CURRENT TOPICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 211, 30 May 1908, Page 10

CURRENT TOPICS.

".-.'."'-ThO'"N«W'.Prlme Minister.—Mr. Asquith adds another name to the roll of Oxford Premiers, succeeding two Cambridge men in the highest place i;o which a British subject can attain (says tho'' Guardian'"). Mr. Dalfour was indeed tho first Prime Minister since Palmerstoh, who graduated from tho "younger University, tho blue riband of politics being held from,lßßo .to 1902 by nurselings of its ' rival—Mr. Gladstone, Lord Salisbury, and • Lord Kosoberr. All those, by tho way, wore : Christ Church men, as were Lord Derby and Sir Robort Peel; and woffancy tliat Mr. Asquith is the first to lay these spolia opima of civic' .life ■, at tho foot of Balliol. • Of tho 'Victorian' Premiers, who wero also Cambridgo , men. Trinity;claims three—Sir Honry Camp- ' boll-Bannerinari, Mr. Balfour, and Lord Mol- ■ bourno/ Lord Aberdeen was a Jolmian, as. ■was Lord: Palmerston, who ; had previously ■ been to' Edinburgh, the duly University: in which Lord Hussell studied. Lord Beacpns- . field, with as strong a literary turn as any among tho great: Ministers of his time, had, : boon to 110 University, at all. As •to tho academic . ; achievements of tho famous Oxonians we have named. Peel and Gladstone won Double Firsts (the former' being tho earliest .winner--of -that distinction), Lord Derby, carried off .the Latin Verse prize, Mr. v, Asquith took a : First in Mods, and Greats ' as well as a Craven Scholarship. . Mr, Asquith's Mr. Asquith has aims and ideas of 'his own, as well as •:■■ tho courago required to assort thom and to press them upon tho party and tho country," ; ' writes: the ■/' Tiinos." /." He has some conception of his own of the necessary evolution of the State!in the conditions of. the time,' and, if wo may not all agreo with him;'wo may -\- at least expect with somo,confidence that his conception -will \ bo. .vividly realised. Mr. Asquith's Government will ■ have a polioy to ;which the policies of depart- . mental chiefs .will be subordinated.,; That, at : all evonts, ,is what wo anticipate from a personality which has already overcome so much and carried him .so far.' Mr.; Asquith's methods will of oourse bo his own. There are ■ pooplo. who' shake, their -heads becatiso 'his ; methods - are .not; those, of somebody, else, v They say that Mr. Asquith* can'.' noi-do. this :v : or the other, as someone else. did it. But cvory '.manvwho doos anything has his own for doing it; and it is ; 'more, lack of .imagination that : leads, people . to think that ho cannot .succood because ho ;. -does not repeat, the methods by; which another man has won succoss.'! A Trade Union Resignation.—Mr. Ge6rgo / Barnes, M.P., Secretary of; the Amalgamated . Society of. Engineors, has rcsignod his. secrov tarvstiip," and it has been accepted, in conse- : quenco of the ; action of . the men on the North-East • coast 1 in -refusing : on ...two,. occa-, . sions to accent tho settlement which ho had- ! mado on their behalf- with, the employers.' ; " T consider,'- he says, ! .'.' that'the time.has como when trade union'officials must make . ••■ a stand agains,t . this repudiation of control on tho part of;their members. • It has,been' ' carried to such lengths • that the employers:, ■ 1 aro beginning to ask why they'should trouble to: arrange, to'rms with .people who, are promptly repudiated by, their constituents." "It is j somothing. to jßnd a man who,is.pre-, pared to throw up a; great position—for the secretaryship of the A.S'.E. is the/blue-ribbon of tho trade union world—rather than sacri■t fico his principles, v This ; is not the first j9b Mr. Barnes has throwri up. His position: and : influence.are nopo the weaker for his action,'' adds the: Chronicle." . . .r! Swcdenborg's Remains.