CURRENT TOPICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 146, 14 March 1908, Page 11

CURRENT TOPICS.

s! Tho King's Specoh.—Parliament was openad by tho King in person on January 29, as the excellent custom now is, and a big throng of Londonors was delighted by the chance of Beeing tho • Stato procession... . Tho King's Specch would have bcon much-more interesting if it had embodied his own opinion about tho situation., As -it was, . everyono .knew beforehand' the : gist of the words which tho Government would put into the vmouth. . They have, ,to borrow a aso from the; manrin the stfeet,'"bitten off'a bi2 chunk." ■ Whether it is "moro than they can chow" remains to bo seen. Tho Licensing Bill is to bo a strong mcasuro, and it ■ will bo : fought line by line. The Old-Age Pensions ' schemo .will bo bitterly' opposed by the' Labour .party because of its limitations and because it makes the working man pay, and probably it will be severely criticised by Unionists as being far too inclusive and' unguarded. An Irish University Bill means full-blooded-fighting, > and lots of it.. With a new Housing Bill and the old Education Bill, not to mention other ■ contentious . measures,: ;in addition to the Eolid dishes on the menu, already named, Ministers are endeavouring to cram into the present session a feast of legislation which r most Cabinets'; would .have; split; up : among' three. • The Premier's ■ health will not stand a '.heavy- strain,/ and tlio. experiment 1 of trying '.Mr. ; ' Asquith" as /- acting /(Leader '.of. the House/ is risky; ho is able and persistent, but not popular.; . . 'The Man ;of, the Week.—M. Delcasse, who has certainly been tho man of the week, has not one of those "familiar faces" that-tho British public delights to honour, or tp smilo. ' over.- The." lineament's of /the late • Prince Bismarck were, and those of his .Imperial Majesty tho Kaiser are, almost as well .known "to the irian in tho street as'the'bearded vis-'. age'of'Dr.W. G. Grace or the classic features / of-Mr. C.B.' Fry. Physically M. Dolcstsse/is-ho Colossus; he is a nervous-look- . in'g ;little'-gentleman' with spectacles. ■ A telling cartoon'of him,' by tho way, appeared a year: or two ago in "Vanity Fair." But the French,race has produced a particularly forcible strain .of small men, and the' fampus ex-Foreign Secretary is one of them. He is. full, of talent, pluck, and patriotism, and not , only; knows that "silence is golden," hut acts npon i tho maxim. It has for-lorig/been .ari-.-op'on'secret/that he was; sacrificed to German hostility—and. French apprehension—when the Moroccan difficulty seemed likely to set, the.European Powers by. the ears. He was driyei;Trom office, "and .for two ;and a- half years Has held his' peace, neither: defending - tiis policy, nor-claiming'from his countrymen iho appreciation which his services, had so ; amply'earned.';-;' That self-restraint. ' itself: •hows'that M. Delcasso is a strong man. • • H onto Truths.—When M: Delcasse thought that the .time/for speech .had como ho 'spoke out. :The French Government, 110- said, was mistaken'. in going to tho AJgeciras Conference, where Germany only sought to embroil hsr with her friends;/if .she had. refused to .go,, war would not have followed. France, with the alliances sho now has, is too strong, German ..threats werea'speci-. men, of the well-known .Borlin !blufr.«l->What ■ really '/caused. sourness ofi feel-, ings; '.was that; Europe -was : breaking away from a •predominance:,which Gorman- diplo- . matists believed, they had established as a permanency.'- : M.' Delcasse /took credit' to himself, as he could not fail to do. in a historical survey, for the fact that. France is no longer isolated,, but surrounded by ,sup- L porters. ' His speech. created a /profound 'impression, and his. opponents' .found it ,unanswerable.. / Since', then tho German Press has been growling, so. to speak, in a subdued sky. -: A',' circumstantial, story ' has been told of/.a./"projected offensive ' and, defensive' al'liarice between France and: the ;Uhited KingJdo'niV .which- the Kaiser, .thwarted..by., declaring histroops. would; cross the FrenchfronJiier oa. the'day. l't was signed. If . this assertion .had ' not appeared in ,Paris, (says, the j '.Daily Mail") one would suspect that it was {.itended for German consumption. and the 'glorification of iho niling powers in ?»6. Fatherland. 