VICES AND VIRTUES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 22, 9 January 1912, Page 3

VICES AND VIRTUES.

NEW BOOK ON NEW ZEALAND. ( OPINIONS OF DR. HERZ. ; Under!.’’date,December. 30th,' the Sydney correspondent of the Wellington, “Pest? ? \vrites as follow^:have' just been permitted to sec ail adViincp. copy of a ■ now! • book i on i New.’Zealand..and the New, i Zealand-; ers- by Max Hbi'z—Dr. Max Herz, forrherjy , of . GJtristcflnirclg apd- Aupk- t land, (ajid; -npw-■ of [Sydney.!- This is. not, -the ’ -first; ;time ,Tj'e Iravfe seen him inqpYigt• Shine. years' : aga, / it ; will fie remembered,’Fo said thingS-abdut the pliVijstc.htfrchfolk,* andua year or-two 1 itgo -'he 1 -was ' sfomewhat outsj>ok‘dn in regard to the figures of the Australian girls. In his new book, “New Zealand: The Country and the People” (translated from the German and published by -T. Werner Laurie, of London), Dr. Herz is still as outspoken as ever, and in places spares neither Government nor people. “I do not think,” he says, for instance, “there is a place in tlie one'lias a less comfortable seat than in : .the. carriages .of the:,:N.-Zv; It..’(winch. ’’ *, from-, all • -appearanees£ Inight mbiur' t No’zeal required’).” The book is one of the most comprehensive, yet published about the Dominion, ■its' scenery, its legislation, its pebplo, white and brown; and now. and; again the author grows quite poetical? “We had wiindered- frbm. the boiling lakes and playing geysers,” Me says in his last chapter but one, ••groin Waimangu, towering like some, Hugo black pine to the sky, into the lovely and magnificent bush, where the strong sun penetrates through the delicate lerns. We had gone into duo jungle, and on to the culm serenity of the fjords. We had drunk in the sublime and never-to-be-forgot-ten picture of Milford Sound, visited the gorgeous cold lakes, and witnessed tne majestic greatness of the Alps. I he notes of a noble symphony of natural beauty had resounded for us. Tne geysers were an oppressive ‘allegro con brio’ of auguisu, such as introduces Beethoven's C minor Symphony; tne silent moonlit nights of mo Sounds were its ‘andante con moio’; the bush its merry ‘scherzo,’ the lofty and unfetted magnitude of the Alpine world was the resonant, tiiuinpnal song of the finale. Where is a country on our beautiful earth which oilers all that within so small a space? Undehled glories of Nature! We part from this land full of sincerest thanks for the pleasure that it gives us. A few words may now be devoted to its people.” THE NEW ZEALANDERS. In the final chapter of the book, headed “Tne New Zealanders,” our candid critic says:—“One condition aoovc all has helped to mould the New Zealander —tlio emptiness tjf the book in wnich lie started to write the history of iiis national life. New Zealand is a new country, it lias no ancient nistory and no old culture, but oelougs to those lands which, in the words of Goethe, ‘have it better than our continent —the old one.’ It has no old autochthonous inhabitants, no nation, no ruling families; no nobility nor classes, nor the dead weight ot tlioso traditions, grey with age, which men regard as holy. . . . . Here, as in Australia, tne principle of the ‘white’ policy holds good. Men believe in a White Australasia, and look askance ou the alliance of the Mother Country with Japan. In this deep-seated aversion to the Yellow races lie the germs of poSsiole conflict with the Old Country, for the colonials would never yield. It was this latent sentiment that was the secret of the unprecedented enthusiasm with which New Zealand and Australia received the United States’ battleships in 1908.” And now' wo come to Art. “He is a Bhillistino—a shocking Rhillistine and Boeotian in matters ol Art. hi a musical farce he sees an “opera,” in a trashy melody a song, in 'iosti’s ‘Good-bye’ the gate of Heaven. A shallow, sentimental, genre picture is to him the highest ideal in painting. 'Tne old masters, Leonardo, Velasquez, and the great Rembrandt are unknown. And unknown almost are Van Dyck and Holbein, even though they l.vod in England, to say notliing of more modern artists. The public galleries would be much advised to purchase good copies of the old masters in the place of the comparatively worthless though original efforts of mediocrity.” In sculpture, architecture, ami furnishing the New Zealand-

or is also described as woefully deficient. “This evident disdain of culture finds expression in the clothes of the people. 'They are neither elegant nor fashionable. ' The suit of the man is rough and substantial. As for the girls and women—they are good comrades for the men. No hysterical, delicate creatures, but beings full of blood, strength, and health. Elegant or stylish the great majority of wo r men cannot be called. Their carriage is ton careless; their style of dress too untidy, too fluffy, too dowdy, and too pretentious. The middle-class have not yet discovered the charm of simplicity, and endeavour on insufficient incomes, by aid of cheap finery, to copy the more well-to-do ladies, whose toilets need fear no comparison with any on the Continent. The disregard of the external evidences of culture is shown in the speech of the people. Sad to relate, one far too often hears the younger generation talk w-ith a tyvang that horrifies the ear of anyone used to good English. ■ A mother will request her daughter, ‘Kyte’ to ask the ‘lycly’ whether she will ‘tyke’ another piece of ‘ckye.’ This twang is worse in Australia than New Zealand,” The latter observation will afford a crumb of satisfaction to New Zealanders, at any rate. But if Dr. Herz h’ts hard, bo does not fail to give New Zealanders credit for a good many things. “Too many people who are not Britishers live here for the colonial to he narrow-minded. . . Hospitality ranks high in his esteem. . . The New Zealander lias his heart in the right place, and if charily remains the greatest of pious virtues, and the true religion for man is ‘work,’ he is religious in the best sense of the word. ? . . The New Zealander loves his country with all his. heart, and no matter where he comes from, he will toll you ‘There is no place like New Zealand.’ . . The New Zealander is what not everyone can claim to be—a happy man in a happy country!” Tf the people of the Dominion have their vices—and wo are told in this book that “the national vices of New Zealand are gambling and legislation” Dr. Herz admits quite readily that they have many splendid virtues.