NEW BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 586, 14 August 1909, Page 9

NEW BOOKS.

"An Empire in Pawn._" By A. J. Wilson. ■London': Fisher, tmwin. 10s. 6d. . . -Figures: are'nqt.attractive to the average mam JEven figure's about the Empire do not pieaso. him, if they go beyond the, simple grandiose' totals that-the-popular magazines present .in'.diagrams. :--What' will he say when hie i's'presented with unpleasant figures about the: Empire?',:. This is ,'tlie/: sort of. figures, embedded in vigorous rhetoric, : that" Mr. .-A. J. 'Wilsoni.'formerly:city. [ e#or of the London limy : of :the' "Investors' Review', "..has furnisfied.in the ■ volume that comes - to. us ,witli';the startling title "An Empire in Pawn." With'' hot. a r littlo "of what Mr. Wilson says we"heartily agree, but the usefulness of his book,, to which he ,lias' devoted an' enormous amount. of. energy, and, ; what is>less .common thaii' most people like to think, a long course ;■ of . perfectly honest thinking,' will not be, disputed: by any candidperspn./.The author stafes his .'position 'in his se'cOndYseiitence: !'My;contention has alivays'. been .a'"'simple one, /that'debt' is a cancerous disease and morally deadly in time alike : for the nation and' the.; individual.'' He ; is'' : alarmed "to see ; the' Empire lioueycombed ; with indebtedness to London; not apparently, s 'that ho thinks that -mero indebtedness is ah;evil;";b'ut that the areat credit system of the ago has'forced unnatural growths in this and that part of the Empire, and produced new and unwise standards of national -progress: ...A. great, portion of bis book is devoted to India and South "Africa, upon whoso financial, o'porations ■ lie has a multitude of. illuminating things .- to.; 'say; but he finds the bc3t. illustration of his theory of national debt in the borrowings of Australasia; ' Mr. :Wilson is well known to. tho Australasian . plungers as a sharp and vigorous, sometimes virulent;-critic. • Ho .was for .years assailed : in tho strongest terms: by. the late Mr.. Seddon. He is . still ■ assailed now and -then -by Sir J.. CJ- Ward. In -his introductory chapters, he cites a typical statement or dcrcncc by the Federal, Government, and his very typical reply. Ho had pointed out that, while tho population of Australia had grown by 33 per cent, between 1891 and 1907, .the public debt: had grown by 57.26 per cent. In tlie caso of New Zealand, the increasoof 'population was <19 per cent., and of the debt 71.07 per cent. The Australian reply; did ;not . challenge... Mr. Wilson's:figurcs,'.but:.laid 'stress on tho fact that much of the money had been spent on reproductive works. In'his ■ rejoinder; Mr. Wilson, said that what he had always '

tended was that ""borrowing went ahead at too great speedthat., tlio public works have been constructed, at too liigli a course for.the small population to.be conveniently able to bear . . that tlio, pace at which pro-, gross and prosperity .liavo been 'forccd is exhausting." 'Of-New Zealand, "the. greatest sinner of all in tli.o matter of debt increases." he spsfiks with tremendous vigour,, but lie gives.no quarter to Australia, either. "Tin; entire fabric of Australasian civilisation, is built upon'debt,"-he says, and sinco t ! c public debt is over £300,000,000, his statement cannot well be refuted. Discussing tils.growth, of .taxation,, ho . makes these shrewd observations: —

The actual, burden' of taxation was only J!3 15.,4 d. per head iu 1800—only that; and it was practically all indirect, so of course nobody felt it. In .the United Kingdom the entire weight of • local, and Imperial - taxation is at least -JlOsJ; per head' less than this, but then we are poor and used-up, have nothing left but' money,' which it is good the Australians should borrow. • . - .. . Mr. Wilson does not. object ,to prudent borrowing.'/ What he objects to is over-ripid borrowing:—: ' There is,, no doubt, "boundless wealth" in Australia and in New Zealand, and had the settlors there been; wise enough to .go slowly, had they been satisfied with moderate progress within their,-mentis,' there are no countries in. the world whose, future would have been more full of. promise, better - assured of domestic felicity. But-they .were .not-content to go slowly. Nothing would satisfy them but to leap at once into' the position of fully-matured Spa/wealthy communities/. : Mr,-Wilson sees. Australasia, through very : dark spectacles. Ho. .does liot quite- realise th(it'-;'a decade, of decent Government would; place New Zealand beyond the reach of distress, and'that-a generation of good government and financial prudence would . enable a large part of the debt to be redeemed. But. his .view is'''preferable 'to _ that of - the sliani patriots whom, he so vigorously' detests as tho real. enemies of their country. Yet his 'distrust of-'New Zealand's borrowing policy by. no means blinds him to the credit side: of. our ledger. ."1,, indeed," lie s-ays, •referring to - the . ; Now - Zealandere'.whose exports ;havo .grown so notably,- "have never questioned their : industry - and zeal .in business ; all-jl find fa'ult-witlr is .the manner .in which "tlio Government is fomenting , extravagance, and forcing prosperity, good years-and bad." ..His analysis of Sir J. last Budget is ' mercilessly - destructive, , Altogether, "his 1 exposition • 'of the.: boom-and-: squander, policy of, Australasia —the - policy, feared and condemned by Sir Graham Berry in' Australia, and: John Ballanc-s.■; in Zealaid—is. the . best-informed_ .arid- most • powerful. piece of criticism/which/; wo; have hadfrom a:foreign observer. - For, those ,wlio realise. ' that: honesty.'/and ..prudence -in our Treasurers, are .vitally necessary, to our wellbeing, .we can rccommcnd Mr, Wilson s hook - as a helpful-'and-stimulating document::-