'Arid^if: the British!-nation s-?iny f dictated, what _ ;3iarices it/shoiild :? not form, tho, 'Navj/'wpuld- v i^^Wous, ; ' ; nsk of '. branding en bloc—at,tho;,bottom of the soa. '. f and Social -Problems.—An .impbrfjfft'.'stop. was /taken -in 'connection with tho Islington clerical meeting. For . the-first time . <~j. sixty , years the/experiment' was'-,tried of, introducing a programme made, up entirely of i;ocial''and industrial: subjects. . The chan'go soine natural gnimbling'on the part 'it those who had- long been content with" ■ ,rte'old. order of/things. But, on tho other the. majority of tho. younger.:men »f>ong the Evangelicals .are evidently thankJ il that the new departure has been made. I .i.is a general feeling among these that tho ,">Tiblic. presentation ''of the, life arid'service of, •j:?ie Evangelical- scliool has hitherto been' confined,/ too. much ..to' lines of ' theological and ecclesiastical <•. controversy./■ 'The-. demand,; therefore,''now is/that. the'.living, .questions ... of. tho. day. shall'have attention from those who:are responsible -for/arranging.such. Conferences/ as that recently'.held at Islington. It .is no secret that: the/change has come from , the vneb : Evarigclicals. /: -Theso havo long chafed at the little part which "their school has played in tho.Church's work of'dealing with' I. modern .and /'lndustrialism. For /a long /time; their, impatience , .was in vain.' But the feeling./ spread:': and became ■ insistent,. and ..the' ; new,-/departure ? at;'lslington is. one, of;the-results.. The-'.experiment proved'a complete-success.. The 'attendance' was 'as large as usual, arid would probably have-been, larger had ;riot.-tho railway companies this year stopped, the reduction in tares which they previously allowed " the clergy attending'the Conference;, The papers were, without .exception; : infoririing ' and stimulating.- And, what is always jealouslj demanded,at Islington, the tone throughout the procedings was impressively devout and spiritual.—"The Guardian." ■■/,'. Imperial Colonial Club,—An excellent idea lias taken shapo in "Tho Imperial Colonial Club," which will be houiscd in its: new pe'rmanorit promises' in / Piccadilly .early as May.ijest,- and in any caso will bo In full swing-by tho middle of tie London season. ;'lt. is a healthy sigh' that 1250 applications for, membership have already baen received, arid.there.aro ;3QO "life founders." Tho Club is to bo. a:mooting ground for the i "Briton from' overseas and "Londoners who Irish to rotiirn tho .hospitality shown them on risits to tho colonies" ; .it will also devote itself to "the ©ntprtairimontiof all persons from tho colonies who aio in England on any political mission, and to the reception of Ambassadors and i foreign dignitaries connected with the maintenance, of tho friendly reciprocity of nation's." ,' Boom In Loncion / Trams.—Tho London County Council lias littlo oxcuso for niggardliness at present. The electrification of tho tramways has attracted traffic, and between April -.1/ of lasf year'■ and . January 18 last the ' receipts from - electric/traction showed an . increase ; . 'of no less- than C 371,702 to tho Council's credit. The revenue from ,tho horsed . linos decreased by #157,977 ; but, making 'allowanco ' for this, the municipal undertaking' is "oil the right sido". by well over, £200,000./ The London County Council has now in operation nearly 110 miles of line, and ; is doing an immense Bc-rvico in enabling the poorer Londoner to "livo out," whilo it has gained for tho rate: payor's a very: sound "assot. ' What a pity (remarks the "Daily Mail") that it could, not bo a littlo more enterprising still, and cxerciso thp. statutory /power that it possesses to "acquiro aricieiit monuments"!....... . ,

