For Those in Peril on the Sea

The RNLI Lifeboat received its annual Blessing from Mark and Jenny outside the Parish Hall. The weather was perfect, and a good crowd of locals and visitors were in attendance.

One of the most well know hymns, often known as the "Navy Hymn" is Eternal Father, Strong to Save. It was a favourite of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, and played at the funerals of Presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford and Reagan.

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Hymnologist J.R. Watson points out the Trinitarian structure of the stanzas and the echoing of Psalm 107:23-30, beginning with “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep”

The original words were written as a poem in 1860 by William Whiting of Winchester, England, for a student who was about to sail for the United States. The melody, published in 1861, was composed by fellow Englishman, Rev. John Bacchus Dykes.

It was revised by the compilers of Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861), and again by Whiting in the "New Appendix to Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship" (S.P.C.K.l869); the final version was published in 1875. Dykes's "Melita" appeared in Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861).

William Whiting (1825-1878) was born in Kensington, England, and educated at Chapham and Winchester. Because of his musical ability, he became master of Winchester College Choristers' School. While best known for Eternal Father, Whiting also published two poetry collections: Rural Thoughts (1851) and Edgar Thorpe, or the Warfare of Life (1867). He died at Winchester. A memorial tablet in his honour was unveiled in the cloisters of Winchester College on Whitsunday 1938.

John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876) was born in Hull, England, and by age 10 was the assistant organist at St. John's Church, Hull, where his grandfather was vicar. He studied at Wakefield and St. Catherine's College, earning a B.A. in Classics in 1847. He cofounded the Cambridge University Musical Society. He was ordained as curate of Malton in 1847. For a short time, he was canon of Durham Cathedral, then precentor (1849-1862). In 1862 he became vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham. He published sermons and articles on religion but is best known for over 300 hymn tunes he composed. He died in Sussex at age 53.

And finally, here is a stanza from one of  Whiting's poems in Rural Thoughts, which was written many years earlier, but within which one can detect the kernel of his later poem.

In the prefix to Rural Thoughts, he noted that:

"It is not without great diffidence that the present volume is offered to the judgment of the world. The compositions of the Author's youth,—some of the poems having been written in his eighteenth year, —they possess many and great imperfections of which he can not but be aware. Nevertheless, in the hope that some kindred hearts may find in them a sympathy with their own feelings, and a response to their own sentiments, they are sent forth. In this hope, with all their defects and short-comings, they are given to the world, the spring blossoms of the Author's poetic tree ; trusting that the keen blast of criticism will blow lightly over them, and the no less fatal blight of contempt and oblivion forget them in its course."

From a poem entitled "Noon".

I love, upon a summer day, to roam
Along old ocean's pebbly strand, and dream
And commune with the ever-sounding waves.
There is a language in their ceaseless roar,
Suiting the endless pulses of the heart
That seeks in vain for rest. Alas ! fond thought,
The world of life is the mind's changeful wave,
Onward and onward rolling to the shore,
Dreaming of rest, and finding only when
The shore is gained, that rest begins with death.
There is no calm in life's wind-tossed sea,
Until the wind be lulled, until the wave
Finds its repose in death. Life throbs and beats
Against the storm that tears its feeble heart ;
And woe indeed, if in the end it find
No shore but angry rocks, no yielding sand
On which to sleep in peace, but breakers wild
Which lash its waves to fury ; then is death
No calm ; the storms of life with tenfold force
Assail the soul, and 'mid the endless rocks,
Storm tossed, in ending, cry to thee.

The Migrant’s Tale

Just because it is not in the news, it does not mean that the events have gone away. There are still wars in Syria and the Middle East. There is still a story to be told.

The Migrant’s Tale

Mars rising, bright red in the night

The war zones: the stillness of death

Eyes wide open, but without sight

Charred bodies amidst an acrid breath

Small boats, overcrowded, upon a sea

Frightened, men, women, children wait

Time to make the crossing, time to flee

People treated just as so much freight

On the beach: strangers in a strange land

Where to be a refugee is seen as crime

Footprints on the wave washed sand

The road to freedom: one step at a time

Weary, hungry,  threadbare: how to cope?

Break bread, share, eat: a sign of hope

This is Jersey - 1979 - Part 11

From 1979 comes this holiday guide - "This is Jersey". This is a flat brochure which is larger that the later glossy designs, and it doesn't have nearly as many pages - 16 double sided in all, including front and back covers.

It does provide a very interesting snapshot of the tourism scene in 1979, just as it was more or less at its peak, just before Bergerac launched, and before the package tour market and cheap holiday destinations abroad made Jersey's prices suddenly more expensive and the bottom fell out of the market.

Tourism is today rebuilding a new approach geared to the lifestyle of the modern tourist. It still has plenty to offer, but the old style of tourism probably won't sell today. But here's a chance to capture that flavour.

Driving in Jersey - the Guide has these notes:

There is an all Island speed limit of 40 m.p.h. with certain clearly marked areas restricted to 20m.p.h.

A yellow line painted across the road indicates that you are on a minor road and about to enter a major road. You must stop at the yellow line and ensure that your exit is clear before proceeding.

A single yellow line painted alongside the road indicates a "No Parking" area. Parking within 10 yards of a corner is also an offence.

Public Car Parks are situated in most bays and in St. Helier there are multi-storey car parks in Green Street, Minden Place, Pier Road and Sand Street.

Other town parks include Belmont Road, Elizabeth Place, Midvale Road, Nelson Street, Route de Fort, Snow Hill and the Weighbridge.

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident you must inform either a uniformed States Police Officer or an Honorary Policeman from the Parish in which the accident occurred. You must not move the vehicle without their express permission, unless the accident involves only minor damage when the two drivers can exchange insurance details.

Drive carefully.

This was before Patriotic Street Multistory was built, and before the last ten years drive to 30 mph over much of the Island's roads.

The Guide says:

JERSEY STAMPS PRIZED BY COLLECTORS

Jersey went independent, as far as the Post Office was concerned, on the 1st October 1969. And that independence referred to all facets of Postal Administration and meant that the British postage stamps then in use were superseded by attractive pictorial issues.

Jersey has won an enviable reputation among philatelists throughout the world for the excellence of their design and for the presentation of the postage

British and Guernsey postage stamps are not valid for use on postal items posted in Jersey. Similarly Jersey stamps are not valid in the United Kingdom or in Guernsey.

A few notes I've gleaned...

The Jersey Milk Marketing Board (JMMB) operating in 1979 was created by an Act of the States, the ‘Milk Marketing Scheme (Approval) (Jersey) Act 1954’, under the Agricultural Marketing (Jersey) Law 1953.

