Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,600 Copies Daily SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1910. A YEAR AND A DECADE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9404, 31 December 1910, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,600 Copies Daily SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1910. A YEAR AND A DECADE.

To-day is the last day of the year 1910. It is also the last day of the first decade of the twentieth centtiry. When this century hove in Msight endlees prophecies were made of the wonders that would be revealed to maii as the years' unfolded themselves.' The /lawn of the century was full of promise in all branches of human effort, and now that the first ten years have passed it .is interesting to take, a glimpsp of the busy span of time, and see how much has been accomplished. Many of the discoveries made are still in their infancy, and are puzzling, those who have-the moulding of them k> tho use of man. Others have made marvellous strides, and have opened out new and undreamed-of possibilities. The motor car of the year 1900 was a very unpretentious affair, but ten years of engineering genius and experience have transformed it into a truly startling means of locomotion, and .the same power is being applied

with sucoees to miany and more useful avenues of industry. There has been a remarkable advance in marine engineering,,and we have become quite used to ocean leviathians. It took the twentieth century to .surpass the Great Eastern, and now, at the end of the first decade, that one-time monster has shrunk by comparison to pigmy proportions. In naval engineering the submarine has become an accomplished fact, yet withal an agency of uncertain power; the Dreadnought is already commonplace. Of all the wonders, that which fills the largest place in the vision is the conquest of the hitherto unconquerable element. At the dawn of the century men . were making clumsy efforts to ride the.

winds/ andtheir? feeKlenM&eeemed:-t6>> a long t*ie air. But jwith dramatibewiftnees the bird- i men have learnt to soar, and to-day the aeroplane and ;the airship are scientific facts, whose development may in ±he next generation change' the map of the world, and reverse the order of the great world forces. StraiJger still, and quite as portentious, is the discovery which is- now causing so much,discussion in the medium world. Radium's powers are still only partly known, but sufficient has* been revealed to give ah indication of what might be expected when the scientist has explored its possibilities. Like its predecessor, 'the twentieth, century was ushered in amid the strife and hardship of war. 'The struggle in South Africa was dragging drearily to a close. Notwithstanding the efforts, of peace promoters, the enlightenment of this twentieth century has not yet brought about more civilised methods of settling, international disputes, and the decade now closing witnessed a bitter, costly, and dreadful struggle, in which for the first time the distant Orient came to grips with the Occident. The victory of ,the East in the Russo-Japanese war was a significant opening of the history, of the international struggles of the new century. The past ten years have bred a strange unrest among the great world powers, the mad piling up of armaments being one of the most unpromising features of the opening century. ;.

Coming t.o the year just closed, we find that it has been more full than usual of notable happenings. The Empire was plunged in gloom at the loss of a great Sovereign whose reign over his world-scattered Dominions had been one earning him the respect and admiration of all manner of men, and which gave him a place the great rulers of the earth. Of Imperial significance was 'the consummation of a United South Africa, and such an issue from the turmoil and hatred of the opening years of the century is one of the conspicuous triumphs of British statesmanship. At the heart of the Empire the year has been a memorable one, for a great constitutional struggle has proceeded to a somewhat doubtful issue, and 1910 will be remembered as among the notable years in the political history of England. For nearly a century hunian imagination and genius has been directed towards the disco'y'ery of the ' North Pole. Thousands of pounds have been spent, and many lives sacrificed. After so much romance had, centred round the quest, the inglorious success of the present year seemed possessed of an unusual amount of irony, and little of :the heroic was left when the CookPeary controversy came , , to. its end. An expedition" has also sailed from New Zealand, its objective being the South Pole. Captain' Scott, the intrepid explorer; is in command, and with Sir ■ Ernest Shackleton's experiences for his guidance,, there are good grounds for belief . that he will be successful in his undertaking. There are numerous, other significant happenings, not 'the' least of which are the introduction of compulsory military training in New Zealand and Australia,, arid , the success of the Labour Party in Federal and State politics,. In our s own land the new decade starts with every promise of con-, tinued prosperity. There are few clouds on the horizon, and everything points'.to, a bright' future. For 1911, at least, there is little to worry about. We wish all our readers ; A HAPPY NEW YEAR.