. It is only natural they will feel lonely and depressed when there is little crime and few disputes and quarrels. We are told when trade is slack on the Stock Exchange, that agents try to depress or raise stocks for the purpose of increasing commissions. Will not lawyers and magistrates be as likely to do likewise? A large police force and army are in a like position with similar interests. A land conveyance is not like our school books, worded in Addistonian lan-
Opposite the Naval Hotel in Pitt Street was a drunken carter. A man passing by informed a policeman, who went to the spot to arrest him. When he arrived there the sot had gone, but another carter was there who was sober. The policeman arrested him, and took him to the West Street lockup. From there he was sent to High Street by cab. The policeman persuaded Hodge to plead guilty, as by doing so the penalty would be much less than if he pleaded not guilty. My son, under whose superintendence Hodge was carting, attended Court and persuaded Hodge to plead not guilty. The magistrate allowed my son to prompt Hodge. The questions put by Hodge to the arresting constable shook the evidence so much that although Hodge had no witness but himself, the magistrate refused to convict, but consented to postpone the case while the policeman fetched the keeper of the lockup, who also swore Hodge was drunk. The magistrate said in effect to Hodge, "I do not think that you are guilty, but as two policemen have sworn you are, and you have no evidence to the contrary, I must convict you, but I will not fine you or charge Court costs,
I do not know much of gaol management. No doubt some of the prisoners are bad and desperate characters. I would like to know how in past times the Maoris managed their criminals. I think the labour of all but the very worst could be utilised if skill was exercised in their management. About one-fifth of the horses working in Auckland would not do so of their free will, and at least a fourth of them could by bad management in a few days be rendered useless. A man is not a horse, but I have known much better results got out of a set of workmen by change of foremen. I have known sensible and skilful women get on comparatively well with what would under bad management have been bad husbands. Men have declared to me they would not work under some bosses for no money. Even double wages would not induce them. While they would work for other men for less than current pay. I believe Mr. Seddon would, as the superintendent of a gaol, have been a grand success. He had such a good knowledge of human nature. I have known working men excuse him for what they would have condemned in other men. I often wondered why he did not effect some reform in prison management. I have pointed out to intelligent followers the folly of his public utterances and brag, and in reply have been told these speeches were prepared for the multitude; were, in fact, merely public opinions, and that behind them he had sound private opinions on which he would act. If we put all our confirmed criminals on one of the colony's small islands, and gave them the same start as our first settlers had, would they succeed as well, or would they begin to rob each other and fight? A man who is contemplating illegal theft or fraud knows that if he succeeds he can enjoy much luxury for little labour, and if he is detected he will have as much comfort of life as he now enjoys, and it is worth the risk.
Political economists believe there is no need for foreign defence among civilised nations. If people will suppress ambition and vain glory, and foster mutual goodwill and kindly regards, and keep peace among their own people, that is all that is required under this heading. At any rate the stronger our defences the greater are our risks of attack. A red flag excites a military rage in a bull, and a fortification in a soldier; the stronger our home
The reader will by this time realise what an army of unemployed I should create if I had my way. First, there is the present ones created chiefly by the stockholders and capitalists of New York. Add to these, three-quarters of our distributers, a third of our manufacturers, five-sixths of our stockbrokers, half our police force, lawyers, magistrates, and gaolers, the whole of our insurance agents, and all others who as a result of our consumption being below the productive powers of our labour have been driven to the expedience of inventing an artificial want for the purpose of gratifying it. Among the latter we may place the hawker.
Old people who have been in Auckland for 40 years or so, have observed three inflations or periods of prosperity, when the demand for labour has been equal to the supply; and two depressions, when there were many out of work. During the depressions, when the standard of living is reduced and there is less to be sold, there is actually more sellers than during prosperous times. When we have got large stocks of food and clothing, when a number of shops and houses are empty, or capitalists are afraid to build, as at Wellington, and to a less extent in Auckland, when a man is discharged and cannot get legitimate work, it would, at such a time, be useless to try to get in the producing trades. One of three courses he must follow. Either apply to the Charitable Aid Board for support or (what is very nearly related to it) to Government for work where he is not wanted; or, secondly, he may enter into one of the distributing trades; and if he has little capital he cannot afford a shop, but must buy and hawk a few goods, which is very nearly related to begging. Adam Smith has defined the nice distinction between the hawker and the beggar. When the seller says these goods are very cheap, you will never have such a chance again, and urges you to buy them for your own benefit, that is selling. But when he puts on a pitiful, dejected, and depressed look, and says, "I have carried these goods all day, and sold very little; I have a wife and children to support," and appeals to you to buy for his sake, that is begging. A hawker came to my house at Mount Albert last week (a young strong fellow). His whole stock in trade was about 20 small pamphlets of 16 pages, or eight leaves each, medical notes and household receipts, at Is each. The wholesale price would be about one
There is still another field on which our surplus labourer can dump himself without depressing other employments. He can turn robber, and then the public authorities in consequence will, from the ranks of the workless, employ a detective to capture him, a lawyer to prosecute him, a magistrate to convict him, and a gaoler to guard him; and although he will receive no honours for this, the detective will. The hawking business is an artificial employment, and never would have existed if the consumption had been equal to the productive power of our labour.
You will have noticed that all the employments so far examined belong to the town and suburbs. I think I am economically correct in including the country districts which surround it, say, the whole province. It is to be regretted J. S. Mill did not define a community further than saying: Those who are near compete with each other, and those far off do not compete, but exchange labour products with each other. Whatever I say of Auckland and the country districts which surround it will apply with equal force to the other towns of this colony, and to every other British-speaking community with similar customs and usages.
Last week I visited a farm at Razorback, 30 miles from Auckland. It is chiefly worked as a dairy farm, and I will here consider it as such. The labour wasted in competition in country districts appears to be much less than in towns, though they do compete with each other. It is so far off as to be quite invisible to them, and as a consequence they are so much more sociable. The interest of each is comparatively felt to be the interest of all. If, say, a cow dies, it is felt not only to be a private, but a public loss. This dairy farmer, who has been there less than a year, and from England very little over, gave me such a graphic description of the social qualities of his neighbours as I would not have expected outside a socialistic settlement or heaven itself. Everyone seems to have a kindly, paternal eye upon the whole district. If you have some hay out and your neighbours have not, and the weather begins to threaten, you need not run to beg your neighbours to help you; your neighbours are watching your hay and the weather as assiduously as if it were their own, and will turn up at the right time. If several have hay out at the same time, and the weather frowns on them, it is not a selfish struggle of which
Though health is generally regarded as the most important of human blessings, shall I be blamed for ranking social intercourse as the first and most important advantage of country over town life. You may here commune with Mother Nature herself, in interest and sympathy with the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, and the unadulterated breezes of heaven.
But as a set-off against these blessings there are many inconveniences and disadvantages, such as bad roads, etc., and, it is said, less wages for the hours and labour performed. The indulgences and luxuries are more restricted. The farm is said to be the refuge for the inferior workman driven out of towns by the Arbitration Court, and it is fortunate for the trades unionist that this refuge is left open, or the incompetent would have to be supported by the competent. Another economic drawback to the farmer and farm labourer are the import duties and the arbitration, and the keen competition in the towns. First, let us say the farmer's butter is sent to England, and the price he receives is on an average in proportion to what it fetches there. The clothing, implements, holloware, and so forth, which he requires, pays a heavy import duty, not for revenue purposes, but to protect local industry. Such articles as are prohibited by high duties and made in colonial towns are further advanced in price by the Arbitration Act. Next, the extra cost put upon goods to cover the keen competition in the retail trades is paid by the farmer and labourer. There is, however, another economic law which will ultimately to some extent modify this drawback, and economic laws are always at work and always the same. They are never revoked or altered. They are above parliaments, and defy them. I will not attempt to explain this, as it is so difficult to understand.
Neither will I try to explain what size our farms should be so that our farm produce can be produced with the least labour consistent with the health and comfort of farmers and farm labourers. This health and comfort is a factor of the first importance in measuring the wealth of a community or its rate of wages for labour. In the United States of America, we are told, the men work the hardest of any country in the world. A man in the States is said to be as far worked out at 40 as at 60 in England. If we say that 70 years is the span of life, a man is at his best for
At the time I am writing, our newspaper editors, chambers of commerce, and other leaders of public opinion are prophesying national bankruptcy, because our exports are diminishing and our imports increasing, and the balance of trade is against us. They have forbid our Government and local bodies borrowing in the colony. We are so short of capital, they say. I never yet knew capital borrowed from abroad without increasing our imports in proportion to the amount borrowed, and for some time without increasing our exports.
My old readers will recollect the close of the Franco-German War,
We will suppose before the first payment that wages in France and Germany were both 3s a day, English money. The first payment would be made in money. This payment would reduce the money in France by a third, and increase that of Germany by a third. This would reduce money, wages, and commodities in France by a third, and raise them in Germany by the same amount. Now, mind you, although all foreign trade is practically barter, it is always reckoned on a money basis. The wages in France, after the first payment, were 2s a day, and those of Germany were 4s. Any common merchant or producer can see at a glance that German workshops could not compete with imported goods from France with wages at half price, even with high import duties. You must recollect that the circumstances in industry, such as methods and productivity, were about equal, while those between the United States and China are very unequal, as one American labourer will yield as much as several Chinamen. The money wages in all countries will conform to the productivity of labour, if no artificial means are employed to prevent it. You will have noticed that since the Japanese have begun to adopt European methods in industry that money wages are rising, and
The results of what I have explained were these: that while cheap money goods from French workshops were poured into Germany, German workshops were closed, and the French war indemnity was distributed by the German authorities among the unemployed workmen. This state of things lasted five years, when the last of the debt was paid. The extra money which had circulated in German marks during the payment of the French fine, was as the cheapest commodity sent back to France, and re-coined into francs to circulate in France, and the commodities and wages of the two countries went up and came down to the same level, that is, 3s a day each. The even prices of wages I have named are not the actual prices. I have fixed these even prices to explain the true functions of money; the actual difference that would allow French goods to beat German goods out of German markets would be much less. When the last payment was made and the French recovered their lost money, times impaired in France and improved in Germany.
The "Auckland Star," who had assured its readers that the French would be very poor while paying the indemnity, and could not possibly pay it in seven years, and the Germans so rich, when it was paid off in five years, with the conditions of the two countries reversed during the time, the "Star" felt called upon to give some kind of explanation. He said the resources of France were wonderfully elastic, but he never attempted to say where the elasticity was to be found.
The indemnity, we will say, was four per cent, of the produce of French labour, but during the period, the extra demand for French labour would vastly reduce competition in the French distributing trades. There would be no unemployed, and some French criminals would be drawn into her industrial activity.
The economic aspect of the South African War will serve to illustrate not only the French war indemnity, but that of the remedy I propose for the unemployed difficulty in New Zealand. It used to be thought, until the time of Adam Smith, that wars cost nations large sums of money, and if a nation had not a large accumulation of money, whatever its other resources, it could not long carry on the struggle. Adam Smith says, "I will show you that wars cost no money," but he thought they cost extra labour to a nation, which I am going to show you is a mistake. A war does not cost labour to a nation until, with the usual standard of living, it has absorbed all the unemployed, and reduced competition in industry and distribution to a vanishing point; until it has attracted into industrial pursuits all prisoners discharged during its progress who are willing and able to work under the improved conditions which always exist when the demand for labour exceeds
When the South African War began in
This brings me to the American depression, or financial crisis, as it is sometimes called. If three flittings are as bad as a fire, three depressions are as bad as a war. In
Henry George has attributed it to private ownership of land,
John Stuart Mill says: "At the commencement of every trade depression in England the capital has reached its highest or nearly its highest possible amount, and no more capital can be accumulated or prosperity renewed until the greater part of the existing capital has been sent abroad or swept away.' This I understand to mean an excess of capital, and this opinion is supported By Henry George's description of a depression in America. Mr. Fleurschiem calls it unspent incomes, and Mr. Edmund Bell loss of confidence. J. S. Mill, Mr. Fleurschiem, and Mr. Bell are all correct, or nearly correct.
In the present American depression or commercial crisis, from which there is and has been so much suffering, not only in the States, but in England, Germany, and the Australasian colonies, this is the way it seems to have proceeded. First, the stock holders and capitalists of New York decide stocks, land values, and all kinds of investments are too high, and as Mr. Bell says: "They lose confidence, and will not speculate or invest.' Here Mr. Fleurschiem comes in with his unspent incomes. As soon as the incomes are not spent, whatever amount of capital there was at New York at the time, the time the capital will last will be extended; hence, when the incomes are unspent, this circumstance makes the capital excessive. Then J. S. Mills' cause is obvious.
At first when the stockbrokers and capitalists lost confidence, the middle and lower classes became alarmed and rushed the bank, who paid out all their cash, and their cash was locked in private safes and boxes, and the quantity of cash circulating in New York was so small that even with reduced trade and expenditure,
The loss of confidence by capitalists in itself would do no harm, but it is the stoppage of the expenditure, which follows it, that does the mischief. If I say the community's industrial system is like an engine, and the capitalist is the stoker, and raises or depresses steam as confidence or fears possess him, is that a good simile? Or, if I say the industrial system is like a machine, and capital is the motive power, and, so long as every rod, wheel, and spindle performs its part well, all is right; but if even a strap breaks or strikes, the whole machine stops, even though the motive power is good.
You see how difficult it is to describe exactly the cause and process of a depression. I will next show you that in economic law, extravagant expenditure is the herald of wealth, and thrift the messenger of poverty. If all the people of Auckland resolved to live on half their present incomes, and save the other half, first, in order to accomplish this, two families must occupy one house, to save rent. If we trace from the direct to the remote effects of this one act of thrift (not economy), it is shocking to contemplate. I will not consider its inconvenience and unhealthiness, as to be thrifty is always insanitary and troublesome. First, half the dwellings in city and suburbs would be empty. As long as the empty houses were in repair they would always depress the rents of those tenanted. Shall I say, the total value of city and suburbs would fall at first to a third, and ultimately to a half, of the present value? Single-taxers tell you the presence of the community and its works creates and maintain land values. This act, you see, would depress them. The next effect would be that all carpenters, bricklayers, and others of the building trade, would be idle. We then, in succession, find all our sawmills closed and bushmen discharged, and brick yards closed. Even our vessels which bring lime and sand would be idle, and worth nothing. As regards furniture, why, from the very start it would be worth nothing. I have only traced this one act of thrift half-way, but I have shown you that one act of thrift is more sinful, vicious, and degrading than many acts of drunkenness. If our civil laws punished our offences in proportion to the injuries of their results, would not thrift have to rank with murder? I might describe the dreadful consequence of every other thriftish act, but it would only be a repetition. Whenever consumption of a commodity falls off, or if the consumption of all commodities is reduced, the production of those commodities and services will follow in due proportion.
I would here describe how superior New Zealand's pension scheme is to the German. An old New Zealander contributes nothing to his right or claim; in Germany, the workman, in the prime of life, contributes a third, the employer a third, and the Government a third. As a trade depression is caused chiefly by an excess of capital, the workman's contribution helps to threw himself out
I next propose exposing the ignorance of those who say all prudent people should set aside a part of their earnings for old age. If they mean money, there is only £4 a head of our population in money, so that it is impossible to save much money. If they mean the commodities and services their labour yields, it is impracticable. For instance, a bread-baker cannot accumulate a week's labour; the bread would mould. If a baker wishes to save, he must exchange what he wishes to save for old age, say, with the builder, and he ultimately becomes possessed of a house or two. If we had many prudent people, you can see we should soon have too many houses, and too much capital of all kinds. You see, J. S. Mill, our standard authority, attributes a depression to an excess of capital. Often you will notice we have too much capital in one employment and too little in another. For instance, bricklayers are waiting for bricks, with the building half erected If you meet the bricklayer on the street, and say to him: "Are you out of work?" he will answer: "No; I am waiting for bricks." He blames the brickmaker for being careless or incompetent to manage a brickyard, but when the building is finished, and you meet the bricklayer, and ask, "Are you out of work?" he answers, "Yes." On this occasion he does not blame the brickmaker, whose yard is full of bricks and waiting for customers. Well, he does not know who to blame; he supposes no more houses are required. But when you point to two families occupying one house, and people living in old, unhealthy ones, he will, in a vague sort of way, blame the Government, but never the capitalist, who has lost confidence, and will not spend his income either in houses or any other speculation. The reason at one time brickyards and timber-yards cannot meet the demand, and at other times are overstocked, is often the irregularity of the demand. Sometimes the capitalist will be persuaded that houses, shops, and warehouses are the best investment, and he will build so rapidly that sawmills and brickyards cannot keep him going. Then, suddenly, fears and misgivings will seize him, and the building trade becomes slack, and the unemployed builders seek Fresh fields and pastures new; if there are any to be found. If not, they enter into competition in other employments, as I have previously explained, until such time as the capitalist's confidence returns, and he begins again to build.
I have said the capitalist is the stoker to the engine and the
The Remedy.—What I propose is to give to capitalists all the privileges which are consistent with the prosperity and good government of New Zealand. All capitalists whose total assets exceed say, £6,000, shall form an association, similar to our present Employers' Associations, and the management of the colony's industries shall be retained in their hands, subject to the payment of taxes and rates, and the Capitalists' Association shall be responsible for the full employment of all able and willing to work at the trade or calling to which they belong, or as near to it as the exigencies and needs of the community require; failing which, the Government must levy on them a special tax to employ the workless on such municipal or public improvements as the Government think in the best interest of the community. Capitalists shall not import any labour without Government consent.
So you see the authority and privileges of capitalists will not be curtailed, but their responsibilities will be increased. Privileges and power should always be attended by responsibilities and duties. On examining my proposal, you will see that capital will be much more secure than it is now, and the difficulties of those who have no capital getting possession of much, would be much increased. The ups and downs of colonial life are proverbial. Half the capitalists of Auckland in
There is no doubt our population, both by births and
When Judge Cooper metaphorically hoisted the white feather or flag in Court, he did not, as a just and sensible judge would have done, say to the miners, "I will cancel my other awards at the Thames, so that you will have no more to pay for your bread and meat.' Oh, no, that would have brought the Court into disrepute. At Dunedin, Judge Cooper and his associates committed a similar error of judgment. One would have thought that after the Thames incident he would have been more cautions and careful. I have often noticed, when prisoners are lectured by judges for illegal or immoral offences, they are advised to be more circumspect and careful how they conduct themselves in future; but Judge Cooper, being above reproach and criticism, received no such warning. Our newspapers protected his sacred office. At Dunedin, after raising wages in some other employments, he came to the slaughtermen, who prepared sheep for export. On this occasion he suddenly discovered, or, rather, others told him, the Court had no jurisdiction over the price of mutton on the London markets. He was very humble and apologetic, and no doubt very sorry that the Court's powers were limited by the confines of the colony. Now, it happens that the lawyers who pointed out to Judge Cooper this difficulty, were only civil lawyers, and not, as they claimed, economists.
John Stuart Mill says: "Imported goods are not sold at a price to cover their cost in labour in the country of their production, but at a price that will pay for the labour cost of the goods sent abroad in exchange for them." This is the whole theory of foreign trade, as I understand it; it is an exchange of labour products between one country and another, and not from a public standpoint, a sale and purchase; and every country whose consumption is below the productive power of its labour can always pay its foreign debts without reducing its own standard of living. If a country exports less than it imports, the balance will be paid in money. This will reduce the money value of labour in the debtor country, and increase them in the creditor; The creditor country will then be unable to compete with the debtor until its money is returned. In
On the question of Freetrade v. Protection, I can positively say that no economist, who understood his profession, would recommend protection. Every editor or politician who recommends protection is either a fool or a knave, and we all know there are many of them. The chief advantage of freetrade is that it allows every commodity to be made or produced in the country where it can be done with the least labour. For instance, we can produce wool, mutton, and butter with less than half the labour England can produce them; England can produce crockery and clothing with half the labour we can; it therefore pays both New Zealand and England to exchange these goods. There are, I believe, a few imported goods which would cost ten times as much labour to manufacture or produce here as it does to produce mutton in exchange, and there are even a few goods we cannot produce at all. In proof of this statement, I refer the reader to the foreign trade of the United States and Germany. Notwithstanding heavy import duties, these countries have a large foreign trade, but not so large as it would be if the impediment was removed. We often hear people, either ignorant or selfish, asking Government to assist a local industry to keep the money in the country, or find work for the unemployed. The effect of this would be to reduce wages, exports, and imports. I have read the Cobden Club literature, and can assure the reader that Mr. Cobden has, through ignorance, injured freetrade on the one hand, as he promoted it on the other. In his enthusiasm he publicly declared it would find work for the unemployed, and even empty workhouses. Have I not just explained to you that we can enjoy a higher standard of living with the same labour under freetrade than protection? But it would not relieve a depression, except at first, in this way. When the policy of freetrade was first inaugurated, many things produced in England would be produced abroad, and many things produced abroad before would be produced in England. When this happened, much capital, both in England and abroad, would become obsolete, and the demand for labour to replace the lost capital would absorb the surplus labour for the time, and you can see, more ships would be required to carry the increased cargo to and fro. Our own case would better illustrate it. Suppose we adopted freetrade, our clothing fac-
The cause of the rise and fall in the rate of interest is said to have been discovered by Mr. Bastiat, a French economist. It is very simple, considering that it took so many centuries to discover: "The quantity of capital offering in a community in relation to the demand for it." As far as I have read, every economist has agreed that during periods of depression, the rate of interest is low, and during prosperity, high; or, in other words, the demand for labour and capital have gone hand in hand. However, at the time I write,
So, you see, our stock of capital, instead of having decreased in bulk, has actually increased, but it is what we call lower in
Some years since, I challenged Dr. McArthur, now magistrate of Wellington, and W. J. Napier, solicitor, of Auckland (they declined), I undertaking to prove that when capital is at the smallest in quantity, and the rate of interest the highest, that borrowers will pay less and lenders will receive more, than when a country has a large capital and the rate of interest low; or, in other words, if I start an industry in New Zealand on borrowed capital, I will have a better chance of success if I have to pay 8 per cent, than I would if I could get it at 6 per cent. Suppose my industry was a furniture factory, and the rate of interest was very high, the demand for furniture would be great in proportion. I would only require to borrow for stock of timber, factory, and machinery. The demand would be so urgent that every piece of furniture would be made to order, and all would be sold direct to the user or consumer for cash. On the other hand, if the rate of interest was low, the demand for furniture would be small in proportion, and in this case I would require to build a large furniture store, and make the greater part of my furniture on stock. I should then require to borrow as much capital for my store and stock as I did for my machinery, factory, and timber. Any intelligent business man of large experience can see that the first half of the problem is clear enough, though my proposition seemed a paradox; the second half is more difficult to prove. Besides, I have the opinion of Bastiat against me. But very wise men have often erred, and I think Bastiat has in this case. We are told the rate of interest in Holland, which had the largest capital in Europe, was 3 per cent., while in Spain, which had the smallest capital, 7 per cent, was usual for like security. If I could get the actual amount of capital per capita, the problem would be solved, and I have little doubts but I am right, and Bastiat has made a mistake.
The next thing I will try to prove, as far as I can rake up argument to prove, is that countries do not compete against each other in foreign trade, as is universally supposed, when the exports from any country are considered in the aggregate. First, J. S. Mill has laid it down as a positive economic law that the exports and imports of every country will ultimately balance, that is, supposing there are no private bankruptcies or anything of that kind. If this law is correct, and I cannot see how it can be incorrect, if we order, say, a million pounds worth of good; from England, and they are to be paid for, they are bound to take a million pounds worth of New Zealand goods direct, or some other country must take a million pounds of New Zealand goods, and then export a million pounds worth of their own goods to
The first distributing trade I have examined is the butchers. At present, and for years past, the wholesale price of beef and mutton delivered into the butcher's shop averages about threepence a pound, and is delivered to customers at about sixpence; that is to say, through bad management and competition, it costs as much in labour to distribute as to produce. Under my plan of management, it can be distributed at about a halfpenny a pound, or one-sixth, and the distributer will have as much net profit as he has now. Divide the town and suburbs into convenient-sized districts; the City Council to call for separate tenders for the exclusive right to supply each district (as they do now for the removal of nightsoil), for a period of from one year to five; the tenderer to have a shop near the centre of the district, where any consumer in the district, who may have been out when the cart called, can purchase; the contractor to deliver to every customer once a day the meat, either cut up in convenient-sized joints, and weighed in the shop, or the butcher may take a pair of scales and weigh what is wanted on the cart; the butcher to serve alternate sides of his district first, so that each side shall have its choice in turn. If the butcher thinks he will run short, he shall serve all with a reduced quantity, so that all get some. The butcher
For the supply of bread, I think the districts should be about twice as large as for meat, as bread would only be half the trouble to deliver. In this trade, I thing cash would not be practical, on account of the trouble in giving change; the baker, never, however, need lose over a week's bread, and even then they could not be served by another baker, so that any bad debts are very improbable. The reader must recollect that under my plan there would be no unemployed, and in case of sickness, the Charitable Aid Board should pay all debts. I am told, in a large bakehouse, with best machinery, bread can be baked with about two-thirds the labour. If one baker's driver and cart can deliver, say, four times as much bread as now, and bread can be baked with two-thirds the labour, if we reckon the flour and other raw material at the present price, say, half the retail cost of bread, then bread can be delivered at less than three-fourths the present price.
A milk district should, I think, be about the same size as a baker's. Cash would be impracticable, but scarcely any bad debts would be possible, and the price delivered would be about twopence halfpenny instead of fourpence.
The districts for the supply of vegetables should also be mapped out, and the price would probably be reduced a third. Directions for the delivery of fruit have already been given.
For the sale of lollies, fruit, and summer drinks a shop in each main street might be open for the sale of what would be consumed on the road.
For the sale of drapery, imported clothing, boots, etc., conveniently-sized districts should be mapped out, with a store about the centre of each, and the goods sold at such an advance on the imported price as would pay for labour and unavoidable loss. This would probably be about one-tenth of what is charged now, and, if delivered, the price should be a separate charge.
For groceries, a store should be near the centre of each district; and delivered, say, once weekly, and orders either sent by post or given to the driver of the delivery cart for the following week. The packages should be of the simplest, consistent with the safety of contents. The tender should be for amount of
Auckland has, I should say, three times as many druggist shops as are required, and consequently drugs are sold at, say, double price.
The same may be said of watchmakers and jewellers, which, I suppose, are watchmenders and clock-doctors, and prices could be reduced accordingly.
Second-hand furniture and clothing sellers should be limited in number, and the profits on various classes of goods stated; the profits could, I think, be reduced a-half.
Pawnbroking, I think, should be abolished as unnecessary.
I do not think much saving could be effected in the wholesale trades, except that of drapery, and, perhaps, ironmongery and groceries. None of these ought to be allowed to compete with each other, or to send travellers into country districts. All orders by country storekeepers should be sent by letter.
The practice of medicine should be brought into line. I had a small growth on the eyelid. I went to Dr. Purchas, a specialist, who pinched it off and put a white syrup in the eye, similar to cream in appearance, which improved both eyes. He ordered me to see him every third day, but all he did was to put this syrup in the eyes. I had to leave my work, and go a mile to the shop, and be charged, I think, 7s 6d a time. Had he given me a small quantity of the syrup I could have put it in the eyes myself, without loss of time. This, I consider, was an undoubted case of imposition, which deserved punishment, and would not be allowed in a well-managed community. No doubt a surgeon's and physician's occupation presents greater difficulties than most others, but they should be taught that the community's interests should be considered.
All rates and taxes should be levied in a way that would cost directly and indirectly the least in labour to collect. For instance, we will say an income tax, for in whatever way it is levied it ultimately falls on labour. If we levy the taxes on our bad habits, with a view to reducing them, say, on drink and tobacco, we but tempt people to use illicit stills and smuggle. All we do should make it as easy and profitable as possible to do what we consider right and lawful, and as difficult, as dangerous, and as unprofitable as possible to do what we think wrong and unlawful.
The reader will see my aim all through the management of the community has been to obtain the greatest possible results from the least possible labour—to promote peace and goodwill, to banish rivalry and contention, and to instil into all a feeling that they are members of a large family; and that if certain sections, as
I have written so far chiefly to show you not only that it is possible for the whole community to receive in a few years double wages, but what is more, I have shown how it can be done, and that it is much simpler than you would expect. The next questions is, How are we to spend our additional income? You can see, if we attempt to save it, the attempt will be fatal, so that it must be spent regularly. We only aim at growing as many potatoes now as will last the year, and seed for the next year. However good the crop may be in any year, however large the surplus, which must rot or be eaten by pigs, the same acreage will be set next year, so that an abundant crop of potatoes does not cause a single man to be thrown out of work. But if all the world had a record crop of wheat in a given year, which was sufficient to last two years, a whole year's surplus would be left at the end of the season, and, as a consequence, all ploughmen, for wheat, would be thrown out of work, and all these ploughmen would have to be fed out of the poor rates, just as the German workmen were fed out of the French war indemnity. You can see, if all had begun to eat twice as much bread at the commencement of the season, these ploughmen would have had work the following year, and there would have been no more paupers than usual. If we make as many boots in a year as will last two years, it would be the same. Everything that is made or produced in a year should be consumed or used in the year, unless we have other extraordinary employment for the men during the year.
While I am writing this (
To expose the incapability of men in high position, I refer
I would like my readers to clearly understand my proposal to make the capitalists of the colony responsible for the employment, or, at least, the wages of all wanting employment. Every privilege should carry responsibility. The capitalists of every country enjoy the privilege of saying whether men shall work or not. They hold the keys of industry, and if we had no poor law, and all workers would keep the other laws, they could starve poor people to death by the million. I have already explained that the capitalists of New York, in
We have at present a large number of gold mines which do not pay working expenses. Suppose our capitalists were to suddenly conclude that these mines would never pay, and stop paying calls, these mines must soon all close down, and the men be discharged. The consequences would be the same as the stockholders of New York—the expenditure would be diminished and industry blocked. Next, we will suppose my law was in force. Our gold mine stockholders would call a meeting, and decide that if the mines were closed, something else must be opened, so that they would have no idle men to keep. It has always seemed to me, ever since I acquired the key to public management, that we spend too much of our incomes on enterprises, and too little on personal gratification. Suppose, when our capitalists had decided to close the mines, that as many capitalists decided they would like to extend their gardens as would absorb the whole surplus labour.
I think my offer to our capitalists is not only a fair, but an exceedingly liberal one. When you come to think that I propose not only to limit immigration, but the birth-rate, so that our population will slowly and gradually increase, and booms and depressions will be extirpated, if an acre of land is worth £50 this year it will be worth £51 next, and will not, as a whole, be subject to fluctuations, you will understand that those who are capitalists now would be likely to remain so, unless they gambled on the racecourse or in gold mines. There would be no gambling in land values, which would be as steady as British Consols, while those who have no capital now would be less likely to procure any. The capitalists of New York, by reducing their own expenditure, have reduced their own income at a much greater rate. While I am writing, the expenditure of private capital has been reduced in Wellington; the money spent on building for the year ending
It would be foolish to suppose we are short of capital, and attribute the scarcity of employment to that cause. At the time I write, employment is equally scarce in England, with, if we except Holland, perhaps the largest capital in the world. We never hear of any unemployed in Spain, which has the smallest capital in Europe. We are told by bank managers our capital is nearly exhausted, but if we examine the colony's capital we shall find hardly any of it in the banks. The capital of our country districts consists of all the improvements of the land, such as fences, drains, sown grasses, cultivations, live and dead stock, the unconsumed crops, houses and outbuildings, etc.; the capital of our towns consists of the buildings, such as houses, shops, stores, workshops, and the
The present time in New Zealand is said to be a critical time, not because we are short of capital, but because we are afraid to spent what we have got. We will suppose, instead of putting a tax on expenditure, we put it on savings, so that the net interest was nil, would that reduce savings or attempt to save? I think not, though J. S. Mill believed if the rate of interest was reduced to much below 5 per cent, people would be discouraged. I feel sure the rate of interest has little to do with savings. When a man is young he begins to save for a rainy day and old age; the desire grows with the amount, until it becomes his chief hobby, and his happiness depends on his success. Suppose we levy a tax of 5 per cent, on all capital saved until there was employment for all, would the necessity last three months? I think not. If New Zealand borrowed, say, 5 millions instead of one, to spend during the year, men could not be got to do the work. The capital of New Zealand is estimated at about 150 millions. If we spend 5 millions of this over what we shall spend, and borrowed none from abroad during the year, should we not be just as prosperous as if we borrowed the 5 millions? And then, you see, we should not owe the 5 millions. I am not a gambler, neither on horse racing or land values, but if anyone who differs from me will induce the Government to put a heavy tax on savings, and watch the labour market the while, and turn the steam on and off, to make the one to meet the other as near as possible, that at the end of the year the total capital we have will be worth as much, whether valued in labour or money.
Suppose we adopted Socialism. All our capital, land, bonds, and wealth would be handed over to the general Government, who would delegate their powers to the local authorities, the City Councils, and Road Boards would find employment for all, and pay all their wages. All our exports would be sent to the English and other markets in the name of the colony, and all the imports would be consigned to the local authority at each port. You can see that if a particular export fell in value there would be
I have introduced Socialism to show we are not short of capital; I will continue it to show we have not too much labour. I will venture to say, under Socialism, there is never a surplus of labour, I am sure every farmer in New Zealand will say that in his whole experience he always had a reserve of work on his farm, he could always see jobs that wanted doing, and that he would like to see done; in fact, he is always short of labour, and would have more if he could afford it. No one will deny that at the present time, while a third of the builders of Wellington, and a fourth of those of Auckland, are unemployed, we are short of decent dwellings. Mr. Ward has undertaken to farm the whole of New Zealand, but he is a very poor manager. He has lots of jobs which want doing, both in the way of
If a rich goldfield was discovered, say, 100 miles from Wellington, with, say, large reefs yielding five ounces to the ton, should we be short of capital to work it? Should we go and tell the British capitalist what a grand investment we had for him?
Suppose, instead of the discovery of a rich goldfield, half of the chief streets of the four chief towns of the colony should be burned simultaneously. I should say a million of our capital would be lost, but the remaining capital would be sufficient to both employ all our surplus labour and to replace the lost capital in, say, three years. Capital is more elastic than labour. A machine could be worked the whole 24 hours for a month or a year, but a man must have alternate exercise and rest. I have known some of our timber mills work two shifts with the same machinery, but they had to procure an extra staff of men. San Francisco was short of capital when the whole city was demolished, but if, say, a sixth of the city had been destroyed, it could have been rebuilt without borrowing from abroad, and work would have been better paid then either before the destruction or after the restoration. When a depression happens it is either because we have too much capital or capitalists are frightened we are going to have too much. The depression in
You will often have noticed Mr. Seddon and Mr. Ward tell us that most of the capital they borrow from abroad is put to reproductive purposes. When a depression occurs, it is because the colony's capital cannot be put to reproductive purposes, or, rather, the owners believe it cannot, and are frightened to spend it. I do not know how much capital we have, but I think it will vary from £100 to £150 a head of the population. The assets of British communities are estimated at £300 a head. This will include land values and taxing power, such as corporation bonds, or the bonds may be excluded, as they are a debt as well as a credit. J. S. Mill says they are not always excluded.
If a citizen of New Zealand, with an income of £500 a year, lived on £300, invested £100 in enterprises, and gave to charitable institutions £100, from a public standpoint he would not be so good a citizen as if he spent his whole income on personal gratification.
When we say we are short of capital it is synonymous with saying our accumulations of food, clothing, shelter, and other necessaries and conveniences of life are nearly exhausted, and will not last till they are replenished—a circumstance which has not occurred in a British community of my own knowledge for 50 years past. There can never be a scarcity of capital while labour is unemployed. While I am writing, there is a glut in the English
J. S. Mill thought because wages are paid out of capital, the amount of labour employed would be least when the capital was small, and most when the capital was great. This state of things could happen only in a community of spenders, such as the Spaniards, who live up to their income. A bountiful harvest in Spain would be followed by sumptuous living, while in Dutch and English communities it would be followed by a depression.
If our capitalists of, say, £6,000 and over, should refuse to
It will be proper to explain to the rich that although
As this is rather a complex problem and, as far as I know, of my own discovery, I will illustrate by supposing that our present land and mining agents are reduced to one-sixth in number. A retrenched agent, who now earns or rather receives as commission, say, £6 a week, if under the new regime he follows ordinary labouring employment, which is now worth £2 a week, but which will then be worth £4 a week, he will, in this case, require only two-thirds the quantity of land; but if his future services are worth to the community a relative value to what they are now, £6 a week, he will consume and use the produce of double the quantity of land. A Chinaman in China, or Hindoo in India, only requires half the quantity of land to produce what he consumes, as an Englishman. I am presuming that the quality and productivity of land in the countries are equal. The value of land is ruled by the use and consumption of its produce, rather than by the numbers requiring it; every labour-saving machine, every improved method in production, manufacture, conveyance, and distribution increases the value of land.
In the past, the introduction of every labour-saving machine or improved method has been the cause of a trade depression to the extent of the numbers thrown out of work, as the savers of the community are at first unwilling to raise their standard of living to consume the extra productivity of labour; the consumption is, however, after a more a or less severe struggle, forced up by the spenders. This is my reason for first forcing up the consumption by finding profitable employment for all workers, before I throw, by economical management, more out of work.
While I am writing this (
The reader will have often heard people complain of heavy rates and taxes. Yet these complainers generally choose a district where rates are high. It is, in fact, the advantages of the high rates which attracts them; a rate or tax is a charge for a public service, which, if well spent, is worth more to the payer than its price; and we ought to rejoice when rates and taxes are raised, unless it is for defence against a foreign power, in which case the money is worse than thrown away.
If my plan of removing trade depression and doubling wages is to be tried, we should, at the start, abolish the Arbitration Act, and leave the rate of wages to each individual worker, who
It will be an easy matter to convince the majority that our distributing trades can be carried on to greater advantage to the public with, say, a third or even a fourth of the present labour; that all kinds of insurance businesses are worse than useless when publicly considered; that all commercial travellers and the vast majority of commercial agents are parasites of society; that our lawyers, magistrates, gaolers, and police could, to the public advantage, be reduced to half their present number; that in a state of society such as I have described, our lunatics and prisoners would be considerably reduced; that if our producers and manufacturers were responsible for the purity and genuine quality of their wares, their utility to the user and consumer would be vastly improved, indeed, in some cases, would be worth four, or even, ten, times as much. When all these economies and abridgements in labour are considered, and a balance is struck, he is a wretched accountant who could not see that wages would be doubled in, say, five years.
But to convince the profound and patient thinker of high intellectual attainment, that the consumption of commodities, as fast as they are produced, will increase the demand for labour to produce more, without quite exhausting our stock of capital, is much more difficult. Adam Smith had no idea; only, he had noticed that in times of war, trade often prospered, but when peace was declared the country often decayed; and J. S. Mill does not connect an excess of capital with a trade depression till near the termination of his work, and in the body of his work he
In writing this treatise I have examined and criticised our industrial and commercial systems as I find them, and, as the reader will see, have fearlessly pointed out their defects, and with confidence exposed what I believe to be unfailing remedies. No one can reasonably say I am a dreamer or faddist, a Utopian or idealist. Though I have fixed perfection as the bull's-eye of my aim, I cannot expect to hit the centre, though I hit the target.
Professor Javens tells us that the accumulations of the savers just about replace the extravagance of the spenders. If this was always so, we should have no slumps in trade.
If the majority should decide on my plan, the first thing is to offer the capitalists of, say, £6,000 or over, the control of the colony's industry, with responsibility of finding profitable employment for all at their usual calling, or as near it as the exigencies and casualties incidental to the undertaking will permit. The syndicate of capitalists will first find out how many men and women it must provide work for; all work not urgent must progress less or more to suit the convenience of the workers. The total wages of the colony will depend upon the total produce of the labour; the wages in each employment will depend on the numbers who elect to work at each trade or calling in relation to the community's needs. The net interest of capital will average the same in relation to the net wages of labour as it does now, that is, about double in five years, or an annual increase of about 20 per cent. Better the management of the whole affairs of the colony, and higher the total wages and interest; worse the total management, and less the total wages and interest. The interest in each calling will, in the aggregate, be in relation to the total or average wages in the trade. At present, mark you, the rate of interest in every calling averages about the same, but if every worker can choose his own calling the syndicate are bound to finance him whatever may be the interest; but if the interest and wages in one employment are small, it is sure to be proportionally great in another. The total wages and interest will be highest if the required number work in every trade. The total capital of the colony will be reduced in quantity in relation to its use, because all commodities and services will be consumed and used as soon as ready for use and consumption. Profits, being a combination of wages and interest, are sure to be proportionally advanced.
Having made provision for the employment of all labour by the taxation of all unnecessary savings or accumulated capital, a district should be mapped out in a town, and the service let to a butcher, as I have already described, until the whole distributing trades are gradually brought under the new manage-
The labour which I propose to displace will be employed in making better roads, railways, parks, etc., as public conveniences; better food, clothing, houses, etc., as private luxuries, and also superior entertainments. These will be limited only by the amount of labour available, and will not be hurried or retarded by the sanguine confidence or timid fears of the capitalist. The capitalist will be brought a little nearer the level of the worker by being forced to purchase his necessaries from the same tradesman, at the same price, and with as little thanks and ceremony. My plan contains the spirit and merit of Socialism in the body of individualism.
I feel sure no living man can point to an unsurmountable obstacle to the entire execution of my plan, and surely, as its probabilities are so promising to all classes, who is to object to give it a fair trial? The labourer is promised double wages, and the capitalist an increase of interest, with better security for his capital. Will the ambitious labourer object because it will narrow his road to fortune?
We are told by Professor Javens, every man in the street, though they will admit they do not understand chemistry, geology, astronomy, etc., will tell us at once and without consideration, why the times are depressed, and what would improve them. Henry George professed to believe it was the private ownership of land but Mr. E. Withy and Mr. King, secretary of the Single-Tax League, have both privately admitted to me that Mr. George was mistaken.
J. S. Mill has followed his predecessors in defining capital as the result and recompense of abstinence. This statement is not correct. If my readers will question our greatest savers they will find they save because to save is their strongest desire. If they spent to gratify a weaker desire and conquered the stronger (to save) that would be abstinence. Did Miser Costley in saving, exercise abstinence? Decidedly not; he gratified his ruling passion without regard to reason or virtue and I am sure he injured Auckland more by his saving than the public expenditure
In placing on capitalists the responsibility of finding full profitable work for all labour, absentee landlords and capitalists, I think, should be included; they enjoy the benefits and should shoulder the responsibilities.
I know the adoption of my plan will not alter human nature, but it will diminish crime by reducing temptation, by increasing the rewards of honest labour, by withdrawing sympathy from theft and fraud, now perpetrated almost in some cases as a necessity, or at least as expedient. I know men now in good circumstances, who, in their time of poverty, committed frauds and thefts of which they are now ashamed, and several of these occupy public positions, and are honoured as above suspicion and reproach. Material circumstances make all the difference to the conduct, though not to the character of men. If an employee defrauds his employer, the average men who sit in judgment on his breach of law, excuse or condemn his conduct in proportion to his remuneration; if his wages were high, he should be rent to gaol, if low, his employer should.
Some years since I wrote a representation of an ideal society in comparison with ours; it is a plea for Socialism.
If, as a Socialist, I am asked what I have to offer to the wealthy in exchange for their surplus riches, this is my reply:—
First, I offer them a free, not a restrained, conscience; not a conscience that has been rebuked and assailed by a perverted will and polluted environment until it has lost faith in its own divine promptings, but a clear conscience which will fearlessly perform the functions that the Creator intended, a monitor and guider to their actions.
Secondly, I offer them the cordial goodwill, the affectionate sympathy, the pleasing fraternity and enduring gratitude of their fellow-men.
And thirdly, I offer them immunity from the rankling hatred of the envious, the pitiable fawnings of the simple, and the detestable flattery of the vile.
And what is more, I offer them the greatest of all earthly security from the terrors of the gaunt and degrading spectre, Poverty, for I defend them by the sword and shield of the whole community.
And then, mark you, I offer them a world—not a world of fraud, of cunning, and falsehood, but a world of honesty, sincerity, and truth; not a world of hatred, but a world of love; not a world
And, lastly, if they are Christians, I offer them the prospect of everlasting life, from which their pride and vanity, feeding wealth on the one hand, with its consequent poverty, degradation, and misery on the other had debarred them.
I include the following poem, though not connected with political economy, because it has been rejected by our respectable press as too low for their columns, so that those it pleases, including teetotallers and clergymen, may judge the ability and tastes of the professed leaders of Auckland's political and social opinions.
Our worthy and public-spirited townsman, Mr. Samuel Vaile, has spent a considerable part of his life in studying railway management in the public interest, and not feeling confident of his opinions being infallible, invited public criticism, but when T offered to help him he refused my assistance; he wanted only
Henry George had leisure enough not only to study Mr. Herbert Spencer but to write the perplexed philosopher a criticism and exposition of the illogical and conflicting opinions he found in his work, but he had no time to defend his own opinions.
All opinions on the subjects I have treated will be welcomed by me, particularly such as differ, provided they offer their own ideas grounded on personal study. A man of parrot knowledge, acquired at a University, may retail J. S. Mill's opinions with little personal knowledge of the subject. My own opinions are grounded chiefly on my own observations and investigations of our industrial, commercial, and social customs, as they appear to me, and my knowledge from books has been rather to assist than lead me. I should feel indebted to those who can detect and point out my errors. However much I may have cherished and esteemed an opinion, I will abandon it willingly the moment I find it is not impregnated by truth.
My industrial system possesses greater potentialities and promise to civilised society than any one of the great mechanical inventions or scientific discoveries of the last century. Suppose an undiscovered impediment or obstacle should intervene and diminish, or even prevent, the valuable results I anticipate, how much should we lose by giving it a reasonable trial. If I went on the goldfields and discovered a reef as promising, and offered to float it into a public company, I should be besieged by would-be shareholders. This would only benefit a few at the cost of many, and the many who suffered by the gains of the few would suffer in silence, without even a murmur of discontent. Why, then, should any section of the public hold aloof or hesitate to embark in an undertaking which promises to benefit all and injure none?
Before concluding, I am seized with a strong desire to make it clear to the thoughtful reader how easily my scheme could he carried out. Suppose, some day, the managers for the capitalists find a number of men or women for which they have no work, that circumstance would be proof positive that the consumption was below the production. When a manufacturer discharges hands it is because his goods are accumulating, or he cannot procure sufficient raw material. The former inconvenience can be remedied by paying wages to the unemployed, who will then become non-productive consumers, and if the capitalists continue to live at the same standard, the unemployed will become a kind of pensioners; but if the capitalist class raise their own standard of living, there will soon be employment for all. If a manufacturer runs out of raw stuff it is a proof of bad management of the capitalists' premiers, or the result of failure of crops, or some-
I am told England permanently, from generation to generation, supports in her workhouses, an army of paupers. If the services of these paupers were required to support the present standard of living, these paupers would be forced to do something, though they might not be able to average more than a-half or even a-quarter what her present industrial army does. It is the ignorance of trades union leaders and capital's leaders which tolerates the able-bodied pauper; in a Socialistic community all must do their share, according to their ability.
A general or public famine has never happened in a civilised community for 100 years past, or a trade depression in a savage one. When the so-called potato famine of Ireland occurred in
I recollect, about
The lines along which the University of New Zealand has developed have been practically determined by the geographical configuration and the political history of the colony. Early settlement in New Zealand did not radiate from one single point, but from several. Each group of settlers looked to the spot where they had first landed as a kind of little metropolis, which was to be the centre of their civic life, and the focus of their struggling interests. Thus the country was pierced at many points; and those who spread inland from each point were bound together by a certain community of interest, out of which fellowship grew a local patriotism and a sense of political union.
It was in this way that the foundations were laid for provincial government, which formed a vital element in the constitution granted to the colony in
While things were at this inchoate stage, the practical initiative passed into the hands of a province. In
Legislation on these lines was passed by the New Zealand Parliament in
So far the affiliated teaching colleges were confined to the South Island, that is, roughly, to one-half of the colony, and nothing had been done at Auckland or Wellington. In
This is the system under which the work of university education has been, and is being, carried on in New Zealand, The University and its colleges, although technically distinct, have profoundly influenced each other, and the progress and expansion of the one have contributed to the progress and expansion of the other. The University has, in the course of time, obtained considerable enlargement of its powers as a degree-granting body, and now confers degrees in arts, science, engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil, mining, and metallurgical), agriculture, medicine, dentistry, law, commerce, and music, with a diploma in journalism. This list may be taken as fairly representing the practical tendencies in the university development of the colony. Such tendencies are natural enough in a new country, and would find a large body of expert university opinion in their favour at the present day. The total roll of graduates now numbers about 1,300. No discrimination between the sexes has been made either by university or colleges.
But it is in the teaching colleges that the real evidence of progress is to be sought. From very small beginnings they have made a steady advance, until at the present time the average number of students attending at each of the four is over four hundred. Buildings have been extended; a wing added here, a new block erected there. Every faculty represented in the diversity scheme of degrees has its teaching machinery, on a smaller or larger scale, in some one of the colleges, and many of them in all four. This, of course, entails a good deal of overlapping, rendered inevitable by the fact that each institution has to consider the needs of its own part of the country. Owing to the distances which separate them, each college acts quite independently of the others in building up its schools and faculties. Yet a certain amount of faculty-specialization has been evolved. Otago has had a medical school from the beginning, and at different periods since has added a mining and a dental school. Canterbury College has had a school of mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering for twenty years, and has recently added schools of commerce and music. Victoria College, Wellington,
With regard to the composition of the teaching staffs of the colleges, the following statement, grouping the professors and lecturers under the universities to which they respectively belong, might be of interest. The majority of those assigned to New Zealand are only assistants or part-time lecturers.
Apart from New Zealanders, it will be seen that Otago and Wellington have between them sixteen Scottish graduates, while Christchurch and Auckland have but one; that Oxford is represented by seven (four being at Auckland and none at Dunedin), Cambridge by eight, London by seven, the younger British universities by four, Australian universities by three, Dublin by two, German universities by two, while ten have not graduated at any university.
The University of New Zealand has now reached a critical stage in its development. So far it, in conjunction with its colleges, has satisfied fairly well the requirements of the country. It has turned out a large number of lawyers, doctors, engineers, schoolmasters, and ministers of various denominations. Its graduates are a useful element in the New Zealand Parliament. It has imparted a certain uniform stamp of culture, which is as unmistakeable in its way as the Oxford or Cambridge touch, Educated New Zealand, at least the present generation of it, has New Zealand University written all over it. Modifications are largely due to variations in spirit and temperament between the different colleges; but there is a solid substratum of identity. There has not been time yet for extensive differentiation of type, and, what is equally important, there has not been scope for it.
New Zealand life and society, themselves, still run in limited and well-defined grooves, as compared with the endless varieties, which the centuries have developed in the older civilisations. The
But, apart from the practical question of occupation, which confronts the educated of every country, perhaps the most interesting problem before the University of New Zealand at present is, how to develop a more varied and original culture in its students, and, through them, in the community generally. The country which exhibits a certain amount of originality in its industrial and social legislation, and in mechanical appliances, shows very little in science or literature. Various reasons are assigned. One is, that lack of means cripples the equipment of the colleges in the matter of laboratories and libraries. Another is, that the system of having a body of outside examiners for degrees tends to cramming, and kills the free play of individuality, both in teachers and students. Another is, that the New Zealander, like the Irishman, requires to go to some other country to show what is really in him.
As to examinations, this is not the place for a discussion of the academic aspects of the question, nor am I disposed here to take a side in the controversies which have recently been agitating the academic world on the matter The examination system has laid its grip on the whole British world; and, if the system is pernicious, New Zealand suffers in company with the rest of the Empire. There is, really, plenty of outside influence being brought to bear on New Zealand University education. The bulk of the degree examinations are conducted by men in the Old Country; and, notwithstanding the large infusion of a New Zealand element in the college teaching, the full-time professorial chairs are still mainly filled from the universities of England and Scotland, There should not be much danger either of stagnation or of crystallisation; unless it be that, as Radical commoners become Conservative in the House of Lords, so a new professor, buoyant, hopeful, and greatly daring, gradually becomes infected by the lethargic poison of routine.
The truth seems to be that the New Zealand atmosphere, itself, is not yet charged with that intellectual buoyancy and energy which make for scientific discovery or literary creation. As a new country, it is mainly occupied with the problems of its own practical development; and for such a stage the present
pari passu with the awakening intellectual needs and practical requirements of the country. It is rather an unprofitable business quarrelling with the organisation under which one works. Proposals for drastic change in New Zealand are confronted with practical difficulties of the gravest character, a full discussion of which would require a space disproportionate to the general character of this Review and its readers' interest in the subject.
Southern Rhodesia will be represented at the Coronation by a contingent now being selected. It will be thoroaghly representative of the military forces of Southern Rhodesia, and include officers, N.C.O.'s and troopers of the British South Africa Police, Southern Rhodesia volunteers (eastern and western divisions) and also it is hoped, three officers of the Barotse Native Police from North Western Rhodesia. The members of the contingent will be the guests of the Government during their stay here.
The new Legislative Council consists of:—Northern Division, Mr. Frederick Eyles and Lieut.-Col. Raleigh Grey; Eastern Division, Mr. Francis Myburgh; Midlaod Division, Lieut.-Col, H. M. Heyman; Western Division, Sir Charles P. Coghlan, Mr, G. S. IX Forbes, and Mr. George Mitchell. The Council will be opened on May the 8th by the Administrator, Sir William Milton.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—
Permit one, who being for an extended period a close and interested observer of passing public events, but precluded by position in the public service from taking any active part in the mould of the same, now at liberty, to express press the joyous exaltation the realisation of that freedom brings. The knowledge gained, the reflections made, during twenty-five years of the middle of a man's life, are by no means the least valuable of his possessions. During such Interval he learns to modify or to strengthen the impression or opinions of younger days, here something is east there something is added to. Such been my own experience, and though I have not been led to abandon nay of the main fixed ideas or principles with which I started in public life, in the four, are my views, and it is upon them and your trust in my honesty and capacity, you are to elect me. I am not ready to drop what I deem primary considerations, merely because some portion of the constituency desires, me to adopt others. In the course of the remarks I have to make, it will be necessary to trouble you with some financial, statistical and other references, usually deemed and termed "dry." I make no apology to you for doing so, as a proper understanding of the subjects treated is impossible without them, and I am not using any flattery when I express my belief that Eden electors will welcome all proper material put before them by candidates. In any case, you are a "dry" district, capable of sustaining yourselves under a fusillade of figures, though I promise I will make them as light and refreshing as possible.
The abstention of a considerable section of the community, and this by no means the least educated or reputable section, from taking an active part in politics or popular elections, is a matter of notoriety and regret to well disposed and thinking citizens. This abstention applies not only to qualified voters, but to men suitable as candidates for Parliament. Many most excellent colonists of various shades of thought have presented themselves for election in the past, and are doing so at the present juncture, but it must be confessed the number is a decreasing one. A spirit of hopelessness seems to have taken possession of many of our people, who are in various respects, specially suited for
not needed in the council of the nation—are returned with "record" majorities to play such pranks when there as bring shame upon their constituencies Truly in the race the victory is frequently to the invertebrate politician, men without political principles, rather than to the rigid-backed statesmen, who having applied themselves to the study of the science of government, and developed a public line for their guidance, are unable to truckle to the passing whim, rage or stupidity of ill-educated, semi-corrupt voters, profoundly indifferent to the real nobility to the men they flout. It is too frequently assumed and stated that, this deplorable condition of things is the result of the extension of the franchise to all and sundry of the people, and that it is useless to hope for any better state of affairs while Universal suffrage prevails, No view could he more utterly mistaken than this, and to give way to such a "council of despair" exhibits not only gross cowardice, but an absolute failure to understand what the real evil is, and to recognise that its remedy can be found by an intelligent and determined people.
The real cause of our trouble, I believe, is to be found in the fact that under our present system representation of the people in any true sense is not being obtained at all. We have grown up worshipping that fetish handed down to us For centuries past by our fathers. "Majority rules," whereas personal representation in Parliament down to the smallest fraction of people possible is the right of all. Majority rule in a deliberate assembly is reasonable, convenient, and necessary, but such a rule in the election of the deliberating body of the people possesses none of these three qualities.
If Parliament is to be a mirror of the mind of the nation, it is of the first importance that the whole nation, as far as may be, shall be represented; and that, since every man cannot present in person, every man shall able to point to some one man in parliament as his representative. To minority. Parliament, let
For many years past in England
Just ponder upon the following results of elections for Parliament in this Dominion:—
From the year
From what I have been putting before you, there will be but little difficulty in concluding that under our present electoral system, while the majority (though not always) may secure representation of an uncertain kind, the people as a whole cannot. Under the best of circumstances, at present, nearly half of the persons voting are disfranchised, and those who do succeed in forming the majority are so hampered in "their choice of candidates, by being bound to vote for or against those put forward in the localities where individual voters reside, as to be practically cheated of free choice altogether—a picking out to the least evil being but too frequently the position into which voters are forced. Can a remedy for the evils deplored be found, and is such remedy one which in practice will recommend itself to the people of the Dominion? I think so.
From time to time in England and in our own Dominion, efforts have been put forth for the adoption of what is known as the "Preferential" system of voting. In this country we have had proposals made in Parliament in this direction by men sitting on different sides of the House: Sir Frederick Whitaker, Majo Atkinson, Sir Robert Stout, Mr. Hislop and others have introduced bills on the subject, but without avail, so wedded were parties to any system which, for the time, appeared to give them the upper hand, and so indisposed were members generally to exercise the necessary industry for mastering the details of the proposed reform which always appeared to them, because of this indisposition, "complicated": No progress, except the education of the people was made. So far back as
This is the whole work required of the voter.
The Returning Officer ascertains the result of the election as follows:
When this operation is
Let me illustrate; Assuming
Thus:—
If the contrast exhibited by these
I have dealt with this subject first and at length because of the great importance I attach to its consideration by the country. I ask the Electors of Eden, as a people in a large measure free from parish politics," anxious to promote sound and honest government of the country through the proper and full representation of the whole people in Parliament, to send me there that I may, with a all the energy I possess, assist towards this reform, so vital to the purity of our public affairs.
Under the Constitution Act of New Zealand, it is provided that legislation shall be the result of the deliberations of two Chambers, such result having the Governor's assent. I have referred at House length to the election of the Lower House hut the Upper stands in a different position, and around its composition and powers an unceasing discussion has ranged for very many years, but no practical proposal for its reform has been placed before the country by any responsible Minister. The original proposal of Sir George Grey, who drafted our Constitution, was that the members of the Legislative Council should be directly elected by the Provincial Councils, but the Constitution, as finally sent out from Downing Street, substituted life appointment of members by the Governor. Under that system the Chamber long continued to represent, in the main, the landed and moneyed interests of the country. It was Conservative in the most pronounced sense. But, notwithstanding this, very many fine men found seats there, and in a number of instances, did good work, but the people, in a proper sense, had no entrance or representation. In the time of John Ballance the life tenure of members was changed to one tending over a period of seven years only, and under this rule, the majority of the present Legislative Council loss sit. When liberalism got into power the personnel of the Council was gradually changed in political colour, and all class of the community were called to it, so that now, in a general way, it may be said, the old Tory ascendency has disappeared, and few of that class are appointed. This transformation was inevitable if Liberal Administrations were to carry into law the measures which they in the Lower House, as representatives of the people, bad safely put through. "Blocks" between the two Houses were not infrequent in the early days of Liberalism, but to-day the Upper House is little mote than an echo of the Lower so far as conclusions are concerned.
For a long time "Refor mof the Upper House" has been a "burning question talked about election after election, but nothing has been done. The principal reform proposals hitherto made by irresponsible persons amount to the election of the Upper House by the direct vote of the people, or by the members of the Lower, But none of these proposals, so far as I have seen, have ever seriously handled the real question—is such a legislative body needed at all? Surely in these days of "Triumphant Democracy" the Upper House, in its present form, is an anachronism, a survival of the post, having no warrant in common sense for its continued existence. Election by the people direct could only result in a duplication of the Lower House, the constituency being in both cases alike; while election by members of the Lower House, though an improvement upon the former proposal, would always result in the majority in the Upper Chamber being the elect of the ruling party in the Lower. In all, except a few matters, finance and such like, the Upper House has legislative powers identical with those of the Lower, It can initiate legislation, it can alter the conclusions of the Lower House, it can lay aside bills sent up to it. Is this really needed or wise? Granted a Revising Chamber is desirable, is the Upper House such a body, noted for its suitability for such a task? A "revising body," from its very name, implies a body superior in knowledge and capacity to that which primarily initiates proposals. By no stretch of imagination can the present Legislative Council he so esteemed, however excellent the qualities of some of its, members may be. My conception of how to deal with the Upper house is to abolish it altogether as being an excrescence upon the body politic. In its place I would substitute a real revising body, in the shape of a score or less of men, call them by any name you will, "Notables" or such like, to whom should be referred all the work proceeding from the House of Representatives for revision in small matters, and defined suggestions for improvements in larger. These "Notables" should have no power to initiate legislation, or to veto that of the House of Parliament But they should have power to formulate
The profitable occupancy of the lands of the country lies at the root of all our prosperity. To this factor all else we may engage in with a view to securing an adequate livelihood for our people is and must be purely subsidiary. This may seem such a truism as to need no stating. But as a matter of fact very many people, particularly those born, reared, and earning a competency in cities and towns fail to sufficiently recognise the truth. Yet without the work of the settler on the land our cities and towns could not have come into being. The town lives upon the producer. It is essential, therefore, from all points of view that the utmost encouragement should be given to those self-dependent people who go out to make a home for themselves and their families in the solitudes. Yet it is noteworthy that difficulties of all Kinds present
Closely allied to the opening up of Crown lands is the matter of native lands and Maori landlordry. The non-use of the lands of native owners from whatever cause springing, the difficulties and waste associated with the present mode of obtaining land from the natives by an ordinary land-seeker, and the setting up of a species of European serf-tenancy upon native lands, are subjects which cause much heart-burning at the present time. The information given in the public records regarding native lands is mostly of a fugitive and detached kind, no returns or tables such as are supplied in the report of the Department of Lands regarding Crown and privately-owned land are available. On this account the figures I give may be open in some respects to correction, but not. I think, upon material points. The total area of native land is over seven and one-quarter millions of acres. Of this about five millions are living idle, and about 2 millions leaded, the balance, about one-quarter million acres, is supposed to be profitably Occupied by the native owners. By far the greatest portion of the land is in the Auckland district—quite four million acres. It is stated by public men in speeches in Parliament and elsewhere that a much greater area than I have named is leased to Europeans or is in profitable native occupation, but there is no public record of such being the case. The main figures given id the records or that I can find there are nearly three years old. However, I gather that in decreased by about 25 per cent., the value has increaned by eight and one-half millions or
This system, which with all its
To all old residents in the Eden
Hitherto I have been treating things as I view them, irrespective of their connection with or bearing upon what is known as political parties. I have been seeking to state from an unbiased point of view what I conceive to be are important matters requiring prompt dealing with in the interests of our people, and I have, suggested modes for such dealing. But you will say, and right so, "The Government of this country is carried on under party system, and we ask where you stand in this respect?" I will leave no doubt as to my position, we took our party system, as we did our Constitution, from England, and in its origin and development there is an interesting study. It may be traced back to George I., who owing his position entirely to the Whigs, and, Looking on the Tories as his natural enemies, appointed his Ministers for the first time from one side of the House only. But the mistake made was in allowing the ancient powers of the Crown (such as the appointment of Ministers), as they full away from the royal hands, to develop upon the Prime Minister, and not upon the people. It is the House of Commons, as the people's representatives, which should have been heir to royalty.
As it was, the Prime Minister appointed his own colleagues—men who would be loyal to him—Cabinet was developed; the brilliant brain of Pulteney devised "his Majesty's Opposition," and the party system was complete. Its development since those days has been all in the direction of placing more and more power in the hands of the Prime Minister, reducing the "private member" to the status of a mere voter, ordered about by Party Whips.
In short, government by Parliament has degenerated into government by party, this again into government by Cabinet, to be further resolved into government by a single person—an alternative despotism, tempered by abuse and vilification from the other side of the House.
Is this in any degree a truthful summary of the standing and operation of our Parliament and Ministry? 1 think it is, and yet, we are so circumstanced as to have to make the best of it, and evolve, if we can, good legislation from amid such unfavourable conditions and seek to make parties form and circle around principles worth contending for.
Drawn into Parliament in
Liberal parties since then have, beyond all doubt, been guilty of mistakes in judgment and hi administration; they have at times departed from principle and committed errors which have brought shame to the faces of many Liberals throughout the country. High-handed proceedings, not far removed from autocracy, threatening the existence of real Parliamentary Government, have amazed us, but should or did all this cause us, who were of the Old Guard, to cease to be Liberals? In spite of the faults of such Ministries, the trend of their legislation has been in the right direction, and they have placed upon our Statute Books laws, which for beneficent character, will compare favourably with those of any legislature in the world. The Liberal Ministry and party of to-day is far from being immaculate, from being perfect, and I think 1 do good service by stating the opinion largely prevailing in" the country, that Ministers have not made the best use of their opportunities. With an Opposition, feeble in point of numbers and industry, the present Administration should have given to the country more real reforms than they have ventured upon. Some of the proposals I have been dealing with might, with the majority the Liberals possess in the House, have been given effect to long since. At times one is disposed to think that there is some terrible attractive force in the Treasury Bench, which does much to spoil statesmen, and often enervates a Ministry, even as it makes an Opposition, anxious to gain that bench,
"It matters not who may be Receipts for the year ending March last amounted to £10,297,0l3—an increase upon the previous year of £1,293,853. Of this increase Customs duties gave. £356,708; stamps, £289,328; and railways £225,492; the three items reaching £871,528. The Expenditure for the y ear under all heads amounted to £9,343,106, making what the Treasurer terms "a saving" of £362,927 upon his appropriation at the beginning of the year l910. The gross surplus, including a balance brought down from previous year of £432t316 is stated to b £1,386,483 and, after passing over £800,000 in and of the. Public Works Fund, a net surplus of £407,235, Land tax. Income tax yielded £407,235, Land tax £628,723; while from Customs there was obtained £3,027,829—an increase of more than-third of o million upon the previous year. It cannot be considered as in accord with sound canons of political economy that these constantly recurring large "Surpluses" should be provided for, Estimates presented to Parliament by the Treasurer, as to the sums he requires for expenditure under all heads any year, should approximate much more closely to actual needs than do Budgets for many years past. A safety margin is, of course, desirable, but to create large surpluses by carrying forward big balances from previous years, estimating the probable revenue for the coming year, making "savings" in expenditure authorised for that year, and drawing taxation from the people in order to secure this result is not a financier which commends itself to my judgment. Each year should, as far as possible, provide for its own necessities, and votes granted by Parliament should, except under very exceptional circumstances, be spent during the year for which granted; but no taxation for any given year should much exceed the fairly estimated expenditure for the year. A breach of this rule is to take away from Parliament the proper" control of the country's finance, and results in squeezing taxation from the taxpayer before it is needed. An impartial examination of this year's Budget confirms me in the long held belief that indirect taxation in this country is too high, and has reached the full limit which should be submitted to by the people. I therefore wish it, to be plainly understood that, if returned to the House, I will absolutely oppose any increase in the total of our indirect taxation. Further, I think that in many directions that taxation should be decreased, as I am a firm believer in the axiom that the more direct our taxation is the less there will be required, and the more economic will be its expenditure.
Entertaining the greatest personal respect for many members of the Opposition whom I know, I must express my conviction that as a body it exercises but little influence for good in the House. It is repugnant to one's feelings to have to say it, but the only term which in my judgment applies to them is "hopeless ineptitude." As a body, the Opposition seems to utterly lack a sane conception of the fact that, as a result of the comparatively recent discovery of their powers as individuals, and of their rights as s whole, the "common people" are inaugurating an era of great social and political reform which, in a startlingly short spare of time, will sweep away the inequalities of the past and give to intellect and to labour that dominance in the world's affairs which has hitherto been held and exploited by privilege and wealth. "Old things" are truly "passing away," and a time of enlightenment is at hand. An adjustment of the relative share of capital and labour in the profits earned by the combination of both in all pursuits of life is being demanded, and must be conceded. This
To me it seems that the best thing the "Reform Party" (?) could do would be to "reform" itself out of existence and give free scope to the desire felt in the country for putting all political sections into the melting pot, getting rid of the political scum attaching to them, and thus allow a real National progressive party, ignoring past Shibboleths to arise. For a man to go to Wellington as a member of the present antiquated Opposition I deem a waste of life. He can do no good in such a position when it is so clear that, whatever changes and chances may befall Ministry after Ministry as far as personnel is concerned no Opposition party of a "standstill" or retrogressive type can ever again come into power. The days of privilege are past.
While, therefore there are features in the composition and the administration of the present Government: which I am far from approving, and will, if elected, strenuously seek to rectify, I am clearly of opinion that a true Liberal's place is in the ranks of the Liberal party, from within which he can alone hope to be of genuine service to the country, or of any real help in securing purity and economy in administration I shall therefore' seek, as I have already indicated, a marked improvement in the composition of the Ministry, and an attention to urgent social legislation of a progressive character. While giving a general support to whatever Liberal Government may he in power
Electors of Eden, it is because I this I
With confidence I leave
The
The Pacific is of course the greatest of the oceans. But there is a characteristic of it that is far more distinctive; it is its mobility of bed. And from this flow some of the most striking phenomena in its history both physical and human. It has the greatest expanse of coralline formation over its surface. And this in the Pacific according to Darwin, confirmed by the Funafuti boring, implies a great secular subsidence. Almost every year we hear of some island appearing or disappearing in some part of it; whilst Agassiz found a great triangular steepsided plateau between the Galapagos and Easter Island a thousand fathoms or more under its surface almost wholly devoid of life, doubtless from the same cause, the volcanic mobility of its bed.
But the mobility naturally varies. There are belts that are now subsiding and belts that are rising. One zone, stretching from the south-east of Japan southeastwards over the equator down to within a couple of thousand miles of the South American coast has manifestly been subsiding during the existing geological era; for though it has depths between the series of islands of from two to four thousand fathoms, it has several lines of islets and groups of islets of wholly coralline formation. The region away to the southwest, extending from the Philippines to New Zealand in a southerly direction and from Celebes to Samoa in an easterly direction has evidently been rising for a long period.
Now the subsiding zone is of extreme importance in accounting for some of the peculiar phenomena in the human
patu-patu or mere in form, purpose and details of workmanship is only one of the many affinities between the two regions. Japan has no shell-heaps without pottery; but it is unlikely that an archipelago that in Saghalien is separated from the continent by only a few miles of shallow
If we assume the central isleted belt to continue subsiding, we can easily explain some of the most striking features of Polynesian culture and history. They were the only race in the history of the world that mastered the art of oceanic navigation in the ages of stone. Even the Scandinavians never launched out over thousands of miles of open ocean; they reached America by the stepping-stones of Spitzbergen, Iceland and Greenland. The Phenicians, the Arabs, the Malays and the Japanese were only coastal or monsoon sailors. The Polynesians were the first and only true oceanic navigators before the invention of the mariner's compass. Their traditions tell of voyages of thousands of miles guided by the rising of stars, the currents, the trade winds and the flight of birds; and, though they had greatly degenerated in oceanic daring and skill by the time Europeans entered the Pacific, yet many such voyages are reported by our discoverers. It is often assumed that there was a Melanesian people first in Polynesia; but, though the Fijians and the Solomon Islanders make large canoes, they have never ventured far from the coasts of their own groups; besides for nine months in the year the wind is against the possibility of their voyaging into Polynesia, and the other three months it is fitful and cyclonic, and would require the most daring and skillful navigators to make use of it. It was necessity that urged the Polynesians into oceanic voyaging and skill. The subsidence of their islands and the shrinking of the land on which they could live drove them far afield for
But the question naturally arises, why, if the subsidence of their islets drove the Polynesians westwards, they did not seek new homes to the southeast, in the direction by which they originally came? If they came along that northwest-southeast zone, why did not they follow the same route away to the east? The natural reply is that the trade-wind usually blew the other way. But that could not have been uniformly the case when the belt of islands was high and mountainous; such a barrier would deflect the northeast trade-winds away to the southeast. In the olden times, before the zone of islands became a series of atolls and reefs, it must have been almost as easy to reach Easter Island, St. Felix and St. Ambrose and the Peruvian coast as to go westwards to Melanesia or Indonesia. And when this wind impulse was gone there still remained the route from the most southerly islands of Polynesia like New Zealand and Rapaiti to Easter Island and the coast of South America. Not far south of the tropics the westerlies blow almost all the year round; and when the American coast was reached the constant southerlies and the Humboldt current would bear the migrants up to Peru and Central America.
That this is no mere fanciful route can be deduced from various facts. There is a closer affinity of the Easter Islanders in language and culture and appearance to the Maoris than to other Polynesian peoples. They carried carving, the one in stone and the other in wood, to a greater pitch of perfection than any other Polynesians. Then the megalithic stone platforms and statues of Easter Island have their closest analogy in the rude statues of Tiahuanaco and those of the Valley of Huaraz on the Peruvian coast and in some rude statues in Mexico and especially in Tabasco and the south than anywhere else in the world. The megalithic art is in evidence all over Polynesia, coming from Korea and Japan across the Ladrones and the Carolines. It is also much in evidence on the Peruvian coast and in Central
But long before the approach of these cruel warriors, there had evidently been enemies to guard against, not from the north or the Gulf of Mexico, but from the south and the Pacific Ocean. There is a striking contrast between the ruins on the two coasts; those in Yucatan, Tabasco and Chiapas are all of religious or communal buildings with little or no provision for defence; those on the Pacific side show careful provision in position or walls or in both for defence against a formidable enemy; and from Guerrero down to Honduras they are, none of them, close to the coast; they stand back on the ranges that rim parallel to the coast, and are generally on inaccessible or easily defensible spurs; they have all been fortresses of refuge for the agriculturists from the plains and valleys when some enemy landed on the far
It is also clear that many of these must have conquered and settled; whence else would have come the art of stone fortification? Nay, every indication seems to point to the Pacific as the source of the megalithic art as a whole. And the decorative designs of this region have a great similarity to and often identity with those seen on the pottery found in the graves of the coast of Peru; whilst I have seen llamas' heads on pottery even from the ancient graves of as far east as Chiapas and Yucatan, and on an old Tlascalan drum in the Mexican Museum there is carved the figure of a llama. All this points to the Pacific coast of South America as the source of some of these conquering expeditions.
On the Peruvian coast the only native seacraft was the balsa, and as a mere raft with the sea awash through its timbers it was quite unsuited to long oceanic marauding or conquering expeditions. There is evidence however in the ruins of the city of Grand Chimu on the coast near Truxillo pointing to the fact that deep-sea craft had belonged to the rulers. On the ocean side of the city are three great fortified, double-walled camps; and underneath their walls are three still deep and broad docks that have evidently once extended into the ocean beyond the surf; in them low dams with narrow entrances but wide enough to admit oceanic canoes formed large protected basins close to the gateways of the camps. The conquerors of this city must have come across the ocean; and it is not unnatural to conjecture that when the coast became the desert it now is, these masterful canoe-users went off in search of other lands to conquer. Of course the coast must have become comparatively rainless as soon as the series of islands across the equator from the southeast of Japan had sunk into low coral reefs and atolls and ceased to deflect the northeast trades into moist winds fitfully blowing on to the South American coast. But there are indications that the foothills at least had at one time boscage, if not arboreal vegetation, upon them; the frequent civilizations of the coast needed fire to bake the pottery that was so essential for the journey to the other world, and
The first shores that the oceanic expeditions arising from this growing dessication would come across would be those of Central America; there they would settle and conquer the natives and introduce their own special arts. That there was a light-haired, European-featured, long-headed intrusive element in the ancient population of the Peruvian coast is manifest in its graves; thirty per cent of the skulls that I counted cast out of the graveyards of Pachacamac were longheaded; I took from off the scalps fine reddish-brown, wavy hair, though most had the long, lank, raven-black locks of the mongoloid; and the faces on the pottery in the many collections that I saw were in a large number of cases purely European. We have seen that this blonde element was widespread in ancient Polynesia. And there are indications that it was this element that largely formed the expeditions we have reason to believe went off to the central American coast; for throughout the Indian tribes that occupy the coastal ranges of the Mexican and Guatemalan coast, from Guerrero to Honduras, there is a considerable sprinkling of blonde-haired, European-featured people; had this intrusive element appeared only in recent or even in Spanish times the persistent Indian features and lank hair would have made it completely disappear. So permanent an infiltration of a light haired element along the Pacific coast of the two great centers of ancient American civilization could have been the result of no mere accident, such as is suggested by so many hypotheses as to the origin of the culture of Peru and Central America. The effect of a castaway junk or canoe would vanish within less than a generation. A derelict ship, even if it happened to have some women on board, would melt away into the ocean of semi-savage,
One thing is certain, and that is that, whilst there were longheaded occupants of America in palaeolithic times ultimately driven into the cul de sac of South America, and whilst there is evidence of later infiltrations of longheads on the Pacific coast, the great bulk of the former inhabitants of the continent were mongoloids that came from Asia in neolithic times; and so overwhelmingly predominant is this element and so devoted to land pursuits and ignorant of oceanic arts that it is reasonable to suppose that they came by land. Across Bering's Straits is the only possible route for such a migration from Asia. And, though a section of the incomers were hunters, a still larger section must have been at or near to the agricultural stage, so persistent are the elements of agriculture amongst even the most primitive tribes of America. And this implies a different climate in the countries lying about Bering's Straits than that of the present day. Nor is it difficult to see how such a change of climate occurred. The strait is not far from that volcanic fissure which so often sends up islands or submerges them, and a temporary shallowing of its waters is easily conceivable. If such a change occurred the colder water of the Arctic Ocean would have little or no issue into the Pacific; none but tropical waters would circulate in the north Pacific; the winters would be milder on both shores of it; temperate-zone flora and fauna would migrate northwards and with them both hunting and agricultural man. The subsidence of the bottom of the strait and the return of the Arctic waters and Arctic conditions would bar the way between the two continents except for peoples like the Esquimaux.
Soon after the closing of this migration route, pressure from the North would begin to cease, and the agricultural
The Pacific Ocean was untraversable except by the only oceanic navigators, the Polynesians, till the mariner's compass came into universal use. Then the peoples that faced oceans began to cross them; and, when steam displaced sail, even the coastal peoples of inland seas have become oceanic. And now the greatest ocean in the world is about to lose its isolation and will ultimately become the busiest. For round it are gathering the advanced races of the world; and the day is not far distant when half mankind will occupy its shores. In late palaeolithic and in neolithic times Caucasian, Mongol and Negroid mingled and blended on its Asiatic coasts and islands. Now they and the cross-breeds face each other in sullen silence and reciprocal quarantine, the more primitive races as a rule fading away, the more advanced struggling for the mastery and waiting events. All
It is only superficially that color and physiognomy divide the cultivated races. The fundamental differences are economical and social. The religious differences are rather phases and results of these, and are intertwined with both.
In our modern world the economic difference is by far the most important; it is the gap between the Eastern standard of comfort and the Western that makes the two stand so far apart. The long quarantine of Oriental labor in its three great centers, China, India and Japan, dragged the standard down into the closest proximity to starvation; nothing but periodical famines and plagues, sweeping out their millions, made any progress, even the most infinitesimal, possible. When the bulk of a people are at the intermittent mercy of these two brooms of humanity, there must be stagnation, in spite of occasional spurts of progress. To admit this Eastern standard into immediate competition with the Western would end in dragging the latter down more than raising the former up. Western nations must, in order to save themselves from the long stagnation of the East, exclude Eastern labor till its standard is greatly raised. That this process of elevation has begun we can see. In India famines and plagues, thanks to British rule, have no longer the omnipotence they had; and education and Western manufacture and markets are raising the value and wages of labor. On the coasts of China the process has begun and it will slowly spread inland. In Japan it is well on its way; strikes are weekly occurrences, because of the expansion of experience and ideas by contact with the West.
Almost as important a differentiation of ideal is the position of woman. All these Eastern centers still abase her not
Japan is the only Eastern nation that the Western people on the Pacific have to fear; for she has Westernized most efficiently in arts, sciences and armaments. But with the advantages of Westernism she must take, and is rapidly taking, its defects; in her future wars there will be less patriotism, less concentration of power and less national plasticity. And meantime her hands are so full with Korea and Manchuria and the development of her own resources and wealth that it would be madness on her part to seek a conflict with any great power. Her last conflict has left her too exhausted financially to admit of another of the sort for a century at least, except to save her life. And at her doors there is a potentiality that will strain her energies for centuries,—the labor quarry, the coal and iron fields and the markets of China. And there undoubtedly she will have to watch with an interested eye the death throes of the Manchu dynasty within a generation, and will doubtless be called in as bedside physician, if not heir. Her clear duty is to keep free of all entanglements and conflicts at a distance in order to reserve and concentrate her energy for the great tasks that lie to her hand. Under her guidance the process of levelling up Eastern standards, economical and social
"Is there a Government in this country?" asked the Irishman in a well-known story, who, being informed that there was, promptly replied, "Then begorra I'm agin it." This attitude of mind is not exclusively Hibernian. Our race is in its blood and bone individualistic. The struggle demanded by a rough environment and early foes endowed the Teuton with unusual energy and independence. Tins endowment was aided by a process of selection. The wanderings that brought our early ancestors to Western Europe and the British Isles provided that process. These migrations Westward, then as now, were migrations of the strong and intrepid souls The of the as they always do stayed behind. The Teuton becomes the Anglo-Saxon with a courage, enterprise and self-assertion which have made our nation what she is. For sixty generation or more, experience and struggle bred in our ancestors the lighting instincts, and the spirit so acquired is not easily or soon subdued. It accounts for the emulative individualistic stamp upon most of our customs, laws and institutions, it accounts at least in part for that impatience of State interference which has always been one of our conspicuous national traits. Hut this impatience is also a legacy of early government. Liberty is loosely defined as that freedom of speech and action permitted by law; but traced to their origin, it will be found that most of the great popular liberties we enjoy have been won for us by the people being very much "agin the Government." Civic freedom, historically considered, has been the result of increasingly effective systematic resistance to monarchical or oligarchical despotism. The price of liberty with us has indeed been eternal vigilance. The injustice and oppression of even a far past accounts for many present popular prejudices. Among animals fear of Former enemies long survives the cosmic struggle which engendered it, and even in our Anglo Saxon nation, where the people and the people alone are the real rulers, there is a racial and traditional disposition to be "agin the Government." It is true one reason for this is that the majority, even in the freest democracies, have not yet learnt to really feel the power of the State as their power, but the disposition of 'antagonism to which I have referred will, I believe, belie John Stuart Mill's forecast that as the majority become more and more conscious of their power, individual liberty will probably be as much exposed to invasion from the State as it now is from public opinion. I need not say that these observations have no special local application. They apply generally to all modem democracies of our Anglo-Saxon stock.
I have emphasised this preliminary point because the habitual or instinctive attitude of a people towards Governmental control is one of the most important facts to be observed in any consideration of the nature and future development of legal liberty. Before proceeding with this dissertation, let me say that I have no hesitation in claiming your attention for an hour to the most important question that can interest a free people. I mean the basis, nature, and probable future vicissitudes of our liberties. This question underlies and indeed envelopes all political questions; but while it does so I shall divorce its consideration as completely as possible from all local of party interests, views or propaganda. My data and observations, it will be seen, are almost wholly those derived from the democracies of the northern hemisphere, while my treatment of this great subject will be, as far as I can make it, philosophical. Let me further add that throughout this essay I make no reference to national defence as a function of the State. This omission is not due to oversight, but to the fact that in our nation national defence does not affect the civic freedom allowed the subject.
What, then, do we mean by legal liberty? Definitions often only obscuro the common import of a word, for to be told that an archdeacon is a man who discharges archidiaconal functions does not shed much light. "Legal liberties" are defined by one of the best works on Jurisprudence—that by Professor Salmond, from whose book this and my later definitions are drawn—as those benefits which I receive from the absence of duties imposed upon myself. They are the various forms assumed by the interest which I have in doing as I please. They are the things which I may do without being prevented by law, while
These definitions, while technically accurate, do not, of course, come as a revelation of new light, but this reference to the sphere of legal liberty demands some attention. We are told that it is "the sphere of activity within which the law is content to leave me alone." This derives all my rights, liberties and freedom from the law. I enjoy them on sufferance. I am left alone, not because I have natural and inviolable right not to be interfered with by the State so long as I am not injuring someone else, but because, forsooth, the State "is content to leave me alone." That this is in final analysis the correct and only view of the relation between the State and the individual even in a modern democracy is beyond question. And yet how inconsistent with this fact is that petulant impatience with which we hear people sometimes demand on the passing of a new law, "What right has the State to interfere with me?" it indeed cannot be denied that there is a widespread unreasoned feeling that we do not live and move merely by leave of Caesar, but that somehow, or in some way, the State has and can have only a strictly limited power over its people and that the sphere of our liberties is not defined and circumscribed by the law's permission, tacit or otherwise, but by the natural, inalienable and indestructible rights we have as civilised human beings. This was what was vaguely felt when a man affected by a recent statute demands with emphatic indignation: "What right has the State to interfere with my British liberty in this way?" This feeling is a very old one. It is involved in a problem which has engaged thinking minds since the days of Aristotle, viz.—What is the true relationship between the individual and the State?
The Greeks saw what Austin over twenty centuries later expressed so clearly—That in Government properly so called, whether it be in form monarchy, oligarchy or democracy, there must be supreme and unlimited power over its people. That from that supreme power and under its permission and protection alone, we each in civilised societies derive all our rights and liberties. We can do, have and say only what the law allows. Ingram summarises the general features of the old Greek view as follows:—
But between Aristotle's and Austin's day many an attempt was made by different writers to first account for the fact of Government, and next justify or limit its supreme power. A short reference to some of these-writers will show how old and deep seated is the feeling that men possess in civilised societies natural and indestructible rights which no law can properly invade. This reference may seem to some unnecessarily academical, but I would remind those who are impatient of so-called academical treatment of social questions that it is to just that treatment that the greatest revolutions and social changes have been immediately or ultimately due, and nothing will illustrate this better than the theories of the writers to whom I now proceed to refer. The impetus they gave to democratic development affects us even at the present day. Beyond all doubt, says Professor Ross in his splendid work on Social Control, "the democratic movement in Western Europe arose out of the radical movement of thought in the 18th century, which discredited traditions by compelling them to submit their credentials at the bar of reason and justice." "Without Rousseau," said Napoleon, "there would have been no French Revolution."
To Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau and their theories modern liberty owes more than to the Baltic, Trafalgar or Waterloo. The pen of the philosopher has in the world's history been a more potent instrument of progress than the sword of the soldier, and it is impossible to estimate the influences of, for instance, Rousseau's teaching upon the national destinies of Western Europe. But probably without Hobbes and Locke we should never have had the "Contrat Social." All three writers wrestled with the problem I have just alluded to. All three try to define the true extent of the power of Government and the sphere of individual liberty. Why should the subject obey, and what are the limits, if any, of "that obedience? That was the enigma they each sought to solve. Hobbes, the father of English political thought, places the test of liberty in an imaginary contract.
He begins with the assumption that before the State was created all men were by nature tree and equal. This freedom and equality, however, did not bring the millennium, he thinks or assumes that it produced incessant war between each and all, and that our early ancestors decided upon what might be allied a peace at any price policy to escape from this ever-lasting disorder. Hence the whole community entered into a contract, and gave over to a person or a body of persons—a monarch or an oligarchy—all their natural rights for the purpose of establishing a sovereign power that could enforce law and order among them. This supposed contract contained no reservations. The transfer of rights was absolute, and the sovereign-so created was absolute and irresponsible. Thus the people properly and in the most literal sense "became subjects. Liberty is strictly such freedom as this supreme power chooses in its uncontrolled discretion to allow the people. So Hobbes taught in the "Leviathan, published in
Locke, in his "Essay on Civil Government," which was an elaborate defence of the Revolution of
Under Rousseau's social compact the people do not surrender their natural rights to a monarch or oligarchy or any other separate controlling "body. They surrender their rights to all the people, and not to any other sovereign. "Each of us," he says, "puts his person and his faculties into a Common stock under the sovereign direction of the general will, and we receive every member as an inseparable part of the whole. But from all control and power of Government certain great natural inalienable and indestructible rights of man are excepted." Two main objects underlie this theory—the first to place sovereign power in the people, and the people only; the second to secure to each individual a wide Sphere of liberty which could not be interfered with by the State. For the most part Rousseau is not a thinker, but a dreamer; and yet to Rousseau may be traced many of the most remarkable features of the American constitution and to Rousseau you must go for the origin of many of the great social doctrines of to-day.
Rousseau published his "Le Contrat Social" in
"Thanks," he says, "to our sullen resistance to innovation, thanks to the cold sluggishness of our national character, we have not yet, like the French nation, been subtilised into savages. In England we have not yet been completely disembowelled of our natural entrails. We have not yet been drawn and trussed in order that we may he filled like stuffed birds in a museum with chaff and rags and paltry blurred shreds of paper about "the rights of man.' We preserve the whole of our feelings still native and entirely unsophisticated by pedantry and infidelity."
I quote these remarkable words bemuse they not only express with Burke's matchless power the artificiality of social construction and the false conception of human nature which pervade Rousseau's doctrines, but they also illustrate the attitude of the conservative individualism of "Fn gland to novel social doctrines. That the influence of the "Contract
Now I return for a moment to the definition—that the sphere of legal liberty is the sphere of action within which the law is content to leave me alone. This, it will be observed, covers not only political and social action, but economic action. Our history makes so much more of political and social liberties that we are apt to forget the importance of economic liberties both in themselves and in their influence upon all other kinds of freedom. The changes which have taken place in our modern views of political liberty are mainly due to changes during the last one hundred years in national economic conditions. The future development of British liberty will depend more upon Britain's economic evolution than upon any other changes. Political and religious liberty have during the last eighty years been steadily widening to completeness, but throughout that period-there has also been an unmistakable disposition to limit economic freedom. Now, as Cliffe Leslie points out, the whole economy of every nation is The result of a long evolution in which there has boon both continuity and change, and of which the economic side is only a particular aspect. The intellectual, moral, legal, political and economic sides of social progress are indissolubly connected. In other words, it may be shown that the expansion in energy and area of popular political and social rights is mainly responsible for the limitation of economic rights, to which I have alluded; and the same action and reaction may be discerned throughout the development of all our liberties.
These facts justify the view that at the present time, and for many years to come, the most important aspect of the relation between the otate and and the individual is the sphere of liberty the law will allow a man in pursuing his trade or calling, and in the acquisition and use of his wealth. To forecast the future it is nearly always needful to look at the past, and no one can-understand the present transition stage of economic liberty in Western Europe without some knowledge of the teachings of Quesney in France and of Adam Smith in Britain one hundred and fifty years ago. Equally essential is a knowledge of the industrial conditions and restrictions of their day. Their doctrines of the widest natural freedom to every man in his business or calling—of unlimited freedom of trade—of unrestricted" competition—have influenced and moulded all our political economy and still largely dominate economic thought and political action. These doctrines led a revolt against the strangling legal interferences which enveloped the trade and 'industrialism of their day. Labour was hampered with all sorts of antiquated and absurd restrictions, declaring where the workmen should live, what trade they should follow, when and where they should sell their goods. Industries were in a network of regulations. The coachbuilder in England was forbidden either to make, or to employ a journeyman to make, his coach wheels—he must buy them from a master wheelwright. The bootmaker in parts of France could make but he must not mend—shoes. In Germany everything was done by rule. Spinning, for instance, came under public inspection, and the yarn was collected by officials. The privilege of weaving was confined to the confraternity of the guild. Methods of production were strictly prescribed. Public inspectors exercised control. The right of dealing ill cotton goods was confined to the confraternity of the merchant guild. To be a master weaver had almost the significance of a public office. The sale was also under strict supervision. For a long time a fixed price prevailed, and a maximum sale was officially prescribed for each dealer.
In England commerce was still struggling in the decaying straight jacket of the old mercantile laws. Everywhere throughout the industrial and commercial system were artificial rules, regulations, prohibitions and privileges. Liberty was checked by a thousand ties, production hampered, prices unnaturally raised, and both the energy and Freedom of merchants and of the wealth-making agents of the nation were repressed or manacled. From this oppression the promised land was
Smith's fundamental doctrine was that the most effectual plan for advancing a people to greatness is to maintain that order of things which Nature has pointed out. That is, to allow every man to pursue his own interest, his own way, and bring his industry, capital, or labour into the freest competition with those of his fellow-citizens.
This he calls the natural system of perfect liberty and justice, and in this view we find him on common ground with Rousseau and his school.
Summed up, his belief was that if the State swept away all restrictive measures and permitted the freest play of individual interest, the operation of natural law would produce the greatest good of the whole community.
To understand the fanatical Individualism to which these doctrines led, we must bear in mind that it was in the nature of a revolt from the artificial and absurd restrictive systems of his day. We must also bear in mind the fact that at that time Britain was mainly an agricultural country and the stage of her industrialism was mainly domestic fie wrote before the great industrial revolution which followed the wide employment of the steam engine and the inventions of Wedgewood. Hargreaves, and of Arkwright, Crompton, and Cartwright. This revolution altered the whole economic face of England. It led the rural population to set in rapid current for the cities, and there form a slough of despond in which tens of thousands of both sexes and all ages were soon hopelessly sunk. Adam Smith preached the view that Nature has made provision for social well-being, that the individual, while he aims at his private gain, is in doing so "led by an invisible hand" to promote the public good, although that was no part "of his intention. Human institutions (including, presumably, humanitarian legislation), by interfering with this principle in the name of public interest, defeated, he said, their own end; but when all restraints are swept away "the obvious and simple system of natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord." So Smith predicted. Fateful illusion! Here is a true picture of the result of such doctrines put into practice by the new industrialism. "Capitalists in the early decades of this industrial revolution who could own factories made money at the rate of several bundled per cent. Agriculture was neglected and hand production killed. The population poured into the factory towns. Machines enabled the owners to employ women and children instead of men. Parishes sold their pauper children to the factories. There were then no factory laws. There were no trade unions to keep wages up; there was no legislation to prevent long hours of child labour. Each, in Adam Smith's phrase, was at liberty to bring his labour into the freest competition with everyone else.' The horrors of factory life at this time beggar description. Men were housed like animals and fed like swine. Children of even five or six worked long hours It is probably true that at no period in English history was the condition of the English labourer worse than during the first twenty years of this industrial era. Competition, in the absence of all old restraints, was absolutely unlimited. Adam Smith had demonstrated Nature's beneficient rule of absolute freedom—Malthus proved that by a law of Nature population tended to increase faster than the means of subsistence, and that therefore it was inevitable that some—and the weaker—must perish. Thus the capitalistic conscience of that day need feel no twinge. All was in harmony with Nature, and her unchecked sway was in the long run man's best friend. "Between Adam Smith and Malthus." it has been said, "the labourer was helpless—free (of course)—free to slave, free to suffer, and free to die." Resplendent results these of the glorious gospel of natural liberty! And yet the influences of that gospel die hard. The illusion of the beneficient rule of Nature has dominated men's minds since the days of the Stoics. Transfigured, redressed, or deeply disguised, it still dictates most of our modern views off liberty, and yet so sturdy and penetrating a mind as Huxley's saw and declared that any modern nation that gave Nature's methods this free play must disappear from internal destruction. But the illusion of Nature's harmonies appeal strongly to those who look upon her face with a superficial eye. Under her reign each seems to have freedom and no
No; the cosmic process recognises no rights or liberties. Might through its whole field is right. Force, insensate and unpitying, holds undisputed sway.
