The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1912. "FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 297, 12 June 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1912. "FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS."

There is no sin commen to this generation and to this country that lias not been common to all generations and to all people. There has been no time in any history during which there were not public accusers. The role of public ac- [ cuser is an exceedingly easy one. Preachments are simple, but no man was ever preached into a state ■ of mind or body foreign to him. Divide if you like the philanthropists into two classes—executive and accusative. The latter class outnumbers the former by ten to one. Three out of four men can put a finger on a social sore, make a very good impression by discussing it—but leave the social sore exactly as they found it. It is not sufficient to name an evil. The man who names it should do something to extirpate it. In examining the alleged weaknesses of any people, indication of these weaknesses is unavailing if causes are not assigned and relief either suggested or applied. Sir Robert Stout, as one of the most prominent and important men in the State, frequently enters the lists as a public accuser; and although the sins he names do exist, he names no remedies that are practical and applicable. He showed the other day that the present New Zealander was a thriftless person. He is. But Sir Robert did not say why. He mentioned vaguely that he would have to become more thrifty. He will become more thrifty when thrift is forced on him by the inevitable march of time and the difficulties of existence that must come sooner or later. The reason the New Zealander of the present day is hopelessly thriftless is easy to indicate. By every possible means he has been spoon-fed and coddled until the virtues of his immediate forefathers are considered weaknesses. The spirit of self-dependence, of course, exists exactly in the same proportion as it did in the days of the pioneer, but there are no events that call it forth. The old-time settler fought for life and food. He had no scruples about soiling his hands; he did not start looking at the clock at 2.30 in the afternoon, aching for five o'clock, and had no silly notions about white collars and watch-chains spelling respectability. We hold, always have held, and shall continue to hold, that the average New Zealander is as good in every possible way as his pioneering forebears, and that as soon as ho is kicked out into the world to battle he battles precisely as effectively as anybody else. The awful system of mollycoddling, however, which deadens individuality is the reason why public accusers rise in their wrath — but make no suggestions for betterment and do no deeds in furtherance of a saner method of life. The correction of a rude' or reprobate schoolboy is a crime, but no one opens his eyes to the ever-growing social sin. We may pro-

test "at wrongs, but we really condone them by remaining passive, except for ) our tongues. We hope that when out I children grow up we may be able to get a politician to speak to the Government for them, and so increase the spirit of ■vrak dependence that is the basis, root ! ■ ■id branch, of the thriftlcssness that ihe Chief Justice complains about. Sir Robert Stout deplored the wastefulness that is apparent everywhere in New Zealand. It is an old story, and New | Zealand wastes enormously because it is comparatively safe to say that those who waste will get their meals just the same to-morrow as they did yesterday. There is no hope that the dormant thrift of the people will be roused to life so long as "living on the money we owe" is the fashionable style of existence. Only a period of profound depression—a period when the smallest coin has to be spent with the utmost care—can restore the old-time virtue. The citizen is asked to cheer up, not because a thousand sturdy yeomen are going to delve wealth out of the earth, but because a few more million pounds are to be borrowed to make unemployment temporarily impossible. The inevitable consequence ? The coming generations will be thrifty from force of circumstances. Who would not rather earn a five pound note by harii toil, constantly sweating of brain or body, than by a "deal," through the "tote," by a "swap," by the kindness of the politicians, by any of the devious means that have sapped the old virtues and which have made us forget our selfrespect, our thrift, our reverence, our obedience and our general discipline? It is not the present generation of New Zealanders who will learn thrift. It is the coming generations of New Zealandera who will be forced to do so.