CURRENT TOPICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 265, 1 August 1908, Page 10

CURRENT TOPICS.

Th» Great Congress. . . 1 ; ' Tho Pan-Anglican Con gross,', which .began its great work on Monday (June 15), with a solemn inaugural servico in Westminster Abbey—that shrine of .the 1 most preqious memories of our raccy—cannot but impress the popular imagination alike by- the vastness of its, scope ancl the completeness of its organisation (says the " Daily Mail ")- --More'i than a single Congress, it is-in a multitude of Congresses, since it is divided into i no fewer than soven distinct sections, holding simultaneous meetings.' This parliament of Churchmen will 'discuss all the issues in which the Church'of to-day is most deeply concerned. All branches of tho Anglo-Saxon race are represented, at this wonderful gathering of 8000 delegates, assembled" from 251 dioceses. The very figures suggest tho grandeur of a Church which from being national has in the last hundred years becomo oooumenical, and which is to-day displaying its activity in every quarter of tho world. Yet, though in the United States, in Canada, in Australia, in New Zealand, ..in S6uth' Africa; in all the dominions whioh tho Brit: ist nation holds on trust for subject races, and in Japan and China.' free aha indepe'n-' dent branches of this Church have arisen, all these branches look to Lambeth as 1 , tho source and origin of their existence.;; The bond which links them together is something like the bond which holds together the British 'Empire';' it is-a.community of ,sontimpnt,. of thought, of roligious ideals, and a common' ritual, hallowed' by centuries of public u's'o and conscorated by - tho tender associations which havo gathered round the marvellous passages of the Book of Common Prayer. Of, this Church even' its severest critic would admit, that its work has been powerful for good.' It was a Canadian : Meth'odist who declared that to, it and to its influence in 'tho present and remoter generations are" due the Briton's .'respect for - authority, obedience to law, and devotion to truth. M. Yves Cuyot.and Englan'J. . M. Yves Guyot, writing on "My Impressions of England in tho "Morning Post," states: —"I'rom the beginning of tho Eighteenth- Century ; the French nave been impregnated with' English ideas. After tho re-, vocation of tho Edict of .'Nantes, 'between seventy ■ and eighty thousand French sought refuge in England. Almost all those men had a lofty moral ideal, and many, of them' worked at useful trados. They'wero exceedingly well received,' and in ' 1709 Parliament' voted their'. naturalisation' eff." 'masse".'ln: their enthusiasm for the country that had given them hospitality they translated' her authors; and they introduced to Franco Locke, Addison, Steele,, Dryden, Daniel Defoe, and Swift. Voltaire taught his fellowcountrymen the experimental . method of ■ Bacon and tho great discoveries of. Newton . (1734)." All our Constitutions since 1815, ex-: cept that of 1851, have been inspired by tho English Parliamentary system. All our scientific practiccs aro impregnated by the doctrines of- Lyell, Darwin, Huxley, and Herbert : Speiiceh Through his 'System of Logic '' and • his ' Principles of Political .Economy,' John Stuart : Mill still , exercises a 'sort of dictatofship over ,-nil "young : and serious studbnte. There is notva-lawyer of any' importance': who has fienthamj not an'enlightened' man who has not read Hum'Oi ; Gibbon, .Robertson,: Hallam. Macaulay, -Buckle, Freeman, .and .Flint.- All Frenchmen have not'only read 'Robinson Crusoe,' but most of them havo read Dickens. So tho stamp of England is impressed. on : 'our'. intellect,' and. without suspecting, it,. many of us, oven those, who' know not'a* word of English, havo English ideas. A legal maxim says 'To give and take buck is worth, .nothing.' The\ whole value of tho 'entente, cordiale'. lies in the goodwill of the ■ two countries; that- they shall ■ hot desert oho' another when the .day comes for one of thonr- , to translato words into deeds." . Science and Government.-. , . Mr. -W. H. Page, editor of the " World's •; Work," writes as follows" Government Tn the ; future 'will 1 concern itself mora and nio'ro with; science and -less and less" with I 'such' ■ 'general - problems and- policies as we have hitherto associated with public life. Moro and ' more as we* learn something definite'about, human socicty and social growth and tho,real foundations of national , greatness, wo shall employ the co-operative .agencies' of scionce. , And government will become more aud more such a co-operativo agency.. From saving cattle and swine .from fatal diseases, peach trees.from-deadly parasites,, grain from its enemies, and cotton, from tho boll-woevil, to keeping contagious diseases from our shores and from developing within our borders, and to forcing food manufacturers to tell , the truth, about their wares, and to using coal, economically "and preserving the supply—all around our life, individual aijd collpctive, the most important services .that the.future will demand of governments mil- be scientific sorvicM."

