The Hokitika Guardian SATURDAY, DEC. 23rd, 1922. CHRISTMAS.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 December 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian SATURDAY, DEC. 23rd, 1922 . CHRISTMAS.

lie merry all, be merry all, With luillv dress the festive hall; L'repnre the song, the feast, the call To welcome merry Christmas. Christmas is here again with its message of good cheer. The world, alas, is still disrupted, and every country lias troubles of its own. Our own New Zealand is not any exception, for tf\ addition to what can be seen and felt, there are said to lie unseen troubles ahead which might have a disturbing effect in the very near future. Hut to-day the Christmas atmosphere is about us, and now on the threshold of the festive period, it is difficult fl> believe that the outlook is foreboding, or that the old time spirit of the great oeca- i siou can he robbed of Its mirth and ; jollity. Christmas lias associations j which grow up from the days of our i youth, for it is really the carnival : time for the young. Parents and friends delight, in marking Christmas ; time for the pleasure and enjoyment of the young folk, and so it has become the festive period in which the young j arc so intimately connected. Yet. j Christmas brings a message to tho : world at large. Sad to relate in these ■ days of disruption and doubt, the mes- j sage does not appear to he effectively received. Differences and disputes, mi- | tional and international, are raging ; and the world does not appear to go I very well. But perhaps at no other * time of the year than the present is j there the hope of arresting general attention and riveting for a few fleeting j hours perhaps, interest in a world- I wide message of good will and hope ' for flip human race. Yet it is an active j pulsing message broadcasted all over j the globe, and to all Christianity there • is the broad suggestion, the definite j reminder, of the very foundation upon ; which might be reared successfully the ! great superstructure of national and ; international goodwill. The message of ! peace on earth and goodwill to all is the eternal song of Christmas. The peoples cannot for ever be deaf to j that great chorus which at this parti- i cular season of the year echoes and re- • echoes round the globe! None may 1 miss the message if they wish and to 1 all, old and young alike it is a pean I of song, which if rendered as it should i be by a vast community chorus which j realised the import of the message, j and appreciated to the practice of its ' precepts, would make for all the world j a now place of abode. How long per- j verse mankind will miss the opportu- j nity Cliristinnstide reminds us of. is j difficult to gunge, hut to those who j 1 would grasp the substance of the i. Christmas message there is within . - roach that bright and happy time in ! reality which we in all sincerity wjsli ouj- readers to-dav j 1 v MFirny chkistmas 1

I THE WEEK. The rush of time has again brought us to the threshold of the most important holiday season of the year. New Zealand despite its ups and downs, its periods of prosperous days and its times of stringency, continues to forge ahead, anil it is still entitled to rank under the proud title of ’’God’s O u n Country.’’ It lias many advantages, remote though it be from the outside world. Set in the southern sens in 1 antipodes, remote from tlio seat of Empire, New Zealand enjoys a prestige won by its own people who have by patient industry and loyal devotion j created a record which gives our lit- ! tie country a pre-eminence of its own. Our own destiny is in our own hands. There is opportunity here for nil and that the opportunities should be marred by the cross currents of industrial strife is a matter for great regret and ! certainly concern. The war period with its varying charges of fortune, has left a spirit of unrest and even .personal irresponsibility that the old time slogan of “Country first” has been lost in the cry of “class first.” The few and not the many are the concern of ; sections who ignore their greatei ie- ' sponsihilities to humanity. This is a I season of the year when there should ’ be some forethought for the great and all embracing message of goodwill to mankind which is the pivot of the Christmas festival. And that message . should bo carried beyond the confines of to-day or to-morrow just because those are the set days of observance, out into the world at large, and into the ne'i; year which should be made the ” time of opportunity to apply the foundation lesson of Christmas which is the motive for our system of Christianity. Our country first, always, and New Zealand will range higher than over. Place country and high principle before personal pride and aspirations, before petty jealousy and selfish desire, and Non- Zealand will “come again”

in the van of progress. The week end

carries us to a season of the year when dull care may be discarded, but' the lesson of the period counts most, and that should he applied to “the adventure of living” which being the sum of

our existence, should be made the most of not for self, but for the greater good of all. for om country, and for humanity at large. In that way we shall best put into practice the message and meaning of Christmastide.

