PASSING EVENTS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1617, 25 February 1903, Page 48

PASSING EVENTS

History is philosophy teaching by examples . —Thucydides. There are few families not interested in the efforts being made to discover an efficient cure for consumption. The ravages of this fell disease are enormous, and although in recent years it has been somewhat abated, yet the number of those who suffer from and die of consumption is appalling. Physical training is recommended, dieting is regarded as a palliative, open-air treatment is attended with satisfactory results, and a lady in Sydney, a Miss Thorne, has announced that she has discovered a certain cure. Iteveiwing her methods, one doctor says the inhalation of hot dry air has been tried over and over again, and although improvement was observable, yet it was only a temporary relief. Of all the cures for consumption it seems as if the open-air method is likely to he most successful. It may be noticed that the King is interested in the abatement of the ravages of this disease, and Sir Ernest Cassell has given to his Majesty

■ ~ cr the sum of two hundred thousand pounds for the purpose of establishing

a sanatorium for the efficient treatment

of consumptive patients. News by the latest Home mail brings intelligence concerning tho offer by the King of £SOO for the design of a sanatorium and the best way of working it. This prize was competed for by many experts, and the honour of winning it fell to Dr Latham, and with him was associated Mr Wm. West, tho architect, who designed the building according to the ideas of- the

eminent doctor, who is now 'assistant physician at St. George’s Hospital, London. Dr Latham favours the fresh air tlieol-y, and his essay had for its motto a- quotation from “Henry IV.” : “Give him air, he’ll straight he well.” The main objects Dr Latham .has in view may be summarised: First, lie requires a continuoufi supply of pure, fresh air, with no undue variation of temperature; next, the avoidance of re-infection and of all sources of irritation, such

as dust; good, nourishing food in sufficient quantity to establish and maintain the normal body-weight of the patient; and lastly, constant supervision by a skilled physician, who so orders the patient’s life that he avoids everything which is harmful and takes advantage of everything which helps the process of repair and develops the powers of resistance. Tho building is to be in the form of a crescent, and the first rule will he carried out by the windows, which aro so arranged that in every room two of them may be open at once no matter what the weather may be at tho time, There is to be no crowding. fSshien religious services or entertainments are held they must take place in the open air, and here we have a /hint, to those parishes in New Zealand -who hunger after chapels loaded with debt. There are many suggestions in wDr Latham’s essay which the Health Department of this country will doubtless adopt, seeing tbat here we have every opportunity as far as climate is concerned of treating consumptives and abating tlieir disease.

Many people in New Zealand are interested in the progress of settlement in the New Hebrides.. For upwards of a quarter of a century we have taken special interest in the ciyihsing and

Christianisation of the natives, and New Zealand-born clergymen have spent or aro spending their lives among the natives in thesg islands. The statements that the French were endeavouring to drive the English settlers out of the New Hebrides, for the purpose, if possible, of annexing the group, have lost much of their strength since the authoritative statement was made that the British Government had no intention of parting with the islands, and since an aggressive scheme of colon- ' isation lias been adopted by Australasia. This scheme practically emanated from the influential shipping firm of Burns, Philp and Co., of Sydney. They owned one of the islands, and instituted a plan for its settlement by Australians and others. The extension of British settlement in a group under a dual system of government is the surest way of counteracting the dominating influence of either of tho powers interested, and it was with the object of effecting such a purpose that the settlement scheme of tho firm was inaugurated. The settlement of the English only began on tho plan referred to last year, but from recent accounts we learn that the promoters have every reason, to he satisfied with their progress. Mr Waltei Lucas, the island manager for the firm named, lias just returned from a visit to the Annan dale settlement, and he reports that the “pioneers are now going through their first wet season, and are passing the ordeal very well, Those who pass through the wet season successfully, with its attendant malaria, may reasonably be expected to become quickly acclimatised, after which malarial fever will have very little terror for them. Of course, a certain number are sure to drop out, but those who wcathej tho first trials have every prospect of doing well.” The settlers have to face all the difficulties that confronted the pioneer settlers of this country. They are not, of course, so well situated as regards climate; still the promoters of the settlement and the new British "Resident Commissioner, Captain Rason, are endeavouring to place the Britishers on the same footing with respect t native labour as the French. Captain Eason is taking a keen interest in the welfare of the British settlers, and hopes to arrange for the removal of the many restrictions that have m the past been placed 'upon British subjects in oh. tanning coloured labour. If he succeeds in obtaining for us the same privileges that the French give to their colonists there should be no difficulty in obtaining labour, as Britishers have always had a good name for their treatment of the natives. The fact that tho Annandale settlement is right under the eye of the Presbyterian mission at Tango a will lie an additional guarantee that no abuses will be allowed to creep in, and thus the natives will have the greater confidence in recruiting. Mr .Lucas’s advice to those among us who may be enamcured of this New Hebridean settlement is worth quoting. 110 says that “unless an intending settler has the capital, to employ sufficient native labour and also to look after his creature comforts in a proper way there is a danger of his deteriorating into a more beachcomber, or else being compelled to return to Australia after having expended his little all.” After a time—say, six or seven years —a settler who braves the elements and succeeds by dint of work will have a plantation on his allotment of 500 acres that will yield him a comfortable living. Tho main point is that the settlement is likely to render the British hold upon the islands morcjbinding and secure.