Congress of Historical Science. • The English Board of Education has received from tho' German Embassy, through the Foreign Office, particulars of the Intor- : national Congress'of- Historical Science, which is to bo hold tiiis year "in Berlin from August 6, to August 12. work of -the Congress will be earned, oh in general and sectional meetings. Thero are eight sections, as follow : t —(1) Oriental History. (2) History "of Greece and, Romo. ' (3) Political History, medireval and modern. (4)' History of Civilisation "and the History of Thought, medieval and modern. - (5) Social, and' Economic History. (6) Ecclesiastical History. (7) History , of Art. (8) Sciericcs subsidiary to. History ' (Archives, Libraries, Chronology, Diplomatic, ' Epigraphy, Genealogy, Historical Geography, Heraldry, Numismatics, Paleography, 'Study ' of Seals).:' ■ • Christianity In India, • "The friends'of Christian progross and'of moral reform are laid under a great debt of obligation to tho 'Contemporary Roviow' fop the prominence which it gives to such interests, says the "Methodist Times." ."No other of the monthly reviews approaclics-.it in this respect. The May number of the Review contains a most illuminating article: on 'Christianity in India, 1 contributed by Mr. J. N. Farquhar, whoso ability and missionary experience in India enable him .to speak ,witb_ fulness of: information and with, au'thority. Such an article as Mr. Farquhar's •brings homo to us, not merely: tho immense practical importance, but also 'tho unrivalled intellectual interest of what is going on in India.:';, It presents to us the prospect of a great historic movement in : which spiritual, moral, arid social forces will co-operate. .Such a movement will give a living demonstration of the potency of the Christian spirit far moro valuablo than whole reams of .formal Christian evidences. And thi3 is iioj; beoause the two.are independent of ono anotherj but because the-progress of Christian, life is a continuous revelation of the validity and power of tho spiritual truth which is immanent in it. ; From this point of view nothing has taken place to rival tho present movement in India sinco the early triumphs of Christianity in the Roman Empiro; • Mr. Farquhar sets himself to answer tho. question, 'Is Christianity destined to becomo the religion of India?' He admits tho. slowness of its advance, but ho shows that tho outstanding fact in recent Indian history is the intellectual and moral upheaval which has produced • ,tho modern educated Hindu., Tho increase of " professed Christians in India in tho last halfcentury ..has. been enormous.' 'This has been specially the case in regard to Protestant missions.. While Roman, Catholics have increased during that period by 111.5 per cent., Protestants have increased by 837.2 per cent., There were in 1901 1,550,614'R0man Catholic Christians in India, and .871,991" Protestants. The revival and purification of Hindu--1 ism is as striking.a testimony to.the growing power and the eventual victory of Christianity in India as wore the Nco-Platonic movement, and tho cclcctic revival of paganism to which tho Emperor Julian lout his support.".

