CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIII, Issue 13714, 3 April 1905, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

The Baltic Fleet left) the Nossibe Island a fortbaltio fleet, night ago, and beyond an indefinite report that some warships had been seen in> the neighbourhood of the Chagos Archipelago, no news has been received concerning it. If it was wellfound and fully coaled before leaving it should need no assistance- in crossing tho Indian Ocean, and should be in the neighbourhood of the- Spice islands by now. Of course, on their previous performances the warships should take a month or two to reach Singapore, but Admiral Rozjestvenaky will not be anxious to remain long at sea in tho tempestuous Indian ocean. The vessels may call at Diego Garcia, but there are no temptations in this neglected--port to keep them long. At Nossibe they were well supplied with food, being comparatively close to civilisation, but the Chagos Islands have little to give them. A big fleet is very liable to be scattered at sea, and Diego Garcia may have been named as a convenient rendezvous. But Diego Garcia is 2500 miles from Singapore and the fleet'will have to find another halting place before it reaches tho Straits cf Sunda. It is quite possible that Kozjestvensky will divide his command vath the object of drawing off some cf the Japanese cruisers. The Malacca end Sunda Straits, being tho'most convenient, are likely. to. "bo most carefully watched, but if RozjEst-vensky can obtain a qualified pilot there is no reason why ho should not work south and pass through tho island belt by one cf the less frequented routes. Tho fact that a couple of fast colliers had to take refuge in Batavia Harbour i»

order to escape capture by the Japanese in January shows that the Rus- ' sians have not- neglected to arrange for the pa-ssage of their fleet through the Malay Archipelago, but it also shows that the Japanese are -watching. No "3bubt the Japanese naval patrol of fast cruisers will content itself with hanging to the Russian flanks, cutting off here and there some lagging collier or cruiser. The features of the island region are entirely favourable to that fort of raiding, because Rozjestvensky will find it practically impossible to keep so huge a fleet together in the island studded seas. A meeting of teachers at shortcomings the Birmingham Uniof education, versity a few weeks ago was remarkable in that it produced some very outspoken criticisms of modern educational methods. Sir Oliver Lodge, for example, declared that arithmetic, as taught, was full of absurdities. Some of the terms used were the worst things ever concocted by a nation emerging from semi-barbarism. They were neither arithmetic, mathematics, nor common-sense. Part of what was inflicted on children as arithmetic was dull and useless, dealing with artificial complexities of pretended commerce expressed in units of barbaric origin. Such sums never really occurred, and teaching them merely wasted the child's learning-time. "With memories of strange' 3 problems still in their minds and of weary hours spent in purposeless drudgery at school, most people will agree 5 with Sir Oliver. In the course of the same lecture the Principal of the University made some pertinent observations on the teaching of history. Usually, he said, the term history was applied, in schools, in the sense of the history of our own nation, beginning at some well-marked epoch, and finishing a century or two away, so that events might not become too complicated or too personal. Much of what was so taught was rather the dry bones of history; it was anatomy rather than physiology, a scrutiny of the structure of defunct organism rather than a study of living function. Part of that anatomical study was necessary and might be acquired young. The oEder of the kings,- for instance; with their dates-, was a harmless and useful piece of memory work; it served afterwards as a sort of framework in which to set more vital details. But for any real insight into the history and institutions of a people in their struggles and revolts, their failures and successes, their emancipations and their oppressions, for any real sympathy with the feelings and efforts of a statesman, something beyond infantile age was riecessary. The study of history, Sir Oliver concluded, would not come to full life until the spirit of politics, not merely of party politics, but of sociology, patriotism, civic interest, had been somehow •wakened. There are many good the gift of writers who will be quite spelling, at one with Mr H. G. "Wells in his plea for freedom to negotiate with the dictionary writers in the matter of spelling. He expresses some difficulty in broach iug his own doubts upon the subject of correct spelling, because for some inexplicable reason he finds that spelling in his own case has become mixed up with moral feeling. As an example of the cold clarity and correctness.of propriety in spelling,' Mr Wells instances the address " My very dear wife," compared with the infinities of affection inherent in " Migh verrie deare wyfe." -The quality of feeling in the two addresses is certainly as subtle as it is imaginative, and it is probably due more to a suggestion of the heroic literature which upon occasion adopts such forms of spelling as aids to romance than to any other cause. But Mr Bernard Shaw is also a 'convert to reformed spelling, and quite without any justification, and without deigning to offer any excuse, he has apparently decided to do away with the apostrophe. This is rather an alarming innovation, .as a recent article from his pen in the ■' Grand Magazine " will testify. He ifrites words of an interesting appearance, such as "youd" and "havent," end sentences like " Youll tell him Ive been here. . . . Youre a pair of beauties. . . . You cant get the better of me. . . . Wove nothing to do with the hotel." This is interesting if rather objectless. Reform of ithe spelling of English is one of the subjects which have been favourites in debate ever since the dictionary first set a standard and it was realised that it was not a sign of a liberal education to write "separated" for "separated," or "opportunity" with one "p." Hitherto the spelling reformers have not found much support, probably on account of what Mr Wells characterises as " the indescribable meanness of their motives." " This phonography," he writes, " really amounts to a study of the cheapest way of spelling words." This cant the "Spectator" takes to be typical of most cants, and especially of srhat may be termed Hie cant of protest. It offers as alternatives the sug2estions that the craze for phonetic or free spelling is either due to the perpetual drift of the wilder minds towards a modernity which they think valuable or evidence of the individual search after originality. But these are the excuses of the philosopher, and the ordinary man who cannot.spell will continue to conclude that he cannot do so because spelling is a " gift," whilst the ordinary man who can spell will ascribe the ignorance of his fellow of poorer parts to his lack of education.