TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

So many distinguished detractors have deemed it their duty Young to traduce the characNew Zealand, ter of Young New Zealand to the British public as having been degraded by the absence of the Bible honi our schools, that it is a pleasant change to find an authority of at least equal eminence! taking up the cudgels in its defence Not only does Sir Robert Stout repudiate the fashionable clerical slanders, but h-3 carries the war into the enemy's coun< * r y .w. wi th a refreshing thoroughness. Children secularly trained in New Zealand," he tells the Daily News, "produce only half the criminals in proportion to their numbers, compared with those trained in denominational schools." Here is a retort courteous, well calculated to flutter the theological dovecotes. Personally, we have no great faith in these general statistical comparisons, but undoubtedly the present one need not fear comparison in point of solidity with most of the invective that serves the place of argument on the other side. Young New Zealand is not going to the dogs, though ministers of religion, who are anxious to unload their responsibilities upon the State, often declare that it is. Sir Robert Stout has also a useful word for Dr. Clifford and his friends He is amazed at the attitude of the iingiish Nonconformists and Liberals lhey seek," he says, "to disestablish the church, yet they seek to maintain a sectarian school as the children's church. There will-be peace from sectarian strife in the schools when Church and Chapel are both excluded from control, and compelled to settle thejr differences outside. Yet it was only the other day that Mr. Runciman declared that no Government would ever dream of such xt £' , f views of a distinguished New Zealand Liberal may turn his waking thoughts to where, beyond these compromises, there is peace. That the Tsar should "trust the people" is not to be expected ; nor Ihe Tsar's that he should trust the veto. people's representatives, . even under their present limitations. It need not therefore be a matter to occasion great surprise that as a cable message to-day informs us he has vetoed the Bill constituting a Na-val General Staff, though it had been introduced with his consent and bad passed both the Duma and the Council of the Empire. There is nothing in common between the aims of Russian autocracy and the constitutional ideal. In spirit the Russian despot stands with the Eastern Sultans. The principle of absolute rule is quite intelligible, and in a, certain stage of social development is, in fact, the only intelligible system, either to rulers on governed. The transition from this stage to that of popular government is necessarily gradual, as well as painful. Any conspicuous forward movement is always liable to be followed by more or less of reaction. Just as the student of astronomical physics turns his photographic telescope to some nebular vortex and strives to follow the evolution of a star-system, so may the sociologist, gazing on the whirl in the Balkan States, the ebullitions in Persia and Turkey, or the ferment in Russia, infer the gradual formation of political cosmos from chaos, and note some of the varied stages of the process. In contemporary history, the interest is quite as much in the personality of the leaders as in the lasting effects of their work— naturally, because while we can in part see what is going on, we can but dimly forecast the future. In Russia it is not the nominal head of the State who is really the conspicuous figure. What the world sees is a stiife of giants. After three years, Count Witte is emerging from obscurity, and has gained a temporary advantage over M. Stoiypin, the Premier, whose resignation, it is said, no is endeavouring to bring about. Before his retirement, Count Witte's real position was a matter of much controversy, and many held that he had a genuine desire for reform, though to others it seemed that he was playing both sides to gain his own ends. His latest appearance is as a reactionary. The Tsar, apparently, fears that the proposed Naval General Staff would limit his own powers, and Count Witte has wrought upon that apprehension. The next move will Nbe awaited with interest. Very plainly, very .completely, the delegates of district A Large Chambers of CornRailway Order, merce, in conference at Palmerston yesterday, set out their desire for a faster and more convenient railway service for the benefit of people in the lower half of the North Island, at least. For several years residents of the inland towns have been asking for improvements, and now they •have strongly joined their forces for the conversion of the Minister to their way of thinking. It is a good and a bad time for the asking of concessions. It is good because the Hon. J. A. Millar is now busy with his scheme of rearrangements, and it is bad because the Minister 13 very loth just now to agree to proposals, unless he is convinced that they will not increase the already huge annual loss on the railways. However, a deputation is to interview the Minister, and the members may be able to point the way to a profit by reforms calculated to increase the traffic. Mr. Millar is sure to be grateful for any "tips" to assist him reduce the enormous yearly deficit. His task is to minimise the ' dead ' running, and add to the life of the live " running. He has announced that, even if he cannot lower the annual loss, he will be on his guard against swelling it. He has recently been over the principal tracks, and through the workshops and offices. He has been assiduously studying the intricate "three per cent." problem, and may soon be able to speak incisively about a depart-

ment which the Prime Minister did not noticeably mention in his retrenchmentproposals. Following on the prophecy, voiced by an iAucklander in. yesterday's Lucky Post, that the Queen City Auckland, is to have a population of a quarter of a million before the poor capital touches a meagre hundred thousand, comes news of further blessings in store 'for the ex-capital. The Northern city has an earthquake anticipator, very generous with his wares, but they are all for outside markets— none for home use. This prophet distributes earthquakes and eruptions among the earth's peoples as lightly as a child scatters wheat among fowls. Cheerfully he hands out some shocks for "the latitude of San Francisco." He h«s terrestrial sensations for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in the near .future, but not for Auckland. "He does not," writes the Auckland historian, "apprehend any disturbances in the Auckland districts, which is about as secure as any part of the earth!" That is a proper sort of prophet for any oity to have, and he should be one able- to reverse the traditional fate of his brethren by securing honour in his own district. He pictures Auckland as a beautiful rock of ages, firmly riveted to the earth's axis, and securely fastened to the Poles. The heav-ens may fall, but Auckland will stand; mountains may totter in ruins over the whole globe, including the Tararuas and the Tinakori •Range, but Auckland will not be perturbed. It is to be the one unshaken city delectable when countless others are involved in horrible cataclysms. 'Olacaulay's New Zoalander" is, apparently, to be an Aucklander. If the people at large have any faith in the earthquakemongor's theories, Auckland should not be long about getting that quarter of a million inhabitants!