"OUR KIN ACROSS THE SEA.'

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 351, 16 March 1889, Page 4

"OUR KIN ACROSS THE SEA.'

Vevy few books by colonial authors have been so widel\ and, on the whole sofa ournhly teviewf d Dy the English press as " Oui Kin Acro?s the Sea," under which title Mr J. C. Fir<h embodied the notes and ohsoivabions made during his isib to the United -ta'e-s. No doubr, the short int'.oductuin wtitten by Mr Froude assisted mateiiully in o\et coming the initial difficulty of gaining a healing which is encountered by all new author Bin the present day, when a steady toi rent ot literature, on every conceivable subject, poms foith from the press. But the introfluction could do no moie than draw attention to the book, with the attendant consequence of suffering a more scathing criticism if it failed to reali-e the expectations that were raised respecting it. Mr Filth's woik has stood the oideal well. Somo of that class cf ie\ieweis who consider the saying of smart thing- ns the per fection of ctiticism, inespecthe of the fa<H whether their stiictuics aie in accordance with the facts or not, mude the book a target foi their shafts ; but tho gteat bulk of the reviews that ha\e appeared recognise in Mr Firth's observations on the manners and customs of our Ameiican cousins, a freshness and originality that were lefresh my when dealing with a subject upon which it might almost be supposed that the " last woid " had been said. It may, howe\er. easily be understood that Ameiican institutions pi esrnt(d themsel es to the mind of a colonist like Mr Firth fiom a totally different aspect than that fiom which they would be seen by a w liter trouj: lit up among the association^ of Great Britain. Equally is it true that the impressions of a thoroughly practical man i3it ng Ametica nn a business mission, would difler in toto from those of a Uttratteur who hns gone there for the express purpose of writing a book, and who is but poor y qualified at best to estimate at their true valuo qu;ililies that appea 1 mainly to practical men — whose virtues, in fact, lip exclusively in their utditaiianism. But the author's observations in America f-ie not only such as will be appief iated by readers who want solid information rather than redundancy of words; they aie very pleasantly told. "Our Kin Across the Sea" is no mere compendium ot dry sta i«tics, culled from guide books and official leLurns. The author nanates in pretty c .nseouthe otder his personal experiences, introducing very deftly here and there appropi iate figures, from authoritative sources, sufficient to give the book a. moie permanent value than w o «bouM be disposed to atiach to the flying observations of a tomist making a pleasure tiip through the country. As might have been safely assumed by thoso who are acquainted with Mr Firth's enterptises in New Zealand, the mining and agricultural opeiation^ of the Great Republic particularly attracted his attention, and his remaiksupon those branches of industry ore not only shrewd bub are the more interesting to c lonial readers because thfi author draws for his illustrations upon a rich New Zea'and experience. He understands what he is writing about, not meiely as a theorist, but as. a man who both in mining and ogiicultnre has been very intimately connected with very lar^e operation I',1 ', and we think the pleasuro to be d< rived from the book will be iricrensed by the fact that while he saw many fchincs to admire, and much which the coloi.ies might profitably imitate, the advantages were nof nil found to be <»n the American side. No one, for example, who knows Mr Firth, will doubt that he is a good judge of beef, or will hesitate to attach gi eat weight fo his opinion when he says that " though the ea' tie looked generally well and in food condition, I was greatly disappointed with the quality of the beef. Compared with the juicy tenderness and fino flavour of New Zealand beef, I found it hard, dry, j and of inferior qualify. In California the! beef in nil these respects was better than in the Mississippi Vidley. though even ihnr was much inferior to Hie Ne'.v Zea'and beef. The quality of the California n beef is injuriously affected bv the lon# dry rummers : in the Mississippi Volley the poor qualUy of the beef is, I thi< k, d«e to the excessively se\ ere cold winters; in all the States I visited, the ther?nometer, I was

informed,' frequently sinks from 20 to 30 btlow zero Fahr." The ellecb of the extreme range of temperature expeiienced in most of the States not metely on animals but on the health ami bodily comfort of mankind, is fully noted by the author. A climate that admits ot such extremes as from 90 to lOOdeg. in the shade in summer, down to between 20 and 40deg. below zero in winter, cannot be a very enjoyable one or conducive to longevity, and Mr Firth lemarks that he did not observe anything like the proportion of old men or women in America which may be seen everywhere in New Zealand. The ueneral overwork and the discafto for athletic exercises are other causes that contribute to the physical ill-health of the American people. " During my stay in Chicago," observes the writer, "a city of 700,0COinhnbitantp, I witnessed in the noble Lincoln Puik a game of football and a game of cricket, fit neither of which weve present more than fifty spectator; whilst phoitly i before my departure for Arne ica, a game of football was plajed between two rival clubs near Auckland, a city of 60,000 inhabitants, at which 10 OOOenthusi stic spectators weie present, many of the ladies wearing the colouis of tho cubs they favoured." The social customs of the States, particularly thp hotel life are described and treated to gentle ci iticism. MrFirlh is too strongly imbued with English ideas toadmijeth.it renunciation of home life which isinvolvedin the system of living in hotels and boarding-hou-es, and bringing up families without any experience of that home life which is so highly valued by e\ery Englishman, and which is generally typified in the expression that "an Englishman'? house U his castle." The distaste for domestic duty which such an unbringing beyets is strongly animadverted upon, and the author sees in this disinclination, and certain attendant evils of a malignant chm-acter, a danger to the future of the Republic. The problems of the future aie intelligently dealt with, and, as might be expected, the author cannot refrain from looking forward to the possibilities of a confederation of the English speaking people all over the world — a magnificent dream which, although now admittedly Utopian, will year by year take firmer root in men's minds ; and who i-hall say whet the future may or may not brir q foith ? Taken altogether, we ore pure that this book will not jnly be veij widely read, but that it will affoid pleasure to all who dip into its pages. It is not over-laden with wordy description?. What the writer has to say he says in terse and forcible English, and when his conclusions do not command our concu rence they at least cive evidence I hat they are the outcome oi shrewd observation by a vigorous thinker who is ab all times ready to defend his positions.