The JMMB exists to administer the Milk Marketing Scheme, and has powers to-

“‘Regulate sales of any regulated produce by any registered producer’, and may determine ‘the quality of such produce which may be sold, and the prices at, below or above which, and the terms on which, such produce may be sold by registered producers.”

“The Board may by prescriptive resolution require registered producers to sell any regulated produce, … only to or through the agency of the Board … in such a case, the Board may determine the times at which, the days on which and the places at which delivery of such produce shall be made by registered producers or any of them.”

Until 2005, residents of Jersey were entitled to subsidised milk if it was deemed to be of particular benefit to them. Subsidies were previously received by pregnant women, children under 5, and people over 70, (or 65 in some cases). This was administered by making cheaper milk available from roundsmen who delivered door to door.

My wife (when pregnant) and my 3 sons all benefited from this scheme. Unfortunately in 2005, Treasury Minister, Senator Terry Le Sueur closed down the scheme. Another cheap saving which which was followed soon by free Primary School milk.

It is interesting to note that this advert uses English, French and German. "Houseproud" is another store which has now long vanished and the three shopfronts 1-3 Beresford Steet are taken by 3 different shops. Try as I might, I've not been able to find anything more on "Houseproud" - if you know anything, please leave a comment.

And so to bed...

My regular round up of quotes to end the day, as posted on Facebook.

For a change, I'm doing thematic quotes, and the theme this week is humour.

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Douglas Adams

“You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."

"Why, what did she tell you?"

"I don't know, I didn't listen.”

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Terry Pratchett:

"It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever," he said. "Have you thought of going into teaching?”"

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Kathy Kenney-Marshall:

Insomnia

I cannot get to sleep tonight.
I toss and turn and flop.
I try to count some fluffy sheep
while o'er a fence they hop.
I try to think of pleasant dreams
of places really cool.
I don't know why I cannot sleep -
I slept just fine at school.

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Roald Dahl, Revolting Rhymes:

A short while later, through the wood,
Came striding brave Miss Riding Hood.
The Wolf stood there, his eyes ablaze,
And yellowish, like mayonnaise.
His teeth were sharp, his gums were raw,
And spit was dripping from his jaw.
Once more the maiden's eyelid flickers.
She draws the pistol from her knickers.
Once more she hits the vital spot,
And kills him with a single shot.
Pig, peeping through the window, stood
And yelled, 'Well done, Miss Riding Hood!'

Ah, Piglet, you must never trust
Young ladies from the upper crust.
For now, Miss Riding Hood, one notes,
Not only has two wolfskin coats,
But when she goes from place to place,
She has a PIGSKIN TRAVELING CASE.

And so to bed.... quote for tonight is from Spike Milligan:

Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee.
What kind of pencil shall I use?
2B or not 2B?

The Parish System: A Response

The Parish System: A Response

It is remarkable that a debate about the Parish system should elicit the blog heading “Enemy of the Parish System - the Jersey Way in action” on Senator Sam Mezec’s latest blog. One has to ask: is any criticism of Sam’s positions to be met by the rebuff: "this is the Jersey way in action"?

He goes on to say:

“It is a very long running tradition in Jersey that if you stick your head above the parapet or try to speak truth to power, the establishment types will do what they can to run you down and publicly disparage you, even if they're not able to use facts to do so.”

“Truth to power” would be good, if he gets his facts right. That a blog cannot provoke a debate is another matter. There is in fact very little disparaging in the blog post itself.

But before going ahead with looking at his blog, I'd like to make the point that while I may disagree with Sam on matters concerning the Parish, I do think he has been doing well as Housing Minister. Just because there is a disagreement on some matters, that doesn't mean that I'm not supportive on others.I'd refer to my recent blog:

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-housing-minister-and-andium-homes.html

So let’s look at a few of the matters he raises, and how he deals with them.

The Requette

Sam says:

“I was wrong to say that the Constables increase the number of signatures required to call a Parish Assembly from 4 to 10, even though that is exactly what I did. But I'm wrong to say they did it, because they were right to have done it, apparently.”

So let’s look at what Adam Gardiner said.

“Sam is referring to a requete. While the point is taken, any proposition that forces an assembly on the support of just 4 signatories vexatious or otherwise, is itself not particularly democratic... If a issue is that important and is widely supported a requirement for 10 signatories seems very reasonable to me and brings it into line with other requirements we already accept.”

Gardiner is not saying that Sam "right" or "wrong" but that four signatures is not a hallmark of democracy and is open to abuse.

Does it really seem unreasonable? And the comparison given is that of elections, where ten signatures are required. If just four were required, members of one family could sign a nomination paper, and the same is surely true of a requette. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

It is notable that his replies do not really answer the points made, as can be seen above. He just says that he is wrong to say that increasing numbers was a bad thing, and he calls it “anti-democratic”.

Quite how a change from just 4 to 10 out of a Parish of thousands, or a thousand or so in the case of St Mary can be significantly undemocratic is another matter. Even if a Parish had just 1,000 voters (and even St Mary has more!), this is asking for an increase from 0.4 % of the voters to 1% of the voters.

I think the main point being made was that Sam was making something of a mountain out of a molehill in taking this as “trying to roll back democracy in Jersey”

Saturday Referendum

His second correction revolves around Saturdays. He says Adam Gardiner is wrong to criticise

“my comments that the Constables wanted to move a proposed public referendum from a Saturday to a Wednesday, because holding it on a Saturday would be a "nuisance". You see, it wouldn't be a nuisance, it would just be impractical... It is bizarre reading a correction that isn't a correction, but actually reiterating the exact point I was making. It's not a nuisance, it's just impractical. Ummm... what's the difference?”

Anything like a public election or a referendum depends on a volunteer workforce to do the counting. This is purely voluntary. The general consensus when asked is that the volunteers want to keep their weekends free – perhaps for family and friends – and might well not be available in sufficient numbers on a Saturday.

The volunteers see it as a “nuisance”, but the action they might well take – i.e., not volunteer if is on a Saturday makes it also “impracticable” from the Parish point of view. This is mainly because you can’t run a Referendum if the bodies are not there to do the counting. So that’s the difference.

One of the correspondents on Facebook even suggested that the volunteers should be ordered to work on a Saturday. I suggest they look up the word “volunteer” in a dictionary - a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task. The pertinent word is “offers”.

Online Information

Sam says:

“It is also quite amusing that when I point out that St Ouen did not have even the names of their Roads Committee members on their website, Mr Gardiner attempts to pin it on me for not letting St Ouen know they had not done this. But, I suppose everything is my fault.”