■ Two Ideals.—Have Liberals a future? According to Mr. Balfour, no. Speaking to tho City of London Conservative Association, Iho declared "I myself believo that thero is littlo rcom now in the'political constitution .of this country for the old-fashioned' Liberal who, in his time, has'dorio great sorvice for tho State. Tho Liberals woro a leading power in an important period of transition; but tho course of. events has practically destroyed all, tho differences, never perhaps very great, which separated them from - tho jiarty to which wo belong, and;wo aro now tending towards, a difierent arrangement of political forces, a rearrangement of political forces in which the Unionist party/must indeed bo-tho leading, element and member upon ono side, though not tho only .one; and on which our Socialistic frionds, who havo just hauled up their flag,'.will doubtless bo tho militant force upon the'other. Between, tho two. ideals of social construction which those two bodies of opinion represent is to be tho great-fight in tho future." Commenting on this speech the "Westminster Gazette" states:—-"It is a very shallow reading of tho English "character which regards Liberalism as'an outworn compromise between Socialism ami "Conservatism. If / the Liberal; party is well directed, it-will, we believe, romain/moro closely in touch with averago, political 'sentiment than either Protectionism or Socialism." Mr.-" Balfour.—"To thoso who attend with interested keenness tho progress■ of- thb political pageant/frotn day to day thero is probably ho figure in the throng so interesting and so remarkable as Mr. Balfour. I doubt if any public man has ever more carefully and imiformly practised "on the 'theory expressed in the politic maxim that-wo should treat the, enemy 0f,,t0-day as if ho wero certain to become tho friend of to-morrow." So writes ; Mr. Robea-t White in au interesting: appreciation of Mr. Balfpur in tho "Fortnightly Preview." Ho goes on'to-say that Mr. Balfour "stands so conspicuously abovo all his .'colleagues on tho Opposition benches that I feel lam justified-in calling him 'The Lono Hand/' -_ In personal' l popularity, -in political experience,,.in natural talents, he is. a giant ariiong dwarfs. The Prime Minister's, abilities,are no moro distinguished thari thoSo of- many .'members of his Cabinet whom it would bo- easy, if -it were not a littlo presumptuous,' to name. . That is not Mr. Balfour's caso; ;ho stands alone in'this respect. >The rod of Aaron- was challenged, in 1903, .and all the othorS woro swallowed. Tho/ political giants who were Mr. /Balfour's colleagues, and. contemporaries have disappeared. Questions, of politics apart, ho is admittedly tho ablest man in Parliament, and immeasurably abler 'than any of his present colleagues. Ho is equally gifted as a speakor,-as a-tacti-cian, and as a leader of : mon. ; Thero never has. bden'; a .finer, a, readier, or moro elfectivo debater.-in- the. House; and since Mr. Chamberlain's: enforced retirement he has- been simply/a triton among'minnows." ~ Sir H. Hcrkomer on Genius.—"Broadly iSpoaking," said Sir Hubert von Horkomer,R.A., in his lecture at tho Royal Academy 'on "Seeing and.' Hearing," all the. senses wore untrustworthy. It. must have-struck .thpm how- very/fine the; borderland - wis bc'tweori' the. ..unsolicited; iihage of "tho healthy" /brain and, the .unsolicited imago of the diseased brain. Tho difference was that the sano. knew they /wero illusions, tho insane did not.- Genius that, could not control itself camo pretty near to tho insane side of the border s line. , An immense amount, of rubbish had; been written, /on'/ thp ; .subejet- of. genius,■' and,' many that. it [ Tiiparit•. mad-:' ness, Huxley had conVo/nearer to the .marlr when ho said it meant a capacity of any. kind /above the ordinary/.mental level. And / yet the /extraordinary, .