The Daily News. MONDAY, APRIL 29, 1912. THE MYSTERY MONGERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 256, 29 April 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, APRIL 29, 1912. THE MYSTERY MONGERS.

A perusal of the advertising columns of any city daily paper (and many country ones) will convince the peruser that human nature is as gullible as it was 2000 years ago. Strewn thickly over New Zealand are innumerable "madames" and men whose titles range from "metaphysician," "medium," "clairvoyant,'' "psychomchist," to "crystal-gazer," "cupreader," and "trance-speaker." These people see a crop of half crowns falling from the tree, so to speak, and they hold their hands out for the shower. The crop is there. Somebody must gather it, and so these folks, by gentle persistence, continue to do big business. The curious phase about it is that they don't go to them, and the people never make the faintest protest. Rival business people are always the people who get most angry with the "quack." You see the "quack" cuts into their earnings, and few of the exponents enumerated above keep establishments going from sheer love of humanity. So we find that at a Christchurch spiritualist conference it was moved that none of these people should be allowed to crystal gaze, cup'read, psychomet, examine the palm, teil fortunes, or do any business allied to these mysterious performances without obtaining a certificate from the Registrar-General. The question is how many of these mystery-mongers would be awarded certificates? How came they to the requisite knowledge and authority to deal with the private and personal concerns of people for money? The New Zealand National Association of Spiritualists, on the other hand, obviously desires to corner the various businesses mentioned, for under a Bill proposed by the Association no person other than one holding a certificate from the Association would be entitled to practice the "arts." The spiritualists, therefore, if their Bill were treated kindly by Parliament, would be the means of wiping out the majority of affluent mystery-mongers in New Zealand and of filling their places with duly qualified and certificated members of the New Zealand National Association of Spiritualists. Wo believe that the N.Z.N.A.S. has as much chance of getting a Bill passed to this effect as Carnegie Ims of dying poor, but seeing that jealousy-has moved the Association it may stir the public to a distaste for the mysteries that are

sold in man)' cases by utterly ignorant practitioners to utterly ignorant clients. If the State takes the responsibility of licensing people who practice the more or less "black" arts, the State must naturally condone spiritualism. Whether the spiritualists as a body are worthy of so great a trust as the cornering of (lie mystery business is to be decided. The body has already introduced to New Zealand mystery-makers, who, to say the least, have convinced no one who happens to be sane. It is only necessary to mention the discredited Bailey, whose stock slumped so woefully in this country. The whole business, however, is clearly one for close investigation—but not by the New Zealand National Association df Spiritualists. Pew persons who are not influenced by these fraudulent folk realise the enormous extent of the business. A few years ago the police took a hand and made a few captures. Their zeal died. At once the crop of seers of various kinds grew again, until at the present time the country is infested with them. In the interests of the community, it is essential that every one of these person's qualification should be examined and certificates issued if the authorities are assured that any single seer is entitled to practice mystery.