NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21803, 18 May 1934, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

AGEING GRACEFULLY Sir Thomas Olivpr, who chose for his presidential address at the Institute of Hygiene, London, the theme "Not Too Old at 40," declared that there were probably more men and women to-day between tho ages of ()0 and 70 years in good health and fit to work than there were 200 years ago. " 'Too old at 40' is not truo," ho said; "though ago is not measured by years, but by services rendered." In a paraphrase of Beaconsfield's dictum that "Youth is a blunder, middle-ago a struggle, and old ago a regret," be said we might strike a more encouraging note and say that "youth is hope; middle-ago a struggle in which there are prizes to be won, and old age• consolation." In order to ago gracefully, said Sir Thomas, there must be a happy and contented mind. Happiness was to be acquired by giving happiness to others. "Not only can individuals do this among themselves," lie added, "but industrial firms can do it for their aged workers; and social movements for those whoso working days are done." UNDER-FED CHILDREN The distressing elfect of world unemployment on tho health of children in various countries is emphasised in a report issued by the International Labour Office at Geneva. Tho report deals with the effect of bad housing conditions, lack of clothing and underfeeding. "In the United States during tho summer of 1933 the number of children receiving nourishment which was considered to he insufficient was estimated at six millions," says tho document, adding that in the State of Pennsylvania alone in tho year 1932-33 216.000. out of a school population estimated at 800,000, wero under-fed. Thousands of American schoolchildren wero unable to go to school owing to lack of footwear, while many families had no winter clothes at all. In Poland, continues the report, out of 432 families, the members of 131 families possessed only the clothes they wero wearing. In Silesia, over 80 per cent of the children were unable to attend school regularly for want of adequate clothing. Milk, bread and meat given four times weekly by schools in Poland constitute the only food for many children. These meals, which were ordinarily intended as mere additional food, represent the only means of preventing them from dying of starvation. In most countries, it is declared, under-feeding and lack of clothes are not only sapping the health but undermining the education and mental qualities of the younger generation. In Great Britain this is so to a much less extent than in other countries, owing to tho unemployment insurance system.

THE EVERLASTING ARMS "It is one of the unfortunate effects of democracy to have bred a dislike of discipline, even a hatred of it," writes Dr. L. P. Jacks in his book "Elemental Religion." "In democratic societies discipline is an unpopular word. Yet - of all systems of government democracy is the one for which discipline, in the sense of selfcontrol, is the most essential. Hojvever convinced we may bo that all men have equal rights 'to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' we shall find, if discipline dies out, that life and liberty commit suicide and that no happiness is left to pursue." "Hero is what a plain man once said to me," says the author in another passage: " 'I was standing one day on my own hearthstone, warming myself at the fire, and thinking of unimportant things. Presently my meditations took another turn. For some reason or another I becaino acutely conscious of the firm support I had in the solid ground beneath my feet. How well the hearthstone box - o my weight ! And how efficiently the heat of tho firo was warming me! Then it suddenly occurred to me that the wholo universe was a vastly expanded hearthstone, supporting the existence of everything just as the hearthstone supported my body at that moment, that all forces and energies were like the fire that was warming me, sources of sustenance not for me alone, but for all created things. Here was I, standing on my hearthstone, upheld as it were by the Everlasting Arms, 1 and I knew what the Psalmist meant when ho said "Thou art my rock." ' Such was his story. It was not a vision of God, such as mystics have. But I think it was a religious experience well within the compass of tho wayfaring man."

RODEO CRUELTIES Supporting the Protection of Animals Bill, which has just become law in Britain, the Times remarked: Since its painty days in the time of the "Wembley Exhibition, the word "rodeo" has slipped out of the general vocabulary and now maintains only a chequered existence in the glossary of crossword puzzles. This is as it should be, for the thing is as alien as the word, and if the mention of it does not now immediately call up sentiments of distaste, that is only because H) years make a long interval for public memory. Surely the promoters of the proposed "rodeo" at the White City this summer must be relying on the oblivion that comes with lapse of time, for their predecessors at Wembley were made aware of a considerable degree of public displeasure. The entertainment, which admittedly included some remarkable displays of horsemanship, gained its notoriety for tho wrestling with, roping and riding of steers. Tho lassooing, which was compared by a leading sporting journal to the coursing of rabbits in a field in which all the bolt-holes are stopped, resulted in painful injuries to the animals, including broken limbs and necks. Lord O'Hagan has told the House of Lords that more than half tho animals used were injured. Jn the wrestling process, an described by a well-known writer, the cowboy had "to seize the bullock by the horns and twist its head and neck round till the agony compelled the creature to lie down, just as the pain compels a man or boy to lie down if you twist his arm long enough." Tho applause that the prowess of tho cowboys won was intermingled with demonstrations of hostility ; there were protests in the press throughout tho country; and tho steer-roping was withdrawn from the programme, though a prosecution for cruelty was unsuccessful. . . These entertainments represent an evil tradition, which can be justly traced back to the Roman amphitheatre; they are associated always with the baser passions and often with the decadence of society. ]t is most probable that if anything resembling the'"ro'deo" of 1924 is attempted again it will meet with the same uneasy reception as then.