TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14347, 6 May 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

There* are. periods in the ! Wanted — history of nations! periods I A of vague unrest and aplni rs*!'.v lion, ol' great, only hali'Man. formulated movements in | travail, preludinp; now | strange times, when an urgent need arises for a lender of dominating force and genius, whoa the whole national situation calls out for some young man full of energy, ambition, and public spirit, to stop into tho arena of public | life. The present is such a time, thinks ] tho Parliamentary correspondent of the j "Daily Mail.' , . England is disturbed, j by all kinds of violent and threatening political movements. Tho women's suffrage, movement and tho strike for i j tho minimum wagf\ aro but two eymp- j toms of underlying forces, whose mi- j port will become more apparent, and whoso potency will wax as years advance. The House of Commons is composed to a large extent of mediocrities, despite tho fervent efforts of many of thorn to drag themselves before tho public eye. Mere l'ervour is insufficient to make a groat (statesman. The qualities needed for Parliamentary efficiency r.rn many and various, but fir?t and foremost is personality, which is .1 man's inborn, inheritance, and cannot bo acquired. "Who knows what ! latent- giant individualities lurk, unknown perhaps to the men thonrj-clves, anions the back benches of tho flouso at "We.stniin.slor? Personality first of all is needed, and after that cauragO; endurance, patience, quickness of comprehension,, eloquence, and last, but not least, a prof omul and I whole-souled . conviction. Flippant ; brilliancy and oratorical fireworks will carry a man somo distance in. Parliament, but will never raise him to tho supremo heights. Many brilliant young men havo fallen short of j what was expected of them in the House, becauso they thought that a brilliant speech every now and then, an occasional dashing attack on the enemy on big occasions wa.s .sufficient to establish and maintain a reputation. Courage is absolutely essential to high success. Mr Lloyd Georgo illustrates the case for courage. He made his attacks on Mr Chamberlain with unflagging assiduity and dauntless courage, until ho forced his way into promin- ' once, and the young lighting politician who sets himself iin against Mr Lloyd : George, must rake him with questions, [ harass him on facts, and challenge, him • in debato on all possible occasions. Jlo [ will havo a hot time, of it, but, if ho . succeeds, his political fortune will be r made. Tho correspondent fees tho , Liberals disheartened at their defeat I • in the recent by-elections, and nearing ' their end of oflice, tho Unionists i [ confident of a victory in tho near future, tho Nationalists grim and silent, and tho Labour members mildly L J critical of tho Government in discus- .■ sion, but nearly always supporting them lin tho Lobby. From which section will j J tho new prophet arise? '"The Fates," I hi* concludes, ''aro propitious; and all 1 j political observers are waiting and | ' watching for tho new man." { ————■- i

■ The cost of gan>> s-hoot-'l Kxpc-nsivo ing privileges in England ■} .Sport-. is known everywhere to j be high, but when actual I figures ni> sot out, tlio <;f the? I sport, is little short- of aniaz- I j ing. Tito London correspondent j 1 I of the Sydney 'VSim' , tolls how ho j ■I fell into talk with a f.niall tenant far- , nvr, who hold 131 acrr*. of indifferent j grazing land reclaimed from the moor. J for which he paid ICs an acre- He ran j 117 sheep and CO head of rattle. cut a j hit of meadow hay for winter feeding- ' :>nd worked hard and lived frugally to i what little capital he possessed. The Australian learnt that the land they were tramping over was a rather j peculiar "common," a s one irmn owned | one half of it mcl had in addition tho : manor right.-, .so that he hold for him-j holf all tho .-hooting. Tho surrounding tenants had grazing rights. To the visitor it fell into the class of ''wouldn't-feed-a-rabbitv* but perhaps it was better in the summer than when m> saw it. '• In my innocence 1 aikod him if ho could shoot on it. The grouse vosa suddenly and ilew .swiftly, and would, one thought, bo some compensation for the high rents and h-.pc-lessne<« of progression bpyond tenancy. Ho s:ni!v.-J. 'I sometitr.es <lo a bit of lic-aj-ng,' he said, 'for the man who rents it. lie coir.rs irom .Manchester once a year fur a few days with live or six friends. Tim rent? It works out at £- a brace. Ho pays £450 for tho

