ON SOCIALISM.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 14 September 1911, Page 4

ON SOCIALISM.

To the Editor. Sir, —While Mr Leger adjusts fclie gyroscope to preserve* the equilibriums necessary when one; is .porolled on the fence of uncertainty,, 1 readjust my considering cap as to li.is latest re the survival of tlio unfittest, viz., Socialism. In the menu to "Swamp," tlio Anarchist-com-munist marital state is .repudiated, and lie seeks the Divorce Court. The .Red Roseconib of the Cockerel cannot be now disowned (vide Waihi news of to-day); it is part 'and parcel of tlio whole turn outs. Tlio reply to mo personally, lias a, sameness ■and tanmnoss that, coming from sudh a champion of univerasl panaceas, is incomprehensible. The writer is not worth 'breaking a lance over. Surely the Yankee advice to orators was his cue. Here it is: " Get chock full of the .subject, knocK out the bung, n.iul let Nature caper"—(if there's only half a leg to stand oil, is my addition). I notico capital is made out of the term small farmers. .1 don't care what s'ze thoy arc, or whether they till small or large areas. Agriculturists and pastoralists is a sufficient covering phrase. Tlio remark is made that AV.M.F. is in his political infancy. That is better than dotage. ' However, I agree in so far as this. I evidently in my last letter erred on five side of moderation. In the sixties I wa.; in Jlydo Park T.<rcdon, and saw tlio mob or Anarchist crowd bring down about half a. milo of the high railing and coping of the park in the vicinity of the Marble Arch I had previous experience of those wlio gathered at the Reformers' tree or in the vicinity. I have a fair memory of one holding forth : " Aint I a right or any other manl" and so on. After a hit ol harangue. the refrain was ".I hat will do, Bill: 'ave a. drink!" Possibly the latter was the object in view. From bipeds to Socialists is a. short cut, and I beg to say that this "ism" of 1911 will "not help pioneering enterprise .now, nor was it in evidence in the past. Those who first landed on the New Zealand terro incognita required no Jonahs on board: the long voyage by sailing vessels must have increased the knowledge of each other that would call forth_ tit their destination tho true Socialism (love te their neighbours, duty towards God. not perhaps with the intonseness of the pioneers of the U S.A. in the Mayflower, who were termed "Pilgrim lathers"), but sufficient in the enterprise of creating homes hero and robust loyalty to tho Motherland.

The influx since has brought undesirables who wore against conscription, as it is on the Continent of Hmrope There may be diverse methods, but tho conscription in New Zealand is about equal or on a par wit.' vaccination, or school attendance. If a person is warned for -riclino- ion a footpath previously, he is lucky to escape a. fine; it is the law of the land. It would he interesting at this stride to know how many Reel Socialists (fathers or their ofl'-snnng) hold the right to wear a medal for active service within, or without tho colony. And is the refusal to servo 'basod on the fact they own T\r land. I presume hearth, home and kindred stood for much in the early days. One wonders, is the spirit of the Old. Guard defunct! Outside the Socialist prow. T -believe it's only slumbering;. Since my last letter sir. T have had a newspape" passed to me which professes it is the origan of their nrew: I notice the central figure on an imaginary l;vlder wears the red cap symbol of the wreckers vA the Hostile. So that its Continental origin is unmjstak.able; as it did in the Terror time, so it would do with us; if not .as 'with a cobra, it gets only scorched and not killed. It might be said that tho element of destruction is alien to Britishers, but there are num , serfs today who are attracted easily, : by visions of loot. Above the liguro -is tlie motto of this universal panacea, the fruit thereof, per the weekly doses as per advertisement arc giveiu might be had leghorn eggs; tho contents a.re not always what they are labelled; the ladder might be engraven differently, f«r this Socialism is a dead leveller. The endless chain <of humans at foot is suggestive to me of "Here we go gathering nuts and may," or that they avo reciting. "There's a, Jill for every Jock!'"' There's a good many who ti.re satisfied with half a gill! When F read the squawk of that Cornishman (itns not "Shall Trelawny die!! that is the refrain, but there is so much of- the Meik'e simulated yivture, maudlin sentiment, pervading this paternal ebullition, that I very near had a fit), the bathos of it all would strain the heart of a wheelbarrow! Mr «T.os2 in his communication cihallongevs general God ley to a debate. If this spoutcr was a braver man tl.aii f consider him to he he must know that it is a perfectly safe challenge for any one without swelled bead. This .Imperial Officer's position nullifies his option of accepting, unless ho resigns! This Socialism wo'ild subordinate all law and order if it could.

I took stock of the Socialist expedition some years past, to the Argentine, under the auspices of one Lane (wlio at the outset. I concluded, would be a pom , lane without any turning). It was to form a colony or community in which the tenets of their belief or panacea, would get free scope. It f ailedy as I considered it would, 'because the elements of the tree in the cantoon had better been left bhind, or t/hafc tire spirit of our country pioneers was not there. Some blamed the climate, some tlie locusts, anything but themselves, on their return crestfallen. It has been suggested that it is to a desert island or somewhere else tha? these would-be pertur'bers of our country's: progress should he banished and fight or work out their regenerating syllabus. The above was surely ocular demonstration <d a trial given by its own advocates. Space need's invite conclusion. It is possible that the denizens of the Antarctic, which .were a source of continual amusement to the Shacldeton expedition, are the Socialists of the lost continent of Atlantis, wihb are in their own Hades. I refer to the penguins, who by their whimsies, conceits, etc., etc., amused as aforesaid. "The Socialistic, Anarchists, Atheistical type of bipeds must and tvill be a. continued! source of 'amusement to all awl 1 sundry, who still have a share of robust, healthy opinion as to the merits or demerits of modern Socialism. I shall not be drawn into any debate on this subject ox - refer to it from this date. 'Forewarned is forearmed I" — Yours, etc., W. M. F.