The Hokitika Guardian SATURDAY, FEB. 25th, 1922. THE WEEK,

Hokitika Guardian, 25 February 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian SATURDAY, FEB. 25th, 1922. THE WEEK,

The Prince’s visit to India is passing off with all that eclat whioli should surround such an occasion as the Royal visit. The unrest and discontent in India, however, has not been hidden. Dr Ghandi and his methods have obtruded at times. A less notable personage than our Empire ambassador would not have got through this task so well. The charming peisonality of the Prince of Wales no doubt accounts for his popularity. His winning ways have captured the native mind, as easily as it tile European. When the Prince landed at Bombay his frank address to the people of India must have made a good impression. He said lie wanted at first hand to appreciate all that India is, wlmt she lias done and what she

can do. He said he wanted to grasp the people’s difficulties and understand , their aspirations. In his simple, direct 1 way of expression the Prinoe said: “I i want you to know me, and I want to ! know you.” 111 his tour, he said, he would be fortified by the thought that sympathy begets knowledge, and his sympathy with India had been aroused : in his childhood days. Doubtless tho ‘ engaging modesty of the Prince has

worked like the good fairy’s wand and ! is winning the confidence of even the most recalcitrant. India is blest .with a noble array of chieftains, distinguished for their inherent loyalty. The Prince has gone among the people, joined them in their pleasures and pastimes, entered their homes and visited their great places. In that way he is winning through and repeating the personal triumphs which marked his previous oversea visits,

The affairs of distraught Ireland so much disturbed of late, have this week taken on a quieter phase. The disputing about the boundaries is allayed for the time being, and it is to ho hoped the Commission will bo able to handle

the great issue with a minimum of blodshod. The disputations within the rank.* of tho Southern leaders, also appears to be allayed for the time being, Messrs Griffiths and CbllihS having secured a postponement of the i;H ! Valera opposition to the treaty till the lull effect of the Free State constitution is made plain. This is so far good, and indicates that the most rabid foioi's- may be cheeked with tolerance. The tolerance of the British Empire throughout tho late phases of the Home Rule controversy has ll.eon remarkable. It has been the deciding factor in fact. In the darkest hours, Mr Lloyd George plodded on seeking a way out (if tile impasse produced by ilie prejudice and passions of the people. The way out was found, and later events show that even though the way is difficult, it is not impossible, and with further toleration the most difficult set of circumstances may be brought to a usable condition, and so solve the line course of Empire. In

thin securing marking time stage, tla i'e is tile best evidence of inherent god faith, tor the pa use will give time to review the position and ascertain facts'. In (he. rush of events when riots and blood letting are rife, there is little consideration given to facts. I’assion and prejudice find true play, and the individuals are hbnded to the Irik* position. In the present respite there is the best hope for the future.

I.\ I) rt'cent publication "A History of Labor-,” Mr Gilbert ,Stone, according to a reviewer, describes the tidvlllice in file social aikl material condition cf the mn»:t' from the eilrliest Units until the prl'seht day. He begins with n boitsideralinh of slavery, add devotes some space to the Homan slave who stands, so to speak; bn the lowest rung of the ladder of progress. But the position of the slave in Rdtiie was peculiar: It Ims no parallel iii the ancient or the modern wLrid and it does not help Mr Stolio one way or another in his survey. To its the word “slave” denotes a measure of cultural inferiority; it suggests a character in “ Undo Tom’s Cabin,” or an equatorial savage captured by an Arab trader. But the Roman slave was very often superior in culture to his masters. Prisoners of war automatically became slaves. Hence on the conquest of such States ns Aehnia and Macedonia slavery was the portion of thousands of the most highly civilised race in Europe. Slaves played an important part in the development of of Roman letters and art. Terence, who, with Plautaus, was the founder of Homan comedy, was ft slave; Horace was the son of an ex-slave. Slaves occupied positions of trust. The doctors, and teachers, and accountants in Home were slaves; thy Homan citizen frequently instituted a slave as his heir. As slaves, of course, they were subjected to disability, Imt once they gained their freedom no stigma, attached to them. In America after abolition un impassably gulp remained between white and coloured. In ‘Borne -there was no prejudice whatever against the emancipated. They intermarried with the Homans; the highest posts in the .State were open to them; an ex-slave became Empress, The Roman slave was unfree, but, as Sli* Henry Maiile has shown, lie wit.s never simply anti rolely h chattel ill the sense that a dog or a horse was a chattel-. He had his elements of a legal “persona.” His position had ft'w analogies either to that of the serf or to that of the slave as modern societies have known him.

