TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVI, Issue 229, 1 October 1902, Page 1

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The French novelist, Zola, whose death is aunounced by cable, achieved probably the greatest international fame of any contemporary writer. Whether he contributed in like degree to the sum total of human advancement and happiness is another matter. He is the priest of realism; he strove to depict everything in its naked bareness. Tolstoi said of his work- that it is " disagreeable and revolting, perhaps ; but it is well to see the fact and recognise the lives our brethren are living." There is a passage in one of Zola's books which describes his own writings — "There is something, of everything—of that which is excellent, and that which is most vile, the vulgar, the sublime, flowers, filth, sobs and laughter, the very torrent of life itself, which for ever and ever bears humanity upon its bosom." The pity is that the harm done to the mass of the people by the apparent immorality and grossness of his books is not compensated for by whatever merit there is in their real purpose. But as one of his critics put it, in referring to his famous defence of Dreyfus, posterity will look beyond the studied intemperance of his language and will see in him a man who refused to sit still while a great wrong was being perpetrated.

The inflow of new settlers to Canada continues to increase in volume, and the North-west territories seem to be specially favored by the immigrants. All this comes of the shrewd, progressive policy of the Ottawa authorities in having the railways pushed as rapidly as possible out into the waste lands, for where the soil is rich—as it is in most parts of Canada —lines which may be run at a loss during the first year or two are bound to pay handsomely later on. For the year ended June 30 last, the emigrants from the Old Country to the Dominion numbered 17,000, as against 12,000 for the previous year. From the United States and the Continent of Europe there was a similar increase—24,ooo as against 18,000 in the former case, and 24,000 as against 19,000 in the latter. Canada is sure to go ahead rapidly while this system works, and before many years, seeing how "the facilities for ..transport and settlement are being increased, the country onght to be carrying an enormou3 population.