TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11877, 26 April 1904, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The object of the French By Water expedition under Captain to Lenfant, which "has just Lake Chad, successfully Completed its • labours*, waa to discover, if possible, a more practicable waterway to the Frcneh po-seseions at Lake Chad than . that now in use. At prevent European stores for Lake Chad have to go by steamer to the mouth of the Congo, where they are transferred to' tho Congo railway, which carries them aa far aa Stanley Pool. They are then transhipped to river steamers and taken aa far as possible up the Congfi'and the Mobanghl. Porters are then employed for the transport across the watershed to the Shari river, where the goods are shipped on river steamers again, and, finally, after months of travel, landed at Fort liamy. The idea of the promoters of the Lenfant expedition was to discover if there waa any connection between tbe water system of the Benue and Lake Chad. Captain Lenfant started in August last, passing up the Niger and the Benue, through German and British spheres of influence, until he | reached the rich and fertile land of i the French occupation, " une veritable Touraine," as be called it. Up to thia point th© journey of the specially constructed boat, though tortuous and at times slow, had met with no insurmountable difficulties, but the boatmen were not so expert as might have been desired, and the strength of tbe current increasing, very slow progress was made, even by the help of hauling from the banks. On September 16th the expedition came to arr impassable rocky gorge in the hills separating the basin of the Benue from that of Lake Chad. This led to the M'Burao falls, which were so high that hippopotami at the bottom looked lik*-' sheep. Tbe falls formed an insuperable barrier to tbe through navigation of t_* | river, but Captain Lenfant decided to get round the obstacle by portage. Th* natives were very hostile, and great difficulty waa experienced with the carriers, but at length the object was achieved, the boat was put together again, and tho journey resumed. Thence a rather tedious passage, partly through a marshy river, which would only be navigable during six months of the year, brought the adventurers, on October 27th, to Fort Lamy,

weary and shaken.;in health, but having fulfilled the mission entrusted to them. The route traversed by Captain. Lenfant ls not navigable throughout, but the portage is so short that it will probably supplant the old Congo route, at any rate until ' a railway to Lake Chad solves the whole question. A striking feature Slavery in about the controversy West Australia, raised in Australia by Mr Walter Malcolmeon's charges of the ill-treatment of blacks j in West Australia is that Mr Malcolmson i and Dr. Rentoul both stick to their guns, and the only voices that are raised in ■ contradiction are those of Government i officials who are responsible for the ■ aborigines, or for tlie reputation of the State. The latter explained that Mr Mai- ] colmson's charges referred to matters of ; ancient date which had already been in- t vestigated and remedied. Mr Kingsmill, , the Colonial Secretary of West Australia, said the chief anxiety of the Aborigines | Department was in regard to natives who were out of employment. Numbers of them were in the habit of hanging about the towns of the North. _ where their presence was most nndesirable, and "the Department has en- '■< deavoured, and to a great extent succeeded, by means of police patrols and stricter supervision, in keeping unemployed aboriginals from coming in contact with ' whites, which is bad for both parties." Dr. Rentoul upheld Mr Malcolmson's : charges, which he declared could be made i from no personal or political motives. He ' ridiculed the idea of humane treatment ' under a system which "by a mark of the pen binds for years the absolutely unlettered and defenceless nomad black man, or black woman or black girl to the ar- , bitrary will and compulsion of the white runholder and his underlings, with tho power on their part of riding the black ' man or/woman or girl down, should they escape, by mounted troopers, and hauling < an escapee back chained to his saddle ring, and of having the power to have j tlie runaway imprisoned or flogged, at the , option of a justice of the peace, who is i often a squatter himself." Dr. Rentoul re- ] calls that Lord Tennyson in Adelaide - spoke almost a 9 strongly as Mr Malcolmson. Sir John Forrest, Federal Minister j of Home Affairs, absolutely denied the charges of cruelty, which he admitted Mr ( Malcolmson had written about on one or two i previous occasions. Dr. Rentoul was not to be i appeased, however. "We have cut away < the trees," he said, "on which these poor * creatures used to find scanty berries; we " have driven them back from shores on •, which they .used to find food; we have " appropriated and barb-wired lands over , which they used freely to roam j we have ] ■ forced many of them, under the indenture i system, to do compulsory labour; then ' i when those not employed or who are too ' old or too young to be worth anything come near townships, yearning for some food or for their tribe mates, our civilised remedy in this twentieth century is police , patrols to drive them back from contact." ] However much truth there may be in i Mr Malcolmson's and Dr. Rentoul's charges, ; the fact remains that in some States the j aborigines are well cared for and usefully , employed by the State. < The Education Con- , Domestic Economy ference in New '< for Girls. South Wales dis- - oissed women's place ] in the world from the standpoint c-f $»• J teaching of domestio economy.. Though woman's activity in many professions' dming tho last few yearn bai been wgarded j by a certain section as an intrusion, there j is no doubt that she has done ber work faithfully and efficiently. But on t_e \ other hand, aa Mrs de Saxe pointed out ] in her paper, no' matter what position < woman may happen to . occupy at this - stage of her- life, ehe does not, in the ( majority of coses, look npon her present r occupation as her life's calling. The young j woman look* forward to the day when i she can enter tbe state of matrimony, and ' nreside over her own home, her natural mission being that of wife and mother. ' It is, therefore, more necessary than any- j thing else tliat ehe should be thoroughly * conversant with all household matter-, i The branches of housewifery to which Mrs i de Saxe drew special attention were:~ ' Sanitation at home, personal hygiene, ] "symmetry" of expenditure, cooking, , needlework, laundry work, care of the < sick, and care of infante. The lecturer. ' wished to guard against the danger of i neglecting the girl's culture for the sake ' of domestic oeience. a " A girl should be . the companion _jand helpmate of ber busband, and it was, therefore, necessary sue ■ should have the broadest training. Ano- i ther member of the Conference pointed out * that, so far, all that was done in New ' South Wales was to teach girls needle- \ work- and a little cookery. There was , no sanitation, hygiene, chemistry of food, ■ or higher cookery. In fact, out of l-._ 1 minutes allowed for teaching at ber - school, 265 were devoted to mathematics, 185 to civics and morals, 180 to study, 125 to work, and 90 to physical drill and 1 music, leaving only 130 for domestio 000- . nomy and needlework. She suggested 1 that the girls' upper classes ehould ba « divided into university and housewifery * classes. Another member thought that i every girl who left a public sdhool ahonld , be able to cook a plain dinner in such * a manner that, the nation should not dete- ' riorate through indigestion. A resolution i was carried recommending that the course \ of domestic economy should be ' considerably enlarged, *In putting ' the motion, the chairman referred ' to the "absurd objection to the method of teaching raised by some parents, 1 who thought the State should* keep a set - of domestio servants to clean up ths pots " and pans after the kasons." < ■■ «