Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1892. ON INCONSISTENT CRITICISM.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4195, 18 August 1892, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1892. ON INCONSISTENT CRITICISM.

Being the extended title of tub Wairarapa Daily, with whioh it is identical

A good many years bdvo passed since Lord Macaulay—then a plain " Mr,," fighting his way to famo with a fierce and unveracious pen-showed men the possibilities of cruel criticism in his review of Mr Robert Montgomery's poem. The Omnipresence of the Deity. The seed fell into good ground. Ever since then, the compliment of imitation has ben paid him by hosts of reviewers great and small. Writers of every degree woke up to find a royal road to success—sneer at some one else, and though it may not make you popular it will bring you pay. It was soon realised that nothing is easier than unkind criticism. The 'most cursory glance at the subject lying ready for your knife, and thencut and slash; no previous knowledge of the business is required. Smarting under rude surgery of th'iß kind, Lord Byron gave the world an opinion whose truth would have been quickly apparent, even if it had not come to us with the added attraction of a rbyme;— "A man must servo his time at every trado Savo censure j critios all are ready-made,"

But, as of literary merit, co also of unkindnesa there are almost infinite degrees. Polished sarcasm piercing the victim's heart as with the puncture of a stiletto, may be found by those who seek, in the pages of the great monthlies and quarterlies; ignorant impudencedeftling knock-down blows like a bellicose rustic at a fair, distinguishes (unhappily) the country newspaper that keeps a ." oritiq." These sombre reflections are, just now, the out-pourings of a present grief; for we have been reading a column of vituperative criticism ra a recent issue of a Wairavapa contemporary.

Two earnest women have started a periodical called " Tho Humanitarian," which is published in New Yurk.„.. It is tasteful in external, particularly well printed, and is written with much inoisiveness and vem, In an evil moment, tbey sent copies of their first issue to several New Zealand journals; and if our Wairarapa neighhour is to bo regarded as a representative of colonial journalism, these lady editors will feel that courtesy is an article- not kept in stock in our newspaper offices. For the reviewer of whom we aro speaking 'has entirely declined to consider the rational} of this publication, which mayor may not be sound and sensible, but which can at least claim to be the first object of criticism. Instead of dealing with principles, he' has fastened upon phrases; he has poked a ooarse, curious snont into a fow sentences, and rooted out little bits of language here and thereto feed upon, Brought i to the surface utterly detached from their context, some of these momam look disagreeable enough; and we can quite understand our contemporary's preference for them, But we are satisfied that they owe much that is unpleasing in their appearance to our contemporary's dirty touch.; and we 1 feel bound, in common fairness, to assure our readers- in case they should ppnie across a copy of "TheHuipnitarian "-that there is much good sense ii) the pages 4 "w magazine, I The risque sayings reajly require jrick; ing out with a pin, to b'o appreciated. The strangest feature about our contemporary's criticism is, however, not its coarseness. There is nothing out 'of tlje common in that. But Me singular that the journal which showed off, not long ago, as the almost frantic advocate of Female Suffrage, should be the one of all others to turn and rend two poor women s who are trying to do in print what our contemporary would have them do in politics—to suggest remedies for glaring ills in the body politic. Judging by the flowers of speech scattered upon them by the. newspaper in question, the editors of" The Humanitarian" deserve nothing less than social ostracism at the of all respectable people. This is eminently a case in which the persona attacked might 'apostrophise their enemy with '.' htii, Bn(i !' i '-y>\ik\i means, we ; believe, (for 'l>in \s not'iaugh't m this office] » What, yau, yon firufo I" We apologise lor having wasted so much space upon our contemporary

that we have little left inwhich to say what we ourselves think of this injured mußszine. Perhaps we may console ourselves with the reflection that we have at least defended it, if we have been prevented from reviewing it. As a matter of (act," The Humanitarian " is designed to discuss such subjects as Division of Labour, Principles of Government, Education, and the physical improvement of the masses; and considerable knowledge of these matters is displayed in the articles dealing with them, At the same time, ic will be. perfectly:consistent with our own expressions of opinion in the past, if we sny that tee topios cannot be fully discussed by or with women. In some of their aspects they compel a plainness of speech which mny perhaps be common in the United States, hut to which few of iiß on this side are educated as yet. We mny be prudish; but the same reasons which have led us to deprecate the admission of women to politics operate to assure us that women are utterly unwise in putting forth a periodicnl like this. But the attempt thus made does not redound to tie discredit of these two ladies in particular, If American ladies must mix themselves up in discussions of a delicate kind, let us hope they will all show the judgment and general decorum of language which distinguishes the editors of "The Humanitarian."