NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14691, 27 May 1911, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE UNIVERSITIES AND TRADE. Why is it (asks the London Daily Telegraph) that while the universities have so much to show for themselves in the sphere of politicalllifte t and in the liberal professions connected with the Church and tlio Bar, and scholastic education, 'they have as yet done so little to help the great commercial industries which are the very life-blood of tlio country Doubtless such'a question has often suggested itself to those who look forward to the future of the Empire, and speculate on the chances of continued prosperity which Great Britain possesses as compared with its rivals in both hemispheres. And the answers that are returned to a problem of this kind will bo framed in accordance with certain fixed notions or prejudices with which we are all tolerably familiar. There is a large section of our countrymen which has lopg since had grave doubts about the practical value of a university training, and to this class tlio solution of the original question is very simple. The older universities, originally built and endowed for the sake of a privileged order in the community, are not, and cannot be, of any direct and immediate importance to those who are occupied with trade, and aro engrossed in business affairs. Even if it is suggested that the universities might be induced to give special facilities for a practical training, the critics of an academic education are still positive in their assertion that the whole tone and temper- of Oxford and Cambridge are opposed to the. strenuous industry, the eager competitive zeal, and the alert intelligence, without which no man of business is likely to succeed under modern conditions of continuous pressure and combat. But, obviously, there can be no insuperable division between a collegiate education and a business career. A young man may very well train his intelligence in theoretical subjects, and yet, when the time comes for leaving his Alma .Mater, develop a keen and practical instinct for trade and commerce, which is none the less fine and acute, because up to a certain period it has either lain dormant or been replaced by more abstract pursuits.

JOHANNESBURG'S POPULATION.

Corrected returns of the Johannesburg municipal census, taken a month or two ago, show that the total population then numbered 220,304, divided as follows :— Whites, 111,857; natives, 95,522; South African coloured, 7749; Asiatics, 5176. Compared with the municipal census of August, 1908, these figures show increases of 16,731 whites and 24,490 natives and South African coloured; and a decrease of 1604 Asiatics. Of the whites, 63,761 were males and 48,096 females, and there were only 4000 native females to 91,522 native males, a circumstance that is accounted for by tho fact that most of the latter are working on the mines within the municipal area, upon which women are not allowed. The age statistics show that there are more men in Johannesburg between the .ages of 30 and 34 than of any other age, and that they outnumber the females between those ages by nearly onehalf. Among the whites, South Africans were naturally largely in the majority, with a total of 54,594. The remainder of the white population was made up of 27,364 English, 7907 Russians and Poles, 7286 Scottish, 2893 Irish, 3207 Australians, 195 Canadians, 718 Americans, 3163 Germans and Austrians, 807 Hollanders, 628 Scandinavians, and 379 French and Belgians. THE FETISH OF BILINGUALISM. Cape newspapers comment in sarcastic, vein on the extravagant lengths to which reverence for the fetish of bilingualism is carried in Government publications. The official gazette of the Cape province is, of course, printed in Dutch and English, but the duplicating of tables of figures merely in order to print "Cape Town" at the head of the one and "Kaapstad" at the head of the other, certainly seems to "be carrying the principle of equality to the point of absurdity. Despite such extravagances the Dutch journal, Ons Land, is not satisfied. It complains that the title of the Gazette is not printed in both languages. Upon this, the Cape Times remarks ironically that tho terms of the Act of Union are clearly being disregarded, and expresses the hope that the Administrator will forthwith cause the omission to be rectified. In the Union Parliament also the operation of the dual system gives rise to many anomalies, and sometimes causes no little inconvenience. Prayers are said by the Speaker in Dutch and English on alternate days, while dry-as-dust official communications to which members rarely listen, are solemnly read by the clerk in both languages. On tho other hand Ministers sometimes make important speeches in Dutch, with which a "large number of members are unfamiliar. Recently, for instance, General Hertzog spoke in that language in introducing an Important Bill, with tho result that the subsequent debate was carried on under great difficulties. Hence, the Cape Argus suggests that it would be wise for Ministers as a general rule to make all important statements in English, because that is the language with which every member of the House is more or less familiar. "If this is held to bo an injustice to the Dutch language, it would seem to be very necessary that a staff of interpreters should be employed to prevent the deliberations of Parliament degenerating into broad farce. It certainly savours of comic opera that a Minister, inviting criticism of an important measure, should deliberately choose the one of two optional mediums in which he will be least understood ; and if this practice becomes at all common, it will assuredly end in a Parliamentary deadlock."