Sam had originally written . "Some Parishes don't even have the names of the people who serve on them on the Parishes website.".

Notice that he didn’t point out St Ouen at all in his original post. Here is a “reply” which actually responds to a criticism which was not actually made.

Adam Gardiner said. He said “some”. And he went on to say:

Just one more point, a quick glance at all parish websites reveals that Roads Committee members are noted on all but one - St. Ouen. "Some parishes" in Sam's statement - if he had bothered to check- should simply be "one parish". Why not simply ask the Constable why that should be?

And that comes to the etiquette of communication. Why not ask the Constable first, who after all is a fellow States member and perhaps it can be sorted out that way. Sam himself implicitly acknowledges this in his blog:

“Until just a few days ago, there was no record on the St Ouen website that they even have a Roads Committee! The names of the members were not even published. In all fairness to Constable Buchanan, when I pointed this out to him he immediately corrected it and it is now one of the most detailed pages on the Parish website.”

So why didn’t he do that in the first place? And why criticise Adam Gardiner for suggesting what Sam did actually do later – contact the Constable directly? When Adam pointed that out, he had checked out all the Parish websites - it's simply a case of doing homework first.

And finally...

I'm sure we will have other disagreements in times to come. But is that "the Jersey way", or is it simply an intelligent debate which demonstrates a lively democracy? I'd like to hope it is the latter. And I do wish Sam well as Minister for Housing and Children. I would genuinely like to see the very different government that we have now succeed and, while balancing the books, show more impetus towards social justice and fairness than we have seen in the recent past. .

The Rule of Law: Setting the Record Straight

Ill-informed opinions being given “free rein” on social networks are “damaging” respect for the island’s courts and threatening the rule of law, the Bailiff has warned.

“Sitting back quietly and tut tutting but saying nothing is the way in which freedom is attacked.”

As I commented yesterday, I think he has a point. Here’s another example, this time from the comments page of the JEP.

“Jersey needs to stop taking people to Court for minor offences like drunk and disorderly, speeding (unless outrageous), peeing in the street, shouting at someone etc, and give police the power to issue hefty fines instead. “

”The cost of these silly court hearings is a burden, an unnecessary one at that, on the tax payer and money that could be used elsewhere. Courts take an awful long time to process offences too which is ridiculous in many cases with some having to wait six to eight months or more just to go to court after a minor offence. It’s ridiculous.”

“The Police should be given the power to write on the spot fines as in other countries. £500 for a first offence, £1000 for a second and £2000 for a third. Guaranteed people will think twice before committing an offence. If an offense is disputed, then the person should go before a police tribunal within 14 days, not the Court.”

“Money is where it hurts people. If after 3 times the person commits an offence, then Court. For an Island of around one hundred thousand people, I will never understand why our system for everything is so slow and costly and more importantly, well behind with the modern times.

As my correspondent Adam Gardiner points out, statements made here are incorrect and some of the proposals simply betray complete ignorance of how the justice system works:

1. Minor offences are NOT taken to court which is why we have the Parish Hall Enquiry to deal with them. Those who repeatedly offend, minor as those offences may be, are taken to Court

2. The law does not provide for anyone other than a Judge, Magistrate or Centenier to impose fines.

3. Courts DO NOT take ‘an awful long time’ to process many offences. The claim of '8 months or more’ is outrageously untrue. The average case is heard within 4 weeks - others within a day or two. If there is a not guilty plea it will go to trial - a process that may take a month - never 8 months. It is a different matter if it goes up to the Royal Court, but only very serious offences go there.

4. Fines are determined not just on what the law prescribes as a penalty but also ability to pay. The is absolutely no point at all in fining someone a sum of money if they simply do not have the ability to pay - or for that matter in doing so would cause hardship. That is why Magistrates often order a Social Enquiry Report before passing judgement.

5. The idea of a Police Tribunal for disputed offences? Does the proposer of this “solution” really want the police both as judge and jury?

Now while Adam points out that Jersey law does not provide for anyone other than a Judge, Magistrate or Centenier to impose fines, there is the ability of the police in the UK to issue fixed penalty notices for some offenses which is not something we have in Jersey.

Penalty notices for disorder are given for offences like: shoplifting, possessing cannabis, being drunk and disorderly in public. But you can only get a penalty notice if you’re 18 or over.

You’ll be asked to sign the penalty notice ticket. You won’t get a criminal conviction if you pay the penalty. You can ask for a trial if you disagree with the penalty notice. You’ll get a bigger fine if you don’t ask for a trial but don’t pay the fine.

However, the commentator has a totally whacky notion about the level of fines which seems more to do with an ill-informed and fantastic leap of the imagination rather than reality.

As the UK government states:

"Police officers have the power to issue penalty notices of £45.00 or £85.00, including a £5.00 offender levy, for a limited range of offences to offenders aged 18 or over."

That’s a long, long way off the ill-informed statement “as in other countries. £500 for a first offence, £1000 for a second and £2000 for a third”!! How people can come out with these statements without bothering to check the facts is amazing – after all, it only requires a small search on Google to determine the facts!

It should be noted in passing that the Parish Hall enquiry has an advantage in that it gives time to explore the offense and see what the best outcome might be. As Peter Raynor and Helen Miles note in their academic study of the Parish Hall enquiry:

“Observation of the process of Parish Hall Enquiries would suggest that in usual circumstances, every attempt is made to prevent the attendee from entering the formal system (unless of course, they wish to do so). The Parish Hall Enquiry is a participatory forum and there is much negotiation between participants about the circumstances of the offence and the appropriate sanction. “

“Centeniers engage attendees in serious and realistic discussion about offending and possible remedies. Centeniers were observed to use personal qualities to good effect in order to provide a flexible, adaptable service. The communication, negotiation and mediation skills of some Centeniers were noteworthy. The high level of effective communication and sound correctional practice in Enquiries is one of the most striking findings of this study.”

“There is clear evidence that the Parish Hall Enquiry process engages most offenders in taking responsibility for what has happened. Parish hall processes require participation, discussion and reflection”

It should also be noted that a written record is kept of decisions made – and the reasons for the decisions.

This may be a slightly longer process that a summary penalty notice (of the kind mentioned above) but it has a far greater chance of ensuring an offender does not offend again, and also identifying any underlying issues which may have caused the offense to take place.

References 
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/police-issued-penalty-notices
https://www.probation.je/content/ConductEffectivenessParishHallEnquiries.pdf

Putting the Record Straight on Roads

The Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, recently criticised the way in which “fake news” is disseminated on social media without people checking facts. He said:

“[On social media] uninformed opinions, which may or may not be based in true fact, are given free rein and are insidiously damaging. They can almost certainly affect the respect which the organs of the state including the judiciary need to have if the system of government is not to break down.

