OCCASIONAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3059, 23 February 1892, Page 3

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

It is the unexpcctcd that happens! Who would have eared to risk their reputation as a prophet by predicting that Russia, of all countries in the world, would have been the first to adopt the leading ideas of the Advanced Liberalism of our times? And whoever would have imagined that the Czar, of all men, would enforce a measure, the nature of which entitles him to a prominent place amongst the more advanced social reformers ol this generation ? It has hitherto been tacitly granted that Russia occupied the rear-rank iu the national march of progress and civilisation, but the measure lately enforced in that country must dispel this idea —that is, from a Socialistic, or Advanced Liberal, point of view.

The news I refer to is the intelligence conveyed to us by cable that the Czar intended to bind the peasantry to the soil, and to compel them to cultivate it, devoting one-third of the produce grown to the support of the producers, and confiscating (this word has a ycy pungent aroma of Advanced Liberalism) the remaining two-thirds for State purposes. In considering this scheme, it will at once be seen that with whatever brilliance the Czar may shine as a social reformer, it will in no way detract from ■he lustre of his reputation as a despot 1

To all true lovers of personal liberty and freedom, this action of the Czar will be regarded as au unwarrantable act of tyranny ; but it should fascinate and cheer the Socialists who are striving to subvert such liberty, and who, by the measures they advocate, are seeking to enforce. State interference with, and control of, every detail of both public and private life. The Czar is in a position to enforce his "reforms" at once, and he has gone "the whole hog," and deprived his peasantry of their liberty suddenly, and in one act. The Advanced Liberals have the same end in view, but can only restrict the personal liberty of the subject gradually. The Czars method may be likened to the Bharp, sudden death by the long drop, and that of our Advanced Liberals to that by the garotte—a lingering strangulation.

The Socialists in New Zealand, and indeed throughout the world, have now a haTen whereunto they may direct their steps, and realise at once the full and blessed effects of the delightful measures with which they would seek to beguile and enravish the people of New Zealand and elsewhere. There they would find that most of the planks in the platform of the National Liberal Association of New Zealand had already been adopted. True, they might not be called upon to exercise the great and blessed privilege of the one-man-one-vote principle in the franchise, and which is No. 1 plank in the said platform; but this loss would in a great measure be compensated for by the knowledge that they would possess no property and the abolition of this qualification is the second clause of the first plank of the said platform. After joining the ranks of the Russian peasantry, they would find that the State undertook,, as a State function, the employment of all those needing work, and at the same time of those who were not particularly anxious for it—those who would rather be without it in fact. They would find that the mines and railways, and all the land, they would be called upon to coucern themselves about, were owned by the State ; and they would find a very healthy sentiment existing amongst their fellow-peasants against big estates—to acquire a small holding, I might say a very small holding, under their peculiar circumstances of life, being tho chief aim of these fortunate men. Emigrating Socialists would also find that in their new home a statutory limit had been fixed to rent —two-thirds of their produce being the stipulated limit for this : their sole landlord would be the State ; and, so far as they would be concerned, interest would be unknown, legal restriction would therefore be unnecessary. About a State Bank, an elective Governor, and a reformed Upper House they would, if wise", say nothing—unless, of course, they desired a trip to Siberia, and any agitation on these subjects would have a decided tendency to bring this about!

They would also have the culminating felicity of working, under the military system, in gangs, as recommended by Edward Bellamy, and any disinclination for the task in hand, arising from supineness or languor, would be speedily remedied by the application of an external tonic. Russian officials have acquired world-wide reputation for their skill in applying such remedies ! Our emigrants would perhaps have some difficulty ii securing two hours labour per day—no, I am blundering, they would have nc difficulty whatever in securing as euuj hours of labour per day as they could conveniently manage; their chief diffi culty would lay in restricting them t< ten, or even to twelve. They need not be totally without hope, however, evei for this, for who would ever have dream that the Great White Czar of all thi Ruasias would have adopted so man; of the planks of the Great Liberal Asso ciation of New Zealand, and this, so fa a3 I know, even without a requisition o any agitation whatever from the peasant themselves 1 The benefits they derivi under,the system arise entirely from the spontaneous goodness of the Czar himself, although at the same time I should be loth to deny the probability of his having been in communication with Mr Ballance! Farmers, market gardeners, and those who deal in agricultural produce have, even under ordinary circumstances, great difficulty in disposing of their commodities. They find obstacles enough of a natural kind ; but when the supernatural has to be encountered, the difficulty is, as the following will show, insurmountable. I am led to this subject by a paragraph appearing in that delightful and delectable publication, The War Cry, and to which sacred and reverent journal I am a regular subscriber. It appears that the Christohurch Keacue Home was short of spuds (this is the euphemistic language of the Cry), and thfl inmates of the Home were, presumably, obliged to substitute cake or bread therefor. Apart from the fact that these were but poor substitutes for potatoes, such extravagant living could not be tolerated for long in a properly-conducted Home, The lasses were in despair ! Due notice had been given in the War Cry that the spuds (to still quote the Cry) had run out, and a greengrocer, accepting the hint in the spirit in which it was given, had promised to present the Home with two sacks of potatoes. Led away, however, by the machinations of the Prince of this World, the green grocer repented him of his promise, anc the week wore on and the potatoes die not make their appearance. The lasse; grew desperate, and a desperate remedy was resorted to. My readers will at onci imagine that they went out into th< market-place and bought some potatoes but not at all! —things, bad as they were had not come to this pass yet._ In then orisons they inserted a clausc petitioning for potatoes, and this expe dient worked like a charm, for shortl; afterwards the faithless greengrocer wa seen " coming in at the gate with th spuds " on his back. The tale he had to tell was, if hi experience did not serve him right fo breaking his promise, pathetic. Up an down the Cathedral City he had humpc bia potatoes, offering them from house t

house, but nobody would buy, for ''of course" (to again quote the Cry), " God wanted them for the Home." To come across such an instance of simple, oldfashioned faith in these sceptical days is refreshing indeed, and I am exceedingly gratified to think that it met with its due reward. To vendors of produce in districts where the Army has established itself, it conveys an obvious moral. It will be politic on their part, before attempting to dispose of their produce, to acquaint themselves with the condition of the commissariat department of the local corps, for when a man goes from house to house in a big city like Christchurch. and cannot sell two sacks of potatoes, or any of them, it is evidence enough that the prayers of the S.A. lads and lasses, and the faith that they will get for nothing what others have to pay for, are too strong to resist. Should any of our farmers at any time be at a loss to understand the cause of an unexpected, and apparently unwarranted, deadness iti the produce market, it will be well for them to bear in mind the information contained in this note. Fusee.