CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

■» Considering that scientists have long since decided that the exploration of Antarctic the Antarctic would yield magexplobation. nificenti results, it is certainly to be wondered at that an expedition in this direction has cob up to the present been undertaken. Half a century ago Sir James Ross took tho work in hand, , and the information we have as to the vaefc area of land in these regions is mainly due to him. The approach to the North Pole is beset with so many terrible dangers that the attempt to reach it possesses special attraction for the adventurous, and this faci; has probably had much to do with the neglect of southern icefields. Recently, however, the subject has been revived, and a> Sir George Newnes has organised an expedition at his own expense some tangible yeault may be anticipated. At the same time a work of this kind should have bo.en undertaken by the British Government for the reason that, coneidering how important ar& the scientific

questions involved in the exploration, expetts of the iiignest a-.tainmenfcs should be employed and the strictest discipline maintained. This waß the opinion expressed at a conference of the Fallows of the Royal Society recently held in Ijocdon. at which tba -matter was thoroughly discussed. Among those present were Dr Nansen, Hie celebrated Arctic cxplcrtr, Dr John Murray, who took pavl in the Challenger Expedition, t'j&t did so much to increasa our knowledge of the forms of iifa existing in the lowest depths of the sea, and Sir Joseph Hooker, who w?as himself a raembn' of tbe Boss party which invfsUgnted the Antarctic regions 50 years ago. At this memorable coiiferetce the whole Gf the speakers were snanimou3 in regard to the importance of tihe expedition, and Dr Marr»y, who opened the discugf soa, ronoUiityd a learned and eloquent speech by sayin? tnat the exploration of the Ant&rcßie would lead to importantadditions to inowiedgs, and that in the interests of acieucs among EuglUh-spaAkiug people the Untied ITirgjcm should take nob only a large, but a loading yuct in any such »;xplor*tioa. Ib will bt remotnbsred tuafc about liwoyears ago a gentleman aamsd Borcfcgrevicck, ft couutryinan and friend of N^naen, made an. expedition to the soßthsrn ics 'regions in the Norwegian -s^eam '* Antarctic, Capiain Kristen^en, but, ' although hegained some, .valuable ..information concerning the unknown land, his observations had not any high ?dientific value. Indeed, the expedition, to bs of any real use; should be thoroughly well equipped, bath inTregard to i-be instruments ancTthe experts who will have the management under Ihfcir control, and, although Sir George Newnes in to be commended for bis enterprise, the question should be taken up by tbe British Government, and no doubt some of the Australasian colome* would be willing to assist.

It would appear from a recent cable that New Zealand is not the only place in jcdicial the world where the judges and I.NDBVEH- magiatr&tes are at the mercy of dekce. the Government, a<! we learn by cable recently that in the Transvaal that very extraordinary person, President Kruger, baa oisra'ssed the Chief Justice, Me Kofze, because he refused to be intimidated. It is true that the President himself has given the lie" direct to uhc judge's statement, but the documentary e??*enc3 is in favour of the latter, and the Incoiiotated Law Society of Pretoria have thanked him for upholding the principle of independence. Fortunately for us, the judges of the Supreme Court) of this colony are outside the influance of the Government of the day and cannot be displaced at the will of the Ministry, but at the same time, as we well know, the Hon. John M'Kenzia is not; slow to impugn their integrity wiion the judgments th&y give happen to clash vith his own wishes. And as -to the District Court judges and the stipendiary magistrates it is unfortunate that they hold their office under such aa ur-s satisfactory tenure that something similar to what has occurred in the Transvaal might happen in New Zealand. District Judga Kettle has on several occasions brought this question forward, and has insittaU that the only way in which the integrity of the bench c£h be assured is thai the appointimiits should bo uuaesailable, except on the ground of misconduct;. The necessity for this reform is so apparent that thew is no reason why :fc should be delayed, unless on the supposition that the present % Government is loth to allow any right of patronage to be taken out of its bauds. The public interest, bowever, imperatively demands that the minor courts of the colony, in whicii most important questions have frequently to be decided, should be placed on the same footing as the Supreme Court in regard k> the tenure of office of the magistrates. It follows &s a matter of course that the district judges and the stipendiary magistrates, so long as they hold their offic.-s at the will of the Government and are liable to dismissal at any moment, cannot feel true independence, and the sooner a change in the present state of things is mad® the belter it will be for the colony.