Now there has been some criticism about his speech, but having observed some of the exchanges on Facebook politics group, I think he has a point.

A case in point illustrates this. One poster, had the strange idea, which he put forward, that because the Parish has ownership of Parish roads, and the States of Jersey ownership of the larger public roads, that the honorary police would have no jurisdiction over public roads.

He’s commenting about some else's suggestion that all the Parish roads should be taken over by the States of Jersey:

“You do understand that if this happened, legally, the St Brelade honorary police could no longer stop or prosecute any road traffic offences. People could speed, park where they like and drunk drive and could only then be punished by the States police if caught by them.”

As my correspondent Adam Gardiner points out:

“This is complete and utter nonsense. Ownership of a public road has not one ounce of bearing on the powers of an honorary officer. They can prosecute any road traffic offence on any public road within their jurisdiction.”

And Adam goes on to note:

“Regardless of whose may be the owner or has responsibility for a public road does not in any way diminish, change or alter the powers of an honorary police officer - which are exactly same as any States officer save that an honorary officer has a specific jurisdiction. Similarly it makes not one jot of difference to the Parish Hall enquiry system or to any fine a Centenier may impose under the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 or any other statute law for that matter where a fine is a penalty option. The fining levels available to a Centenier are those agreed with the Attorney-General, the Courts and Judiciary or as described under any particular article of the law.”

There is a lot of misinformation, so here’s a bit more correct information from Adam Gardiner:

“Another thing to get straight. States and Honorary Officers only investigate, collect evidence and report offences. They neither prosecute nor fine nor can they. For the record. The Parish REPRESENTS THE CROWN thus ALL PROSECUTIONS are IN THE NAME OF THE PARISH in which the offence was committed. The ‘right of charge’ is exclusively that of the Centenier acting on behalf of that Parish as ‘agents’ of HM Attorney General by virtue of being sworn in at the Royal Court to represent the Crown in a prosecution. “

“The Centenier may thus decide, or as the law deems, to take that prosecution to court and is de facto the prosecuting counsel and presents all cases in the Magistrates Court. Should the lower court then determine that the matter is to be passed up to the Royal Court the prosecution is taken over by the Crown Officers and Attorney-General.”

“Regarding fines and Parish income. Any fine imposed by a Centenier at Parish Hall Enquiry, again regardless of who may own or administer a public road on which the offence has taken place, may be subject to a proportional retention by the Parish depending on the offence. If however a matter is referred to the court, the Parish does not enjoy the same consideration.”

“Parking offences in car parks have a number of foibles related to who administers that car park but they are essentially a civil matter as they are policed by Regulation and thus not a criminal matter. However parking infractions on a public road are a criminal matter and thus are reported to the Centenier who will take such action as appropriate which may be dealt with by way of a fine to an approved tariff.”

John Ruskin on Myth

For today, I came across this interesting piece by John Ruskin on myth. Myth is something which in a way does not fit into the scientific universe of fact, although as Popper argued, science can develop from myths. But for Ruskin it represents part of the human psyche which cannot be easily subject to reduction to mere facts. It is the imaginative pole of human existence.

One of the most unusual finds in this reflection is that Ruskin does not view the earliest form of a myth as necessarily the best. It is honed by storytellers and the wise, ti changes, it improves, it becomes rather than a rougher shape, a perfectly shaped stone sculpture to call for engagement with the viewer, or in the case of myths, the reader or listener.

There's a tendence to fall into a fallacy by which we regard the earliest version of a story as the best, and for history that is the case where we need early sources, but we should not assume that also applies to myth. The ancient Israelites wrenched Babylonian myths out of their surrounding culture, and rewrote them, and while the start of the Genesis story... "In the beginning..." owes a lot to surrounding myths, they made the myth their own, polished and perfected it, so that there is nothing quite like it in ancient literature.

John Ruskin on Myth

A Myth, in its simplest definition, is a story with a meaning attached to it, other than it seems to have at first; and the fact that it has such a meaning is generally marked by some of its circumstances being extraordinary, or, in the common use of the word, unnatural.

Thus, if I tell you that Hercules killed a water-serpent in the lake of Lerna, and if I mean, and you understand, nothing more than that fact, the story, whether true or false, is not a myth. But if by telling you this, I mean that Hercules purified the stagnation of many streams from deadly miasmata, my story, however simple, is a true myth; only, as, if I left it in that simplicity, you would probably look for nothing beyond, it will be wise in me to surprise your attention by adding some singular circumstance; for instance, that the water-snake had several heads, which revived as fast as they were killed, and which poisoned even the foot that trode upon them as they slept.


And in proportion to the fulness of intended meaning I shall probably multiply and refine upon these improbabilities; as, suppose, if, instead of desiring only to tell you that Hercules purified a marsh, I wished you to understand that he contended with the venom and vapour of envy and evil ambition, whether in other men's souls or in his own, and choked that malaria only by supreme toil, -- I might tell you that this serpent was formed by the Goddess whose pride was in the tria of Hercules; and that its place of abode was by a palm- tree; and that for every head of it that was cut off, two rose up with renewed life; and that the hero found at last he could not kill the creature at all by cutting its heads off or crushing them; but only by burning them down; and that the midmost of them could not be killed even that way, but had to be buried alive.

Only in proportion as I mean more, I shall certainly appear more absurd in my statement; and at last, when I get unendurably significant, all practical persons will agree that I was talking mere nonsense from the beginning, and never meant anything at all.

This story of Hercules and the Hydra, then, was to the general Greek mind, in its best days, a tale about a real hero and a real monster. Not one in a thousand knew anything of the way in which the story had arisen, any more than the English peasant generally is aware of the plebeian origin of St. George; or supposes that there were once alive in the world, with sharp teeth and claws, real, and very ugly, flying dragons.

On the other hand, few persons traced any moral or symbolical meaning in the story, and the average Greek was as far from imagining any interpretation like that I have just given you, as an average Englishman is from seeing in St. George the Red Cross Knight of Spenser, or in the Dragon the Spirit of Infidelity.

But, for all that, there was a certain undercurrent of consciousness in all minds, that the figures meant more than they at first showed; and, according to each man's own faculties of sentiment, he judged and read them; just as a Knight of the Garter reads more in the jewel on his collar than the George and Dragon of a public-house expresses to the host or to his customers.

Thus, to the mean person the myth always meant little; to the noble person, much: and the greater their familiarity with it, the more contemptible it became to the one, and the more sacred to the other: until vulgar commenta tors explained it entirely away, while Virgil made it the crowning glory of his choral hymn to Hercules

"Around thee, powerless to infect thy soul,
Rose, in his crested crowd, the Lerna worm."