Mb Stonk traces the progress which the masses have made in their long journey. Little by little, owing largely to the influence off the Church, the slave is- a slave no more. He changes his garb for that of the serf. Slowly the serf climbs upwards. li A benevolent selfishness on the part of the feudal nobility, lay and spiritual, at last recognises that no labour is so inefficient as unfree labour. With the dying down of tribal wars trade arises, population increases, though hut slowly, productivity become more necessary as needs become greater. Wealth in things other than land and cattle casts its spell over mankind. Labour begins t occupy in the mass a position of some importance. As labour becomes more of a necessity, those who labour and who once were rightless begin to have rights. The existence of the labourer as a- man is recognised.”- Mr Stone insists that the process has be«iii the result of evolution, not of violence. Violence has been the cause of most of the troubles which affect mankind. Progress has been brought about by reason and not by force. The conscience of man, the superiority of justice, has triumphed over the material class interests which could do no more than delay the march of events. The voice of the reformers, -the Wilberforees, the Peels, the Shaftesburys, have overcome indifference and selfishness. Factory

Acts, Education Acts, Workmen’s Compensation, old-age ipensions, National insurance, housing and public health • Acts, were measures secured solely by ! political means. “ Their mainspring is to be found not in strikes and combines, but in agitations conducted by humanitarians who used even- available means to bring the evils (to be combated before the attention of the legislature. The legislature in turn gave partial effect to the wishes of the humatntarians, in order ta obtain (political credit in the • country," {

The masses have now won political power. They are, indeed, as powerful politically as they care to be. What use will they make of their strength? Mr Stone is confident that it will not be abused, but be wains them that knowledge is necessary, and that industrial force is a double-edged weapon. The man who owns an orchard does not rob it. Direct action is the negation of democracy, because it prevents the masses front exercising their political power. Strikes with 11 political object, such organisations as the Coufieil of Aetioii, are “mischievous impertinences,” because they seek to take from the people the right to rule itself. And Mr Stone denies that there is any conflict of interest or any ground for antagonism between tlv classes. He reminds us that the chief ins'runients of the betterment of the conditions of tbe masses have been tho*? who are now held out as Laboar’s “natural enemies.” For seventy years tho Government of Britain has , been mainly in the bands of the middle j and the capitalistic classes. “Within | that seventy years more Inis been dolte to improve the lot of the l working tntili tliail was done throughout the rest of our history, though that history be taken back to the neolithic ago. The opposition is not between the worker .•ui!' the capitalist; it is between the man who works, who sutlers, who ex-pcM-ieneeS, who kliows, and the man who never works, who never suffers, never experiences, and never knows.”

The article from the pen of Mr Payne this week bearing on the matter of local lore would he read with great interest by many of our readers. Mr Payne's handling of the subject shows that there is a great deal of Information and knowledge to be gleaned from the local history, and the recording of facts such as Mr Payr.b’s letter brought to light is of interest to the present as well as the future generations. It is the fact the compilation of local history. If the study of these matters could be encouraged among the scholars of to-day. it would be a most useful pursuit enabling the rising generation not olilv to extend their own knowledge of local events, hut also arid to the knowledge of other folk lor aij time, by giving tbo neees.-ai'y local touch 10 ibe page of history governing our ou t' countryside l . H wbuld be Well if Lisi:, could lie lolio veT up Jllsii in a public vey. There is talk of establishing a brant b of the Workers’ Educational Association here, and a study IPiniiiiioU iiihiniry with particular r'forcJtcU to oui‘ Own district might with advantages be takeii up. From such a study and from the investigations of local iore t an intePesting text book oii Wbstland and its very early history ebuid be compiled aiid tuere would tlicll be ii record fur all tii%? o! the district. A knowledge of historical events tends to liovele.nc ioeal patriotism and love for one's country., and on this score alone, a fuller insight into the early events which led up to the native and 1 afterwards the European settlement of flic place, should he en-