PENNY READINGS.

Southland Times, Issue 949, 11 May 1868, Page 2

PENNY READINGS.

. (TO THE EDITOB OF THB SOUTHIiAKD TIMES.) Sir, — That some systematic course of , evening entertainments, at once amusing , and instructive, should be provided for the public during the long evenings of winter is a fact which every one admits. That . no such provision has yet been made in Invercargill is also a fact, a fact much to ' our discredit as an intelligent and pro- ': gressive community, and one which is greatly to be deplored by the well disposed ' in our midst. It is one thing, however, to ' regret the existence of a certain state of » things, and another to make individual 1 exertions to have the defects rectified, 1 and it would appear that, so fatf as In- » vercargill is concerned, while there^are plenty who grumble loud eao ugh at the • absence of any means of social and intellectual^ enjoyment, for v the ■ masses, * there ~ are ' few r Irideed who seem willing to submit to the personal inconvenience and the interruption to their domestic, or other enjoyments,

which the lending of an efficient and continued assistance in the inauguration and carrying on of such a scheme would necessarilly entail. These remarks are induced by -the consideration that two or three monbhs ago — as your readers will recollect ; — a vigorous, but, as it has turned out, spasmodic effort was made by a few gentlemen who were ever foremost in a good cause, to set on foot a series of entertainments now everywhere sopopular, and commonly known as Penny Eeadings. Several meetings were held, at which, though not numerously attended, the matter was taken up so enthusiastically as to warrant the anticipation of the most successful results. At the last of these introductory meetings, business had satisfactorily proceeded so far as to justify the appointment of an interim committee, with full powers to arrange for the first readings, a sufficient number of gentlemen having given in their names as willing to contribute their quota to the entertainment, to make the first night's programme, both diversified enough and of ample length. "When the meeting broke up it was with the understanding that the first reading might be expected within a few following days, if week &%' farthest, but there the matteg rests, "it appears that the inimediat.fi cause of the postponement of the first entertainment was the advent of the Heir Dramatic company, when of course the Theatre could not be had, and when, probably,, even had another place of meeting been secured, an audience could not have been collected; but it further appears, and this is the worst aspect of the case, that with the temporary cessation of action on the part of the committee their enthusiasm quietly oozed- out -at their- fingers' -ends, gently allowing them to dissolve into their original units. Thus the Penny Reading Society, as a great many other Associations of loftier title have done in our good town, finds its grave in a committee. The circumstance of so many popular movements coming" to a standstill at this stage of their existence naturally leads one to examine the, construction of these committees, and it must be apparent to anyone tolerably well acquainted with our citizens, that the same names occur with suggestive frequency — suggestive because the conclusion is inevitable that these members are bftener appointed on account of their social and commercial standing, than because of any particular fitness for the position to which they are elected ; otherwise, why so many cases of failure with which they are connected ? This matter of a working, energetic, harmonious committee, is really the stumbling block in all our attempts at. organisation. It has been shown that there would have been no lack of performers had the Penny Readings been once fairly started. lam aware that there were plenty of offers of assistance in the shape of readings, recitations, essays, lectures, and music ; but while plenty are thus willing to give most effective help in the public eye, few or none will consent to perform the .unseen and unacknowledged drudgery absolutely necessary to place an entertainment of any kind decently before the ■ public. However, I would not in any : way throw cold water on the subject, , but rather incite to renewed effort. : "With the example of the Ladies' Benevolent Society before our eyes, which has . worked most successfully now for a number of years, we need not altogether despair. Surely if a committee of ladies can be got, who, in the midst of domestic duties, canjind time to conduct a society, 1 the very nature of which indicates that • its management entails more than ordinary *Labor, and requires a great amount of tact r delicacy, and judgment, there can be got a sufficient number of , gentlemen having time and talent enough ■ at their disposal to carry out successfully s a project so simple as the Penny Reading 1 movement ; a movement which, if set on i foot, must, and will confer great benefits , on the community generally, but more especially on the working classes. — I am, Sir, yours &c, - Citizen". Invercargill, 3rd May, 1868.