"Non te rationis egentem
Lernæus turbâ capitum circumstetit anguis."

And although, in any special toil of the hero's life, the moral interpretation was rarely with definiteness attached to its event, yet in the whole course of the life, not only a symbolical meaning, but the warrant for the existence of a real spiritual power, was apprehended of all men. Hercules was no dead hero, to be remembered only as a victor over monsters of the past -- harmless now, as slain. He was the perpetual type and mirror of heroism, and its present and living aid against every ravenous form of human trial and pain.

The great myths; that is to say, myths made by great people. For the first plain fact about myth-making is one which has been most strangely lost sight of, -- that you cannot make a myth unless you have something to make it of. You cannot tell a secret which you don''t know. If the myth is about the sky, it must have been made by somebody who had looked at the sky. If the myth is about justice and fortitude, it must have been made by some one who knew what it was to be just or patient.

According to the quantity of understanding in the person will be the quantity of significance in his fable; and the myth of a simple and ignorant race must necessarily mean little, be. cause a simple and ignorant race have little to mean.

So the great question in reading a story is always, not what wild hunter dreamed, or what childish race first dreaded it; but what wise man first perfectly told, and what strong people first perfectly lived by it.

And the real meaning of any myth is that which it has at the noblest age of the nation among whom it is current. The farther back you pierce, the less significance you will find, until you come to the first narrow thought, which, indeed, contains the germ of the accomplished tradition; but only as the seed contains the flower.

As the intelligence and passion of the race develop, they cling to and nourish their beloved and sacred legend; leaf by leaf it expands under the touch of more pure affections, and more delicate imagination, until at last the perfect fable burgeons out into symmetry of milky stem, and honied bell.

But through whatever changes it may pass, remember that our right reading of it is wholly dependent on the materials we have in our own minds for an intelligent answering sympathy. If it first arose among a people who dwelt under stainless skies, and measured their journeys by ascending and declining stars, we certainly cannot read their story, if we have never seen anything above us in the day, but smoke; nor anything round us in the night but candles.

If the tale goes on to change clouds or planets into living creatures, -- to invest them with fair forms -- and inflame them with mighty passions, we can only understand the story of the human-hearted things, in so far as we ourselves take pleasure in the perfectness of visible form, or can sympathize, by an effort of imagination, with the strange people who had other loves than that of wealth, and other interests than those of commerce.

And, lastly, if the myth complete itself to the fulfilled thoughts of the nation, by attributing to the gods, whom they have carved out of their fantasy, continual presence with their own souls; and their every effort for good is finally guided by the sense of the companionship, the praise, and the pure will of Immortals, we shall be able to follow them into this last circle of their faith only in the degree in which the better parts of our own beings have been also stirred by the aspects of nature, or strengthened by her laws.

It may be easy to prove that the ascent of Apollo in his chariot signifies nothing but the rising of the sun. But what does the sunrise itself signify to us? If only languid return to frivolous amusement, or fruitless labour, it will, indeed, not be easy for us to conceive the power, over a Greek, of the name of Apollo.

But if, for us also, as for the Greek, the sunrise means daily restoration to the sense of passionate gladness and of perfect life -- if it means the thrilling of new strength through every nerve, -- the shedding over us of a better peace than the peace of night, in the power of the dawn, -- and the purging of evil vision and fear by the baptism of its dew; -- if the sun itself is an influence to us also, of spiritual good -- and becomes thus in reality, not is imagination, to us also, a spiritual power, -- we may then soon over-pass the narrow limit of conception which kept that power impersonal, and rise with the Greek to the thought of an angel who rejoiced as a strong man to run his course, whose voice, calling to life and to labour, rang round the earth, and whose going forth was to the ends of heaven.

Mabon Meanderings

It is the time of the autumn equinox, and the harvest is winding down. The fields are nearly empty because the crops have been plucked and stored for the coming winter. Mabon is the mid-harvest festival, and it is the time of the second harvest of the year, and when the church celebrates with its harvest festival services.

But my thoughts turn to pagan images of the time of year, of the Greek legend of Persephone and Demeter, of the planets in the night sky, and the seasonal events, so this poem is more of a meandering route around a more pagan harvest festival

Mabon Meanderings

It is the golden Autumn, time of fall,
And a time for feasting in the hall:
Baskets of fruit, blackberry pies,
Warming meals in darkening skies;
Autumn leaves turn brown and gold,
A sign of times: the earth grows old;
As the apples fall, it’s cider time:
A warming drink in cooling clime;
The apple crusher now has juiced,
As wood thrush gently goes to roost ;
The time of rest, of nature’s sleep:
Persephone's promise now to keep;
Demeter's grief, the earth in chains,
And stronger winds, and heavy rains
So light the fires, and blankets warm,
A second harvest, before winter storm ,
Pick squashes, pumpkins, gourds, eggplant;
And time has come for sacred chant:
Praise the setting sun, the eternal light,
Praise the purple sky, the dim twilight,
And red mars rising, of times of war,
As the last of sun gleams on the shore;
Jupiter in majesty, the glorious king,
The crystal spheres, that turn and sing,
And Saturn, sign of the ancient of days,
Guide through the darkness, all our ways;
Praise the balance: same dark and light:
And the sun by day, and the moon by night ;
And now we walk in the shadow of death,
The wind blows strong, like sacred breath;
Take up your staff, walk without fear:
Beneath stars above, the night so clear.

This is Jersey - 1979 - Part 10

From 1979 comes this holiday guide - "This is Jersey". This is a flat brochure which is larger that the later glossy designs, and it doesn't have nearly as many pages - 16 double sided in all, including front and back covers.

It does provide a very interesting snapshot of the tourism scene in 1979, just as it was more or less at its peak, just before Bergerac launched, and before the package tour market and cheap holiday destinations abroad made Jersey's prices suddenly more expensive and the bottom fell out of the market.

Tourism is today rebuilding a new approach geared to the lifestyle of the modern tourist. It still has plenty to offer, but the old style of tourism probably won't sell today. But here's a chance to capture that flavour.

Beer Mat mania says this is "Small booklet with details of the brewery and advertisements". It was still being used to promote the beer in 1997, but instead of a fairly plain booklet, it was now done up to represent a real passport.

Ann Street remained a modest-sized business into the early 1970s. A turning point for the group came in 1971, when Ian Steven took over as the company's lead. Under Steven, Ann Street began developing its pub estate holdings, which grew to more than 100 across the Channel Islands. The company also entered the French market, acquiring L'Abeille, that country's leading supplier of private-label soft drinks for the French supermarket sector.