We notice that in several parts of the country school committees and education boards are mildly protesting against the extension of the primary school syllabus to •nelude technical or manual work. From tlio mildness of the protest one is led to the conclusion that the protestants realise the necessity for the culture of the hand and eye of the pupil, and some teachers are of opinion that boys and girls who can use their hands and eyes will he able also to use their brain to> advantage. Indeed, it is the conviction of not a few that manual and technical training are as great aids to general scholarship as are the exercises of the cricket and football field. Some go the length of arguing that the development received on the cricket and football grounds is a doubtful help to scholarship, but of its aid in. tho formation of manly characteristics there is little difference of opinion. However, it is with the addition of technical training to’ the syllabus that we have now to do, and its necessity to the rising generation in New Zealand no man of sound judgment will question. Our young people are by no means overworked. Generally" they have not as much to do as their fathers and mothers had when they were young, and tho conditions under which they live and are being brought up are far more conducive to the' development of high character. What is it, then, that the older people in the. community mean when they deplore the dislike of work which far too many of our young people evince. _ We believe the young New Zealander is just as fit to work as bis father before him. Tho only question is whether his in-

ciination is as strong. We are inclined to think it is, and from the energy he displays in other directions, it is certain that with early culture and training he would he as willing as his predecessor, and probably more efficient. r lhe question for educationists is to determine tho best way of directing the energy and influencing the inclination of the young New Zealander. The manual and technical training of our youth appears to us to ho the best method to adopt. Technical education is a necessity of our time. It is admitted that the British workman is behind his American and German brother in scientific mental equipment. In New Zealand we arc in some things ahead of English methods ill education, blit we are no more deeply imbued with the necessity for the spread of technical education than they are at Home. If cur syllabus is too extensive now, it must be curtailed. It has excrescences which ought 1o be cut off. Provision in tho education system of this country must be made for technical training. It is essential to tho progress and industrial development of New Zealand, and in training our young people to habits of industry and 'usefulness in early life wo aro laying in them tho foundation of good citizenship when they grow to be men and women.

Frequently we have noticed cf late various statements made by cablegram of the growing intensity of the negro question in the limed States of America. President Roosevelt has the courage to assert the principle and act upon it that God lias made of one blood all the nations of the earth, but the great mass of the American people detest the black man with an ever-in-creasing hatred. A coloured woman was appointed to he postmistress at a small insignificant town, and tne inhabitants rose in rebellion and demanded her dismissal . The post office was closed, and the people were informed that they would have no postal services unless they accepted the services of the negress as postmistress. The action of the American Postal Department, acting in conformity with the advice of Mr Roosevelt, aroused the indignation of the people, and the Now Orleans democratic organ attacks the President in these terms:—“.We do not believe it is wise either for the people in the South or rhe newspapers to mince their words. President Roosevelt, in closing the post office at ludiancpla, suspended the law for the deliberate purpose of offending and insulting the white people of the South, and incidentally to pander to the negro vote m the North. He ha? assumed the. role of a Czar for the sole purpose of clinching his Presidential nomination in 1904. Well, the South should proclaim the knowledge of his motives and impress the country with the fact that if the President lias made up hiis’mind to outrage the South by appointing obnoxious negroes, Iris negro appointees will be killed, just as the coloured appointees of other Republican Presidents were put cß.it of the way.” But Mr Roosevelt cares little for the abuse of the newspapers when liis conduct has tho sanction cf law and die commendation of humanity and all right-thinking people. Again, it happened that the best man for the position 'of Collector of Customs in one of these Southern States was a Dr Crum, a coloured gentleman of culture and education. - There was the same public indignation and newspaper furySsr* Still the President’s action is in accord with the Constitution of the "United States, which declares that, “all men are equal and free,” and Mr Roosevelt in making these appointments has the sanction and support of President Lincoln’s conduct many years ago. And President Roosevelt” is determined to adhere to the principle he lias laid down, althougn it may cost him many votes at the next presidential election. In defending his action, he says: —“So far as I legitir mately can, I shall always endeavour to pav regard to the wishes and feelings of the people of each locality; but I cannot consent to take the position that the door of hope, the door of opportunity, is to bo shut upon any man, no matter how worthy, upon grounds of race or colour.” The man whose skin happens to be black may be as big i y cultured as the man whose skin is white The leopard cannot change his spots, but It is possible to tame him, and the Ethiopian may be tutored m of regeneration and peace. Politically the test of citizenship is identical in the United States as between the negro and the rest of the diversified inhabitants of that country, and socially _ there are obvious differences; yet the immigrant from southern and eastern Europe is in many cases no better and sometimes not as good as the negro citizen This colour question is nevertheless the weak spot in the social and political life of the United States, and if the evidences of statistics are to be relied-upon, the nerrro null in a few years' settle the question of his equality by the irresistible force of his numbers.