TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9553, 3 July 1911, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Whex people hear the frequently-used expression, terra inThe Unknown cognita —an unWorld. known or unexplored region—they aro apt to remark that there is no unknown land ;now-a-days; the whole world has been explored. But the belief that the greater part of the earth's surface has been, explored is quite erroneous. A vast area in Central Africa is literally a terra incognita, and the Dark Continent still offers a wide and interesting field of research to the explorer. In Arabia- there is an unknown region of four or five hundred miles square. Also in Persia there is ample scope for the_ explorer. Within a radius of a long distance of Tibet there is a great stretch of country of which next to nothing is known, even taking into account the valuable information gained by the explorations of Svon Hedin and others, intrepid travellers in the world's wilds. Many great mountain and river systems between India and China are literally a terra incognita, so far as actual knowledge of special features is concerned. Then there is New Guinea, only the fringe of which has been tow llied. Alsoin the Dominion of Canada there is an enormous area concerning which specific knowledge is very limited. So that it will be admitted that there'is still ample scope for the adventurous traveller whose wander lust induces him to roam into the waste places and solitudes of. this planet, take his life in his hands, and through perils, privation and hardship increase the knowledge that is to-day available. It will be time, enough in another four or five decades to talk about a terra incognita in tho literal meaning of the term, for it will be another half-century before the present unexplored regions, to onlv a'few of which we have referred," will be traversed and their physical features and possibly, vast mineral wealth .ascertained' and recorded.

A National lesson of considerable importance is contain"The Man ed in the experience at of Mr Booker T. the Bottom." Washington the noted negro educationist, who has given a very gloomy account of what ho saw during his recent visit to Europe anil Britain. Among the most pitiful things he saw in London, Liverpool and other English cities, were the groups of idle men standing about on tlie street corners because they were unable to get work. He compares the negro in America with the workless masses,in the cities of Europe in something like the same stage of civilisation. He has come to the conclusion that there is no class among the negroes in America with whom ho would compare "the man at the bottom" in England. For instance, tlio negro in America, ho says, scarcely ever descends to absolutely soliciting alms. Another thing in regard to tho negro is that, although he is frequently poor, lie is never without hope and a certain joy in living. Except in case of sickness or some other unforeseen "cause, it is rare to find a negro in an almshouse. Summing up his observations and impressions, and few men are better qualified to grasp the position and suggest a remedy, _Mr Washington thus expresses his views on the whole question of want of employment as a cause of degeneracy : "If I were - asked what I believed would be iihe greatest boon that could be conferred on the English labourer I should say that it would be for him to have the same opportunities for constant and steady work that the despised negro now has in the South. If J wore asked what would he the next greatest benefit that could be conl erred upon the English labourer I should say that it would be to have schools in which every class could learn to do some one thing well—to have, in other words, the benefit of the kind of industrial education that we are seeking, in some measure, to give to the negro, at the present time in the Southern States." It must be borne in mind that Mr Booker T. 'Washington is one of the most enlightened and intellectual of his race, and one who has done more than anyone else towards their uplifting to a higher' social and moral plane.