BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 305, 20 September 1919, Page 11

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

(By Liber,)

A Plea for Parliamenta'y Government, On the title page of his pamphlet, "A ■Plea for Parliamentary Government" (George Allen ami Unw-in), Mr. Edward Melland (motes Charles James Fox's dictum that "The main object of good government should bo to obtain independent voters.." Mr. Melland. is clearly of opinion tliat independence, either in the electors or ju the members- they elect, is very far from being obtained under the parly system. It is true that many great political reforms have been carried ' under the party system, but there is a strong latter-day leeling that it has outlived its usefulness, and is Par more an obstacle than of any helpful. assistance to social and political reforms.' At the • close of a compact and interesting history or survey of party government as it has been carried on in Groat Britain, Mr. Melland savs:— ! A century ago England was governed by a few noble families—Tories and Whigs —and 1 party Bpirit was bad enough then. It ia immeasurably more deadly to the public welfare now that practically the. whole nation has been drawn into the political sphere. .And when we note the sinister developments of the party system since Uiose days—all tending towarda the substitution of. Oligarchy and Bureaucracy—it is quite obvious to all whose ideal is a true, and honest democracy, that the party system must bo destroyed, root and branch. .; What does' Mr. Melland propose as the required remedy, for the evils he alleges are, the outcome of the party system? First, he would have a laouso ot Commons elected under the proportional representation system, .but with an age limit for voters of twenty-five to seventyfive. (Upon this promo ho does not, •however, insist.) At the first meeting of the House after each general election' he proposes, that "members should be called on to nominate and vote for the necessary .Ministers for the different depart-, ments," the separate elections to be carried out by proportional representation and by ballot. The' elected Ministers would then choose their own chairman, who would thus become Prime Minister. This Executive would remain in office for five years, "ho legislative failure" to result in "any : resignations from office," Ministers being only .removable by the House, as a whole, "by formal vote of censure, say, fir some flagrant dereliction of duty." But even then the "erring Minister's" colleagues would not be affected. "The House would at once elect his succesor." So far as I can see. Mr. Melland's scheme- is, up to thispoint, much on the lines of the'lata Sir William Steward's Elective Executive Bill. But Mr." Melland proceeds to .elaborate a course of Parliamentary procedure which would, in practice, severely curb .the individual power of Ministers. He proposes a system of Standing..Committees "drawn from each of the parties in the,', House," and "as. nearly as possible in proportioa to their numerical strength," which would, so far as I grasp the details of the scheme, act as a. link between the Minister and the House, and would, so declares the somewhat optimistic author, 'promote efficiency, do away witii red-tape obscurantism, and reduce expenditure very considerably." Mr. Melland favours the Referendum and Initiative, "provided they were hedged about with strict limitations, which would ensure them being used ' very sparingly," .and suggests a number of minor alterations in the Parliamentary system which would, ho contends, result in a much greater personal independence in members, and be conductive to a greater general efficiency of the toislative machine. (Price, Is. Gd.)