Into the 1990s, Ann Street, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange's main board, began seeking an extension onto the English mainland, building up a pub estate in southern England.

I've managed to track down this perfume, which actually came out in 1979.

Dioressence by Christian Dior is a Chypre fragrance for women. Dioressence was launched in 1979. The nose behind this fragrance is Guy Robert Top notes are aldehydes, orange, fruity notes, patchouli, green notes and bergamot; middle notes are carnation, tuberose, cinnamon, violet, orris root, jasmine. ylang-ylang, rose and geranium; base notes are musk, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, oakmoss. vetiver and styrax,

Perfume rating: 424 out of 5 with 506 votes.

The Guide has this to say about shopping. This was before GST of course, and no naughty shops were adding VAT to their prices!

Holidays wouldn't really be proper holidays without a bout or two of shopping.

And Jersey shops are well worth discovering by the discerning shopper. Shopping is still a joy in Jersey. We have been fortunate in attracting only the best of the large British chain stores whilst still retaining many of those friendly, small shops where personal service actually means something and has been the password to their success.

Remember, too, that Value Added Tax does not apply in this island and Jersey's retailers are only too pleased to be able to pass on to you their cheaper prices.

In the crowded, narrow, streets of St. Helier you are certain to find the souvenir that is different, the hitherto hidden treasure, that you've been looking for.

Obviously the Island's capital, St. Helier, is the main shopping centre, but in recent years similar areas have sprung up at St. Brelade's, Five Oaks and at Gorey.

At Gorey, in the extreme east of the island, the shops and boutiques are set out along the quaint yachting and fishing harbour intermingled with impressive restaurants and a variety of bars.

If you are staying in the west of the Island then you may well prefer to do your shopping at Quennevais. Situated between the ever popular St. Brelade's Bay and the Airport the medley of little and big shops cover an interesting and huge range of goods.

To make your shopping in town even more enjoyable, part of the centre of St. Helier has been designated a pedestrians-only precinct and not merely designated as such but also partially reconstructed so that tubs of multi-hued flowers ease eyes wearied by souvenir hunting, whilst thoughtfully placed seats and benches are available to ease other portions of a tired shoppers anatomy. Or take your break in one of the myriad of places offering light refreshment.

Enjoy your shopping. Whether your taste runs to trendy boutiques or more traditional stores you'll find them all influenced by their dual nationality, a strange amalgam of English and French.

I have found very little about Douglas Jewellers Limited. One record says the company has Current status: Dissolved Dissolution date: 22.01.1985, and that appears to be the same one. A history of Broad Street mentions "Douglas Jewellers, which later became Town Jewellers", but the location in the advert is King Street. If anyone knows about Douglas Jewellers, or for that matter Douglas Brown (pictured wearing "Two Ronnies" style spectacles) please let me know.

Their website says:

"The oldest Chamber in the English speaking world Jersey Chamber was founded in 1768 and incorporated in 1900. It is dedicated to the promotion of trade, commerce and the general prosperity of Jersey and is the largest employer representative."

"From 1821, the headquarters of the Chamber were in the Royal Square. The property, gifted to the Chamber was retained for 180 years until the move to Pier Road."

And so to bed

And so to bed... a few more of my Facebook closing quotes, all themed this time about night and sleep.

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Victor Hugo:

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake. 

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Jodi Picoult:

Things don't always look as they seem. Some stars, for example, look like bright pinholes, but when you get them pegged under a microscope you find you're looking at a globular cluster—a million stars that, to us, presents as a single entity. 

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Robert Louis Stevenson:

The night is over like a dream:
The sea-birds cry and dip themselves:
And in the early sunlight, steam
The newly bared and dripping shelves,
Around whose verge the glassy wave
With lisping wash is heard to lave;
While, on the white tower lifted high,
The circling lenses flash and pass
With yellow light in faded glass
And sickly shine against the sky. 

And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Pythagoras:

Allow not sleep to close your eyes
Before three times reflecting on
Your actions of the day. What deeds
Done well, what not, what left undone?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Flotsam and Jetsam

Catching up on my back catalogue of TV shows, at the weekend I watched “Narnia's Lost Poet: the Secret Lives and Loves of CS Lewis”

In this, CS Lewis's biographer AN Wilson goes in search of the man behind Narnia - best-selling children's author and famous Christian writer, but an under-appreciated Oxford academic and an aspiring poet who never achieved the same success in writing verse as he did prose.

The BBC website notes:

“Although his public life was spent in the all-male world of Oxford colleges, his private life was marked by secrecy and even his best friend JRR Tolkien didn't know of his marriage to an American divorcee late in life. Lewis died on the same day as the assassination of John F Kennedy and few were at his burial - his alcoholic brother was too drunk to tell people the time of the funeral. Fifty years on, his life as a writer is now being remembered alongside other national literary heroes in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner.”

“In this personal and insightful film, Wilson paints a psychological portrait of a man who experienced fame in the public arena, but whose personal life was marked by the loss of the three women he most loved.”

Those three women were his mother, who died of cancer when he was very young, Mrs Moore, whom he had vowed to look after in a pact with his trenches comrade Paddy Moore. The young men promised each other that if one of them were to be killed in combat, the other would look after his friend’s parent. And Joy Davidman, whom he met and fell in love with, one bittersweet sunset romance portrayed best in the BBC Everyman Drama “Shadowlands” (much better than the later movie).

Lucy Mangan, writing in the Guardian, said that Wilson presented a loving tribute to his subject:

“It created a beautifully appropriate air of loving respect both for the man and his art, that was as much of a tribute to him as the plaque just unveiled in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. You were surprised by the joy indeed.”

I knew most of this about Lewis, but what came as a complete surprise to me was the stained glass window in St Mark’s Church, Belfast. 

St. Mark’s church still stands today in the Dundela area of East Belfast. It was established in 1874 and has close links with the Lewis family. C S Lewis’s maternal grandfather the Reverend Thomas Hamilton was the first rector here from 1878-1905. It was in this church that C S Lewis was baptised by his grandfather in 1899 and also later took confirmation.

Jack and Warnie came back to St. Marks in 1935 to dedicate a stained glass window to their parents. The Latin inscription translates as;

‘To the greater glory of God and dedicated to the memory of Albert James Lewis, who died on the 25th September 1929, aged 67, and also of his wife, Flora Augusta Hamilton, who died on the 23rd August 1908, aged 47.’