Acstiulia, like New Zealand, remarks a conlenipoiary, seems to be suffering the inevitable penalties of a political situation in which the ruling party lias no ascertaiiable outlines or boundaries judged by the hard-and-fast political creeds which served ah earlier generation. The Federal Prime -Minister, who started, bib political career as a communist of the deepest

dye has faded from red to pink, and now has a distinct tinge of blue, after long immersion iu the responsibilities of office. That, of course, is the soli of transition which is almost a political law, and it is a transition of a sort ; which would be perfectly easy for the 1 electors to deal with were it not that

it has been accomplished hv all sorts of fusions and bargains, so that party outlines are now blurred and undecipherable. Mr Hughes was once i very good labourite. Later he was a sort of a Liberal, and latterly he has

become ns near to being a Conservative as his very democratic country was likely to stand. But lie insists with all the passionate feivour at his command that be is the only true Labourite, tile only true Liberal, and the only true Conservative. The story is varied to suit the audience, but Australians, while admiring the all-round versatility of the Prime Minster and 1 apprecntiiig his energy and talents of leadership, have found that ill's speeches give them distaste for the whole business of polities. If there are no parties, or if all parties can be represented in the person of one small ’Welshman then why worry about politics? 'About half the voters of Austr lia seem to have stayed away from the polls, and the remainder have not given Mr Hughes and his “Nationalists” the sort of support to which they have become accustomed. It is now fairly obvious that Australia will have to find a - new Prime Minister unless Mr Hughes can convince the Country Party that the bitter things he said about it on the hustings were .capable of a merely Pickwickian interpretation. No estimate ,of the probable composition of tile new : House gives the Nationalists anything j like a majority. The position is not i yet definitely ascertainable, but it is ; clear that Mr Hughes will have to add ' yet another stripe to his coat of many colours if ho is to continue to control • the Federal Government. In his latter years the peppery little Welshman makes more enemies than friends, and : the time has passed when his connection : "’itsli any party or junta of parties i addes to the popularity of his associ- ■ ates. To say that the passing of . Hughes will simplify and clarify Australian politics is at once the highest I compliment and the worst condemnation that can be given to a very ro- | mnrknble man. j | Tiik American Secretary for Labour j f| as suggested that the remedy for unj employment is that every workman I should learn a secondary trade. As a ■ broad view there is obviously something j in this idea. Ij, finds its justification , hi the economic fact that there can I be no such tiling its general over-prn-j duction. though the output of a given ; branch or section of industry may <,utj Pace immediate demand. In some of . the big American factories working ' under scientific management, remarks an exchange, employees are encouraged i qualify themselves for any one of i several classes of work, and in nny j country a proportion of the workers ; have, as the saying is, more than one string to their bow. There is no ohj vions reason why tile acquisition l>y workers of extra qualifications’ which would enable them on occasion to seek alternative employment should not become fairly general. The extreme specialisation of modern industry if anything emphasises the desirability of fostering craftsmanship and individual skill. Some limitations, however, are imposed upon the possibility of averting unemployment in this way. For instance, alternative employment in some cases would involve a change of location which might he exceedingly inconvenient, particularly t'fi married men. The question of making the in.

dustrial system more flexible is-never-theless, well worth exploring. It evidently must be ascribed to shortcomings either of individual training or of general economic organisation that people willing and anxious td" work are at times excluded from employment, Riit in districts such as this there is a lack of variety in industrial occupations which would make the proposal difficult of application.

With tlio close of another school year, teachers .and other educational workers of the Dominion are in a position to congratulate themselves upon a measure of real though uneven progress. The improvement of schools and of eduen- | tional methods is hampered in ninny j places hy financial stringency nnd a shortage of fully-trained teachers, but 110 one who has visited any of the more progressive schools con doubt that the educational system is developing with good promise. In some at least of these establishments a wonderful improvement is being registered upon the practice of the comparatively recent past. Childish initiative is encouraged and gently directed instead of being repressed. Freed to a remarkable extent from compulsion and restraint, the children vet exhibit ft fine discipline, nlid readiness to work. Some people throw cold water oil sufcli experimental developments, hut in the results as they are meontime visible there is much eo encourage faith. Modern methods no doubt will he widely extended during the next few years as the large numbers of students attending the colleges complete their training, and more money becomes available for the improvement of school buildings and equipment. Despite i drawbacks in the educational authority control, Westland scholars continue to do remarkably well in thsir work which is ii special tribute to the teachers.