NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22579, 18 November 1936, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS

WOMEN'S VITAL PUCE "The women and children rule is a good one on principle," said Sir Arnold Wilson in a broadcast debate on the question, "'Women and Children—First or Lnst?" "The world will hold at least three times as many people as it has at present, if it is properly organised, and it oii-- 1 .; t to have its fair proportion of us Britishers. A reduction of our population won't help the world, it won't help unemployment. We are only one per acre even on these islands. No nation has ever perished against its will. If we believe in ourselves, as 1 do, our first duty it to ensure that we survive and that entails a steady birthrate and proper social conditions within the State. Now we males may legislate in Parliament as much as we like, but the condition of the new houses we live in, the quality of the food we eat, and our outlook on lile will depend mainly upon the women."

DEBT TO THE SCIENTIST " Everyone says that we live in a scientific world, and indeed if you think about it you will realise very easily that you do depend all through the day on things invented as a result of the application to human needs of the work of scientific men," said Professor I). M. S. Watson, of University College, London, in a recent broadcast. Such things as electric light and heating, motor-cars and aeroplanes, have only been made possible by the application of scientific knowledge. But really our dependence on scientific work goes much deeper. The close-packed populations of western Europe can only maintain their high standard of living as a result of scientific work. Indeed, they can only lire at all by such applications. Ihe fact that we are immune from those famines which every few years kill millions of people in China, and did until very recently cause immense suffering in India, depends entiielv on the improved transport made possible bv machinerv." WHERE DICTATORS SCORE

Democracy is intrinsically a better thing than dictatorships; of that the great majority of British people are convinced, asserts the Spectator. Must it necessarily be inferior to them in efficiency? The question is vital, for in economic and military conflicts between States the doctrine of survival of the fittest prevails, and the inefficient will inevitably go under. And amid all the criticisms to which the dictatorships expose themselves it is well to face the fact that they display, not only certain practical advantages, but certain moral advantages, which democracies lack to their detriment. They possess, to begin with, leadership—usually histrionic, sometimes melodramatic, but incontestable- effective. Herr Hitler has gained many of his ends by brutal and barbarous repression, but that he lias by his personality inspired a great part of the youth of Germany to self-sacrificing devotion to ideals far from unworthy no one who knows anything of German life to-dav will deny. The same is true of Jtaly under Mussolini, the same of Russia, although in Russia creed has counted for as much as personality How do \vc in Britain stand for leadership? 'Whence does our youth draw its inspiration? Where is there a national figure, politician or poet or preacher, who can evoke the same response from the generation that will make the Britain of to-morrow as the dictators j can? The question calls in vain for answer. REGULATING MOTOR NOISES The work of the British Ministry of Transport's Departmental Committee on Noise in the Operation of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles is important, says the Listener, because it is concerned with devising concrete and enforceable regulations for keeping cars, lorries and motor-cycles reasonably quiet. It is one thing to say that some vehicles make far too much noise. There are very few town-dwellers who would not agree. It is quite another matter to define the limits of legitimate noise. The committee has applied scientific tests, measuring the amount of sound that comes from various vehicles at fixed distances in front, behind and to the side. The sound is measured in " phons." The committee's recommendations are that 110 vehicle should be sold which registers more than 90 " phons " on an instrument placed 18ft. at one side when running at normal speed, or 25ft. behind the exhaust when stationary

with the engine racing. At the present moment ordinary private cars could generally be counted on to pass this test, but there are common makes of sports cars, motor-bicvcles and commercial vehicles which would not. In certain cases a latitude of five "phons" is suggested for two years, to give manufacturers time to alter their designs. There can be no doubt that the establishment of such a regulation would bo a valuable step toward quietening the hubbub of city streets. FUNDAMENTAL POSTULATES

"There is for the scientist a fundamental postulate which, though unproved and received by faith alone, lie holds with the invincible conviction and fervour of religious faith, and which he makes the basis of all his thought and work," said the Rev. J. H. Morrison, in introducing his course of Cunningham lectures at New College, Edinburgh. "That postulate is the rationality of the universe, a dogma which practically every scientist accepts without question, because otherwise human reason would be confounded and the search for truth would be vain. With that postulate of science the Christian mind is in full and hearty accord, but it goes a step further and sees the world as not simply a realm of reason, but also as a realm of love. Without this fundamental postulate, as it seems to us. the human heart is confounded and the kingdoms of goodness and beauty fall in ruins. The scientist must, indeed, when in a philosophic mood, contemplate the possibility that the universe is irrational and chaotic, but commonly lie works on in supreme confidence that his postulate is sound, and as he works he finds it increasingly verified. 80 the Christian thinker must needs at times face the dread possibility that the universe may be morally chaotic and loveless, but ordinarily he is entitled, like the scientist, to live and work in the quiet faith that the foundation upon which ho rests his moral and religious life iB secure,"