I know this antagonises our yearnings. We would fain believe that love is creation's final law, but candour and observation—the struggle in field and wood and sea and stream—compel us to the conclusion that "Nature, red in tooth and claw, with ravine shrieks against the creed." But, it may be asked, even if the process be a grim one, does it not produce "the survival of the fittest." No doubt it does; but what is meant by the "fittest"? It is to the ambiguity of this word that Huxley ascribes the fallacy that Nature's methods can help mankind to perfection. "Fittest," he says, has a commotation of "best," and about "best" there hangs a moral flavor, But in nature the "fittest" are only those most fully adapted to the circumstances of their existence. What is "fittest" depends upon the conditions. If our hemisphere were to cool again "the survival of the fittest" might bring about in the vegetable kingdom a population more and more stunted, and humbler and humbler organisms, until the "fittest" that survived might be nothing but lichens, diatoms, and such microscopic organisms as those which give red snow its colour. While if the hemisphere became hotter our valleys would become uninhabitable by any animated beings save those that flourish in a tropical jungle. In human societies the law of Nature shows itself in the tendency of the strongest and most assertive to tread down the weaker, and we can measure a nation's advancement by the degree to which its laws limit or repress this tendency. This is put by Huxley in these words: "The influence of the cosmic process—that is, of Nature's laws on the evolution of society is the greater the more elementary its civilization, Social progress means a checking of the cosmic process at every step, and the substitution for it of another which may be called the ethical process, the end of which is not the survival of those who may happen to be the fittest in respect of the whole of the conditions which obtain, but of those who are ethically the best." The moral processes by which human improvement can be achieved are antithetic to Nature's process, the characteristic feature of which is the intense and increasing struggle for existence. Nature's method is to force adjustment on pain of extinction with her current conditions. The moral or ethical method is to adjust circumstances and conditions to the needs of the higher type we desire to create. The first step in this direction is the elimination of the cosmic struggle for existence by removing or preventing the conditions which give rise to it and this step requires stringent and numerous restrictions upon the belauded natural individual liberty of the orthodox economists.
The influence of John Stuart Mill's work on political thought for the last sixty years has been incalculable, and of all his work his views of liberty and of the relation between the individual and the State, although not m any part essentially new, have probably had the profoundest effect. These views still represent orthodox individualism. In his classic work "On Liberty," Mill states his doctrine thus:—
"The object of this essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion or control, whether the moans used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is that the sole end for which mankind are warranted individually or collectively in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection; that the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exorcised over any member of a civilised community against his
Now, I invite those who desire to see how this doctrine falls to pieces under a close analysis to read James Fitz James Stephen's "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." You will remember him as Lord Stephen, one of our greatest judges. I do not pretend to be able to add anything to that splendid and exhaustive criticism. The principles and assumptions stated in Mill's book are as follows:—
Now it will be observed that Mill's doctrine applies to coercion not only by law, but by public opinion. So that, even in the domain of morals, a man is to be free to indulge himself as he likes so long as it cannot be shown that he is injuring someone else. Stephen shows that this system of liberty "is violated not only by every system of theology which concerns itself with morals and by every known system of positive morality, but by the constitution of human nature itself." I do not propose to discuss this part of Mill's doctrine. I confine myself to the consideration of legal coercion. Mill's system forbids (inter alia) any such coercion—
But to forbid such coercion is simply to forbid progress. "All the great political changes which have been the principal object of European history for the last three centuries have been cases of coercion in the most severe form, although a large proportion of them have been described as struggles for liberty by those who were in fact the most vigorous wielders of power.
But Mill's whole doctrine, and, indeed, the teaching of the whole of his school of national liberty, are based upon a false assumption, and it is this—that in all the countries which we are accustomed to call civilised, the mass of adults have so much self control, are so well acquainted with their own interests, and are so much disposed to pursue them, that no compulsion or restraint put upon any of them by law for the purpose of promoting these interests (including their moral improvement) can really promote them. If this assumption were true, Mill's doctrine would be an empty truism, hut if it is not true it falsifies the entire system. Intelligent and well-directed compulsion he admits is proper in the case of backward races—it is also proper in the case of youths up to the age of 21. Then, it seems, it must suddenly cease. As if men and women were not often "but children of a larger growth," and some form of coercion were not as necessary to their well-being as in the case of schoolboys. Mill's
I am not, it must be observed, depreciating or overlooking the great value of moral suasion. I am meeting the contention that under a system of natural liberty suasion alone can be relied upon to effect moral improvement. Surely it is clear that the degree of liberty which should be allowed an individual is the effect its exercise has, not on himself alone, but on general well-being, and that the degree of liberty which will really benefit a people depends upon the use the mass or the majority of them make of it. Freedom in the few or the many whose use tends to retard progress—to demorahse or pauperise the individual himself or large sections of the community—is not a blessing but a curse. It matters not whether this freedom is in public or in private life, or in the political, social or economic domain of human action. "Men," Mill's great critic says, "are so constructed that whatever theory as to goodness and badness we choose to adopt, there are and always will be in the world an enormous mass of bad and indifferent people—people who deliberately do all sorts of things which they ought not to do, and leave undone all sorts of things which they ought to do." Estimate the proportion of men and women who are selfish, sensual, frivolous, wicked, idle, absolutely commonplace and wrapped up in the smallest of petty routines, and consider how far the freest of free discussion is likely to improve them. The only way by which it is practically possible to act upon them at all is by compulsion or restraint. Whether it is worth while to apply to them both or either 1 do not now enquire. I confine myself to saying that the utmost conceivable liberty which could be bestowed upon them would not in the least degree tend to improve them, it would be as wise to say to the water of a stagnant marsh, "why in the world do not you run into the sea? You are perfectly free. There is not a single hydraulic work within a mile of you. There are no pumps to suck you up, no defined channel down which you are compelled to run, ho harsh banks and mounds to confine you to any particular course, no dams and no flood-gates; and yet there you lie, putrefying and breeding fever, frogs and gnats, just as if you were a mere slave!" The water might probably answer, if it knew how: "If you want me to turn mills and carry boats, you must dig proper channels and provide proper waterworks for me." in other words, provide the conditions of progress and improvement to which I am compelled to conform. These words, it will be remembered, are from the pen of a strong and striking personality—one of the greatest lawyers and judges of recent times.
Again, Mill's system of liberty may be assailed on another broad ground. Shortly put, his system teaches that men should be allowed both in the domain of law and morals to do as they please so long as they do not injure others. Now, what is meant here by "injury to others?" If it means prejudicial to the interests of Society, then obviously all conduct of an anti-social character, such as wasteful extravagance and gross intemperance, might be restrained, and the strictest social control justified. This, however, is clearly not Mill's view. The conduct from which alone a man may be compulsorily deterred "is that which is calculated to produce evil to someone else," and as such conduct is in the vast majority of cases, even where we call the offence a crime, an invasion of some legal private right, the doctrine substantially means that a man's sphere of legal liberty should be circumscribed only by the legal duties he owes definite or definable persons. This view reflects that spirit of liberty which says that so long as a man interferes with no one else's right he should be allowed to go to Hell his own way if we wants to. This doctrine is still, in theory at least, the dominant one. It is the basis of orthodox individual ism, and
From all this misconception as to the promotion of general welfare, from natural liberty and the apotheosis of individual rights, we are steadily going back to Aristotle. He taught that the State had educative and reformative functions; that it was its duty to make good citizens.
In this view the character of the State is changed from policeman to parent. The end and aim of Government is changing and has changed from police and other legal protection to providing the conditions which will promote general welfare. The old method was a survival of the fittest—that is, of those
If the State is to provido the path, it must see that it is taken and, if necessary, compel its use. Some modern nations furnish their people with free schools, but they also punish parents who neglect to send their children there. Under prudent domestic Government, discipline is as necessary as opportunity for the welfare of the family. The excess or absence of either will do harm, and the same is true of the paternalism of the State.
In this changing conception of the State's functions, private rights and liberties must be substantially affected, as I shall shortly show. Meantime, let me say that such prudent social control as I am indicating should produce neither the evils of unrestrained self-seeking found under natural liberty or the regimentation of revolutionary Socialism. In approving of this conclusion. Huxley says: "In this business of the Government in that elementary polity a family, the people who fail utterly are on the one hand the martinet regimentalists, and on the other the parents, whose theory of education appears to be that expounded by the elder Mr. Welter when lie enlarged upon the advantages which Sam had enjoyed by being allowed to roam at will about Covent Garden Market from babyhood upwards. Individualism pushed to extremes in the family is as ill-founded theoretically and as mischievous practically as it is in the State, while extreme regimentation is a certain means of either destroying self-reliance or of maddening to rebellion. And so when we turn from the family to the aggregate of families which constitute the State, I do not see that the case is substantially altered."
The doctrine is already widespread that the proper relation between the State and the individual is at least analagous to that of an intelligent parent to his family, and it is being increasingly seen that the system of natural liberty is a dogma that overlooks the extent to which the ethos in men's hearts must through the State control the cosmos, if human society is to rise to a higher civilisation.
I have said that this sublimation of the State from policeman to parent involves modifications in all conceptions of rights and duties—in other words, of legal liberty. Once it is conceded that the law may compel me, prohibit me, punish me, or tax me, not only for the protection of legal rights, but for the purpose of improving me or of providing the conditions by which others to whom I owe no legal duties may be improved, the whole doctrine of liberty I am here attacking becomes a discredited dogma. The rights formerly and under Mill's doctrine so sacred and paramount, lose their inviolable sanctity and supremacy, and become subsidiary to the needs of parental schemes of social progress. We have so long knelt at the throne of individual rights that this dethronement stated as a general principle sounds like treason. It threatens, it would seem, our cherished private freedom, and makes for oppression. We talk with bated breath of individual liberty. Like the "Om" of Oriental creeds, these words have acquired the attributes of idolatry. They have become blessed like "Mesopotamia," and all that is often deemed necessary to discredit a policy of social progress is to show that it infringes or limits individual liberty. Let us de-idolise this phrase if we want a clear perception of the respective rights and duties of Man and the State. "What gives, for instance, such special sanctity to individual rights of property? The inherent justice of their origin? Hardly. When the great bulk of the acquired wealth of England was not earned by its owners, but by inheritance, and when a Mr Paten is free to corner wheat and thus extract a million sterling from the pockets of the people! 1s. then, this sanctity due to the ideal equality of such rights? Scarcely! While pinching poverty in everywhere contrasted with colossal fortunes! Surely, then, this sacred regard is owing to the pro-appointed harmony and beneficent operation of the law creating and protecting these and other individual rights? By no means! Sinn Huxley could forcibly and truthfully declare in his essay on "Government" that: "Even the best of modern civilisations appears to me to exhibit a condition of mankind which neither embodies any worthy ideal nor even possesses the merit of stability. I do not hesitate to express the opinion that if there is no hope of a large improvement in the condition of the greater part of the human family; If it is true that the increase of knowledge, the winning of a greater dominion over Nature which is its consequence, and the wealth which follows upon that dominion are to make no difference in the extent and intensity of want, with its concomitant physical and moral degradation among the
To do this, let us clear the ground by some understanding of what is really meant by "rights" in the strict and proper sense. A "right" is an interest respect for which is a duty and disregard of which is a wrong. There can be no "right" without a corresponding duty; no duty without a corresponding right, anymore then there can be a-husband without a wife or a father without a child. For every duty must be towards some person or persons, in whom, therefore, a correlative right is vested. Conversely, every right must be a right against some person or persons, upon whom a correlative duty is imposed.
Now it is clear from this that the more rights a man has the more duties are due him by others, while the fewer rights he has the fewer duties will be due to him. If he have no rights, as in the case of a slave, no duties are due to him. Hut what "interests" do "rights" imply? In a free country rights consist mainly in the interests a man has in respect of his person-and reputation, and interest in respect of things. A man has a right not to be killed, injured, assaulted, wrongly arrested or defamed. But these are not "interests" upon which a man may live. He cannot thrive upon his right to not being killed or wrongly arrested. A man may live all these rights and yet starve. They are of real value to him for the purposes of existence only in so far as they enable him to exercise or acquire rights over things—that is, over some kind of property—food, wages, or the soil. It is these latter rights that are by far the most important of all legal rights in point of number and market value. Hence in a
My legal rights are the benefits I derive from legal duties imposed upon other persons. My "legal liberties" are the benefits which I derive from the absence of legal duties imposed upon myself.
Thus "right" marks the possession of the interest; "liberty" my legal freedom to use or enjoy it. I have a right over my estate, and therefore I am legally free to cultivate it.
Thus it will be seen that liberties and rights are strictly correlatives, and that the fewer rights a man has the fewer liberties he possesses. Hut the "liberties" correlative to rights over things are much more productive of profit than the "liberties" correlative to rights to personal freedom and reputation. I may use my right to walk the street without being assaulted, and use it eight hours a day for twenty years and yet gain nothing by it but an appetite, which I have not the means to satisfy.
What, for instance, are the "liberties" of the great mass of the people in the cities of England? Then we are told that there are in London about two million people who do not know where next week's food is to come from. They have no property. Their rights do not expose them to the evils of high living. They have a right not to be killed—a right not to be injured, assaulted, wrongfully arrested or defamed. These rights cannot be taken into the market, like a right to a house in Belgravia. You cannot raise a loan on them. The "liberties" of these people are, as I have shown, the correlatives of their "rights"; and what are their "liberties"? They are free to walk the streets—so long as they keep moving; but being nether land-owners nor tenants, the street or some other public place, and that alone, is where they have any legal right, or, in other words, are legally at "liberty" to be. The great mass of the poor in old world countries, who are without property of any kind, have few rights which require the protection of the law. Gain or other advantage is the great incentive to breach of rights—be they in respect of property or person—but what gain or advantage could be derived, for instance, from infringing any rights the London poor have? But contrast with
Remembering this, we revert to the orthodox doctrine that general welfare is best promoted by the State confining itself to the protection of individual rights, and find that it really means that the State's main concern is the interests of property owners. The larger the owner, the more the State is concerned with his protection. Surely a beautiful doctrine this when the vast majority of the people (I am speaking, of course, of the old world) have no property at all.
I have given some time to an anlysis of what our idolised "individual liberty" really means to the great mass of the old world people. This idolatry still prevails, but the hollow places in the idol are being slowly revealed.
The freedom implied is mainly a negative freedom. Nay, it is a misleading illusion flattering or soothing the ear but yielding nothing to men's hope. Let me here anticipate a hasty criticism. I am, observe, under-estimating in no way the absolute necessity for legal protection of rights. The enforcement of law and order is the first essential of the Suite's existence and the security of life and property which law and order confers is a paramount need not only of social progress but oí our present social life. The purpose and only purpose of the reference I have made to individual rights and liberties is to expose to criticism the leading dogma of individualism that the protection of these rights and liberties is the sole proper function of the State and the best means of promoting general welfare. In doing this it was necessary to refute the basic principle of the natural liberty school voiced by Mill and the orthodox economists that true individual freedom consists in being allowed to do whatever one pleases so long as it does not infringe the right of others. The full operation of such a system has we know produced social evils too great and well known to need any illustration here. This system has too long been a pernicious fetish, and even where it violated the deepest sense of our humanity, the answer once deemed sufficient was "Fiat libertas ruat justitia."
What, then, are the proper limitations of the sphere of individual freedom?
First we can shortly state a rule which disposes of an infinite amount of fine-spun theorising about the sanctity of freedom. Freedom which a man uses to make a beast of himself has no sanctity and deserves no legal protection. Hence, then, the law, so long as it scrupulously respects proper privacy and all the more intimate and delicate relations of life, may wisely forbid anything which, allowing for the utmost individual variety of rational taste, no sensible person would wish to do, provided always that such interference is in the interests of the individual himself or of the well-being of the community. This proviso excludes meddlesome prohibitions in respect of small things.
The rule so stated would leave as wide a sphere of personal freedom as anyone deserving of respect could desire. Surely such a rule is more consonant with our conceptions of true manhood and womanhood than a doctrine which expressly permits swinish excess so long as it invades nobody else's rights.
That this rule involves considerable limitations upon the area of personal freedom must be conceded, but these limitations will be those approved and unequivocally dictated by the intelligence and moral sense of the community. It is in final analysis coercion to bring human conduct nearer to an ethical ideal. It is in one aspect society conceiving its ideals as the measure of its rights against the individual. This is all antithetic to the individualism of natural liberty, and the service or injury this new system will do the future depends upon success or failure in discovering the true scientific frontier between collective control and personal freedom. Already it is generally conceded in practice, if not in theory, that individual liberty may be restrained in the interests of public health and of public morals. Restriction in this direction will doubtless increase, But the most marked limitations of the old theoretical sphere of personal freedom have taken place, and no doubt will continue to take place, on the econo-
But our race has only slowly, painfully and semi-consciously come to see that the system of natural liberty I am attacking furnishes in itself no true basis for modern social progress. I say "modern," because it is mainly owing to the complex development of capitalism, industrialism and invention during the last 100 years that this system has become so inadequate for true social progress.
I have already shown that at least in the old world the so-called "liberties of the subject" are but a mockery if the subject can acquire no rights to exercise. The whole fabric of modern society grows ever more complex and artificial. The ties of kinship as social bonds have almost disappeared, and the State must furnish" new bonds to supply their place. The old intimacy and mutual aid of the village and the countryside have in large measure been supplanted by the "multitudinous declaration" of the city. The exigencies involved in this change demand something more substantial than the negative freedom of individualism. In one aspect of it, the basis of society is really the family. That is, a household for the most pint, if not wholly, supported by the earnings or means of its head. Upon the husband and father the law casts an imperative duty to maintain wife and children. It will imprison him for beggary. It will punish him if he have no lawful visible means of support. It is Ibis duty to have such means or earn them. Upon such a basis, then, society is built. But what if an honest and willing man have no means? What if he can find no opportunity of earning them? Is society so vitally concerned with the health and existence of the household and yet not concerned with what is pre-essential to the household's existence? This, if true, were surely a paradox, and yet it is the logical result of the laissez faire doctrine. But the truth is that from the point of view of general welfare possession of, or means of possessing, individual rights is at least as important as their protection, for possession of rights whose exercise will provide a living is essential to a discharge of the primary duties of citizenship. Liberty, conceived in vacuo, can no longer be relied on by the State to promote social progress or general well-being. True economic freedom in a modern nation, it has been said with profound truth. "is not the absence of restraint but the presence of opportunity." and what is meant by the "presence of opportunity." I take it to mean a sphere of activity—a scope of work—with the tools or other materials requisito, to such sphere of work, by and through which a willing man may maintain himself and discharge the legal and moral duties of citizenship.
In opposition to Mill's doctrine of liberty and non-interference of the ¡State, it is now being increasingly recognised that a proper purpose of Government is to bring tools to willing hands which would otherwise be idle or precariously employed this is "but an example of the people collectively, consciously and directly providing the conditions considered essential or expedient for general welfare and progress.
To provide these condition (prudently and cautiously devised, let us hope), individual rights and liberties must if necessary be limited and checked. Hut while the functions of the State must increase in area and number if our social ideals are to be promoted, every increase should be jealously watched. Excess of social control upon the individual life is as pernicious as excessive liberty. It matters little from what source that control emanates. In religion the coercion of law, or even of an aggressive public opinion, produces an insolent orthodoxy which makes conformity a radiant virtue and doubt and dissent an offence. Conformity so thrust upon a people kills religious liberty. In art the enforcement of canons of taste produces, as it always has produced, a conventional, stilted and rigid school. On the social side of life excessive collective control, either by law or custom, imposes that dead, or paralysing uniformity seen in Eastern countries, and thus destroys
The lessons of the past warn us against giving too wide a sway to Government over the individual life. Excessive control is vicious, whether it is based upon the divine right of kings or of popular majorities. It is well here to emphasise the fact that social welfare, although largely the same, is not synonymous with human welfare. The security, order and preservation of the State may be advanced by restraints and prohibitions really hurtful to individual well-being. There are limits to the claims of collective interests and advantages, just as there are limite to the claims of individual freedom. Most students of sociology are agreed as to the effect upon a nation's members of woman's modern sphere of freedom. The new aspirations and efforts of woman to individuate in fuller life than that of merely mother and household drudge might conceivably be restrained by law in the interests of the cradle, but what in such event of the welfare of the women themselves? The scientific frontier between the individual and society cannot be laid down from any a priori reasoning. Experience thought, trial, failure, and retrial will all be necessary to ascertain its true position. Meanwhile we see on every side in all modern democracies a steady movement towards authoritative regulation an almost every domain of life except the religious. Evils rightly or wrongly traced to freedom are inducing restraints upon that freedom. Already freedom in connection, with drink, gambling, horse-racing, drugs, dueling prize-fighting, tobacco, and morals generally is in several countries being steadily and greatly curtailed. Both in America and Great Britain there is a growing demand by the best citizens for some restriction upon the freedom of the press so as to protect particularly the young against the demoralising influence of a certain class of journalism. In most advanced countries there is—or there is likely to be—increased restraints placed upon wastrels and vagrants and some form of legal discipline imposed upon the great mass of the obviously unemployable, both for their own good and that of the community. To anyone who makes a careful survey of the legislation of the last fifty year is in most modern democracies it is amazing to see the extent to which society is turning away from the old school of natural personal
In the same spirit of coercion towards an ideal it has enforced all sorts of regulations to secure the health and physical welfare of the people.
But the most striking limitations and infringements of liberty have been those imposed on what I have called the economic side of life.
The purposes of these limitations and infringements, although apparently various, are really phases of but one aim—sometimes, it must be admitted, but vaguely seen—and that aim has been to improve the conditions hygienic, moral and material of labour.
It will serve to remind you of the extent to which the limitation has gone if I point out that in several countries now it as a penal offence for a man to work, no matter how willingly, or for another to employ
I have already said that
In industries it seeks by legal compulsion to secure the material conditions of decency by enforcing healthy surroundings, a living wage, and
Thus not merely in new lands,
Our conceptions of individual liberty have fundamentally changed with a change in our national aims. Wealth and its production still appear to be the 'paramount concern of orthodox political science. This has tended to make every consideration of social evils subsidiary to the methods of increasing national riches. Such a disposition is clearly seen in the argumente by which Bright and Cobden resisted the early factory laws. The bid Adam in individualism dies hard, but "Wealth and its production" as the principal national aim is yielding steadily to "Want and vice and their reduction" as that aim. And in this transition of regard from wealth to want may be found the key to most of the limitations which for fifty years past have been increasingly imposed by law on individual liberty. "Want and vice and their reduction" as a collective ideal calls for a policy very different from that of laissez faire, and it is mainly the perception of this, or if you will the deception of this, that is driving modern democracies along the road of increased regimentation. It has been said that talk is the surface ripple—thought a ground swell, but national sentiment an ocean current. The great ocean current of democracy to-day is popular sentiment seeking, sometimes unconsciously, sometimes clearly, a social ideal. It is setting towards a State paternalism—to a closer control of each for the gain of all. We may like or dislike this great movement. Our individual preferences or antipathies count for little. You may denounce the Rivet God, but the stream will bear you with it all the same. There is no wisdom in the angry opposition to the Zeitgeist. What is recognised as inevitable must be made the best of, and he who, foiling: to perceive its irresistibility, sets himself to check a world movement, is only a modern Mrs Partington with broom, mob-cap and apron, hopelessly attempting to sweep back the Atlantic.
But, I may be asked, what rapacity has a democracy to devise, apply and, above all, enforce such an intelligent parental process as metaphorically sneaking will make a garden of the Wild?
I have already pointed out how essential compulsion is to progress, and the question naturally arises—How can the mass of men and women, falling as they do snort of self-control, become in the form of a democracy the intelligent governors, not only of themselves, but of the whole community. This is a stock argument, and there is not a little in it, but not so much as I, at least, once thought. They view seems very plausible that men and women who are not able to order their own lives on rational moral lines are incapable of controlling others. Then the average citizen is taken, and his qualification for regulating the conduct of others examined and these qualifications found wanting. I am satisfied that this method of testing the capacity of the majority at least for moral Government is fallacious and misleading, for, strange at it may seem, the history of the world has shown that even a very bad man may make a very good ruler. It has been well said that "rare is the strength that can single-handed overcome temptation, but common enough is that mild predilection for the right which is capable of supporting someone else under temptation." The affection of weak knees does not, thank Heaven, debar us from triumphing over the frailties of others! Nothing is more trite than the saying that he who cannot control himself is not fit to control others—and nothing is more false. If only those were allowed to uphold standards who liad demonstrated their fitness to live up to them, how our reigning ideals would suffer! What widespread blindness if no one might pick motes from his brother's eye until he had cleared his own optic! The truth is, as, it has been well put by Koss, that the faculty of apprehending one's neighbour's case so much better than one's own renders available for social control a vast-amount of correct sentiment which is too weak to be effective for self-control. Just as in mining the cyanide process permits the reduction of low-grade ores formerly unprofitable, so the method of mutual control turns to account a vast deal of flabby anaemic sentiment which hitherto has been of no use whatever in raising the general level of conduct. The "voice of a people" is indeed always much in advance of the pi notice of that same people. "Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor." Collective senitiment reflecting an ideal tends in a democracy to pads into a law which in turn helps to lift practice-nearer to the standard of the ideal. Many a man who votes prohibition as an ideal is consciously invoking compulsion to pre-
It may, however, be contended that democracy offers no guarantee that sound and elevated sentiment will thus pass into law. I do not deny that there is room for this doubt, but let it be remembered that history presente us with an apparent paradox, namely, that where the humbler and the so-called higher classes of our nation have differed regarding great social questions, the events have proved the humbler right and their so-called betters wrong. This is forcibly put and shown by Bryce in his "American Commonwealth," where be sums up the position in these words:—"Nearly all great political causes have made their way first among the humbler and middle classes." This fact, indeed, may be traced to deeper reasons which go far to relieve our gravest doubts as to the capacity of collective control for the purpose of intelligent government. We hear much of a social sense and of a social conscience. I know that these phrases are of vague import, but in final analysis they mean collective consciousness. A social ego only emerges with any clearness when natural sentiment becomes organised and articulate—when, indeed, collective opinion becomes self-conscious, when it begins to realise both the authority and its duties. Now it is in modern democracies, especially those with manhood and womanhood sufrage, that collective opinion—that is, of course of the people as e whole—is most highly organised and active. Hence Professor Ross in the admirable work to which I have already referred, in observing this says:—"It is democracies that are most active in humanitarian legislation. 'The people are the readiest to respond to a generous proposal. In every organisation of national opinion the bottom is more radical on purely moral questions than the ton. If we would mark the moral plane of an age we look to the common people, and not to the hierarchies. For progressive views as to the rights of slaves, foreigners, enemies, or the lower races we appeal to the intuitions, of common men and not to the spokesmen of highly organised bodies of sentiment such as the church, army, trade, or 'society.' It is to the masses and not to the classes that we must protect against natural wrong-doing."
If, then, as Mill thought, individual liberty will be increasingly exposed to invasion as the majority become conscious of their power; as, in other words, national sentiment and opinion not only reign but ride, there does not seem any clear justification for the often expressed fear that that invasion will violate any true principle of justice.
But it may be said that progress depends on more than unsophisticated national sentiment. It demands invention, calculation, reasoning on the part of the Government. I do not deny this, but one of our greatest illusions is that reasoning is the main factor in social progress. Mr. Balfour emphasises this in his "Fragment on Progress." "To hear some people talk," lie says, "one would suppose that the successful working of social institutions depended as much upon cool calculation as the management of a joint stock bank; that from top to
Society is founded—and from the nature of human beings which constitute it, must in the main be always founded—not upon criticism (or reasoning), but upon feelings and beliefs, and upon the customs and codes by which feelings and beliefs are as it were, fixed and rendered stable. And even where these harmonise, so far as we can judge, with sound reason they are not in many cases consciously based on reasoning; nor is their fate necessarily bound up with that of the extremely indifferent arguments by which from time to time philosophers, politicians and, I will add, divines, have thought fit to support them. Mr Balfour then proceeds to show that this is true of a democratic Government based on public opinion. Thus, then, it will be seen that if such a Government is in the main collective sentiment operating as law, it is not likely to be less rational than other forms of government.
There still remains one other aspect of legal liberty to which I desire to refer. The sphere or individual freedom depends upon the efficacy of the restraints which circumscribe it. It is idle to talk of the legal limite of
But turning now to the former kind of obedience—obedience to a law passed in a democracy based on universal suffrage. That is felt to be obedience to the people as a whole. It tends to be vaguely viewed as a self-imposed restraint, and that same difference is discernible in the spirit of submission which we see in obedience to the dictates of our own self-control and those of an independent dictator respectively. Hence there is about a government based upon the will of the people a strength unknown to other forms of government. "Once the principle that the which of the majority honestly ascertained must prevail has' soaked into the mind and formed the habits of a nation, that nation acquires an immense effective force, and obedience to it becomes unquestioning if not cheerful."
In this lies at once the advantage and the peril of democracy. The advantage, in that its proper progress is not likely to be barred or long delayed by the resistance to its laws of strenuous and militant individual interests. Thus, so far as collective control is really expedient for the welfare and progress of the nation, it will be effective. But here arises a possible peril. Order in this world is usually produced by a conflict—either of forces or of interests. The opposition of centripetal and centrifugal forces gives the earth her orbit. If either were much weakened there would be disaster. The conflict of interests between man and the State has done much to give us our social order and the present airea of individual liberty. But if the resistance of the individual to collective encroachment is much weakened—if what Mr Bryce calls a sense of the fatalism of the multitude disarms all individual opposition, and the champions of personal freedom leave the field as men who yield to fate—what is to prevent State regulation crossing all the frontiers of individual liberty and imposing upon the whole round of private life a control as oppressive as an Oriental despotism? That this is conceivably possible is undeniable; that it is humanly probable in an Anglo-Saxon democracy we may confidently deny. This is, however, the danger most emphasised by those who regard a wide area of individual legal liberty as essential to the vigour and numhood of our race. But most of these grave apprehensions overlook the stability of national characteristics. National character is the product of many influences. It is due to racial origin and racial mixture—to geographical position, to the struggle for existence within and without its territorial limits, and to all the other experiences, including those of religion, which for a thousand years or more have gone to mould it. So formed it is not easily changed.
The character of our nation is sullen and stubborn, only slowly impressed by effects of government. I have already said that the spirit of individualism, which is the spirit of the widest liberty, is a national inheritance. It rejoices in that aggressive freedom which declares that a man's house is his castle. Thus the temper and character of the Anglo-Saxon people afford the beat safeguard against any undue democratic domination of the State. The vigorous individuality that down the centuries has won us our civic freedom is not likely to be easily extinguished by democratic repressions. The instinctive love of liberty—the courageous exercise of it, which conspicuously mark our nation, will reflect themselves in all collective control and will, at least for many years yet, secure for individual freedom even a wider area than is either necessary or desirable in the best interests of the State. This prediction is favoured by other temperamental traits. Burke speaks of British "sullen resistance to innovation and the cold sluggishness of our national character which resists the subtilising of the philosophers." Certainly our countrymen have none of the inflammable qualities of a Latin people, like the French. They have never taken Utopias seriously. You cannot capture them by any large doctrinaire schemes of social reform. They dislike theories. They have little patience with any proposal which does not present a practicality they can grasp. They are moved to action not by fancy fed ideals, but by the presence of a condition—by the pressure of immediate necessities. They may talk about El Dorados, but in practice they are men of short views, focussing such policy as they have upon
Now, in closing, let me summarise my conclusions:—
It will be observed that each of these propositions beam upon the question of our legal liberty—that is, to the cases and purposes in and for which my property, conduct or speed may be interfered with by the State. In all the perplexing difficulties of the subject-matter of this address, no man can speak with confidence. If I appear to have spoken with confidence It is not because 1 feel any certainty about the accuracy of my views or anticipations. Upon such a subject as my present one dogmatism would be not only unjustified but an impertinence.
But if there is doubt as to the Shapes, and forms and methods of future Government, one thing is clear—that a democracy is in the long run governed by the character of its people, and unless the people possess the cardinal virtues of honesty, industry, temperance and justice, and individually and collectively desire to promote them, no form of Government can be a success and no nation escape decay. It is as legislation reflects "or enforces these qualities, and only as it does this, that it can promote an ever-widening human welfare.
"Truth, in the great practical concerns of life, is so much a question of reconciling and combining of opposites, that very few have minds sufficiently capacious and impartial to make the adjustment with an approach to correctness, and it has to be made by the rough process of a struggle between combatants fighting under hostile banners." . . . . "It can do truth no service to blink the fact known to all who have the most ordinary acquaintance with literary history that a large portion of the noblest and most valuable moral teaching has been the work, not only of men who did not know, but of men who knew and rejected, the Christian faith."—J. S. Mill (on "Liberty; chap. II.)
"When people wonder what we can find to object to in 'simple Bible teaching,' they do not take in the fundamental difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, using these words in their widest sense. Catholicism is the religion of a society. Protestantism is the religion of a Book. Just as no consistent Protestant would consent to have his children taught even doctrines which he himself believes, if they are bidden believe them on the authority of the Catholic Church, so no consistent Catholic can consent to have his children taught even doctrines which he himself believes if they are bidden believe them on the authority of the Bible. Catholicism holds that Jesus Christ came upon earth to found a church. Proteotantism holds that He came to commend to His disciples the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Catholics may be quite wrong in thinking as they do, but so long as they do think it they will object to be rated for the teaching of the religion of the Book while they have to rate themselves for the teaching of the religion of the society."
—D. C. Lathbury (High Churchman), in "Westminster Gazette."
The following addresses were delivered under the profound conviction that in the best interests of religion and education, as also of pupils and teachers, our national system of education should continue free, secular, and compulsory.
It is the duty of the State to provide for its citizens a sound scientific and civic education, based on such natural ethic as experience and practice, rather than tradition or authority, warrant. It is the business of the Churches to indicate the divine implications of what the social conscience and an enlightened consensus of opinion pronounce good, true, and beautiful.
While recognising the expediency and necessity of providing specific instruction in morality and religion for our children, the writer of these addresses is absolutely satisfied that such instruction can be most effectively and economically imparted by the Churches arranging with the educational authorities for the use of class-rooms, during non-school hours, for the specific purpose of imparting definite religious instruction, on the distinct understanding that the services of teachers connected with the work of the secular syllabus would not be available in connection with the teaching of religion.
To impose the duty of imparting religious instruction to the children attending our State schools on servants of the State would be little short of a political and national crime.
To impose the duty of imparting religious instruction on teachers in the State schools really involves the establishment of a State Church for children; and if, as Nonconformists are perpetually reminding us, it is wrong and unjust to use public money in teaching religion to adults (in a State Church), it is difficult to understand how it can be right or just to use public money for imparting religious instruction to the children in our State schools. If, on the other hand, it is right that the
My Friends,—
It can afford no real pleasure to you and me, to whom what are known as The Bible and The Church count for so very much, to find that the complete secularisation of national education is inevitable. We neither profess nor entertain any hostility to religion or to the Bible. Those of us who, in our modest way, are students of history—ancient and modern, sacred and secular—know something of the normal course of events in connection with the rise, progress, and triumph, as well as the decline, disintegration, and fall of human institutions. No man of any standing in the world of thought, science, or letters, to-day, regards the Church as anything other than a purely human institution. History makes it abundantly manifest that the story of the pre-Christian, Christian, and other Churches, is but the story, for the most part, of the work, influence, and legislation of humanly accredited priesthoods. All priesthoods began their career as servants of families, tribes, communities, or nations, and gradually, under the pressure and influence of social and political circumstances, acquired such prestige and power that they became too often, not merely tribal and national "masters," but tribal and national tyrants. All churches or priesthoods were originally founded to supply a social or spiritual need and demand. Slowly, but surely, what was meant to be a servant, became a master—and a very exacting master, too. The history of the Christian Church is no exception to the rule. An institution that began in the service of the State gradually acquired such power and influence that it eventually employed the State in its service. The servant became master and vice versa! It is easy enough to understand how this came about. The influence of genuinely righteous and Christian priesthoods is necessarily at its very highest and best when the social, civic, and political fortunes of the nation or people to whom it ministers are at their lowest and darkest. The misfortunes of empires and emperors have always furnished priesthoods with opportunities for both good and evil—for the good of ministering comfort and consolation in times of personal and national loss or disaster; for the evil of self-aggrandisement and the acquisition of undue power. We know that the Christian Church acquired during the past
Not so very many years ago, not a few of our
The (English) Northern Counties League met for
Since
Analysis of these figures discloses the fact that it takes very nearly twice as many voluntary schools, as State schools, to supply the educational needs of nearly one million fewer children than are attending the State schools. It is, therefore, obvious that the voluntary schools cannot hold out against the State system. The State can do the work much more economically and efficiently.
Until the process of secularisation is completed, there will inevitably be sectarian friction, jobbery, and intrigue in connection with the administration of the Education Act, and more especially in connection with the appointment of teachers. The rampant evils of sectarianism account very largely, I cannot doubt, for the remarkable shortage in the supply of candidates for the teaching profession in England. In three years (between Note.—Entered as teachers:—
"The whole drift," said Sir William Robertson Nicoll, in "The British Weekly," a year or two ago, "of Liberal opinion seems steadily settling in this direction (that of secular education). It is the one solution of the problem. All the rest are makeshifts. We are quite willing to accept the penultimate solution of the problem, if it can be arrived at. No doubt, many earnest Nonconformists are still very much opposed to the abandonment of State religious instruction; and they are, in all probability, strong enough to enforce a temporary and not a lasting settlement. He it so; but the temporary settlement will not give satisfaction, and there will be unrest till the inevitable goal (that of secular education) is attained." the late Drs. Dale and Parker were also satisfied that secular education was the only solution. Dr. Clifford, the eminent Baptist clergyman, has also given expression to similar views.
A League has been formed in England to promote the cause of secular education. Among its members are to be found some of the best-known men of letters of the day, as well as distinguished Anglican and Nonconformist divines. Its platform is indicated thus:—"Recognising that the sole responsibility for religious education rests with parents and churches, the League expresses its conviction that there can be no final solution of the religious difficulty in the national schools until the Education Act is amended so as to secure that there shall be no teaching of religion in State-supported elementary schools in school hours or at the public expense." As early as
Mr. Chamberlain, we know, has been all his life an enthusiastic Secularist. So have Lord Morley and Lord Rosebery. The late Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, speaking at the Alexandra Palace in
In
It is a well-known fact that the present British Cabinet, though it has through force of circumstance been using every endeavour to arrive at a working compromise in connection with the problem of religious instruction, is abundantly satisfied that no compromise can have any real stability, permanency, or finality about it; and that the complete secularisation of national education will be achieved in a very few years. There is no disputing the fact that the leading scholars, states-
has ever, or ever can, achieve national efficiency, or any claim whatever to the title or attribute "national." There are, of course, ecclesiastics who have such faith in themselves, and in the problematic theocracy to which they belong, that they honestly believe that human beings and human souls are more pawns in a theological game of chance, and that they, and they alone, have a right to pose as experts in the game. Such ecclesiatics are either clamouring for what is known as "concurrent endowment," which would mean a return to denominationalism in an aggravated form—a State-subsidised denominationalism; or they refuse to differentiate secular from religious education, and insist that, with or without a State subsidy, education must be directly under the control of the clergy and the Church. They tell us that they have conscientious scruples against any and even attempt to separate religious and secular education. They belong to the no-compromise order. They keep discrediting the State secular system as Godless, etc., etc. This, of course, is nothing short of ecclesiastical clap-trap. The State does not profess to deal with the whole of education in what we may call the secular "schooling." It recognises that the parents and churches have duties and responsibilities in connection with the more specific elements in the moral and religious side of education: and the parents and churches that cannot be brought to realise their duties and responsibilities in this connection are scarcely deserving the name of Christian, even in its most attenuated form. One would have thought that, even in Catholic schools, it would be found, not merely expedient, but even absolutely necessary to recognise the economic value of division of labour, to the extent of (for convenience and efficiency sake) separating the secular and religious. Perhaps, however, there are theological and non-theological, Galileon and non-Galileon ways of teaching astronomy, mathematics, and the other subjects found in a
According to our Education Act, all "children must be instructed in secular knowledge." Parents are under no obligation to send their own children to the State schools, but whether they do so or not, they are as citizens of the State, justly enough, required to contribute to the support and maintenance of the national system. Since the State insists on every child receiving a modicum of education, the State has to provide institutions for the purpose. So that no parent can have reasonable excuse for failure to educate, and so that no child need go uneducated the State has established the public school at the public expense. All can, and may, use it. If parents think they can do better for their own children by sending them to private institutions, their doing so in no way relieves them of general responsibility in connection with the State system, which is quite as much in the public interest as
Of course, if Bible-reading is introduced into our schools part of the State system, there can be no disputing the justice of the Catholic claims. The Catholics would then be justly entitled to a subsidy, such as they now receive in Scotland.
All systematic teaching has ethical and disciplinary value. A secular education which extends our knowledge, which trains our senses and mental faculties, is in itself of considerable moral value. All in education that tends to develop self-restraint, self-control, and self-direction exercises a healthful moral influence. What is called, or rather miscalled, secular education, does not ignore, nor yet discount, the moral needs of the pupil. What is, or can be, the value of a moral education based on superstitious dogmas or defective knowledge? Real morality must be determined very largely by sound knowledge. Why should we continue to teach our children what we have ceased to believe ourselves? It is surely no longer necessary to draw upon bogey-men in teaching morality either in the nursery or the schoolroom? The State, at any rate, cannot, in these days of accredited knowledge and exact science, find any justification for a return to the utterly discredited educational methods of a less enlightened age. It there was good reason to believe that the Churches had kept in the van of progress in knowledge and education, there might be some justice in their desire and demand to control education; but have they? Is it not notorious that the majority even of our great Churches are using their best endeavour to discredit modern knowledge and science, and making it uncomfortable for their members and adherents of modernist sympathies? If the Churches are to retain their hold on the masses, it must be by having a learned clergy, whose mental furnishings and educational acquisitions entitle them to the respect of educated, as well as of indifferently educated, men and women. Literature and the Press are fast emptying our churches. Men and women are not going to waste time and money on the luxury of "divine service" if they are convinced that they can get sounder and more valuable knowledge at their own fireside from a book or a newspaper. A year or two ago a distinguished Oxford professor informed the world that it was impossible to find twelve men of educational distinction worshipping (of a Sunday) in all the Oxford churches—and this in a city where there must be several hundred men of eminence in scholarship! It can be only when the Churches have realised the necessity of having a soundly and thoroughly
It is the business of the State to provide a sound scientific and civic education. If the Churches can supplement that education by specific instruction in morality and religion, they can be of very great service to the State. If, on the other hand, they fail to do this, they assuredly may be said to fail in justifying their own existence.
We know that civic, political, social, and educational progress has been the greater and more marked wherever the State has recovered its lost rights and superseded the Churches in the control and organisation of education. The Churches must henceforth be content to regard themselves as the servants of the State. It is, and has always been, their duty (no matter how indifferently discharged) to strengthen and support the natural ethic of the State as tested in the crucible of experience and practice, by indicating its divine implications. By confining themselves to this task, they can always be of the very greatest help and service to the State. Why should they go beyond their own specific province, and keep agitating to be allowed to do for the State what the State can do far more effectively for itself?
The best minds in England to-day are, in the interests both of religion and education, aspiring to achieve such freedom as we in New Zealand have already achieved under our secular system. We have received from the distinguished statesmen and educationists who inaugurated our secular national system, a priceless heritage, and we would be traitors to the best interests of education and religion, if we failed to come forth as its defenders and champions.
There is one reassuring circumstance in connection with the defence of our New Zealand secular system. The Minister of Education and Leader of the Opposition have made it absolutely clear that they will be no party to any tinkering or tampering with our free, secular, and compulsory system, There is, however, one possible danger—that is, that our Government may be foolish enough, and illogical enough, to recognise the right of the people to determine such a question as this, involving religious and sectarian issues, by means of a referendum. Strict neutrality is the only attitude which the State ran justly assume to the various religions professed by its subjects. To determine the question of Bible-reading in Schools by means of a referendum is absolutely incompatible with the neutrality of the State. We are not quite out of the wood yet. Let us therefore be ever ready to come forth in defence, of a system that cannot justly be regarded as unfair to any individuals or (burches. Let us remember that:
"Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty."
My Friends,—
I cannot doubt that you are all aware of the fact that attacks are being made on our State system of education from various ecclesiastical coigns of vantage, and that there is, too, very considerable danger of our tamely acquiescing, under the influence of ecclesiastical combines, in the supersession of out free, secular, and compulsory system. Can we contemplate with equanimity the introduction into our State schools oí elements and influences making for sectarian friction and conflict?
The Archbishop of Wellington is credited in the local press with having expressed himself the other day thus:—
"An education which does not extend to the whole man is lopsided and insufficient. An education which extends only to this world is insufficient. Hence the Catholic Church sets much store by Christian education, in order that we may be taught to fulfil all our duties. There is only one true basis of sound education, and that is religion. Separate one from the other, and you destroy real education. If you eliminate God from education, our boasted civilisation will end in failure." Now, these are weighty sentences. In fact, I am honestly of opinion that 99 per cent, of non-Catholics would readily assent to the Archbishop's view. Few, if any, non-Catholics would dispute the propriety and necessity of conducting the secular and religious side of education contemporaneously. But is there a single sound reason for suggesting that such subjects as reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, French, or any of the subjects ordinarily taught in our primary or secondary schools, cannot be taught soundly or efficiently unless sandwiched in between lessons specifically dealing with morality and Christian doctrine? If, in suggesting that education and religion should go coupled and inseparable, the Archbishop moans that the secular and religious elements of education ought to be taught at the same time, in the same place, and by the same individuals, his suggestion must appear little other than consummate nonsense to unbiassed minds. If, on the other hand, he means that the spiritual and purely intellec-
Now the fact that the State makes adequate and effective provision for imparting such secular knowledge, as almost all religious organisations approve of, and under conditions necessitating very considerable moral discipline, should be of the greatest service to all the Churches—Catholic as well as Protestant. All that remains for them to do is to supplement the State secular system to the extent of providing specific moral and religious teaching at their own expense and by teachers accredited by themselves. This specific moral and religious instruction can be most economically imparted by the various Churches arranging with the Education Department for the use of the State schools (for the purpose suggested) during non-school hours.
Our existing secular system is unfair to no Church—Catholic or Protestant. There is no suggestion that our State system provides for "the whole man." The State, presumably, as well as non-Catholics, are as conscious as Catholics themselves of the necessity of imparting definite moral and religious instruction to our youth, out it (the State) is abundantly satisfied that, considering the painful differences of opinion obtaining among us as to the nature and source of moral sanctions, it is its duty to observe benevolent neutrality in the matter of religion.
Of course, some Churches are like "spoilt children"; unless they get all they want they will take nothing. They must have "an atmosphere"—in fact, a hot-house—for their plants! Such people, naturally, suffer for their "cussedness" and spiritual exclusiveness. Politics and religion, it would seem, must always beget martyrs and superior persons. This is an age of enlightened give and take—compromise—in religion, as in other matters; and the religious body that fails to recognise this fact cannot possibly hold its own (not to speak of making headway) under the pressure of the social forces and intellectual influences at work in our age. We, non-Catholics, are sorry that our Catholic fellow subjects cannot see their way to take as full advantage of our State system as non-Catholics do. There is not, or at least ought not to be, anything taught in our State schools that could cause either injustice or offence to Catholics. No Church has ever been able to make adequate provision for imparting an efficient education to its own members, not to speak of making adequate provision for a national system. In fact, such a thing as efficiency in national education was unknown until the State superseded the Churches in controlling, directing, and organising education. If the State insisted, as it might reasonably insist, that any religious body declining to take advantage of the State system so far as the purely secular part of education
Under our existing secular system our Catholic friends have no reasonable cause for complaint. They cannot possibly provide an adequate and efficient substitute for the State system for the children belonging to their own denomination throughout the Dominion. Why, then, should they not be grateful to the State for relieving them of the purely secular part of education, and provide (as they could do most economically and efficiently) for specific instruction in morality and religion, by taking advantage (as other religious denominations are beginning to do) of the State organisation. The State schools can be made available for the purpose, during non-school hours, at a merely nominal cost.
It is really amusing to find the learned Archbishop declaring that it is a matter of conscience with Catholics to object to our so-called secular system, while it is not a question of conscience with non-Catholics. Une would like to know what claim he can have to diagnose the non-Catholic conscience. Non-Catholics, while recognising the propriety of educating the whole man, spiritually as well as intellectually, have the commonsense to see that in the divided state of Christendom as to the sources of moral and religious sanctions, specific instruction in morality and religion had better be left to the
No compromise. It is a matter of conscience with us." Catholics, and what are called Churchmen, often laugh at the tender thing known as "the Nonconformist conscience." To non-Catholics, I fear that what Catholics call conscience is but the acquired moral sense of theologically spoilt children.
I have no hesitation in stating that Catholics have for many years been accorded exceptionally favourable and considerate treatment in almost every part of the British Empire, and I think that it is high time that they showed a disposition to help our statesmen towards a solution of such problems as that of education, where judicious and reasonable compromise would be of exceptional value. However, Catholics, presumably, know their own business; but if they keep on in New Zealand and elsewhere demanding everything (in their own way) in education and religion, they will probably find that even British patience will soon be exhausted.
We have heard somewhat ominous threats of an impending political combine on the part of Catholics. Unfortunately, Catholics have never been able to benefit appreciably by their past experience. The most obvious lessons of history seem lost upon them. Presumably, they are calculating on some miraculous intervention of Providence to save the situation for then. One thing is, however, clear to every student of history and sociology, that when Catholics take to political intrigue a politico-religious Nemesis dogs them to their eventual doom. The Continent of Europe is teaching us how to deal with irreconcilables in politics and religion. The State is founded on a natural and rational ethic (the product and resultant of an ever widening and developing social and civic experience). When the interests of a religious cult go counter to the State ethic, sooner or later the religious cult conies to grief. When ecclesiastical bodies, Catholic or non-Catholic, take to ways that are dark in political manipulation, it may be necessary for the State, from a sense of self-preservation, to ask ecclesiastical intriguers, not merely to take up their beds, but to take up their schools and churches, and walk. The New Zealand Government cannot well conduct such intriguers over our frontiers, as had to be done elsewhere not long ago, yet I am confident that it could solve the problem without resorting to such expedients as the Noyades (Carlyle's Drownages) of the French Revolution. Perhaps it would meet the case if the Napoleon of the would-be ecclesiastico-political intriguers—our worthy fellow-citizen, Mr. Martin Kennedy—could be confined for a term of years to some such St. Helena as Soames Island!
One thing, at any rate, is beyond dispute—history witnesses to it at every turn—when ecclesiastical organisations meddle in politics or identify themselves with a political party
The State has for a long time been seriously handicapped by injudicious interference on the part of the clergy and denominationalists in matters that he beyond their legitimate domain. Personally, I think the State should rate all ecclesiastical property in the same way as other property. There is no justification whatever for its exemption. The State accords the Churches various privileges and exemptions, and the Churches too often show their gratitude by ecclesiastical intrigue in politics. This sort of thing cannot go on indefinitely.
Well, as I have already said, the present secular education system is unfair to no one—Catholic or Protestant. But were our Government foolish enough to permit what are known as Bible-lessons to be conducted in our public schools during ordinary school hours, the position would be completely changed. The Catholics would have a real grievance. Their claim to a subsidy or capitation for the secular part of their work—if efficiently done—would under such altered circumstances be eminently reasonable. It would be a gross injustice to deny them their claim. If, however, Catholics are foolish enough to help a Protestant combine to get its way in the matter of Bible-reading, etc., in schools, it is not at all likely that this combine will be generous enough to concede what may be regarded as the reasonable claims of Catholics as to capitation or a subsidy. The Catholics have recently fallen between two stools in Australia, and they have since then been shouting themselves hoarse in a demand for justice. If our Catholic friends here come by the same fate—as they seem likely to do—we non-Catholics, who are Secularists purely from expediency, and from a consciousness, under existing circumstances of the necessity for compromise, may well pity them, while conceding that they heartily deserve their fate, inasmuch as they seem to be deliberately engineering a grievance.
I do not think that I do the Archbishop of Wellington an injustice when I infer from his address that he is of opinion that religion and education are absolutely separated in, and God eliminated from, our national system of education. Is this really so? Three-fourths of all rational religion is concerned with morality. To say that the moral discipline in vogue in our State schools is not of the very essence of a truly catholic or universal ethic and religion, but indicates a very antediluvian conception of both ethics and religion. Is there any reasonable warrant for suggesting that God, or the name of God, is eliminated from our national education? I have no hesitation in saying that there is none whatever. The Israelites could be profoundly religious, and yet not give articulate expression to the name of their God. We have Jesus' words: "Not every
It was never contemplated by the State that our national system of education should relieve parents or churches of all responsibility in connection with education. The State recognises that it is the duty of parents and the Churches to cooperate with the State in equipping our youth for the work of life, and disciplining them into making the most and best of their lives from the points of view of education and religion as well as of social service.
No doubt we have to exercise great charity and forbearance in dealing with the Catholic conscience. We know that every human conscience is very largely the product of training and education. Catholics are taught from infancy to regara the moral law as imposed from without, and not, directly or indirectly, by their own moral judgment. The Church is for them the custodian of a special revelation, in which even what is called "The Bible" is but an item or incident. "Reluctant obedience," as Professor Herrmann, of Marburg, puts it, "passes for morality with Rome; but we (Protestants) call it sin." Morality to our Catholic friends is but another name for obedience to law in a theocracy. The older Protestants regarded the moral law as derived directly from the Bible, Catholics regard the moral law as only indirectly (through a specially commissioned priesthood) derived from the Bible. I need scarcely say that no professor or accredited authority on moral philosophy in any free university in the world to-day considers that the Bible, or any Church, has anything whatever to do with the ultimate basis or sanctions of morality. Right is right and good is good in the very nature of things, and not by virtue of any revelation or Bible or Church. Experience alone determines in its personal, family, civic, and social implications, what morality really is, and so leads to the codification of moral and other law. The great leaders in the world of thought to-day—the moving spirits in what we may call the New Protestantism—are abundantly satisfied that, while the moral law is derived from the nature of things, and so is rightly called the Law of God, it must yet assert itself from within the individual consciousness. In other words, our
We must, therefore, exercise great patience and forbearance in dealing with the Churches and their attitudes in this connection, conscious as we are that modern science and modern knowledge are slowly but surely making against their point of view. Many of our Churches (Protestant as well as Catholic) have yet to learn that there can be no virtue in believing what is incredible or self-contradictory; as, also, that in religion and morality nothing can be of real value to us unless it appeals directly to our intelligence and moral judgment.
Our difficulties in regard to what is of value in religion and morality arise mainly from the fact that our clergy (Catholic and Protestant) have their heads stuffed from infancy with primitive ideas as to religion and morality, and long before they can have acquired minds of their own (as we say) they commit themselves to various irrational ideas in theology; and even take solemn vows to devote their whole life to the promulgation of these irrational ideas. Jesus had not the presumption to take to teaching or preaching until He knew His own and His Father's mind, and acquired adult experience. If no man was allowed to take holy orders until he was thirty years of age (the age when Jesus began His ministry), we would very soon have a rational theology, and with it a system of education rational in its secular and religious implications.
An asterisk denotes Members of the Executive Committee.
Every attempt made to settle the education question in England and
The Secular Education League aims at binding together in one
The fundamental principle of the League is expressed in the "That this meeting, recognising that the sole responsibility
According to this resolution, religion must not be taught in the
The wisdom and equity of confining the teaching in public elemantry schools to secular subjects were admitted by the late Mr. Gladstone. They have also been admitted by various political leaders still living—such
It cannot be questioned that the religious controversy has been a organises education on a basis.
Certainly the religious controversy shows no sign of abating.
The Secular Education League neither professes nor entertains
It is with confidence that the Secular Education League appeals for moral and financial support. A number of distinguished names are already included on its General Council, and more will assuredly be added in the immediate future. What is now sought is a great accession of members, who give the motive power to every organisation. The way into the League is easy. Only the essential points of principle and policy are insisted upon; and the members' contribution is purely voluntary, each being left to subscribe according to interest and opportunity.
With the issue of this first Manifesto the general work of the Secular Education League begins, and the battle opens for the victory of "the Secular Solution."
The Secular Education League, without committing itself to the views expressed by the signatories of this Manifesto, issues it as a valuable contribution to the discussion of the principle of the education provided by the State in Elementary Schools.
Among the many forcible arguments which have been adduced in favour of the "Secular Solution" there would seem to be comparatively few-which deal with the subject on distinctly Church lines. The object, therefore, of this appeal is to offer Churchmen a few reasons why they, before all others, should support the cause of the Secular Education League. And be it noted that the phrase "Secular Education" by no means implies hostility or indifference to religion, but simply restriction, on principle, to secular subjects in the education which is provided in schools supported by the State.
If there is one thing which differentiates a Churchman, it is surely the second of the three baptismal vows by which he is under obligation to "believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith." These, according to his Catechism, are summed up in the twelve clauses of the Apostles' Creed. He cannot, therefore, be satisfied with any religious instruction other than that which is based on these formulae, and which obviously cannot be given in schools which are as much the property of those who do not believe them as of those who do.
"Simple Bible Teaching," as it is called, does not provide him with his religious knowledge, which is not derived primarily from the Bible, but from the teaching of the Church whose doctrine is anterior to the Books of the New Testament, and was at first transmitted by "oral tradition." Cardinal Newman, in "The Arians of the Fourth Century" (written fourteen years before he left the English Church), says:—"Surely the Sacred Volume was not intended, and is not adapted, to teach us our Creed, however certain it is that we can prove our Creed from it when it has once been taught us, and in spite of individual producible exceptions to the general rule. From the very first that rule has been, as a matter of fact, that the Church should teach the truth, and then should appeal to Scripure in vindication of its own teaching."
The converse of this is likewise a necessary axiom; for, just as the
This being the case, it stands to reason that in education provided by
And, further, supposing that some contrivance could be discovered
Ever since the divine command to "Go and teach all nations" there
It is sometimes asked how the Church is to fulfil its obligation What is it? The heart of our difficulty is partly that we have shifted on to the wrong shoulders the central function of teaching children; secondly, that we have so lost the idea of what the teaching of the Church is and the meaning of religious education that we are considered by the public to be unreasonable and uncompromising people if we are not disposed to admit that the County Councils can settle the standard of sufficient religious knowledge for everybody."
The difficulty as to means might be overcome to a considerable extent if the Church would mind its own business, and leave to the State what the latter can do so much more effectively—and there is historical precedent
It is not to be assumed that either Cardinal Newman or Bishop Gore would avowedly uphold the Secular Solution; but, both being men of integrity and sound common sense, they have made admissions which tell strongly in its favour.
Most assuredly, then, is it to the highest interest of Churchmen that they should unite with men of goodwill, who, although differing in their views of religion, are at one in their desire to promote peace and justice in the upbringing of the future generation.
The Secular Education League, without committing itself to the views expressed by the signatories of this Manifesto, issues it as a valuable contribution to the discussion of the principle of the education provided by the State in Elementary Schools.
1902—and After.
Ever since the passing of the Education Act of you, as Nonconformists, have had a burning grievance. By the provisions of that Act-you are taxed and rated for the support of schools where the religious teaching is contrary to your beliefs. You have no effective control of the expenditure oí your money in these schools, and, although you are taxed to pay the salaries of all the teachers, you and your children are debarred by a religious test from the highest posts in the teaching profession, so far as these schools are concerned.
Hope Deferred.
So keenly did you resent this unjust legislation that, when the time came for electing a new House of Commons, Nonconformist feeling throughout the country was undoubtedly one of the main factors among those which helped to return the present Government to power with a record majority, If anything might have been taken for granted, it was that within a twelvemonth at most of the General Election the grievance of Nonconformity would be redressed—that was the clear mandate with which you sent your representatives by hundreds to Westminster. If anyone could have prophesied that, after three years of Liberalism in office, the educational position would be still unchanged, that this issue would be as ever, from settlement as ever, that Passive Resistance would still remain as a thing in being, the forecast would have been dismissed with angry derision. Vet the seemingly impossible has happened in this instance. The Government has brought in Bill after Bill, yet in each instance only to meet with failure. Mr. McKenna's, shared the fate of that of Mr. Birrell, Mr. Runciman's that of Mr. McKenna's, and that in spite of the fact that each of these attempts at a solution of the difficulty went further than its predecessor in the direction of concession to your opponents. "Right of entry" and "contracting out" could hardly be accepted by you without the most serious misgivings; yet they were accepted, not light-heartedly, but in the hope and for the sake of peace. And still the desired end remains unattained, concessions and sacrifices have proved unavailing, and Nonconformity finds itself in the humiliating position of being no nearer a just settlement with a majority than with a minority in Parliament. No doubt you feel sore and indignant at the actual state of affairs; is it too much to hope that on reflection Nonconformists will read the lesson of these three years of disappointment?
Compromise Impossible.
That lesson, to our mind, is a plain one. Free Churchmen were, in the first place, actuated by a sincere—but, as the results show, mistaken—belief that a compromise could be come to with the Anglicans, on the basis of what is called simple Bible-teaching. Such a plan was bound to fail, because it overlooked the repugnance to this form of religious instruction entertained by Catholics, both Roman and Anglican, whose attitude towards religion as a subject to be taught differs fundamentally from that of Protestants. It is really this stubborn fact which has frustrated all the well-intended attempts at conciliation; and it should be obvious, after the last of a series of fiascos hardly equalled in political history, that future attempts along similar lines will be no more successful than those made in the past. Surely by this time it must be clear to all who are prepared to learn from experience that a solution of the religious difficulty by means of a compromise is impossible—even if Anglicanism and Nonconformity were the only factors to be considered.
At this juncture, then, we venture to recall to the memory of Free Churchmen some truths which, in their desire for a settlement of a long, embittered, and calamitous conflict, have been too largely forgotten.
Equality and Equity.
(1) Free Churchmen believe in religious equality for all. They must therefore recognise that the issue does not rest solely between themselves and the Established Church, but that there are many others outside these particular communions who, as citizens and ratepayers, have a right to be considered. It is simply no use to legislate on the assumption that the community is made up of members of Christian Churches; still less can we imagine Free Churchmen arguing that non-Christians have, as such, no claim to elementary justice in matters affecting religious belief or disbelief. Since Christians and non-Christians alike are made to contribute to the cost of education, it is surely not to be tolerated that the latter should be penalised by having to pay for a kind of instruction which runs counter to their convictions. This is precisely the Nonconformist grievance. Is it conceivable
The State and Religion.
(2) Free Churchmen are such because of their fundamental principle that the State has no business to meddle with the religious faith of its members. For this conviction they have made immense sacrifices in the past—sacrifices which are the pride and glory of Nonconformity. But if the interference of the State with the religious opinions of the citizen is not to be tolerated from the Free Church point of view, how can it be tolerable that the same State should have the power to frame and impose a form of religious teaching upon its citizens in the making? And if the proper agency for the giving of religious instruction to adults is the Church to which they may belong, must not the same hold true of the religious instruction given to children?
The Policy of Justice.
Some among the most consistent and widely honoured Nonconformists of the past—men like Spurgeon, Parker, and Dale—held to the view which we are expressing; and among those Nonconformist leaders who utter the same conviction to-day it may suffice to point to Dr. Robertson Nicoll and Mr. Aided E. Hut ton, M.P. Do you not think, after all the failure and disappointment of these last three years—with the proved impossibility of establishing a form of religious teaching acceptable to all, and the obvious injustice of endowing some form unacceptable to any—you might yet once more consider the claims of the only policy which inflicts hardship on none, and which goes by the name of the Secular Solution?
Objections.
We have heard it often and glibly stated that, while this is no doubt the logical solution, "the world is not governed by logic"; but, since it is very evident that the world, in this instance, declines to be governed by compromise, would it not be as well if for once logic—which in practice means fair play for all and privilege for none—were given a chance? Again, we have heard it said with constant reiteration that "the time is not ripe" for the Secular Solution. The answer to this is that the time—as the recent vote of the Welsh Baptists shows—is rapidly ripening, and that it behoves earnest men and women, as distinct from mere political opportunists, to hasten this process. It is urged that the Secular Solution will mean that the children will grow up unacquainted with the Bible. We can only express our surprise that such a fear should fail to excite the liveliest indignation among the Churches, Free and Established alike, with their tens of thousands of Sunday Schools devoted to precisely this work; nor can we understand why the Churches should expect the State to fulfil one of their chief functions. Finally, a great deal of prejudice against the Secular Solution is due to an inexact habit of speech, which confuses Secular Education with Secularism. It should be plain, however, that the two things are absolutely different, Secular Education meaning solely that the teaching given in the public schools and at the public expense is to be confined to secular subjects. To imagine, say, Mr. Spurgeon in favour of propagating Secularism would be simply grotesque. The fact that he strongly urged the cause of Secular Education should save that cause from this particular misinterpretation.
In Conclusion.
Nonconformists, you have shown how great is the power you can wield. We appeal to you, precisely because of your historic principles, to wield that power effectively by throwing your immense influence in the scale of the Secular Solution. In so doing you will be true to your best traditions. Let the State confine its activity to the secular part of education, and let parents and Churches show the reality of their religious beliefs by providing the religious part of education themselves.
We pleatd, not on behalf of an abstract theory, but above all on the Secular Solution is "the only way."
The Rev. Dr. Fairburn in the "Daily News" on January 11th, 1907:—
"I do believe that the grasp oí any Church or clergy round the throat of the State is, in the highest degree, dangerous. If, therefore, we are faced by a multitude of men who threaten to lead our schools into ecclesiastical controversie, I, for my part, would see no option save adopting "the secular solution." The secular may be non-ecclesiastical; hut it is not, and need not be, anti-religious. The State is, to me, a body little competent to legislate in religion. It may be more competent than any known Church: but this is a small matter compared with the awful impertinence of those who plead for intervention by the State between the man and his conscience, or the conscience and its God."
Principal Henderson, President of the Baptist Union, in his Presidential Address before the Spring Assembly Meetings, April, 1907 ("Baptist Times," April 26th), said:—
"It has never been held by us that majorities can righteously compel minorities to support common religious beliefs, and now that the Free Churches
have become powerful, are they ready to repudiate those principles of justice for which, when they were weak, they fought and suffered? It is irreligious to be unjust to any man. The Cross, I repeat, stands for righteousness. The Churches cannot wisely delegate their duties to the civic authorities. Even if and our resources were exhausted there would be the greatest objections to the principle that the State, as such, should determine what prayers are to be addressed to God, and what religious ideas are to be taught the people, old or young. We shall land ourselves in deeper and deeper bogs if there is persistence in the present course. It is in the interests of religion that the civil power should leave it entirely alone. Non-interference is the best service that Parliament can render to the Christian cause, and the best service the Church can render to the nation is to be true to itself, to abide by its own ideas, and to discharge its own duties."
The Rev. J. H. Jowett, addressing the National Council of Free Churches, said:—
'The present attitude of the Episcopal Bench can have but one issue. The man in the street has a short and sharp way in matters of this kind. When he sees that there is this prolonged and growing contention, and that many vital things are suffering, he will tumble both denominationalism and undenominational ism into the street. That is the present purpose and temper of the Labour Party—a party destined to exercise an increasing influence in the State. But there is an increasing body of enlightened judgment which believes that in the interest of truth and perfect fairness it would be better for the matter of controversy to be removed clean out of the public schools, and that religious instruction should be committed to the Churches, who are primarily responsible for it."
The Rev. J. Hirst Hollowed, "Daily News," April 15th, 1907:—
"The sooner the present sectarian system of education is broken down the better, so that the nation may be driven to the only sound policy. The State school must be restricted to national and moral education, and religious teaching of all kinds must be thrown upon the Churches, in private hours, at their own cost, and by their own agents."
"Secular schools would not be irreligious. I am by no means sure that on the whole they would not be more religious. . . . I respect the feeling that makes England shrink from secular schools, but I cannot reverence what is so mere a sentiment. The sight of a secular system working by the side of the corelative religious system would dispel the whole feeling in a year."Words of Archbishop Temple, written when Headmaster of Rugby:—
"As a Nonconformist, I believe that no education can be complete which does not include thorough religious training; but I am a citizen, as well as a Nonconformist, and as a citizen I deny that it is the business of the State to furnish a complete education. That is a distinction which I hold to be vital. Under some circumstances the State may undertake to furnish an elementary education, which is a very different thing—so different, indeed, that it may include neither algebra nor theology. In such a matter as education it should be the business of the State not to see how far it can go, but how soon it can stop; and, for one, I venture to think that the State might very well stop when it has paid for a thorough knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Thus, I would not exclude religion. I simply would not include it. Why? "My reason for not including religion in rate-supported schools is simply the ola Nonconformist reason, that religion is personal, sacred, varying its aspects and claims according to various convictions, and that to support it by rates and taxes, and thus by possible penalties, is to vex and offend its characteristic and essential spirit."What Dr. Parker thought about Secular Education (reprinted from the "Times,"
At the second meeting of the Headmasters' Conference, held at Eton last Friday, a discussion took place on the teaching of the Bible in Public Schools.
Mr. Lowry (Tonbridge) said that the large majority of the young man who were set to teach the Bible had an uneasy feeling that they were expected, by their superiors and by the parents, to teach the Bible as if it were perfectly inspired and as if every word of it were absolutely true; and yet they knew that these were not their views.
The Rev. Dr. Flecker (Dean Close School, Cheltenham) thought that many honest and good men disliked the Scripture hour more than any other teaching they had to do. He could speak as to the depth of the ignorance of Scripture of boys who came to the public schools—even from the homes of the clergy and especially of the country clergy. ("No!") He was quite certain that the state of things now was far worse than it was a quarter of a century ago.
After further discussion it was agreed that the subject should be referred to the Committee of the Conference, who should bring it forward in a definite form next year.
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The object of the League is to maintain a purely
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President: John Gammell, Esq., B.A., Seatoun
Secretaries: Dr. T. A. Black and Henry Joosten,
Treasurer: Professor Mackenzie, Wellington.
Introduction
Address on: "The Secularisation of National Education."
Address on: "Some Aspects of the Roman Catholic Attitude towards our National System of Education,"
Appendix: Manifesto of The Secular Education League of Great Britain; Appeals of Churchmen and Non-Comform-ists to their Co-religionists etc., etc.
"Truth, in the great practical concerns of life, is so much a question of reconciling and combining of opposites, that very few have minds sufficiently capacious and impartial to make the adjustment with an approach to correctness, and it has to be made by the rough process of a struggle between combat ants fighting under hostile banners." . ..." It can do truth no service to blink the fact known to all who have the most ordinary acquaintance with literary history that a large portion of the noblest and most valuable moral teaching has been the work, not only of men who did not know, but of men who knew and rejected, the Christian faith—J. S. Mill (on "Liberty," chap. II.)
"When people wonder what we can find to object to is 'simple Bible teaching,' they do not take in the fundamental difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, using these words in their widest sense. Catholicism is the religion of a society. Protestantism is the religion of a Book, Just as no consistent Protestant would consent to have his children taught even doctrines which he himself believes, if they are bidden believe them on the authority of the Catholic Church, so no consistent Catholic can consent to have his children taught even doctrines which he himself believes if they are bidden believe them on the authority of the Bible. Catholicism holds that Jesus Christ came upon earth to found a church. Protestantism holds that He came to commend to His disciples the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Catholics may be quite wrong in thinking as they do, but so long as they do think it they will object to be rated for the teaching of the religion of the Book while they have to rate themselves for the teaching of the religion of the society."—D. C. Lathbury (High Churchman), in "Westminster Gazette."
The following addresses were delivered under the profound conviction that in the best interests of religion and education, as also of pupils and teachers, our national system of education should continue free, secular, and compulsory.
It is the duty of the State to provide for its citizens a I sound scientific and civic education, based on such natural ethic as experience and practice, rather than tradition or authority, warrant. It is the business of the Churches to indicate the divine implications of what the social conscience and an enlightened consensus of opinion pronounce good, true, and beautiful.
While recognising the expediency and necessity of providing specific instruction in morality and religion for our children, the writer of these addresses is absolutely satisfied that such instruction can be most effectively and economically imparted by the Churches arranging with the educational authorities for the use of class-rooms, during non-school hours, far the specific purpose of imparting definite religious instruction, on the distinct understanding that the services of teachers I connected with the work of the secular syllabus would not be available in connection with the teaching of religion,
To impose the duty of imparting religious instruction to the children attending, our State schools on servants of the State would be little short of a political and national crime.
To impose the duty of imparting religious instruction on teachers in the State schools really involves the establishment of a State Church for children: and if, as Nonconformists are perpetually reminding us, it is wrong and unjust to use public money in teaching religion to adults (in a State Church), it is difficult to understand how it can be right or just to use public money for imparting religious instruction to the children in our State schools. If, on the other hand, it is right that the
My Friends,—
It can afford no real pleasure to you and me, to whom what are known as The Bible and The Church count for so very much, to find that the complete secularisation of national education is inevitable. We neither profess nor entertain any; hostility to religion or to the Bible, Those of us who, in our modest way, are students of history—ancient and modern, sacred and secular—know something of the normal course of events in connection with the rise, progress, and triumph, as Well as the decline, disintegration, and fall of human institutions. No man of any standing in the world of thought, I science, or letters, to-day, regards the Church as anything J other than a purely human institution.. History makes it abundantly manifest that the story of the pre-Christian, Christian, and other Churches, is but the story, for the most part, of the work, influence, and legislation of humanly accredited priesthoods. All priesthoods began their career as servants of families, tribes, communities, or nations, and gradually, under the pressure and influence of social and political circumstances, acquired such prestige and power that they became too often, not merely tribal and national "masters," but tribal and national tyrants. All churches or priesthoods were originally founded to supply a social or spiritual need and demand. Slowly, but surely, what was meant to be a servant, became a master—and a very exacting master, too. The history of the Christian Church is no exception to the rule. An institution that began in the service of the State gradually acquired such power and influence that it eventually employed the State in Its service. The servant became master and vice versa! It is easy enough to understand how this came about. The influence of genuinely righteous and Christian priesthood is necessarily at its very highest and best when the social, civic, and political fortunes of the nation or people to whom it ministers are at their lowest and darkest. The misfortunes of empires and emperors have always furnished priesthoods with I opportunities for both good and evil—for the good of ministering comfort and consolation in times of personal and national loss or disaster: for the evil of self-aggrandisement and the acquisition of undue power. We know that the Christian I Church acquired during the past
Not so very many years ago, not a few of our Churches acquitted themselves with considerable distinction in connection with the education of their people—though, unfortunately, I their idea was that real learning and knowledge were to be got' from books and the older the books the better. Too often the Churches set to work as though all that was of real value to men was, not equipment for this life, but preparation for the life-to-come. Man's chief end was to save his soul and to provide modest luxuries for those saintly guides who showed him how to do it. His next duty was to be humbly and thankfully content with whatever lowly lot (God had assigned him. In fact, the Churches at no time in their history (notwithstanding laudable efforts, according to their light, in certain educational directions) can be said to have made a serious effort to impart, as part of their educational system, the results of accredited knowledge, science, and research. They were, and are, preoccupied with their old ideas and methods, with the inevitable result that the State itself has found it necessary, in the interests both of justice and education proper, to undertake the task of providing that part of education concerned with our life and prospects here. The State, too, virtually asks the Churches to confine their attention to what the modern world has come to regard as their legitimate sphere—that of the claims and interests of the spiritual life and the world-to-come The process of secularisation has been quite phenomenally rapid and drastic in certain parts of the world. Even in Great Britain what is virtually secularisation has made enormous progress during the past few years.
The (English) Northern Counties League met for its annual meeting at Leeds on the 14th November last, and its Secretary (Rev. C. Peach) submitted some remarkable statistic bearing on the transference of Church, or voluntary, schools to the State (as represented by Provincial Councils).
Since
Analysis of these figures discloses the fact that it takes very nearly twice as many voluntary schools, as State schools, to I supply the educational needs of" nearly one million fewer children than are attending the State schools. It is, therefore, obvious that the voluntary schools cannot hold out against the State system. The State can do the work much more economically and efficiently.
Until the process of secularisation is completed, there will inevitably be sectarian friction, jobbery, and intrigue in connection with the administration of the Education Act, I and more especially in connection with the appointment of teachers. The rampant evils of sectarianism account very largely, I cannot doubt, for the remarkable shortage in the supply of candidates for the teaching profession in England. In three years (between Note.—Entered as teachers:—
A League has been formed in England to promote the cause of secular education. Among its members are to be found some of the best-known men of letters of the day, as well as distinguished Anglican and Nonconformist divines. In platform is indicated thus:—"Recognising that the sole ressponsibility for religious education rests with parents and churches, the League expresses its conviction that there can no final solution of the religious difficulty in the national schools until the Education Act is amended so as to secure that there shall be no teaching of religion in State-supported elementary schools in school hours or at the public expense." As early as
Mr. Chamberlain, we know, has been all his life an enthusiastic Secularist. So have Lord Morley and Lord Rosebery The late Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, speaking at the I Alexandra Palace in
In
It is a well-known fact that the present British Cabinet, though it has through force of circumstance been using every endeavour to arrive at a working compromise in connection with the problem of religious instruction, is abundantly satisfied that no compromise can have any real stability, permanency, or finality about it; and that the complete secularisation of national education will be achieved in a very few years. There is no disputing the fact that the leading scholars, states-
has ever, or ever can, Connection with the more specific elements in the moral and religious side of education; and the parents and churches that cannot be brought to realise their duties and responsibilities is this connection are scarcely deserving the name Of Christian, even in its most attenuated form. One would have though that, even in Catholic schools, it would be found, not merely expedient, hut even absolutely necessary to recognise the economic value of division of labour, to the extent of (for convenience and efficiency sake) separating the secular and religious. Perhaps, however, there are theological and nontheological, Galileon and non-Galileon ways of teaching astronomy, mathematics, and the other subjects found in a
According to our Education Act, all "children must be instructed in secular knowledge I Parents are under no obligation to send their own children to the State schools, but whether they do so or not, they are as citizens of the State, justly enough, required to contribute to the support and maintenance of the national system. Since the State insists on every child receiving a modicum of education, the State has to provide institutions for the purpose. So that no parent can have reasonable excuse for failure to educate, and so that no child need go uneducated the State has established the public school at the public expense. All can, and may, use it. If parents think they can do better for their own children by sending them to private institutions, their doing so in no way relieves them of general responsibility in connection with the State system, which is quite as much in the public interest as
Of coarse, it Bible-reading is introduced into our school as part of the State system, there can be no disputing the justice of the Catholic claims. The Catholics would then be justly entitled to a subsidy, such as they now receive in Scot-land.
All systematic teaching- has ethical and disciplinary value, A secular education which extends our knowledge, which trains our senses and mental faculties, is in itself of considerable moral value. All in education that tends to develop self-restraint, self-control, and self-direction exercises a healthful moral influence. What is called, or rather miscalled, secular education, does not ignore, nor yet discount, the moral need of the pupil. What is, or can he, the value of a moral education based on superstitious dogmas or defective knowledge? Real morality must be determined very largely by sound know ledge. Why should we continue to teach our children what we have sensed to believe ourselves? It is surely no longer necessary to draw upon bogey-men in teaching morality either in the nursery or the schoolroom? The State, at any rate, cannot, in these days of accredited knowledge and exact science, find any justification for a return to the utterly discredited educational methods of a less enlightened age. It there was good reason to believe that the Churches had kept In the van of progress in knowledge and education, there might be some justice in their desire and demand to control education; but have they? Is it not notorious that the majority even of our great Churches are using their best endeavour to discredit modern knowledge and science, and making it uncomfortable for their members and adherents of modernist sympathies? If the Churches are to retain their hold on the masses, it must be by having a learned clergy, whose mental furnishings and educational acquisitions entitle them to the] respect of educated, as well as of indifferently educated, men and women, Literature and the Press are fast emptying our churches. Men and women are not going to waste time and money on the luxury of "divine service "if they are convinced that they can get sounder and more valuable knowledge at their own fireside from a book or a newspaper. A year or two ago a distinguished Oxford professor informed the world that it' was impossible to find twelve men of educational distinction worshipping (of a Sunday) in all the Oxford churches—and this in a city where there must, he several hundred men of eminence in scholarship! It can be only when the Churches have realised the necessity of having a soundly and thoroughy
It is the business of the State to provide a sound scientific and civic education. If the Churches can supplement that education by specific instruction in morality and religion, they can be of very great service to the State. If, on the other band, they fail to do this, they assuredly may he said to fail in justifying their own existence.
We know that civic, political, social, and educational progress has been the greater and more marked wherever the State has recovered its lost rights and superseded the Churches in the control and organisation of education. The Churches must henceforth be content to regard themselves as the servants of the State. It is, and has always been, their duty (no matter how indifferently discharged) to strengthen and support the natural ethic of the State as tested in the crucible of experience and practice, by indicating its divine implications. By confining themselves to this task, they can always be of the very greatest help and service to the State. Why should they go beyond their own specific province, and keep agitating to be allowed to do for the State what the State can do far more effectively for itself?
The best minds in England to-day are, in the interests both of religion and education, aspiring to achieve such freedom as we in New Zealand have already achieved under our secular system. We have received from the distinguished statesmen and educationists who inaugurated our secular national system, a priceless heritage, and we would be traitors to the best interests of education and religion, if we failed to come forth as its defenders and champions.
There is one reassuring circumstance in connection with the defence of our New Zealand secular system. The Minister of Education and Leader of the Opposition have made it absolutely clear that they will be no party to any tinkering or tampering with our free, secular, and compulsory system. There is, however, one possible danger—that is, that our Government may be foolish enough, and illogical enough, to recognise the right of the people to determine such a question as this, involving religious and sectarian issues, by means of a referendum. Strict neutrality is the only attitude which the State can justly assume to the various religions professed by its subjects. To determine the question of Bible-reading in Schools by menus of a referendum is absolutely incompatible with the neutrality of the State. We are not quite out of the wood vet. Let us therefore he ever ready to come forth in defence of a system that cannot justly be regarded as unfair to any individuals or churches. Let us remember that:
"Eternal Vigilance Is the Price of Liberty."
My Friends,—
I cannot doubt that you are all aware of the fact that attacks are being made on our State system of education from various ecclesiastical coigns of vantage, and that there is, too, very considerable danger of our tamely acquiescing, under the influence of ecclesiastical combines, in the supersession of our free, secular, and compulsory system. Can we contemplate with equanimity the introduction into our State schools of elements and influences making for sectarian friction and conflict?
The Archbishop of Wellington is credited in the local press with having expressed himself the other day thus:—
"An education which does not extend to the whole man is lopsided and insufficient. An education which extends only to this world is insufficient. Hence the Catholic Church sets much store by Christian education, in order that we may be taught to fulfil all our duties. There is only one true basis of sound education, and that is religion. Separate one from the other, and you destroy real education. If you eliminate God from education, our boasted civilisation will end in failure, Now, these are weighty sentences. In fact, I am honestly of opinion that 99 per cent, of non-Catholics would readily assent to the Archbishop's view. Few, if any, non-Catholics would dispute the propriety and necessity of conducting the secular and religious side of education contemporaneously. But is there a single sound reason for suggesting that such subjects as reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, French, or any of the subjects ordinarily taught in our primary or secondary schools, cannot he taught soundly or efficiently unless sandwiched in between lessons specifically dealing with morality and Christian doctrine? If, in suggesting that education and religion should go coupled and inseparable, the Archbishop means that the secular and religious elements of education ought to be taught at the same time, in the same place, and! by the same individuals, his suggestion must appear little other than consummate nonsense to unbiassed minds. If, on the other hand, he means that the spiritual and purely intellec-
Now the fact that the State makes adequate and effective provision for imparting such secular knowledge, as almost all religious organisations approve of, and under conditions neces-sitating very considerable moral discipline, should be of the I greatest service to all the Churches—Catholic as well as Pro-testant, All that remains for them to do is to supplement the State secular system to the extent of providing specific moral and religious teaching at their own expense and by teachers I accredited by themselves. This specific moral and religious I instruction can be most economically imparted by the various Churches arranging with the Education Department for the use of the State schools (for the purpose suggested) during non-school hours.
Our existing secular system is unfair to no Church—Catholic or Protestant, There is no suggestion that our State system provides for "the whole man The State, presum ably as well as non-Catholics, are as conscious as Catholics I themselves of the necessity of imparting definite moral and religious instruction to our youth, out it (the State) is abun dantly satisfied that, considering the painful differences of I opinion obtaining among us as to the nature and source of I moral sanctions, it is its duty to observe benevolent neutrality I in the matter of religion.
Of course, some Churches are like "spoilt children unless they get all they want they will take nothing. They must have "an atmosphere—in fact, a hot-house—for their plants! Such people, naturally, suffer for their "cussedness ami spiritual exclusiveness. Politics and religion, it would seem must always beget martyrs and superior persons. This is an age of enlightened give and take—compromise—in religion, as in other matters; and the religious body that fail to recognise this fact cannot possibly hold its own (not to speak of making headway) under the pressure of the social forces and intellectual influences at work in our age. We, non-Catholics, are sorry that our Catholic fellow subjects cannot see their way to take as full advantage of our State system as non-Catholics do. There is not, or at least ought not to be, anything taught in our State schools that could cause either injustice or offence to Catholics. No Church has ever been able to make adequate provision for imparting an efficient education to its own members, not to speak of making adequate provision for a national system. In fact, such a thing as efficiency in national education was unknown until the State superseded the Churches in controlling, directing, and organising education. If the State insisted, as it might reasonably insist, that any religious body declining to take advantage of the State system so far as the purely secular part of education
Under our existing secular system our Catholic friends have no reasonable cause for complaint. They cannot possibly provide an adequate and efficient, substitute for the State system for the children belonging to their own denomination throughout the Dominion, Why, then, should they not be grateful to the State for relieving them of the purely secular part of education, and provide (as they could do most economically and efficiently) for specific instruction in morality, and religion, by taking advantage (as other religious denominations are beginning to do) of the State organisation. The State schools can be made available for the purpose, during non-school hours, at a merely nominal cost.
It is really amusing to find the learned Archbishop declaring that it is a matter of conscience with Catholics to object to our so-called secular system, while it is not a question of conscience with non-Catholics. One would like to know what claim he can have to diagnose the non-Catholic conscience Non-Catholics, while recognising the propriety of educating the whole man, spiritually as well as intellectually, have the commonsense to see that in the divided state of Christendom as to the sources of moral and religious sanctions, specific instruction in morality and religion had better be left to the
No compromise. It is a matter of conscience with us," Catholics, and what are called Churchmen, often laugh at the tender thing known as "the Nonconformist conscience." To non-Catholics, I fear that what Catholics call conscience is but the acquired moral sense of theologically spoilt children.
I have no hesitation in stating that Catholics have for many years been accorded exceptionally favourable and considerate treatment in almost every part of the British Empire, and I think that it is high time that they showed a disposition to help our statesmen towards a solution of such problems as that of education, where judicious and reasonable compromise would be of exceptional value. However, Catholics, presumably, know their own business; but if they keep on in New Zealand and elsewhere demanding everything (in their own way) in education and religion, they will probably find that even British patience will soon be exhausted.
We have heard somewhat ominous threats of an impending political combine on the part of Catholics. Unfortunately, Catholics have never been able to benefit appreciably by their past experience- The most obvious lessons of history seem lost Upon them. Presumably, they are calculating on some miraculous intervention of Providence to save the situation for them. One thing is, however, clear to every student of history and sociology, that when Catholics take to political intrigue a politico-religious Nemesis dogs them to their eventual doom. The Continent of Europe is teaching us how to deal with irreconcilables in politics and religion. The State is founded on a natural and rational ethic (the product and resultant of an ever widening and developing social and civic experience). When the interests of a religious cult go counter to the State ethic, sooner or later the religious cult comes to grief. When ecclesiastical bodies, Catholic or non-Catholic, take to ways that are dark in political manipulation, it may be necessary for the State, from a sense of self-preservation, to ask ecclesiastical intriguers, not merely to take up their beds, hut to take up their schools and churches, and walk. The New Zealand Government cannot well conduct such intriguers over our frontiers, as had to be done elsewhere not long ago, yet I am confident that it could solve the problem without resorting to such expedients as the Noyades (Carlyle's Drownages) of the French Revolution. Perhaps it would meet the ease if the Napoleon of the would-be ecclesiastico-political intriguers—our worthy fellow-citizen, Mr, Martin Kennedy—could be confined for a term of years to some such St. Helena as Soames Island!
One thing, at any rate, is beyond dispute—history witnesses to it at every turn—when ecclesiastical organisations meddle in politics or identify themselves with a political party
The State has for a long time been seriously handicapped by injudicious interference on the part of the clergy and denominationalists in matters that lie beyond their legitimate domain. Personally, I think the State should rate all ecclesiastical property in the same way as other property. There it no justification whatever for its exemption. The State accords the Churches various privileges and exemptions, and the Churches too often show their gratitude by ecclesiastical intrigue in politics. This sort of thing cannot go on indefinitely.
Well, as I have already said, the present secular education system is unfair to no one—Catholic or Protestant. But were our Government foolish enough to permit what are known as Bible-lessons to be conducted in our public schools during ordinary school hours, the position would be completely changed. The Catholics would have a real grievance. Their claim to a subsidy or capitation for the secular part of their work—if efficiently done—would under such altered circumstances be eminently reasonable. It would be a gross injustice to deny them their claim. If, however, Catholics are foolish enough to help a Protestant combine to get its way in the matter of Bible-reading, etc., in schools, it is not at all likely that this combine will be generous enough to concede what may be regarded as the reasonable claims of Catholics as to capitation or a subsidy. The Catholics have recently fallen between two stools in Australia, and they have since then been shouting themselves hoarse in a demand for justice. If our Catholic friends here come by the same fate—as they seem likely to do—we non-Catholics, who are Secularists purely from expediency, and from a consciousness under existing circumstances of the necessity for compromise, may well pity them, while conceding that they heartily deserve their fate, inasmuch as they seem to be deliberately engineering a grievance.
I do not think that I do the Archbishop of Wellington an injustice when I infer from his address that he is of opinion that religion and education are absolutely separated in, and God eliminated from, our national system of education. Is this really so? Three-fourths of all rational religion is concerned with morality. To say that the moral discipline in vogue in our State schools is not of the very essence of a truly catholic! or universal ethic and religion, but indicates a very antediluvian conception of both ethics and religion. Is there any reasonable warrant for suggesting that God, or the name of God, is eliminated from our national education? I have no hesitation in saying that there is none whatever. The Israelites could be profoundly religious, and yet not give articulate expression to the name of their God. We have Jesus words: "Not every
It was never contemplated by the State that our national system of education should relieve parents or churches of all responsibility in connection with education. The State recognises that it is the duty of parents and the Churches to co- operate with the State in equipping our youth for the work of life, and disciplining them into making the most and best of I their lives from the points of view of education and religion as well as of social service.
No doubt we have to exercise great charity and forbearance in dealing with the Catholic conscience. We know that every human conscience is very largely the product of training and education. Catholics are taught from infancy to regard the moral law as imposed from Without, and not, directly or indirectly, by their own moral judgment. The Church is for them the custodian of a special revelation, in which even what is called "The Bible "is but an item or incident. "Reluctant obedience," as Professor Herrmann, of Marburg, puts it, passes for morality with Rome: but we (Protestants) call it sin." Morality to our Catholic friends is but another name for obedience to law in a theocracy. The older Protestants regarded the moral law as derived directly from the Bible, Catholics regard the moral law as only indirectly (through a specially commissioned priesthood) derived from the Bible. I need scarcely say that no professor or accredited authority on moral philosophy in any free university in the world to-day consider that the Bible, or any Church, has anything whatever to do with the ultimate basis or sanctions of morality. Right is right and good is good in the very nature of things, and not by virtue of any revelation or Bible or Church. Experienee alone determines in its personal, family, civic, and social implications, what morality really is, and so leads to the codification of moral and other law. The great leaders in the world of thought to-day—the moving spirits in what we may call the New Protestantism—are abundantly satisfied that, while the moral law is derived from the nature of things, and so is rightly called the Law of God, it must yet assert itself from within the individual consciousness. In other words, our
We must, therefore, exercise great patience and forbearance in dealing with the Churches and their attitudes in this connection, conscious as we arc that modern science and modern knowledge are slowly but surely making against their point of view. Many of our Churches (Protestant as well as Catholic) have yet to learn that there can be no virtue in believing what is incredible or self-contradictory; as, also, that in religion and morality nothing can be of real value to ml unless it appeals directly to our intelligence and moral judgment.
Our difficulties in regard to what is of value in religion and morality arise mainly from the fact that our clergy (Catholic and Protestant) have their heads stuffed from infancy with primitive ideas as to religion and morality, and long before they can have acquired minds of their own (as we say) they commit themselves to various irrational ideas in theology; and even take solemn vows to devote their whole life to the promulgation of these irrational ideas, Jesus had not the presumption to take to teaching or preaching until He knew His own and His Father's mind, and acquired adult experience. If no man was allowed to take holy orders until he was thirty years of age (the age when Jesus began His ministry), we would very soon have a rational theology, and with it a system of education rational in its secular and religious implications.
An asterisk denotes Members of the Executive Committee.
Every attempt made to settle the education question in England and
The Secular Education League aims at binding together in one effection organisation all who favour the "Secular Solution" of the Education
The fundamental principle of the League is expressed in the resolution that was carried at the crowded inaugural meeting, which took place at the "Tribune" Rendezvous on Monday evening. 4th February, under the "That this meeting, recognising that the sole responsibility
According to this resolution, religion must not be taught in the
The wisdom and equity of confining the teaching in public elementary schools to secular subjects were admitted by the late Mr. Gladstone, They have also been admitted by various political leaders still living—such a Lord Rosebery, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, and Mr. John Morley. But
It cannot be questioned that the religions controversy has been a organises education on a scientific and oth basis.
Certainly the religious controversy shows no sign of abating
The Secular Education League neither professes nor entertains
It is with confidence that the Secular Education League appeals for moral and financial support. A number of distinguished names are already included on its General Council, and more will assuredly be added in the immediate future. What is now sought is a great accession of members, who give the motive power to every organisation, The way into the League is easy, Only the essential points of principle and policy are insisted upon; and the member's contribution is purely voluntary, each being left to subscribe according to interest and opportunity.
With the issue of this first Manifesto the general work of the Secular Education League begins, and the battle opens for the victory of "the Secular Solution."
Among the many forcible arguments which have been adduced in favour of the "secular Solution" there would seem to be comparatively few which deal with the subject on distinctly Church lines. The object, therefore, of this appeal is to offer Churchmen a few reasons why they, before all others, should support the cause of the Secular Education League. And be it noted that the phrase "Secular Education" by no means implies hostility or in-difference to religion, but simply restriction, on principle, to secular subjects in the education which is provided in schools supported by the State.
"If there is one thing which differentiates a Churchman, it is surely the second of the three baptismal vows by which he is under obligation to "believe all the Article of the Christian Faith," These, according to his Catechism, are summed up in the twelve clauses of the Apostles' Creed. He cannot, therefore, be satisfied with any religious instruction other than that which is based on these formula, una which obviously cannot be given in schools which are as much the property of those who do not believe them as of those who do. "Simple Bible Teaching,"' as it is called, does not provide him with his religious knowledge, which is not derived primarily from the Bible, but from the teaching of the Church whose doctrine is anterior to the Books of the New Testament, and was at first transmitted by "oral tradition." Cardinal Newman, in "The Arians of the Fourth Century" (written fourteen years before he left the English Church), says;—"Surely the Sacred Volume was not intended, and is not adapted, to teach us our Creed, however certain it it that we can prove our Creed from it when it has once been taught us, and in spite of individual producible exceptions to the general rule. From the very first that rule has been, as a matter of fact, that the Church should teach the truth, and then should appeal to Scripure in vindication of its own teaching."
The converse of this is likewise a necessary axiom; for, just as the
This being the case, it stands to reason that in education provided by a State which is bound to respect the convictions of those who adhere to all sorts of beliefs, and of those who adhere to none, a Churchman cannot recognise a pro rata system of religious instruction.
And further, supposing that some contrivance could be discovered where by the State might authorise the teaching of Church doctrine in all its fulness he could not conscientiously be a party to it; for, according to his theory, there is only one body divinely commissioned to decide what is to be taught and that body is not the State, but the Church: and there is only one
Ever since the divine command to "Go and teach all nations" there has been laid upon the Church the obligation of providing for the religious instruction of the people. It is an obligation which cannot be transferred to an external body like the State, which, although it may be composed of those who profess Christianity, yet may include those who do not, and which does not in any way assume itself to be ecclesiastical. To hand over the right of imparting religious instruction to such an institution is to surrender one of the most sacred trusts committed to its charge, and
It is sometimes asked how the Church is to fulfil its obligation without being subsidised in some way by the State. The principal requisite is greater faith in its divine mission. If the bishops and clergy had a stronger What Is it? The heart of our difficulty is partly that we have shifted on to the wrong shoulders the central function of teaching children; secondly, that we have so lost the Idea of what the teaching of the Church Is and the meaning of religious education that we are considered by the public to be unreasonable and uncompromising people if we are not disposed to admit that the County Councils can settle the standard of sufficient religious knowledge for everybody."