An Australian Poet. It is a treat to happen across a book of Australian verse,, which contains somo real poetry, undisfigured by the slang and verbal brutality, or again the. silly affectation of decadence, too often to be found in-the work of that mutual admiration lioeiety known familiarly, asthe '"Bulletin" school. In a little book entitled. "Heart of Spring,'*; by Shaw Neilson (Sydney: "The Bookfellow 7 "), is enshrined a collection of poems,, modest in bulk, but including many quite delightful lyrics. In some the poet displays his profound insight into the beauty and "mystery of nature, in others there is a Blake-like comprehension of the child mind. In others yet again is disclosed a wistful sympathy with those.who "fall byvthe .way" along the Tock'and thorn-strewn path- of life. In one and all of these puems is revealed a 'fine humanity. Their' author, Shaw Neilson, is a South Australian, of purely Scots parentage. Ho lias lived and worked in the bush for mnuy years; and his verso, reflects a clean, simple, rural life Tathor than the complicated and often .unlovely'psychology of urban development, There is not a little of Burns in Shaw Neilson's' verse,, something, too-in the- child poem-of Blake, Mid", especially in the nature studies, more than a mere touch of Herrick and his contemporaries. My first quotation shall be from -"Sun is Up," a;sonnet replete with graceful beauty and true dignity:—' ■ ■ ■ -" '' Sneak not of Death: It ia a, merry morn, A Glittering bird has danced into a tree; From his abundant heart bravely aro. borne . ' ■ ,,■ • The.loves of leafy choristers to me: Mußio is of the Bunlight, strong and tree ... . '• , . The sun is up, and Death 13 fir away:", The first hour is the sweetest of the day. Blithely a, bush boy wanders on a walkShaking with joy, joyous in heart and limb; For his delight the trees have learned to. • talk "' , And all the flowers have little laughs with him .Watching the far sky, beautiful .and dim .... The sun is up, and Death ia far away, The-first hour is the sweetest of the day; ;; A.similar motive, expressed.with oven greator. simplicity but equal'beauty, is jtc-.bo' fou'ndmtho Verses entitled "Break • of. Day":—.:' ■' . ■ ■ v ■ ■ ■'■■,'■ ... ■ ' » ■ Tlio stars aro.pale-' .] • Old is the'.Night, tho' caße Is grievous, !■ ,Hiß strength'doth fail. !'•. Through stilly hours ; The dews have draped with Lovo'i old . lavißhncßß '-■'•./.. ■ Tho droway flowers. And Night shall die. Already, 10l the Horn's-first ecstasies Across the sky. An.evil time is done, ■ Agaiu/as abmoono lost in a ouaiut parable, '. Domes.up the : Sun. ' ■■' In the two final verses of an exquisite poem, "At the End of Spring," there is a lyric noto as true as any over sounded by tho Stuartian poots of the Herrick schoolBend low thy' sunny head ;' Upon tho wing The tendor-tinted hours Mako merry journeying. The tyrant Sun who stays •He waitß for every Spring Bohd low thy weary head, Klbb all good-byc-lhy life it was a timo Of love for lip and cyo, ipp grief is at our hears ltiat our beloved should dlo, Spnco limits forbid quotation of somo 0. tlio child poems, so full of 11 tohder wistfulness .1 i t . m nm| hmhesom AH the World's-a Lolly Shop," or of the pathcs-ladon ballad of "Old Nell Dickorson," or yet again, in eo different a strain, tho joyous little poem, "Groen Singer," • T llO f? y , lov °-thc green love, An old love of mine. I can do no more to-day than warmly commend Mr. Neilson's modest little sheaf of verse to the attention of all who appreciate and find delight in truo poetry, poetry in thiscaso of so distinctly (lelicato a ilavour and fragrance. Tlio typographical-presentment of the poems does credit to tho publisher, but the absence jf any title lettering on tho back of the "book is to be regretted.

Vive a man a pipe he can smoke, Give a man a book he can read; And hit home it bright with a calmdelighi Though the room be jioor indeed.

—James Thomsoh.

A Source Book of Australian History. From tho house of Georgo Bell and Sons, a publishing firm which has, of lata years, paid special and laudable attention to tho production-of historical works, comes a volume of s'ar more than ordinary interest and value,'especially to Australasian readers. Tho title is "A Source Book of Australian History," the author,, or compiler, boiiif.' Miss Gwendolen H. Swinburne, 31.A.., of' the University of Melbourne. Mvss Swinburne must bo congratulated upon having carried out an original idea -with conspicuous success; Her object has evidently been to place tho studeut in contact with the evidence of history by making him his own historian by drawing his deductions from- contemporary records. As slio says in her profaco: the greatest historian (of Australia) can tlnd no .materials ulterior to Buch aB are here presented, for there is nothing -ulterior to them but the det:ds themselves. They are tlio records written by the men who gave their lite and health to lay the foundation 'of Australia's greatness-by Phillip, weakening under the carking cares of the infant .State; by Sturt -In the scorching desert- as th; last duty of an exhausting day. They are aglow with the heat of action, they n:e inspiring in tlieir quiet modesty aud strength. Tho book is divided into two sections. In the first we have extracts, wisely ohosen (in places judiciously condensed), arranged wicn cine regard lor chronoiogicut order, from tho diaries, logy, personal narratives, and'official documents in which is set forth* the history of the discovery aiid exploration of tlio grfnt island continent; In the second i.ait, the general liißtory of Australia h illustrated, in each successive step or group of events, by extracts from official records, from newspaper reports, 'und political, social, and industrial chronicles generally. Tho foundations of each State, ; the development of tho pastoral, mining, and other industries, the growth and development of the political' institutions in each colony are all set,forth'. Useful summaries are given of such.', important historical documents as, . Wakefield's scheme of colonisation and the programme of the Federal Convention which resulted in the establishment of. tho Commonwealth. The annexation of New Guineii, the dispatch of an Australian contingent to the Sudan, and Australia's share in tho South African War.all receive detailed attention, the : closing chapter comprising extracts from the official dispatchei and "Times" special correspondence to the part played s by Australian soldiers in the Great War at Gallipoli. It is impossible to speak too highly of tho careful and excellent way in which the contents of thia interesting work havn been' selected and arranged. Of primary value no doubt to students of history, it is one which appeals also to the general reader by reason of. the romantic character of so many of the events and incidents described. I notice that the .volume is one of a series which includes similar works dealing with the history, of Canwla and India. It is to be hoped that, if not already arranged for, a book on tho same p'nn, dealing with New Zealand history will, Inter on, bo' forthcoming. The one and' only fault of the work under, n'otico is its want of an index. If, as is, I should say, very probable, a second edition is called for, the omission. sliould certainly bb repaired.