NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14302, 23 February 1910, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

A GERMAN ON THE GERMANS.

Rkckxtly there' has appeared in Germany a little book. by Curt Wigand, a German, entitled Non-Culture : Chapters on Things German," and in La Revue, M. Edouard de Morsier analyses this,.brochure, which, as was to be expected, has been passed over, in silence by the pre. in Germany. One chapter of the- book is devoted to the German antipathy to the English, another to the national character, and the last bears the- general title of' "Non-Culture." As the antipathy to the English first showed itself openly in Germany during the South African war, Herr Wigand. asks his countrymen why they did not display the same enthusiasm towards the Cubans fighting for their independence against Spain as they showed to the Boers at war against the English. But it is above all the German manner of being national which the author thinks lacking.in good taste. In Germany national defects run in pairs, according to the author. Servile submission to superiors, for instance, exists alongside of arrogant brutality towards inferiors. The duels of students and the coarseness of the masses are sorrowful symptoms, and the German expression "Schadenfreude" is untranslatable in other languages, because it does not answer to similar sentiment in any other nation in anything like the same degree. Rejoicing in the discomfiture or disappointments of others, maintains the author, is very common in Germany, and the case of the explosion ot the French dirigible La Republique, which inspired expressions of regret in the civilised world as a matter of' international courtesy, not to say humanity, is named as one in which the German showed less sincerity than did other nations. On the occasion of the accident to the Zeppelin, the French, on the other hand, were much more sincere in their sympathy with Germany. With all their heart they expressed their regrets for Tthe misfortune, to science and civilisation, without pausing to. think that it happened to be their enemy. A peculiar characteristic of the I lack of culture of the Germans is tha sad use made of anonymous letters ; another is coarseness towards women. Constructive ideology, says Herr Wigand, has always been a strong point with the Germans. It is time they perceived that ethics in action is also a beautiful thing. It is not enough to live; people need to know how to live. It is in the lack of this knowledge that German non-culture consists.

AMERICAN PROSPERITY. The New York Evening Post, which ie the leading organ of free trade in America, publishes the first detailed review, of the industrial situation in 1909. This shows that the amount of business transacted broke the record. The output of manufactures mere*. ?d by 25 per cent, over 1908 dry gooas increased by 10 per cent. , and exceeded the record of, the transactions during, 1906. Clothing and shoes also increased 10 per cent.: , Steel experienced the greatest revival which has been known in the history of the industry. Mills now have eufficient orders in hand to keep them working at their full capacity for the next six months. Railways bought more supplies in the last part of : 1909 than they bought during the whole of 1908. The Christmas business was from; 10 to 15 ; per cent, greater than in 1908, which was in its turn the best, in the history, of the trade. All industries are continuing to do a larger business than ever before. . .

DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA.

Further details of the journey just concluded by Mr. Fred: Shelford,. the wellknown engineer, in connection with tho projected railway to be constructed.from the Uganda railway to Lake Magadi, have been received by Reuter's Agency. This wonderful lake, which is only reached after a long and difficult journey over upinhabited : and waterless country, is described as follows by Mr. Sholford :— "Lake Magadi is picturesquely situated amid weird surroundings at the bottom of a valley 3000 ft deep. On one side are mountains 6000 ft above sea level, and on another a range having an altitude of 8000 ft. There is no sign of human life, but on and about the lake are immense numbers of flamingo. From the surrounding mountains the lake; which is 10 miles long by two,to three miles in* breadth, looks like an ordinary sheet of water of somewhat reddish hue. ' On reaching the shores, however, we found that the* water was only a few inches deep, and covered a hard surface looking exactly like pink marble. This is an immense deposit of soda, which was bored and found to extend to a considerable depth, thus indicating an area of at least 20 miles of solid soda. The heat upon the soda lake was very groat." The country traversed, being part of the southern game reserve, teemed with lions, giraffes, rhinoceros, and antelopes. During the . expedition Mr. Shelford discovered and ascended a new mountain peak near Lake Magadi. It rose 2500 ft above- the plain.