TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 23, 28 January 1908, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

To the average reader "math" merely suggests the Scriptures, but "Math." to many students of the I New Zealand University it calls up horrible visions of "pie" (not the pie of the comic papers), and "riders" (more tricky than some of tho jockeys who figured at Trentham recently). A sickening dread of logarithms, surds, and intricate quadratics comes upon him ; it is the bogey of mathematics that terrifies him, and at present this subject is compulsory for men and women who desire to append B.A. to their names. Yesterday, however, the senate decided to 'Beck power from Parliament to establish a degree of Bachelor of Literature, which would not necessarily involve a study of mathematics. Replying to objections that "sums" were required to train the mind, the chancellor (Sir Robert Stout) declared that logic and biology were quite as good for mental gymnastics. It is a fact that some students, brilliant in many departments of learning, are dull at mathematics. Thay seom unable to grasp tho basic principles, and the study ia a drudgery to them. There are cases ..wiuU'Q £his on© subject has kejit cjumUv

dates back year after year long after they have become proficient in others, and it is therefore only fair to give these persons a reasonable chanco to attain honours without a compulsory pass in matters which their mind abhors. We would be sorry to see the cult of mathematics grow less. Tho study of this subject should be compulsory in the general educational interests of the student, for mathematics is the foundation stone of all the sciences, but people who desire a degree should not be obliged to pass in that cour&e. With a single exception, to which no reasonable objection can bo The made, the Government of Straight Japan has absolutely proPath, hibited emigration to Hawaii. So our cable news records, with tho further information that tho action has given the groatest satisfaction at Washington. There i 3 "consternation" in certain quarters at Toldo, and considerable outcry— but not, be it noted, on patriotic grounds, or even, so far as our information extends, because of any alleged indignity. "It is by this craft we have our wealth," said the silversmiths when they caused a riot in the city of Ephesus ; it was because "the hope of their gains was gone" that the proprietors of the pythoness of Philippi raised a like disturbance ; and the identical motive actuates tho emigration companies of Tokio, who, it would seem, prefer incurring the risk of international complications and possible war to the loss of their profits. Japan has in this matter acted righteously and^ wisely : diplomacy as yet/ does not fully recognise the two terms ' as interchangeable. The clamour of tho discontented party is probably out of all proportion to its numbers. The approval of that very strong party — which according to The Times is growing in strength, and includes the majority of the commercial and industrial classes — that favours the slackening of armaments and relief of taxation may be anticipated, and Count Hayashi may in some measure find his reward at the general elections in the autumn, at which that party is expected to exercise a powerful influence. The exception to which we have referred — in favour of intending emigrants whose relatives are already settled in Hawaii— | is another sign of soun3 judgment. Japan has avoided any such, hard and fast rule as has just caused trouble in the Transvaal. "The law of the Medes and Persians" was never a success, and never j can bo ; it offers a perpetual premium to evasion. The essential point, however, is that Japan has chosen a straight instead of a devious course. The alternative might have led to war and far-reaching disaster. If the facts stated in a Press Association telegram from AuckA Costly land to-day are correct, Long Beer, the record price for a j pint, or half a pint, of beer has been paid by an army veteran, who was made to surrender £135 for a glass. The man is uot a millionaire who _ flashed that money out merely in caprice, and the beer was not liquid gold, though it wai dearer. The drinker was pust a poor old soldier, an old-age pensioner of eighty-two years, an inmate of the Costley home. It is said that he had one glass of beer, dozed off in a public place, and for this he was to bo deprived of his pension for five years, though he was "a man of unblemished cnaracter." At eighty-two he has the cheerful prospect that if he is alive when he is eightyseven he will again draw his pension, provided that in the interval he does not again commit the dreadful crime of drinking a glass of beer. It is not many months since a similar case happened in Wellington, and an unfortunate man, who had played his part valiantly on the stage of life, was thrust into the outer darkness of tho wings, because he had lapsed into a pint or so. Can anything be more pitifully absurd or absurdly pitiful than this ruthless crushing of a wornout man tottering on the brink of the grave? Are examples; needed by the ] puritanical authorities? Do they imagine that the young man in the streets to-day will be induced to lead a sober life till he is sixty-five lest he should lose 10s a week, the pittance of the pensioner? A little kindly commonsense is needed in the treatment of the aged to whom a little beer may be agreeable, just as it is to comfortable, well- v nourished men who are making fortunes, Mr. Lloyd-George, speaking at Cardiff last week, warned his The audience — a largo proEbb and Flow portion of which would of Trade. be colliers and worker.3 in the tin-plate factories — that signs were not wanting of a reaction in trade. Germany and America had been convulsed, and Britain could scarcely hope to escape the depression. Mr. George, as President of the Board j of Trade, has access to special sources of information, which gives his utterances great weight. He might have | quoted with effect old Quarles's "Sees't. Thou good days? Prepaic for evil times : no summer but hath his winter. He never reaped comfort in adversity that sowed it not in prosperity." This aphorism is universal in its application. It is as true of tho individual as it is of the Nation. The thrifty nation, like the thrifty individual, emerges practically unscathed from these trade crises. "Every little while the ponderous pendulum of trade swings to and fro. Seven years appears to be tho very maximum allowed for feverish activity in production. This present period began in 1901-02^ &o its highest point has been passed. Then follows languor. But only for a year or two, after which the world makes ai greater leap forward. And so expansion goes on— two steps forward and one step back, but gaining, in the end. This is measuring prosperity by statistics only. There are, of course, other tests which rather disturb the investigator. Like the ocean, trade has its tides. It ebbs and flows in accordance with some inscrutable law. Why should every period of buoyant trade and plentiful employment have at its heels lock-oute, silent factories, and armies^ of unemployed such as are seen this winter in Germany, America, and to a less degree in Britain. The workless men do not understand the why nnd wherefore, but in. a dim and hesitating Tray they feel the system has a fault. But where? In its ramifications trade may bo compared to "A maasey wheel To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser th nq-a 1 Are mortised and adjoined : which when it fullo, I Each small nnirexment, petty ewisequeuce, Attends the gloomy ruin." A Magistrate, Mr. Kettle, S.M., sat on a coroner, Mr. Thomas A Crowner's^ Gresham, at Auckland, Quest lece-ntly, and the r>v and After, suit of the inquest is announced. The coroner has been fined £2 on a charge of illtreating a fox terrier pup by causing it to be caught on a fish-nook placed in an aperture in a fence. The little animal was gripped by an ear, which was severely lacerated. The defendant pleaded that dogs had been a nuisance on his property, and be was entitled to protect, himself in tho style stipulated. This argument did not appeal to tho Magistrate. "Persons who recklessly disregard the feelings of dumb animals, and wilfully, wantonly, mercilessly, and needlessly cause them pain without reasonable and adequate object or justification are guilty of cruelty," he ruled. "In my opinion the facts in this caso bring the defendant well within this .definition.. 1 - J± ia the "needlessly." that.

principally condemns the coroner. There are better materials than fish-hooka for stopping gaps in fences. Under the circumstances £2 is not an excessive fine for such an act of barbarism, but the offender may yet have to make further, disbursements, in addition to the costs of the case. The owner of the dog is left with the right to claim compensation.