—ln tho Swedish Church of St. Goorgo-in-the-East tlio remains of Emanuel Swedoriborg, the great. philosopher, woro on April -.7 disinterred, and. c placed in a nfiw'cofmi, ready for tho voyago to Sweden. Among those.present during the proceedings wore the' Swedish . Minister ■ (Count Wr angel), the officials of the Legation, Pastor Lindskog, of' the Swedish Luthoran Church, and tho officer of - tho ;V frigate Fylvia,: into whose charge the remains woro entrusted.. . Since the philosopher's death, in 1772 ;: Swedenborg's body has re-, ' mained in a vault under the communion table ••':/ without disturbance, and the last time the - vault- was opened was in 1843., Tho first thing dono was to remove .tho flagstones and open the vault. It was then seen 'that Swcdenborg's coffin, with several others, rested on a bench. The lead shell was intact, but pieces of .wood, forming part .of tho old - coffin, wero scattered about. When tho shell .-' wasopencd it was ,found_ that of tho great : philosopher all that remained, was his'skull, v a few bones, and a,small quantity, of whitish . powder. . .•/-. ■ ' A Speed Recorder.—"An , experiment is to bo tried on the French railways which should bo watched in England," .says; the "Man- , choster Guardian." "Experience, has shown . that engine-drivers -.will take tho , risk ■■ of; exceeding- tho speed limits fixed by ' ■* thb' regulations at/curves and other dangercms parts of tlio line, and, as tho disaster at Salisbury,' for instance, showed, _in such cases ■ even tho utmost limit of safety is liable to bo .passed unwittingly; Obviously-tho- only way .' to put an end to this practice of making up time by disregarding speed regulations is to : pixnish an engine-driver whenever ho exceeds a spocd limit, whether an accident results or -■// not, -arid'presumably the : French Government mean to do tliii. By: an order of the Ministor of tho Interior every main-lino locomotive , - . in Franco is in futuro to carry a'speed indicator which makes;a permanent record. With this arrangement tho engine-driver will have .- ' always before him an indication v of his actual ,thfcro mil' be ; 110 room for an. error ( of judgment.And,-at;tho samo time, ''there . ' will be recorded plain evidence of spoed at ■'•/.> various points, which. ought.V. I to be examined from timo to time to mdko sure that a driver ; is ,not'in : tho habit of- making up time.by breaking regulations." . ' ...'" HOW tho Children Dlo.—Tho deplorable loss of children's, lives-,in tho towns . of -Great Britain has emphasised- by. the National Conference on 'Infant Mortality which .'sat at Caxton' Hall recently. . Mr. John Burns told tho Conference, that in tho main . essentials Britain led the way, and, was; far:ahead of other comparablo countries; wliero industries - flourished, mothors laboured, and babies decayed. In England tho infant mortality was . -132; per 1000; in franco it was 137, iii Bolgium.lss, in 1ta1y,172, and in Germany.2o4, On those-figures there was no need for despair or"(tisappqintment.- 'Since 1870 -'-the general death-rate had dropped from 22 to It per 1000, and they could, not pull down tl« : : general rate without affccting tho infant rate : . Tho birth-rate had dropped from 35, to 27 ii tho same period. In 1870 tho infant mortal ity was 153 per 1000, as against 132 -in 1906 Illitoracy also affected, infant mortality. L •< 1870, 148 husbands, per 1000 signed their mar riago lines with a cross,', as against sixteei - to-day, whilo for the'women tliq figures wen ' 199 against' 'twelityi'. Tho' ■ length of life alsi 1 ' had increased;' . Relatively' infant mortalit; was declining. -!At •tho ago of one week,;Lon ' don, notwithstanding-' its difficulties, liiid 2' .' deaths per 1000, where rural districts had 26 That waa partly du6'to the prompt and kindl; medical attendance given in so many of th • poorer districts. ■At tho . end of tho firs month of child'life, London and tho cojmtr; were equal, and at: tho end of tho first year where London . would, havo ,131 in fant deaths per 1000, the countr. would have- anything .fTom 8 to .110. Considering tho growth of popula tion and the immense difficulties of towi conditions, there was no reason ! to be disap pointed. Taking a town like Burnley, whicl liad 22,000 wives or widows,' 7500,' <)r aboil 33 per cent., 'went to work. _, The mortalit; of children of tho working women was twic as much as that among tho children of th ■non-working married women. Of 486 infan - deaths in Burnley, 343 'wero preventable. Th factory ajid the workshop for women made fo immaturity, promaturity, and doformit among tho children, the artificial food tho wero given boing the causo, ho believed, c rickets and tho anaemic condition of man of thom.

