NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13369, 26 December 1906, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE.

We have received from Dr. Yalintine, as-sistant-chief health officer, a pamphlet concerning the examinations about to be initiated by the New Zealand centre of the Royal .Sanitary Institute. The society was founded in 1877, and now can reckon in it« ranks some thousands of members, who consist for the most part of medical men, veterinary surgeons, engineers, surveyors, architects, end municipal councillors. In effect, the personnel of the society is comprised of members of all those professions which trench on the domain of public health. It

! represents, as it were, the best opinion of 1 the United Kingdom on public health mat- > ters outside the trammels of officialdom. ■ Its meetings are largely attended by mem- • bers of all the professions mentioned, and .the recommendations carried at. the. ineet- ! ings are in due course submitted by the ■ council to the Legislature. The gradual • development of the- society has been remarkable. Centres of the institute have ■ been established in many of the colonies , and dependencies throughout the Empire. When Dr. Valintine was in London the council agreed to establish a New Zealand , centre, and the pamphlet contains a list of the local board of examiners elected by the council. The establishment of a New Zealand branch of the institute should be of advantage to the colony. Not the least noteworthy of the efforts of the institute is the, inauguration of examinations for those 1 who wish to qualify themselves in sanitary science. The certificate given by the institute is recognised throughout the Empire, and it is to be hoped that in this colony no appointments as sanitary inspectors will be given to persons who do not hold this certificate. A. list of the regulations covering the sanitary examinations is set forth in the pamphlet. The council considered it advisable to form a board of examiners at once, the members of which , have already been 'referred to. Shortly after the holidays Dr. Valintine hopes to call a meeting of those particularly interested in the centre, when it is hoped permanent officers will be elected, and the centre put on a working basis. EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP. Mr. Haldane, Secretary of State for War, in tho courso of a recent speech remarked that the man that helped one was the man who had the initiative, the thought, the self-confidence which knowledge gave, and which knowledge alone could confer. That was the man who rose in the public service; that was the man who would go forth and rule in the distant parts of the Empire. He had the kind of qualities that made a leader of men. There were two kinds of leadership, and they shaded off into one another by an infinite variety of shades. There was what was called in military language the higher command, and that was a new notion. In the old days the command was the written order, given out. by the general before the battle in great detail which every officer had to translate into a literal reproduction of the words that were used. But as the science of modern warfare developed, and armies became vaster, and the problems became more complicated, a great change grew up. The same principle applied equally to offices of State and to other walks of life. When they came to consider what the head of a great commercial undertaking required, they would find with the enormous growth of interests to-day that the new conception of the higher command and of the necessity for training subordinate leaders who were still leaders, who had to interpret and add to the initiative —that these things belonged to the new generation in which they lived, and they were essential. A" few years ago Japan hod been reckoned with those who were not civilised. To-day .Japan, by singleness of purpose, by concentration upon science, by the dominant purpose of the nation to fashion its national character according to the highest ideals, had leapt with a bound into the front rank. What had done it? He, as the Minister for War in Great Britain, charged with the duty of studying the means by which other nations reached their places, could tell them what had done it. It was that Japan had built her military and naval organisation upon the highest science, and on the highest scientific conception, single-mindedly, to put herself upon the level of her greatest contemporaries. Learning for learning's sake. So it was, and so alone, that they got the higher grasp. So it was, and so alone, that they learned to transcend their own limits. So it was, and so alone, that they became contented with their station in life, because they found then that the things that are tho sources of power lie within and not without. In freedom of the spirit, i that freedom wßich came only from contact i with the highest the human mind had attained, lay the true source of power, and the true conquest of life. A ROMANTIC CAREER. The life of Mr. George Herring, the wellknown London philanthropist, whose death was announced recently, has an air of romance about it, for he rose from obscure origin to the possession of a vast fortune. Nothing certain is known of his birth, except that it. occurred in London; and even " Who's Who' contains no information either as to the year of his birth, his parentage, or his education. He began life at, a turf commission agent, and was a prominent figure at Epsom and Newmarket between 30 and 40 years ago. His connection with the turf proved exceedingly successful, and his profits received an addition from his position as master of some training stables. With the small fortune of £50,000 such is the common estimate—he left the turf and entered the city. He was already a middle-aged man, with little experience , of city ways, and stood to lose all that he had gained. Instead, by dint of hard and honest work, aided by shrewd judgment and a remarkable gift for quick arithmetical > calculation, he amassed a great fortune in 1 a comparatively short time. He avoided 1 risky speculations and company promoting, 1 and favoured railway and electric enter- 1 prisee. He became a familiar and respected figure at railway boards and other insti- j Hit ions, where his advice always received a j deferential hearing. Among the various « business positions that he occupied were j those of chairman of the City of London 1 Electric Lighting Company and the Elec- r, trie .and General Investment Company— j two concerns. of exceptional prosperity^ i

chairman of the Municipal Trust Company, th". Barry Port and Gwendraeth \ allev Railway Company, and of the Mysore West and the Mysore Wynaad Gold Mining Companies. The third and last period of Mr. Herring's career was that a* a philanthropist. A man of simple tastes and generous instincts, he resolved to devote his fortune to the relief of the suffering of the poor. Before contributing anything to any institution, however, ho had to he satisfied that it was founded on a sound basis'. His generosity was most strikingly shown in his contributions to the Metropolitan Sunday hospital fund. For several years past he offered to add 5s to every pound collected for the fund, and it is estimated that in this "way alone he contributed £80,000. Mr. Herring lived a quiet and simple life. Although lie had an imposing mansion in Hamilton Place, his real home was at Maidenhead, where, he lived for six months in the year in a small house, surrounded by beautiful gardens. Here he used to have week-end gatherings of interesting people. In, the winter" he would spend some time at his shooting lodge in Norfolk. He was a man of unaffected modesty, and avoided all self-advertisement.