The difficulty as to means might be overcome to a considerable exteat if the Church would mind its own business, and leave to the State what the latter can do so much more effectively—and there is historical precedent for this—pace those who assert that education of all kinds can only be given in "a Catholic atmosphere." "During the first three centuries the Christian parent justified himself in sending his sons to pagan schools on the ground of simple necessity: and while Christian doctrine was taught by Christians secular knowledge was sought in the ordinary channels . . . and even
It is not to be assumed that either Cardinal Newman or Bishop Gore would avowedly uphold the Secular Solution; but, both being men of integrity and sound common sense, they have made admissions which tell strongly in its favour.
Most assuredly, then, is it to the highest interest of Churchmen that they should unite with men of goodwill, who, although differing in their views of religion, are at one in their desire to promote peace and justice in the upbringing of the future generation.
The Secular Education League, without committing itself to the views expressed by the signatories of this Manifesto, issues it as a valuable contribution to the discussion of the principle of the education provided by the State in Elementary Schools.
Ever since the passing of the Education Act of you, as Noncon formists, have had a burning grievance. By the provisions of that Act you are taxed and rated for the support of schools where the religious teaching is contrary to your beliefs. You have no effective control of the expenditure of your money in these schools, and, although you are taxed to pay the salaries of all the teachers, you and your children are debarred by a religious test from the highest posts in the teaching profession, so far as these schools are concerned.
So keenly did you resent this unjust legislation that, when the time came for electing a new House of Commons, Nonconformist feeling throughout the country was undoubtedly one of the main factors among those which helped to return the present Government to power with a record majority, If anything might have been taken for granted, it was that within a twelve month at most of the General Election the grievance of Nonconformity would be redressed—that was the clear mandate with which you sent your representatives by hundreds to Westminster. If anyone could have prophesied that, after three years of Liberalism in office, the educational position would be still unchanged, that this issue would be as far from settlement as ever, that Passive Resistance would still remain as a thing in being, the forecast would have been dismissed with angry derision. Yet the seemingly impossible has happened in this instance. The Government has brought in Bill after Bill, Yet in each instance only to meet with failure. Mr. McKenna's Bill shared the fate of that of Mr. Birrell, Mr. Runciman's that of Mr. McKenna's, and that in spite of the fact that each of these attempts at a solution of the difficulty went further than its predecessor in the direction of concession to your opponents. "Right of entry" and "contracting out" could hardly be accepted by you without the most serious misgivings; yet they were accepted, not light-heartedly, but in the hope and for the sake of peace. And still the desired end remains unattained, concessions and sacrifices have proved unavailing, and Nonconformity finds itself in the humiliating position of being no nearer a just settlement with a majority than with a minority in Parliament. No doubt you feel sore and indignant at the actual state of affairs; is it too much to hope that on reflection Nonconformists will read the lesson of these three years of disappointment?
That lesson, to our mind, is a plain one. Free Churchmen were, in the first place, actuated by a sincere—but, as the results show, mistaken—belief that a compromise could be come to with the Anglicans, on the basis of what is called simple Bible-teaching. Such a plan was bound to fail, because it overlooked the repugnance to this form of religious instruction entertained by Catholics, both Roman and Anglican, whose attitude towards religious as a subject to be taught differs fundamentally from that of Protestante It is really this stubborn fact which has frustrated all the well-intended attempts at conciliation; and it should be obvious, after the last of a series of fiascos hardly equalled in political history, that future attempts along similar lines will be no more successful than those made in the past. Surely by this time it must be clear to all who are prepared to learn from experience that a solution of the religious difficulty by means of a compromise is impossible possible—even if Anglicanism and Nonconformity were the only factors to be considered.
At this juncture, then, we venture to recall to the memory of Free Churchmen some truths which, in their desire for a settlement of a long embittered, and calamitous conflict, have been too largely forgotten.
(1) Free Churchmen believe in religious equality for all. They must therefore recognise that the issue does not rest solely between themselves and the Established Church, but that there are many others outside these particular communions who, as citizens and ratepayers, have a right to be considered, It is simply no use of legislate on the assumption that the community is made up of members of Christian Churches; still less can we imagine Free Churchmen arguing that non-Christians have, as such, as claim to elementary justice in matters affecting religious belief or disbelied Since Christians and non-Christians alike are made to contribute to the cost of education, it is surely not to be tolerated that the latter should be penalised by having to pay for a kind of ha instruction which runs counter to their convictions. This is precisely the Nonconformist grievance. Is it conceivable
(2) Free Churchmen are such because of their fundamental principle that the State has no business to meddle with the religious faith of its members. For this conviction they have made immense sacrifices in the past—sacrifices which are the pride and glory of Nonconformity, But if the interference of the State with the religious opinions of the citizen is not to be tolerated from the Free Church point of view, how can it be tolerable that the same State should have the power to frame and impose a form of religions teaching upon its citizens in the making? And if the proper agency for the giving of religious instruction to adults is the Church to which they may belong, must not the same hold true of the religious instruction given "to children?
Some among the most consistent and widely honoured Nonconformists of the past-—men like Spurgeon, Parker, and Dale—held to the view which We Are expressing; and among those Nonconformist leaders who utter the same conviction to-day it may suffice to point to Dr. Robertson Nicoll and Mr. Alfred E. Hut ton, M.P, Do you not think, after all the failure and disappointment of these last three years—with the proved impossibility of establishing a form of religious teaching acceptable to all, and the obvious injustice of endowing some form unacceptable to any—you might yet once more consider the claims of the only policy which inflicts hardship on none, and which goes by the name of the Secular Solution?
We have heard it often and glibly stated that, while this is no doubt the logical solution, "the world is not governed by logic"; but, since it is very evident that the world, in this instance, declines to be governed by compromise, would it not be as well if For once logic—which in practice means lair play for all and privilege for none—were given a chance? Again, we have heard it said with constant reiteration that "the time is not ripe" for the Secular Solution. The answer to this is that the time—as the recent vote of the Welsh Baptists shows—is rapidly ripening, and that it behaves earnest men and women, as distinct from mere political opportunists, to hasten this process. It is urged that the Secular Solution will mean that the children will grow up unacquainted with the Bible. We can only express our surprise that such a fear should fail to excite the liveliest indignation among the Churches, Free and Established alike, with their tens of thousands of Sunday Schools devoted to precisely this work; nor can we understand why the Churches should expect the State to fulfil one of their chief functions. Finally, a great deal of prejudice against the Secular Solution is due to an inexact habit of speech, which confuses Secular Education with Secularism. It should be plain, however, that the two things are absolutely different, Secular Education meaning solely that the teaching given in the public schools and at the public expense is to be confined to secular subjects. To imagine, say, Mr. Spurgeon in favour of propagating Secularism would be simply grotesque. The fact that he strongly urged the cause of Secular Education should save that cause from this particular misinterpretation.
Nonconformists, you have shown how great is the power you can wield, We appeal to you, precisely because of your historic principles, to wield that power effectively by throwing your immense influence in the scale of the Secular Solution. In so doing you will be true to your best traditions. Let the State confine its activity to the secular part of education, and let parents and Churches show the reality of their religious beliefs by providing the religious part of education themselves.
We plead, not on behalf of an abstract theory, but above all on behalf of the nation's children, who cannot but suffer educationally while the present state of warfare lasts. If the chapter of inglorious and wearing conflict) to close at last, and a new chapter of justice, peace, and educational efficiency is to open, the Secular Solution is "the only way."
"I do believe that the grasp of any Church or clergy round the throat of the State is, in the highest degree, dangerous. If, therefore, we are faced by a multitude of men who threaten to lend our schools into ecclesiastical controversies. I, for my part, would see no option save adopting "the secular solution." The secular may be non-ecclesiastical; but it is not, and need not be, anti-religious. The State is, to me, a body little competent to legislate in religion, lt may be more competent than any known Church: but this is a small matter compared with the awful impertinence of those who plead for intervention by the State between the man and his conscience, or the con science and its God."
"It has never been held by us that majorities can righteously
com minorities to support common religious beliefs and now that the Free churchhave become powerful, are they ready to repudiate those principles of justice for which, when they were weak, they fought and Buffered? It is irreligious to be unjust to any man. The Cross, I repeat, stands for righteousness. The Churches cannot wisely delegate their duties to the civic authorities. Even jf all our resources were exhausted there would be the greatest objections to the principle that the State, as such, should determine what prayers are to be addressed to God, and what religious ideas are to be taught the people, old or young. We shall land ourselves in deeper and deeper bogs if there is persistence in the present course. It is in the interests of religion that the civil power should leave it entirely alone. Non-interference is the best service that Parliament can render to the Christian cause, and the best service the Church can render to the nation is to be true to itself, to abide by its own ideas, and to discharge its own duties,"
"The present attitude of the Episcopal Bench can have but one issue. The man in the street has a short and sharp way in matters of this kind. When he sees that there is this prolonged and growing contention, and that many vital things are suffering, he will tumble both denominationalism and un-denominationalism into the street. That is the present purpose and temper of the Labour Party—a party destined, to exercise an increasing influence in the State. But there is an increasing body of enlightened judgment which believes that in the interest of truth and perfect fairness it would be better for the matter of controversy to be removed clean out of the public schools, and that religious instruction should be committed to the Churches, who are primarily responsible for it."
"The sooner the present sectarian system of education is broken down the better, so that the nation may be driven to the only sound policy. The State school must be restricted to national and moral education, and religious teaching of all kinds must be thrown upon the Churches, in private hours, at their own cost, and by their own agents."
"Secular schools would not be irreligious. I am by no means sure that on the whole they would not be more religious. . . I respect the feeling that makes England shrink from secular schools, but I cannot reverence what is so mere a sentiment. The sight of a secular system working by the side of the corelative religious system would dispel the whole feeling in a year."
"As a Nonconformist, I believe that no education can be complete which does not include thorough religious training; but I am a citizen, as well as a Nonconformist, and as a citizen I deny that it is the business of the State to furnish a complete education. That is a distinction which I hold to be vital. Under some circumstances the State may undertake to furnish an elementary education, which is a very different thing—so different, indeed, that it may include neither algebra nor theology. In such a matter as education it should be the business of the State not to see how far it can go, but how soon it can stop; and, for one, I venture to think that the State might very well stop when it has paid for a thorough knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Thus, I would not exclude religion, I simply would not include it. Why?
"My reason for not including religion in rate-supported schools is simply the old Nonconformist reason, that religion is personal, sacred, varying its aspect and claims according to various convictions, and that to support it by rates and taxes, and thus by possible penalties, is to vex and offend its characteristic and essential spirit."
At the second meeting of the Headmasters' Conference, held at Eton last Friday, a discussion took place on the teaching of the Bible in Public Schools
Mr. Lowry (Tonbridge) said that the large majority of the young man who were set to teach the Bible had an uneasy feeling that they were expected, by their superiors and by the parents, to teach the Bible as if it were perfectly inspired and as if every word of it were absolutely true; and yet they knew that these were not their views.
The Rev. Dr. Flecker (Dean Close School, Cheltenham) thought that many honest and good men disliked the Scripture hour more than any other teaching they had to do. He could speak as to the depth of the ignorance of Scripture of boys who came to the public schools—even from the homes of the clergy and especially of the country clergy. ("No!") He was quite certain that the state of things now was far worse than it was a quarter of a century ago.
After further discussion it was agreed that the subject should be referred to the Committee of the Conference, who should bring it forward in a definite form next year.
Printed by Blundell Bros., Commercial and General Printers.—36649.
The object of the League is to maintain a purely secular system of education in the State schools of the Dominion.
The League proposes to attain its object by:
Anyone can become a member of the League by paying minimum annual subscription of one shilling.
The League affirms:—
President: John Gammell, Esq., B.A., Seatonn
Secretaries: Dr. T. A. Black and Henry Joosten. Wellington.
Treasurer: Professor Mackenzie. Wellington.
Encouraged by the success which has attended the production of the booklet, entitled "Reminiscences of an Old Colonist," and in response to numerous requests, I have decided to publish a further short series of notes and comments that may prove interesting to the reader. The descriptions of Maori life, manners, and customs contained in these pages owe nothing to fiction; they are given exactly as they came under my own personal observation, and all the sketches given are true to life. Contact with European settlers has effected a marked and rapid change in the character and habits of the Maoris, who are now very unlike what they were when I first saw them. The main desire of the writer is to place on record a few more sketches of old Maori life in this district, before the remembrance of them has quite passed away, though I have by no means exhausted a most fascinating subject.
The first settlements of the Ngatiraukawa tribes in Otaki were situated near the sea beach, and were known as the Rangiuru and Pakakutu pas. These pas were formed about the year
The great Rangiuru and Pakakutu pas were constructed of trunks of trees, about sixteen feet in height, lashed together about ten feet from the ground, and joined to long cross pieces. The uprights were formed of great trunks of trees, from three to four feet in thickness, and the tops of these carved into the most hideous and grotesque likenesses of men. The heads of these images were as large as their bodies, and their tongues, which were invariably thrust out of their mouths, were as long as their forearms.
This was the home of the Ngatiraukawas during the dark days when the foot of the invader was upon the land, for it was then that Te Rauparaha, the famous Ngatitoa chief, came out of the north and settled down in these parts.
The late Bishop Hadfield arrived in Otaki in the year
When I arrived among the Otaki Maoris, in
When the late Bishop Hadfield arrived among the Maoris a new era dawned for them, and he instructed them in the ways of Christianity, and endeavoured to get them to alter their lives, It was through his efforts that the pas were shifted, in
A civil war had broken out at Waikanae, known as Te Knititanga, between the fiery Ngatiawa and Ngatiraukawa people. Before Te Rauparaha was afforded a suitable opportunity of avenging his enemies, the Bishop's influence had so worked among the Maoris that they no longer wished to seek revenge.
On the banks of the Whakarangirangi river, which is a tributary to the Rangiuru stream. Robert Drury and J. Carpenter built a schooner, called the Breezy, of about 15 tons. I well remember when my brother and I, accompanied by all of our men, went from Waikawa to see her being launched. It was an occasion never to be forgotten, for the celebrations were on an extensive scale.
Across the Otaki river, on the southern side, was another strong pa, called Otaki pa. This was one of the main set settlements of the Ngatiraukawa tribe, and was very strongly fortified. I stayed there one night. A little further on, towards Waikanae, was a spot where the memorable fight took place between Te Rauparaha and the Ngatiawa Maoris. About three miles to the north of the Rangiuru pa was the Waitohu pa, another strongly fortified settlement. At this spot revenge was taken for the murder of the great chief Te Pehi. Tamaiharanui, a chief of the Ngatitahu tribe, who was responsible for the murder of Te Pehi, was taken to the Waitohu pa and delivered over to the wives of the murdered Te Pehi. They hung him on a tree, and killed him with great torture. One of Te Pehi's wives put a red-hot ramrod through the neck of the tortured man.
In those days the Maoris lived in the open air, and died there also. All the Maoris were great warriors, and the field of battle was considered the most fitting death-bed for a man, failing which, the more sudden his death the better his people were pleased, or perhaps we should say, the less grieved they were. A lingering death was very grievous to them, as entailing useless pain and suffering. Above all things, death within doors was
To give a right history of the erection of the unique church erected by the Maoris in Otaki, we must hark back to ancient history. According to tradition, when the canoes Tainui and Arawa sailed from Hawaiki, they brought with them the soil on which stood their sacred altar Rangiatea, in Hawaiki. These ancient roving mariners first touched land at a place called Whangaparoa, in the vicinity of Mawetu (Bay of Plenty). The former canoe, Tainui, manned by a select crew, left Arawa, and made her passage northwards, towards Auckland, and here they anchored. Perceiving a seagull flying from the West Coast, over Otahuhu, they surmised that there must be water not far off, so some of them climbed a high hill, and found that their surmise was correct. They decided to draw their canoe overland to the water on the other side, and in due course reached the water now known as Manakau Harbour. Then they proceeded on their voyage southwards, and touched at Aotea, but finding this place unsuitable, proceeded still further south, finally landing at Kawhia. Their canoe was hauled ashore, and the Maoris built an altar, and the soil which they brought from Hawaiki was spread on the altar, which was dedicated in the sacred name of "Rangiatea."
During the time the Ngatiraukawa and Ngatitoa tribes inhabited this district a disturbance broke out at Heretaunga (Hutt) The leader of this disturbance was Rangihaeata, but the Europeans surmised it was Te Rauparaha and other influential chiefs who were aiding Rangihaeata. Matene te Whiwhi (nephew of Te Rauparaha) at that time was the guest of Governor Grey. Te Rauparaha resided at Plimmerton. There was also trouble between the Maoris and Europeans at Horokiwi. The former trouble was becoming serious, and Maoris had gathered from all parts, at Otaki, to assist Rangihaeata. Matene te Whiwhi and Tamihana te Rauparaha (son of Te Rauparaha) heard of this mobilisation, and knew serious trouble would occur. They requested Governor Grey to capture Te Rauparaha and take him out to sea, stating
Soon afterwards Rangihaeata and his followers migrated to Otaki and Poroutawhao (midway between Levin and Foxton), where they passed the rest of their days.
The warship Calliope, with Te Rauparaha on board, after receiving the ultimatum of peace from Rangihaeata, set sail for Australia. On arrival at Sydney, Te Rauparaha was welcomed and received with great festivities. He was taken to the leading places of worship, and his stay in Sydney was made a thoroughly pleasant one. These places of worship made such an impression on Te Rauparaha that he kept them in his mind, and thought what a wonderful and grateful people the Europeans were. After a pleasant stay, he embarked for Melbourne, where he told Potatau, grandfather of King Mahuta, M.L.C., all that had been done for him in Australia, and the treatment and kindness accorded him. He resumed his voyage from Auckland, and finally the man-of-war conveying him and all the leading chiefs of the Waikato, anchored outside the mouth of the Otaki river. They landed in boats, and the narrator who saw the event will never forget it. The occasion was a memorable one. The shore was lined with thousands of Natives, and a right royal welcome was accorded the chief Te Rauparaha, who was attired in an Admiral's uniform, and carried a sword. He was accompanied by Governor Grey and the commander of the warship. The earth trembled with the feet of those thousands of warriors, who, delighted at the return of their chief, danced, and gave their war-cries with great gusto. After a formal greeting,
The advice of the great chieftain was not lost, and in the year
An incident is related in connection with the work of erection of the church. When floating some of the huge logs in the sea from Ohau to Otaki, one of the Natives on top of a tree got tired with the pole, and he called out to others to take his place. In jumping off into the sea he jumped on to a stingray. This fish has a poisonous barbed spear at the tail, which was driv-
In
" When I came to live with your fathers, in
1845 , all the Ngatiraukawa people were living at Rangiuru pa and at Pakakatu pa, but as it was pointed out to them that these sites were not suitable, they shifted to the present Otaki township site, and made a beautiful settlement of it. At that time pretty clumps of bush were scattered round the township, with here and there some beautiful karaka trees. Around every Native settlement could be seen the beautiful indigenous bush, with its many lovelyshades. What a contrast now! Your pas and kaingas have vanished; your little gardens of Eden are overgrown with weeds. In those good old times your fathers were a diligent and industrious people, and devoted to their religion, and while under the care of the late Bishop Hadfield and archdeacon Williams, the church bell rang every day at sunrise and sunset to call the Natives to prayers. I can never pass those once populous places without deep emotion, and memories crowd upon me of my numerous good Maori friends of old. In those old days the late Bishop Hadfield took a fatherly and kindly interest in the Natives, who were better cared for than they are to-day, for the Government's professed care of them is really nothing more that a profession. I hope that the authorities will do something, however small, to see that medical attendance is made available to the Natives, in such a way that they can avail themselves of it."
The late Archdeacon Samuel Williams arrived amongst the Ngatiraukawa Maoris at Otaki in the year
I have seen the late Archbishop labouring like an apostle, working with hundreds of Maoris, building the church Rangiatea, at Otaki, with his coat off, sawing and carpentering, and superintending the erection of the church, for which he was architect. In those days there were no plumb-bobs, and I have seen him take out his watch and tie a long string to it, and hold it up to plumb the large upright pillars of the building. A Mr John Curley was the carpenter in charge of the Maori carpenters. When an invitation was given by Te Rauparaha and Matene te
After the church was built the Archdeacon was very active in labouring to have the old boarding college and school built, and when it was completed he took thirty Maori girls and boarded them in his own house, and did his best to engage them in profitable and useful occupations. He laboured hard amongst the Maoris in putting down slavery, and at length, having released hundreds on this coast, who but for him would have been in slavery still, he lived together with the natives, and laboured as one of them; and, being bound together in one common cause of missionary work, by the best of all bonds, Christian love, he neglected no part of his wide diocese. Both races were alike the object of his care. Now there stands his memorial church, Rangiatea. He wielded a great influence over the natives, and often preserved peace amongst them at great personal risk to himself. He taught hundreds of Maoris to read and write their own language. The results, however, were not so satisfactory as had been anticipated, for Maoris who had learned to read and write soon began to "fancy" themselves, and got into pakeha society—where they generally succeeded in getting their morals corrupted. My memory of his life's work at Otaki, as well as the striking and noble proofs of his administration which are to be seen all round, impels me to testify to his good work. The character of such men as the late Archdeacon. Williams is calculated to call forth the very best, not only of the Maoris, but of all, whether Christians or heathens.
In my opinion, the best tribute which the Ngatiraukawas can pay to his memory is to become Christians, and show their love to the church Rangiatea. He worked together with the Ngatiraukawa, against the trusters of the Porirua Trust, in their efforts to have the new college established in Otaki, and the interest he took in this important work deserved better fruit. He taught all the tribes of this district that they ought not to hate and destroy, but to love and do good to one another; and when the Maoris learned his words of wisdom they ceased to go to war against each other, and all the tribes became one people, and peaceful inhabitants: they began to build large houses, because there were no enemies to pull them down; they cultivated their lands, and had abundance of bread, because no hostile tribes
O, chiefs and tribes of the Ngatiraukawa, you have
The Maoris, probably because they live closer to nature (whose mysteries they do not understand) than the Europeans, are naturally superstitious. One of their strongest antipathies is to the lizard, of which they are greatly afraid, and which they look upon as truly an animal of ill-omen. The species of lizard known by the Maoris under the name of kaweau (probably the same as the kueo) is to them a creature of evil omen. Should you—they say—see fresh signs of its tracks in your dwelling, or should it cross your path, you may prepare to start for the underworld without delay, for the reptile was sent by your dead and gone relations as a sign that you are soon to join them in the reinga (literally the spirit leap), or spiritland.
According to the Maori religious convictions, as far as he has any, he has a belief in a future state. After the spirit departs from the body, it betakes itself unto the reinga, which the Maori believes somewhat vaguely to be in the underworld, and there the departed spirit joins its ancestors and all who have gone before. Strange to say, although the Maori while on earth has so many tutelar deities, he knows of none in the future state. On earth his destiny is guided by the God of the Rainbow (the God of War), the God of Darkness or Night, the God of Light, these being the principal Gods which are known collectively as the Atua. Subsidiary to these Gods are the spirits, or the Wairua. There are many of these who work for both good and evil, and affect the fate of the Maori accordingly. After death, however,
The tapu, or sacred tohunga (or priest) in the old days was a very important person, and loomed largely in the life of the Maori. He presided over and directed all ceremonies and customs which were of a religious character, as they understood religion. The tohunga also pretended to power by means of the assistance of certain familiar spirits to fortell future events, and even in some instances to exercise control over the tribe and its affairs, including the affairs of the rangatira, or chief, himself. The belief in the power of the tohunga to fortell events was very strong, and the incredulous pakeha who laughed at their power was considered by the Maoris a person quite incapable of understanding or appreciating the plainest evidence. I must allow that some of their predictions were of a most daring nature, and happening to come true in many cases, there may be some excuse for the ignorant natives believing in them.
It is also remarkable that the tohungas did not pretend to divine future events by any knowledge or power inherent in themselves. They pretended for the time being to be inspired by the familiar spirit, and passive in his hands. This spirit entered into them, and on being questioned, gave a response in a sort of half whistling, half articulate voice, supposed to be the proper language of spirits. I have known a tohunga who, having made a false prediction, laid the blame on the trickery of the spirit, who, he said, had purposely spoken falsely for certain good and spiritual reasons, which he then explained.
Amongst the fading customs and beliefs of the old times the tohunga still holds sway, and he is often consulted by the natives, though not so openly as was the case sixty-eight years ago. He is still firmly believed in, even by natives who are profes-sed Christians, and the inquiries are often of vital importance to the enquirer. A certain tohunga was quite lately, to my knowledge, paid a large sum of money to perform a miracle. There is no equivalent word for the English word miracle in the Maori language, but of my own knowledge he was requested to accomplish an impossibility, and accepted payment for the attempt. The Maoris are very jealous of any knowledge on the part of the white man of their rites, as they know the pakeha laughs at their belief in them, and they consequently conceal them from us as much as possible. The tohungas, or priests,
It should be explained that the tohunga of the olden days, and he of the present day, are quite different persons. The tohunga of the old times was legitimate in his professions, as far as such a person could be said to be legitimate. Only chiefs, and the sons of chiefs, of the highest rank could be possessed of the sacred power, and even they from their youth upward had a special training in Maori lore, customs, and traditions, as well as the supposed spiritual gift. Now a days a race of impostors has sprung up, who pretend to have the same power, even though they have neither birth nor training, which were some of the qualifications formerly required, and whereas the old tohunga was not necessarily mercenary, the motive for the present day tohungas' practices are almost invariably greed and avarice. To
According to Maori traditions, when Rangi and Papa, the sky father and the earth mother, came into being, they embraced each other as husband and wife, and produced certain beings who were the origin of personification of trees, birds, fish, wilds, war, peace, etc., and these children, objecting to the
I have noted that after a man marries he will, when he obtains something suitable, make a present to his parents-in-law, also that if a wife's parents see that she is badly off they often try to help her by giving her things. It sometimes occurs that
As already observed, many statements have been made by writers that the Maori had no marriage rite, but that a couple smply agreed to live together, and that was all there was about
In speaking or writing of the customs of other peoples, more especially those of the more primitive races, we are much too apt to set up as a standard of propriety, etc., our own rites and customs, and if those of the people under discussion do not coincide with our own, then they are condemned as improper, inadequale, or ridiculous, or statements are made that no such customs exist among the Maoris. These things are wearying beyond measure.
The Maori marriage system was a very good one for a people living in their state. It was considerably in advance of the
The umu kotore was the marriage feast of the Maori—that is to say, of the aristocratic marriage before mentioned. It was at this function that certain invocations were repeated by the priest over the couple. In the first place, the priest repeats a prayer, or invocation, over the twain to preserve them in health and prosperity, to ward off from them evil, physical or otherwise. After this the pair enjoy the rights of married people.
A favourite amusement amongst Native children in the good old times, was a moori (Native swing), consisting of a number of flax cords fastened from the top of a pole which is usually fixed into the ground on the sloping side of a bank. The children, when swinging, take hold of the cords, running down the bank, strike out into the air and swing back again to the bank. Occasionally they run round in a circle as in the gymnasium of Europeans. This amusement is rarely to be seen. The only place I have seen it was on the banks of the villages of Manawatu.,
The numerous groups of children upon the sea beach and shore lent much animation to the scene. Old age, middle age, and children were all well represented, though on the shore the first and last were considerably in the majority—the youngster just able to walk alone, and who, reed in hand, was receiveing from some older baby his first lesson in the spear exercise; the old
Animated as all these groups were, not a hasty exclamation, not a quarrelsome sound was to be heard. Discord was unknown; days, weeks, and months passed without an angry word being spoken; without an oath being uttered; indeed, the Maori language was almost absolutely destitute of profane terms, the term "curse it" being such an awful one that it was only applied to a public enemy, or those about to become so, and its use was almost invariably a sign of immediate war.
In the open air the Maori entered life, in the much loved open air he spent his existence, and in the open air his spirit took its departure from the mortal tenement it had inhabited. The field of battle was considered the most fitting death-led for a warrior, failing which the more sudden his departure the better pleased, or perhaps we should say, the less grieved were his friends. A lingering illness was deprecated, as entailing useless pain and trout:le upon the sufferer and his family, and, above all things, death within doors was avoided, for the departing spirit would thereby have felt insulted, cribbed, cabined, and confined.
There being no machinery in those days, all the large trees acting as pillars in buildings such as the Otaki Maori Church were erected, as was the Maori custom, by hand labour. Te Rauparaha got Natives from the Manawatu district to come down and do the carrying, which is indeed a work of art. The lace work was also carried out by these people. It was in the good times when Christianity spread through the Maori tribes with amazing rapidity. We rejoiced over their capability for accepting doctrines of high and pure religion, never perceiving that they accepted it simply because they thought from our superiority in ships, arms, tools, and material prosperity m general, that the mana (i.e., luck, power,
Talking of bygone habits and customs of the Maori, in those good old times, when first I came to New Zealand, we shall never see their like again. Since then the world seems to have gone wrong, a dull sort of world this is now; the very sun does not seem to me to shine as bright as it used, and potatoes and fruit have degenerated, and everything seems unprofitable. But those were the times, the good old times, before Governors were invented, when everyone did as he liked, except when his neighbours would not let him (the more shame for them) and when, there were no taxes, or duties, or public works, or public to require them. The Maoris were bigger and stouter in those days, and money was useless, and little did I think in those days that I should ever see here towns, Prime Ministers, and Bishops, and hear sermons preached, and all other civilisation and plagues. Here I am now, a good 80 years ahead, and the deplorable state of affairs which began when this country became a British colony, I did not think it would come to. I give my true idea of the good old times. I have lived amongst the Maoris as one of themselves, helped them, and have been helped by them in peace and in war. I know their good qualities, and their bad ones, their knowledge and their ignorance, their wisdom and their folly. I think if we had acted more on the motto, "Be just, and fear not," in our dealings with the Maoris, it would have been better for both races. I believe our intentions have been excellent, but most of them have gone to pave a well-known road. All can hope is that the road will never reach its terminus.
I will relate the following story, and will tell it as it was told to me. It was in the good old times. We had kiwi and weka hunting, pigeons and kaka (parrot) shooting, spearing eels and fish by torch-light on the sandy and muddy flats of our rivers. At the fall of the leaf of the tree, and in the winter, we lived on the harvest we had gathered in the summer and autumn. We had our games, too. The kaihotaka (humming tops) were a great amusement to all, and the different tones sounded by these tops as they flew off the ground and bounded in the air from the lash of the muka (dressed flax) whips, sounded like the string of a harp when one of them is struck singly. We had the haka, too, and the dance. We loved music, not the discordant scraping sound of the fiddle I have heard played in a public-house, and danced to by intoxicated pakehas. Our music was what even our oldest warriors and priests used to listen to with pleasure. The flocks of little birds who welcomed the rising and sang the setting of the sun to rest, ming
The records I have in connection with the Maori occupation and settlement of the place where we now live, and the immediate surrounding country, are exceedingly meagre. The reason is obvious to any person who has had any considerable experience in the ways of the ancient Maori. As we are all aware, the whole of this country, with very limited exceptions, was originally bush-covered, and if we except one or two tracks, was not crossed by any highway. Moreover, these tracks were by paths; they did not form a recognised communication between populated parts of the country. Land so circumstanced—bush-covered and pathless—has never loomed large in the history of the Maori people. Before the advent of the Europeans, the bush-covered lands were only of value to the Maoris, and were only utilised by them, as places of food supply, and game preserves, and even in this connection the valued area was limited. The native game of the country, especially the wood-pigeon and the kaka, usually restricted themselves to certain more or less well-defined spaces, while berries grew mostly on the outskirts, rarely in the centre of the forest, so that to the old-time Maori bush country in general formed a possession of little value, except in as much as that the streams running through it held eels.
As far as the Native Land Court records run, the Natives always proved the title of their tribe to the mana over certain land by matters relating to the feeding of the tribe's people. Their places for snaring birds or steeping berries, and actual cultivation, these alone were matters of moment to the old Maori. It is on these that stress is laid in asserting title to the Natives. An easy and comfortable supply of food was of the utmost moment, and old-time difficulties in obtaining it moulded deep into his character another trait—that of jealousy of other tribes, especially in matters pertaining to the occupation of lands. The Maori brooked, so far as he could sustain his possession, no interference with his feeding-places. Defined landmarks were always set, and were considered true boundaries between the lands of adjoining tribes.
Similarly the hapus had their well-marked spheres of influence, and, in the vast majority of cases, specially defined areas of the land under the oegis of their particular tribe, but both the boundaries and the area for that reason did not lend themselves to marked dispute, except incidentally. So it was with the greater extent of the Manawatu block. But, passing to a consideration of the large block forming the countryside around, the prospect clears, and we get more definite detail. Dealing generally with the land between the Rangitikei and the Manawatu rivers, we find, when history dawned early in the last century, that the whole of the country was occupied by branches of the Rangitane tribe, which had fought its way from the East Cape, and by their allied tribes, the Ngatiapa and Muau- poko. As between themselves, the Muaupoko held the southern portions, the Ngatiapa the northern, while in the centre were the Rangitane. The main habitations in the Manawatu district were those of this latter tribe along the banks of the Oroua and Manawatu rivers, where food was plentiful. Here they had populous settlements and large pahs. The tribes were numbered in thousands. In one expedition twelve hundred took part, and they I lived then secure and prosperous in the open and fertile country. The bush and mountain pahs came later, and formed, as is usual with the Natives, the cause of troublous times. Early in the century, at a date placed variously from
The scene of this murder, so fatal to the tribes concerned, was at Papaitonga, where Dr. Duller was living, situated on the beautiful lake of the same name. This place is one of the masterpieces of nature. A small island rises in the lake, bush clad to the water's edge. The ferns, nikau, kowhai, and other native trees, are reflected in the perfect mirror of the lake. Here was the pah of Toheriri, a leader of the Muaupoko, and here Te Rauparaha was invited to a friend visit, the bait held out being the promise of some war canoes. Te Rauparaha went with his wives, his children, and a handful of followers, and in the darkness the entire party except Te Rauparaha and a little girl were murdered. The great chief escaped, and swore a signal revenge. He swore to kill the Muaupoko and Ngatiapa from early morn till dewy eve, and well he kept his word. He hunted them on land, he hunted them in the mountains, he followed them to their lake fortresses, to Lake Waiputa, a fortification in the Horowhenua lake. His men swam off to take the great Papaitonga pah of Waikiekie. They dragged their canoes overland. In each case the same rate befel the defenders. They were cut down to a man, woman, or child, and the lovely little island of Papaitonga still hides legions of dead men's bones. This was the fate of the Muaupoko; nor did the Rangitane and Ngatiapa fare much better. He (Te Rauparaha) harried them with his Ngatitoa allies and the war parties of Ngatimaemae, Ngatipikiaha and Ngatimaniapoto. Hapus of the Raukawa spread over the land from the Oroua to the Rangitikei as far north as Kakariki. Awahuri, Turuhakahepua, and Puketotara. Wherever these pso-
In
The terrible massacre of the wife and several children of Mr Gilfillan occurred in
The armed party made all haste to the farm, and soon reached the hill commanding a view of the valley, from where they saw a heap of smoking ruins. Soon they came on a heap of corpses. The poor mother's head had been mangled by repeated blows with a heavy wood-axe. Close by lay the body of the eldest daughter, her skull split nearly in two; and close to her the body of a young child. All had evidently been struck down in flight; the tottering steps of the little one appeared to have retarded the flight of the mother and sister. As they gazed on the dreadful spectacle, the cries of a child were heard from a neighbouring cowshed. There lay the body of a boy about ten years old, and near him, lying on its face, with arms outstretched, a baby apparently dead, but which was found to be sleeping and unhurt. Entering the shed, the police were horror-stricken by another ghastly sight. There sat a girl about seventeen, a deep tomahawk wound in her forehead, and her fair hair dabbled with blood, which flowed over another baby that she held in her lap. As the men entered, the child smiled through the mask of blood on its face, and crowed with delight.
Through what a long and dreadful night must that poor girl have passed! The flames of her home lighting up her place of refuge, and the bodies of her mother and the children around her, and the dread that the savage murderers might at any moment return and complete their work! Early in the morning a party of armed police and settlers arrived, the four dead bodies were removed to town; also the sadly-mangled and almost lifeless body of the second daughter, and the two babies who had escaped uninjured.
In the course of the same day the murderers were captured
In
Although it is only a comparatively short time ago since Christianity was introduced among the Natives, the memory of the events which led to such a remarkable change in the Maoris is already becoming indistinct, even to those who were closely connected with the principal actors in those early days. The Christian religion was first introduced to the Maoris in the vicinity of the Bay of Islands by the Rev. Samuel Marsden, in the pear
In
At the time of the birth of Te Rauparaha, and for many generations previous to that time, the Ngatitoa tribe occupied the country between Kawhia and Mokau, and extending back from the coastline to the slopes of the Pirongia ranges and the chain of mountains which bound the valley of the Waipa and Mangarama. This tribe, in fact, claim to have held this country ever since its settlement by their ancestor, Hoturoa, a leading chief among those who are said to have come from Hawaiki in the Tainui canoe. Hoturoa is also said to be the ancestor of the Ngatiraukawa, Ngatihowhata and Ngatimaniopoto tribes, the order of descent being made as follows:—From Hoturoa, through Hotumatapu and Koume, sprang Raka, whose eldest son, Tauhawa was the father of Toa Rangatira, the actual founder of the Ngatitoa as a separate tribe, and from whom they derive their name. From another son of Raka, named Kakati, through Tawhoa and Turanga, sprang Raukawa, from whom the Ngatiraukawa derive their name. From Toa Rangatira, in direct descent, came Kimihia, who married a Ngatiraukawa woman named Parekowhatu. These two were the parents of Te Rauparaha, and of his sister Waitohi, the mother of Rangihaeata. Wai-
The beginning of the colonisation by Edward Wakefield was in
The late Mr T. W. Mackenzie, whose death at Wellington was chronicled just recently, was a type of the straight-going, kind-hearted, clean-living pioneers who have left their mark on the history of the city of Wellington, and also that of New Zealand. His life was made up of deeds, rather than words, and he was a man naturally modest and unobtrusive in his be-
Mr Mackenzie arrived in Wellington in
Mr Mackenzie was the first corresponding secretary of the Manchester Order of Oddfellows in New Zealand, and it was he who wrote to Manchester for the charters of the first six, lodges opened in the Dominion, He acted as honorary secretary of the Widows and Orphans Fund of the I.O.O.F., M.U., from
The late Mr Mackenzie was held in lifelong respect and esteem in Wellington, where he played so important a part in its early progress, He was a fine sample of the stalwart and invincible British colonists who have converted New Zealand from a desolate land, occupied only by a cannibalistic race, to a sunny fertile land, on which is to be found an enlightened, flourishing, and happy people.
Note.—In connection with the detail of events which lead up to the capture of Te Rauparaha—printed on page 3 of this pamphlet—I would like to add the following Te Rauparaha was taken prisoner at Porirua by Governor Grey without sufficient pretext. It appears that a letter was written by Mamaku and Rangihaeata, who signed Te Rauparaha's name to the espistle, and forwarded it to the chiefs of Potutokotoku, at Wanganui, and by means of this information the great chieftain's arrest ultimately followed. Tamihana te Rauparaha was at school at this time in Auckland, and did not see the capture of his father. When Tamihana te Rauparaha arrived in Wellington, he went on board the Calliope, the man-o'-war in which his father was a prisoner, to see him. They cried together, after which Te Rauparaha said to his son: "Go to your tribes, and tell them to remain in peace. Do not return evil for evil; you must love the Europeans. I was arrested through the lies of the people. If I had been taken prisoner in battle it would have been well, but I was unjustly taken." After this Tamihana and Matene te Whiwhi returned to the shore, and went to Porirua, and there saw the Ngatitoas and Rawhiri Puaha, to whom they repeated Te Rauparaha's words respecting doing good and living at peace. They then went on to Otaki, and told the same story to the Natives. It was Rangihaeata who wished to destroy Wellington. Tamihana and Matene te Whiwhi told Rangihaeata that he must put an end to this foolish desire.
Prior to his retirement from office the Hon. J. A. Millar, then Minister of Labour, decided that the statistical information on the cost of living, collected by the Department of Labour last year, should be compiled and published. The Editor of the Labour Journal was deputed to do so, and the information is presented in this pamphlet.
Although the returns received from householders were comparatively few in number, considering the total number of booklets distributed, it was felt that in the absence of any prior statistics on the matter it would be best to publish what were obtained.
We consider that the results, now published in the following article, will be of considerable value to all those interested in economics. The figures certainly show that the data supplied has come almost exclusively from those workers who are thrifty and careful, and on this account they may therefore be considered of special interest, as the community generally is mainly concerned in "the struggle for existence" by those who practise economy in household and general expenditure.
To those families who have contributed towards the inquiry we have to express our sincere thanks. We are aware of the very great care and diligence necessary in keeping the record faithfully, and hope that should a similar inquiry be conducted on a future occasion the Department will receive the same ready assistance. The Department would be willing, if the promise of a more general support could be given, to undertake a similar inquiry covering not only the main centres, but the whole of the Dominion.
Published first in the April number of the Journal of the Department of Labour. Since publication in that journal, the figures in some of the returns have been subject to minor amendments.
Nature of Inquiry.—For some rears past the Department has been looking for guiding principles to enable it to present to the public reliable data as to the cost of living. As to whether or not the inquiry should be one of personal visitation to householders by departmental officers, or whether it would be best to obtain statistics from those who volunteered to help by keeping a record of weekly receipts and expenditure, was decided finally in favour of the latter method. This decision was largely influenced by the fact that the Commonwealth of Australia had put in hand an inquiry with the object of gaining comprehensive and reliable information in regard to the cost of living in Australia. Copies of small account-books were distributed among 1,500 householders throughout the Commonwealth, in which provision was made for weekly records to be kept of all receipts and expenditure for the twelve-monthly period
The Commonwealth Statistician (Mr. G. H. Knibbs) very courteously supplied this Department with full information concerning the method employed, and, with some modifications, the same system was eventually followed in New Zealand. The Department, however, proposed to limit its inquiry to the four chief centres of New Zealand, and to endeavour, as far as possible, to seek the co-operation of bona fide workers only. The agents at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin were therefore instructed to eliminate as far as possible from the inquiry all persons such as (a) those who kept boarders, (b) those where there
d) those whose incomes exceeded £250 per annum. Every publicity was given to the fact that such an inquiry was about to be made, and the Department received evidence of hearty support by trade-unionists and workers generally.
Distribution of Account-books.—A total of 2,000 books were sent to the agents in the four chief centres to distribute. The then Secretary for Labour (Mr. E. Tregear) issued the following instructions to the agents of the Department at the centres named:—
For some years it has been the desire of the Department to obtain some reliable statistics in regard to the cost of living, but the difficulty has been to get a method. In the Commonwealth of Australia inquiry has been instituted, and particulars have come to hand as to the means adopted. It is now proposed to conduct an inquiry here on similar somewhat lines, but on a more united scale.
I enclose herewith a few sample booklets which it is proposed to issue to 750 workers in each of the four chief centres. These will be sent to you later for distribution. If possible, we wish to limit the inquiry to married men who are supporting children under, say, fourteen years of age, and where the father is the sole breadwinner, earning £250 per year or less. All odd cases such as where no rent is paid, where boarders are kept, or rooms rented, &c, should not be included. With the booklets will be issued circulare containing full instructions as to the method of keeping the book.
Will you please report to me promptly whether you anticipate any difficulty in distributing these 750 copies, and generally what steps you propose as to their distribution. I suggest that you obtain the cooperation of the union officials in this matter; but I would like you to consult other workers not connected with unions, such as persons engaged in clerical pursuits, either in the Civil Service or in private business concerns.
It should be understood that the whole of the information is to be treated as strictly confidential, and the names of the persons giving the information need not be entered on the booklets themselves; but it is advisable that yon should keep a list showing all the persons supplied, so that the forms may be collected at the end of the twelve months.
The books sent were not all issued. Despite the efforts or" the agents not more than 1,800 were distributed, but even if 50 per cent, of these had been returned to Wellington at the conclusion of the twelve months it would have enabled the Department to compile even more useful and interesting returns than those which follow. It is therefore a matter for very great regret that the actual response has been so disappointing. The number of account-books received of any practical use number only sixty-nine. Most of the householders concerned reported that the books had become disused after some weeks, while others bad lost them. It was evident, however, that the long period over which the book had to be kept, combined with the work entailed, were responsible in
The period covered by the New Zealand returns was from the
The weekly account-books issued by the Department provided a page for the receipts and expenditure to be entered weekly. Each page was in the following form:—
In addition, on the first page, householders were asked to give the town in which they resided, street address, number and ages of children, and occupation of husband. A specimen page, properly filled in, was printed and issued with each book, together with instructions for guidance of those helping with the inquiry.
Early in
The result of the Australian inquiry was published in
Structure of Families.—The first table shows the membership of families comprised in the returns. The total number dealt with is 312, and includes 12 boarders and 2 dependants, besides husbands, wives, and children. In every case it will be noted that the homes were complete as far as husbands and wives were concerned. In no instance were servants kept.
In the 69 families dealt with 26 comprised over four members, and the remaining 43 had under four members. The children numbered 160, or an average of 2.32 per family. The Australian figures are, respectively, 107 with over four members and 105 under four members, whilst children total 522, or an average of 2.46.
In the following table the members of the families over the age of thirteen years are divided into sex groups whilst the children are divided into ages only. It will be noted that children over the ages of sixteen years come in one income section only—that over £169. The earnings of these children added to that of the father accounts in most instances for the extra earnings over those shown in the other groups where no such assistance is available. There is a total of 133 children shown in the lower-age groups and 27 in the higher—i.e., over 80 per cent, of the children concerned in the New Zealand statistics are absolutely dependent on the parents for maintenance.
In order to show the class of workers concerned in the inquiry the next table is given. It classifies the occupations of heads of families into five broad divisions—(a) "Unskilled labour," includes such persons as general labourers, porters, packers, &c.; (b) "Skilled labour," artisans and tradesmen such as plumbers, tailors, bookbinders, &c.; (c) "Commercial," those engaged in trade, such as shop-assistants; (d) " Clerical," includes clerks; (e) "Professional," detective and schoolmaster.
Sources of Incomes.—This table shows from what sources the several incomes are derived. In 39 out of the 69 cases the earnings of the husband alone contributed to the upkeep of the family, whilst in the remaining 30 cases assistance is given by children and boarders. In 10 instances the family incomes are added to by the sale of eggs, vegetables, &c.
In the whole of the 69 returns the general average income per week is £3 4s. 3d. The actual lowest average is £2 8s. and the actual highest £3 17s. old. The Australian table shows a general average of £4: 13s. Id.; the lowest average income is quoted at £2 18s. 5d., and the highest £6 16s. 4d.
Dividing the incomes according to occupations, it is found that the weekly averages for each section are as follow :—
The average income and expenditure in each group, and their relation, are given in the following table:—
The figures plainly indicate that the smaller families have a greater surplus than the larger families. Calculated over a twelve-monthly period the actual savings are as follow:—
It will be seen that the expenditure actually exceeds the income by 2s. 6d. weekly (or £6 10s. annually) in the group showing over four in family and receiving under £143 income. This result is obtained on the records of ten families, five of which show actual losses, and the remaining five surpluses. An illustration of the above figures is given by means of Chart C following:—
The four main items of expenditure are dealt with in the above tables—viz., housing, food, clothing, and fuel and light. The heading "Other Items" covers all expenditure that cannot be included under the four main headings, and is dealt with in detail in the table on page 25. The tables above arc shown in two ways, both as to actual money-expenditure and as percentages of the total expenditure.
Comparing the expenditure, on the above lines, of two Wellington workers having somewhat similar incomes, but one having no family—simply husband and wife—and the other family comprising husband, wife, and four children, the chart herewith illustrates the position :—
The worker with no family spends very nearly the same sum weekly on food, but saves in rent, clothing, and other items, and at each week-end has a surplus of Is. 9½d. Apparently he buys more luxuries in the way of food than his co-worker who has a family, and his average expenditure on clothing is also higher. The family man pays 5s. more rent per week, 8Jd. more on food. Is. 1¾d. on clothing, and 3s. 3½d. on other items. His fuel and light expenses, however, are lighter to the extent of Is. 4½d. per week. This worker has no surplus at the week-end. The figures emphasize what the returns generally show, the favourable position, as far as expenditure is concerned, occupied by the familia possessing few, if any, children.
The general averages in the Australian inquiry are as follow:—
Before considering the New Zealand and Australian figures from a comparative point of view it is expedient, perhaps, to bring the figures down to a more common basis. As previously explained, the New Zealand returns show a weekly average income of £3 4s. 3d., whilst the Australian returns deal with a general average wage of £4 13s. Id. Out of the 212 Australian returns, 113 were received from citizens receiving £200 per year and less, whilst with ten exceptions the whole of the New-Zealanders received £200 or less. Comparing the results on this basis the following table shows the position:—
Excluding the expenditure on "other items," the New Zealand returns show, as do the Australian, that the cost of food is by far the most important factor, amounting to just over 34 per cent of the total expenditure. Next comes housing, 20.31, then, clothing, 1389; and fuel and light, 5.22. It would appear from this comparison that, with the exception of "other items" and food, the expenditure of Australian citizens was less than that of New-Zealanders. It should be borne in mind, however, that the comparison, although based on a common income standard, goes no further. In New Zealand, town workers were dealt with only; in Australia the returns were taken from all classes living in large and small towns, and from dwellers in remote country places. In the 113 Australian returns dealt with, 62 dwelt in metropolitan areas and 51 in rural districts.
The expenditure on food in the three New Zealand income groups is remarkably close, any material difference being accounted for by the number of persons concerned, the expenditure, of course, being higher in the larger families. The genera] average expenditure on food for families in the three sections containing four and over is 37 per cent, on total expenditure, and in the small-family groups, four and under, 32.9. Besides the comparison with Australia, a further table might be given, including the United States and Germany. Any comparison is rendered unsatisfactory owing to the inquiries not being conducted on similar lines, nor are wages, prices, social classifications, and general economic conditions the same. In America the
The three following returns therefore are given for what they are worth. They were quoted in Mr. Knibbs's statistics, and the New Zealand totals have simply been added.
The following table compares the above figures in another way. The New Zealand standard in each heading is taken as 100.
A somewhat better comparison can be given in the next return, showing the expenditure on food in the above countries, and, in addition, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium. Special inquiries were made in these three latter countries by the British Board of Trade during
On these figures New Zealand bears very favourable comparison. The weekly expenditure on food per head is lower than that of any other country compared, with the exception of Australia (£200 and under income group). The average percentage of expenditure on food on average income is also lowest with the exception of Australia.
Housing Accommodation.—The following table gives particulars concerning the ownership, leasing, and renting of houses:—
Of the 69 householders, 56 (or 81 per cent.) are paying rent, 5 are either paying interest on mortgages or are purchasing their homes by instalments, and the remaining 8 own their houses.
The average comparative rent paid by those renting houses in the four chief centres is given hereunder. It emphasizes what departmental statistics have hitherto shown, that the rents paid in Wellington City are from 25 per cent, to 30 per cent, higher than in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin. The return does not show the size, class, and locality of house concerned, but, at workers only have supplied the information, a general average has been struck for each centre.
According to the results of the census taken in D):—
So that the figures quoted in the above return approximate very closely to this larger and more comprehensive one.
Taking the Wellington rents on the foregoing census returns as representing the index-number 100, the following table compares the position with the other centers:—
In Sydney and Melbourne, returns from 54 householders show that in the former city 25 paid an average weekly rent of 17s. 10d., whilst in the latter city 29 paid 14s. 10½d. As in neither case are the incomes shown, the figures can hardly be compared with those given for the New Zealand cities.
Expenditure on Food.—This table further classifies the expenditure on food items, and shows the average amount spent according to income and size of family. The heaviest item is meat; then follow in sequence "other items," butter and cheese, vegetables, milk, bread, tea and coffee, and sugar.
Comparing this result with the Australian returns (incomes under £200) the following result obtains:—
The following return reduces the expenditure on food shown in the previous table to each unit in a family. It is valuable as shoving the general average cost for food per member over 69 New Zealand families. A feature of the return is that in the smaller families the expenditure on many of the food items is greater in proportion than in the larger families, pointing to the conclusion hereinbefore expressed that the small families do not practise the same economy in food-supplies, and spend more on food other than prime necessities.
Expenditure on Clothing.—The table following shows the expenditure per head per week for clothing over 300 persone (12 members were excluded, as being boarders, it was assumed, of course, that they purchased their own clothing). It will be noted that the expenditure on 300 heads was Is. 10½d. per week, or £4 17s. 6d. per year, or £21 6s. 10d. per family. In Australia, taking those with incomes under £200 only, the figures are Is. 9¼d. per head per week, or £4 12s. Id. per head per year.
Expenditure on Other Items.—This return shows the weekly expenditure on items other than housing, food, clothing, &c, each of which, with the exception of fuel and light, has been dealt with separately. The percentage of each item on the total expenditure is also shown. On examination of the general average it will be seen that, disregarding " other items," the greatest expenditure occurs in the following order : Groceries (not food), fares, insurance, friendly-society contributions, medical expenses, sport and amusement, tobacco, &c, education, rates and taxes, alcoholic beverages, and, finally, non-alcoholic beverages. Compared with the Australian return, the general averages make an interesting table, as follows :—
Some special notes might be made in respect to the averages shown in the preceding tables, especially in regard to those items of expenditure not spread over all the families concerned. In respect to alcoholic liquor, no less than 30, or 56 per cent., of the total of 69 families compared are teetotallers, and the average expenditure per week taken over the 30 is 9td. as compared with the general average of 4d. In 10 cases the weekly expenditure on liquor was over Is., whilst in 16 cases it was under 6d. As to tobacco and cigars, the average weekly expenditure is shown at 7½d., but, excluding the 26 non-smokers, it is found to be Is. In 21 instances there is an expenditure of over Is. per week, and in 9 eases the expenditure is less than 6d. A very high average weekly expenditure of 3s. 4d. is shown in one instance on tobacco, and, coincidentally, the man's calling is entered up as a "stoker." Six families only gave their expenses as "nil" for "sports and amusement,' the average all round being almost Is. per week. Friendly-society and trade-union contributions were paid by 63 families out of 69—an average of 91 per cent. As 33 families paid Is. and over, it is presumed that in nearly 50 per cent, of the 69 families dealt with the father belonged to a friendly society. In 21 instances the expenditure is put down at 6d. or less per week. Medical expenses averaged Is. Id. per family, and all excepting eight books show expenditure under this heading. The highest expenditure for any one family averaged 4s. 4¾d. per week (illness of child), whilst another averaged 3s. 4¾d. (maternity). In 30 cases the expenditure exceeded Is. per week, whilst in 31 it was below that sum. As most of the workers rent their houses and have comparatively small incomes, this possibly explains the low average (5d.) for rates and taxes. Out of 69 returns, 21 actually paid rates. Life and fire insurance was paid in all but 13 cases; in 20 cases 2s. per week and over was spent, whilst 24 paid under Is. per week. It is obvious, therefore, that in these latter families the parents have made no life-insurance provision, but that the expenditure given merely insures their furniture against fire. The very large extent that the trams are used in our cities is perhaps responsible for the high average expenditure of Is. 8d. weekly on fares. Every family but 2 shows expenditure under this head. In 25 cases the expenditure is 2s. or over, whilst in 34 instances Is. 6d. or less is shown. As to
Conclusion.—As has been stated, the usefulness of the foregoing facts and figures would undoubtedly have been greatly enhanced had the Department been able to collect more returns. It is possible that over a wider field the results in some of the headings would have been materially affected, as it is safe to assume that the returns received and reported upon emanated mainly from the more careful and thrifty members of the community. This deduction is borne out by the facts already noted in regard to the high average amounts expended on friendly-society contributions and the low averages recorded in respect to intoxicating liquors and sundry items. It will be generally admitted, however, that some very useful information has been given, and if the publication of these returns leads to the creation of a wider public interest in the question the Department may possibly at some future time see fit to try and secure more comprehensive data. Possibly some more simple method may be devised, so that the work entailed on householders will not be so great. Similar inquirid into the cost of living over thousands of families have already been made by the United States of America and Germany, whilst the British Board of Trade has published, on information collected by special agents, very complete statistics in regard to the cost of living in Great Britain itself, Germany, France, Belgium, and the United States of America. Owing to the small number of returns received the New Zealand and Australian statistics are not capable of being closely compared with the results obtained abroad, and the tables published in this report are given with some reluctance, as the basis of comparsion is merely approximate, and therefore lose much of their value.
The following return shows details of weekly expenditure by workers receiving somewhat similar incomes in each of the four centres:—
Individual comparisons, however, are not satisfactory, as each family appears to differ in some respects in regard to the manner and mode of living. Some are vegetarians; some husbands smoke and drink; some mothers are able to make up most of the children's clothing, whilst others have to purchase ready-made things, &c. The above, however, is a fairly representative group taken from the whole returns, and is given for general information. It may be desirable to point out that the statistics presented may tell a wider story than the Department has set out in the text, but the object aimed at was to present the figures so that the public concerned might form its own conclusions. It is to be regretted that the object sought by the Department was so little understood and realized that only a few score workers of New Zealand came to its assistance.
By Authority: John Mackay. Government Printer, Wellington.—
[1,200/4/12-4333
Dearly Beloved Brethren and Dear Children in Jesus Christ—
Some years ago we issued a Pastoral on Socialism, which we criticised more as an economic system than as a foe of Christianity. But the subject of this Pastoral shall be Socialism versus the Catholic Church.
In his immortal encyclical (on the 'Conditions of Labor'), the late supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII., raised his voice in no uncertain and faltering tone against this most insidious, specious, and dangerous error. With great eloquence and irresistible argument he demonstrated the utter untenableness of the principle on which it is based—namely, that the State should contrive, sooner or later, to appropriate all private property and convert it into common property, to transfer all capital, or the material of labor, or productive goods, to the State, whether the central or local Government. He showed how detrimental such a theory would prove to the laboring class for whose benefit it was invented; how it opposed the natural rights of every human being; how, in fact, it perverted the true purpose of the State, and would render the peaceful development of social life impossible.
As this great Pontiff's teachings on this subject are but those of the Catholic Church in relation to one particular species of modern error, it behoves us to provide you with a clear and forcible presentation of the same. And, in doing so, we shall be most careful to attribute no doctrine to Socialism which its chief scientific and accredited exponents have not again and again claimed and proclaimed to be their own.
In this exposition you will see that Socialism aims at a fourfold destruction—the destruction of Christianity—the destruction of Church authority—the destruction of the rights of property—and the destruction of the family; in other terms, the utter ruin of the four main foundations of Christian society and civilisation.
I. Socialism would Destroy Christianity.—Socialism assails Christianity, because it is based upon principles, religious, philosophical, and economic, which are directly antagonistic to Divine Revelation, The educated out-and-out Socialist of our day admits no distinction of spirit and matter in the universe. Everything is matter and motion. Man is a mere evolution from the brute. There is no such thing as a spiritual and an immortal soul. No immutable and eternal truth is set before the mind of man. There is no personal God, no Providence governing mankind, whose history, in all its phases and developments, has been shaped by two factors—production and exchange. Each age varies according to its economic conditions, and these—not any higher or holier influences—have by degrees wrought the present development of the human race. No interference of God in His own world, no mission of His only-begotten Son to save us—because there is no God, no Christ, no wrath to come from which we need salvation. Death ends all; and he is a fool who refuses to strive with might and main to have as large a share as he can grasp of the good things of this world, and to drink whatever he can drain from the cup of life.
II. Socialism would Destroy all Church Authority.—It assails the very principle of authority on which the Church of Christ stands. What does the principle of authority mean in practice? It means obedience for conscience sake; it means that the Christian conscience is trained to obey those who hold the place of God in this world—namely, those who are the legitimate representatives of order in the family, in the State, and in the Church. Among Christians worthy of the name the child is taught obedience to its parents; the wife due submission to her husband; the citizen obedience and loyalty to his Sovereign; the priest reverence and obedience to his Bishop; and the Bishop obedient veneration to the Vicar of Christ upon earth—the Pope. But the Socialist contends that all these inequalities in society, all distinctions between class and class, originated in fraud and are maintained by oppression. For him no authority, no yoke of law,
III. Socialism would Destroy the Rights of Property.—It attacks every man's natural right to acquire and to hold property. It denounces that rational and stable bond which the moral law protects, which humankind in all ages has respected, which enables man, by some just title, to unite to himself the good and useful things of creation. And so, here again, it antagonises Christianity. Sweeping away all the old titles to ownership, it erects in their room but one—that of labor. Labor alone, it says, and not the intrinsic usefulness of a thing, determines a thing's value as an article of exchange. Hence in its eyes accumulated wealth of any kind, whether in land or capital, is nothing but the hoarded yield of labor, and is unjustly withheld from the working-man whose labor went to make it. As though these things, the creation of God Himself, had no value independently of labor, when they become matter of barter, and labor, instead of being a mere marketable commodity which gets its price, were the sole producing factor in the fruits of agricul-
On this proposal we need only remark: (1) That if all the inhabitants of a country, or members of a community, consented to such a wholesale transfer of their property, justice indeed would not be violated, but the experiment would most certainly prove a huge economic failure. We may, however, rest assured that so vast a revolution, bent upon ruthlessly uprooting one of man's most powerful instincts j could not be effected without the most awful bloodshed ever seen in the world. And for this all thorough-going Socialists—to judge by their publications—seem prepared. (2) That the sole object which individuals and families sought, by coalescing into a State, and establishing a civil government, was that it might safeguard their already existing rights, and might maintain the substance of these rights, whilst adjusting them properly in their exercise. Consequently, the civil government possesses no greater power or authority than that which belonged to the individuals and families which constitute the State; and this, because no effect is greater than its cause, and no one can give what he has not got. As, therefore, neither individuals nor families surrendered any one of their existing rights, and could not give away one another's rights, when they united to form a State, the civil government is incompetent to confiscate their rights of property. (3) That Christianity has but one reply—and a peremptory one—to the Socialist, for Christianity is but the fulfilment of the Old Law, and in the Old Law we read: 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything which is his' (Deut. v. 21). And again: 'Thou shalt not steal' (ib., v. 19).
IV. Socialism would Destroy the Family.—As though all this were not enough, Socialism aims at the destruction of the family. No doubt it is untrue that all who call themselves Socialists preach the abominable doctrine of free love, yet the dissolution of the family is a necessary consequence of their official teaching, and their official demands. Because their tenets are grounded on Materialism and Atheism, they afford no
From all this it follows that Catholicism and Socialism are utterly incompatible—they are opposed to each other as much as light is opposed to darkness. Wherefore we solemnly warn Catholics not to let themselves be cajoled into error by such as think that they see in the establishment of the Socialistic State a cure for all the plagues of suffering humanity. Socialism is a Utopian dream or craze. It is impracticable, and would bring about a far worse condition of things than the one which in many ways is most deplorable. Above all, it is flatly adverse to the teaching of our faith. No real Catholic can be a thorough-going Socialist. But
Our flock will now know how to gauge at its true value the frequent assertion of Socialists, anxious to gain over unwary Catholics to their evil cause, that the 'Socialist party is primarily an economic and political movement. It is not concerned with matters of religious belief.' (Resolution of Socialists in National Convention assembled at Chicago, campaign and propaganda purposes—mark the hypocrisy—by a majority of only one vote out of 157 votes cast. One of the speakers asserted—and he was not contradicted—that 99 per cent of the Socialists are Atheists or Agnostics. If out of a hundred Catholics who join the Socialist party in the United States of America 99 finally become Agnostics, or virtually so, it is simply an untruth to assert that Socialism is not concerned with religion. And the true reason for the loss of faith on the part of Catholics, is not any profound science or truth contained in Socialist literature, since in both it is glaringly deficient, but the fact that in affiliating themselves with Socialism, they have by that very act disregarded the authority of Christ and His Church, by associating themselves with an organisation which is begotten and reared in Materialism, and which has never cleared itself of this original sin; an organisation whose
Let Catholics remember that, wherever Socialism is rife and aggressive, its danger for them is its ultimate absorption of Labor unions. That is its ambition and object. Beware of its insidious advances and its hollow mendacious promises. Its attitude towards the Church is sufficiently clear. Its interest in the trade unions, as Socialists themselves declare, is to change them into revolutionary centres. 'Unionism,' says a noted one of them, 'is the body, and Socialism is the soul of the Labor movement.' Such is at least their dream.
Accordingly, we solemnly warn Catholics to keep aloof from all Socialist propaganda. Socialism is—we repeat—founded on a class hatred which is anti-Christian and anti-National. Eschew it in every shape and form, and follow the noble ideal of justice for all, the ideal of Christ and His Church. He wished to be descended from royalty and wealth and to be laid in a tomb of the rich; but He was born into the labor-world, and in this He chose to live. It was a school of laborers He drew about Him, in the persons of His Disciples, and by the mouth of workers did He evangelise the world, having neither hatred towards the rich, nor contempt for authority, but justice and love for all, and the coming of the Kingdom of God. Healing like Him the temporal wounds of mankind, we shall lift up our gaze to the Cross whence alone salvation can come to the world.
We terminate by setting before you for your earnest consideration the recommendation of the Joint Circular of the Archbishop and Bishops of New Zealand, issued at their Conference in Wellington last June: 'The Clergy are recommended to study social questions, to watch the trend and progress of the social movement, and to provide for the extended circulation of the various pamphlets of the Catholic Truth Society dealing with Socialism from various points of view.'
Given at Wellington, on this the
N.Z. Tablet Print, Octagon, Dunedin—162
Fellow-Countrymen and Women,—
I purpose appealing to you on a subject which should be—but unfortunately is not—dearer to you than any other whatever. Although it is the one subject which involves the whole question of our happiness or misery on this Earth, we are too apt to give it other than a passing thought. That subject is the Gold system, the system which includes the standard medium of exchange, destroying Silver. Think of the power which we have been compelled to give to this Gold sytem: Gold, a word of but four letters. Yet exclusive of our beloved word, God, is there any other word in our language of such tremendous import to our human race as the word Gold? The terms father, mother, sister, brother, terms which make for the humaneness of humanity, are weak compared with the terrible, cruel, bloodthirsty, vindictive, lecherous, ambitious, destructive and lying force which the unholy term Gold comprises and comprehends.
I ask you to consider seriously and to decide as to whether we are to continue to allow the malignant influence of the Gold system to develop without check? To develop and spread its noxious influence like a foul leperous cancer which seizes in its deadly grip out most beloved ones, a darling child, a strong bread-winner, a comely maiden. So it is that under a system which creates unequal distribution of wealth, an old couple who should—by the common law of love and humanity—expect to end their days peacefully in the arms of their family, are hurried off to an almshouse to linger on without solace, and finally sink into paupers' graves. What horror is here! What wreck of family ties! What a wrench from all those and those only who are dearest to us! And why is this? It is because of the power of the Gold system and its unequal distribution; a system which fills the coffers of some few and privileged, at the same time denying to millions of us even a bare glimpse of it. Once again I ask of you: Are we to continue to allow this sordid and cruel influence to dominate and control our every act and every hour of our earthly existence? Surely not; perish the thought; we have the power to control it did we but use that power. Let us then declare that man, who bears upon his noble brow the" impress of his Divine Creator, will no longer sit quietly under the shadow of this Golden Calf; that he will rise In his outraged might and put an effective curb upon this wretched and misery-creating Gold system; and that he will bring in once more its kindlier and ancient partner. Silver, as the recognised and legal standard of exchange.
The more striking facts about Gold and Capitalism are well known to all. The capitalists claim that Gold must rule the world by ruling in the matter of value all other precious metals, and with this the comfort and happiness of our people. It is therefore quite clear that whilst this Gold system is allowed to continue a man who can control its operations can rule a Nation of people. The mighty capitalists of the world, they who in their generations have amassed Gold, are in a position to dictate to God's inheritors of this earth as
Gold governs the duplicate in the cradle (that sacred name cradle), and the little God-angel, smiling and chirping under its canopy of white, little dreaming that through the power of Gold he may never have a playmate to share his baby joys. The poor parents, in their unhappy and inevitable poverty, fold their arms and offer up a prayer to the Golden Calf to give them employment, bread for their babe, and to be merciful. But, in the history of Nations, can we find records setting forth the philanthropy to humanity suffering, and the mercy exhibited towards the struggling poor by capitalists? No. These robber barons, the kings and imperators who have blighted and devastated whole countries, blotting tribes off the earth, these were—compared to the Gold capitalists—gentle and merciful.
Fellow-countrymen, in warning you that capitalists are ever busy forging new links to the chains which already bind us. I proceed to give you some particulars which are calculated to make you think, and think very hard.
Since the earliest times a system of exchanging commodities has been common to man. This was known as barter. One man has exchanged, say, a valuable weapon for a horse. As knowledge increased, man discovered that by bartering in this simple way he started out at the beginning of the year with, say, five possessions, he ended the year with the same number only. He had not increased his possessions. It then occurred to him to select some article, and to give to that article an arbitrary value. In this way, say, one hundred rare featheds would be accepted as value for, say, a horse. Here we see at once that the man who could amass rare feathers by various means could substantially add to his possessions by bartering and that without parting with any articles which he really required for his own use. In this way, then, feathers, skins, cowrie shells, animals, slaves, etc., came to be used as mediums of barter or exchange. Following upon this came the stone age, when, by means of stone axes, men built canoes to voyage in and houses to dwell in. Then followed the iron age, the bronze age, and finally the age of Gold and Silver. These latter metals, ever scarce, he gradually made use of as mediums of exchange by weight. As the centuries rolled on Gold and Silver became the one medium of exchange. In consequence of this the Nation having the richest Gold and Silver mines contributed most to the wealth and power of the world, and, unfortunately, to the wealth and power of individual units of mankind. I ask you to mark this advancement well, so that you may realise that the important system of exchange should not rest alone in the hands of bankers, usurers, and capitalists, but that it should rest in and be properly controlled by the men and women who form the mass of this or any other country.
The great Spartan law-giver, Lycurgus, appears to have seen the terrible effects which would be wrought by a Gold standard. He introduced Iron as a medium. But Iron, owing to its extreme bulkiness, did not win its way. Gold, bright yellow Gold, won its way ahead, until it has become a grinding and a crushing; force, for it has not only destroyed all other standards of exchange, but it is the arbitrary controller of the destinies of man. Hut there is a way of escape from this monster. A million of living men are of more value than a million of Gold coins. If we but grasp the meaning of this fact, grasp it with a proper faith in ourselves, a faith calculated to elevate our destinies out and above the sordid ruck into which we have allowed Gold to cast us, we can rise and escape its clutches. There are some of us—there always will be some—but comparatively a few, who will continue to worship and to lust after Gold and the power which it gives to them. Hut these will not assist to draw the masses out of the awful gutter into which that same Gold has plunged and still plunges them. Then as to the, awful crime of crimes, its regulation, to the extent of denial, of infant life. Vet this unholy domination of Gold does not appear to unduly concern the average preacher of Christianity in our day. Apparently the sacred love of a woman for her babe, the one great comfort and blessing; of a mother's life, is not a matter for the average preacher to extol. If it were he would curse the power of Gold, which is now blasting infant life, and which is making a mockery—nay, something lower, of our marriage institution. In earlier day those who were blessed with large families were objects of kindly envy: to-day parents with large families are scorned and counted fools. Landlords of houses of accommodation excuse themselves from taking families in; and folk who advertise for "a man and wife" whose services are needed—it is usually the well-to-do who thus advertise—generally add the ominous word "unencumbered." So that children have to-day become cumbersome, they are in the way, "not wanted." "Not wanted," for-sooth, dear little mites; their presence militates against those concerned making annually a few extra yellow sovereigns. "These he four gods, O Israel!" these golden sovereigns. And so it is that we have now reached a stage when married couples tell us unblushingly how many—if any at all—children they can afford to have. In the name of our common humanity I ask: Can this be right? A thousand times I answer, It is not right. And I declare that this evil state of things is largely attributable to the peculiar scarcity and power of Gold. It makes one shudder to reflect that not only is our comfort and happiness dependable upon the quantity of Gold which is mined from the earth; but also the natural processes which perpetuate our kind. And Nature, our loving mother, has she ever systematically starved us by millions? Has she ever denied to man the fruits of the earth, and of his own industry? Certainly not. For God has not intended this to be. But, under our Gold system we may starve, starve in the midst of plenty, starve whilst warehouses and grain stores are packed from floor to ceiling. And why? Why, but because we lack the Gold wherewith to purchase the bare necessaries of life. And we lack this because of the wretched system of Gold capitalism which we have so long tolerated, and which we ourselves have partly fostered by our running after Gold. Alas, parents have finally decided that the size of the family must be regulated by the income, that whilst a family of two may be supported in comfort, a family of seven will bring hardships, poverty and hunger. O, man, O woman, how much longer will you allow this sinful and beastly Kate of affairs to continue before you rise up against it as true and noble creatures of your Maker? You profess to be a divine creation "made in His image." yet you perpetuate these sins. In days of old the slaying of a single and ordinary infant caused war to-day they are
Let us briefly consider what precedents we have for the establishment of a State Bank of our own and the issue of paper money. The first precedent we have of the use of paper money is that in the case of the Hank of Venice. Paper currency issued by this Bank was circulated throughout Europe safely and soundly for the long period of 600 years, the Hank of Venice becoming ruined only when that marvel Napoleon conquered Venice. Excepting that extraordinary crisis, it is recorded of that Bank that no ordinary crisis, such as we are accustomed to, ever materially affected it during the whole of its long period of activity. Furthermore, history points to this fact, that a judicious use of paper money enabled Europe to carry on war—we are not advocating war, far from it; we are merely setting out the extra disadvantages of the time—for a period of six centuries, no less, In issuing its paper money, then, the Bank had faith in itself, faith in its people, and faith in its securities.
Then there is the case of the American Civil War. There was not sufficient Gold available for President Lincoln, so that he and his Cabinet decided to issue paper money with which to carry on the war. The Act for a paper issue passed Congress in the form that it would be a legal tender for anything. The Senate, or Upper House, unwisely altered this so that interest on Government bonds held by the State and Customs duties were to be paid in Gold. Congress not being strong enough to resist this, the Act passed accordingly, and the prestige of the paper money was injured at its inception. Despite this fact, Lincoln carried on a four years war, fed and clothed his troops, a million of men, and paid for all war material with the paper money. Alas, it is a sad tale to relate, that subsequently the Gold-bugs got to work and effectually ruined holders of this paper money. It was to the Gold-bugs' interests to do this, and they did it without hesitation. In order to effect it Bankers conspired together and lobbied Congress till they of an Act passed which suited them. That paper money, mark well, interfered with bankers' profits in the shape of interest, and they worked until they got interest attached to the paper money. We must seriously and now ask ourselves whether we are going to allow the question of wealthy bankers' profit is interest to further dominate our currency to our poverty and ruin. We must ask ourselves right here and now whether we shall control our currency or allow our currency to control us, to our ruin. So surely as it is to the capitalists' interest to perpetuate this scheme of interest and money-lending, which interest he reaps from the industry of the toiling and sometimes hungry masses, so surely is it to our interest to make away with that interest, and to promote a system of free untaxable money; untaxable, that is, by being non-interest bearing. Free
In this way the bankers and capitalists lobbied in Congress. The bankers and their agents first depreciated the paper issue, named the Greenbacks, then in circulation, by refusing to receive them over their counter at their full face value. They reduced these notes from time to time when receiving them in payment. When these interest-mongers had reduced the face value of the Greenbacks in the money market as low as they dared, they then lobbied in Congress and got a law passed that any man bringing 10,0000. dollars' worth of Greenbacks into the treasury would see them burned before his face, and receive back a bond bearing 6 per cent, interest upon their full faced value of the notes burned, although they had bought them in some instances, and others received others by way of trade for perhaps half their value in the public market. Then several hundred millions worth of-dollars in paper was withdrawn from circulation among the poorer people by this system, making the buying power of the poor poorer, and the rich richer in their cursed interest upon the innocent Greenback. Then a howl went up but nothing was done. Here, then, we see a people made in debt to their own money, and paying interest on burnt paper through their sublime ignorance.
We have had the spectacle of a Silver boom in the United States. The Gold-bugs interfered, and the capitalists of New York, London, and Paris, per medium of one Mr. Ernest Seyd. got into touch with members of the American Congress, and successfully destroyed Silver as a standard of coin. This at once threw the whole work of currency upon Gold, and the appreciation of Gold quickly set in. Alas, then, for the people, with Silver as a token only—as copper with us—their purchasing power was delimited, and they suffered accordingly. As no debt over £2 could be paid for in Silver, a panic followed. But let us draw the curtain on that action of the Gold-bugs and its appalling consequences. By the way this Gold standard was forced upon the millions of India, a shocking crime. The destandardising of Silver was equivalent to blasting their food crops.
Both friends and opponents are in the habit of advancing the objection that paper money will not pay a foreign debt. No one ever contends that paper money was ever intended to circulate out of the country in which it is issued. English paper notes do not, except to a very limited extent, circulate out of Great Britain, In cases where they do, exchange has to be paid for this concession into the currency of a new country. They only ease where Government Bonds have been used in the payment of a foreign debt. In that of the indemnity paid by France to Germany after the war of
Take again the case of a large trading firm in possession of some thousands of the Dominion's paper notes, in which to pay their foreign creditors. All that is necessary is for the State Bank in New Zealand to issue a draft for the required amount on their agents in London. It is then simply a matter of simple bookkeeping for the English creditor to secure the money owing to him.
It must be remembered that under the proposed system the State will be the only Gold buyer, and thus would have no difficulty in building up a sufficient reserve to meet all requirements. Still another
It seems strange that our labour leaders for the last 20 years have to entirely ignored these crucial questions, and have devoted themselves to the petty problems, which would solve themselves if the more important matters were put on a more satisfactory basis. As far as steamship facilities are concerned. Western Australia has provided as object lesson, which is well worthy of imitation in New Zealand.
The fail of the B a stile was the first substantial intimation which Louis and his nobles had of the French Revolution. One of the chief causes which led up to this revolution was the currency question, is was the scarcity of the circulation of Gold and Silver amongst the people, a scarcity which affected alike the peasant, the farmer, and the merchant. Against this revolution the Powers sent all their armies. The President of the French Republic, Carnot, finding himself without Gold and Silver with which to raise forces to meet the invaders, had resort to a paper money issue. These were termed assignats, and with these he defended France, by paying his French soldiers, etc. Mark the sequel. Pitt, being Premier of England, established four factories, employing 400 men, for the manufacture of counterfeit assignats. These in millions he caused to be smuggled into France, and in that one terrible blow the French paper money was destroyed. In this we find a further proof that it is by the most extraordinary means only that paper money can be destroyed.
Let me draw your attention now to a striking instance of the work of paper money, and its success when no extraordinary means of interfering with it are adopted. The inhabitants of Guernsey (one of the Channel islands) badly wanted a market-place. Having no money with which to build and establish it, but confident that whet once it was built it could be very profitably let they decided to issue paper notes, such notes to pass as currency throughout the island (4,000). With these, then, the necessary buildings were erected, and when finished the whole was profitably "let. The income from the property was applied by the Committee in redeeming the paper money. This was done with such good effect that in the course of a few years the total issue of paper money was redeemed, and the people thus gol their valuable market-place free of either interest or taxation. Just think of this, and think how our Public Works, our Roads, and our Railways could be built by the same system, and without our being taxed. Why is it not done? It is because we allow the Gold-bugs; to dominate the position and to burden us with taxation. We are in
It is a fact well known to students of history that the Empires which rose by conquests, force of arms, became effete mainly owing to the heavy tribute exacted by them from the nations which they conquered, and which tribute was paid in Gold. This so enriched the conquerors that they, as time passed, live more and more luxuriously, a sure forerunner of their decay. Take, for instance, the Roman Empire. During the greatness of that Republic, her monetary system—the refined conception of the Greeks—was symbolic, consisting of numerals stamped upon bronze or copper, termed "numus." The issue was controlled, limited, registered and regulated—as a State monopoly, mark well—by the Senate, which jealously guarded and maintained this privilege of stamping the legend, "S.C. Ex. Senatus Consulto," and the number on the face. This was done by decree of the Senate, and the people were given to clearly understand that their value was not contained in the material iself, but was contained and legally in the number stamped thereon. This system continued during two centuries, the brightest and best of Roman law and civilisation. When this system was changed, Rome lost her liberties, but—outwardly—the State grew apparently more powerful and dreaded; inwardly its people were no longer one with the State. The currency system was encroached upon, corrupted, and finally destroyed by the coinage of Gold. From that date it came to be dependent on conquest, plunder, mining, and slavery. It was the Patricians and capitalists who fostered and established Gold coinage, and the mixed currency of bullion-value of the Augustan age, which has come down to our own. The great advantage to the masses of the original system consisted in the fact that no man or association of men could make a "corner" of it in the interests of greed. Under the coinage system, when the Roman armies conquered a new land the people of that land were forced to work their mines in the interests of the Roman generals and patricians. Gold at once did the work which it is intended to do it increased the riches of the wealthy, and consigned the masses to homes of poverty. So the Roman Empire fell; fell because the people would no longer fight for it. "Why should we fight." said the people, "seeing that we have no homes of our own to fight for. To-day those words are repeated by our own people for the same reason. Our Gold system is manipulated by and in the sole interests of capitalists. Look, for instance, at the' rich South African mines, where the Chinamen were taken in their thousands to slave, and the white miner is allowed to starve. For what? For what but to allow those privileged under the Gold system to amass more and more wealth at the expense of the heavily taxed toiled. In reality their slaves.
According to "The Knights of Labour" journal, the United States school system neglects to provide tuition in the science of banking and the various monetary systems of the world. We find this to be largely the same in our Maoriland. It follows on the lines of the earlier Creed, which denied to the people a free use of the Bible. This kept them sufficiently ignorant as to be under the thumbs of their leaders. It certainly pays the capitalist to keep our youth in ignorance as to the methods by which our currency is run, and the relative values, to the capitalists and to the people, of Gold. Silver, Copper and Paper. If our youth were taught the rudiments of this, our people, in the
Our need of a State Bank and a Paper Issue of our own is: For the purpose of controlling and regulating the power of Gold, and with that taxation. We are able, if we so choose, to lower the interest on Gold, and to carry out all of our Public Works without paying interest—as we now are—on borrowed money. Our roads, railways, public buildings, proposed irrigation works, the generation of electricity, and the opening up of all our mineral deposits, could be done—with our State Bank and our inconvertible Paper Issue—without our paying the Gold-bugs a penny-piece by way of interest. Without paying large sums in interest, facilities could be given for the opening up and mining of the rich gold-belts of Macetown, Arrow River, and the old bed of the Kawaru, which is known to be rich in gold, facilities for the working of which are not yet given. Then there is the rich Parapara iron mine, in Nelson. This is considered to be the richest in Australasia, and it is being leased to a foreign company. This mine should belong to and be worked by the State in the interests of the State. Our Government neglects it, and our people do not unitedly protest against its being, as it were, confiscated by foreigners for the benefit of Gold-bugs. It appears that the Hon. Mr. Cadman held some right to lease it, and if our people and the mining community in particular, do not raise a voice of united protest, this rich mine will be lost to us.
This mine, then, could be worked on a Paper issue. Just think of it. It could be worked on a Paper issue in the exclusive interests of our people, and without the payment of taxation or interest. Yet, partly owing to our own lack of zeal, it is passing rapidly from us! This mine, that probably in a few years will be employing a thousand men, is passing into the hands of a foreign syndicate. Our miners would assuredly rather work for the State—that is ourselves—than for foreigners. Yet we allow ourselves to be robbed of this our birthright. Just as in the case of the great Waihi gold mine. Now, just ask yourselves what has been done with the millions of money that has been mined from this wonderful concern. Why, it has, tinder our crushing Gold system, been minted, passed into the hands of the Gold, bugs, and been loaned out to us—to the people to whom it originally belonged—at a high rate of interest, which compels our being heavily taxed. If we continue thus blind to our own interests, if we do not bestir ourselves, we shall remain—and we deserve to—at the mercy of the Gold-bugs, We should take such steps as will force our
The following table speaks volumes as to the effect of Interest on a community:—
Most people will be surprised to learn that, £1,000,000, at 6 per cent. Compound Interest, becomes in 40 years more than Ten Millions!
In compiling this table, figures over £550 have been reckoned as the next £1,000, and figures under £550 have been discarded.
I know that you dislike the study of figures, but I ask you to look at these figures hard. They are easily understood, and they are of vital interest to your well-being. They expose at one glance the unfair and evil effects of our present Gold system. Now our National debt is a little over eighty millions (£80,000,000) of money. This amount is made up of the millions which we have borrowed from time to time; during the past fifty odd years. On this amount we pay out every year, in interest, over three millions (£3,000,000) of money. That is to say, that our million of inhabitants of this country pay annually over £3 each for interest on our loans, and we are taxed to do this. You can easily understand that, and you can just as easily understand this: A million of money lent out at 4 per cent will double itself in 25 years in simple interest alone (it will double itself in a shorter time on compound interest.) Now, my point is this: Amongst these millions upon which we are paying interest let us take one million of the date 18S7. That is 25 years and. On that million we have been paying 4 per cent. We have many, therefore, paid a million (£1,000,000) on it in interest (for it doubles itself in 25 years), and yet the cruel fact remains that we still owe the principal amount of one million. We can get rid of the loan only by paying back the original million, or we may, as we are doing, continue paying interest on it for another 25 years, at which date we shall have paid two millions (£2,000,000) for a loan of one million, and even then we shall still owe the million that we borrowed. You will readily see that this system of finance is both good and bad: it is good for the Gold-bug, but it is bad for us. It will not now surprise you to learn that during the past 20 years,
Yes, for us, hard and cold; but for the Gold-bugs, soft and warm. Are you surprised now to learn why we are every year sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of interest? Now, I have just shown you that during the past 20 years we have paid in interest alone the huge sum of £36,300,315. As against that fact, I now assure you that by the establishment of a State Bank, and by the issue of our own Paper money, that huge amount could be saved by us during the next 20 years! I want you to grasp this fact hard, and I want you to bestir yourselves; to bestir yourselves by telling all your friends these simple truths, and by advocating the establishment of our own State Bank. You will have the Gold-bugs to fight, but better to fight them than to remain—as you now are—their slaves. These Gold-bugs soon
Parliament must pass an Act providing for the founding of a Stale Bank, to be styled, say, "The Maoriland State Bank." The Act could provide that any Post Office throughout the Dominion may be used as a branch of the State Bank.
Taxation to be levied for the purpose of building up a Gold reserve for the support of a Paper issue of our own.
Provision to be made prohibiting the export of our Gold. The State must make itself the master of our Gold avenues, and the State—that is the people of our country—must be the controller of our currency.
Provision to be made that a referendum of the people be taken on any large question affecting the introduction, the system, and the working of our currency.
If thought advisable and practicable, the Bank of New Zealand—which is already a State-aided Bank—to be purchased. Although we have saved this Bank by standing at its back, it would cost us a large sum—too large perhaps—to purchase it outright. Personally, I would rather that our banking was done through our Post Offices and rented chambers. However, that is a detail for a committee of the people to decide upon.
There is also the question to decide as to whether our Paper issue should be Convertible or Incontrovertible. The Convertiblist urges that we must have the bullion behind our Paper issue. The Inconvertiblist urges that we do not require bullion behind our Paper money, and argues that we have our Paper earning Gold by saving so much now paid away in interest. If we accept the Convertiblist's advice we could not issue Paper money without having the bullion behind it. We would require either to raise this bullion by special taxation, or borrow it. Common-sense says inconvertible paper and no other. Convertible belongs to the Gold, and must bear interest if we must have Gold to represent it. In the meantime we have no quarrel with Gold as a medium of exchange between Nations. We dimply claim that we can carry on all of our public works by means of our own Paper money, and without paying away the extortionate interest which we are now doing. We also claim that by means of our own Paper money we can build up and amass a large quantity of Cold.
Fellow-countrymen and women, I appeal to you, in the name of that Great Divinity of whom you are the earthly representatives, to ponder well over these matters, and to act. Do not leave it to our Parliamentarians alone; it is not fair to them. Not only that, but they can be "lobbied" by Gold-bugs and the agents of Gold-bugs. I have related how the United States Congressmen were lobbied on the same matters. I want the people, the people who form the State, to take the matter up, to study it well, and to raise their voices in their own interests. If this is done our Parliamentary representatives will be compelled to move, and what is more, in moving they will have the people united behind them. That will give them strength; it will also bring you strength. Furthermore, it is calculated to raise
In conclusion I ask you to think of these few words. Do you ever think of the great personal God that you have enthroned up in the heavens or sky above you? Do you ever think that you represent Him, and your wife represents the mother of God? If by marrying you have produced gods and goddesses, you have created gold and goddesses. What a power you have, and most of you are blind to this fact, yet according to the doctrine of the Christian religion it is a plain fact, and one you should be proud of.
Does it ever occur to you the terrible and crushing power you have over the animal life on this planet? The early New Zealand emigrant of 60 years ago knows the amount of animal life on the prairies of the South Island, also the animal life in the North Island bush. What do we see now: The South Island prairies covered with cattle, sheep and horses; the North Island bush partly felled and burned, and also covered with sheep and dairy herds Take the fish that stock our sea coast, our rivers and lakes. Look also at the fowl; of the air. Man—man increased all these a thousand-fold. Just pause and think of your power over animal life for life or death. And ask yourselves, '"What power have you over the gold sovereign that exchanges all these commodities between yourselves and other nations?" None. Worse than all your wife and children may be suffering continually, or perhaps dying a lingering death, because you have no power to increase the currency of your country. Yet you have dumped these innocent children down on this earth to take
Wright and Carman, Printers, 146 Featherston St., Wgtn.
Among all the criticisms passed upon a new country such as this by visitors from older lands, perhaps that roost frequently made is that it has no history. Lying, as it did until just over a century ago, untouched by the streams of eastern and western civilization, New Zealand was inhabited in succession by races whose social development was of such a character that it failed to produce even the most elementary form of written language; and the early history of these races consists only of a mass of vague oral tradition handed down from generation to generation. Thus its story displays nothing that can compare with the history of some of the older countries of Europe, in which are revealed the gradual emergence of a people from a state of barbarism, and the slow development of a civic and national life with settled laws, a fixed and stable political constitution, and a completely organized system of public services.
But although it may be admitted that the lack of such a history of age-long development and progress constitutes a distinct loss, it is none the less true that the discovery, the early settlement, and the rapid advance of many of the newer colonies of the British Empire form a subject which is by no means devoid of an element of interest, or even of romance. As the individual man repeats in the brief span of his life the whole history of the race, so these new countries exhibit an epitome of the progress so slowly and painfully won by the older nations who constituted the pioneers of
In a land where the means of transit are so efficient and so widely extended, where the public service is so highly organized, where postal and telegraphic facilities are everywhere enjoyed, where rapid and frequent communication is maintained with the leading centres of the old world, it is indeed difficult to realize how meagre and elementary were the advantages at the disposal of the settlers in the early years of the colony. But if it were necessary to single out a concrete instance of the advance that has been made, what better example could be chosen than the Post Office? Of all the forms of organized service within the State here or elsewhere there is no other which touches the life of the people so intimately or at so many points. Its progress marks the progress of the community; its expansion reflects the spread of settlement; the rise or fall of its revenue is the infallible indication of commercial prosperity or depression. Its history embodies and illustrates the history of the people.
It is the purpose of this pamphlet to trace briefly the growth of the buildings in which the work of the Post Office has been carried on in Wellington, from the time when the first Postmaster, in a Native hut built of toitoi and raupo, disposed of the handful of letters that comprised the mail of those early days, up to the present time, when the extensive and varied work of the chief post and telegraph offices and of the General Post Office is transacted by a staff of 728 officers in a building which ranks among the most
When the British flag was hoisted in Auckland, and the Lieutenant-Governor's residence established there on the
About 5 acres are reserved for Government House on the spot where that building, now converted into temporary Parliament Buildings, at present stands, between Charlotte and Bowen Streets;
An interesting description of the town and its environs in
Before the end of the following year (
Although in New Zealand Gazette of the
At some time during the same year the Government purchased what is described as a "Native-built building of large size," which, besides providing accommodation for the work of the post office, was also intended to do duty as a Courthouse, and as an occasional place of worship. From the existing illustration of the town at that early period of its history it would appear that the building was of some considerable size and prominence, but the term of its occupancy was destined to be brief. In
What immediate arrangements were made after this disaster to provide accommodation for the work of the office cannot be definitely determined, but it would appear that a building of some kind was leased by
the General Government, then situated in Auckland. The failure to provide appropriations for office accommodation was, however, the occasion of much contention between Mr. Mantell and the officials at Auckland. It was apparently a matter of no concern to them that the lease of the office was about to expire. Mr. Mantell's duty was to find accommodation, and if the Government would not pay for it he must. Eventually a house was rented in
Subsequently the work of the Post Office was separated from that of the Magistrate's Court; but it was evidently considered that the infant Department was not yet strong enough to walk alone. Mr. John Farr Hoggard, who had been appointed as Clerk at Auckland in the early "forties," was now transferred to Wellington, where he practically performed the duties of Postmaster, although the Collector of Customs for the port was nominally in charge. The office in which the postal work was at this time transacted stood in close proximity to the old Customhouse building, then situated at the junction of Parish Street and Old Customhouse Street on the Te Aro water-front. Mr. Hoggard appears to have been to some extent in a position of control over the offices at Lyttelton and Otago; and he was of great assistance to the Governor-in-Chief, whose headquarters were then at Wellington, in making suggestions and giving advice on postal matters.
In
For two years longer the Farish Street office continued to be occupied, but in
The next building acquired is noteworthy from the fact that it was the first to occupy the site with which the history of the post-office has for so many years been associated. A photograph of the period shows that at the head of the wharf in Grey Street there stood a small one-storied structure of insignificant appearance. This was the building which, in the late "fifties," sufficed to accommodate the postal work of Wellington.
The year
of principal offices and acting as an intermediary between the officers of the Department and the Government. His successor, the Hon. H. J. Tancred, inaugurated in Wellington Independent of the 27th September of that year says, "The tenders for the erection of the Customhouse. Post-office, and Queen's Warehouse having been accepted a few weeks ago, the enterprising contractors, Messrs. Rollo and Humphreys, C. R. Carter and Gill, have commenced operations with such celerity and promptitude that where but a brief time agone naught was heard but the roll and break of the advancing tide the scene is now one replete with life, bustle, and animation, and the skeleton of a new building fast advancing to completion already meets the view." By the following year the building had been completed and was occupied by the postal staff. In the report issued on the
This building, which was destined to form the home of the Post Office for twenty years, accommodated both the postal and the Customs staffs. Practically the whole of the second story and the northern portion of the ground floor was occupied by the Collector of Customs and his officers, while the southern portion of the ground floor served for the transaction of postal business. It
The mail-room of the office was situated not in the main building, but in the older building standing in Grey Street, to which reference has already been made. The accounts of contemporaries indicate that it possessed very few of those facilities which in a more modern age are regarded as indispensable for the proper transaction of post-office work. Delivery of letters was made through the hinged pane of a window which opened on to the street, and the only protection afforded in inclement weather to those who called for their mail was a low verandah erected along the front of the building. For registered-letter business a small room was extemporized by partitioning off a space of about 4 ft., at one end of the verandah. The room allotted for the sorting of the mails was altogether inadequate for requirements, and it is recorded that on occasions when heavy foreign mails were received, they were stored in the coal-shed at the back of the office, and were transferred piecemeal to the mail-room for disposal.
The years following the erection of the new office were marked by a great advance both in the scope and in the magnitude of the work performed by the Department. The transfer of the seat of Government from Auckland to Wellington, which had been resolved upon in
The new building was designed to accommodate not only the staff of the Chief Post-office and the local telegraph staff, which
By the
There were, however, two defects—the one architectural, the other structural—which gave rise to some adverse comment. The tower, as designed by the architect, consisted of three distinct stories, the first forming the base, the second containing the clockdials, and the third consisting of a belfry with the bells hanging in an open space, the cupola or dome being supported simply by pilasters in order that the sound of the chimes might not be interrupted. From motives of economy this design was not followed, but there was erected instead a wooden tower of two stories surmounted by a dome which, it was generally considered, destroyed the symmetry of the building and retarded the sound of the fine set of chimes. The clock and chimes had been installed by Messrs. Littlejohn and Son at a cost of £850, to which the City Council and the Harbour Board had each contributed the sum of £150. The other, and perhaps the more important, defect was the use of lath-and-plaster instead of brick in the construction of the interior walls and partitions in the building. How slight was the opposition offered by such material to the progress of a fire that had once gained a hold in the interior of the building was only too soon to be demonstrated.
