NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 910, 1 September 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

With the excellent object ' of elevating English literature the Royal Society of Literature and the Society of Authors combined to apr point a committee to inquire into the best method of'creating an Academy of- Letters. The committee has now issued its report, and as a result; the Royal Society of Literature has set up an Academic Committee, to consist of not more than 40 members, 27 of whom have been elected. The committee's duties are (a) To take all. possible measures to maintain the purity of the English language and to hold up a standard of good taste.in style; (b) To encourage fellowship and co-operation among those who are disinterestedly striving for tho perfection of English literature; (c) By "discourses of reception" and "obituary addresses" to mark tho current of literary history in Great Britain; (d) To designate from time, to time persons to' become recipients of the medals of the society; (e) To make awards of merit to particular literary works. The 27 original members make a very imposing list. "They are: Alfred Austin, Laurence Binyon, Andrew Cecil Bradley, Robert Bridges, Samuel Henry Butcher, Joseph Conrad, AVilliam John Courthope, Austin Dobson, Jajies George Frazer, Edmund Gosse, llichard Burdon Haldane, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, 'William Paton Ker, Andrew Lang, Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall, John William Mackail, the Viscount Morley of Blackburn, George Gilbert Murray, Henuy Newuolt, Edward Henry Pember, Sir Arthur Wing Pineho, George Walter Prothero, Walter- Raleigh, George Macaulay Treve'lyan, Arthur Woollgar Verhall, William Butler Yeats. Already the British press has begun to criticise thin list, which ia certainly as'ro-

rriai'kable for the names that do not appear in it as for some of those that do. What is Mr. Austin doing there, and where is Mr. Watson? Why Sir Arthur Pinero, and not Mr. Shaw? Mit. Haldane, and not Mr. Balfour? And where is Mr. Kipling '(

The Prime Minister presented to Parliament yesterday the report of Mr. Waldegrave- 1 upon the recent falsification of- the Christchurch police records, and not a single member of the House seems to have considered the matter important enough for discussion. At all events, no discussion took place. The public may be excused if it asks what Parliament does think important. 'That the Ministerialist rank and file would neither say nor do anything was a foregone conclusion, but it is a little surprising that Mr. Massey should have made' up his mind that the falsification of police records and the interference of*a member of Parliament in the normal procedure of justice are mere trifles unworthy of the .attention of those-who claim to be the custodians of honest principles in Government. And Mr. T. E. Taylor—has he also _ come to the conclusion ' that this is aft3i\ all a little' thing? Perhaps we make, too much of the affair. Perhaps it is our denseness that makes us unable to share the pleasant equanimity of the Pkime Minister and Mr. Massey. But we fancy there are still a good many people, outside who would feel a little happier if the presentation of Mr. Waldegrave's report had revealed the presence in the House of some "old fogey" with those old-fashioned ideas upon the dutieV and obligations of public men. '

It is to be hoped that success will attend the efforts of the Nev/ Zealand Friendly Societies' Parliamentary Executive to ' have, the law amended in the direction, of' preventing- the ; growth of unsoundness in i these important- institutions. The Executive represents : 46,392 members of the seven main societies at work, and it claims, backing.up its claim by irrefragable evidence from Parliamentary reports, that the stability of some of the societies, i<: more, than- questionable. The vastness of the number of.those dependent upon this form of co-opera-tive insurance makes, the question of stability one of'very great importance. There -were three "clauseu in; the Friendly Societies Bill of last year which, while they would not transform ' unsoundness . into stability, would haVo begun-a movement towards, stability, and ' have made .impossible the unsound schemes, such as the .equal levy death benefit.system, which, is vicious on the face of it and which has been adopted by one society in this country. * The. first of these clauses proposed thai no society , or branch should be registered unless-its rates were certified as adequate by an authoritative examiner; the second proposed, in'effect, that ho existing society' should be ; permitted _;to continue doing business unless its rates were similarly approved; the.third aimed at securing that the rates of contribution and benefits, should be fixed, • or, if variable,' variable according to cortain explicit amounts.. In the annual report on Friendly : Societies presented: to the House the other'day the Registrar and Actuary insist ■ very : strongly on the need'for ending the "pernicious" system of offering ■ large ; benefits without adequate provision being, made for them. The" Government should, not delay;-'-in,-'view of the' widespread distress that would follow .the collapse of.any of the societies, in taking steps' to have the finances of these organisations placed on a sound footing.' ■•'..' ■

. The 'Laymen's Missionary . Movement and the Student Christian Volunteer Union, the aims and objects of which have recently been plaoed before the people of Wellington by Dr. 11'Laren and Dr. Pettit, are interesting witnesses to the great revival of missionary .work: which has characterised; the last half century or so.' In their early; stages modern missions 'had not; only tto overcome the hostility of Governmente and the", sheers ,of tho man-in-the-street,. but even many regular churchgoers looked on with unsympathetic eyes.,. Since then the views of both the churchman and the statesman have changed for the better, and signs are not- wanting of the fulfilment .of Livingstone's dream ''that the timei would come when rich men and great men would think it an honour to support whole stations of missionaries instead of spending their money on hounds and horses." The change in public sentiment is indicated by the poem which appeared iii Punch in 187.5 in connection with the death of Livingstone, four lines of which read as follow: .

He needs no epitaph to guard a name Which men shall prize while worthy work is known: v Hβ lived and died for men, be this his

fame; Lot marhlo perish—this is Livingstone. The repent gathering at Edinburgh, in which statesmen, Empire-build-ers, scholars, churchmen, and missionaries discussed the '. future of. mission work was an inspiring indication of. the good effect; 1 foreign missions are having in : drawing closer together the Home Churches Mr. Hobhouse, in his recent Bampton Lectures at Oxford, referring to ■this question of .reunion said: "There is a nearer approach to mutual understanding, a greater readiness to co-operate in moral,and social work; and the Student Christian movement—a movement, it seems to me, of the greatest interest and value-ias shown that it is possible for Christians who belong to very different bodies to combine for study and prayer on an interdenominational basis, without compromise of principle, and without any sense of unreality. The movement has done much to foster a keen missionary spirit, and appears, so far, to. have .in avoiding the danger of" sinking into a vague undenominationalism." .

At yesterday's conference of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Mr. Spiller (Christohnrcli) mentioned that the boy scouts had intimated their willingness to assist the work of the society. "It is 'a splendid idea," said the speaker, "as it would provide.a small ■"α-rniy of detectives. . They, however, should not be allowed'to'interfere- in cases—they should only be allowed to report cases, and as they were all over the country they could do a very valuable work as an auxiliary to the society, and a tower of strength for its future well-being." In explaining why he did not approve of bo.y scouts interfering, Mr. Spiller said a couple of soonts had come across a man maltreating his horse; The lads remonstrated with him, and the man remonstrated back—with the whip. / .