The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1880.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5951, 23 March 1880, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1880.

The . address of Mr Dobson ito the Philosophical Institute has been justly described as able. In reviewing the present state of applied science . in Canterbury, the lecturer was not only thoroughly at home, but found the subject most congenial. Himself a settler of the early times, he has contributed considerably, by the diligent exercise of his profession, to much of the development which he finds such pleasure in recording. Taking his stand, as it were, on the Port Hills, where, fourteen years ago, the only engineering work of the Province was to be seen, and was viewed by many we remember with very doubtful eyes, Mr Dobson marks the contrast with exhaustive description. As his eye falls on the network of railways, the branching roads, the noble bridges, the successful harbour works at his feet, the infant irrigation schemes in the distance, the growing breakwater at Timaru, the miles of pavements drains and buildings that adorn the towns telling of successful municipal government, the rising manufactories and tbe smiling homesteads; as his eye falls on these things he finds' a few interesting practical words to pay of each. The sum of what he sees is a great good, but not in his eyes an unmixed good. The greatest blot hefinds is in the most successful and the largest example of applied science, the railway system. The narrow gnage may, Mr Dobson evidently fears, turn out to be the rook upon which the railway system as a profitable investment eventually may be shivered. He does not go so far as that in his criticism, but he deals very severely indeed with the narrow gauge. He fears that the increased cost of maintenance, which Operates inversely as the gauge, and the diminished, speed, may cause it to happen that' “the maximum carrying power is absorbed before the minimum paying limit has been reached by the traffic.” At present he only fears, for he feels fhat to express a decided opinion would be premature. There must be some more agricultural and industrial development before the problem can be solved; An ominous utterance of this kind from an engineering authority; coming at. a time when people are uncomfortably wondering why it is that the railways of the Colony are so expensive to wprk, is none the more pleasant that it is likely to be a corroct surmise. It is specially unpleasant for Canterbury, which, when she was the railway pioneer; Ojf New Zealand, devised and carried q l° n £ way towards; completion a system of broad-gauge. She sacrificed it for the sake ojf Oqlqnial, unity, for reasons; which, after much discussion, were eventually acoepted as conclusive. If the sacrifice should turn ‘put' unavailing, if. the Canterbury fines are to be absorbed in the general.failure of the harrow' gauge