Songs of Praise

As the RAF marks its centenary, last Sunday saw Aled Jones at the Rhyl Air Show in north Wales to hear the extraordinary stories of two Second World War pilots, Welsh local hero David Lord, who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, and 97-year-old Ernie Holmes, a Lancaster bomber pilot who miraculously survived being shot down over occupied territory. 

Jamie Buchan September writing in the Courier, tells the story of that fateful night in May 1944: 

“Ernie Holmes, 97, was on the way home from a night-time bombing raid in Germany when his aircraft was attacked by the enemy. The Lancaster crashed over the Netherlands, killing five members of the eight-man crew.”

Ernie himself describes the events as he remembers them:

“We dropped our load and we had the target burning,” Ernie told him. “And then we started our way back home by a different route, and it was on the way back, all we heard was the roar of our engines.

“It was dark then suddenly, there’s a vibration and a sound and then a fire broke out in the starboard wing.”

He said: “I realised I’d lost control of the aircraft.

“Meantime, number three engine was tearing itself to bits, exploding, throwing bits around. I called out to my crew: bail out, bail out.

“But before this happened there was… an explosion and I woke up. The cabin had gone, I was hanging off the nose of the aircraft but still strapped to my seat.”

He managed to open his parachute and land in a woodland.

“A girl came by riding a bicycle,” he said. “She said ‘Gude Morgen’ to me and I knew straight away I was in Holland, not Germany, not Belgium. She pointed to the corn, she wanted me to hide.”

Ernie was taken in by farmer Fons van der Heijden, a member of the Dutch resistance.

He left to escape back to England, but was later caught and imprisoned by the Germans as he tried to reach home.

And tragically, in a vindictive last act of vengeance, just days before the region was liberated, Fons – who had harboured many service men – was taken out of church by Nazis and shot.

Ernie said: “These were good people who risked their lives, risked everything, to keep me safe.”

Paying tribute to the farmer who saved him, he said: “There is no greater love, than he who will give himself for another.”

Advances In Knowledge – Part 1 by Clement Attlee

This is an interesting chapter. Attlee is well aware of the changes that have improved the lives of ordinary people, but he is also well aware of how our own society – because we are part of it – tends to make us less able to see what we need to do.

This is something which C.S. Lewis also mentions, when talking about writers and their background:

“All contemporary writers share to some extent the contemporary outlook—even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it. Nothing strikes me more when I read the controversies of past ages than the fact that both sides were usually assuming without question a good deal which we should now absolutely deny. They thought that they were as completely opposed as two sides could be, but in fact they were all the time secretly united—united with each other and against earlier and later ages—by a great mass of common assumptions.”

Lewis suggests that there is our own “characteristic blindness” because we are part of our society and therefore find it hard to see it “from the outside”. And Attlee gives some pointers towards these – his society “allowed huge slum-areas” to exist.

In Jersey, we may perhaps see this in the furore which the new regulations concerning the state of housing have met with concerted resistance on the part of landlords. The president of the Jersey Landlords Association, Robert Weston, says the law is "wholly unnecessary" and "terribly vague". The Association says that the law is being passed "without knowing what is likely to become illegal and what is likely to become a legal obligation".

So what does it involve? The JEP makes it clear in its summary:

“The minimum standards, which would be introduced by ministerial order, would consist of 29 potential hazards against which premises would be assessed on a formal scoring system. These would include damp, mould growth and unsafe staircases. Landlords would also need to ensure that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms had been fitted, and that adequate safety checks on gas and electricity services had been carried out.”

These are not vague, as the picture above shows – they are clear deficiencies, and what I didn’t notice in the landlord’s defence of the status quo was how they would police the kind of disreputable dwelling. This has been going on for decades, and like Attlee points out, it is a social evil “to which we have become accustomed, and which is rarely noticed”

The second point I’d like to note is Attlee’s discussion of economics, which he criticises as often so taken up with an “abstract concept of labour” as to forget the human beings that are the subject of economics, and their basic needs.

He is pointing towards what E.F. Schumacher would later raise in his book – “Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered.”. And while Attlee sees the State as an agent of change in intervening, it is people who are important at the end of the day, which is where change must be practice, directed to specific ends, to make a better society for everyone.

To come back to the subject of rental standards, the Landlord's Association has had decades to tidy up their act and bring some kind of self-regulation to prevent slum housing in Jersey. Their failure means the State has to act as an agent of change and intervene.

Advances In Knowledge – Part 1
By Clement Attlee

Looking back on the conditions of the early part of last century and reading of the years of effort that it took to prevent small children, even under seven years of age, from being worked for fourteen or fifteen hours a day in factories and mines, we are amazed at the callousness with which such a state of affairs was regarded, and can hardly conceive how people who were, as we can see, in other affairs intelligent, reasonably humane and enlightened, should not have instantly protested.

Yet at the same time we are ourselves indifferent to numbers of evils to which we have become accustomed, and which are rarely noticed. Probably in a future time it will seem amazing to our descendants that we should have allowed huge slum-areas like East and South London, the Lancashire towns, or the mining villages, to remain for years without taking real action to abolish them. We all imagine that if we had been present in Jerusalem we should not have voted for Barabbas.

In our criticisms of the social workers of the past we are apt to forget how great has been the increase in knowledge since their day. The careful dissection and investigation of social phenomena is a comparatively modern achievement, but it has perhaps done more than any single factor to change the outlook of men and women on social problems.

Early reformers were working in the dark, grappling with evils that had come on society with great suddenness. The causes underlying social discontents had not been investigated, and even the facts were not known to more than a few.

To-day the social worker can profit by the labours of his predecessor, the ground has been explored and mapped out. Research has been made into almost every phase of poverty, and many of its causes have been elucidated.

The older type of social worker was mainly endeavouring to deal with results: he saw that people were hungry, or ill-clad, or sick, and his first impulse was to provide food, clothing and medicine. The existence of classes of the community habitually in this state was taken for granted, and the reasons why they were so were not investigated.

The result too often was that the remedy, dealing as it did with symptoms only, was as bad as the disease. In the same way, many social reformers did not sufficiently realise that the evil which appeared to them to be a cause was in itself only a result. Thus the prevalence of drunkenness would be asserted as a prime cause of poverty, without considering whether in fact drunkenness itself was not due to bad conditions of work, a degrading environment, or the general greyness of life.

During the nineteenth century a great advance was made in the science of preventive medicine. Instead of being concerned almost entirely with healing disease after it had arisen, medical science turned to the improvement of the environment, and the prevention of disease arising. Thus the recognition that a whole group of diseases were bred in the slums, and were due to a low standard of life, led to the public health agitation, and the passing of legislation promoting sanitary reform which has done far more to improve the health of the urban population than any great advances in curative methods.

