TIMELY TOPICS

Northern Advocate, 15 August 1935, Page 6

TIMELY TOPICS

THE WAYS OF THE ENGLISH. It is queer. One remembers, resentfully, that some of tihe best books on London were written by men who are Cockneys by adoption, writes Mr H. M. Tomlinson in complimenting Mr Ivor Brown, a Scot, on his revealing book, “The Heart of England.” The reason for this may be that the English are not a race, but only a great number of people who happened to be born in English parishes. Because their origin is lost in a past of rich ambiguity, it now embarrasses them to sing a “Rule Britannia” aloud, except when feeling jolly, They are not easily excited by the familiar things about them. It takes a lot of worry to make an Englishman a solemn nationalist. There may be Scots and Welsh on distant moors who grow rigid when the heroes of the clans are named, but the English have a weakened faith in the ancestry of the men of Kent, the cordiality of Sussex yeomen, the bluffness of Yorkshiremen, the humour of the Cockney, and the other qualities supposed to distinguish the tribes. This means no more, argues Mr Tomlinson, than that the English are sure enough of themselves to be casual. <s> <§> 1 <§> <S> THE MOVING POWER.

It is easy to exaggerate the pace and the scope of the technical improvements in recent times and the consequent possibilities of plenty for all, writes Sir William Beveridge, the eminent economist, in the “Listener.” There has, of course, been progress in man’s power over nature at almost all times, but it is far from clear that progress of this kind since the War has been much faster than lor one or two generations before the War. And the scope of the more dramatic recent changes is limited. Methods of mass production apply to some industries only, not to all. When: people tell you that with a machine one man can now do what it took ten men before to do, they generally forget how many men and how much material it took to make that machine and the factory where it works. Finally, people who talk of technical progress as revolutionising the world often do not seem to realise that it is not the least use to make enormous quantities of anything just because you can make it so very well and so very fast; whether it is worth while to ’make it depends on whether it is wanted —and is wanted more than something else that could be made instead.

<s> <s> <S> <s• Words of Wisdom. The sun will pierce the thickest cloud earth ever stretched. —Browning. <s><s><s><s> <S> Tale of the Day. Motor Salesman (explaining the parts of a car to lady) : “This is the radiator, and this is the fan.” Lady: “Oh, then it’s an all-season car.