TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 12015, 17 October 1904, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

■ At thY: when How Russia the Russians are once Meets Disaster, again tasting the bitter- ■.. '■' ' ■-. .•••.;. /',- '; ■ ness ofdefeat,-itfis.; interesting to reed what, 'Mr Percival Gibbon, the St. correspondent of the "Daily Mail," has to ray; on the manner in' which Russia meets disaster. Hβ pointe out that the people are divided into three sections, the official, "whose mere cxmk tence depends on tho unimpaired force of the autocracy,' , the Socialists, "whose; ede purpose is the abolition of it," and the people, "an.inert,over-driven, docile mass; upon which the other- two practise for their own end*." The millions of the peoplo learn of the progress of the war through the medium of one or other of the other two parties, the officials predicting Uie doom of Japan, and the Socialist* preaching "of a desperate war instigated by the oligarchy at the cost of of the nation, of doubtful aims, and exorbitant prices, of Russia drained to satisfy the greed of a class." Hβ points out that 94 per cent, of the people can neither read nor write and therefore the Frees cannot counteract the bias of partisan propagandists. Referring to the iron censorship of war news he mentions that for a; whole week all the war news came front London, not a single despatch to Ministers and to the Czar was made public. AH the frequenters of clubs and hotels knew of the cad of the Runk, but the newspapers- were silent. For two days before Mr Gibbon wrote, the fate of the Novik was known b?"vraf of London, yet no paper contained a word of allusion to its fate. He describee.thb organisation of the censor M vainr useless and maddenningly inconsequent, and points out that it serves no purpose ImA only showe the, people that the Government fears to tell the nation the truth. ' "A ymkg Russian office of ihe General fitaff, a. coutii&bf * Grand an Imperial page* quoted as the dUaetin? showed that the Japanese might* win after all. The officer was thoroughly disillusioned, and Mr Gibbon states thatjie represents the of class, who trusted the Czar and hit advisers, and now find that their trust has been misplaped. But in spite of this disillusionment he doubts if the Russians will make peace. There is, be, thinks, a power of endurance in the nation which' will uphold them to tbe, end/the ultimate, unthinkable, shambles in which'the War must finish** , ' However, the offer of s any, peace short of dishonourable surrender would be accepted. "In the meantime says Mr Gibbon in conclusion,' and hie' words hove a melancholy (significance now, "they are watchjng <ndjwaying for«Kurp_patkin. but if they were betting, it is Kuroki they would back." *

It lias .often been remarked that Athletics in' England V man>whfl» <}£'a .and* good athlete can command emAlgebra, ployment as a school teacher ~ in preference to '» man with far higher educational quelificatione, 'and Jn New Zealand'the* words, be r ju£flthleta," are nob [unknown mente for teachers of secondary schools. Judging Iron* the statement* recent London, paper, the case ha* not been at .all overdrawn. It is abated that know* ledge and experience an no" longer "fcott-, sidered 'necessary, "athletics are' valued more than algebra, and the schoolmaster of to-day must be young and Active." Masters find themselves out of work at the end of each term! not because of incompetency,_bufc i because they have advanced'to an age wh~en they lose their activity, thirty-five being the oge of disqualification, except, perhaps* in the case of headmasters.' A" representative of the paper visited the scholastic 1 , agencies, and found them thronged with well-dressed, well-educated men, ranging in age" from 1 twenty-two to forty-five, ,the elder ones despondent, the younger one* hopeful. >Th« applicants had nearly ill been to & Uni' versity, and most of these bad gained at least their college honours for either cricket or football. The number of post* vacant —this was" in the first day* of September, when vacancies ore filled—was 'about, a thousand, and for these there were four* thousand applicants,. of whom the elderly; ones would be unsuccessful, in spite of $ieir experience. A typical case is quoted/that of a Master of Arts, who, after fifteen years' service, was dismissed, apparently because he bad lost his activity in the cricket and football fields. According to this gentleman, he was full of energy when he joined the school, and could play both cricket and football, but now he was not so active, and for this reason, in spite of the fact that he]knew how to teach and how to deal with boy*, a man. of twenty* two, fresh* from the 'Varsity, was taking hi* place. "'"The "curse of tie-profession/ he told hi* interviewer, "v that any man who is a gooo , athlete, has a good coat, and speaks the "King's English, can immediately find a position, if he is young." At twentyfive he was earning £120, with, brfan! and residence, now, after fifteen years' expert ence, he is seriously thinking of occupying a post at £45 a year, with board and residence, to keep himself from starvation. The remedy he suggests » om which » very widely advocated, thai all teaohers should be compelled to pass an examination for a> diploma before being allowed to teach.

y Amongst ihs anthropofo Knife, Fh*, gjcal interest* in tlw and Wheel. Louisiana Exposition, is iDt. ' MaSeeV , admirable idea of expounding 'the development cf three important conceptions in cavage existence.. The first a the evolution of the sharp edge. A? sharp stone first introduced primitive* msa to the value offered by a 'cutting implement in offence or in, industry. JEfis early intelligence reached next from selection of tbe fittest stone ready shaped by naiore, to artificial :m----pnmment* on. this atone. Here appear all manner of carefully chipped 1 flint* doing duty as* tool* or battle-axes. Then copper began to take its place m opposi-

«fcoW;^ 2^KOj|t*lip^ thw in'Trr^^ tho "mMt oompltte. meUinr;WrkE;of: t^llSllll fßylßßi Tefere toVtho fie^d ■;sdniTl^ce»;£^ Asiatic pk»w,"j and :T«n»dilortaa. •;.■ ' this "series,.' {hVlearnw} «l" ; various . examples": : -clase' es«b<aat»on. ; hetween|afoffi«| if|| need;of..-'fire: md; ill emokingV. But' it. to'" oasy to see howv yyffijw jagi pipo'-becaino a. wlerrm and almort mm affair ; for etfite' in' view of 'tljt|aS |||| theiipreHmdnary labour with' hollow j||| or. bamboo saws that went' to lighting &$!»» j||| Finallyjftho!.third gerui,|dea, je"given;»s!j|§ |fp -.the;'' evolution, of, ||| stone,.with a hole in the; |§1 to be the origin of* our world of Thw was -niystic arid -wonderful, and ■ " mystio character.long survived. y 'Anti«'fili«]§||| dian fancy decreed that,, the bo rolled along ahxbdtb! ''ground/ ; ' thf ;aay i' through the hold lowing a •omen.- Again; there* wis the oeryance^of,the^yhee|.ix>llcd down the' to indicate tho year!s. prosperity $%ts&Jjßßffi this degenerated into the tical and materia! old Etagbsh Jl race lor 4<j&RUggt jcheese." s-^tjlly' prayer-wheel;, Portuno, has hef,<wlieel quite' modern;" poetry," 'aiid,-BTi ; a Striking iUukratioh.of an idea,.eleTil ing at once'along iho potency? and; ;v||||l|jfe'