THE CHANGING SCENE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 550, 3 July 1909, Page 6

THE CHANGING SCENE.

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW. ,CBt M.0.K.) There' ia 'no longer any need to concoa tho fact that the newspapers arc espectin; to receive something like this by cable'at ai early Uaio: July 27.—Tho iPrime Minister of New Zaa. land, Mr. John G. Ward, arrived a Southampton to-day, but none 'of tho 85* reporters who were present succeeded in see ing him. Ono of tho firemen, who wen off soon as the anchor was dropped, wai beard to mutter something about "croakers," and it is supposed that this man was tin Prime Minister in disguise. He trayolloc •to London in, a frozen-moat wagon. Hi address is not known. July 28.—The Dofenco Conference met to day, and a curious incident in connectioi with it has leaked out, although the utmosl tare was .taken to keep tho matter secret It appears that whon the delegates as lembied, a ,gentloman, wearing spectacles, end long red whiskers, was observed to b< occupying the New Zealand representative'! chair. The stranger, just as Mr. Asquith in obvious embarassment, was about to address him, asked to be allowed to speak to Mr. Asquith in 'private. After a short retirement,' Mr. Asquith retained with £hc stranger,', who resumed his seat, ,and the business proceeded. ' July 29.—Tho jDefenco Conference waf rudely disturbed yesterday in the midst ol ' its deliberations by a loud noise outsido the door. Investigation showed that Mr. Cassells, and a posso of police, had captured a suspicious-looking person, who had somehow I obtained- ontranco.Y When the '.conference resumed, New Zealand's rod-whiskered reSesontative was missing. Five minutes »r the, delegates were astonished to ! sec him appear from up the chimney. July 30. —The police are shadowing all those persona' who have been in New Zealand during toe past five years.- Mr. Julius J. Ward, ILC, Premier of Wellington, is (till missing. ' ' July 31. —Now Zealand was represented at the conference to-day by a venerable gentleman with long white hair and beard, who arrived on.crutches... Detectivo Cassells has arrested nearly ono hundred persons. August 9. —A singular incident occurred in a certain banking establishment -to-day. Those concerned are reticent, but it is un- - Berstood .that some impostori has been trying to borrow money for New Zealand. Sir J. G. Ward is still missing. > August 31.—The Mongolia sailed to-day. 'A passage had _ been booked for Sir' J.. G. Ward, but he did not put in an appearance. September 3.—Sir J. G. Ward mado an unexpected appearance at breakfast on' tho Mongolia to-day. Ono of the stokers' is missing. ' • "Ho Minister for Education had lying befcsid him the Minster for Finance." Surely Mr. Fowlds (who mado this statement at Addington last Saturday) rather over-stated the case against Sir Joseph's financial proswunconKnta.' "Maiming was' nadbnbtedly the ptok of ' the Oriental forwards—he is amphfblons, too, and took Matheson'B place Quito competently. —The evening: paper. „ , a (fiver, Daddy f" "No, my boy. In that caso the word would have been ambidextrous. The ambidextrous CTOcodQe, yen-know." The report of'a local address 'by a elorgyman represents tho speaker as saying: "Some of -flie men outside the Church declared that -there was something down- in their hearts whioh was nc-t.\satisned. What was that yearning?" Masterton would probably brmg tho -answer. ,\ % '~'" ' ' '1 havo oWry corifidenca in the future, if the Maoris will ,act as one, and realise that whatever giory our country may achieve, whatever high standard the peoplo of this country may raiso themselves to, whatever power wo may manifest in the future, they ore part 'and parcel hi its. making, and part and parcel in its sharing. "—Mr. Carroll, at OmaJxu. ' • - v