Short Hours in the'Linan Trada. Tho Belfast Flaxspinners' Association have 'como'to a" decision which may causo some 'distress'"among the workers. Since the boginning of the year tho operatives have been employed for'only two-thirds of tho customary time—37' hours in tho week, instead of 55.'hours—and some of the firms wcro in favour of plnciug tho workers bn half-time ■until a revival in trade took place. There wero othors who took a different viow. After considering tho question, tho Association has.;.dqtermined to reduce the hours to 32 'per week. Sinco tho hours wero reduced from 55 to 37 distress has been recorded in a numbor. of. cases. It is stated that 20,000 .workers aro 'affected. Youth airJ Economics. ..'I Wliwi . Professor- Marshall's impending Tesrgn»tiei}--of-llic"..Chair of Political Economy .was announced a fow weeks ago, I suggested that thp> choice of his successor would 'probably.vlio between Professor-Foxwcll and Mr. PigOU,',' says tho London correspondent °* tho ''Manchester; Guardian." "The choice of the latter is a tribute to youth, and Mr: Pigou must, almost have, established a record in ;tho" way ,of : precociousness, though I beheyo;;Mr. Sidney' .Colvin was mado Slado Professor of Fine ; Art at the age of 27. Mr. ;Pigou is a'_man of singular versatility, . with a'' groat '. gift • of <lucid exposition, although; he did, not, acquire tho art of oratory withoutassiduous /cultivation. His. contri.Lutions to . tho /Freetrade controversy havo bcoil maiiy and- notable, and Freetraders who see Protcttion.', strongly entrenched in tho opponents:, of economic historv at the two older ;; universities will, find legitimate cause for. cbngratulatioi) :that tho expositor of economic principles should be in the hands of mich a ' sound 1 thinker. . Mr. Pigou's most .considerable .contribution .to economic literature hitherto is his work on tho principles of. industrial ■- remuneration—a very sybtlo -and intricate picco of abstract reasoning." Decorations for Purtltive* Purposos, - In 'refusing to accept the decoration which the German 1 Emperor would h&vo'Conferred on..him,. Dr.. ..Woiskirchner rightly asserted his'pdsition as'Presiilent of the Lower Houso of the Austrian Reichsrath. which entitled him, beyond-question, to a higher distinction than, the. Third Class of the Order of tho Prussian Crown (says the " Guardian "). On tho occasion of an "international function ribands - and'. crosses are habitually bestowed -with,isuch nice."-attention to the graduatedclaims of official rank that ono wondors how such- an obvious' mistake - could havo been made, aad in fact it has been insinuated that tho _ President was deliberately slighted for having allowed Polish members to deliver thoir minds jyith, ffpedom touching the Prussian Bill for tho expropriation of their compatriots. -, Decorations are believed to havo been used before now for punitive purposes, and a threat has been attributed to ono of our' Kings that -ho-would make somobody a iKniglit of. tho, Hanoverian Guelphio Order if he did ;ijqt'.niend.his ivays.' The best means by which,-a,-nvin can* prevent his being offered less than lie cares to receive is to stato beforehand the minimum of his expectations. Thus did Sultan Abdul-Aziz, when ho came to England in 18G7, intimate that ho must decline..' ( any Order, but the Garter. With the G.airt'ei;' he. "was,/accordingly invested, in lieu of the- Star of. India,'which it had been intended to offer' him.' .. Tho Future orindla., . ' In the course' of - a remarkablo address at tho consecration""«f- ; Dr. Palmer as Anglican Bisliop oj^Bombay;'tho-Bishop of Birmingham (Dr. .Gore); said:—"What wo desiro is to - see arise,' with ail Indian'Episcopate'-and'sin Indian spirit. True it'is that they are; not'ripe for independence —not by: a ,! great way—but the .right object must- bo always'• in view.. It' may w oil bo that:the-conversion < 'of India will como from tho. bottom and not from tho top, and that: in tho -raising 1 of those below caste, may come the strength to hew down that mighty ;"--In -any case, the spirit of a Chris--tian India -must" bo something, widely difthat".of '-tho India of to-day. But -within'"the' area of Christianty and -itj