TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2658, 13 November 1909, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Considering the increased opportunities for political antisocial The Clerk’s education that have ex- ' Awakening isted during the last decade or so it is really a matter of surprise that such a large and intelligent section of the commupity as that constituted by the clerks in Dig mercantile and other offices should so long have been content, with tho lot or the grain between the mill-stones of Capital and Labor. In the past when the working man has fought, through liis Union, it has been to better himself only, or when the employer has had to keep down expenses it has generally been at the expense of those who have no legal, minimum wage. The consoqucnce is that while l living lias beeonie more expensive in New Zealand the Jot of the clerk has become harder and harder, and it is stated that to-day the ruling salaries in Auckland are 25s to 35s for junior clerks, and 40s to oos for ledger clerks. And on this many marry, andi all are expected to dross decently; No wonder the worm lias turned at last, and the Auckland clerks grmg , «.a

movement that will probably spread all over the Dominion. Still the snobbery that lias deterred clerks, in the past, from standing side by side politically with the horny-handed laborer dies hard, and some time will doubtless elapse before- they all realise that economically there are only two classes—-em-ployer and employee. The fetish of the black coat and white collar has- been responsible for a lot of semi-voluntary privations on the part of its devotees, and it is only stern necessity that is making tho latter realise that their idol is not incompatible with the industrial fellowship of dungarees and hob-nailers. Now that the thin end of the wedge is inserted, however, old prejudices are bound to go, and the influence of an educated class on Trades Unionism will probably do much to enable Capital and Labor to get over their disputes in a more amicable manner than has often been tho case hitherto. From a national standpoint, too, this new movement is to be commended, for nothing can bo more degrading to manhood than the petty snobbery that makes one individual look down on another because his clothes arc less fashionable or his manners more rough and ready.

Most people would have imagined that Gisborne already had its More Sport, fair quota of sporting institutions, but apparently there is still a demand for fresh ones.. A few weeks ago a new cycling club sprang into existence, and now we find a boxing club added to the- institutions of the town. Truly, Gisborne is becoming cosmopolitan, at any rate, in the domain of sport. There is ample room here for the new boxing club, and t.he names of those associated with it as honorary officials should serve as a guarantee that the sport to be controlled will be conducted in a creditable manner. Boxing has been many times designated “the manly art,” and the wording is justified, but like many other virtues, that of manliness can some times be degraded to something extremely repugnant. A scientific exhibition of boxing is not only interesting to spectators, but it is likewise beneficial to the participants, both as a physical and mental exercise. Unfortunately, if allowed to go on without pioper supervision the baser elements of the worst competitors quickly dominate the position, and, in a flash, what should be ;an exhibition of scientific sparring and fair, hard bitting, deoenerates into a slugging, stoushing match. There is all the difference in the world between the sport of boxing, conducted under proper conditions, and the brutal prize-fighting which degrades any community that permits its continuance. It will he for the officers of the new association to watch carefully and nip in the bud the slightest tendency to overstep the bounds of fair manly sport. In this connection the knock-out blow should be, as far as possible, discouraged in all competitions.