The third story of the new building was occupied by the General Post Office staff, the second story by the Customs Department and by the staffs of the Telegraph Office and the Telephone Exchange. The ground-floor was allotted to the various branches of the Chief
The vigorous salvage operations carried on during the progress of the fire resulted in the saving of telegraph material to the value of £2,000, which had been stored in the laboratory, but the seventy telegraph instruments in actual use and all the telegraphic and telephonic apparatus were totally destroyed. The loss under this head alone must have amounted to at least £1,500. Everything in the Chief Post Office was saved, even the letters in the postingboxes; but of the General Post Office files—records of the greatest importance and value—very little remained. The money-order and savings-bank accounts and documents, which had been stored in the strong-room on the ground floor, and the Customs records, which the fire had somehow passed over, were found to be intact. At first it was hoped that the peal of bells, of which the city was so proud, would be found fit for further use, but an early examination showed that they were irretrievably ruined.
The greatest promptitude and energy were displayed in making arrangements for the continuation of the work of the office. Early
in the morning, through the courtesy of the Harbour Board, the use of the F shed on the wharf was secured, and soon after 11 a.m. money-order and savings-bank business was resumed, and by the luncheon-hour letters were being despatched as usual. On the 30th April, two days after the tire, the private boxes were available for the use of the holders. More permanent quarters were subsequently obtained in a building owned by the Union Steam Ship Company and standing at the corner of Johnston Street and Customhouse Quay, while the Customs Department was accommodated in the Provincial Buildings.
Immediate arrangements were also made for the resumption of telegraphic communication. An operator was despatched to the Lyall Bay cable-station with the messages for the south, while those for northern towns were carried by messenger to the Hutt, and were despatched from that office. Regular communication was resumed with the north at 2 p.m. and with the south at 5 p.m. of the day of the tire. Among the telegraph material saved was a complete set of eight instruments, with the relative apparatus, which had been intended for use at Napier, and these were installed in premises leased from the National Mutual Life Association at an annual rental of £500. The staff of the Superintendent was accommodated in offices rented from Messrs. W. E. Bethune and Co. in Featherston Street, and those of the Secretary and the Accountant in the National Mutual Association's building.
The preparation of the plans for the restoration of the building was commenced at once, and a contract for the work was let on the
The new tower was built according to the original design, and an illuminated four-dial clock, with faces measuring 8 ft. 3 in. in diameter, was placed in position. Both the clock and the set of Cambridge chimes were provided jointly by the City Council and the Harbour Board, while the large hour-bell, weighing more than 29 cwt., was presented by Mrs. S. A. Rhodes in memory of her late husband, the Hon. W. B. Rhodes, the uncle of the present Postmaster-General. Messrs. Littlejohn and Son, the makers of the former clock, were given the contract for the new clock, and the bells were cast in the Lion Foundry at Wellington.
The work of restoration was completed on the
The history of the building from that date until the beginning of the present century proved for the most part uneventful.
By
In
In the year
At various points in the history of the Department in Wellington exigencies of space or other considerations have led to the separation of the work of certain branches from the main building, and this action has resulted in the growth of establishments enjoying to some extent an independent existence, though under the general control and supervision of the General Post Office or Chief Post-office staffs. The first of these establishments to be constituted was the Stores Branch, which, on the removal of the old wooden post-office in
During the past thirty years, however, the work of that branch has greatly increased in size and importance. After the destruction of the Telegraph laboratory and storeroom in the Post-office fire of
Another branch which has maintained to some extent an independent existence, although it is under the general direction and control of the Officer in Charge of the local Telegraph-office, is
No sketch, however brief, of the history of the old building would be complete without a reference to the many occasions on which the symbols of national rejoicing or mourning have been displayed there. The handsome and graceful exterior of the building lends itself admirably to the purposes of decoration, and there is scarcely a single event of historic importance during the past twenty years which has not been marked by some appropriate display. Its bells have tolled for the deaths of two sovereigns, and have pealed forth for the coronation of their successors. They voiced the joy of the nation when the news of the glorious reliefs of Kimberley, Ladysmith, and Mafeking lightened the dark history of the South African war, and they again sounded when the proclamation of peace at Pretoria in
Conspicuous among the events celebrated was the introduction of the penny-postage system on the
During the early months of
Ten years afterwards, on the
The new General Post Office building, the completion of which has been so anxiously awaited by departmental officers and public alike, occupies the site at the rear of the earlier building, with a principal frontage of 172 ft. to Featherston Street, and side frontages of 128 ft. 11 in. and 125 ft. 10 in. to Grey and Panama Streets respectively. The concrete foundations were sunk by day labour under the supervision of the Public Works Department in
The walls of the building are of brick, faced on all street frontages above the basement-level with granite obtained from Tonga Bay, near Nelson. A pleasing contrast has been afforded by the use at the base of the building of a quantity of blue stone supplied from the Dobson quarries, near Greymouth. Care has been taken to produce a building that will prove to a high degree fire-resisting, and to this end the use of timber in the construction has been reduced to a minimum. All the internal pillars are of steel encased in brickwork or concrete, and all the floor-girders are of the same material. Even the window-sashes and the private letter-boxes are of steel. This construction is also calculated to render the building less liable to damage from earthquake-shock. The roof, which is practically flat, has been constructed of steel and concrete overlaid with asphalt, and is adapted for the addition of another story at a future date. It is proposed to grant the use of the flat roof to officers for various forms of exercise.
The building has been designed in the style of the latest phase of the classic Renaissance, and is plain and massive in appearance. The main intention has been to produce a building of strong and
durable materials destined to serve for many generations of citizens, and possessing the greatest possible architectural interest commensurate with moderate expenditure. An air of grace and refinement has been imparted to an otherwise severe front by the skilful use of statuary in adorning and emphasizing the main entrance. The central allegorical group, representing "The Girdled Earth," was designed and executed by Mr. Alfred Drury, A.R.A, and is a fine example of that eminent sculptor's work. Two handsome figures are seated in repose on either side of a pedestal, which bears at its base a floral shield with the Royal cypher, and supports a globe ribboned with the signs of the zodiac. The medium employed is the yellow freestone hewn from the famous quarries at Portland Island (England), while the miniature locomotive and galleon, which are carried in hand by the principal figures, to typify the means of transport by land and sea in different ages, are modelled in bronze. Supporting the main group are figures symbolical of "Telegraphy" and "Letter-delivery," designed and supplied by Messrs. W. Parkinson and Co., of Auckland, who obtained for the purpose companion blocks of the stone employed by Mr. Drury. A two-faced bracket clock with 4 ft. illuminated dials, which has been manufactured by Messrs. Littlejohn and Son, is affixed to the front of the building immediately above the statuary.
The interior of the building is reached from Featherston Street through a triple-arched entrance leading into the main vestibule, the walls of which are tiled in shades of cream and green. On the right of the vestibule, which measures 40 ft. by 22 ft. 6 in., are situated the posting-boxes, the apertures appearing in two large tiled slabs let into the wall. The directions for posting have been burnt into the tiles, which were specially prepared at the potteries of Messrs. Pilkington and Co., Staffordshire, England. There are in all eight posting-boxes—one for large packages, two for books and newspapers, and five for letters. The apertures of the letter-boxes are labelled respectively "Late Fee," "Inland," "City," "Australian States," and "British and Foreign," with the object of enabling the public to lessen the work of the mail-room officers in the primary classification of the letters. From the left side of the vestibule, entrance is gained to the Money-order and Savings-bank Branches, while directly opposite the entrance-arches two pairs of swing-doors give admittance to the main public office. At the rear of the vestibule,
Inside the spacious public office, measuring 74 ft. by 58 ft., the lofty roof is supported by massive pillars, and a flood of light is thrown on the public space and counters by means of eight lightingdomes set in the ceiling. The main dome is 24 ft. in diameter, the seven satellite domes each 8 ft. in diameter. The finest Flemish glass has been used for the groundwork, and the stained glass, which has been sparingly introduced, enhances the general effect without materially retarding the passage of the light. The glazing of the domes by the new electro-copper-welding process, which is rapidly supplanting the older method of lead glazing, has been admirably carried out by the Luxfer Prism Company, of London. Still further light is obtained by the insertion in the rear wall of the building of three very large windows, placed close together, each window being 16 ft. in width and 10 ft. in height. The frames are made entirely of steel, the panes of fine obscured cathedral glass.
The floor of this large apartment is composed of black jarrah specially imported from Western Australia. Round three sides of the room there sweeps a graceful oval counter, at which will be transacted all classes of postal and telegraph business except money-order and savings-bank. Additional provision for the sale of stamps has been made by the erection of a rotunda or kiosk in the public space. All the counters are topped with Tasmanian hardwood, highly polished, and are faced with marble, the ground being composed of white Sicilian, the pilasters and base of red and mottled grey Brocatella obtained in New South Wales. The grilles which surmount the counters are of solid bronze, and have been designed and supplied by Messrs. Spital and Clark, art-metal workers, Birmingham, England. Florentine bronze plates, manufactured locally, placed on the grilles indicate the positions where the different classes of business are conducted. Ample desk accommodation has been provided for the public by means of two rows each containing twelve desks and a further set of eleven around the kiosk.
A system of pneumatic-tube carriers has been installed for the rapid transmission of documents between the operating-room and other parts of the building. At the extreme end of the public office
three telephone cabinets have been erected, each being provided with a telephone for bureau-work. At night the room will be lighted by means of large electric lamps specially shaded, which have been set in the ceiling. The diffused and mellow light thus produced represents the closest approximation to natural light yet obtained. Shaded lights will also he placed at intervals on the top of the counter-grille. It may be of interest to mention that the lamp fittings throughout this part of the building are the production of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft.
To the left of the public office stands the money-order and savings-bank office, access to which is obtained through swinging-doors opening off the main vestibule. Here the counter, though straight, is in all other respects similar in design to that erected in the general office. The tellers' boxes, seven in number, are constructed of hardwood with screens of Flemish glass. Eighteen desks are provided for the use of the public. The floor is of black jarrah.
On the south side of the building the new mail-room extends for 121 ft. 5 in. by 50 ft. A special feature in this room is the use of New South Wales tallow-wood in the construction of the floor, the object being to provide a smooth and durable surface which will offer a minimum of resistance to mail-bags and hampers drawn across it. The new nests of steel private letter-boxes are ranged for a distance of 56 ft. along the south and west sides of the room, entrance to the private-box lobby being obtained by the public from Grey Street. There are 1,550 boxes in all.
The large room for the accommodation of the money-order and savings-bank staff faces Panama Street. At the rear ample lavatory accommodation has been provided, together with needle-baths and dressing-rooms for the use of officers generally. Further back, between the old and the new building a cartway 16 ft. wide permits of the mails being transported to the back door of the mailroom.
Practically the whole of the parcel-work of the office will be transacted in the basement of the new building, where nearly 11,000 square feet of floor-space is available. Entrance to the branch will
The remaining floors of the building do not excite the same general interest, since the work to be transacted there does not touch the public so intimately.
On the first floor at the north end of the building is situated the telegraph operating-room, which measures 120 ft. 6 in. by 49 ft. 5 in., and is fitted with thirty-three sets of instruments, comprising fourteen quadruplex, three duplex, and sixteen single. Facing Featherston Street are the rooms of the Officer in Charge and the Chief Telegraph Engineer. Opposite these are the rooms of the Chief Electrician and the Telegraph Engineer. The laboratory is situated on the corner of Featherston and Grey Streets, while along the southern side of the building extends the letter-carriers' room, 102 ft. 9 in. by 49 ft. 5 in.
On the floor above, the Postmaster-General's room is in the south-western corner of the building, with his private secretary's room on one side and a waiting-room on the other. At the other extremity of the Featherston Street frontage is the room occupied by the Secretary, and the intermediate space consists of the rooms of the two Assistant Secretaries and the Chief Clerk. The portion of the building on the north side has been allotted to the Secretary's clerks and the Correspondence and Record Branches. Along the Grey Street frontage are ranged the rooms of the Inspector of Telegraph-offices and his staff, and the Staff Division of the Secretary's office. There is a retiring-room for women of the Secretary's staff; and the rooms of the Public Service Commissioner and Assistant Commissioners and their staffs are also on this floor.
The third floor is devoted to the use of the Controller of Money-orders and Savings-banks, the Chief Accountant, and their staffs, and also contains a retiring-room for women. Three of the largest
rooms on this story are the accounts general room (120 ft. 6 in. by 49 ft. 5 in.), facing Panama Street; the telegraph clearing-room (91 ft. by 50 ft.), facing Grey Street; and the money-order room (61 ft. by 29 ft.). situated at the corner of Featherston and Grey Streets. The rooms of the controlling officers are placed on either side of the main staircase, and face Featherston Street.
The old General Post Office building is being renovated and fitted for use in conjunction with the new building. The old telegraph counter will be utilized for the payment of old-age pensions, and the portion of the ground floor facing Grey Street will be used to provide a mail-receiving room, and rooms for the Chief Postmaster and the Assistant Postmaster. The despatch-room and the telegraph messengers' room will remain in their present positions, while considerable space will be provided as a retiring-room for the telegraph message-boys. Two large goods-lifts, manufactured by Messrs. A. and T. Burt, of Dunedin, will be installed—one for the conveyance of heavy packages of letters, parcels, &c., between the ground floor, the letter-carriers' room on the first floor, and the second floor of the new building, and the other for the conveyance of heavy parcel-hampers between the basement and the ground floor. New lavatories with ample accommodation will also be provided.
On the first floor part of the room at the north-eastern corner of the building, which has hitherto been occupied by the telegraph operating staff, will be used for the accommodation of the telephone bureau. The remainder of the Customhouse Quay frontage will be used by women as a retiring-room, and by the Post and Telegraph Social and Literary Club. This club has also been granted the use of two rooms on the south side of the building, next to the room assigned to the Dominion Meteorologist for the preparation of weather reports. Two rooms have been provided as retiring-rooms for the letter-carriers. Lavatory accommodation is also provided on this floor.
The main portion of the second floor—that facing Customhouse Quay and Panama Street—will be used for the accommodation of the Dead Letter Office, the staff of the Inspector of Post-offices, and the Principal Clerk, Postal Division; while the southern portion will contain a drafting-office and a departmental muniment-room. Along the rear side of the building, facing the light-area, a commodious dining-room, kitchen, and pantry have been provided for the use of officers of the Department. The lavatories on this floor have already been completed.
The new General Post Office, a description of which is within this souvenir presented to the reader, is a fitting domicile for the administration of a Government Department which touches the public interest at all points.
By Authority : John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington.-
he object of issuing in pamphlet form these notes on two of the State Farms of Demonstration and Instruction is to bring prominently under the notice of Agricultural and Pastoral Societies, and also of individual farmers, the great practical value to Agriculture, and to the country as a whole, of the work done at these Institutions.
The writer has been connected with Agriculture and Agricultural journalism for many years in New Zealand, and, viewing the matter entirely from its practical and commercial side, is deeply convinced of the national importance of properly-conducted experimental and demonstration farms in this country, whose material prosperity almost entirely depends upon its primary rural industries.
The farming community ought to take under its special care and championship this development of the functions of the Agricultural Department.
It is with the hope that the remarks contained in these two articles, reprinted from the columns of the "Canterbury Times," may stimulate the public interest in our State Farms that this pamphlet is issued.
June 1913.
It is a good many years since the writer first went fiver the block of land on which the present State experimental farm, known as "Waerenga," is situated. At that time it was a tract of land of some two or three thousand acres near Rangariri, on the Waikato railway line, which, like a large area of the surrounding country, looked quite hopeless as a field for settlement. Ever since its confiscation from the Natives, as a result of the Waikato war, the country for many miles beyond the Whangomarino River had lain practically waste and unoccupied. As seen from the railway, it has an expanse of poor clay lulls, interspersed with a succession of miserable-looking rush swamps. The "Meremere hills" were, to all travellers to the Waikato, a synonym for all that was barren, poor and useless in the shape of land.
Surrounding the dismal-looking swamps were low rolling hills, covered with stunted fern and teatree. The character of the soil from a superficial observation was a cold, stiff clay, which no one would look at for cultural purposes. Although traversed by a rail-way, the value in the market of this belt of country, for tannine purposes, was practically nil. In its unimproved state—and it was almost all unimproved—its speculative value, looking to the chances of the future "unearned increment." might he put at half-a-crown an acre. It would have been difficult to find any one at that time who would have bought a section of this land at that price if the conditions of the purchase had entailed the obligation to cultivate the holding. Experienced colonial settlers would have laughed to scorn the idea of any man making a living off such land, even if he got it for nothing.
Just beyond Wairangi station, now re-named Te Kawhata there was a block of Crown land of 2000 or 3000 acres, stretching as far as Lake Waikare, a portion of which had been roughly turned over and planted with the Australian tanning-bark, black wattle (acacia decurrens) and golden wattle (acacia pyncnantha) as an experiment, the idea being that if useless for any other purpose the land might possibly grow wattles, and trees give some return in bark for tanning purposes. This wattle plantation grew, slowly of course, the young trees gradually showing up over the scrub and fern between the rows. Later sowings were made from time to time, and at last the plantation came under the care of the Agricultural Department, and Mr Clifton, at that time District Inspector of Stock, took it in hand. He made an experiment with two areas sown with wattles. On one area he ploughed the land and sowed the seed without any manure. On the adjoining area, ploughed in the same way, about lewt of fertiliser to the acre was sown with the wattle seed in the rows. This small dressing was, of course, only sufficient to give the young trees a start, but the result was striking. In a few years the trees that had received the manurial stimulant were three or four times as large as those on the adjoining unmanured area, and they continued to grow and keep ahead of the latter permanently. What had happened was that the young trees which had been given the small fillip of manure had been made vigorous enough at the start to get a good hold of the soil and to forage for the plant food needful to their rapid growth fat more successfully than the unassisted trees. This initial advantage continued to tell after the stimulant itself had become exhausted, and year after year the stronger trees outstripped the others more and more, though after the first year entirely dependent upon the natural fertility of the soil.
This responsiveness to a little artificial help suggested to Mr Clifton that the cultural possibilities of the soil might be greater than had been sup-posed, especially for tree growth, including orchard trees. With the approval of the Agricultural Department a little experimental cultivation was undertaken at Waerenga. Some amount of draining was done, and the plough and disc harrows were set to work so as to thoroughly break up and aerate the stiff soil. This was no easy job, for in wet weather the land was like
After a time, Mr Palmer, of the horticultural division of the Department, suggested making a trial plantation of lines on two or three acres with a suitable aspect. These vines were planted without any specially deep preparation of the ground, but they were liberally manured, and the weeds, chiefly sorrel, were kept down between the rows by constant scarifying through the summer, which also kept the surface soil in good loose tilth. The way the vines throve on this originally unsuitable-looking land surprised every-one. Not only did the vines grow, but they bore and ripened heavy crops of grapes, from which, after a time, many gallons of light wine were successfully made. These original vines, thus experimentally planted and treat-ed, continued to bear well for several seasons, until they were replaced by fetter varieties for wine-making purposes, grafted on phylloxera resistant stocks. At the present time there are about twenty acres under vines at Waerenga, all on resistant stocks of various kinds, for experimental purposes.
These remarks about early beginnings at Waerenga Experimental Farm are preliminary to an account of the writer's impressions of the work done here, and at the other State farm at Ruakura, gathered during a recent visit of inspection after an interval of two or three years since his previous visit. The natural character of the laud at Waerenga, and its popular reputation as being practical!:—worthless for cultural purposes, have been dwelt on to enable renders to realise the real public value of the operations and expenditure upon this place. It is the fashion among so-called "practical" farmers to belittle and sneer at all State efforts in the direction of educational work, in actual farming and orchard practice. What particularly aggravates the struggling small farmer is that, at these State farms, things are done on a scale and in a way, owing to the command of adequate capital, which he feels it is hopeless for him to emulate. After all, this feeling is very natural, and should be allowed for in criticising the depreciatory remarks on "fancy farming" which emanate from the average settler at farmers' meetings and elsewhere. We all know that every-thing becomes comparatively easy, from running a business to getting into Parliament, with the command of money. Human nature, therefore, being what it is, we ought not to judge harshly the unfairness and sometimes apparent ignorance of the opinions expressed about the waste of public money that goes on in keeping up such institutions us Waerenga, Ruakura. Moumahaki and Weraroa. These condemnatory remarks are often the natural expression of an exasperated feeling that at the State farms a show is made of farming achievements which the speaker feels he could himself accomplish with the same expenditure of capital. It is true that very often he is mistaken in this idea, because without the requisite know ledge how to spend the money wisely, he might spend twice as much and achieve Jar less than the trained agriculturist. But it is not surprising that, with that proper conceit of him-self that characterises any man of an independent spirit, he is 'convinced he could do as well, if not hotter under equally favourable financial conditions.
But what is to be chieflv deprecated from the point of view of the public interests, is the habit of depreciating the public, value of these experimental and demonstration Slate farms, merely because they are carried on with a greater expenditure of capital than the average farmer can compass. The purely experimental side of these institutions cannot he expected to be directly profitable. Indeed, direct profit is incompatible with the real usefulness of experimental work, where the failures of certain tests and trials are unite as valuable, as educational lessons, as the successes.
In the opinion of the writer the experimental side of these farms should form a separate division of the work, and should be kept entirely distinct as regards accounts and management, from the demonstration side of the farm operations. An export in scientific agricultural experiments should have charge of this department, someone who has had experience in the keeping of accurate and detailed records of the
The general manager's work is to demonstrate the results of good farming on up-to-date lines under the several sets of conditions to be met with as to soil and climate in different parts of New Zealand. He will of course. if he is a competent man, avail him-self of any of the practical lessons to be learnt from the results of the experiments carried out. But in so doing he will be guided by commercial considerations, inasmuch as he has to show how to carry on agricultural and horticultural operations under given natural conditions, so as to obtain the highest average returns from the land. He must mix science with practice and practice with science, and the whole with shrewd commonsense and alert brains.
A visit to a demonstration farm run on these principles, with someone to explain the why and the wherefore of the things he sees, will teach the aver-age young farmer who wishes to learn more than he would gather of practical knowledge from a six months' course of lectures at the usual typo of agricultural college. Not but what the courses of study at these agricultural academies have their value, when properly used by those students most fitted to profit by them. But it must be remembered that the great bulk of the young men who "go on the land" are not, and never will be, students, properly so called. To them theoretical book-learning is anathema, and the knowledge thus acquired mere words, with no actual connection which they can perceive with the everyday work upon a farm. What they require to make them improve their farming practice is ocular evidence in pastures, crops and stock of what can be done by a knowledge of first principles, and the carrying out of these principles by businesslike methods. Above all, they must be shown that good farming will pay. In fact any system of farming which cannot he shown to be payable is not good farming from the economic point of view, which is the only on worth considering in connection with national industries.
For these, and other reasons, we have long held that demonstration farms properly conducted are far more valuable as an educational agent in agricultural, horticultural and pastoral matters than colleges of agriculture, with their costly equipment of buildings, apparatus and scientific professors. By this we mean that, in proportion to cost, the farming industry as a whole, and therefore the whole community, will derive far more practical benefit, because extended over a much wider area, from the educational influence of these farms than from that of agricultural colleges.
Let us take the ease of Waerenga, and ask ourselves what the work carried on there has "demonstrated." To begin with, we must bear in mind that the class of land dealt with at Waerenga forms a large proportion of the total land area of Auckland pro vince—at a safe guess, several hundred thousands of acres. The proof as seen at Waerenga, that such land has a commercial value for various cultural purposes has raised its unimproved value in the market 300 or 400 per cent. About thirty years ago this class of country would have been difficult to sell in areas of any considerable size, even within reach of the railway, at half-a-crown an acre—indeed, it is said that a block of 10,000 acres of somewhat better land, but of the same character, was set aside by the authorities as an endowment for the Auckland University College, because it could not he disposed of by the Crown at 2s 6d an acre.
About ten years ago, some time after the first cultural experiments on Waerenga State Farm had been begun, the Agricultural Department, on the re-commendation of Mr E. Clifton, bought twelve hundred acres adjoining the original block at a cost of £800 in its natural state. At the present time no unimproved land within a radius of several miles of Waerenga could probably be bought under 40s per acre In certain positions such land would fetch 60s, and perhaps more.
The evidence offered to all who will notice it at Waerenga, namely that these so-called worthless clay lands are not worthless at all when properly dealt
From the first it was recognised that on soil of this character the most suitable cultural industry would probably be fruit-growing. Accordingly plantations were made for testing purposes of different varieties of apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, etc., on well-worked land after a certain amount of open ditch and underground draining had been done. This was about ten years ago, and this season we saw these first-planted trees, close to the homestead, in most unpromising-looking soil, yet healthy and sturdy in growth, and carrying large crops of splendid fruit. The cherries were over, most of them devoured by bird-thieves, but we were assured they bore heavy crops of fruit. We were agreeably surprised to see more than one variety of apricot in full bearing, the first of them just ripe and delicious eating. The general experience has been that this fruit is seldom successfully grown in the Auckland district except in certain favoured spots, such as the Thames
Peaches and plums were carrying plenty of good fruit, some of the latter were a sight to see in their prolific bearing. Apples do remarkably well, the fruit being of good keeping quality from the proper varieties, and remarkably well coloured wherever colour is a characteristic of the variety. Pears were coming into good bearing in many cases, although as most people know, pear trees require age before they come into full bearing. The success of the vines planted has already been referred to. At the time of the writer's visit in January the vineyard, now covering about 20 acres, and trained on the espalier system, was looking remarkably flourishing, although the rainy season and low summer temperature of this year have not been conducive to a heavy crop of grapes.
Having proved the suitability of the climate and soil for fruit-growing, a scheme was started, on the suggestion of Mr Clifton, whereby 1200 acres, added to the original block about ten years ago, was subdivided into sections of not more than 50 acres each. These areas were to be prepared for profitable occupation by planting a portion of each section in orchard, laying down another portion in pasture, and reserving a third portion for arable purposes. Under this scheme some 408 acres have been dealt with up to the present, comprising eleven farms, ranging in size from 21 to 48 acres, most of them being over 30 acres in extent. The planting was done gradually, and the age of the orchards varies from eight years to three years. The longest planted orchard has now pears in bearing. The object of the scheme was to bring these farms to such a stage of development that settlers with small capital, and who could not wait long for a living return from the land, could take them up under lease, or by purchase, under the Government land regulations, and make an immediate living from their holdings. Last year these fruit farms, each with its proportion of pasture and cropping land, were thrown open for selection under the optional tenure, and every one of the eleven sections was taken up under one tenure or another. The improvements, besides the planted fruit trees and the grass, consisted of a certain amount of fencing, and shelter belts planted. As an illustration of the value added to this land, originally bought by the Government at from 10s to 12s 6a per acre, we may take No. 3 farm, which was purchased by the selector for cash. This holding consists of a little over thirty acres, of which 16¾ acres are in orchard, mostly peach, apple and pear trees, planted in
The valuations of the whole of the eleven farms, under which they were all taken up, amount to £6640 for the 400 odd acres, and this amount about covers the cost to the State of their purchase and cultivation to date. At the same time it must be remembered that in the case of some of the earlier planted areas, taken by themselves, mistakes were made which had to be rectified, thus making the cost more than it need have been with the experience gained
It has, moreover, been proved that this land will not only grow fruit, but that with reasonable drainage and thorough working it can be brought into a fit state for permanent pasture. Also, in a harvested crop of oats which we saw in stack there was undoubted evidence that good crops of oats can be grown on this soil with no more than an ordinary dressing of manure, such as any good farmer would use upon average Waikato land. The straw was satisfactory, and the crop was well headed. As regards pasture. Waerenga is not, of course, a rye-grass country, but cocksfoot and paspalum, and several other grasses will hold, and with a proportion of clover make very fair pasture. We were surprised to observe how well the red clover and cow-grass were showing up in many parts. The paspalum in one paddock had fairly taken possession and formed a capital thick sole of grass, which during the summer, at all events, was capable of carrying a fair average amount of stock per acre.
Many sceptical people who see the results at Waerenga cannot believe that they have been attained except at an enormous cost for manure. But the writer was assured by Mr Clifton and by Mr Shepherd, the capable farm manager, that this is not the case. The fact is that, on soil of this description, thorough, deep tillage and frequent working has more permanent effect than heavy dressings of fertilisers. Indeed, without the tillage, and, of course drainage, the manure would do little or no good, however much was used. This necessarily means labour, and labour, our readers may say, is a very expensive kind of manure in this country. This is of course, true, and must be taken into account when considering the profitable cultivation of this kind of land. It means, no doubt, a larger initial outlay in capital, and a longer period to wait for returns than most small farmers can afford. For this reason we do not contend that land of this description, in its original unimproved state, is land upon which a man without capital, or resources to enable him to wait for returns, ought to settle. But the value of the Waerenga scheme of preparing orchards and farms for occupation consists in the fact that it has proved it is worth while for a syndicate, with command of sufficient capital, to take up such land, at a small initial cost for the freehold, and under good practical management bring it into a profitable condition for occupation by small industrious holders, under Glasgow leases, or other acceptable arrangement, to working settlers with little capital. We believe that if such an enterprise were taken up on a sufficiently largo scale, the first dead work of improvement could be effected at a low comparative cost per acre. "What has been done at Waerenga by the Agricultural Department would be an invaluable guide in connection with a scheme of improvement for soil of this character whether such work were taken up by private capitalists or by the Government. Such a scheme, properly conducted, would mean the utilisation of large areas of hitherto waste and unprofitable land, and would, we believe, handsomely recoup the outlay of the needful capital in rents and sales of land to working settlers.
Before we leave Waerenga, the successful manufacture of wine there may be mentioned. The wine made there may be described as a good sound claret or light Burgundy. It is pure, whole-some and palatable, naturally dry in character, and constitutes a most suitable beverage for this climate. It could probably be grown at a good profit if sold at the low price of 7s 6d per gallon, and would be far more healthful that heavy beer and fiery whisky. A good judge of wine recently told the writer that he intended to lay down a stock of Waerenga wine, as he considered it far superior to most of the imported European light wines and less heady than the vintage of Australia which we set in New Zealand.
It may be added, with regard to the conditions under which the Waerenga farms are held, that there are no hard and fast lines as to the class of dwelling the selector lives in, so long as he resides on his section. He may live in a tent if he likes. But, as a matter of fact, although the eleven sections offered had only been taken up the previous October, four dwelling-houses had already been erected by the following January, and all are good serviceable buildings.
There is no general truth of wider application than that "the Earth is the Mother of all;" and yet scientific agriculture—that knowledge of natural laws and their application, whereby the earth is made to yield her increase to her highest capacity—commands a practical interest from the general public not at all commensurate with the national and human importance of the subject. In a young and naturally fertile country like New Zealand no one denies the supreme importance of the farming and pastoral industries. On all sides in politics the aspiring parliamentary candidate emphatically declares that the farmers are "the backbone of the country." The city business man gives prizes to be competed for at agricultural shows, and at all show dinners talks eloquently of the duty of the Government being to "foster the interests of agriculture."
Inspired by a perusal of our annual trade statistics, newspaper writers point triumphantly to the figures re-presenting our agricultural and pastoral exports, and wax enthusiastic about the marvellous productiveness of "this grand little country" the energy and industry of our rural population and the paramount national importance of our "primary industries." In short, there is no lack amongst us of verbal recognition of the inestimable value to the nation of "the Man with the hoe." or, rather, as a matter of fact, "the Man with the plough." and various other instruments of which the talkers do not even know the names.
Therefore, it may be said the general public does take a very great interest in agriculture, the implication to the contrary in my opening sentence notwithstanding. And in a sense it is quite true that we all feel an interest in that most necessary of all industries to the subsistence of humanity. The politician takes a political interest in the votes of the farmers; the Colonial Treasurer—I beg his pardon—Minister of Finance takes a financial interest in the volume and commercial value of our agricultural exports; the city merchant and professional man take a commercial interest in the "purchasing power" of the farming population; and all sorts of people, who know nothing about farming, take a kindly, romantic interest in it, as a more or less picturesque occupation associated with green fields and lowing herds, waving cornfields, and' the stalwart virtues of the back-block pioneer.
But my remark referred to "scientific" agriculture, and the inadequate "practical" interest taken in it by the general public. By a practical interest I mean an interest which causes people to definitely realise the economic value of scientific knowledge as applied to agriculture. I mean such an interest as will impel those who feel it to exert a persistent pressure upon the Government and members of Parliament to induce them to devote sufficient public funds to the establishment and carrying on with efficiency of our experimental and demonstration State farms, and to provide opportunities for a sound agricultural training for all young men who have the sense to take advantage of it What we want is a thorough knowledge of practical farming, based on scientific principles. The truths of agricultural science are discovered partly in the laboratory of the scientist, but they can only be practically tested and proved by actual experience upon the land. Both kinds of work cost money, and are worth expending money upon, from the point of view of national economy. And yet, notwithstanding the admirable work which has been done in certain directions by our Agricultural Department, there is no division of the public service which is so hampered in its functions by ignorant and carping criticism, and by the grudging spirit in which its fianancial requirements are met when the necessary annual votes are asked for.
If the general public realised what the agricultural and pastoral industries actually mean for this country, they would be enthusiastic about the work of the Agricultural Department, and this enthusiasm would be reflected in the Press, in Parliament and in the Government. The Minister of Agriculture would not be afraid to submit to Cabinet estimates, based upon the advice of his technical advisers and administrative officers, as the necessary amounts required to make the work of the Department efficient in promoting the agricultural development of
A reference to official returns will amply confirm this statement, as the following figures, taken from an official return for the year ending
The value of our exports of "principal products" for that period was £17,604,870 The proportion of this total output derived from our agricultural, pastoral and other products of the soil (excluding timber, gold, kauri gum and frozen rabbits) was £14,942,543, which shows, as I have said, that more than 80 per cent of the value of our total principal products exported is derived from the products of industries connected with the occupation and cultivation of the land.
Under these circumstances it seems strange that there should be hesitation on the part of any Government in power with regard to asking for liberal votes from Parliament for the furtherance of agricultural education and experiment, by which we may add to our knowledge of the special means where-by, under local conditions of soil and climate, we may materially increase the national wealth by a more perfect development of our extraordinary cultural resources. If the average yearly profits from farming and pastoral pursuits were increased by so small an amount as 5s per acre over our present occupied area it would mean an addition to our national income of something like nine and a half millions sterling. There is little doubt that this could easily be accomplished, as the result of improved cultural methods and the adoption of a more intensive system of land culture where conditions were suitable.
We have many examples in other countries of what seem almost fabulous returns per acre obtained by special methods of raising crops and feeding stock. It should be the duty of our Agricultural Department to bring these improved systems of agriculture and horticulture in a visible form under the notice of the younger generation of our rural and suburban population, so that they may see, mark, learn and practically take advantage of the experience and knowledge of others. The influence of ocular demonstration upon farming practice is many times more effective than printed, or even verbal, instruction without actual examples to prove the soundness of the teaching. For this reason I have always contended that properly-conducted demonstration farms achieve a much greater practical effect in raising the general standard of agricultural work and results in a farming community than can be hoped for from the influence of lectures, however good, at an ordinary agricultural college.
I therefore believe it to be a matter of great public satisfaction that we have established in this country such highly useful institutions as the State Farms of Demonstration and Instruction at Ruakura, Momahaki, Waerenga and Were-roa. I believe they are all doing most valuable work, directly and in-directly, for the improvement of agriculture and agricultural education in New Zealand. It must, of course, be understood that in the term agriculture I include horticulture, and the breeding and management of dairy and other farm stock, as well as apiculture and poultry farming.
With regard to bee-keeping I am informed that no fewer than thirty young women have been successfully trained at Ruakura, and all are now engaged in the industry. One lady is now in charge of a large commercial apiary in Canada. It is here worth noting that under the supervision of that veteran apiculturist, Mr I. Hopkins, it has thus been proved that there is a profitable and healthful field of employment open to women in the bee-keeping industry. I need scarcely add that anything which increases the openings for the profitable employment of women in the country rather than in the towns, is a boon to women and a public advantage to the community.
It is of Ruakura State Farm that I wish to speak at present, with the object of doing what I can to make the public generally, and through there our Parliamentary representatives, realise the national value of the work that is being done there. I have re-
I can only, of course, give approximate figures to show the general financial position of Ruakura as a business proposition. But if the Departmental accounts were published I feel confident that the general result would not be very far away from my estimate. Many of us know, as a matter of fact, that the land—an area of 914 acres—cost originally £6300 some twelve years ago. Salaries, purchase of stock, machinery, and upkeep I will put down at an average of £2500 a year during that period, or £30,000. From my personal knowledge and observation I should put down the outlay for permanent improvements at an average of £1000 a year since
Of the present selling value of the property 1 consider myself a judge, and I say that it is well worth in the market £60,000. This estimate, I am informed, is £10,000 below that of a competent local land valuer. The value of the live and dead stock on the place I put down at £9000. The returns from sales of stock and produce I can only estimate from what I know of sales that have come under my notice. I believe I am within the mark when under this head I credit the farm with £12,000. This estimate of selling value and return from sales makes up an aggregate of £81,000. If £49,000 be subtracted from this amount we have a gross credit balance of £32,000, which leaves ample margin for interest charges, and any under or over estimates which I may be thought to have here set forth. If such a result in a period of about twelve years can be regarded as "financial failure" we must revise the generally accepted ideas of what constitutes a profitable commercial undertaking. I start with this statement of the commercial position before describing the nature of the various kinds of useful work carried on at Ruakura, in order to correct once for all the singular misconception that the enterprise of buying and improving this property, apart from its public objects, has proved a commercial lose to the State.
Ruakura Farm of Demonstration and Instruction has an area of 914 acres, the greater part of which is reclaimed swamp. The large amount of money expended on drainage work is an outlay which, from a business point of view, could fairly be spread over a considerable term of years, as constituting a permanent improvement. The effects of the drainage works, moreover, in bringing the land into full agricultural profit have not yet had time to make themselves felt over a considerable proportion of the farm. After the swamps have been drained the land has to be laboriously cleared of quantities of timber in the shape of buried stumps and logs, the encumbering wreckage of dead forests, which at one time covered the whole country. All this has added to the difficulties and cost of bringing the land into profitable use, and we might quite legitimately from a business standpoint, not expect a full return of the capital thus expended for several years to come, or even full interest upon the expenditure. And yet if the property were sold this year the Government would be recouped more than the whole of its outlay. No doubt this is partly due to the rapid rise in the market value of land in this district. But, nevertheless, the fact remains that as an asset this State farm is worth to-day considerably more than it cost the Government.
One of the most valuable educational features of an experimental farm is in what it finds out about farming matters, and makes common knowledge for the benefit of farmers, working under similar, or approximately similar, conditions of soil and climate. In this work of investigation it is just as useful to ascertain by actual trial what course of action should be avoided, or what particular forage crop is unsuitable, or what variety of the cereal plants is interior, or unprofitable, as to demonstrate the best cultural methods to be followed, and the most profitable Crops to be grown. But from the methods and crops which, by experiment, have been proved unprofitable, one cannot expect to show a commercial profit in the farm ledger. The commercial value of such experiments is secured by the farmer who takes note of their results at the State farms, and thus avoids the loss that would be entailed if he had to buy his own experience on these points. At Ruakura work is being carried on which furnishes many valuable lessons to workers on the land on questions connected with farm crops, fruit growing, dairy-farming, sheep-farming, poultry-keeping, and the breeding and care of stock. Not only this, but the whole of the work that has been done, especially in drainage, to bring the Ruakura property into its present high-class condition is, and will be, a valuable guide to those who will avail themselves of the information, having similar swampy, hungry land to deal with and bring into profit.
In the department of dairy farming and management there is much to interest and educate the young dairy-man. The milking herd is composed of pure Jerseys and high-grade Shorthorns. Every cow is individually tested for average yield of butter-fat, and a careful record kept of her performance. According to this record, she is either kept and bred from, or discarded as inferior. The standard the manager, Mr Primrose M'Connell, has set for the Ruakura dairy herd is a high one. He believes that a wise dairy farmer ought gradually to weed out every cow from his milking herd whose yield falls below 3001b per annum of butter-fat. The average return last year over the whole herd of cows at Ruakura was over 3001b. The Jerseys have lately taken high honours and championships at the agricultural shows in the Waikato and at Auckland. On the whole the Jersey herd is a good example of the desirable type of this breed, both in the matter of milking, breed points and constitution.
The milking shed is a model of what such a building should be, for economy of labour in milking, absolute cleanliness with a minimum of trouble, and everything that can ensure the purity of the milk—except the milking machine. At present the milking is done by hand, but I believe the installation of an up-to-date milking machine is in contemplation. Now that milking machines have been so much improved, and their great value recognised by the most enterprising dairy farmers in this country, one can hardly regard a model dairy as complete where this equipment is absent.
In this department opportunities art afforded to demonstrate the enormous saving of loss secured by ascertaining beyond doubt which individual cows should be discarded as below the standard in yield. Also what varieties of green forage for the feeding of the cows at different seasons of the year are the most advisable to grow. How ensilage can be utilised, and other feeding questions can all be tested here and the results brought under the notice of the farmers and the farm cadets, of whom 1 shall have something to say later.
I should mention also that there is installed at the Ruakura dairy a complete and up-to-date separating and butter-making plant, under the care of a qualified mechanic, who is competent to instruct cadets in the management and working of such machinery.
A very useful and interesting feature of the experimental work is the area devoted to the testing of different varieties of oats, wheat and barley. Fourteen acres of land are occupied by the several plots devoted to this purpose. The tests are made with the view of ascertaining the comparative merits of the varieties of cereals experimented with in the matter of, firstly, resistance to disease, and secondly, suitability to the soil and climate of the locality. As I paid my visit a little before harvest-time, I had a good opportunity of observing the striking differences in freedom from disease and growth of straw and grain which appeared in the different plots of wheat, barley and oats, grown side by side and under exactly the same treatment. Owing to the wet and cold spring this season, the conditions were favourable to the development of disease in grain crops, and therefore the test was a reliable one in favour of
Amongst the wheats there was one from the New South Wales Agricultural College, called The Cedar, which appeared to be a very promising kind. This wheat was practically free from disease, and grew with a nice well upstanding straw, carrying good heads. On the other hand, there was another variety of wheat close by, the name of which I forget, which in growth was a complete failure, proving its absolute unsuitability for the locality.
Throughout the fourteen acres there were numerous examples of this kind of lesson, affording the most valuable guidance to farmers as to what variety of oats or other grain would prove the most profitable for them to sow. This kind of knowledge is worth money to the working farmer, and is supplied by the Demonstration Farms for the benefit of the whole farming community, if they choose to avail themselves of it.
The best method of growing mangels was exemplified is a field of fifteen acres. The crop was looking grand and very healthy at the date of my visit, towards the end of December. The great superiority of the ridge system of root-growing and singling was here apparent, especially in the cleanness of the crop as regards weed growth. The amount of fertilisers used on different plots varied from half a ton to the acre down to no manure at all, and the several results in yield will be measured and recorded. Mr M'Connell considers the maximum dressing pays best as a general rule. He points out that an extra l cwt or 2cwt of manure often makes a difference of as much as 10 tons to the acre in yield, and therefore the added cost of the liberal treatment need not be regretted. There was some disease in mangels last season, but where not thus affected, 40 tons of roots per acre were grown at Ruakura.
There has probably been no experimental work at Ruakura which will prove more valuable to the country, commercially speaking, than the experiments which have been carried out in the cultivation of lucerne, or, as it is called in America, alfalfa. This forage crop, for productive yield and feeding value for all kinds of stock, is well-known wherever it can be successfully grown. Belonging to the family of the legumes, it is, moreover, an improver of the soil by its nitrogen-fixing qualities and its deep root action. In such cultural conditions as obtain in California, the Argentine and most parts of Australia, namely, rich soil and a hot and dry climate—lucerne is the crop par excellence for stock-feeding purposes. It was not at all certain, however, that it would give satisfactory results as compared with other forage crops under the climatic and soil conditions of the Waikato and other districts of the North Island. At Ruakura a number of varieties or strains of lucerne have been, and' are being tested, amongst which are the Peruvian, Hunter River. Arabian and the so-called "colonial" strain. The latter is from seed grown at Marlborough, in the South Island, and very likely was originally grown there from Hunter River seed.
The different varieties are grown side by side in long narrow strips, and sown in drills. This summer is the second season of growth since first planting. The plots had all been cut twelve days before the date of my visit—December 20—and in the case of the Peruvian variety twelve inches high of fresh growth had been made. This proves the wonderfully rapid growth of lucerne after a cutting. At the time I was there the Peruvian and Arabian varieties looked best as regards growth, but all kinds were doing well. Last year, Mr M'Connell tells me, Hunter River came first and Peruvian fifth for weight of crop. That was the first season of growth, however, and certain kinds may take longer to establish themselves in the ground before they can do their best.
The manure used on these experimental plots of lucerne was an ordinary dressing of basic slag, with carbonate of lime (not burnt) at the rate of one ton to the acre. The effects of top-dressing each season will no doubt be tested.
So much for the small plots. I was then shown a 5-acre paddock of lucerne which had been sown broadcast, and had just been cut for the second time this season. The green lucerne was still on the ground, and was being turned over for drying by a very handy little turning machine, which did the work quickly and with the minimum of bruising and shaking be-
In the course of the season five cuttings can be had, beginning in October and going on to March, and even April, in favourable seasons. The estimated yield, judging from results already obtained at Ruakura, is about forty tons of green forage per acre from the five cuttings, or an average of eight tons each cutting.
This department, to which I have already referred, is under the care of Mr Green, and is likely to prove a field of experimentation of the greatest practical value. Mr Green is admirably adapted for the work of his department, being a competent botanist, and at the same time a trained practical horticulturist and gardener. The scope of the plant-testing experiments ranges from pasture grasses and green forage plants to vegetables for the kitchen garden—including the many varieties of native flax (Phormium tenax). There are more varieties of this important fibre plant propagated and tested for weight and quality of fibre at Ruakura than anywhere else in New Zealand. Considering the commercial importance of the flax industry to this country, a knowledge of the characteristics of the several varieties of phormium indigenous to this country is likely to prove of great practical value when the time comes, as it is certain to come, when this valuable fibre plant will be deliberately cultivated for profit, instead of, as at present, allowing the industry to remain entirely dependent upon the wild growth for a supply of leaf for the mills.
In the breeding and observation of the comparative merits of varieties and sub-varieties of grasses very interesting and useful work is being carried on. As one example I may instance prairie grass. This grass has long been favourably known for its great feeding value, both as regards quantity of yield and nutritious qualities. The trouble is that, as a pasture grass for ordinary grazing purposes, it has hitherto proved almost useless, from the fact that its habit of growth—well out of the ground, and with a weak connection with the roots and the soil—makes it easily killed out by the close grazing of stock. More-over, so fond are stock of prairie grass that they eat it out to the very heart, and as the crown is well out of the ground it gives the animals an opportunity to eat it so closely as to destroy the plants.
At Ruakura can be seen certain plants of this grass which Mr Green has grown from seed selected from a chance plant, of which the habit of growth was deeper in the ground, and the shoots spreading out flatter than in the case of ordinary prairie grass, which has an upright, tufty growth. The individual plants from the seed of the closer-growing kind, which reproduce this characteristic in the highest degree, will be preserved and bred from, always discarding the plants that revert to the ordinary type, until a special type is established which will be able to hole its own in permanent pasture, under grazing conditions which are not too severe. There is a very reasonable hope that this result will be brought about by patient perseverance. In any case the trial is well worth making, and it could never be made anywhere else than at an experimental farm, not carried on for immediate commercial profits. I have merely cited this as an example of the valuable kind of work that is being carried out at Ruakura State Farm, and which is liable to be ignored by the casual observer, whose criticism is apt to be as casual as his observation.
I now come to an achievement in plant breeding that can be credited to this State institution, which ought to rejoice the soul of our friend the "practical" farmer. For in this instance something has been done the value of which can be counted up is pounds, shillings and pence. I refer to the production of a variety of oats which so far has proved absolutely resistant to the disease known as "rust." This variety was raised from one plant grown from selected seed Four years ago Mr Green selected a single head of oats from a field of this grain. From amongst the plants raised from the seed of this single head one plant was selected as appearing quite free from "rust" or "smut"
Apart from its rust-resistant qualities this variety of oats promises to be a good cropper, and a good sample of grain. The yield, judging from appearances of the Ruakura rust-proof oats, should run from sixty to seventy bushels per acre. (Since this was written the actual harvest returns of this oat crop pan out at ninety bushels to the acre.) The raising of this valuable variety is alone worth many thousands of pounds to the country.
There are at present eleven cadets at Ruakura, this number exhausting the present available accommodation for the purpose. This purpose is to pro-Tide such training at the State farms as will make good farmers as distinguished from technical agricultural experts and instructors. The latter, it is hoped, will be turned out in sufficient numbers by agricultural colleges in affiliation with the University colleges. The training of a youth to become a practical farmer includes teaching him how to do the actual work required on a farm, and also the best methods to follow in tillage cropping, stock and dairy management, based on a broad knowledge of the scientific principles which govern the best farming practice. Each cadet is required to take the part of a farm hand in all the work of the farm. He is supposed to stay at least one year at the farm, but is not bound to do so He may stay two years if he desires, but not longer under present regulations. I agree with Mr M'Connell, the manager, in thinking that, if in his opinion considered suitable, a cadet should be allowed to stay on for three years to get the full benefit of the excellent training given at Ruakura. At present nothing is paid by the cadet, even for board and lodging, which is, as it should be, substantial and comfortable. For the first three months the cadet earns nothing as wages for the work done, as in the case of inexperienced boys it is naturally worth very little. After that, if the manager considers he is worth it, the youth is paid 5s a week for the first year and 17s 6d a week for the second. The Agricultural Department reserves the right, at the discretion of the manager and on his report, to terminate a cadet's stay at the institution at any time. The boys are under the absolute control of the manager, who keeps a fatherly supervision over them after working hours, and none may leave the farm without his permission.
The nature of the teaching is more or less elementary from a scientific standpoint, but, from what I gathered, sound and thorough as far as it goes. For instance, it is not attempted to cover the whole field of agricultural chemistry in the course of teaching provided. But the scientific principles which govern the fertilisation of the soil are explained. The three or four important elements in plant nutrition, and the nature and effect in relation to these of the manures the farmer buys and applies to the land, are made plain to the learner. He is thus made to realise the practical value of the analysis which the vendor of artificial manures is bound to supply with his invoice, and in other ways—such as the botanical and other reasons for the rotation system of cropping—he is taught to perceive the commercial value of scientific Knowledge in farming. Each lad is connected for a fortnight at a time with each department of work, such as the dairy, the agricultural, the horticultural, the sheep-farming, or any other branch of farming work carried on at the farm, and after a time he can specialise on any particular branch to which he wishes to devote special attention.
It will thus be seen that a youth wishing to take up farming as a life occupation has great advantages in the training he receives at a State farm of demonstration and instruction. He is comfortably housed, well cared for and properly trained to become an intelligent and competent farmer, and it is a question, in my mind, whether it would not be in his own and the public interest that a moderate fee should be paid by each cadet, at least sufficient to cover the bare cost of his board. It may be said that his work on the farm does that. If so, it will be returned to him in wages. The idea of charging a moderate few is not
In Mr Primrose M'Council the Department has secured the services of a man singularly well fitted for the position of manager of an experimental and demonstration farm where training is provided for the sons of farmers and others, which is intended to make them good farmers. The fact of whether he has or has not a paper diploma from some scientific institution, as an agricultural scientist, is of very little consequence. It is of far more importance that he should be, what Mr M'Connell is, experienced in the best farming practice. He is essentially a practical farmer on scientific lines. The whole bias of his mind is scientific in relation to farming practice, i.e., reliance on scientific principles, interpreted and made use of in the light of experience. Hit-or-miss, rule-of-thumb methods one feels certain Mr M'Connell would eschew. Anyone who has some knowledge of the subject who discussed any agricultural question with him will find his opinion to be that of a thoughtful man of experience, who is well read on all important aspects of up-to-date agriculture. He has none of the narrow-minded cocksureness of the theoretical "expert" white he has at the same time an intelligent appreciation of the value of the knowledge gained by expert research. Good farming is a tradition in his family, and he takes a keep personal interest in the problems which present themselves for solution by the progressive farmer, whose object is to make his calling as profitable to him-self and as useful to the country as possible. The manager at Ruakura is therefore, in my opinion, the very mar that is wanted for the position he occupies, both as regards the work or the farm and the teaching of the cadets.
The following is the presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute, at Wellington, on the
Gentlemen of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute,—At your last annual meeting you were good enough to elect me, in my absence, to be your President for the year, and my first duty is now to thank you most sincerely for the great honour you thus conferred upon me. By custom, now well established, the position carries with it the duty of presenting to you some address on the work of the Institute during the year, and of other scientific matters in which the Institute is directly interested.
Since our last meeting, Augustus Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Museum, who has been a member since the Board was reconstituted in
In the list of our honorary members the losses by death have this year been unusually numerous: Lord Avebury, John Milne, P. L. Sclater, Sir George Darwin, and Alfred Russel Wallace, all of them men prominent in science. The mention of Alfred Russel Wallace, especially well known and honoured by New-Zealanders for his researches in connection with the origin of our fauna and flora, takes us back to the publication of the theory of Natural Selection by Darwin and Wallace in
Since Captain Scott first came to New Zealand in
In connection with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, under Dr. Mawson, in which two New-Zealanders have played a worthy part, we have to record the same mingling of successful achievement and sad loss of human lives. We trust that the valuable results already gained will be greatly added to by the enforced continuance of the expedition in the Antarctic for an additional year, and that in the near future we shall be able to welcome the return of the party all safe and well.
By the publication of the results of these two expeditions, and of the German expedition in the "Deutschland," and by the further volumes recording the results of earlier expeditions, our knowledge of the Antarctic is being gradually extended, and the parts still unknown more and more narrowed; while, undismayed by the known difficulties and dangers and by the memory of previous disasters, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Lieutenant Stack house, and others are planning fresh expeditions to solve the questions still requiring answer. If these expeditions meet with the success they deserve—as we all hope they will—the Antarctic will soon be one of the best scientifically explored portions of the earth, and the New Zealand problems connected therewith will be within measurable reach of satisfactory solution.
Of the various matters to be brought before your notice at this meeting there are only a few that I need specially call your attention to now.
At its last annual meeting this Board supported, with certain alterations, the proposals previously made by a parliamentary Committee for the establishment of a Scientific Board of Advice, with the object of securing greater uniformity in the various scientific publications of the Government Departments, and of giving advice in connection with these and other scientific questions likely to be brought before the Government, and we had hoped that effect would be given to these recommendations by Parliament at its last session. A Science and Art Bill was introduced providing for the establishment of a Board to control the Dominion Museum and a National Art Gallery, and to decide what scientific reports should be printed or reprinted, In this Bill as introduced the proposed Board was also given control over the "Transactions of the New Zealand Institute," both as regards the papers to be included and the price at which the volume could be supplied to members. Strong exception to these proposals was at once made by nearly all the local Institutes, and a special meeting of this Board was summoned for the 5th September to consider the position, and as a result the clauses dealing with these matters were struck out of the Bill, and the Act as passed leaves to the Institute the full control of its own Transactions, as provided for in the New Zealand Institute Act,
The main reason for proposing to place the publication of the Transactions under the control of the Board established by the Science and Art Act was to relieve the Institute of the cost of printing the Transactions, so that it might have the annual grant of £500 free for encouraging science in other ways. As you are well aware, the annual grant is barely sufficient for the publication of the Transactions in ordinary years, and it so happened that three or four years ago we had several years in succession particularly fruitful in the production of papers by members of the Institute fully deserving of publication, and additional expense was also caused by the issue of the Index to the first forty volumes, of special Bulletins, by the separate publication and distribution of the Proceedings, and by holding the Board's meetings for two years at centres other than Wellington; and the consequence was that the credit to the balance of the Institute was for the time converted into a debit. In consequence the Board was forced to stop the separate issue of the Proceedings, to discontinue for a time to issue Bulletins, and to intimate to the members of the Publication Committee that they must bear in mind the straitened finances when deciding the papers that were to be printed in the Transactions, These economies have been duly carried out, and in response to the representations of Mr. G. M. Thomson and other members of Parliament the Government voted an additional £200 for the funds of the Institute in
It is evident that if the ordinary expenses of this Board and the printing of our publications are to be limited to what can be done with the yearly grant of £500 the usefulness of the Institute will be very greatly hampered, and that it will be unable to take that large and increasing share in promoting science that we all wish to see it perform. The claim that has been made for an increase in the statutory annual grant is therefore fully justified; and if we consider the conditions of the country and of the Institute when the grant was fixed at £500, forty-five years ago, and compare them with the present, it will be seen that if the grant were doubled it would only be bringing it into reasonable relation to the requirements of the Institute for the immediate future, and that the whole of it could be used with great advantage. Personally, however, I am of opinion that the Institute will never be able to take that independent position that is absolutely essential for the real success of a purely scientific society so long as we are entirely dependent on a Government grant, and I look forward to the time when we shall be freed from that dependence by the receipt of funds from other sources. I will return to this point presently.
But there is another unsatisfactory feature in connection with our finances. Naturally, we wish to see the Institute's work extended and the number of its members increased, and yet under our present regulations increase of membership, far from strengthening our financial position, weakens it by necessitating the issue of additional volumes of the Transactions without any additional increase to our funds. This is essentially an unstable position. By the Act, every member of the district Institutes is ipso facto a member of this Institute, and every additional member of the Institute should be an addition to its strength financially as well as scientifically. It seems to me that this can only be done by a levy or contribution per member towards the general funds of the Institute. This need be only very small in amount; half a crown per member would be quite sufficient, and would materially strengthen our funds. The proposal is by no means new; in the history of our own Institute there are instances where a levy on the district Institutes has been made for the funds of the controlling body, and it is the method adopted by practically every body that consists of branches the common interests of which are entrusted to and controlled by a central executive a the case of the Institute it would have other advantages. Some of the smaller Institutes find it difficult to continue as purely scientific societies requiring the usual subscription of one guinea for membership, and are forced either to reduce the fee or to offer other advantages of membership of a different character, while they still claim that they are entitled to a copy of the Transactions for each member. If by regulation these Institutes paid to our funds a small contribution for each member requiring the volume, it would enable us to define accurately the members of the Institute entitled to this privilege, while the local society would still be free to accept associates on other conditions, and, if they wished, at a lower annual subscription; and the unfortunate differences which have in some cases occurred as to the number of volumes claimed would no longer arise. It would also enable any Institute to establish sections for particular purposes, and to allow of membership of the sections on special conditions without raising questions as to whether they were to be considered members of the Institute or not.
This, then, would be one means of strengthening our finances, and there are other mathods that I need not enter upon now, but there is one general source that I wish to refer to. Other learned societies usually have considerable sums donated or bequeathed to them either for general purposes or for some special research or investiga-
I need hardly remind you that the meeting of the British Association this year is to be held in Australia, and that many distinguished men of science are coming from Europe to attend its meetings at Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. It is hoped that the great attractions of our New Zealand zoology, botany, and geology will induce many of these members to extend their visit to New Zealand, and that we shall have the great advantage of being able to meet them, of showing them what is worthy of scientific interest in New Zealand, and of receiving their advice and assistance in connection with the work that is still to be done. An energetic committee in Wellington has long been at work making the necessary arrangements, a substantial grant for the expenses has been made by the Government, and there is little doubt that very great benefit to New Zealand science will be the result.
It gives me great pleasure to be able to report that the text of Mr. Suter's "Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca" has at last been issued, and is being distributed by the Education Department. The work was recommended many years ago by our Institute, and though it has been long delayed for various reasons, into which I need not now enter, it is gratifying to know that it has at last appeared, and we can congratulate the author on its publication and on the faithful and conscientious work in this subject that he has performed with such painstaking industry for so many years. The plates to illustrate the work have long been in hand, many of them are already prepared, and we must relax no effort in seeing that the same delay in their production does not occur as there was with the text. The work will be of very great value not only to zoologists, but more particularly to palaeontologists, and I have little doubt that it will greatly aid in the solution of many geological problems that still require working out.
There is a still more important subject that I must speak about. The unsatisfactory housing of the valuable specimens and the Institute library in the Dominion Museum has been drawn attention to time after time by the Director and by others; and my predecessor in this office, Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, in his address last year, speaking of the library, declared that the condition of affairs was a disgrace both to the Government and to the Institute. I feel it my duty, as the President of this Institute, to repeat that statement in the most emphatic manner possible. The Museum contains a vast collection of valuable specimens of Maori art and workmanship, of geological and zoological specimens, including the very large and valuable collections of insects gathered with so much energy and judgment by the late Director; and it contains the very valuable library of the Institute. The great majority of these are quite irreplaceable, yet they are still housed in a wooden building that is almost falling to pieces through age, and the greater part of which has been declared to be insanitary for human beings. Despite the repeated appeals, little or nothing has been done to remedy this state of affairs. It is true that a Science and Art act was passed at last session of Parliament, setting up a Board for the control of the Dominion Museum; but an Act of Parliament is not an efficient fire-preventive, nor has it any inherent power of counteracting the effects of damp and mould in a wooden building that lets in the rain at all places; and many of the specimens, collected at the expense of the life-blood of Sir James Hector and of Mr. Hamilton, are rapidly being ruined while the whole collection might be destroyed by fire in a single night, to the eternal disgrace of New Zealand. Whose fault is it? It is no use our blaming the Government. Ministers come and Ministers go, and they have many things to think of that
But we have a still larger and more important museum entrusted to our care—the zoology, botany, and geology of New Zealand, with its specimens of ancient types, not only found nowhere else in the world, but in so many cases connecting our present plants and animals with those that lived on the earth in former geological ages, and that have become extinct everywhere else. Our botanists have repeatedly pointed out that the flora of New Zealand presents in a comparatively small space all the types of vegetation to be found in the world. It contains many plants found only in particular localities in New Zealand, of extreme interest, and many also of great economic value. The same thing is true of our animals. Every one knows of our tuatara, which a late distinguished zoologist once described as the animal most important zoologically on the face of the earth; but among the smaller animals there are many types almost as extraordinary, and as well deserving of full and careful study. It is true that a good deal has been done in the work of investigating some of these, but the subject has only been touched on the surface, and there is much that has not yet been attempted at all. Our first duty, however, is to see that these objects are, so far as possible, preserved, so that they may be worked out by our successors, if not by ourselves. Meanwhile our forests are being destroyed at an alarmingly rapid rate, and often for most insufficient reasons, and with them are destroyed also the smaller insects and other animals that live in the bush. Very many of these have not yet been collected or investigated, and they are rapidly becoming extinct. In some notes for a lecture found among a few papers left by the late Captain Hutton, and entrusted to me, there is a pathetic reference to this matter, in which he gives expression to his grief at the small amount of work that it has been possible to do at the entomology of New Zealand; and I can share his grief, while at the same time recognizing with gratitude what has been done by Captain Hutton himself, Mr. G. V. Hudson, and other workers.
If this Institute is to take its proper share in the scientific work of New Zealand, its first and most urgent duty, it seems to me, is to Secure the preservation of all objects of scientific importance in New Zealand that are liable to be destroyed. The memorials of the Maori race I have already referred to, but we have also to protest against the unnecessary destruction of our forests, and to see that sufficient is preserved untouched on all hilltops and in valleys and other places where it is possible to preserve it without interfering with the advance of settlement, and that specimens of all plants and animals likely to become extinct are collected and properly and permanently preserved. If we are to do this, and to perform satisfactorily the other duties of a scientific society, we must act more energetically than we have sometimes done in the past, and act so that this Institute may become what it should be—the powerful and independent expression of scientific opinion in New Zealand, and the authority to which all would turn who require information or advice on scientific matters. That position we have not yet attained. Acts dealing with scientific matters are passed by Parliament, regulations regarding fisheries or sealing are gazetted, scientific appointments are made by the Government, by University Colleges and others, Royal Commissions dealing with' scientific questions are set up, and scientific works are published at public expense without the opinion of this Institute being sought or obtained. Surely we have the knowledge, the ability, and the courage to give a valuable and independent opinion on matters of this kind, and it is our duty so to promote the true interests of the Institute and to make it such an important body that its advice will naturally be sought by all who require it on these matters, and be an indispensable preliminary to action.
Soured Fathers and Brethren,—
When the delegates attending the
In the case of America, the war spirit allowed the Government, with the apparent consent of a majority of the people, to trample under foot for a time the great ethical principle on which the Re-public was founded, viz., that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Of course the Philipinos were not fit for self-government in the opinion of American Jingoes, neither were American colonists fitted for self-government in the opinion of King George and his advisers. The election of Woodrow Wilson as President of the United States, with the declared intention of granting self-government to the Philipine Islands and the partial liberation of the American people by the reduction of robber, tariffs, gives a ray of hope that the great Republic has grown sick of wallowing in the mire of a military imperialism, and may once more
In Great Britain the erstwhile Radical, Mr. Chamberlain, in order to cover up his South African tracks, tried to induce the people of the Homeland to turn their backs on the fiscal light which they had seen and followed for so many years, and to lead them back into the miry clay of tariff taxes. That ill-used word, "Protection," has covered up a multitude of sins in the past, and still continues to hide from the eyes of multitudes the infamy of a system of taxation which involves
Well might Lowell exclaim: "There is more in names than most men dream of; and a lie may keep it's throne a whole age longer if it skulk behind the shield of some fair-sounding name."
A tariff, like war, is always prompted by the selfishness and greed of a few people, and promoted and maintained by a campaign of misrepresentation. It depends for its existence on a spirit of hatred against the so-called foreigner, and the ridiculously absurd idea that the people of another country, who desire to give you twenty shillings' worth of goods and take only fifteen shillings' worth of goods in payment, must be regarded as your natural enemies. It is in essence the very antithesis of the spirit of Christian Brotherhood, and it is as much opposed to sound economics as it is to the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. Fortunately for the people of Britain, this great heresy, notwithstanding £1,000 dinners at noblemen's palaces, has so far failed to delude a majority of the people. With nations, as with individuals, if they deliberately turn their backs on the light of truth which they have seen, they are on the high road to destruction.
A few years later a further example of national anarchy was furnished by Austria in the unwarranted annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in flagrant defiance of the most solemn treaty obligations. Next came Italy, with her costly and iniquitous war with Turkey and the annexation of Tripoli, followed closely by the most bloody war of modern times amongst the Balkan States. And the end of international friction is not yet in sight. All the great European nations, including our own Motherland, and also the United States of America, are engaged in a mad race for the increase of naval armaments. Germany, France, and Austria have quite recently increased the burdens of taxation and the sacrifice of time on their respective peoples for the purpose of adding to their land forces; while Lord Roberts and as active organisation in England are
The revolutions and counter-
When we survey the internal
Then we have the Militant
When we survey the industrial
What the "results sought" are, is not made very plain—unless by the vague phrase, "the overthrow of the capitalist system!" To secure this result any means appear to be considered justifiable. And the experience of New Zealand seems to be that any means are held to be preferable to the constitutional method of altering, by the representatives of the people elected at the ballot box, the laws that affect the distribution of the products of labour. The practice of sabotage, striking, or loafing on the job, the burning of crops and barns, as well as the sympathetic or general strike, are openly suggested in the propaganda of the I.W.W. as means of getting the "results sought" with the least expenditure of time and energy. One can understand the advocacy of such means in a country under the control of an autocratic government where the people are rigorously excluded from any real share in the government, but surely in a democratic country like New Zealand, where every man and every woman has one vote, and one vote only, the advocates of such a gospel must be in need of mental treatment.
Recent events in New Zealand have revealed the fact that even in this country, with all its experimental labour legislation, there is a considerable and energetic section of workers whose minds are very chaotic regarding the cause and the cure of labour's wrongs.
In the midst of all this turmoil, unrest and anarchy, what about the Churches? I don't propose to dwell at any length on questions of theological controversy, although there, as elsewhere, there has been a considerable amount of unrest and confusion. Amongst students of unrest and confusion. Amongst students of theology the stage of doubt and citicism had been reached some time previous to my last address. The results of that disquieting process have been gradually filtering through the minds of the mass of the people during recent years, being brought into the consciousness of the common people largely through the utterances of Mr. R. J. Campbell, of the City Temple, London. In this domain, however, I am of opinion that the constructive stage has been more definitely reached than it has in the domain of sociology or politics, national or international. In many respects the Churches seem to be drifting out of touch with the great mass of mankind, and are in danger of becoming a negligible factor in the life of the world.
One very disheartening feature of the world-wide labour movement at the present time is its anti-Christian spirit, and the antagonism which many of its leaders are developing towards organised Christianity. It is quite true that many of the best and wisest labour leaders, both in Great Britain and New Zealand, are men deeply imbued with the spirit of Christianity, many of them active workers in Churches and Sunday Schools. Indeed, it is true that many of them have received their equipment for platform work by their training and experience as lay preachers. At the same time, I think ft must be admitted that a very large proportion of the men who to-day are getting the ear of the workers are not only anti-Church, but anti-Christian. Whether rightly or wrongly, the impression seems to be gaining ground amongst the workers of the world that the organised Christian Church, if not actively hostile to the aims and ideals of labour, is, to say the least of it, apathetic. This ought not to be. The spirit of Christianity is the only solvent of industrial, social, or economic problems. Of course the Christian Church can have no association with, or tolerance for, a propaganda which unblushingly boasts that the question of "right" or "wrong" has no meaning, or which inculcates such pernicious doctrines as "sabotage" or "barn burning." But the perversity of false labour leaders is no excuse for indolence or indifference on the part of Christian ministers or laymen.
I may be told that the Church is a spiritual institution, and that the pulpit is no place for politics. I agree that partisan party politics are unfit for the pulpit. They are equally unfit for the workshop, the home, or for Parliament. But, unless we give a new connotation to the term politics, there are political questions constantly arising for the consideration of the people which the Church ought to give a pronouncement on, unless it is prepared to treat a large portion of
What about the Mosaic land laws? Do they come within the definition of the term politics?" Does the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount cast a reflection on any of our party politicians or monopolists? And, if so, should all refer-once to the precepts of that glorious utterance be eliminated from our pulpits because they infringe the domain of politics? Christianity must take cognizance of everything which affects the life of man, or it will lose its hold on the people and degenerate into a pietistic social coterie.
That the Churches have in recent years drifted out of touch with the people cannot be gainsaid. In a book recently published by the Rev. Henry Carter, entitled, "The Church and the New Age," the drift is shown to be quite alarming. He makes an elaborate examination of Church statistics, which show a remark-able break taking place about the year
I have never before seen a
Any antagonism between the Church and the labour movement must arise either (1) on account of the Church's
The witness which the followers of Jesus Christ were to bear was of a three-fold nature, viz., "The Prophetic Witness," "The Healing Witness," and the "Witness of Salvation." The first witness represented by the prophet or preacher; the second witness represented by the priest, or minister, or healer; the third witness represented by King, Lord, or Saviour. The "Prophetic Witness" involved (1) a religious interpretation of history, (2) an unsparing condemnation of contemporary evil, (3) the building up of the Church as a Christian Brotherhood emblematic of the universal brotherhood of man involved in the Fatherhood of of God. The "Healing Witness" involved ministration to the sick and sorrowful of mind and body. That duty is now left mainly to the doctors and faith-healers. The "Witness to Salvation" involved the bringing of the penitent to the Cross, where forgiveness of sin was to be obtained. What a contrast between the present and the time when Jesus walked the earth! In the time of Christ and His immediate disciples the one great blasphemy was the claim that Jesus had power to forgive all sin and to cleanse from its power. To-day the forgiveness of sin is accepted by all the Churches as the supreme, if not the only, mission of the Christ. In the time of Christ the "Prophetic Witness" and the "Healing Witness" were universally admitted. To-day the prophet has almost dis-appeared from our Churches, and the healer is almost afraid to reveal himself.
is the prophet who can supply the religious interpretation of history, and point the way to a new social order which will make possible a fuller and nobler development of human life—the prophet who will unsparingly condemn the contemporary evils which degrade our civilisation, and which, if not removed, will ultimately destroy it. Nations and civilisations, in order to endure, must adapt themselves to the developing needs of human life in the same manner that individuals must secure harmonious adaptation to their environment in order that they may live. The failure to secure this harmonious adjustment is responsible for the universal anarchy and chaos which we see in the religious, social, and political life of man to-day; and the Church must accept its fair share of the blame. How is it that there is no anarchy or chaos in the lower animal kingdom? Each race persists so long as circumstances permit. Content to live under natural laws, it satisfies its natural
One great lesson we mortals have to learn is that the social and political life of man is under the governance of Divine and universal law quite as much as is the physical world in which we live. The reign of law is now pretty generally recognised in the physical world, and also in the other portions of the great animal kingdom to which man belongs. It is also recognised to some extent in the spiritual world. But in man's relation to his mother earth, and in his relations to his brother man, most people speak and act as if the Great Creator and Law-giver had overlooked that portion of His great domain; that He had forgotten or neglected to make provision for the needs of mankind living in a civilised society! They seem to think that unless man were able to evolve out of his fertile imagination all sorts of artificial laws and regulations for the guidance of society, the result would be universal chaos. Quite the contrary is the case. Most of the ills which afflict human society spring out of man-made laws which conflict with natural laws and justice. What we have to do is not to make laws, but to discover the natural laws which God hath made, and then to bring our human institutions into harmony with those natural laws. Human society, to endure, must be based on justice, and it is well that it should be so. However powerful and apparently successful, society is on its way to anarchy and chaos if it supports injustice. I know of no stronger argument than this for belief in the Divine.
But, more than this, justice is the only possible basis for the development of the Divine side of man's nature. Love is
It is life, it is God. To say that God is love does not help us much, because the term "God" is almost unthinkable. We must reverse it and say. "Love is God." Then all that is good in religion or Christianity comes back to us at once. Has not some poet said that man's highest endowment is "The love of love, the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn;" or, as Dr. Giles, one of our New Zealand poets, better expresses it:—
That expresses to me a very
The "love" we need is the
In the process of developing
But an institution more prolific of in the world to-day is that which enables the private appropriation of rent under the guise of modern landlordism. In the beginnings of society, when primitive man was emerging from a state of tribal communism, I have no doubt that private land-ownership served a useful purpose. Even under the feudal system, with the paternal recognition of duties as well as rights on the part of the feudal lords, I think it may have had its advantages; but under modern conditions, gathering to itself as it does all the material advantages of an advancing civilisation, it is evil and only evil. It is the root cause of labour problems, private appropriation of rent, involving as it does the payment of interest and profits beyond the just reward of service for service, is the main cause of all the anarchy and chaos of which I have been speaking. Until the social values ereated by the community are taken by the community and used for community purposes, and all that rightly belongs to the individual is left sacredly to the individual, we cannot have order and harmony in society.
The problem we have to solve is how to secure social equality. The problem our fathers had to solve was how to secure political equality. They faced the question of their day and partially answered it. We must finish their work, and resotutely set to work and solve the problem of social equality. Political equality must lead to social equality. Social equality does not mean that we shall all be the same height and weight, the same intelligence and morality, or possess the same wealth, as some foolish people suppose. Social equality simply means equal social rights—the establishment of fair play between man and man in society. Liberty of thought and freedom of speech. Free men—that is the victory upon for us by our fathers. Free land—that is the victory we must win for our-selves. Land is the source of all wealth. We all live on and from the land. If a section of the community is allowed to control the land, it controls the life, the labour, and the liberty of the people.
The land is the great storehouse provided by the Common Father for the support and comfort and well-being of common family. The earth is the table of the Heavenly Father, and we want to make room, and equal room, at the Father's table for all the Father's children. How is it to be done? By evolution or by revolution? By peaceful adjustment or by bloody conflict? The answer to these questions cannot be long delayed. The wonderful developments of science during the last sixty years in the application of steam and machinery to production has introduced a new factor into the life of the world. Land value, like gravitation, tends to attract to itself all the material advantages that arise from new inventions applied to production, distribution, and exchange; while the needs of an increasing normal population enable the owners of the earth to extract an ever-increasing proportion of the products of labour for the right to live and work on their property.
Look at the position in our own country. In twenty years the people of this country have increased the unimproved land value by no less than £140,000,000. This increased land value is in addition to the value created by the expenditure of labour and capital in making improvements. It is a social value created by society, and rightly belonging to society. Yet the whole of it has passed into the possession of a portion of the people, and most of it (£126,000,000 out of the £140,000,000) has passed into the possession of not more than 22,500 families out of the million people in New Zealand. If this socially-created wealth had been collected and used for social purposes, in which all the people could have participated, it would have been equivalent to an increase of wages of £35 a year to every family in the land. It is due mainly to ignorance that this enormous iniquity is allowed to continue. Self-interest on the part of some tends to blind them to the disastrous effects of a system which has grown up with them, and which has worked quite satisfactorily from their point of view. This is a moral universe, and what is morally wrong can never be politically right. Has the Church no word to speak regarding this great moral iniquity? All that we require is that
That the spirit of the Mosaic code should be applied to the institution of, land ownership, bringing it into harmony with the needs of mankind to-day.
It is estimated that when Persia perished 1 per cent. of the people owned all the land; Egypt went down when 2 per cent. owned 97 per cent. of all the wealth; Babylon died when 2 per cent. owned all the wealth; and Rome expired when 1,800 men possessed all the then known world. We are drifting steadily toward a like condition throughout the civilised world to-day. In
to free the great mass of mankind from industrial slavery, to get the landowners, and the monopolists generally, off the people's backs. Merely to make their slavery more bearable will do no permanent good.
Is the Church unable or unwilling to lend a hand in denouncing this monster of iniquity which, like a canker, is eating the heart out of our civilisation? The prophets of old time would have done so. Cannot you imagine them calling out: "Woe unto you, ye monopolists of God's earth ! Woe unto you, ye exploiters of the poor!"
If the Church in its corporate capacity is unable to take any action, surely this is the work of Church members who have imbibed the Master's spirit, and who have learnt the Master's teaching. To all such I make an earnest appeal to come over and help us.
Knowledge is the first essential to reform. I appeal to every Christian man and woman to study the arguments of those who contend that the private appropriation of rent is the main cause of the anarchy and chaos which abounds to-day; nay, more, that it is the main obstacle to the coming of the kingdom. You must know that most of the men who make this claim are men of at least average ability, that they are men of probity, and that they have made a study of the subject whereon they speak.
Revolution is in the air. It is
Think, then, how near to
can secure the harmonious
In conclusion, let me say that
Love is and was my King and
Encompassed by his faithful
And hear at times a sentinel
Who moves about from place to
In the deep night, that all is
And all is well, tho' faith and
A deeper voice across the storm,
Proclaiming social truth shall
Should pile her barricades with
Wright & Jaques, Printers. Auckland
Dearly Beloved Brethren and Dear Children in Jesus Christ—
Reading and experience have led us to the conviction that most of the prevalent and pernicious errors which afflict mankind at the present time in social matters, arise from false or incomplete ideas regarding the nature, rights, and duties of the individual, of the family, of the State, and of property. The object of this pastoral, therefore, is to convey to your minds, as far as possible in a limited space, accurate doctrines concerning these various subjects, and, at the same time, to contrast them with the false theories spread abroad by Socialism in reference to the same. Then a few concluding remarks will accentuate the absolute antagonism of Socialism towards Religion, which, with the family and property, forms the basis of society.
I. The Individual. In their reaction against a false individualism Socialists have rejected that true individualism which is the necessary basis of sound democracy. They tell us (by their recognised authors) that each individual man is a mere cell in an organism, and that his personality is valuable only in so far as it contributes to the welfare of the social organism. This view, based on a mistaken analogy, robs human life of its value, and deprives man of his sense of personal dignity, of his independence of character, and of all incentive to self-improvement and self-development. Man is a distinct and separate existence, not a mere screw in complex State machinery. Man is because of his soul, not because of his citizenship. Socialism would subordinate him to the State, and not to the present State only, but to some highly problematic future State of very doubtful character, which might prove to be the cruellest tyrant that ever ground a human being into the dust. "Why care about your career?" it says to the individual. "Your career is to provide a career for those yet to come. Tour reward must be to labour for generations yet unborn." "No one," says Babel, "has a right to consider whether he himself, after all trouble and labour, will live to see a fairer epoch of Socialism Still less has he a right to let such considerations deter him from the course on which he has entered." ("Women," Eng. Tran., 264). Now just note the glaring contradiction of the Socialist's position. He rails at Christianity for "dealing in futures," and deluding the people with a "draft on eternity," and yet he himself speculates in futures of far less assured character than the heaven which even a shoeless child, selling newspapers in a slum, knows to be the term of his earthly pilgrimage. Socialism boasts of its ideal as both scientific and valuable, whereas it is neither the one nor the
So the boasted Socialist ideal is not scientific. Neither is it valuable. No human ideal can be valuable which debases the worth of the individual man. There once prevailed a heathen principle—Humanum paucis vivit genus the human race exists but for a few. Democracy, after many a struggle, has been taught by Christianity the wickedness of such a maxim "No," says the Church, "each individual here and now has his value; he has his personal work, and must earn his personal reward for its accomplishment. He is an end in himself, and must never be made a mere means to the welfare of others." Socialists take the pagan maxim and repeat it in a no less objectionable form : Humanum futuris vivit genus—the human race lives for a problematic future. This amounts to a denial of the worth of the individual
But what must be the upshot of putting before democracy an ideal offering no immediate satisfaction of man's needs but only the prospect of a vague problematic future? Nothing, of course, but a policy of grab. For human nature scorns to wait for joys uncertain. It clamours for a present instalment of justice, and at any price, even at the price of bloodshed and a reign of terror. People taught that it is right to deprive private owners of their capital will press for immediate confiscation. They will take a short cut to justice—and who can blame them? If their hopes are centred on the earthly paradise of a socialistic kingdom, the sooner that kingdom is realised the better.
How different the ideal of Catholicity! The Catholic Church takes the individual by the hand and says: "I value you exceedingly. I prize your own personal worth, and I watch with tireless delight your success, which is certains if you care to make it so. You have a personal life. You have an immortal soul, and your destiny is alike glorious and
Behold, then, two ideals set to man by Socialism and christianity. Socialism deems this life an end in itself, christianity regards it as a preparation for a life to come. Furthermore, Christianity views the State as a natural institution with well-defined rights and duties, limited by the prior rights and duties of the individual and the family. Socialism, on the contrary, is an economy set up to run counter to the providential purposes of the State. Under Socialism State action, instead of being supplementary to individual action would become a substitute for it. The individual would be swallowed up by the State—a mere cell in an organism; which is the inversion of the natural order. Socialism is non-natural if not unnatural. Socialism would para-lyse man's freedom. Under it man would not be master of his life, but a slave, a cog in the State machinery.
II. The Family.—No creation on earth surpasses the beauty of the Christian family in a well-regulated Chris-home. That treasure has enriched the world for nearly 2000 years. What is the family? A compound society made up of two elementary societies, the conjugal and the parental. The former is the lasting union of a man and of a woman for the propagation and the education of their kind. The latter is the lasting union of parents and offspring for the purpose of duration. The essential qualities of the family may be
What has the Catholic Church done for the family? She has raised it to a higher plane. It was God-given from the beginning, the Catholic Church has made it God-like—a picture of God. The marriage-bond has become the autlhentic symbol of the union between Christ and His Church. It was a contract; it has become a sacrament, and a "great sacrament." The Catholic Church sees in the bridegroom and bride not merely the prospective father and mother of a family destined to rise up and call them blessed, but generations following generations, each charged with a mission and deputed to a work for the good of the Church and State. With good reason does St. Paul, viewing the grandeur of Christias marriage, exclaim: "This is a great mystery:" a mysterious rite, a great sacrament. Originally a divine institution marriage has been raised by Jesus Christ into a sacraments union. Matrimony is the only sacrament of the seven, in which, not the priest, but the contracting parties are the officiating ministers. We may fitly call marriage a sublime state, giving as it does to man and wife the claim on never failing graces to meet the special trials inevitable in their state. Hut what momentous consequences attend their sacred career, not only to themselves, but to the State and the Christian Church! Hence the Apostle, in his eulogy of the sacrament of matrimony, reminds us that he is speaking "a Christ and in the Church." Never, perhaps, in the course of ages, was it so necessary as now, with the birth-rate decreasing and the divorce list increasing, and Socialism developing, to emphasise the warning note of the Apostle, Regarded as a mere social contract marriage is shorn of all beauty and sublimity: it is a market-good, often only as economic asset. In Christ and His Church we see a
The cottage home of Nazareth was the first to reveal to the world the ideal family life; and it has been held up to the world by the Church for well-nigh 2000 years. And with what admirable results! Christianity alone has set woman in her right position in the family and in society, honouring womanhood, wife hood, and motherhood as they were never honoured before. Christianity excludes from married life the servility and frivolity conspicuous in non-Christian civilisation regarding the relations of wife and husband. Christianity refuses to consider woman as man's drudge or the sport of his lust. Christian marriage exacts no doubt a high standard, but how rich it is in rewards and blessings on itself and on the country where it is held in honour! Heroes cannot save a country when the idea of the family is degraded.
A word now about the off spring of marriage. The Catholic Church rejects the old pagan idea that the child is merely the property of the parents; she holds that the child has received its immortal soul directly from God. She also repudiates the false philosophy which would sever the child from its parents and make it the property of the State. Pope Leo XIII. says: "Parental authority can be neither abolished nor absorbed by the State; for it has the same source as human life itself. The child belongs to the father, and is, as it were, the prolongation of the father's personality; and, speaking strictly, the child takes its place in civil society, not by its own right, but in its quality as a member of the family in which it is born. Before it attains the use of free will, the
"Every child," says Bebel, "that comes into the world, whether male or female, is a welcome addition to society, for society beholds in every child the continuation of itself and its own further development; it therefore perceives from the very outset the duty, according to its power, to provide for the new born child. The children must, therefore, be taken at the earliest possible age into the care of the State, and this is the Socialist ideal. All means of education, even clothing and food, will be supplied by the State." Again, the Erfurt platform demands: "Secularisation of the schools, compulsory attendance at the public schools, instruction, use of all means of instruction, and board free of charge in all public elementary schools, and in the higher institutions of learning for such pupils of both sexes, as on account of their talents, are judged fit for higher studies." The Socialist platform adopted in Chicago,
Divorce is bad enough, race suicide is worse; and this is openly promoted, nay, eulogised by Socialism. To the question put to democracy: "How can I live like the man with the plug hat?" came the answer of the Socialist economist: "Stop having children." Again, "The amount of income should determine the number of children."
In short, the quarrel of the Catholic Church with Socialism is this:—That in its recognised classics, in its propaganda, in its press, and in its unguarded utterances, it propoun's and proclaims a gospel about wedded life altogether subversive of the teaching of Christianity. Socialism is committed to doctrines about marriage which must inevitably destroy the home, and so undermine the State. Socialism is founded on a philosophy of life which makes the indissolubility of marriage ridiculous, race suicide rational, and children the property of the State. All this is taught in the approved works of Socialists, never withdrawn, and poured forth in a foul stream every day by the Socialist press. This being the case, the Catholic Church is bound to denounce and oppose Socialism with all her might. This she does in every way, and particularly by the voice of her supreme pontiffs. "You are aware," says Leo XIII., "that the theories of Socialism would quickly destroy this (Catholic) family life, since the stability afforded by marriage under religious sanction once lost, parental authority over children and duties of children to parents are necessarily and most harmfully slackened. Socialists, in setting aside the parent and setting up a State supervision act against natural justice and break into pieces the stability of the family life." Therefore, as regards the family. Socialism and Christianity are poles apart, and all hopes of bringing them together vanish like a dream.
III. The State.—What is the Catholic view of the State? The State, in a wider sense, means not a society, but society itself summing up all the relations of the various groups which compose it, and which have to do with temporal well-being; for the State has no direct concern with man's eternal interest and destiny. But the word State, in a narrower sense, means civil authority, as when we speak of State interference, State monopoly, obeying the State, and so forth. We here employ the word State in this restricted sense, with occasional excursions into the wider meaning of the word.
The Catholic view of the State is, of course, based on belief in the existence of God. God the Infinite, Eternal, Almighty, All-wise, and All-loving Spirit has created man and dowered him with intelligence and freewill, and set him on earth to work out an eternal destiny. Man belongs inalienably to God, and depends' utterly on God for all that he is and has. Nothing belongs so utterly to man as man does to God. Man has been sent here for a purpose, and that purpose is to carry out the will of God. This world is his temporal place of probation. It is man's drillground rather than his playground, his school rather than his home. This life is not an end in itself, but a means to something better. It is not the play, but the rehearsal; not the terminus, but the journey; not the landing-stage, but the outward voyage.
Man, the individual, irrespective of his supernatural life is not self-sufficient as regards his temporal welfare. Man is a social animal, and only in society can he live a full and nealthy human life. Cut off from society, he is stunted and warped Civil society, then, has been established by God to supplement individual activity, effort, and enterprise. For the fulfillment of any main tendency social organisation is required. Hence civil society, or the State, is needed to protect and promote the temporal interests of its component parts.
What sort of civil authority does God, the Founder of society, demand? God leaves men to determine that, according to their special needs and circumstances. Monarchy has no distinctive blessing—nor has Republicanism. All that God commands and nature enjoins is government—effective government suited to the needs of the particular people. Observe, there is no divine right of kings; but there is a divine right of government. Every particular form of civil authority is man's work. Civil authority itself is God's command. Required by nature, it is in every sense natural. Now, what is the range or field of State action? Catholic economists inform us that the State exists—not merely for an external and negative purpose, that is, merely to protect men's liberties to pursue their private interests—but for the purpose of securing the public well-being; that is, for the purpose of setting up that complexus of conditions requisite in order that all the organic members of society may, as far as possible, attain to that temporal happiness which conduces to their ultimate destiny. Briefly, then, the State has two purposes to accomplish. First, to protect man's rights; secondly, to assist man to do what he ought to do, and yet what without State help he cannot do. "Men form societies"—says St. Thomas following Aristotle—"not only to live, but to live well." The State exists, then, not for the sake of particular individuals, not even for particular classes, but for the general good of all. The State supplements the efforts of the individual: it caters for the general good. Sometimes, indeed, it caters for particular groups or classes, as, for instance, when it builds and supports hospitals and lunatic asylums, or when it creates city homes where the people and the poor find shelter; but its aim, even then is to secure public welfare. It has no direct mission to make each individual, or each family rich.
The State protects; and how transcendental is this function! The State can do what the individual cannot rightly do. For instance, the State may say of parents grossly nelecting their children: "I will take these children from these parents, else the rights of the children to life, liberty, and a decent livelihood will be altogether violated." Similarly, the State may interfere in private workshops, where sanitary conditions endanger the toilers' lives, or where they are crippled with iniquitous hours, or are sweated.
The State assists. It must help the citizens to do what they ought to do, but what unaided they cannot do. In short, the State exists in order to secure both "negatively" (by protecting liberties), and "positively" (by giving assistance) the general temporal well-being, and this both absolutely and relatively.
As regards economic matters, the State must facilitate the production of wealth, and avoid obstacles to such production; for example, excessive taxation. It must stimulate production, encourage domestic sanitation, hygienic training, technical education, and so forth. It is not the State's function to distribute wealth itself, for such wealth it has not directly produced. But it may by just legislation cause the distribution of wealth to be conducted in accordance with equity and justice. Negatively it is called upon to repress crime against religion or morality and punish public scandals; while positively it must support and protect what tends to establish, develop, and fortify morals and the public exercise of religion.
Observe, however, that the State is not concerned directly with the morals and religion of individuals. The State is not a religious teacher, or a guide in theology, or a direct means of supernatural well-being. That belongs to the province of the Church. Our law courts are set up, not to try sins, but crimes.
State authority is limited. It can touch men only in so far as they are citizens or members of the State. And let it be ever remembered that, besides being a member of the State, man is also a moral being, with inalienable personal rights and an eternal destiny. The State is set up by man, not man by the State. Needless to remark that there are some things which the State may never presume to do. It must not enact laws contrary to the laws of our Creator. State interference is justified only when private initiative becomes insufficient. For instance, the State has no right to say "I will
IV. Property,—Property is the material basis of the State. By private property is meant man's individual sovereignty over his acres, his home, his capital, his goods or chattels, his inheritance. Among all civilised nations private ownership has been recognised, and in all civilised nations private ownership has been protected under the trible buckler of nature, justice and religion. Without it society would lose its chief material support, and would slide away like a house udermined by a landslip. By it the family clings to the native soil as the tree to the earth by its roots. All nations have held it sacredly inviolable; have been ready to defend it with the very lives of their citizens. We consider it so just that any violation of it on our part would beget within us a bitter remorse which nothing but restitution could allay. Such being the case, how can Socialists or any other men dare to contest a right so legitimate, so sacred? How in the full splendour of this 20th century civilization, with the sanction of all ages, of all schools, all magistrates, all governments, and all religions, can men who proclaim themselves civilized call in question the right of private productive property? Instead of
The Catholic, on the contrary, who has grasped Catholic principles and knows how to apply them to modern conditions, may readily admit a large measure of socialization or municipalization of certain kinds of property, a wide increase of State action, as not only good but demanded. But the Catholic has principles, and these principles, directly contradict Socialism. The Catholic does not regard the private ownership of capital as something unnatural, or as a mere accident or excresence. He deems it proper and normal to man, some-thing necessary for social harmony and stability, and for the satisfaction of man's deepest needs. Catholic principles, while establishing the right, also provide its limitations. The Catholic wants to check the abuses of private capital, the Socialist endeavours to abolish it altogether. Now, against this contention of the Socialist, the Catholic Church has set her face like flint. She bans and condemns it. She may, like her Divine Master, say strong things to the capitalists; she may, like the Fathers and Medieval Doctors, insist upon the duties and responsibilites of wealth. But, in the midst of the utmost corruptions of capitalism she has never denied the right to own private capital. Nay, she has strongly upheld and vindicated it as inextricably bound up with human welfare, as a condition of normal civic freedom. According to Catholic teaching the right to own private property is a natural right, prior to society, and based on the will of God, the Founder of society. God wills that man should own property and even productive property. Private capital is not
Man, as an individual, is no mere cell in the social organism. As a citizen he has duties to society; but that by no means exhausts his personality. He does not exist for the State, nor is he in every particular subordinate to the State. As an individual, as the member of a family, he has rights and duties independent of and prior to the State. He has an immortal soul created directly by God; he has a direct mission from God; and hence he has certain duties and rights with which no State may interfere. As an individual man he has certain needs and requirements, and hence certain duties. He is bound to preserve his life, for that life is not his own, but lent him; it is God's. Hence he has a right to acquire, keep, control, and use whatever is necessary for the permanence of that life. This is a primary right, before which all other rights must give way. Man has a right to live, and therefore to procure and own the necessaries of life, not present only but future. He cannot be secure, he cannot be able to meet recurring needs unless he can control the source of the supplies. Nature bids him provide himself with the means of production. Further, he has to make ready for accidents, illness, old age; he ought to store up provision for it and not depend on a pension. Again, man is endowed with intellect and freewill and is therefore no mere machine destined to a definite and limited measure of work. He has faculties to cultivate, potentialities to develop. And with this God-given power of self-development comes the right of self-development. Man does not exist merely that he may labour. He is no slave of his fellow men or of society. He has a right to cultivate his mind, to adorn his life intellectually, artistically, and morally. But this requires a certain economical independence. And when we consider man as the father of a family, the justification of the ownership of capital is immensely more complete, as Pope Leo XIII. so cogently shows: "That right of property, therefore, which has been proved to belong naturally to individual persons, must likewise belong to a man in his capacity of head of a family; nay, such a person must possess this right so much the more clearly in proportion as his position multiplies his duties. For it is a most sacred law
V. Religion.—Heedless of the assertion, often made by a certain party of Socialists, that Socialism is no foe of religion, let us examine dispassionately but unsparingly the Socialist attitude towards religion. How does Socialism regard morality and religion, those pillars of the State, "those but-tresses," as Washington calls them, "of human life"? I am asking whether Socialism is the concrete, as a going concern, "as a philosophy of human progress, as a theory of social evolution, as an ethical practice,' is or is not an irreligious movement, is or is not a movement hostile to Christianity. Now the spirit which has characterised the living energising thing known as Socialism is as antagonistic to Christianity as darkness is to light. Read the deliberate and reiterated utterances of its founders and its leaders in every land and in every stage of its progress—no alliance, no union can be recognised between them and religion. Take Marx and Engel, who are still classical even in the New World. They are both—as Socialists—antagonistic to Christianity. And no wonder, for Socialism is built on a conception of the universe wholly materialistic, which of course leaves no room for religion. Marx boasted that he would deliver man's conscience from what he called "the spectre of religion." John Spargo says: "The founders of modern scientific Socialism took the dogmas of Christianity and held them up to intellectual scorn." Socialism, de facto, offered itself as a substitute for religion, and intended to stand on the ruins of Christianity. "We have simply done with God," cries Marx's henchman, Engel. "We must face and wipe put," shouts another, "those two curses, the curses of capitalism and Christianity." More quotations would be wearisome. In short Socialism, which is not intent on rooting out all religion (revealed) and a personal God, is only a diluted Socialism—fit for novices. ("Socialism of the present day," says Professor Schaeffel, "is thoroughly irreligious and hostile to the Church. It says
No doubt some of the Socialist programmers, as a good propaganda move, have declared religion to be a private affair So, for instance, in Germany and elsewhere. But the German Socialists lose no opportunity of attacking the Christian religion and doing their best to uproot it. Hence, when English Socialists declare that they would have religion to be a private affair, we look not to words but to their practical interpretations; and we find the practical interpretations to be the same in both countries. The visible Catholic Church is disliked and maligned equally in Italy and France, and in England and America no less. Truth to tell, in conclusion, Social ism and Christianity cannot come together; they move in opposite directions; they are as much apart as earth and heaven. The two antagonistic systems stand before, you which will you have? Which of the two cries must it be "On to Socialism," or "Back to Christianity"? Choose between the two; it is a choice between life and death.