system, the, ippsition, will.- be terrible... But happily' it is yet too aeon to lay the blame of failure on the narrow gauge. As Mr Dobson points out, the \srorkmg of 'thfe' adatom' must, bo . <p4refollywatohed. In three other important; matters the application of science cannot be said to be as yet successful. ; WhiMth# i-Whbld ;b6«hti?y is' congratulating Timaru on the gradual rising of its breakwater from the waves of the Pacific, it"is well to bear in mind Mr Dobson’s warning about the possibility of hydrographic change. In the great of irrigation we seem to have enly. ; got so far as the stage of discovery of the enormous, |perl&pß iMupereblC, difflbulties of the ,subject. In town drainage ; we have adopted a water, system of drainage, and Mr Dobson reminds us that, the advocates of. different systems are l verjr numerous .and clamorous. Of these three kinds of works all that can be said about them at present is that they are all' 'three in the region of experiment,, really; of experiment which, the districts were forced to try, and upon which they have entered under the best available guidance. Mr Dobson is appreciative of much that has been done, but he does not write of what may happen like a hopeful man. The practical portion pf Mr Dobsons paper which is the best will be of great use tothecountry. Itisfullof valuable hints to the river conservator, the guardian of public' : health; -the country roadmaker; the surveyor, to all in fact engaged in the responsible,pprtipn:of the work of colonisation. It is a strange thing to hear a man dilating on the necessity of. placing the control of a river into the hands of _ one body alone, charged' with - -the • task of, keeping the within certain bounds.-. Elsewher* ihe strangeness would be on the part of a theme,, who would be put down as an idiot, without two ideas,to rub ;aghinst ; each other. Here the strangeness is iin the facts, for there are two bodies engaged upon the impossible task of, “conserving” a large river, without reference to one aaotherl ./ Mn Dobson’s protest is worth attending to. His hints to health authorities are valuable, because 5 they: tend to remind them that the collection and grouping of facts, which are effects, is indispensable ; to- ithpu discovery "of causes, which is the main object of the existence ' ofhealth authorities. . The country .learn jftu&t-th'e less he disturbs Nature, and the. .more, money he'Saves 4he better work will he. do, .a lesson invaluable to Road ; Boards in these " dayS when the deluge of vanished subsidies and increasing rates is at hancL ,0£ the hints given to surveyors and others it is quite unnecessary bo speak,.; for they are; simple f and seif evident as they are practical. They end the catalogue of practical suggestions which is indispensable to a general review of results, and should form the most valuable portion of the treatise —a requirement which Mr Dobson’s suggestions certainly fulfil. At the end of the paper there is a short essay on the subject of classical education, T It is, comprehensive, vappreciativeiy philosophical, well ftritteh,, even eloquent, Its object cannot be to advocate the excision of the classical from the modern educational course, for it is a strong proof of how useful a properly directed study of classical history -may be to a man. It sets out with admitting E the value of, 1 classical study as ja mental training, and the object of education is not to cram the mind with facts, but to bring it into a condition fit for grappling with the work of manhood. If the mind is brought into this Condition, 'the educational system that has achieved the result has- certainly done something considerable towards fitting it. for “the active duties of life in that world to which man was sent ‘ to eat his bread in the sweat of his' brow.’” Education moreover is not to be measured entirely by the standard of immediate profit which applies to technical schools, to the study of the learned professions, applied science and the arts. We are budding a nation in this remote corner of the earth. Heaven save it from becoming a nation of money grubbers. The Greeks and the Romans have given us splendid examples of national development. It is useful to know the steps by which they attained it. How can we follow in those of their footsteps which are good to be followed, without a knowledge of their laws, their social policy, and their industrial proficiency ?—the very things in fact which Mr Dobson has summed up with such graphic fidelity of memory and such eloquence of appreciation. 1 Moreover, a nation must have a literature. These two nations of antiquity, whose “ literature was the reflex of their national greatness,” built up that literature without the advantage of models, which they did not possess. The wish to emulate their literacy greatness is not exactly a reason for refusing to make our youth familiar with the splendid examples they have left behind. As we have not the greatness to reflect, let us keep the models, It will be said that modern models are numerous and good. They are, but as they were formed upon, the anicient, some knowledge of the ancient is necessary to their; right understanding. And the same.may be said in a, greater.;- degree, if it -were possible, of modern laws. Further, if utility is to be the.' sole standard, the.-kind of utility that commends itself to the meanest understanding why study even modern literature ? For these reasons, it seems to us that the President of the Institute very rightly does not—we must say that his address, requires careful study—undervalue the " classics as a necessary portion of the educational . coarse. In his criticism; of the abuse of classical studies he deserves the heartiest support. They should not monopolise the wh6le time' given to education. Latin verses are very good in their way, but it is possible to have too much ,evep of thepi, and nobody is likely to be any better for the study 6f licentious authors in. any language, No doubt much tithe has been lost wijih: these things, but the growth of modern ideas has worked , a marvellous .qbange in this 4‘espetefe ■ ' Modern" 1 aißioffl''-'' Msj ;heeh found to be better worthstudying, and A fair knowledge of icieiice * is acknow-

lodged Khe,indispensable., ;; M? Dobson,--in claimingtlor eoience its “due pro* minence in our -educational coupse”' bus already very general support —r which will be all tbe heartier, for the! graceful use ho baa made of’the classical argument in support of his contention. As an appeal to the advocates of the, classics and to the champions of science bis address is particularly happy.