NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14586, 24 January 1911, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

ENGLAND THROUGH GERMAN EYES

Here are some interesting criticisms of life in England from a German student's notebook published - in < the ' Manchester Guardian '" England is rich in great and well-shaped human bodies. Small and long skulls are numerous, with nice, close-sit-ting ears and sharp profiles. And most, of the English are clever enough not to weaken the strength of their lines by the swelling of a moustache. Men who drive the perambulator, . accompanied by their wives, are as often to be found as women whose perambulator is standing before the bar, or women, who take their youngest children to the nightly musichall in order not to lose their pleasure. The assertion that the English have a rather quiet temper must be acknowledged by one . who has reflected about the construction of the English language, or who has, observed scenes between the police and the public, or who has seen the silent crowds patiently waiting for hours in order to get entrance somewhere. That the streets seldom resound with the noise of children may bo partly a result of the numerous sporting-grounds, where the fervour of youth has opportunity to explode. The silence in railway apartments, the high wall surrounding the smallest garden, the discretion in the shop windows of the chemists, and other observations, speak of a noble reservedness; Rnd the aversion against nudity in art perhaps of a little prudery. But the lovers in the parks, forgetting or scorning sunshine and public, the kisseS exchanged between relations in the streets, and the enthusiastic applause . at many music-halls allow to the contrary." THE BENEFITS OF TRAVEL. All our members of Parliament (remarks the Melbourne Argus) should be compelled to travel for at least one year, of their public life. And this applies to all classes of the people. A young farmer put it that " he could -learn more, by

one year's travel than by staying six years in one spot" Engineers say the same, teachers say the same, medical men and journalists say the same. All university students feel that there should be many travelling scholarships for exit men, and that travel alone gives the true finish to the educational work of' youth. But it is' not the expansive effect of travel on the mind of youth we would dwell upon so much as the binding effect of a certain kind of travel on the mind of the citizen. We are "thinking chiefly of citizenship in the empire, and of the peculiar power which a visit to the Old Land has on the mind of the Australian. All travel is good for youth; but this special kind of travel is the very safeguard of our loyalty and our unity. Were a Carnegie to arise here, one who had " money to' burn" in a good cause, he could find no better cause on Which to lavish his wealth than that of helping Australians to visit Britain. Rhodes perhaps built better than he' knew. It warms an Australian's heart ; and gratifies his pride to find out the interest with which the intelligent classes at Home regard him and his land. He sees' the life growing up here and its possibilities in a new" light. He learns that little they know of Australia who only Australia know. Yet he feels humbled at the sight of the life there, its greatness, its complexity, its deep-rooted history."And if, as some think, there is trouble brewing in the rise of the peoples of Eastern Asia, then the best way of averting that danger is to draw close and tight' the bonds between the people of Britain and ourselves. If'-we are to bear the brunt of the shock from the East," then only the ties of a strohg unity can make us able to do it. Some Australians look for protection most to themselves, some to the United- State*;, some to Great Britain. Probably in the day of trouble all three will count, but the best help of the three will be the peace-loving strength of Britain.