Given at Wellington on this the
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C. M. Banks. Ltd., Wellington —
n Rome, at the beginning of this year, there were gathered together from every part of the earth more than eighty students, intent upon gaining some first-hand knowledge of the Montessori System of Education, which has been, and still is, engaging the attention of the whole educational world. The eighty students comprising the class came from such widely-distant parts of the earth as China, South America, Japan, Canada, India, Russia, Holland, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, South Africa, Great Britain, the United States, and Australia. Many in the class were sent by Governments, Education Departments, or Colleges, and almost all, whether sent officially or whether there of their own accord, were teachers of distinction in their own country.
Of the private students attending the class, not a few had made enormous sacrifices. Many spent the hoarded savings of years on the course, and one woman even went the length of mortgaging her home in order to raise the necessary funds.
In addition to the class of regular students, each expenses of paid £50 for the four-constant course, over and above travel and board, a stream of visitors from every part of the globe continued to pour into Rome. These comprised Cabinet Ministers, doctors of medicine, doctors of philosophy, university
What was the cause of this widespread interest? From what source did it arise? And how were the ideas spread all over the earth?
The cause—in Dr. Montessori's own words—
"A small school of children started five years ago in a squalid quarter of Rome, where in mean streets and in a few houses 10,000 delinquents without fixed dwelling-places were huddled together, and where almost all the inhabitants were illiterate. In a tenement house of working men, forty or fifty little children from 3 to 6 years old received those who went to see them, showed a remarkable activity new to their existence, and made progress superior to other children, in that at the age of 4½ to 5 years they wrote better than the children in the elementary schools. This is the cause."
There were no great institutions, no demonstrations, no great work of propaganda, by which the Montessori doctrine might be spread all over the world, but people came and saw and believed, and went forth to preach the new gospel of liberty for the children.
The first training course for teachers was held in
Another proof of interest in the method were the schools which sprang up everywhere—in Italy, in Switzerland, in Paris, in England, in America, in the Argentine Republic, in India, in Syria, and in Australia.
Such, briefly, is what I found upon arriving in Rome in January of this year. I was fortunate enough to get in touch with Dr. Montessori immediately upon my arrival, partly through the good offices of Colonel the Hon. James Allen, Minister for Education in New Zealand, and partly through the doctor's interest in the working of the experiment in Sydney. I was at once invited to attend the lectures as the doctor's guest, and without fee. This I regard as a compliment to the State of New South Wales, and not in any way as a personal matter.
During my stay in Rome every opportunity was given me of inquiring into the method in the schools there, and much valuable information on various points was given me by the doctor herself, and by her friends, the Marchesa di Viti di Marco, the Donna Maraini Guerriere-Gonzaga, and other Italian ladies.
The American women attending the class were mostly well-known kindergartners. I saw a great deal of these women, and we were able to discuss the method very fully, and to compare it with kindergarten methods in America and Australia. Not the least interesting and profitable of my experiences were the conversations and interchange of ideas with these keen, practical, far-seeing, enthusiastic Americans.
After seeing the schools at Milan, Germany, and Great Britain, I returned through Rome at the invitation of Dr. Montessori, in order to see the result of her experiment with older children. Of this experiment I am not yet at liberty to speak. It has been shown only to a few privileged persons. The doctor's own book on it will be out shortly. So much, however, I may say: that it fully bears out the wisdom of her method, and shows, with children from 7 to 10 or 11, the marvellous results that follow the application of the master principle—self-education through liberty. Much valuable didactic material for use with these older children has been devised by Dr. Montessori. By means of this material grammatical rules and the use of correct and exact language become an absorbing play, the solving of intricate geometrical problems a game, and number work a delightful and fascinating: occupation.
As showing the world-wide interest in Dr. Montessori's system of education, the following facts may be enumerated:—
Who is Dr. Montessori, and in what way is she qualified to speak with authority on things educational?
Dr. Montessori is an only child. Her mother died at the end of last year, and her father is still alive. As a girl she decided on a medical career, and
The school established was composed of children who, in the elementary schools, were considered hopelessly deficient. Later on all the idiot children from the insane asylums in Rome were also brought together. In this school Dr. Montessori herself, in addition to training students, actually taught very day for two years.
Her experience with these defective children soon led her to the further conclusion that the methods used with defectives might with normal children bring about self-education. Her own words are:—"From the very beginning of my work with deficient children—
In order to better qualify herself for work with normal children, Dr. Montessori resigned her position at the school for defectives and re-entered the University of Rome as a student of philosophy. She followed the course in experimental psychology, which had just been established in Italian univer-
After six years of philosophic study, thought, and research, Dr. Montessori's opportunity came to her. Signor Edoardo Talamo had solved the problem of the housing of the poor by the establishment of the model tenements of the "Bene Stabili" Society, of which he was Director-General. There were at this time 400 of these model tenements in Rome. But the clean halls of the tenements, and the smooth walls and handsome stairways, were scratched and defaced by the large numbers of little children below school age, who had of necessity to be left alone all day by their mothers, whom grinding poverty compelled to go forth to help earn bread for the family. Signor Talamo believed that the money spent in repairing the damage done by these little ones would be more profitably expended in providing a house for them. He accordingly set about building a children's house in each tenement block. This meant that a grown person would have to be in this "children's house "to look after the children, and hence it came about that Dr. Montessori was asked to take the directing of the various "children's houses "in the tenements. Here was the laboratory she wanted ready to her hand, and it was in these schools that the methods which have made her name famous throughout the educational world were first tried. The first Montessori school was established in
That freedom should be the basis of all education is certainly no new thought. All educationists have preached it, but it has remained for Dr. Montessori to actually put it into practice. One very simple concept of freedom is that children should be able to move about freely; yet where, except in our kindergarten rooms, has this concept been carried out? In
The pathetic part of all this is that infant teachers all over the world are, almost without exception, the most human and motherly of women. They love the children in their schools with tenderness and devotion; and this very love and devotion makes the atmosphere of the schools so sunny and pleasant that one is rendered almost blind to the lack of liberty. Most of the teachers with whom I talked were quite aware of the lack of freedom; but they did not see how to remedy it, and they themselves were hampered and bound by regulations, dogmas, and traditions. The idea of liberty is so new to most that anarchy is predicted if the principle is put into practice. Yet in Rome, and in other Montessori schools visited, there was no anarchy. In these schools children move freely about the room, choose what they wish to do, and continue doing it for as long or as short a period as they please, without interference from the teacher. Instead of anarchy there is vigorous life, joy in the work, and the order and harmony that joy and freedom engender. Indeed, I have never anywhere seem more diligent and orderly children than those of the Montessori schools in Rome and elsewhere.
But the physical freedom permitted in the Montessori schools is only the outward sign of the inward freedom of mind and spirit which prevails. Not the least important part of the Montessori method is the fact that the child is freed from the teacher. In other words, the liberty given makes self-education possible. Teachers of the present day, no matter how kind and well-meaning they may be, resemble greatly the despotic kings of old, who forced men to think as they thought, to believe as they believed, and to act as they directed. In many cases, no doubt, the despots of old were kindhearted men, actuated by the best of intentions, but keeping people in a state of slavery nevertheless. They feared to grant liberty on the plea that people would misuse it. We teachers are pedagogical despots, in that we force children to think as we think. We pin the child into a desk that we have designed for him, and we pour our thoughts into him. We stamp ourselves upon him with all our defects, limitations, and prejudices. We endeavour to do what Tolstoy declares is "sterile, illegitimate, and impossible," namely, to mould our pupils into set forms. And then we wonder that our young people are so commonplace, so lacking in resource, and so wanting in originality! Never for one moment during the day in most schools is the child free from the dominance of the teacher's mind and spirit over his mind and spirit. We crush out individuality in our classes, large or small, by treating children in the mass as puppets instead of living, self-acting individuals. We force a dogmatic discipline of drill from without, instead of requiring the child to discipline himself from within; and so we pass on the shackles of pedagogic dogmatism from generation to generation.
In the Montessori schools all this is altered, and the child is free. Instead of being required to sit still, he learns to move about without upsetting things or annoying his neighbours. There are no fixed desks, and the small tables and chairs can be lifted and placed anywhere by the children themselves. No child need remain in one position any longer than he wishes. There is no hard-and-fast time-table, which compels going on to weariness, or which orders leaving off when interest is at its keenest. There are no
The Montessori teacher is not afraid to give the child freedom, and she does not hold herself responsible for the good or bad conduct of anyone in the room. The child is made to shoulder his legitimate responsibilities. The teacher no longer assumes a dogmatic attitude; restraint is reduced to a minimum, and the child is given freedom within the law, the law in this case being:—"No child shall use his freedom to offend or annoy others, or to commit any rough or ill-bred act."
Freedom of bodily movement, of choice of work, of materials with which to express himself, is not enough, however. To quote Dr. Montessori in one of her recent lectures:—
"There is something else which assists in obtaining education on this basis of liberty—something which includes both instruction and discipline. In order that children may live in these conditions of freedom, they must find a way of busying themselves in a manner adequate to the need of the unfolding of their inner life. This is the pivotal point of the whole method, namely, to offer the child work—not just any kind, but that work which at that particular moment is the one thing necessary for the development of his inner life."
The equipment of the Montessori schools is simplicity itself. Small, light tables, of a height suitable to the children, and little, comfortable chairs; these, together with cupboards for storing material, plenty of floor space, and a supply of light mats, constitute the furniture.
The didactic material, about which so much discussion centres, has been invented and designed by Dr. Montessori with a view to training definitely the senses of the child. It is briefly as follows (I quote from the official booklet supplied with the English material):—
A series of eight wooden frames, to enable the children to practice coordinated movements of the fingers and the everyday exercises which occur during the process of dressing, viz.:—
Perception of sound is taught by means of duplicate sets of six cardboard cylinders containing different substances—sand, flax seeds, corn, gravel, pebbles, stones—which, when shaken, produce gradations of sound according to the contents of each cylinder.
Exercises in perception of weight are given by means of tablets of wood of the same size and thickness, but of different weights. The didactic material provides three boxes, each containing a number of thin wooden tablets of (a) mahogany, (b) oak, (c) poplar.
This didactic material consists of:—
Solid insets.—Three solid wooden blocks, each containing ten wooden cylinders, which fit into the corresponding number of holes. In the first of these blocks the cylinders are of equal depths but of varying diameters; in the second, the cylinders are of equal diameters but of varying depths; in the third set the cylinders vary both in diameter and in depth. With these solid insets the child learns to differentiate objects according to thickness, height, and size.
Thickness.—Ten solid wooden bricks, enamelled and brown, of equal length but varying in thickness. These blocks, when placed in position according to their thickness, form steps, which grow broader towards the top.
Length.—The long stair consists of ten enamelled, square, wooden rods, varying in length from 1 metre to 1 decimetre, each decimetre being enamelled alternately red and blue, and when arranged in order according to their lengths, these rods form a series of long stairs.
Size.—Ten square wooden blocks, enamelled in pink, varying from 1 decimetre to 1 centimetre square, which, when placed one upon another according to size, the largest at the base and smallest at the top, form a pyramidal tower.
1. A polished wood cabinet of six drawers, each containing six wooden frames with geometric insets of various shapes—squares, rhomboids, rectangles, circles, triangles, polygons, ellipses, &c.
These insets are fitted into position by the child, the frames acting as a control.
By passing the fingers round the outlines, the child, through the tactile muscular sense, receives the perception of the form of each shape, and at the same time is taught the names of the various geometrical forms.
2. Three Series of Cards.—In the first series the cards represent the same geometrical forms in the same size as the wooden insets, and are printed in solid blue.
In the second series the same geometrical forms are depicted by a thick blue contour about a quarter of an inch wide.
In the third series the geometrical forms appear in thin outline.
Thus the child passes by easy stages from the concrete form of the wooden shape to the abstract outline.
This didactic material consists of duplicate sets of sixty-four colour spools, each containing eight carefully graded shades of eight colours—blues, browns, greens, greys, rose-pink to red, salmon to scarlet, mauve to violet, yellow to orange. Each set of sixty-four tablets is contained in a wooden box divided into eight compartments.
Metal insets and frames, similar in size and shape to the wooden geometrical figures, with which the child can, by drawing round the edges, form outlines on card, to be afterwards filled in with coloured chalk, and thus obtain the necessary control of the pencil and hand before proceeding to writing.
Reading and Writing.—The didactic material for this purpose consists of:—A set of script letters, the vowels cut from sandpaper and mounted on blue cards, and the consonants of black emery cloth mounted on white cards. By passing the index and second finger over these letters, following the direction in which they are written, the child obtains the tactile perception of the form, and at the same time is taught the sound of each letter.
Composition of Words.—For word-building the letters are of the same size and shape as the sandpaper letters on card, but are cut out of cardboard and unmounted, the vowels being made of blue and the consonants of pink cara.
Four sets of these cardboard letters are contained in two flat boxes, each letter having its special compartment.
In teaching arithmetic the ten rods composing the long stair previously described are used in conjunction with a set of the number symbols, cut out of black emery cloth, mounted on cards, and two wooden trays, each divided into five compartments, with fifty counting sticks.
Two number frames, with grooves to take a set of printed numbers, are also supplied to demonstrate the various arithmetical operations.
The retail price of the complete set of the Montessori material in England is £8 8s.
uch misconception appears to exist with regard to the Montessori idea of discipline. Many people appear to think that the children in Montessori schools are never co be checked or corrected, no matter how rough, injurious, or unbecoming their acts may be. I have already stated that I saw nothing but order, harmony, industry, and happiness in any Montessori school. How this result is obtained may probably be made clearer by the following quotation from Dr. Montessori herself, and from Dorothy Canfield Fisher, the authoress of A Montessori Mother. Dr. Montessori says in her chapter on "Discipline," pages 86 and 87 of her book:—
The pedagogical method of observation has for its base the liberty of the child: and liberty is activity.
Discipline must come through liberty. Here is a great principle which is difficult for followers of common-school methods to understand. How shall one obtain discipline in a class of free children? Certainly, in our system we have a concept of discipline very different from that commonly accepted. If discipline is founded upon liberty, the discipline itself must necessarily be active. We do not consider an individual disciplined only when he has been rendered as artificially silent as a mute and as immovable as a paralytic. He is an individual annihilated, not disciplined.
We call an individual disciplined when he is master of himself, and can, therefore, regulate his own conduct when it shall be necessary to follow some rule of life. Such a concept of active discipline is not easy either to comprehend or to apply; but certainly it contains a great educational principle, very different from the old-time absolute and undiscussed coercion to immobility.
A special technique is necessary to the teacher who is to lead the child along such a path of discipline, if she is to make it possible for him to continue in this way all his life, advancing indefinitely towards perfect self-mastery. Since the child now learns to move rather than to sit still, he prepares himself not for the school, but for life; for he becomes able, through habit and through practice, to perform easily and correctly the simple acts of social or community life. The discipline to which the child habituates himself here is, in its character, not limited to the school environment, but extends to society.
The liberty of the child should have as its limit the collective interest; as its form, what we universally consider good breeding. We must, therefore, check in the child whatever offends or annoys others, or whatever tends toward rough or ill-bred acts. But all the rest—every
observed by the teacher.'
Again, on page 95, she says:—
"When the teachers were weary of my observations, they began to allow the children to do whatever they pleased. I saw children with their feet on the tables, or with their fingers in their noses, and no intervention was made to correct them. I saw others push their companions, and I saw dawn in the faces of these an expression of violence; and not the slightest attention on the part of the teacher. Then I had to intervene to show with what absolute rigour it is necessary to hinder, and little by little suppress, all those things which we must not do, so that the child may come to discern clearly between good and evil. "If discipline is to be lasting, its foundations must be laid in this way, and these first days are the most difficult for the directress. The first idea that the child must acquire, in order to be actively disciplined, is that of the difference between "A room in which all the children move about usefully, intelligently, and voluntarily, without committing any rough or rude act, would seem to me a classroom very well disciplined indeed.good and evil; and the task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility, and evil with activity, as often happens in the case of the old-time discipline. And all this because our aim is to discipline for activity, for work, for good; not for immobility, not for passivity, not for obedience.
Mrs. Fisher, speaking on this same matter of discipline, remarks:—
"This constant turning to that trust in the safety of freedom, which is perhaps the only lasting spiritual conquest of our time, is the keynote of her system. This is the real answer to the question, "What is there in the Montessori method which is so different from all other educational methods?" This is the vital principle often overlooked in the fertility of invention and scientific ingenuity with which she has applied it. "This reverence for the child's personality, this supreme faith that liberty of action is not only safe to give children, but is the prerequisite of their growth, is the rock on which the edifice of her system is being raised. It is also the rock on which the barques of many investigators are wrecked. When they realise that she really puts her theory into execution, they cry out aghast, "What! a school without a rule for silence, for immobility; a school without fixed seats, where children may sit on the floor if they like, or walk about as they please, without stationary desks; a school where children may play all day if they choose; may select their own occupations, where the teacher is always silent and in the background—why, that is no school at all, it is anarchy!"
"One seems to hear faint echoes from another generation crying out, 'What! a society without hereditary aristocracy, without a caste system, where a rail-splitter may become supreme governor, where people may decide for themselves what to believe without respect for authority, and may choose how they wish to earn their living .... this is no society at all! It is anarchy.'
Dr. Montessori has two answers to make to such doubters. One is that the rule in her schools, like the rule in civilised society, is that no act is allowed which transgresses against the common welfare, or is in itself uncomely or offensive. That the children are free does not mean that they may throw books at each other's heads, nor light a bonfire on the floor, any more than free citizens of a republic may obstruct traffic, or run a drain into the water supply of a town. It means simply that they are subject to no unnecessary restraint, and above all to no meddling with their instinctive private preferences. The second answer, even more convincing to hard-headed people than the first, is the work done in the Casa dei Bambini, where every detail of the Montessori theory has been more than proved, with an abundance of confirmatory detail which astonishes even Dr. Montessori herself. The bugbear of discipline simply does not exist for these schools. By taking advantage of their natural instincts and tendencies, the children are made to perform feats of self-abnegation, self-control, and collective discipline, impossible to obtain under the most rigid application of the old rules, and, as for the amount of information acquired unconsciously and painlessly by those babies, it is one of the fairy stories of modern times.
It is, I think, unnecessary to elaborate further Dr. Montessori's method of discipline. These passages seem to me to make it amply clean that liberty in the Montessori meaning of the term does not mean license.
In England, and in Great Britain generally, the greatest interest in the Montessori system prevails among teachers and educationists, and there is much earnest discussion as to the possibility of applying it to present conditions. The questions asked by English teachers are the same as those asked by American and Australian teachers. This system may be all very well (say those who have not tried it) for Italian children, but how will it act with English children? Is it workable with large classes? Is the child never to be asked to do anything he does not like? How can a teacher do individual work with a class of fifty children? If the child is allowed to choose his own work, will not his education be one-sided?
Perhaps the best answer to these questions is the practical result of some of the careful experiments carried out in different parts of England and with children of different social grades:—
These are a few of the schools in England in which the Montessori method has been tried and so far found successful. They do not by any means represent all the schools that are taking it up. Indeed, before I left England, it was scarcely possible to visit a school that was not doing something in the matter. In and around London many schools were beginning the experiment of applying the Montessori principle of self-education through liberty to the older pupils.
The Jews' Infant School, Buckle-street, Whitechapel, London, while not claiming to be a Montessori school, seems to me to have many of the excellent points found in a good Montessori school.
It has 600 children in fourteen lofty, airy, spacious rooms. These children vary in age from 3 years up to 8 or 9. The number of children in class under one teacher ranges from forty to forty-five—not ideal by any means, but hopes are entertained of considerably reducing these numbers very shortly.
The school is equipped with tables and chairs instead of desks. There is group work taken, but no class work. The mistress informed me that, owing to the noise of traffic in the street, class work was found to be impossible, and as it was equally impossible to do group work in desks, they asked the Council for small tables and chairs, which were granted. This revised furniture has been in Buckle-street now for some four or five years, and is found to work excellently. The words of the head mistress concerning it are: "We are convinced that change of furniture, provided there is a fair amount of floor space, rather than reduction of numbers, will bring about the freedom we all so much desire for our children."
In the rooms in Buckle-street groups of children may be found working happily at different occupations. On the day of my visit I noticed in one room the following groups with six or eight children in each—clay-modelling, building on the floor, cutting and pasting, matching dominoes, and "drawing on wall boards. The children were talking to each other quietly and helping each other, but there was no undue noise and certainly no disorder. The teacher moved about quietly, helping when help was necessary, but otherwise not interfering.
In another room I saw groups of children reading to themselves, evidently absorbed in their work, if one can term a thing work that was so evidently a pleasure. The teacher in this room had a small group of the more backward children at the blackboard, and was endeavouring to help them overcome some of the irregularities of the English language.
In the two large baby rooms as many as sixty or seventy children were seen choosing their own toys, playing together in groups or in pairs, with, occasionally, a child alone in some quiet corner intent upon some fascinating piece of material. All were busy, and happy, and free. Nowhere was there any sign of disorder or anarchy.
In this school, as in many of the infant schools in England and on the Continent, the little children sleep in the afternoon after lunch for a little while. Provision is made at Buckle-street for fifty of the youngest children to sleep at a time in cheap, portable hammocks that fold up against the wall when not in use and draw out like a concertina when wanted.
The children in this school look healthy, happy, and self-reliant. I was particularly struck with their very fine physical development and keen mental attitude.
More interesting to us, perhaps, than the result of the Montessori schools in England or elsewhere, are the results of the experiment carried out at the Practice School attached to the Teachers' College at Blackfriars, Sydney.
The Montessori system of education was introduced into New South. Wales last year (
Miss Stevens and Miss Swan, the teachers who first began the experiment, and who are still carrying it through in their classes, took the work in accordance with the usual routine of the school. (See chapter on Abolition of Class Work.) They are both teachers of thought, and of wide experience in other methods. Both have, in common with other members of the staff, carried through previous experiments—the rule of the school being that any member of the staff may be required at any time to conduct an experiment if such experiment happens to be with the class of which she at the time has charge. Although these two ladies carried out the actual experiment, all other members of the staff evinced the keenest interest in its progress and gave most valuable voluntary help in the preparation of material.
Indeed, from the very first the principle of individual liberty, which is the mainspring of the Montessori method, appealed alike to teachers and children. The experiment was carried out strictly along the lines laid down by Dr. Montessori in her book, and the most astonishing results followed. Children broke into writing of their own accord and without any formal teaching. The phonic elements were mastered and applied by most children in two weeks. One boy made over forty words with the cardboard letters in ten days. These words were not suggested by the teacher—they were the child's own. After words came script sentences on strips of cardboard. These were eagerly seized and read. One little fellow of 5 years and 9 months took a bundle of these strips into a corner of the room by himself and kept at them the whole day until he could read each one. I consider this child taught himself to read in one day. Soon there was a demand for print, and at this stage the children appeared to he seized with an acute hunger for reading. In order to satisfy this hunger we had sentences and paragraphs printed in large, clear type on strips and on stout cards. These the children eagerly seized and devoured. Everyone was busy and happy, and the joy of achievement and delight in their work shone in their faces. This was true of teachers as well as of children.
In all other subjects (for in taking up Montessori we did not drop any of the work we had been doing) the same zest and eagerness prevailed. Not only did the children progress far more rapidly than by any previous method, but they did so without fatigue or mental strain of any kind. This seems to me a very important point. If children progressed no more rapidly by Montessori than by anything else, this method of learning without mental strain is worthy of our attention. Even in the best kindergarten rooms everywhere there is danger of mental strain, and fatigue, and over-stimulation.
The Montessori classes now under Miss Stevens and Miss Swan, notwithstanding the following drawbacks:—
are now very much ahead of similar classes taught by other methods. The children in Miss Stevens' class, for example, who began the formal work of reading, writing, and number about the middle of August last year (
The opinion of the teachers carrying out the experiment, and of the whole staff of expert teachers of the Infants' Practice School, all of whom have carefully watched the progress of the work, is that the Montessori system of education is far in advance of anything we have previously had,
The general results of the Montessori system at Blackfriars may be summed up as follows:—
What is: In schools at present children are taught in mass and in large classes, and, though the teacher may be quite unconscious of the fact, the clever child is held back while the dull child is whipped up (metaphorically, I hope), so that all may take the educational fence between class and class together. Occasionally children are promoted without waiting for the rest of the class, but such promotions are few. The ideal aimed at seems to be an impossible class average of intelligence. The teacher is worried to death trying to reach this false and impossible ideal, and the children, both clever and dull, suffer. Much time and effort are wasted in most schools in teaching children what they already know. For example, the teacher sets out to teach a new thing—a new rule in arithmetic perhaps. In a few minutes several children will have grasped it, and could, if permitted, immediately apply it to the solution of problems. Yet these children must wait and be taught over and over again the thing they already know, until the class, as a whole, has grasped the principle. Or take a reading lesson. How often have we seen the children who can read the lesson quite fluently held back, and required to look at the page, and follow the sentences, while the dull children stumble through them? In the Montessori schools there is no such waste as this. No child is held back or made to regulate his educational pace to that of another; hence in these schools we see children at all stages of development, and each one progressing at his own rate. Children are scattered about the room each intent on his own work, without any outside pressure from the teacher.
The Montessori teacher does no unnecessary talking. In almost all modern schools and Kindergartens the teacher talks too much and the child not enough. In nearly every lesson I have seen given in other than Montessori schools the teacher did most of the talking and the children merely sat still and listened.
What might be: Each classroom might be a small school in itself, with children at different stages of development. The small school teacher manages a number of children, not only at different stages of development, but of different ages and sizes. Surely it would be possible for the class teacher to do work with her class on similar lines. Much time and energy are wasted now on teaching children what they already know, as in the example quoted above. A more reasonable and saner method in all subjects would be to show the child what to do and leave him alone to do it. But the practical teacher will probably say it is not possible—not workable—that you may do it with ten or twelve children, but not with a large class. We have taken it for granted that in large classes certain things are not possible, not because we have proved them impossible, but because we have certain fixed images in our minds about class work—traditions that have heen handed down to us from generation to generation—and we think children must be handled in the mass just because they have been so handled for generations. We imagine children cannot be trusted to do things for themselves, not because we have trusted them and found this so, but because the idea has been handed down to us that children are naturally idle and bad and that we must keep our eye on every member of the class at all times. If reform is to come we must get rid of that falsest of false notions, that the child is naturally idle.
In the classrooms of the future we may see children of the same age, but at different stages of development, working away busily and happily, not cramped up in desks but moving naturally and quietly about the rooms,
The idea of a class of thirty or forty children, all at different stages of development, and each one educating himself with only occasional help from the teacher when help is actually needed, seems the dream of a visionary. Yet this is what one sees in Rome and in other places where the Montessori system has had a fair trial. Class teaching must go and individual teaching be substituted if we are to progress with the times.
Here, of course, will come in all sorts of questions of organisation. How are you going to make promotions from class to class? What is to become of the standard if you have children at different stages? How is one teacher going to pick up and carry on the work of the teacher preceding her? All these questions answer themselves once the principle of the Montessori system is thoroughly grasped
For some years past the plan adopted in the Infants' Department of the Blackfriars Practice School has been to promote the teacher with the class. That is to say, the teacher who takes the first class—the children out of the kindergarten room—remains the teacher of those children for a period of two years until they leave the Infants' School. The children progress from class to class, but they are not handed from teacher to teacher. This plan has been found to work excellently. No time is lost by any teacher in getting to know her class. In two years the teacher gets to know each member of her class intimately, and her influence on the class as a whole is deeper and more lasting. It may be said that under this system a class might be too long under a weak teacher. I am optimistic enough to believe that weak teachers in the Infants' Schools of New South Wales are very much in the minority. Even a weak teacher will have more chance of becoming strong under this system than under the one which requires her to face a class of fresh children every six months. She will also have a wider experience and a broader outlook; and provided she has the support and guidance of the mistress, who should be free from, a class, will not injure the children under her care, and will, for ever after, be a stronger teacher.
This method of sending the teacher up with the class answers the question as to standard, promotions, &c., and makes the Montessori system easy of introduction and smooth in its working. It is true that the children will probably have far outstripped the Infant School standard by the time they leave the Infants' Department, but I do not think that there will be any grumbling from the Primary Departments if this be so.
Teachers everywhere are worried and harassed by the presence of retarded children in their classes—late enrolments, derelicts who drift from one school to another, retardation from ill-health, &c., &c. The curious thing about the education of these unfortunate children at present is that the teacher is expected by means of some magical pedagogic feat to get them through her class in about half the time that a normal child takes to get through it. Needless to say the expectation is rarely realised, and notwithstanding the departmental regulation and the efforts of teachers to obey it, we still find children in Infant Schools who are beyond Infant School age.
We have had a good deal of experience with retarded children at Blackfriars, and the results since the introduction of the Montessori system have been agreeably surprising. One child of 9 years, who knew nothing when she entered the school, and who was a typical derelict, reached the highest class in the Infant School in sixty days. Another similar child got through to the highest class in seventy days. These children were not smart or bright in any way; they were just the usual type of retarded child. But the point I want to emphasise about their progress is this—that they did not receive any extra attention from the teacher beyond their just share as members of the class. They were not "drilled' in any way or detained after hours.
The following particulars of retarded children under the Montessori method may be of interest:—
Mary, aged 9: knew names of five or six letters of the alphabet but nothing else. Average normal child, showing no exceptional smartness or ability. Reached highest class in the Infant School in sixty days. Annie, aged 7½: knew the names of some of the letters on entering the school. Could count a little; appeared to be just average type of retarded child. Kept from school through carelessness and neglect of parents. Beached highest infant class in seventy days. Thomas. 7 years, enrolled January this year: had been to school before but had made no progress. Knew some of the symbols, but could not read at all. Evidently a typical dull child, with mental development below normal. Can now read well at sight, spells well in composition and dictation, and is good at numbers. Janet, 7 when entering school: retarded through illness and conseqent absence from school; of average intelligence, could make no attempt at reading or writing. After three months is able to read and write fairly well and is making equally good progress in other Florrie, 8 years and 3 months on entering: not extra high intelligence, typical derelict; knew names of a few letters, but could not read and had very little idea of number. Can now read fluently at sight, spell creditably, and shows a very good grasp of numbers. John, aged 7 on entering: did not know any letters or sounds. Since enrolment has been away, long periods through illness; attendance very irregular because of delicate health. Has attended school seventy-nine days in all. Not a bright child by any means. But notwithstanding irregularity of attendance he now makes a very good attempt at sight-reading. Samuel, 7 on entering in February last: did not know anything. Had been paralysed down one side. Can now read, write, and spell, and is quite up to Third Infants' School Standard. Fred, aged 7, enrolled in July of this year: impediment in speech, used to run wild and neglected in the street; knew a few letters but could not read at all. Now attends school regularly, works incessantly, and is making very rapid progress in all subjects. Harry, malformation of head, which, according to medical opinion, borne out by actual experience, interferes with some of his powers. Appeared to have special difficulty with writing. Feeling of sand paper letters has helped him wonderfully. He can now write fairly legibly, and reads and spells very well indeed. May, aged 7 on entering. The youngest child of a family of seven teen. Considered mentally deficient by doctor. Ninety days in class; showed very little progress for a considerable time, but is now interested in several subjects, particularly in reading. She has mastered some of the phonic elements, and is able to build and read words. She is also able to make some attempt at writing, and has some ideas of number.
I should like to repeat that these children have not been "drilled" or kept in, or asked to come before hours, or in any way treated as other than ordinary members of the class. That they have received more of the teacher's attention is perhaps true, since the Montessori method makes it possible for the teacher to give most of her time to those who need it most, but none of the ordinary means for advancing retarded children have been used. Miss Stevens, who has had charge of the Montessori class for a year, and from whose children these examples are taken, is emphatic in declaring that the results obtained are entirely due to the Montessori method and the freedom it gives to the children, and not to any special effort or attention on her part.
From my own experience in our own schools in Italy, and other countries of Europe, and in Great Britain, I am of opinion that the introduction of the Montessori method would largely minimise, if it would not altogether wipe out, this troublesome problem of retardation from any cause except that of absolute
Here I would add a word of warning. The introduction of Montessori material without the proper understanding of the Montessori principle by the teacher who is to handle it, will not bring about Montessori results. But given the material, and the right understanding and use of it, and the problem of the retarded and backward child will very largely disappear.
Though the Montessori method is, generally regarded as an Infant School method only, it is, in my opinion, applicable to children of any age, and it is perhaps in the small one-teacher schools of the State that it will find its most ready acceptance. In the one-teacher school the hardest problem the teacher has to face is the teaching of the little children of 5 or 6 years of age just entering school. In these schools the teacher must distribute his or her attention over the various sections from those just entering the school at 5 or 6 years of age to the advanced children of 13 or 14 or even older. The little new-comers are, under present conditions, and with the teacher who knows nothing of Kindergarten or Montessori, quite unable to help themselves, hence they must be left alone for some portions of the day with little, if any, useful employment. The Montessori system would alter all this. If rightly understood and used the task of both teacher and children would be made much easier and lighter, the time spent in learning to read and write would be shorter, the process rendered easier, and the children in the country would get the same systematic sense training and the same favourable start as those in the city.
The small school teacher is probably more ready to accept the Montessori principle of liberty and the Montessori method of individual teaching than his city brother. The city teacher has to free his or her mind from ideas of class teaching before any great progress can be made in the new work. The country teacher is already accustomed to individual work, and the country children already, in the higher classes at any rate, do a good deal of work for themselves. The Montessori method, if rightly introduced, will, I feel sure, prove to be the salvation of the small school teacher. One set of the material supplied to each of these schools would be sufficient and would not cost very much—probably not more than a total of £5,000 or so when the wholesale price is taken into consideration. In the subjects of reading and writing alone, I have no hesitation in saying that half the time now given to acquiring these subjects will be saved.
While strongly recommending the introduction of the Montessori method into all schools I would add a word of warning. Unless the teacher thoroughly understands the principle and the method of applying it, the material might become dead and mechanical, and a danger instead of a help. The teacher must know when the child has outgrown the material and must not make the mistake of keeping the pupil at an exercise that he has already mastered. The same remark as to danger applies alike to all didactic material, whether Montessorian, Froebelian, or any other. No matter what the system, "the man behind the gun" is the force most to be reckoned with, but it will, 1 think, be admitted that "the man behind the gun" can do more with an up-to-date machine than he can with an old-fashioned blunderbuss.
But, however up-to-date the machine, the man must know how to handle it before effective work can be done. The introduction of Montessori material into schools will not result in the Montessori method being adopted unless teachers receive some instruction and guidance in the matter. Means should, therefore, be taken to supply this instruction and guidance, or the Montessori material may become as deadening and mechanical in its effect as was the Froebel material before the present system of Kindergarten was introduced into our schools in
The methods of teaching writing and reading would, of themselves, stamp the Montessori system as far in advance of anything of a similar kind yet introduced into our schools. Notwithstanding the difficulties of our language, I am sure the Montessori method in these two subjects alone will bring about a wonderful change in our schools. The results obtained by the partial introduction of the method into Blackfriars Practice School in
As a first step towards mental and spiritual liberty, I would suggest the remodelling of our school furniture, so that children might have more physical freedom. Towards this the kindergarten rooms now in most of our State schools have paved the way, inasmuch as they have accustomed us to movable furniture in the shape of tables and chairs. I would suggest that every room in every Infant School be furnished with small light tables and chairs. In rooms where it may be necessary to take some class work, these tables could be arranged in rows for the time being so that children could sit facing in one direction. At other times when this is not necessary, tables could be put together for group work or arranged in any way desired. I would further suggest that these tables and chairs be made of light, cheap wood, at a cost of, say, 12s. or 15s. each for the tables, and about 4s. 6d. each for the chairs. This would mean a considerable saving when compared with the furniture now used.
The fault of our school furniture in the past has been its too great durability and heaviness. It is made as if intended to last for all eternity, and in five or ten years it is obsolete; but the cost was so much in the first place that we feel we cannot afford to throw it away, and the new thing that is to take its place is generally so expensive that we pause, and hesitate,
and stand wavering between the unsuitability of the old and the expense of the new—and meanwhile the children suffer. A lighter and cheaper furniture such as I suggest would have many advantages. It would be easy to renew or replace it when the necessity from any cause arises. From the educational point of view it would teach the child to handle things with care, incidentally to control his body, and direct his movements in such a way as not to knock it over or injure it. Its lightness would enable children to handle it themselves, and thus more movement and freedom in classrooms would be possible. With the fixed desks now in our schools, freedom is almost impossible. I am inclined to think that the day is not far distant when the fixed desk will be laid away with the flogging block and the cane and other ancient instruments of torture."One boy made forty words with cardboard letters in the first ten days."
From the purely hygienic point of view, such furniture, as suggested, would be an advantage. Do what we will dirt accumulates under fixed furniture. Let anyone unscrew one of the desks now in our school rooms, and the truth of this will be borne out in the accumulations of dust under
The abolition of the fixed desk in Infant Schools and the substitution of small tables and chairs is, I think, a very necessary step towards reform,
Although the experiments at Blackfriars and elsewhere show that the Montessori principle of liberty and the Montessori method of education can be carried out with a considerable measure of success in large classes, I would strongly urge the reduction of numbers in infant classes to at least thirty-five, and this for the following reasons:—
I am aware that all this problem of smaller classes and larger classrooms rests on a matter of money, and it may be said that we cannot afford it. Can we, however, afford to go on with large classes, paralysing activity of body and mind, arresting mental, moral, and spiritual growth, and turning our schools into huge, soulless machines, instead of making them what they should be—centres of life and energy? Can we afford to asphyxiate our children physically and mentally by packing them into rooms in such numbers that it is impossible for them to breathe any but vitiated air, or to move except at stated and infrequent intervals? We arrange breathing exercises and physical culture exercises in order to
Larger classrooms are a pressing need in the infants' or indeed in any department of our schools—more pressing perhaps than reduction of numbers in class. With plenty of floor space an experienced Montessori teacher can do a great deal of individual work with forty or fifty children. But it will be useless to build larger classrooms if the same overcrowding which now exists in many places is permitted. A room should be built for so many children, and it should be unlawful and punishable offence for any over that number to be put into it. The head of a department should have power to exclude all children over the prescribed number.
Whatever be the cost, two things seem to me to be urgently necessary if our children are to have that start in life which is their right, namely, freedom to move about and to do their own mental and physical growing, and space in which to do this moving and growing. Plato, in his laws, says:—"Whatever the creature—be it plant or animal, tame or wild, if its earliest growth makes a good start, that is the most important step towards the consummation of the excellence of which its nature is capable."
It seems to me that the plain duty of any State is to give its children the opportunity of making this good start.
If freedom is to be the basis of education for the child, it should also be the basis of education for the teacher. This is necessary if teachers are to keep up with the educational thought and progress of the world. The infant teachers of New South Wales are probably freer than similar teachers in most other places. Because of this, I believe New South Wales to be more ready for Montessori than almost anywhere else. If, however, the Montessori ideal is to be followed, a still larger measure of freedom must be permitted, and because of this larger measure of freedom a greater demand will be made on the intelligence and originality of the individual teacher. The Montessori teacher will have to do her own thinking; it cannot be done for her by anyone else. In order to do her own thinking she must have a larger measure of freedom and must work out her own salvation from within instead of having dogmas imposed upon her from without. The same liberty that is given to the children should be given to the teacher, and through this liberty the teacher, like the child, will educate herself in the science and craft of her profession.
In England, Scotland, and elsewhere, the mistress of a department does no class work. This principle might, in my opinion, be adopted in New South Wales with much advantage. The mistress who is bound to a class I cannot possibly have that inspiring and consolidating influence on her school that the head of a department should have. She should have time for thought, time for individual talks with her teachers, time to see deeply and sympathetically into the work of each class, and time to be alive and enthusiastic so that others may catch alight from the fire of her thought.
The tendency everywhere in Europe and Great Britain is towards more work in the open air for children of all ages. In almost all schools visited open air classes were in operation. In some cases these classes were held under structures formed of rough posts, roofed with canvas or with tarred felt, and provided with canvas or tarpaulin wind screens. Children are given certain lessons during the day in the open playground under these structures. Other open air classrooms are wooden buildings with plenty of window space. Others, again, are loggia arrangements consisting of a light roof supported on posts, with movable screening to the height of the desk.
Everywhere the movement in favour of open air education is spreading, and the opinion of the Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education in England is that "the child becomes physically strengthened and mentally responsive, shows a keener aptitude to learn, and is happier for the freedom to move, to play, to search, to record, and to imagine. He has ample opportunity of learning to abhor stuffy rooms. Indeed, it is hardly too much to say that the introduction of the open air system is the condemnation of what may be called the stuffy-school-system of education."
Much of the Montessori work could be carried out in open air classrooms similar to those described above, or, in the case of country schools, under the trees.
Perhaps the day may yet come when the little children will be carried in the morning, by special trains, from the stuffy overcrowded city schools into suitably constructed open air schools outside the city, and brought back to their homes in the evening, strengthened and invigorated by fresh air, sunshine, and space in which to move and grow.
One set of Montessori material would be sufficient for any school, large or small. Each child will not be using the same piece of apparatus at the same time, as in class work. It is probable that a larger supply of cardboard letters than that already with the apparatus will be necessary, but this is a matter that could be easily arranged. The cost therefore for material, when wholesale price is considered, would probably not exceed the sum of £6 or £7 for each school.
The mere introduction of the Montessori material will not, however, make a Montessori school. Unless the teacher has grasped the principle underlying the system, the introduction of the material is not likely to be of much use. Steps should therefore be taken to make teachers acquainted with the Montessori principle and with the correct method of using the material. This might be done by means of—
As a preparation for any of the above I would strongly urge that Dr. Montessori's book, "The Montessori Method," be supplied to all schools. The retail price of the book is 9s., but the wholesale price would probably be much less. In large departments where there are several teachers, two or three copies might be given.
I am optimistic enough to believe that the teachers of New South Wales, provided they are given the same freedom in this as in other things, will not be long in grasping the Montessori idea of self-education through liberty. Experienced mistresses and teachers would learn much from a week or two of observation in a Montessori school. With young, inexperienced teachers, only a lengthened period of training could give the right understanding and application of the method.
In no case should material be supplied to a school until the teacher has shown his or her fitness by sympathy with the method and by attendance at lectures, observation school, or summer school.
In the new schools constantly being erected, and in the others where renovations are being made, I would urge the introduction of the revised furniture mentioned in another part of this report. If this is done a considerable saving will be effected. Take, for example, an Infant School with seating accommodation for 200 children. The cost of furnishing such a school with modern desks would be not less than £250. If furnished with the tables and chairs such as I have suggested, the cost would probably not exceed £150.
In the matter of equipment and material the Montessori schools will not cost the State any more than the present schools cost it. The chief expense will lie in the matter of larger classrooms; and here I think the increased benefit to the children's health arising from more air and room in which to move and grow will more than justify the expenditure.
The defects of the Montessori system are defects of omission only. Some of the subjects considered important in all modern Infant Schools find no place in the Montessori schools in Rome. The most important of these, and the one around which so much discussion centres, is literature. Stories, nursery rhymes, and poetry are entirely omitted from the curriculum of the Montessori schools in Rome, and no very satisfactory explanation as to the reason for the omission has been given by Dr. Montessori or those who seek to interpret her. The explanation probably lies in the doctor's strong adherence to the principle of liberty and in her belief that education should be active, not passive. Over and over again she reiterates the statement that "the child who does not do does not know how to do," and many teaching devices at first used in the Montessori schools in Rome were abandoned because they rendered the child inactive. Evidently Dr. Montessori's strong objection to the passive listening system of education, so prevalent still in most schools, has led her to the other extreme and has caused her to exclude story, nursery rhyme, and poetry from her curriculum.
I do not, however, think that this or other minor defects of the Montessori system need concern us very greatly, since it is not likely that the Montessori or any other system of education can be introduced in all its detail into any school or schools. Dr. Montessori is the least dogmatic of persons. She would be the first to deplore any blind or mechanical adoption of her method. All she wants is a thorough mastery of her principle of liberty, and an intelligent application of that principle to all school subjects, In our own school at Blackfriars we still retain the story, rhyme, and poem, but we apply the principle of liberty, and only the children who wish to hear the story come to it. Some children remain away each time, but they are not always the same children. Those who remain away quietly employ themselves about the room in some work they have themselves chosen. The children who come to hear the story listen attentively, and the teacher is not at any time obliged to recall the wandering attention of any child. In all the discussion on the Montessori system heard in England and elsewhere, I did not once find any of the vital points of the method questioned. Everyone appeared to agree with the principle of liberty, and everyone acquiesced in the fact that if the child is to grow mentally, morally, and physically, he must do his own growing on each of these planes. The belief of most teachers and thinkers on education who have studied the Montessori system was that all schools, large and small, would be very much improved by the introduction of the Montessori method and material. At the same time it was thought that the system should be introduced systematically and by competent instructors, and that any haphazard introduction of it without proper guidance from those qualified to guide could only bring discredit to the system and probably do harm instead of good to the schools so using it.
1. The system devised by Dr. Montessori is the most forward movement in infant education since the time of Froebel.
2. All educationists have preached liberty for the child—Dr. Montessori practises it.
3. In all schools where the method has had a fair trial, the most astonishing results have followed. Children of 4 and 5 learn to write and to read in a few weeks without any mental strain whatever.
4. Not only in writing and reading, but in all subjects where the Montessori principle is rightly applied, the children learn without strain or weariness. Instead of weariness there is interest, alertness, and joy in doing.
5. In the Italian schools in the slum quarters the physical effects of this joyousness in the work are very marked. The children have gained it
6. People from all parts of the earth flock to Rome to see the system in operation, and Montessori schools are springing up everywhere.
7. Most of the great educational centres of the world sent representatives to Rome in January of this year to study the system on the spot, with a view to introducing it into the schools of the various countries.
8. The Montessori system makes for more independence and self-reliance on the part of the pupil and gives scope for resource and originality.
9. One often hears that the great danger of the present day is the lack of individual character in our young people. While we treat children in the mass, in large classes, as puppets instead of living, self-active individuals, this danger will remain. Enfranchise the child, treat him as an individual, let him do his own growing, as is done in the Montessori schools, and this danger will disappear.
10. Based as it is on liberty, the Montessori system is particularly well suited to the educational needs of a free, democratic country like Australia, where self-reliance, individuality, resource, originality, and freshness of thought are qualities much to be desired in the future citizens.
11. If the Montessori system is introduced, I am firmly of opinion that the question of retardation will very largely disappear from our schools.
12. The slow child will always be with us; but the slow child has rights as well as the quick, and these rights the Montessori method recognises. The slow child progresses at his own rate instead of being over-strained and discouraged in the vain attempt to keep up with the naturally quick children of the class. Many of the world's greatest geniuses have been dull and slow at school, and the history of such men proves that the educational race is not always to the swift.
13. The clever child also progresses at his own pace. He is not held back for his slower brethren.
14. I am fully convinced that the Montessori method, rightly applied, will very considerably shorten the period of learning to read and to write and will do away with the drudgery and strain now associated with the teaching and learning of these subjects. Under this method the normal child will have overcome all the main difficulties of reading, writing, dictation, and elementary number work by the time he reaches 7 years of age.
15. In the one-teacher schools of the State the Montessori system will prove to be the solution of many difficulties. By it the teacher will be able to keep all children from the little ones just entering school to the most advanced pupils busily and profitably employed.
16. If introduced into our schools at all, the Montessori system should be introduced systematically. For its adequate working, the following would, I think, be necessary:—
Proper provision for the instruction of teachers in the theory and practice by—
The appointment of an Organising Officer to put the whole matter on a proper basis.
17. The main benefits that would follow the systematic introduction of the Montessori system are:—
18. The State of New South Wales is far ahead of most other places in the matter of its Kindergartens, and much benefit has followed the recognition of systematic kindergarten as a part of the State education. The Montessori system is a step still further in advance, and will, I feel sure, be welcomed by all kindergartners, infant teachers, and small school teachers. Introduced with a proper understanding of the principle, and by way of evolution, not revolution, the Montessori system will bring about results with us quite as wonderful as those of Rome and other places. I would again urge, however, that its introduction should be systematic.
Sydney: William Applegate Gullick, Goverment Printer.—
Let me speak of something new, something that will stir the heart of man, something that will shake the world to its foundation, something upon which the mind of man has not hitherto dwelt, something not seen and not considered. Let me speak of Armageddon, which now is. It is here. The arbitrary signs in language by which we do think, are its weapons. It is the word; and which is the greater? Mind or matter? I deal with the greatest. In this world there is nothing great but man, in man there is nothing great but mind, and thus it is the pen is greater than the sword. We do not live by bread alone. That something else is the greatest, hence therefore all flesh is grass, and man's true Armargeddon is his mental evolution and great upheaval in that thing which is not bread alone. It is spiritual. Its forces are our common terms of language by which we do reason. The battle ground is in our reflection, our meditation, our silent predication, and our deep mental enquiry by the sword of the mouth. Its ceaseless onslaught is here in times of unrest, doubt prevails, and the whole world is out of temper; what with rebellion at home and wars abroad, sure enough the world has gone mad. Man is angry, and is much dissatisfied with his thoughts about God, and he spurns the accepted interpretation of the Word of God. In a seething maelstrom of discontent many declare openly that Christendom is astray.
Beliefs, faiths, and doctrines are torn asunder, their foundations uprooted, and religion is thrown to the winds. It is recognised by all thoughtful men that something must soon evolve, some great teacher must come, some tremendous overturn must take place, or the world will go down in ruin. Clear it is, until God's true word is universally accepted by man, there shall be no peace amongst the nations.
Herein have we a true picture of present earthly conditions, and such conditions have long time been foretold. God apparently is the author of that which is good as well as that which is evil, and he has chosen our delusions. Divine John saw them in vision two thousand years ago. Paul saw a departure from the truth and its coming lies and delusions. Prophecy has been true, and we now stand viewing its marvellous fulfillment. Divine John's prophecy was gathered from a more ancient source, and was em-
Now, what is Armageddon? What is it ushered in by? What is, by it, brought into the valley of decision? Scripture tells us the time will come when men will travel to and fro, and learning will increase. Of recent years men have travelled much, and learning has increased, and men now see, sum up, and declare that Armageddon is the overthrow of existing religions, and is that long-promised overturn. That thing has happened, and the great change has been brought in by the discovery of a new truth.
Such new truth has been in recent times discovered, and the same has been found hidden under man's laws of thought. This new truth is by this book brought to light, and its fundamental character is beyond dispute, and can be easily demonstrated. When told, it shall be accepted by all mankind. They must accept a truth they cannot avoid. They must receive that which is inevitable. Its medicine they must drink down, though it be bitter to the belly. That which lay lurking under man's laws of thought is none other than the discovery of the connecting link between man's soul and body. It brings into being an absolute certainty. It discloses a fact that will stagger mankind. It is none other than the soul of man is mortal, that man has no after death state, that there is no life beyond the grave, that there is no hereafter. Pardon me that I should say these awful things without being able to support their assertion with absolute proof.
Why the bearer of bad news, why shake the confidence of those living, why disturb the belief of millions, why throw overboard heaven and hell, why be a stormy petrel, why not go down to the grave in silence, and say it not. But the vision calls, saying plainly, What seest thou, write in a book. The desire of all nations is for something definite, someone to take up his pen and remove dense darkness. Some teacher to rouse man out of a horrible nightmare of doubt and difficulty, and bring to an end the greatest cause of war.
If such a new truth as I have defined permeates the soul of the world, wars shall cease. For two years and a-half a great war has raged, and the nations of the earth are now mad with blood and carnage, and I launch my thesis amongst them to stay hands red with blood. If this be our first and last home, it is surely the height of folly to shorten for one day its enjoyment. Why not all the world o'er as brothers be? We are absolutely mortal, having one destiny, one quickening spirit, one common term, one proposition, one argument, one middle term of heart and conscience, one conclusion, whose goal is a syllogism spoken in truth and righteonsness.
Let us turn to a sane interpretation of what is prophesied by Holy Writ, and what does the Book of Revelation reveal? To the ordinary reader it is the dream and nightmare of a disordered mind. To the divinity student it is a figurative poem rightly placed at the end of Holy Writ, wherein is gathered the relics of ancient prophecy. It is couched in the wild imagery and magnificent grandeur of the eastern mind, yet withal a silver thread runs through its twenty-two chapters, by which you can trace God's purpose with man. That great determination so often told from Genesis to Malachi. That ever-interesting story handed down through all the ages, wherein Patriach and Law-giver, Priest and Prophet, each points onward to someone not yet revealed, and the history of the Jewish nation becomes the key to the history of the world. It is a revelation of a great Teacher who is to come, and when he does appear it reveals what will be subsisting on the face of this earth. It is a picture of that time when the nations of the earth will fully comprehend their God, his right arm, and his true word.
Now I ask the reader to descend from his erstwhile theological pinnacle, and sit down with reasonable mind and speak of a thing as it is, which is truth. And one thing is clear, that the world's advancement comes from the discovery of new truths in arts and sciences. Greater perfection in naming by the soul of mankind. Even the prophets support this view, for they speak of an increase in learning, and that purer language shall prevail. In Revelation we have dark hints of someone who will discover a new truth within the science of religion, and in this new truth all mankind will reach a turning point, and thenceforth shall all see alike as waters do cover the sea, the true Word of God.
Isaiah speaks of this discovery in his expression, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" The report here mentioned is the belief held by that peculiar people, ancient Israel. His prophetic cry is for the re-establishment in the soul of man of that marvellous conception known as the God of Jacob. Revelation gives us a figurative poem and a vivid picture of that man, and that hour, that uncovers to the world its universal religion, and which new truth is accepted by mankind, and doubt is removed, and henceforth truth is established to the entire satisfaction of the soul of the world.
If by my pen I can convince all mankind that I hold absolute proof that man's soul of intelligence is a mortal essence, and that it most surely dies with the body and cannot possibly exist after death, then I lay one broad foundation for all religion. Beliefs, faiths, and dogma become then at rest in one common conclusion, and such as doth but limit God's work with the human race right here upon this earth. We must all see that the
In these pages I show that man has no immortal soul, and whilst seeing the vision and where it leads to, I say lead kindly light, and with fear and trembling I take the hand of man, saying: Let us go softly to the edge of this great precipice and look down into your new heaven and your new earth. Such as shall be developed and become established by that chain of circumstances that shall surely come when all men see alike that human destiny is limited to this earth.
Divine John borrows his imagery, principally from the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah. By a careful perusal of Isaiah you will see a very peculiar reference in Chapter Fifty-two, verse Fifteen, wherein Isaiah refers to a something already with us but until God grants its discovery, it shall remain not observed nor considered. It foreshadows that the attention of mankind will be suddenly called to a something that was present from the beginning of time but which had not been previously seen nor considered nor by man named, and when named the world shall see all alike the true Word of God as waters do cover the sea, and thenceforth nations and peoples and tongues shall be guided by a new interpretation and go forward to greater betterment. That thing is found. We are upon the threshold of this great change. It is the mortality of our intelligence and our complete knowledge and absolute assurance that man in all respects is a mortal being. And so it is written, "The first man Adam was made a living soul and the last man Adam was made a quickening spirit." In the light of my discovery this biblical assertion is absolutely correct. The modern Adam will realise and rest assured that his quickening spirit of muscle and motion is a mortal essence and with soul and body goes down into the silence of the grave for ever and ever.
Orthodoxy preaches about a Saviour coming in the clouds, with a great shout, followed by tens of thousands of His saints, and
The earth's progress mental and physical has been the labour of human agents. Of unnatural saviours there have been none, but of natural woman-born saviours there have been many. Those who discover a new truth beneficial to mankind are indeed Saviours of the whole human race. God's purpose and its gradual development is seen in the invention of a Watt and a Stephenson or the discovery of a Harvey or a Pasteur. The light shown by such men is upon a thing that was ever present with the human race but did remain in darkness until classified and named. Until their disclosure we failed to see and consider the thing as it is. What has happened will continue to happen, and the world's advancement doth but result from the enterprise, invention and mental effort of mere man, and the vision unlifting comes from the weakest amongst us, and this remarkable truth is often referred to in Holy Writ.
It is nonsense to say that this march forward results from miracles and visitations from the clouds. God's secrets are only laid bare by the earnest and patient toil of mere man. It is therefore certain that we should look for fresh discoveries from the human race alone, and especially from those of them who are skilful and energetic in that peculiar line of thought wherein they elect to pursue. One would naturally think that if we wished to find a religion based on God's truth and the stability of his natural laws and which would be acceptable and satisfying to the mind of the world, we should go to the cerebral of man and study its workings and its natural laws and from that study deduce certain conclusions. Look into man's act of reasoning. Look into his brain whilst he frames his syllogism. Examine the laws of thought as seen operating in the human brain of the living man.
The greatest thinker upon the workings of the human mind that the world has had, was that great master mind Aristotle, who lived some 400 years prior to the Christian era. We look into the mind of Aristotle by perusing certain books written by him and which God has in a remarkable manner preserved, and we find that
Here Aristotle wishes us to observe that on each occasion we perform the act of reasoning, we are simply tied down to the formula that so and so is referable to such and such a class and that the class which happens to be before the mind comprehends such and such things. This is precisely all that is ever accomplished by reasoning. All reasoning whatever rests on the one simple principle laid down by Aristotle, that:" What is predicated either affirmatively or negatively of a term distributed may be predicated in like manner, affirmatively or negatively, of anything contained under that term." Whatever the subject matter of an argument may be, the reasoning itself, considered by itself, is in every case the same. We are all busily engaged during our wakeful moments, deducing well or ill conclusions from premises, each concerning the subject matter of his own particular business; the process or the act of reasoning is found to be the same in all cases. Aristotle called this universality the science of Logic. The simple system of Logic as laid down by him was applicable to all subjects brought before the mind. He describes his Logic as a method of unfolding and analysing our reasoning. He lays down principles by which all must reason. Rules not to be followed with advantage but which cannot possibly be departed from in sound reasoning. The outstanding fact is that the operation of reasoning is in all cases the same. The analysis of that operation cannot fail therefore to strike the mind as an interesting matter of enquiry.
It is found, every conclusion is deduced in reality from two other propositions, thence called premises. An argument thus stated regularly and at full length is called a syllogism, which is not a peculiar kind of argument but only a peculiar form of expression in which every argument may be stated. When one of the premises is suppressed, which for brevity's sake it usually is, the argument is called an enthymeme, and this is the usual form in which our act of reasoning occurs. In an argument it is impossible for anyone who admits both premises to avoid admitting the conclusion. Its certainty is expressed in the following formula:—
I have quoted heretofore from Aristotle's deductions so as to establish the great fact that man's mind is tied down to the framing of the syllogism. It is God's right arm actively at work in the mind of living man. It is a spiritual skeleton found within man's conclusion, and which skeleton is absolutely necessary to frame it into usefulness. Without it man's expression is valueless, having neither point nor purpose and' is without intelligence, It brings home to the human race the great fact that God is the Word and everything that could be said. Every thought spoken loudly or silently upon being analysed is found to contain God's right arm or the three terms of the syllogism. Aristotle's Dictum, or in other words, God's living principle, remains in us as he found it, and we continue to think under its guidance. Man is still subject to God's laws of thought and we cannot get away from them. For 2500 years we have been made aware of their existence and we have yielded to their power. During all that time we have realised and have seen and considered that the human mind works from a major premise to a conclusion.
In the meantime Christ came with signs, wonders and miracles which did altogether upset not only the Dictum of Aristotle, but did blaspheme and contradict God's natural laws; their uniformity, and their stability.
His Disciples left behind certain writings that are highly figurative and metaphorical and which speak of things not as they are. Yet we read and absorb them literally and we do accept the literal interpretation as of the greatest authority. The result being that millions of the human race are obsessed with fads, fancies, and vain imaginings, until all like sheep, we have gone astray. In this God's right arm no longer guides us. We accept rather, improbable and impossible things, and refuse absolutely to look them straight in the face. The true Word of God is not seen nor is it
About the year
The new truth discovered by Coppleston and Whately and which is by them firstly disclosed in Whately's Logic, published about the year
Prior to Whately's book no mind had observed and considered this new truth. The discovery at that time was helped by the case of Laura Bridgeman, a woman born into the world blind, deaf, and dumb. It was after she grew up into womanhood that Dr. Howe, her tutor, taught her language signs by the medium of her sense of touch. When she became educated and could read and write she stated a fact, since well established, that no such thing as a train of reasoning had ever passed through her mind until the sign, supplied by the common term in language had been imparted to her cerebral by her sense of touch through the medium of her teacher.
Man is an animal, and in common with other animals he is possessed of seven senses, these are: hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, muscle and motion. By the agency of the senses of muscle and motion Laura Bridgeman had established within her brain cells a reasoning soul. Until those senses were moved intelligently she had no reasoning soul. She was like a child born into the world with a mind, having brain cell capacity, ready and open to drink in the sign such as language supplies, but she remained a child without ability until she grew up and was taught language, then the dormant capability was roused by that necessary sign and she thenceforth became possessed of a reasoning soul. On receiving this accomplishment she was often seen standing apart by herself with her fingers in rapid motion. Seeing the activity in her fingers Dr. Howe, her tutor, would approach her and enquire of her what she was thinking about. He knew she was thinking by seeing her fingers in very rapid motion, and she would tell him her thoughts. He also observed her whilst asleep in the dormitory of his Institute, and he knew by seeing her fingers in very rapid motion that she was dreaming and talking in her sleep. The point was, that she, by her perishable senses of muscle and motion, then active in rapid finger movement, had to coin every common term which did make up her dreaming, her thinking and her reasoning.
We observe the same act in man fully endowed with his seven senses. Of course the activity is not in the fingers as in the case of Laura Bridgeman. By her fingers she learned and read. We learn common terms from our cradle to the grave by our senses of hearing and seeing, and no doubt this learning is enlarged by the aid of all our seven senses. The activity in our reasoning is seen in a rapid movement of the apple of the eye and a sympathetic rise and fall of our eye-lashes. Here within the sockets of our eyes do we find that rapid movement necessary to bring forth to naming
Bill, of whom I frequently refer to hereafter, was first to draw man's attention to this rapid movement of the apple of the eye when performing the act of reasoning. He found this movement was required to ascertain the middle term of our syllogism. That is to say—the syllogism, which I have already explained as the one same act in every mind and the constant mental effort of every man, whilst engaged in the simple act of deducing conclusions from premises—cannot possibly be constructed without our quickening spirit of life first quickens the eye-ball and sympathetically causes a rise and fall in our eye-lids and their lashes. From his discovery in this very small thing I show you a great mystery and lay bare the true connection between the soul and body, and in his learning and in his discovery I give man absolute proof that his soul is mortal.
We cannot think without a rapid movement in the eye-balls. This movement is a condition precedent to naming. The movement precedes intelligence. Pardon me that I should so long dwell upon this very small thing, but in an age of discoveries we have a day of small things and their importance is enormous and farreaching. The universal labour of the human mind is Aristotle's reference to a description. From certain premises then uppermost in the mind it is the selection of the conclusion. The formula X is Y, Z is X, therefore Z is Y, expresses its frame. The summation obtained in this formula is not possible without a prior movement in our eye-balls and a rise and fall of our lashes. When we see this rapid movement there, it is an outward and visible sign that the quickening spirit of life is then engaged upon the construction of the syllogism, or in other words, a demonstration of Aristotle's Dictum and his reference to a class or description. Our quickener has constant labour in finding the middle-term suitable to the occasion, the then required correct summation. The quickening spirit's movement in Laura Bridgeman's fingers when she was alone thinking and when she was seen talking in her sleep is the exact counterpart to the rapid motion in the human eye of the thinking and dreaming man who is fully endowed with all his seven senses. I invite those learned in the science of the mind to deny this assertion. They cannot. Their so-called science is overwhelmed with bigotry and superstition. Their effort unmans them. They will not approach the enquiry with mind freed from prejudice. Their antagonism to my conclusion prevents that quiet approach of the candid mind.
In the year Firstly: Prior help in the activity of man's perishing senses of muscle and motion. Secondly: An adequate command within the brain cells of the common terms in language. After giving my discovery much thought, indeed for the long period of forty years, I wrote and published a book thereon and named it "Bill the Namer." The little book contained a short story of the difficulties my younger brother William and myself had, when young men travelling much to and fro over the face of the earth, trying to get others to observe and consider what we had in our vision seen and considered. We asked them to produce the reasoning soul that had no knowledge of arbitrary signs in language. They could not. Common terms, the furniture of the mind, had to be installed within the cerebral before the soul could perform its natural function. Where this furniture was absent there was no soul. Our discovery had no acceptance, chiefly because we were Britishers and moved amongst them whom we found as a people had no respect for science. They were not a scientific people. They hated a new idea and sneered at science, and their hostility went further. Thereupon we treated the subject not seriously and got it home into hostile minds with less damage to our reputation by making our new truth sweet to the mouth, but behind the grin they found it also bitter to the belly. They ransacked their minds for a contemptuous name to fix upon us, but in their heat we asked them to go softly; search Scripture, and see whether after all our scientific discovery did not fulfil its prophecy. In the discovery we have a true conception of Jacob's God, but his God was not acceptable to minds obsessed with gorgeous visions of immortality. Paul's third heaven floating before their imagination was to them more pleasing. Its vain imaginings made
most conclusively that ancient Israel was right. The Armageddon bugle is now blown. My discovery blows the blast. My little book of youthful failures was published in
Divine John's prophetic poem is a true picture of the man and the hour giving this new truth. The man who by sudden vision tells it out: what God's true word is. The hour in which the train of thought is changed into a new channel. That truth is now fundamentally established and now seen and considered. Man's soul is mortal, and its scope and sphere ends in the death of the body. When this is realised man's attitude to man will be changed. Strict discipline right here will be insisted upon. The earth will no longer be a field for temporal exploitation nor the happy hunting ground of a probationary career.
The Biblical Jew, as portrayed in the characters of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, and Isaiah, did not believe in this vain thing. The thought to David was a vain imagining. God's true word was with ancient Israel, and its resurrection in an age of learning and a day of small things is but the fulfilment of all prophecy. The human race must see there is no other God than that Word which I describe, and which Word shall give to each in this life according to his works. At death and in the grave the Word lies buried in eternal silence where no work is. Divine John says also, the Word was God. The Word also became flesh and was heard by the world.
I have unveiled the mystery contained in Revelation, and without fear of its threatenings I rewrite Divine John's marvellous
The world expects and waits patiently for its Armageddon and their thoughts regarding the great battle are that the valley of decision is physical. Where in great masses the human races are slain by all the forces that violence can muster. This interpretation is wrong, and does not describe the world's turning point. Scripture clearly teaches that it is a spiritual regeneration. An overturn in religion. A casting down of imaginations. Many allusions in Revelation, and its prior source, speak of it as a spiritual Armageddon; won by the sword of the mouth. The little book brings in a new gospel, a new heaven and a new earth. Someone stands out from the rest of mankind and declares for a new interpretation of God's Word. The new conception is bitter to the soul because a great human longing is shattered. The vision however shows that truth will prevail, and shall become firmly established. The human mind shall accept the inevitable.
Whilst God brings in a great unity in the Gospel, the world is not at rest. Doubt and discord had overwhelmed mankind. Men were sullen at the loss of all anchorage. Wars will rage. Nations and tongues will struggle for material advantage. By reason of doubting minds spiritual power is weak, none will fight for the principles of religion. Then cometh that great evolution and the mask covering the face of all the nations shall be removed. The day spring breaks and the human family appears as one great theological unit, all alike worshipping the true Word of God as waters do cover the sea. In a universal acceptance the world is satisfied with one soul, one syllogism, and one true Word; wherein God walks with man in his language signs of truth and righteousness.
My "itroduction" opens with a description of the cold facts in a science, dry as dust; at the close, the reader will see I am drifting into signs, wonders, and miracles. It is so human-like when we approach the unseen. All science and no trope, figure or simile makes man frigid and severe. We were never meant to be so. I shall therefore relax, and in the light of my logical discovery, I rewrite John's immortal poem verse by verse, giving you the human touch of the world amongst things as they are. My mission is to maintain the purity of Scripture, to build and not destroy.
Bill did speak with him, and learned much, for John tarried to the end, and on the head-waters of the Brulé they met, where spring pools were, and there they did refresh themselves. They ate bread and trout together, and as kindred spirits felt at home. Bill listened to the wandering Jew and discussed not the seven obscure and small churches in Asia, but that larger life, the seven senses in the son of mere man, born of woman, which senses did operate before the earth-born common term was coined. Bill's promise made to John was, that he would fulfil that vision by penning the little book, sweet to the mouth but bitter to the belly. Bill stretched himself drinking from the pool, and looking round John was not. He rested not for long. The ground was covered with snow, so Bill followed his footsteps to an island in St. Croix Lake, not Lake St. Croix, and there again did locate him by his high vest standing well out upon the limb of a tree, and Bill listened at the foot thereof, but it was cold. The words, however, were tropical, full of simile, figure, metaphor, and a thing not as it is. As one having a bee in his bonnet. He had the limb, he held the audience, and Bill let him go, saying nothing. He knew well John had done his duty. His book had fulfilled its mission, and rest from ceaseless wandering he deserved. The ground was frozen hard, but the work was cheerful, and Bill buried him at the foot of that tree. His mantle was there and Bill drew it over him, and that night dreamed a dream, which thing he could only do behind a rapid movement in his eye-balls, and waking he laid down a rule under man's laws of thought that could not possibly be de parted from. From which rule he reasoned out the discovery of that new truth which did make of man and his soul an earth-born essence. He saw in vision the new heaven, the new hell, and the new earth, here upon the crust of this globe, and the cry and travail of his soul was that sufficient strength be given unto him to destroy those that destroyed this earth. And in remembrance of John and his vision and that new interpretation, John's finger ring upon the right hand of his seventh angel is seen until this very day. Divine John's matured thoughts and his grand conversation with Bill is now given.
1 The Preface. 7. The coming of a plain man with a new truth found under man's laws of thought.
The Lord said he would overturn; now it is done and made manifest to all men by mere man, of whose coming Moses spake as did also Solomon at the opening of his temple.
2. John, who bare record of things to come, looked down the ages and saw the man and the hour coming to those long waiting for the true Word of God, and in a poem his vision he did pen.
3. Blessed is he that seeth a thing as it is, for man alone solves riddles, and of angels there are none. There are doubts also about devils and dragons and demons and ghosts, holy and unholy, and their immortal souls. Bill sought for specimens to lay upon his experimental table, but ignorance and superstition produced them not, rather did they shelter behind their doxology.
4. To the seven senses in the son of man, grace and peace from the eternal spirit of truth and its enthematic syllogism spoken by man to man in truth and righteousness.
5. And from his messenger who is no superman but like the frailest, is bruised and stricken, and hath no form nor comeliness, and we hide as it were our faces from him.
6. Yet God to him has been kind, for unto him is shown a new truth under man's laws of thinking, which doth but make of us kings and priests unto God for ever and ever, amen.
7. Coming as a thief in the night, their ideals were shattered and were dismayed and disdainful, and his message they did scorn, he was despised and rejected, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of his coming and the loss of their hereafter: even so, amen.
8. The right arm of the Lord is the expression of man, and there is no saviour but the syllogism of man, and so it is written, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
9. He was but a root out of dry ground that stood deducing conclusions from premises, long held and hoary with age, and his thoughts were upon the Dictum of Aristotle, and the word as imbued and endued in the minds of his saints and his prophets.
10. And lo: whilst in the spirit my meditation did rouse my psychological gropers which did pulsate within the apple of mine eye, and I then saw it was within me, where dwelt all the fullness of the God-head bodily, and until this my word is made flesh there shall be no peace amongst the nations, for true light on human destiny is not possible until the dogma of immortality is driven from the mind of man.
11. And amongst the waters of life I did blink and grope, and God's great victory doth but bring into line the whole human race. I saw the laws of thought were steady in their operation, and man's mastery was but a greater command of the common terms in language; and what thou seest write in a book showing that man hath seven senses, and these are hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, muscle, and motion, and are the seven eyes of the Lord, and when stilled in death the soul doth perish.
12. And hearing the voice that spake with me I groped with muscle and motion against my cerebral, and from thence I did bring forth that new truth formerly not seen nor considered, and in which it was made clear unto me that man's senses must operate before his quickening spirit can perform an act of reasoning.
13. And man's constant toil in all wakeful moments is his enthematic syllogism, and in its midst there is the middle term, coined, brought forth, and named by that instrument of instruments which did but quicken man's eye-lash, and man's seven senses were seven candlesticks set by God to light his kingdom, and so it is written, the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendcth it not, even so, until Bill did name it.
14. John's utterances were fulfilled, inasmuch as his head and hairs are white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes are as a flame of fire burning with the brightness of an enthematic truth, spoken by woman-born man unto mere man, in simplicity, in sincerity, and in severity.
15. And his feet are white like unto fine brass and his voice as one from the north, from whence he came, for he was raised up out of his place.
16. And on the third finger of his right hand is a signet ring with bloodstone set, and arranged thereon are seven stars, and from a psychological saturation of the best, there went from his mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as those made cheerful by God's hidden manna.
17. He was chastened, but God was gracious, for unto him he did lay bare his right arm of pure, terse, and effective language, saying: Thou son of man, thou art the first and the last, my noblest offspring and heir to all the ages, for thou hast truly named mortal man and his mortal soul, and on earth thy will shall be done and thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, Who had the spirit of Elijah, but now cometh the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and amidst all this glory, but for a small drop of real good stuff now and again I was the weakest of men.
18. Let thy name live and be alive for ever more and have the keys of hell and of death, for thy word is life eternal and is truly made manifest to my waiting Israel. Therefore tell it out amongst the nations that heaven and hell exist but on earth.
19. Write the things pervading thy mind and what thou hast seen and what thou hast considered, and teach them things to come, saying: It is but the living that praise God, and the dead know not anything.
20. Likewise show them the mystery of the seven stars in thy right hand and the seven candlesticks; the seven stars are my seven predicables, as are in that which is said, whose horns are my seven parts of speech: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven senses found in that son of man, whom now thinking cometh from Edom. The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost, that counterpart, that negative, that echo, that reflex, that shadow, and that sign, such as language supplies.
Unto the seventh angel and his perishing sense of hearing write. These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walkest in the midst of his seven psychological gropers.
2. I know thy weakness, yet withal thou canst not bear them that are evil, and thou hast tried them that are perfect and art not, and hast found them liars and thou knowest full well, who so blind as my messenger and who so blind as he that is perfect.
3. And hast borne and hast laboured and has not fainted in thy search after my true word, and the same hath sustained thee, my branch until the dayspring of the millenium.
4. Nevertheless thou art broken, but in my mercy I saw none perfect, no not one, not even that stranger of whom Moses and the prophets did write.
5. Remember therefore thy sins and repent and do the first works, or else I will put out thy light except thou repent.
6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitianes and their unions, and their combines and their exploitations, and their insatiable and damnable greed, which things I do hate and shall destroy.
7. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto man's seven senses. To him that overcometh will I grant in great measure my purest language such as are in the midst of the paradise of God, which place is here upon earth, where there is nothing great but man, and in man there is nothing great but mind.
8. And unto the angel having the sense of seeing, write: These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive, and whose message doth but speak of the temple of his body and whose little book doth but condemn the workings of Satan, his powers, and his signs, and his lying wonders, and his false miracles, and his rhetorical tricks of trade.
9. I know thy works and thy tribulation and thy poverty (but in my hidden manna thou art rich), and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan my circumcised, my prepared villains and my chosen blackguards, ready at all times to cheat and over-reach and behave before me most damnably.
10. Fear not false Israel and be faithful in naming them, and I will crown thy life in the memory of those living for all time, and under the shadow of a great rock I shall make thee free, and the door thou hast opened no man can shut, for everlasting and ever lasting.
11. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto man's seven senses. He that overcometh shall not fear death but shall go conquering, and to conquer in my kingdom wherein man's seven senses do operate.
12. And to the angel with the sense of touching, write: These things saith he which hath the terse and perspicuous syllogism that cutteth deep, clean, and conclusive, and who knoweth all men and what is in man.
13. I know thy works and where thou dwellest and where Satan's seat is, where thou ponderest upon my seven categories, and hast maintained my right arm when all they like sheep had gone astray.
14. But I have a few things against thee because thou named them not, and did cast stumbling blocks before my innocents and sin of every kind thou didst commit.
15. Even tolerating them that hold the doctrine of the seven devils of socialism with their clustering and their honeycombing and their dry-rot and miserable drift into that submerged multitude, who eat the cake and have it not.
16. Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of the mouth, and against me whom they offend they shall have no rest day nor night.
17. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto man's senses. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth my enthematic syllogism, which doth but portray in simplicity, and in sincerity and in severity, a thing as it is.
18. And unto the angel with the sense of tasting and whose garments are dyed in my red wine. These things saith the son of plain man who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass.
19. I know thy works, thy last effort being more than the first, and the same shall not return unto me void, for the desire of all the nations is for my message delivered by you in their midst.
20. Yet I have a few things against thee, because thou didst linger in my service when you knew I would overturn, overturn, overturn it and shall be no more until he came whose right it is and I will give it him.
21. And of your omissions and commissions I gave you space to repent, but you repented not.
22. Behold I shall turn my face from you and put out your light unless you repent, but this thou hast not, even when I pleaded with thy conscience and did visit thy quickening spirit with affliction and tribulation.
23. I will kill your children with death, and all my given senses shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts, giving unto everyone of you according to your works.
24. But unto you that hath not seen nor considered and hath not known the depths of Satan, I will put upon you none other burden.
25. But that which you have already stored within your minds, hold fast till I come, and when he Cometh whose right it is by a new train of thought shall it be established.
26. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and in his day there shall be one Lord, the sign of which is my common term, and by which we think and move and have our being.
27. And thy dictum shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; and ask of me and I shall give him the heathen nations for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.
28. And I will give him the morning star of ready utterance, clear conception and accurate reasoning, and his seven-worded sentence shall be the triumph of the human mind.
29. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto man's seven senses.
And unto the angel with the sense of smelling, write. These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God in substance, quantity, quality, relation, time, place and suffering, and which are welded in my seven parts of speech, and he that hath my seven stars that do make up my terse, concise and enthematic syllogism. I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest and art dead, and said it not until the zeal of my house, thy cerebral, hath eaten thee up.
2. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, and cause that word soul amongst men to have its just meaning and its just limit, which truth you held back these fifty years, and thy works were far from perfect.
3. Remember therefore my Logos, and of that which thou hast received and hold fast and repent. If thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I shall call thee out to establish my kingdom which is within them.
4. Some have not saturated their brain cells with tropes, I figures, metaphors and the soaring exaggerations and 'spectacular grandeur of the eastern mind, but have meekly and softly measured amongst things as they are, and they are worthy and shall walk with me in white, because of their simple and reasonable belief that my kingdom is and shall be within them.
5. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but he shall be a footprint upon the sand of time, and a beacon for all succeeding generations, and I will confess his name before my Father and before all races of men, and shall raise the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and will at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel.
6. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto man's seven senses and his word, his new Jerusalem and my new church and there is none, no not one, like it, and he that hath my gospel of the senses and the word shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. For we speak that we do know, and testify that which we have, and we measure no temple but that of woman-born man.
7. And to the angel with the sense of muscle, write. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, my burning and shining lights, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, and whose written
8. I know thy works, and in thy little book I have set before thee an open door which no man can shut, for thou hast a little strength and kept my word and hast not denied my name, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the syllogism of man be exalted, and those meditating upon my gift to man, my Southern Cross, my burning syllogism of terse truth shall have eternal life in a world of joy, peace, and happiness.
9. And they shall praise the God of Jacob, drinking in thoughts of the best, and which my lambs absorb in an atmosphere of the best in heredity, in example, in education and in environment. Pillars hewn and chiselled by the care and thought of my meek, patient and peculiar people.
10. And as thou hast received in patience so have I braced thy mind against the hour of temptation, which comes upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11. And of thy faith there shall be great acceptance, and one king shall be king to them all, and in my hidden manna there shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into kingdoms any more, for in my common terms they shall see all alike.
12. And to him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall stand there erect, cool and fearless, walking no more after their heated imaginations, their strong delusions and their veritable lies, all which did arise from a dunghill of decretals, and I shall write God's name as Verbum, and in man it shall dwell, and his abstraction shall be the new Jerusalem, a faculty coming down from heaven into their brain cells, and God's name shall be man's meek and truthful expression, and in my pure language thou shalt call me thy God, your Redeemer and Sanctifier, and I will change thy flesh into my word, and ye shall say my disposition, my character, my peculiarity, my in dividuality, my merit, my talent and my courage are as thine, oh my God! 13. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto man's senses, and those on earth now operating and now thinking know my record is true.
14. And unto the angel with the quickening sense of motion, write. These things saith the amen, the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of God which is my thinking and my blinking against my psychological entity, and be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I do create, for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy, and to the quick I give cerebrals built by mine own hand, and the dead I return to mother earth.
15. I know thy works and thy fear and thy hesitation, would thou wert more courageous in proclaiming my new heaven and my new earth wherein right shall dwell.
16. Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, shall cause thy quickening spirit to rest not within the sockets of your eyes, and my utterance thou shalt not hide, and they shall say new truths cometh not but by me.
17. Thinking thou art rich and have need of nothing when thou knowest that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked.
18. I counsel thee to fear my word and its rod, and hide thy nakedness and thy shame and the cast in thine eye, all which thou canst neither hide nor heal.
19. And many as I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent and in meekness bear my cross, and all shall be well.
20. Behold I am the God of the living, and they work amidst the glory of my kingdom which is within the dome of thy skull, and if thou wilt but repent and do the first works thy past shalt be forgiven, and I will come into your mind and sup with you and you with me, and will fill thy brain-cells with a great conversance of naught but pure language, bright with adequacy, and the same shall spread amongst the nations righteousness, peace, and joy.
21. To him that overcometh will I grant conscience peace, and virtue pure, and of my hidden manna he shall have great store.
22. He that hath an ear let him hear what is said unto the seven senses in Shiloh, the son of mere man, and we deal in things as they are, which can see and feel and walk, and amongst them I call for an accurate system of nomenclature, and ye shall know well the real character of language, without which no man hath a soul. For indeed it is his right arm and God in man and herein is made plain the vision of Zephaniah, turning to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent. They shall indeed be Rhetoricians, and the sword of their mouth shall be an instrument of instruments, clear, precise, accurate, well defined, technical, definite and absolutely conclusive.
Let us drop the scales from eyes and have a heaven within our ken, one our senses can feel, one our minds can conceive, one with God's natural laws, one sensible to our reason, one we
2. And before that throne let us judge rightly, deducing conclusions from premises that will glorify our Maker, and unto conscience and its premonitions let us give honour and respect.
3. And he that sat thinking was of the Caucasian race, whose mind was imbued with the constancy of God's natural laws, and whose great major premise was, that the perpetual stability of the ordinances of mind and matter were divinely guaranteed. Were but generalized facts, and when the white-footed creature was spoken to he looked into the eye of the speaker to blink over the speaker's deliverance. In the white of the eye he saw the proposition, in the blue the middle term, and in the inner disc he read the syllogism, and he did meekly check the speaker in his matter by respect for truth and gently in his style by honouring perspicuity. He read in the fall of the eye-lid man's mortality, for those lively small things were things that did die, and common terms, things gathered after birth, were severally indispensible instruments of all reasoning souls, and without them man had no soul worthy of the name.
4. And covering his eyes were restless eye-lashes moved and shaken by his thinking and his marshalling of the rank and file of his nomenclature, and whilst wakeful were as reeds beating against the wind, and in this activity God did expect from man a correct, clear, prompt and truthful abstraction from the subject then uppermost in his mind. Rendering truly that which may furnish the middle-term suitable to the occasion, and what he says and what he thinks shall as radium emanations go outwards, guiding his own and lighting the footsteps of others.
5. And from the throne the cerebral of man proceeded enthematic syllogisms, and there were seven essences, before the throne which are the seven spirits of God, and God's right arm was strengthened by a great conversancy in the common terms, of language. They are the mental picture, the copy, the abstract, the counterpart, the reflex, the shadow and the ghost of the individual, and with them, as at Pentecost, we commune with our God, and by them the power of the highest shall overshadow thee.
6. And before the throne there was a ball of crystal, and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were the four corners of the human eye, with their attendant senses before and behind.
7. And there was the face of a lion, and of a calf, and of a man, and of a flying eagle, blinking as were their species, holding such
8. Each having eyes that rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come, and those words, twice seven, were not thought nor spoken without a rise and fall in their several eye-lashes. The activity in the verb-substantive did demand this movement.
9. And when those beasts give thanks to that quickening spirit which liveth in their species for ever and ever.
10. Their eye-lashes fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever; and signs, symbols, and meditations are cast before the throne, saying:
11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for thou hast created all things, and waited long for man to name them, and for thy pleasure they are and were created, and there is no Saviour amongst men other than that frail reed who is charged with the power of the word, and whose chief end is but to be greatly imbued with that which is pure and good. And he that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and the Father is in me, and for the advancement of truth and for rest to the soul of the world, I present unto man the true thoughts of Jesus Christ about his God.
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book sealed with seven seals, and which did but contain the light of the morning.
2. A thing erstwhile unseen, now seen and considered, and by man named, and of it God's prophet had said we knew it not, though we had it from the beginning.
3. No one had searched man's laws of thought, and none had opened the book nor looked thereon.
4. And looking back I grieved much, for no one was found worthy to open and the read the book, neither to look thereon.
5. Faith in Israel had patience. Saying, weep not, Lo! here cometh Hill the master mind, who hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof, and he shall on earth execute judgment and righteousness, and how sayest thou shew us the father?
6. Not to the great are such things given, for in the midst of the throne plain and natural stood a lamb as it had been slain in a hell of slain lambs, having seven senses, seven predicables, and seven parts of speech, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the world, and the Lord was angry that he had made man on earth, and it grieved him at his heart to see strong drink and the inventions of the devil, but Bill pleaded for mercy, saying in one hour man's destiny can be changed by the discovery of a new truth told without figures, tropes, metaphors, and such dark conceits which spread confusion, ambiguity and error. The only seven angels, seven golden candlesticks, seven churches, seven spirits, seven stars, seven eyes, and seven horns that he did pretend to know anything about were found in everything that could be said.
7. And with his seven gropers he did uncover that instrument of instruments which did operate in the mind of living man, and whose labour was but a reference to a class, and the fruit thereof was the syllogism framed from things then uppermost in the mind.
8. And he took the book and Israel beheld with joy, crying, Let us praise God's handiwork, the cerebral of man, and the sign such as language supplies, and we had looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God, and in His natural laws were constancy and stability and uniformity, and from which we did trace the connection between the body and the soul.
9. The saints broke forth in praise, crying. Bill, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou doth but lay bare a thing long time lost, and hast redeemed us to the spirit of truth, and every kindred and tongue and people and nation shall bless thy right hand for destroying their fabled kingdoms beyond the skies.
10. And hast made us all powerful, and we shall reign at rest in the soul of the world, and popes, parsons, priests and prelates shall know their God, and be pleased at your second coming, and they shall say, he that hath received this testimony hath set to his seal that God is true, and he that hath not, the wrath of God abideth on him for ever.
11. And thousands and tens of thousands shall praise thy name, saying, Light hath come into the world, and that man loved vanity rather than light for their hopes were that their evil deeds would be washed clean at a more convenient season high in the clouds where angels did dwell.
12. Thou art worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing, and my right royal attributes seven times seven multiplied by seven, and with much congratulation they shall 'phone 343.
13. Brutes and men call for blessing and honour and glory and power unto him that tells it out amongst the heathen, and unto the lamb for ever and ever, and they shall listen to him that hath been sent to condemn the world, that the world through him might be saved.
14. And all things breathing fall down and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and man's new truth shall rid the world of human pests. For he did promise you another comforter to abide with you for ever, who would teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever he had said unto you, and whose mission is now visible, and he shall cleanse the earth of its wasters.
And I saw when the lamb opened out as a proper child in Shiloh, the son of man, and a blinking brute cried, Come and see.
2. It was youth on a white horse, and he went forth conquering and to conquer, and looked for all the world as if it belonged to him.
3. And on opening the second seal of his age I heard a second beast say, Come and see.
4. And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon in his bumps of destruction to kill one another, and a great sword was given him for lust and for slaughter.
5. And when he opened the third seal I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld a black horse, and he that sat upon him was by example, education, experience, and environment made more fit to live, for near his end man was at his best, and in his hands were placed a pair of balances.
6. And conscience and its growth into public opinion cried, a measure of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine, and those farming their brother man were known to God and man and were made unhappy.
7. And when he had opened the fourth seal I heard the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8. And I looked and behold a pale horse and rich and poor were gathered in, and they saw not that man did not live by bread alone, and they went unto death with the beasts of the earth.
9. And when he opened the fifth seal I saw the salt of the earth wake from their slumbers, saying: Preach that God spares no kind of sham or hypocrisy, and that he will root out and destroy every kind of evil amongst those living upon this earth.
10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, oh Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth, them and their hereafter and their weal or woe chance, and their castles in the air, and their Edom wherein they are dead drunk and doth rage and imagine a vain thing.
11. And Jacob's prophets had white robes given unto them, and were told to rest for a season until Bill's mystic scheme and his seventh angel hove in sight. For on that threshold God had spoken, and woe betide the churches if they will not hear. Religion is necessary, but churches are not.
12. And when Bill opened the sixth seal I beheld a great convulsion, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon shone through like blood, and in the smash he yearned for plain English in lieu of red-painted metaphor.
13. And the stars fell like untimely fruit cast down by a mighty wind, and his mind being obsessed by the great disturbance, he foamed and tore round and kicked and shoved over tabernacles of darkness, and their bigotry, their superstitition, and their figures, tropes and similes he bundled into a cart and sent to the destructor.
14. And heaven went overboard, skylights and all, and popes, priests, and parsons were shaken from their office and were in danger for all time of losing their hatch, match, and despatch perquisites.
15. With fear and trembling men viewed the loss of heaven and hell, and in the overturn Bill cried: Preach for a kingdom of God, yea, an earthly kingdom, to come suddenly, making a clean sweep of all the elements that make for oppression, cruelty, foulliving and pretentiousness.
16. And holy orders cried: Hide us from the truth and from the wrath of the lamb. But Bill with much human touch did allay their fears, saying: Tolerate one another, for ye are all born and not yet buried, and whilst you are walking about there is hope.
17. And they saw coming that great day of wrath, and who shall be able to stand, and Bill cried: Preach nothing whatever that shall have the remotest reference to a world to come, or a divine redeemer whose principal duty is to suffer and to die, in order to secure a blessed immortality for those that believe on him.
After these things Bill's vision was seen standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that its deliverance should not destroy them, and truth spread upon the face of the waters, and blinking brutes, by their signs, symbols, and common terms, listened to the wireless touch.
2. And amongst them came the man and the hour clothed with the simplicity of a scientific truth, and cried mightily of things that could not be shaken, saying: Within my thoughts and my secret and sweet meditation I have meat to eat that you know not of, and my meat is my strength, and when I am strong I shall do the will of him that sent me, and shall finish his work. And by faith I have endured as seeing him who is invisible, and I speak these things declaring that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me.
3. Hurt no one until the seal of the living God hath branded their foreheads with my new learning, and it was ever true that the spirit of prophecy came not by the will of man, but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the promptings of the cerebral.
4. The Jews, who were God's peculiar people, ceased to imagine that vain thing, and though a bad lot, there was indeed a miracle, and the leopard hath changed its coat, but some did freely assert that Bill's rod of iron brought about the change.
5. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand usurers of the sixty per cent. brand, and of the tribe of Reuben and Gad were sealed twelve thousand frauds who dealt in shoddy.
6. And of the tribe of Aser, Nepthalim and Manasses there were sealed a like number of rogues.
7. And of Simeon, Levy, and Issacher there were sealed twelve thousand pawnbrokers let loose without handcuffs upon poverty and distress.
8. And of Zabulon, Joseph, and Benjamin there were twelve thousand hard cases busy circumventing the simple and unwary, and but for the crop that gave the coat also they would have starved. The soil they did not till, and from their brow no sweat did break.
9. After this I beheld things and sticks always with us, and I saw crowds of them which no man could number with more conscience and less cunning, and they were clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, saying: We have seen and considered that psychological substance which was seen and considered by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and sheep and men by their language signs were made high or low.
10. And they cried from the north, south, east, and west for Bill's new interpretation, which was in human history a turning point and the spiritual evolution of mankind, and they praised God for his guidance into the new age, and likewise the lamb his interpreter, who was indeed the true comforter whom the Father did send when wars did drench the earth.
11. And men looked inwards to the hop, step and jump of their syllogism, and in this act they saw a new heaven and a new earth, and clear it was the world was put right and God had spoken and revealed himself to man.
12. And they did say amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be unto that which we have seen, and that which we have considered, for ever and ever, amen.
13. And one of the elders answered, saying: God hath chosen foolish, weak, base, and despised things to confound the wise and the mighty, and tell it out among the heathen that the Lord is King, and doth reign by the realised presence of the son of mere man who stood in their midst, waiting to be cleansed, clothed, and crowned.
14. And these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in an hard school of experience.
15. And they serve him day and night in his temple, and their quickening spirit doth but feed and fatten upon the just conclusions of other minds furnished with nomenclature of the best, and thus we have the spirit's sword by which it makes war on the natural mind, and hews it into the similitude of the mind of the spirit. Those so fed upon my hidden manna shall serve him day and night in his temple, and he that watcheth shall watch over their rapid operation of muscle and motion, and shall oil its machinery with his pure language, and they shall give the apple of their eye no rest until they find God's middle terra of truth and righteousness. And now it is done and is named, and is seen and is considered, and man is proud indeed that he is entrusted with good and evil, and those so trained shall fear God lest they offend in discharging that responsibility.
16. And they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, and shall be saved by that doctrine which is not mine, but his that sent me.
17. His new conception shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and humanity shall be extricated from that dense undergrowth in which it had got entangled, and that awful fog of doubt, difficulty, and despair, and it shall
And when he opened the seventh seal his vision did but stagger humanity for about the space of half an hour, and in which short time it was demonstrated that the first man, Adam, was a living soul, but the last man, Bill, was a quickening spirit of muscle and motion operating against his mental stuffing.
2. And brain-cells were opened for a new train of thought, and I saw seven mere men which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3. And there rose from the altar the incense and prayers of saints long dead in Israel, but thanks be to God, for He did purpose it, and they did leave behind their precious life blood embalmed and treasured, to life beyond life in an holy writ immortality.
