The Silly Season.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17976, 22 March 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Silly Season.

(By “Darius.")

./ ■ >HE importance of being in earnest ■ is generally recognised in t.he I Home Land. Punch is the official organ of paternal humour, and National seriousness is further safeguarded by the Church. The only really jocular institutions are those high seats of learning, the two far-famed Universities wherein the wits of many nations fake high degrees . . Politics have become gloomy, with many cares, savage and ruthless, both in power and in opposition,'so that the relief which the “'Silly Season ” affords is welcomed both abroad and at Home.. England fir'd became permanently serious about politics when Magna Charta was received from the hand of King John, somewhat, it is generally supposed, as the Law was received by Moses on the summit of Sinai. The “ Silly Season ’’ is the interval between parliamentary sessions. There is good reason, as well as precedent, why the name should be adopted in our country, nidging by recent happenings. It is said of England that it is a country where everyone grumbles about its politicians: and never changes them. We are much the same. If a man lives long enough he may represent almost any party without appreciably changing his political creed, which is to get into power. Our Prime Minister has, wHh a brief interregnum, continued in politics for the term of an average lifetime, and still his eye is undimmed and his courage unabated, while his years have brought hhn honours enough to satisfy his highest aspirations. All are agreed that he has continually recognised the importance of being in earnest, and that the recognition of that principle proved his passport, from the humble round of Post Boy to the fipe distinction of Prime Ministerial power, which he occupies as, a distinguished political Patriarch. Let none be so mean as to envy him- “ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.” Importance of Being Earnest. There is a great difference between the importance of being in earnest and the importance of being Earnest. The latter is the title of a two-man play by Oscar Wilde. There are some men of so great consequence to themselves that they “Would shake hands with the King upon his throne and think it kindness to His Majesty.” Napoleon could assupae a very impressive pose as Emperor. On the Bellerophon his pose was not so impressive. As a passenger to St. Helena there was nothing iippressive in him, for all the battles he had won and the monarchies he had made, apart from the interest that attaches to the forlorn figure of the man who had fought a battle 100 many,—Waterloo. The Press has lately furnished us with another example of how the Limbus Fatuorum may be attained. There is one quality that always impresses, even more lhan virtue, and it is loyalty, both in domestic and political circles. There is no charge against those who secede from party -for conscience’s sake When we place our allegiance high and find it given to the keeping of idols with crumbling feet of clay, a quiet reticence is seemly until the heat of realisation has passed, and we have rebalanced our emotions and readjusted our standards of human values. To endeavour to involve others or evento interest them in the recital of our woes, real or imagined, is to presume too much.

The Importance of Being in Earnest.

Even when interested we cannot be convinced that, one political party is entirely right, and t.he other entirely wrong- No individual or section of our race can he honestly put, into that classification. Such suppositions are. contrary to experience It is the vanitv of vanities for one io imagine his estimates of right and wrong are distractions to the rest of society. The first Ihoufrlil of ihc «MM think When I tell them how badlj I haw been treated.” Drums That Beat To War. The pose of the politician in power natural to his position. He is a Represe tative of the People and as such a certain pose? or shall we rather say poise, ia expected of him. He is a Person and he convevs the idea to us by suggestion. knows the importance is in being not lEarnest, but in earnest In taking himself se louslv and assuming dignity of outward appearance he imparts seriousness and conveys dignity to those who placed him m power. Now a mere instrument or official of a political organisation when he deflects, adjures, denounces and condemns his old associations, with all the evidences at his command, is apt to be regarded as a modern David who goes out to meet a a modern Goliath, and having missed the gigantic head with his pebble, returns to seek sympathy, and experiences only derision.

There is a nobility in the onset of two great political parties- There is a sound as of battle in their approach, and a sense of drums beaten and banners flying—but when a camp-follower rushes up with intelligence of his friend, the enemy’s proposed tactics, is he not sent to the rear. There is a code in politics and there are tactics that are permissible. As there are opportunities not to be missed in fair fight, so there are advantages that cannot be taken. A Fearless Knight and Chivalrous. You and I, who have known such great and ruthless fighters as the beloved Knight, Sir William Ilerries, need not be told of it. The uncompromising man in action is the mark of our admiration, and many of our noblest men have been engaged in politics. Further and apart from all political bias let this be said: The full worth of the deposed leader was not known to us, nor could it have been known until he met defeat. That is the test of a man, defeat, and he accepted it more honourably, and more unpurturbed before the people, than many others have appeared in victory. I believe, if we give these gladiators their due, no matter to whom or to whose politics they are opposed, we shall create. a sentiment that, will place our ‘legislators in the forefront of the world. The almost contemptuous bearing of one party to the flying accusations made against the other, by one not of the rank ordered by the mace .and “Mr Speaker, I’’is 1 ’’is indicative of fine political calibre, and a good omen for t/he fulfilment of the prophecy written herein:

“ The Jury, passing on the 'prisoner’s life, May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two.” No matter! Let’s cultivate, clear headed friend, a joyful scorn, Edged with sharp laughter, such as cuts in twain, the knots that tangle human creeds.”