Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1895. "THE WOMAN WHO DID."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5022, 10 May 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1895. "THE WOMAN WHO DID."

With tlio abovo title, Mr Grant, Allen, ono of the most popular writers of fiction, lias given to the world an edition He luxe of literary slnsli. In this work Mr Allen unburdens his soul, and announces it as the first book ho has written " wholly and solely to satisfy my "own taste and my own conscience." The story unfolds a new moral code, which to the average human niiiitl must he intensely revolting. The new morality as shadowed by MiGrant Allen is briefly given in the words of the heroine, "Nothing will induce meto marry—that is legally," Hi- Allen breaks with the old timehonored custom of marrying and giving iu marriage, which be holds to be the essence of all villany. "The Woman Who Did" is a diabolical attack on the sanctity of bond, and if we are to accept Mr Grant Allen's creed, the word "wife" with all its noble and helpful associations will pass away, and that ! accursed word "mistress" take its i place, The world is not prepared for ' such ft change, and we doubt if it ever will be, the holier impulses of | men and women, and their better , nature must over revolt at suck a I doctiine, i

Mr Grant Allon himself more than admits tlio truth of this, as the final . chapters of his putrid literature amply demonstrates, The daughter of the heroine,grown to womanhood, finding her own marriage in danger, by the shadow of her birth, asks her mother, "were you ever married to my father," to which she gets the reply, " It was always contrary to my principles to ' marry,"' the daugliter,consciousofherdegradation| retorts, "A cruel, cruel mother you| "have been to me. You had no "right to bring me into the world at "all, If you did, you should have "put me on an equality with other "people," Tlio mother who has been the mistress of one man, and offers to bo the mistress of another, makes her daughter's marriage possible by committing suicide. Ab ; a matter of fact Mr Grant Allen ; makes the heroine bow to. the J conventional Mrs Grundy, and her ] ißuicide is anadmission that her creed i

is intolerable, Thisistlio kind of literary filth that is finding favour with some of our best writers, and is painfnlly..a«sooiated with the advent of the new woman-sex literature, dealing with delicate subjects in a prurient manner which abounds just now, and in respectable covers finds resting placo at the bookstalls, One writer offers a recipe for the concoc-, tion of a modem novel on indecency sanctified, wMch fairly suits the taste :

"Solve of indecency a dozen grains, Mix them with flippant beastliness (not brains) A quart, of mental bilge water noxttake And jutoitsome sickliest bathos shake; Stir into this morbidity gone mad, Much cheap agnostic jargon to it add; Absence of moral sense best flavors it, And lo! a dish for garbage-lovers fit." According to the Fi'mibi.' The cial Times, the success Indicators, of the New Zealand loan

was due to the wellgrounded belief, that the finances of New Zealand, aro improving, Are thero grounds for this belief ? The Premier's speech, at Marion, disclosed that on a strict revenue and expenditure account, there is a deficit of £228,007, and that it is only by raking in the sinking funds, that the Colony can show a surplus. The customs and railway receipts show a falling off, as compared with last year; nevertheless, the British investor is led to believe that our finances are improving. It is only a matter of time, when lie will unlearn this story, and become possessed of the true state of the country's balance sheet The Times states that some good judges, who may be regarded as the more cautious among the financiers, consider that the financial position of tlio Colony, does not i justify the premium paid by the tenderers for the loan. The assertion of Tk Times, taken in conjunction with the statement of the Financial Times, and weighed with the fact that syndicates have induced the public to largely apply for Colonial slocks, leads us to think that attempts at conversion, will end in smoke, that tlio present quotations for Colonial stocks, will collapse, and further borrowing will bo much restricted,