NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21316, 18 October 1932, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

GERMANY IN EMERGENCIES The statement of the Timea that "If the Reichstag attempts to make government in Germany impossible," the President may "retort by dispensing with .it" should have a steadying effect on those minds which still fail to recognise the distinction between English and Continental methods of carrying on public business in times of emergency, says Mr. J. R. Fisher. "As chance would have it, it is just 70 years this autumn since Prussia supplied us with the classic example, lie writes. "On September 23, 1862, tho Landtag threw out the Army Budget by the contemptuous majority of 308 to 11. The Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Ministry collapsed, and the King appointed Bismarck 'lnterim President of the State Ministry.' The Landtag resolved that the new Ministry was 'unconstitutional and all its decisions 'null and void.' But the country, sick of speechmaking and debates, remained absolutely quiet while the 'lnterim' President and his King went on with the necessary task of army reorganisation. Koniggratz set the seal of success on their work, and .on September 3 of that year (1866) the Landtag, by a. majority of 230 to 75, passed a sweeping Act of Indemnity covering all their unconstitutional transgressions, while three weeks later it voted 60,000,000 thalers for tho Army and 1,500,000 for Bismarck and the generals personally. Four short years of capable government brought about the change!" >DEFENCE OF STEAM Steam, oil and electricity as alternative sources of power for tho modern railway motive were under discussion in a series of papers in the engineering section of the British Association. The defence of steam and its modern developments was in the hands of Sir Seymour B. Tritton, who declared that in spite of the advocates of oil or of electricity for the railways, the steam locomotive was still holding its own. The splendid records recently set up by the British railways were concrete evidence of its vitality. The principle of tho direct drive from cylinder to driving wheels, simple, efficient, and flexible over a wide range of speeds, which was onljj/ possible using steam, could be and was still enthusiastically upheld when compared with the explosive energy of internal combustion rivals to the steam locomotive. It was difficult to predict whether the high-powered main lino locomotive would eventually be forced to adopt reduction gear. He thought the development of the steam locomotive and the physical endurance of the human element had reached their limit with coal fuel as at present used. With oil or colloidal fuels it might ultimately be possible to design still more powerful steam locomotives within the restricted loading gauge of Britain and without increasing the permissible axle load. The steam locomotive in its simplest form, but with the latest improvements in detail, was fulfilling the demands made upon, it, was handling the fastest and heaviest trains in use, and the designer of it was not failing to meet the advancing desires of the user. FAITH AND REASON "As Modernists," said Dr. Barnes, Bishop of Birmingham, speaking at the Modern Churchmen's Conference, "we differ in many things, but I take it that all among us agree that there can be no permanent dualism of faith and reason, no final opposition between theology and knowledge. In tho end, unless reason is overwhelmed by the decay of civilisation, it must triumph. The scientific method, which is the chief glory of our era and for which the present ago will remain famous in human history, is founded upon the free and unfettered search for truth. The man of science acknowledges in his own sphere no authority but human reason. He tests all things, and holds fast those which he deems true. He neither makes nor admits any claim to infallibility. Those principles of reason to which science is pledged will continue to be outraged so long as it is pretended that by the blessing of a priest oil receives holy properties or that through Baptism an infant mechanically escapes God's condemnation, or that the bones of tho saints have spiritual value or that disease is healed by visits to sacred shrines. I know that many medical certificates can be produced vouching for cures at Lourdes and elsewhere. Doubtless such were obtained in equal numbers by the guardians of pagan shrines five centuries before Christ taught in Galilee. Belief so irrational will at times cure functional disorders which are probably of mental origin. But it is untrue that a visit combined with prayer to some shrine will lead to the instantaneous cure of such diseases as tuberculosis or loco-motor ataxia. Were it true, rational medicine would be at an end." THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN "Soviet industry has entered a new phase since the spring of this year, a phase, for which no provision was made in the Five-Year Plan," writes the Riga correspondent of the Times. "The general impetus given to industrial construction and production during the first three years of the Plan appears to be spent. Progress in nearly all tho vital industries has ceased, and in many branches a letrograde movement has been noted for some months. The chief obstacles to the Plan have been difficulties not of construction, but of starting and keeping the has. tily-constructed factories and works in operation. Various parts of it have been carried out unequally, and, as these are interdependent, much confusion has resulted from lack of harmony in their development. Russian industry in general is held up by prolonged under-production of coal and metals and by lack of satisfactory means of transport. . . . The failure of the coal and steel industries to maintain their rate of production is largely responsible for the disorder which now dominates the greater part of Soviet industry. Thousands of new works erected during the first three years of the FiveYear Plan were to be opened this year. It became evident, however, in 1931 that the 'starting plan' would have to be curtailed, and the Government created a special commission to defer the opening of new factories until they were properly equipped with machinery and had some prospect of receiving materials regularly. Thus new factory buildings scattered all over the country are lying idle, some partly equipped with plant and awaiting better times for starting, others in a less advanced stage of completion. But it has been found impossible—or inexpedient for political reasons—to delay the opening of all tho incomplete factories. Many were opened without definite prospects and are now working irregularly and great loss."-