Hot'for me the darltfhiff fancies 'Of the pessimists who rave, 'And whoso letters to the papers -, Seek of TOponrs ■ I 0} the grave! What though dark our eircumstftnoeaj— Dawn will cams at Inst, I'trust; / I (Though by (hen, alas I these pages I - Wm for ages Hare been dnsi) " _v - HX merely .'felt that Labour, Which in bellowing flnda Its bliss ' s Would discern that thought is better ' • (OS! the meta- , , UoTphosiet) r 'And that man would lore hie neighbour, Whllo all sinning was eschewed, (As I'm stfro ono day it will be) ' I would rtffl .bo' Quito subdued, I "" On the future, no sneh ehansea Can incline mo to.rely \ Or to put, in hopeful passion,' ' ' An my cash on , , By-And-By. Only when my fancy range! In a wider, grander scope -' '. To a dream of Maoris waking Oomes the ~ hro&kiiig Bawn of hope, . Sometimes, 'eren (idle fancy 0 I have dreamed'that we may see Emi set our minds a-ffwaying By displaying ' ' " '' Energy, But, enwrapped in endless trance, he By his quietude, affirms ' That an encrgetio Kara - ' Is a para-, ' Sox in terms. • Tho public -has probably been wondering why the local Telegraph Office have supplied ' the newspapers -with a 'paragraph to the elfect that "telegrams in secret language are etill accepted ior Paraguay." On receipt ot this gratifying news & reporter was seut to the Telegraph Office to write up the scene. He found no crowd. Indeed, there seemed to be no publio excitomout'of any kind. Tho people who sond telegrams to Paraguay had evidently not 'learned that tho wiros were still open to them. Ono'man alone appeared to have,read the paragraph, and he was engaged in altercation with tho olork. t Until he had read tho papor _ho " had' been unaware-' that there had been any difficulty,' ho sakl. "Do you want to wire td Paraguay?" asked tho clerk. "That's not tho point," "said tho man. •That's-not the point. Tho point is, that if I had wanted to send a message to Paraguay in.the past few days I couldn't,have done so. All this timo I've never suspected that there was anything wrong with the service to, Paraguay, Mesoptamia, Borneo, or Alaska. How do I know that the service .to Morocco is not .suspended? "What guarantoe have I got that when I want to Bend a message to Lake Tchad I will bo told that I cannot. Now, I'm not going to pay rates and taxes'on false pretences. I want my rights. I want to know where I am. What do you say? No, I don't want to sond a telogram to anywhere, and never did. But I _ object, to being surreptitiously robbed of my rights." - At this stage our reporter, loft. In the course of tho day, however, he disamered that there really was a lot of Paraguay badness handled. It appears that cipher telegrams to Paraguay are freely availed of by perrons who desire to express views of a kind that thcydaro not express in public. Paraguay is tho » dumping ground of bottled-up feelings. Clergymen who break their golf clubs, lawho simply must somehow express their opinions on their haughty maids, men-who give up their seats to women in tramcars without receiving any recognition.—to them ' Paraguay is a boon and a blessing. ,lt is to Paraguay that "Pro Bono Publw" sends the news that ho expresses in a letter that the newspaper declines to print. If the Paraguayans ■ wore not the soul of honour they could tell tis some very astonishing things. Ble&6ed-be Paraguay 1 .

Everybody seems to bo advertising. Even tho people who want:"a second-hand boijer" or "breeding hons, state price" (which, I suppose is the price that brings three per cent.),, rush into .print with their needs. I, too, havo needs, and htoro they are indicated:— Wonted, Dr. Findlay to realise ttrot H ia high timo that he brightened up the world affa£ with another tour de force like hie discus3ion of the problem when a striko is a Btriko. Wanted, Mr., Hogg to return to tho Ministry or to common eensc, the former preferred. Wanted, wireless communication with the Ortona. or reliable information of any sort upon Sir J. Q. Ward's speeches npon the splendour of the outlook. . Wanted, greater activity and loauacfty on the part of Labour leaders, clorgymen, and Ministerialist newspapers. Wanted, llr. Buddo to unbosom himself foroneo of tho mispoakablo/ ideas which ho holds concerning tho universe. No doubt it is a natural result of the current depression that the. people who add to tho gaiety of nations when they feel that they are adding to tho wisdom of mankind arc silent just now. Little is being talked just now but dull common sense. What has become of tho onoo reliable harvest of useful absurditiesp