CULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21411, 1 March 1935, Page 14

CULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND

* PURSUIT OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY REV. A. C WATSON'S ADDRESS TO ROTARIANS (SPECIAL TO THE rEESS.t TIMARU, February 28. "Possibly there is no aspect of human endeavour lint needs more emphasis in this country than the pursuit of beauty," said the Rev. A. C. Watson, of Chrtstchurch, in an address to the Rotary Conference to-day. "The pioneering period, representing the first 100 years in the history of the country, has been marked by successful efforts to wrest a living from the soil, which has been a distinctive feature of New Zealand life. Consequently the spiritual and cultural life of the young community has come under the shadow of economic necessity and the utilitarian ideal has been paramount. "People compelled to earn a living have not time always to learn the art of living, and self criticism compels us to admit that we have to learn the arts of civilised life. Self criticism compels us to acknowledge that so far we have not produced much creative beauty. Where is our music, poetry, drama, letters, painting, architecture? There is something, but very little, and most of it, if not all, imitative rather than creative—a reflection of old world standards rather than the expression of inner beauty. "Many of us are compelled to do our work and live our lives away from the inspiration of great music, the glory of art, and to work in buildings that make us shudder because of their ugliness. We are of New Zealand; it is our country, a new country, a beautiful country. Some day new forms of creative art will appear among us; they will appear when our love and appreciation of beauty in all her forms have provided an atmosphere and environment favourable for the emergence of the spirit of beauty." Delight in Craftsmanship

Mr Watson said that there was a danger of drawing too rigid a distinction between livelihood and life, particularly in our modern age when so much work was purely mechanical. Whatever developments might lake place in industry, however much a society might organise itself to dispense with human labour, it was impossible to conceive of any state of human life in which work did not occupy an important and necessary part. What should be the attitude of men to their livelihood, occupation, or profession? he asked. Many men in this country and still greater numbers in . older industrial centres found little or no interest in the work of their hands, because the great part of ihe industrial population of the world was compelled to perform dull, uninteresting tasks to earn a living. Before the introduction of machinery, with all its social effects, the ordinary man found delight and happiness in the work of hand or brain; he was a craftsman. He did not lament the introduction of machinery as did the romantics or fanatics, contending that machiiiC-y was not a device of the devil but of man, and there was no reason why machine-made objects should not be well made or should not have beauty and good workmanship. They should keep clearly before them the ideal "every man a craftsman." Daily work should not be regarded merely as a means to an end or as a stepping stone to a somewhat: indefinite and nebulous thing called life. Lack of Agreed Ideals Speaking of goodness, Mr Watson said one of the major causes of the present chaotic conditions of western civilisation was the lack of agreed ideals among men. In the latter Middle Ages there was a spiritual unity that in spite of strife and war gave a kind of political unity to Europe. Today the Western World was atomised and fundamentally the disease was not due to economic forces nor to political but to spiritual.

When men ceased to believe in and acknowledge the same great spiritual realities, it was only a matter of time before they would group themselves into self-conscious and self-sufficient nations and seek by tariff walls or by war to achieve some imaginary destiny as a divinely chosen people. "We are not all agreed as to what constitutes a good man; what goodness means in the twentieth century has yet to be defined. This is a great and thrilling task, demanding intelligence, organisation and goodwill." Mr F. Mil nor, of Oamaru, warmly commended the speaker for his inspiring address. If; was necessary to get away from material things and cultivate a higher spirituality. The speaker was thanked.