Mr. Oseba's Last DiscoveryBell, George W. (George William)
Science
Mr. Oseba's Last Discovery
Bell, George W. (George William)
New Zealand -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
"Of course Zelanian statesmen may need to remind the people, that
increased effort will be demanded for every opportunity given, and that
for personal success, energy, self reliance and hustle must be wholly
relied upon, or there may be some misunderstanding."
Whoever leans heavily upon the Government--not the language of the
chaste Oseba--usually gets tired easy, so while it is well to furnish
every passenger with a life preserver, the fellow who is too lazy to
kick deserves to die at sea, to save funeral expenses.
"But, my children," says Mr. Oseba, with rather a human smile, "as
it is much less wearisome to put on avoirdupois than to put on grey
matter, the social millennium has not yet become firmly seated, even in
Zelania."
But, Mr. Oseba, they are steaming up and they will get there all the
same, for now that the light has been turned on, the audience will
encourage the players to grander performances.
In all changes in life there are sorrows. We come into, and go out
of life with pain. In every advance some are left behind, by every
improvement some hand is left idle, until it is trained to a new duty.
Every economic advance violates some custom under which hoary wrongs
found an honored refuge.
But I conclude, from many pages, that Zelania's labor laws are still
imperfect, as the leaders themselves recognise, by further improving
them. But she is safe in her situation, and these eternal principles of
justice are destined to exercise a wide influence throughout the world,
for improved light always gives the whole plant a more symmetrical
growth.
To the undeviating progress of the industrial situation of Zelania,
the world is indebted, first, of course, to her unparalleled natural
conditions, second to the intelligence of her people, then to her
progressive statesmen, and especially to R. J. Seddon and the able men
who have constituted his political family. These, without tradition,
history or precedent, have raised the industrial plane of the country
to a condition approaching the social ideal--as per mandate.
Like Bolivar and Lincoln and many other of humanity's torch bearers,
Mr. Seddon, by the force of his own genius, arose from the industrial
walks of life. His was not a meteor flight bursting resplendently upon
a startled world; but faithfully biding his time, he came prepared, and
evidently he came to stay--for the time of his leave-taking has not yet
been announced.
[Illustration: _Kiwi._]
"Mr. Seddon was born a true Briton. He was toughened by colonial
experience, his hands were calloused with honest toil, his muscles were
hardened with heroic struggles, his intellect was developed by a broad
and intelligent observation of interesting events; and he belonged to,
arose from, and came forward to serve the people.
[Illustration: _Milford Sound._]
"He knew but one rank, that of the free citizen; but one guide, the
people's voice; but one master, that of duty--as he understood the
command.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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