-'/ calculating.. boy "• from. America, who at the- age of six, could solve thp most abstruse. sums and give the. correct, answer instantly, could not - be called a. genius. It was rather .'a deformity, and ho thought'thoy would all decline genius/if .it moant an abnormality, in 'one. respcct. and practical idiocy, in/every other. ; Sir Hubert instanced Joan .of Arc, as a .woman with an almost' .superhunmn brain capacity, ' and regrettedl that there was-not a contemporary portrait,, of hor extant. In conclusion, lie. said ;that . the gift of being able to coiijurc up; images -at will was the gift 'which ruled the ;:world. .It/ was" the, gift 'of tho artistand the writer; it was air to.the mind arid' brought peace. .. •■ , Social Habits. —"I . would not , exchange, .tho 1 twentieth cnutury .for any that have,. gono before it; my only ro--gret. is that I' : do npti livo 'in tho twenty-first." '■ With this - statement Bishop' "Welldon (Dean of Manchester) prefiicod a locturo,; at tho Manchester, Athenaeum' on ."Some changes:.in tho social habits .of*.tlio peoplo-pf .England,Ho went on to state,/ chronologically some of tho; rc-asons: for.'his prcferenco. "If you had- lived before tho thirteenth contury, you would'liavo had no sugar," hp said. "At tho beginning of tho fifteenth century you would have had no butter jj in tho sixteenth century no potatoes and no tobacco; in tho seventeenth noitea, poffeo, or soap. I am: afraid that our. ane'estors wore all dirty. At the beginning of tho/oightoerit-h-oontuiy thorp wero no lamps and no .umbrellas,; at the beginning of. tlio nineteenth, no, trains, .matches, telegrams,', gas,'or; chloroform. William the/Conqueror with:his''fingers;". Chaucer never saw a printed' book ; Queen Elizabeth never heard of .taa' or saw a nowspapor; and Queen/Victoria was tho first' Sovereign of England not -dependent on wind, arid weather for opportunity of leaving.her island,homo." Bishop Wolldoh 'spoko of the strenuous opposition which ovoiy improvement of higher civilisa T tion ha/d -ihatli to_ face. Holinshead, tho Elizabethan / chronicler, spoko of' the -nowfahglod notion which allov/ed • smoke' to esi .cape iip a 'given; channel instead of through tho cracks. dnd ; crevices of a house's walls. John Wesley, ascribed most of tho evils, of a degenerate ago to tho practice of drinking tea. ..Matches wero ...called. Inciters,' becauso' they -were thought to bo connected' with tho;Evil Ono. . Even Vtho uso of, anaesthetics, one of -scionco's 'greatest,discoveries, was fought against. Motiem Egypt.—ln an article in the Standard" on British Rulo on tho Nile,' Mr. Sidney Low states:—"When o'ur general's overthrow tho Khalifa's hordes 10 years, ago, they did moro than merely reebnquer tho Soudan for Egypt; they conquered it in a sonso'in which conqcst had-never been effectual hero before. It is true -that previous to tho Mahdist revolt tlio 'Turks' ruled all through tho' Soudan,: oveu to tho Equator on" tho south and to tho furthest borders of Darfur on tho west. But, though Egyptian officials took heavy toll from the nntives, and though Egyptian and Turkish soldiers lived and plundered all over tho provinces,, tlio oountry remained inaccessiblo, remote and inhospitable. For thoso who woro not officials or emissaries of tho Government, tho journey into it was difficult, and oven dangorous, for all it was long and.slow. Now tho neat and well-appointed express, boats of the Soudan Government scrvico ''float you smoothly up to Haifa in tho oxtromo of comfort. And at Haifa you transfer yourself and your baggago to tlio train, which is also run by tlio Soudan authorities, with no greater troublo than you would oxperionco at Clapham Junction. You will make your first acquaintance with tho . realms of Queen Candaco through tho windows of, a fine diningroom car. You enter tho barrier desert to .the whistlo of a locomotivo that will roll you up to the capital of north Control Afnoa in a night and a day of luxurious travel. It is a very simple business to get to Khartoum nowadays. You can book through from Charing Cross if you please, and tho-worst advonturo'that need bofall you on tho way will-,bo a bad Channel crossing or an inadequate luncheon at a railway Buffot. Measured .by timo of transit, which is tho only practical method of calculating distanced,. Oradurman is nearer Piccadilly than' Invorneas/.whcn Georgo 111. was King, or- Yonico when Chajles Dickens discovered Italv" . .