Whether the journal entitled " Export Trade," • which is issued from the town England and of Bunzlau, in Silesia, and cirgebmany as culated throughout the colonies, commercial is an official organ we know bivaxs. not; but in the latest issue which has been sent to us there is an article, couched in the quaintest of quaint English, which has a decidedly bloodthirsty tone. It is called •' Germany's Supremacy in the World's Commerce and England's Jealousy," and breathes war in every phrase. It appears from this, authority that the trade influence of Great Britain in China is rapidly declining, and that Germany is supplanting us. Thie is how this wonderful journal puts the case: — "They [that is, Englishmen] look a 6 the development of Germany's power through the spectacles of jealousy, and we do not wonder that the English newspapers fill their columns with the most hateful and unjust critics of the advance of Germany in China. We are of the opinion, that the best way to answer our neighbours across the Channel is to bring before their eyes some trifles selected from their large record of sins." " Export Trade " then proceeds to write the history of the pasfe in suoh a manner that it leaves aa impression

that England has always been jealous of Ger many, bub that the superiority of the- latter country has at length asserted itself, and even goes so far as to prophesy that there will probably be a war between the two nations to decide wbicu will enjoy the benefit of exclusive trede with China. It is nob very easy, to follow the writer in his somewhat rambling remarks on the subject, but there can be no doubt that he is extremely angry with somebody, and that he is aaxuus to see Great Britain brought under the "mailed fi*t" of the German Emperor. His deficient acquaintance with the English* language, however, serves to render his meaning rather obscare, a3 for example iv the closing Hues of the wonderful effusion-: — "We conclude this article with the wish, that our much envied and rapid progress in theee branches of indusky may fmther flourish for the honour , arid welfare of Germany, and not remain at a standstill, in defiance of all the hateful enmities of jealous neighbaurs, and we hope that ail nations may endeavour to compete peacefully, "and that they should rather imitate such a valu*ble example given by Germany, instead of getting enraged, as they are unable to stop the progresses of this country. ' The carious part of the 'argument is that so far aa , can be seen the "getting enraged" is all on . the side of the Germans, who, if this particular ' scribe is an authority ,~seein to be emulating the j example of the traditional turkey, who kept a , red rag beside him for the purpose of exciting his own anger.

An interesting article in the March number of " Chambera's Journal," entitled England's "How our Shore* are Prou defences, tected," gives an admirable ac- ! count of me system of " linked " defence which the British Government has established round the rock-bouud coast of the ! Unite! Kingdom. Ten years ago the weakness 1 of the 38a-power of Great Britain was .well known, but since that time the nation has been '' aroused to a sense of her danger, and although her navy is not, as it should be, absolutely invincible, it is large enough to cope with any two of the great Powers of Europe that might enter into an alliance against her. Bub the defence, scheme has not been allowed to stop here, and | a lloyal Commission has for a. long .' time been busy planning a complete system of coasb communication. The result is that the British Islands are now girdled round with the electric wire, with branch wires shooting off to cuc-of-the-way coastguard stations, so that the newj of the approach of an enemy could be immediately conveyed to the naval authorities in London. As the writer of the article in Chambers's puts it : — «• These coastguard stations are no lougar isolated spots unconnected with the world and unsupported by soldiers or sailors, but belong to one great intercommunicating system. Every coastguardsman may cherish the fealing that behind him is ail th 9 might of England — j. navy of 100,000 men and 450 warships, and » hotna army of 150,000 regulars, bssides 415 000 officers and men of the militia and yeomanry, and volunteers — ou which ttie Britbh taxpayers are spending over forty-fou? million pound < every year.". In addition, large sums of money have b€ea expended' 'during recent years in mounting thg most modern guvs at the entrancts to those harbours which 'are nearest to 1 the Fter-ch ccast, while searchlights have bee n erected that will enable the guuaers'to ?e« clearly from a long distance anything approaching on the water. Reverting to a' system that 'was in use so fur bsck as the days of th-i Ecwards, although, '"of c6urse, on a ' basis consistent with modern science, " booms " havt« been constructed to protect the entrances of the harbours that are liable to be attacked. lii • olden times heavy chains were used for this purpose, bub thtss would bs oE littlo avail nowadays, and elaborately -constructed obstacks are substituted which render the harbours pracfioilly impregnable. Ou the whole ifc would appear that, in the event of war, were the first line of defence broken through, Great Britain would not be so helpless as come pessimists profess to believe. 1 ———a———

| The sitting of the Revision Court for portion of the Levels County on Friday waa remarkable for the conflicts of opinion between the local valuer (Mr B. P. Bealey) and the district and supervising valuero (Messrs A. Allan and A. P. O'Callaghan.) Mr Sealey's valuatipns in ssveral important cases have been considerably increased by the supervisor. The former admitted that one of his principles in valuing had been consideration of what the land ought to. sell for, actual sales being clisregardable if plainly too much was given by the purchaser for the land as an , industrial investment. The court made a partial reduction in moat of the cases, in one going back to the local valuer's figures. There j were tiffa between the valuer and supervisors, and on one occasion the former applied for ths ! protection of the court against the reflections ' upon hival I'm not in the waggon business, lam strictly in the tip business. I don*t want youto lose sight of the fact that my tips will do you good if you will take hold. Now, " you're a family man" — children not over strong — doctors are expensive — " winter's coming on." Keep a bottle of "Woods' s Great Peppermint Cure in the house; " will stop the inevitable family cough." Cost, Is 6d. " Saves doctors' bills ; cheats the undertaker." Nuf esd>