NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 147687, 5 September 1911, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

COLONIAL "NEUTRALITY." ' Renter's Agency, having asked General Botha at Kissingen for ; a statement regarding ,the reported Cabinet crisis .in South Africa, and also for his views on the subject of the recent articles in the Volksstem concerning the neutrality of South Africa in time of war, , has reoeived a letter from the Union Prime Minister. Regarding the reported dissensions in the Cabinet, General Botha > says :— These reports are absolutely without foundation. The rumours, I believe, emanated from a place soma, thousands of. miles from South Africa, and were possibly started by those with whom the wish was father to the thought. I am in constant communication with my Ministers, and have been from the day I left South Africa, and I have no reason whatever to believe that . the relations . between- • the , various members of my Cabinet are not as harmonious as they have Been. throughout. It is not, therefore, true that, , as a result of the crisis, I am hurrying back < to South Africa. In fact, quite the contrary is the case. I am the only Dominion Prime Minister, who has remained after the Conference and .the Coronation, and on the completion of my cure at Kissingen I shall carry out my original plan, and spend some weeks in England." With regard to the articles of the Pretoria Volksstem in favour of South Africa remaining neutral in time of war, General Botha says : "I have only received the cabled summaries of the Volksstem articles, and' do not know how far these represent all that was written. In any case, I may say that the article 1 was written entirely without my knowledge, and I was never consulted on the subject in any way. I certainly do not agree with the suggestions made ' by the news-' paper in regard to neutrality, and the possibility of a Dominion remaining neu- ; tral in time of . war. 4 It ,is absurd to , pon- ***& .that, because it may be in the in-

terest •of . the Empire that ' a portion should remain neutral, the enemy would necessarily look upon it in the same light. The suggestion, put forward seems to mo so ridiculous that it is almost unnecessary to discuss it. The whole matter in a nutshell was recently set forward in the following words : 'If it is to the advantage of the Empire to have a number of its colonies neutral, obviously it is to the disadvantage of the enemy. The enemy decides whether any part of the Empire is to be left alone.' With this 1" ; entirely, agree.'

EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS LIFE.

Attention is being drawn in England to the need for special education to fit and, prepare for a business career, the many. thousands of young people whose life, after school, is to be devoted to manufacture and commerce nothing in our whole illogical system of education is more characteristically English than the neglect of specialisation for business or for agriculture, the two chief avocations which are the most numerously adopted. It is true that certain modern universities, euch as Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester, have set up faculties of commerce, but there seems to be some lack of actuality in the teaching which they offer. Technical, practical, and experimental instruction is subordinated too often to bookishness, and commenrcial men are not eager to employ the graduates whom these faculties send forth. , It has now been suggested that "commercial" students might spend half the day or week in business houses, and the remainder at school or college; it is also proposed that experience and practice in real commercial work might be obtained during college vacations. The case of medical students, who spend a great part of their course in hospitals, is put forward as an example of the kind of half-time arrangement suggested, and also that of engineering students l who frequent the fitting chops. They seem to order this matter efficiently in Germany. There are more than 1000 matriculated students at the commercial universities of Berlin and Cologne, and the aim there is expressly "to keep in touch with commercial practice, and business life." STATE OF THE FRENCH ARMY. M. Messimy, the French Minister for War, has just issued a circular to the commanders of army corps, calling on them to report all the officers, from generals downwards, who may not show physical fitness at the autumn manoeuvres, and this without any consideration of comradeship, 1 as this is a matter of paramount importance. • Very worthy of' note at this juncture is an article which .General Zurlinden, a former Minister for War, contributes to the Gaulois. He points out that in that terrible year Germany started with everything in her favour, but that it is quite different now. " To-day the Germans would find us formidable. Our army corps, our armies are ready; like theirs, our mobilisation, concentration, railway transport, are admirably prepared. Our infantry, artillery, and cavalry are well trained for the marches and combats of war on a large scale. . They have been taught to assume the offensive, which alone can 5 bring success. They long to be able to utter their old war cry, 'En avant.' Our corps of engineers is skilfully organised for everything connected with communication, transport, and aerial navigation, in which we are distinctly the best. The regimental officers are well instructed and full of '.go,'' and- never have the staff officers been more carefully selected. We are now rich in generals trained for a big war, and the . excellence . and spirit of our officers and soldiers are unrivalled. Then, the calm, the sang-froid,'the patriotism of the nation itself may be taken into consideration." General ; Zurlinden . concludes by saying that the present and the future can be regarded with confidence, and that the firm attitude of the nation must soon dissipate the clouds on the East and in the South. 1 " "