Individualistic Morality. —Christianity has grasped 0110 great fact in its othics, and it is that a puroly individualistic morality is not adequate, that men are not impenetrable atoms,' hut ;thaVthe welfaro of each man is bound up with' that'of his follows. Despite 'all tho restrictions often put upon an individuals actioii'in tho ancient world, yot in tho development of tho individual life each man stood alone. —J. Iv. Mozley, in " Contemporary Review." Professor Marshall.—The news tKat Professor Marshal] has decided to retire from the Chair 1 of Political' Economy at Cambridgo lias boon received e'vofywhoro with the greatest regret. Born sixty-six years ago, ho en-' tered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1862, and graduated aB Second Wrangler in 1865. 'Iri: 1877..'110 .went toi Bristnl as lioad of the now Universitj' College-there, but was transferred'to Oxford in 1883 as Lecturer and Fellow of Balliol. Two years later he returned to hi 3 own University as Professor of Political ; Economy, in succession to Professor Honry. Fawcett. ' In;i891 he was' a member ofytho Royal Commission 011 Labour, in 1896 .ho was elected..Hon.i!Fellow of Balliol, a_nd in 1902"was.mado:.a' Fellow of the British Aoadeniyv l His work;- which wilj loavo a ioh »tbe" Cambridge. School of Economics, ijicludos 'sovcral well-known books. The best; wishes of "a vory largo circle of .pupils and adniirors will go with him to his .well-earned leisure.' ' •; / ■ ■ , ' If America Went, to .War.—Speaking at, a celebration, of tho : anniversary of Washington's birthday;- General Frederick D. Grant dealt with'what he-'described as tho unprepared state, of tho, United States for war. He said that in the event of a conflict with Japan the United : !j>tascs would need a million troops, to garrison \tho' Pacific coast, and another million for- tlicS/Atlantic coast, while if a Great Power; attacked and overwhelmed the navy. only, a siogo-could. oxpel 50,000 of tho oriemy if .landed'at Montauk Point. : , Mr. Ridor- Haggard .on tho Dr(nk Trado.— Mr, Rider 'Haggard,"tho novelist, submits in a letter ;to -the -■'•'Times"(l) That those .Avlio ara,:6r-"who'aro:in-itho way of becoming, :'habitiiar:driiftkards;": slfould, without ' tipii .'of-" ft' , t fine," , 'ie , '''JWmmitiied to inobriato . homos, -or to a'department of-every prison specially devoted to vtho treatment; of such , people. ..' (2) That'tho;'Vendor of liquor in'a licensed-house supplying it to a person'who, , from his experience,- lie has reason to believo \s. in :a stato 'of actual or incipient intoxica'tiou, j shoiild.;bp v W6ro';often summone""d and '•more;'severely"dealt- with than at present. (3). That'the"sUpply' : 6f adulterated drinks, which aro' responsible 'for much: of tho drunkenness and' 'other'ovil, should be . stopped by. tho passing of'ii'Pure Beer Act and otherwise, Ithough doubtless this palliative will bo hold to savour of protection. (4) That public'houses jn; certain towns, or- districts-of thom I should bo'closed earlier than at pro.'sent'.lf remedies, and somo. others •wln'ch.,l l ]iaxpVAP spaco' to toucli on, •woro aModi to the existing law, and made rcally cbmpulsdi-y, "liot left to bo enforced at •discretion; .':and;.if,":.iii . addition to, thom ■ the 'police, with,: a. yicw., subsequent' inflip-; tion. of' woro obliged .to '.ascertain ' and.' to^registor' t ';''wlieii possible, the house, from « v liich, overy, drunken' person had last omergM, ; and its' manager,. I am ; ■sure, that.'.thp remedial effect would be'con- , : siderable'.' ;;Surely;this rjroblom, which affects • : ' tho.'n^tioii;'a'nd : its'future: as a whole, should be removed from, the, atmospliero of party and .of 'prejudice.;, ■. Surely , what is needed in reference to the',eternal ."riddlo of the-'drink i trade 3is , not' -any '.'.violent..... or . ' confiscatory measure, but., the. application of a little 1 , unbiased common sense." . '. , ' -. Growth of Cltles.—"Tho grov.-tli of ; tho' : large;.toivns in''tho ninoteenti contury' nover had a parallel in, any, provious agp of.''tho': .world,";,6ajsaTOter.'m.Me.-"Chtfron Times." '.".What was the population: of s ancient, Rome :at the 'height, of, its grandeur, it is impossible -to say.. / Estimates have nin between .half-si-' million'and two millions-and a quarter. Tlio 'Encyclopaedia . Britannica' is probably not :far ivrongj ; in .'