the cry is 'India for tho Indians,- as"!Japair'for tho Japanese' and ''China" for ■ the • Cli.inoso'; and'my point is ■that,, howovpr'j'much :of hasto and. folly and violenc'e' may be mixed up .in the movements wliidh' piocecd undor these watchwords; with'' tho, watchwords themselves .wo cannot'ibut have l the fullest sympathy. And everything- -.depends- on sympathy. Outside the area of' Christian effort wo have created in'lndia' ay"new"class of educated natives, and' Wo"are on''our trial to seo whether 'wo can havo" the " wisdom to guide towards emancipation''the.'"'spirit whicli, wo have raised.; •It is 1 nbty I boliove, too much'to' say that tho ■ bitterness of young India is largely duo, riot to tho fact of our rule, but .to tho.'. incivility and lack .of courtcsy which,, in'the railway train and in tho social intercpurso- of life, Englishmen are apt to show to natives as well educated as themselves'.' - -It'" is not' too much to say .that our fulfilment of our function in India in tho future depends upon our developing ,a power of sympathy which certainly wo have not developed yet. India oxists not to be part of England's Empire; but to roaliso herself.- For.; this God made tho Indians. And if we- Christians bclicvo, as assuredly we do, ; that'lndia-can realiso herself only by 'finding herself "in Christ, yet still the finding herself in Christ can only: como about through, our ministry, if we can learn tho •sympathy of' Christ. There, aro many grounds for despondency in England. When wo think of possiblo' grounds for encouragement',: th'oro aro'none, I venture to say, which could in . any way 'compare with the encouragement which _tho _ Christian heart of England would receive if it could see in India or "China or Japan another really nativo Church—Ca_tholic in basis, but native in and taking shape and standing on its own basis of equality and independence; able also to toach others. Truly it would bo for us in England 'life from tho dead."

A Domestic. Tyrant. It would seem that tho rcsidont of Vionna who does.not.' wish to: be out of pocket must keep early hours, for after 10 o'clock, wo read, he is taxed-.on ontoring his own house or apartment, or,-for tho matter of that, any house. .Tho •" sperrgeld," or door-opening tax, is not peculiar to Vionna, b.ut is also found in other capitals of tho Continent. Tho two million residents of tho, Austrian city aro practically, .imprisoned in their own strongholds from 10 o'clock in tho evening until 0 tho next morning. Tlioy may go in or out only by _ paying the equivalent of twopenco to 'the janitor, as, as ho is styled thero, tho .".housomastcr." . Vionna is built on the flat plan; -Rich people and working people aliko livo in quartors of this description. The houses are largo, having fivo or six floors, w.ith four flats on a floor; so it is not unusual to-find, upward of a hundred persons-living under one roof. - There is a common entrance •from the street," arid.aftor 10 o'clock at night this; door :is .bolted and barred. From 10 to 12 all that go in-or out must pay tho tax of twoponco. ■ After 12 tho charge is doubled. Tho. tax must bo-paid ovory time ono passes through the doorway without exception. Ono .who has-dined-with a friend must, if ho stays late, pay-twoponce to get out of-his friend's houso, .and twopence to get into his own. ■ A .telegram in tho night requires the payment of -tho tax before the messenger boy can onter. The housemaster also collects and keeps. duplicate .copies of forms, on which 'every, individual in- the house must report to ■the police-his.ago,■ birthplace, ajid religion, his exact occupation, and othor personal details that the Austrian authorities insist on knowing. " Nor does the'power of this important personago end even hero. From tho little -guard-room-that ho occupios at the foot of tho stairs he sijes everyone that goes in or. out. Ho "ascertains with amazing accuracy tho amount of each tenant's incomo, tho events of his-family life, and the character of his visitors.' Hi 3 far-roaching power enables him to terrorise every servant in the houso into entering his intelligence department, and thus ho spies on the innermost life of-tho subjects-of his five-story kingdom.