>'A Bibliography of the Literature relating to"New Zealand." By T.' M. -Hocken, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., etc. Wellington: - Government-. Printer, v 10s. 6d.

Dr, 'Hocken's ."Bibliograph," p .large Bvo. yolunio, consists .of 553 pages,, supplemented, by an, extraordinarily copious index;, of .64 very closely printed pages./ This monumental work is . '"the outcome, of - continuous-:rer' search undertaken through- a long series _of . years in .the intervals.of leisure-from the demands of an exacting 'profession.". There are probably, over;three, thousand/entries,, comprising books, pamphlets,papers, .-.perb. odicals,. letters,' and speeches, arid theso are: • arranged . in'.chronological - order, / excepting ■ that"each.year's.list is/arranged,alphabeticallyl';' The /index to the volume groups the, items according to subjects!- This excellent, ■w6rk, which is admirably.'printed, is the' sub-;. ject:of riotice:in the. leading, columns in thisISSUe. / : /i'/. ••/,.. - >V:.,/-.;.

-'■ An inspection;;.';'of/;-th^ ,;"Walden";"has ' revealed thej'.fa'cjß "',that twelve; thousand words .'of/ that Vork'remairt imprinted, and many' will welcome .the pros- . pect of a • complete edition. 'l'lioreau, it must be admitted, is, with many'-'people, at' least a-partial aversion.;-"Stevenson, it will be.'remonibef, .found him 1 ; at-heart a''prig". and a "slcu'lker.V 'lle'.imitated Emerspny,''inTSifel.on mbbliug bis asparagus atHhe-wrong' end,"'"iiss^allofred-Hheriraitation r to pass into his iPiinner. "I met Thqreau' last night," wrota Lowell,/then a .boy. or- nineteen, "and it ,vivas .exquisitely, amusing to .. see how . he. imitates Emerson's, tone , and manner. "With my eyes v shht;,l .should not know, theni apart." .Moreover/, ithore. enters . a''sentiment.of '/'diminution" .'int'o'-i; the admirable description ' which Holmes gives .of tfoa-ThpreaU/whom.he, met ;in "Walden." ' He speaks ,of . him as "that unique individual, half- college, graduate, • half Algonquin; ; the Robinson Crusoe of Waiden pond, who carried'.out a: schoolboy ■ whim- to its full , proportions- and ;has told the 'story, of .Nature in .undress; as" only one who had hidden'in'her bedroom ?could have •• told- - it:'-' -Neverthfelesfc'-■'•there "'is >l<it : times" an individual note"Of -in Thoreau;that it -is- only'by an ace that he' has escaped being-one of 'those - minorjauthors' who, like'Borrow'arid Peacock,: become the .centre of a' "small ciilt'. - : His knowledge'-of-woodcraft was astonishing. "Thoreau,"; 'sajys someone, "had a pair of .eyes which, like those of the Indian-deity, could see'the smallest emmet on the- blackest stone in the darkest night—or came nearer to'seeing it : than those of most mortals." -Moreover, he could often clothe- his perceptions; in'wonderfully imaginative.- speech,' - and; when 'he. philoso-, phises his very 'conceits and' inconsequences come a' charm, so! that it; will bo lpng r before'such a piece of. pretty nonsense - as'the'following vill'.ccaso to tickle the ear of the;literary epicurean not too curious after "meanings""Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I'drink-at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom- and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, , but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky,.' whose bottom is i 'pebbly with stars. I cannot/ count one. I • know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born."