.its ■ guess,, of] a million. . And . .during thosa".days of,-tho greatness of .the im-perial-.city there Avas,. no other to approach it. - Tho ;^ only- city of. tho first rank in Africa : ,was Alexandria, which.had perhaps 500,000. Coining to the Middle.Ages, I suppose London ..stood first.- .Tho,Venerable' Bedo calls :it . 'an illustrious city;f In;. Shakespearo's timo its,.population was Certainly under .half-a-rnillion,, -111 185,0 • it; was 5,500,000. No other, city in.the jvorld has grown liko that;, still, all over Europe; there has. been a marvellous growth of town In England thcro- aro: now seventy-fivo towns, oach 'with moro than 75,000 inhabitants, 'and if suburbs be added,"'the figures aro considerably higher:' 'It-is; said that if you draw.a..circle ;witlra ;rhdius of fifty miles/from Man- . ohester; as a-'(ieiitrev; it would include as large, a population as oivo drawn from Charing CrosS. Hundreds of squaro miles of. land in Scotland havo beeii ' sadly, depopulated, and : still the population of tho country continues to grow,-;but tho< increase : is in tho towns. According to Ciiamber's 'Cyclopaedia,' the population of Glasgow in 1801: was 77,385, in; 1891' tho total' (city and suburbs) was 770,471'.;-/Even;"iii 'Ireland,'in • spito of thoenormous' jemigratio'ii;";'the town population does '-nbt'fall "oft.-"Oi'tKb Continent it. is tho same.' 'Wliilo tlio' population of Belgium', actho last'* adcounts, has increased ll per , cent.,; Brussels has increased 20, and Antwerp 30. Berlin'had, in 1850,1 a popular tion of 400,000; and,'"in 1880, there wero 1,400,000." ..' .... Mr. A/Ci Benson aticl.His Father.—"lhavo often and awkwardly . the-world' interprets "tlio thoughts and feel- : ihgs r of Hie people who. aro held to b» success- . fui," writes'Mr'!'A."'C.''Benson in. tho "North , American ,;Eevie)w." jjl /.believe tliat it vpry often ''happens(.tKai, -iMieii such aro envieel and ... congratulated, thoy : , feel far nibro in need : of . ,'sympathy '.and 6iren.'"' when we ,- think' of, thpm and secure, they are .;-often conscious far,-, of weakness "and anxiety./ I.may bp allowpd, I think,,to giro, as an instanco, tho a man whose life ' I saw very close .at J(and— : my own-father— 1 because I have already told the story of his ■ life as frankly ap I could. He may bo said, 1 judged by ordinary standards, to havo been' a ' ; supremely successful man. Ho founded and established a great : public. school, and a ■ flourishing theological . college; ho organised > a new! Bishopric;.and in'tlio prime of his life i ho was put at the head lof the Anglican 1 Church. . I may say- candidly that I never saw anyone whoso success was so littlo of a 1 porsouarpleasure-to him. He rejoiced in tlio - prosperity of the institutions over which ho . presided,-but ho never, manifested tho small--1 ost pride .in his-"acl'iievemonts; ho enjoyed to. - the full the traditions and tho his--1 torical assofciations of the posts ho held, but 3 I do not think ihat- lip ever took to himself } tho smallest credit' for tho success of his orj ganisations, nor felt the least proud of hav- - irig attained, without wealth, or influence, I or connections, his'high office. His 0110 feel- . ii\g was. a sense 6f deep; constant, and anxij ous. rpsponsibility,.;that, tlio great interests 3 ontrusted to him should not suffer in his t hands. Ho enjoyed whole-heartedly much of j. his work, but one .would havo thought some- - times, to hear him - speak of his task, that - his chief-feeling -was that lie was unequal to y it with a senso that was almost terror at 5 hisi.oyvn inajkfquacy.jijid unworthiness. Ho - would glsidly have remained all his life as a--1 canoii of Lincoln ;iho would havo even more - gladly stayed, at. .Tjucq,; as Bishop; -and ho 1' used to look'forward at. timos with a senso t of relief' to a da!y l when' he might bo allowed y to 'ay down, the burd'eii. of tlio Primacy. This 0 partly camo from his senso of ■ the linioue 0 significance and- importance of-the particular t work iii which 110 was engaged, so that 110 0 always folk like Atlas, in th© old mytholosyj r bearing the weight' of tho heavens upon lus y shoulders ; and liko,- ;Atl.as,. too, ho felt tery Tibly aiono on the! mountain ton, and hanlcIf cred all his days afterjii quiot life of leisure y and privacy for which, I may add, he would have been wholly unfits"