CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 13936, 19 December 1905, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

-An interesting experiment in the direction of recruiting the British •' Mercantile Marine is to bo carried out early in the coming year. A scheme has just been provisionally formulated by Mr T. L. Davitt, shipowner and chairman of the Shipping Federation, and-adopted by the Marine Society, by which a hundred, sailor lads will receive sea training in the clipper ship Illawarra, trading between the Thames apd Australia. The boys will be drafted from the Warspite, after preliminary training, and will not b© received direct from the shore. This scheme is unique in the annals of th© mercantile training ship world. Th© idea of sea training in some form is, of course, not new, for stationary ships liko the Warspite have small sailing tenders attached to them to give their sailor lads short cruises during the summer months; but th© voyage of the Illawarra to and from the colonies admits of the raw recruits receiving a much fuller training. No difficulty is being experienced by the Marine Society in obtaining suitable recruits, for the vacancies on board th© Warspite ar© much sought after, and, if funds permitted, th© complement of th© stationary training ship could at once be increased by at least two hundred lads. Ample provision is to be made for the young sailors on board the Illawarra, and the ship’s company will include a chaplain, a surgeon, and sailing instructors. The scale of dietary will be good, and the boys’ kits will compare favourably with those of lads in the King’s . Navy. The cost of the victualling and clothing is estimated at £3O per head, and only boyh of good character and- physically fit will be allowed to make the voyage. The public are being invited to help forward this utilitarian scheme by providing part of the necessary capital. In view of the constant increase of foreign labour in Great Britain’s mercantile marine, the effort to remedy the dearth of British seamen seems deserving of public encouragement. Germany and other Powers have already equipped vessels with the object of training lads for the mei cantile marine, hut in the foreign experiments there is an understanding that the navy will also benefit.

“ MERCANTILE JACK.”

Tho so-called Ethiopian movement is apparently again causing trouble in South Africa. The Tull history of the movement was revealed in evidence before the'Native -vflairs Commission fast year, and the opinion was freely expressed by magistiates and missionaries that the black leaders would soon draw upen themselves and them followers the resentment of the political as well as the ecclesiastical authorities of the South African ■ colonies. The Ethiopian Church is only an expression of the old racial antagonism, black versus white, and witness after witness before the Commission described its teachings as seditious and dangerous. Its political aim, according to Major Sprigg, a Pondoland Magistrate, is to “oust the white man.” The black church was established at Pretoria in 1892, and was recognised by the Transvaal Government. In 1896 the Rev James M. Dwane and the Rev J. G. Xaba, two natives, were sent to America to seek affiliation with the'African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1898 Bishop Turner, senior Bishop of the negro body in the States, visited South Africa and formally received the Ethiopians into the fold. A year later there was a split in the Ethiopian Church owing, it is said, to the political aims of some loaders, .and the Rev J. M. Dwane, with 5000 follower's, went over to the-Episcopalian Church. These eeoedens now enjoy a kind of home rule under the gentle rule of the Archbishop of Cape Town, but the original Ethiopians go their own way preaching “ Africa for tho Africans,”, a black dominion and the end of white rule. The pastors are said to work very quietly as. a rule, and some witnesses declare that the ground has now been covered from Cape Town to the Zambesi, so that the church has its agents among every black community in South Africa. Everyone who has had first hand acquaintance with the movement condemns it as undesirable, and many witnesses speak of it as a serious menace to the peace of South Africa, Once or twice the Ethiopians have taken possession of mission buildings and have threatened the white men, but such mistakes are rare. For the most part they work in their own way, without molesting the white preachers.

A BLACK RELIGION.

SIR UPWARD GREY.

The new Secretary for Foreign Affairs is one of the really brilliant young men of the House of Commons. A candid critic once described him as the George' Curzon of the front Opposition Bench, with the qualification that in intellect and heart the advantage was with the Liberal. “ Sir Edward Grey is earnest or nothing,” wrote this, critic at the time. “ He is brilliant without being showy. His epigrams do not bear marks of the lapidary’s craft. They are finished in their own inspiration- Modesty and forbearance constitute the charm of his bearing.” Sir Edward is, in fact, an exceptionally good young man, worthy even of Disraeli’s famous complaint of “ a character unrelieved by a single vice.” It was under Lord Rosebery that lie came into prominence, and during the Liberal journey through the Wilderness, the Baronet has consistently carried the torch of Dalmeny. He has imitated his old chief, too, in the frankness of his .criticisms of the Liberal Party. In the cases of both Sir Edward Grey and Lord Curzon criticisms, even by their older and more experienced colleagues are always taken iu good part. The young men are so much in earnest and are so assured of their own great talents that mo one would venture -to contradict them. Still. Sir Edward has had ten years of

Opposition, and is ton years wiser than when ho was Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He is described as a charming speaker, simple in style and essentially graceful. “ His voice is full and round,” said an admiring journallist recently. “ His tall, lithe, yet boyish form and eagle expression befit his strong character and penetrating courage. Ho is neither a bully nor a pessimist. An Imperialist, he typifies the spirit of Empire. He is physically as well as mentally, an athlete, and an Englishman.” Sir Edward is a fisherman in leisure hours, and a cyclist between whiles. He plays cricket and tennis, and is a good shot. His best remembered achievement in politics waa the discovery that a vague gentleness of expression may be more effective than a harsh threat. There were talks of French expeditions to take possession of Soudanese territory, and in a mild reference Sir Edward declared that any interference with Britain in the Soudan would bo regarded as “an unfriendly act.” It was the recollection of this} phrase that really averted war at thi> Fashoda crisis.