The Evening Star TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1922. Posts and Remedies.

Evening Star, Issue 17957, 2 May 1922, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1922.

Posts and Remedies.

Some of tho .seven pi sign os of Egypt are reappearing in various parts of tlie world one al a lime. Becluianalaml j is invaded by an army of locusts “3CO miles long," an somewhat ambiguously puts it, evidently referral.' to the length of the devastating column nitber than of the units comprised in it. Parts of New South-Wales arc so overrun with mice that the Udtlcis hate been reduced to a state of desperation, and sometimes of temporary ruin. They are now seeking aid from tho Pasteur Institute, in Paris so that a virus may be introduced among the mice to wine them out by disease. A new disease is reported from Queensland which is causing deaths among children with terrible swiftness. The world is busier than ever seeking remedies for nge-old maladies and the new ms which everv now and again descend upon it. Cures for consumption and for cancer are periodically announced ; hnt so far those have proved, if not absolutely false alarms, at least anything but the specifics the db-covcrcrs have claimed them to be. Now there comes from Fiji the announcement of a practically infallible cure for hookworm, in the shape of carbon tetrachloride. This parasitical disease first attracted general attention in the .southern part of the United States, where whole regions were populated by “ poor whites, made miserable in phys’.f|iie and practically robbed of all energy by their unwelcome and tenacious internal tenants. It in claimed (hat an irresistible eviction order is contained in t.he new drug, and future developments will bo watched with the closest interest, particularly in Australia, for the disease has recently been establishing itself in Queensland. That State has nlreadv had more than its share of pests, including the tick and the recent alarming development of the blowfly pest among sheen. The men who devote their energy and -scientific attainments to combating and, if possible, eradicating such evils rank high among the world’s benefactors. There are other fields than those of science and medicine in which tho search For specific remedies for widespread undesirable developments of Nature is going on. Sometimes this results achieved have been totally unforeseen, and have merely meant a change of course from Scylla to 1 Chavybdir. We may take the case of tho rabbit. Stoats, weasels, and ferrets have been introduced to exterminate him ; but Brer Rabbit still multiplies—except where Government Inspectors have the loyal cooperation of s'ettlors who are sound enough economists to prefer his eradication to the, short-sighted policy of “ fanning ” him for tho value of Ins skin—ami tiro stoats and their confreres have in turn become a menace. Apart from wbat may bo termed their commercial depredations, they have wrought havoc among the native bird life of New Zealand. It is even possible that others of our native birds are well on that road in total extinction which has now been reached by the huia, tho royal bird of the Maoris. In this particular case human agencies are probably more responsible than imported vermin ; but it is saddening news to read, as recently reported by tho ‘ Manawalu Daily Times,’ that an enthusiastic North Island naturalist’s search for a pair of these birds to place on the Kapifci Island Sanctuary to propagate there has disclosed the fact that the huia is extinct—no .specimens could be found. The sphere of economics is one which provides many examples of unforeseen and sometimes unwelcome results arising from the application of supposed remedies for admitted evils. Some of these remedies have been denounced as of the “cpiack” variety as soon as proposed. Such was tho out-of-work dole in Britain, which has really accentuated unemployment, because, in order to pay it, the Government elected to tax industries out of existence in some cases. One may also take the case of tho crushing taxation imposed on spirits for consumption in Britain. The object was to provide revenue and to diminish drunkenness by placing whisky beyond the reach of the average purse. The. result has been a perfect eruption of private stills m Glasgow, fur one place, by which tho revenue is defrauded, and consumers’ stomachs are scorched by new and raw spirits, while the fumes arising therefrom, ascending to their brains, seem to stir up the latent Bolshevik ideas implanted by Soviet emissaries to a dangerous pitch, This is a development entirely different, from what we may assume the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have had in view when ho piled on the Excise duty in his Budget. Scotch distillers have a powerful argument for the, revision they are seeking in this matter. Even in our own country there have been disadvantages arising, from the very rigorous corrective to over-importation which has been enforced on our traders. Vessels are coining out here in ballast, and as a consequence of no outward cargoes our producers are handicapped by the very high freights necessary on Homeward cargoes, so that vovagcs may not result in loss to shipowners. Moreover, this route is so unattractive while we keep the brake bard on importation that sailings are too infrequent to cope with accumulations of produce it is desired to ship. It is evident that in very many spheres of human activity the method known to mat lie -, maticians as “trial and error’’ lias not yet been superseded by some more scientific one, and that until it is we shall continue to observe many rebounds in most unexpected directions.