4. And their writings were scanned and their crystallised thoughts were dissolved and found well to fit the great plan, and there did stand uncovered the riddle of the universe. God had presented to mankind a grand and world-wide mission by the human agency of the Anglo-Saxon white feet, spiritually and ethically the same as God gave Jacob.
5. Plain generalised facts were cast upon the earth, and there were scurryings and commotions and a great upheaval, for never before was there witnessed such reconciliation between science and religion, and they stood looking into hedge-rows, saying: If indeed we had an immortal soul, then a person would be able to reason who had no knowledge of any arbitrary signs, but Bill declared there was no ground for believing that this was possible, nor consequently that immortal souls had any existence at all.
6. And the seven sons of men (for no man hath seen an angel) had the seven trumpets prepared to sound the creed of the master Christian, a tangible truth, a glorious science, and an universal fact. Holy Orders did hereupon commune amongst themselves, and did table motions that it were good indeed for that man he had not been born.
7. And the first angel sounded, saying: All we like sheep have gone astray, and strong delusion hath beset the minds of powers, principalities, popes, peers, prelates, priests, and parsons who have obsessed their minds with veritable lies, and having no legs to stand on did fall flat at the brightness of His coming to a world wherein was found not the true faith.
8. The second angel sounded, saying: Love truth, love virtue, love God and have the fear of offending Him, and be strong and steady in your belief that nature is uniform in all her doings, so that burning mountains thrown into the sea did not become blood; such were the fanciful creations of a poetic mind. Bill read the poem, kept sane whilst others absorbing got unhinged, so that full moons did affect them.
9. Blinking brutes on land and sea did pass out when their blinking and their thinking ceased, and none had a soul of the orthodox brand. They had but such mental accomplishment as was found in their mixed congregation of common terms. Things absorbed on earth as were their species and their experience, and at death were truly surrendered, and did remain for ever and ever in the same place from whence they sprung. Hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, but listen to my truth and behold the resurrection of that physical and spiritual kingdom which in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up, and it shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and shall stand for ever and ever.
10. And the third angel sounding was a woman born blind, deaf, and dumb, and in her natural state had but the soul of the brute, and lo, man's ingenuity taught her language, and the nations saw her dream with her fingers in rapid motion, and she could not talk in her sleep unless her fingers played upon her accomplishment of absorbed common terms. In her affliction and peculiar predication Bill saw the hand of God enlightening the nations; giving to man an inkling and new line of thought, and which new truth the comforter did not preach from soap boxes at street corners, nor in the highway was his voice heard.
11. Men full of gall and wormwood stood shivering, for Bill's dictum was bitter to their soul and its alleged immortality, and they saw such stuffing had been got from the fiction of pagans; for well they knew within the grave her fingers did not move.
12. Richard Whately, the fourth angel, sounded, saying: Without the sign such as language supplies man was but a beast, and on their hearing it the third part of living creatures took week-end holidays, and the church they did neglect, for they had seen and considered and summed up Bill's vision, which was but a quickening spirit of muscle and motion giving unto each
13. And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice that traces in the mind and abstract notions, and heaven and hell, and the devil and Satan, and his miracles, were pious frauds, and of their idols and their learned ignorance he did speak contemptuously. The greatest thing on earth was man, and the greatest thing in man was mind, and in that mind there was an instrument of instruments which did quicken muscle and motion and Bill's seven stars, showing them up clearly as The Term, The Proposition, The argument of the heart, The endorsement of the conscience, The declaration of the mouth, Truth tersely spoken, and The peace and rest of righteousness; and there was therein the sum total of God's purpose with man as man.
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the keys of that place wherein were stored those seven pious frauds, and in holy writ it was found written, for that which befalleth the sons of man befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them. As the one dieth so dieth the other: Yea, they have all one breath, so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast, for it is all vanity. All go into one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
2. And he opened hell and its torment, and the smoke thereof disappeared before the intelligence of man, for now hath man travelled much and learning hath increased.
3. And from where the smoke had been came forth men with long noses armed with sharp pens and cutting questions, and were bold and fearless, and their tongues stung like scorpions, so much so that dogma, bigotry, and superstition had no spirit left in them.
4. And it was commanded them to hurt those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads, and whose mouth did scowl upon science, and whose bullet-shaped head did deny that an operation of sense was a condition precedent to the naming of the word.
5. And their nakedness and shame did prick their conscience like unto the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man.
6. And they were weak in concentration and were busy with vain things, so that the days were shortened wherein no sheet anchor held, and gone were their stiff upper lip and their backbone and their principles, and they drifted down hill looking for the sheep that would jump the fence, and seeing none, many committed suicide, and some trying did not succeed.
7. The rank and file of the erstwhile immortal locusts had visionary crowns given unto them, and their faces were the faces of those frightened unto death, for some saw and others dreamt of Jacob's God and what it meant, and they cried for rocks to fall upon them.
8. And those having long hair, black clothes, and Roman collars, against great odds held out manfully, saying: That the souls of believers at death did immediately pass into glory, yet to the good things of this life they did very much cling.
9. And they had orthodox breastplates and leather lungs of denominationalism.
10. And faith fought with dogma and creeds warred with sects, and of their souls they did sing: Up to the clouds where angels dwell, it mounts triumphant there, or devils plunge it down to hell, in infinite despair.
11. Piety and its infallable decretals had a Pope with a following of political bad ones who bolstered one man one vote, and one day every three years to elect the demagogic agitator who did in the day of decision join forces with beer, bible, and grossness, and in hostile array were arrayed against all that was decent and respectable.
12. One woe is past, and behold there come two woes more hereafter.
13. And the sixth angel sounded, and towards the cool of the evening sanity did assert itself, saying: It was the living only that could praise God. Yet in his view Bill was broad, for de regarded religious errors as of little importance, believing that ill persuasions were equally acceptable to a long suffering God. It was narrowness and intolerance and blood lust and deadly hatred amongst the several persuasions that caused Bill to raise his mighty hand and show them his gospel of the seven senses and the word, for well he knew their hidden manna, and what did cause war amongst the nations.
14. And nations were angry and let loose their war-lords and their fighting forces who at death went into one place, and some with long heads who were chiefly of the circumcised did say, set us live as long as we can by keeping clear of brutes.
15. And from hordes of conscription came into the arena prepared armies of destruction.
16. And their forces numbered millions. I did not count them, and their chaplains looked and listened upwards for that great shout, whilst those with well-balanced mind did modestly assert that God acted upon mankind in no other way than through human agents.
17. And from their guns issued fire and smoke and brimstone, as also soft-nosed bullets and frightfulness, and when their phychological gropers groped for that everlasting middle term which was suitable to the occasion, their naming was as were their stock of common terms.
18. And many were killed by gas and by gun, and by bomb and by bayonet, and their women wept and waited for him that was promised, but none saw him installed upon his spiritual throne.
19. Man made upright had found out many death dealing in ventions, but that instrument of instruments, the sign of which is the common term, he did greatly neglect.
20. And those not killed by these plagues let go their swollen imaginations, and they did worship devils and idols and things that could not see nor walk.
21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornification, nor of their thefts, but were indeed poor two-legged creatures, in sorry and travail, running their mortal course, and none could rise above the low level of their horizon. Yet they longed for something, but instead of looking for it under man's laws of thought they strained their necks skywards, seeing not that it was a day of small things on earth, where God's purpose with man was being fought out. All this time Bill's ginnelling mind had been looking under stones, and lo under the drop of the eye-lash he found a new heaven and a new earth, and made practical demonstration of his physical and his scientific truth, and the world would not have the God of Jacob because of its rod of iron.
And I saw Bill the Namer come down from my Southern Cross of terse truth, clothed with a cloud, writing anonymously, And a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, having the broad grin of fearless assurance, and his feet were as pillars of fire.
2. And he had in his right hand a little book open, freed fron vain-imaginings, ghosts, shadows, figures, metaphors, gush, and fabled grandeur; the seven devils of gross darkness, and with foot on solid ground he spoke enthematically, saying: When he looked down upon the intellectual occupation of man he saw them one and all deducing well or ill conclusions from premises, each concerning the subject matter of his own particular business, and many foolishly were after the dollar. He found the process going on in each of so many different minds during their wakefful moments was the same, and the principles on which it was conducted could be reduced to a regular system, and rules could be deduced from that system for the better conducting of the process, and one could trace the natural laws governing that process, and they saw that the duff did contain terms, propositions, and arguments like unto almonds, raisins, and ginger, and he did reason therefrom that for a man to think he not only required a brain to think with but required also a stock of common terms to do the thinking. And Bill with his rod measured deeper and found man had no immortal soul, inasmuch as he could not deduce his syllogistic ginger without a prior movement in the senses of muscle and motion, hence he was forced to deny the soul's immortality, and upon opening holy writ he found his dictum did agree with the word imbued in the mind of ancient Israel, and upon a more mature investigation of that process, which is peculiarly and universally the occupation of man as man, he, the seventh angel, spoke seven soul-stirring words like unto seven thunders.
3. Crying with a loud voice as when a lion roareth, When man is dead all is dead.
4. And when those seven words were uttered the mystery of God was unsealed.
5. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven.
6. And swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, and who most consistently regulates the uniformity and the stability of the laws of nature, that prophetic time should be no longer, for clear it was from our forefathers we had inherited lies, and to dispel delusions Bill drew up a syllogism in barbara which did but stagger the intelligence of man:—
All souls reason only after an operation of the senses of muscle and motion. The senses of muscle and motion die with the body. Therefore the soul of man is necessarily mortal.
7. In the days of the voice of Pete, the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
8. And I went unto the angel and took the little book of thirty chapters, and if any man preach any other gospel let him be accursed, for a light is in it which doth but speak the true word of God.
9. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
10. And I took the little book and saw fads, fancies, foibles, fables, funk, and filth like unto a herd of swine go scuttling down hill and drown themselves, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, but as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter, for I saw that paradise was lost unto all mankind for ever and ever.
11. And he said this book of thirty-three chapters shall speak to many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, and all those who read good stuff shall dwell upon its pages, for it doth but show unto them that their mental powers hath been paralysed by apathetic ignorance, prejudice, and adherence to error, and the same was widespread and deep-rooted, and the travail of his soul will yet be satisfied, for the blood of Bill, like that of Abel, crieth from the ground for the destruction of those who destroyeth this earth.
And in the book was a rod which did measure the temple of God and man's cerebral, his rhetoric and his tools of trade; all which did comprise that instrument of instruments with which we do reason.
2. And all things breathing without common terms had no living soul worthy of the name; they had but instinct and muscle and motion and brain cell capacity, like unto the yellow dog drawing near unto a fire on a cold and frosty morning.
3. Power was given them that they should prophesy three years and a-half in sackcloth, whilst thinking how best to break down dark defences and barriers of brass, and in their thinking they looked back, judging the quick and the dead. There was Moses, who urged obedience to his laws by earthly hopes and fears where no after death reward was promised, and Job in his deep meditation never did allude to a future state. It was the vanity of gorgeous egotism. Little men with big ideas got from their third heaven. Not satisfied with the immortality seen in their seed, breed, and generation, in which was visible the feature,
4. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth, and in their weakness they appeal for support to man's enlarged learning, his modern discoveries, and his illuminated conscience, all which are the voice of God.
5. And if any man will hurt them he shall come against a cold fact that will not budge, for they speak of things to come and things which cannot be shaken. Knowing well that truth shall prevail, they have dared to assert concerning the nature of the reasonable soul that it is mortal, and in this they agree with Heredotus, the oldest historian, when he said the Egyptians were the first to assert that the soul was immortal, and in proof thereof they did preserve cats, mummies, and beetles.
6. These two have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and which power was not sought, for they disliked the responsibility, and of the plagues they made a, great mess.
7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, and the mission to which they are called, which was to expose all those monstrous opinions about immortal souls, supported only by the authority of metaphor and church dogma and earthly creed; then woe is me these two witnesses shall die unhonoured, as leaves do fall and soldiers too.
8. And since the sky-pilot will decline that last office, their dead bodies will lie unburied.
9. After three days and a-half, becoming high they will stink and evaporate, and theological nostrils shall give them wide berth.
10. And they that dwell on the earth shall rejoice at their demise, and shout drinks one with the other, because these two witnesses had cut the cord that flew their kite, and did torment them that dwelt upon the earth, and to grey-funk were they deadly, and in their indignation at a noxious growth of weedy ideals and vexatious pinpricks, they chopped down their only fruit tree, rather than have it registered, and paid off the gardener because of the claims that might arise through giving him a day's work, and the poor borrower paid premiums to protect a mortgage against a loss that never did arise, and Bill cried, Not for these things was government created.
11. And upon a close inspection of their written remains men did say God's word hath not returned to Him void, but hath accomplished that whereto it was sent.
12. Their enemies were forced to admit that middle terms came after a movement of muscle and motion, and in the new train of thought they did feel uneasy, for up till then the fear of hell had kept them in order.
13. And the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the spirit found in well deduced and syllogistic truth, which in all things was made more perfect by their having an absolute conversancy with the dictionary of man.
14. The second woe is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly, and we beheld the world merging into a great unity, and in their hidden manna and its working tools they were seen moving forward to greater betterment.
15. And the seventh angel kept on thinking, whilst his quickener did grope amongst the seven spirits of God, which were substance, quantity, quality, relation, space, time and suffering (a good deal of the latter), and men saw the thoughts in print, and there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and his written testimony shall reign in the mind of man for ever and ever.
16. And none till then had conceived that the human eye was both a looker on and a groper after middle terms, yet some had said the eye looking at an object did not judge its distance, showing God's small things come gradually.
17 And saying: We give Thee thanks, O Lord, God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And Thou givest unto all a quickening spirit of muscle and motion to do Thy work for good and for evil, and without this activity there was no intelligence. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which latter is but my instrument of instruments, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, and the quality of your reasoning in any case must depend upon your being able correctly, clearly, and promptly to abstract from the subject in question that which may furnish the middle term suitable to the occasion, and in this universal act have we the right arm of the Lord.
18. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, as also the great day of judgment, wherein ignorance, superstition, and bigotry shall be removed, and man's rising wrath shall destroy those who destroy this earth.
19. And the temple of God was laid bare in the cerebral of man, and it was seen and considered that those seven obscure and puny churches in Asia were but figures of a greater temple and the seven golden candlesticks were those by Bill described and upon the nations meditating upon the ark of his testament there were lightnings and voices and thunderings, and a great earthquake, giving unto one large city a double event of quake and fire.
And there appeared a plain north country woman, whon the nations had longed for in the year of our Lord
2. And being with child, cried travailing in birth, and there came a frail seven months child.
3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, which is but on earth, and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads, full of fallacy, and he had an ambiguous middle, and was drunk with wild imaginings, and a mouth full of glossary, which did adorn and swell his confession of faith.
4. And religion begat bitterness, and bitterness begat fright fulness, and mailed fists were ungloved and swords were rattled, and the beast did cast to the earth the third part of the stars of heaven, and the dragon stood before the woman to devour her child, for doxology had dreamt it was dangerous.
5. In spite of wind and weather, and the accidental predicaments of a very bad boy, the child grew, and nations saw it not, nor did they consider, but unto them a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful, counseller, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace, and without fear or favour he shall turn their minds from confusion to a true conception of the Kingdom of God.
6. And from Den of Dalry the woman fled to her sheltering home near unto the seven roads of Highfield, where in peace she had a place prepared.
7. Where parental care and kindness warred against ignorance and outrage, and where superstition and imagination were kept within bounds, and did but deal with things as they are, which is truth.
8. And great Babylon being named prevailed not, nor was space found for them on earth any more.
9. And that old serpent the devil, which deceiveth the whole world, was by strict logical analysis cast down, and his angels with him.
10. And I heard a voice on earth, saying: Now is come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of God and the power of a logical mind, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night, and against Jacob they thought to prevail with their abstract notions, unbridled imaginations, false conceptions, and fallacious reasoning, even thinking they had a living soul without the sign such as language supplies.
11. And they overcame them by the blood of Bill and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12. Therefore rejoice ye seekers of truth, and woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, for he knoweth he hath been by them most truly named.
13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which did plant on earth a root out of dry ground.
14. And to her were given two wings of a great eagle, hat she might fly from her nest to her safe refuge of rest, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, having fore of them, and where she did mother those promised four carpeters to cast out the horns of the gentiles.
15. And it was said no good thing can came out of the Jen, but come and see. Who is like unto them from ocean to ocan, and who can give man such another word of God.
16. Be silent, O all flesh before the Lord: for he is raise up out of his holy habitation, and listen to his two anointed mes that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
17. Bigotry and superstition were wroth at new things, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting memory and some to shame and everlasing contempt. Amongst the former were Paine, Hume, Gibbon and Coleridge, for with reasonable mind they did say that testimony was more likely to be false than a miracle true; and amongst the latter were those that would not reason, and those that would believe in a lie. And arrayed against his witnesses were men eminent in the science of mind, who did regard with jeabusy those who brought to light things unknown, and which did pronise to supersede that which they had learned and taught and practsed. Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the comforter will not come into you, but if I depart I will send him unto you, and come he hath, saying: God is Logos, the word and expression of man and every thing that can be said. And within his kingdom there was power and glory and truth and righteousness; and within it Abraham saw God and walked with him, and Aristotle classified his right arm into terms, propositions, and syllogisms, and with categories ten he did adorn him, and Coppleston and Whately did also glorify their Maker, saying: Without the common terms of language man had no soul worth saving. And at last came those two hurdy wild olive trees, who had the temerity to declare that man's perishing senses were in number seven, and the word did but respond to their quickening; which was God's mighty truth, and it shall reign, and human pests shall be rooted out from this their first and last home.
And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having the seven heads and horns of Demos, and having nothing was bold and blasphemous, and looking on I did say, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, the earth which he hath established for ever, and unto them it is promised that the meek and righteous shall be recompensed therein, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
2. Grey-funk was the name of the beast, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and having horns, but here the metaphor is wrong, and the beast had a mouth as the mouth of a lion. Lions do not ruminate, having horns the beast would ruminate, and if true to nature the feet would be cloven. However, John faileth not, it was a beast and one man, one vote, and one day every three years gave him his power and his seat and great authority, and they called it democracy and liberalism, and government by the people, by the party and those having the innings.
3. The seventh angel wounded one of his heads, yet all the world wondered after the beast, whose deadly wound was healed; and public opinion and its accrued intelligence stood paralysed by reason of funks blue and grey, and the meek sighed and were in trouble at seeing dark gathering clouds of labour laws like unto sackcloth of hair.
4. And they worshipped them that gave power to the beast, did trades and labour councils, and their unionism and their awards, and their conciliations and their federations, and their conventions and their courts, save us from the name; saying: Who is like unto us north, south, east, and west, and who can war with us.
5. And a mouth was given unto him to torment the live and let live, the decent, the respectable, the careful, the frugal, the just, and the lowly, who were glad indeed that atmosphere remained to breathe.
6. And the beast opened his mouth to destroy the salt of the earth, but in his great heat he had forgotten that the righteous shall never be removed, nor shall the wicked inhabit the earth.
7. And it was given unto him to make war with the salt of the earth and his following of hell and death filled bulky books with vexatious laws, and they got on horseback and did ride to the devil, and rope was given unto them and they hanged them selves, saying: They would have no emigrants, for they brought down wages; nor babies, for they made apprentices. Enterprise was stifled, and bricks and things needful became dear, and with
8. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship the beast whose names are not written in Bill's book of life, wherein it was truly said that the earth, and not the heaven above the sky, was the inheritance of the saints, and the scene of God's work with the human race.
9. If any man have an ear let him hear, and in truth he shall declare that we speak but of things as they are.
10. And those worshipping the beast sought the right colour, the brand and the shade, and did confer one with the other, but their machinations, being contrary to the laws of nature, were overcome by the patience and faith of the saints.
11. And I beheld another beast rising out of the west coast, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. O Lord, hold the pen and save me from temptation.
12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the have-nothings and the free-dividers to wor ship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed, saying, Great is Grey.
13. And he doeth great wonders, for he alone could make fire come down from heaven to the earth in the sight of men, and his great liberal party would hold and harness all electric power from rivers running towards them from height and cloud, and not for these things was government constituted.
14. And he alone did pass laws, keep out immigrants, and per form miracles in the sight of the beast, saying: To them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live, and great power was given unto him, for there were then two jobs and but one man to do them.
15. And he gave life unto the culture shed by the beast, and as many as were not of the right sort were marked for destruction, and in their delusion they lost sight of the government of man and its great primary end.
16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and his inspectors and kings of one hour did hound, blight, worry, annoy, stifle, choke, and for ever damn the effort of the independent.
17. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark of the beast, or had a friend at court who could pledge for the colour, the shade, and the brand.
18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666. Three fish-hooks catching grab, graft, and boodle, and lack-a-day the world contained no lively stones to build up a spiritual house. In it Bill was lonely, for the burden of proof fell upon him, and his unsupported paradox claimed no attention. Yet none said it was false. If true, and being new, it was important. But it was true, and was also that great battle of Armageddon. Thus Bill in his reverie stood alone; an everyday Scotsman of confined education, possessed of no general principles, and who did not pretend to be perfect, and in whom a good dram did greatly encourage. Here was that stranger in whom all nations were to be blest, and whose gospel of the seven senses and the word was destined to gather into one all the religions of the earth.
And I looked and lo! Bill's vision and his seven stars were seen over Mount Zion, where stood 144,000 boy scouts with minds tender and open, earnestly gazing thereon.
2. And the cry was for a thing as it is; yea, the spirit of truth, where figures, similes, lies, and miracles were but wind, and confusion, and they said war was necessary to thin the growth, but Bill said he would net them and throw the bad away. And true it was beneath the rule of men entirely great the pen is mightier than the sword, and for his new heaven he sought for souls of three years old, and led them gently into soul birth schools, and poured into their young ears a psychological penetration of motives and principles, and thoughts and actions of the best, and on reaching thirty the desire for war was chastened. He saw children had no soul until their earthly experience and learning had taught them the sign such as language supplies, and with which only they could and did reason.
3. And they sung as it were a new song, saying: What know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you which you have of God, and ye are not your own. For it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you, and of his sayings I take freely.
4. They were indeed the first fruits unto the spirit of truth, and they looked for an architect to raise them an edifice, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, and men saw the superstructure did but fulfil all prophecy.
5. And in their mouth was found pure language, and their reflex thought was pleasing unto God, whose right arm was the dictum of Aristotle, which down all these ages had said:—Anything whatever that is predicated of a whole class, under which class something else is contained, may be predicated of that which is so contained. The burden is not great, and come it must, man's syllogistic labor shall be within truth and righteousness, and tares, weeds, and noxious growths shall be rooted out.
6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, and he named the new sect Verbumites, and their world wide mission was one adequate and one universal common term, and of them a great conversancy.
7. And they cried with a loud voice: Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come, and worship hin that made heaven and earth and the sea, and the fountains of vaters and the cerebral of man.
8. And there followed another angel, saying: Babylon is filien; is fallen: that great city of creeds, sects, and denominations, wherein all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and each others' throats they did cut.
9. And the third angel followed them, saying, with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand,
10. The same shall be stricken by a vile conscience, seen of all men, and amongst them it shall be said, God hath lamed him.
11. And those fed on lies and delusions, and those who live on bread alone, have no rest day or night from their torment, and in their faith and in their church they have no pleasure. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, for my sign and my right arm and my naming are such as my language doth supply, and thou hast revealed it unto man and his seven senses, and their attendant word.
12. And those saturating their minds with obsolete jargon shall have no truth in them, nor hath their notions any legs to stand upon, and those who receive my classical and scientific truths, they have the victory, and what I say I cannot withhold, for they are things as they are, and are embraced in my mind and have become a part of it.
13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying: Blessed are they that receive example and experience, and education and energy, and endowment and enlargement, and environment of the beast; yea, saith the spirit, and on passing out, worn and frail, their works do follow them.
14. And I looked and behold a mere man with a new truth, spoken not in parables nor side-showed with miracles, but its strength and its authority was great, and in his right hand was a sharp sickle.
15. And he came not in clouds nor with a great shout, nor with tens of thousands, but meekly searching and groping under man's laws of thought was it found, and he cried mightily, Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for pests and degenerates do but encumber the earth.
16. And standing on solid ground he thrust in his sickle, and the earth was reaped. And so it is done, and shall turn to my salvation through your prayers, and the supply of the true middle term.
17. And another came out of the temple whose fan is in his right hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire, and nations shall know that God is a consuming fire of terse truth, and the goal is perfectness.
18. And one came from the altar with a tongue of flame, and cried, Thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather hoofs, horns, and sticks, whose intelligence would have no science, and where the possession of a cultivated mind was a sin against their belief.
19. And the angel thrust in his sickle and gathered them to be smitten by the wrath of God, for the triumph of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. He shall perish for ever, like unto his own dung.
20. And nations, peoples, and tongues with great unrest drifted towards war, and sought to destroy that which hath been estab lished for ever.
And now cometh the seven angels with the seven last plagues full of the wrath of God.
2. And I saw the well behaved, the industrious, the frugal, and the meek, to whom the earth is promised, standing upon solid ground, rejoicing greatly, and having their harps harping sweetly.
3. And they sing the song of Moses, who had no immortal views, and the song of the Lamb who was pleased with sun, moon, stars, air, land, food, and water as he found them, saying:Great and marvellous are Thy works on earth, Lord God Almight, just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints.
4. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name, for Thou only art holy, and all flesh is weak and miserable, an poor and blind, and naked. Henceforth all nations shall worshi Thee by their quickening spirit of muscle and motion, defining, dividing, and arguing from well stuffed brain cells, and Thy judgments are made manifest.
5. And I looked, and behold the temple and tabernacle on their testimony was opened, and was seen in that active groping which did work ceaselessly in all wakeful moments with the apple of the eye, and whose office was to see and to think and to preicate, and by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy wore thou shalt be condemned.
6. And the seven angels came from the temple of nomenature, having the seven last plagues clothed in pure language, with minds trained in terse, concise, and perspicuous truth, and they spke of stern discipline and present punishment, for there was not hope for correction in those alleged hereafters, and thus were the hidden things of darkness and the counsels of the heart made manifest. Bill, though much he wished, could not make water into wine, but he gave God the glory by laying bare the grand office of man's quickening spirit, and its search for the middle term, ad he showed also how much that was helped by a great congregaon of common terms massed as pure language within the mind.
7. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angel seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, and strong suggestion and strong desire did fill their determination, and they swore and bit their lips, that they would cleanse the earth of its pestential offal, and in silence did they name it, and God within their mearts did purpose it, and come it must, the destroyer of this eart shall be destroyed.
8. And all men watched the construction of their sylogism, and in its summation they found power to cleanse man's fint and last home. And every soul who will not hear this prophet sall be destroyed from among the people, and many found new manings in old sayings, and in fresh meditation they heard the maste mind saying unto them: If any man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come into him and make our abode with him.
God's wrath upon mankind was poured out by His agents, the seven messengers.
2. And the first laid hands on souls full of false premises, and whose delusion was that God was with them, and on those that had the mark of the beast, and on those who worshipped His image, all on the wrong road, blind leaders of the blind.
3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and every living soul died in the sea, as were their species and as were their signs, for between man and fish the difference was but in their congregation of common terms, and their power to put them into trains of thought.
4. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and men drinking drank hatred, and brass bands played on ahead, and they would march behind unto war.
5. And I heard him say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged them and their notions, and their mansions in the sky, and you send them to slaughter, for not one of them had been heard to say, As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness, and shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness. Let them go down into slaughter.
6. Their thoughts did but shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou, O Lord, hast given them blood to drink.
7. And God was praised for his righteous judgments, and fables, figures, tropes, and similes, the adornment of pious lies, did stink in other nostrils besides that of Bill, an honest man who did name things true to kind, and with simplicity and in sincerity did abide with them.
8. And the fourth angel scorched them with fire, saying: When the world was a child it thought as a child, but after wandering astray for two thousand years its false premises have been cast down.
9. And the great heat caused them to blaspheme their God, which had been unto them of no scientific value, and of their only true word they repented not to give him glory.
10. The fifth angel went for the seat of the beast, whose kingdom was full of fright, doubt, and despair, and they gnawed their tongues for shame when they looked backwards on their bigotry, and their superstition, and their great darkness, and none had freed them from the tangle.
11. And of their deeds they repented not, but did blaspheme their God, which was a wrong idea, and no God at all. They saw not that His right arm, the middle term of their syllogism, should
12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the Great River Euphrates, and the waters thereof were dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared for Shiloh, that stranger, and that young man, cometh from a far eastern country where the moa had roamed.
13. And I saw well reasoned science drive out fallacies and unclean frogs from the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, and his roll of a book did shower contempt upon miracles where there was naught but the work of his hand and creatures of his creation. And the same were tied down to his natural laws, and before him they pass in procession which in ten thousand years changeth not.
14. For they did pretend to work miracles when they well knew that God alone did them by the entrance of His word into the mind of man, and they dwelt upon an after state that was not, for no man hath ascended up to heaven, not even David, who did truly affirm, that his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perished, and for the last time his eye did quiver and his brain cell explode.
15. Behold I come as a thief, and God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to nought things that are, and blessed is he that understandeth his ways. Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe, and he would have them believe, and he did create that which was not, and was moved to perform miracles as thick as blackberries to feed appetites demanding them, for at that time miracles were not to them objects of wonder. Superstition had wonders, visions, dreams, and miracles daily, especially upon an empty stomach before breakfast early in the morning, but Bill, club in hand, came lately amongst them to destroy their piffle.
16. He ranged them in line for his spiritual Armageddon, them and their aberrations and their immortalities, saying: The word was greater than flesh, and his valley of decision and his great battle was bloodless, would not bruise the wing of a fly, but faithful and true it came under the shadow of a puriri tree, and a bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench, and he shall bring forth judgment unto truth by the brightness of his coming.
17. And Pete told them things to come, and some that would not come, and they cried it was done, saying: Well done, thou good and faithful servant, and hereupon Daniel, that true prophet, rose up and stood in his lot, for it was indeed the end of the days.
18. And there was a spiritual upheaval, great and mighty, and those gorgeous visions which did float before their heated imaginations did burst and stink, and they all did say: The father worketh hitherto, but with Bill he is now at it, and hath come into their midst, armed with strong common sense, and which did shut a door that no man can open.
19. And the city was divided, and churches toppled over, and to the readers of thy word, Great Babylon came in remembrance.
20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found, and divine poetry with rhetorical grandeur doth hereabouts soar very high indeed, but such things did not happen amongst natural laws that are generalized facts. Islands and mountains are of solid foundation, yet withal, his Patmos periods do but glorify the word, and to him, indeed, we hand the olive branch for words that have gained immortality.
21. John's metaphor meant that Bill's smash up would show them how the ancient and holy prophets were victorious, and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, would be given to the people of the saints of the most high.
And there came seven angels with minds versed in that new train of thought, having the seven seals, saying: Come hither and 1 will show you the judgment of nations steeped in gross darkness, and so it was foretold, that the truth of apostolie prophecy requires that the world at the present time should be in a state of complete and universal apostacy, and like unto a piece of clay in the hands of the potter, divinity doth but mould them into things as they are.
2. And the kings of the earth, with their kings of one hour, have committed pretence, humbug, deceit, and fraud.
3. And he carried me away in the spirit, and glancing backwards I saw their hallucinations, their orthodoxy and their clericalism, and they had horns, hoofs, and tails.
4. And John is not to be understood literally, when he said the monster was a woman, for poor, weak, dear thing, she had no hand in it. It was man. It was man. And his lordly conception of his manly and earth-born soul.
5. And on the forehead of learned ignorance was a name written, Mystery, Babylon, the Great: The mother of handots and abominations of the earth.
6. And I saw her drunken with the blood of the sants and with the blood of Jacob, and pondering thereon I marvelled greatly.
7. And the angel said to me, Wherefor didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8. The beast shall go into perdition, and all minds shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they comprehend their fables and their seducing spirits, and their doctrines of devils, and which had been adorned and embellished with figures of speech, and with scarlet and tropical sentences.
9. When his laws were patent to all thinking minds, and Bill in his satire doth but consume them with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy them with the brightness of his coming.
10. And before leaving, they exploited the earth and borrowed where they could, and King Debt did enslave them, and of other kings there were seven times seven, and some were struggling to be emperors, and some did totter and some did fall, whilst not one of them would cede heaven and hell, and they saw not the true word of God.
11. And that day cometh that shall burn them as an oven, and all cloggers, wasters, and exploiters shall be stubble to be burned up.
12. And many lesser lights received power for a short time with the beast, and were thus greatly honoured, of which Bill had his doubts. Jacob sought for spreckled lambs, and Bill like wise for a better brand, but they did look for it in a psychological saturation into lambs, dams, and rams, of things of the best, and to help them he did feed them with a pure and adequate dictionary.
13. And they watched frenzied finance as you would a barometer, getting millions by hook or by crook from that far distant lender in that great city where many loans were granted and more were declined. And no one begged for a year in which to remove an ever increasing burden, and the church did wink and remain silent, yet its mouth called for its hypothesis, and did present unto Bill a full list of its miracles, and he found none at all, nor was there ever any, and he did meekly assert that the burden of proof fell upon those who maintained them.
14. And against his logical discovery they stood dumb. Still true it was man's arbitrary sign in language was Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and those believing were called and chosen and faithful.
15. And their erstwhile faithly superstructure, and its dogma of immortality, made peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues a very bad lot.
16. It had been said that which ye have already hold fast till I come, and he came an unwelcome guest, but facts and him they must receive, and the false church shall be made desolate and naked, and they shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
17. He was the desire of all the nations, and did overturn by throwing fresh light upon the cerebral of man. Even so the father quickeneth whom he will into a new truth, as he did in sundry past times with Moses and Isaiah, and Aristotle and Jesus, and they one and all did perform his will, and did tell it out among the heathen, and their lives did bless mankind. But who is right? Moses and the Apostles did say, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto you: him shall you hear in all things, what soever he shall say unto you. Christendom astray doth say the him here referred to is the Son of God, was God, is God, and now sitteth at the right hand of God. But Moses said that prophet was like unto him who was mere man, and not perfect and not divine. And Jesus said he came not to condemn the prophets. Yet he made himself God, and high above Moses. Bill sat down and cast up, and agreed with Israel that the prophet would be like unto Moses, and of his brethren, and a mere man of the world. God's great constancy, and great uniformity, and great stability within the arena of his natural laws were with Bill in his thoughts and in his summation. Christendom, which has been astray, hath built an edifice on parabolic style, and garnished it with signs, wonders and miracles, all which did lead man into darkness, and from things as they are, and the promise hath ever been, when knowledge doth increase this edifice shall fall, and fall it must.
18. And the woman seen by Divine John was but the sects of the earth, of whom Bill speaks literally, and he did move in and out amongst them with a rational mind of great risibility, and with style rough and ready taught them doctrines held by the early fathers, and all had said that it could not be explained, nor could it be comprehended, but Bill did show unto man the true connection between soul and body.
And after these things I saw another angel with truth in his right hand, and its message was in print, and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2. And he cried mightily, convincing all reasonable minds that Babylon should fall, having no logical legs to stand on.
3. And all those making images and idols and charms, and those merchants of the earth who traded in ritualistic trumpery, and all those who waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies, Bill the Namer, named them; calling a spade a spade, and he dealt not in delusions nor in squintologies.
4. Crying aloud, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues, for her bigotry and her obsolete prejudices do but confine the human mind into a dense growth and tangle of things not as they are.
5. And her ambiguities, and her fallacies, and her falsehoods have reached unto high heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6. Reward her with logical analysis, and ask her with all earnestness in this twentieth century to prove her unnatural thesis.
7. And with their head in the sand they clung to their shiboleth, thinking they would see no sorrow.
8. Bill drew near unto them, crying: Come, ye trimmers, and refute my syllogisms, and they sneaked out of sight and were silent and were sullen, and the challenge they did decline.
9. And congregations lamented when they saw the smoke of her burning, and her churches were seen deserted, and neither stress, peril, nor war did fill them.
10. Saying Alas, alas; that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come, and here we praise John's magnificent style, for in choice, number, and arrangement the metaphor is perfect, but terse truth is due, and is demanded, and Bill states that Babylon was the church which had erred in its fundamentals, hence it was falling.
11. No one shall buy or sell tiends, tithes, and livings, or the power to collect them, for such merchandise is no longer fashionable, nor is it saleable.
12. Popes, purgatory, mass, and holy water became inexpedient when Bill fulfilled Isaiah Fifty-two, fifteen, which does put foretell his discovery as a thing formerly unseen, and now is seen and considered.
13. And souls of living creatures are but intelligence, and an accomplishment coming after birth and at death done for, and
14. And everlasting souls shall be found no more at all, but in their stead we have a quickening spirit of muscle and motion groping amongst our arbitrary signs in language, and rousing such middle terms as are the fruit of our stuffing. And Bill came under the shadow of a great rock when he stood for God's laws and their stability. Christ's sayings are beautiful, his teaching is good, and the story is pitiful, and against them, the Christ-killers, our minds are severe, yet withal there is within the teaching and its glossary that which does not satisfy the intelligence of contem plative man.
15. And the merchants catering and their sky pilots, and their following of hell and immortality, shall stand afar off, for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing.
16. Saying Alas ! Alas! that great delusion that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones, which were gathered largely from minds scared by the pains of hell and purgatory.
17. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought by reason of new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them, and an earnest apostle had warned them that they would believe in a lie.
18. And those standing afar off will not deplore its collapse, nor shall they question the enthronement of truth, and they shall look with contempt upon that which did pollute the pure gospel of Christ, the Jewish peasant, and God's promised Elijah, who did precede that great teacher who was not one of their people.
19. And they cast dust on their heads, for in one hour things everlasting were made desolate.
20. Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, and turn and see the rising sun of a better life, and which life hold on to as long as you can. There is none other, and soldiers going to war have a care, oh, beware, lest you lose it.
21. And with violence shall the pious fraud be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all, and henceforth all men without the mediation of priest or parson shall worship their true God, who is none other than the spirit of truth found encased in well deduced conclusions within the syllogism of man.
22. And no craftsman shall be found any more at all in thee, for without psychological embellishment of any kind whatsoever, men shall see all alike the true word of God.
23. And the light of a candle is not needed for to see the apple of our eye work its brain cell explosions, and no building is required for our language signs, and all can see our middle
24. And in the past was found the blood of prophts and of saints, and all that were slain upon the earth when gros darkness had covered the people.
After these things I heard a great voice of much people, saying: God's word hath not returned to him void, for now do we see and now we consider our new heaven and our new earth. That which was promised.
2. True and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged their imaginations and their warring factions, and hath torn them to pieces.
3 Truth hath prevailed. Alleluia. And her smoke shall rise up for ever and ever.
4. And upon its marvellous fulfilment I did meditate, and my eyes did blink and my eye-lashes fell down before him that sat on the throne, saying: Amen; Alleluia.
5. And a voice came from that throne from whence we judge right and wrong, saying: Praise our God for these things, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him both great and small.
6. And I heard as it were a great multitude, saying: What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and in living man the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, whose greatest praise is terse truth and active righteousness.
7. Let us be glad and rejoice, for now hath we seen and considered, and from our forefathers we have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit, and divine interference hath brought about the change.
8. And the new conception was clean and white, and by the saints certified, and Jacob's God shall reign and shall destroy the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
9. Blessed are they which are called and chosen, and they who do saturate their minds with a great conversancy of my common terms in truth and righteousness, and these are the true sayings of God.
10. And for good and sufficient reasons he would not be worshipped, but begged them to worship the God who gave man his analytical mind and the power of the common term.
11. And I saw public opinion acclaim a great change, and behold a white horse and him that sat thereon was the desire of all nations, and in righteousness, and in that thing which they did say was not bread alone, and in that thing they called the spirit of truth, he doth judge and make war.
12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself, and to nations and peoples and tongues his naming brought unity and blessing.
13. It clothed the mind of man with a vesture dipped in blood, for it had in it the seed, germ, and strong desire to destroy all the blinking brutes that did pollute the face of this earth, and his name is called the true word of God, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom not made by hands, in which all peoples and languages in an universal soul shall serve him with one accord.
14. And nations prominent, educated, powerful, and mighty followed him, using words terse, concise, perspicuous, adequate, pure, white, and clean, naming one with the other in simplicity and in sincerity, a thing as it is.
15. And he would have a pure dictionary and common terms of the right sort in great abundance, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp instrument of instruments with which he shall smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, fierce and uncompromising, and in his reign government shall be respected, and its laws shall be observed, and stoning unto death, or some such equivalent, shall be one of them.
16. Truth is established and prophecy is fulfilled, and now made strong by power and authority, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They saw it, a logical discovery which did enlighten the world, changing the thoughts of nations in one day, and without confusion and unprofitable wrangling they saw all alike. And the Government of that man who wished to live as long as he can, became a well-defined business, and dealt only with things relating thereto, and when kings and war lords would arm to destroy they were hanged by the neck till they were dead, and chains held their bones until scattered by the winds, and thus government was honoured, was great, was glorified, was strong, and was invincible.
17. Come and gather yourselves unto the supper of the great God, and open holy writ and compare Scripture and see it fulflled, and who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah, who hath trodden the wine press alone.
18. He who said the word was greater than flesh, and the pen mightier than the sword, and of mind and matter which is the greater? Answer me, ye children, that will not lie. All flesh is grass, and hath no victory. The mind hath the victory, and God's Armageddon is not physical, but is spiritual, and its armament is God's hidden manna.
19. Darkness and superstition and things dying hard gathered themselves together to make war against the true word of God, and armed with shot guns, hiding behind hedges, they thought to kill Bill and his dictum as they passed arm in arm.
20. There were also false prophets, who wrought miracles, wild as March hares, and there was that great beast Demos, which did level all mankind, and did sink them deep in debt, and their borrowed millions did parch their puny bodies and their struggling souls.
21. And the remnant were slain not by powder and shot, nor by knives sticking into matter, but by the sword of that mouth which hath been a light unto the Gentiles.
And I saw Bill with his sword after the devil, whilst slowing us new things, even hidden things, and men didst not know them.
2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years This did God by calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth his counsel from a far country.
3. And he cast down imaginations and uncovered figures, and probed metaphors and exposed tropical sayings, and did whower contempt upon sorceries, and did drive them into a bottomless pit and set his seal upon them. This God did by raising up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun, shall he call upon my name, and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay, and war; shall cease under his one faith, one God and Father of all, and with great earnestness they shall say this war shall be the last war, and
4. And the travail of my soul was satisfied, for many had come and many had gone, yet none had altered man's laws of thought and I praised God, saying: Thou hast taken to Thyself Thy great power, and the grass withereth and the flower fadeth, but the word of God, as now seen, shall stand for ever.
5. And my train of thought became a seven-worded reverie, but my enemies did say they were seven enthematic stings from that man of sin:—
And the same being true, my lonely learning, my peculiar thinking, shall spread until the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as waters do cover the sea, and this is the first resurrection.
6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, for then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent, and with him reign as long as woods grow and waters run.
7. And all mankind shall perfect their predicator upon the anvil of truth, and whilst there is death in self there is immortality in truth, and nations shall guard it and preserve it, and hand it down and lose it not, and from thence shall arise an high ideal and sound public opinion, bright with kindness and mercy to all.
8. And that which could not be believed shall come to pass for we shall see the remnant of Israel do no iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, and they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
9. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house, the cerebral of man with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.
10. The syllogism of man is God's right arm. Be silent, there fore, O all flesh, before the Lord, for He is raised up out of His holy habitation, saying: Behold the man whose name is the branch and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord and lead them to his altar.
11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat thereon and there were voices, saying: This is the word of the Lord, not by might nor by power, but my spirit saith the Lord of Hoss who nameth in righteousness.
12. And behold the stone I have laid before him in his fingerring shall have seven eyes, and I have engraved the engraving thereof, and shall remove the iniquity of the world in one day, for never man spake as this man, and in him we see and hear and feel all promises fulfilled.
13. Each shall have a quickening spirit, and in that day ye shall call every man his neighbour, and all of them shall be allies, and there shall be no enemies under the vine and under the fig tree, and by their words and by their works they shall be judged.
14. Death and hell are vanished by these two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves, and long expected come at last these two anointed ones that stand for the true word of God.
15. The book of life was opened to the heathen prophen when he said, he hath showed thee, O man: and what doth the. Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Here is man's duty, and the law and the prophets and the New Testament can show none better. Thus the Lord is redeemed by his servant Jacob without a mirade.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, wherein God's natural laws did continue, as in times past, and of saviours there were none, and there was no more sea, for from mountain top to height across ocean and sea they speak one to the other, and nations and peoples and tongues that had walked in great darkness saw a great light, and the world was brought into line with its one people, one universal common term, one syllogism, one destiny, one word, and that the true word of God.
2. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, which by him was named, and he shall bring forth judgment unto truth by hid physical and scientific discovery.
3. Behold the tabernacle of God is with man when he lieth in his bed with his right hand on his stomach, his left hand on his right shoulder, and his mouth resting against his left fore-
4. The eye thus moved in predication can shed motives and principles and actions of the best, and when search in earnest both prevail, then will God wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorry nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
5. Behold I make all things new, and these words are true and faithful, and a marvellous work hath been done, and they shall know that the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
6. It is done, and Daniel's time hath come, for many run to and fro, and knowledge hath increased.
7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and behold an hand was sent unto me, and lo! a roll of a book was therein, and I saw Bill the Namer declare in meekness a thing as it is, which is truth, and those eating, saw pending the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
8. Have a care, oh, beware, ye fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers and liars, and idolaters, their thoughts shall betray them, and their gropers shall rebuke them, and it shall remain in the minds of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof, and in that just punishment they shall find their second death.
9. Come hither and I will show you Bill's wife. A widow.
10. And on a high mountain rising from the Pacific he showed me that city holy Jerusalem, a mother in Israel.
11. And her three score years have been for the world's good.
12. For she is plain and unnoticed, and meek and lowly, and lives with her husband and her lover, who is God.
13. She is kind and considerate, and her thoughts harm no one.
14. And she fears her maker and glorifies his name.
15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed named and described in his roll, Bill the Namer, where is found man's seven senses, saying: They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. And with them Bill say the human race keep dodging amongst the accidental predicables, and they were substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, possession, action, and suffering. The categories and predicaments of mankind which did mark out certain tracks to be pursued in searching for the middle term suitable to the occasion, and in a lonely path he did track truth and sought to name it, that the world be brought into line, and in silence and in wonder he stood viewing Edom drunk with delusions, lies, folly, fallacy, ignorance, bigotry, and superstition, amidst a rank growth of clericalism and orthodoxy, where imaginations were dead drunk with gorgeous visions of immortality. And Bill loved Obadiah, who did likewise say, For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. And Bill, an every-day saviour, whose chief concern was to keep clean and avoid temptation, shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and his truth shall spread, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
16. And he measured man and his new Jerusalem, and found an operation of sense was a condition precedent to the naming of his word, and in this new truth were gathered together in one, the children of God that were scattered abroad, and none say, sir, we shall see him?
17. According to the measure of a man was it seen and considered that his perishable senses must operate before his soul could frame its ever-present syllogism, and God's purpose with the human race is gradually developed by the agency of man's common term, and that thing alone.
18. And the girl born blind, deaf, and dumb, was without a soul until by her sense of touch she was taught the signs such as language supplies, and she was placed by God amongst the human race, so stricken, that His deeper purpose should be made manifest, and in her affliction was found His second coming.
19. If within her cerebral there had been an immortal soul, her thinking and her dreaming and her talking in her sleep would have been possible without that rapid movement in her fingers;
20. God's natural laws are paramount, and they did compel her to coin with activity those arbitrary signs, before her soul could reason, and thus her soul of intelligence was in bondage to the flesh.
21. And every child born into the world hath no soul until it masters the sign such as language supplies, and herein is uncovered and made manifest unto all men, Bill's holy Jerusalem.
22. And I saw no temple therein other than the Kingdom of God, which was a pure dictionary encased in the cerebral of man, and the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life, yea, the words of eternal life.
23. And the city hath no need of sunlight or moonlight, for God is in everything that could be said, and in man's expression have we his presence, and in the darkest hour the activity of the human eye working against a well-primed cerebral shall lead man forward to his throne of grace.
24. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth in their inward, royal, and best trains of thought shall commune with it.
25. Night and day in all wakeful moments the gates of the mind are open to receive terms, and from them deduce the middle term of the syllogism there and then to be framed, and no altar built by man is needed, for when his hat is on his house is covered, and popes and parsons shall be glad indeed that Bill hath saved them from themselves and their false interpretation and their unnatural thesis, and in falling into line they shall say must do is a grand master.
26. Ye worship you know not what, and the hour cometh when ye shall worship neither in this church nor in that temple, nor in that pilgrimage, but in the grace and truth of your meditation shall ye worship him. The Father seeketh all to worship him in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit, and they must worship him in spirit and in truth.
27. I have named the only true God, therefore let truth and righteousness, and joy and peace and happiness be spread before the God whom I have named, whose right arm and common term doth but fill our discourse. The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
And he showed me a pure river of life clear as crystal proceeding from the cerebral of man, deducing conclusions from premises, and naming in simplicity, a thing as it is, which I say again is truth, and man in his species shall as from the beginning go down the ages stirring the waters of life with his quickener groping within his eye-sockets, where indeed with much earnestness he shall search and find the true middle term.
2. And as language was found to be an indispensable instrument of all reasoning, the nations strove for words freed from folly, vanity, and vice, and in the exercise their thoughts benefitted and were for the healing of the nations.
3. And of God and man's destiny there shall be no doubt, and those hereafters which did not exist, and of which Bill and the prophets did damn, shall be heard of no more but in derision. He was indeed a divine visitation, and God's preparation for a great crisis. Having seen the failure of civilization, he was God's solu tion of its present trouble, and their poet had said, from whence no traveller hath returned, but Bill did not go nor did he return; his logical discovery went, spied, and came back, and the nation accepting that which he brought back shall go forth conquering and to conquer.
4. And they shall see his face, and with joy and satisfaction they shall ponder upon his common terms, and their reflection shall line their forehead, and they shall see all alike the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by me, and now ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.
5. No night is there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall say their say correctly, clearly, and promptly from an abundance of prords, and within that new formed and critical mind they shall have of the best.
6. These sayings are faithful and true, and I confind, myself to the attempt to teach mankind the only true word of God I do pretend to understand.
7. Behold he cometh quickly, of whom Solomon spake, saying: Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake, and come and see and consider his dictum, that all may worship the only true God, and serve him with one consent.
8. And they shall hear his voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Howbeit when the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He will take of mine and show it unto you.
9. And in this my pen hath been guided, and when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, and his truth shall abide with you for ever and ever.
10. The seal is broken and the time of the end hath come, and great shall be the day of Jezreel, and they shall hear Jezreel, and shall see him blinking and thinking and enjoying that mortal essence which God gave unto him in common with all sons of Adam, and he lived amongst them in his peculiar meditation, and in it was too much absorbed to bother about immortality.
11. My message is delivered, and now let the unjust, the filthy, the righteous, and the holy remain as they are. I open a door which no man can shut, and shut a door which no man can open, and the same shall sanctify them, for my word is truth.
12. Behold I come quickly, and my teaching is of things to come and of things that shall not come, and of things that cannot be shaken, for heed we must the stability of God's natural laws of thought, and my message is reasonable and agrees with his laws, and him receiving shall have according to his work.
13. I am the first and the last, and what I bring, was, is, and, shall be, and true it is the first man Adam was a living soul, but the last man Adam is a quickening spirit.
14. Blessed are those in whom thy will is done, and whose muscle and motion follow thy footsteps, and ponder thy ways, for they have the tree of life and shall inherit the earth, and so said John, whose advice was good, a sensible man, and like unto Bill performed no miracles.
15. Dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolators, and those who loveth and maketh a lie, and in whose eye-sockets their senses do operate like unto a caged rat, they show it and they know it, that the wicked have no rest.
16. What David wrote and Jesus spoke is here for all time, and its home is man's living brain, wherein as motives and principles it shall remain, for they are indeed of the root and the branch of David, and the bright and morning star, and whilst lighting neither did expatiate upon a future estate. The words they gave were divine, and in matter and style were perfect, for well they knew that man did not live by bread alone, and man shall always crave for perfection in choice, number, and arrange ment in the science of religion, and Him we shall praise, from whom all blessings flow.
17. They gave freely of the waters of life, and in their meditation the apple of our eye doth swim in them, and greater works than these shall ye do, and marvel not at this, for she hour hath come in which all that were in their graves now stand in their place, and the Father hears their voice, for ether was then as now, and brain cell explosions were then as now, and all march past in procession, and he comprehendeth them all, and in this day procession he expects each man by his common terms and by his thinking to do his duty.
18. And I add not to the words of prophecy wheh I say man's advancement in this age procession is but the work of human agents, and in all meekness I do say that nature is true in all her workings, she changes not, and no man ever was perfect, and who so blind as he that is perfect, and who so blind as his messenger. And true it is we have more reason to expect that a witness should lie than a miracle occur. Light from heaven teaches me that abstract notions and traces in the mind, and likewise souls without language, do not exist, and when man says that his earth-born intelligence is immortal, going at death to weal or woe, his mind is obsessed with a great delusion.
19. What I have written, I have written, and I take not away from the words of prophecy, but do fulfil them. My wish is that man should know himself by an increased knowledge of his own mind, and the effect of God's true word thereon. My word is truth, for true it is, no man can have a soul without possessing the sign such as language supplies, and man must admit that these arbitrary signs can only arise in his mind after an operation of sense, and no man can deny that his senses of muscle and motion die with his body. Thus therefore I do freely assert when man is dead all is dead. There is no wisdom in dwelling upon an hereafter that does not exist. In this ancient Israel is with me, and I do resurrect the God of Jacob, a psychological God who giveth to each man as his work shall be. And I have the fear of offending God, even at this moment, whilst meditating upon his attitude towards me, a great sinner, I find within my eye-sockets a Leyden jar and voltaic battery. Yea, a quickening spirit of life, knocking at the door of my cerebral, its pigeon holes, its memory, and its reference to a class, and from thence cometh such common terms as my nomenclature doth supply. Thus I grope for words freed from sin, and when my quickener works upon such a sentence and such a major premise, it shall have Thy kingdom for its middle term.
20. Truth shall prevail, and when established, it shall be found that the religions of the world had imagined a vain thing, their interpretation was wrong, but God's word was true, and so it is
21. Man's expression is the voice of God, and let his right arm in strength and grace and truth be with you for all time. I give you the vision splendid, a new heaven, a new earth, and a new kingdom: one God, one Christ, one King, one destiny, and rejoice all ye people, for God's written prophecy it doth but fulfil. And now shall you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and lies and delusions cast out and forgotten. His saints did not visit the third heaven and come back with signs, wonders, miracles, figures, tropes, glossary and squintology. What they saw in God's frail and imperfect, was a psychological proneness and tendency, and to put them right they peeled sticks to look at, and walked with God in righteousness. What for gave Bill his glory, he saw man blinking whilst thinking, and thereon he built his gospel of the seven senses and the word, and deeper still he sunk in the strata of the word, where he found without words there was no soul, and without sense movement there were no words, and kings shall war against his discovery, and kings of one hour and their sky pilots and their following of darkness shall deny him, and against them and their dark array Bill will place the simplicity and the sincerity of his dictum, which was given unto them in every-day language without parables, metaphors, miracles, and exaggerations, and in calmness he doth wait to see what shall happen to the thesis of a bold speculator. He sees it held by a small minority, then a strong minority, then a majority, and at last by mankind, and that wrong interpretation which did paralyse and deaden the common sense of the world shall be cast out. He surveyed the strength of the established religions which his would overthrow, and nations, multitudes, peoples, and tongues finding his doctrine to be the true word of God, it was so embraced by God and man. But hold the pen. Has man embraced it? I repeat again, once more, that our eye-balls pulsate prior to an act of reasoning with our earth-born common terms, that unless they did pulsate there was no conclusion to the syllogism. Men imagine the office of the eye-ball is to see, but it has a greater mission. It is that quickener which gives to man the necessary power to deduce conclusions from premises. It is that active instrument of instruments which marshals our earthgathered common terms, guiding them into a train of thought. Seeing this dual office of the human eye, Bill reasoned, and he has given good and reasonable reasons for his Armageddic decision,
[The End.]
Wilson and Horton, Printers. Auckland—44439
his Illustrated Booklet gives glimpses of New Zealand's camps, and in-cludes a brief description of the Dominion's part in the war.
The fixing of the retail price at sixpence for the first edition during a time when publication costs have the inevitable war increase required some pages of advertisements (a respectable array). The first plan provided for illustrated pages of the principal towns. Wellington and Nelson were the only acceptors of the terms offered, and therefore arrangements had to be made for other pages.
One section (representative women's mes-sages) is not complete. In several cases, various circumstances made for delay with replies or caused a regretful preference for silence.
Block-process post-cards of pictures in the booklet are available.
Enquiries regarding "Call of the Camps" should be addressed to L. S. Fanning, Box 582, Wellington.
We women of New Zealand are very proud of our men, who are leaving their homes and sacrificing so much to fight for justice and liberty for all. We honour and thank you, and pray constantly for your safe return to your dear ones.
More men are needed to win this war. We implore all eligible to enlist without delay, to keep for our children their heritage of freedom under the British flag in this our island home.
On behalf of the four military districts, four ladies accepted an invitation to give messages to New Zeland's manhood (both the working and waiting elements).
To the common end we all have in view, the women of the Dominion are contributing a service which even manhood cannot rival. Auckland has not been behind in supplying its full quota of recruits to swell the ranks of that dauntless army of women who have sacrificed their all on the altar of patriotism. The army of women in Auckland although it has no uniform, no parades, no official recognition—with a deadly earnestness that vies with the efforts of the men they have sent to the front—have enthusiastically and wholeheartedly placed their services at the disposal of the authorities in all patriotic efforts to assist in the fight for the maintenance of the British principles of liberty and justice Moreover, it is an army which has been enlisted voluntarily down to the very last woman. There are no women slackers or shirkers in Auckland; and to those men who have not already signified their willingness to take their place in the fighting line, I can only say; " Follow the example that the women of the Dominion have set, and prove yourselves British to the core by declaring yourselves inevitably on the side of Right, Truth and Humanity."
The willingness of the men of New Zealand to answer the call of Empire has been a great inspiration to us women. Their example gives us the courage to heed to play our part in the bitter struggle for right. I cannot express our appreciation of the heroic men of our land, who have chosen the path of honour, rather than that of selfish
Soldiers of New Zealand ! The women of Wellington have in you the faith and hope which their sisters of the other provinces have as well. To this day the sons of this Dominion have been worthy of their forefathers, famed in the world's history for valour and victory, with honour. A great duty awaits numbers of other men to recognise their country's need of their active aid, to be faithful to their comrades who are in camp or overseas, and to be true to New Zealand's women, who have confidence in their manhood.
Sons of New Zealand ! You have nobly answered our beloved Empire's call for help in this time of her great need. The women of New Zealand are proud of you. Some of us .have been privileged to give our sons. We shall watch your movements closely, and we feel sure that you will uphold the high traditions which the indomitable Anzacs have placed on the pages of history. We wish you God-speed and a speedy and safe return with the full glory of a great victory crowning your gallant efforts. May your example be an incentive to those eligibles who have, as yet, left the call to arms unanswered, to obey promptly the urgent appeal.
he story of New Zealand's Camps is the story of New Zealand's rapid growth to sturdy manhood as a member of the British Imperial family. A few years ago New Zealand had the Volunteers—not properly encouraged to be an efficient fighting force—for local defence, and threw a dole of about £100,000 a year to the Mother Country as a contribution towards the maintenance of the Australasian Squadron. New Zealand prospered, had a very easy conscience—rather forgetfulness—about the cost of Great Britain's protection of these happy islands' peaceful comfort.
Since
To some veterans, still hale, still eager to help in winning for Britain and her Allies the world's greatest war, a half-century, in moments of vivid reverie, may seem as yesterday. They see themselves again in the forests of the North Island beside Imperial troops in final lights against some Maori tribes. To-day Maoris and New Zealand Britons are comrades in arms far overseas against the Empire's enemies.
New Zealand's first help to the Mother Country by an Expeditionary Force was the memorable achievement of the late Mr. Seddon—ten contingents for the war in South Africa, men who had a robustness, a courage and a resourcefulness which have been highly praised; but they were not trained soldiers in the European sense of the word. They were rather the promise, an earnest, of the great development to come some years later.
The next notable progress of New Zealand in developing a decent sense of defence was with the gift of a battle-cruiser (H.M.S. "New Zealand") in
Within a fortnight of Britain's declaration of war on Germany—as the necessary sequel to Germany's violation of Belgian neutrality—New Zealand was able to send an Expeditionary Force (a compact little army) to hoist the
The plan of an Expeditionary Force to aid the Mother Country was put lorward by Mr. Allen three years ago—and work quickly followed the words. Preparations were made, and the result is now well known; New Zealand was the first of the Overseas Dominions to equip and embark a force of trained men at the disposal of the Imperial authorities.
alt Whitman wrote something like this:—" I could turn and live with the animals: they are so placid and self-contained; they do not fret and whine about their condition.": However, he turned and lived with soldiers during the American Civil War, and found that they, in the darkest days of suffering, by wounds or sickness, left the whining and fretting for civilians. Thus it is with New Zealand's soldiers, in camp and overseas. They have that great cheerfulness which characterised many men in history, who made a supreme sacrifice for their country.
It is wonderful how quickly a man can develop a better body and mind by a change from mufti to khaki. In the work-a-day world he strove in mufti for himself, but he fights in khaki for others, particularly the women and children of his native land When he steps into camp he comes into the big work and he grows with it. The heart expands, and the liver seems to contract. Whey faces, and fiddle faces, and other unlovely faces are left for the civilians, some of whom are apt to worry about little things, even hen the whole world is racked by the greatest war of history. A man can go into the camps by night or day, and if he received a shilling for every gloomy face seen there, he would barely bag enough to "shout" for himself once. Of course, one can hear a grouch now and then, but it may end in a jest; it is not a doleful moaning and groaning.
The men sing going into camp as recruits, and they sing coming out, as trained soldiers. On the railway run to the transports they have more cheers for the folk in passing trains than the civilians (except the school boys and girls) have for them; the civilians somehow seem to be too surprised to cheer much.
"Here we are, here we are, here we are again," is a line which the soldiers sing heartily anywhere and anywhen. By those words the soldiers do not consciously convey any reproach to any civilian eligible for military service, but the converse line (which can be easily imagined) is: "There you are, there you are again " (not in camp, nor on the way). It is a fact that hesitating "eligibles" receive much more prompting from non-eligibles than they do from soldiers, for the great majority of men who have chosen sturdy manhood's
Next to the cheerfulness in Trentham and Featherston is the healthfulness. The camps, with their varied exercise and the open air, give a good riddance to indigestion and insomnia. The life makes for burliness. Faces that were once pale become brown, and the upper chest gains girth while the lower one declines. The food is plain, but it is good, on a scale to fit the appetites which the vigorous life creates. Moreover, the men can have prompt and efficient treatment of any physical trouble, from a sore toe or an aching tooth onward. The hospital equipment and medical staffing ensure far quicker attention to any ailment of a man in camp than he would have ordinarily arranged for himself outside.
And always there is the air of a great fellowship, a mighty camaraderie in arms for one national purpose—survival of the State. In the camps all politics are one politics—national service. Working for the war, the men do not talk much about the alleged mistakes of one general or another on the Entente side; they mostly leave to tramcar strategists and armchair marshals the responsibility of pronouncing praise or blame for the leaders on the Eastern or Western from or elsewhere.
"Variety is the spice of life," is one of the true platitudes often heard. So much has to be crowded into the syllabus for the four months' training that the days pass quickly; time flies on rapid wings. The men have a joy in their work and a keen friendly rivalry. Each reinforcement tries to eclipse the best predecessor; within each draft the companies are in competition; and within each company each platoon strives for the premiership in military merit and smartness at appearance.
This article cannot fairly conclude without a word of well-earned praise for the military folk who have evolved the excellent training machinery of the camps, where the administration and instruction thoroughly deserve that much-used word "efficient." The camps make hardy disciplined soldiers, well schooled in the art and craft of war These soldiers, too, have the higher kind of discipline they have not been bullied, nor cowed; the authorities have a firmness when it is necessary, but it is a fairness too. Any man charged with any breach of regulations has an opportunity to state his side of the case.
olomon wrote (Ecelesiastes III., 1, 6 and 8):—
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
"A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
"A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."
This is a time to keep, this is a time of war to save the State.
In every country the adult population is divided into patriots and "pratriots"—men of work and men of words. Happily in New Zealand, as in other parts of the British Empire, patriots are in the great majority.
The spirit of patriotism is not the same in all the sons of men; some it moves to the trenches, and others to the drenches. Recently, in the Magistrate's Court, Wellington, a man, charged with drunkenness and obscene language, pleaded that he had been "a bit patriotic." He had " strafed" a few long beers for hearth and home; he hoisted his pewter, and showed how fields were won.
It is pleasant to pass from a person of that type to the men who matter—men who have followed or preceded their sons to the war. Many fathers of families have gone, and many others are in camp. Some hardy men from the back country, wearing well their forty-six, forty-seven and forty-eight years—and hiding them well—have gone in the ranks overseas. Others over the age limit—not so well preserved—have managed to slip past a district doctor, but have not had the same luck at Trentham. Their disappointment was sad to see.
That is the way of it. The men who are ready to stake all for their country are the cheerful givers. They have come from all trades and professions in the flower of their youth, in the fullness of their joy of living—men of the open spaces and men of the workshops, men of the axe and men of the pen—brothers all in the one great service—splendid manhood, the brightest and the best, one draft after another, training on, marching on, fighting on, for the women and children of New Zealand.
mass of serried khaki and denim, below a great expanse of worshipful faces—and one girl in white singing softly the simple words that go straight to the heart. It is a scene in a hall of Trentham—something to stay in the memory while life lasts. Such a spectacle brings to mind an oft-heard and oft-sung line: " None but the brave deserve the fair." Concert parties of the Victoria League (bright, winsome young ladies), the New Zealand Natives' Association, the Y.M.C.A. and other organisations have made many an evening very pleasant at Trentham, and the soldiers at Featherston have been similarly well entertained.
Between whiles the men may arrange programmes among themselves, for there is abundance of varied talent. Of course, if a camp performer's notion of his ability is not shared in equal measure by the audience, he is liable to a friendly count-out.
The institutes are all well provided with equipment for popular pastimes, reading and writing. For a change the men can go to the moving pictures, billiard rooms or shooting galleries (firing at the perpetual procession of camels, ducks, rabbits and other deathless fugitives).
No man need have the hours of leisure weighing heavily on him. If his mood does not lead him to music, or books or games, he can always find a kindred soul for a chat in English, Scotch, Irish, French, Latin or Greek. He can have any kind of argument (hot, cold or tepid) on any subject imaginable; all degrees of education are in the camps.
And always there is everybody's "big brother," the chaplain, ready to make a refreshing joke or a will, or offer kindly, wise advice or comfort, according to circumstances. A11 chaplains are one chaplain—the right one—for any man who hungers for an intimate talk with a sympathetic friend, a friend who listens intelligently and replies from the heart.
At 9 p.m. the big family begins to muster in the canteen for hot pies and coffee or other mild refreshments—and off the merry members go to the huts, where the lights switch out on many a "tall tale."
ew zealand's military efforts during the war have been devoted to the raising and upkeep of no fewer than four separate forces besides the maintenance of the territorial army and senior cadets as the country's "schools of war" and for use in the event of emergency. These four separate forces comprise:
(1). The Expeditionary Force which occupied Samoa, and the maintenance of a permanent garrison there.
(2). The raising of the Main Expeditionary Force for employment in Europe, its maintenance by means of reinforcements, and its enlargement by the addition of new units also requiring reinforcements.
(3). The Tunnelling Corps for employment on the Western Front
(4). The Wireless Troop for use in Mesopotamia.
The Taking of Samoa
The Main Body
quarters, Mounted Rifle Brigade (Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment, Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment), One Independent Mounted Rifles Regiment (the Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment), one Infantry Brigade (Auckland Battalion, Canterbury Battalion, Otago Battalion. Wellington Battalion), Divisional Artillery, Divisional Signal Service, Divisional Transport and Supply Unit, Divisional Medical Units, Divisional Army Troops.
The force was mobilised immediately after the outbreak of war, and went into four camps for training, namely, Alexandra Park (Auckland), Awapuni Racecourse (Palmerston North), Hagley Park (Christchurch), and Táhuna Park (Dunedin). The local units were concentrated in their respective local camps, while the national units were generally distributed, the Divisional Artillery going to Palmerston North. The Force sailed from Wellington on
Reinforcements and New Units
The authorities, however, were not content with this; from the beginning they commenced increasing the size of our
Increased Reinforcements
The Total Force Abroad
Including the men who are now being trained, New Zealand has raised over 55,000 soldiers for service overseas, and the recruiting continues steadily.
War Policy on European Lines
The present size of our Army in the field is also noteworthy as representing the fulfilment of New Zealand's declared war policy of " not placing a maximum force in the field for a few weeks, but of maintaining the greatest possible force in the field for the estimated duration of the war." We have, in fact, built up a maximum force which it will take us all our time to maintain; in other words, Germany is to feel our maximum effort from now on—the deciding stage of the war. This forms a conclusive answer, surely, to the amateurs who talked so glibly some time ago about sending fresh "Contingents" of 10,000 and 50,000 men that we could never have maintained, much less trained and equipped and despatched to the seat of war. The Hon. James Allen and his advisers, nevertheless, had much to do to combat these impetuous, ill-informed enthusiasts. Happily, knowledge and wisdom prevailed, to the everlasting credit of New Zealand and theglory of her arms.
No treatise on the New Zealand Army can omit that very important unit—the Nursing Service (now about 351 sisters and nurses)—whose cheerful, tireless devotion to duty has won the Army's heart.
n the year
Year
April 23—First landing of Allied forces on Gallipoli.
April 24—British captured Sedd-el-Bahr.
April 25—Australians and New Zealanders landed north of Gaba Tepe.
April 26—Turkish attacks repelled by Anzacs.
April 27—Allied troops advanced and established a front two miles inland from Cape Helles.
April 28—Further advance made on Krithia front.
May 2—Allies gained a grip of Gaba Tepe.
May 5—Allies' advance checked at Sedd-el-Bahr and Ari Bumu.
May 6-8—Three days' battle for Krithia.
May 9—The Turks opposite Anzac Cove were reinforced, delivered a strong attack on the New Zealanders and Australians, and were repulsed with loss of 7,000 men. Anzacs lost 500.
May 12-28—Advance towards Krithia. French took Haricot Redoubt.
June 1—Severe Turkish attack at Gaba Tepe repulsed.
June 4—Fighting for Achi Baba; Anzacs made 500 yards progress.
June 22—The French attacked the Turks successfully at Kereves Dere.
June 28—Attack on Achi Baba. The Boomerang Redoubt and three lines of Turkish trenches captured.
June 30—Fighting near Krithia; several lines of Turkish trenches taken.
July 4—Several attacks on Allies were repulsed with heavy losses.
July 7—The Allies advanced half a mile towards Achi Baba.
Aug. 6—Landing of torces at Suvla Bay.
Aug. 7-10—Battle of Lone Pine; casualties about 12,000. British and Anzacs linked up and established united front about two and a-half miles inland. Anzacs reached the crest of Sari Bair, but had to withdraw for lack of support by Suvla Bay forces.
Aug. 21—Hill 70 taken by Suvla forces; again lost. Anzacs took Hilled. Allies made frontal attack on Turkish lines round Anafaita
Oct. 20 Sir lan Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief, recalled, and Major-
-General Monro sent to report on the situation.
Nov. 27—Lord Kitchener visited the Anzac and Krithia fronts.
Dec. 10—Turkish attack at Krithia repulsed by New Zealanders.
Dec. 20—In accordance with General Monro's recommendation, the Suvla Bay and Anzac forces evacuated their positions.
Jan. 8—British and French forces withdrew from Cape Helles, completing the evacuation of Gallipoli Peninsula.
April—Anzacs landed in France.
rentham and Featherston Camps, with their comfortable hutments, solidly metalled streets, water-supply, drainage, electric lighting, military workshops, halls (for religious services, recreation, reading, writing and concerts), well-equipped hospitals, and other appointments, as well as private shops, are practically compact townships.
The authorities have unmistakably built for permanence; (they evidently had in mind a time beyond this war, when the two large establishments (each able to house 4,500 men, with the full complement of officers) will be very useful for Territorial purposes.
When Major McCristell (then Captain and Camp Quarter-master) arrived at the site of Trentham on
There is an impression that the new Trentham is due to last winter's epidemic of sickness. Fairness to the authorities requires a correction of that notion. The plans for the camp, as it stands to-day, were well on the way to completion before that trouble developed. An exceptionally wet winter bindered progress for a time.
Visitors to the camps have an admiration of their orderliness, tidiness and smooth working. They are an object lesson to many a municipality.
The infantry of each reinforcement begin their training at Trentham, continue it at Featherston, and complete it at Trentham after a march over the Rimutakas and bivouac and night operations en route. The total time of preparation is four months.
The great importance of Trentham for the training of infantry lies in the rifle ranges. There are 75 targets on the long ranges, and 50 on the grouping ranges, making a total of 125 targets.
References to the temporary camps of Maymorn, Tauherenikau and Rangiotu (now used for Territorials only), also Narrow Neck (where the Maoris are trained) are crowded out of this issue.
adies of Wellington—representing all classes and creeds-—have made a very successful management of the Soldiers' Club, Sydney Street. This is really a cosy, homely place for the soldiers when in town for a few hours or when returning to Trentham from extended leave. The wives and daughters of leading citizens (in public and private life) gladly take turns as hostesses, and they know well how to make even the most bashful young man feel thoroughly comfortable.
The rooms are open on week-days from 10 a.m. until the last troop-train haves Wellington. On Sunday mornings, men returning from leave by boat and train are served with breakfast, and they may remain in the rooms until 1 p.m. At 4 p.m. the Club resumes its activities and the usual tea and supper are supplied.
It is no uncommon occurrence for several hundreds of men to visit the Club on one evening. What this entails in provisioning and in personal service on the part of the ladies may easily be imagined. During the Easter holidays for instance, the following items for one week—240 loaves of bread, 56lbs. of butter and 49 gallons of milk—will give some indication of the food supplies when more than usual leave is given to the soldiers.
The main hall of the Club is fitted up as a large lounge, well supplied with sofas, comfortable chairs and numerous tables, a gramophone, a piano and a billiard table. Daily and weekly papers, magazines, cards, draughts, chess and other games are to be found, and it is a pleasant sight when the room is filled with soldiers taking their ease, smoking, reading, playing games or chatting. There is also a quiet writing-room which is invariably well used. Postal facilitiesare also provided.
Hot and cold shower-baths are available at a cost of sixpence. Coats and parcels are kept in safe custody.
On behalf of the New Zealand soldiers the ladies' executive is grateful for the kindness of many friends in Wellington and other districts, but there is scope for further thankfulness, because the maintenance costs are expanding with the club's usefulness to ever-increasing numbers of men.
Veteran settlers of the Wairarapa have contribute the cost of a large club-house for soldiers at Featherston.
ew Zealand's area (excluding outlying islands) is 103,581 square miles. The estimated white population at
Exports (excluding specie), Imports:—£21,728,834. Total trade per head of population, £48 12s. 10d. (the highest average in the world).
Men's National Reserve (supplementary to the Territorial system), 22,600 (approximate). Under new regulations, a Dominion Council is being formed, consisting of the Chief Commandant (Colonel Porter), the District Commandants (seven), and the Commandant of the Engineers.
Women's National Reserve, 5,000 (approximate).—
The strength is increasing rapidly. The executive is arranging to supply women for certain occupations, thus enabling numbers of eligible men to enlist.
Pay Office.—This is a new department, created by the war. Since
Base Records Office, which keeps in touch with every soldier from the date of embarkation to the day of his discharge, has a staff of 112 (
Patriotic Funds.—The Patriotic Societies, throughout New Zealand, have raised over £1,000,000 for the aid of wounded or sick soldiers and sailors, and also dependents of those who have given their lives for their country. The purpose is to supplement the pensions due to discharged members of the forces or to their dependents.
Places for the Worthy.—The State has a plan and an organisation to help returned soldiers to find employment, in town or country, or to establish themselves on the land.
ellington the capital city of New Zealand and the seat of Government has a population of 68,000; the figures of adjacent suburbs bringing the total to 75,000. As this city is the centre of inter-island traffic the streets have always a brisk appearance, and this air of prosperity is not merely on the surface. A few facts show Wellington's solidity. The capital value exceeds £20,000,000; the number of buildings is nearly 16,000. Notwithstanding the tendency of the war to check enterprise, 519 permits for buildings, valued at £256,000, were issued last year. During the same period the city's revenue was £506,478.
For health, comfort and convenience Wellington city is not surpassed in Australasia. The climate, which has no hard winter "bite," is always invigorating; Wellingtonians have a New Zealand reputation for energetic pacing in the streets.
The municipal services comprise water (two hundred miles of mains, fed from four reservoirs with a total capacity of 248,000,000 gallons); excellent drainage (eighty miles of main sewers with an outfall in Cook Strait, five miles from the centre of the city); a refuse destructor; electric tramways (about twenty-one route miles); electric lighting; abattoirs; fish market; fire brigade (with good motor equipment); sea baths. The streets have a total length of 180 miles, and the main streets of the inner area are wood-blocked.
The educational facilities include State primary and secondary schools, Technical School, Victoria University College, municipal libraries, two museums (one State and the other municipal) and an art gallery.
Wellington city is particularly fortunate in the possession of many hundreds of acres of open spaces, comprising level recreation grounds, gardens, plantations, and extensive stretches of hill and dale, commanding very pleasant seascapes and landscapes. These public reserves, in and around the city, have a total area exceeding 1,300 acres. In addition, the municipality owns Williams Park (950 acres), across the harbour. This is a reservation of native forest—beautiful trees and ferns. Another very attractive place is the "Zoo," containing many species of animals (ranging from marmosets and monkeys to lions, sea-lions and bears) and birds.
There is also easy access by tramway to a State forest reserve (Wilton's Bush). Oriental Bay, Island Bay and Lyall Bay—all served by tramway—give every variety of beach for the enjoyment of children and adults, by bathing, strolling, or resting in cosy corners.
New zealand's Central Harbour, Wellington, commanding Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands, has natural advantages which give it pride of place among the Dominion's ports. The extensive wharves and good equipment for the working of cargo, and large storage accommodation, have made the port well and favourably known in the shipping world.
The area of the harbour is about 20,000 acres (approximately thirty square miles), well sheltered by a girdle of hills, with depths varying from 36 feet to 84 feet. Naturally the anchorage is good in this land-locked spread of safe water. The entrance exceeds 3,600 feet in its narrowest part, with a depth of 42 feet to 48 feet. Here the current never exceeds two knots. The approach is exceptionally well lighted by a powerful lamp on Pencarrow Head, helped by a low-level light and also by leading lights situated inside the harbour.
The port has eight wharves, and almost continuous breastworks extending over nearly a mile and a-half of waterfront. The total lineal berthage is 15,627 feet, with depths of water alongside varying from 16 feet to 41 feet. About 4,000 teet of this berthage is linked up with the Dominion's railway system. In addition, there are six suburban wharves, totalling 2,096 lineal feet of berthage.
In
As the Harbour Board is a public body, whose objects are the providing of shipping facilities and the encouragement of trade the charges, have been arranged on the most reasonable basis possible The policy is to produce only such a margin of revenue over working expenses as will suffice to cover standing charges and leave a small reserve fund for contingencies.
Wellington's Harbour Board is the only one in New Zealand that acts as wharfinger The Board receives goods from the ship's slings gives receipts, and delivers to consignees or tranships to other vessels as required. This system of a central control is better and cheaner than the ordinary run of private enterprise. This activity of the Board requires a permanent staff of 326 (including officers). In addition, for the receiving and delivery of cargo, the Board employs a large number of casual hands, varying from 150 in winter to 550 in the busiest season.
The Board keeps a staff of three pilots, but pilotage is not compulsory No towage is needed in entering or leaving the harbour. The facilities for coaling watering and general provisioning are excellent Wellington is New Zealand's busiest port. During the year
A programme of new works has been planned to meet the ever-increasing business.
Directors:
H. Beauchamp, Esq. (Chairman); Martin Kennedy, Esq.; D. J. Nathan Esq.; Wm. Reece, Esq.; J. H. Upton, Esq.; Wm. Watson, Esq.
Head Office: Wellington, New Zealand.
General Manager: William Callender.
London Office: 1 Queen Victoria Street, E.C.
London Board: Frederic Lubbock, Esq. (Chairman); W. T. Holmes Esq., Alex. Michie. Esq.; Sir James Mills. K.C.M.G.
Manager: A. Kay. Bankers: Bank Of England. Messrs. Glyn. Mills. Currie & Co.
Chief Auditor: B. M. Litchfield. Esq. London Auditor: W. C. Sneath. Esq.
The Bank of New Zealand has Branches or Agencies at all the more important towns in New Zealand—210 in all—and has also Branches in London, Melbourne, Sydney, Suva, Levuka and Apia (Samoa). It has Agents in every part of Great Britain and Ireland; also throughout Australia and Tasmania. It has also Agents and Correspondents throughout Europe, India, China, Japan and other parts of the East; Honolulu, North and South America, South Africa, etc.
Drafts are issued and Credits granted at any office in New Zealand upon any other Branch of the Bank, or upon its British or Foreign Agents.
Letters of Credit and Circular Notes are issued for the use of travellers, negotiable in all parts of the world.
Bills upon any part of the Dominion, or wherever the Bank has Branches or Correspondents in Australia or elsewhere, are negotiated, and moneys collected for constituents.
Deposits—Current rates of Interest given.
Every description of Banking business within the Dominion, or between New Zealand and Australia, Great Britain, India, China, Japan, merica, South Africa, etc., transacted on favourable terms.
N.B.—Moneys are remitted to Great Britain, Egypt and Malta by draft or cable on account of members of the Expeditionary Forces free of exchange. Cable messages in this connection are transmitted by the Telegraph Department at special rates.
The Rate of Interest Has Been Increased, and is now 4½ % on the First £6,000, and 4¼ % on the Excess.
The Public Trustee can be appointed Executor and Trustee of the Will or Codicil of any person in New Zealand or else-where. Wills appointing the Public Trustee Executor are drawn free of charge.
The Public Trustee can be appointed Trustee in place of previously appointed trustees, or in place of persons who wish to be relieved of their trustee-ship.
The Public Trustee can be appointed Custodian Trustee or may act with Advisory Trustees.
The Public Trustee can be appointed Trustee for Marriage Settlements, Money Trusts, Sinking Funds, and other Trusts.
The Public Trustee can be appointed Assignee or Trustee of Assigned Estates or Deeds of Composition with Creditors.
The Public Trustee under-takes the management of property as Attorney or Agent.
The Public Trustee ad-ministers Intestates' Estates, Mental Defectives' Estates and Unclaimed Lands.
The Public Trustee has ample funds for investment on First Mortgage of Freehold and certain Government Leasehold securities, at lowest current rates of interest. Liberal terms for repayment. No procuration fee or commission charged.
The Charges of Administration are fixed on the lowest possible scale, as the Office is not run for profit, but seeks to be merely self-supporting. There is a well-equipped legal staff which does, without cost, nearly all the legal work connected with estates: for example, no charge is made for obtaining PROBATE or ADMINISTRATION, or for passing STAMP ACCOUNTS, or for advising on the numberless questions that are continually arising in the course of Administration. Speaking generally, it may be said that no law costs are charged except in proceedings before the Court.
For Full Particulars apply to THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE, Wellington, or to any of the Local Deputy Public Trustees, Distric Managers, or Agents in New Zealand.
One of Sunny Nelson's many Beauty Places
Sunny is the title which belongs to Nelson by righ—Nature gift. The annual average of sunshine exceeds 2,500 hours equal to about seven hours a day, and the summer sunshine is tempered by a cool breeze from Tasman Bay.
The daily average of sunshine through the winter months is five hours, and the landscape retains a refreshing beauty during this season. The equable character of the climate can be gauged from the following table of mean temperatures:—Spring, 545 degrees; Summer, 63'2; Autumn, 56'2; Winter, 47; Annual,55'3
Nelson has good municipal services, excellent educational faclities and all things necessary for the joy of living—health, comfort and convenience—for children and adults. Nelson is the city of
The varied beauty ran fit any mood. The city nestles among many trees (imported and native), and a splendid forest reaches to the edge of settlement in several parts. One can go from the quiet prettiness of a park lake to cascades of the bush; from
Backing Nelson is " Nature's Bank," a wonderful vista of
With all these advantages, the district has good road and sea services. It is not a case of " splendid isolation " for anybody.
Proof of all these statements is available from the Secretary of the Advancement Society, Nelson.
Gentle, sunny slopes of the Moutere Hills are a marvel of orchard development, even in a province—Nelson—noted far and wide for its exceptional suitableness for fruit-growing.
Nature has been particularly kind to Nelson Province, and especially to certain parts of it, including Upper Moutere. It is a fact, established by analysts, whose reports are available, that the soil constituents of such a locality as Mildura, the formation of the ground and the climate, are ideally favourable for apples. Proof is seen in the rich colour, the delightful flavour and the crisp texture of the fruit.
Mildura is one of the most pleasant parts of the Moutere. The estate has a main-road frontage of over two and a-half miles, and is within a few minutes of school, post-office, store and other conveniences. The property has been sub-divided into thirty-one orchards, each of which opens a way to a comfortable, healthful independence in a beautiful landscape.
Write for plans, price-list and other information to the owners, Messrs. Bisley Bros, and Co., Nelson; or, better still, visit the orchards and make full inquiries there. Seeing will be believing—and buying.
Bisley Bros. & Co., Auctioneers, Nelson
Printed by Blundell Bros. Ltd. "The Evening Post" Wellington, N.Z.
"And Moses said onto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben : Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here.'"—Numbers xxxii., 6.
"Now for our consciences, the arms are fair,
When the intent for bearing them is Just."
"The blood of man should never be shed but to redeem the blood of man. It is well shed for our family, for our friends, for our God, for our country, for our kind. The rest is vanity; the rest is crime."
"A nation is not worthy to be saved if, in the hour of its fate, it will not gather up all its jewels of manhood and life, and go down into the conflict, however bloody and doubtful, resolved on measureless ruin or complete success."
"My voice is still for war. God !. Can a Roman Senate long debate Which of the two to choose—slavery or death?"
"Ay! down to the dust with them, slaves as they are! From this hour let the blood in their dastardly veins, That shrank at the first touch of Liberty's war, Be wasted for tyrants, or stagnant in chains."
"Dishonour not your mothers; now attest That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you. Be copy now to men of grosser blood. And teach them how (and when) to war,"
"Put off the curse, of war, the shame of strife; Make thou the hales, the miseries to cease; But yet forget not that the flower of life May wither in the windless glare of Peace."
"In some good cause, not in my own, To perish, wept for, honour'd known, And like a warrior overthrown; Whose eyes are dim with glorious tears, When, soiled with dost, he hears His Country's war-song thrill his ears."
I have always been anxious to pass for a Socialist, though those who ordinarily proclaim themselves such would probably deny me the right or privilege of calling myself a Socialist, Well, I call myself a Socialist, who, after long and careful study (according to my light) of social and economic problems, believes that it is an essential function of the State so to direct things that every healthy, normal, well-intentioned member of the community whose conduct and character has stood the usual social tests shall have an opportunity afforded him of making the most of such mental endowments and acquired accomplishments as he possesses. We have in New Zealand what is probably the most broad-based, soundly democratic, and sanely Socialistic political system in the World. We are becoming, by a process of sane political evolution one of the most socially-developed communities in the world. We are becoming steadily more and more democratic and socialistic in the best sense of those terms. We seek to establish equity in all our social, political, commercial, and other relations. That is our social ideal and aspiration. We are slowly but surely attaining our ideal. We do not believe in militarism, but we recognise that until there is pretty general agreement among the great nations of the world against militarism. It would be disastrous for us. As a nation, to identify ourselves with anti-militarism. If we are militarist and conscriptionist, it is not because we believe in militarism or in conscription, but because the dire necessity of defending our country, our lives, and liberties, not to say homes and hearths, makes it impossible for us to be other than mili-
their obligations to the State.
Our entire legislative and legal system may be said to take it for granted that the State does direct and control things not in the interests of a party or of a class, but in the interests of the people as a whole. I am aware that too often things may appear to be far other than they ought to be, in view of the ideal suggested; yet, but for the fact that there existed some such ideal, the social units, which we call nations, could not exist at all.
Taking it therefore, that the Slate where (as with us) constitutional government obtains, honestly seeks, to the best of its power and ability, to direct things not in the interests of the few, or even the many, but rather in the interests of all, we cannot dispute the State's right to call, if need be, on the individual citizens, the beneficiaries of rational and constitutional rule, to help the State with personal service or such other aid as the State may deem expedient. A rational Socialism, I make bold to affirm, demands that much. What is sorely wanted is a "national" rather than a "class-consciousness," in the hope that a humanity or race consciousness will soon be duly developed. Socialists should, therefore, I affirm, be conseriptionists. Until a federation of the enlightened or whole world is realised, and an international justice and police system established, with power to deal with offending nations, just as our National Justice and Police Departments at present deal with individual offenders there must be occasions when it is the duty of every individual citizen to render what service he can—military, financial, or other—to the State. No citizen can acquire social or
Those who are loudest in their professions of altruism and Socialism are found too often to be prompted and influenced by a social creed that is the quintessence of selfishness. Even the most altruistic and humanitarian of us too readily forget or ignore the ethical imperative: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." We intellectually assent to the voice of reason and conscience in this connection, but when called upon to give practical expression, in conduct or action, to our conviction, we too often completely fail. We frequently hear people talking loudly glibly, and vehemently about human and natural rights, and making wild, extravagant, and declamatory demands upon communities or nations, upon which they have practically no legitimate claim whatever. These, not rational, but irrational, Socialists completely forget or ignore the fact that no rights can be acquired until obligations have been incurred. Until that point has been reached all human beings may be said to live on sufferance. No one would deny, I presume, that, in connection with social and political experience, one has no valid claim on society until one has done, or is at least prepared to do society a service. We come into this world, so to speak, by divine and human sufferance. We have obviously no enforceable rights. We may think and talk as we like about abstract human or natural rights, but the only rights we can really enjoy to begin with are those that our parents or the nation in which we are horn recognise or allow. In a word, we are born with no enforceable claims on society; and what valid rights or claims we acquire as we grow up will depend on the service we render, or are prepared to render, to, in the first instance, our parents, as proteges or delegates of the State, but chiefly to the State itself. Our rights and claims are, in the last resort, determined by our value to the community. So far as the majority of men (in fact, almost all) are concerned, the first twenty years of their life are passed in drawing upon the service of, and incurring obligations to, others, while doing practically nothing of economic value for others. Their obli-
Now, though during our earlier years we are of little or no economic value to society, and though we could never be of much real service to ourselves or to humanity but for the many services rendered, and being rendered, us, by humanity—or, to be more definite, by the community in which we live—we are found too frequently indulging in wild and reckless tirades against society; or, more particularly, that part of society constituting the nation to which we belong, and to which we most certainly owe all that is best in us. We modern Britons are as ungrateful offenders in this matter as can be found anywhere. We have either not read, or we have forgotten, the history of civilisation, and more particularly the part which our nation has played in championing and securing the liberties and privileges which we as an Umpire now enjoy. Did we but duly appreciate the privileges we enjoy as citizens of the Empire, or adequately realise the price paid for, and sacrifices made by our ancestors in securing for us, the political, social, and spiritual liberties which we enjoy, we would be found such loyal patriots that the ugly term, "Conscription," would never be heard among us. Even such a crisis as now confronts us as a people and as an Empire was needed to bring us to our senses: and I greatly fear that even this great catastrophe in the history of the Empire, and of the world, will fail to bring some of us to our senses. We have so long enjoyed the fruits of the labour and sacrifices of those who have gone before us—of those who have lived and fought and died for us—that we are politically, and socially, if not also morally and spiritually, demoralised. Others have sown, and we have reaped. Now the question comes: Are we worthy of the traditions we inherit, and of the privileges, political, social and spiritual, which we enjoy? Are we prepared to stand up for the cause of justice and of righteousness? Are we prepared to do for posterity what our fathers did for us? If we really arc there should be no occasion whatever to resort to what is called "Conscription." But, on the other hand, if there are able-bodied men of military age among us (and I believe there are) who are unconscious of any obligation, moral or other, in this connection, then I am firmly convinced it is the duty of the State to bring home to them a sense of their obligations and duty by resorting to Conscription. There never was a privilege enjoyed in this world which did not carry with it duties. We have all reaped abundant benefits from the labours and sacrifices of those
Conscription.
In a constitutionally-governed and in a sanely democratic Empire, such as ours is, Conscription involves no undue encroachment on the liberty of the subject or individual. Every right that an individual possesses is subject to conditions. His right to live even is conditioned by his conduct and action as a social being. If he has enjoyed the blessings of civilised government, it is but right and reasonable that he should serve his country, and, if need be, be made to serve his country in defence of the blessings and privileges of civilisation which he has enjoyed.
Now, while I think there can be no disputing the validity of my argument so far, it must yet be emphatically affirmed that, should the Empire (or even this Dominion)' resort to Conscription, duties, obligations, and responsibilities will he imposed on our statesmen, as the constitutional representatives of the people, which will demand most serious and deliberate consideration. The life of no citizen can be said to be entirely his own, or even entirely the State's. It must, I think, be regretfully admitted that, so far as our own men who have volunteered to serve their country at this critical juncture are concerned, the State has failed to undertake due legal obligations to make adequate provision for their dependents and relatives who have domestic claims upon them, or a vested interest in their lives. Every man and woman among us is under obligation to other individuals as well as to the State. If, then, the State is to commandeer the service of the individual, it becomes its bounden duty to under-take to discharge, as far as possible, the obligation incurred by the individual commandeered to other individuals, If
Now, the claims of the widow and the orphan are recognised after a fashion, by the State. That of the parent in indifferent circumstances is more or less grudgingly recognised. But I beg to direct your attention to the fact that there is another parent who has, to my mind, undeniable claims on the State in this matter, and his claims have, so far as I am aware, received no consideration at all from our accredited statesmen. I refer to the capitalist whose only capital is his sons. Has this capitalist—the father of sons of military age, and in sound health—no claim upon the State for the loss he incurs through injury to, or the death of, his son or sons in war? When, or rather before, Con-script ion is introduced among us, it will be the bounden duty of our statesmen to give earnest and fullest consideration to this question. In fact, they should have done so long ago in connection with the claims of those who have already so nobly volunteered their services to the State. It stands to reason, if one man acquires wealth by investing in land, or by refusing to undertake the duties of parenthood; or if he is a parent by exploiting child labour, that the State should make larger demands on this kind of capitalist than on the "parent capitalist," who expends all his earnings or income on bringing up and educating a large family. Can the State be justified in commandeering the lives of the sons of such parents, without making ample provision by a system of Government life insurance for the loss of such lives? There can be no possible doubt that the only capital possessed by the great majority of the people of this Dominion is their families, more particularly their sons. If, then, the State commandeers the service and lives of our sons, surely we are, in all equity and reason, entitled to, I shall not say consideration but rather generous compensation from the State for the human capital of which we may be for ever deprived. Every life commandeered by the State should, therefore, in all equity be covered by a State insurance policy in favour of those who have legal claims on, or a vested interest in, that life. The Romans and Anglo-Saxons put a value on every
It is quite possible that we may have surprises sprung upon us in the near future in the way of emergency legislation, and there is, therefore, all the more reason for giving full and careful consideration to the issues involved and difficulties to be encountered, if strict justice is to be done to those more particularly whose sole capital is their families.
