THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1881. A HIGH AND MIGHTY OFFICIAL.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2167, 4 February 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1881. A HIGH AND MIGHTY OFFICIAL.

There is one gentleman in Christchnrch who fully realises Shakespere's words " Man dressed in little brief authority," &c, and that one is the chairman of the Board of Education, Mr. John Inglis. Placed by fortuitous circumstances in an official position, he is most careful not alone to sustain its dignity, but to add to it an amount of individual pomposity, which is perfectly amusing. Like another gentleman who occupies a somewhat similar position, Mr. Inglis has a dread of publicity. The very name of a newspaper is offensive to him, and as to those canaille who write, they are so inferior in dignity and importance to the chairman of the Board that he ignores their existence. Had he his way the proceedings of the Board would be a sealed book to the public, as it is now, on the least tangible excuse, the Board is requested to go into committee, which simply means a quiet family discussion, perhaps on most important publio matters. Mr. Inglis' peculiar idiosyncracy with regard to newspapers, was evinced at the meeting of the Board of Education yesterday. In speaking of the report of the proceedings of the East Christchnrch householders meeting, Mr. Inglis took occasion to remark with cutting severity *• that he would not have taken notice of a mere newspaper report." Strange to say, however, it was correct, and the only possible way in which such a record could be made. There are a number of people like the Chairman of the Board of Education, who think it is the correct thing to express their assumed contempt for " These, ah! common newspapers, ah !" Yet let these same gentlemen talk half-an-hour's twaddle at a tea meeting, and with what avidity do they next morning scan, much to their astonishment and delight, " the mere newspaper report" of their eloquence. It is strange that this should be so, but it is nevertheless true, and Mr. Inglis' affectation of high and mighty dignity soaring far above mundane matters, would be amusing, were it not also to be regretted that the head of a department devoted to the spread of knowledge should in this enlightened age talk such nonsense. A MISTAKEN IMPBESARIO. Me. Simonseit is without doubt an artist of high culture, and as such, must have a soul for poetry. The lines respecting the flower that is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air, aro no doubt familiar to him,

and to a great extent are applicable to his Christchurch season. He—or rather the company—has piped, but the public have refused, not to dance, but to disburse their cash. His houses have been but moderate, yet the performances, taking them throughout, have been good. The operas given so far during the season, with one or two exceptions have been—for the colonies—very creditably got up and sung. Yet the British public refuse to listen to the voice of Simonsen the charmer, and they pay not. The thought at once occurs, why is this ? Have the people of Christchurch lost their taste for music—particularly high class music—which rumour credits them with possessing, and to which M. Ketten and others can bear testimony? The large gathering of Tuesday evening last, when honor was done by presenting souvenirs to the Australian cricketers, is the best answer to the question. We must therefore look further for the reason of the scant attendances at the Opera, more especially last evening, when Gounod's "Faust," one of the most charming, as well as artistically constructed operas put on the lyric stage, had a miserable array of empty benches in the dress circle; and when enquiry is made why this is thus, the answer is not so hard to find as it at first appears. In the first place, a very large section of the community cannot yet be aware that we have such a talented array of artists in our midst. To the masses even the name of Simonsen is unknown. They are unaware —because means have not been adopted to convey that knowledge to them—that the confrere of the great Thalberg wields the baton nightly in our local theatre, It is true that, a modest announcement, in the morning journals conveys the informaiion to the limited circle of readers reached by this medium, that there is such a company as that bearing the name of the distinguished musician and manager Martin Simonsen in Christchurch at present, but the majority of the people—the thirty thousand expectant readers who form the I constituents of this journal know nothing of this. By some oversight they have never been made aware, through the columns of their widely-circu-lated and extensively read evening paper that such a musical treat was provided for them. Had it been so, instead of empty benches, no doubt Mr. Simonsen would have had the extreme felicity of exhibiting at the doors of the theatre the — to him—comforting announcement, "only standing room." It does seem strange that an acute and liberal manager like Mr. Simonsen, whose every effort—without thought of expense—is to bring himself and his company prominently before the public, should have neglected the very one way in which it could be most efficiently done—namely, advertising in a medium read by thousands. It may be that when Mr. Simonsen shakes off the dust of Christchurch from his shoes, and leaves us to return never. What! Never ? Well, perhaps again he will give us a bad character as «upporters of the lyric drama. Now we protest against this being done, as we assert, that had Mr. Simonsen taken that course which his whole-souled and large-hearted liberality in management must over and over again have prompted him to do, viz., make known the existence of his company, through the evening journals, to a wider circle than those reached by the morning papers, the result would have been different. We should then have had to chronicle crowded houses instead of very moderate ones, and Mr. Simonsen would have left us without any necessity for making one of those severe fare well speeches a specimen of which, our D unedin friends had recently. The fact is that to tnsuffieient publiciry the, utter ignorance of the great bulk of the inhabitants of Christchurch and the district as to the very existence of an opera company, and not the apathy of the people, must be attributed the unsatisfactory result financially of the season. Had Mr. Simonsen, instead of being content to place his announcements only before the limited circle who read the morning journals, as compared with our vast constituency, been wise in his generation, and taken advantage of the columns of the evening journal, then would he have been richer. Let us hope, for his sake, that he will take warning by what has happened here, and not in the North Island smother those generous impulses in the matter of publicity which are so characteristic of his career as an impresario.