Page 3 Advertisements Column 2

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 71, 23 March 1912, Page 3

New Zealand is a small country — small, that is, | \.. \ \ * in population compared with the teeming millions v. <^^^^ K \ I of the Old Country or the United States — but, in \ spite of that, she has not only held her own in com- '--- -- *V^ - \^^^^{viteGr petition with other countries, but has in many lines \ \ beaten them fairly and squarely. * A^-^n In individual effort, we need only mention such "\^ \ \mL\ Jp names as those of Professor Ernest Rutherford in \ \ science, of Mr. H. B. Marriott Watson and Professor -\^\^f^^^ M \ Macmillan-Brown in the literature of creation and of \ )M \ I—* 4 criticism, of Arnst the unbeaten and the conquering \**~~iW~~~\s/\ \ " All Blacks "in sport, to see the proud position won %. \ I by New Zealanders. ss&r \ /tW-~^F~~~\ This Dominion has led the way in many features ng^Fx^fiF \ \ \ of advanced legislation : she has constantly fixed on /flf \ Jk V - -JU-- - nr her the eyes of the greatest statesmen and students jljLssnd^A \i I of politics in the Old World, men who are keenly "^^^^v \ I— !•— -4 watching the results of New Zealand's daring pioneer L mffi!\ — \ "jCT-i developments , in Industrial Legislation, Woman's Suffrage, National Railways, Land Laws, the Liquor Question, National Defence and Compulsory Training, in which " God's own country " has not been afraid to lead the way. In education New Zealand is well to the front. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a white man or woman here to-day who cannot read and write. Compare this with Spain, where the majority of the people can neither read nor write, or with Russia, where the number of illiterates varies from 50 to 90 per cent, in the rural districts. The London " Spectator " recently described an educational test which was put to a number of men in France and Great Britain. The test was a childish one, but there was an astonishing number of cises where blank ignorance met such questions as "Who was Nelson ?" — " Who is the Prime Minister?" — "Where is San Francisco?" — questions which any schoolboy could answer here. * There can be no doubt that this standard of education has much to do with the high national position of New Zealand. It may seem fanciful to attribute to it Mr. Wilding's tennis championship or the. winning of the "Daily Mail " cup for rifle shooting, but the principle of the healthy mind in a healthy body must not be forgotten. The New Zealander's mind can thrive because his body thrives. His body has a chance to thrive because judicious legislation, which is the outcome of national education, prevents the . festering slum life, the starvation wage and the sweating, which so often breed weak minds and deformed bodies in the older and more crowded countries. Legislation is so far advanced in New Zealand because practically every man and woman take an intelligent interest in public affairs and all which affects the community's well-being. Such interest is purely the result of education. Every parent recognises the need for equipping children with the best possible education,, as the modern instrument which opens the world's oyster. It is the man or woman or child who knows who gets on in life, who comes to the front in the professional, business, or social world. How often do you hear a man regret that he had not a better education i How often do you realise yourself that you would win your way more easily if you had had more schooling ? How often do you find yourself ignorant, or at best vaguely informed, on some question of vital importance ? No man can know everything, indeed. This is a highly specialised age, and a man spends a lifetime in the constant struggle to render himself perfect in a single subject. The average man or woman hardly needs to know more than the general outline of such subjects, but goes in ignorance because it is not readily accessible. * It is in such a case as this that the new Encyclopaedia Britannica is an intellectual necessity rather than a luxury. It is written by these very men who have spent their lives in research. It is full of articles on matters of every-day interest, written simply and clearly, concisely yet comprehensively, by the specialists who have thus come to be recognised as the leading authorities in their own subjects. The new Encyclopaedia Britannica covers every conceivable subject. It is not a ponderous dry-as-dust collection of abstruse theories and problems : it is not a series of heavy and uninteresting facts that you have to force yourself to read. The information is conveyed in the most readable form, because it is written by men who have their subject at their finger ends, and can therefore expound it lucidly. This is a leading feature of the new Encyclopaedia Britannica — " learning " from it is not in any way associated with' the painful method by which the average child has to learn a lesson. The India paper, which makes the book physically as easy to read as a magazine, encourages you to pick up a volume for reading in odd moments, and wherever you open it you are sure to find something that will encourage you to read on for sheer .entertainment. It is this supremely readable form and quality which make the new Encyclopaedia Britannica of the highest value as an educational instrument. Children will read it and learn, without knowing that they are learning. If you make a practice of referring them to it when they ask questions, they will soon form the profitable habit of reading it. It is impossible to over-estimate the benefit which such a habit, formed in a thousand New Zealand homes, will confer on the future Dominion. It is in this sense that the enterprise of the Cambridge University Press, in offering the new Encyclopaedia Britannica to New Zealand readers at the minimum price fixed for English subscribers before publication, can be justified as a great educational undertaking. At the same time, such an enterprise has its -commercial aspect; for tlie sale of a thousand sets of the Encyclopaedia Britannica "at this distance from its place of origin is a costly business, which could only be undertaken in view of the assurance that New Zealand is keenly alive to the need of the best possible educational apparatus. From this point of view, it must be emphasized that the present offer at the rock-bottom price cannot be of long continuance. To-day the complete work will be delivered on payment of one guinea with order, followed by a few easy payments so small as to bring the work within reach of the average wage-earner as well as of the monied man. But only a limited number of sets has been allocated for this sale, and when they are sold the price, will be permanently raised. There is every indication that this will be the case within a very short period. If you wish to know more in detail about the book and the temporary prices, cut the coupon from the foot of this announcement and post it to-day, when you will receive the illustrated Prospectus and 56 Specimen Pages by return of post. At the cost of a penny | t 7"the'cambr^^ ~ " ttamp you can obtain a 40- j Z Harris Street, Wellington. P.O. Box 142. page pamphlet giving a full j Please selld mC| tiß aud posl ffeC) he illUßtraled prospectUß account of the most valuable specimen pages and prices. of the new Encyclopaedia Britannica. and wonderful book ever of- * Name fered to New Zealanders. Do not forget to post this coupon Address , , , TO-DAY, m- ■ ■ i 6 •