For myself, I would have legislation introduced at the earliest possible moment, if our accredited statesmen deem it necessary, imposing a just and rational form of Conscription during the war. I should apply Conscription for military service (in the first instance) to all the physically fit between 25 and 50; and Conscription for non-combatant service to all the physically fit between 18 and 25, as also to all between 50 and 60. If is, to my mind, the height of cowardly bullyism to ask not to say coerce, boys under 21 years of age, who have acquired no voice in the affairs of the country, and who can have no adequate conception of what life really means or war involves, to fight for us, while the services of any man, married or single, between 25 and 50, are available. When these are exhausted, then let us draw upon the boys and the elderly. And yet there are hysterical females going about our streets calling boys of 17 and 18 "shirkers." In the case of married men of military age, exemption should depend on the number of their dependents. Single men and married men with no family should be called upon to serve before drawing upon married men with a family. Married men with one child should be called upon before married men with two, and so on. Lads of from 21 to 25, while subject to Conscription only for non-combatant purposes, should (have the right to volunteer for active service if they wished to.
There should be no exemption of the physically fit of military age on religious, ecclesiastical, or any other ground, for the Quaker (or such as he), suppose he and I share the same home, and a robber or enemy attacks us, why should I be called upon to do the fighting, and he confine himself to praying for my success in defending our home and lives? The most pacificist of ecclesiastics of military age, and "with-
Now, in the matter of permanent legislation in connection with the defence of our country, I would, by legislation, make it impossible for any man to acquire a vote—political, municipal, or other—in this Dominion unless he, when acquiring a voter's right, definitely pledges himself, if pronounced physically fit, to serve his country in any capacity that the exigency of the State, in such a crisis as this, demands. No man or woman should be entitled to a vote in the affairs of this Dominion unless they are prepared to serve their country (in case of emergency) in whatever capacity the interests of State demand.
In summoning the '"conscripts" for active service, justice demands that the sons of the wealthy land-owners and propertied classes he among the first drawn upon. Even in feudal times, the barons and land-owning gentry had to lead their sons and retainers to battle, There should, of course, be no exemption of men of military age on the ground that they are engaged in primary industries. For munition-making, commissariat, and other non-combatant purposes, the services of those under 25 and over 50 should be requisitioned. At the same time, the State should make ample provision for indemnifying all who—be they wives, children, or parents—have any claims upon those whose lives the State commandeers. Not only that, but those whose wealth consists of land, property, or large incomes from any source whatever, should be made to bear a financial burden commensurate with their wealth and their capitalistic interest in the country. Justice, too, demands (more particularly in view of our resorting to Conscription) that the question of the incidence of taxation should receive the fullest consideration of the Parliament of this country. It seems to me monstrous that a bachelor, with an income of. Say, £1000 year, should have to pay no more income tax than a married man with ten of a family who is in receipt of the same income! Justice, too, demands that the Government fully investigate the shameful exploitation of the necessaries of life indulged in by our middlemen. In view of the possibility of the adoption of Conscription, the duty of "commandeering" in this connection cannot, in all justice, be much longer shirked or deferred by our Government.
In the year 1086 William the Conqueror had a survey and record made of the lands of England, their extent, ownership, and liabilities. It is often referred to as the Great Inquest, or Inquisition. The record itself has been known since the twelfth century as "Domesday Book," or, more popularly, "Doomsday Book"—i.e., Book of Judgments, Just as the Bible may be represented as a Book of spiritual values and judgments, so "Doomsday Book" may he represented as (for its time) a book of temporal values and Judgments. The object of this census of land-owners, and record of the extent and value of their lands was to enable the Kings (or their Governments) to make a pro rata levy on the land-owners and capitalists of the time for the defence and government of the country.
What we want in these times, then, is a new Doomsday Book, or record of the land, capital, and capitalists of the Dominion, so that those who own the land, and are really Wealthy, and those who are in receipt of large incomes, can be called upon (by a pro rata system of taxation) to pay for the defence and the government of the country, and for providing adequate compensation to those who are injured in defending their country, as also to the relatives of those who give their life in their country's cause. It stands to reason that Conscription or the commandeering of the lives of our sons, should involve such a commandeering, by drastic but equitable taxation of the wealth of our capitalists, especially that of bachelors and married men with no children, as would provide adequate compensation to those who, directly or indirectly, suffer from injury to, or loss by death of, their bread-winners, or of members of their family. This would be host provided for by a comprehensive system of life insurance (at the expense of the State) for both volunteers and conscripts.
When some such adequate provision is made, then there can be no challenging the expediency or the justice of re-sorting to Conscription. If, as a nation and an Empire, we are on the side of righteousness in this war, then "shirking" on the part of the physically fit (who have no domestic ties or obligations of honour at home) is not only a sin, but also a crime. Conscription, therefore, of the' physically fit, which makes shirking impossible, and which, if carried out with absolute impartiality, involves no injustice whatever and is, indeed, the only just solution, is a national duty.
At the same time, I feel hound to admit that, in my opinion, the voluntary system has not, so far, been put to a fair test. If really adequate provision were made by the State for the injured, with, say, a minimum of 30s, a week for a widow, and 10s. a week for every child under 21, with free
It is painful to contemplate that a great nation like Germany, which seemed, like ancient Greece, to he gradually acquiring a pacificist ascendancy throughout the enlightened world, should prostitute its intellectual and cultural achievement to such sinister purposes. The glory of Germany has departed from her. Her fall and sin have been the result of knowledge and greatness divorced from rational morality and rational religion. We hear the prophet's voice across the ages: "Tins nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall he utterly wasted."
We long for the day when "grim-visnged war" will have "smoothed its wrinkled front!" We long for the time when "The Day" of Kings and Kaisers will be the Day of the Lord ! We long for the day, the day longed for by both Isaiah and Micah. When nations "shall beat their sword into plow-shares and their spears into pruning hooks;" and when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they study war any more."
I venture to give expression to our hope of the future in the following unpretending hymn (suggested by one or two well-known hymns) :—
Conscription for National Service can be fully justified at such a critical juncture as the present, on the ground that:
What are a young man's obligations to his country? Has he any? when he is born the world does he arrive full of rights and free of obligations? Does he not owe something to the State which protected his parents; to the free institutions which are the result of the blood and sweat and tears of his liberty-loving ancestor; to the thousand and one conveniences of civilisation which the taxpayers have provided for him? Does he start fresh and free on the day of his birth with no debt to his account? How about board and lodging due to his mother for the previous nine weary months? Has he repaid her for that and for all she went through for him? Has he repaid his debt to his father and the State for food and clothing for the benefits and protection of civilisation, and for free education? The real truth is that he born with a veritable mill-stone of debt about his neck, which becomes weightier and weightier till he reaches maturity. Up to then he has been unable to repay anything by social service or sacrifice Some young men seem debt, and apparently conceive that the State owes them an obligation for their presence in the community.
What a mistake ! If a youth is patriotic and tries to pay his debt, he is a priceless glory to his country, and can cancel the debt by this one great sacrifice of military service. But if he repudiates his debt, and denies that it is his duty to protect his country, his mother, and his sisters; and turns to live lazily at home while bravery, men do his job for him, then the sooner the country is rid of his presence the better. He should not enjoy benefits for which others lay down their lives.
Much controversy has been aroused in
"It is true that some of those who now advocate compulsory military service for the duration of the war—I speak of the members of the National Service League, to which I have myself belonged almost since its foundation—have for a number of years past been trying to convert the country to the principle of the "nation in arms." What they preached, and preached quite openly, in season and out of season, was that the defence of the country should rest as an equal obligation on all its citizens, that there should be a national militia—on the Swiss, not the Prussian, model—every able-bodied man being required in his youth to pass through a period of military training and being liable, while of military age, to be called out for home defence But this propaganda, I regret to say, never achieved any great measure of success. It was cold-shouldered by both the great political parties, while the bulk of the nation, if not hostile, yet remained quite indifferent to our warnings, and regarded the whole movement as a fad. When the war broke out, and all their warnings were justified, these old advocates of National Service, so far from trying to make capital out of the war for the furtherance of their own scheme, deliberately put their whole propaganda on the shelf, and have contributed little, if anything, to the demand which has now arisen from many and wholly new quarters for compulsory recruiting That movement is, indeed, quite distinct from anything that they ever contemplated or worked for. The essence of their proposal was the deliberate adoption of universal military training in time of peace, as the best means of preparing the nation to stand the shock of war, or haply to avert that calamity altogether.
"But there is no question, and indeed no possibility, of using the present emergency to set up National Service as a permanent system. What we are now dismissing is a temporary measure to meet art immediate need. The very last way in which those who believe in universal service at all times as the fairest and most efficient basis of national defence could have wished to see that system put to the test is by its hasty adoption in the middle of a great war. If, nevertheless, they support, as most of them no doubt do the demand for a temporary measure of compulsion at the present time, it simply because they believe in its absolute necessity if we are to avert defeat, and because, no doubt also, they agree with its underlying principle—equality of sacrifice."
The Socialist National Defence Committee, in a manifesto, declares that opposition to compulsion when out native land is being attacked is hypocrisy. It reminds organised labour that direct or indirect compulsion is the keynote of trade unionism. Every fit trade unionist not needed in war work who refuses to enlist is a humbug and a coward.
"That this conference heartily approves of any scheme having for its object the elimination of enemy trade from the Dominion, and undertakes to bring before the members of all affiliated associations the necessity for an immediate and active canvass towards the accomplishment of the suggestions set out in the objects of the All for Empire League."
"That the delegates here assembled to-night form themselves into an All for Empire League for the elimination of enemy trade from within the British Empire."
These resolutions, carried by the annual conference of the United Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association of New Zealand held yesterday, heralded the establishment of a new league—the All for Empire League. Sixteen foundation members—delegates to the conference—subscribed their names to the league, and threw upon the table the shilling which it was resolved should be the minimum subscription for member-ship within the league. Considerable enthusiasm marked the birth of the new league, for which a brilliant future, extending into every corner of the country, under the energetic activity of association members, was predicted.
The special preliminary objects of the league, as drawn up by an enthusiast who has devoted much time to the subject, were adopted as follows:—
In the outline given of the scheme special mention was made of the hopelessness of expecting that at the conclusion of the war there would be any general disarmament of the Powers or that in Germany herself there would be any sort of a revolution which would end for all time any idea of further Prussian aggression. The very platform of the Socialist Democratie Party showed the futility of such hopes, for it set out ambitions which involved the very supremacy of Germany and equally the subjugation of other races. Practically the whole German nation had become criminal lunatics, aiming at world dominance.
Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., one of the world's most distinguished chemists, and a former President of the British Association, in a stirring address delivered in Manchester on
Here are a few pregnant passages from Sir William Ramsay's address on that occasion:—
"I do not think it is even yet realized that Germany's methods in trade have been, and are, as far as possible, identical with her methods in war."
"'One thing has struck me in German tendencies (Sir William is quoting from a letter received by him from a Swiss friend); "'that is an unbelievable want of conscience. To grab the belongings of others appeared to them so natural that they did not understand that one had some wish to defend himself. The whole world was made for the field of German operations, and whoever placed himself in opposition to the accomplishment of this destiny was for every German the object of surprise. As a French poet wittily expresses it:
"'This animal is full of spite; If you attack him, he will bite.'"
"Under the German State there is a trade council, the object of which is to secure and keep trade for Germany. This Council has practical control of duties, bounties and freights; its members are representative of the different commercial interests of the empire, and they act, as a role, without control from the Reichstag. . . . Let me give you a simple case of the operations of that trade council.
"
Ex uno disce omnes. A certain English firm had a fairly profitable monopoly in a chemical product which it had main-" tamed for many years. It was not a patented article, but one for which the firm had discovered a good process of manufacture. About six years ago this firm found that its Liverpool custom was being transferred to German makers. On inquiry it transpired thatthe freight on this particular article from Hamburg to Liverpool had been lowered. The firm considered its position, and by introducing economies it found that it could still compete at a profit. A year later German manufacturers lowered the price substantially, so that the English firm could not sell without making a dead loss. It transpired thatthe lowering of the price was due to a heavy export bounty being paid to the German manufacturers by the German State.""
It is the bringing of the heavy machinery of State to bear on the minutiae of commerce which makes it impossible to compete with such methods. One article after another is attacked as opportunity offers; British manufacture is killed, and Germany acquires a monopoly. No trade is safe; its turn may not have come.""At the end of this war we shall have Germans again as trade rivals; it there is a German State our German rivals will be backed by that State. They will, as they have done before, steal our inventions, use trickery and fraud to cast us from world markets, and we know now that we need not expect any bargain to be binding."
"
Are you aware that no treaty, political or otherwise, with the German people, is worth the paper it is written on? That the country and its inhabitants have forfeited all claims to trust? That no one in future should make a bargain with a German, knowing that he is a dishonourable and dishonoured man?"
The "All for Empire League" has for its express object the elimination of enemy (and particularly German) trade and influence throughout the Dominion of New Zealand in particular and the Empire in general. Plank 7 of its platform is as follows:—
To aim as far as possible at the elimination of German trade within the Empire, by the adoption of an abso-
"
If we are Wise we Shall Bundle Every Hun out of the Empire."
The "All For Empire" League has for one of its objects "the elimination of enemy trade and influence, not only from New Zealand, but from every part of the British Empire."
Some people say this is impossible. But it is at least up to every man, when his very existence is imperilled, to take the necessary steps to safeguard himself and his friends from the attacks of an insidious foe, absolutely unscrupulous in the methods he adopts, and intent only upon accomplishing his will in the most thorough manner possible. Treachery, fraud, deceit, violence and murder become instruments of honour in German hands, ill only the supreme object may be attained.
We all know now the extent of Germany's ambitions—that she aimed and still aims at attaining the hegemony of Europe and the civilized world! Let those who think this is a capitalists' war, waged in the interests of Capital, read what the well-known Socialist writer (Robert Blatchford) has to say upon the present situation and the consequences that will befall. Britain and her people if she does not deal promptly and vigorously with the evils which have flourished in our midst and which only await the return to peace conditions to again wage war upon our commerce and industries:—
" "Germany's design to dominate the earth is carried on systematically, vigorously and unceasingly in times of peace as in times of war." . . . " "German news agencies, German journals, German spits, German liars, German professors, German bankers, traders, shippers, pilots, all work together upon an elaborate and prearranged plan. The liars who circulate false news and dirty libels in neutral countries are as much a part of the German war machine as the submarine service is a part of the navy, or the ordnance corps a part of the Army."If we are wise (Mr. Blatchford says) we shall bundle every Hun out of the Empire."Germany is always covertly at war, and German clerks, traders, travellers, merchants,
financiers, waiters, consuls, attaches, and ambassadors are part of the advance guard of armed invasion, and are at all times, and in all countries, under all circumstances, enemies. . ."
What is happening in America?
"Naturalised or unnaturalised Germans in America are plotting to blow up munition works, to sink ships, and to cam on a secret form of armed rebellion in America."
The "New York Tribune" says:—
" The conduct of the German and Austrian Ambassadors in the United States is notorious. Millions upon millions of Huns have invaded America and are now working in that neutral state under the leadership of German spies, consuls and ambassadors as enemies of the Allies and of all American citizens who are trading with the Allies. German plotters are everywhere. Persia has been for years a field for German espionage and intrigue. Germany actually had a school for educating spies in Antwerp. Germans are plotting in China and are trying to work up rebellion in India. They issue proclamations in Arabia, signed by the Sultan, the Sheikh-ul-slam, and Enver Pasha, calling upon all Indian Moslems to embark on a holy war against Britain and her Allies. . . Germans have fomented rebellions in South Africa, India, Persia, Egypt and Russia. . . Germans obtained control of the metal trade in Australia and have got their grip on the radium supply in Eng-land. . . German diplomacy, German commerce, German literature, German education, German finance, and German immigration are all parts of the hostile German conspiracy, and every German is a conspirator."A state of war actually exists in this country as the re-suit of the bombing of the factories.
M. Jules Claes, in his new book "The German Mole," says:—
"No country can, with impunity, grant to Germans the same advantages it grants to other foreigners, since Germans employ the advantages derived from hospitality for ends that are hostile to the country that giants them shelter."
"One of the most powerful, active, and important wheels in the great machine which Germany has sent forth to conquer the world is an extremely small one: the German clerk. He is the real microbe of the German epidemic. The German clerk presents himself to you in the most innocuous shape, e.g., he is recommended because he wishes to learn your language or business, and as one good turn deserves another he asks for no salary. On the contrary, if you wish, his father will take an interest in your business. Thus you are saddled with two Germans, and as you have contracted business and, perhaps, friendly relations with the father you cannot fail to give the son every chance of success. And you do this at the expense of your fellow-countrymen. Then, too, he is so active and serviceable—the first at the office and the last to leave—and you extol his good qualities everywhere."The Real German Microbe.—M. Claes has laid bare the German plan of peaceful invasion. He says:—
Hear Mr. Blatchford again:—
"Germany backs up her commercial warfare with her diplomacy, just as she backs her diplomacy with her arms. It was the policy of Germany in the days of the Hanseatic League to sow dissension between England and France, and to keep Russia from all European intercourse, so that the Hanse might monopolise Russian trade. The kind of peace policy I am advocating is a policy of war: Let those who prate about forgiveness ask themselves how soon the Huns will forgive them. The Germans envy us and hate us and will envy us and hate us to the end of the chapter. Nothing we can say or do will alter them. We can-not help it. But unless we are deceived, as in the past, by sentimental fools, we can and must take care never again to give our enemies a chance to hurt us."
We not only want to eliminate German trade from New Zealand and the Empire, but also to exclude Germans from the right of citizenship. Under the German citizenship law, signed by the Kaiser at Balholm on
Join the "All for Empire" League, which proposes not only to eliminate enemy trade and influence from New Zealand and the Empire, but aims at securing a clean, loyal and patriotic citizenship by promoting legislation making it impossible for alien subjects, the laws of whose country of origin permit of their retaining citizenship in that country while sub-scribing allegiance to another State, to obtain letters of naturalisation or the rights of citizenship in New Zealand.
Ferguson & Osborn, Printers, Wellington.—74340
lutely prohibitive tariff and increased shipping dues on all German and present enemy vessels visiting New Zealand ports.
It further proposes under plank 9—
To make traffic in German goods impossible in New Zealand by securing definite pledges from numbers of the League that they will not purchase goods made in Ger-many or of enemy origin from any merchant or store-keeper, and that they will not knowingly deal with merchants or storekeepers who have purchased German or other enemy goods since
Will you not help in this most laudable and patriotic movement by becoming a member of the League and using all your influence to induce others to follow your example?
Ferguson and Osborn. Printer, Lamhton Quay, Wellington—74228
The German in himself and in his trade had proved himself undesirable, and now was the time when his whole elan and effects should be swept for ever from our midst.
In the course of a general discussion upon the idea of forming the league to force public opinion upon the issue of making it impossible ever again for Germany to trade with this Dominion.
Mr. F. W. Manton (Wellington) pointed out that just before the war New Zealand had been deluged with offers of trade from Germany and Austria—from places of which we had never heard—and he knew for a fact that this was one outcome of the presence of German representatives in our midst. For practical purposes every German firm in New Zealand was a business spy. Mr. Manton also mentioned that since the war began a German in London had actually had the effrontery to send a representative to Wellington to endeavour to establish a company under the title of the Belgian Trading Company! Need-less to say that scheme had been nipped in the bud.
Mr. F. W. Mitchell (Dunedin) pointed out the good work the league could do in the way of influencing public opinion and forcing the Government to take action upon this matter.
Mr. A. J. Carlton (Wellington) indicated that substantial support had been promised to the league by influential men in the capital city, and also said that the executive of the Welling-ton Association would be prepared to actively undertake the inauguration of the league. He had every confidence in the ability of the Commercial Travellers' Association to carry the thing through to a successful issue.
Mr. A. E. Philps (Wellington) declared that such a league as this had to be started in order to secure the objects aimed at.
Mr. S. A. Orchard, president of the conference, heartily approved of the idea, saying that he was satisfied they had to get such a thing going. Although they were at war with Ger-many, he knew that German goods were coming into the country—goods might be bought in neutral countries in all good faith that, they were of neutral make, and yet they would be found to he of German origin. It was a downright shame that such things should be upon our shelves, and every effort should be made to prevent such an occurrence and strengthen the bonds of Empire trade for the future days of peace.
The motions already indicated were carried unanimously. The founders of the league were the members of the Conference of the United Association comprising representatives from Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch, each centre being thus pledged to actively assist in the propaganda to be undertaken.
At a further meeting of the Conference delegates held on Friday afternoon, Mr. James Brown, secretary of the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association at Dunedin. Mr. A. J. Carlton, secretary to the Association at Wellington: Mr. W. Garrett, of the Auckland Association, and Mr. H. B. Gould, Conference and Association Secretary at Christchurch, consented to act as interim secretaries in their respective centres, pending the formation of representative committees, and the appointment of such permanent officials as may be necessary in connection with the work of the League.
The subscription was fixed at a minimum of one shilling leaving it open with members to contribute larger sums in furtherance of the objects of the league.
Ferguson and Osborn. Printers Lambton Quay. Wellington-74311
In this small book I have endeavoured to compile a brief account, composed of extracts from the ship's official Diary, of the doings of the Maheno on her first cruise, as I think that such might prove of interest to the people of New Zealand, who so generously provided her equipment, and that of the Marama.
As the Hospital Ships return after each commission, I propose, if possible, to publish similar short accounts of their doings, so that the people of the Dominion may get some idea of the work that is being accomplished by these ships.
The proceeds of the sale of this and subsequent books, after the cost of production has been met, will be devoted to Red Cross purposes.
The ship was due to sail on
Owing to an unfortunate outbreak of sickness in Trentham Camp it was deemed advisable to take the precaution of having a thorough medical inspection of everyone belonging to the vessel, so as to avoid any possible chance of any outbreak taking place after the ship sailed.
The Maheno was moved into the stream at 1 p.m., and after the medical examination had been completed, a Medical Board, consisting of the Honourable Colonel W. Collins, Lieut-Colonel Tracy Inglis, Colonel Morice, Captain Harrison, Dr. Hector, and Mr. Hurley, assembled to decide whether there was any reason why the ship should not proceed on her journey. The Board came to a favourable decision, and it was decided that the ship should leave next day.
All ranks spent the evening in settling into their new quarters.
At 0.30 a.m. on Sunday, July nth, His Excellency arrived on board to say farewell and left at 10.30 a.m. Church Parade was held by the Rev. Lieut.-Colonel W. Gillam and the Rev. Major D. Dutton, and at 12.55 p.m. the anchor was weighed and the Maheno steamed slowly out of the harbour on her way.
All ranks felt that they were proceeding on a very eventful voyage—few had ever visited those parts of the world for which the ship was bound, and all felt that the Maheno carried the earnest prayers of New Zealand that her mission would be crowned with success.
The Governor had presented to every offer non-commissioned officer, and man of the Detachment a green and scarlet lanyard, as a sign of his personal association with the undertaking, and of the deep interest which he took in all that concerned the vessel.
It can be candidly said that all ranks only wished His Excellency could have accompanied the ship, but that, of course, was impossible.
July 11th found a good many of the Detachment cordially disliking the sea, hut they received one good piece of news, and that was the announcement of the surrender of German South-West Africa to General Louis Botha.
July 12th. We were, at noon, 290 miles from Wellington, and 1006 from Deal Island.
The inoculation of the Detachment took place gradually, and on July 15th the light-house on Deal Island was sighted at about 9.30 p.m.
The innoculation with anti-typhoid vaccine of the Detachment was carried out.
On July 16th we were 379 miles from Adelaide, and reached the Outer Harbour at 12.45 p.m.
On July 17th the Detachment was cordially entertained by the "Cheer Up Society" in Adelaide.
On July 18th His Excellency the Governor of South Australia (Sir Henry Galway, K.C.M.G.), accompanied by Lady Galway, visited the ship and expressed appreciation at everything they saw. The ship was coaled that night.
The Perthshire arrived on July 19th, and the coaling of the Maheno was completed on July 20th. The 8th engineer, Mr. Scott, developed measles, and was landed on the same date.
The Maheno continued her voyage, leaving the Outer Harbour, Adelaide, on July 21st.
On the 23rd the majority of the personnel were vaccinated.
A concert was given on board on the 24th. Between July 14th and August 13th demonstrations were given in the afternoons and lectures in the evenings to the personnel, by the officers.
There was a very successful fancy dress parade on the 29th July, the first prize being won by a nurse, and the second prize by Corporal Dunning, dressed as an old-fashioned doctor.
The ship arrived at Colombo on August 2nd, and both officers and personnel spent a very pleasant time there. Some of the officers and nurses went to Kandy. The ship left on August 5th.
There was a concert given by the nurses on August 12th.
The following day, the 13th, proved to be a very hot one, and owing to the heat, work was started early and ended by dinner time. On the evening of the 14th the personnel gave a return entertainment to the nurses in the shape of a mock court.
On August 16th we arrived at Suez. Captain Wood, the Transport Officer, came on board and informed Colonel Collins that 32 passenger nurses were to disembark at Suez; 15 to proceed to Cairo, and 17 to Alexandria. The
Naval Transport Officer, Captain Kendall, also visited the ship.
Colonel Collins visited No. 1 Stationary Hospital (Colonel McGavin) at Port Said on August 17th, and learned that the hospital started with 130 beds, then increased to 200, and finally to 450. The French cruiser Montcalm, and two auxiliary cruisers were passed at the entrance to the Canal, and we were very pleased to see the Indian troops; the Sherwood Foresters, and the Honourable Artillery Company lining the banks of the Canal. The staff of No. 1 Stationary Hospital visited the ship, and we left Port Said in the evening of the 18th for Alexandria. On arrival at Alexandria, the Sea Transport Officer, Captain Turveen, visited the ship, and gave us the information that we should proceed to Mudros. Lady Carnarvon came off and placed some gifts from the Order of St. John on board.
Several of the medical officers visited the Ras-el-Tin Hospital and examined Major Hey Groves splints, with which they were very pleased: the chaplains visited No. 17 and No. 19 Hospitals, and found all the New Zealanders who were there, very flourishing.
A great many troops were leaving the port for the front, and the harbour was full of troopships.
The X-Ray apparatus for the ship was taken on board and fitted, and the anti-tetanic serum from England was also received.
The Maheno sailed on August 23rd for Mudros, and previous to departure we took in a further supply of waterproof sheeting. Some wreckage was passed, consisting of four collapsible boats, but no living soul was on them.
We arrived at Mudros on August 25th. The harbour was full of men-of-war of various nationalities, including Russian, French, and British, a good many transports and two hospital ships.
Colonel Collins went to the Aragon and then proceeded to the Hospital Ship Liberty, where he met Sir James Porter, and received his instructions as to the destination and work of the Maheno.
Sir James Porter made an official inspection of the Maheno on August 26th, when we left for Anzac, where we arrived the same day, to find a destroyer and cruiser bombarding the coast immediately opposite to us. Several bullets came on board, which added excitement to the proceedings.
On arrival at Anzac we found the Hospital Ship Formosa taking in patients. We com-menced embarking wounded at 11.30 a.m., and on the 28th we left with 445 cases, comprising 333 cot cases and 112 non-cot cases, for Mudros. During the night of the 27th heavy fighting was in progress. We were visited on the same date by Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood, Major-General Sir Alexander Godley, Colonels Howse, Esson, Knox, and Major Holmes.
We carried 24 wounded officers amongst our patients, included in the number being Lord Charles Bentinck and Captain the Honourable Aubrey Herbert, M.P.—both these officers having been attached to Major-General Sir A. Godley's staff—the former being wounded in the abdomen and the latter suffering from dysentery.
We learnt with great sorrow that Colonel Thomas had been killed in action.
Early on the 29th the Hospital Carrier (the old German Derffinger) came alongside, (up to now there had been p9 deaths among our own patients) and we commenced the disembarkation of the wounded, everyone assisting in every way possible, including the crew and firemen, who gave great assistance in shifting
Some of the worst cases had to remain on board, and another death occurred on the 30th. We were ordered back to Anzac, and left Mudros on August 30th. We took Colonels A. Balfour and Buchanan, who were proceeding to the Peninsula to investigate the epidemics of diarrhœa, dysentery, and enteric. The worst wounds were caused by bombs and shrapnel.
A small percentage of the wounded were infected with lice. Great care was taken that a complete record was kept of all deaths which occurred, including age, religion, date of death, date of burial, and cause of death.
The following system of supervision was adopted:—Colonel Inglis had charge of the observation, isolation, A, special, officers, N.C.O's, D, E, F, and G Wards, with Captain McCaw to assist, who also had charge of the X-Ray apparatus; Captain Tolhurst had charge of B, C, H, and J Wards, with Captain Simpson to assist; Captain Spedding had charge of the deck and control of the Bacteriological Department, and assisted in the Wards when required. Colonel Collins held general supervision over the whole and acted as consultant, and no operations of any magnitude
were performed without a consultation between Colonel Collins, Lieutenant-Colonel Inglis, and Captain Tolhurst.
Owing to the ventilation of the B Ward not being sufficient a wind-sail was lashed to the ventilating shaft, which improved matters.
Major Holmes was put on board suffering from renal colic and enteritis, and Captain Rhodes with enteric, and General Johnston with gastric trouble.
On the 2nd September we began to take on board wounded, which included a large number of cases of dysentery and diarrhœa, and proceeded with 422 cases to Mudros, having called at Imbros on the way and picked up Commander Robinson, R.N., suffering from fracture of the humerus.
On arrival at Mudros we received orders on the 4th to proceed to England viâ Malta and Gibraltar, but this order was cancelled, and we commenced to transfer our sick and wounded to the Nile on the 5th September.
We were obliged to leave one of our personnel, Private Falla, suffering from scarlet fever, at Mudros, also Private McRae, N.Z.R., Canterbury, Corporal Malthus, N.Z.R., Canterbury, Private J. Glesson, N.Z.R., Auckland, Private Fraser, N.Z.R., Otago, Corporal Burn and Private Milne, Canterbury, all suffering from scarlet fever.
On September 7th we left again for Anzac. After filling up with wounded we left Anzac with 443 cases, comprising 328 cot cases and 115 deck cases, in all 1000 cases were passed through the vessel on this trip, and we arrived at Mudros at 5 a.m. on September 9th.
On the same date Sir James Porter came on board and told us we were to proceed to England, filling up with serious cases from Malta and disembarking our light cases at the same port. Several of the personnel were down with dysentery.
We had the first rain on the nth, since we left Port Adelaide, and arrived at Valetta at 1 p.m. the same date, we averaged 15 knots on the voyage from Mudros.
His Excellency the Governor, Field Marshal Lord Methuen, came on board with his daughter at Malta. Our orders to proceed to England were cancelled, and we heard that we were to return to Anzac. We discharged 328 cot cases and 98 walking cases in four hours.
Coaling took place on the 13th, and the personnel went ashore, and visited places of interest including the Governor's Palace.
His Excellency the Governor expressed his appreciation of the Maheno, and wrote to His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand.
Thirteen members of the personnel were laid up suffering from illness.
We left Malta on September 15th, and we quickly caught up the Guilford Castle, and arrived at Anzac on the 17th, and we commenced loading the same day. Our cases included dysentery, typhoid, influenza, diphtheria, etc.
A heavy engagement started on the 18th. and the number of patients was very largely increased. One of our personnel, Private Chidley, was very ill with dysentery.
The Maheno left Anzac with the following—
Colonial Troops (included in the above).
Orders were received to proceed to Malta. On the 21 st an SOS message was received from a French vessel, but she was over 300 miles away, and therefore it was impossible to do anything to assist her.
The ship was much overcrowded. Up to date, after four voyages to Anzac, the amount of surgical equipment issued was—Cotton wool, 250 lbs.; lint, 71 lbs.; boric lint, 39 lbs.; bandages, 131/3 gross; Billroths fabric, 81 yards; safety pins, 17 gross; Z.O. plaster, 3½ dozen; rubber catheters, 6½ dozen; rubber gloves, 51/3 dozen; Baritan gauze, 42 rolls; clinical thermometers, 12½ dozen; double cyanide gauze, 41 rolls; ribbon gauze, 21/3 dozen; ether, 19 lbs.; chloroform, 33 lbs.
The patients were disembarked on the 23rd, and Colonel Collins was congratulated on the expedition with which the undertaking was carried out.
Colonels Symons and Ballance, surgeons from London Hospitals, visited the ship, and expressed strong appreciation of the equipment and the facilities for disembarkation of patients.
Coaling commenced on the 24th. and General Babtie, Chief Medical Officer, came on board.
The three chaplains handed in to Colonel Collins a report to the effect that they had
visited the hospitals at Port Said, Alexandria, and Malta. That they had never heard New Zealand or Australian soldiers complain of their treatment, but on the contrary they had listened to many expressions of gratitude for the attention and kindness shown them.
On September 28th we found ourselves again at Mudros, and proceeded to Anzac on the 29th. We filled up mostly with medical cases on the 30th and proceeded to Mudros. A large mail was awaiting the ship there, and also medical stores which enabled our Bacteriological Laboratory to be made full use of.
On October 4th two of our patients died. On October 5th we disembarked 465 patients at Alexandria.
Colonel Collins proceeded to Cairo and visited Mena Hospital, where there were 60 New Zealanders, and also the New Zealand Hospital at Point de Kubbeh, Abbasiya, and saw Colonel Parkes and Major Maguire. This hospital can accommodate about 700 patients. All were doing well, and delighted with the treatment they received.
The Hon. Colonel Heaton Rhodes visited the Maheno on October 7th.
Embarkation of sick and wounded commenced on October 8th, and was completed on that evening.
Colonel Collins also visited Lady Godley's Home, which consisted of two houses, one for officers and the other for men.
The Maheno left at 10 p.m. for England. We had a great number of surgical cases on board. On the both we heard that the trans-port Ajax had been fired on by a submarine. We carried very few New Zealanders. The following are the names of New Zealanders who died on the Maheno up to this date:—Private W. H. Mann, N.Z.R., bullet wound in abdomen; Gunner, W. A. Adamson, N.Z.F.A., diphtheria; Private J. W. Sullivan, N.Z.M.R., bullet wound in shoulders; Private A. J. McDonald, N.Z.M.R, shrapnel wound in right shoulder; Private D. A. McRae, N.Z.M.R., bullet wound in chest and lungs; Private F. Litchford, N.Z.M.R., bullet wound in right side and chest. Up to now we had carried 2350 cases. The total number of deaths 58. Total number of operations 95. X-Ray work, photos 14, screen 9. The total number of New Zealanders carried, 331.
On the 14th October the ship was off Gibraltar, and the weather was getting cooler; the following day the sea was rough, and though there was a good deal of sea sickness, yet the patients did not suffer.
We were off the Needles at 3.30 p.m. on the 17th, and we went alongside the Empress Wharf, Southampton, at 9.55 a.m. Surgeon-General Donovan, D.D.M.S., came on board, and was very pleased with everything on the ship.
Colonel Collins handed to Surgeon-General Donovan a list of what was required to be done on the ship.
The Maheno was taken over by the Admiralty and placed in dry dock.
The personnel were allowed to travel over the English railways for half fare.
Colonel Collins proceeded to London and reported himself to Sir Alfred Keogh, and also at the Admiralty, and then proceeded to Walton-on-Thames to visit the New Zealand Hospital, which he found splendidly adapted in every way for the New Zealanders' needs.
Private Stevenson and a laundryman named Teague, who were sick, were accommodated at Netley Hospital while the Maheno was in dock.
Corporal Donaldson was taken ill and was attended by Dr. Vernon, of Charing Cross Hospital. Sergeant Bell, who had been in Ireland, was taken ill with enteric.
The bulldog "Jock" was unfortunately lost at Southampton.
The Maheno sailed from Southampton on October 30th, having taken Corporal Donald-son on board. Unfortunately the High Commissioner was unable to come and see the ship start. Private Stevenson and Laundrvman Teague were much better. The weather was foggy and inclined to be stormy on departure.
Colonel Begg, who went with the Main Expeditionary Force, and who was convalescent, took passage on the ship.
The 1st November was heralded in by very rough weather, and considerable damage was done to the X-Ray room and some of the deck cabins.
By the 5th the ship had run into warmer weather. Corporal Donaldson and Private Stevenson were better, but two other members of the personnel. Privates Tidy and Benson, were taken ill.
On the 6th Malta was reached, where orders were received to proceed to Mudros, and the damage to the X-Ray apparatus, received in the Bay of Biscay, was repaired.
The ship left Malta on November 7th for Mudros. A wireless message was received from s.s. Nore, saying that she was attacked by submarines, but she escaped.
After the first visit to Malta, a general order
was received, saying that no water was to be consumed unless filtered and boiled.
We arrived at Mudros on November 9th, and on the 11th proceeded to Kephalo, in Imbros, towing a hospital barge with us, and arrived at Anzac on the nth for the last time. It will be noticed that the ship visited Anzac on six. Occasions, twice carrying patients to Mudros, twice to Malta, and once to Alexandria.
Here the ship was filled up with 418 patients, 32 being New Zealanders. The Hospital ship Syria relieved us at Anzac, and we arrived at Mudros on the 13th, and left for Alexandria, carrying Lieutenant-Colonel Sir J. Rogers, Chief Officer of the Red Cross Society in Cairo, with us.
Before leaving Mudros, both verbally and in writing, Sir James Porter expressed to Colonel Collins his warm appreciation of the services rendered by the Maheno and her personnel.
We arrived at Alexandria on the 15th and commenced disembarkation of patients.
On the 16th November Colonel Collins received the report of Corporal Donaldson's illness from Dr. Vernon, who diagnosed it as malarial fever of the Tertian type; it was a great relief to know it was not spotted fever.
On the 17th the Maheno left for Malta, and arrived there on the 21st. Orders were received here to proceed to New Zealand.
The following passengers were embarked here, namely, 35 New Zealanders, 40 Australians, and one British officer. The 22nd was a very rough day.
On November 24th Port Said was reached. Here we embarked 113 convalescent enterics, and arrived at Suez on the 26th. All our Australian patients were disembarked at Suez, and we embarked 5 officers and 171 other ranks for New Zealand.
We saw Colonel Parkes, who seemed very well.
We took on board some bacteriological requisites, and the theatre trolleys were sent to No. 2 Stationary Hospital.
Private Haig was taken ill.
A debate was initiated on December 4th, the subect being "Is it advisable to adopt compulsory service throughout the Empire at the present time?" The speakers for the motion were Sergeant Ibbotson, Corporal Bett, Sergeants Williams, Hardy, and Harper; against, Privates McClure, Barlow, Tidy, Pattrick, and Corporal Dunning. The affirmatives carried the vote.
On the 5th December five of the personnel were down on the sick list, including one sister (Sister Burton). Private Cameron had an epileptic seizure on the 7th, and to the deep regret of all, died on the 8th of pneumo coccal meningitis, and was buried at sea,—the first of our personnel to succumb.
We arrived at Colombo on December 9th. and those of the patients who were able to go ashore were hospitably entertained by the residents. The Acting-Governor, Mr. Stubbs, visited the ship, and went round ail the wards. Mr. Waldock, Secretary of Lady Helen Munro Ferguson's fund, sent gifts on board for the patients, and Mrs. Stubbs sent off a lot of flowers. Colonel Muspratt Williams put up all patients, who were able to go ashore, at the Barracks for the night. The ship left on the 10th.
Rats made their appearance on the deck, and even on the bridge, on the 13th. Colonel Collins gave a prize for deck billiards amongst the patients.
Sister Muir was taken ill on the 16th.
The ship arrived at Albany on the 22nd December, and again the patients and personnel were hospitably entertained by the people.
Albany was left on the 23rd. On Christmas Day a telegram was received, wishing all the
During the cruise 141 operations were performed on board.
After an uneventful passage the Maheno anchored in Auckland harbour on the morning of
Their Excellencies had travelled from Wellington to greet the ship.
A civic reception was held at 3.30 p.m., at which the Mayor, Mr. Gunson, presided. We disembarked 185 of our enteric convalescents, and they were segregated temporarily in the old Exhibition Buildings until it was considered that all danger of infection from carriers had passed. The ship left the same evening for Wellington, arriving there on January 3rd, where there was another reception by the Mayor (Mr. Luke). On that date His Excellency the Governor came on board and proceeded with the vessel, first to Lyttelton and then to Port Chalmers. Before the ship arrived at Dunedin, Colonel Collins asked His Excellency to make a small presentation to Signalman Pattie, R.N., for his gallant conduct in effecting the rescue of a man who had fallen overboard during the voyage, which presentation had been sub-scribed for by all the personnel of the Maheno.
The patients who were on hoard received a civic welcome at Dunedin, over which Mr. Clark, the Mayor, presided, and speeches were delivered by His Excellency the Governor and the Mayor. Patients and personnel were naturally very glad to see New Zealand again.
So ended the Maheno's first commission, after a voyage, during which all ranks had worked loyally and happily together.
Printed by Whitcombe and Tombs Limited Christchurch
r is it the King of Sports?
As long as you pay your money it is a matter of indifference to me whether you take your choice or not.
But, of course, you know what I am referring to. Racing. Horseracing, for that matter. The Turf. The last word in sport, sportsmanship, and matters of that sort, or so I used to think. But one after another our most cherished illusions fade and sicken, grow dim and die, and among the most faded, of what once were the most brilliant, those concerning racing certainly occupy a prominent position. Not that I have lost all interest in racing. By no means; it has merely changed its nature. Nor that I no longer go to race meetings, but merely that I go for different reasons, and in a very different frame of mind.
Though one cannot go a-racing without going to race meetings, one can, as I do, go to race meetings without going a-racing. And I think that I enjoy my present visits to the racecourse quite as much as, on the average a good deal more than, those of a few decades ago. At all events, I never fail to get what I go for, a circumstance which places me upon a pinnacle of success such as but few attain who go a-racing. In point of fact, then, I have long ceased to look upon racing as sport, or racing men as sportsmen. The efforts of racing men to look like sportsmen, the attempts of racing writers to foster this delusion, superimposed upon a realisation of what it all amounts to, supply me with a never-failing source of such genuine amusement as I can get from nothing else, with the exception, perhaps, of some of the minor phases of politics.
Man is, practically always, at least a dual, in most cases a multiple, entity. Massey, the Premier, grows no turnips. Massey, the farmer, is unknown in London. That a sportsman should add racing, philately and the violin to his other interests
I do not wish to be misunderstood. I do not say that it is impossible for a racing man to be a sportsman. I do not say that he never is. But I do say that an owner very seldom, hardly ever, is in a position to exhibit any sportsmanlike qualities, and the average racegoer gives no evidence of possessing one drop of sporting blood. And that is why I derive so much amusement from "sporting" notes, which I read with avidity, and from the pose and bearing of those whose antics are based upon the assumption that racing and sport are synonymous expressions.
Of course I have raced. If to be accounted wise it is but necessary to have tasted of every kind of folly, I may be accepted as a kind of Solomon at six stone seven. Nor was my racing wholly devoid of incidents which bore a sporting complexion. My first day, for instance, will bear thinking about. At the urgent request of a neighbour, whose horse had gone wrong, I entered a horse for each of the three local events at our forthcoming meeting. True, there was but a bare month in which to get him ready, but in his absence these races were at the mercy of two stables whose heads were already booking bets with the local greenhorns. Even though I failed to upset their certainties, at least I could steady them, and restrict the scope of their operations. On the day the old horse won the three events, and when the crowd realised that he had the last one in hand, and the clever lot scraped to the bone, they put up a demonstration which for sustained vigour I do not think I have seen equalled. Never has virtue won a more signal triumph, or vice been more utterly crushed.
Of course, after that I kept on, but there is a great difference between a local meeting, where one knows every-body, and an open meeting in a strange district. Still, I kept on for a time, until it began to dawn upon me that I was getting precious little out of it. I am not referring to the pecuniary aspect of the thing. The man who proposes to race will be wise to put aside, and regard as lost, five or six pounds a week for each horse he intends to run. If money is of no object to him he probably will pick up some decent stakes, and there
In every other kind of sport, or sporting enterprise, that I had sampled, cricket, shooting, hunting, fishing, deer-stalking, my success depended in great measure, when not exclusively, upon my own personal skill, strength, activity, endurance. In some of them there were elements of danger, at least to limb, in others discomfort, cold, fatigue, or weary waiting, had to be encountered. In all of them I could feel that I had a voice in the issue, and had earned any success that came my way. But as an owner I simply paid one man to train my horse and another to ride him, and beyond that had neither lot nor part in the matter. A man who trains, and even rides, his own horse—ah! there I grant you is a chance to taste of sport if you like, but if racing were confined to that kind of man it would not bulk so largely as it does in the public eye; in fact, it would not be the racing that we are thinking about. If you could inaugurate a state of affairs in which every man rode his own horse, and betting was impossible, you would be putting racing upon a sporting plane, and incidentally would attract a crowd equal to that which now attends an amateur athletic meeting. But racing, as at present conducted, is based upon conditions which render it possible for the Epsom Derby and Melbourne Cup to be won by a spinster of ninety-five lying bed-ridden in Peru. Such a person could be "hailed as victress," could have her name "emblazoned on the deathless roll of winners, and would, most unquestionably, be quoted as an instance of rare judgment, combined with indomitable pluck, and all the other elements which go to make a sportsman of the racing type. And because that kind of role presented no attractions for me I pulled out.
On the other hand, I can imagine nothing more delightful, or more satisfying, than to be trainer in a well-appointed stable. To rear, perhaps from birth, the young ones, to handle them, to watch their progress, to try them out, to nurse them along, to grasp their different peculiarities, to overcome their natural and varying tendencies, to humour the shy feeder, to keep the doubtful legged one going, and finally to see his number hoisted, that, beyond doubt, is to drink deep of such joys as a sports-man may delight in. And when I see a jockey returning to scale I have a feeling that he, too, has lived the last two or three minutes. So, also, with all those who have been associated with the horse. But, upon the most liberal estimate, such as these constitute but an infinitesimal percentage of that vast crowd of "sportsmen" who throng our racecources, and build up by their numbers that reputation for sporting proclivities to which we point so proudly as one of our great national characteristics. What I have said about the trainer applies, of course, with even greater force to the owner-trainer, but from the number of owners which this class supplies must be deducted those who are completely destitute of the sporting instinct, and simply regard a horse, not with any pride or affection, but merely as a pawn in one of the dirtiest games on earth. It is characteristic of the turf that there is no clearly defined understanding as to what constitutes dishonesty in racing. "A cleverly executed coup" is an expression which covers much that has nothing in common with sport, unless indeed we accept the theory that custom has invested the word with a meaning widely at variance with its original significance. For my purpose it is enough to assume that although a thief may be patient, daring, clever, resourceful, all the rest of it, he is not a sportsman. That he risks exposure, disqualification, disgrace, is no proof of courage such as would proclaim him a sportsman. He is merely a sporting man, or sport.
It is not so much the actual racing man who excites my annoyance and derision as the being whom we are asked to accept upon the authority of the racing press. And, if there is not after all a great deal of difference between them, yet the racing press has, to a large extent, created the racing man, and determined his characteristics. We often read about a given novel holding the mirror to nature by the accuracy with which it depicts certain phases of character, but is it not equally true that numbers of people endeavour so to live as to reproduce from novels certain scenes and descriptions which have taken their fancy? And is this tendency wholly confined to little boys in suburban back yards who seek to live again the lives of Leather Stocking, or Captain Kidd? So, too, I cannot help thinking that I very often have a chance of noting the
But surely, you rejoin, there is something to be learned about racing, something that one has to know. At the very least surely one man may know more than another. About a horse, now? Do you mean to tell us that one man may not be a better judge of a racehorse than another? May he not be a more successful breeder? Does not one man win more races than another? And does not all this imply that there is something to learn, and that one man has learned it? Most unquestionably it does, but not to the extent, nor in the sense, that racing writers would have you suppose. All this stuff you read about a keen judge of a racehorse, a student of pedigrees, an authority on breeding, is, nine-tenths of it, pure unadulterated piffle. As a means of realising this, let us go a-racing. We can do this either by buying a few horses or by breeding some, and as buying will enable us to start the sooner, suppose we contemplate the purchase of a few yearlings, by way of seeing to what extent judgment is going to help us.
There was a time when I used to read with bated breath those articles headed "Stud Strolls Appendix A.—Page 47.
At later periods I was able to enter against each animal the price it realised and the name it received. I was then, of course, in a position to review the estimate of each in the light of its performances, and derived a considerable amount of enlightenment and amusement from the result. In justice to the scribes, I should add that the buyers knew no more than they did, and, when you come to consider, it is manifestly impossible for any man to gauge the possibilities of a racehorse by looking at him. Indeed, when not engaged in vaunting their powers in this respect, racing writers are prone to remark that "they gallop in all shapes." But take a concrete case. Two three-year-olds meet at level weights over a mile, which the winner, all out, compasses in 1.40, beating his rival by a length, say three yards and a half, or a fifth of a second. This is a clear and decisive win. The winner has "silenced the opposition," "carried too many guns," for them, or, in any way that you like to express it, clearly established his superiority. Yet he has only excelled the second horse in the proportion of one in five hundred. There may be "heads only between second and third," with a couple of others close up. Will any man risk his reputation for sanity by asserting that, two years previously, the buyer of the winner was able to detect that margin of superiority? Yet that is just exactly the statement that those commit themselves to who prate about a keen judge of a horse, and so forth.
Reports of sales make interesting reading two or three years later. If you could see a table giving the names of the highest priced yearlings in England, Australia and New Zealand, for each of the last twenty years, and another of their winnings, you would begin to realise to what extent judgment is of avail. Because, when one man bids two thousand guineas for a yearling, we know that another must have bid fifty less, while others dropped out at various stages. Similarly, when a buyer snaps up, for a hundred or two, what turns out to be a smasher, the question arises, whether he was exhibiting superlative judgment, or twenty others proved conclusively that they do not know a horse when they see one.
But surely, you will ask, if one star differs from another in glory, there must be some difference between horses, something that the eye can detect. No doubt. But only up to a certain point. There is a certain form of judgment which has, if nothing else, a negative value. If you were to yard a thousand fairly uniform sheep, and ask me to pick out the hundred best ones, it is extremely probable that after I had done so another could pick a hundred just as good. On the other hand, if I undertook to cull out the hundred worst ones, I think I could get pretty
The kind of judgment which finds out what a horse can do, and, equally important, what other horses can do, is to be found more often among trainers and jockeys than among owners, who get the credit for it. In short, it simply comes to this, that the man who can judge of a racehorse's abilities to win by looking at him, let alone by looking at a yearling, has not yet been born. It is the knowledge of this circumstance that enables me to extract so much amusement from the literary efforts of racing writers, and especially from the antics of those shrewd, farseeing, unimpressionable, racegoers who cannot push their sovereign into the totalisator until they have "had a look at the horses." Delicious!
Equally fatuous is all this bleating about pedigrees and breeding, stud-book lore, and all that kind of thing. Upon the ground of breeding there is hardly a horse in New Zealand whose success could not be explained in the light of his pedigree. True, his sire did nothing on the turf, his dam no more. Granted that neither of them has produced anything resembling a winner. All the same, "the thoughtful student of the stud-book"—priceless phrase—"will not be surprised" when he studies the extended pedigree. Staylace, by Bootjack out of Corset, on the sire's side showing two distinct strains of Compression, by The Screw, that renowned mare alternately referred to as a tap-root, a corner stone, and a fountain head, while on the distaff side—yes, I have seen the expression—he runs back to Ragamuffin, by Rags and Bones out of Muffin Bell, whose blood, transmitted through Indigestion to the fruitful Nausea, etc., etc. "Stout blood this, my masters," is the accepted expression which follows an exposition of the results of this form of research. But what does it all amount to!
I grant you that there are men who can reel off pedigrees for hours without a mistake. It is marvellous to listen to them, and often extremely interesting to hear the running commentary on the deeds of various animals, the history and vicissitudes of their owners, the coups they pulled off and didn't,
Students of pedigree seem to overlook the fact that Nature still has a word to say about breeding, and that she need not speak very loudly to effect most marked results. A bullock weighing 9981bs. is not perceptibly inferior to one of 10001b., whereas we have seen that a margin of one in five hundred is quite material at racing. And surely it must be apparent that, if we cannot judge a racehorse by looking at him, you are not going to do much better by studying his pedigree. The fatuous stupidity of the nonsense that is written about breeding was revealed to me a good many years ago by an article in "The Field," England's most stately sporting paper, upon the breeding of Melton, then at the zenith of his fame. In a column of closely reasoned small print, the writer proved to a demonstration that Melton (Master Kildare—Violet Melrose) was bred upon such lines that nothing short of being born with only three legs could have prevented him from galloping. How could it be otherwise when the name of Waxy appeared no less than eight times in his pedigree. "Stout blood, this, my masters." And, of a surety, it seemed so. But it appeared that Violet Melrose had produced some four or five other foals to Master Kildare, and not one of them had proved capable of keeping itself warm. I have always wanted to know whether the breeder of Melton was a genius, or the breeder of those others an ass.
It is one of our limitations that we can never know just what it is that constitutes that last essential excellence which enables a horse to win races. We cannot know whether a horse is merely unable to go any faster at the end of a race, or simply unwilling, tired of the thing, perhaps frightened by flogging, or in any case influenced by mental, not physical, considerations of which we can have no conception. We know perfectly well that many horses do refuse to do their best, and we call them rogues, sour tempered, jady, and other oppobrious names, but we can never tell whether similar causes are, or are not, at work to an extent quite imperceptible to us but sufficient to produce that astonishingly small difference, when expressed in mere figures, between a winner and a mere place-getter. Among human beings the widest mental and
Of all problems, that of breeding is one of the most complex. When Nature has decided upon the type of animal best suited to certain environments, she goes on producing it. Witness a thousand herrings or porpoises, rabbits or mice, sparrows or wood-pigeons. But when man tries his hand how marked the lack of uniformity! We prate about the evils of inbreeding. But take a pair of rabbits from the same litter, turn them out in an empty land, and let this country and Australia testify to the vigour of the inbred results. What trips up man is Nature's abhorrence of extremes. Two champions will not usually produce a third. That our best horses produce champions may be due to the fact that they have been mated with mares of but average or mediocre racing powers. But how often do our best racing mares produce anything notable? Many, if not most, of our successful brood mares have not raced. Prom that, and on other grounds, it is sometimes urged that the breeding potentialities of a mare are destroyed by an arduous turf career. Mere conjecture. The best mare we have seen for a good many years is out of a mare who raced long and fairly well. To me it would appear that the failure of a champion racing mare may be due to the fact that she is mated with a champion racing horse, and Nature steps in with the remark that this phenomenon business has gone far enough, and we must now get back to normal. However that may be, you will find, as I have already said, that the offspring of two champions will continue to excite the admiration of Stud Strollers, and to "set heads nodding" in the ring, but when you ask scribe or buyer to reel you off the names and breeding of the most successful horses during the last decade, you probably will form an opinion not at all unlike my own upon the question of judgment, whether in buying or breeding.
At this point, and more especially in view of what is to come, I think it well to step aside from my main theme and say a few words about racing writers, concerning whom I do not appear to have been complimentary to any fulsome extent. I can only say that those whom I have met have been exceedingly pleasant fellows, from whose companionship I have derived an amount of genuine pleasure and entertainment greater, I fear, than I have been able to return. And, if my remarks should appear censorious it is not the supply that I have any quarrel with, but the demand. If these gentlemen appear to me to write column after column of abject nonsense, they do not in that respect differ very widely from some of our most prominent writers on political and philanthropic questions.
I am one of the few inhabitants of this terrestrial ball who do not consider that they could run a paper better than those who have undertaken to do so. If much that is printed appears to me to represent the uttermost limits of fatuous imbecility, I realise, too, that a great deal of what I am interested in is regarded by many as stodgy and uninteresting beyond endurance. A newspaper is a commercial undertaking. It is started to supply a long-felt want. And a successful paper is most unquestionably a reflex of the intelligence of the public, or of that portion of it to which it appeals, and successfully, for support. Thus the amount of space devoted to sport by a country's press is an indication of the amount of interest which the public takes in such matters. In the same way it must be assumed that the intellectual standard of the matter supplied may be accepted as the standard of that intelligence for whose consumption it is provided. Nothing, I am assured, is more fatal to journalistic success than to write over the heads of your readers. Nor should our racing writers be hurriedly accused of disregarding this principle. The plain truth is that there would be no horse racing if there were no betting, and it is the unhappy lot of racing writers to cater for those who think that they can make money by backing horses. If there is anything lower than this in the scale of human intelligence it has escaped my notice.
And now we have reached the question of betting. Of course, I have betted in my time, and for that matter still do so upon occasions. The horse comes from this district, it may be, or, perhaps, belongs to a neighbour; possibly I have friendly memories of the old mare, his dam. Or it may be that yesterday in a longer race I noticed that he ran very well for the distance of this one. Whatever the reason, I have a kind of feeling that it would pain me if he were to win without me being associated
Then I felt that I should stand dishonoured as a sportsman if I failed to invest on every race. What? Distrust my judgment? Tamely admit that I could not pick the winner? Oh, come now, really! Of course, I am not in the confidence of owners. Influences may be at work which will determine what horse shall win. That is what adds the spice of uncertainty to what otherwise would be a tame and uninteresting proceeding. But as to what can win—why, look here! At Dunedin Bootjack gave Bootlace five pounds and ran him to a nose. Today they meet on level terms. Anyone can see that The Cobbler is not ready, and yesterday we all saw Highlow stick his toes in. The top weight? Not this journey. To win under that weight is not his party's form, and the distance is a bit far for Balmoral. Yes, you are quite right, Shoestring reads well, if it were all live weight, but a stone and a half of lead is steadying. Why isn't Jones up, even at a couple of pounds overweight ? And so on. The type is by no means extinct.
Of course, there is betting and betting. For instance. You and I are looking at a pen of sheep. You put them at 601bs. freezing weights, while I assess them at 58's. A spirit of antagonism obtrudes itself, which need be no more unfriendly than that engendered by a game of chess. Finally, I offer to bet you a fiver on it, and, the offer being accepted, we arrange that the factory weights shall be supplied to us. When a note arrives indicating that they have gone 57½, and I pocket your five sovs., I do not say that I am wholly blind to their monetary value. But, beyond all that, I regard them as counters, so to speak, indicating that my judgment has been vindicated when personally and intimately pitted against yours. In the same way I may bet you that my horse is faster than yours, or that any one horse is faster than some other one. The issue is a direct and personal triumph for one of us.
But when I go to a bookmaker to back a horse I am simply engaged in a sordid attempt to make money. He does not back his opinion against mine. He has no opinions. As soon as he begins to think he can pick winners, and to frame his book accordingly, he is very apt to come to grief. He regulates his prices according to the opinions of others. Although he knows that some horse must win he will cheerfully lay against them all. Certainly, I do not want him to learn to respect my judgment, for that would shorten the prices I could get from him
Upon his return from the course, ask a sport what sort of a day he has had. Does "Tip-top" mean that the weather was perfect, that he met a lot of friends, that fields were large, the starting good, the finishes exciting? Does he elaborate about the excellent quality of the two-year-olds, the great performance of the principal winner, the records that were broken, the horsemanship that was displayed ? Or does "Rotten" imply that the weather was most disagreeable, that he was not very well, that bad starting deprived the racing of a great deal of interest, that some horse he particularly wanted to see was scratched, that the course was in bad order, that times were slow and finishes hollow? Pooh! That was not he went for. He has made twenty, or lost a tenner, and nothing else signifies. And be sure that the newspaper report, which commences with congratulations upon unprecedented success, will at once explain that the totalisator receipts exceeded all previous records. That is always the first item. Lower down, among the letter-press, it may be mentioned that some very notable performances were put up, but you have to read patiently to reach such purely incidental occurrences.
Of every race you are informed that some horse "held pride of place," "closely followed" by some other, while "solid support was forthcoming" for a third. At times, indeed, some spirited writing is indulged in to describe the incidents peculiar to this most important phase of the proceedings. "At the outset Staylace was in strong demand, but shortly a pronounced move was made in favour of Shoestring. Supporters of the son of Bootjack, however, were not to be denied, but, rallying to his support, reinstated him at the head of affairs, until a strong demonstration in favour of the representative of St. Crispin (the periphrastic method is highly favoured) placed the bay gelding ahead of the brother to Bradawl"; and so on and so forth. Let our racing authorities hang up eight prizes of a thousand apiece, for as many races at weight-for-age, from half a mile to two miles and a quarter. Let six or eight of the best horses in Australia come across in search of them. Of course, we should all be present at one or other of the meetings; no sport could afford to lose or damage his reputation as such
Yes, fools. I am no moralist. Whether it is sinful, or merely human, to try to get something for nothing, as the moralists so ignorantly put it, is no concern of mine. All I do know is that, take him by and large, the person who thinks that he can make money by backing horses, and they bet for no other reason, is by long odds the biggest fool beneath the bending vault of heaven.
Viewed simply as a mathematical proposition, backing horses is a rank absurdity. In any country where the totalisator and bookmakers exist side by side the machine always gives better odds than the bookmaker. Even when the latter professes to lay totalisator odds, it is always with a limit. In this country he has never paid out more than ten to one, though the machine might be paying fifty or a hundred, and, inasmuch as those who wanted to back an extreme outsider naturally preferred to do so with the machine, the result was that when such an animal got home the books often had a skinner. Now, the result of backing horses through the machine is that the average man puts in eight pounds and draws out seven. Prom my point of view, it is hardly worth paying eight visits to the paying-in window, and one or two to the paying-out, merely for the sake of losing a pound. But, you see, the average man considers that in general shrewdness, judge of form, luck, or some other mysterious quality, he is so much superior to the general average that he can convert those eight pounds, not into seven, but into nine, nineteen, or it may be, ninety. And that simply proves what a fool he is. I once worked out some tables by which I sought to ascertain the odds against a man winning a given sum. They were very curious, and I need only submit the first stage in order that my readers may make their own calculations. Eight men each invest a pound apiece on eight races. One of
Of course, the foregoing are dry-as-dust academical considerations, which, obviously, cannot be expected to appeal to your breezy, joyous sportsman, who is out for a day's sport, sah, and is glad to get away from the region of musty, fusty formulas and all that kind of thing. All the same, I have noticed that his professed contempt for money does not interfere with his active pursuit of it, and I have certain vivid and lasting impressions of the kind of being one is forced into contact with in the approaches to the machine. Indeed, you may say of the average backer that, when he is not boasting about his wins, he is acquiring a sportsman's reputation for ability to take his gruel by greatly overstating his losses, and, quite incidentally of course, his resources. I know one of this breed who attends every gathering in the province, and never loses less than twenty-five pounds a day. Or so he says. Just exactly what particular sporting attribute there may be about winning or losing a given sum of money I never have been able to understand, but it is obvious that the question of racing cannot be discussed intelligently in the spirit which shares my inability. All the same, let us proceed with our investigations.
The whole thing was explained to me, a good many years ago, by a trainer who has no superior in the Southern Hemisphere. Cocking his head on one side, and looking at me with a whimsical expression, he said that he always had a feeling that perhaps I might wonder why he never "told" me anything. I at once replied that I expected nothing of the kind. Racing was his business, and I could not expect it. "That's not it," he replied with a grin, "though I wish others would take your view of it. The fact is I don't know anything." Then, impelled, perhaps, by what he saw in my eye, he proceeded to enlarge. "Of course, I know a good deal in a way. I am on the track every morning. I am at all the principal meetings, and all that. I ought to know something about the game by this time, and I believe I do. But my knowledge is not of the kind that would be of any value to you. All I know for certain is that I do not know enough to pick winners. Nor does any man who knows anything about racing. If the best horse always won it would be different, but apart altogether from pulling and foul riding, it is pretty safe to say that half the races might just as well be won by something else, and that if you ran them three times you might get as many different winners." Then he lapsed into details. "Now I have a horse in the next race. If he draws a good place, and if he is not kicked at the post and if they do not keep him fiddling too long, and if he is on
"That's how it is with us trainers. Any one of them will tell you the same. But there is another fellow who is supposed to know more than the whole lot of us, and who, in fact, does know as much as it is possible for anyone to know. Yet, if you ask him all he can tell you is that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, the whole jolly lot of them must make a dead heat of it. He is the handicapper. He knows the horses. He has seen them run again and again. Any barber or barman in the country can give you the winner in one. But the handicapper cannot pick any one horse that has a pound the best of it with any other. His tip is a dead heat between the whole lot. If that does not occur it is not his fault. To give him a fair chance you must have a perfectly straight course, a perfectly even start, perfectly equal jockey-ship, and every horse must run in a perfectly straight line, as if between, strings, so as to ensure that they all travel exactly the same distance. We all know that not one of these conditions will obtain, so it is pretty plain that you can get no tips from the handicapper. A trainer may know that he has a pretty good maiden, or that his horse has come on wonderfully in the winter; perhaps he may have shaken off some ailment which kept him a stone and a half under his true form. These things happen to me, but they also occur in other stables, apart altogether from the bottled-up ones. No, Sir, I may put an occasional pound on for the wife, on some favourite of hers, but I don't bet myself.
"I realise, of course, that if you were to print the foregoing on a card, compel every backer to learn it by heart, and force him to repeat it aloud before every meal, you would not wean him from betting. His vanity would continue to assure him that he was the one bright exception to an all but universal rule. I am merely trying to convey to the ordinary reader some con-
Being what he is, it need not surprise us to find the backer guilty of the most amazing imbecilities. A confident authority on form, he is equally sound upon the question of odds. And a pretty exhibition he makes of himself in consequence. Take an instance. Ever since the weights came out he has been, I will not say confident or persuaded, but absolutely certain, that Bootlace cannot fail to win the Cup. Performances, weight, track work, all point in the same direction, as does every bit of information our friend can gather. On his way to the train a bootlace lies across the path. A little further on his own bootlace comes untied, thus claiming his attention. In the train he sits opposite the most charming of boots surmounted by lace beyond compare. What more could you ask for? But upon arrival at the machine he finds that Bootlace is at little more than two to one. His language implies that this the the result of some concerted plan, on the part of the stewards, perhaps, devised for the express purpose of robbing this particular individual. But he lets you know that sees through it. They (whoever "they" may be) can't have him like that. He has seen too much of the game. Two to one! Not much! He is really affronted to think that anyone should presume to attempt such a thing with him. And finally, by way of showing what a keen blade he is, he proceeds to back something else, which, five minutes previously, he was perfectly certain could not win. That the odds about Bootlace are shorter than he expected is an excellent reason for keeping his money in his pocket, but, after he has formed the opinion that nothing but Bootlace can win, his action in backing something else shows that if he had just one degree less intelligence we should have to feed him with a spoon. Yet I venture the assertion that something like 98½ per cent. of those who back horses are guilty of this form of stupidity. That is what all these consultations mean, with these continual glances at the machine.
After all, what but imbecility can be expected in those whose mental status is sufficiently indicated by our racing literature? I have already glanced at "Stud Strolls" and "Paddock Rambles," but did you ever read those track items or training notes ( Appendix B.
Consider, too, the question of newspaper tips. In this country an enlightened Legislature has made them illegal. Why, I cannot imagine, though its action has been attributed to a desire to limit incentives to betting. But that there is a keen demand for them is proved by the devious devices adopted by certain journals to get behind the law. Of course, they do not tip the winner. Oh, dear no! Nothing could be further from the intention of these virtuous, respectable, and essentially sporting publications. Because, you must know, it is a particularly sporting thing—I do not say sportsmanilke—to adopt any dirty device by way of gaining an advantage over some more decent rival who honourably observes alike the spirit and the letter of the law. If a paper chooses to publish on the morning of a meeting a paragraph about one, and only one, horse engaged in each race, what about it? Surely it is not tipping to remark, in the most casual manner, that Bootlace, who happens to be engaged in the Helter Handicap to-day, would have won the Skelter Stakes last week but for being most cruelly pocketed. Surely this is no attempt to take a sneaking advantage of a decent contemporary which plays the game I By no means; it is merely sporting, and would not be worth mentioning save as evidence of a demand for tips. Yet surely no two doctors could certify to the sanity of anyone who would pay the slightest attention to newspaper tips, let alone ask for them. Indeed, of all evidences of fatuous and maudlin stupidity surely nothing is quite so egregious as this. The demand for
I imagine there are not many sporting writers whose salary runs into two figures per week, or ever gets out of the teens. Yet the intelligence of backers supports the belief that these gentlemen are both able and willing to supply information out of which one easily could make a thousand pounds a day. You can't beat that. And these keen blades cannot restrain their laughter when they read of housemaids who spend an occasional half-crown with a fortune-teller. But the backer of horses is a firm believer in the value of tips and opinions other than his own. Even when he has formed an opinion for himself he has an idea that the animal selected is less likely to suffer from any of the hazards which our trainer has referred to if he can find someone else who shares his opinion. A newspaper tip which confirms his own opinion is regarded as something you could put your shirt on, while when they differ you find him remarking that, after all, these newspaper chaps cannot always be right. The correctness of this latter view may be gauged by anyone addicted to research. I have before me as I write a table "Betting and Gambling," by B. S. Rowntree, p. 234.
But even of this form of credulity there are some examples more fatuous than others. In England there are scores, perhaps hundreds, of advertising tipsters, who, in return for a given sum, will supply a specified number of tips. By distributing the horses between their subscribers they naturally are able to refer to those whom they put on to a winner.
If twenty million persons engage in tossing pennies, it is, mathematically speaking, inevitable that a score of them will toss head twenty times in succession. It need not surprise us, then, to find that men have risen by betting from the position of stable boy to die worth six figures. Indeed, if nobody ever won there could be no bookmakers. But this does not affect the fact that the book must win in the long run, and so must the machine. With the latter you will be somewhat longer over losing a given amount, but that you will lose it is as certain as
In justice, however, to the backer, it should be remarked that he is by no means alone in his folly. Anyone disposed to gamble can always find plenty of assistance. The financial columns of many journals are quite as amusing as any Training Notes. I particularly enjoy those imaginary conversations between financial experts (on two pounds or so a week). Sometimes the scene is a railway carriage on the way to "Town," or it may be a smoking room, but wherever it is the various members of the gathering juggle with Kaffirs, and Home Rails, and so on, as lightly as Cinquevalli with billiard balls. In print that is. Market reports bear out their predictions no more frequently than racing reports agree with racing tips. But they have a steady job satisfying a perennial demand for their compositions, which merely shows that wherever you meet him your gambler is always the same abject ass. That men may make money on 'Change is no reason why complete outsiders should imagine that they can do so by following newspaper tips.
Still, admitting all this, I shall be told that the general effect of racing is good, inasmuch as it improves the quality of our horses. As far as that goes, I grant you that for my own riding or driving I like something with a large admixture of the thoroughbred, while not overlooking the remarkable value of a dash of pony. That is all right as far as it goes. But when you tell me that the object of racing is to improve the quality of our horses, I can only reply that of all the insolent misstatements in the annals of misrepresentation I know of nothing to excel this one. I do not know what vague or chimerical ideas may be floating around in the brain of any or every man who may own a brood mare or so, though I could tell you what reasons have prompted me to keep one, but to anyone with a knowledge of the rules of racing, to anyone who has attended a race meeting or even read the report of one, it is perfectly obvious that the sole end and aim of racing authorities is to provide facilities for betting. I am perfectly aware that among stewards, committeemen, and owners, there are plenty who do not bet. That proves nothing, except that they appear to agree with me about betting. Nor does it shake my contention, which can be tested by sitting in an armchair and studying the news-papers, that the goal of all racing authorities is "a good betting race."
Improve the breed of horses! Is that the explanation of the system of handicapping? Is that why men are paid hand-some salaries so to adjust the weights that the worst horse in the race shall have the same chance as the best? What would be said of an Agricultural Show where the Merino Cup went to an undersized wether carrying less than seven pounds of wool, while rams and ewes carrying nine or ten pounds were unplaced; the Clydesdale Championship to a weedy gelding; and the Red Ribbon among cattle to a Jersey steer? Yet have we not just seen the richest prize of the year (
But, we shall be told, the racecourse is the convincing ground, the racehorse is subjected to a searching and strenuous test. I know. And what then? Prince Palatine is sold for 45,000 guineas; 50,000 would not buy Pommern. What is their destiny? To what uses are they put? Will they be employed in the production of those remounts, chargers, artillery horses, about which racing men are always talking ? Hardly. Carbine was sold for 13,000gs. To what extent has he improved our utility horses? How much has his son Wallace done in the same direction? Will Trafalgar, the son of Wallace, be so employed? The racecourse is the testing ground! Quite so. And it is only those horses which the racecourse reveals as useless that are available for the production of these remounts, etc. Useless, that is, for racing purposes. May we not ask, then, whether it is worth while employing all the machinery and pharaphernalia of racing simply that we may discover the worst racehorses and use them for "improving the breed" of our utility horses? The question looks like a somewhat urgent one. And if you refer me to my own statement about the difference between a winner and a mere place-getter, I ask again why should we take such an infinity of pains, and waste so many millions, merely to reveal that small margin of difference? On the other hand, if the difference is as great as the difference between the value, or anyhow the selling price, of Pommern, and the average horse available for producing utility horses, a difference, not of one in five hundred, but of anything between 100 and 500 to one, how is it that these terribly keen, alert, shrewd, racing men cannot discern that difference without "submitting the issue to the supreme arbitrament of the course?"
Other people engaged in breeding animals, farmers, poultry breeders, dog fanciers, and the like, just ordinary, hum-drum members of the workaday community, manage to get what they want without converting the whole country into a gambling hell? For fine wool they have produced the Merino, for coarse the Lincoln, for mutton the Southdown; for beef we have the
Anyhow, thoroughbred blood is not the only element that goes to the making of a useful horse. The Clydesdale, the Suffolk Punch, the Percheron, for example, are just as essential, but breeders of these have managed to establish and maintain a high standard of excellence without plunging the whole country into a vortex of gambling. The Clydesdale or Shire Championship is determined and awarded without the assistance or intervention of all the rogues and blackguards in Christendom. I do not suppose that one racegoer in a thousand has ever heard of "The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft." Let me quote one extract:—
To-day's newspaper contains a yard or so of reading about a spring horse-race. The sight of it fills me with loathing. It brings to my mind that placard I saw at a station in Surrey a year or two ago advertising certain races in the neighbourhood. Here is a poster as I copied it into my notebook:
"Engaged by the Executive to ensure order and comfort to the public attending this meeting:—
The above force will be employed solely for the purpose of maintaining order and excluding bad characters, etc. They will have the assistance, also, of a strong force of the Surrey Constabulary." I remember once, when I let fall a remark on the subject of horse racing among friends I was voted "morose." Is it really morose to object to public gatherings which their own promoters declare to be dangerous for all decent folk Everyone knows that horse racing is carried on mainly for
Those last dozen words appear to be applicable to those who, at this crisis in the world's history, defend not only the continuance but indeed the increase of racing in our midst, by resorting to the snuffling cant, the maudlin hypocrisy, of saying that racing is essential to the supply of remounts. Appendix C.—Page 50.
From this digression I return to the point that breeders of the other elements in remounts manage to arrive at a decision as to the respective merits of their animals without resorting to betting. Nor do they degrade themselves, and insult their hearers, by any concealment of their real motives, or any indulgence in professions of patriotism, or drivelling references to remounts. They will tell you, quite honestly and straight-forwardly, that they breed horses as a means of making money. And if the breeder of racehorses would but speak the truth, he would drop all this nauseous piffle about improving the breed, and tell us that all he wants is to breed a racehorse which shall be about, a length faster over a mile than any other.
The suggestion that, if racing were abolished or diminished, the thoroughbred horse would become extinct, or suffer in quality, is negatived by what man has done in respect of other animals, and indeed other kinds of horses. If it comes to that, the most remarkable specimen of a thoroughbred horse I ever encountered owed none of its excellence to racing. It was a Timor Pony in Java. I had been much interested and a good deal amused by the roguish enthusiasm with which these little rascals scampered about in front of various vehicles at one and eightpence an hour, but these feelings were to merge into something deeper upon closer acquaintance.
Arrived at the foot of a mountain at 10 a.m., I was introduced to the means of conveyance up its slopes, in the shape of a pony mare, whose wither was exactly level with the middle
At the start she behaved abominably, chucking at her bit, sidling about with her ears back, going very short, and, in a general sense, misbehaving herself atrociously. But at a word from the boy I let her assume the lead of the procession, when she at once became as demure as a Quakeress, and remained so for the rest of the trip. Our path—it was nothing more—lay up a mountain 1500 feet high, whose side was crossed by many rocky gullies. As we approached the first of these, and I saw the patches of bare smooth rock below, I felt a good deal like dismounting and walking. But in the East a white man does not do that sort of thing, so I merely withdrew my feet until only my toes touched the stirrups, so that when she fell, as seemed inevitable, I would simply stand erect while she slipped from under me. But she was as safe as a goat, and the thoughtful precision with which she picked her way down one side was equalled by the ease and determination with which she breasted the other. Finally, when, at 12 o 'clock, we reached our destination, she had not turned a hair. I say that neither in the hollow of the shoulder, where a horse sweats first, nor under the straps of the bridle, had she turned a hair. Fifteen stone, eleven hands and a half at most, two hours uphill at midday, in a climate where no one who can help it stirs outside between eleven and four, and every vehicle has its canopy! Trained to the hour, what more could Carbine have done? When the boy removed the saddle, preparatory to dousing her with numerous buckets of water, she was found to be wet under those inches deep of blankets, which it would make one sweat to look at, but nowhere else. And then, as I began to realize what she had done, and how she had done it, I walked round and round her trying to find out where she, got it from. Judged by any equine standard that I had met with in half a century among horses, I found this an impossible quest. All could see was a very small, but faultless, specimen of the thoroughbred. She had an antelope's muzzle, a broad forehead, a full dark eye, delicious ears, a skin like satin, a mane and tail like silk. Her bone was like glass, and when I picked up her
I have dwelt upon this experience because I could hardly write about horses without referring to it, and because it serves to emphasise the contention that racing is not essential to excellence, not to say perfection, in horses. Racing has produced nothing finer than this tourists' hack, purchasable for a tenner, I dare say a fiver. Whether she was the product of natural or supervised selection, she exhibited everything to be found in the 50,000 guinea Pommern, size alone excepted. And her size amply sufficed for the work she was intended for, as the Javanese are distinctly on the small side.
No, this "improvement of the breed" theory wont wash. It really wont. As I have said, the object of any racing club's ambition is not difficult to discern. Membership of a committee constitutes a remarkably easy way of acquiring a reputation as a prominent sportsman. You need not blister your hands, or fire a shot in anger. The mere act of holding down a padded chair for half an hour once a month confers upon you a sporting reputation which you could obtain in no other way. And the one thing which racing authorities are most concerned about money. Upon their own showing they wish to establish a fund, out of which certain public-spirited persons, patriotically concerned about the future of our remounts, may be recouped the expenditure which their devotion to great national interests has imposed upon them. Yet this worthy purpose is equivalent only to the chasing of a particularly elusive form of will-o'-the-wisp. For, in exact proportion to the increase
It is the great number of richly endowed races, running up, in several instances, to £10,000 apiece, with any number worth one, two, or five thousand pounds, that justifies a breeder in paying four or five hundred pounds for the services of Prince Palatine, thus making him quite a reasonable business proposition at 45,000 guineas. And it is the multiplicity of race meetings that produces that army of bookmakers from whom an owner (thinks he) is able to win such substantial sums of money. If the winners of the Derby and Oaks, like the winners of the Clydesdale and Shire Championships, were content with a cheque for twenty pounds, plus a red card or a blue ribbon, you might have to strike a couple of noughts off Prince Palatine's sale price, and it would be as easy to make ends meet as it is to-day. Racing, in its relation to owners, would be confined to men of means possessed of sufficient sporting impulses to set the game before the prize, and willing to pay for their sport, in much the same spirit as you and I pay for our shooting or fishing, without seeking to recoup ourselves by marketing the spoils of our gun or rod. That some present owners would continue to race under such conditions I quite believe, and it is conceivable that others would race who now are repelled. But, of course, the idea is Utopian. It does not represent what is wanted. It would not produce a good betting race.
Now, one way of making money is to make yourself popular. And, from the racing standpoint, this means attracting the attention, and the attendance, of as many people as possible. In our annual reports and apologies we commend ourselves for catering to that eminently British characteristic, an over-weening affection for the horse. True, a large proportion of backers never see the animal upon whose chances they invest their money, while a considerable number of those who do could not recognise him ten minutes afterwards, and in any circumstances would be hard pressed to distinguish a horse from a mule. What matter? If our theory is opposed to the facts, so much the worse for the facts. The main idea is to create, to stimulate, to foster, a healthy interest in the horse. Oh, quite healthy, I can assure you. Strong, for that matter. Its smell leaves us in no doubt on that point. And the readiest way by which to create and stimulate that interest has been found to lie in the direction of affording unlimited opportunities for betting about the horse.
In the ordinary sense of the term there is no betting in this country, for by betting we mean betting with the book-maker. Appendix E.—Page 50. Appendix D.—Page 50.
But in England, Australia, and other countries which have been unable to keep up with us in such matters as social regeneration and a general uplifting of humanity, and where, as a consequence, bookmakers still ply their unhallowed calling, it would almost seem that racing authorities were in league with them, and were bent on omitting no device by which money might be diverted into their pockets. Nominations are called for long before the day of the race, and no sooner are they published than a lot of silly fools make haste to bet about some particular horse, quite forgetting that the handicapper is paid for the express purpose of allotting the weights so that no
If your fancy receives more weight than you think he is entitled to, of course you must back something else; and if that horse misses the next payment you must pick another; and so on. And, in order that the bookmaker may have the freest access to your pockets, any item of intelligence which it will be of advantage to him that you should possess is at once imparted to the press. So to-day's paragraph, that Bootjack was scratched for the Cup at 1.23 ( Appendix F.—Page 51.
But the hazards and contingencies of one race cannot be relied upon to produce a volume of betting commensurate with the requirements of a situation pregnant with matters of such national importance. So, simultaneously, or nearly so, with the issue of entries and weights for, say, a two-mile race, we publish
And so the interests of the bookmaker continue to be guarded by every conceivable device, right up to the start of the race. If you or I were to enter a bowl of roses, or a pen of fat lambs, or anything of that sort, in some competition, and decided, at the last moment, to leave them at home and forego our chance of winning the prize, nobody would be greatly concerned about it. But when we have entered a horse for any event, and decide not to start him, we are bound by all manner of penalties to make known our decision. You see, if we simply allowed the race to start without him, and if other owners adopted a similar course, the uncertainty which our conduct gave rise to would paralyse the betting. And that, as we have seen, would never do. Nor can we escape the penalties provided simply by notifying the club a few minutes before the start, for in that case those who had backed our horse would have no chance to back something else.
Bookmakers must live. In New South Wales, with a population of under 2,000,000, a recognised sporting writer states:—"Figures available in connection with the betting tax prove that in the metropolitan area alone bookmakers paid well on towards £100,000 to the clubs and the Government in connection with their licenses this year, and that did not carry them inside the outer gate of any racecourse. It is not over-shooting the mark to say that before they stand up to bet at Sydney meetings alone, the bookmakers now collectively pay at least £125,000 in unavoidable initial expenses—not including the stamp tax—and on top of that fully 450 layers of the odds have then to get a living for themselves and their clerks out of the public." It is pretty safe to say, then, that the book-makers referred to take not less than £500,000 a year out of the public. And it is equally safe to assert that they could not do this unless the rules of racing had been framed upon such lines that a committee of bookmakers would find it difficult to make any additions or amendments in their own interests. Whereas a committee of shopkeepers, with ten minutes at their disposal, could certainly effect alterations which would largely reduce the volume of betting.
If any body of mine-owners, flour-millers, or the like, should be detected in any action which seemed likely to increase prices by £100,000 a year, rapturous applause would greet any politician who promised to introduce measures to grapple with
Ah! but in all this tirade about handicaps I have conveniently forgotten all about weight-for-age races. Dear me! So I have. A weight-for-age race, of course, is one in which all horses of the same age carry the same weight, while, if horses of different ages compete together, they carry such different weights as are calculated to put them all upon the same footing. The scale has been arrived at after profound consideration, and an exhaustive study of the capabilities of the horse at different ages. Although, of course, it may not be perfect, at least it represents an honest desire that the best horse may win. Yet even this benevolent purpose must needs be frustrated by the introduction, not only of penalties at one end of the scale, but of allowances at the other. So that, while some horses are putting up penalties, running up to fourteen pounds, and others are claiming five-pound allowances ( Appendix G.—Page 51.
One ealises that it would hardly be reasonable to expect that the best horse of his year should be able to win every weight-for-age race in the country; but, if it is the object of racing authorities to prevent this, might not something be done in the way of limiting the amount which any one horse could win, either in one season or in its lifetime? That would obviate the lamentable spectacle of admittedly the best horse in a weight-for-age race being beaten by something obviously inferior, in consequence of the system of penalties and allowances.
In any case, who can defend the granting of an allowance to geldings? The gelding question is not quite so simple as it looks, for in the case of most of them it would be a public calamity if they were otherwise. And a good many years ago I heard the "Father of the Turf" mention an aspect of the question which had not occurred to mo. A gelding ( Mate.
I knew it. It was inevitable that, at this stage, some keen-witted person would arise with a bland enquiry as to where he may obtain copies of my two masterpieces upon the Swiss Navy and The Snakes of Ireland. But let it pass. I hate a cynic.
At an earlier stage of our investigations we glanced at some of the differences which exist between racing and all other forms of sport—nay, at this stage I will accept an amendment "that the word 'other' be omitted." Other points of divergence will in due course be presented for examination. For the present it suffices to point out that racing depends exclusively upon the one element which, above all others, sportsmen are bent, at any cost, upon excluding—money. Out of the fullness of a bitter experience sportsmen will assure you that so soon as money presents its face at the door sport flies out at the window. And that is why they are so extremely careful—as the uninformed are prone to put it, so pernicketty—in framing regulations, to define the status of an amateur. They know what money spells. They know what money has done for bicycling and foot-racing. Where is now the merry foot-race I remember long ago? Where are the Botany Handicaps?
But surely, it may be urged, the vast sums which are offered as stakes, and the still greater sums which a winner can take out of the ring, supply the best of all imaginable inducements for the most sordid of owners to run straight. Quite so. But, while they offer me inducements to run straight, they supply you and twenty others with equally solid inducements to stop my horse by any means that can be devised. No. I am not straining the case, nor submitting any figment of the imagination. We have seen that an owner "simply pays one man to train his horse and another to ride him." He is in their hands. Owner after owner has chucked up the game because of the impossibility of controlling the movements of his own horses. He is absolutely powerless. I know trainers upon whose absolute integrity I would stake my reputation, and a goodly slice of my possessions. But there are others. The owner who has a string large enough to maintain a private trainer is usually all right. But the smaller man, who only can afford a horse or two, which he has to send to a stable which serves a number of other, and perhaps more important, patrons, may regard himself as fortunate if he does not find himself and his horse involved in some desperately shady and scandalous transaction. Dismissing the owner as a mere payer of expenses, the trainer, who comes next, loses all control over the horse the moment it leaves the saddling paddock. When you see, or read about, some thirty horses starting in a race on a cramped course with awkward turns—the particular course I am thinking about is not situated in New Zealand, but that's a mere detail—are you credulous enough to suppose that every one of them is expected or intended to win? I am anxious to win both stake and bets. But if my horse is a bad one for the ring, how many horses would it take to stop him, pocket him, get him on to the rails and keep him there? And at what cost? Did it ever occur to you that for every big race a number of horses are nominated by the ring, or at its behest, that they may stimulate the betting, and, if necessary, be available when wanted? ( Appendix E.—Page 50.
Of course, I am writing in general terms. In New Zealand, as we all know, the bookmaker is extinct. I could tell you some interesting stories of what used to take place when you could back a horse away from the course at tote odds. Thanks to an upright Legislature, an honest and fearless Administration, such things to-day are impossible. But even here the personal honesty of the owner is by no means the only factor
My remarks about the helplessness of the most honest owner are supported by the action of an organisation to which I cannot make more than this passing allusion. Upon the racecourse it is the rule that when an owner has two or more horses in a race they shall be coupled upon the machine. Upon the Trotting Track this rule is extended to embrace horses trained in the same stable. So that, while a couple of horses may be owned by A and B respectively, the reporter refers to them, in the most matter-of-fact manner, as C's pair, C being the trainer. You can draw your own inferences.
But, of course, it may be urged that, although these things are incidental to racing, they are not inherent. I do not see that it makes much difference whether you injure or annoy me intentionally or unavoidably. My case is the same in either event. And racing must be judged by its results and its surroundings. Nor can it be denied that racing has an ethical code peculiarly its own. We are invited to regard the racing man as something rather ultra in the way of a sportsman. A fine, free breezy chap, don't you know, clean shaven, pink in the gill, suggestive of a cold tub, and wearing a bird's-eye necktie-tied in a bow—upon occasion I can manage this last bit myself—perfectly Quixotic upon a point of honour, and in a general sense the sort of character who might be expected to spring from the marriage of Squire Wardle with a sister of Colonel Newcome. But the very pens which supply us with this attractive picture sometimes run just a little too fast. You do not read of a cricketer that he never sold a match. But it is quite common to read that some given owner is a fine specimen of the "straight-going type," and always gives the public a run for their money. A run, yes, but a straight run, how often? It is not enough that we do not see a jockey finishing with the reins wrapped round his hands and his head a foot behind the saddle. Does the "straight going" owner never give the public a run for their money with an animal which he knows is not ready, and is neither expected, nor intended, to win? Do we never read—of course after the event—that Shoestring
The plain fact is that this practice of starting unfit horses is recognised as perfectly legitimate and part of the game. Which brings us back again to the question of penalties. You have a horse in the big race, and a month or so before it comes off there are some races down the country. If you venture to win one of them, of sufficient value, you horse incurs a penalty for the big race, in which the stake is much larger, apart from any bets you may have made. The race is over a shorter distance, and your horse has been handicapped by a different official, who has taken a more lenient view of his capabilities. All the same, if he wins under 8st. over a mile and a half, you will have a penalty clapped on to the 8.5 which he has been allotted in the big two-mile race, although in the minor event he may not meet a single horse engaged in the other. What do you think yourself? Still, a race will sharpen him up. A taste of the real thing with colours up, and a turn at the starting gate, will do him a lot of good. He is a horse who thrives on the bustle and excitement of a trip. So upon the whole you decide to take him down. And the crowd, knowing that you are one of the "straight going" type, and considering that at the weight ho ought to have an excellent chance, plank their money on, and—you take them down, too. But they have had a run for their money; it has been an excellent betting race; thanks to your appearance, as a liberal patron of the club, the investments, and consequently the sum divisible among owners in the future, have been sensibly augmented. You did not pull the horse. He could not have won. As you knew perfectly well, he was not ready. And it is possible, at all events, though bookmakers have been there before, that his price may lengthen a point or two for the big race. What about it? On the other hand, but for the impending penalty, you might have given him a bit more work, and had a genuine go for it. But, of course, if you could win a race without incurring a penalty you might paralyse the betting. How much oftener must I remark that this would never do ?
Admittedly, I only have touched the outermost fringe of a large if not particularly complex subject. But if I have given you an insight into what is meant by straight going and giving the public a run for their money; if I have explained and exemplified the attitude of the controlling authorities to one who breeds a decent horse and wishes to run him out whenever
Since the other chapters were written, the question of racing, both generally and in its specific relation to the war, has been discussed in many of our newspapers, and, as is usual upon such occasions, racing men have been responsible for the publication of a great deal of the sorriest kind of nonsense. We have been told upon the highest imaginable authority that to suspend or even to curtail racing would seriously jeopardise the Allied chances of success. To me it seems that to suspend racing would be to increase the number of thoroughbred mares to be bred from in the ensuing season, and to increase also the number of thoroughbred stallions at the service of the general public. Considering, however, that it must be over five years before the resultant foals are fit for Army purposes, I do not see how they can have any marked effect upon Haig's chances of smashing Hindenburg.
But out of the great mass of verbiage in which the subject has been enveloped—and I do not pretend to have read a tenth of it—certain considerations have emerged whose discussion may be of interest.
We are told, for instance, that a great improvement has taken place in thoroughbred horses during the last hundred years, that Eclipse, if alive to-day, could not win a selling race, and that the world-wide supremacy of the British thoroughbred, a supremacy whose existence on the racecourse, I, at least, cheerfully admit, is due to racing.
It is curious that those responsible for the latter statement do not realise, or do not give the rest of us credit for realising, that the very wording of the statement contains the elements of its complete disproof. This admitted supremacy cannot be due to racing, for they race in other countries. Nor is it confined to thoroughbred horses, but extends to every other animal in whose breeding British breeders have specialised. The supremacy of the British thoroughbred is attributable, rather, to the fact that he quickly deteriorates when sent to any other country.
In Australasia, despite our blow, it has been proved to a demonstration that we cannot breed racehorses continuously, though we race their tails off. Three generations of Antipodean
The truth would seem to be that there is something about Great Britain which makes it the one spot on earth most suit able for breeding domesticated animals. Our sheep breeders, when they go Home, wax very sarcastic and supercilious about what they see. But they end by buying. They do, indeed. At our shows you will find that the winning draught horses, if not actually (imp.), are very close to it. When you read of fabulous figures being given for horses, cattle and sheep, in North or South America, you may be very sure that similar conditions obtain. Foreign Governments, in like manner, go to Britain again and again for thoroughbred sires, and have to keep on going back again for more. Indeed, it would appear that Britain could sell all her most successful racehorses, and all the winners at the Royal Show, and from what was left produce world-beaters, as of yore.
The suggestion that this remarkable fact is due to some peculiar qualities of soil and climate is negatived by what occurs in the case of animals not subject to direct human control. Our deer and hares attain to a greater size here than in Britain, while rabbits, etc, show no falling off. Painful as it may be to have to admit it, it is just possible that the slow-going, antiquated, sleepy-headed, inhabitants of the British Isles may know a few things about rearing and feeding which we, with all our progressiveness and intellectual superiority, have yet to learn.
If the racehorse has improved since the days of Eclipse he is not the only animal that has done so. What has man done himself? I suppose it is not more than twenty-five years ago since the A.A.A. admitted for the first time that a human being had run a hundred yards in ten seconds. Since then we have learned to take little notice of such a performance, which has repeatedly been eclipsed; indeed, we read of four hundred and forty yards in forty-seven seconds, which strikes me as a much more striking performance. Similarly, a high jump of six feel was for a long time looked upon as the limit. What is the record to-day? I know of six feet five inches, but probably that is not the latest.
What I want to say is that these human achievements do not represent, as far as we know, any general improvement in the human race, certainly nothing secured by organised effort, nothing having its origin in a study of pedigrees, nothing at all
The question of sprint racing appears to occasion our worthy chairmen and presidents a good deal of concern. At all events they realise the propriety of putting up some kind of defence. They talk learnedly about action, and tell us that many sprinters are bulky, or, as they put it, powerful, and some have developed into decent hurdlers. That is all very well as far as it goes, but, like the animals it seeks to justify, it does not go far enough. It is the ostensible, obvious, and avowed aim of racing to produce the Derby colt. That is the goal of every breeder's ambition. And it must be admitted that under existing conditions, and by comparison with other races, it is subjecting a three-year-old to a pretty severe test to ask him to carry 8.10 over a mile and a half in the spring. After he has won the Derby we all want him to develop into a Cup horse capable of winning at two miles. No racing man will deny that this is the standard that has been set up. But in actual experience it has been found that a vast majority of such horses as are bred are useless beyond a mile, and more at home over six furlongs. The sprint, then, has been introduced for the dual purpose of affording some financial relief to unsuccessful breeders, who are by no means unrepresented on committees, and of enabling committees to eke out a programme. And, under the operations of the law of supply and demand, the great majority of the races and the money is now devoted to sprints. This is a caustic commentary on the theory that the racecourse is the testing ground. Instead of compelling owners to breed up to the standard, we lower the standard, and accommodate the programme to the powers of such horses as happen to be produced. The original sprint was in the nature of a consolation race, but it has developed into an affair of much importance. The winner of a sprint to which big money is attached is credited with
Personally, I find it annoying to be expected to gasp at the reminder that Carbine won the Melbourne Cup, of two miles on the flat, under "the staggering impost" of 10.5. Orthodox racing men profess to sneer at steeplechasing, which, indeed, they refer to as "the illegitimate game." Yet in steeplechasing the equivalent of Carbine would have to carry 14.0 over three or four miles of fences and heavy going. I do not say that a horse as valuable as Carbine was supposed to be should be made to risk his neck over fences. But I cannot see why flat racers should not put up as much weight over a mile or two as jumpers have to carry over twice that distance.