shooting over 1".(.» ncrrs. nnd »? limited ! to -100 birds. , ■• Shelters built up ot j gras-s-rvn-ered turf vero ser.ttorod acres-? | the iv.ocr in l lnf . s a bout sixty yards j apart, in each of them a little for] the sportsmen. The grouse, used to Sy- j ing over them all tho early season, are j driven past by i )M t,-rs. to ihV | L-.'fore t Ih-.shot o;' v Oln .. sports- | man. In the same neighbourhood a j man of tith> had hacked himself" t<* shoot ■ one thousand grouse iua day. and had j v.on his with fifty to spare, j "I ye se.?n him start, on four birds fly-1 ing' closi> together, and drop tho lot ; j singly, of conr-?-. it sport to fire j into ;-. bunch." ..-aid the farmer, ['resuming that ti; ( > r.cblp lord could havo ' bt his moor on the b?>is of ,C"2 a brace, \ he ha.l .-i somewhat cxpen.-ivo day. The! antitho-is e.i" bis happy lino lay with i tb: , farmer who was left lorely without \ his two sons, one gone to Atutralia and I one to Canada : ho sent them ;:w.iy bo- ! he l:now v,-e!l that tho grazing j would never kt-.p them. And for him- ! •v'lf In* lamciitcd that ho wa* too old to j emigiat-e. I

When the Peruvian : ! f, n peak Coroiuina was asj C'ompuna. cended, in October of I last year, its eoiK|Ue>t ! j meant tlif settlement cf a problem. I J "Was Afoncagiia or Coropuua tho high- j jest mountain in America? peak j j had bj-cn so described: in C.'oropui'a's j J cn«\ by very distant acquaintances. ])r | \ Hiram Binghara, of tho Yale T'rruI viau <'xpeditiou. decided that the aiI tractions of an unexplored mountain, j iin an unexplored tract of country, j j united with the ehnnco of crowning ! '•■ such a claim to distinction, quite justij fled a »-cit»ntiiic ascent. October seemed the best month for climbing Coropuna. inaccessible, in winter, and cloudy in summer. Arctjuipa, a station of the Harvard Observatory, was tlu , starting j point of the journey over the desert of lliijcs to Chuquibamba, a i)lace selected as the suitable rendezvous for the campaign on the mountain. In his detailed account, published in the latest '" Harper's '' the explorer tells i how the people, of Chiiquibsmbii w<to j deeply interested, but ignorant. ">o one could supply any information about- the mountain, and tho wildest opinions w?rf exoressod about the best methods of getting to tho ton. '•' AV<:« did succeed in engaging n man who j said he knew how to get to the bottom, j iso wo railed him ' guide ' for want of < j ;«. more appropriate title. " Before tho i foot cf Coropuna was reached tbo j guido turned back from itt> surround- ' in<z of arid canons and volcanic deserti. j j"" Abandonado. Desnoblado. Uesiortn." , I S-> he described tho region. The I muleteers entiaged for carrying purI i)i>es also rebelled at approaching this | j itiyrterioiis mountain. It would takej vongoanco upon them by dcetroying I their mule:-,. And a few isolated Indians found living on the lowor slopes of the snow-capped ranges, wore I equally d'-termined nor, to help tho j ascent. On the top of Coropuna, tho i Indians said, there was a lovely paradise of iiowers, Iruits. parrot.-., and lnonkoy.s wiiere thn souls of tiie departed might enjoy themselves: but personally j they preferred not to go to heaven before their time- With no helpers, and soon to be racked by mountain sickness accompanying a rough «".s violent as nhoo;>ing cough and ;i pulso of 120, four intrepid c'imbprs, slung j about; witli kodaks, glasses, barometei, I psychomotor, hyp.-omcl-er, and mou'i- , Uiin aneroids, made their patient aig- i zags, until after ti six hours' and :\- ---luilf climb from their last camp, they I stood on tho highest peak of Coropuna, a thousand foist above anything else in .sight. "We stood on ton and in the mid«t of a dead world. Not i even a condor was in sight. "Wo I might have been on the moon." Tho American fias was duly planted on the summit, but the enthusiasm of succew was rather damped when aneroid readings showed Ooropuna to be considerably lower fhan Aconcagua—a. fact ! confirmed by subsequent triangula- | tiom;. The altitude of Coropuna is computed at 21,703 feet above sea level. Aconcagua, with 22,763 feet, must be regarded a.s the culminating j point of the continent. And all this hard work, on a mountain that was no paradise, only went to establish another mountain's fame.