By analogy from this in social matters we can see that unemployment, for instance, is a disease of an industrial society in our present stage of development, and that no amount of provision for individual men and women will take the place of the removal as far as possible of its causes. In the words of Mr. Sidney Webb it is no good hammering on the bulge, the direct method is often the ineffective one.

There are numbers of social workers who find in the work of research and investigation the best outlet for their desire for social service. Some may be chiefly engaged in investigation into the psychological effects of certain pieces of social machinery, others in the machinery itself. It is almost a distinct motive in itself, this desire to see the machinery of society running smoothly and cleanly.

Such a feeling can be seen running through the works of Mr. H. G. Wells, where he exhibits the disgust of an orderly and scientific mind at the wasteful and chaotic nature of our social arrangements. One has only to compare his Utopias with that of William Morris to see the difference between the scientific and aesthetic appeals to social service. In those of the former the emphasis is on the mechanism of society, and the possibilities of harnessing the forces of nature in order to make attainable a fine life for human beings are worked out in considerable detail and with great imagination. In Morris, on the other hand, there is little attention to the machinery of society, but a very keen realisation of the sort of life he thought best for people.

Thus the scientific motive takes its place as one of the incentives that lead men to devote themselves to social service, and the great influence of the scientific investigator on the methods of social reformers, and on the outlook of those engaged in social work, must be acknowledged.

It has been pointed out above how much the doctrines of the classical economists hampered the efforts of social reformers by practically forbidding all action by the State outside the narrowest lines.

Economics became known as the dismal science : it was thought to be opposed to the efforts of the more earnest reformers, and to render futile all the endeavours of the working classes to improve their industrial position :hence the vehement attacks on it by Ruskin and others. At one time it seemed as if economic science had got entirely out of touch with human life: it had become abstract and academic.

To the man who keenly realised the evils of the industrial system the doctrines of the classical economists seemed to offer little hope of better things. He read for instance of the fluidity of labour, and that if labour was displaced from one industry it would flow to wherever it was needed; that if new processes and increased machinery were introduced, in the long run more men would be employed; but to the man in touch with the sufferings of the unemployed this was cold comfort, for he knew that the long run was often fatal to the man with the short purse.

The economist did not seem to realise that the abstract concept of labour consisted of a number of human beings who were in fact the greater part of the nation. Political economy seemed to be inhuman, in laying stress on how commodities could be most cheaply produced, without enquiring what would be the effect on social conditions.

From this position the science has been rescued through the work of the practical social worker, the experimenter, and the investigator. The transition from the earlier to the later views of J. S. Mill marks the turning of the tide, and since that time the science has become more and more social. It has become the hopeful science.

This changed outlook has been reflected in the policy of the country in regard to social questions.

From complete freedom of contract we have moved to an ever increasing state regulation of conditions. The earlier efforts at regulation of hours of labour, wages, and conditions of work were regarded at the time as rather regrettable exceptional provisions, introduced for the protection of certain classes who were especially weak, women and children. To-day the idea of a minimum wage and a maximum working day is almost generally accepted.

In the same way during the last thirty years the work of the organised community in local affairs has steadily increased, and the question whether a certain industry should be carried on by individual enterprise or collective effort is decided more on grounds of practical convenience than general principle.

Where formerly it was considered that the State was a sort of referee who kept the ring wherein contending individualities had full scope for contest, we now have the conception that it is the duty of the State to act as the co-ordinating factor in making all individual efforts work for the good of the citizens.

A Deputy Apologises

Deputy John Young has been very busy, and failed to reply to an email, which prompted one
individual to post this on Facebook.

"Why do we vote for anyone in the elections??? You email them and not only do they not respond but they don’t even acknowledge your email. I will be thinking very carefully before I vote for someone again 😡 this was approximately 6 weeks ago and I only sent 1 email, what a waste of time and he’s my deputy in my parish!!!!!"

Notice that this criticism was made in a group which is open to members only to post, but open to the general public to view any postings. It is in the public domain. It would seem sensible then, as long as he didn’t mention specifics about the email – which he didn’t – that the Deputy might make a response online, and indeed he did.

But they were not best pleased because he had made a response in the public domain, albeit in general terms which mentioned nothing about the content of their email, and they claimed he was breaking Data Protection.

There is a lot of misinformation and sheer nonsense floating around on Data Protection. I was asked, in all seriousness, by Reg Langlois whether our Parish Magazine should not show names of births, marriages and deaths in the Parish. I did point out that no other Parish magazine does that, but we do publish the odd obituary of notable Parishioners.

But I also pointed out there is a Data Protection issue – if we published names of births and marriages, we would be breaking Data Protection. Reg pointed out that the JEP did so. And this is where the Data Protection Law comes in to our first story, because the JEP can publish those (which they do so for a fee) because they are contracting to do so – a family member involved sends them details to put in. If you do that, you waive your right to Data Protection – you are putting the names in the public domain.

And so the fact that this constituent sent an email to John Young is no longer subject to Data Protection, because she has put that information in the public domain. This is not about the content of the email, but the fact. She complained that “A public forum is NOT for replying to emails!!!”, but he didn’t give a reply involving details (which would be a breach), just an apology, and she was the run who raised the matter.

In the end, she lost interest and told me “I am not continuing with this as actually it’s nothing to do with you!” which is a strange attitude to take when she was the one to put the matter up on Facebook, in the public domain, for everyone to see. If you put something there for anyone to view and comment on, it is, I am afraid, very something to do with me and anyone else. If you don't want a public comment, don't post it in a public place.

I suspect that what she was after was some point scoring, not a measured response which took the wind out of her sails, and that was why she was so aggrieved.

And what of John Young’s apology? Having mentioned it, I think it only fair that it gets an airing here too:

“Mea Culpa I owe you and others an apology. Since taking Ministerial office three months into what is arguably the widest states portfolio covering all Planning , environment functions right across the island I have found difficulty in keeping up with and managing constituency business because of extreme workload and the conflicts created by my role - I cannot be the arbiter of independent planning decisions and represent either applicants or objectors in planning applications which I have always done and worked hard for both , and be the person who has the legal responsibility of deciding the appeals. “

“In the first three months my diary has been absolutely logged every day jammed with meetings requested by many interest groups on policy matters. I am not alone in this effect of our ministerial system. However It particularly effects single constituency members where there no backup. In addition our civil service has been completely reorganised in the new structure and it is no secret that gaps are opening in the administration.”

“But all of that is no excuse, only an explanation. You are entitled to better service and I am seeking to put in place new arrangements which will help. Once again my apologies. I hope to do better when things settle.”