In racing circles these will be regarded but as the babblings of a disordered intellect, but I am going to express the opinion that the utility value of racing would be greatly enhanced by raising weights three stone all round on the flat; that under a mile no horse other than a two-year-old should carry less than 12.0; that 301bs. should be the maximum difference between the top and bottom weights. To me it is simply infamous that a Carbine should be beaten, or even in danger of being beaten, by some animal carrying half a hundredweight less. Mannikins able to go to scale at 7.10 or thereabouts, while possessing sufficient strength to have any control over their mounts and the requisite mental equipment, are so hard to find that none but millionaires can command their services. Retaining fees up to five thousand a year, quite apart from riding fees, commissions, presents, etc., give the wealthy man a great advantage over his less fortunate rivals, and if that is not the reason for the retention of the present scale, I can think of no other. On the other hand, if Derby colts had to carry 12.0—and as long as they all carry the same no hardship is involved—good riders would be so plentiful that mere wealth would not enjoy any advantage on that score.
It would be perfectly futile to advance any such arguments as these in England, but in this country Parliament can withhold the use of the machine from any race which does not command its approval. If the continuance of racing is to be justified by any reference to "utility," surely we have seen the last of heavily endowed races which can be won by geldings carrying under 7.0.
But attempts to justify racing upon "utility" grounds receive their most staggering blow from what takes place upon the Trotting Track, as it is called. There the majority of the races, and a very large proportion of the money, go to hoppled pacers. These are mere gambling adjuncts which are never seen off the track, and stand in about the same relation to utility as do the "petits chevaux" of Continental watering places. Why we should allow the use of the machine in connection with these races, and prohibit "petits chevaux" is one of the things which no one can explain in the light of pure reason. Off the track no one wants or uses the pacer. Fancy Cabbage Tree Ned, or any of his contemporaries, on the box of Cobb and Co. 's coach, behind four or six pacers well-nigh concealed from sight beneath a mass of hopples, foot adjusters, overhead checks, toe weights, ear tongs, tongue straps, and heaven knows what other noisome accoutrements! Picture, if you can, a gun team so equipped going into action, or a squadron of cavalry. I say try and picture these things, because you may rest assured that in any discussion about the use of the totalisator all sorts of maudlin appeals will be made to your patriotism, and your desire to win and so end the war.
Of course, I realise that the answer to all that I have written can and will be supplied in a single word. Any real, genuine sportsman can disprove all my statements, and demolish all my arguments, simply by sticking out his tongue at me and saying "Wowser!" After I have taken the count he will remark in his best and most oracular manner, "If racing were abolished betting would continue." But he will be very careful not to assert that if betting were abolished, racing, as we know-it, could continue, nor will he expand his observation into "If racing were abolished betting would continue on the same scale as at present." Upon the whole, he will be well advised to stop at "Wowser," for that, if not unanswerable, will at least remain unanswered.
Our forefathers did not indulge in cock-fighting because they liked to see cocks fighting. In the beginning the practice, no doubt, originated among some top-booted farmers and squires, who were minded to see whose birds were the best fighters. But as soon as they began to meet for that purpose, the situation was taken possession of and controlled by those
Why indeed! When I hear men talking about action, there rises before my mental vision a picture of Welcome Jack, as he came bowling past the stand prior to winning the last C.J.C. Handicap in
So my outburst can hardly be attributed to the workings of a mind wholly dominated by ineradicable prejudices. Did I not begin by saying that I still go to race meetings? I did. But I was writing in general terms, and with reference to normal times.
Normal times! Ah! me, what fathomless oceans of blood and tears stretch between us and those normal times, those good old days of three years—or is it three centuries?—ago! Across how many more weary leagues of such multitudinous seas must the battered barque of civilisation pursue her groaning way ere she wins to that harbour where we fain would be, the haven of peace, of normal times! And those of her
But in racing we are getting along quite nicely, thank you! Normal times? Well, I should rather say so. More racing than ever, dear boy, and the betting is simply glorious. All tote records smashed to spillikins! The war? Oh! damn and blast the war! The papers are full of the beastly thing. I tell you I'm fair sick of it. But, I say, old thing, speaking seriously, don't you know, talking as man to man and all that, what d'you fancy for the Cup? Eh? Know anything? Because I tell you what it is, I'm getting devilish anxious about it.
That is why. If these people could have pursued their pleasure in private; if we could have avoided the din and blare of their proceedings; if we could have picked up a paper without being confronted by columns of nominations, weights, acceptances, all supplied and published for no other purpose—for we have quitted the region of badinage—that that of affording facilities for ante-post betting; if we had been spared the daily invitation to rejoice over the fact that "the totalisator investments constituted a record for the course"; and, finally, if our intelligence had not been insulted, and our sense of decency outraged, by those fatuous attempts at explanation, justification, and apology, attempts whose only value or significance lay in their abject admission that something of the kind was necessary, and whose maudlin references to remounts and the sporting spirit were so wide of the facts as to be well-nigh traitorous but for their imbecility; if it had not been for such things my pen would not have left its scabbard.
That is why. Somebody or other once remarked to Dean Swift ( Twice winner of the City and Suburban.
That is how. My main task concluded, it remains for me to draw attention only to the case for racing in its relation to "the maintenance of that sporting spirit which is playing so important a part in the success which has attended our military operations." The first consideration which strikes one is that our enemies, upon the battlefields of Europe, have but little
Racing, it seems, provides employment. So does the Casino at Monte Carlo. It supplies a living. So do burglary and prostitution. Apart from such considerations, with sons in the trenches, I have had a feeling that when the inevitable telegram arrived—as it did—at least it should not greet me upon my return from the racecourse. Morbid, no doubt, sickly sentimentalism. Let us race and drink, though to-morrow they die, would be a robuster creed. Still, there it is, and I even allow myself to hope that, if I had been childless, my actions would not have unfitted me to meet the eye of my neighbour,
Finally, if there are those who, in the presence of a general sense of uneasiness, have nursed the generous suspicion that they were allowing their prejudices to override their judgment, I shall be content if what I have written shall convince them that they are under no obligation to deny to their opinions their natural and legitimate outlet.
Not to overload the text with technicalities and explanations, which would prove wearisome to the general reader, I have thought well to reserve these for more leisurely reading under this heading.
And, lest it should be said that I have hunted far and wide for extreme examples, I have to say that everything herein contained is taken from a single issue of the "N.Z. Referee," that of
The quotation from the "Imperialist" is from the same source.
Running in one of the paddocks attached to————(for that is the name by which————'s equine seminary is known) I came across First Rain, the coming two-year-old son of Martian and Grand Rain, and consequently a half-brother to that erstwhile excellent performer Kilrain. The youngster, who is well grown and furnished, for he would easily pass as a late two-year-old, has boon broken in and ridden, and, I was informed, had taken amenably to his new mode of life. Ho is a rare backed chap, who, when the saddle is on, does not exhibit a great deal of the aforesaid back, a fact which proves that he will be able to carry weight with advantage. He is beautifully turned fore and aft, with heaps of heart room, and it even now takes a more than fair-sized girth to encompass him. His brainy, determined head gives every assurance that he will be no quitter, for horses of his knowledge appearanced head make a good fight of it when put to the test. That his future prospects bear a favourable aspect there is no denying.
Blackall 's exertions at Woodville have apparently had a beneficial effect upon him, for he now looks muscular, bright and hard; and though I have at times written that he was rather common-looking, he went back on me the other afternoon, for he has lost that podgy, ordinary outlook, and now fills the eye as a perfect specimen of the thoroughbred, a trifle up in the air, perhaps, to please the most fastidious; but then again he is so extra well furnished otherwise that this slight excess is minimised when his general make and shape is taken into general observation.
Nottata, a black half-sister by Maori King to Blackall and Co., is a sweetly-turned filly, who greatly resembles her victorious half-sister, Nightfall in construction. She is lengthy and sweepy, while no exception can be taken to her depth; an evenly-balanced youngster (she is a two-year old) is Nottata, and though in her track efforts she has accomplished
Bunting, who was recently acquired by Mr. Watt, who bred him, but quitted him some seasons back at a hack price, is consequently back in one of the boxes he previously occupied when he was getting first introduced to the track. A bold, aggressive-looking horse, who now appears to be just in the very best of nick, a weight-carrier of high grade, with brilliancy in addition, this aptly-named son of All Black and Red Plume should prove one of the mainstays of the establishment.
Sunlight, a two-year-old son of Sunshine and Supercilious, who has lately been emasculated, is a lengthy, wiry sort of a youngster, slightly inclined to be sickle-hocked, which detracts somewhat from the outline of his quarters (but otherwise they are so powerful that the sweep is not near so noticeable as if he had not been well found in the propelling department). He is even and true, standing on a real nice set of good-boned pins, with even-balanced shoulders, from which rises a hard, wiry neck, surmounted by an attractive, brainy head. One peculiarity is attached to Sunlight, and that is that he is the only son, or, in fact, the only get of his sire, who is an imported son of Sunridge. That this feature will not make or mar him goes without saying, and my object in making the statement is just to remark upon the strangeness of the matter.
Silver and Black is a comely two-year-old filly by All Black—Concordia, and, like most of the female All Blacks, is powerful and quality appearanced. Short on top, with plenty of length below, she presents the ideal formation of a successful galloper, legged up in good style with feet of the best, and as good to leave as what she is to come at. ( "O si sic omnes."
The two-year-old son of All Black and Float, who has been christened All Aboard, is a big fellow for his age. His driving power is well pronounced, for he displays great length from croup to hock. He covers a lot of country, and no exception can be taken to his fore end, which is hung true and good, a great-bone fellow, whoso long suit should be going fast.
Llanishen, a six-year-old imported English mare by Llangibby out of a mare by Berril, is a great raking mare with immense quarters, and it is only by getting well behind her that her beam and depth is observable, and when they are thoroughly sized up, the idea is formulated that her driving powers are of the highest calibre. A bit ragged in the hips, she is, to be sure, but the other parts of her make and shape are so infinitely good that they overshadow this minute imperfection. Built to scale, she presents an ideal picture of the thoroughbred in training.
One of the massive, powerful clan is Hendra, a four-year-old son of Royal Artillery and Hecuba. Constructed on weight-carrying lines, he should be the beau ideal of a welter horse, and his general appearance suggests that he would make a jumper. Though a commanding looking horse, there is not an atom of coarseness or cartiness in his construction, a feature too often apparent where size is dominant. Plain-headed he certainly is, but this in a measure is no doubt due to his being lop-eared, but as horses as a rule do not gallop with their heads, this fact will not
A two-year old black gelding, who claims All Black as his sire and Culprit as his dam, is one of the hardy-looking breed. He is set up nice and even on a rare good set of legs, is well endowed in front, as his shoulders are hung true as a die, has good middle piece, with lengthy, taking quarters, and a strong back; a sensible gelding without a doubt, for their is no mistaking his brainy head as an indication that he is one of the sort who are possessed of knowledge in no measured degree.
There were not so many track aiders as usual to watch this morning's work, as the Waipa Race Meeting had taken a good many trainers and horses away. Nevertheless, a lot of the work was interesting. Most of it was done on the sand and tar Query—"Tan."
As a pendant to this information, I supply a table comparing the above times with those recorded for the same distances at the races (Auckland Cup meeting) for which these horses were being trained:—
In racing a second is equal to about seventeen yards.
"The Imperialist," a new English journal, declares in a recent issue that "racing must be carried on, if only for the reason that after the end of the the titanic struggle we shall more than ever need blood stock as a foundation for horses for cavalry and rapid, light, but long-ranged artillery."
The Toff and Ardenvhor have hardened considerably with the Tommies, while the hungry tribe have John Barleycorn, Colonel Soult, Wishful, and Mullingar all under double figures.
The "charts" show Bisogne, Chakwana, Downham, and Koesian as dangerous for the sprint races.
There is quite a lot of confusion in local sporting circles concerning the two Yaldhurst Auckland Cup candidates, The Toff and Wishful. Quite a lot of favour has been bestowed upon the latter, but both have been left in the race after the final payment. Both are now short in price. If the two start, those who got in early on Wishful may have regrets, though one never knows.
From the leading columns I extract the following:—" A number of my friends and some of my less generous critics have communicated with me during the week in regard to what I had to say the other day concerning the bookmakers and their operations in New Zealand. The great majority of my friends express warm approval of my remarks, and urge me to 'keep on hammering away,' as one of them puts it, 'at this great evil.' They may rest assured I shall continue to do my best, but now I want to say a word or two to a correspondent who elegantly charges me with 'slanging the bookmakers for the purpose of bolstering up the totalisator,' which, he says, I know to be 'a hundred times worse.' Now, as I have tried to make clear before, this is no question of bolstering up the totalisator. The Legislature in its wisdom has decreed that the totalisator shall be the only legal means of betting on horse-racing, and while that decree remains on the Statute Book the machine will require no assistance from me or from anyone else. But experience has shown indisputably that the totalisator, by providing larger stakes for owners and better accommodation for the public, besides greatly improving the character of the sport, has freed it from some of the worst evils that beset it in the old days. The very worst of these evils was the dominance of the bookmaker, who was often a horse-owner himself and who always had horse-owners and trainers and jockeys, of a kind, more or less under his thumb and ready to do his bidding in his constant war upon the public.
"The totalisator practically killed the bookmaker of the old school and for a year or two the New Zealand Turf was comparatively free from his machinations, but then his lineal successor began to grow up,
A Press Association message states that Sedd-el-Bahr was withdrawn from all engagements at the Auckland Summer Meeting at 11.15 a.m. on December 12th.
Middle Park Plate, of 500 sovs.; second to receive 100 sovs. and the third 50 sovs. out of the stake. For two and three-year-olds. Two-year-olds, 7.7; three-year-olds, 9.0; fillies and geldings allowed 31b. The winner of any race or races since
Palmerston North Stakes (Eleventh), of 500 sovs., second horse to receive 100 sovs. and the third 50 sovs. out of stake. For two-year-olds and upwards. Weight-for-age, with penalties and allowances. Winners after
Wellington Stakes, of 750 sovs, second horse to receive 100 sovs. and the third horse 50 sovs. and the nominator of the winner 50 sovs. from the stakes. For two and three-year-olds. Weight-for-age. Winners after
Twenty-Second Royal Stakes, of 1000 sovs, second horse to receive 200 sovs. and third horse 100 sovs. out of the stake. For two, three, and four-year-olds. Weight-for-age. Two-year-olds 6.12, three-year-olds 8.6, four-year-olds 9.0. Winner after
G. W. Venables & Co., Ltd.,
Printers & Bookbinders,
Dalton Street, Napier.
It is with feelings of satisfaction that we present the second annual report of the work accomplished in the Auckland District.
It may be that the War, which has prevented men and women from taking an active interest in the work of other societies, has been responsible for maintaining and even stimulating the interest in the work of the W.E.A.
The Economics classes have given opportunities to discuss the various problems raised by the War and in the coming session we believe these opportunities will be taken advantage of to an even greater extent. Indeed, we hope that special classes will be formed to study post-war conditions.
The year's work was opened with a picnic to Rangitoto. Close on two hundred people made the journey and climbed to the top of the hill to hear "The Story of the Auckland Harbour" from Mr. E. K. Mulgan. M.A.
All the Tutorial Classes commenced work in April and continued without a break until November. Two additional Tutorial Classes were created, one under Mr. A. E. Skelton on Industrial Law, and one on Economics under Mr. F. G, Dunlop, M.A., LL.B., in Gisborne.
The Industrial Law Class which was composed chiefly of Trade Union officials, owing to a severe illness overtaking the tutor, was unfortunately closed after fourteen lectures had been given.
In addition to these classes three short session classes were formed.
The Chairmanship Class under the Hon. Geo. Fowlds attracted twenty-four students and proved even more popular and successful than a similar class organised during our first year's activities.
The class on Hygiene—consisting entirely of women—under Dr. Elizabeth MacDonald, is the subject of a special report. The interest shown by the members of this class, and by the women members of the other classes, is worthy of special mention, all being keenly alive to the value of the opportunities offering and displaying very real and effective interest in the work and progress of the programmes studied.
The Literary and Debating class under Mr. Algie is proof of the earnestness and sincerity of our students, as it is composed entirely of men and women attending one or other of the various classes and was organised at the direct request of the members themselves for the purpose of keeping together during
For the second time we have received a request from the Thames district for a class tutor. The President, Mr. Mulgan, visited the Thames district on behalf of the Association, but was unable to make arrangements to meet the request.
The opening lecture, July 29th, duly advertised—was very well attended. The subject was "Physical Fitness in Women," and the lecture was followed by much interest and interesting discussion. Two weeks later the first regular meeting was held and the class formed—subscription 2s. 6d.—there are fifteen members.
The attendance on this and succeeding weeks were: 14, 18, 29, 38, 41, 40.
The subjects dealt with were:—
The meetings were increasingly interesting, and many expressed regret that they had not been more widely known. No examinations were held. Discussion after each lecture was animated, and it was with regret that the series closed.
The libraries ordered by the Lectures Committee for the various classes were made available for the students at the beginning of the session. The books include many valuable works on Economics and Industrial History.
The most important work carried out by the Association during the year was the Educational Conference organised at the close of the season. The various sessions were attended by over one hundred delegates, representing twenty-three organisations, including Trade Unions, Women's International League, Education Board, Professorial Board, University College Council and Teachers' Associations. The first two sessions were held in the Training College, and the third session under canvas, in the Domain on Labour Day.
The papers were freely discussed and we believe that the Conference, if organised annually, would tend towards the removal of misunderstandings, the clearing up of misconception, and the widening of outlook generally, and would be of no small assistance in regard 10 the efforts now being directed to the solution of important and pressing social problems.
"The History and Development of Trade Unionism in New Zealand."—Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.C.
"The Effect of Industrial Legislation on Labour and Trade Unionisn in New Zealand."—Hon. Geo. Fowlds.
"Labour and Co-operation."—Dr. Mcllraith, Litt. D., F.R.E.S.
"Industrial Progress and Trades Unionism,"—Professor Grossman.
"The Worker and Education."—E. K. Mulgan. Esq.. M.A.
No extensive programme of public lectures was attempted this year, but lectures on special subjects were organised when requested The following is a list of the subjects dealt with and the names of the lecturers:—
In addition to These, lecturettes were given at District Council meetings by Mr. Mulgan on "Education and the Worker" and by Professor Johnston on "Evolution."
Two debates were carried out during the year. The subjects debated were: "Free Trade v. Protection." Free Trade (Land Values League team) secured the verdict, while the W.E.A. team obtained the highest points for delivery. The adjudicator was Mr. F. V. Frazer, M.A., LL.B.
"That War is a Means to Progress" was affirmed by a team from the Y.M.C.A. and denied by a W.E.A. team. The W.E.A.
The continued and extended support of the Trades Unions is most gratifying. The affiliations total twenty-nine—nineteen trades unions, two teachers' associations and eight tutorial and other classes, while individual members number twenty-five, and "Highway" subscribers twenty-one.
The University Senate has again placed at the disposal of the Lectures Committee a grant of £300 to assist the work, and we desire to publicly express our gratitude to that body. We are likewise indebted to the City Council for a grant of £50 for organising purposes, and to the many friends who have subscribed to the funds of the Association. We are sure that the money is well invested since the best asset the city can have is a body of citizens possessing "that fine public spirit, that civic competence which involves work and sacrifice for the sake of the city's progress and the citizen's welfare generally" to quote the words of the Mayor in his address on "Cities and Citizenship." a sentiment in accord with the spirit of the W.E.A. Movement.
To the College Council, to the Professorial Board, to the Press and to the many friends who have gratuitously given their time and service to help our educational and social work, we extend our sincerest thinks.
During the past year the Wellington Centre has not only held its own but has extended the sphere of its operations. In spite of the absorption in the war of all members of the community and the restrictions on the Association's field of work caused by the enlistment of many men, the Association has nevertheless been able to present the advantages of the education which it can offer in such a way as to induce workers in different parts of Wellington Province to form additional classes. The new classes formed are as follows:—
and two Study Circles have been formed in Wellington City in History and Sociology.
The following Tables show the classes at present carried on under the auspices of the Wellington Centre and the statistical record of the work of last year:—
The following comment is taken from the General Report of the Tutorial Class Committee to the Victoria university College Council:
"Naturally the work of all classes has been greatly affected by the war. We believe that from every class some students have enlisted and others have been called upon to undertake duties that have interfered with class work. In addition three of the classes have had the continuity of their study affected by a change of tutor. Considering the disabilities under which the classes work at present, the Committee considers that a good year's work has been done, a very fair measure of enthusiasm has been maintained—as is evidenced by the fact that some classes have voluntarily undertaken some special work during the summer vacation in preparation for the session of
It may seem to some readers of this report that the average attendance and the number of essays are lower than they ought to be. It must be remembered, however, that in these times the attendance and work of a class are liable to be interfered with by change of tutor, by change of residence, by the call of men to the camp, by overtime, etc. Many attendances and half-completed essays thus fail to figure in the class records. Under the present difficult conditions it is surprising how much enthusiasm and effort have been forthcoming, and it would be a great loss to the community if, for any reason, the classes were not maintained.
At the last general meeting it was resolved that the sub-committees of the Central Council be abolished and that the Central Council itself should control the different departments of the Association's work. This scheme was adopted and has been found fairly satisfactory. A further step in organisation was taken within the last few months, when a small committee was appointed to meet and prepare the business for the Central Council.
The A.S.R.S. found that it could no longer allow the Association the use of its room, and after much investigation the Central Council accordingly took a room in Featherston Street at 10s. per week. This room has since served as the Central Room of the Association and has been available by classes and members of the Association when required.
Only one public lecture was arranged during the past year. It was generally felt that the concentration of attention on the war left little scope for public lectures at the present time. The lecture, which was given by Professor Kirk of Victoria Uni-
Requests have been made from New Plymouth and Napier for the establishment of classes in those towns, and steps have been taken to attain this end. If the money is available it appears quite feasible to establish classes in these towns during the ensuing: year.
So far nothing has resulted from the efforts which were made last year to establish classes in Masterton and Wanganui. In both places the response was not sufficient to justify the establishment of a tutorial class.
The work of the classes for the session closed with a successful social evening held in the Burlington Tea Rooms, Lama-ton Quay, on
The Wellington Central Council acknowledges its indebtedness again this year to the N.Z. University Senate for the gram of £300 which was placed at the disposal of the Victoria University College Council for the purposes of tutorial classes.
Sir Joseph Ward received a deputation from the Central Council requesting a grant in aid of the funds of the Association. Although his reply was sympathetic the Central Council was subsequently informed that the Cabinet could not see its way to make a grant this year. In view of the work of the Association we think the decision of Cabinet is greatly to be regretted.
The thanks of the Association are heartily given to the Wellington City Council for the continuance of its financial grant of £100, and to the Palmerston North Borough Council for its grant of £50 towards the cost of the Palmerston North tutorial class. These grants have been of the greatest assistance to the work of the Association. The Central Council thanks also those individuals who contributed to the funds, and it believes that the work done during the year has justified the support given.
An application was made to the Macarthy Trustees for funds but it appears that the application was delivered too late to enable the trustees to consider whether an lalocation could be made to the Association for the past year. An application will
The Central Council records its appreciation of the services rendered by those who acted as chairmen and organisers in connection with the various meetings held under the auspices of the W.E.A. The Central Council also thanks the Y.M.C.A. and the Committee of the District High School, Petone, for the use of their class rooms free of charge save for the cost of lighting and heating; the Authorities of Victoria University College for the free use of the College Library for the students of the Tutorial Classes; the Trades and Labour Council for the use of the Trades Hall building for the meetings of the Central Council; the Drivers' Union for the use of its room for the Industrial law Class; and the Press of the city, which has consistently supported the movement by giving publicity to the work of the Association. The thanks of the Association are also given to the authorities of the Municipal Library for the facilities given to the W.E.A. students in the use of that Library.
On the occasion of the Secretary's enlistment, the following motion was passed by the Central Council, and it was directed that it should be printed in the Annual Report:—
"That the Central Council of the W.E.A. (Wellington Branch) desires to place on record its high appreciation of the voluntary labours of Mr. D. Stanley Smith, to whom, as one of the founders, and first Secretary of the W.E.A., the success of the movement in Wellington is mainly due. That the Council sincerely regrets that, owing to his enlistment, his valuable services will be lost to the W.E.A. in the meantime, but it trusts that good fortune will attend him and that on his return the W.E.A. may again benefit by his labours."
The Central Council has decided to recommend the annual meeting to amend the constitution so as to make the financial year close on the 31st October instead of the 31st December. This will enable the annual meeting of the Association to be held at the end of each year instead of at the beginning of the next year. If the proposal is adopted the time and place of the annual general meeting and the time when the statement of accounts and the annual report must be ready must be changed.
We may repeat what we said last year: that if the war does not interfere too much with the activity of the classes, each class may look forward to a very successful year.
In submitting the second annual report of the W.E.A. movement in Christchurch, we have to express our satisfaction that the Association has been able to maintain all its activities and has been able to extend its work. This is all the more gratifying when we take into consideration the fact that our Nation at large, and New Zealand in particular, have been passing through the most strenuous period of their history, a period during which the activities of the community have been almost exclusively taken up with the prosecution of the great War.
We have had two Tutorial Classes, one in Economics and one in Psychology, both in their second year of existence. The Tutors' reports are given below. In addition to these a Study Circle in economics has been established at Lower Riccarton, under Mr. Copland's charge. So successful has this been that the Joint Committee has decided to raise it to a Tutorial Class in the coming year.
In his report on the Economics Class, Mr. J. B. Condliffe writes: "The lectures began on the 22nd March and continued weekly until 14th June, being resumed on July 19th and continued until October 25th. In all 28 lectures were given, thirteen in the first term, and fifteen in the second. The number of students remaining on the roll at the end of the session was 34, and in addition there was an absent member who regularly kept in touch with the class.
The attendance was very regular, but owing to the fact that new members were constantly being added to the roll, the average attendance appears lower than it really was. The average attendance was 22 in the first term and 23 in the second.
I am sorry to have to report that the students failed to take advantage of the opportunities for training themselves in essay writing. The response at the beginning of the year was poor, and the essays gradually dwindled away altogether. During the year two debates were held with the College Dialectic Society, and with the Riccarton Study Circle, both of which were won by the class.
There is now a good beginning made towards a working library and when the books now on order come to hand, the library will be very much strengthened. The Class decided to concentrate next session upon a detailed study of the "Distribution of Wealth," and the text book will be "Wealth" by Professor E. Cannan, of the London School of Economics.
I should like to say how gratifying it is to meet week after week a class which shows such earnest and sustained interest in what is not by any means an easy study. The lectures have
The report on the Psychology Class is as follows:—
"The first session besan on March 23rd. and ended on August 17th. The meetings were held weekly with one break of a fortnight. The second term began on October 5th and ended on November 23rd. The total number of lectures was 28, of which 21 were in the first and seven in the second term. The roll number at the beginning of the year was 22, and at the end 18. Seven members have left, two having left New Zealand, one having enlisted, three through pressure of work, one through ill health; three new members were admitted during the year. The average attendance was 14, there being in addition an average of five visitors.
Essay work has been disappointing, less than a quarter of the class having written them regularly. Though the subject is a difficult one students have not taken full advantage of this opportunity to express themselves, and so clarify their own ideas.
Our Psychology library is growing and has been well patronised. Unfortunately, owing to the wreck of a liner most of our books, ordered last year, did not arrive till recently. Por the third year of the class a study of Dr. MacDougall's "Social Psychology" is proposed. The members of the Psychology class have shown the keenest interest in the subject, which has embraced every aspect of Psychology as far as is required for the Pass University Degree, with a glance at the Honours' Work. Many members have made practical application of psychological knowledge in their outside experience. Accounts of these have been brought to the Tutor for an expression of opinion. Items of psychological interest, gathered from magazines, etc., have frequently been brought to the class, and have helped to add interest to the work.
Mr. D. B. Copland reports with regard to the Riccarton Study Circle:
"The class has held 18 studies and is now well established. The number on the roll at the beginning of the session was 16, and at the end was 18, four of the original members having resigned. Six members were thus enrolled during the session (average attendance 13). The work of the Circle consisted in a study of the land marks of the Industrial History of England, special attention being given to the period 1760-1900, upon which a series of eight lectures were given. The first ten evenings were devoted to a study of Ashley's 'Economic Organisation of England.' It can be quite unhesitatingly said that most members studied the work closely, while the later lectures always
In addition to the work already mentioned, the W.E.A. held courses of popular lectures, at which there were good attendances, the audiences sometimes being well over 100. Mr. E. E. Stark, B.Sc., City Electrical Engineer, gave four lectures on the "Electric Motor" in the City Council Test Room. These were so popular that, at the request of his auditors, Mr. Stark later on gave an additional lecture on the same subject. Mr. W tokens, the City Gardener, also save a course on the "Weeping Willow," the "Growing of Vegetables," and on '"Shrubs, Climbers and Plants," at our room in Hereford Street. The Headmaster of the Normal Training College, Mr. C. T. Aschman, save a much appreciated lecture on '"Modern Education." Six lectures on "Town Planning" were delivered under our auspices by Mr. S. Hurst Seager, B.A., F.R.I., in the Old Chemical Theatre at Canterbury College. Mr. Seager prepared for these lectures a beautiful collection of fine lantern slides, and the course was followed with increasing interest. Mrs. T. E. Taylor gave us a lecture on the "Montessori System," a fine collection of apparatus being provided by way of practical illustrations. Dr. Alfred Foster delivered two illuminating and helpful lectures on "Bacteriology and Disease."' Dr. Chilton delivered an extremely useful lecture on our behalf, at the Trades Hall, on the "Christchurch Artesian System." This lecture was repeated at Riccarton, where Mr. R. M. Laing gave a lecture on the "Geology of the fort Hills." The series was concluded by an illustrated lecture on the "Growing of Lucerne," by Mr. H. Bruce.
Our best thanks are due to Mrs. Taylor and the gentlemen who so freely gave their services to our work. We are particularly grateful because sonic of them were put to considerable expense in preparing slides for their lectures.
Before the classes started at the beginning of
In addition to the lectures we had three excursions—one to Dean's Bush, where Dr. C. Chilton explained the flora to the excursionists, and one to the Cashmere Hills, where Mr. R. M.
At the end of the first term a social was given to Mr. J. B. Condliffe on the occasion of his approaching marriage. Advantage was taken of the opportunity to make him a presentation. Since that time .Mr. Condliffe has enlisted, and we are sorry that he will not be with us during the coming year.
The local branch of the W.E.A. has suffered much by death during this year. Mr. E. Mann, one of the most promising of our younger students, died suddenly from appendicitis during the early part of the year. No less unexpected was the death of Mr. F. V. Fraser, a very enthusiastic member of our Economics class. But the greatest blow of all was the death of one whom we look on as the foundress of the W.E.A. in Christchurch, Mrs. E. W. Cunnington. Probably Mrs. Cunnington was the most remarkable woman New Zealand has yet had, and it was in her drawing room that the plans for bringing the W.E.A. to this City were first formulated. Though she was full of years and honours, her loss is none the less to be deeply deplored. To the relatives of these members we again offer our deepest sympathy in their loss, which is also ours.
The Association desires to publicly accord its grateful thanks to the Board of Governors of Canterbury, which set aside £300 out of its grant from the University Senate, for W.E.A. work, and also provided that one of its own College lecturers should take our Economics Class.
We again have great pleasure in extending our thanks to the City Council for the second grant of £100 to assist the work of the Association, and also to friends who contributed to the funds. Their generosity alone enabled us to maintain our popular lectures and our own room. We believe that our work, as our report shows, justifies their support.
We have to acknowledge with grateful thanks a gift of £5 worth of books from Mr. Chas. Wells. We are pleased to say that, by arrangement with the Trades Council, a new room has been built for the local W.E.A. in the Trades Hall.
In conclusion, we have to thank the local Newspaper Press for the great assistance it has always willingly given in our work.
The year just ended has been quite satisfactory in the work done by Tutorial Classes, which, after all, is perhaps the most important phase of the Association's activities. But outside of this there has been nothing else done. Perhaps the popular public scientific and instructive lectures organised by the University Council throughout the winter somewhat relieves the Executive of the Association from the feeling of necessity of doing other public work in the form of arranging lectures. But there is plenty of room for much educative work by public lectures on subjects more closely allied to our Industrial and economic development, and maybe something in this field will be attempted in the coming winter.
The affiliated Unions and other Associations and membership remain practically the same as last year. The disturbed condition of affairs caused by the War is probably the biggest factor in the general lack of enthusiasm amongst Labour bodies generally towards the Association. Apparently whilst increasing numbers of our young men are being sent away as reinforcements there will not be much chance of any large enrolment of new students.
The thanks of the Association are due to the University Council for their keen interest and general encouragement, whilst all three tutorial classes have to return thanks for the free use of class rooms at the University.
There have been three vigorous Tutorial Classes going all the session, and much good work has been accomplished.
The first Economics Class, started in
The following extracts from Professor Bedford's report to the Council illustrates his opinion of the quality of the class work for this second year:
"The greater part of the session was devoted to the principles of money. The interest in the subject grew with the progress of the year and the attendance was better in the last month than in the first. All that I said last year about the zeal, industry and thoroughness of the students is equally true of this year. What has been particularly gratifying has been the disposition of many students to probe deeply into many difficult questions. Indeed the keeness displayed drove me into a treatment of some branches of money as detailed as that required for University candidates for Honours. This will be realised when I say that we spent two months on the subject of "Credit" alone.
A second Economics Class was formed under the tutorship of Rev. Archdeacon Woodthorpe and the students are to be congratulated on the privilege of studying under a teacher of such wide experience and ability.
The class membership is 25 and the average attendance 20. The following extract from the tutor's official report of the work of the session indicates his opinion of its value:
"Of course the work of the individual students was unequal, on an average I received the fortnightly essay from a little over half the members of the class. Two men have not missed a single essay for the two years of the class's existence. This year some two dozen essays were of very high merit. . . .
".... The hour devoted to free discussion in my class proved again and again Too short. The quality and animation of the discussions was so remarkable that I would recommend they be made the means of advertising the value of the tutorial classes."
"The lectures were followed with keen and intelligent interest, and the questions asked revealed a true desire to understand the bearing of Economic Science on modern problems of finance and industry. . . . Some of the Essays written were of literary merit and I was distinctly impressed by the effort made even by those who were unaccustomed to written work to think out and arrange the points of their essays. The questions submitted to me orally or by letter were very searching, and as many of them were on British Finance and War Policy they required careful treatment. For myself personally I found the question hour stimulating and valuable. . . ."
A third tutorial class was formed to study "Modern European History" and the tutor appointed is Mr. James Jeffery, who on account of a long, successful teaching career and wide journalistic experience is pre-eminently fitted to lead a class in such a subject. The class membership is 25 and the average attendance 20. The lectures were comprehensive and discursive, and as might be expected with Europe in its present condition, the after discussion in the class was keen and pointed, although perhaps at times not always strictly relevant to the subject matter. The study of history to-day should be of absorbing interest to every' thinking person and the class can scarcely fail to be as interesting in its second year as the first.
In addition to the continuance of the classes already formed additional ones in other or even the same subjects will be organised for the coming session, provided sufficient students come forward.
The second year since the establishment of the Association in Invercargill has been one of no marked achievement, but of steady progress. The annual meeting was held on
This committee was strengthened by the addition of five members representing affiliated unions, viz: A.S.R.S., Mr. T. Clark; N.Z. Educational Institute, Mr. Jas. Hain; Tailors' Union, Mr. J. Hurrall; Tramways' Union, Mr. W. Denham, Typographical Union, Mr. H. J. Farrant. The president was elected to represent this branch on the joint committee of the Otago W.E.A. and the Otago University.
The classes conducted were the same as in the previous year, viz.: Economics and Literature, and, though the actual roll numbers have been smaller, the average attendances have been grater than in
Mr. O. Duff, B.A., undertook the duties of tutor in literature; but the pressure of military duties rendered it necessary for him to resign early in the session, and the Association was fortunate in securing the services of Miss M. H. King, M.A., to carry on
For the benefit of students in the economic class, the Association imported a number of copies of Gide's "Political Economy," and sold the majority to students. This has enabled them to carry on their home studies with some degree of success. Most of the books prescribed for the Literature Class were obtainable locally, so that in this respect the difficulties of the previous year have largely been overcome. A supply of books to serve as a reference library in Economics has been on order for more than twelve months; but owing to misadventure these are not yet to hand. The Association has also gratefully to record a donation of £10 from Mr. Oliver Duff. This sum has been set aside to purchase books of reference for the use of students attending the Literature Class, so that at some time in the session of
A public lecture was delivered in the Victoria Hall under the auspices of the Association by Professor H. B. Bedford, Professor of Economics in Otago University, to a good audience. The subject, "Some Economic Aspects of the War," was a timely one and undoubtedly helped to create interest in the work of the classes. The Association is of the opinion that several lectures of this kind should be arranged, if possible, each session.
The only social event of the year was a water picnic held at Moko-Moke, in conjunction with the Naturalists' Society; but this was an undoubted success. An indoor social evening has also been decided upon to be held at an early date.
The Association desires to place on record its appreciation of the services rendered by three members who have assisted materially in establishing its classes, viz., Mr. O. Duff and Mr. J. C. Dale, both of whom have left Invercargill, and Mr. G. A. Froggatt, who leaves shortly on active service. All three have
The Hocken Library at Dunedin contains three volumes of Colenso manuscripts. The first contains the letters written by Mr Colenso to the Church Missionary Society from
It is clear that the journals were copies made by Mr Colenso from his diaries or rough note-books. Whether the latter contained matter not included in the manuscript I do not know—nor whether Mr Colenso kept any similar record for the years prior to
At this time there were three missionaries with their wives and families living; at Paihia, the Rev. H. Williams, the Rev W. Williams and Mr C.
Mr Colenso has published in the pamphlet "Fifty Years Ago" a full account of his early printing operations; and it is not necessary to detail these here. It is sufficient to say that the first book, a portion of the New Testament, was printed in Maori, in
In addition to this work, Mr Colenso took his share? in missionary labours, conducting services at the various settlements on the bay—at Waitangi where the British Resident. Mr Busby,
After the journey he offered himself to the Church Missionary Society as a travelling missionary, and this offer was accepted. In
Before quitting this part of the story it is well to add among the chief incidents he witnessed. The first was the visit of the Beagle with the celebrated naturalist, Darwin, on
By the time the Governor arrived, the question of deciding the validity of these land claims had become of the first urgency. In
Before finally leaving the Bay of Islands, Mr Colenso made three journeys, on the third making his first visit to Hawke's Bay in the summer of
Mr Colenso, along with Mr Hamlin, was admitted to deacon's orders at Waimato on
It is perhaps worth while dwelling a moment on the courage of these early settlers who went thus cheerfully into the wilderness, and suffered not only much privation, but were frequently in actual danger from the native population. Without roads, without neighbours, without doctors or schools, their lot was indeed anything but a pleasant one. Mrs Colenso, moreover, was left alone for long intervals while her husband was absent on his regular visitations of the country between Napier
Mr Colenso's goods were landed on
Writing to the society a year later (
On one occasion after a flood the chief Tareha said to Colenso, "No one ever dwelt on this spot before; it has always been the dwelling place of an eel." No wonder Colenso suffered severely from rheumatism as a result of the damp situation. Later on (Journals.
In his printed paper on his first visits to the Ruahines (page 4), Mr Colenso describes the site of the mission station, and his words may be quoted here. "Words would fail me to knew the original state of that land I At this time, I resided at Waitangi, a place near what is now called Farndon—the two large fir trees, and also the row of cabbage trees, raised from seed and planted by me there mark the spot. The principal native villages near, me were at Waipureku (East Clive) and Taanenuirangi, Whakatu, and Pakowhai on the banks of the river Ngaruroro; this last village though greatly reduced and altered, still remains. In those days there was no communication overland between these villages and Waitangi and Te Awapuni (the large Maori pa, or village, near by on the west bank of the Waitangi creek where Karaitiana and his sub-tribe long resided) simply because it was impossible to travel through the dense interlaced jungle of cutting grass and other swamp-loving plants, as the flax, which grew there. The Maoris generally came in small parties almost daily (indeed too often) from those villages to the station; everything being new and strange to them, and having nothing to do; but they invariably came and returned in their small canoes, taking advantage
We have already referred to the fact that Mr Colenso was dependent on the Maoris for labour both in working his land, erecting buildings of any sort and s) on. The missionary committee at Paihia had allowed him £70 for the necessary work of completing the mission station, but he found the expenditure far exceeded this estimate. Apparently the committee thought that he should not have exceeded his allowance, and he appealed to the Home authorities for relief as the business had put him in debt. (Letters,
Mr Colenso was called on to administer medicines and other relief to the sick natives of the neighborurhood. While building his house a native cut his hand. Colenso began to dress the wound and while he was doing so the native fainted "Look, he has killed him," said the man's friends. On the native being recovered by a dash of cold water, "See," they said, "he has made him alive again." (Journals,
In the course of his work Mr Colenso necessarily became a great traveller, frequently visiting the Wairarapa, and even Patea and Taupo in the course of his district visitations. In
In July of the same year Mr and Mrs Co'euso walked from Waitangi to Gisborne, Mrs Colenso, who was expecting the birth of her second son, wishing to be near a white woman. They left left Waitangi on July 25th and reached Turanga on August 6th. (See Journals). The days' stopping places (emitting the two Sundays when the travellers rested) were Tangoio, Moeangiangi, Waikari, Mohaka, Poututu, Wairoa, Wakaki, and two nights were spent in the forest before reaching Mr Williams' residence.
In connection with his mission work we may note an amusing incident arising from the advent of the Roman Catholic priests. Colenso notes that in
Two incidents may be referred to as showing the difficulties of dealing with the Maori neighbours. Very shortly after he settled at Waitangi a girl named Ann Parsons was abducted and her father, John Waikato, suspected Mr Colenso of being guilty of it. He came to the mission and assaulted Colenso, caught him by the hair and threw him to the ground. On Mr Colenso demanding compensation, Waikato again knocked him down and the natives threatened to burn his house down. Matters evidently assumed a critical aspect, but Colenso preserved his dignity and appointed a day for an inquiry into the charge. The day came and the girl herself appeared and cleared Colenso. Waikato admitted that he was wrong, and presented a canoe to Colenso as compensation. (Journals
Not long after another trouble arose through the chief Hapuku. Who became convinced that Colenso would interfere with the burial of Pareihe (an old chief). Hapuku was not a convert and he may have desired to Use some native ritual. However, In; vistied Colenso and threatened to put a bono of the
The natives were keenly interested in agricultural work although it does not appear that the Ahuriri natives over developed as farmers in the way that the Wairoa and Gisborne natives did. Mr Colenso reports that when the first cow arrived in the bay 120 native canoes put out to welcome it. ("Ruahine" No. A, Page 65). The horse was another object of great curiosity to the native mind On
Mr Colenso naturally came to hold the position of mediator between the natives and the white settlers. As already indicated, he was more in sympathy with the natives than the settlers. The missionaries resented the interference of the settlers in their work, and the settlers returned the i1-feeling with interest. It must be confessed that the missionaries were not without some excuse-for their attitude. An in-
The whalers in Hawke's Bay made the same complaint. Colenso writes: "The masters of the whaling stations in Hawke's Bay complained that I taught the natives not to work for them. What I really taught was not to work on Sabbath day, not to drink spirits or swear or omit their prayers or bring women for prostitution, for you cannot do these things as Christians: and when by and by they found that they could not remain at the whaling stations without doing such things they left." (Letters, page 254).
In
Another instance of his mediation occurred in connection with the attempt to purchase native land for the purposes of settlement In
Mr Colenso was frequently employed
In
In
Mr Colenso was the first white resident in Hawke's Bay save the whalers. With some of them he was on friendly terms. On
On
The following month Smith, a decent looking white man from the Wairoa, came to him about the theft of his things by white men. "He spoke or the whites residing in this bay as the very lowest and worst he ever knew—runaway soldiers and man-of-warsmen, convicts from New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, who openly boast of their defiance of the Government." Colenso appealed to Morris who wrote to say that the natives would join Smith to recover the goods. (Journal,
Another whaler was Edwards, master of the trading station at Putotaranui, a few miles south of Cape Kidnappers. On
Notices of the white settlement are regrettably scarce in the journals. On
In
On
On
On
A few words may be devoted to the state of the settlement at that time. The whalers were already here when Mr Colenso arrived in
Mr Colenso removed to Napier in
The first white settlers of Hawke's Bay were the whalers, who seem to have first come to the hay in the later thirties. When they arrived the bulk of the native population was gathered on the northern shores of the bay between the Wairoa river and the Mahia. This was a result of an invasion by the Taupo and Waikato tribes, who harried the Heretaunga natives and severely defeated them at Hotoatara (a pa on the Te Ante Lake) in
It is not easy to obtain information about the early whalers, as their operations were earned on before the in-
Mr W. Williams visited the Wairoa in
The settler in early days was the property of the chief and his tribe and regarded as a thing specially sent for their benefit. He was subjected to pressure whenever the necessities of chief or his subordinates made it desirable that a portion of his substance should pass into their hands He was never thoroughly plucked, but was systematically blackmailed. The sales of land were made by the natives to obtain the settlement of Europeans for their own benefit solely. When they witnessed the increase of these settlements they would have stopped their growth; when they found that impos-
In
The Wards retired after the first season and Mr Ellis took over their station. In
Most of the owners paid a rental for the ground occupied by the fishery huts and other works to the natives. The oil sold for £18 to £26 a tun, leaving big profits to the buyers. The boats were worked on shares. The headsman would receive 1½ shares the boat steerer 1¼, the boat 1, each pulling hand 1 and the try works ¼. The owners would appear to have been worst off under this arrangement, but in reality everything went to them. Clothing, food—lodging perhaps—had to be paid for and the balance—when there was any—went for rum, which the owners supplied. In
The "Now Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator" for
In the "Handbook for New Zealand" published in
As already stated, Mr W. Williams and Mr Colenso visited Ahuriri in
Two early descriptions of Hawke's Bay are to be found in the Wellington press. On
On
In a volume of letters by Bishop Selwyn to the secretary of the S.P.G., published London.
The earliest residents in the district settled near the port, and were engaged in trading with the Maoris, buying pigs, flax and other produce, as well as oil and bone from the whaling stations and sending them to Wellington, while they sold to the natives farm implements, tools and other European articles. Four small vessels are said to have plied regularly between Ahuriri and Wellington. For example, on
The first white man to settle at Ahuriri came, as Mr Colonso tells us, on May 22nd, 184G. This may have been Mr Alexander, who the following year was farming at Wharerangi. He opened a store at Onepoto. Anketel began business as a trader at the same place at the end of
The site of the present town was bought from the natives by Mr (afterwards Sir Donald) McLean in
The country settlors came by way of the Wairarapa. In
An interesting description of an early visit to Ahuriri I take from the "Hawke's Bay Herald" (
The earliest land purchases in this district took place about
For some time the natives freely sold, hut soon began to realise that they would do better by leasing. The Waikato confederacy had some influence in persuading the natives not to sell, and ultimately the "Native Land Purchase Ordinance" was passed to prevent persons dealing with natives direct. It "'as defended as necessary if the land purchase system, which after all was essential to the development of the colony, was to be carried on successfully. It would seem that the labour and difficulty attending the work of purchase were really very great, and the natives would have been no better off had they received ten times as much for their land.
The port of Napier in the early days was at Onepoto where various traders had their stores. Gough Island, now covered with merchant offices, had a native pa or village. Small vessels were dragged over the mud flats to Onepoto and loaded. Napier was still separated from the country by the impenetrable swamp, and a small 4 ton boat, "The Sailor's Bride" which used to ply between the port and Waipureku (East Clive) was the only means of access
The produce of the district was woo' and mutton, pigs and flax. In
An interesting description of Ahuriri in
Mr Dodson then describes a visit to Noah's pa on the banks of the Ngaruroro. He crossed the river at its mouth in a whaleboat and walked along the shingle in the direction of Waitangi. "Large masses of pumice lay scattered around brought down by Hoods from the volcanoes inland. Of this light material the settlers here built the chimneys of their weather-hoarded houses, cementing the pumice with lime Of burnt shells; for building stone and limestone are not within a convenient distance of Ahuriri. . . Karaitiana was to meet me at Pukenau, the kainga of noath, of the Nguiuroro; I therefore passed Awapuni, the kainga of Karaitiana and crossed the channel in n canoe to Pukenau on the grassy banks of the Ngaruroro. The village contains
If we try to picture the state of the district as it was then, we are helped by the first almanac issued with this paper on
In
When Mr Colenso's connection with the Church Missionary Society ceased in
In
The conditions of life were very different in the early settlement to anything we have experience of to-day. In the country the absence of roads was the chief drawback. The old settler would probably leave Dan. Munn's Royal Hotel to go inland, crossing the Waitangi at Mr Colenso's residence, whence a Maori track led over the Kohineraku hill. Afterwards you had to find your way as well as you could. On the sheep runs the settlers were reduced for years to grinding their own wheat. Even visitors when stopping at a station were expected to grind a hopper for their own consumption, the hopper being fastened to a post at the door. Milk and butter were not known. Damper, with tea and mutton, formed the staple of breakfast, dinner or supper. Even in the town there was no bakery in
There were two features of the life of fifty years back that were striking. One was the natives, who were numerically much stronger than the whites and who were inclined to be turbulent. The quarrel between Moananui and Te Hapuku led to bloodshed on several occasions in
Mrs E. M. Dunlop has giren a vivid Fletare of these times She writes:—In
Great round holes were dug in the bank over which our tents were pitched, excavations being made in the banks to serve as cupboards, and a table arranged round the tent pole. Thus we lived in a canvas-covered pit, from which we ascended by steps to the upper air. A fireplace was cut in the hank and a rough sod chimney conveyed the smoke away. So we fared, and often I have heard my mother, who was fresh from all the luxuries of an English home, say that she never enjoyed any part of her life so well. She Possessed the true spirit of the pioneer, hardship and discomfort were amusement for her, and she met every vicissitude with a smile. The freshness, the novelty of the surroundings, the camaraderie, the spice of danger, seemed to her the very wine of life.
We had the excitement several times of the tent being blown down about us in the dead of night, and one of my earliest memories is that of being carried through the wild wet night in the arms of a soldier to a safer resting place—a mud hut on high ground. Alarms were frequent in the camp, as it was supposed that a hostile attack might be made by Maoris. The bugle would blow calling the whole camp to arms, and a scene of wild excitement would ensue
Our arrival at the valley of Onepoto was somewhat sensational We were disembarked at the Spit—known as the from Pot—and had to make our way along the sandy spit and rocky shore as best we could. My father sprained his ankle as we disembarked, and was carried on a stretcher, wife and children following—the younger ones carried in kind soldier's arms, The soldiery as a body went across in boats over an inner lagoon filled with shallows, transit being problematical. How-
Various stores and other buildings were going up on the other side of the island where Napier now extends. A school was soon initiated by a most worthy clergyman, the Rev. W. Marshall, who was identified with the riso of Napier. Newton's store was built and celebrated with a grand lull to which my mother went with other ladies from the Camp, her toilet being made in the tent before a looking-glass swung from the tent pole. The ball was much enjoyed, though she often amusingly recounted the adventures of the hop, skip, and jump necessary to avoid the large cracks in the flooring which somewhat interfered with the dance. The Superintendent, Mr Fitzgerald, built a small house, which is still standing, near whore the breakwater now is and we were fortunate enough to procure a part of the cottage next to it, which is also still standing Mr Lyndon occupied the third cottage; this gentleman, who only passed away at a great age a short time back, was identified with the whole history of the place from the earliest days to a recent year. He was an excellent settler, making several lovely homes and encouraging horticulture which he loved, and to which the soil is naturally suited.
The town was now laid out, stores, churches, and other buildings were springing up, the town of Napier was taking shape, and country settlement progressed We were advised to venture inland and travelled by bullock dray, taking five days to reach Te Yute—a distance now traversed by rail in less than two hours. Strange indeed and perilous was our progress; the long cavalcades of bullocks winding round the cuttings, the drays sometimes tipping over on a slippery siding; the starry night, the strange encampments, the voices of the men as they talked or
The electoral roll for Napier on
It may be interesting here to give the names of the first Government officials from the almanac of
Magistrates resident within the district:—Messrs John Curling, R.M., George S. Cooper. John C. L. Carter, H. R. Russell, Donald Gollan, Alex. Alexander, Alfred Newman, James Anderson, Walter Ogilvy.
Visiting Justices of the Gaol.—Messrs John Curling, J. C. I.. Carter.
District Land Purchase Commissioner.—G. S. Cooper.
Sub-Commissioner of Crown Lands.—H. S. Tiffen.
Clerk.—J. B. Williams.
Chief District Surveyor.—H. S. Tiffon.
Provincial Sub-Treasurer.—E. Catchpool.
Deputy Postmaster. K. Catclipool.
Returning Officer.—John Curling.
Native Surgeon. T. Hitchings.
Deputy Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages.—E. Catchpool.
Inspector of Sheep. F. Tiffen.
Registrar of Brands.—F. Tifien.
Registrar under Dog Act.—E. F. Harris.
Official authorised to lay Informations under the Native Land Purchase Ordinance.—E. F. Harris.
Commissioner for taking Affidavits for the Supreme Court.—E. Catchpool.
Officer appointed to Issue Licenses for the Sale of Ammunition.—John Curling.
Pilot and Ferryman.—John McKinnon.
At the commencement of the settlement in Hawke's Bay this district was an attached to the Wellington province. Very early, however, a desire for separation manifested itself. The earliest meeting held to promote this object appears to have taken place on
A little later another meeting of settlers assembled at the Royal Hotel to meet Mr J. V. Smith, the member for Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay in the General Assembly Dr. Hitchings asked Mr Smith if he would support a petition for separation, and Mr Smith consented to present such a memorial and to support its prayer. He said that he was in favour of an extension of local government, and trusted that Ahuriri would not only obtain separation for itself, but be instrumental in sweeping
The settlers lost no time in preparing a petition to the General Assembly, which was drawn up by Captain Curling, R.M. A public meeting was held Captain Carter took the chair, and Mr J. B. Rhodes acted as secretary. The adoption of the petition was moved by Mr Fitzgerald and seconded by Mr Rhodes. Almost the only dissentient was Mr Colenso, whoapparently was not allowed to finish his speech. The motion was carried, and, says our report, "This finished the business of a meeting the most important that has yet assembled in this district."
The next step was the passing of the New Provinces Bill on
The petition was forwarded to Auckland, and on
On
Herald Print Napier.
Like all other commercial, industrial, and national projects, the frozen meat industry originated and has since been based on the ancient, universal, and continuous law of Supply and Demand.
Labour Unions may pass resolutions attacking the Capitalists and calling on the Government of the day to provide relief legislation. Royal Commissions may be appointed to enquire into the cause of rise and fall in prices of commodities and suggest methods of alleviation. Boards of Trade may be given temporary powers to deal with unusual and acute positions such as those arising from the great War, and even a despotic and absolute dictator (such as we see in Germany) may be placed in charge of a nation's food supply, and yet in the end each and all are forced back into submission to the great natural law of Supply and Demand.
Let us see how this has applied to the rise of the great frozen meat industry in New Zealand. Taking first the demand, the following table will show the population at different periods as compared with the number of live stock in the United Kingdom.
A Parliamentary return gave the following average prices of meat:—
The dwindling flocks and herds compared with the increasing population in United Kingdom had given rise to considerable food for thought and the matter was frequently discussed in Parliament.
Turning now to the supply (from New Zealand) the following table will show the enormous increase of the flocks and herds in New Zealand.
In the sixties and seventies in New Zealand, sheep had increased so rapidly that there was no means of dealing profitably with the surplus stock. Boiling down for the sake of the tallow was the only outlet and large numbers of sheep were often sold for 6d to 1s per head. Sheep were grown solely for the wool, the carcase being practically of no value. Indeed, it is related that the surplus flocks in some districts were driven over the cliffs into the sea, this being the only practicable means of getting rid of them. Even forty years ago it was not an uncommon thing for prime legs of mutton to be sold at 6d each. Mr C. J. Monro states that in Nelson he remembers a line of 1000 prime wethers being sold for £30 for the lot.
Here then we had a great and increasing demand for meat food on the one side of the world, and an enormous and prolific supply on the other, yet separated by half the circumference of the globe, and the problem was to find a means of preventing natural decay while trans-porting.
Very many methods of preserving meat were tried, some were utter failures and others were in a measure successful; but real success was not attained until refrigeration was adopted and improved on. It is difficult to realise that only about 35 years have elapsed since one of the most important of the world's industries was inaugurated and compare it with the enormous and increasing trade of the present day.
And yet the whole of this great industry, and I may add to a very great extent the general prosperity and advancement of New Zealand hangs on the slender piston rod of a refrigerating machine.
Imagine what this country would be like if we were unable to export our surplus meat, butter, cheese, etc. Instead of land being worth up to £60 and £70 per acre, it would probably not be worth as many shillings, and stock would be practically unsaleable. Instead of prosperous and growing towns such as Palmerston North, Feilding etc. we would have little more than back-blocks settlement.
We cannot therefore think too highly of the services rendered Australasia by the pioneers of the industry who risked so much, and sometimes ruined themselves in the endeavours to solve the great problem of successful preservation of animal food. All honour to the brave and resourceful men who despite many failures and apparently insuperable difficulties persevered and finally brought the industry to a successful conclusion.
Referring briefly to some of the prominent pioneers in Australia, we have Thomas Sutcliffe Mort who arrived in Sydney in about
Then there was James Harrison who emigrated to Sydney in
To Henry and Jas. Bell and J. J. Coleman belong the honour of landing in London in
We cannot overlook the name of the great French engineer and scientist Charles Tellier, who was instrumental in bringing a shipment of meat from Buenos Aires to Rouen in
In
Turning now to New Zealand, we must give the palm for the first shipment to a company of Scotchmen, the New Zealand and Australian Land Co. of Edinburgh. Mr W. S. Davidson was general manager and Mr Thos. Bry-done was the Company's superintendent in New Zealand. Realising the need for providing an outlet for the surplus stock in New Zealand, and the success of the initial shipments from Australia, led this Company to arrange with the Albion Shipping Company to fit up the sailing ship "Dunedin" 1200 tons, Capt. Whitson, for the purpose of carrying a cargo of frozen meat from New Zealand.
As this was the first shipment from this country, I will give a few more interesting details.
There being no freezing works in New Zealand, it was decided to kill the stock on land and then freeze on board, and on the
The trials and worries for the captain in this experimental voyage must have been severe. It is related that when in the tropics the temperature got so high in the chambers that Capt. Whitson decided as a last resort to endeavour to alter the circulation of the air. To do this he had to crawl down the main trunk and while cutting fresh openings he was overcome by the frost and had to be rescued by the mate crawling in behind him and fastening a rope to his legs by which he was pulled out of the air trunk.
The "Dunedin's" cargo consisted of 4460 sheep and 449 lambs, and it is interesting to compare this with the 130,000 carcases carried by some of the fine insulated steamers that now leave New Zealand almost weekly.
The shipment was sold at the Smithfield market within a fortnight of arrival and was pronounced "as perfect as meal could be." Mention of this shipment was even made in the House of Lords. The mutton and lamb realised about 6½d per lb, and the total charges were a little over 3d per lb., and as the stock was only worth about 11/- per head in the Dunedin market, there was a net return of 2.1/9 per head, which amounted to about 100 per cent. profit on the shipment.
The success of the "Dunedin" led to another Albion fast sailer, the "Marlborough," being fitted out, the former carrying 9000 carcasses and the latter 13,000.
After about six voyages, both vessels left New Zealand within a few weeks of each other and neither was ever heard of again. It is supposed that they struck ice-bergs off Cape Horn.
Mention has been made of Mr Thos. Brydone. A cairn has been erected in the Totara Estate in memorial of the important part he took in the successful pioneer shipment In the 30 years from May
The first shipment by steamer was 8506 carcasses in the "Marsala" in
The first freezing works in New Zealand were erected at Burnside near Dunedin in
This concern, although the pioneer company, never reached large proportions and in
It will be noted that although Otago started the frozen meat industry it has now dropped far behind; and is easily outstripped by Canterbury, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, and Auckland.
The Christchurch Meat Co. erected works at Islington, with a killing capacity of 500 sheep per day. These works are now capable of handling 15,000 sheep and 100 cattle per day and are most up to date in every respect. This company was the first to pay particular attention to the by-products of the animal, such as skins, blood, etc., which now are of very great value, everything being worked up into some commercial commodity. In fact, these by-products are utilised to such an extent that the greater proportion of the profits comes from them, and the meat may be considered as a secondary product of the works.
The Christchurch Meat Co. also own works at Smith-field (X.Z.), Picton, Oamaru, Burnside and Wanganui.
In
I may here mention that the Christchurch Meat Company are erecting very large and up to date works at Imlay near Wanganui, and it is interesting to learn that they have lately changed the name of the Company to the N.Z. Refrigerating Co., thus going back to the name of the first Company formed in New Zealand and whose business they absorbed.
The second Company to be formed was the Canterbury Frozen Meat Co. in
The third frozen meat company in New Zealand was the Gear Meat Preserving Company formed in
Mention must be made of the name of Mr W. Nelson who was one of the foremost in promoting the freezing industry in this country. Messrs Nelson Bros. have erected Works at Tomoana, Cisborn and at Hornsby.
The Wellington Meat Export Company was formed in
The Longburn Works were built in
The Wanganui Works were established in
Within the last 10 years, in addition to those mentioned, new companies have been formed and freezing works built at Whangarei, Southdown, Westfield (Auckland).
Horotiu (Waikato), Tokomaru Bay, Kaiterataki, Kaiti and Taruheru (Gisborne), Westshore, Paki Paki, Tomoana and Whakatu (Hawke's Bay), Waingrawa (Wairarapa), Waitara, Patea, Taihape and Feilding all in the North Island, and at Picton, Horiisby, Stoke, Balclutha, Ocean Beach, Mataura and Makarea in the South Island.
And new works are in course of construction or are projected at Whakatane, Stratford, Kakariki (Marton) in the North Island.
The total capacity of the works in New Zealand actually erected is a daily killing of 3585 cattle and 122,650 sheep, with storage for 3,898,450—601b. freight carcasses.
During the past 12 months seven new freezing works have been erected with capacity for 800 cattle, 18,200 sheep and 751,000 carcases storage. This is an increase of 28 per cent. in cattle, 4 per cent. in sheep and 20 per cent. in storage over the previous totals.
It is nothing short of marvellous that the whole of this enormous industry should have sprung up and grown during the last 30 years (most of it in the last 5 to 10 years). The cost of the freezing works in New Zealand alone must run into many millions of money, to say nothing of the great fleet of insulated steamers up to 12,000 tons required to carry this food supply to the hungry millions in the United Kingdom. And then we have the magnificent docks and cool stores and markets erected in London and other British ports to handle effectively and distribute this constant stream of food pouring into the country, not only from New Zealand but from Australia, Argentine and other places.
Notwithstanding the heavy export of sheep and lambs from New Zealand, the numbers of sheep have steadily increased until in
It may be of some interest briefly to touch on the methods employed in New Zealand Freezing Works.
Under normal conditions the freezing season is from about the middle of November to May or June. The fat stock, i.e., cattle, sheep and lambs, are either bought out-right from the farmer by the Freezing Company or a Meat Exporter at a certain price per head at the farm, or at so much per lb. "on the hooks" at the works; or the farmer has the option of having the stock killed and shipped on his own account
The stock is either driven by road or carried by rail to the Freezing Works which are generally situated near a shipping port, and inter alia I may state for sometime there has been considerable discussion as to whether it is more advisable to rail the live stock to the port and kill there, or to kill the stock at inland works and rail the meat to the port. Arguments can be used in favour of both methods, but the weight of opinion now is in favour of killing as near as possible to where the stock is fattened. On arrival at the works the animal is driven to the highest floor of the building to allow of everything being worked by gravitation, and there slaughtered by humane and expeditious methods. An expert butcher can kill and dress up to 100 sheep or lambs per day, the payment being at the rate of 30/- per hundred, so that good wages are earned. Up to £8 and £9 per week, and even more is earned by cattle butchers.
A Government Veterinarian is always present when stock is killed and a most rigid and careful inspection is made of all animals, and any showing the slightest signs of disease are either wholly or partially condemned.
I may here state that the inspection of stock killed for food in New Zealand is the most thorough in the world.
After being dressed the carcases are graded, weighed and ticketed, then conveyed by overhead rail into the chilling room. In the case of mutton and lamb which are weighed hot, an automatic weighing machine deducts 6 per cent. from the hot weight for shrinkage. Beef is weighed cold, i.e., after it comes out of the chilling room, and 3 per cent. is deducted for loss in freezing, as it is estimated that 3 per cent. of weight is lost in cooling and 3 per cent. in freezing. From the cooling room the meat is run (still by overhead rail) to the freezing chambers where it remains until frozen thoroughly hard, generally a matter of 24 to 48 hours. 15 to 17 degrees F. is consid-
Immediately the animal is killed, the offal is dealt with. All edible portions such as hearts, kidneys, livers, tongues and tails are carefully washed, then frozen and packed in boxes for shipment. Blood, heads, shanks, entrails etc. are all taken away in trucks to another building and there boiled down, the Eat being rendered into tallow and the remainder dried, ground up, and converted into manure. Horns, hoofs, sinews etc. are cleaned and packed ready for export. Other parts of the animal are made into bungs, casings, runners etc, for sausage casings and such like, so that every part of the animal is made use of and no waste allowed.
The skins are taken off carefully, as these are now the most valuable part of the animal. Sheep and lamb skins are conveyed into another building called the fellmongery and after being washed in a dolly, they are painted on the flesh side with a solution of sulphide of sodium and lime and stacked for a period of 12 to 24 hours. The chemical action of this solution loosens the wool from the skin and it is easily plucked off by hand. The wool (called slipe) is then dried and packed in bales for shipment; the skin (now called pelt) is washed, skivered and finally pickled and packed in casks also for shipment.
Before the war the average value of the skin would be from 9d to 1/6 per lb. for the wool, and 1/6 to 3/6 each for the pelt. Now as a result of war conditions, very much higher prices are realised. The cost of working skins may be set down at 1½d per lb. of sliped wool, and the cost of curing pelts at about 3/- per dozen.
The usual grades of meat are:—Prime ox, equal fores and hinds, 160/2201bs., and under and over weights; prime cow and heifer, second quality ox, cow and heifer; boning quality, bull and cow frozen in quarters. Bull and cow boned out. Prime wethers 48/721bs.. Prime
Under the ordinary circumstances, the voyage to London occupies about 42 to 44 days (or less than half the time taken in the early shipments). The magnificent insulated vessels of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, New Zealand Shipping Company, Federal Shire Line, Commonwealth and Dominion Line and Tyser Line, are all engaged in carrying frozen meat (in addition to other cargo) to the United Kingdom. Some of these steamers run up to over 12,000 tons and are fitted with twin screws, wireless telegraphy and all the latest improvements in shipbuilding. The Shaw, Savill and Albion Co. (with which the old Albion Co. has been merged) have 16 steamers totalling 146,762 tons in addition to three new 12,000 ton steamers building. The New Zealand Shipping Co. have 17 steamers of 175,850 tons.
The customary route before the war was via Cape Horn with stops at Monte Video or Rio and Las Palmas. The Federal Shire Line make Avonmouth, Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow the ports of discharge, and all the other lines make London. Wellington to Monte Video is 6014 nautical miles. Monte Video to Teneriffe 4258 miles. Teneriffe to London Docks 1730 miles or a total of 12,272 miles. The distance on the outward trip via Capetown is 13,195 miles.
So regular a service, free from accidents, breakdown of machinery, or damaged cargo, has been established that insurance policies covering all risks from the time the stock enters the Freezing Works, during voyage and until 60 days after arrival of vessel at destination, are now issued at a rate of only about £2 per cent. £7 7s per cent. and even more, was paid on some of the early shipments for voyage alone. Almost invariably frozen meat cargoes now arrive in England in prime condition and the percentage of damage is reduced to a minimum.
Any damage to frozen meat may be divided into three classes. Firstly while in the Freezing Works or during transit to ship. Secondly, during the voyage, and Thirdly during discharge and in transit to cool stores or in marketing. Under the first head, losses are practic-
It must not be thought that New Zealand's Frozen Meat Trade has been one of sure and steady development. Probably no other industry of its size has had more ups and downs.
In
As an example of the ignorant prejudice that for some time existed against frozen meat, the Director of Contracts for the War Office in
Space will not permit me to do more than briefly allude to the Docks, methods of unloading and means of distribution etc. in Great Britain. The magnitude of the undertaking is enormous. In London alone, the cool stores now have a capacity for three million carcases. The first
Start or Encour-Age a new industry Tor preserving that in which decay has taken place." How tittle conception the man who made this speech had of the future! The first Dock cool store was at A. Jetty, Victoria Dock in
In
The Union Cold Storage Co. (the largest of any storage company in the World) now have stores in London, Liver-pool, Manchester, Hull and Glasgow, with capacities for millions of carcases and could comfortably hold all a year's shipments from New Zealand. The refrigerating machinery has a total refrigerating power of 3000 per day.
In addition to above, are the cold stores of Borthwicks, Eastmans, Nelson Bros., River Plate Co., Sansinenas and others.
There are over 100 towns in the United Kingdom with public cool storage and the total available storage is over 8,500,000 carcases.
Usually 75 per cent. of frozen meat is marketed within a month of arrival, although at times it is held for six months and even more.
The principal dock stores are at Victoria and Albert Docks and steamers discharge direct into these; the chief railways run alongside, the meat being loaded into railway waggons for distribution in the provinces.
Frozen meat is conveyed from the Docks to the Smithfield and other City stores by insulated vans holding about 120 carcases or river barges holding 1000 to 1200 carcases. Originally cold storage rates were ¾d per lb. per 28 days, but in
Mention cannot be omitted of the Great Smithfield Meat Market. It is not a long call from the day in
The London Central Markets at Smithfield as a whole occupy about ten acres. The main building is 600 feet x 240 feet. The Central Avenue is 27 feet wide and there are six side avenues. Each shop is 36 x 15 feet, and behind is an office. The average daily sales of meat at Smithfield in
As mentioned before, insulated vans bring the meat from the cool stores to Smithfield and they start to load up at 10 p.m. and reach the market at about 3 a.m. The salesmen arrive before 4 a.m. at which time the retailers begin to come along eager to purchase their requirements for their customers. Sample carcases are unclothed and hung up and from these, up to say 200 carcases are sold at a time. The buyers are suburban butchers, representatives of large stores, Government contractors, restaurant keepers, etc. The retail meat trade in England is divided between the butcher who kills his animals at his own slaughterhouse and the man who purchases his requirements in the markets.
When frozen meat was first handled at Smithfield and for many years afterwards, it was sold by agents on commission, but the American firms came on the scene and decided to sell for themselves; so they acquired various stalls in the Grand Avenue, paying heavy sums for good-will.
It is recorded that the Morris Beef Co. paid £16,000 for one of their three shops. The Hammond Beef Co. has two stalls; Armours hold four, Swifts have six. It is known that this latter firm paid £12,000 for one only of these six stalls.
Among the largest British firms are Jas. Nelson and Sons Ltd., who own about 1500 shops in the United Kingdom, Eastman's Ltd., about 1400; the River Plate Fresh Meat Co. and W. R. Fletcher Ltd. over 400 each and the London Central Meat Co. over 500. It is calculated that there are over 100,000 butchers shops in the United Kingdom, and that 80 per cent. of Imported meat is sold by firms who sell no other kind of meat.
It must not be lost sight of that New Zealand's shipments of frozen meat (large as they are) are only 22 per cent. of the total imports of meat in the United Kingdom.
Smithfield has participated in all the ups and downs of the trade, and all the problems of the industry virtually take there rise there. The New Zealand farmer who ships frozen meat looks upon Smithfield as his Mecca and visitors from all parts of the world are constantly seen there. Smithield or "Smoothfield" as it was termed in mediaeval days, is rich in historical romance. In the days of the tournaments, St. Bartholmews Fair was held there. In the days of Mary and Elizabeth, Catholics and Protest-ants burnt each other there by turn, and it was the fashionable place for public executions before Tyburn became the mode. As a market for live stock we hear of Smith-field in 1150.
In 1253 the market was the property of the Corporation and Edward III. gave a Charter to the City of London not to allow other parties to set up a market. In those days the market price of food was regulated by the authorities, and yet in this year of our Lord
In Per Piece. Compare these prices with those paid at the present day. One of the features of St. Bartholomew's Fair was the enormous sale of roast pork; beef sausages came into use in
It is interesting to learn that in 1750 the average weight of oxen was 3701bs. and of sheep 281bs. or only about half the average weight at the present day.
In
How little those old knights in armour who charged across Smithfield in the tournaments, or the martyrs waiting to be burnt at the stake, or the highwaymen led UP for public execution, thought that one clay, hundreds of thousands of carcases of sheep and lambs and quarters of beef from over 12,000 miles away at the other side of the world (not even then heard of) would occupy the place they lived and fought and died in. The Smithfield of old was the popular and fashionable place of resort for jousts, tournaments, executions and burnings. Now it is synonymous with the material, industrial progress, trade and expansion of the British Empire. "Verily this is a strange world, my masters" and who can say that the next 200 or 300 years will not bring about even more extraordinary changes.
Interesting pages could be written about the distribution of meat in the Provinces and at the large ports such as Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull, etc., also regarding the attempts to introduce frozen meat into France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and other continental countries, but space will not permit. There is no doubt however, that as a result of the present war, the flocks and herds of Europe will be greatly reduced and when trade settles down again fresh outlets for unlimited quantities of our frozen meat will be opened up in almost virgin soil; not only in Europe but in China, Japan and India. The position regarding the shortage of meat in the European countries was acute before the was began, and communities rebelled against the enormously high prices of butcher's meat. Serious disturbances took place in Austria, France and
Another fact not generally known is, that there are more sheep in the United Kingdom than there are in New Zealand.
The enormous gain to the Argentine and Australasia when the new custom from the above countries is won, and how great the need for the diversion of heavy supplies from existing markets is clear to those connected with the frozen meat market.
The total number of insulated steamers engaged in carrying meat irom New Zealand in
But the war has greatly changed the position.
The British Admiralty has commandeered about 45 per cent of the mercantile marine and then the Kaipara and Tokomaru have been sunk by the enemy; the Rangatira,
The number of insulated steamers carrying meat from Australia was 71 with carrying capacity of 3,643,000 carcases and from South America 69 with carrying capacity of 5,672,800 carcases.
The average carrying capacity of Australian meat steamers was only 51,000 carcases as compared with 82,000 on boats from South America and nearly 100,000 from New Zealand.
In addition to the vessels regularly engaged in the New Zealand, Australian and South American trade there were in
The quantity of stock slaughtered in New Zealand shows a very large increase for the years ending 30th June
The increase in the number of cows slaughtered is remarkable, being over 100 per cent more.
Notwithstanding this enormous increase in stock killed, the latest returns of live stock in New Zealand show considerable growth.
Referring to the increase in quantity of stock in England, the latest returns collected in
This increase in cattle is the largest ever recorded. Pigs on the other hand decreased by 252,090—10.4 p.c.
The estimated figures for the whole of the United Kingdom are:—
So that the increase in cattle is just over 2 per cent. while in sheep and pigs there are slight decreases. This increase is probably due to the Maintenance of Live Stock order and it may even show a better result next year. But the main point is there is no prospect of increased supplies for killing purposes.
I cannot conclude without making some reference to what is generally known as the "Meat Trust Menace."
The American firms who comprise the "Meat Trust" are foreign concerns and outside the control of the Imperial Government, neither are they members of the Incorporated Society of Meat Traders.
I would earnestly commend to the attention of the New Zealand Freezing Companies and also to the sheep farmers the position of the meat trade in the Argentine and in the United. States. In spite of what the Americans say, the fact and statistics of the United States prove conclusively that the American farmer does not flourish under the present system of Meat Trusts and Controls, as is
The paid-up capital of one only of the six firms who comprise the Meat Trust in the U.S.A. is £15,000,000 with an annual turnover of £80,000,000.
This will show what enormous influences politically financially, industrially and in other directions can be brought to bear by a combine of firms with practically unlimited capital at their command as is the case with the Meat Trust of U.S.A.
The capture of the Argentine was effected by the usual Beef Trust methods, i.e., a steady forcing up of prices until all competitors are eliminated, and then when the market is cornered, prices dropped and the producer is forced to take whatever the Trust will give him, or have his stock remain on his hands without a market. An interesting example of this was given in an article that appeared in a Wellington paper recently. A farmer from New Zealand bought land in the State of Connecticut, U.S.A., at what appeared to be a cheap price according to New Zealand standards, with the intention of raising cattle. He said "I found it was impossible for me to raise cattle for profit because the local markets were closed against me; the meat trusts had full control, and they would only buy stock at their own price. No butcher could buy direct from us, for if he did he found he would be denied supplies by the Trust. A neighbour wanted to sell two bullocks to a local butcher but this butcher replied that he could not buy without permission of the representative of the packers. The community was completely under the thumb of the Meat Trust. The price paid by the consumers was high while the price paid to the producers was low. The farmer had to sell to the Trust if he sold at all and accept the price paid to him, the retailer had to get his supplies from the Trust, at their price and under their conditions regarding the conduct of his business.
How the producers in the Argentine are exploited is shown by the profits made by the various companies who combined in the Meat Trust there.
Profits for
Paid-up Capital
For much of the information regarding the early history and development of the frozen meat trade, 1 am indebted to Messrs Critchell and Raymond's admirable work entitled "A History of the Krozen Meat Trade"
In the foregoing pages 1 have endeavoured to trace the birth and growth of the great Frozen Meat industry of New Zealand. Some writers have stated that we have reached the maximum export of meat from this country, but I cannot believe that this is correct. While no doubt dairying has now taken up a very large area of land formerly used for breeding and fattening stock, still the millions of acres awaiting settlement and closer farming and the greatly enhanced prices of meat (with the probability of it continuing) will result in much greater production. Every year will see an expanding demand for meat-food among the nations of the Old World.
North America is hardly producing sufficient for her own wants, so that the World's supply must be looked for in the Southern Hemisphere.
And with the demand the supply will be forthcoming and this brings me back to my opening remarks:—The Natural Law of Supply and Demand. You may have a supply without a demand, but establish a demand and sooner or later you will have the supply.
New Zealand is essentially an agricultural country, and there is every reason to believe that it must long remain so. It possesses many advantages for the raising of stock, much of the land is very fertile and is well watered. Extending as it does for over a thousand miles, from north to south, between the 340 and 480 south latitude, the country has a great variety of temperate climates, and a fairly even and well distributed rainfall, making it possible to raise almost any kind of agricultural produce and fruits that can be grown in the temperate zones.
In the south island heavy crops of wheat, oats, barley etc., are grown. In the northern parts of the dominion excellent semi-tropical crops and fruits can be produced, while in both islands there are large areas that are most eminently adapted for dairy farming and raising stock. As the cattle can live in the field for the whole of the year practically no housing and little artificial feeding are necessary.
The total population in
The success of agriculture in New Zealand is almost entirely due to refrigeration and co-operation.
The development of co-operation, however, is of comparatively recent date. For many years after the foundation of the colony, the farmers were almost entirely dependent on the local market and the exports were small.
In
At that time (
In
The first attempt to send frozen meat from New Zealand was made by Messrs. W. S. Davidson and Thomas Brydone, the managers of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, who shipped 3521 sheep, 450 lambs and 22 pigs by the sailing ship "Dunedin" in d to 7d
All recent discoveries and modern knowledge are brought to bear to eliminate waste, to make the most of all by-products, rapidly to remove all animal matter and to ensure the most perfect sanitary conditions.
In this way the cost of freezing and shipping has been so reduced that the consolidated charges etc., were prior to the war under 2d per lb. or little more than half that of some of the early shipments.
The farmers have gradually adopted a system of selling their stock on the farm to the buyers of large companies instead of shipping it at their own risk; and as special attention is given to grading both for quality and weight, the large English importers can now make contracts in advance for the supply of meat in England and cover them by C. I, F. purchases from the freezing companies and pastoralists in New Zealand.
Soon after the outbreak of war, the British government expressed a desire to secure the whole supply of mutton, lamb, and beef available for export, for the soldiers and the civilian population of England. The New Zealand government at once took the necessary steps to give effect to this request. Conferences of meat exporting interests, the freezing companies, the farmers' representatives, and the shipping companies were convened. A workable scheme was drawn up, a system of grading and a schedule of prices were agreed upon, and the cheerful co-operation of the freezing companies and suppliers was obtained.
The schedule of prices to be paid for the meat per lb. was as follows :
The scheme drawn up provided for the setting up of an Imperial Government Meat Supply Branch, and the purchase of all the meat available for export. The freezing companies supplied statements as to all meat in store, showing what was held on both their own and their clients' accounts. All meat was consigned to the British Board of Trade. Contracts between the shipping companies and the freezing companies were left intact. A board of reference was also appointed to adjust any disputes, and the whole business was carried out under the Prime Minister's personal supervision, with the assistance of Mr. R. Triggs, one of the Public Service Commissioners, and Dr. C. J. Reakes, Director of the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture. The inspection and grading, the checking of weights and fixing of prices, etc. were carried out by the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture.
Thus the biggest thing in the way of the disposal of surplus meat ever attempted in New Zealand was started on
In addition some 7,236 tons of cheese (the purchase of which was begun by the government on
Thus it will be seen that the New Zealand pastoralists were compelled to seek an outside market. In England, co-operation grew out of co-operative distribution; in New Zealand its first development was in the direction of co-operative production and co-operative marketing.
The expenditure and risk of sending frozen meat to England were so heavy and many of the sheep farmers were so involved, that freezing companies had to be started by the large farmers, stock owners, and land companies, and but for them the frozen meat trade could not at that time have been established at all.
Some of these early companies worked on co-operative lines. They were started and controlled by farmers. They reduced the cost of freezing, made better use of the by-products, secured lower freights, and so obtained for the farmers a better price for their stock, and made cornering by great trusts difficult.
But the large amount of capital required led in some cases to the inclusion of the ordinary investor; and companies were formed which, while they secured lower charges and better prices for stock, departed from the true co-operative method of working.
This caused the farmers to erect other plants to compete with those in existence. Appended is a list of the New Zealand freezing companies. Those marked "F" are for the most part owned and controlled by the farmers.
From this it will be seen that the New Zealand freezing works can slaughter 109,650 sheep and over 3000 head of cattle per day and can keep in cold storage 3,516,450 carcases of mutton.
Butter and cheese factories.—The growth of the frozen meat business was accompanied by an equally rapid expansion in the dairy industry, an expansion that led to greatly increased prosperity throughout the dominion generally, and especially amongst the small farmers. It is only about 33 years since co-operative dairies under the factory system were started in New Zealand. But the dairy companies were more successful than the meat companies in preventing capitalists from getting a controlling interest and in securing to the settlers a full return for their produce.
At that time the outlook for the small farmers was very disheartening. The output exceeded the local demand. The nearest outside market, Australia, was 1200 miles away. The main market in England was 16,000 miles distant. Stock was selling at ruinous prices, and butter at 3d to 4d per lb. So the dairymen, like the pastoralists, were compelled to cooperate to improve the quality of their produce and to reduce the cost of manufacture; and after the introduction of refrigeration in
The first butter factories in New Zealand were established by private enterprise, but some of the early shipments were exported in tins, which led to financial failure and heavy loss. Few had faith in the possibilities of the industry. It was asserted that New Zealand butter could never command good prices in Great Britain on account of the distance and the time occupied in transit. But when the contents of two boxes, carried in the freezing chamber of a passenger steamer, were landed in England as perfect as when first made, the question of transit was settled; the industry began to expand and in a few years many of the proprietary companies were taken over by the farmers.
In
During the year that ended
Directors of the company are usually selected from amongst the most progressive men in the district, and they employ a secretary to attend to the books and a manager to manufacture the butter and cheese.
The government also appointed a number of dairy instructors who, by visiting the factories and farms, by practical demonstrations, and by expert advice have done much to extend co-operative dairies, and to improve the quality and unformity of the butter and cheese, the means of transit, and the disposal and distribution in the English markets.
Legislation was passed regulating the manufacture, grading and branding of the butter and cheese, and the purity of the milk.
The system of free grading initiated by the department not only improved the quality but also facilitated the sale, as the government graders' certificates are accepted in the London markets, and the contracts usually contain the stipulation that the produce shall receive a certain number of points or be first grade. If there is any serious defect the factory is advised, so that it may be rectified at once. This system has proved so effective that last year, of 836,324 boxes of butter and 543,605 crates of cheese that were examined, more than 96 per cent. were placed in the first grade.
In some districts the principle of co-operation has extended to the establishment of refrigerating works by the dairy companies, each dairy company taking up so many shares in the venture. In this way the cost of freezing butter and of storing and chilling cheese has been reduced to a minimum.
A further instance of united action on the part of dairy farmers is afforded by the Egmont Box-making Company at Eltham. The member-ship in this concern (which operates a saw-mill and tramway lines, and owns large tracts of timber country), is confined to the dairy companies, who are supplied with all butter boxes and cheese crates required for their produce at a more reasonable price than would otherwise be the case. About 130 timber workers are employed and something like 2,000,000 feet of timber are felled and then milled and converted into butter boxes and cheese crates each year. The board of management is selected by the dairy companies interested in the concern.
The government has also fostered the formation of co-operative herd testing associations. This was commenced in New Zealand on the co-operative principle in
In
The Department of Agriculture also co-operated with the farmers' held book societies, to start a register of merit containing the names and pedigrees of the best pure bred dairy cows. Records of the quantity of milk and the percentages of butter fat are kept by the owner, and checked by departmental officers who also take samples and determine the quantity of butter fat. These records are finally compiled by the department, the cows giving up to a certain quantity are granted a certificate by the government, and the results are published in the respective herd books. Photographs and particulars of exceptionally good cows, holding the record for the highest yield, are published periodically in the Journal of Agriculture, and distributed widely throughout the dominion to stimulate others to improve their herds. The Holstein, Ayrshire and Jersey breeders have taken this up heartily, and the aim of the government—to increase the supply of bulls bred from dams with a high milk record—is gradually being accomplished.
As a typical example of the rise and progress of a fanners' company, and the manner in which the farmers' produce has been enhanced in price by co-operative production, we might instance the New. Zealand Dairy Association, the largest in the dominion. The headquarters of this company are in the Auckland district. It was started in
In
The quantity of butter made that year (
The company also purchased for its suppliers last year £19,800 worth of dairy requisites, such as milk cans, separators and cement, molasses, manures, and veterinary drugs. These are sold to the farmers at slightly over cost price thus saving the producers a considerable sum during the year.
This company also (like others) assists its suppliers by advancing money to buy cows and milking plant, and manures to improve their farms, a portion of the monthly cheque for their milk being held back to repay the debt. This enables small landowners to tide over bad harvests and times of financial strain, and so to start farming without much capital.
Home separation.—When dairy factories were first started the farmers generally carted all their milk directly to the skimming stations, which separated the cream, sent it on to the central factories, and returned the skimmed milk to the settlers to feed their pigs and calves. There has, however, recently been a decided movement in the direction of home separation in some districts. At first there was considerable opposition to home separation as it was feared that it would reduce the quality of the butter. But in districts with bad roads and scattered farms, the system gradually spread, as settlers with small herds could sell their cream on the farms, although they could not send it long distances to the factory; so that with the increased supply and the more economical method of collecting, the cost of manufacture was very materially reduced, while the settler retained his own pure sweet skimmilk to feed his calves and pigs, thus diminishing any risk of spreading disease amongst his stock. There was some trouble about the quality of the skimmed milk at first, but instructors were appointed to visit the milking sheds in order to point out the best methods of cooling and handling it and to remedy defects when an inferior article was being produced.
Finally over 30 factories in the north of Auckland province agreed to grade all the cream, and pay the suppliers on a purity basis. This
By-products, Casern, Sugar of Milk &c.—With the great expansion of business every effort was made by the dairy companies to utilise the by-products to the best possible advantage. Many of the larger cheese factories are now making " whey butter " and the experiment has proved so profitable that other companies are installing the necessary machinery to do so next season.
A company, formed at Edendale, has put in a plant to manufacture sugar-of-milk. In some districts large quantities of dried milk are made. In
The following table shows the number of proprietary and co-operative factories at work in New Zealand each year from
National Dairy Association of New Zealand.—Besides what has been done in the ways mentioned by individual companies to help their suppliers, they have gone a step further, and united to form a National Dairy Association.
This association organizes conferences to discuss matters affecting the producers' business. It imports factory supplies and other requisites required by the industry. It deals with all matters connected with the shipment of butter and cheese to England and Canada, reports on outside markets, secures specially low freights under lengthy contracts, arranges bills of lading, and generally supervises the export business in the interests of the members.
The National Dairy Association has been working on these lines for about 21 years, and it now has affiliated to itself 138 co-operative, and 33 proprietary associations, besides a number of exporting companies.
Rural credit associations and agricultural banks are forms of cooperation which have not, so far, met with much favour in New Zealand. It is urged that there is little need of agricultural banks of the Raffeisen type, which grant short credit on the personal guarantee of the members, as very few of the New Zealand farmers are so poor that they have to club together to obtain the money to buy a pig or cow. The small farmers can obtain financial assistance from the farmers' auctioneering companies or from their own co-operative dairy companies; repaying the loan either on re-selling their stock, or by monthly instalments deducted from their milk cheque. On the other hand settlers requiring longer and larger loans, secured by mortgage, can readily obtain them at a reasonable rate either from private lenders or from the State.
Advances to settlers.—The government more than 20 years ago took up the position that it was the duty of the State to provide the country settlers with necessary capital, as every citizen in the dominion was vitally interested in the increase of agricultural production.
Accordingly in
The State Advances to Settlers Department has lent to deserving settlers over £20,000,000 since
Although this is not a co-operative business (each borrower being responsible only for the amount of his own loan), it may be noted that all borrowers pay into a fund to provide against any individual loss. The net profits of the Advances to Settlers Department for the year ending
Advances to workers.—The State Advances Office also lends money up to £450 to enable any manual or clerical worker to buy or build a house, if he is not in receipt of an income of more than £200 per annum, owns no land other than the allotment on which it is proposed to build, and is prepared to reside permanently in the home when it is built. The interest on the advance (which is secured by a mortgage on the whole property) is payable half yearly, with an instalment of the principal which by this means is fully repaid in either 36½ years, 30 years, or 20 years, as the case may be, when the mortgage is released. Valuation fees, and the cost of preparing and registering the necessary deeds, are fixed by regulation on an exceedingly low scale and are payable by the borrower.
A Wisconsin (U. S. A.) board after carefully investigating the Advances to Settlers system in New Zealand reported : It has successfully maintained itself for over 20 years. It has directly benefited thousands of settlers by securing long time loans of capital for them at low rates of interest. It has promoted the development of the agriculture, manufactures and commerce of the dominion, by attracting settlers and enabling them to make their holdings productive. It has aided in the development of community advantages in isolated settlements by increasing the schools and other community facilities and it has indirectly benefited the entire Commonwealth. "
The government is now considering the advisability of going a step further and starting agricultural banks similar to those that have proved so successful in other parts of the world.
The high rates of insurance on rural properties led to the formation of a number of farmers' mutual insurance companies on similar lines to those adopted in Canada and the United States. These companies can only accept isolated, non-hazardous risks in country districts; they stipulate that each property owner shall carry a portion of the risk himself and that no policy shall be accepted for more than two thirds of the actual value of the property. The principle adopted by most of these companies is to insure the property of their members for a period of years, taking a small fixed payment in advance to cover the simple expense of management and
The members also give a guarantee or premium note for a certain percentage of the amount of the insurance policy. Should an unusually heavy loss occur, a small assessment is levied on this premium or guarantee note, pro rata if the funds in hand prove insufficient to meet the loss. The liability of members is, however, limited to the amount of their unpaid portion of this guarantee note which, on first class risks, does not usually exceed 1½ per cent. per annum of the amount of insurance affected.
It will be seen therefore that, under this system, the farmers have only to pay for the actual loss incurred, plus a small amount to cover the cost of working expenses. They have not to make dividends on a large working capital, nor have they to build up an enormous reserve fund, to protect themselves against the tremendous losses that sometimes have to be met when an entire quarter of a large city is burnt down.
These companies have been successful in reducing the cost of farmers' insurance in New Zealand by nearly 50 per cent. By keeping their working expenses low, they have built up substantial reserve funds, and apart from the monetary saving that has been effected, their management has proved of great educational value, as a means of training farmers in co-operative and business methods.
A recent revision of the empowering Act permits these associations to undertake accident business, and though none of them have taken advantage of this provision, the possibility of their doing so prevents the rates of the joint stock companies from becoming excessive.
No account of co-operation in New Zealand would be complete without some particulars showing what has been done by the farmers to obtain their supplies at a reasonable price, and to market their produce in the most economical manner. Strange to say the farmers are the only class in New Zealand who have been successful in running co-operative stores profitably. The largest organization of this kind in the dominion is the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association. It was started in
At first an arrangement was made with some of the business firms, by which members of the association were allowed special discounts on the goods purchased. But as soon as the country storekeepers learned that certain wholesale firms were willing to do this they threatened to boycott them, and the privilege was withdrawn. Consequently in
A number of similar farmers' co-operative societies are working successfully in other parts of the dominion and arrangements have been made to federate them and to establish a Farmers' Co-operative Wholesale Federation of New Zealand.
Several other forms of co-operation have also been initiated by the New Zealand Farmers. There are co-operative egg circles which collect, grade and market eggs to the best advantage for their members.
To check excessive freights, ships have been chartered to carry the producers' wool to England. To reduce the cost of selling their stock and other produce, the farmers have also organized special farmers' co-operative auctioneerig companies.
In grain growing districts co-operative threshing machines are not uncommon. The sheep farmers have started co-operative sheep dips, co-operative shearing sheds and co-operative sales of wool.
A honey producers' association has been formed to grade and market the products of the apiary to better advantge.
The co-operative movement has also extended to fruit growing, once the most unprofitable of all industries by reason of the loose methods of marketing. Large quantities of fruit were grown, which in the absence of any settled market had to be practically hawked by the fruit vendors or consigned by individual growers to agents in the towns, a few of whom were not always too careful of the interests of their clients. In Auckland some nine years ago a Fruitgrowers' Co-operative Society was formed. From small beginnings it has worked up a very profitable business, introducing improved methods of selling and distributing fruit; and so handling the fruitgrowers' business that it has become increasingly profitable. Last year the society besides paying a dividend of 5 per cent. made a rebate of 10 per cent. on all coupons issued during
The co-operative movement is still in its infancy in New Zealand and seems capable of almost indefinite expansion. As stated, important developments have arisen out of the war conditions. Still more numerous and still more important movements would have been inaugurated on co-operative lines, during the last eighteen months, had it not been that the great struggle
It is probable that New Zealand has more to learn from other countries than it can teach its trade competitors. But the things it is doing it has learnt to do thoroughly and well, and its ears and eyes are always open to receive and profit by suggestions. Mistakes have been made and the experience gained has had to be purchased, sometimes at a heavy cost. But the position of the average farmer in New Zealand today is infinitely better than it was 20 years ago. He is more independent and self-reliant than ever; but his independence and self reliance are rather those of his class than of the individual. He has learnt the great lesson that union is strength, and the necessity for working with his fellows for his and their mutual advantage. Through his agricultural and pastoral associations, his farmers' clubs, his farmers' unions, his farmers' co-operative auctioneering companies, his co-operative freezing works, his dairy factory associations and trading companies, he has become a very real power in the land, and is no longer dependent upon the tender mercies of the merchant or storekeeper, but in a position to command his own terms, and to do business on his own lines.
What limitations the future may have in store for him it would be hard to say, for he is now in the happy position of being able to command practically all the capital he requires, mainly as the result of the many successful enterprises which he has initiated.
The following comparative figures indicate the rapid growth of the agricultural industry in New Zealand, and this has naturally been reflected in the progress and great prosperity of the dominion generally.
The total value of the exports has more than doubled within 10 years, rising from £815,503,530 in
While this growth cannot be entirely attributed to co-operation and refrigeration, there can be no doubt that these have been amongst the most potent factors in promoting the increased prosperity of New Zealand.
Due credit must be given to the rising price level; but it is only just to point out that the main cause of the prosperity in recent years has been greater productivity, and this has been greatly stimulated by the improved methods of preparation and marketing, which were the direct results of agricultural co-operation.
(c) Publications of the Bureau of Agricultural Intelligence and Plant Diseases
(d) Publications of the Bureau of Economic and Social Intelligence.
(e) other publications.
II. Publications not for Sale.
Note.